The Krinar Code

by Emma Castle

  “You have been designated as his charl. I will provide food, drink, clothing, and any entertainment you wish. I have more than seven hundred channels of entertainment available, and I have determined your preferences with an estimated seventy-eight percent accuracy. Would you like to hear some music?”

  Country music suddenly filled the room. A man was crooning about losing his dog and his girlfriend and his truck.

  “Well that falls firmly within the remaining twenty-two percent of things I don’t prefer,” said Harper with a sarcastic chuckle.

  “I’m sorry. Given the place of your birth and our current location, I believed that style of music would appeal to you most. I will adjust as I gain more information about you.”

  “So…you keep on adjusting these preferences over time, huh?” Harper tapped her chin, thinking about how advanced the predictive behavior models were in Krinar tech.

  “That is correct.”

  She suddenly grinned. “Actually, when Sef returns, I’d like you to play some heavy metal music at a high volume. It’s his favorite.” She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  “That seems unlikely, based on his past preferences. He has never requested me to play such music for him before.” Linda sounded mildly perplexed.

  Harper plopped down on the sofa, feeling smug. “He acquired a taste for it during his mission, but he’s still self-conscious about expressing what he wants, you know? So only play the music when he is alone in the room. It’ll put him in a good mood. He also tried some new foods that he fell in love with. I know the recipes. You should surprise him. Sef loves surprises.”

  “He does?” Linda sounded so gullible.

  “Yes, he really does. He’s got some new preferences, and you really should update your system with them.”

  “I will, thank you.”

  “But let’s keep it a secret, okay? I don’t want him to know that we are working together. He will be in a better mood if he thinks you came to these conclusions on your own.”

  “Very well.” Linda gave a soft chime, which Harper had figured out was her way of turning off until she was called for again.

  Harper leaned forward and unrolled her blueprints across the coffee table. They’d been the first thing she’d looked for after searching for her parents’ photos. She hadn’t unpacked anything else except for a few clothes and a go-bag she’d hidden under the bed for when it was time to bolt. She had no intention of settling into life here. She would play nice enough until she saw her brothers and figured out a way to bust them out of wherever they were being held.

  Yeah, just me against a species that forced the whole planet to surrender. No problem.

  By early evening, though, she was growing anxious. What if Sef didn’t come back tonight? She usually like being alone, but the thought of imprisonment bothered her, and the feeling continued to grow until it was almost an anxious panic. When Sef finally swept through the front door, she was borderline frantic.

  “Where have you been?”

  He froze by the front door and stared at her. “I was working.”

  “I didn’t know if you were ever coming back. I was freaking out.” She didn’t want to admit that part, but it just slipped out.

  Sef’s sensual lips twitched as though he was fighting off a smile. “Worried about me?”

  Harper frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Hardly. But if you never came back, I would die trapped in here with just Linda for company.”

  He glanced around the room and frowned. “You haven’t put up any of your art prints.”

  Was that disappointment she heard in his tone, or was she merely imagining it?

  “I was busy.”

  “Well, that’s good, I suppose. I half expected you to tear the house apart looking for a way to escape.”

  “So you’re admitting I’m your prisoner?”

  Sef started toward the stairs, and she followed him. “If you wish to think so, you may, but you also agreed to come here and be mine.”

  “Under duress. To save my brothers’ lives,” she snapped. “Don’t think I’m just going to surrender to you and go all Stockholm syndrome, buddy.”

  His lips twitched at her words, but he didn’t respond as he headed up the stairs.

  He entered his bedchamber and then removed his T-shirt, offering her a view of his fine muscled back. With a careless air, he tossed the shirt to the floor.

  What a slob, Harper thought with relish at finding a flaw in this seemingly flawless alien male. Just then, a panel on the base of the nearest wall opened up. A swift little disk-shaped robot, sort of like a Roomba, rolled out, collected the shirt, and returned right back into the wall. Harper leaped onto the bed, gasping in shock.

