Ceno followed her out of the store and helped her into her truck. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to boost her up into the vehicle with his hand on her lovely ass.
“Are you following me home then?” Was she afraid he wouldn’t or afraid he would?
“Sure.” He glanced back toward the car, which belonged to his sister-in-law. It sat where he left it, looking as innocuous as any other automobile. “I just need to get some gas. You won’t leave without me, will you?”
“No.” She smiled. “No matter how tempted I might be. I owe you, and I pay my debts.”
“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be ready to go.” Ceno trotted to the car, ran his card in the reader and filled the tank. He’d planned to get something to eat inside. It was why he’d gone into the building in the first place. Now, it just seemed prudent to fuel up the car and follow Sela to her home.
After what happened with JC, there was no doubt in Ceno’s mind Sela and her grandfather were going to need protection. The part of him she’d awakened wouldn’t rest until he made sure she was safe and in his care.
It took about three minutes to fill the tank. Still, it was the longest three minutes of his life. As much as he wanted to protect her, shifting shape in front of her wouldn’t be his first choice. Not yet. Unfortunately, he might not have another option if someone threatened her.
Sliding behind the wheel, he started the car and put it in gear.
“It took you long enough.”
“Yeah, well, there was an altercation in the store,” Ceno answered the unspoken question. He put the car in gear and smiled. “What do you care? You’re just a car. You should be glad that no one slammed into you while I was gone.”
“They wouldn’t dare!”
“Was that outrage,” he asked as he followed Sela out of the gas station and onto the road.
“No. It was indignation. Besides...” the female voice made a sniffing noise. The two men who checked me out seemed rather nice until they tried to open my door. You know, you really shouldn’t leave the keys in the ignition. It invites criminals to try to steal me.”
“Someone tried to steal you?”
“Yes. And they would have if you hadn’t installed that lovely force field.” It chuckled before continuing. “I raised it just in time, too. They tried to break the window.”
“Shit.”
“You should say merde.”
“Why? It’s the same thing.” Ceno shook his head while keeping Sela in sight. She turned left onto the highway and shot out into traffic.
“It sounds more civilized.”
“Right,” he said with a snort. “You’re an old clunker. What do you know about it?”
“I know those men wanted to steal me. Right up until I put up my force field and scolded them.”
What?
“Please tell me you didn’t talk to them.”
“Of course I did. They were trying to steal me! I didn’t see you anywhere about, ready to defend my honor.”
Ceno almost lost sight of Sela. She was in the right lane and headed down an exit he nearly shot past in his agitation.
“I told you not to talk to people, damn it!”
“And you promised to take care of me. Instead, you were in a convenience store making a date.”
“Oh, my goddess. Are you... you can’t be. Are you jealous?”
“I’m a car. How could I possibly be jealous of a human woman with such a large posterior?”
“I love her posterior, and don’t you dare make her feel self-conscious about it.” Since when had the car developed an attachment to him?
“See?” She sniffed. “You’re beginning to ignore me already. I’m just a car. I don’t have an ass unless you want to count my trunk. I do have lovely trunk space.”
Oh, my goddess. Is Birgit’s psycho car coming on to me? Why did I ever put that voice chip in the damned thing?
He’d done it to make Birgit, his brother Reno’s wife, return to Magic after they repaired her car. He couldn’t think of a better idea to bring the woman back to Magic fast enough for the zidalpham he’d put in his brother’s drink to work on Reno.
Zidalpham wouldn’t bring a couple together if they weren’t compatible, and he’d gone to the trouble of getting some of Birgit’s blood and making up the small batch of the serum to get Reno up off his dead ass and looking for a bride.
As much as Ceno wanted to make a dose of zidapham for Sela, he didn’t have the equipment or the heart. It would be wrong to tie her to him in that way without her permission. It was one thing to give it to a male. They couldn’t bond with a woman not meant to be theirs.
