DangerouslyForever

by A. M. Griffin

  Max tugged on her shirt. She had to drag her eyes away from the pair to look down at him. “Kiehle is going to teach me how to fight and shoot a blaster. He said he’ll even give me my own weapon.”

  She ran a hand over his hair. “I think you’re a little too young for weapons yet.”

  He puffed out his chest and straightened his shoulders. “Kiehle said that I’m a warrior in training.”

  Ally couldn’t help but smile as she looked down at him. Once day he’d make a fine warrior. But right now she wanted him to have a normal childhood. “Come on, my little warrior,” she said, leading him to where Kiehle and Yoshi sat.

  She stopped in front of them. Yoshi held up a finished necklace to her. “I made this one for you.”

  Ally tentatively reached out for it, brushing her fingers across the soft petals. She hadn’t seen or touched a flower in…what? She didn’t even know how long.

  Her hand wrapped around the delicate gift. She brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. Perfume. It reminded her of perfume. Without meaning to, she giggled. Not a girly giggle, but a high-pitched, losing-grip-on-reality giggle.

  She brought her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the crazy sound.

  “Would you like to make one?” Kiehle asked.

  Too embarrassed by her display of momentary insanity, she shook her head, watching him through half-lidded eyes.

  He pushed himself off the ground to stand.

  Holy shit.

  Was it even possible? Could he look even better in daylight? He had fixed his hair sometime before she had awakened, smoothing it back into his tie. The shirt he wore was taut over his chest, making her wonder if it had been that tight on Yinnis. She surely would’ve remembered the way the fine lines of his muscles were visible. Each and every line, she thought, as her eyes raked across his six—no, eight-pack.

  And his pants.

  She wanted to groan.

  They sat low on his hips, hugging his body as though he’d been dipped into them. The material was thick, too thick to catch the outline of his cock, but if she looked harder…maybe squinted and tilted her head…

  He cleared his throat. “Max, can you please supervise the necklace production?”

  She pulled her gaze away, heat rising up her neck to her face.

  Max let go of her as though Kiehle had offered him ice cream or some other delectable treat and plopped down in front of Yoshi.

  Ally watched them longingly. I want to supervise the necklace production.

  Before she knew it, Kiehle was by her side. “You can follow me,” he said with a light tug on her sleeve.

  “But the kids?” she asked, not taking her eyes off them—or the flowers.

  “Will be fine. I have something to show you.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s not the first time I’ve heard that line.”

  He smiled down at her. “It’s important, and no, it doesn’t include sex. But it could if you wanted it to.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes even as heat spread within her loins.

  “Weren’t you just undressing me with your eyes? If I didn’t need to talk to you alone, I would’ve suggested Yoshi and Max join us just to act as my chaperones. I don’t trust the looks you keep giving me.”

  Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

  “Whatever. I was sizing you up, I wasn’t ogling you. There’s a difference.”

  “Right,” he said, pulling on her arm.

  She could’ve argued some more, but it would’ve been pointless. Instead she followed him.

  On the other side of the transporter was a huge dome-shaped structure about twenty feet in the distance. It looked odd, out in the middle of a field that was otherwise empty as far as the eyes could see. “What’s that?”

  “It’s my dwelling.”

  She stopped. What kind of trick is this? “Your house? You never said you were taking us to your house. Where are we?”

  “Saurene.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you lived here?”

  “I didn’t think it was important.”

  She pulled her arm out of his grasp and checked her waistband for the blaster.

  Gone.

  The first thing he did after she fell asleep was liberate his blaster from her grasp. Seeing as how she now patted herself down looking for it, he knew it had been the right thing to do. She’d been threatening to kill him all day long, and now that she thought she no longer needed his help, he didn’t want to give her a means to do it.

  “Why did you bring us here?” she asked when she realized the blaster was gone.

  Her eyes were red, as if she could use more sleep. But tired or not, they assessed every move he made with fierce calculation.

  He dropped his hands to his sides, letting her know he wouldn’t try to reach for her again.

  “It’s somewhere Alharad would never look for you and one of the only places he would dare not venture.”

  She took a step back, out of his reach, and looked around. “Why? What’s so special about this place?”

  “It’s my personal sanctuary. I’ve paid a considerable amount of funds for this land. The next dwelling would take two rotations to travel to on foot. The only visitors I get here are invited.”

  She looked back to him as if making sure he hadn’t moved then looked around again. He wondered how his land looked through her eyes. What would she think of him now? Did she see him as a recluse? His family and friends didn’t understand why he chose to spend his free time in such a desolate place. They didn’t understand his need for silence or space every now and then.

  “You could’ve told me instead of tricking me.”

  “I didn’t trick you. Nothing I’ve said or done was a trick.”

  “Alharad won’t come here?”

  “No.”

  “He might. You took off with three of his slaves.”

  He gave a small chuckle. “No. One of his slaves took me hostage while escaping with two other slaves.”

  Her gaze shifted. He could almost see her thinking about her situation.

