Nax

by Carter, Sadie

  “I don’t know that I feel comfortable with that.”

  “It does not matter. It is the way it is.”

  Frankie chewed at her bottom lip.

  “I wonder if the Zerconians have considered this,” Ioin mused. “I could contact them.” He grimaced. Then he turned to Frankie. “Both you and Eden need to learn to share your concerns with your mates. Holding things back is not acceptable. Not when they could alleviate your worries. I will tell Marcun of Eden’s concerns in the morning.”

  Ioin turned back to him, missing the way Frankie rolled her eyes at him. Nax did not, and it reminded him of the exasperated looks Crista gave him. He could not stand to have her live apart from him for long. He wondered how much time she needed to get to know him. A couple of days? A whole week?

  “How long will she need before she knows me well enough to move in here?” he asked Frankie. “When can I tell her about who we are?”

  “Um, well, I can’t really put a time on it. Most people spend months getting to know each other before they move in together.”

  Months? “I cannot wait months!”

  “I know. But I’d give her a bit more time to know you before you spring the whole ‘surprise I’m an alien and you’re my mate’ thing on her,” Frankie told him.

  “That was not the way I intended to tell her.”

  “That’s a relief. Humans tend to like a bit of a courtship period for lack of a better word. Well, not all of us. But I can tell Crista is a cautious person and she has her mother to think of.”

  “Her mother will come live with us as well. I need to develop a security system for her. Crista said you can purchase something that will set an alarm when she rises from bed, but what if she only wishes to use the bathroom? I must create something better.”

  “She wanders at night?” Frankie asked.

  “She did the other night. Crista said her mother somehow found the key, unlocked the door, and left while Crista slept. Crista was attacked while searching for her.”

  Ioin frowned. “That cannot happen again.”

  “I told her she must contact me immediately if it happens again.”

  “I can see your urgency in wanting your mate here,” Tecan said with a worried frown.

  He nodded. “That is not all.” He moved into the room and sat on a chair. “She received a phone call from the male she works for. He wanted her to arrange for the person who wished to purchase our house, to get inside.”

  “Why? For what purpose?” Tecan asked.

  “I do not know. He would not tell Crista.”

  “Is he back in town?” Frankie asked, looking concerned.

  “No, apparently not.”

  “Good.”

  Nax lifted his eyebrows at the relief he heard in her voice. “There is something about her boss that worries you?”

  “I just don’t trust him,” Frankie said carefully.

  He felt there was something more and from the look Sacaren gave Frankie he seemed to think the same, but his attention turned as Ioin stood. “I do not like this. The break-ins, the urgency to purchase this house, and now they want a way in.”

  “And they intend to use Crista to get in,” Frankie added with a frown. “How did they think she would manage that? She doesn’t have a key and there is always one of us home.”

  “She did not know. She mentioned that as well. Crista suggested that she meet with the client to find out who it is. I told her that was too dangerous.”

  Everyone nodded except Frankie. She bit her lip. “Couldn’t we make it so it’s not dangerous?”

  “What do you mean?” Sacaren asked. “She cannot meet with this person alone when we know nothing about him.”

  “He could harm her.” Nax clenched his hands into fists.

  “What if she arranges with them to show them through and we’re here but hidden,” Frankie suggested. “Then we can be here to help if anything goes wrong.”

  “I still do not like it,” Nax said.

  “I know.” Frankie nodded. “But this can’t continue on. This person must be getting desperate if they want her to essentially sneak them in. What will they do next?”

  His gut churned.

  “She has a point,” Ioin said quietly. “If we can keep her safe will you think about it?”

  He did not like it. Did not want to consider it. Unfortunately, he could see the wisdom of what they were saying.

  “I will consider it.”

  In the meantime, he would spend as much time with Crista as possible in order to build up her trust in him.

  He never thought he would have to work this hard to gain a mate.

  11

  Crista walked into the office on Monday morning feeling lighter and happier than she had in years. And it was all due to Nax Clacka. She wasn’t sure how she could feel so much for him in such a short amount of time. But she couldn’t go more than ten minutes without thinking about him.

  He’d turned up at the apartment early yesterday morning and spent the whole day with her and Mom. He’d watched shows with her mom, fixed the leaking faucet in the bathroom, and taken them both for an early dinner. He’d even added a lock to the door and told her he was working on a special alarm system for her mom. And then while her mom took a nap, he’d pulled Crista onto his lap and…

  “Woah, I know that look,” Esme interrupted Crista’s daydreams. “Did the ice princess get some over the weekend?”

  Crista wiped the smile off her face. She should have known the good feeling wouldn’t last, although Esme usually wasn’t nasty. At least not to her face. She tended to ignore Crista. She decided that was probably a good path for her to take. She walked past Esme without reacting and into Alice’s office.

  “Morning, Alice.”

  “Hi, Crista. You look nice this morning.”

  “Thanks. Pete’s not back?” She hadn’t seen his car in his spot this morning but she thought she should check.

