by I. T. Lucas
If she was a Dormant whose transition he could induce, she would become his wife and life-long companion. He didn’t want his men to remember the lady of the house doing household chores.
On the other hand, this was precisely why clever Jacki was offering to perform domestic tasks. It was a clear message to him that he shouldn’t expect anything more from her.
The best thing was to refuse but put the blame on someone else. “You are my guest. Kian would not be happy if I turn you into a maid.”
“Why would he care about what I do?” Jacki crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s my business if I want to pay for my keep by doing the laundry or cooking or serving meals. I’m not the charity case that you are contributing to, and it’s not part of our deal. And please don’t say that it is because I will just walk out of here.”
Stubborn woman.
Jacki needed to change how she saw herself, and he was going to help her do that.
Like in the musical My Fair Lady, he would be for Jacki what Professor Higgins was for Eliza. A mentor, a guide, and in time, a love interest.
24
Jacki
Jacki waited for Kalugal to respond, but for a long moment, he just looked at her face, studying her.
His close scrutiny was unnerving. What did he see when he looked at her like that?
An attractive woman?
A stubborn and unreasonable person?
Was it a mistake to offer him her maid services?
Jacki had a feeling that it was. How was he ever going to see her as an equal if she insisted on serving him?
But then, maybe it was for the best if he didn’t.
Kalugal was a snob, so if he regarded her as a servant, he would not consider her as a potential lover.
She didn’t trust herself with him.
All that charm and good manners were softening her up, and when the time came and he wanted more from her, Jacki doubted her ability to say no.
The silence was broken by the coffeemaker announcing with a loud beep that it was done brewing.
Kalugal took out the two cups and brought them over to the coffee table. “Perhaps we could reach a compromise.” He went back to the bar and pulled a bag of cookies out of the under-counter fridge, together with a container of cream.
“Sugar?”
“Yes, please.” She rewarded him with a smile.
It felt nice to be served by the big boss himself, and it made her feel important, which was silly.
Kalugal was just being polite.
He brought over a small container of cubed sugar and pulled one cube out with a tiny pair of silver tongs. “How many?”
“Two, please.”
He dropped the two cubes into her coffee and handed her the creamer. “How good of a cook are you?”
“I’m very good, and I know how to cook large quantities. How many men will I need to cook for?”
“Just one. Me. And you don’t have to. It’s entirely up to you.”
“Why don’t you want me to cook for your men?”
“Atzil would not appreciate you taking over his job.”
“Why? It’s only temporary. It would be a vacation for him.”
Kalugal shook his head. “He wouldn’t like it, and neither would the rest of my men. We have a routine that we are comfortable with. It’s not prudent to disturb it. But if you cook only for me, that’s a different story. The men wouldn’t mind that.” Kalugal opened the fancy bag of cookies and emptied it onto the small silver tray he’d brought to the table.
“That’s because they would think that there is something going on between us.”
He didn’t deny it. “It’s better that way. Right now, you have only Rufsur to contend with. Unless the men believe that I’m interested in you, every male in this house will try to woo you.”
She hadn’t thought about that.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you going to try to woo me?”
His perfect lips curling into a smirk, he glanced at her from under lowered lashes. “You are a beautiful woman, Jacqueline. And you are also smart, brave, and direct, which I find very refreshing. You intrigue me.”
Talk about feeling flattered.
But he hadn’t answered her question. Nevertheless, she needed to give him the same preemptive speech she’d given Rufsur.
“We are not from the same species, Kalugal. There is no future for us, and I don’t do hookups.”
He arched a brow. “Never?”
“No exceptions. I’m going to stay with you for a couple of weeks and give you the human perspective you said that you were interested in. Then I’m going to leave, and we will probably never see each other again.”
Lifting the small porcelain cup to his beautiful lips, he took a small sip of coffee and then put it back down.
“We’ve digressed from the subject we’ve been discussing, which was you cooking my meals during your stay. Are we agreed on that?”
That was a clever way to avoid addressing the elephant in the room, but she wasn’t going to press the issue. Kalugal might not think that she was serious about her no-hookups policy, but he’d soon learn how adamant about it she was.
He’d said that he wouldn’t touch her unless she initiated it, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“You seem to be big on compromise. How about I cook for you, Rufsur and Phinas? In every military organization, the officers dine separately. I think Atzil and the rest will not have a problem with that either.”
“They might. Let’s try it for a day or two and see how it works.”
That was better than nothing. “Okay.”
Kalugal grinned and offered her his hand. “Then we have an agreement?”
She really didn’t want to take it, but refusing would be rude.
“We do.” Hesitantly, she placed her palm in his and waited for the bolt of lightning to strike.
It didn’t, and no electric current zapped between their palms either. Instead, a wave of warmth unfurled in her belly and quickly rose to her cheeks.
