Talking Dogs, Aliens and Purple People Eaters

by Shelley Munro

  “It’s coconut,” Luke said. “I’ll show you a picture when we get home.”

  Home. Janaya’s mind seized the word. Back on Dalcon, she lived at the bodyguard quarters in a single room. Whenever she had time off, she stayed with her aunt—if she was around. Otherwise, work doubled as home.

  Would her father ever make her feel welcome at the family home? Janaya had hoped her promotion coupled with her joining to Santana would make the difference. Maybe. Maybe not. Luke didn’t know how lucky he was to have a father who supported him.

  Predictably, Luke’s hands went straight to her breasts. Janaya’s nipples tightened along with the muscles in her tummy. She held her breath in acute anticipation but at the last second, he grinned and jerked his hands away. They hovered inches above her breasts, so far yet so close.

  “Turn over, I’ll do your back first.” Laughter filled his voice.

  The wretch knew exactly the effect he was having on her. Janaya pouted before she obeyed his order. She glanced over her shoulder and considered wrestling him to the ground and torturing him until he gasped deep at the back of his throat and willingly touched her. Right where she needed his hands. The need to have his touch, his hands curving around her breasts, trailing down the silky skin of her belly and sliding over her dew-drenched clit pumped like a fever through her veins. A compulsion to follow through shook her control. And the wretch knew it. She had half turned to rise when his chuckle made her freeze.

  “Don’t cheat, Janaya. We both know you’re stronger.” Humor lit up his gorgeous brown eyes. “Be gentle with me.”

  “Humph,” Janaya snorted, fighting the impulse to throw the smug male on his back, straddle his hips and tease him until he whimpered. She expelled a haughty sniff. “I wouldn’t think of cheating. It’s against the bodyguard’s code.”

  “I’ll have to read this code of yours,” Luke said with a chuckle.

  “Really?”

  His soft laugh filled the clearing. “I’ve discovered I’m curious about aliens.”

  Luke’s interest delighted her because he sounded genuine. It made her think of the future. If she had one, she amended with sick dread. She’d have no way of knowing if she’d been declared AWOL and charges laid against her until she faced her superiors. With a tremulous sigh, Janaya subsided onto the blanket and tried not to worry.

  “You ready for this?”

  “Give it your best shot.” Janaya couldn’t help but smile as she lay with her head pillowed on her hands. Her mood lightened into anticipation.

  Impatience.

  Taut expectation.

  Prickles danced across every inch of her skin as she waited and imagined what waited. Every sense worked overtime clamoring to give her clues. She felt his muscular thighs when they slid either side of her back, heard the rustle of the blanket as he settled in place and the joyous singing of a small brown bird perched in a tree on the other side of the clearing. Of course, she couldn’t see since Dalcon inhabitants weren’t lucky enough to have eyes in the back of their heads but the coconut scent drove her crazy with the need to physically hurry Luke along. The Earthman was an evil tyrant.

  Janaya sensed his intent to start a fraction of a second before his thigh muscles flexed against her hips. A groan of pure relief escaped when his hands finally connected with her back and slid down, slippery with lotion. A sigh wrenched from her when his fingers kneaded and stroked the muscles in her back. Gradually he worked his way across her shoulders and waist, alternating feathering strokes with more pressure and then kneading his way down her spine. Janaya moaned and relaxed further into the blanket. Luke chuckled and moved further down her body. Janaya sensed him looking at her buttocks and they gave an involuntary twitch. The plastic bottle wheezed a protest when he squeezed more lotion out. His hands rolled and plucked, massaged and kneaded her ass. Arousal replaced relaxation without warning. Each move of his hands shot anticipation to her clitoris and pussy. Janaya tried to widen her legs in a silent plea for him to fill her pulsing emptiness. She wriggled and ached for fulfillment. Another smug masculine laugh filled the air. He knew of her desperate need yet he continued to taunt her with erotic forays closer and closer to her weeping channel.

  Instead of giving her fulfillment, he moved down her thighs, massaged her calves and feet until she felt like a puddle again. Janaya didn’t think she’d ever forget the smell of coconut. It would forever be entwined with Luke and picnics.

