by Viola Grace
Man, she made mistakes in her life that she regretted to this day, the reason why she ended up working for Sugar and Spice Club. But that didn’t mean she deserved to be treated as a soulless, prideless—if that was even a word—and heartless creature. Even naked pole dancers should be treated with respect. “We are like everybody else, Damnit!”
Outside the bar, she was just another woman who shopped at Wal-Mart, watched Jay Leno and enjoyed a bowl of ice cream with a cherry on top. She never dressed in a way that gave any hint of what she did for a living. She, Jade Belcourt, always shed her erotic dancer character whenever she clocked-out. Her job stayed inside the bar.
Jade was a lap, table and pole dancer. She would do anything to satisfy a customer, try different positions just to give his money’s worth. She would do anything except bestiality. When she signed an agreement with Sugar and Spice, she made it clear she wouldn’t be performing sex and other things involving pain. She didn’t mention anything about sex with an animal because who in the freaking world would want to see that? Fucking or getting fucked by an animal didn’t sit well in her stomach. And for the producer to ask her to suck a donkey’s dick or let a real dog fuck her from behind was not only insulting but also disrespectful. Only a person with an unsound mind would agree to that kind of freak show.
Yes, sex between man or woman and animal was beyond the norm and freakish in nature. She would rather have sex with an alien, with one black eye, long arms that dragged on the ground when they walk and legs that looked like a green grasshopper’s rather than taste a donkey’s cum. Gross!
God, if she could just find the inspiration she once had to create sellable paintings again, one that could fetch for a reasonable amount, she’d stop dancing. Painting was the only decent job she knew she was good at and it, too, disappeared along with her family’s respect. But her medium left her years ago. When would it ever come back? Would it ever?
Jade thought about the paintings she had sold in the past. People praised her work, she was recognized locally as a painter with great potential. But all of it disappeared because of one small mistake. She smoked weed and was caught. She went to jail and her life went downhill since then. What a hell to pay for inhaling one small joint.
She was almost out the door when her heel got caught on a crack on the floor and broke. Her anger hit the highest point. She removed her shoe and aimed it at the sign on the door, Sugar and Spice Club: You Ask, We Provide. But her aim was off. The shoe flew off her hand and hit the wine bottles on display.
Rocco, the bartender that was busy ogling Pam came and looked at the floor. “Gotta pay for that, Jade.”
“No, I’m not. It was an accident.” She lifted her chin and limped her way out, letting the door slam behind her. She didn’t care if she broke more than one bottle. The whole fucking building could go up to flames and she would just laugh about it. Not a bad thought, she told herself. If the building were gone, then women that worked there would be forced to go somewhere where they would be treated like human beings. And the men, well, they could all go to hell.
Men as far as she was concerned were pigs pretending to be humans. Particularly Brad. That horrid beast! May he rot in hell. She was so tired of living like a rat on a gutter and dealing with people—especially men. Men who treated her as low as a crawling bug they squashed with their boot or mosquitoes they swatted with newspapers. What? Did they really think she chose her profession because she enjoyed rubbing her pussy on a pole, spreading her legs for the drooling customer to stare at her clitoris or getting smacked on the rear and groped? Dickheads!
She was removing her good shoe when she heard the club’s door open again. Jade turned around. Brad was coming toward her. The subdued light coming from the street lamp post reflected on his black eyes. He had a look of a pissed, angry man. Crud.
“You owe me money, bitch.”
“Ha! I don’t owe you shit. What, you want me to pay for those bottles? It’s you who should pay me. I broke my shoe because you, tightwad, refused to fix that crack on the floor. Duct tape, for your information doesn’t hold cement together.”
“I knew you’re trouble even before I hired you,” his brows drew together in a pissed off expression.
“Got that right. And this trouble” she pointed at her chest— “will bring you bigger trouble by contacting the authorities for your illegal porn shows.” Brad paled. “Not so tough now, are you?”
“Bitch. Try it and you’ll lose more than a shoe. Give me back the check I gave you and we’ll call it even.”