  “What the hell was that?” She stared around the room. She loved machines, but the Roomba thing had just appeared without warning, and it made her worry about what else might come through the walls when she wasn’t prepared.

  “That was a varduum.” He was facing her bare-chested, which made it hard to think.

  “That sounds an awful lot like a vacuum. Only our vacuums don’t automatically pick up after people.” She couldn’t help but stare at his broad chest, remembering how warm his skin was as she fell asleep on top of him, her cheek pressed to his heart.

  “Where do you think humans came up with the word?” Sef was smirking, and she had to resist the urge to leap off the bed and sock him in the jaw.

  “Are you saying the Krinar have been around Earth longer than five years?”

  “We have been, but that was a joke.” He reached for the fly on his jeans. She turned hastily away, but she didn’t want to stop their conversation.

  “Ha ha. So how long have you guys been around on Earth?”

  “A very long time. Your ancient civilizations viewed us as gods. A few of my kind have observed you over the years to offer insight and sometimes influence humans, but we had strict rules not to reveal our true nature until we announced ourselves five years ago.”

  Harper plopped down on the edge of the bed. “Wait… You’re telling me the Ks have been visiting Earth that long?” Her mind flooded with the myths of the ancient Egyptians, Mayans, Greeks, Romans. There were so many cultures that could have been influenced by the Ks. People like Hercules or Samson might have been a K showing off.

  “You don’t honestly think the Mayans learned how to build those temples on their own?” He chuckled as though amused by the idea. “And haven’t you ever noticed the similarities between the structures in Central America, Egypt, and Myanmar?”

  “Wait, didn’t the Mayans offer human sacrifices?” She definitely didn’t think any society that did that was in any way evolved.

  Sef’s gaze grew intense. “They did. To my people. The Mayan priests assumed we killed the pretty young men and women who were offered up to us, but all we did was take them as charls and return with them to Krina. These rescued humans allowed us to drink from them.”

  Harper shivered. “So you do drink blood. You really are space vampires.”

  His brown eyes darkened with irritation. “We are hardly vampires. Our bodies lack a specific hemoglobin, and blood like yours satisfies those needs. But we no longer require it. We now drink a synthetic blood we developed. Now it’s more of a treat we indulge in as needed or as desired.” He licked his lips as he said this, and Harper suddenly knew how it felt to be like a canary when a cat stared at it.

  “At least you’ve never bitten me.” She reached up to her throat instinctively.

  Sef laughed. “That’s not exactly true.”

  Harper’s breath hitched. She remembered the hickey on her neck that wasn’t a hickey. “You drank from me? I didn’t consent to that!” She rushed past him to the bathroom to examine her neck. She found no trace of any bite, of course. Enough time had passed for it to heal. It felt like a lifetime ago.

  Sef moved behind her in the bathroom and placed one arm around her waist. His other hand reached to touch her neck. Their eyes me
t in the reflection of the mirror.

  “That morning we mated in your office. You were having trouble accepting me inside you because you are so small, and I was afraid I was hurting you. So I bit you here.” He rubbed a fingertip over a vein in her neck. “My saliva acted like a drug in your system. Humans feel intense pleasure when our saliva enters their bloodstream. A natural development of our evolution to keep prey docile and relaxed.” He continued to brush the side of her neck. “Now it gives us pleasure, and humans as well. But we drink very little, as we do not wish to harm you.” Her eyes were still locked on his in the mirror. “I never wanted to harm you. I would not have bitten you if you had not been in pain. But you needed to relax when we had sex.”

  Harper ran over that day in her mind. She had definitely felt pain at first. She’d been far too nervous to calm down, and what she’d thought had been a love bite had been an actual bite.

  She turned and faced him; they stood so close that her body brushed against his with each movement. She lifted her wrist to his mouth. “Bite me. I want to feel it now, with a clear head.” She had to know if what she’d experienced when she was with him had been all the bite, or if there really had been pleasure just between them. Testing the bite’s effect was a good start.

