Wicked Wishes

by Joanna Wylde, Stephanie Burke, Marly Chance

  Over the years, they had been good friends to each other. He was a very private man, but he was decent to the core. When he spoke of his past—which was rare—he seemed almost homesick. She knew he was from one of the distant planets but could never bring herself to question him too closely about it. It seemed like such a painful topic to him and he appeared so uncomfortable whenever she headed in that direction with a conversation that she always dropped the subject. So, she had respected his boundaries and found a friend who brought laughter and a lot of joy to her life.

  She sighed. Just not sex. And there was the problem. About a month ago the erotic dreams had started. Well, erotic dreams didn't quite cover it. She'd been having full-blown sexual episodes at night. She would dream vivid and realistic images of him touching her with his mouth and with his hands. They were her own little personal porn trips starring the two of them each night. The mere thought of those dreams made her feel excited and guilty.

  Her mind might be saying "we're buddies and I don't need to mess that up," but her body was saying, "I'll take multiple orgasms, Ms. Thinks-Too-Much, and you can find another buddy." The conflict was making her crazy. The image from her dream last night of him filling her, sliding in and out in a slow sensual glide, flashed into her mind. She swallowed. Night after night she would wake up wet and aching, with her heart pounding and her entire body yearning for release.

  It was bizarre, really. She thought she'd put him in the neat category of best buddy after six years with her libido in firm control, and now sex had to rear its ugly head. Why now? It had gotten to the point where she could barely look him in the eye. She knew he sensed something was happening with her, but she also knew he hadn't completely figured it out yet.

  Even if she managed to get his attention, what then? She wasn't sure how to make the transition from friend to lover smoothly. What if they went to bed and then broke up later? She couldn't stand the thought of losing him. However, she didn't think these feelings were going to disappear either. If anything, they were growing stronger.

  He seemed oblivious to her as a woman, but she certainly wasn't doing a good job of hiding her growing feelings. Things were going to change—she knew it in her bones. The big question was if they were going to change for the better. She winced. Somehow it wasn't looking good for the home team.

  "Earth to Tiffany. Hello. Remember me?" Polly's voice penetrated Tiffany's thoughts and she gave a guilty start.

  Polly gave her another sympathetic look when she saw Tiffany was paying attention again. "All kidding aside, you're going to have to figure something out, Tiff. It's making you miserable. Zak may be blind when it comes to your attraction, but he's not blind when it comes to your well-being. He'll notice you're unhappy and he'll demand to know why. Zak's very protective of you. Geez, remember how he got when Jake let you down? I thought he was going to put Jake in a med-unit for sure. You were the only one who could calm him. "

  Tiffany smiled, although it was a little wan. "Yeah, he was ready to hunt him down and beat him senseless. I started crying and Zak just stood there looking at the door and then looking at me." She brightened a little. "And then he just yanked me right into his arms."

  Polly grinned. "You should have seen his face, Tiff. The man looked three kinds of miserable. He was patting your back and glancing toward the door and then sighing. It's actually funny now that you're not a sobbing wreck."

  "Gee thanks. Not exactly my finest moment." Tiffany made a face and was glad she could laugh about it now. "Hey, I have a lousy record with birthdays, but that one was the worst. I was expecting a surprise party and was worried that arriving home early would mess up the surprise. Instead, I walk in on Jake and Danita doing the wild thing. I was surprised all right. Way surprised." She grinned. "Of course, they looked outright astonished."

  Polly smiled and shook her head. "You're well rid of that jerk. He didn't deserve you. And this birthday bad luck is pure nonsense." She checked her arm-pc and then widened her eyes dramatically. Her voice was gently mocking. "Why, Tiffany, I do believe you've made it halfway through your birthday this year with no great disasters. Another twelve hours or so and you should be in the clear."

  Tiffany grimaced. "Oh, I really wish you hadn't said that."

  Polly interjected, "A wish! Wait, we forgot to have you make a wish."

  Tiffany leaned forward. "Polly, I love ya, but you're killing me here. Let's not do the wish thing. It's tempting fate. I swear I really do have weird birthday karma or something. Making a wish would boomerang on me for sure."