“No. I worked hard for this money.”
“You will pay me here or I’ll break your other heel. Your neck even.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Brad.” She reached in her purse for the pepper spray she carried all the time.
“And it’ll be my pleasure breaking your god damn nose.” Brad took a step forward cracking his knuckles the way she’d seen the bouncers would when getting ready to toss a customer out.
Oh god. Jade took a step back. Brad came closer and closer. His jaw muscles twitched angrily. She watched as he raised his fist and let go. Jade closed her eyes. But the punch never came. She heard a grunt and opened her eyes.
Wide shoulders and rippling back muscles through white shirt blocked her view. Who the heck?
“Are you okay, Jade?” the man asked without turning.
“Yes.”
“What do you want me to do with him?”
Jade stepped on the side to see what was happening. “Oh no!” The man’s fingers—whoever he was—were wrapped around Brad’s throat. “Let him go, please. You might kill him.”
“It’ll be my pleasure breaking his neck.”
“Uhm, but it’s not worth going to jail for killing a swamp rat. Let him go.”
The man shoved Brad so hard he slammed against the bar door as if he weighed nothing before picking up her shoe. “Do you need the other one? I’ll go inside to get it.”
Jade looked at Brad wheezing and holding his throat. The fire in his eyes doubled. He would most likely call his burly friends as soon as he found the strength to get up. She faced her unknown protector. “No, thanks. It’s broken anyway. Thank you for—”
Whatever she had to say was lost when she met the man’s eyes. Jade bit her lower lip. Not in her twenty-one years of age had she seen a man so beautiful she wanted to whimper just by looking at him. She stared and stared some more. He possessed dark green eyes like the grass in springtime with thick, long lashes. His nose was straight, mouth wide and full. Up close, she could see the green highlight on his blond hair. This guy was over six feet tall, on the athletic side, with shoulder length shaggy hair and wearing low rider jeans showing his narrow hips. His features were so perfect, that a bit more refinement would have made him too beautiful. He is the very definition of a sexy man, Jade thought. And he reminded her of Japanese cartoon character except he wasn’t a cartoon—he was real. But sexy or not, she didn’t trust him. She wouldn’t trust a boy-next-door either.
“I’m happy to help, Jade.”
It was the second time he mentioned her name. “You’re at an advantage. You know my name already.”
“My name is Kyr of Rhyn.”
“Kyr of what?”
“Kyr of Rhyn. I’ve been watching you.”
Oh god. A stalker and a weirdo. He must be. Why would he say his name followed by the place where he came from instead of a last name if he wasn’t? “That was nice of you to do. Again, thank you and goodnight.” She crossed the street and headed toward her car. Man, it wasn’t everyday a hot guy walked in this part of town. Now that he finally did, he happened to be a loony. Too darn bad.
Even with the poor light coming from the streetlamp, her Subaru looked hideous with its back bumper missing, broken taillights and dangling corroded muffler compared to the Porsche Targa 911 parked beside it. Admiring the Porsche, she stood beside it. “Who do you belong, baby?
“With me.”
Jane jumped a
foot. “Sheez! Don’t do that. You scared me.”
“I’m sorry. Jade, I want to be your customer.”
Lord, here we go. Another fan of her boobs, butt and pussy. “Kyr of Rhyn, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, Kyr of Rhyn, outside the bar, I am not a dancer. Besides, I am not in the mood to entertain right now. I just lost my job. I won’t be able to focus on your needs. You know what I mean? But if you are looking for a good time, go find a different club. Go to downtown Seattle. You’ll find classy clubs there. Not that one,” she pointed her fingers toward Sugar and Spice. “That place is full of crooks. And I doubt Brad would want to see your handsome face again. Goodnight.”
Jade opened her purse and searched for her car keys all the while thinking about the sexy hunk now standing beside her. She found her pepper spray at the bottom of her bag amongst the White Rabbit candies Pam had given her the night before, bills she picked up earlier from the post office and the letter from her landlord. Kyr of something, moved beside her. Jade hung on to her pepper spray. She wouldn’t hesitate to use it if this hunk tried to grab her.