  He stepped back. “No.”

  “Do it. I want to know what it feels like when I don’t want to sleep with you.”

  His lips pursed into a hard line. “That’s the problem. You will want to sleep with me after the bite. It has an aphrodisiac effect.”

  She still didn’t believe him. Not completely, anyway.

  She took another step closer, boxing him in against the bathroom wall. “Sef, I want you to bite me.”

  He took her wrist, holding it firmly but gently. “And when I do and you suddenly ache for me to be inside you, what then?” His voice was filled with rough desire, and his brown eyes were almost gold. How was that possible?

  “I won’t,” she vowed, but it felt like a lie. Being this close to him, she silently admitted to herself that her body wanted him.

  “But if you do?”

  “Then you’d better resist, because I don’t want you taking me when I’m influenced like that.” She was not going to let some alien saliva get the better of her. She would bite her own tongue off before she did that.

  Sef slowly raised her wrist to his mouth. “Fine. I’ll do it. This might sting for a second until the saliva hits your system. I will heal your wound afterward to make sure you won’t have a scar.”

  Then before she could change her mind, he bit her.

  She yelped, but the pain quickly changed to fascination as Sef sucked at her wrist. It wasn’t messy, and he didn’t suck her like a vampire in a horror movie either. He sucked like a lover who wanted to leave his mark upon her. Then it hit her, the feeling of something wonderful surging through her body. With every beat of her heart it grew stronger, until the dizzy pleasure and pure intoxication overtook her.

  “Oh…” It was all she could say before her knees buckled. Sef released her wrist, licked his lips, and caught her swiftly in his arms. He carried her over to the bed and laid her down with unexpected gentleness. The strange drunken feel of his bite didn’t have the wild pleasure she remembered from when they’d made love. It was obvious now, and she couldn’t deny it—sex with him was a whole other level of pleasure. It hadn’t been all just the bite.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Dizzy.” She licked her lips. “I never…liked getting drunk. It…scares me…” Words were slow to form, but he patiently waited for her to speak.

  “It scares you?”

  “I like being in control. Control is safe,” she continued. “You don’t make mistakes…say or do the wrong thing…”

  “You need never worry about that with me, sweetheart. I’ll always make sure you’re safe.”

  He brushed her hair back from her face, and the caress felt intensely wonderful.

  “Do it again,” she said.

  “Yes, my little Queenie.” He chuckled and stroked her hair over and over. She wanted to shout at him, tell him he had no right to call her that, but the way he touched her felt so good she couldn’t find it in her to say the words. Her eyes drifted shut as pleasure rolled through her in foggy waves, carrying her into blissful darkness. His touch was the last thing she felt.

  Sef waited until she was asleep, then tucked her into bed. She was strong-willed for a human, but she did not have the energy to fight her own exhaustion. His saliva had helped, of course, lulling her to sleep. He was impressed but also disappointed that she had not begged him to take her. But Harper was stubborn if nothing else, and he had to admire that.

  “Rest well, my little Queenie.” He stood, removed his jeans and boots, and stepped into the bathroom. The moment he entered the shower, a cacophony of loud and horrible sounds filled the bathroom. It was music. Earth music, of the worst kind. Like vomit for the ears. Despite dressing like a human biker gang member for the last several missions on Earth, he didn’t like this sort of music at all.

  “Silence!” he bellowed, his voice echoing off the marble walls.

  “Muting,” the computer said. “My sensors indicate you are aggravated. Was the music inappropriate?”

  “When have I ever suggested that I would enjoy that racket?”

  “I was informed that your preferences have changed and that you would enjoy this selection of music,” the automated voice of his home chimed in.

  Informed. By Harper, of course. “Well, I don’t. Never play this kind of music again.” His ears were still ringing from the terrible sounds.

  “Understood.” The home system signed off with a faint chime.

  So Harper thought she could play around with him? Well turnabout was fair play, as the humans said. He showered, grinning the entire time. Tonight at dinner, he would play her little game and beat her at it.

