“Interrogate? No. I simply wish to establish your level of expertise,” he replied without hesitation. “If it were your first, I would provide some sort of instruction. Since it’s not, I need to know you’re not … diseased.”

  “Diseased!” She gave a startled laugh.

  “It is an arrangement. Nakis mate for one of two reasons: to produce an heir or to reduce physical tension.”

  “I take it this isn’t your first time and you’re not diseased?” The mocking tone this time was mixed with bitterness.

  “Of course not to both.” Akkadi sensed he’d angered her. He almost understood why. A purebred human that relied upon emotion before logic was likely not going to take his cold approach to lovemaking well. He began to wonder if it was a mistake.

  Until his eyes slid over her body. That unrestrained emotion would be explosive in bed. He shifted, aroused by the fantasies running through his mind. He didn’t want to be attracted to her, and he certainly never fantasized about Naki women, who knew their place in bed.

  One night, and maybe his curiosity about bedding a human would wear off.

  “I’m not diseased,” she said finally. “Okay, so you’re going to have to tell me how exactly one of your … people performs this duty. God help me, I don’t want to disappoint you. You seem to have some really bizarre pre-conceived notions about all this.”

  “Naki women are generally very uninterested in the process. They understand it’s a form of release or a means to create an heir,” he explained.

  “You’re serious?” Mandy’s look at him was nothing short of incredulous. “What about for men?”

  “Same.”

  “You take no pleasure out of the process?”

  “Only what pleasure is necessary to further one of the two goals.”

  Mandy approached him, peering at him closely. “You know, I thought I should feel bad for doing this. But I feel worse for you.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “You don’t understand what you’re missing.”

  She reached up and touched his cheek. Warmth flared within him.

  “Well, you’re not a robot,” she said. “If you take no pleasure out of the process of performing this particular duty, you’re doing it wrong.”

  “Humans are the only who know how to do it correctly?” he asked coolly.

  Her eyes twinkled in sudden mischief. “If you’re afraid of a woman who doesn’t just lay there and let you do your thing, you might want to back out now.”

  “I’m not afraid of any such thing,” he assured her.

  “Do you want me?”

  “It’s not appropriate in my society to discuss such emotions.”

  “But it’s okay to sleep around.”

  “As a –”

  “I get it,” she said and rolled her eyes.

  Of all her quirks, that was the one he disliked the most. Blatantly disrespectful, a challenge to his well-established authority. It made his blood burn. She stood before him, as if waiting for him to touch her again.

  Akkadi didn’t. While he didn’t want his cousins touching her, he wasn’t entirely certain he was ready to either. She was too … different. She caused him to feel emotions that stayed with him when he left her.

  He started to think that he had spoken out of turn. Out of emotion. Was Mandy in his bed really what he wanted?

  Yes. Even if it made no sense.

  “Do you know how many men I’ve turned down?” she said. “They’d die for a chance to kiss me, let alone sleep with me. And you’re just standing here. Are you afraid?”

  “Afraid?” he repeated. “I have had many consorts.”

  “I have a feeling I’ll be the one instructing you.” She whirled to walk away.

  Instinctively, Akkadi caught her arm. It was one spurn too many for him this day. He said nothing, surprised by how unconcerned she was for his position or hers. She seemed excited about their arrangement and instructing him.

  Mandy gazed up at him quizzically, waiting for him to speak. When he didn’t, she shifted closer and rose to her tiptoes. She kissed him tentatively, her full lips pressing against his for a fraction of a second. She dropped back to the flats of her feet.

  “Coward,” she said again, this time more quietly. “You’re not even going to kiss me.”

  Suddenly, he wanted to do much more than kiss her. He wanted to meet her defiance in bed and watch her melt to his touch. No Naki woman ever stirred his loins like this human with her bright eyes and full lips.

  “May I kiss you?” he asked.

  “Um, yes.”