“I want to offer you a job.”
Where are my damn keys? “What kind of job?”
“Saving Rhyn.”
If he said saving Ryan, she would really use the pepper spray on him. “Care to elaborate on that?” She shouldn’t even ask. But she wasn’t in the position to be choosy right now. Here was a job offer, why not find out more about it before rejecting it. If this guy offered big bucks to watch her kiss a snake, well, it would be the sign to crawl back to her family and beg for forgiveness. She was that desperate.
“Would you like to talk somewhere else?”
“No. Here is as good as any other place.” He maybe hot looking, but she wouldn’t make a mistake of getting in a car with him. Porsche or not.
“I understand.”
“So about this job offer…”
“Rhyn’s population is on a brink of extinction. And I believe you could help save us.”
Jade forced herself not to roll her eyes. “Wow. Loads of info there—overwhelming,” she said with enough sarcasm in her voice she hoped he noticed.
“I know.”
Jeysus. “First of all, could you tell me what Rhyn is? ‘Cause I may be a dropout but I know there is no Rhyn in U.S. Is it a foreign city?”
“It’s a star born in the galaxy. Only a few million years younger than the sun.”
“Ahh…so you’re an alien.” What a kook.
“You could say that. But not the kind you see in movies.”
Jade could see that. He didn’t have a cone shaped head or gnarly fingers. Kyr was hotter than any celebrities she’d seen on magazines. Unfortunately, he had a screw loose. “Well, since this job is going to be outside of the planet, I can’t accept your offer. My car won’t make it up there.” She pointed her finger up in the sky without taking her gaze off Kyr.
“I know you think I’m crazy, but what I said is true. If you agree to help, you will be rewarded. You won’t have to worry about your rent, bills, food. There won’t be a need for you to dance on stage, and…you could start painting again.”
“How did you—oh, no. You’ve searched me online, did you? You’re a stalker. Kyr, you seem to be a nice guy, but I’ll scream for cops if you don’t leave.”
“Name your price. Ten, twenty, one hundred million dollars.”
For the love of humanity. “Okay, I’m broke but not stupid. Nobody offers a pole dancer one-hundred million dollars. What, you want me to join the Star Trek squad in order to save your…I’m out of here. You’re wasting my time.”
Angry voices made her look back at the bar. Brad and his ugly entourage were coming toward them with their baseball bats.
“We have to go. You have to go. Brad’s coming.”
“I can break them all in half.”
“Uhm, I don’t know what kind of alien you are, but there are eleven of them. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. So, you go. And I go.”
“We’ll take my car, yours is leaking oil.”
Jade noticed the oil, too. She glanced at Brad and his group. They all looked like lions stalking their prey. Man, they’d catch her because her car doesn’t start right away. Damn, she’d hitch a ride with a stranger after all. “Fine.” Jade opened the door in a hurry and buckled herself in.
* * * *
Kyr faced the men and speared them with his glowing eyes. One by one, they fell back. He wished it were that easy to defeat his enemies. Too bad he weren’t able to scare them with just a stare of the eyes. He could have saved more Rhynians.
Jade was already buckled when he slid into his seat. Kyr reversed his car, then stopped when he was inches away from Brad and the others who were still standing on the side of the street with a shocked look of their faces. He shifted his gear to drive, stepped on the gas and then took off, spraying dirt on the men.
He took the freeway exit. Saint Edward Apartment was located on the northeast shore of Lake Washington, approximately four miles southwest of Bothell, on Juanita Drive in King County. He knew the place because he’d followed Jade home every night. His shoulders relaxed. Watching Jade from a distance convinced him that she was the perfect woman for him. And what better way to make babies than with a woman who pleased him. Hundreds of women approached him, but none affected him they way Jade did. She was the one. Now, if he could convince her to carry his child, his first purpose for landing on earth would be accomplished.
