by Anna Adler
“And how do you feel about that?” Rivers wanted to know.
Jax set his jaw and crossed his arms. “I serve Alyssa-Mistress. I’d die for her.”
Alyssa’s heart went out for him, even though it was nothing but a lie to fool the security.
“Put your clothes on,” the guard commanded before turning toward the mirror and giving his colleague a nod.
Is that a yes? Did he pass? Alyssa glanced at Kowalski, but didn’t dare to ask.
Later, Rivers brought Jax back to Alyssa and handed her his leash.
“I agree with you, Ms. Cressfield,” he said. “The security at Silverhall must have overreacted. Your pet is not the brightest, but he’s clearly trained.”
Alyssa felt giddy with relief.
It’s the other way around. She chuckled inwardly, her heart glowing with pride. He’s actually untrained, but he’s smarter than the two of you combined.
“Thank you,” she said.
“He still needs to pass the extended test later, but right now we’re satisfied. I’ll make sure he shows up green on the security grid.”
Alyssa threw her arms around Jax. “Good boy,” she cooed, hugging his big body tight. “You passed the test; I’m so proud of you.”
Jax only grunted. She turned to the security guards once more. “Thank you. We’ll be continuing our walk, then.”
Both guards wished them a good day and left. Alyssa wanted to grab Jax and kiss him, but decided to save it for later.
“God, I’m so happy you made it,” she sighed as soon as the guards were gone. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but the spaceport AI picked you up as a threat and I had to prove them that you weren’t—”
“It’s okay, I figured it out myself,” he calmly cut her off. “I could see what was going on.”
“You’re not upset?”
“Hell, I’ve been through worse.”
“Good.” Alyssa smiled. “We’re clear now. Do you want to go scout the door again?”
“No, I’ve seen enough.”
“Shall we go check the other route we talked about? As a plan B?”
“Actually,” Jax said, digging something out of his pants, “I think it’s better if we leave the spaceport.”
“Why?”
“I stole his gun.”
Alyssa blinked. “You what?”
“Convenient that he got so close to me. Exactly what I needed.”
“Are you nuts?” she hissed, casting a frantic look around them. “He’s going to notice his gun is missing and then—”
“Can’t help it,” he said. “I need the gun. Let’s hope he won’t figure out I’m the one who took it. Give me your purse.”
Alyssa swallowed and tried to look inconspicuous while Jax slipped the stolen weapon into her purse.
“I can’t hide it in my pants too well,” he said with a grin. “And no one’s going to suspect you, right? The model citizen.”
Alyssa’s cheeks flared.
Chapter 19
Back at her apartment, Alyssa once more felt as if she sacrificed a perfectly good opportunity when she removed the collar from Jax.
I could just keep him.
But he flashed her a grin, and it made her feel a little better. He fished the hidden gun from her purse and wanted to know what kind of tools Alyssa had.
“Tools?” she wondered.
“I have to rig the gun a bit before it’s of any use to me,” he said.
Alyssa frowned, eyeing the standard-issue electric stun gun. “It’s non-lethal. I hope you’re not planning to change that.”
“I don’t care what it does to people. I’m just gonna tweak it so it can temporarily blind cameras and open doors.”
Alyssa shrugged. She showed him to the spacious work room where she kept her equipment. She had quite a few things because she liked to fix her own household robots when they malfunctioned.
“Hey, you have pretty cool stuff here!” Jax exclaimed as he took in the surroundings. He put the stolen gun on the desk and opened a few drawers. “Shit. I wouldn’t have expected it.”
“You wouldn’t have expected what?” Alyssa wondered, looking critically around her at the disorganized shelves, desks and welding stations. This corner needed cleaning.
He grabbed her waist and pulled her into his arms. Alyssa yelped and then smiled, putting her arms around him.
Jax grinned down at her. “You look like a rich chick. What’s a girl like you doing with a workshop like this?”
Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Hey, I work for a living.”
“What exactly do you do?”
