JoAquin: An Alien Abduction Paranormal Romance (A Hexonian Alien Abduction Romance Book 1)

by Ross, Charmaine

  Lauren clutched his wrist. “What do you mean? Now that I’m here? I’m the answer to your problems? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  He patted the back of her hand. “All will become clear. I merely meant you might be able to provide us with a means to fight back.”

  “Me? How?”

  “Mother will explain everything. Now, Shanaea is here to help you with your bathing. I will leave you in peace and call the Commander for you.”

  Lauren frowned at MalCom as a beautiful, young woman emerged from among the giant leaves. Long orange hair flowed over her slender shoulders and down her back. She stepped lithely over to Lauren, the ‘before’ picture of beauty and youth next to the ‘after’ shot, which was her. Nothing like dewy youth to make a woman feel instantly dowdy and middle-aged.

  Shanaea smiled at Lauren, took her hand and led her away from MalCom. “But. I still want to speak to him. He hasn’t answered all of my questions.” Lauren peered to MalCom over her shoulder, but he’d already disappeared into the foliage. “I’m so going to learn how to do that.”

  “Do what?” Shanaea asked, curiosity on her shy face. She even sounded young, her voice high, smooth and innocent.

  Lauren sighed and shook her head. “Never mind.” She didn’t have it in her at the moment to do anything but let a slight young thing take her to–hopefully–a bath.

  Further down the giant branch, Shanaea tugged aside a giant leaf to reveal water cascading down the side of the trunk. Lauren gasped, delighted. It wasn’t a bath, it was, “A shower!” She put her palm in the water, “It’s warm, too.” Tepid, which, with this humidity, was more than fine. She couldn’t wait to shuck her winter clothes, immerse herself beneath the water and wash away the sweat and smell of fear.

  Shanaea smiled and her face lit. She really was a beautiful young woman. If only Lauren had her years back, she’d appreciate being young again. It was true when they said youth is wasted on the young.

  An errant thought flicked through her mind. The old show, Mork and Mindy , where they adopted a baby alien–yeah, she’d watched an alien show and didn’t realise the significance, which appeared to be a man in his seventies. Mindy had asked Mork why their babies were born looking old, and Mork had replied ‘that way, you are always wanted.’

  Lauren sighed, it was just a stupid show. The reality of her life was that she was never wanted. Only used. With Mike, she’d thought she’d found someone who would love her, but then terminal disease robbed her of the possibilities and she’d become more a nurse and caregiver than a wife and significant other. She loved him, of course, but she’d never experienced that deeply sexual feeling of being in love with a man, where she felt feminine and cherished. Desired.

  Looking back, their marriage could be seen as one of convenience. Mike needed a caregiver, and she’d wanted to be loved. A trade. Now it was too late to find anything that might resemble love. Her years had passed. Men were always attracted to younger women, no matter how old they were. Everyone overlooked a woman her age.

  Lauren shook off the morbid thoughts. “Thank you, Shanaea. This is wonderful.”

  “You can use the soap here,” the young woman indicated a notch in a branch filled with semi-translucent liquid. “MalCom has asked me to get you clothing suited to our environment.”

  Lauren grimaced and plucked at her T-Shirt, “Red isn’t a colour that blends around here, is it?”

  The girl chuckled and seemed a little embarrassed. “I have been told to dispose of your clothing so that nothing remains.”

  “I guess that’s the only way to keep everyone safe and hidden.” If she wandered around in these colours, she’d be more a target than she’d been in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain.

  “I will have to find something to cover your hair. I’ve never seen a colour quite like it. Do all humans have the same colour as you?” Shanaea asked.

  Lauren self-consciously ran her fingers through her dirty hair, “Not unless they colour it like that. Most people had light hair, or black. My hair is what we call auburn, but it’s getting more grey through it now, I suppose.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “You mean your hair changes colour? Do you make it do that?”

  Lauren chuckled. “We do change our colour, but with the help of very clever hairdressers who make it look natural.” She didn’t say that grey hair was a colour no woman really wanted to see.

