False names, Janaya noted with silent approval.
The man halted in front of them and nodded politely. “Police Constable Luke Morgan,” he said in a husky voice that plucked at Janaya’s nerve endings. He grinned, showing dazzling white teeth, and shared the grin between both of them before stooping to pat the dog on the head. Straightening, he said, “I know this is going to seem like a weird question, but I’ve had reports of an unidentified flying object. Did either of you see anything strange in the last hour?”
Janaya gasped. Her croak of denial turned into a cough. Did he really not see the ship parked right in front of him?
“A UFO?” her aunt demanded, her violet eyes widening in excitement. “How exciting. If you find it, holler ’cause I’d love to meet one of those little green men.”
The man chuckled. “Personally, I’d rather not come face-to-face with an alien but I’ll keep your request in mind.” After a brisk nod for Janaya and a wide grin for her aunt, the man—Morgan—strode past them, a mere two feet away from the ship.
“He didn’t even glance at the ship. How come he can’t see it and I can?”
“There is a scientific explanation, but I don’t have time to explain. Your unauthorized presence on my ship has created a little problem,” Hinekiri said. “You shouldn’t have stowed away on my ship.”
“I had to protect you. What sort of problem? The crash wasn’t my fault.” Indignation dripped from Janaya’s voice. Someone had to protect her aunt from the Torgon, and she didn’t trust any bodyguard except herself. Apart from her estranged father, Hinekiri was all the family she had left and Janaya didn’t intend to lose her to a butt-ugly Torgon.
“You didn’t have travel inoculations before you left.”
Janaya hated the smug tone her aunt used. Every survival instinct rose up and shrieked of danger. Her eyes narrowed. “What haven’t you told me?”
“Earth’s atmosphere varies from ours on Dalcon.”
“The oxygen content is the same. I checked.”
“Ah, but did you check the trace elements?”
The smugness had grown to a smirk. Janaya was beginning to loathe that smirk. “Tell me.”
“The trace elements on Earth act like a booster to our systems. Inoculations counteract the effect.”
“What? What effect?” It was like drawing teeth from Dalcon’s national bird, the fodo.
“The senses are amplified.”
“Hearing, sight, you mean?” A relieved sigh eased through her lips. That didn’t sound too bad. She could live with enhanced senses especially if it helped to keep Hinekiri safe. Janaya glanced at her aunt again. The smirk had turned toothy. Very toothy, and it stretched from one side of her aunt’s angelic face to the other.
“What else?” she demanded.
“Sexual desire.”
“You mean…” Janaya turned to study the figure of the retreating Earth male. Even with the distance between them Janaya saw how well the man’s trousers cupped his buttocks. Her palms itched as she thought about fondling.
“Yeah, like I said before, nice tush. Pity Santana isn’t here with you. He could take care of the emotional…ah…overflow.”
Janaya wrenched her gaze from the Earthman’s butt with difficulty. Her heart beat faster, and her breath wheezed from her lungs as though she’d only just finished a heavy training session. Her eyes landed on her aunt’s face. The smirk hadn’t lessened any. She bit back a groan. She may as well hear the worst of it now. “Out with it,” she said. “Tell me everything.” To enforce her request, she took two steps toward her aunt and set her face in a threatening scowl.
“No need to hurt a little old lady,” her aunt chirped. “I’d like to point out that this is your fault for jumping before checking the consequences.”
“You’re not old.” Janaya took another step, and this time she didn’t have to force a glare. “Tell me the worst.”
“There’s no need to shout, dear. What I was about to say is that even if Santana were here, he couldn’t help. I’m afraid you’ve imprinted on the Earth male.” Her aunt beamed. “Nice choice, dear. If I was a little younger… Perhaps I’ll meet a nice Earthman while I’m here. We could double date.”
Chapter Two
Luke Morgan resisted a glance over his shoulder but it was a close thing. His brain pounded as if he’d tied one on the night before. Lust simmered through his body, bringing his cock to unwilling life. Even if they hadn’t told him, he’d have guessed the two women were family—one glance at their violet eyes confirmed the relationship.
