She nestled against him, resting her hand on his thigh. He sucked in a breath and held it. Poor guy. Touch was obviously something he wasn’t comfortable with. But he was doing it to help her feel better.
“Thanks,” she said.
“I am merely performing my duty.”
“I seriously doubt snuggling was part of your orders.”
“Snuggling. No.” He glanced at her briefly before returning to his continual survey of their surroundings.
“Tell me more about the Tau Ceti. What do they want with Earth?”
“They want something from Earthlings.”
“I’m guessing this isn’t an Earth Girls are Easy kind of situation based on what happened in the locker room.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s a movie about aliens who come to Earth basically looking for sex.”
He let out a brief snort. So, he was capable of finding things amusing. Very good.
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” she said.
He stared at her for several long moments. She held his gaze, letting herself smirk as she cocked an eyebrow at him. If he was interested in experimenting…
“They’re siphoning off hormones humans generate when they’re happy,” he said.
Well, that killed the moment.
She remembered the sharp fangs in the Tau Ceti from the locker room and Brendan’s nickname for the aliens. Vampire space frogs. A chill ran down her spine. She turned away and looked out the window as she pulled herself together.
Shit. This was real. And these things were feeding on people.
“When they…collect…what does it do to the person?”
“We aren’t sure. We can only guess it disrupts the Earthling’s body chemistry, leading to sadness or depression.”
Great. As if there wasn’t enough of that in the world already.
She took a deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips. “I still don’t see how I’m involved.”
“The Tau Ceti have set up at least one base of operations on Earth. We were able to intercept a record of some samples you took that match the ecosystem on Tau Ceti 6—their homeworld.”
“How different from Earth’s natural ecosystems are we talking?”
“Different enough. Tau Ceti 6 is warmer than Earth and covered in dense foliage and moisture. It’s similar to an equatorial swamp on Earth, but there are key chemicals the Tau Ceti need to thrive. Those chemicals are not harmonious to indigenous lifeforms.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
It was bad enough that she had to protect the Earth from humans, but now she had to fight to get vampire space frogs to stop messing up the environment, too?
“Where were the samples taken?” she asked.
“We weren’t able to determine that.”
“Well, then, let’s see if we can figure it out.”
The bus pulled up to the curb near the office building where she worked. She and Khel stood and made their way back out into the sweltering day. As the bus pulled away from them, she glanced around. It was creepy thinking that any of the people walking by could actually be aliens.
“Is this what you really look like?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You look like an Earthling. Is it a disguise?”
“No, this is how I was made.”
“Made?”
His lips thinned again. “Sadirians are genetically engineered.”
“Oh wow. Please tell me everyone looks like you where you’re from.”
“They don’t.” The words were clipped and he was glaring at her again.
“Okay. Sensitive topic.”
She headed toward her office building and he followed. Somehow, she had to get Khel past Harry, the security guard at the front desk. Since barely anyone used the building on weekends, Harry was always the only one on duty. Budget restrictions.
The building didn’t house anything that was deemed classified, so a single guard paid for by the building’s management worked for everyone. Her group of environmental scientists had one floor, and the others were occupied by various businesses.
Nobody on Earth thought her work was important. She couldn’t believe people from outer space were so interested.
“The process isn’t infallible,” Khel said.
He spoke so abruptly that she had trouble tracking him at first.
“What process?”
“Genetic engineering. Mistakes are made.”
“Is that what happened with the Tau Ceti?”
They looked like the same species to her. Hell, all the aliens looked like humans, until they started to do things like stick to walls.
“No, the Tau Ceti are a different species entirely. Their engineers have been highly successful in crafting individuals who appear Sadirian. The Tau Ceti who attacked you looks much more Sadirian than I.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m considered an unsuccessful specimen.”
She laughed at that. Hard and long.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re serious? You realize on Earth you’re considered absolutely gorgeous, right?”
His scowl deepened.
“I’m not teasing. You could have your pick of partners.” Hell, he could have her in a heartbeat. “That’s not why you haven’t experienced Coupling, is it?”
She wanted to know why this was such a sensitive subject for him. The thought of him being rejected because of how he looked was baffling and tragic. His society must have really different standards of beauty.
“I’ve had opportunities. The Arbiter is populated entirely by glitches like myself.”
And there it was—the real reason it was an issue for him. A label conveniently marking him and others like him as being of less value. Glitches.
“I don’t like that word,” she said.
He paused briefly. “Neither do I.”
She reached out and held his hand, smiling when he looked down at her. He smiled back. It was over so fast, she thought she might have imagined it. She hoped she hadn’t.
Chapter Four
Bypassing the security guard was a disturbingly simple matter. He appeared to be sleeping when they arrived. They managed to slip past him unnoticed. If one of Khel’s soldiers had been caught sleeping on duty…
He wasn’t certain what the penalty would be. It had never happened before.
