by V J Lee
Chapter 7
Rissa could feel the aggression radiating from the other side of the door, as she removed the locking mechanism she had placed there, before going in to see Josh. She steadied herself for the rage that was about to assail her.
What happened next was surprising. When the door flung open, she was pulled into a tight bear hug by the muscular arms of Trevor.
“You scared the living hell out of me! What were you thinking? Anything could have happened in there, and I wouldn’t have been able to help you,” he said, lips pressed against the top of her head.
She wriggled out of his iron embrace. “Did you see that kid? I could take him down blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back.” Trevor cracked a half-smile, imagining her tied up she figured.
“We had no idea what he was, if anything. What was he, anyway?” Cruz asked, as he emerged from the room, rubbing his shoulder. Rissa had felt the walls in the other room vibrating, as the two hulking men beat their shoulders and kicked their feet into the door. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for bringing along the gadgets that made her plan possible.
Just as she was about to answer Cruz, the exit door burst open. Coming through the doorway was a sight that would send most men into “fight-or-flight mode.” The Light Aliens didn’t so much walk down the hallway, as stalk, with a predatory grace very few humans possessed.
Cosmo was likely the most gorgeous being Rissa had ever seen in her life. She had been working with Cosmo and the Light Aliens ever since she was first taken in by the Agency.
The Light Ones had inhabited Earth far longer than humans. Their planet was thrown off its axis when Earth was created, sending their home hurtling into space. The aliens, made of pure energy, were able to scatter to other planets, many of them making the trip to Earth to thrive off the chaos the new planet created.
Once humans began to evolve, the aliens who had always assumed the form of light blue light, had to create a new form and find other ways to obtain their energy. They found that if they took human form, they could absorb their energy from sex. To attract mates and ensure their successful consummation, they projected the humans’ most attractive qualities, adapting to the ever-evolving ideas of beauty. They were accompanied by dark counterparts, Dark Aliens, who thrived on the dark energy from the seedy underbelly of the human race, an absorption of energy that didn’t filter out the evil from the hearts of the humans, making them just as bad. The Light Aliens were in constant battle with the Dark Ones for balance on Earth.
The Light Ones had been very accommodating to the needs of the Agency, helping out with any problems they had with Others.
Cosmo was wonderfully tall, at least three inches taller than Trevor’s six-three. Biker boots gave him inches he didn’t need. His brown hair was kissed by the sun, with light brown and blonde highlights throughout.
Rissa liked that he was wearing his hair a little longer now, touching his collar. It must have been the most physically attractive style as of late. His eyes were like pools of Caribbean waters, aquamarine with shades of blue and green fighting for dominance as the main color, neither quite winning. The effect was hypnotic. His body was lethal—chest and arms so muscular, his black Harley shirt worked hard to keep vascular arms encased.
His features were an artist’s dream. A lean waist and narrow hips gave way to long, muscular legs incased in black jeans.
She knew she had to close her mouth, or she would start to drool. Every time was like her first time seeing him, though she had worked with him on many occasions. He even taught a class at the Agency, but every time she saw him, he had the same effect on her. Rissa knew she wasn’t alone … he looked like sex on a stick to every woman he came in contact with.
Before she could compose herself, she was swept up into a swinging hug by the dream man himself. She had been so caught up in Cosmo’s kinetic appeal that she didn’t notice the Light Ones who accompanied him. There were three others with him. Athena was a tall, muscular woman with short, black spiky hair and blue eyes; Prometheus was tall, blond, barrel-chested with gorgeous gray eyes; and Zenith had short blonde hair, ice-blue, almost white eyes, and was just as muscular as the rest. The three of them were dressed in black and gray camouflage fatigues with black T-shirts and combat boots. Bringing up the rear were the Spirit Wolves, Tate and Timber Runningwolf. Beautiful Native American skin enhanced near-black eyes with the occasional flash of gold. Tate’s hair was long, Timber’s was shorter, but both had naturally bulging muscles. They were dressed in all black and had drool-worthy features. And was that … oh great, Trent … the Spirit Wolf she helped take down just a few nights ago. Rissa had thought he was going to be on lockdown for a while.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Tate pulled the younger man forward by the arm.