  “I would like to go to these clever hairdressers and change this colour.” The girl tugged her long, bright orange locks. “I wish to have hair your colour.”

  “I think more than a few people on my planet would love your hair colour. Besides, we all wish for what we don’t naturally have,” Lauren said. Maybe that was a wish common throughout the universe.

  “It is a beautiful colour, although you will need to cover it. I will find something. You can use this to relieve yourself, if you wish.” The girl gestured to a hole in a horizontal bulge in the trunk.

  ‘Seriously? I...go...in that hole? What happens to...it all?” Lauren asked.

  “The tree burns it up and uses everything for its growth,” Shanaea said.

  “So I’m...feeding the tree with my...waste,” Lauren said. It was a bit of an abhorrent thought, but then again, Earth’s treatment plants sent everyone’s waste out to sea. She couldn’t say that was good at all for the environment.

  “It is very good for the tree. It is one of the tallest in the forest,” the girl said.

  “Well, I’ll take your word for it,” Lauren said.

  “I will leave you to take your shower and will return with your clothing,” the girl said and slipped through the leaves, which acted as a natural shower curtain.

  Lauren didn’t waste any time. She threw off her hot jeans, followed closely with everything else and dove beneath the water after quickly using the hole for her ‘waste.’

  She still couldn’t see how it benefited the tree, but when in Rome and all that. The water was absolute heaven. She dug her fingers into the substance the girl had told her was soap and smelled the glob in her hand. It was a natural, slightly floral fragrance which was very pleasant.

  It lathered into her hair, washing it beautifully and Lauren eagerly rubbed it over her skin, delighting in feeling clean for the first time in days. After she’d scrubbed every inch of her body, she stayed beneath the fall, rested her head on the trunk and just stood beneath the stream.

  Then everything sunk in.

  The dam she’d kept up so well for so long finally cracked and burst, and she was helpless to the sobs that wracked her body. She didn’t know how long she stayed under the water for. Time became irrelevant. Leaves rustled behind her, and she turned, wiping her face, expecting Shanaea with some clothing.

  But it wasn’t Shanaea.

  It was Jo’Aquin, and he stood staring at her in with eyes burning and dawning horror washing over his features.

  9

  A wave of intense heat enflamed his body at the unexpected sight of Lauren’s glorious naked body. He’d been brushing through those huge leaves, following a path MalCom indicated when he’d told Jo’Aquin that Lauren had asked to see him.

  Never in his mind had he thought he’d find her bathing and naked. Deliciously naked. Water sluiced over her body, caressing every curve just like his fingers had itched to do while he’d watched over her during her recovery.

  He’d committed every inch of her body, every sweet curve to memory, knowing that she was a woman who was completely untouchable to him.

  She was a victim of the Reptiles, just like Emile had been. His only sister, now a mindless drone of the Reptiles. Gods only knew what she had been subjected to and Gods only knew where she was imprisoned now. What they’d made her do... Familiar bitterness darkened his soul a little more.

  Not rescuing her was his disgrace. He still heard her screams, her pleas for help. He wasn’t fast enough. They’d trapped her. Taken her right in front of his eyes.

  He dreamed of her
every night. The way those Reptiles had stolen into their house, taken her from her bed. He’d woken, run into her room when she’d screamed, had been struck so hard he’d nearly lost consciousness, but he was still aware enough to know what was happening. Before he’d been able to clamber to his feet, she was gone.

  She’d only been ten cycles old. His baby sister. Stolen.

  Throughout his career, he’d let down hundreds of helpless females, ruthlessly taken by the Reptiles where they should be safest. He hadn’t been fast enough for his sister, or for countless others, and he hadn’t been fast enough for Lauren.

  His latest failure.

  Lauren gasped, a small, breathless sound, bringing him back to the moment, and calling attention to the yearning desire that pulsed through his body. His gaze swept from up long, lean legs. The rounded line of her buttocks called to him, and his fingers twitched with the urge to fondle those soft globes. The gentle slope of her waist highlighted the delicate sway of her back, leading up to eyes that were...red.