Earthlings certainly seemed to be relaxed about many things. Like Paige with her constant touches and talk of Coupling—sex. Trapped in a small lift with her, she once again turned to her favorite line of inquiry.
“Does Coupling enhance sex for the people who use it?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Right. Sorry. But you’ve never been curious? Even when you had those opportunities you mentioned?”
He had never been curious. At least, not aboard the Arbiter. But the skin of his thigh still tingled from her touch, his penis remaining half-engorged since the moment they had met, it seemed. Holding her against his side had felt peaceful, even while it set parts of him stirring. Khel was bewildered by the effect she was having on him—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Primarily physically.
“Do you ever think about anything but sex?” he asked.
“Of course I do. But sex is one of my best coping mechanisms for stress, and in case you hadn’t noticed, this is a pretty stressful situation. Plus I’ve read way too many books with elevator sex scenes. Even without our earlier conversation, riding in an elevator with a guy like you would have me thinking through scenarios.”
A guy like him? His cheeks heated, a strange prickling sensation spreading over his skin.
How would someone go about having sex in an elevator? He was too tall to lay prone on the floor. If she took off her jeans, she could wrap her legs around his waist and he could hold her in place by pinning her to the wall…
Where in the name of the Solar Cross had that thou
ght come from? His penis stiffened further and he shifted his weight to try to be more comfortable. Her gaze slid down his body, and she smirked at him again.
Infuriating. Exasperating.
What if she held onto the railing while he took her from behind…
A bell sounded.
“This is where we get off.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows up and down. It was strangely comical, and he laughed.
Laughing. He had done it with his comrades, of course, during late nights of games and after their many victories. This one was different. Smaller, yet deeper. It made his chest feel less heavy.
He needed to focus.
Paige threaded her hand through his arm, locking their elbows, and leaned into his side. “Let’s go.”
The doors opened and she led him onto a semi-lit level of the building. The dim environment would be perfect for Tau Ceti vision. He pulled himself more to attention.
“My office is this way.”
He followed her to a small room lined with tables and a desk. Every horizontal surface was covered with papers. She dropped her bag on the floor.
“What is this?” he asked.
“My filing system.”
“This isn’t a system. This is chaos.”
“Carefully contained chaos. Have a seat.”
She spun her chair toward him. Khel doubted he would fit.
“I prefer to stand guard at the door.”
“I don’t know what I’m looking for. I need you to go over this data with me.” She patted the back of the chair. Reluctantly, he scrunched himself into the seat. She leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Sitting in the chair, no. Her warm breath on his neck was another matter. He shifted in his seat again. She patted his shoulder and grinned at him.
She started to go through papers, setting stacks in front of him. “These are the most recent topographic maps. Aerial photos from the last few years. I’ve been focusing on the impact of climate change on nearby wetlands.”
“Is any of this data available digitally?”
She shook her head. “I know it’s ironic, but we haven’t had funding to upgrade our systems and still rely way too much on paper. We recycle everything, at least. My interns were supposed to scan these into the computers eventually, but we were always too busy getting out in the field and collecting samples, running tests… I figured I’d get around to entering it all in the system eventually.”
Khel nodded. “Then the Tau Ceti have no idea how much you know. They could easily hack your computer systems, but since you only have hard copies, they’ll have to come here. They’ll want to know what you’ve figured out.”
“I haven’t figured out anything. But we’re going to change that.”
She turned around and bent over her desk to reach some papers that were stacked on the very back corner. Her jeans hugged the curves of her backside. He was already reaching for her hips when she straightened. He quickly diverted to the papers in front of him instead. She didn’t seem to have noticed. Leaning against the desk, she pulled one side of her lower lip between her teeth and started to read.
Putting his attention into their work was an excellent idea. Maybe it could push the thoughts of her out of his mind. Time passed where the only sound in the room was the rustling of paper.
What was happening to him? His thoughts kept straying back to her.
She was holding up remarkably well. He still couldn’t believe she had attacked a Tau Ceti soldier. One with cybernetic enhancements. True, she hadn’t known what she was fighting, but she refused to let Khel face the threat alone—even though she was naked.
Paige naked.
Their conversation had made him start to think, to question ways he had perceived the world and himself. His place in it, how he interacted with others.
He had been approached before by Sadirians interested in using Coupling with him. He had never been tempted in the least. The idea had frankly been off-putting. But thinking of Paige, with her soft curves and steel will—
“I think I found something.”
She placed a map in front of him, then turned around and sat in his lap. He let out a grunt.
“I’m not that heavy,” she said. “Sheesh.”