“Hell,” he muttered. “Keep your mind on the job.” Mrs. Bates would expect a full report on his return. But when he compared Mrs. Bates’ wobbling chins with the violet-eyed siren’s long legs and smooth skin… Trim waist and rounded breasts… He shook his head to clear the red cloud of lust that fogged his brain and sent blood galloping to his cock. Nothing to compare at all. With luck, the two women and their dog were passing through Sloan instead of hanging about to taunt his self-imposed celibacy.
He didn’t need distractions now that he’d finally got his act together. Stopped the booze and cut out his sexual antics, trying to prove he wasn’t a failure as a man.
Come home to Sloan, son. Help me out of a spot while I take time off.
His father had presented a strong case and Luke had found himself in Sloan where life in law control was peaceful and he didn’t have to see his ex-wife and his ex-best friend every other day. Fishing. Now that was a real occupation—one he’d reacquainted himself with since his arrival.
“Just as I thought. No damn flying saucers up here.” Luke paused at the edge of the cliff. From the rim, there was an excellent view over the wide plains of Sloan below. At this time of year, wheat covered the fertile land down by the Gibson River. As far as he looked to the north, he could see golden ears of wheat waving softly in the breeze, almost ready for harvest. Not a UFO in sight. As he suspected, a wild goose chase. Luke turned away, eager to get back to his lunch. In his peripheral vision, he caught something out of place.
“What the hell?” He whirled back to stare out at the wheat fields in stunned disbelief.
Two perfectly formed circles showed in the far eastern field. No tracks leading in. Luke squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again. Yep, just your average, everyday crop circles. A heartfelt groan escaped. Goddamned bloody crop circles. He could already picture the headlines in tomorrow’s Sloan Gazette. Something along the lines of, Aliens from Outer Space Visit Sloan.
After one last glare at the crop circles, he turned to stomp back to his vehicle. Mrs. Bates could take her UFO and—
“Holy shit!” Luke froze on the edge of the cliff, staring with half-horror, half-morbid fascination at the silver disc parked in the clearing not far from the old Rycroft barn. A hydraulic drone jerked his gaze to the lower portion of the thing—he refused to call it a UFO—and a narrow set of stairs slowly extended outward. Luke’s heartbeat picked up. A warning inside his head told him to run but training held him firm.
“Janaya, wait,” an elderly voice shouted.
“I will bond with Santana.”
“It’s too late, I tell you. There’s nothing you can do to change fate.”
“I want to hit something. You’d better hope a Torgon shows up because otherwise you’re it.”
Luke straightened. Aliens that spoke English?
“I don’t want an Earthman. I want Santana.”
Yep, definitely English. He’d understood the close panic in the young feminine voice.
“I didn’t ask you to stow away.”
“Someone had to protect you.”
Bemused by the talk, Luke relaxed, letting his breath ease out slowly. They sounded more intent on attacking each other rather than picking on a Kiwi cop.
Footsteps thumped closer. Luke watched a pair of slender legs encased in tight denim appear. Being male, he couldn’t help but imagine what the rest of the package would look like. Before he could even
start to join the dots, the female materialized at the bottom of the steps. Oh, baby. It was the younger of the two women he’d met earlier. His lips pursed in a silent whistle of appreciation.
Janaya Smith—if that was her real name—was young but not too young. A light blue midriff top hugged generous curves, and she’d pulled her dark blonde hair back in a braid, which highlighted high cheekbones and sensuous lips. A sexy beauty. Lust reared its ugly head again. His cock stabbed against his uniform trousers in a demand for playtime. Pissed with the sensation and with himself, he cursed.
The woman spun and lifted a weapon from a holster on her hip all in one smooth move. Before Luke could react, she fired.
Luke dived to his right and found himself over the edge of the cliff, falling into empty space. His hands snatched at rocks, a scraggy plant. Anything to halt his fall. He grabbed at a flax bush. His shoulders strained as his body jerked to a sudden halt. Small pebbles rained down on his head.
Hinekiri Jones peered over the edge of the cliff. “Are you all right?”
“I’m hanging on the edge of a cliff,” Luke said, trying to keep his voice calm when he felt like cursing a blue streak. “I’d rather have both feet on the ground.”