“You have something to say, boy, so say it.”
Trent hung his head. “I’m sorry, Rissa. Thanks for helping me out the other night when I turned.” Looking over at Tate, he continued, “It won’t happen again.”
Timber spoke next. “We do have him on lockdown, with the exception of allowing him to come with us on this trip. He is one of the best trackers we have.” Tate gave him a scathing look. “Well, after me, of course …” Another death glare was shot, followed by a slap to the back of the head. “All right, all right … and of course. King pain-in-the-ass is pretty good, too.” He rubbed the back of his head.
Ignoring the brotherly banter, Cosmo interjected, “So, my Rissa, we got here as soon as we could … because, you know … anything for you, my sweet,” he said, kissing her forehead before setting her down.
Trevor did not like Cosmo. There was just something about him … at least, that was what he always told Rissa. Rissa, on the other hand, found Cosmo intriguingly beautiful and disturbingly tormented. He hid the kind of pain that made a woman want to hold him and kiss away every torture he’d ever endured.
“Yeah, he shows up even when he’s supposed to have the night off,” Athena chimed in.
“That’s because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my Rissa.”
Athena snorted and rolled her eyes.
Trevor stepped up to Rissa, placing a protective hand on her back. Cosmo looked from Trevor to her, then back again, clenching his jaw.
“Come on, let’s go back to the conference room. I think Josh can hear us from the other room,” she said, as she led the way to the room that held the files of the missing men.
Everyone entered the conference room and remained standing with their backs to the walls, arms crossed over their chests. Testosterone permeated the room, rising off the men in waves. Rissa couldn’t imagine that there was this much hotness in the dressing room of an all-male review.
Even the scent of the room was purely masculine. She inhaled deeply.
“So, what was so important that I stopped doing who I was doing to come see you, little one?” Cosmo asked with a wink.
“I wanted to let you all know that we not only have missing women, but now we have missing men. Trevor and I are working the case, but please keep your eyes, ears and noses trained for any information that might help us out.”
“That’s not really why you called us here, now is it?” Athena asked, sounding annoyed.
“No, it’s not. I just finished interrogating a kid. He is, well, different … to say the least.”
Tate raised a black brow. “How so? Is he like us? Or them?” he asked, throwing his thumb in the direction of the Light Ones.
Rissa exhaled. “That’s what’s so strange. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was. He does have wolf in him, hawk as well, but I think there’s more. I haven’t seen anything like him before.”
“What’s his story?” Cruz wanted to know.
“That’s the strangest thing … he told me he and his gang escaped from a laboratory of some sort. A lab they were created in.” She let the group absorb the information for a minute, before continuing. “He said there is some sort of device implanted in them that tracks and m
onitors them. So, in reality, he didn’t escape, as much as he was released. Whoever created them let these boys loose on an unsuspecting population. They try to avoid populated areas as much as possible and claim responsibility for the cattle mutilations. They can’t control their animal transitions, so at night, they go out into the forests and fields, and anything in their way gets torn apart.”
“How many of them are there?” Zenith asked.
“There are only three he knows of. He has no memory of where the lab is, nor does he remember anyone connected to the place.”
“Whoever controls the chip in them is making sure he or she covers their asses.”
“Yeah, Trevor. That’s what I thought, too. The thing is, these kids were made in a test tube. They have no family they know of, but were raised knowing they’re different. What they don’t know or understand is their Other side. They are on the verge of being bad … very, very bad. Josh’s aura is still good, but is starting to darken around the edges.”