  “Wouldn’t this be the first place he’d look? I mean, if this really is your house?”

  He shook his head. “I would never bring someone who was holding me hostage to this place.”

  “Alharad might not know that.”

  “Alharad will ask around and find out. Thesan will have provided him with some false information by now. You and the children are safe.”

  They stood in uncomfortable silence until she nodded her head.

  “Are we ready to proceed?”

  “For now.” She brushed past him. “And I’d like my blaster back.”

  He caught up to her. “You don’t have a blaster. I have a blaster.”

  “How am I going to protect myself and the kids?”

  “That’s my job.”

  She looked at him. “No, it’s not.”

  They reached the entrance. “Yes, it is.”

  “It was your job to get us here.” She humphed and muttered something under her breath. “You could’ve woken me up.”

  “You needed the rest.”

  Before falling into a deep slumber, she’d mumbled that she hadn’t needed a nap. Her sleep hadn’t been peaceful at all. She’d tossed and turned and talked to herself. The only reason she hadn’t fallen out of her seat was because of her safety harness. More than once he’d wanted to put the transporter on autopilot and hold her, tell her she was safe, that he wouldn’t let anyone harm her again.

  But he knew his touch would’ve been unwelcome and he understood why. Instead he took the opportunity to contact Thesan again. Just as he thought, Alharad was more upset about the repercussions he might face for having a member of the Drazlan Royal Family accosted in his place of business than he’d been over losing three slaves and a guard. Thesan and Taio would continue to use that as a bargaining tool to gain Ally, Yoshi and Max’s freedom.

  Unless he wanted the Galactic Council to raid his establi
shment again or to be at odds with the Xochis royal house, Alharad had no choice in the matter.

  After getting everything taken care of with Thesan, he called Taio, letting him know that Ally was safe. The plan was to fill her in on who had sent him and keep her comfortable at his home until the Saia I was ready for the long journey back to Drazlan. They could spend three rotations of relaxation before leaving. He was sure she’d be happy to be reunited with Eva.

  Once they’d landed, he’d let Yoshi and Max run around in the field while he’d prepared his house. After deactivating the security, he’d gone through and removed anything that she could use as a weapon and put everything in a secure storage room. He’d also prepared the guest room for the children. He wanted to make them as comfortable as possible.

  They stopped at the front door and he opened it for her. She made no move to enter.

  “Are you going to stand out here or do you want to see inside?”

  Silence.

  She folded her arms and thrummed her fingers against her skin, deep in thought.

  He leaned against the doorframe, waiting for her to make a decision on whatever preoccupied her mind. He understood that she was at odds about whether she should enter. But he knew very well that they couldn’t spend the night on his doorstep.

  He pushed off the door. “I have something important to tell you, but I’m not doing it in the doorway.”

  As he turned to enter his house, she placed a hand on his arm. “Wait.”

  Her touch was electrifying. Skin on skin.

  Her fingers awakened the nerve endings where they rested. The hair on his arm stood on end. A fire spread up his arm to his neck and traveled down his spine. He could take her right here. Press her back against the wall and wrap her legs around him.

  He shuddered.

  She looked down at his cock, knowing full well the effect she had on him. Her eyes were filled with lust. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Then she looked up at him. “I assume there’s a bed somewhere close by?”

  He held her gaze. His cock throbbed, slowly coming to life. “Down the hall,” was all that came out.

  She tugged on his shirt, pulling him to her. He went with ease. She moved her hand to caress the back of his neck then his head, lacing her fingers in his hair. She parted her lips as she brought his face down to hers.

  Lips on lips, he tasted her. Their tongues thrashed, hot and needy.

  She wrapped her other hand around his waist, bringing their hips together. He thrust and rubbed his cock against her, letting her feel just how hard he was.

  He needed to be deep inside her walls, pumping.

  Without warning, she broke off contact, pushing him back.

  He stared at her in bewilderment as she aimed his blaster at his head. Recognition dawned on him. Great Ancients! Tricked. He’d secured all the weapons inside but had forgotten about the one on his hip. “If you kept kissing me like that I would’ve given you my other weapons as well.”

  She squinted. “I do what I have to do to get what I need.”

  He rubbed his hand across his cock. “If that’s the way you think, then I suppose our time together will be most enjoyable.”

  “Don’t test me.”

  He shrugged. “You’re the one who suggested you wouldn’t stop at anything to get what you want. I’m letting you know that I’m open for negotiations.”

  “I don’t negotiate with that—not anymore.”

  “So are you saying you had the overwhelming urge to kiss me then? All you had to do was ask.”

  “Jesus,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re like a teenage boy with raging hormones. Just in case this is a trap, I need for you to go in first.”

  “I don’t have a problem with going in first. I do have a problem with you aiming a weapon at me for the fourth time today.”

  “Don’t worry. You won’t die unless you try to sell me to another brothel or harm my children.”

  Great Ancients, a female after his own heart.

  “Go, get moving,” she said impatiently.

  He turned on his heels and sauntered inside. She hadn’t made a move to follow him, just watched.