“You sound just like Janaya.”
Looking up, Luke saw the dog appear beside the old woman. “Any food down there?”
He’d fallen down a damn rabbit hole! Luke’s arms throbbed. His shoulders ached from holding his body weight. And he worried for his sanity. Little green men and talking dogs. Yep, he was losing it.
“Are you going to help me or not?” Okay, he was starting to sound a little testy. Must be something to do with the psychosis he’d suddenly developed. The woman disappeared from his sight but Luke could hear her issuing orders to the younger one.
At the top of the cliff, Hinekiri glared at Janaya. “Help him.” Then she fixed her glare on the dog. “And you, shut up about food. We’ll find some later.”
The dog wagged its tail. “Shutting up right now.”
Janaya gaped at her aunt. “How can I help him?” She wasn’t going anywhere near that cliff edge.
“Janaya.”
The crisp no-nonsense tone of her aunt’s voice had Janaya moving like the well-trained protection officer she was. Swallowing, she inched closer to the cliff edge. Instantly, vertigo made her head swim and she jerked back to safety. “I can’t.”
“You’re a bodyguard. Go guard his body.”
Janaya’s guilt grew. She’d been so rattled with her aunt’s revelations about bonding with the Earthman she hadn’t thought first. She’d merely reacted to the noise and fired her weapon. A failure of a basic bodyguard principle—confirm target before discharging weapon.
“Are you gonna bloody help me or not?”
He sounded irritated and she could hardly blame him. She’d have to help. She couldn’t let her aunt put herself in danger and Hinekiri would go over the edge if Janaya didn’t do something quickly. Janaya sucked in a deep breath and pushed every scrap of fear to a compartment at the back of her mind.
“Oh for goodness’ sake,” her aunt snapped.
Janaya felt a shove in the middle of her back. She stumbled forward and fell headlong over the cliff. A panicked screech emerged as her arms windmilled. Somehow, she slowed the fall and her body righted itself. “Hinekiri!” she cried, her heart pounding so loudly she could hardly hear herself think. “What’s happening?”
“I’m here.” Her aunt’s concerned face peered down at her. “Fly,” she ordered. “Use your strength.”
Fly? Her aunt had flown her bucket of bolts too close to the sun.
No sooner had she thought about flying than she hovered in the air beside the man. Janaya looked down. Terror jerked her into a frenzy of movement. Her hands shot out to clutch at the man’s waist. Their combined weights strained the flax bush. Dirt pelted their heads and the plant roots made a cracking noise as one by one they released their grip on the cliff. Janaya screamed. The Earthman cursed fluidly with words she’d never heard before.
“Janaya! Drag that man back up here this instant. Don’t make me come down there.”
“No! Stay there!” Terror made Janaya tense. Couldn’t her aunt follow instructions for once?
“Do you have a rope?” Luke shouted up to her aunt. He didn’t believe Hinekiri’s assertions any more than she did.
“Janaya, move your butt. Now.” Something in her aunt’s voice told Janaya to obey. Without looking down, she thought about flying again. Traces of panic shimmered through her mind as she clung to the man and raised her head to look up at her aunt’s encouraging face.
“That’s it, Janaya. Think about moving upward. Imagine solid ground beneath your feet.”
“Get a rope,” the man gritted out, his hands gripping a fist full of flax leaves so hard the color bleached from his hands. “Don’t listen to your damn-fool aunt. That’s a hundred foot drop below.”
Janaya looked down. She gasped and clutched at his shirt. She was very aware of the Earthman’s hard muscles pressed against her breasts, her belly, her thighs. His clean scent teased her nostrils, making her heart beat faster. Then remorse surfaced at the direction of her thoughts. She was promised to Santana.
“Sweetheart, as much as I’m enjoying being personal with you this is neither the time nor place.” For an instant, dark eyes held a hint of amusement along with masculine interest. Then his eyes glinted with determination to survive. “A rope. Now.”
Janaya jerked her hands from behind the Earthman’s neck and pushed against his chest. Instantly, she dropped several feet down the cliff. A screech squeezed past her lips.