  She was...crying.

  With a growled curse, he charged over the small distance between them and gathered her in his arms. He should have been by her side when she woke so she wouldn’t be distressed. It was his fault she was fearful and crying.

  He gathered her wet, warm body in his arms, threading his fingers through her drenched hair that reminded him of the afternoon dancing flames in Hexion’s sky, and pressed her soft body into his. She stiffened in his arms, but he tightened his hold on her, needing to comfort her. Touch her. Caress her.

  “What is causing you distress?” he asked.

  “You’re crushing me,” she squeaked, her voice was muffled against his shirt.

  He glanced down to see her face pressed into his clothing. He was suffocating her! He released his grip, and she reeled backwards, enough for him to catch a glimpse of pink-tipped nipples that were beaded into tight little buds. Delectable. Gods, she was gorgeous.

  She squeaked again, covered her chest and pressed into him as though to hide herself from his gaze. Her wet body fit to his, two perfect parts of a puzzle. Wet heat sunk into his skin, a fragrance that was beneath the natural fragrance of the floral soap wafted around him. His fingers slid along her slippery skin. So soft. Fragile. Exquisite.

  His other hand grazed along her back. Her skin puckered where he traced the line of her spine, coming alive beneath his touch. His hand drifted lower, fingers splayed over her hip, denting into her softness as though she was a cloud. A delectable, sexy, hot, wet, sweet cloud he could tease, taste and eat for hours.

  She shivered and peered up at him, her moss-green eyes large and luminous. They were also red-rimmed.

  “Jo’Aquin. What are you doing here?”

  Her husky voice slammed into him like a fist. Gods, he was acting like a sex-crazed barbarian! Of course, she was pushing up against him. She was naked and was trying to recover her sense of propriety. Hiding herself because she didn’t want him to see her naked. She’d been innocently bathing, and he’d shattered her privacy.

  He stepped back. She squeaked, her arms moving to cover her breasts and sex. He glimpsed perfection as she tried to cover herself. Her breasts were too large to hide, the smooth skin spilling over. Just enough to nuzzle and lick.

  Gods. A gentleman would offer help, not think about how he was going to devour her. His hands jerked to the fastening of his shirt and undid the first one. The sides opened, revealing the top part of his chest. Her eyes grew wider. Panic settled on her lovely features. Frek . Now she probably thought he was going to take advantage of her. His behaviour certainly hadn’t been assuring.

  He fought a distinct urge to take advantage of her, and he had to reign in urges he’d long since thought he’d left behind in his youth. He growled again. Her limbs trembled, and her plump lips fell open. He spun around, just about ripping the shirt from his body and held it behind him. “Here. Put this on.”

  Warm wet fingers brushed against his as she accepted the shirt. There was rustling behind him as she dressed. He ran his fingers through his hair. Frek . How was he going to talk to her knowing she was naked beneath his shirt? That was just as bad as seeing her completely naked. Well, nearly. He definitely liked seeing her better naked.

  He held his breath and counted to ten before he turned around. She clutched the colourful shirt at her neck with one hand, while the other held reams of material closed between her hips. The shirt was so large it swamped her, the hem reaching mid-thigh, revealing water slicked bare legs. She squirmed, her daze darting about like a Dalula Insect pollinating flower to flower.

  “My apologies. I had no idea you were…bathing,” he said, although all he really wanted to do was join her.

  Her cheeks became delightfully red as she fidgeted with his shirt. “That’s okay. It’s pretty hard to see what you’re coming up against with all of those leaves blocking the pathways.”

  “I was told you asked to see me.”

  “I…ah…yes…just wanted to see how you were doing. I woke up and…wondered where you were. How you were feeling,” she said.

  Gods, he was acting like a barbarian, and all she wanted to do was ask about his welfare. He hadn’t expected that. It had been a long time since anyone had bothered about something like that. Commanders were those beings people assumed could look after themselves. They certainly didn’t warrant consideration. It was unexpected. It surprised him, and he wasn’t surprised often.