  “There you go again, undressing me with your eyes.”

  A shot hit the ground beside his foot.

  He jumped out of the way. “Did you just try to shoot me?”

  “I’m not in the mood for your games!” she yelled.

  “I should give you lessons on how to shoot a blaster while I’m teaching Max.”

  “I wasn’t trying to hit you, asshole.”

  Turning in a full circle, he held his arms out. “No one is here. I already told you.”

  She mumbled something under her breath that he couldn’t understand. “Come out.”

  He shrugged and walked back through the doorway.

  “Turn around,” she commanded once he stood in front of her. After he did as instructed, she pressed the blaster against his back. “Walk.”

  “Smart female. But you’ll want to walk me through every room to make sure it’s safe.”

  “Don’t you ever stop talking?”

  “I find it calms my nerves, especially since I have a trigger-happy human at my back.”

  As they passed the security panel, he stopped. “And this is where you’ll want to check my dwelling for other heat signatures.”

  “Do it,” she said.

  He activated the security and stood to the side to allow her to peer around him at the screen.

  There were two red figures shown in the structure and two smaller figures in the perimeter.

  “See? Just us.”

  She stepped back and put the blaster in her waistband. “Now what do you have to discuss with me?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  She chewed her food slowly, listening to him lie between his teeth. He rattled on about Eva being a queen on some distant planet and how Eva’d had an alien entity searching for Ally for the past three years. As she ate, she nodded in all the right places and said “really?” or “how wonderful” appropriately.

  But for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what kind of technology he’d used to delve into the memories in her head, or when he’d gotten the time to do it without her knowledge.

  When I was asleep?

  Of course.

  After they landed, he’d probably used some kind of alien technology and stole all her memories, and when he was done, he woke up the kids and took them outside to set up his tricky plot. Then he sent Max to wake her so she could find him playing innocently with Yoshi.

  She stopped herself from laughing out loud.

  She’d never bought his big-guy-being-cute-with-little-girl act anyway. She was way smarter than him or any other alien. These bastards would never learn that she was always one step ahead—no, three steps ahead of anything they had planned.

  Yoshi and Max had come in the house once while Kiehle was explaining everything. Yoshi had rows and rows of flower necklaces draped around her neck. Max had a row of flowers wrapped around one of his skinny little legs. It wasn’t a necklace, he was quick to point out to Kiehle; it was a blaster holder. Just like the empty one that Kiehle wore around his thigh.

  Ally had shooed them back outside. She didn’t need them to hear anything Kiehle was talking about. She didn’t want to have to correct any of the lies they overheard.

  When she did that, he really opened up, clearly believing she was enthralled with everything that came out of his mouth. The reason Eva hadn’t come to the brothel herself to rescue Ally? She was due to have another alien baby any day now.

  Right. Another alien baby, meaning she already had one. His memory device wasn’t perfect. Eva would never bring a baby into this mess that they called life, let alone a half-alien one. She’d never encountered a woman who willingly did. Pregnancies happened of course, but never willingly. Ally had seen her share of deformed human-alien hybrids to know that no woman chose that.

  “My vessel will be here i
n three rotations. We’ll load up and be on our way to Drazlan.”

  She raised a brow. This fool actually thinks I’m getting on a ship with him.

  “I have an all-male crew, but they’ll be respectful of your space and won’t do anything to harm you or the children.”

  “Sure.”

  He leaned his chair back, balancing it on two legs. He watched her so…so triumphantly. “That was a lot easier than I thought. I wanted to tell you at the brothel but Alharad might’ve been listening in.”

  “No, you were right not to tell me.” I would’ve probably killed you on the spot.

  He had such a smug look on his face. She bit down on the urge to shoot him between the eyes. She clasped her hands tighter around the mug she held just to keep them from reaching into her waistband.

  “Can I speak with her or do you think she’s too busy doing queen things?” she asked as sweetly as possible. She had a tickle in the back of her throat as she said “queen things”.

  He lowered his chair and snapped his fingers. “I’d forgotten all about that! I promised Taio I would have you call as soon as we reached the planet. I’m sure Eva would’ve liked to tell you all of this herself. How could I forget?”

  She shrugged. Maybe because this is all a lie?

  He pushed his chair back and stood. “We can use the communicator in the common room. It has a video console.”

  “Video. Lovely.”

  She got up and followed him, all the while wanting to kick him in his ass.

  At the communicator, he punched some buttons and they waited for a connection. It wasn’t long before the monitor came on and a male’s image came into view. He looked just like Kiehle except a bit older and possibly a little larger. They shared the same sharp features and same good looks. They even had the same mesmerizing lavender eyes.

  “Brosir,” he said. “I was not expecting to hear from you so soon. Is there anything additional that you needed to tell me?”

  “Additional?” Ally asked Kiehle. “You talked with him recently?”

  Kiehle looked sheepishly from the other alien to her. “This is my brother Taio, Eva’s mate. I talked with him while you were sleeping.”