Cosmo moved closer to her, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. There was something in his touch that caused anyone he came in contact with to get so sexually aroused, they could orgasm from simple physical contact. He must have been able to cage it somehow, as she was stimulated by him, but not to the extent of climax. “You need the wolves to hunt down the other two. Then we can take them to the colony and scramble the chips in them, until we can figure out a way to remove them or use them to our advantage.”
She knew that Cosmo didn’t like being in the presence of other people for too long, and he was ready to get this meeting over with.
“That’s why I invited you all here. I have a feeling that if we find this lab, we will find our missing men and women.”
Cruz cocked his head to the side, before asking, “Why do you think whoever is behind this has the missing persons?”
“You need eggs and sperm to create life,” Timber said in a dull tone.
Trevor didn’t even try to stifle his guttural laugh.
“They would also need Others to create these hybrids.” The quiet observation from Trent was barely audible—a clear sign that the poor kid still felt rotten about what happened.
“Yes, exactly what I was thinking. This thing goes way beyond abductions and erased memories,” Rissa said.
“Holy shit. We need to do a full-out recon mission on this one. Find out what the fuck their plans are, why they’re doing this shit, and who the fuck they are,” Cosmo stated.
“Cosmo, you sure do have quite the grasp of the English language. Not to mention, you seem to think you’re in charge of this mission. I’m here to inform you that you most certainly are not. This is our gig.” Trevor puffed up his chest, as if he was ready to take Cosmo on. It would be far from a fair fight. Cosmo might allow it to last about five minutes if he was feeling generous.
Instead of dignifying Trevor’s behavior with an aggressive response, Cosmo just cocked his head to the side, and said, “Yup, you’re right. It’s all yours. We’ll help find the bangers and get them to safety, then we’ll be out of your hair.” His comments seemed innocent enough, but the air in the room became frosty with Cosmo’s annoyance. Rissa knew Cosmo’s still waters were indicative of a storm brewing beneath the surface.
“Well, the temperature in this room just dropped about twenty degrees, and it feels about five-square-feet smaller,” Prometheus observed as he started toward the door. “I don’t know about you all, but I don’t want to wash brain matter out of my hair again, so I’m out.”
There was a variety of murmurs of agreement, as everyone began to mill toward the door.
“No, wait. You guys should stay here for a while. Do some brainstorming, maybe even get a game plan going.” Rissa grabbed Cosmo by the arm, and he allowed her to drag him to the door. “Cosmo and I need to have a talk.”
The big man made no attempt to stay, moving out of the open door with ease.
Once they were out in the hall, she turned to him, asking sharply, “What the hell was that about?”
“I don’t know what you saw in there, but I was being nothing but pleasant. I even told the human that we would exit as quickly as we could manage.”
“And then the temperature in that room plummeted. Your eyes flashed. You were about to kill Trevor … you and I both know it.”
He smiled a small boyish grin that made his dimples even more pronounced … okay, Jackson, head back in the game, Rissa reminded herself.
“What can I say, Rissa? I don’t like seeing you together after how he treated you.”
“We are not together; we’re just working on a case together. Nothing more than that. What’s it to you, anyway?”
“Ask yourself something, Rissa. Why was it that no one else could come with you on this trip? It smells like grade-A bullshit to me. He wants you alone. He wants you all to himself. He just wants you.”
“No, he doesn’t. He had me, then found someone better. He’s happy now. He has a family.”
Cosmo ran a hand down her cheek. For someone who was over nine-hundred years old, he had baby-soft hands. For someone who killed for a living, he was so gentle.
“I know there’s no way in hell you would have slept with me if he hadn’t hurt you. When he hurts you again—and he will hurt you again—I’m on deck for nasty, sweaty, rebound sex. There isn’t a man in the galaxy who wouldn’t want you more than once.”
There it was, the unavoidable conversation Rissa had desperately wanted to avoid. She had hoped they could just leave their tryst in the past and move on, but no such luck. She also never thought in a million, gazillion years, that Cosmo would offer her seconds. He could have literally any woman he wanted.
