Captain's Conquest

by I. T. Lucas

  PERFECT MATCH 3: CAPTAIN’S CONQUEST

  I. T. Lucas

  Contents

  Also by I. T. Lucas

  1. Gregg

  2. Alicia

  3. Gregg

  4. Alicia

  5. Gregg

  6. Alicia

  7. Gregg

  8. Alicia

  9. Gregg

  10. Alicia

  11. Alicia

  12. Gregg

  13. Leia

  14. Jack

  15. Leia

  16. Jack

  17. Leia

  18. Jack

  19. Leia

  20. Jack

  21. Leia

  22. Jack

  23. Leia

  24. Jack

  25. Leia

  26. Jack

  27. Leia

  28. Jack

  29. Alicia

  30. Gregg

  31. Alicia

  32. Gregg

  33. Alicia

  Epilogue

  The Perfect Match Series

  The Children of the Gods Series

  FOR EXCLUSIVE PEEKS

  Copyright © 2019 by I. T. Lucas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

  PERFECT MATCH 3: CAPTAIN’S CONQUEST

  is a work of fiction!

  Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual persons, organizations and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Also by I. T. Lucas

  PERFECT MATCH

  Perfect Match 1: Vampire’s Consort

  Perfect Match 2: King’s Chosen

  Perfect Match 3: Captain’s Conquest

  THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS ORIGINS

  1: Goddess’s Choice

  2: Goddess’s Hope

  THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS

  Dark Stranger

  1: Dark Stranger The Dream

  2: Dark Stranger Revealed

  3: Dark Stranger Immortal

  Dark Enemy

  4: Dark Enemy Taken

  5: Dark Enemy Captive

  6: Dark Enemy Redeemed

  Kri & Michael’s Story

  6.5: My Dark Amazon

  Dark Warrior

  7: Dark Warrior Mine

  8: Dark Warrior’s Promise

  9: Dark Warrior’s Destiny

  10: Dark Warrior’s Legacy

  Dark Guardian

  11: Dark Guardian Found

  12: Dark Guardian Craved

  13: Dark Guardian’s Mate

  Dark Angel

  14: Dark Angel's Obsession

  15: Dark Angel's Seduction

  16: Dark Angel's Surrender

  Dark Operative

  17: Dark Operative: A Shadow of Death

  18: Dark Operative: A Glimmer of Hope

  19: Dark Operative: The Dawn of Love

  Dark Survivor

  20: Dark Survivor Awakened

  21: Dark Survivor Echoes of Love

  22: Dark Survivor Reunited

  Dark Widow

  23: Dark Widow’s Secret

  24: Dark Widow’s Curse

  25: Dark Widow’s Blessing

  Dark Dream

  26: Dark Dream’s Temptation

  27: Dark Dream’s Unraveling

  28: Dark Dream’s Trap

  Dark Prince

  29: Dark Prince’s Enigma

  30: Dark Prince’s Dilemma

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  1

  Gregg

  “The usual?” Gregg’s favorite Starbucks barista smiled.

  It wasn’t the rehearsed customer service kind, but a genuine smile reserved for friends. Or so he hoped.

  “You know it. Any new sandwiches on the menu?”

  He couldn’t care less, but that would get her talking, and he loved the sound of her voice.

  “Nothing new. But I recommend the cheese and basil.”

  “Then that’s what I’ll have.”

  “Toasted?”

  “Naturally.”

  She took the sandwich out, put it in a paper bag, and wrote his name on it. “That would be ten fifty-two.”

  He gave her a twenty. “Keep the change.”

  Holding the bill, Alicia narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s too much.” She put it into the register and handed him back a five. “For your next coffee.”

  He knew better than to argue with her. “How about I buy you one?”

  She laughed. “Coffee? I don’t drink the stuff.”

  “You work here, and you don’t drink coffee?”

  “If I did, I couldn’t sleep.”

  “How about decaf?”

  She shook her head and then glanced at the next customer in line, letting Gregg know that his time was up.

  “Oh well. Thanks for the sandwich suggestion.”

  “You’re welcome. See you later, Gregg.”

  And that was it. He’d been coming there for months, sometimes twice a day, sometimes three times, and the frequency had nothing to do with Starbucks’ mediocre coffee and everything to do with Alicia.

  Why hadn’t he asked her out yet, then?

  Because she wasn't his type.

  Gregg didn’t date tattooed and pierced rocker chicks. Hell, he didn’t date at all if he could avoid it. His mother kept trying to set him up with her country club friends’ female progeny, and sometimes he had to humor her and agree to a date.

  But other than that, he was perfectly satisfied with casual hookups.

