by Anna Zaires
“Emily…” He let out a very human-like sigh. “As you’ve probably guessed, I can’t let you do that.”
Her heart climbed into her throat. “I wouldn’t tell anyone about you—I swear, I wouldn’t.” Emily knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t help herself. “You saved my life, and I wouldn’t betray you. Besides, who would believe me? Nobody believes in aliens—”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, cutting short her rambling appeal. “They wouldn’t have to take your word for it. All they’d need to do is compare your old dental records to your current ones.”
“My dental records?”
“Your body has undergone the full healing procedure,” Zaron said. “It means that all of your injuries were healed, including the ones inflicted by your primitive dentistry. Your teeth now bear no traces of cavities or fillings, and regrowing live tissue of that kind is not something your science is capable of yet.”
Her panic increasing, Emily ran her tongue over her teeth in an effort to verify what he was telling her. Her mouth did feel subtly different, but she didn’t know if she was just imagining things.
“Do you have a mirror?” she asked, trying to slow her frantic breathing. What else had his procedure done to her? Was she now different in some way?
He smiled in response and said something in his own language. The words sounded slightly guttural to her ears.
“Here,” he said, pointing toward the wall to her right. “Take a look.”
The wall had become a giant mirror—a transformation that barely fazed Emily at this point. Walking over to the mirror, she opened her mouth wide, trying to see her back teeth, where her childhood love of sweets had resulted in a few cavities.
There was no trace of those cavities or fillings. Her teeth were as white and perfect as if she’d had new ones put in.
Zaron hadn’t lied. His procedure had left an indelible trace—evidence that something had been done to Emily that modern science could not explain.
Closing her mouth, Emily turned back toward Zaron, who was watching her actions with some amusement. “Is there anything else?” she asked evenly. “Am I changed in other ways?”
His lips curved in a slight smile. “No, Emily. Unless you count missing a few scars as being changed.”
Pulling up the skirt of her dress a couple of inches, she peeked at her left thigh. One of her foster brothers had pushed her into a garbage bin when she was twelve, causing her to cut open her leg on broken glass. The resulting scar had made her teenage self so self-conscious she’d foregone wearing shorts for five years. It was only as an adult that Emily had begun to accept it as a part of her body… and now that scar was gone.
Completely gone. Erased by alien technology.
Stunned, Emily raised her eyes to meet Zaron’s gaze across the room. “It’s not there anymore. This and my fillings—they’re gone.”
He nodded. “They are.”
“So what are you planning to do with me now?” She did her best to rein in her panic. “Are you going to take me to your planet?”
“No, of course not.” He looked amused again. “I told you, you will only need to stay here for a couple of weeks. Seventeen days, to be exact.”
“Why? What’s going to change in seventeen days?” Emily would still have her perfect teeth and scarless body. If he didn’t trust her now, why did he think he could trust her then?
“In seventeen days, it won’t matter if you go public with your story,” he said, crossing the room to stand next to her. “It won’t even matter if your newspapers believe you.” He paused for a second, looking down at her, then said gently, “You see, Emily, by then my people will have arrived.”
Chapter Nine
Zaron watched as Emily’s pupils dilated and her face turned even paler. “What?” she whispered. “What do you mean, your people will have arrived?”
“We’re getting ready to formally meet your species.” Zaron leaned against the mirrored wall. “In seventeen days, we’ll make contact with your leaders—and at that point, you can return to your regular life if you wish.”
“You’re going to reveal yourselves to us?”
“Yes,” Zaron confirmed. “So you see, you have nothing to worry about. You can just stay here as my guest and recuperate for a little while.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Right, as your guest. Until your people arrive. Until everyone learns that aliens exist. Got it.” She sounded like she was in shock, and Zaron wanted to pull her to him and rock her back and forth, soothing her anxiety—and then carry her off to bed and thoroughly fuck her. The curious mixture of protectiveness and lust she awakened in him was different from anything he’d experienced before. Even with Larita—
No. He stopped that line of thought before it went any further. It was ridiculous to compare his feelings for his mate to the primitive physical attraction he was experiencing for this human. The two had nothing in common. He might as well try to replace Larita with a house pet, like some humans tried to do with their loved ones.
To be fair, though, Emily would make a very fuckable house pet, he thought dryly, his gaze dropping to the delicious fullness of her breasts underneath the light fabric of her dress.
“Why now?” Her voice jerked him out of a daydream in which he was pulling down the top of her dress and cupping those soft white mounds in his hands. Dragging his eyes back to her face, he saw that some of her shock had faded. “Why are you choosing to reveal yourselves to us now?”
“Because it’s time,” Zaron answered. “Because we think you’re ready.” And because the Council was concerned about the devastating impact humans were having on their planet, but that was not something he intended to tell Emily at this point.
She stared at him. “I see. So you’re just going to show up in your spaceships and say, ‘Hello, here we are?’”
His lips twitched in a brief smile. “Yes, pretty much.” There was going to be more to it than that, but she didn’t need to know that yet, either.