The first time they connected, he physically needed it. A second time would fulfill mere carnal desires, both fully aware of what they were doing … not that he didn’t know what he was doing. He did. Oh God, he fucking knew. Cosmo’s hand on her face refreshed the memory of their rendezvous. Details flooded her mind, as if it had happened yesterday …
* * *
It had been forty-seven days since Trevor had left her for Petra. Her attempt to avoid the couple at all costs, had her buried in the medical unit after-hours, doing what everyone hated—inventory. She had just counted her five-hundredth brown bottle of something she couldn’t pronounce, when the hidden door to the facility burst open like someone had hooked up C-4 to it and blew it off its hinges. Cosmo, the gorgeous god of pain, stumbled into the room, covered in blood, and dropped to all fours. Rissa knew the situation was dire; the man never fell to his knees.
Dropping her clipboard and rushing to him, she bent down to help him to his feet. The metallic tang of copper was enough to overpower the chemical and latex smells that had implanted in her nostrils.
Cosmo pushed her hands away. “No, I do not need help. I’m not helpless. I will get up on my own.”
She obliged, putting her hands out in front of her, palms facing him. She stood slowly, then backed away from him, the way one would during a wild animal encounter. Cosmo had a reputation of tearing through those who stood in his way, regardless of gender.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’ve just had a really shitty night,” he said, rising to his feet, then stumbling to the examination bed in the center of the room. He fell onto it with a thud so hard, the windows rattled.
Rissa took out her cellphone. “I’ll call in to try and get you a Healer.”
“I don’t need a Healer.”
“Cosmo, you’re covered in blood. Your clothes are all ripped up, and I’m pretty sure that’s a knife sticking out of your thigh.”
He looked down at his leg, shrugged, grabbed the handle of the knife and yanked it out, without so much as a grimace. He wiped the blade on a dry patch of his shirt, then stuck it down in his boot holster.
“The blood isn’t mine … well, most of it isn’t. The wounds I do have are superficial. They will be gone with …”
“Sex?” She could feel her face heat u
p, ears turning red.
“Yeah, so that’s all I need help with. Get me cleaned up enough to find some sweet thing to spread ‘em. I don’t have enough energy to get my sorry ass back home.”
“We have a stockpile of black shirts and jeans in the changing room. There’s always someone getting their clothes torn up for one reason or another,” she said, as she busied herself gathering the necessary items to get him somewhat presentable. She got out a bowl of warm water, bandages and antiseptic.
She wheeled a metal cart over to the exam bed. She helped pull his shirt off, willing her heart to slow its beating upon observation of firm muscles under tight, tanned skin. Rissa swallowed hard.
Rissa soaked a washcloth in warm water, then wrung it out. Her hands were shaking. She mentally scolded herself for letting Cosmo’s natural attraction physically affect her so much.
“You smell like almonds and jasmine,” Cosmo said, inhaling deeply.
“It’s just my shampoo.”
“Mhmm … you look really good, you know that?”
“I’m in a lab coat with my hair in a bun, held up with a Bic pen. Yeah, that’s super-hot. You are low on energy.”
“Nah, I’ve always thought you were hot.” She never expected to hear that from someone like him. “After all the shit Trevor put you through, I think you need to hear that. But you can just forget I even said anything if you want.”
Rissa realized she had replaced the cloth she was using to clean up his chest with her hand. His muscles felt like ropes of steel cables, covered in smooth, satiny skin.
“Umm, Rissa? What are you doing?” Her name coming from his deep velvety voice was like ear porn to her.
She looked down into his clear, Caribbean-colored eyes, knowing there was no going back from what she was about to do.
Cosmo took her hand from his chest and slowly descended it toward parts unknown … for now.
“I was not asking you for this. Nothing good will ever come from what you are thinking about doing here,” Cosmo said in a low, hoarse voice. “I know you’re sad. I can smell it on you.”