  Finally, Luke smacked her lightly on the butt. “Time to do your front.”

  Janaya turned lethargically and relaxed on her back to stare up at him. Dark, stormy eyes—aroused eyes—met her gaze and it was difficult to miss the erection that rubbed her belly when he straddled her legs. Smugness filled Janaya then. Soon, she’d prod him into losing his patience. He’d catch fire instead of stoking the inferno that ignited in her. She watched him intently with lust and yearning on her mind. Soon, they’d both burn and the flames of passion would consume them.

  Luke tilted the bottle up and squeezed a stream of white lotion in a crisscross pattern on her breasts. “I think I’m gonna enjoy this. It’s hard to decide where to start.” He licked his lips in a rapacious manner but evaded her pouting, needy nipples and breasts to massage of blob of lotion into her right shoulder, his hands tracing the dips and hollows along her collarbone.

  Her breath escaped in a disappointed rush. “You know what you said about cheating,” Janaya said in a husky voice.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m thinking seriously about doing it.”

  “Doing it?” His brows waggled. “Or cheating?”

  A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “I think they’re the same thing.”

  “Hmmm.” Luke stilled then bent to snatch a kiss. A hit-and-run kiss that left her wanting. “And what does cheating consist of? What would happen to me?”

  Janaya licked her lips while she considered the question. The tormenting ache low in her belly ratcheted upward to a sharp, spiky awareness. “Well…first I’d have to overpower you. And maybe I’d lay you out on the blanket spread-eagled ready for my dining pleasure.”

  The hand resting on her right shoulder tensed, relaxed and then lowered to absently toy with a nipple. A groan built and her mind fogged. All she needed to do was move a fraction…yes…just like that. Luke’s palm curved around her breast and squeezed with exactly the right amount of pressure.

  “Janaya?”

  “Yes.”

  “I quite like the sound of that.” Luke smiled and her heart went pitter-patter. “Maybe we’ll try that another time?”

  “Whatever you want,” she murmured. “Luke?”

  “Yes, sweetheart.”

  “Please don’t tease me anymore.”

  “Not even a bit?”

  Janaya’s heart seemed to twist inside her chest. She wanted a snapshot of this moment in time—the exact second when she’d realized she cared deeply for this teasing Earthman. His brown eyes darkened as if he sensed her inner turmoil but his mouth softened into a gentle smile.

  “I’ll let you cheat another day,” he murmured, a promise in his eyes. “But I’m enjoying the teasing, sweetheart, so we’ll have to compromise.” As he spoke, one hand trailed past her breast and over her stomach. Janaya tensed, her breath coming in pants. But instead of touching her intimately, his hands came to rest on her upper thighs. She lowered her lashes to screen acute disappointment but then Luke tugged on her legs in a silent request for her to stretch them wide apart.

  “That’s perfect,” he said, his gaze on her moist folds.

  Janaya’s pulse spiked, excitement building to fever pitch at the intent look in his dark eyes. She swallowed, acute expectation making her mouth as dry as the hills that surrounded the Dalcon steppes.

  He parted her folds and lapped at her juices, passing close enough to her clit to give her a buzz but not near enough to push her over the edge into orgasm. Janaya lifted her hips in insistent invitation. Luke blew softly. Warm air tickled be
fore he circled her clit with his tongue. Now she had his attention where she needed it, frustration battled with a contrary wish to make her arousal last. He nibbled at her clit and covered the sensitive nub with his warm, moist mouth. A sharp current of pleasure shot to her toes. The warm sweep of his tongue finished her off, sending a mind-blowing, heartrending pleasure surging through her body, her mind, her soul. A series of smaller quakes shimmered through her before she relaxed against the blanket, her body humming with satisfaction. Luke moved his lips over her clit in a lazy kiss then moved up her body to hold her. When he moved his lips over hers in a slow, drugging kiss, she tasted herself on him. His kiss, his taste, sent new spirals of ecstasy swirling and when she felt the nudge of his cock against her leg, Janaya reached down to guide him inside her body.

  They both groaned when he slid to the hilt.