“I told you: I’m in charge of a mine. Weren’t you listening? More precisely, I’m in charge of the mining robots. If something doesn’t work, I’m the one who has to figure out why and make sure it’s fixed.”
“And you fix them here or what?”
“No, dumbass,” she laughed. “I order spare parts at the factory and supervise the robots performing the repairs. I tinker at home with my own household robots as a form of practice. Know what my pet peeve is? Automatic updates! Guaranteed to mess up your robots in record time. That’s the first thing I disable whenever I get a new bot. I always update software manually; otherwise they’ll spend half the time installing new updates when they should be working. Then I replace the comms unit because the inbuilt systems misfire more often than not. And all bipedal bots have balance problems, but after I installed a custom-made radar, my bipedals run so smoothly they could be professional sprinters.”
“Shit. I never would have guessed, looking at you.” He pushed her against the desk, bending her backward. “Imagining you here getting your hands dirty is rather hot.”
Alyssa tried to pull him down on her, but he straightened up again. “Gotta fix this gun first.” He patted her thigh. “I’ll play with you later.”
“Can’t we play first and work later?” She nuzzled his neck and gave his earlobe a nip.
His breath caught. For a second he clutched her tighter to him, but he seemed determined to resist the temptation. He stroked her cheek then gently pushed her away. “Play later.”
Alyssa figured she could have made him change his mind. A little push from her would have him succumbing to her charms, but she decided to leave him alone. It was more becoming of a pet owner to walk away. If he wanted her, he should come find her. As long as he kept coming after her, she had a chance of seducing him permanently.
It occurred to her that she hadn’t exercised much since Jax moved in. Her gym was bare and she’d been too busy fussing over her pet to do anything. But now she had the perfect moment to get back to it. Alyssa owned two heavy lifter bots, packed away in their closets in the hallway. She activated them and ordered them to bring up her gym equipment, which was stored away in the cellar. The bots folded out of their closets and exited the apartment. Alyssa supervised them while they carried up one piece of gym equipment after another and set them in their proper places.
Once the gym was rebuilt, Alyssa sent the bots back to sleep. They disappeared back into their closets. Jax remained in the work room, modifying the weapon, so Alyssa changed into her exercise clothes, tied her hair in a ponytail, and entered her gym. She told the room to play relaxing music and started with a slow-paced warm-up and stretching.
It felt good to be active again. Alyssa switched to faster-paced music and worked herself into a good sweat. An hour later, in the middle of her cycling routine, she noticed Jax standing in the doorway.
“So this is what it’s supposed to look like in here,” he said. “I could use a workout, too. Mind if I join you?”
“Come on in. Knock yourself out.”
She hopped off the exercise bike and grabbed a towel to dab the sweat off her face and neck.
“You asked for a punching bag, remember?” she said, nodding toward the item in question. “Want to see if it’s any match for you?”
A grin spread on his face. “Sure thin
g.”
He pulled off his shirt and cracked his knuckles. After half an hour of murdering the bag, he hopped onto the treadmill for a jog, after which he threw himself on the mats to do push-ups and sit-ups.
Alyssa did a series of New Yoga moves, all the while secretly eyeing Jax. Watching him exercise warmed her blood, and she noticed to her delight that he was keeping an eye on her, too.
“You’re pretty nimble,” he said from between clenched teeth while doing push-ups.
“And you’re just plain crazy. Give it a rest already; I’m sure your body has had enough.”
Jax kept going, his arms pumping vigorously even though veins bulged on his temples and sweat dripped off him. “Not done yet.”
Alyssa had a wicked thought. She got up and walked over to him.
“What are you up to?” he asked, not slowing down.
She grinned at him. “Just testing your strength. This’ll be hard on you. Ready?”
“Go ahead.”
She sat on him sideways, right behind his shoulders. Jax growled and cursed under his breath, but his tone told her he enjoyed the exertion. His movements turned slow and labored, but he kept pushing. After five push-ups, he gave up, unable to get up from the mats anymore. Alyssa snickered at having flattened him. She got off him, after which he rolled on his back, panting heavily.
