by S. E. Smith
“It is in the kitchen,” a gruff voice responded. “There is no need to notify your Earth security officers. Matrix is an agent with the CPU.”
The broken brush in Jana’s hand made a dull thud as it hit the floor next to the man’s unconscious body. Her throat moved up and down as she tried to speak. Her eyes remained locked on Linguine. She could have sworn the voice came from him, but that was impossible.
“I… I beg your pardon?” Jana whispered, staring at Linguine. “Did you… Did you just… talk?”
K-Nine rose to his feet and stretched. He shook his massive frame before taking a step closer to the man on the floor. Jana watched as the wolf-dog bent and touched his nose to the growing lump on the man’s temple.
“That is going to hurt when he wakes up,” Linguine muttered before releasing a deep sigh and sitting down. “This is Matrix. I am K-Nine. We are agents with the Cyborg Protection Unit.”
“You can talk,” Jana mumbled, staring in confusion at Linguine – K-Nine. “You… Dogs can’t talk. I mean, not like people talk….” Her voice faded and she reached up to grip the towel again with both hands.
“I am a genetically enhanced member of the Protection Unit. All members of the units are cybernetically enhanced to some degree to work with a partner. We hunt down and apprehend or eliminate dangers to all worlds under our protection. The governing forces of Zion created the CPU within their military ranks. They believe that such teams are necessary until the Confederation Council is stable. In our team, I am the one who was enhanced the most,” K-Nine explained.
“Oh,” Jana mumbled, staring stupidly at him before glancing down at the man on the floor again. “You can talk,” she repeated inanely.
“Matrix finds you very attractive,” K-Nine responded with what sounded suspiciously like laughter in his voice. “You should dress before he wakes.”
Jana nodded and took a step backwards. She started to turn before she paused, her worried gaze quickly scanning the living room. As if they could sense her distress, the three kittens suddenly appeared and darted down the hallway toward her bedroom. Jana glanced at K-Nine again with an expression of uncertainty.
“I’ll be right back,” she said hoarsely, lifting her hand and extending her index finger to direct him to stay put.
“We will be here,” K-Nine promised, lying down next to Matrix. “I do not believe he will wake before you return.”
“Probably not. I did hit him pretty hard. I’ll… I’ll be right back,” Jana repeated with a distracted nod before turning and hurrying down the hallway to her bedroom.
K-Nine watched in amusement as Jana disappeared. He turned his head to gaze down at Matrix’s still form again. His systems were finally back online. With a flick of his ear, he turned off the embedded beacon.
“Yes, you hit him pretty hard, in more ways than one,” K-Nine chuckled in delight as he noted the crusted forms of black soil coating Matrix’s face and neck.
K-Nine’s systems had rebooted just when Matrix had appeared. There had been an instant of disorientation before everything clicked. Still, K-Nine had not missed the increased respiration or the scent of Matrix’s reaction to Jana. A grin pulled at the corner of his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth. K-Nine would have the family he had always dreamed of and knew that Matrix secretly wanted. Plus, he had promised Sennara that he would find a life mate for Matrix and he would not break his promise to her. Matrix and he had only discussed family units once. It was shortly after they’d started working together. Matrix had bluntly explained why he thought it was best for CPU agents not to have families.
“The situation was different for my parents, since my mother could serve with my father on the same ship. This is too dangerous,” Matrix had declared with a wave of his hand. “No female wants a life mate who is always gone, or who might never return from a mission. Besides, having a life mate could make us weak. There are those out there that would use a life mate against us. No, my friend, we are destined to be alone, except between assignments when we visit the Spaceports.”
K-Nine was tired of the Spaceports. There was no pleasure nor satisfaction in visiting them anymore. Even Matrix had been less than inclined to visit the last few times they had been in the vicinity of one.
No, it’s time, K-Nine thought.
There were others in the CPU that had a life mate, contrary to what Matrix had said. Matrix would have to accept Jana and the kittens, because as far as K-Nine was concerned, they were already his family.
Seven
Jana cursed when she dropped her third pair of panties on the floor and Biscuit took off with them. She snatched another pair out of her dresser with a grumble. At the moment, she was three for three. Butter and Honeybun had already appropriated the other two pairs.
“You guys are not helping, you know!” Jana growled as she stepped into a pair of peach-colored lace panties and pulled them up. “I have a… a… whatever in the hell he is, in my living room with a talking dog! Did any of you ever think you’d see the day a dog could talk? That’s right up there with flying elephants and imaginary dragons!”
Jana shook her head at her musings and quickly snapped her bra on before she pulled out a pair of jeans and a soft, pink, cotton T-shirt with tiny rhinestones from the closet. She stepped into her jeans and pulled them up, jumping up and down a few times to get them high enough to button. She had lost ten pounds and could finally fit, with just a little bounce, into a pair of size sixteen jeans. It had taken her six months to lose the weight, but she had done it.
Pulling the T-shirt over her head, she grimaced when it caught on her breasts. Unfortunately, those hadn’t shrunk at all. With another tug, she pulled it down the rest of the way. She yanked open the top dresser drawer and grabbed a pair of socks before closing it and reaching for her shoes. She sat down and hurriedly slid them on her feet.