For a female, the serum would take away her free will, and he was selfish enough to want her to choose him because she wanted him. He didn’t want her to stay because of a chemical reaction to an alien serum made from his blood. One designed to enhance her desire for him as her mate. Sure, he’d used it on his brother, but the ass had deserved it. Sela didn’t.
“I don’t believe you actually spoke to them.” He shook his head with a sigh. “You can’t draw attention to yourself. You’ll have people coming to Magic to see what the hell is going on there and why we have talking cars. We can’t have that. I knew I should have removed your voice chip after Reno and Birgit got married.”
“You can’t. Birgit would never forgive you.”
“Did I just hear a note of smugness?”
“So what if it was,” she said with a sniff or what sounded like one anyway. “Birgit has become rather fond of our conversations.”
“Goddess save me from know-it-all cars!”
“Don’t you start saying that, too.”
Good grief. He needed to get that voice synthesizer out of the damned car. S.T.A.T.
“Did it ever occur to you that people might say those kinds of things because you’re a pain in the ass?”
“Well, I never!”
“Sure you have. And probably more than once.”
“I’m not talking to you anymore.”
“Promise?” Ceno couldn’t believe he was arguing with a car. Still, it was no one’s fault but his own. He was the one who had given the damned thing the ability to talk in the first place.
He drove the next half hour in silence, mostly because she’d made the radio stop working.
“You know, the silent treatment is an immature, passive aggressive action,” he said as he followed Sela down a bumpy dirt road.
“You deserve it. I’ll turn off the radio any time I damn well please.”
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.” Can a car even have feelings? He frowned.
“No, you’re not. You’re just saying that because you want me to turn the radio back on.”
“Shut up.”
“Shut... what? Well, I oughta—”
“Please be quiet. We just pulled into her front yard.” He brought the car to a stop and shoved the gearshift into park. “How will I explain you to her?”
“Don’t you tell me to shut up,” she mumbled just before she went silent and the radio finally switched on, playing something loud and obnoxious he’d never heard before.
At least she’d decided to stay quiet for the time being. He didn’t know how he would have explained a talking, sentient automobile without telling Sela everything.
Though, he planned to tell her who and what he was before he asked for her commitment, he didn’t want to open with the phrase, “Hi! I’m Ceno, and I’ve come to Earth from another galaxy. Don’t mind my sister-in-law’s car. If it’s rude, it’s all my fault. I added alien technology to the annoying thing.”
Yeah. That would go over like a turd in a punchbowl.
Pulling the keys from the ignition with a sigh, Ceno slid out of the car and quickly made his way over to help Sela pull the tanks from the bed of the truck.
“Let me do that,” he said as she climbed up into the back and started wrestling with the worn tanks.
“It’s fine.” She waved him off. “I have a block and
tackle. I’ll just hook onto them and set them back in place, one by one.”
And risk her getting injured?
No fucking way!
“Just let me lift them down for you.”
“Are you kidding me? This is a team lift, and I can’t help you. I’m not strong enough to even lift half the weight of one of these tanks.” She swiped her forearm across her forehead.
“I’m a lot stronger than I look, Sela. I can lift these, no problem. Believe me.”
“Nope. I don’t want you to risk it. Maybe, if there were two of you.” Sela climbed down and headed for the barn with a shake of her head. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going in to get the gear.”
Ceno climbed into the back of the truck after she disappeared into the barn and lifted all three over the side, one at a time. After he had them all on the ground. He moved them to their obvious positions, next to a large, five hundred-gallon pig, and hooked them up in tandem.
He might appear human because of the spell surrounding him, but his kind was much larger and stronger than any human male. Plus, according to his brother Reno, their strength increased as their beasts grew aware within them—and his beast had been growing stronger and stronger every moment since he’d met Sela.
Taking off his hat, he swiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm. Damn, it was hot on Earth. Was there anywhere on this Goddess-forsaken planet where the temperature didn’t skyrocket over one hundred degrees come June? If he didn’t know better, he would think it was the place the humans called hell. It was damned hot enough.