“Wonderful.” Kalugal let go first and pushed to his feet. “I will let Kian know about the change of plans.”
“He will probably want to speak with me.”
“He might. If he does, I’ll come back to get you. While you wait, Shamash will bring up breakfast.“”
“Thank you.”
25
Kalugal
As Kalugal closed the master suite’s door behind him, he was still reeling from what had just happened. For a long moment, he stood rooted in place and tried to process his strange reaction to something as mundane as touching a woman’s hand.
It had been the strangest thing.
Before, when he’d kissed Jacki, he had been so focused on his act and so emotionally closed off that the kiss had stirred nothing in him. He’d been like an automaton, his body a separate entity from his mind, a mere tool to execute his plan.
But when she’d placed her palm in his, accepting his offer and in a way also accepting him, something inside him had shifted, or rather melted. He didn’t know how to describe the strange sensation. It was as if a warmth had entered his body, finding its way to his heart and wrapping it in pink cotton candy.
It was an absurd analogy, and yet that was the best he could come up with. The sensation was soft, sweet, and feminine.
Shaking his head, Kalugal forced his feet to start moving. He had a phone call to make, and it was already six-twenty, which didn’t leave him much time. At seven sharp, Kian was going to connect him to his mother.
Or not.
Kalugal had half an hour to convince his cousin to accept the new deal.
It was a no brainer for Kian, and he should grab it with both hands, but Kian wasn’t even-keeled and rational like Kalugal. The guy had a temper, was prideful, and overprotective of his people. He might imagine that there was some grand scheme behind Kalugal’s offer and refuse it.
Naturally, he had a plan,
but it had nothing to do with the clan, and therefore was of no concern to Kian.
Kalugal wanted to seduce Jacki, and if she transitioned, marry her. This was his chance to acquire an immortal mate and have immortal children with her. That option hadn’t existed for him until Kian had unintentionally dropped Jacki into his lap.
It was more than that, though.
He liked Jacki. There was something about her that appealed to him on a visceral level. He had never before felt such a strong pull toward any other female.
Perhaps it had to do with her being a Dormant. Could it be that she emitted a different kind of pheromones that his body recognized as biologically compatible?
Jacki had put it succinctly. If she was human, there was no future for them because they belonged to different species, but she might be more than that.
In time, he would tell her, but not yet. If she chose to be with him, it would be because she desired him as a man and had fallen in love with him, and not because he could give her immortality.
On the face of it, he was being hypocritical. When he thought about seducing her, it was because she was a potential Dormant and could give him immortal children. Her beauty and the zest that he found so appealing were secondary considerations, and so were deeper feelings.
After a lifetime of keeping women at an emotional distance, it was difficult for him to switch gears and allow himself to feel things for her. Protecting himself from entanglement with females he couldn’t have a future with had become second nature to Kalugal.
It was a defense mechanism.
If Jacki wasn’t a Dormant, he would have to let her go, and it was better that he didn’t develop any deep feelings for her.
And if it didn’t work out between them, either because she wasn’t a Dormant or because of personal incompatibility, Jacki wasn’t his only option.
The truth was that once he established a truce with Kian, he could get access to the clan’s females, who were already immortal and probably just as eager for immortal partners as he and his men were.
That being said, he hoped that Jacki was the one, but that was dependent on many factors, with her transition being just one of them. Kalugal wasn’t an easy to please guy, and in order for them to work, Jacki had to pass several tests.
He liked her looks and was attracted to her, which was the entry-level requirement, and he also liked her personality. She was outspoken and assertive, and yet, he could sense a softness in her that yearned for a safe place to blossom.
Jacki’s life circumstances had forced her to keep that side of herself suppressed, hidden, protected behind her outward prickliness. But when she felt safe, which given his earlier actions would take a lot of work on his part, he would coax that softness to the surface.
Kalugal suspected that this was the reason why Jacki didn’t do hookups. She was afraid of losing the emotional detachment that she worked so hard on maintaining. It was a shield that she had erected to protect herself from the harsh realities of her life, and if she let it slip to allow someone inside, she could get hurt.
But that just added favorable points to the package.
Jacki would not share his bed unless she fell in love with him, and the challenge of winning her heart was just as exciting as seducing her.
26
Kian
The phone call from Kalugal arrived earlier than Kian had expected, but since Turner was already in his office, it wasn’t a problem.
“I’m going to put him on speaker.”
Turner nodded.
“Good morning, Kalugal.”
“Good morning. We don’t have a lot of time before the call, so I’ll make it as brief as I can. I've negotiated an agreement with Jacki. For every day that she voluntarily stays in my house, I’m going to donate twenty-five thousand dollars to your charity organization. The funds can either go toward renting a new sanctuary for victims of trafficking that is closer to home or toward any part of the program that needs funding. I leave the decision of where to direct the funds to your discretion.”
Kian and Turner exchanged puzzled glances.
