by K. D. Jones
“What do you say, Lindy? Would you like to spend time with me?” He pulled back, bringing his face level with hers.
All she could do was nod her head. She couldn’t find her voice. The man must think she was a complete idiot. Was that why he wanted to spend time with her? Did he think her to be easy? Well, he wouldn’t have a hard time finding a woman to be with him. They probably swarm around him like bees to honey.
“You can say no. I don’t want to pressure you or anything,” Talon said uncertainly.
Lindy saw him this time. Really, saw him. He was nervous, too. His cheeks were shading an adorable pink. He thought she might not want to spend time with him. She reached out and touched his arm with her hand.
“I would love to spend time with you. My friends and I were planning on heading home tomorrow morning, but I can extend my stay at the hotel for a few days”
“Why don’t I get you a suite on board our ship?” Talon offered, placing his hand on hers to keep her touching his arm.
“But, won’t you guys be leaving in a few days to continue on your circuit?”
“Yes. I was hoping you would agree to come along with me. It will give us time to get to know each other better.”
Lindy bit her bottom lip as she thought about it. She wanted to say yes, but worried it was too much too soon. However, she didn’t want to miss this chance with him. “How about I extend my stay at the hotel a few more days. See how things go. If it works out, then we can discuss me traveling with you for a short while. I’m not sure I can go for the whole circuit.”
Talon gave her a blazing smile that had her body reacting immediately. “That sounds like an excellent plan.” They just sat there nearly holding hands, staring into each other’s eyes. They didn’t hear Lindy’s friend at first. The girl had to bend down and yell in their faces.
“Hey, Lindy! Are you ready to go?” Carol asked with humor in her eyes.
Lindy quickly released Talon’s arm. “Uh, yeah. Let’s go.
“Lindy, what’s your last name?” Talon asked as he stood and started walking them out.
“Stamos. My full name is Lucinda May Stamos. My family and friends call me Lindy.”
“And what hotel are you staying at?”
“I’m staying at the Flying Red Room Hotel.”
“I will call you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Good night, Talon.”
“Good night, Lindy.”
Christy grabbed Lindy’s arm. “What was that all about him calling you tomorrow?”
Lindy smiled. “He wants to see me again.”
“How’s that going to happen? You’re going home tomorrow. Aren’t you?”
Lindy gave them a devious smile. “Nope.”
“Your parents are going to be pissed,” Christy said smiling.
“I know.”
*****
He had made up his mind. The master called his servant. “Tala, I have found a new piece that I am going to acquire. Clean up the rest and get them ready for resale.”
“Yes, Master.”
He called his contact for acquisitions.
“Sir, is there a problem?”
“I have something more specific that I would like to have acquired. Meet me in person to go over the details.”
“Yes, sir.”
*****
The next morning at eight o’clock, she received a special breakfast brought to her hotel room. She was confused because she hadn’t ordered breakfast. When she told the hotel staff they had brought the tray to the wrong room, they informed her that Mr. Talon had called in the order earlier that morning. At nine, she received a card and flowers with a note. “Looking forward to spending more time with you. T.” At nine thirty, the phone in her hotel room rang. She practically raced across the room to answer it.
“Hello?” her voice was breathless.
“Lindy?” Talon’s deep voice rumbled over the line.
“Hi.” Lindy was blushing and the man wasn’t even there.
“Hi. Did you enjoy your breakfast?” he asked.
“Yes and the flowers are lovely. Thank you so much.”
“I wasn’t sure what your favorite flower would be. I was always told by my mother that red roses were the ticket if you weren’t sure.”
“I love red roses.”
“But they’re not your favorite flower.”
She hesitated. “My favorites are red fire lilies. But they are so hard to get this time of year, not to mention expensive since they only grow in the Northern Quarter of the Alpha Region. Roses are my second favorite though and the ones you sent were gorgeous.”
“I’m glad that you liked them. I was wondering if I could send a shuttle for you and you could meet me here on the circuit ship. We could go out for lunch after my morning practice.”
“That sounds great. What time?” Lindy was anxious. She was dressed at the crack of dawn waiting on his call. Her friends left shortly after the large breakfast arrived. She couldn’t wait to see him again.
“If I send the shuttle with an escort for you at eleven thirty, you should get here by eleven forty-five and I will be done with my morning practice at twelve. Is that alright with you?”
“That sounds fine. It gives me time to get ready. I am looking forward to seeing you again.”
“I will await your arrival on bated breath,” Talon said.
How romantic. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. “See you around twelve.”
“See you then, Lindy.”
Neither of them hung up. “Are you going to hang up?” Lindy asked him.
“I thought you would. I don’t want to let you go,” Talon admitted.
“I know, but one of us has to hang up,” Lindy chuckled.
“We’ll do it together, okay?” Talon said.
“On the count of three.”
“One—” Talon started.
“Two—” Lindy stated.
“Three—” Talon finished.
There was a pause. “Why didn’t you hang up?” Lindy asked laughing.
“Why didn’t you?” he chuckled.