“What did you do to Brad and his cronies?”
“Scare them.”
“How? You just stood there and said nothing.”
“You really want to know what I did.” Maybe this would be the good time to prove he was a Rhynian.
“Sure.”
Shifting his gear, he slowed the car down and pulled over on the shoulder. “Look at me.” He stared at Jade until his eyes glowed and swirled like eye of the storm. But instead of grayish white, he knew his eyes were vivid green.
“Oh my god! Where did you get those kind of contact lens?”
Kyr laughed. “These are my eyes when I am angry. What I showed Brad and his cohorts—you don’t want to see.”
“You’re bullshitting, right?”
“No.”
“Wow. Those are real.”
“I am a real Rhynian.” He shifted in his seat. Jade was making him uncomfortable. Her sensual mouth was arousing and his skin color was rapidly changing. Luckily, it was a bit dark in the car. She couldn’t see his skin turning green.
He pulled off the shoulder in a hurry and drove two times over the speed limit and it wasn’t because he loved the thrill, but because of Jade’s presence. Her body heat affected his senses. And her long silky smooth legs and partly exposed breasts weren’t helping either.
“Man, can I tell Pam about you?”
“Would you believe her if she was the one to tell you about me?”
“Point taken. But I will still tell her that I met you.” Jade smiled with the tip of her tongue visible in between her teeth. “A cute alien who saved me.”
Kyr gripped the steering wheel and noticed his hand already green. Damnit. He must reach her home before she noticed. Jade might freak-out this time and not agree to help him. When he came to earth to find the right person, he didn’t expect to find a special one. One that could turn him green. He hoped the others were as lucky as him.
“Aren’t you going a bit too fast?”
“This is slow compared to how we drive in Rhyn.”
“You know speed limit in my neighborhood is only fifteen miles per hour. Cops are everywhere. If you get caught, they’ll give you a ticket for speeding. And you better show your insurance card, too. ‘Cause that’s another ticket for you. Do you even have a driver’s license? Or any identification.”
“Don’t need one. I’m an alien, remember.” He winked at Jade, making her laugh.
“You know, there are many aliens in this country. Like
Pam for example. She’s a friend of mind from the Philippines. Pam came to the US as a tourist, but decided to stay until her visa expired. So now, she’s an illegal resident. The reason why she can’t get a job anywhere.”
“Because she doesn’t have a Social Security number.”
“Right. You know a lot for an alien. Are you like Pam?”
“No. I am not an illegal immigrant. You could say I’m just a…tourist.”
“You still need and I.D. How did you get this car?”
“Gave the car salesman an early bonus.”
“You bribe the salesman with your millions. The way you’re trying to bribe me to carry your baby.”
Kyr glanced at Jade. The wind fluffed her hair. “For a good cause.”
He took the exit 175 and followed the road to Bothell, leaving the glittering lights of the big city of Seattle behind them. He continued driving until they reached Saint James Apartment. Jade lived on the second floor.
“And how did you know where I live?”
“I told you, I’ve been watching you.”
“You’re creeping me out, you know that?”
“But deep inside you, you still want to trust me. I can see it in your eyes. You hardly think ill of anyone. That’s what got you into trouble when you were younger.”
“So you didn’t just follow me, you studied my background. That makes you a horrible creep.”
“No. I’m an alien. Shall I park here or around back?”
“Why are you parking?”
“I thought maybe I could go up for a cup of coffee or tea.”
“Are all aliens like you? Do you always invite yourself in Rhyn?”
“No. Only if I’m thirsty.”
Jade laughed and then shook her head.
Kyr chuckled. Since the attack on Rhyn, he couldn’t remember when he had enjoyed a good laugh.
* * * *
Jade shouldn’t have invited him in, but her stupid tongue wouldn’t cooperate. Instead of saying no, she said yes. There was something about him that compelled her to say and think of the opposite. Kyr was beyond handsome and she was attracted to him. And her guts told her there was more to him than just being good looking alien.