Kalugal wanting to keep Jacki wasn’t a big surprise. After he’d learned that she was a possible Dormant, he probably wanted to induce her himself. But the surprise was what he was offering in exchange.
Turner smiled and lifted his hand, palm up, indicating that Kian should haggle on the price.
Kian nodded. “Naturally, I’ll need to hear from Jacki that she agrees to the deal. But let’s assume for a moment that she does. How long are you planning on keeping her?”
“For as long as she wants to stay. I told her that she is no longer a hostage and can leave at any time.”
“Why the sudden change in tactic?”
“You know the reason.”
“You need time to seduce her. Does she know that?”
“No, and I want to keep it that way. You didn’t tell her that she is a possible Dormant, and neither did I after learning about it from Julian. If she falls in love with me, I want to make sure that her feelings are genuine. It would be because she wants me, and not because I can give her immortality. And there is also the issue of her immunity. Since I can’t make her forget anything, I need time to build trust that will go both ways. I can’t let her into my life before I know that she is one hundred percent loyal to me.”
“I can’t find fault with that. But you shouldn’t induce her without her consent.”
“I won’t. Jin told me how to prevent it from happening. When everything else falls in place, I’ll tell Jacki the truth and ask her if she wants to be induced. Although why wouldn’t she?”
“Transition could be deadly, and instead of gaining immortality, a Dormant could forfeit his or her short human life. Jacki is young and healthy, so she should be fine, but the older the Dormant, the riskier it gets. People should be aware of that and make their own decision.”
“I agree.”
“Good. So we have that settled. But I think twenty-five thousand a day is too low for what you are getting. Jacki doesn’t know that, but I do.”
“How much do you want?”
“Double.”
Kalugal chuckled. “I didn’t expect you to be so greedy. Let’s make it thirty.”
“I know that you will pay any price for a chance of having an immortal mate. I could’ve asked for more.”
“That is true. But it is also true that we have a long road in front of us, and you wouldn’t want to alienate me by making unreasonable demands before we made any headway in our negotiations.”
Damn, the guy was good.
“How long are you going to keep paying up? I know that you don’t plan on doing it forever.”
“Until Jacki transitions or we determine that she is not a Dormant and she leaves. I’m quite certain that I will need no more than a month for that, but if I do, I’ll double the contribution for the second month. Twenty-five a day for the first one, and fifty for the second. I think that’s a good compromise.”
“I can live with those terms.”
“I also want you to lift the blockade. Since Jacki is staying with me out of her own free will, you and I no longer have a conflict, and there is no reason for you to keep a force here. I have a business to run, and I don’t want you in it.”
“I bet. But as long as you have Jacki, I will need to keep a minimal force in place to make sure that you don’t get up and run away with her. I want to know where she is at all times. Secondly, I want to talk to her every day to verify that she is still okay.”
27
Kalugal
Kalugal glanced at the clock. They were running out of time, and Kian still needed to verify that Jacki was indeed staying out of her own free will.
Placing his hand over the receiver, he motioned for Phinas to get closer. “Get Jacki here. She is in the master suite.”
“Yes, sir.” As usual, Phinas’s stoic expression revealed nothing.
“Don’t mention what you’ve heard to anyone
. Especially not to Rufsur, and not to Jacki either. She doesn’t know that she’s anything other than human.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was so much easier to work with Phinas, but Kalugal preferred Rufsur’s company. Phinas was more of a yes man, while Rufsur was a good sounding board. He didn’t let Kalugal’s intelligence intimidate him, and he wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion.
Except, that was a double-edged sword.
Rufsur didn’t accept Kalugal’s prior claim on Jacki and thought that it was okay for them to compete over her. He needed to have a talk with the guy and lay down the rules. Rufsur would no doubt bristle for a while, but he would have to get over it sooner or later.
“Are you there?” Kian asked.
“My apologies. I had to send one of my men to bring Jacki over. We are running out of time for the scheduled phone call with my mother, and we still have a few items to iron out.”
“We can finish up after the call, but I need to talk to Jacki before I allow it.”
“Of course. But before we continue, I want your assurance that your men will not interfere with my day-to-day operations. Also, when I take Jacki out shopping or to restaurants and shows, I don’t want your men trailing behind us.”
“You’ll have to order stuff online and dine in. Jacki is a wanted woman and you can’t take her out in public. At least not without a proper disguise.”
Kalugal straightened in his chair. “Wanted for what?”
“She can explain later. Is she there yet? We have mere minutes to spare.”
“One moment, please.”
Kalugal rose to his feet and opened the door right as Phinas was about to knock.
Looking at Jacki, he wondered what she could possibly have done to be wanted by the police. Was she a thief? A murderer? An embezzler?
If she was an untrustworthy person, he would have to cancel the deal despite all of her other positive attributes. Maybe that was why Kian had agreed so readily to his proposal?