“Game?”
“Mission. Sorry. I mean I need to focus on this mission…We can’t allow T’Antor to hurt or kill anyone else.”
“I have him cornered here. My tablet will alert me if he leaves the confines of this domicile. I have been slowed considerably by the symptoms of my pigment transformation. Without that, he’d already be dead. But still, I will eliminate him by the time the sun sets on this side of your planet.”
“How are you going to kill him?”
Heriot snorted. He knew twenty ways to kill this waster. It would take five seconds. He could do it bare-handed or with one of the weapons he hid in his uniform. He just needed a situation to not startle or alert the humans. T’Antor was smart to stick with another tour, hiding his scouting of the grounds and the domiciles amongst a group of humans. He knew Heriot couldn’t take him out with the humans so near.
Every time he’d checked T’Antor’s location—minus the time Heriot had spent seeking relief with his mate—he’d seen the asshole’s bio-signature mingled within a group of fifty humans. The waster was making it impossible for him to complete this hit with total privacy.
Although in the end, if the choice was the humans discovering the existence of aliens and Heriot receiving zero payout for this contract, and T’Antor getting his hands on Illibrium and taking it back to R’Etor to kill millions of citizens, Heriot’s choice would be clear. He would eliminate T’Antor no matter how many humans were there to witness. But, until that difficult situation presented itself, he’d still leave time for taking T’Antor out, the humans none the wiser.
“What’s our plan?” his mate asked.
“Our plan?”
“Yes, I’m helping you.”
He smiled. This was most unusual. His brother was his partner. Maybe he could train his mate to work in the family business, too. This would be acceptable.
“Oh, we are definitely taking that fucker out. He hurt Ron and Daisy and would’ve killed them if you hadn’t stopped him. He would have raped me if you hadn’t shown up. And he just raped and murdered someone here on the hilltop. And God only knows how many others he’s hurt and murdered since he’s been here on Earth. He’s not getting off this planet alive. I’ll cut his heart out myself if I have to. We have to stop him, here, on this hilltop. We’re the only ones who can.”
He smiled. His female was bloodthirsty. She would fit in perfectly at Heriot & Jadzion.
“I want a weapon, too,” she stated. “I’m not totally weak, you know. I exercise five days a week to stay strong.”
He could believe this. Heriot looked her up and down. Her curves were generous, but she also had a tight strength to her soft form that he appreciated. He reached into his jacket and quickly unsnapped and pulled out a blade and sheath for his mate. It was his smallest weapon, it would fit her perfectly.
“Oh wow,” she breathed.
He smiled. “When we return to R’Etor I’ll show you my main collection and train you. You can choose what weapon you prefer. This will do for now.”
“Heriot…”
He gave her a sharp glance, challenging her to contradict him.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she sighed.
He pulled her close and ran his palms along her stomach and around her waist as he reached behind her, securing the stealth blade’s sheath against her back, underneath her outer clothing.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “I love it.”
9
Hannah glanced at her cell phone and frowned. It was two o’clock in the afternoon. This made sense, considering she was so freaking hungry she’d gladly fight off a pack of hyenas to gnaw at a pile of dirty bones.
She’d missed breakfast that morning because she’d overslept and never ate in her mad dash out the front door. But…Hannah patted her pockets…
Aha!
There is was. Perfect. The protein bar she usually kept around just for emergency situations such as this. She pulled it out and waved it in front of Heriot. “You want some? We could share.”
He glanced over and shook his head, muttering something about “unclean Earth ingredients.”
She shrugged. His loss.
Hannah unwrapped the bar, kept working and started munching. They were making good progress through the estate. So far, they’d snuck through the kitchen, the dining room, the billiards room and various morning rooms and gathering areas in the main building. Slipped between tour groups and dodged security guards. It was heart-pounding and a bit scary for Hannah, considering she’d never done anything illegal in her entire life. But it was worth it, considering each room they covered, looking for this mystery crystal called Illibrium, brought them one step closer to finishing Heriot’s mission, which ended in him killing T’Antor. And any situation that ended in the elimination of T’Antor was all right with her.
Hannah took another bite, thinking of Ron and Daisy who were probably in the hospital in Santa Maria. She hoped they were okay. She had no idea as to the extent of their injuries and could only send good thoughts and best wishes their way, wishing they could know she was doing everything in her ability to take out the asshole who hurt them. And of course, her heart bled for the unknown woman T’Antor had murdered. The innocent woman whose only error had been in wanting to go on a tour of Hearst Castle at the wrong moment in time.
Thinking of the fact that T’Antor was still loose caused her steps to quicken into the next room with Heriot. She tried to work faster, her eyes alert as she skimmed every nook and cranny for anything suspicious, anything that could possibly be Illibrium.
T’Antor needed to be stopped today. No way was she letting that alien asshole rape and murder his way through the central coast. Not on her watch.
The two of them stepped into yet another elaborately decorated gathering room. A row of tall windows looked directly onto the gardens at the back of the main building. This was considered the less extravagant and slightly unfinished side of the estate. She chuckled because it was still pretty damn elaborate. Every single nook and cranny of the interior of this ginormous mansion had objects that had been shipped over from Europe or recreated to look like the things right next to it that were hundreds of years old.