  Polly merely chided, "Nonsense. You have to make a birthday wish. I have forgone the traditional cake. I have given in to your request for no party and have instead paid for an ordinary lunch at our regular place on our regular lunch hour. And I had to argue with you to let me do the paying. The least you can do is make a wish."

  Tiffany smiled ruefully. "One wish?"

  Polly nodded, looking somewhat put out. "One tiny wish. It should at least seem a little like your birthday."

  Reluctantly, Tiffany gave in. "Alright one little wish. Let's see…I wish…"

  She heard her arm-pc alarm going off and realized it was time to head back to work. She looked at the diners all around her in the restaurant. Everyone was eating, paying no attention to the two of them. It was a perfectly ordinary, uneventful day.

  It was ridiculous to be so superstitious. Besides, birthdays ought to be celebrated just a little. She had let several years' worth of coincidental bad birthdays throw her off. It was a new year. She was thirty-three. To hell with superstition and bad birthday karma. She closed her eyes and wished silently with all her might, "I wish Zak would notice me, really notice me and I wish I had a little more excitement in my life. Wait. Is that two wishes?"

  As the last beep of her alarm died away she glanced toward the door. She felt her heart leap into her throat as Zak burst into the doorway of the diner, looking grim. His eyes searched the occupants of the diner with one decisive sweep and then landed on her. She was shocked. What was he doing here at this time of day? And why did he look so deadly serious?

  He strode toward the table quickly and then stopped to look down at her. His tone was as grim as his expression and he sounded impatient. "Tiffany, I'll explain later, but we need to leave right now. My real name is Zak Ren'Marna and I'm from Kerla in the Zertica Galaxy. There's a killer after you. It's my fault and I'm sorry. I'll protect you. Come with me."

  Polly choked on her drink, but Tiffany just asked, "What?"

  Zak leaned down until he was inches from her face. He said simply, "Leave with me now. Trust me. I'm your promised and you're in danger. I'll explain later. Right now, we need to go."

  He placed a brief, hard kiss on her mouth, leaving Tiffany stunned. "Zak, are you okay? I don't understand. You're not making any sense." She stood up from her chair and felt his forehead. "Are you feverish? You don't feel feverish."

  Zak jerked at her touch and then grabbed her hand. He began tugging her toward the door. Tiffany was moving reluctantly. She turned back toward Polly and said, "Polly, I'll call you. I don't know what's wrong with him, but…"

  Polly wondered what had gotten into Zak. She nodded at Tiffany and sent Zak a puzzled look, wondering if he was actually playing a practical joke or setting up a birthday surprise.. No matter how crazy Zak sounded at the moment, he would never hurt Tiffany or let anyone hurt her. Regardless, she'd get to the bottom of this mystery soon enough. She waved to them and called out, "Don't forget the flash plan. And have some fun, for goodness sake. Happy birthday!"

  As Tiffany disappeared through the door, Polly muttered, "Zertica Galaxy. A killer. And Zak's her promised? That must have been one hell of a wish."

  She touched a series of buttons on her arm-pc and then grimaced as her subordinate's voice spoke unintelligibly in her ear. She sighed and waited until the noise stopped. Then she spoke patiently, "Jack, you need to turn the volume down before I go deaf."

  Jack's voice was l
ower now and he sounded sheepish. "Sorry, sir. Again."

  She smiled. "No prob. Now listen up…please get me all the information you can about a Zak Ren'Marna from Kerla in the Zertica Galaxy. And Jack…better make it fast…"

  Chapter Two

  Tiffany stopped in her tracks outside the diner as she spotted an airtranspo parked right out front. Zak was pulling her toward it with determined strides, but she planted her feet. "Zak, that's not your vehicle."

  Zak pulled a little harder. "It is now. Get in and strap tightly. I don't want to kill you in an air crash before the killer does."