“Fuck, that was good.”
“Sounds like you enjoy punishing yourself.”
She sat down beside him and admired the way sweat glistened on his skin. The moisture made the blue scales covering his arms shine like jewels.
“Nothing beats a good workout,” he said.
“Nothing, huh?”
Jax’s gaze lingered on her. “Except one thing.”
He snatched her into his embrace and she landed on top of him. Alyssa gasped. Hunger gleamed in Jax’s pale eyes. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her down into a kiss. Eager, she squirmed into a better position, grasping his face and returning the kiss. She loved the feel of his slick skin against hers. He smelled of hot, clean sweat and of something musky that made her think of reptiles.
Jax rolled, until he was the one on top, his hands roaming all over her body. “You naughty girl,” he growled between kisses. “You’ve been teasing me all day.”
Have I?
Alyssa wasn’t aware that she’d been teasing. On the contrary, she thought she’d been mindful not to tease so they could focus on business.
“Showing off how smart you are…you’ve been a constant turn-on.”
Flushed with pleasure, Alyssa fumbled with his belt buckle, wanting him out of his clothes. But Jax pinned her down and halted, grinning at her. Alyssa squirmed beneath him, impatient, but he wouldn’t move.
“No, you’re not getting anything just yet,” he said. “I just wanted to tease you a little.”
“What? No! I don’t want a tease.” She tried to pull him down on her.
Jax trapped her wrists against the mats, fixing her in place. “You’re gonna be a good girl and do as I say. I have wicked plans for you.”
A delicious shiver went through Alyssa, and she stilled. “What kind of wicked plans?”
Jax holding her down by the wrists felt distractingly good. She wished he would simply fuck her now, but she loved his devious, sexy schemes.
“Come on,” he said, pulling her up with him, determined. “Shower. Food. Then I’ll show you.”
Chapter 20
After they had showered and dressed, Jax led Alyssa to the dining room and held a chair out for her to sit. Alyssa stared, astonished, seeing that he had prepared the table for two. She sat down.
“What’s this?” she asked, but he disappeared into the kitchen.
When he came back, he set some kind of roast in front of her. Alyssa’s eyes widened. It looked and smelled delicious, her stomach responded with a growl.
“When did you do this?”
“While you were exercising.” He cut off a steaming slice and put in on her plate. “Go ahead.”
Alyssa took a bite. It wasn’t real meat but a Silenian soy product called Bifu that resembled meat in taste and texture. Alyssa had piles of it in the back of a kitchen cupboard because it was storable, but she never made anything out of it. Jax obviously knew how to cook it juicy and had chosen excellent spices to go with it. She closed her eyes on a blissful sigh as she chewed.
“This is incredible. Thank you.”
Jax shrugged and dug into his portion. “Hey, I promised to cook for you, didn’t I?”
“Where did you learn to do this?”
“What, cook? I’m a single dude in my thirties. If I want good food, I have to make it myself.”
“I’m a single woman in my thirties, but I never bothered. That’s what restaurants and takeout services are for.”
“Hard to come by in space.”
Alyssa chuckled. “Good point.” She looked at Jax, sitting across from her and digging into his food as if they ate like this every day. She wanted to make it a reality. It would be so wonderful to sit together like this at mealtimes. “What’s your real name?” she asked cautiously.
Jax looked up from his plate. This was the first time she ever asked for his name. “Jax is fine,” he replied and continued to eat.
She wondered about his reaction. “But I named you Jax without asking if you liked it. Wouldn’t you rather I called you by your real name?”
He put down his fork and rubbed his jaw. “Real name…that’s a tough one. People call me a lot of things, but since I didn’t have parents, I don’t have a real name like you do. Deveraux is what I’ve been calling myself lately.”
“Deveraux,” Alyssa tasted the word. “Nice.”
“It’s the unofficial name of a quadrant I like. Spent a lot of time there. Good times. But it’s a last name. I was kind of missing a cool first name. I think I might keep Jax—as a souvenir. Jax Deveraux…yeah, that’s pretty good.”