  Fully seated, Luke paused to brush the hair off her face. The tenderness on his face brought a hot ache to her throat. He withdrew almost out of her before surging home, slow and easy, never taking his eyes off her. He felt impossibly hard inside, each lazy plunge into her heat stoking the fire, making her ignite and flame with passion. Luke kissed her, their tongues mating in a sensual dance. The first stirring of pleasure stole her breath. She tensed as bliss claimed her yet again. Luke groaned his own pleasure and she felt the spurt of his seed deep inside. They held each other, riding the passionate storm until it passed into lazy relaxation.

  Luke held her tight. “You make me feel so good,” he murmured, low and gruff.

  In answer, Janaya kissed him, trying to communicate her feelings with touch, taste and cuddles. One thing was certain. This wasn’t a game anymore. This was something more, something profound and life altering. Janaya was suddenly afraid.

  * * * * *

  They walked hand in hand down the leaf-strewn track, Janaya savoring the closeness between them and the warmth of his hand.

  “I had a great day.” Luke stopped and kissed her lips, lingering over the job.

  “Me too,” she said.

  Luke helped her over the stile that straddled the fence and they ambled up to the back door. Luke produced a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. The phone rang the minute they stepped inside.

  Luke frowned. “Pity the real world has to intrude. I’d better answer in case it’s Tony.”

  Janaya watched him prowl across the kitchen with approval and a tinge of pride. Her man. Until she left for Dalcon.

  Luke barked a hello then listened to the caller on the other end. “No comment!” he snarled.

  Janaya winced at the crash of the phone. “Something wrong?”

  Luke didn’t answer but stomped through the house. Seconds later, he returned with a newspaper.

  “A special edition,” he snapped thrusting a wad of rumpled paper at her.

  Janaya unfolded the paper. Shock froze Janaya in place. “That’s me.”

  “The bastards obviously followed us,” Luke snarled. His gut twisted in fury, anger at the violation of their privacy making him want to lash out.

  Kissing Cousins

  The headline wasn’t so bad but the topless photo of Janaya really pissed him off. Janaya was out of bounds—for his eyes only and not for publication on the front page of the Sloan Gazette.

  The phone rang again.

  “Leave it,” Luke ordered. “I’m going to the station. Damage control.”

  “I’ll come too,” Janaya said.

  Luke hesitated, knowing from experience how bad things would get.

  “We’ll do it together,” Janaya stated.

  Luke’s heart leapt. Together. What had he done to deserve a woman like Janaya?

  Chapter Twelve

  “Mrs. Bates, you are free to complain to the censorship board,” Luke said through his teeth. His hand gripped the telephone hard enough that his knuckles whitened. “Yes, I am still investigating the UFO matter. No, I am not attending the meeting. Yes, I will let you know if there are developments. Goodbye, Mrs. Bates.”

  Luke managed to place the phone down gently before he kicked his desk. The roar of pain that shot up his leg concentrated his fury. “Goddamned bloody woman!” he howled.

  Janaya leaned back in Luke’s swivel chair. “Do you want me to hurt her for you? Maybe arrange her body parts?”

  “Good idea,” Luke growled. “Visit Marcie Montgomery while you’re at it. You’ll find them both at the bloody town meeting the UFO hunters organized.” He checked his watch. “Starts in exactly five minutes.”

  Janaya stood and stepped toward the door.

  Luke felt his eyes bug. “Where are you going?”

  “To punish Mrs. Bates,” Janaya said.

  His mouth opened then closed. Then he caught the glint of humor in her eyes and sank onto the corner of his desk. “You’re kidding.”

  “Yeah.” Janaya wrinkled her nose. “Though personally, I’d like to do something nasty to Mrs. Bates. Between her, the reporters and the UFO hunters—” Janaya broke off abruptly.

  “What is it?”

  “Torgon. I can hear their clicks as they communicate.”

  “Holy shit,” Luke breathed. That was the last thing they needed. Visible proof for the people of Sloan that aliens existed and are alive and well walking amongst them. “We have to find them before they’re seen, before someone gets hurt.”

  Janaya listened carefully but didn’t hear any further communications. “I’m sorry, I can’t fix a position for you.”

  “I have a Torgon weapon,” Luke said. His stomach went cold when he recalled the finality of the piles of purple ashes on the ground. “I think we should split up and search.”