  “I am well. And are you? Well?” He should have been there when she’d woken. Been there to make sure she’d fully recovered. She was his charge. It was his duty. Jo’Aquin frowned a little. It was more than duty, though. He’d wanted to be there. Just as he’d wanted to be there to make sure she was okay when she’d first been brought here and was ravaged with Reptile poison.

  If that old woman, Mother, hadn’t detained him for so long, he would have been the first thing she’d woken up to. Then he wouldn’t have walked up on her fully naked and fighting the desire that had plagued him since he’d first laid eyes on her.

  She frowned. Her hand drifted to the back of her neck. The ends of the shirt parted, revealing her sex when she couldn’t hold them closed. Gods. His whole body stiffened. He reached, planting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around so that she wouldn’t see the strain on his face or anywhere else on his body that was now quite evident. He was meant to keep her safe, damn it, not be the cause to frighten her any more than she must be already.

  “What are you doing?” she sounded alarmed and he immediately loosened his grip.

  “Just looking where Mother took out the implant. Check it’s not infected,” he ground out.

  “Oh, well. All right,” she said.

  Her shoulders loosened, and she tilted her head forward. Her neck angled gracefully forward as she allowed him to brush her wet hair to the side. Her skin was so smooth. So soft. She peered over her shoulder at him, “What do you see?”

  He saw the female he wanted.

  Control ! He gritted his teeth and forced his mind from his groin. Wasn’t going to happen. She was his charge, and he was here to protect her. Nothing more. He would have to ignore any sort of attraction that compelled him. This wasn’t the time. The place. The planet.

  And he certainly wasn’t any good for her.

  He traced the small raised wound just beneath her hairline. She would always carry this scar. It was his fault she had it there in the first place. If he’d been doing his job properly, the people of Earth wouldn’t have been targeted by the Reptiles at all.

  She shivered. Those small lumps rose and disappeared across her shoulder. He let her shoulders go, her body heat simmering on his palms, “You will be scarred.”

  She turned after adjusting his shirt and lifted a sleek auburn brow. “Better scarred than enslaved. Jo’Aquin…I…”

  He frowned, watching a myriad of emotions cross her face, “Yes?”

  This was it, this was where she’d tell him how he’d failed to
protect her. That if he’d been faster, she’d still be on Earth, with her own species. And rightfully so. He deserved nothing less. “Thank you.”

  It took a moment for her simple words to dispel his confusion. “You have nothing to thank me for.”

  She went to place her palm on his chest, but her hand stilled a fraction away from actually touching him, and she let it drop to clutch the shirt again. His skin tingled. He’d wanted her to touch him so badly he could feel his skin tingle. “I have everything to thank you for. You saved my life!”

  His chuckle wasn’t nice or kind, just rough and self-deprecating. “I wouldn’t have had to save your life if I’d been fast enough to save you from the Reptiles in the first place.”

  A line appeared between her brows. “And how would you have known I was going to be abducted by those…lizards? Can you see everywhere on Earth? Individually keep track of seven and a half billion people? I didn’t think so. I was in the middle of nowhere. No soul around for thousands of kilometres. No-one to hear me call for help, or scream. I was in the perfect place for an abduction.”

  “No-one is in the perfect place to be abducted,” he said. His sister had been taken from her home. The fault was in her failed protection. If only she knew that.

  She paused, studying him. Moments passed. Her green eyes trailed over his face. “Those things that abducted me are bad guys. They’re the ones that planned to take me. They did take me. And worse. Not you. I blame them, Joe. Not you. You have to understand that.” This time, when her hand rose, she pressed it to his chest. Heat spiralled through him as his heart gave an almighty tumble. She could weaken a man with such a gentle touch.

  She’d already weakened him.

  He wanted to tell her that he was to blame. That she should be safe wherever she was on her planet, or in the universe, but all he could think about was kissing her. His hand pressed against the back of hers, flattening her palm even more on his chest. That simple touch was enough to make him lose track of any thought but tasting her plump lips.