Chapter Five
Sela hurried through the barn with the block and tackle. Something told her Ceno was hell bent on moving those tanks on his own. As long as it had taken her to find the gear, he’d probably had enough time to wrestle one of the one hundred seventy-pound tanks down by himself. She’d never forgive herself for bringing him home if he injured himself moving those tanks.
Exiting the barn, she stopped cold, the gear and line falling from her grasp as she saw Ceno standing in front of the three tanks, which sat right where they should have been, his hat resting on the tailgate of her truck. Turning, he smiled at her, his white blond hair gleaming in the sunlight. The dimple in his right cheek practically daring her to lick it.
“How did you—”
“I told you, I’m stronger than I look.” He strode over to her, bent and picked up the gear she dropped, set it in the bed of the truck, and picked up his hat.
“I knew you were big. I just didn’t...”
“Didn’t what,” he asked when she paused.
“I didn’t think anyone was strong enough to lift and maneuver that much weight by themselves.”
“I guess the old saying is true then.”
“Huh?” Sela liked the fact that she had to stare up at him. It gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What old saying?”
“You learn something new every day.”
“You sure do!”
“Gramps!” Sela hurried to her grandfather and gave him a hug. “Look! All three tanks are full this time.” She grinned and hugged him again.
“How’d ya manage that?” He scowled. “Ol’ Cal Johnson must have been out of town if you were able to get them all filled.”
“Well...” Sela shifted her gaze toward Ceno, her cheeks heating. “Ceno, here, helped me.” She smiled and shook her head. “Believe it or not, he made JC Jenkins pee his pants. Then, the idiot went and put on Marla’s pair of exercise spandex.
“Those gaudy, hot pink ones?” Gramp’s bushy gray brows almost touched his hairline, and he laughed. “I’ll bet he looked a sight in those. Hee, hee, hee.”
“He certainly did, sir.” Ceno stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m Ceno Brewer, sir. I was glad to be of service to your granddaughter.”
“Clyde Williams, Mr. Brewer. And just you be careful how you service my granddaughter.” He jerked his thumb back toward the house. “I got me a nice shotgun in there and I ain’t afraid to use it.”
“Grandpa!” Sela’s face burned with mortification.
Omigod! I don’t believe he said that. Can a sinkhole open up under me and swallow me, right now, please?
“Gramps! I don’t believe you said that after all he’s done for us. He didn’t have to make JC pee himself so he would leave the front counter and we could help ourselves to the gas. You should be thanking him, not threatening to shoot him.” She glared at her grandfather, her hands on her hips.
“Don’t think I’m not grateful.” Her grandfather nodded toward Ceno. “But there’s some reason he followed you home, and I don’t believe it was for a thank you from me.” He crossed his arms and stared at Ceno. “There’s one thing men are after when they follow a pretty little thing like you home, honey, and it’s not a thank you.”
“I...” Sela paused, straightened her spine, shoved her shoulders back and stared her grandfather in the eyes. “I invited him home for dinner.”
“Dinner?” Gramps turned his attention on Ceno, his eyes narrowing to little slits. “You’re not no damned traveling salesman, are you?”
“No, sir,” Ceno replied with a shake of his head. “In fact, I’m looking to buy from you, if you have what I need.”
“Then, call me Clyde, young man. We don’t get too many well-mannered fellas around here.” He held out his hand again. “There’s not much around here to bring a fella like you around.” Shaking his head, he rubbed his stubbled chin. “We’ve got plenty of dirt and sass, if’n you’re in the market for that. Otherwise, you’re most likely barkin’ up the wrong tree and shit outta luck.” Turning, he started for the house. “It’s a damned good thing you’re not a traveling salesman. I’d have to chase you off if you were.”
“Why’s that, sir,” Ceno asked as he fell into step beside the old man. He missed Sela’s frantic shake of the head.