She imagined all the empty spaces in medieval, gothic and renaissance churches, cathedrals, castles and châteaux in Europe (she’d dubbed them the fours Cs) because those things were instead here, in Hearst Castle. Whole ceilings and walls had been removed and shipped across the ocean and installed here. In every single room there seemed to be an elaborate fireplace that used to be in a French château. And shit, there were tapestries everywhere. The ceiling of the room they were in right now was covered with carved and painted wood panels probably from a Spanish cathedral. And yep, yet another fireplace that she could literally stand upright in if she wanted to, and tapestries, tapestries, tapestries. Basically, she’d seen so much museum-quality furniture and art at every turn, she was becoming immune to it.
Heriot’s features brightened as he glanced at a large marble statue in a corner, of a naked woman holding a sparkling ball in her hand.
“Is it?”
He stepped forward. “I’m checking.”
Hannah held her breath as he scanned the object with his tablet. A red light blinked on the screen.
Heriot cursed.
Her shoulders slumped. Shoot. That sucked.
“I hate this planet,” Heriot groused as he continued to visually scan the far corner of the room, his pitch-black assassin-stealth outfit and his thick, glossy white-gold hair looking incongruous against all that renaissance art.
Heriot might be scary and intimidating to some people, his coloring a bit startling, but she thought he looked sexy as hell.
“What? You hate my planet?” she answered, her mouth still half full of protein brownie bar. “Why? What’s wrong with Earth?”
“It’s dirty. Your species learned how to begin creating a technologically advanced civilization, but it does not yet know how to balance th
is manufacturing without ruining the environment. The modernization of your planet without the control of eliminating the waste is polluting your air, soil and water. This unchecked filth is the sign of a primitive society.”
“Okay, Mr. Fancy Pants.”
“What does this mean?”
“It means I get it, you think you’re better than us.”
He shrugged. “I am.”
“Are you okay with finding out that your mate is human? Weren’t you…disappointed when I wasn’t R’Etor?”
He looked surprised at her question. “No, I wasn’t disappointed,” he said as he moved closer. “I was happy to have discovered my truemate. It does not matter to me that you aren’t R’Etor. In fact, to me you are special. A special gift I found on the planet Earth. I will bring you home and my life will be complete.”
He stopped in front of her.
Hannah lifted her chin up, up, up to stare at his harsh features, that dichotomy between golden angel and devilish assassin. She swallowed the last of her bar and placed her hands on her hips, trying to not get distracted. If she touched him, he won. She’d melt in his arms because he was so handsome, it hurt. What he’d said before about thinking of her as a special gift—that was sweet, but he was being so judgmental! Ugh! “My planet isn’t filthy. Your planet isn’t better than mine. And we’ve already been over this, I’m not leaving Earth. And…wait, Heriot…you’re flushing again.”
His jaw clenched. “It is happening quicker this time because your truemate pheromones are the most intense.”
“Oh no, should we separate to keep looking? Maybe that would be better…”
“No! No. I need you with me.”
“But Heriot, it’s probably more sensible to—”
“I will not be separated from my mate,” he snarled.
She blinked, surprised at his quick anger. But then, she could see hints of red rash peeking up from his collar, onto his neck. He was probably in pain and trying to hide it. “Okay, but I need to relieve you again.” Shoot, they’d just started making good progress and now they were going to need to stop again.
“This is exactly why I self-selected to isolate myself from unmated females. I did not want to lead a life ruled by pheromones. But this is unlike anything I’ve encountered before. Your pheromones. Your pheromones are…” he groaned.
She let her annoyance at him go, knowing he must be horrified at his predicament. None of this was his fault. She grasped his arm. “I need to get you somewhere private, right now.”
“No, let’s keep going. I checked T’Antor’s bio-signature a few moments ago. He’s left the second floor and is moving to the third. We need to go there, too—”
“Heriot, it’s getting worse. You will soon be no use to anyone. I can help you. It won’t take long.”
His cheeks darkened, and his gaze skittered away. Oh God, the poor guy was embarrassed, wasn’t he?
She looked around. They couldn’t have “sex” in any of the public rooms they’d been in, it was too risky. And there was no way she was getting it on in one of the bedrooms. Every single space in the main building was made up of some surface, usually a textile, that was ancient. Precious. One of a kind. And there was no way she was messing that up with Heriot’s jizz or any of her own juices.
Gross.
Then suddenly a new idea blossomed in her mind.
“Wait,” she told him. “Yesterday I was looking at the Hearst Castle app, studying the map of the estate. I’m remembering that not far from here, at the back of the main building, is a tennis court. And underneath the tennis court is a Roman Pool. It’s an inside pool. And, the best part, I’m pretty certain I saw a row of changing rooms back there.”
Not more than ten minutes later Heriot kicked the changing room door closed behind them, ensuring their privacy.