They both laughed until a loud booming voice came across the line. “Hang up the damn phone and get your ass to practice?”
“I’m coming, Lesak!” Talon yelled.
“Who was that?” Lindy asked.
“My trainer. Damn him. Well, I guess this time I am hanging up for sure.”
“Look on the bright side; the sooner you get to training the sooner I’ll be there.”
“You’re right. See you soon, Lindy.”
“Soon.” She finally managed to hang up the phone. She knew she probably looked crazy sitting there with a goofy smile plastered across her face, but she didn’t care. Nothing was going to ruin her mood. She was going to spend the day with the man of her dreams.
*****
The shuttle and escort arrived right on time to take her to the training facility on board the GCFA commissioned ship. She wore her skinny jeans and a red tank top. She hoped they didn’t go somewhere cold because she hadn’t thought to bring a sweater or jacket. She pulled her long, dark-brown hair back into a simple ponytail and applied light makeup. Her friend Christy was an expert on all things to do with makeup and fashion. She advised Lindy to wear mostly lipstick during the day because she had a natural golden tone to her complexion and to add a little bit of blush and eye shadow for the evening. Both Christy and Carol handpicked her outfit to wear on her first sort-of date with Talon. They had never steered her wrong before. They were spot-on because she got quite a few looks from the men she passed and a couple of offers for a date, among other remarks.
The strangest reaction she received was when she arrived at the spaceport. The halfsies and some full species gave her disgusted looks. It was obvious that humans were thought very little of. She could understand the full blood alien species being prejudiced, but it confused her to see species that were mixed with human DNA look down on her as well. No one was aggressively rude
. They ignored her mostly. She was grateful that Talon had sent her an escort.
Her escort’s name was Denny. He was a Plutian halfsie, half human—half Plutian. Since he was mixed with human DNA, his coloring was a blue-purple, unlike a full Plutian, whom were bluer. He wasn’t as large as most of the halfsies that Lindy had seen the previous night. He was probably only six foot three, big by her standards. He was very friendly and she found him handsome. He made her hungry for blueberry muffins. Yum.
“Talon and Rage are finishing up their practice match.” The Plutian led her into a large training facility that was about half the size of the arena she went to the previous night. In the center was a metal cage. She immediately zeroed in on the two large half-dressed men going at each other. “I’ll leave you here then.” He chuckled because she barely looked at him. All her attention was focused on a half-dressed Talon.
Lindy slowly made her way toward the cage. It was as if a magnet was pulling her. She knew everyone else in the arena had stopped what he or she was doing to watch the human. She didn’t care. All that mattered to her was getting to Talon. He hadn’t seen her yet. He was busy fighting with Rage. Rage the Animal was the GCFA current champion. As a Beastial halfsie, Rage could enlarge his body during extreme emotions. It was a handy trick to use when fighting. Unfortunately, he was using his abilities while fighting with Talon. Lindy’s heart squeezed with worry for Talon. How do you fight someone that gets larger in size?
She would have walked right up to the cage if someone hadn’t grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. She glanced back and then had to tilt her head up. The woman holding her arm had to be the tallest woman Lindy had ever seen. She had long, straight, black hair with rocking bangs and bright blue eyes. She towered over Lindy, standing at six foot two. She had a slim build but was well muscled. Lindy recognized her as the current GCFA female champion, Zara the Amazon. She was a halfsie; part human, part Sorian, and part Beastial. Wow, she was really impressive.
“Wait here, human. You will only distract him and distractions are dangerous when you are fighting in the cage,” Zara told her.
“But it’s just a practice, right?”
“We don’t hold back at practice. There would be no point in it. Just stay here and keep your voice down until he is done.” Zara walked away without waiting for a response from Lindy.
Man, she would hate to have to fight that woman in a cage. Lindy had watched a televised event with a pair match with Rage and Zara against two full species. The halfsie pair tore their opponents up in the cage. Zara almost took the male down by herself. She was one tough fighter. From the tone she took with Lindy, it was clear she hated humans. What was with halfsies hating humans? She turned her attention back on Talon and did everything she could not to make any sounds. She didn’t want to distract him.
Man, she loved watching him fight. He seemed to glide effortlessly around the cage. Another ten minutes and the trainer called the match a draw. No shit. Lindy wouldn’t want to have to make a call against those two fighters. They were big and scary. Talon took deep breaths and then seemed to freeze. He turned her way and their eyes locked. She felt her heart rate increase and she was turned on—big time.
Chapter Four
She was here. Talon couldn’t wait to get to her, to touch her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered—and he had an excellent memory. He ran his hand through his hair feeling the wet strands. Crap! He probably looked a mess. He needed to take a shower and change before he took her out for lunch. He booked reservations at a fancy restaurant he heard that a lot of humans liked to eat at.
“A human, really?” Rage asked him, rolling his shoulders.
Talon glared at his friend. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then shut the hell up.”
There was a long pause as the two men stared each other down. “She’s hot, I’ll give her that,” Rage admitted.
Talon growled. “She’s mine.”