“Okay, well, if that’s the case, then I understand your dilemma about the timing,” she said slowly, “and I am extremely grateful for everything you’ve done for me. But I have a problem too. I can’t be your guest for that long because I have obligations back home.” She took a breath. “I have a job interview next week. A very important interview that I absolutely can’t miss. I also have a cat that my friend is watching for me, and she’ll be very worried if I don’t come back on Saturday.”
“Your cat?” Zaron frowned in confusion. He had studied the Felis catus species recently, and they rarely exhibited that kind of deep attachment to humans.
“No, of course not.” Emily gave him an exasperated look. “My friend.”
Zaron couldn’t help grinning at that. “Ah, that makes more sense.”
An answering smile flashed across Emily’s face. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Sobering up, she said, “But seriously, you have nothing to worry about with me. I’m not going to say a word to anyone about what happened—and I’ll avoid doctors and dentists like the plague for the next seventeen days, just in case they decide to examine me for signs of alien procedures.”
Zaron sighed. He could already see that convincing Emily to enjoy her extended vacation wouldn’t be as easy as he’d hoped. She was right: it likely wouldn’t do any harm to let her return to her life at this point. However, until the Krinar officially made contact, he was bound by the non-disclosure mandate set by the Elders, and the mandate stated that he was not allowed to do anything that could expose his species to humans before the ships’ arrival.
There was also another factor—one Zaron was reluctant to admit even to himself. He didn’t want to let Emily go before tasting her… before satisfying the hunger that burned within him.
No. It wasn’t that, he told himself. He was merely adhering to the mandate, like any law-abiding Krinar should.
“I’m sorry, Emily,” he said. “I understand you might not intend to reveal anything, but I
have to follow the rules. I’m afraid I must insist that you stay here for a little while.”
Her soft mouth tightened. “Right. For two and a half weeks… without letting anyone know where I am or what happened to me.”
Zaron exhaled, starting to feel frustrated. “You can email your friend if you wish.” It should be easy enough to control what the email said, particularly if he accessed her email account and sent the message himself.
“That would be good, but I still have that interview—and that’s an interview I can’t miss or reschedule,” Emily said. “It’s with the biggest hedge fund in New York, and it’s my dream job. I’ve been preparing for it for two months, ever since I got laid off. At Evers Capital, they don’t accept excuses, and they won’t give me another shot if I screw up. Bill Evers—the head of the fund—is known for putting work first and everything else second. He was once in a car crash that put him in a coma, and the first day he came out of it, he had his wheelchair taken to the office.” There was a note of admiration in her voice, which annoyed Zaron for some reason.
His temper began to simmer. “Listen to me, Emily, you need to understand one thing here,” he said, straightening away from the wall. “You are only alive because I found you and brought you here. If it were not for me, you would be heading home in a body bag right now—”
She blanched, all color draining from her face.
“—so you might want to think about that the next time you worry about missing an interview.” He paused, still feeling inexplicably angry with her. When he spoke again, his words came out harsher than he intended. “You are my guest, and you will remain as such until the mandate is no longer in effect.”
“I see.” Her tone was calm, but there was a suspicious glimmer in her eyes as she stared at him. “So for the next seventeen days, I am your captive.”
Zaron’s eyes narrowed. “Call it whatever you wish.”
Before he could say or do anything he would later regret, he turned away from her and swiftly walked toward his study.
* * *
When he was gone, Emily leaned against the mirrored wall, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. She didn’t know what had caused Zaron’s anger, but she knew it wasn’t smart to provoke him in her situation. She should’ve just accepted his “hospitality,” such as it was, instead of arguing about it.
It wasn’t as bad as it could be, she told herself, ignoring the churning in her stomach. He was only detaining her for a couple of weeks, not taking her off the planet as she’d initially feared. In a way, he was right: it was silly to worry about a lost job opportunity when she had almost died two days ago. When Emily had been dangling off that bridge, her career had been the last thing on her mind. She was grateful that Zaron had chosen to save her… even if everything inside her raged at the idea of being held prisoner, of being deprived of freedom for as long as he deemed necessary.
If there was one thing Emily hated, it was being confined. Before entering the foster care system, she had lived with her father’s sister—a socially awkward woman who’d had no idea how to deal with a four-year-old who’d just lost her parents. Whenever Emily misbehaved, her aunt would lock her in her room as punishment, sometimes for several days at a time. Wendy Ross was never abusive, strictly speaking—she would bring Emily meals and give her toys to play with—but Emily still hated being locked up. Even now, the mere thought of being held somewhere against her will was enough to make her feel like a caged animal: trapped and furious.
No, don’t dwell on that. The last thing she needed was for her weird indoor phobia to kick in. Drawing in a calming breath, Emily walked over to the couch-plank and sat down, letting the alien furniture cradle her body and take away her tension. If she didn’t focus on the fact that she was being held captive, then her situation could actually be viewed as an amazing opportunity—a chance to get to know an intelligent being from another species.
A species that all humans would meet soon.