Alyssa beamed at him. He liked the name she had given him! That was a good sign. But she wanted to know more. “What did they call you when you were younger? I’m sure people must have called you something.”
“Male Number Six,” he said. “The lab where I grew up didn’t allow us names; kept the staff from growing attached.”
Alyssa swallowed and frowned. “That’s awful.” She couldn’t even imagine how worthless she would feel if she’d been given a number instead of a name.
“Yeah, but what can you do,” he mumbled while chewing, obviously more interested in the food than his past.
“What about the other…test subjects? Did they have a name for you?”
He shook his head. “Never saw the others, never even heard them. We were kept isolated; I was taught and trained by the lab staff. I assume there were at least five other guys because I was number six, and probably females too because they felt the need to define me as male. But other than that, your guess is as good as mine.”
“What did they teach you?”
“The same stuff everyone learns at school, I guess. No idea why. Maybe they wanted to integrate me into society at some point, but I didn’t stick around to find out.”
Alyssa imagined what kind of cold and loveless childhood he had and shuddered. “It’s terrible what you’ve been through.”
Jax only shrugged. Alyssa felt guilty about her own childhood, surrounded by wealth and indulgence, the object of her parents’ love. Her parents divorced after she was born, but both of them doted on Alyssa, always ready to fulfill her every wish. No one had cared about Jax; Alyssa was determined to give him all the love he missed out on so far.
“How did you turn out so nice despite all that?” she asked.
Jax flashed her a sleazy grin, his eyes twinkling. “You think I’m nice? That’s sweet.”
Alyssa’s belly fluttered, but she remained composed. “You know what I mean.”
“Well…” He finished his meal, wiped his mouth on a napkin, and leaned back in his chair. “I met some good
people later who taught me better manners. The lab didn’t traumatize me, because in the end, I beat the bastards. Successfully escaping prison does wonders to your self-confidence—I realized I was more than just a lab experiment. They’re a big organization that employs their own police force and bounty hunters, but I’m able to avoid them. Easily, I might add. Makes me feel pretty damn good about myself. I know they’re still looking for me, but they haven’t found me.”
“Still,” Alyssa said. “It’s amazing that you didn’t turn violent.”
“I know what it feels like to be treated like shit. I don’t want to pass it on.” He nodded at Alyssa’s plate and grinned. “Are you going to finish up your meal? I have plans, remember?”
Alyssa ate quickly, teeming with curiosity. When she was done, Jax beckoned her with him to the bedroom. He halted in front of the closet that hosted her sex toys. He took her face in his hands in a gentle but oh so possessive manner which made her melt inside.
“We’re going to dress you up a bit,” he murmured. “We’re gonna turn you into a pet.”
“Oh.”
“Would you like that?”
Alyssa met his eyes. “On one condition.” She slid her hand down and firmly cupped the front of his pants. Jax put his hand on hers and pressed it harder against the bulge of his genitals.
“Yeah, I’m gonna fuck you,” he said. “Count on it.”
The rumble of his voice alone made her nipples harden.
“Bring it on, then.”
Jax opened the closet and grabbed the items he had chosen for the occasion: a voluminous pink wig and a pink butt plug with a matching pink ponytail attached. Alyssa blinked and felt her cheeks heating up. These were brand new toys that she hadn’t even tested yet, but it pleased her that Jax liked them.
She usually didn’t like her lovers going through her toys. She personally chose what she wanted to use for which occasion, but it felt so easy to let Jax call the shots.
He handed her the wig. “Undress and put this on. Come to the living room when you’re ready.”
Desire gleamed in his eyes, causing her heartrate to escalate. Once he left, Alyssa undressed. Her hands fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. In the end she ripped her clothes off and tossed them on the floor in a heap. Her belly prickled with anticipation. Facing one of the mirrored walls of her bedroom, she netted her hair and adjusted the wig firmly on her head. It wouldn’t do if it came off by accident. She let it down and combed out the curls.