  Alice shook her head. “Nope, and the longer he’s away the better. We’re actually more productive when he’s not here mucking everything up.”

  “Have you heard from him?”

  Alice frowned. “No.”

  “You don’t think that’s odd?”

  She shrugged. “I figure they’ve got massage therapists in Idaho. He’s probably busy having them come service him.”

  She grimaced. “At his mother’s house?” That was a new level of gross. “He actually called me the other day. Wants me to show one of his clients around a house for him, but he was cut off before he could tell me who they are. Do you have a list of his current clients?”

  Alice looked thoughtful. “He hasn’t got any current clients. He doesn’t take on clients anymore. Maybe you should call him back, get the names. Would you like me to?”

  Drat. So much for that angle. She shook her head. “No. No, that’s okay. I’ll do it later today. Thanks, though.”

  When she got back to her desk, Esme was gone. Thank God. She sat down and settled in to make some calls.

  * * *

  She trudged down the sidewalk towards her building. As well as all her work stuff, she also had a bag of groceries in her arms. She’d had to park two blocks away and she was not looking forward to navigating the stairs on top of this walk.

  She really should have buns of steel having to go up and down those stairs all the time.

  A shiver ran down her spine as she reached the block her apartment building was on. She had that feeling again. Like eyes were watching her.

  That couldn’t be right. Nax had no reason to follow her and it had been his gaze she’d felt on her before. Right?

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  She tried to calm herself. There was no one watching. She was being ridiculous.

  “Nax, if you’re out there you better damn well make yourself known,” she called out.

  A couple walking ahead of her, turned and gave her a funny look. She smiled at them.

  “Sorry, talking on my new Bluetooth.�
�

  They moved quickly away. Probably thought it was more likely that she was high on something. She walked up the steps to the door of her apartment building and turned suddenly, hoping to catch out whoever it was.

  Nothing again.

  “I’m just being silly. There’s no one there. Silly. Silly.” Still she moved as fast as her tired legs would carry her up the stairs and to her apartment. She unlocked the door and went to open it when the chain caught.

  “Mrs. J?”

  “Sorry, dear, let me get it.” The door shut then opened to reveal her neighbor.

  “Hi, is everything all right?”

  She usually just checked on her mother but didn’t stay for long.

  “Your mom isn’t having a great day,” Mrs. Johnson said sympathetically. “She was a bit tearful and upset, so I thought it was best to stay with her. She’s having a sleep now.”

  “Oh no. Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

  “It’s all right, dear. I knew you were showing a house late this afternoon and I didn’t want to disturb you. She’s okay now.”

  Yeah, but she hadn’t been. Guilt flooded her as she set down the groceries and locked the door behind her neighbor. She really enjoyed her job when she didn’t have Pervert Pete breathing down her neck or undressing her with his eyes, but she felt terrible leaving mom. And she knew things were only going to get worse. After checking on her mom, she moved back to the couch and sat tiredly. Her shoulders slumped and she ran a hand over her face.

  There were so many things weighing her down, she didn’t even know how she was still moving.

  The phone rang, startling out of her thoughts. She reached for her bag and pulled out her personal phone. She smiled as she saw Nax’s name pop up.

  “Hey, handsome,” she answered the phone.

  There was just some breathing on the other end. “You believe I am handsome?”

  Well, duh.

  “Have to be blind not to notice it.”

  “You are very handsome also.”

  “Um, well, thanks.”

  “That is not a compliment?” he asked.

  “Sure. I guess. It’s just handsome is more something you say about men. But I guess sometimes it’s said about women.”

  “Then you are beautiful.”

  “You don’t have to say that just because I called you handsome, you know.” There was no way she was anywhere close to his league. He was drop-dead, stop-you-in-the-street gorgeous and she was kind of that-girl-next-door-cute.

  “I am not. Every time I see you I wish to kiss you. It is a need I cannot ignore.”

  “Ooh, don’t tell me this is a dirty phone call.”

  “My phone is not dirty.”

  “No, I mean like…dirty doesn’t always mean dirty…it can mean sexy.”

  “Dirty can mean sexy?” He sounded puzzled. This was not going well.

  “Sort of.”

  “Oh.”

  Yeah, even to her ears what she was saying made no sense. “Let’s start again.”

  “Start again?”

  “Hi, Nax, how are you?”

  “Well.”

  Well? That was all she got? She smiled. Yeah, she should have known he hadn’t called to have phone sex. He wasn’t exactly big on talking. At least not unless he was bossing her around. Then he wouldn’t be quiet.

  “That’s good. What did you do today?”

  “Worked.”

  “Right. What exactly do you do for a job?” She knew he liked to tinker with things in the garage, but other than working on the air-con she wasn’t sure what he actually did. Maybe something with security since he’d told her he was designing an alarm system for mom.

  “Retrieve things.”

  “Oh.” What the heck did that mean? “I thought you fixed things.”

  “That too.”

  It was like getting water out of a stone.

  “You know I really wish you’d let me get a word in,” she teased.