  Akkadi didn’t wait for her to spout more fire at him. He shifted forward to kiss her, uncertain what to expect. Unwilling to let her label him as the coward he knew he wasn’t, he didn’t stop with a simple peck on her lips. He kissed her firm and deep, his tongue flickering in to taste the sweet depths of her fiery mouth. The faint scent of her skin and hair aroused him, along with the idea of stripping off her clothes to see every inch of her skin. He waited for her to back down and become submissive like Naki women, who would never permit him to kiss them like this.

  Mandy leaned into him, responding to him with hunger. Not about to be outdone by a mere human, Akkadi laced an arm around her and loosened his control, wanting … needing to taste more of her, all of her. Her soft breasts were pressed against his chest, her lower belly against his arousal. Her hands did something no Naki’s ever had: they explored him, as if she was as interested in his body as he was hers. She ran fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck then over his shoulders and chest.

  Her taste was intoxicating, her body molding against his in a way that made primal need rise hot and fast within him. She was eager and passionate, matching his kisses with her own. She slid her hands under his shirt, her cool hands running from his abdomen to his chest. He resisted the urge to push one of those cool, soft palms down to his bulging penis. Naki women held no interest in his body, but Mandy was beyond curious. Her sensual exploration stirred a deeper level of desire than he had ever experienced. Mandy would be a partner in bed, not just a source of release.

  His normal cold, careful control began to thaw.

  His hands slid down her body, and he reveled in her firm, feminine shape. He rested them on her rounded bottom. He gripped her ass and pulled her hips into his. He had the urge to slide his fingers between her legs, into the hot depths he wanted to taste, before sinking his penis deep into her.

  A newfound instinct rose within him. He needed to claim her. It would be more than sex with Mandy; he wanted to make her his in every way, from tasting every inch of her skin to seeing her look at him the way his mother did his father.

  He wanted to possess her and keep her. Permanently.

  The new, primal sensations running through him jarred him. They weren’t logical, not when he had Hichele. They weren’t Naki.

  Which meant they were human. Recoiling from the realization, he broke off the kiss.

  “Akkadi,” Mandy whispered, her breath hot against his ear. “Don’t stop.”

  Akkadi hesitated, lost in the scent and feel of her body. She made him feel alive and out of control, his logic giving out to emotions and crippling need. He didn’t like the reminder of his human origins at all.

  With some fear, he realized the human side of him he thought he buried long ago was near the surface. He wanted to ignore his Naki duty and spend the night driving Mandy over the edge then following her to plummet into the overwhelming sensations of her body. He didn’t experience anything as wild as this sense of lust with Naki women, and the thought of giving into something he couldn’t control scared him.

  Duty. It was all Mandy could ever be. Whatever he felt, it was wrong.

  She reached for his face, and he pulled back. His senses were reeling, his ability to think almost gone. If he didn’t walk away now, he never would.

  Akkadi withdrew and took a few steps away.

  “Akkadi?” Mandy’s voice was confused. She was breathing hard, her face flushed and full limps plumper from his kisses. “What’s wrong?”

  Nothing. She was the most beautiful creature he’d seen on any world.

  “Perhaps later,” he replied in the coldest voice he could muster. “I am not aroused enough now.”

  Mandy was stunned.

  He walked away, leaving his quarters. He ached badly enough to taste her, to penetrate her slick depths, that he wasn’t certain where he went until he stood outside the battle bridge.

  Akkadi stopped to regain his composure, aware of how close he’d been to losing control. He expected to feel desire but not to this extent, where he hadn’t cared about anything else in the world.

  Which was a bigger mistake? Taking her on as a mistress or walking away from her? At that moment, he was pretty certain they were both two of the biggest mistakes he’d ever made in his life.

  Chapter Eight

  Mandy stood where she was until long after Akkadi left. A few times when they interacted, she thought she saw something in his gaze, something human that emerged from beneath the cold façade. When he kissed her, she knew he was capable of the type of passion she’d only dreamed of. His hands had explored her body in an unmistakable sign that he was interested, and his dick had been hard and thick against her belly.