The magnitude of what Zaron had just told her was almost beyond belief. Emily’s brain was buzzing with a million questions. Why did Zaron’s people decide that humans were ready for first contact? What would happen when they showed up? She couldn’t imagine that everyone would welcome them with open arms, even if the Krinar had peaceful intentions. What were their intentions, anyway? A simple meet-and-greet or was there something more? And how would the planet react to their arrival? To the revelation that humans were not alone, that they had been created by an ancient extraterrestrial race?
A very gorgeous, very humanoid race.
To her shock, Emily realized that she was seriously attracted to Zaron. She had been so overwhelmed by everything he’d told her that it had somehow slipped by her, the sheer physical impact he had on her senses. Even now, just thinking about him, she could feel her skin heating up and warm moisture gathering between her thighs. The pull she felt toward him was unlike anything she had experienced before, and it was as strong as it was disturbing.
Zaron looked like a human man—okay, way better than a human man—but he was not human. If his kind had truly evolved on a different planet, there had to be some pretty significant differences between their species, and at this point, Emily could only speculate as to what those differences might be. It made no sense for her to be sexually attracted to him, but her body didn’t care about that. As far as her hormones were concerned, Zaron was the most delicious thing they’d ever come in contact with.
Great. That’s all she needed now: a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome, and for an alien, no less. Emily mentally groaned, burying her face in her hands. If his civilization really was as advanced and ancient as he’d said, then there was a strong possibility that he saw her as little more than a smart monkey—as something to be studied and observed. He’d even said he was a biologist, she remembered with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
No, lusting after him was stupid. They were from different species, and even if they weren’t, this kind of situation did not exactly lend itself to a relationship. If Zaron hadn’t lied, in seventeen days she would leave and probably never see him again.
All she needed to do until then was hang on to her sanity.
Chapter Ten
His jaw tense with anger, Zaron entered his office and sat down. Pulling up a three-dimensional image of the local landscape, he superimposed a map of a prospective Center on it and started running the calculations. He had a lot of work to do prior to the Council’s arrival, but all he could think about was his ungrateful human guest.
He had saved her life. Saved. Her. Life. Without him, Emily would be a rotting corpse. And she was balking at having to stay in his house for an extra couple of weeks? He gritted his teeth, leaning forward in his chair. Was the idea of being with him so repugnant to her? Or was she just anxious to get back so she could work with that insane hedge fund leader she seemed to worship?
Zaron’s anger deepened at the thought. Issuing a curt order to his computing device, he accessed Bill Evers’s records, quickly scanning all available information about the human, from newspaper articles to his residential address. What he saw was not reassuring. The object of Emily’s admiration was only in his mid-thirties and had risen far in their society during his short lifespan. He was also decent-looking for a human, with regular bone structure, a lean body of average height, and sandy brown hair.
Was that why Emily was so determined to get a job at this fund? Zaron wondered savagely. Did she want this human as a potential mate? If so, she was shit out of luck. He had no intention of letting another male near her—at least not until he had a chance to sate himself with her delicious, curvy little body.
And therein lay the reason for his anger, he realized, staring blankly at the three-dimensional map in front of him. No matter how hard Zaron tried to be an enlightened, rational scientist, he was a Krinar male first and foremost, and he was feeling territorial toward Emily. He wanted her, and he didn’t want anyone else to have her—or for her to even t
hink about another man. Her unabashed admiration for Evers had infuriated him because it had brought up the specter of another male in her life—someone she seemed to respect quite a bit.
It wasn’t logical, but there it was. Zaron was feeling possessive toward Emily… as possessive as he’d once felt about Larita.
No. Everything inside him instantly rejected that conclusion. This was different. The pretty human might’ve triggered his primitive Krinar instincts, but it was only because Zaron felt like he had a right to her.
Yes, that was it, he decided. He saved her, and now he felt like she belonged to him—like she was his already. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but he didn’t care.
If he was to preserve his sanity, he needed to have her. Soon.
Chapter Eleven
“What are you doing?”
At the sound of the familiar deep voice, Emily jumped and whirled around, trying not to look guilty. “Just examining the texture of these walls,” she said brightly.
“Uh-huh.” Zaron didn’t look like he believed her. And then she knew he didn’t believe her because he said gently, “Emily, they won’t open for you, no matter how much you search for the mechanism. This house is intelligent, and it’s programmed to respond to me, not you.”
Emily’s mouth tightened. “Right, of course.” She’d suspected as much. For the past hour, she’d diligently searched every nook and cranny of the living room and kitchen area for a way out, and as far as she could tell, there was none.
Unless Zaron did whatever it was that he did to make the walls open, she was stuck.
He crossed the room and stopped next to her. “Why do you insist on making this so difficult?” he murmured. His fingers brushed across her cheek, sending a warm shiver through her. “This doesn’t need to be a bad experience for you, angel. On the contrary, it can be quite pleasant…” His big hand cupped her cheek, his thumb softly rubbing her lower lip. “Very pleasant, in fact.”