Her attention was on the sheets of paper in her hands, which was good. His grunt hadn’t been about her weight. She was sitting snug up against his erection, that beautiful backside pressing against him. Every time she moved even an iota, he felt it reverberate through his entire body.
“Are you okay? You sound like you’re about to hyperventilate.” She looked at him over her shoulder. “Oh sorry. I forgot you don’t like to touch.”
She started to stand, but he grabbed her hips to hold her in place.
“It’s okay,” he grated. He stopped himself from adding, I want more.
The concern on her face slowly softened into something else. A slight smile, not quite the smirk she’d been taunting him with since they met. She cleared her throat and turned back to her papers, holding a bit more still, thank the stars.
“These are the numbers from the testing we did last year in some swampland we’re watching closely.” She held up another sheet of paper next to it. “These are the numbers from this year. I don’t know how much of this you understand, but I can tell you this is really weird.”
He didn’t need her to explain. He could see for himself. The numbers matched the samples that Brendan and Kira had told Adam about.
“These are the samples we’re looking for,” Khel said. “Where did you find them?”
The look on her face was not encouraging. She set aside the papers and started pointing at the map she had placed in front of him.
“The results are the same for samples we gathered here, here, here…”
She pointed at various spots on the map. Over and over again, the range covering a staggering amount of territory.
Khel leaned forward. Without even thinking about it, he wrapped one arm around her waist to keep her steady.
The geography of the area was filled with swamp dotted by small lakes. All connected through the same waterways. He shook his head.
“This isn’t a base,” he said. “This is a breeding ground. The Tau Ceti are creating spawning pools.”
Chapter Five
Paige didn’t need Khel to tell her how bad that was. She was very aware of how destructive it could be when an invasive species was introduced. The Tau Ceti were working to gain a foothold on Earth and she had no idea how to stop them.
“We must get this information to Adam,” Khel said.
“Who’s that?”
“My commanding officer. Measures will be taken.”
She felt the faintest glimmer of relief. It was quickly overshadowed by her experience and knowledge. Introducing another species to take out an already invading species…
“I know you’re working with Brendan and that makes me trust you—partly. But I have to ask, Khel. Are you the good guys? Will you really help Earth, or are you just making room for your own people to come in and exploit our planet?”
He stared at her intently. Then he looked away. Not a good sign.
“The Coalition has designated Earth as a preserved planet. It’s supposed to be protected.”
“Supposed to be?”
“We’ve discovered some issues recently.”
“Like vampire space frog issues?”
“Possibly worse.”
Great.
“What are we going to do about it?” she asked.
Somehow, Khel didn’t feel like a bodyguard. He felt like a partner. Maybe because he was actually listening to her instead of trying to control her.
“To begin, get you to my ship,” he said. “Adam will need the information we’ve discovered to create the best course of action.”
Khel rose, lifting her from his lap. He stood close, resting his hands on her arms.
“What about Earth authoriti
es? Don’t you have a secret connection to our government leaders or something?”
“That would be a very bad idea.”
“This is our planet. We need to be able to help decide how to protect it.”
“Earth isn’t ready.”
So much for being partners. She pulled away from him. “Why do you get to decide that?”
“Because we’ve seen what happens when planets as rich in resources as Earth are given a seat at the Coalition table too soon. The leaders want access to technology, and they arrange trade after trade until their planet is as barren and stripped as all the others in the Coalition.”
“Then help us. Educate us. Limit us, when necessary, but at least give us a voice.”
“You sound just like your brother.”
She rolled her eyes.
“It’s already happening, Paige. Brendan and Adam are setting it up. Not necessarily with government leaders, but we’re starting to approach individuals that we think can handle it. It’s early, but we’re forming a First Contact council for Earth.”
“Oh. Well…good.”
“Brendan wants you on it to represent environmental issues.”
She snorted. Yeah, right. Paige Sloan in charge of helping aliens make sure nobody messed up the Earth. Maybe even teaching them how to manage resources on the other planets in their “Coalition” and restore the environments they had stripped bare.
Wait…
“Seriously?”
A thrill of excitement shot through her. All she had ever wanted to do was protect Earth. Now she knew that there were threats to her homeworld beyond her imaginings, other planets that needed healing—and she might be able to help.
“It will only happen if we survive,” Khel said. “Come on.”
He opened the door to her office a crack and peered out, then closed it again.
Paige almost bounced off his back. “I thought we were leaving.”
“The guard is patrolling.”
Crap.
“I didn’t know he even did that.”
She glanced around the small space, looking for a place to hide. Having the furniture pressed against the walls helped prevent avalanches from all the reports she had to process, but it didn’t make for good hiding places. Why hadn’t management stopped with all the printouts already? They were supposed to be environmentalists, for crying out loud.
Business or Pleasure (The Department of Homeworld Security Book 3) Page 3