  He wasn’t looking for a relationship, especially not with any of those spoiled rich girls who bored him to death. And if he brought home someone like Alicia, his mother’s fragile heart would fail on the spot. He loved his mom too much to risk that.

  Besides, it wasn’t as if he wanted a relationship with Alicia either.

  She fascinated him, and he would have loved getting to know her intimately, but, unfortunately, she didn’t seem interested.

  “A double espresso and a toasted sandwich for Gregg!” the guy behind the counter called out.

  Taking his order to a table with a good view of his girl, Gregg sat down and spent the next twenty minutes pretending to read on his phone while observing Alicia from the corner of his eye.

  If he could only find a way to hook up with her, he could finally get her out of his system and stop wasting time at Starbucks.

  His partner was on his case about that, and although Gregg’s money, or rather his parents' money, had been the seed investment that had funded their company, he still needed to put in the work.

  While Sam handled the business side, Gregg was the technical brain and in charge of their cybersecurity operations. If any of the programmers needed assistance, he was the one they turned to.

  There was only so much he could accomplish while loitering in a coffee shop and ogling a girl he shouldn’t.

  Except, he couldn’t stay away, and Alicia wasn’t responding to the subtle hints he was throwing around. Today was as close as he’d ever gotten to asking her out, but her response or lack thereof had been pretty clear. She wasn’t interested.

  Would she change her mind if she found out how rich he was? Or if he lost the baggy shorts and flip flops and put on something that made him look good?

  Gregg didn’t want to do either. She either liked him for who he was or not at all.
The world was full of gold diggers and airheads who were impressed by fashionable clothing, and he wanted nothing to do with those types, not even for hookups.

  They tended to be as boring in bed as they were to talk to.

  Was he jaded?

  Kind of. Probably.

  His mother was worried that he would never marry because he was too picky, and there was some truth in it. At thirty-four, he’d been with a lot of women, and none had captured his interest beyond a second date.

  Which probably meant that the problem was his and not theirs.

  Except, if wanting a woman that he could have an intelligent conversation with and share a laugh with was being too picky, then so be it. He wasn’t willing to compromise on that.

  Besides, he was spoiled by the virtual world of the Perfect Match studios. He hadn’t found his true love in there like his partner had, but he’d enjoyed many satisfying virtual sex adventures, and he couldn’t care less what the women behind the gorgeous avatars looked like in real life.

  He enjoyed the fantasy. Hell, he was probably addicted to it.

  “I knew I’d find you here.” Sam clapped him on the back. “You have a serious coffee addiction, buddy.” His partner pulled out a chair and sat across from him. “I just came back from a meeting with the Perfect Match board of directors. They are opening three more locations, and naturally they hired us to handle their cybersecurity.”

  “That’s great. I’m glad Hunter and Gabriel are doing so well. A year ago, they were still paying us with gift certificates.”

  Sam chuckled. “We can sell them. They are worth a lot of money today.”

  “I’m sure you are going to keep a few for you and Lisa. Don’t you want to go back and relive the fantasy?”

  Lisa had been working in the same office building as them for years, but until she and Sam had been matched by pure chance in the virtual world of Perfect Match, they had never even spoken to each other.

  Uncomfortable, Sam straightened his tie. “We’ve only done it that one time. Real life is better than fantasy.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  Maybe it was for Sam and Lisa, but not for Gregg. He would take fantasy over reality any day.

  Except, glancing at Alicia, Gregg’s conviction wavered, but only for a moment. What if instead of lusting after a woman he couldn’t have, he created a virtual fantasy with someone like her?

  He could design his next adventure with his tattooed barista in mind.

  If he described her in detail on his request form, the program would create a lookalike avatar for him. He could then pretend he was playing with Alicia and not some random woman using that avatar.

  Or he could do better than that.

  What if he could find out what Alicia’s fantasy was, give her a gift certificate, and then design his fantasy to match hers?

  He knew how the algorithm worked, and if he collected enough pointers from her wish list, he could fill in his questionnaire in a way that would ensure them getting matched.

  That was the perfect solution.

  Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner?

  He could have his cake and eat it too.

  Was it a bit dishonest?

  Probably. But Gregg could live with that.

  2

  Alicia

  When Alicia was sure Gregg wasn’t looking, she snuck a quick glance at him, admiring his chiseled jaw, his broad shoulders, and the corded muscles that were visible under his worn-out T-shirt.

  Who did he think he was fooling with those hobo outfits he wore?

  Not her, that was for sure.

  Everything other than his clothes indicated that Gregg was far from poor. His perfect haircut was not the kind one got at Supercuts, and his wallet, which had seen better days, had at one time cost several hundred. From her short stint working in Nordstrom men’s department, Alicia recognized the brand at a glance.

