by Sue Mercury
Alice laughed. “Oh, honey, it won’t be so bad. I promise you’ll like it here. Sorry there aren’t any convenience stores in Rahatha though. The markets are only open during the day, but there are a few international food stores, so you should be able to find pretty much anything your little human heart desires.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be such a Debbie Downer. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, and I’m still overjoyed about the prospect of getting back on my feet.” Gina thought about Jax and scowled, thinking of how blatantly he’d stared at her chest. She hoped working for Mr. Bossy Pants wasn’t worse than working for Mr. Grabby Hands. “So about Jax…um…you failed to tell me that he’s kind of a pig.”
Alice threw her head back and laughed. She stopped walking and sat the suitcase down, holding her stomach while she giggled. “A pig? Oh my God! You think…you think…” She pointed a finger at Gina and a fresh burst of giggles erupted from her throat. “Oh honey, there’s something I should probably tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“Jax isn’t a pig. That’s not why he was undressing you with his eyes. Honey, he’s unmated. In fact, he’s the only unmated Reestrian in Rahatha.” Alice reined in her laughter and shrugged, a look of immense guilt crossing her face. “Maybe I should have told you that before we got here. Opps.”
“Wait a second. You mean to tell me Jax, my new boss, is the only unmated Reestrian in this city?”
“Yeppers.”
“And I’m the only single female in this city?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I thought I told you to stop trying to play matchmaker for me! Unless you happen to make friends with George Clooney and he needs a date…”
“George Clooney is married, silly,” Alice interrupted.
“What? He is? Damn, I had no idea. What does it say about me that I have been too busy to keep up with celebrity goings-on?”
“It says you have more important things to worry about. Now cheer up. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.” Alice winked. “In more ways than one.”
Chapter Two
Jax knew he owed Gina an apology. He watched as her fingers flew across the keyboard of the primitive human computer she insisted she needed to do her job. In less than two hours she’d worked out an automated payroll system, and now she was updating his pilots’ weekly schedule.
While she worked, he hovered over the graphic display of the United States that showed precisely where each of his hovercrafts were located at this very moment. He’d thought he ran a pretty efficient business before her arrival, but this little human knew her stuff, especially when it came to dealing with taxes and all the hoops the damn government makes you jump through—her words.
Her tongue peeked out from her mouth as she continued typing, so wet and pink and…Almighty One, he was in trouble. He couldn’t work with her in here, couldn’t concentrate on a single departure or expected arrival time. All his hovercrafts could be in Antarctica right now and he would never know.
Glancing out the window, he frowned at the low placement of the sun in the sky, realizing it wasn’t even close to lunchtime yet. The day was passing slowly, torturously, and all he could think about was swiping her desk clean and lifting her up on it. He could arrange her legs around his waist and press his cock against the sweetness between her thighs, and he could lean down and capture her lips while she moaned softly into his mouth. If her enticing scent was any indication, she would taste delicious.
“Mr. Jax? Hello? Earth to Mr. Jax. Hellooooo.”
Startled from his thoughts, his head shot up and he met Gina’s amused visage.
“Wow, where did you just disappear to?” She sat straighter. “Never mind. I can’t believe the businesses here have to pay taxes to the federal government. Didn’t you guys try to negotiate out of that? Get some kind of waiver? I mean, it’s not like you’re depending on the government for anything but the land you were given for this city, and half of the residents here are human anyway.”
“Are you aware that Reestrian and human babies have been switched during the last few decades as part of an experiment to test how humans grow on Reestria, and in return how well Reestrians might grow on Earth?”
“Of course I’m aware of all that. CNN had a big news special about it last month. I know most of the Reestrians in this settlement were raised on Earth, thinking they were human for the first twenty years or so of their lives, until being taken back to Reestria to experience those magical growth cycles that just won’t happen on Earth for some reason. But I was talking about taxes. Why can’t your people get out of paying them?”
“It was important that my people, the Earth-raised Reestrians, were not kept from any human mates they desired, humans they may have met while growing up on Earth. We had to make some concessions to hurry along the construction of this settlement, and while we probably could’ve talked our way into an exemption from many of your country’s rules, like paying taxes, we decided to agree to the terms set forth by your president right away. Many of our males were close to experiencing their mating urges and needed to return to their chosen humans at once.”
“I see. Well, do you realize you haven’t paid your quarterlies yet? They were due last month. I’ll help you work on write-offs tomorrow and then we’ll get it sent in. Trust me, Mr. Jax, you don’t want the IRS after you. They’ll eat your soul for breakfast.” She once again focused on the computer in front of her, and he frowned at not understanding her last statement.
Was Gina afraid of the IRS? He rose to his full height and puffed out his chest, feeling ready to go to battle for this little human female he’d met but yesterday.
“I will protect you from the IRS, Gina. I will not allow them to eat your soul, or to harm you in any other way.” The language chip in his brain that allowed them to understand one another must not be catching all her words correctly. He made a mental note to have his checked, and perhaps hers should be checked as well.