Rage raised his hands in the air. “Okay, man.”
Talon worked to get his emotions under control. What the hell was happening to him? He never fought with Rage over women before. They had shared women in the past, but the thought of Rage or anyone else putting their hands on Lindy had him seeing red.
“Is there a problem?”
Talon looked at his mentor, Lesak. The male was more of a father figure. He raised Talon after his mother had died. Lesak gave him a disapproving look for being short with Rage. He felt bad for overreacting. “There’s no problem. Sorry, Rage, I don’t know what came over me.”
Rage nodded but didn’t say anything. He walked out of the cage and made his way out of the training facility. Talon looked over at Lindy and saw that she was watching him with caution. Did he frighten her?
“Who’s the girl?” Lesak asked curiously.
“My date.” Talon took the towel Lesak handed to him and started wiping down the sweat that was all over his body.
“She’s attractive.”
“Yes, she is.”
“You have a fight tonight,” Lesak said.
“I know, I do,” Talon replied.
“Just reminding you is all. See you later.” Lesak gave his shoulder a squeeze as he too left the cage.
Once everyone was out of the cage, Lindy felt it was safe enough to walk forward to meet him. She didn’t know what had happened, but it looked like there was a real fight brewing between Talon and Rage. She had thought they were friends.
“Hi.” Damn, her communication skills needed a lot of work.
Talon gave her a sexy smile. “Hello, Lindy. How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Much better now that you are here,” he said it with sincerity.
“So where are we going for lunch?” she asked while he was climbing out of the cage.
“I need to take a quick shower and change. Then I thought we could go to one of the restaurants on the spaceport.”
“Sounds great. Did you want me to wait for you in the lobby while you change?” Lindy looked a little unsure.
“You can come with me to my suite and wait. That’s if you feel comfortable with that.” He stood before her within arm’s reach.
Lindy paused. She would get to be alone with Talon in his suite. “Okay.”
Talon pointed in the direction of the exit and started to walk her out. When he placed his hand on her lower back, Lindy felt her whole body shiver. Her nipples hardened and she felt herself grow wet between her thighs.
“Are you cold?” Talon asked, glancing down at her stiff nipples pressing against her tight tank top.
Lindy knew it would only draw more attention if she tried to cover herself up. She shrugged and tried to play it off. “A little. I forgot my sweater.”
Talon wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his body. “I have more body heat than the average human. Let me warm you.”
Damn. She’d like to let him warm her all night long. How was she supposed to get through lunch without throwing herself across the table to get to him? He was the sexiest thing on two legs she had ever seen. She snuggled closer and enjoyed being in his arms.
Once they got to Talon’s suite, he excused himself to go to the bathroom so that he could shower. The whole time Lindy kept imagining him naked under the warm water, lathering his body with a sponge. She desperately wanted to lick all the water off him and rub him all over with her hands. Come on Lindy! Get a grip.
Lindy tried to distract herself by looking around his suite. The suite looked similar to a hotel room. The bedroom was separate from the small sitting area. She noticed a few picture frames sitting out on the dining table. She picked one up that showed an image of a beautiful, brown-haired woman holding a little boy about four years old. She frowned. Was he married? She hadn’t even asked him that. She put the picture back down and started pacing the small living space. There was no way that she would date a married man. No way!
“Lindy? Lindy!”
“What?” She hadn’t heard him come out of the bedroom. That was the fastest shower she had ever seen a man take, ever.
“Is something wrong? You look agitated.”
Lindy was speechless. Talon stood there with a pair of jeans hanging loose and unbuttoned as he held his shirt in his hand, leaving his hairless chest bare to her view. She watched in amazement as all the bruises and scratches he got from his fight were already starting to fade away. Oh God, he was beautiful. Like a sculpture created by an artist. She wanted him but there was a reason nagging at her that she shouldn’t want him. Why shouldn’t she want him? Oh yeah, the brown-haired woman with the child in the picture.
“Are you married?”
“What?” Talon looked at her in shock.
“I didn’t ask before, are you married?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. If I were married, I would not be going out with you. I am not a cheater.”
Lindy blushed. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I saw the picture and thought—” She pointed to the picture of the woman and little boy.
Talon walked over to the table and picked up the picture. He ran a finger over the image with a loving caress. “This was my mother, Elaine. She was holding me still so that our friend, Lesak, could take a picture of us.”
Lindy walked up behind him and leaned her head forward against his bare back. “I am so sorry. I saw the picture of a beautiful woman with a child and assumed the worst. You said that it was a picture of your mother? Is she no longer living?”
Talon put the picture back on the table and turned to take Lindy in his arms. “She passed away when I was ten. So—you were jealous?” He used his hand to gently tilt her face up toward him.
Lindy nodded. “Yes.” She figured there was no sense in denying it.
“Does that mean that you want me for yourself?”
Lindy couldn’t speak. She just nodded her head again.
Talon gave her a dazzling smile. “That’s a good thing, because I want you, too.” He leaned down to kiss her but paused. “You’re not married, are you?” he teased her.