Jana drew in a deep breath before she walked over to the door and carefully opened it. She peeked out, looking both ways before she opened it far enough to step out.
“Stay behind…,” the rest of her words died when the three kittens bolted down the hall toward the living room. “So much for protecting you guys!” She grumbled under her breath.
Jana hurried down the hall behind the kittens. She stopped just long enough to check that the man was still lying on the floor. Deciding it would be wiser to have her phone with her, she darted into the kitchen. She looked around frantically, trying to remember where she put it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it on the counter next to the pantry door.
“Now I remember,” she muttered as she wrapped her fingers around it. “I put it down to move the dog food into the pantry.”
Jana turned and emitted a loud shriek when she realized that she was no longer alone. The man leaning against the doorway winced, and Jana’s hand flew to cover her mouth. Her gaze followed his hand as it rose to touch the large, colorful bump at his temple.
“You… I’m sorry,” she whispered, slowly lowering her hand. “I thought you were an intruder. I mean, you are, but I thought you were a bad intruder. Actually, I thought you were old man Marker.”
She clamped her lips together when the man shot her a pain-filled glare. The longer he stared at her, the darker the scowl on her face grew until she folded her arms and glared right back at him. When he raised an eyebrow at her, Jana couldn’t resist raising her own eyebrow back at him.
“You, female, do not have any sense of survival,” the man finally growled.
“My name is Jana Dixon, not female,” Jana retorted before her eyes widened in surprise and she placed her hands on her hips. “Hey, wait a minute! If you are some alien agent or whatever, how come you can speak English?” She snapped, ignoring him this time when he winced at her tone.
“Translator,” he muttered, tapping his uninjured temple and pushing away from the wall before turning back toward the living room. “K-Nine uploaded the information while I was unconscious.”
“Translator?” Jan
a repeated, confused. “Hey, where are you going?”
“To lie down,” the man snapped. “My head is killing me.”
“Oh,” Jana replied, feeling a twinge of remorse.
Biting her lip as she deliberated, she finally released a soft groan and quickly pulled open one of the kitchen drawers. She grabbed a plastic quart size bag and a dish towel. Turning, she hurried over to the refrigerator. She opened the freezer and pulled out some of the ice cubes from the tray she had filled last night. She dropped a dozen pieces into the plastic bag before she wrapped the dish towel around it and shut the freezer door with her elbow. She paused by the sink long enough to grab and dampen a couple of paper towels, as well, for his face. It looked like he’d had a close encounter with a compost pile.
“He better not hurt me after this,” she muttered under her breath as she walked back into the living room. She walked over to the long couch where the man was lying. “Here,” she said, holding the towel wrapped bundle out to him. “There’s ice in it – for your head. The paper towels are for your face. You have… dirt all over it.”
The man didn’t say anything, just took the bright, red-striped towel and the wad of dripping paper towels from her. He grunted and muttered what sounded like a curse under his breath when he pressed the chilled cloth against the bump. He used the other hand to wipe futilely at the dirt on his face and neck. Jana decided it might be safer to put a little distance between them. She quickly stepped back and sat down in the matching chair across the room.
Her gaze wandered over the man. His hair wasn’t overly long, but it looked like he could use a haircut. His features were dark and slightly foreign from what she could tell beneath the dirt. His eyes were a chocolate brown with flecks of silver in them. At least, that was what it had looked like while they had their staring contest in the kitchen. His eyes were closed now. He was at least a foot taller than she was. If she had to guess, she would put him around six-foot-two or three.
Jana sat on the edge of the chair and nervously folded her hands in her lap. Rocking back and forth, she glanced down at K-Nine, who was watching her with an amused expression. She pursed her lips and shook her head.
“So, could you talk this whole time?” Jana asked curiously.
“No. My system was damaged when the large transport struck me. My internal repair bots have been working on the damage to my communications system,” K-Nine replied, lifting his head when Biscuit pawed at his nose.
“Are you a dog or a wolf?” Jana asked, tilting her head to the side to study him. “You look like a mix.”
“He is a Despairing Wolfhound,” the man replied, not opening his eyes.
“A what?” Jana asked in confusion.
“My genetic base is primarily from the Despairing Wolf. The wolves originated from the Dramoline system. However, it was necessary to balance the aggressive traits of the Despairing Wolf with a species that depends on cooporation for survival. The origin of the Hound is unknown, but the species is common on many worlds and the inclusion of the Hound in my genetic makeup makes it much less likely that I would harm my partner.”
“Harm your partner?” Jana repeated, glancing over at the man lying on the couch.
“Yes,” the man said, turning his head to glare at her. “Despairing Wolves tend to rip out the throats of any creature that is stupid enough to get too close to them. That is why they are called Despairing. There is no hope if they catch you.”
“Oh!”
Jana didn’t know what to say. At the moment, her brain seemed to be stuck. She could feel her face flush when a puzzled expression came into the man’s eyes. Glancing down at her hands, she bit her lip to keep from blurting out something stupid – like telling him he was pretty cute considering he was supposed to be an alien.
