by Christy,Dena
Had she fallen into an alternate universe? Not only was he calling her by her given name, again, he was putting his hands on her. He wasn’t acting like himself, and she didn’t really want to know why. She had done nothing to provoke him, she’d only wanted to clear up her confusion about the alien, and he’d snapped. She knew she didn’t want to be alone with him anymore and took another step away from him.
His hand dropped from her arm, and his expression closed up so that she couldn’t read anything on his face. She resisted the urge to wipe her hand up and down her arm as if that would erase the feel of his touch.
“I would like you to forget what you’ve seen and learned today. You did not have clearance to be in the observation lab, and the military considers what goes on in there to be of a classified and sensitive nature. I don’t need to tell you not to speak of this to anyone.”
“No sir.” She kept her eyes glued on the spot to the left of his shoulder. Maybe if she didn’t look at him, she wouldn’t provoke him into touching her again. She wanted this interview to be over so she could get the hell away from him.
“You can go home for the day, and your wages will be docked for today. Going forward we will pretend none of this happened.”
What part? The part where I saw the alien, or the part where you manhandled me?
She kept that to herself, and it was a relief to be able to get out of here for the day. All things considered, he’d let her off lightly, and she didn’t want to push her luck any further.
“Yes sir.” She turned and walked toward the door. His voice stopped her when her hand came out to grasp the door knob.
“Remember Citizen Reynaud.” His voice carried a hard edge, and she squeezed the door knob. Please don’t let him come near me again. “Not a word to anyone. There are things that happen in this world that are much worse than losing a job.”
His threat sunk in, and she could only nod her head as she opened the door.
She made herself walked at her normal pace as she left his office and closed the door behind her. The door solidly put the distasteful interview with him behind her, and she never wanted to be alone with him again. Something had changed in him during their discussion, and while she didn’t know what it was, it made an uneasy feeling erupt in her stomach.
She quickly tidied her desk and shut down her computer before he could come back out of his office. As she grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder, she looked at his door one last time. He was right about one thing. It would be better for her if she put the events of the day far from her mind. It would be dangerous to do anything else.
Chapter Five
John dragged his hand through his hair as he sat down in his chair. He should have maintained his control and handled that better. His tie felt like a noose around his neck, and he yanked on it until it loosened.
He’d let his feelings for Miranda interfere with his professionalism, and he couldn’t let that happen again. The alien was not his competition. How could he be? He wasn’t even human. John would triumph in the end and Miranda would marry him, she would have no choice. While he had hoped she would grow to love him in time, her feelings were of little consequence.
The telecom on his computer chimed, and he looked at his watch. With everything that had happened this afternoon he’d forgotten that his conference call with Commander Clancy had been rescheduled. He sat up straight in his chair, tightened his tie and smoothed down his hair. He touched the call open button and schooled his features into a bland professional expression
Commander Clancy’s stern face filled the screen, without a single silver hair out of place, or a speck marring his blue wool uniform jacket.
“I have little time to talk. I have back-to-back calls.” His mouth pulled down, and he gave John a hard look. The commander had not liked having his call rescheduled. John bowed his head for a moment. He would have to mollify his boss, even though rescheduling couldn’t be helped.
“I’m sorry I had to reschedule the call to this afternoon, sir. I’ll do my best to make certain it doesn’t happen again.”
“Tell me about the creature. Have you learned anything yet? Is there anything about him that would be useful to us?”
He needed to choose his words carefully. His boss could not know that he saw the alien as anything other than a test subject.
“Preliminary observations have shown us that he can camouflage his skin to make him look human. His features remain the same, humanoid in appearance. If I hadn’t seen what he could do with my own eyes, he would have fooled me into thinking he was like any other man.”
Miranda had been fooled. John squeezed his lips together as he chased that thought out of his head. She was a weak woman, and her head was turned by what appeared to be the perfect human male. He needed to focus on Clancy at the moment, not on his own petty jealousies.
“How does it work? Do you know? If we could determine what causes it, we could harvest and replicate it for military applications.”
They could harvest it.
He fought the smile that threatened to spread across his face. The solution to his problem was staring him in the face, and he’d been too blind to see it.
“We may have to take drastic measures to determine what causes the camouflaging sir.”
“What do you need to do John?” Commander Clancy looked at his watch and then back to him. “Well, get on with it.”
“We would need to kill him and perform an autopsy.” His boss may be smart, but he didn’t have a scientific mind. He wouldn’t know that to isolate the genetic material responsible for the alien’s natural defenses, only a small sample was needed, not his whole body. His boss’ military mind would tell him that killing was the sensible option.
“Do whatever you need to do.” Commander Clancy’s face winked out as he ended the call.
John leaned back in his chair and blew out his breath. He would have liked a few more days to study the alien while it was alive, but his hand had been forced. Neil had taken the opportunity to further study the alien away when he’d brought Miranda to him.