It was amazing how quickly he’d gotten her there. After she’d mentioned this location he’d whipped out his tablet and tapped across the screen several times in utter concentration. Then he’d grunted, “Female, with me.” He’d taken her hand and dragged her along, her feet flying as she tried to keep up with his long strides. They’d dodged every person, every employee, and stepped into the cool, dark environment of the Roman Pool.
She yanked hard on his arm, making him pull up short for just a moment, because JFC, this place was a jewel unto itself. The pool was enormous, five times the size of regular pools, and completely indoors, with large floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere. Every surface gleamed with blue and gold mosaic. Not gold-colored mosaic—actual gold karat. The pool looked like an ancient Roman bath. It managed to combine an aura of serenity with eye-popping Vegas glitz into a jaw-dropping pattern she couldn’t stop examining, her eyes darting everywhere. It really was the perfect setting for all the Hollywood elite and celebrities of the day who used to frequent this pool.
“Female,” Harriot urged.
She nodded and kept going. He led her through an entry she had no idea he even knew existed and then they were in the back corner of the pool house, in a quiet hallway lined with doors.
Heriot strode forward and chose the last doorway. He pulled her inside and locked the door behind them.
Hannah smiled as she looked around. Dim light filtered in through the crack in the perimeter of the thick wooden door. A low bench lined one wall. Every surface was tiled in warm, pleasant colors. It was a perfect hideaway.
She turned. “Heriot, I—”
And then he was on her.
Heriot growled like a lion, a predator barely restrained, homing in for the kill. His enormous body pressed against hers, his hips grinding against her stomach, letting her feel that long, hard pipe. Her breath caught in her throat and every girly part in her body stood up and took notice.
He’d said he would get steadily worse, that his symptoms would become more painful and he’d lose control. He wasn’t kidding, was he?
He pinned her against the wall, reached down and cupped a hand possessively on her mound. “This is mine,” he said, his lips against hers. “But I will not take you here, in this place. The release of my seed in your hot channel will be on my ship, in my bed where I can take my time pleasuring your body.”
“Mmm,” she answered, as she wiggled her hips against that hard ridge. All she could think of was how much she wanted that inside of her. Her palms automatically slid underneath his shirt, searching for luscious bare skin over hard muscle. Her brain filled with fuzz, distracted by all that was Heriot …and then words flew out of her mouth, words she’d never said before and thought she would never say: “But, since I’m not leaving with you on your ship, maybe we should go ahead and mate right now.”
She’d just met him that day. In reality she barely knew Heriot. And she was ready to give her virginity up to this alien who she might never see again after tonight?
Hell yeah.
She meant it. Meant it with every fiber of her being. She wanted Heriot to be her first. Wanted to feel the slide of his cock filling her up. She didn’t want to wait for any other human man, even if she never saw Heriot again after tonight, she wanted this with him. Their bodies joined. A spectacular moment she could replay in her mind again and again for years to come.
“Hannah,” he growled.
What? She was not leaving with him on his ship. Not taking a step off of this planet. Really, how clearer could she be?
“You are my mate. I am taking you with me. There is no need to rush and join in a truemating. You can relieve my symptoms with your touch. Your words say you want this, but I sense there will be remorse after a mating in this sparse human setting. You are a female who wants her first mating with her truemate to be a moment to remember. I want that, too.”
Wetness formed in her eyes. Her nose started to sting. How did he know? She hadn’t admitted that she was a virgin. “You want that, too?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said gently. “I want that, too. You are precious to me.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I’ve never done this before,” she admitted.
He looked deep into her eyes. “Female, have you been pleasure mated?”
“No, I…I’m a virgin.”
A large, genuine smile spread across his face, showing off his dimple again amidst all that gorgeous white-gold stubble of his beard. “I will be your first, and your last. Females from my planet have occasionally provided pleasure mate privileges to me—using their hands or their mouth to bring me relief. But I’ve never had my cock inside of a female. Never released my seed inside of a mate. You will be my first, too.”
Her heart began to unravel at those words, the words he hadn’t known she needed to hear but he’d said anyway. “So you’re technically a virgin too? We’ll be each other’s firsts?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “You will be my first and my only.”
Oh God, he was a virgin, too. She would be the first female he’d penetrated. How could an alien from another planet, a self-avowed assassin, be so perfect for her!
It wasn’t fair.
And yet she felt surprisingly calm about this whole crazy state of affairs. Heriot wasn’t a raging lunatic, he was a male who needed her help. Despite the fact that his eyes were bleeding from silver into red, his whole body was flushing again and he was a great mass of barely restrained hormones—she felt safe and whole in his arms. She trusted him.
“I need to taste you,” he growled.
Her eyes widened. Heriot, the predator, was back.
And then suddenly she was taken off the wall, seated on the nearby bench and he was yanking her stretchy skinny jeans off her hips.
“Baby,” she said as she put her hands on his and tried to sit up. “Wait a sec. I need to relieve you. You’ve got to be in pain. Let me help you first.”
“No.” He shook his head, his giant palm on her stomach.
“But—”
“No. The last time you relieved my transformation you were left unsatisfied. This time I will be certain you are not left wanting.”
The Alien Assassin’s Stolen Bride Page 7