  13

  Harper stared at the long frost-blue evening gown. The diaphanous silk seemed to flow down her body in waves as it showed off every curve. A long slit on each side of the gown revealed her legs from mid-thigh down to her ankles. She extended one leg, reluctantly admiring the silver sandals that had straps that went halfway up her calves. They were sexy, possibly sexier than a high-heeled shoe would have been, and yet they were a hundred times more comfortable.

  Even though she had to admit she looked incredible, she felt naked. She had no bra on underneath the gown, and Sef had given her panties that were as thin as the gown itself. She’d stared at him when he’d given her the underwear, ready to call him a whole host of names for trying to dress her up like a sex doll, but he’d politely insisted that simple cotton panties would not be appropriate under this type of gown, that they’d show up too clearly. After she’d attempted to wear her normal underwear beneath the dress, she’d unfortunately had to agree.

  She adjusted her breasts in the bodice, which was a slightly darker shade of blue, and tried not to think about how naked she felt. It was like she was wearing an expensive negligée or something a 1940s starlet would wear to bed.

  Sef had changed out of his jeans and T-shirt and into white trousers and a soft sky-blue tunic. It was such a different look than what she was used to. She’d adored him in plaid shirts and jeans, but this…this alien version of him was strangely enticing. Even the soft colors of the white and blue didn’t take away from his darkly handsome features.

  But it was also a reminder that he wasn’t human, that he wasn’t the man she’d fallen for back in Lawrence.

  “How do I look?” She turned to Sef to gauge his reaction. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, and he twirled a finger, indicating she should spin around. She did, trying not to acknowledge the girlish excitement she felt at the way the skirts fluttered out around her. She’d worn her share of dresses, like any woman, but there was something about this gown that seemed…almost princess-like, yet it was also incredibly sexy in the way it hinted at her body’s natural curves and
revealed her legs as she walked.

  “It will do,” Sef said, but she didn’t miss the swirling gold in his dark eyes. He liked it. She had a feeling that whenever his eyes turned that honey-gold color, he was turned on.

  “If it’s not good enough, I could just strip and go naked to dinner,” she suggested defiantly. “You Ks don’t seem to be bothered by running around practically naked. I’ve seen photos on the news of how slinky the women dress, those formfitting sheer fabrics…”

  Sef stood and came behind her, his hands spanning her waist as he caught hold of her from behind.

  “That’s because we aren’t embarrassed by our bodies. We find no shame in them, no matter what size or shape we are.” His gaze met hers in the full-length mirror, and she was shocked at the reminder of how tall and powerful he was. His body dwarfed hers. He could easily overpower her and take her at any time, yet he held her gently, the heat of his body seeping into her skin in the most wonderful way. She did feel safe, just as he’d promised her, and it made the hate and anger she felt toward him quake on its foundations.

  “But you definitely shouldn’t go around naked. You’re too tempting for the males of my kind as it is. Another one might snatch you up and carry you off. Then I’d have to fight him for ownership of you.”

  Ownership of her? That simple comment threw an entire gas tank on the embers of her fury. “Own me? You don’t own me!” She spun around and hauled back to punch him. He caught her wrist with one hand, holding her immobile.

  “Yes, ownership, Queenie. Until humans can be trusted, you cannot be given equal status. Does that mean I think you are inferior? No. Never. You are as brilliant as you are beautiful, as much as any Krinar woman, but for all practical purposes you are still mine.” He growled the word in a way that sent shivers down her spine, but they weren’t shivers of dread.

  Sef lowered his gaze, and she couldn’t stop staring at his lips. He moved her back until he had her pinned against the mirror. Despite being trapped, her body throbbed with hunger as well. If he took her now, she wouldn’t fight him. She wanted it. She wanted him to claim her. She ached for the pleasure his body could give her, but she also yearned for that intimacy that came after, the whispers in the dark, the gentle lacing of fingers, and the nuzzling of faces as they lay in one another’s arms.