He pulled up his calendar and looked at it. Tomorrow was Friday, which was always a busy day, and he didn’t think he could squeeze killing the alien into his already hectic schedule. Besides, perhaps it was better to do what needed to be done on a weekend. He rarely worked on weekends anymore, but he would make an exception this once.
He opened the eight a.m. slotted and typed in “autopsy” and closed his calendar. Saturday would be the best day to do it. Miranda would have no cause to look at his calendar for a weekend day. The alien would be dead, and that would be the end of her infatuation with him.
He pulled his tie loose and tossed it aside. A quick glance at his watch told him everyone else would have gone home by now. It was the end of the day, and that made it okay to pull open the bottom drawer of his desk. There was a small bottle of scotch sitting in it. It was meant for entertaining military personnel, but he’d only put it in there on Monday and it was nearly finished.
But why shouldn’t he have a drink? It’s not like he had a problem, since it was now a socially acceptable time to be drinking, and besides, he had reason to celebrate. Miranda would soon be his, and once Saturday came and went, there would be nothing holding him back from putting in his application to marry her.
He put the bottle on his desk with a thunk, pulled a clean glass toward him and poured himself two fingers worth of alcohol. He raised the glass to his lips, and the sip he took burned its way down to his belly. The slight tremors in his hands, which had bothered him of late, stopped and he slouched back in his chair with the glass cradled in his hand.
There was little point in going to the gym now. His allotted hour was more than half finished, and there really was no reason for him to keep going. He’d foolishly thought that if he improved his body, perhaps Miranda would look at him and see someone she would enjoy being physical with. Her recoil at his touch earlier today told him that trying to
make himself attractive to her was a pointless endeavor. His time would be better spent engaged in other pursuits.
It didn’t matter. The alien would be eliminated the day after tomorrow and he would be the sole focus of Miranda’s attention.
A smile spread across his face as he raised his glass to his lips again. Soon he would have everything he wanted. Once the alien was dead, and he unlocked his secrets, he would put in his application to marry Miranda. It would go through since the government would reward him for doing such good work. His autopsy of the alien would be a triumph and the world would be at his feet. Miranda would beg him to be his wife.
He finished the rest of his drink and reached for the bottle to pour himself another. She would never recoil from him again, he’d make certain of that.
Once she was his wife, the only man she would be with was him. The events of today would soon be forgotten. Her attraction to the alien would not come between them, because after Saturday, the alien would cease to exist.
* * *
What a shitty day. She should go straight home, but instead she directed her car to go to Collette’s address. If there was anyone who could take her mind off everything, it was her best friend.
Why had she went with Neil? She never made waves, was always on her best behavior. Life was much safer that way. So why had she let her curiosity and thirst for something exciting get the better of her? If she’d been stronger to resist temptation, she would never have been in that room with him.
She sighed and sank back in her seat. He’d been beautiful, more beautiful than any man she’d ever seen. When he’d first looked at her he seemed so lost, so sad. His dark eyes had drawn her in, and it was only when she stood close to him that she’d seen they were navy not black as she’d first thought. She’d wanted to touch his hair, to see if the midnight strands had felt as soft as they looked under the harsh light of the observation room.
She’d only made it as far as his chest, and it’d been firm and warm. The beat of his heart had been strong and steady under her palm. He’d also been aroused, but she didn’t feel threatened by it. He appeared comfortable enough with his masculinity that he didn’t need to make a show of it. His eyes had stayed on her face, and he didn’t leer or make her feel like it was her fault that he was in that state.
“You are at your destination.”
She sat up straight. She was here already?
Good thing the car was driving. She hadn’t noticed going from work to here, her thoughts had so engrossed her.
She got out of the vehicle and walked to the front door of the building. She fished out the access card that would let her in, and she used it to open the door. The security guard at the desk looked up as she walked in and she waved to him.
“Is she home?” She paused in front of the desk, and he looked her up and down. She was a regular feature in the building, and he would know who she was here to see. She hadn’t thought to call Collette to see if she was in her apartment.
“I haven’t seen Miss Collette leave. Do you want me to call and check?” His eyes drifted down to her chest, and she rolled her eyes. No wonder he never gave her a hard time about using the pass to get in instead of letting him buzz her in like he was supposed to.
“It’s fine, I’ll take my chances.”
She walked away from him and into the elevator when the doors opened smoothly. There was no one in there with her, and the elevator didn’t stop on its way up to the seventh floor. The door dinged, and she walked out. It was a short trip down the hall to Collette’s apartment door. She raised her hand and knocked.
It took only a moment for Collette to open the door.
“Darling.” Collette pulled her close and hugged her. Once the greeting was dispensed with, she turned and floated away from the door on a perfume scented cloud. Miranda followed her into the living room as the door shut behind her.