  Luke saw the worry that clouded Janaya’s eyes. “We don’t have any other option. The people of Sloan are in danger along with my sanity. I don’t think I can take much more of the alien paranoia.”

  Janaya stared at him feeling helpless but unable to think of an alternative. “I’ll take the area where I heard them,” she stipulated. And hopefully, they were still there.

  “Any hints.”

  Janaya attempted a smile. “Shoot first and ask questions later.” Keep safe. I don’t want to lose you. The knowledge that she would leave soon and lose him anyway followed close on the heels of her first sobering thought. “Take care.”

  After checking in with Luke’s second-in-command, they hurried out the rear exit. Luke drove out of town the long way that took them in the opposite direction to the town hall. Once out of town, he slowed.

  “Which way?”

  “Let me out here,” Janaya said. “I haven’t heard any further communications but this is the area they were in.”

  Luke’s face held no expression but Janaya sensed his concern. She squeezed his shoulder trying to communicate her feelings and then leaned in to kiss him hard. She climbed from the Land Cruiser and watched Luke drive off.

  The sound of the vehicle faded. The buzz and click of insects filled the air along with the rustle of leaves in the nearby trees and the lowing of a cow. No Torgon. She sniffed and smelled nothing more than nature’s aromas—rich soil, green foliage and wildflowers. Worry still tinged her mind and burned in her gut. Instinct told her they shouldn’t have split up but what alternative did they have?

  Janaya checked the surrounding area for signs of life—Earthman or Torgon. Nothing. She drew a sharp breath and bounded off the ground to land on a rocky outcrop. Still nothing. Janaya drifted back to ground and decided to wander in the direction Luke had left to search.

  She rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt.

  “Hello, Janaya.”

  “Santana!” The Dalcon male stood before her with typical arrogance. His black shoulder-length hair was coiled in the elegant coils of the noble caste. The purple fabric of his suit was so dark it was almost black and another sign of the ruling caste. The male was the stuff of a Dalcon female’s dreams.

  A multitude of emotions assaulted Janaya. Dismay. Shock. Regret. And guilt. Guilt filled Janaya as she
studied the familiar face of the man she intended to join with. She felt nothing for him. Not after loving Luke. The most shocking thought to bombard her was that she no longer wanted to complete the ceremonial joining. She loved Luke. He was the one who made her feel worthy, as if she mattered.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Where’s Hinekiri? I wish to speak with her.”

  The Dalcon male refused to meet her gaze. “Hinekiri is not here.”

  “You lie.”

  Alarm sounded in Janaya. Something’s wrong with this picture. Why would Santana travel to this distant outpost to find them?

  “I want the charts,” Santana snarled. “And I intend to have them.”

  Ah, now the truth emerged. “I don’t think so.” Janaya folded her arms across her chest. “The charts belong to Hinekiri.”

  Fury and distaste chased across his face with starling clarity. “Bah! You’re a peasant—a worthless nobody. And now a criminal.” His dark eyes flashed with triumph. “You’ve been announced AWOL. At this very moment they’re hunting you like the common criminal you are.”

  The venom in his voice took Janaya by surprise. She’d known of his indifference but the hate and sheer fury toward her was new.

  “You will hand over those charts,” Santana stated in a hard voice. “I intend to take them with me.”

  A tight band formed around her chest and suddenly Janaya had trouble breathing. Thoughts bounded through her head like startled rabbits. Had he ever intended to complete the joining? “Is that why you agreed to join with me? Because of the charts?”

  A scornful laugh battered at her pride. “Join with you? Your father was so desperate to rid himself of you he paid me. I needed money so I took it. Stupid bitch. He gave me directions to find you.”

  Pain struck her hard and deep. Proof of her father’s indifference. He’d sold both her and Hinekiri out.

  * * * * *

  Luke didn’t see a single Torgon, not so much as a shiny purple flash of their god-awful suits. He should have felt relief but he had a bad, sinking feeling deep in his gut. Cop instinct kicked in big-time. A black tui burst out of a clump of flax bushes, flying low and barely clearing his head. Luke started then let loose a low, blistering curse. Oh, yeah. Something stunk to high heavens in the town of Sloan.