“Because a traveling salesman knocked-up my grandma.” He shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. She was married and all. Just not to him.” He shook his head and sighed. “Uncle Joey never did amount to anything much.”
Sela followed them with a sigh. Once Gramps got started on that story, it would be a good twenty minutes or more before he finished. She might as well get started on dinner. He’d have Ceno’s attention, at least until she was done with it.
“Dinner’s ready,” she called into the living room where the two men sat talking as though they’d known each other for years. “I guess shooting the bull is better than shooting each other,” she mumbled as she set the platter of pork chops between the home fries and the corn. The tossed salad was near her place setting, her homemade ranch dressing already mixed in.
Ceno followed Gramps through the door and paused while her grandfather took his seat.
“Go ahead and take the chair at the other end of the table. I’ll sit on the side.” She placed three glasses and a pitcher on the table next to the corn muffins, the ice clinking together as it sloshed around inside the gallon-sized container. “I hope you like lemonade.”
She didn’t know why she should care if he liked her lemonade or her cooking. He wasn’t going to stay with them long, and he certainly wasn’t attracted to her. He was way too hot for that.
With his hard, muscled physique, blond hair and ice blue eyes, the man could be in the movies. Instead, he sat in her farm kitchen, ready to eat a meal she’d prepared.
“I’m sure I’ll love it.” Ceno sat and stared at the platter of chops in the center of the table.
“Oh, no. I should have asked. You’re not a vegetarian, are you?” Why hadn’t she thought to ask him? Was he getting sick just looking at the plate full of meat?
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m as carnivorous as the next guy. They smell delicious, by the way. I’m sorry if I gave you the impression I wouldn’t eat meat. It just occurred to me that I haven’t eaten since early this morning. I’m starved.”
“Then dig in, boy. My Sela is the best cook in three counties.�
��
“Yes, Ceno, dig in. There’s plenty. I’ll only eat one, and Gramps usually eats two. I made several, because, well...” She waved at him. “You’re such a big guy. I didn’t know how much you’d eat.”
“And this...” Gramps indicated the food with a wave of his hand. “Had better be the only appetite that gets satisfied tonight, or I’ll have to introduce you to my little Betsy.”
Ceno looked around. “Is that your wife?”
“My wife?” Gramps howled with laughter. “No. Betsy’s not my wife. She doesn’t yell nearly as loud as my little Helen used to, but she gets her point across. Betsy is my shotgun.”
“Oh.” Ceno glanced at Sela then shifted his gaze back to Gramps. “I’m certain I’ll be able to control myself.”
Of course, he could control himself. What would a hot guy like him want with a thick-waisted, mixed-blood woman with thighs as wide as a park bench?
I know he didn’t just wink at me. Her face burned.
“As difficult as it might prove to be, I promise I will keep my hands to myself tonight.”
“What was it you wanted to talk about earlier?” Sela asked after she’d cleared the plates from the table and fetched the apple pie she’d baked the day before from the refrigerator.
“Huh?” Ceno didn’t seem to have much attention for anything but the pie.
“You said you had a proposition for me.”
“Aha!” Gramps slammed his hands down on the table and stood. “I knew it! Where’s Betsy?”
“Not that kind of proposition, Gramps.” Sela reached out and grabbed the pocket of his overalls as he attempted to pass her chair on his way out of the room. “He meant a business proposition. Now sit down, or I’m not giving you a slice of pie.” She handed a thick slice to Ceno, who took it almost reverently.
“Thank you, Sela.” He smiled at her, and her stomach did another little flip. He glanced up at her grandfather. “JC said that ass, Johnson, thought there could be gold on your property.”
“Gold!” Her grandfather sat back down, his eyes wide. “Cal Johnson thinks there’s gold in this land? No wonder he’s trying to drive us away.”
Magic, New Mexico: Seducing Sela (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Zolon Warriors Book 2) Page 3