Collette settled onto the sofa and the jeweled ring on her hand flashed in the light when she waved her hand toward the spot beside her. From the top of her shiny blond head to the tips of her red painted toe nails, Collette embodied a decorative female. She was the ultimate in arm candy, and for good reason. Her job was to provide companionship to whoever was willing to pay the most for her. Her beauty, grace and manners gave her an air of untouchability and drove the price up for her exponentially.
Collette had two glasses of wine already chilled and waiting, and she reached for the remote to shut off the security feed from the front of the building. No wonder Collette didn’t seem surprised to see her.
“Rough day?” Collette settled back against the soft cushions of the sofa and raised her glass to her lips.
Was it that obvious?
“It was interesting.” She picked up her glass and took a sip. How much could she tell Collette? “I’m not supposed to talk about it, I could get in a lot of trouble.”
Anything she said to Collette would stay between them, and she needed to talk about what had happened. Seeing him had confused her, stirred something inside that hadn’t been there before. Collette knew about men, maybe she would know what was happening in her head.
“Tell me. The best secrets are the ones that can get you into the most trouble. How much trouble are we talking about?” Collette’s blue eyes grew round a she leaned forward.
“According to Dr. Avery it could be worse than a firing.”
“That old stick would say that.”
For moment Miranda wished she hadn’t brought it up. Dr. Avery’s threat had been very real, and if he found out that she’d told, she didn’t think he would go as easy on her as he had earlier today.
“I’m not supposed to talk about tit.”
“How would they know? I won’t tell anyone, and I know you won’t. Besides, how exciting could it have been? From what you’ve told me, your job seems very boring. You know I live vicariously through you, career woman that you are.”
Miranda rolled her eyes. Collette was as much a career woman as she was, her career was just of a very different nature. Her friend wouldn't let it go, and she had a point. Neither of them were going to share that Miranda had told her anything.
“Do you remember that scientist I told you about? Neil?”
“The sloppy one who causes all kinds of shit who you went out on a date with? Did he do something untoward at work? Did you decide that you wanted to be more than friends after all and got caught making out in the supply cupboard?”
“Nothing like that. He came to me and asked me to take part in an experiment in the observation lab.” Miranda took another sip of wine. “I had a momentary lapse of judgement and went with him. You won’t believe what I saw when I got in there.”
“What?” Collette’s voice dropped to a whisper, and she leaned in closer.
“An alien.” Miranda closed her eyes for a moment as he remembered him.
“Like a space man alien? What did he look like?”
“Hot.” Her cheeks grew warm when she remembered what he’d looked like. Hot didn’t really do him justice.
“I want details.” Collette put her hand on Miranda’s arm and squeezed.
“They wanted to expose him to different stimuli, and Neil asked me to in the room with him. He was beautiful. Like really beautiful. He was very tall, and his body…well there aren’t words.”
“Try to come up with some. The last body I’ve seen is Reggie’s and hot he is not.”
“From what I could feel his body was very firm.” If she focused for a moment, the memory of his chest under her palm would come to her.
“How firm are we talking? And what part did you touch?” Collette wiggled her eyebrows as she took another sip of her wine.
“His chest.” Miranda pressed her lips together and shook her head at her friend. Obviously Collette had no idea what her work place was like if she thought she’d touched anything other than his chest. “There were three scientist watching us through the window. Did you think I reached down and gave him a hand job?�
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“You can make a lot of money doing that in front of an audience.” Collette winked at her, and Miranda let out small laugh. That would have given the scientist a show. “So he’s a tall, muscled babe. What else? What was his voice like?”
“I don’t know. I asked him his name, but he didn’t speak. I don’t think he understands our language or something. He had the warmest eyes, and he looked at me like he was seeing me. Not like the other ones.”
“So like you’re a person, and not just tits and ass? Do you think his species aren’t interested in human women that way?”
Miranda remembered the erection he had, and heat crept into her face.
“I’m guessing by the blush on your face that he is more than capable and willing to copulate with a human woman.”
“There is no point in thinking about that. He’s not available for anything, unless I want an audience.” The smile fell from her face and leaned back and rested the side of her face against the sofa cushion.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel bad for him, being trapped like that, so far from home.” Miranda forced a smile to widen her mouth. There as no point thinking about him, since there was nothing she could do to help him, no matter that a part of her wanted to. If just knowing about him could get her into a lot of trouble, the best thing she could do is put him from her mind. “That was my day. Do you have anything happening this weekend?”
Collette looked at her for a moment. Please say no more about him. She couldn’t talk about him any more, and hopefully her friend would let her change the subject. Collette sighed.
“Just Friday night. Reggie has a conference on Saturday, and so he thought he’d take me along to the hotel they are putting him in at the same time. I’ll spend the night there with him and come home on my own on Saturday. What can I say, he’s the king of romance.” There was a bitterness in her voice that Miranda hadn’t heard before and she tilted her head as she looked closely at her friend.
“Is something wrong?”