  And then … nothing. He simply stopped. Walked away. Tried to shrug it off.

  Anger replaced her surprise. What kind of man walked away from her? She’d never had to fling herself at any man’s feet. Now, when she did, he rejected her and walked out, calm as could be.

  “What a royal jackass!” she all but shouted. Her thoughts were scattered from the intensity of his kisses.

  Was that his purpose? To show her he could kiss her like that and walk away? That he was in control of the situation?

  “Play his damned games, Mandy. He’s a means to an end,” she reminded herself. “Makes it easier to leave his ass when this is over.”

  Why was she disappointed, aside from being beyond turned on and dumped just when things were getting hot? She shook her head, agitated.

  She’d never misjudged a man as she did Akkadi. She thought for certain she would touch the human side of him in bed. He was intently fascinated with her body but tried hard not to show it. She knew there was more to him, and it bothered her that he kept himself hidden.

  Like she really was a business deal. Or maybe it was exactly as Akkadi said: their race had managed to rise above pleasure to view their world in boring black and white.

  What use was being alive if they didn’t let themselves feel anything?

  Mandy paced then let out a frustrated growl. Furious, she flung herself down in his bed.

  Had she rushed him? Maybe he made the agreement but wasn’t ready for her. Then why the barb about not being aroused when she touched his arousal?

  Akkadi’s scent from the sheets crept into her nose. It was rich, warm and spicy – the opposite of the man. The connection she experienced on the planet grew into lust in his arms. His body was perfect: lean, strong, masculine with thick thighs and biceps and a roped chest and back. She had never slept with anyone with such a sexy a body or dated someone whose scent snagged her attention and left her yearning for him.

  Thank god he’s a jackass.

  She rolled onto her stomach and gazed at her forearms. She didn’t notice the stinging welts when Akkadi touched her. Now that her fire was quieting, she began to feel them again. They were like her emotions: angry.

  He rejected her. What if he changed his mind? Fear grew within her, and she quickly capped it. She knew how to get home and who could send her there. All she had to do was wait it out and find a way to reel him in.

  She took a few deep breaths to quell her panic and closed her eyes, trying to focus on the positive. She drifted asleep, a dream soon filling the darkness of her mind.

  “This isn’t right,” the guy in the seat by the window said.

  Mandy glanced up from her smart phone. She had no signal despite the plane touching down and taxiing down the runway. Silently cursing the phone, she leaned forward to see what he was looking at.

  The Los Angeles fog was thicker than usual and black, almost like storm clouds hovering close to the ground. She thought she saw huge buildings nearby but they didn’t look like any kind of buildings she’d ever seen before. These were all made of black concrete, block-shaped and massive. There didn’t seem to be any windows. It had to be near nightfall; it was hard to see much of anything.

  “Yeah it’s kinda weird,” she replied. “At least there’s no storm.” She leaned back and checked her phone again.

  No signal. With a sigh, she began typing out the email she needed to send to her boyfriend. The one that said she was going to her mother’s, not home to him.

  “Are you a model?” the guy asked.

  “Was,” she said and rolled her eyes. “I just got fired. Shoots first thing in the morning aren’t my thing.”

  “Been there recently. It’s like a vacation. Try to enjoy the time off,” he said with a smile. “I’m Cesar.”

  “Mandy.” She offered her hand. They shook.

  The airplane rolled to a stop, and his attention shifted to the window once more. The sounds of seatbelts unbuckling filled the plane.

  “The captain has asked that everyone remains in their seats with their safety belts fastened until we have reached our gate,” a flight attendant said over the speaker system. “We are awaiting instructions on where our gate is.”

  A few people sat down obediently while most moved into the aisles. Mandy focused on her email, pausing thoughtfully to figure out how to tell him she wanted to break up.