Gina’s sudden laughter bounced off the walls. He grimaced and stared at her, wondering if maybe she wasn’t well in the head. Reestrian males who didn’t mate at the proper time became afflicted with an illness known as The Madness. Perhaps human females had some similar condition afflict them. He had heard humans and Reestrians were quite similar in behavior and appearance, but this female’s behavior had left him perplexed on more than one occasion since he’d met her. Ah, but she was a mystery he wanted to solve.
“Mr. Jax, the IRS is the Internal Revenue Service. They take your tax money, and if you don’t pay them, they’ll make life difficult for you.” Her fingers had stilled on the keyboard and her eyes sparkled as a fresh smile broke across her face. “They won’t literally eat your soul or cause you physical harm. Thanks a lot, Mr. Jax. Now you’ve made me explain my joke and it’s no longer funny.” She went back to typing, but a grin still tugged at her lips.
Jax tried to concentrate on the circular display screen below him, as well as the list of hovercraft repairs he needed to complete by evening, but all he could think about was the fact that Gina was unclaimed. He inhaled her scent from across the room, drawing in a long, deep breath, and puzzled at not detecting the slightest scent of another male. She possessed an exquisite beauty, her pale complexion offset by her dark eyes and even darker hair. She was shorter than him, as all humans were, but she wasn’t so petite that she wouldn’t be able to handle the rigors of his mating.
But she wasn’t Reestrian, and she probably wouldn’t just offer herself to him because it was his biological time to mate. She was a human, a rather headstrong one from what he’d seen so far, and she would need all the pomp that came with human courtship. Lunch and dinner dates, flowers, and thoughtful gifts. He would have to take her to the movies too. Klemm had explained human dating behavior several days ago while urging him to seek out a human female in a town outside Rahatha.
Heat pummeled through him and his cock strained against his pants. He clutched the sides of
the display screen as a wave of dizziness assaulted him. He blinked hard several times in order to clear away the stars dotting his vision. Taking deep breaths, he waited for the dizzy spell to pass, while his eyes went wide with realization.
The human female known as Gina had accelerated the onset of his mating urge. It was the only logical explanation for the sudden change in his physical state. Before her arrival, he hadn’t felt his blood heating or his pulse accelerating so abnormally.
He wiped the perspiration from his brow and strode to her side, using his foot to turn around her swivel chair and force her to face him.
“Hey, Mr. Jax, what do you think…” Her words trailed off and she stared up at him, her gorgeous dark eyes widening.
“You will go to lunch with me, Gina, and then I will buy you flowers on the way back to work.”
“Excuse me?”
“Then tonight I will take you to dinner and a movie. There’s a theater on the other side of the city, and I’ll make sure we get the best seats. I will hold your hand during the movie.” When she gaped at him in silence, he backed away a few steps, not trusting himself to keep his hands off her. He didn’t want to scare her by moving too fast, something Alice had warned him about. “I will walk you home after the movie and then kiss you thoroughly.”
~ ~ *
To say Jax had stunned Gina into silence would be an understatement. She stared up at him while trying to take in regular breaths, lest she pass out at his feet. She should be offended by his proposition. Well, it was more like a demand. He hadn’t exactly asked her on a date. He’d told her she was going out with him. Her heart danced with joy that he was so attracted to her, but her sensible side was outraged by his highhandedness.
She swallowed hard and tried to fight down the flutters rising in her stomach, to no avail. A spasm of heat rocked through her core and she squirmed in her seat. A second later, she felt a flush travel up from her neck to spread over her whole face. Did he noticed her squirming? Did he realize how much she wanted him too, even though she couldn’t possibly accept his offer?
But damn, she found his dating faux pas so adorable, and sweet in a way that made her want to slide her hands up his shirt and dig her fingers into his muscles. As she held his gaze, trying to find the strength to say, “no, thanks, Mr. Jax,” his eyes transformed from blue to black. She gripped the sides of her chair. What the hell?
“Are you all right, sir? Your eyes were blue a second ago, but now they’re pitch black. Are you sick or something?”
He took a few more steps back and braced himself against the wide table that held his hovercraft display screen. “I am not sick, Gina. Do not be afraid. I would never hurt you.”
What did he mean by that? Gina had caught the most important news broadcasts about Reestrians and knew as much about them as the average American, but she hadn’t known their eyes could change color suddenly.
Oh dear. She rolled her chair away from him, even though he was on the other side of the room. She might not understand his abrupt change of eye color, but his other symptoms were clear enough.
“Your eyes are black, you’re sweating bullets, and you’re panting like you’re about to experience heat stroke.” She should’ve realized what was happening the second perspiration started trickling down the side of his head. Jax might be the only unmated Reestrian in Rahatha, but not for long. His mating urge was coming upon him, and though she didn’t know much about their mating practices, she knew once their fever set in they didn’t have long before they were compelled to mate. Sometimes hours, or sometimes days, depending on the particular Reestrian.
And it was just her luck that she was the only single woman inside the city.
“Please, my dearest Gina, do not be afraid.”
My dearest Gina? Holy crap…
“I’m not afraid of you, Mr. Jax.”
“Call me Jax. Not Mr. Jax, and not sir. Just call me Jax. Please, Gina.” His chest rose and fell rapidly, drawing her attention to the muscles encased underneath his fitted shirt. Like yesterday, he kept his sleeves rolled up, his powerful forearms glistening with his increasing perspiration.