  Tiffany frowned. "Very funny. Zak, I hate airtranspo. I like walking. Walking is better. Can't we just walk to where we need to go? Hey, I'll even run. Running could be good…or underground transpo…"

  Zak shook his head impatiently and half shoved her toward the side door he had opened. "Tiffany, get in or I swear I'll put you in myself. I'm not playing here. This is dangerous."

  Tiffany stepped into the airtranspo reluctantly and watched as he slammed the door behind her. She sighed. Maybe he wouldn't have the ignition card to start this thing. Maybe it was some kind of weird practical joke or birthday surprise.

  He ran to the other side and quickly popped the driver's door. Climbing through, he muttered, "Strap in." He yanked his straps down from the overhead and gave her a hard look as he waited for her to do the same.

  Rolling her eyes, Tiffany pulled the protective shield and straps from the ceiling compartment downward. She jerked the shield into place across her chest and then tightened the crisscrossing straps until they were snug. With another glare in Zak's direction, she snapped the locking device into place on each side of her.

  She saw Zak remove the ignition card from his pocket and was shocked. He was serious. He really was going to start this thing. She hated air travel. Zak had better have a damn good explanation for inflicting airtranspo on her. It would serve him right if she hurled her lunch all over him during this little trip.

  Zak started the onboard computer by inserting the ignition card and looked at the map that had popped up on the monitor. He quickly programmed a series of co-ordinates. Tiffany watched him grimly. Finally, she said, "For the record, I am finding this experience less than amusing, Zak. Please tell me you didn't really steal this thing."

  Zak looked over at her as he started the ignition sequence. His face registered his amusement for a moment. "I stole it. And I plan to steal another in a day or two. We'll steal as many as it takes. In the meantime, just think of it as desperate borrowing if it makes you feel any better."

  Tiffany said sarcastically, "Gee, won't the judicial system be impressed with that reasoning. 'Your Honor, we weren't really stealing, we were…eeeehhh…'" her voice ended in a shriek as the vehicle took off. The force knocked her backward in her seat.

  For the next few minutes she didn't talk as she focused on staying conscious and breathing deeply. Zak had them traveling at a speed that made conversation impossible. She gave him an evil glare as he watched the monitor in front of him. She switched her gaze to the screen and saw the red dot representing their vehicle moving through air space at an alarming speed, zigging around other dots/vehicles. In desperation, she closed her eyes.

  There were no windows for a reason, she reminded herself. All airtranspos had highly advanced onboard navigation and tracking systems—with avoidance and alert mechanisms. There was no need to worry that they would hit anything. She knew it intellectually but somehow it never made her feel any better. She liked seeing where she was going. She liked being able to avoid obstacles in her path. Depending on a computer to do it for her just went against her inner sense of control. She avoided airtranspo like the plague because of it.

  She spent the next half hour silently fuming and planning all of the things she was going to say to him when they landed wherever the hell they were supposed to land. When the vehicle finally stopped, she opened her eyes. The monitor flashed a picture of the outside of a rather notorious, seedy motel on the outer edges of the city. They had traveled in what had to be circles for thirty minutes only to end up here?

  Tiffany gave him a look that should have scorched him in his seat. "Well, Zak, you certainly know how to show a girl a good time on her birthday. You shouldn't have. And it's such a nice motel, too—with a reputation for sneaky sexcapades with hourly companions. Our own little torrid love nest. If you think you're getting laid in this rathole after this fiasco, you can think again."

  She raised an eyebrow at the speed with which Zak unstrapped and then turned to her. She watched him in furious silence as he moved until he was leaning over her. His face was inches from hers. She tensed.

  He said huskily, "Oh, I'm getting laid alright. Rathole or not. You've had this fuck coming for six years, darling. There's not a chance in hell that I'm giving up now."

  Tiffany knew her mouth had dropped open when he gently brought his hand up and closed it for her. He placed a quick kiss on her mouth and then she vaguely heard the click of her straps being unlocked. He leaned backward and began to climb out of the vehicle. Tiffany sputtered, "I cannot believe you just said that…"

  Zak leaned down until she could see him in the frame of the doorway. He grinned. "Tiff, there are lots of things you're going to find hard to believe, but that's only the beginning. If you want to find out more, you're going to wait right here while I get a room. I'll be watching you from the office, so don't even think about making a break for it."