  Was it really that cowardly to break up over email? A video gamer tester, he would at least see the email, whereas most of the time, he rarely heard anything she said to him. She debated for a moment then continued typing.

  It’s not you. It’s me. And my career.

  She almost laughed. She had no career anymore.

  “This is just weird,” Cesar mumbled again. “This can’t be LA.”

  “It’s a huge city. You get used to it after awhile,” she said without looking away from her note.

  “Do they always send armed guards to greet the plane?”

  “Armed what?” she asked, uncertain she heard him with the talking passengers in the aisle next to her.

  “Guards. As in, there’s like an entire platoon circling the plane.”

  Puzzled by his explanation, Mandy locked her smart phone and put it in her purse. She unsnapped her seatbelt and shifted into the middle seat to see what Cesar was talking about.

  “Oh, weird,” she said. Just as he described, there was a line of men in black uniforms with what looked like oxygen masks and strange gear. She didn’t see guns, but they carried some kind of weapons.

  “I’ve never seen riot gear like that,” Cesar said.

  Mandy leaned forward, crowding him, frowning as she tried to recall ever seeing such a scene before when she traveled to LA. One of the men tossed something onto the wing. It was small and black, like a hockey puck. It touched the plane and turned into a white-blue blaze too bright to look at. She shaded her eyes, trying to see what it did.

  When the light faded, she lowered her hand.

  “The wing’s gone,” Cesar whispered.

  She stared. He was right. The strange puck had disintegrated half the wing. Nothing remained. Not even dust.

  “Did we just really see that?” she asked.

  “Oh, shit,” Cesar breathed.

  The same man approached the side of the plane, another puck in hand.

  “C’mon. We need to get the fuck out of here,” Cesar said.

  He rose fast enough to smash his head against the low overhead luggage bins and to smack her chin. Mandy stared, unable to believe this was anything other than a dream.

  The man outside the plane tossed the puck a few rows behind her.

  “If you don’t want to be fried, you better move.” Cesar snatched her arm and yanked her up. “Everyone, move!” he shouted. “Back of the plane. Now!”

  Those around them quieted, gazing at him curiously. Mandy didn’t wait. She went over the seat behind her, mentally calculating where the puck was. Cesar pushed her to help, barking orders at the other passengers.

  Blinding white-blue light filled her vision.

  “Helen summons you.”

  Mandy snapped awake. She was breathing hard and scrambled out of bed, at first seeing nothing but rows of plane seats. The dream cleared, and she relaxed, almost crying in relief.

  She was beginning to remember what happened when they landed, and it wasn’t good. Had Cesar survived? What happened after the light? Would there be more dreams?

  “Helen summons you,” the guard repeated.

  Even knowing no one was behind her, she still caught herself looking. She rose unhappily, distressed by the nightmare. A small box of space food was on a nearby table. Fixing her hair hastily with shaking hands, she then took the box with her to the hallway, starving.

  One of the ten-foot guards awaited her. Mandy wolfed down three space Twinkies, mind racing with the thought of trying to recall more about what happened when she landed.

  Whatever it was, it was bad. The heavy dread in her gut almost made her forget to follow the guard through a panel.

  Hichele was with Helen when Mandy walked in. She set the cube on a bench and waited for someone to tell her what her awful tasks were for the day. Hichele still carried a switch. Mandy rubbed her arms, looking down when she didn’t feel any welts.

  They were completely gone. She twisted her arms to see them from every direction, confused. She went to sleep with them and woke up with none.

  For a moment, she had the sense that this world wasn’t quite real again. That she was asleep on the plane just waiting for the familiar bump of landing to wake up.

  “Are you well?” the queen asked.

  Mandy looked up, focusing. “Yes, thanks.”

  “You look …”

  Mandy touched her hair.

  “Your hair is fine. You’re glowing,” the middle aged woman said with the slightest smile. “Or scared. I can’t tell.”

 

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