  But the most telling was the company he kept.

  She could hear snippets of conversation between him and the guy in the tailored suit who’d joined him. It seemed that the two were partners in a cybersecurity company, and they had just scored a big new contract.

  Why was Gregg hiding behind schlumpy outfits?

  Did he want to slum with the plebs?

  Perhaps he was one of those guys who was paranoid about getting caught by gold diggers and wanted to hide the fact that he had money.

  Or maybe he simply liked well-worn clothes that were loose and comfortable. Her younger brother was like that. Jeff couldn’t stand wearing anything even slightly rough or scratchy, and he always cut out the tags because they irritated his skin.

  Still, if Gregg had asked her out, she might have gone out with him despite his idiosyncrasies. But he had never gone beyond friendly flirting, and she assumed he was taken. Which might explain his wardrobe choices. Perhaps the baggy shorts and flip flops served as a shield against unwanted advances.

  There was no ring on his finger, but that didn’t mean a thing. If Gregg was sensitive to scratchy fabrics, the same might be true of jewelry.

  Besides, she didn’t have time for dating. Between her day job and her band practices and occasional gigs, Alicia always felt rushed.

  “The guy is too good-looking for his own good,” Marcy said when there was a lull in the line of customers.

  “Which one?”

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t know. You should ask him out.”

  “Me? I’m not going to ask a guy out.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he might say no.”

  Marcy waved a dismissive hand. “So what? You just move on to the next one. Men do it all the time.”

  “Well, not me.”

  Shaking her head, Marcy leaned against the counter. “With those tattoos and piercings, you look like a tough rocker chick, but that’s just war paint, isn’t it?”

  Alicia smiled but didn’t answer, saved by a customer with a prepackaged salad approaching the counter.

  “Would that be all, sir?”

  “I would also like two grande double mocha cappuccinos, please.” The guy whipped out his wallet.

  Marcy wasn’t wrong. In fact, she’d nailed it.

  Alicia was a great singer. She had an impressive vocal range and a notebook full of original songs that she’d written. But image and looks were just as important for success in the music world. And the don’t-mess-with-me look served her well when performing in nightclubs.

  Most of the time she managed to fake the appropriate attitude as well, but it wasn’t easy.

  Alicia could cuss with the best of them, but it was like spitting nails. And she could act mean when necessary but would then feel awful about it.

  The real Alicia was a geek, an obsessed Star Trek fan, including all of its spinoffs and sequels, loved watching Doctor Who on BBC and was as adventurous as a school librarian.

  In fact, Ms. Adams, her old high school librarian, was probably much more daring than her. Those thick glasses of hers hadn’t been able to hide the mischievous-bordering-on-evil spark in her eyes, and there had been rumors of her having an affair with the very married gym teacher.

  Go figure.

  “Goodbye, Alicia.” Gregg waved at her from the door. “I might stop by later today, and if not, see you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.” She smiled and waved back, hoping he would return.

  Even if nothing ever came out of his flirting, she was always looking forward to his visits.

  They were the highlight of her day.

  3

  Gregg

  By the time Gregg was finished at work, Alicia’s shift was over, and there was no point in going back to Starbucks.

  Sam had already gone home to his family, which left the option of hanging out with the staff at the local bar. But that always felt awkward. They played along and pretended that Gregg was one of the guys, but they weren’t having as much fun with him around.

  Except, he didn’t want to go home either. His
next virtual hookup was scheduled a week from now, and he wasn’t in the mood for bar hopping.

  Pulling his top desk drawer open, Gregg looked at his stash of Perfect Match gift certificates, picked up one of the blue envelopes, and put it on top of his keyboard.

  How was he going to do it?

  It wasn’t as if he could stand at Alicia’s counter and spend an hour interrogating her about her hobbies and interests. He could perhaps sneak a question here and there, but now that the idea had sprouted, he was too impatient for collecting information one piece at a time.

  Except, the girl had turned down his subtle invitation to coffee, so it wasn’t as if she was going to suddenly accept an invitation for a date.

  Perhaps there was somewhere he could corner her?

  But where?

  He didn’t even know her last name. But that was easily fixed. After all, he was a cybersecurity expert, and there was no shortage of hackers among his staff.

  He picked up the phone and dialed Drake’s extension. The guy usually stayed after hours, racking up overtime which Gregg was happy to pay.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “I need a favor. You know the Starbucks around the corner?”

  “What about it?”

  “A barista named Alicia. Can you hack into their HR and find out her last name and age?”

  If she was under twenty-one, it was a no go.

  “No problem. Do you want her address and social as well?”