  Tiffany thought about it…for a minute. Her remark about getting laid had been a typical joke, although there was real annoyance behind it. She'd never expected him to say what he had. What was going on with Zak? She wanted an explanation. Besides, in spite of the shock she was feeling from his attitude, she was feeling an undeniable sense of excitement, too. Apparently, Zak had noticed her in a major way. She wanted to hear his explanation for this whole bizarre episode. She gave a brisk nod. "Fine. Hurry back. But this better be good."

  She saw with a sense of renewed shock the way his eyes drifted over her body with blatant appreciation. He winked and said, "Oh, it will. I'm counting on it."

  Then with another cocky smile, he slammed the door. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm her rioting pulse. That man was going to give her a heart attack. What had happened to her oblivious buddy? He had never looked at her with such obvious…lust…in all the years that she had known him. It shocked and excited her more than she would have thought possible.

  In spite of her aggravation with him, she smiled a little. It looked like her life was becoming more exciting by the moment. Her smile turned into a frown. What if Zak was right? What if someone really was trying to kill her? That would be bad. She looked at the monitor again and grimaced. Dying would be bad, but dying at the Little Layaway Motel would be too tacky for words.

  Chapter Three

  Zak opened her door a few minutes later and Tiffany looked up at him in surprise. His expression was serious once again. He was scanning the surrounding parking lot and then turned to give her an impatient look. She climbed out of the airtranspo and muttered, "Gee, that was fast!"

  Zak nodded. "Yeah. Let's get into the hotel even faster and then we'll talk."

  "Good. You'll talk and I'll listen. Then you'll get to listen. I have quite a bit to say at this point." She kept pace with his long strides as he walked to a room three doors down from the office. The doors to the motel were painted in different colors. The door they stopped in front of was painted black with a large red #3 on it. She wondered briefly what they would find behind door number three. She'd never been to the motel before but it had such a notorious reputation that even she'd heard the rumors. As Zak punched in his code, the door swung open and she stepped back in shock at the dark and forbidding interior. She said, "Um…you know, Zak, this might not be the best room for this conversation."

  Zak flashed her another impatient look and said through clenched teeth, "Tiff, get in there. Now."

  Tif
fany gave an indignant sniff and moved through the door. She said over her shoulder, "Look, if I really have a killer on my trail like some bad book plot, then I'll be much more cooperative. But keep in mind, you've been dragging me around and blabbing about people trying to kill me—and you know how stupid that idea sounds. I'm an accountant, Zak. I'm ordinary. I'm not the type who has to run from killers. I've never even gotten a judicial violation notice. I'm the eternal boring nice girl. You sound completely nuts."

  She heard the soft click of the locking door behind her as her eyes began to adjust to the gloom of the room. The walls were black and there was a very large bed to the left against the wall with a satin bedspread of deep red. She heard Zak say softly, "Lights, optimum."

  The lights came on and the room was fully revealed. Tiffany felt her heart jump as she took in her surroundings in more detail. There was a holographic statue in one corner of the room. It was a miniature nude couple in a rather interesting embrace. The woman was handcuffed to a wall and the man was on his knees, his mouth moving between her thighs. Her head was thrown back and she appeared to be moaning in helpless ecstasy as she writhed and pulled on the chains. Tiffany swallowed past her dry throat and quickly averted her gaze. She looked to the right and saw the lifesize and very real set of cuffs hanging from the wall. She took a step back and nearly bumped into Zak.

  Zak chuckled and said, "Relax, Tiff. You're safe for the moment. I'd love to do what you're obviously thinking, but explanations first. I need you to take what's happening seriously."

  Tiff took a hasty step toward the chair on the left side of the bed, moving around Zak's big body carefully. She was feeling off-balance and nervous. Deciding the sturdy red chair was safer than that wickedly carnal bed, she walked over to it. She sat down and placed her arms on the armrests realizing immediately that it wasn't safer at all. She saw Zak's sudden grin just as the chair attacked.