“So, what are you two doing here?” Jana asked, glancing back up at the man. “Where are you from? The nearest habitable planet is supposed to be like super far from us. How can you be here and not be all old and stuff? Wouldn’t everybody you knew be dead where you’re from?”
She sat back when the man muttered something to Linguine – K-Nine – in that other language she’d heard him speaking earlier. She folded her arms and waited for him to finish before she glared back at him. He simply turned his head so that he was facing the ceiling again, replaced the ice pack against his temple, and closed his eyes.
“What was all that about?” Jana demanded, staring at K-Nine.
“He said you ask too many questions and he should have just killed you,” K-Nine replied with a sigh. “He will be nicer when he is no longer in pain. He does not handle it well.”
“I do, too,” Matrix snapped before he released a loud sigh. “I am tired. I have been tracking the Crawler while you have been breaking every protocol in the manual. I thought you were being held captive.”
“I was damaged when I was struck by the transport,” K-Nine replied, lifting a paw and placing it on Honeybun’s tail to stop the kitten from climbing up his back. “I did not see it when I was chasing the small gray creature with the long, fluffy tail.”
“You got hit while chasing a squirrel?” Jana asked with a grin. “That is so… stereotypical dog behavior.”
“I will blame the desire on my genetic programming, then,” K-Nine stated, releasing Honeybun when Biscuit pounced on the honey-colored kitten. “Why does Butter have a fascination with my tail?” He asked curiously, turning to look at Butter lying on her back with his tail caught between all her paws.
“The kittens were separated from their mother far too early,” Jana explained with a soft sigh. “They were barely a day old when they were dumped on the doorstep of the vet clinic. There were originally seven of them, but only these three survived. I think she has adopted you.”
“I need to see to the transport,” Matrix suddenly growled, sitting up quickly before emitting a groan and sinking back down to the decorative pillow. “Galactic Balls! What did you hit me with?”
Jana’s lips turned down. “My body brush. It broke when I hit your head. I just got it, too,” she said with a rueful twist of her lips. “At least it wasn’t really expensive.”
Matrix turned his head and scowled at her again. “Might I remind you it was my head you broke it on? You could show a little sympathy for that,” he retorted with a raised eyebrow.
“I did. I gave you a bag of ice,” Jana replied with a slight grin before it faded. “You’re wrong, you know. I do have a sense of survival. I live alone, in the woods, and you came in while I was in the shower. What else did you expect me to do? It also looked like you had some kind of a weapon in your hand.”
“And she wasn’t wearing any clothing,” K-Nine added with a grin.
“I’m well aware she wasn’t wearing any clothing,” Matrix growled before he flushed. “That is what distracted me.”
Jana rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. “I was going to fix something to eat after my shower. Are you hungry? Do you even eat?” She asked, moving from foot to foot as she tried to pull her mind away from the fact that this hunk of an alien was distracted by her lack of clothing – in a good way. “I can make enough for the two of us – unless you are leaving.”
Jana’s gaze locked with the silver flecked dark brown eyes of the man lying on her couch. For a moment, everything seemed to fade away and it was just the two of them. Jana’s eyes widened and she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks when his eyelids suddenly drooped a little and a hot flame of desire flared.
“Yes… I do eat,” Matrix drawled in a low husky tone.
“Oh!” Jana whispered. She wiped her suddenly trembling palms down along her thighs. Another flush turned her body to the consistency of melted chocolate when his eyes followed the movement. “I’ll just, you know, go fix something,” she forced out, waving her hand toward the kitchen. “Now. Right now.”
Jana turned and briefly closed her eyes as she called herself every word for stupid she could think of. She was acting like a horny twit! Sure, it
had been a while since she’d been in a relationship. Well, okay, she’d never really been in a relationship, but she had imagined enough of them to know what it must be like. She had more book boyfriends than most girls would ever dream of having! She had dated every single one of them – in her dreams.
“That’s what I get for living in a little town,” she muttered. “My hot romances come from books and movies.”
Jana glanced at the clock on the stove. It was almost lunchtime. She decided she might as well make a nice lunch since she hadn’t had any breakfast yet.
She mumbled under her breath as she pulled the chicken thighs that she had bought earlier out of the refrigerator and placed them on the counter next to the sink. She would bake the chicken and serve it with fresh pasta and veggies. With a sigh, she remembered the size of the man in the other room. If he really had traveled across the solar system, he would probably appreciate a home-cooked meal.
“They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” she reasoned as she pulled out more items. “It isn’t like this is ever likely to happen again! I mean, how many women can say they’ve had a hunky alien barge into their house and give them a look hot enough to sizzle their panties?”
“You know you are talking to yourself, don’t you?” Matrix commented.
Jana squeaked and jumped. Her lips parted when Matrix moved so quickly that she barely saw him. He straightened, holding the head of lettuce that slipped from her fingers when he’d startled her. He lifted his other hand and placed it gently under her chin to close her mouth. Her eyelids fluttered when he leaned closer.
“I’ve never had a female tell me that I can make her panties sizzle before,” he muttered in a gruff voice before he pressed a hot kiss to her lips and stepped away. “I need to check on our transport and scout the area.”