  “You can get all the words you like in.”

  She giggled. “I was being sarcastic. I meant that you’re not exactly being talkative tonight. But then small talk isn’t really your thing.”

  “Small talk?”

  “Yeah, like talking about your day or the weather or what you do. That sort of talk.”

  “Do not see much point in discussing the weather. Everyone can see what it is doing. It rains. Sun shines. Wind blows. Clouds cover over. Pointless talk.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. So I’m guessing you didn’t call just to chat about your day, then? Are you at home?” she asked suddenly.

  “Yes.”

  “You haven’t been around near my place?”

  “No. Why?” he asked sharply.

  “Oh. No reason.” She had to be imagining things.

  “Do you wish me to come over?”

  She glanced over at the open door leading to the bedroom. If mom was having a bad day, she could wake up in a state at any time.

  “I’m fine. It’s late.”

  “You sound odd.”

  “Odd, huh? Just tired I guess.”

  “You work too hard.”

  “Got bills to pay,” she said with false cheerfulness.

  “Have you heard from your boss today?”

  “No. Why is that?” She leaned her aching feet up on the coffee table.

  “Remember what you said about meeting with his client?”

  “Yes. You want me to do that?” There was a part of her that wanted to do this. Meet with them and find out what the hell was going on.

  And there was another part of her that was completely chicken shit.

  “We have discussed it. I will only do so if your safety can be completely guaranteed. We thought you could arrange to meet them at our house and we would hide in the house and on the grounds, close by, watching you.”

  “All right. That sounds better than what I had in mind.” Meeting them on her own probably wasn’t her best idea.

  “I still do not entirely like it.”

  Because he was majorly protective.

  “But you’ll be there to protect me. I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”

  “I never will.”

  Okay, that sounded very final. She drew in a sharp breath. He was an intense guy and she knew that any relationship with him would require all of her. Problem was, she had another relationship that required all of her as well

  Oh God.

  How could she look after her mom, work, and date Nax? Because that’s what she was doing wasn’t she? They were headed towards a relationship. She didn’t really have time for a normal relationship let alone with a man who would demand everything.

  And give it all back in return.

  “Crista? Are you well? Do you not wish to do this? Do not feel you have to.”

  “No. no, it’s not that. It’s just…sorry, long day. Mom isn’t feeling that great and you don’t want to know about that.”

  “What is wrong with her? Does she need medical attention?”

  “No. No, nothing like that. There is nothing that can be done for her medically. It’s just some days she’s more confused than others and it can upset her. I had a house to show tonight and I wasn’t here. Luckily Mrs. J was around and stayed with her.”

  There was silence on the other end.

  “Nax? Are you there?”

  “I am. Are you sure you do not wish my help?”

  Warmth filled her. It was like a dark sky opening and pouring sunshine through.

  “Thank you. She’s asleep now. I’ll call my boss and try to get something set up. Is there a day that suits you guys?”

  “Any day is fine. We may need to go out of town shortly, so the sooner the better.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll miss you when you go.”

  “Yes.”

  She smiled. “I better go eat something and get ready for bed.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good night, Nax.”

  “O
kay.”

  She was laughing as she ended the call. Then she sobered up as she searched through her bag for her work cell. She found it and quickly placed a call through to Pete.

  The phone rang then clicked onto voicemail.

  “It’s Crista,” she said. “Can you call me?”

  She grimaced as she ended the call. She hated leaving messages. She always felt like an idiot. Oh well, nothing to do but wait for him to call her back.

  * * *

  Nax paced up and down. He did not like how sad Crista sounded. How defeated.

  “Nax? Everything okay?”

  He looked over to find Eden carrying a box down the stairs. He leapt towards her and plucked the box from her arms. “What do you do? You are not supposed to carry anything.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Look in it.”

  “What?”

  “Look in the box.”

  He peered inside it. “It is clothing.”

  “Exactly. It hardly weighs a thing.”

  “That is not the point.”

  “You guys are being way too over the top about this. I’m pregnant, not dying. Women get pregnant all the time and they’re allowed to walk up and down stairs on their own, they don’t have to nap every few minutes, and they can carry a box that weighs less than ten pounds out to the trash can!”

  There was the sound of running footsteps and Marcun bounded down the stairs. He leapt off, landing next to Eden in a crouch.

  “My mate. What is wrong?”

  “You. You are what is wrong.” She waggled her finger at him, then Nax. “Stop treating me like an invalid. I mean it. The very next person who dares to tell me to rest is going to find my boot planted in their ass.”

  Nax looked at Marcun and shrugged. He had no idea what had upset her so much.

  “Mate, it is not good for you or the baby to—”

  “No. No, don’t even say it. Whatever you were going to say, just quiet. I want to know why Nax was pacing up and down the passage looking like he’d lost his pet dog.”

  “I do not have a pet dog.”

  She ran her hand over her face. “Seriously, do not test my patience.”

  Eden was usually so sweet and even-tempered that it was a shock to hear her snap at him.