“Center your mind, Janaya,” her aunt hollered. “Pretend you’re training.”
The words pierced her rising panic. In a leap of faith, Janaya loosened her grip on the out-jutting rock she’d clutched. She pushed away from the cliff and found herself hovering beside the Earthman. Unattached to anything. For an instant fear strangled her. She grabbed for the nearest handhold. Sharp spikes pierced her palms, and she let go as quickly as if she’d grasped flames. A masculine hand grabbed her outstretched hand.
“Concentrate, dammit,” the Earthman growled. “At least fly up to the top and get a rope so you can haul me up.”
Fly to the top. Huh! Ungrateful lout. Janaya grabbed the Earthman by his shirt collar and hauled upward. They shot upward like a cork from a bottle of sizzling cacjuice. At the top of the cliff, they barely missed her aunt. Janaya twisted her body to compensate. The Earthman flew through the air like a lightweight trainee. Janaya glanced down at the ground. They were hovering half a body’s height above the ground. And Janaya wanted to stand on solid ground. Desperately.
No sooner had she thought the image than they plummeted. The Earthman hit the ground first and Janaya dropped on top of him. He groaned.
“Are you all right?” Janaya demanded. Guilt gripped her mind as she pushed up on her elbows and ran her hands across his chest, shoulders, and arms.
“Stop,” he gasped out.
“Tell me where it hurts,” Janaya demanded. Before he could answer, she ran her hands down his legs.
The male let out a husky groan. His eyes fluttered open to look right at her. His sensuous mouth turned up slowly into a grin. Dark eyes shone with warmth and distinct humor. “Keep that up, sweetheart, and we could get real cozy.”
Janaya froze, her right hand on the Earthman’s upper thigh. His hands curled around her shoulders and lifted her off him. His eyes crinkled at the corners in silent laughter. She felt answering warmth in her cheeks. The heat intensified when she heard her aunt’s cackle.
The dog growled suddenly, a low deep rumble that raised the hairs at the back of Luke’s neck. Luke leapt to his feet as two figures in lilac one-piece suits sprang from beneath the drooping leafy strands of a rimu tree. They charged Hinekiri, shiny weapons the size of a handgun extended in front of them.
Janaya thrust Hinekiri behind her and faced the alien mercenaries
.
Luke gaped up at them. It was hard not to. The lilac duo stood at around six foot, with long white blond hair and equally pale skin. Their faces seemed to bleed into their hair, making it look as though they had no face. Their pale white eyes reinforced the nothingness. Luke had no idea what sex they were. But he knew one thing. The sneers on their colorless lips were mean and he agreed with Janaya. They didn’t intend to leave survivors.
“Give us the charts and the journals and we’ll let you go,” Luke heard a guttural voice order.
“Bite my arse,” Janaya snapped. Balanced lightly on her feet, she held her hands in a defensive position.
Luke moved up beside her, thinking he’d love to bite her butt along with a few other parts.
“Take Hinekiri and lock yourselves inside the ship,” she said without taking her eyes off the aliens.
“I’m not leaving—”
The lilac duo rushed them. Luke pulled out his gun but Janaya moved even faster. She spun about and let rip with a kick at one of the weapons. It glinted silver as it flew through the air. The other alien fired. The violet flash from the weapon was blinding, close enough to sear his eyeballs. But it missed.
Janaya took one bounding step and smashed her knee into the alien’s face.
“Go, Janaya!” Hinekiri cheered from behind him.
“Get her in the ship,” Janaya snarled over her shoulder.
Luke gestured at Hinekiri with a jerk of his head. “Do as she says. Let Janaya concentrate on what she needs to do.”
“We may as well,” the dog complained. “They don’t have food.”
Once he was sure Hinekiri was inside the ship, he turned back to Janaya. She feinted a move to the right then lashed out with another lethal blow with her left foot. She landed a kick. Luke heard the crack of bones as one of the aliens crashed to the ground. Janaya pointed her weapon at the still form and calmly pulled the trigger. The alien disintegrated before his eyes, leaving nothing but a pile of smoking embers.
Luke stared, shock holding him immobile. Janaya stalked the other alien.
Janaya Page 2