“All right. Jax,” she said, liking the sense of familiarity that came without adding a title or a formality to his name. She couldn’t forget he was her boss though, and she really couldn’t get involved with someone she worked with again. After Mr. Grabby Hands found out she’d gone on a few dates with a coworker, he’d become even grabbier. Don’t mix work with pleasure. Let him down nicely.
“You are more beautiful than the moons of Reestria reflecting off the mountainside lakes, and you smell like a field of flowers after a soft rainfall, my dearest Gina.” His darkened eyes gleamed with more than lust. Affection?
No, he couldn’t possibly have feelings for her. Some humans believed in love at first sight, but Gina wasn’t one of them. Did Reestrians experience such an emotion, so suddenly and intensely? She really should’ve grilled Alice about Reestrian mating practices last night, rather than staying up late making strawberry cheesecake and getting tipsy on peach margaritas.
“Wow, um, that’s quite a compliment,” she finally said. “You know, the nicest thing the last guy I dated told me was that I had a cute butt.”
“I like your butt too, Gina,” he said, matter-of-factly. “You have tempting and firm, perfectly rounded bottom cheeks I long to squeeze and press myself against.”
She blew out a breath and scratched the back of her neck, feeling awkward and needing to do something with her hands. Holy hell, she couldn’t stop squirming. His gaze, so dark and penetrating, sent tingles throughout her body. She felt lightheaded and totally confounded by her responses to Jax. Shouldn’t she be telling him off and storming out of the office?
“I like your breasts too, my dearest Gina. I ache to take one delectable mound in each hand and caress you until your nipples harden and your breath quickens.”
He might not know it, but her nipples were already hard and her breath had quickened to the point she worried she might hyperventilate and pass out due to her immense arousal. She had never in her life wanted to jump someone’s bones as much as Jax’s.
Had a human male said such things to her, she would’ve already kicked his balls all the way to Arkansas. But Jax didn’t know any better, and though his words were explicit, she found him…sweet. His eyes gleamed with sincerity, and she knew he wasn’t dishing out compliments in order to get into her pants. He meant every word he said.
“Jax, I’m flattered by your attraction to me, but fact is, you’re my boss. It probably isn’t a good idea for us to get involved. I really want to keep this job and not have to worry about any awkwardness between us.” His eyes are black. He’s sweltering and it’s not even that hot today. He wants to mate with you. She gulped and tore her gaze from his, opting to stare at a painting of what appeared to be a grand Reestrian city at nighttime, complete with two large, orange moons dominating the landscape.
“Forgive me if I’ve been too forward, my sweet Gina, but I am drawn to you so fiercely I can hardly breathe. If you were mine, you wouldn’t have to work another day in your life. I would keep you safe in our home, and you could spend your days tending to our children.”
“Oh, I could, could I? Gee, thanks for the choice. You really are a sexist pig, you know that?” She turned back to her computer. If she didn’t look at him again, she wouldn’t be so tempted to accept his lunch invitation, or his dinner and movie invitation. Or that last invitation where he’d mentioned kissing her thoroughly. Nope, she’d better not think of that.
Warm hands descended upon her shoulders, and she gave a startled cry. His hot breath tickled her ear.
“Mr. Jax…”
“I’m sorry if I offended you, my dearest Gina, but when I look into your eyes I see our future so clearly I ache for it. I see everything I’ve ever wanted, and I confess it’s difficult for me to go slowly with you when all I can think about is stripping off your shirt and burying my face in your
breasts.”
Despite herself, she shuddered and leaned into his touch. Her heart fluttered and endorphins rushed through her in waves of hot and cold that zipped from her head down to her toes. The first day of her new job wasn’t going anything like she’d expected.
Chapter Three
Jax escorted Gina up to the rooftop of the fanciest restaurant in Rahatha, overjoyed to have finally convinced her to join him for lunch. Though the establishment was open for lunch, he only spotted three other couples in the dining room. Most habitants of Rahatha ate lunch quickly at work or grabbed something in one of the many market squares located throughout the city.
“This is just lunch,” Gina reminded him as the hostess led them to a table.
“Don’t worry, my dearest Gina, I promise not to maul you in public.” He grinned at his own joke, but she shot him a scolding look.
They took their seats and he ordered for them, selecting a traditional Reestrian fish delicacy most of the humans in Rahatha adored.
“Why are all the servers and the other guests staring at us?” Gina whispered, leaning forward. Beams of sunlight streamed down on her hair and bathed her face in gold. He thought she’d never looked more stunning.
“Because of my eyes. It’s evident to them I’m experiencing the beginning of my mating urge.”
“Well, I think it’s rude. You’re not an animal in a zoo.” She folded her napkin on her lap and gave him a worried glance. “Listen, Jax, it’s apparent to me that Alice set us up. She pretty much admitted it last night, but I doubt she expected you to experience your mating urge so soon. This is so freaking weird, I don’t even know what to think. One minute I think you’re kind of adorable and sweet, and the next minute you say something completely ridiculous that makes me want to land a hovercraft on your head.”