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Caro rushed across the reception area to her car to collect her tablet and handbag. She was still flustered by the time she returned. It was understandable having met the sexiest man who had ever traversed the universe. And that included Earth.
A darkness gathered around him, some sort of shadow that warned observers to remain back, to not approach. An aura of lethality too, as if he could kill with his bare hands and without hesitation. He wore a black fabric that was a mixture of leather and meshing. It molded to his hard edges, leaving nothing to the imagination. Something about him made her body hum. The current state of her...desire had her clenching her thighs again—hard enough to do while walking. It was waddle or suffer.
“Granny’s nipples.” She fanned her heated cheeks. “Gimme a piece of that hot apple pie.” Not that he’d spare her the time of day. She couldn’t attract a human man, never mind one from another planet. Besides, he was here for a reason, and that didn’t include her.
Then her traitorous mind went there.
She imagined he was here to find her. The idea was so sweet and so impossible, she chuckled. Quit being an idiot. But her mind refused to drop it. What if he does everything with that same intensity that oozes off him? It would be the best sex ever, and he’d ruin me for all human men. Once I go alien, I can never go back? She giggled, a hundred per cent ready to take the plunge. One small ‘sacrifice’ for mankind, one giant bang for Caro?
Two men in the same black mesh as Malo’s stood in the corner of the reception, their stances military with their gazes vigilant. Thick black braids fell down their backs. Similar bulges in their cargo pants altered their profiles. They had to be part of Malo’s unit. Releasing a breath on a whoosh, she scampered over to security to slide her bags across to them. Squaring her shoulders to gather her courage, she approached the alien men.
“Hello, you must be with Malo?” She tried to ignore her many colleagues ogling the alien candy.
The men glanced at her from their six-feet-something heights and frowned. That wasn’t what she’d expected. Though, how else would they react? She rolled her bottom lip under the top, snuck glances at the whispering audience, and faced the men again. Them looming over her didn’t help calm her erratic heartbeat.
She supposed, with their height, broad shoulders, military armor, and scowling visages, instilling fear in observers was a common occurrence for them. They were handsome, though one of them was so tall and wide that being near him made her seem childlike. She would never have classified herself as petite, but next to them, she was delicate and feminine. Damn. So that’s what that feels like? Petiteness had an addictive quality.
The shorter one smiled at her, revealing two dimples. He had a face with a wider forehead and cheeks that narrowed at the jaw, giving him a sculpted look. He was so beautiful, he could have been on the cover of any digi-mag. His nose was perky, his lips wide and full, and his round eyes peered at her from under slashing eyebrows. At his boyish smirk, the female audience gasped as one.
The tall one had defined edges, a square jawline, and a higher forehead. He had a refined nose, thin lips, and almond eyes with a dent in his cheek indicating the possibility of one dimple. He was like a huge teddy bear, ready to protect, and by the sheer size of him, he could carry her to safety without breaking a sweat. What was odd was that they both had blue eyes. Was that normal or a coincidence?
“Ronin et Brenin, at your service, milady,” the charming one said with a cultured accent.
“Garix et Orix, at your service, milady,” the teddy bear rumbled in his raspy deep voice.
“I’m Caroline Masterson, but you can call me Caro. You two are drawing attention, I hope our curiosity doesn’t bother you.”
Offending these men would be oh-so-bad for Earth. She could read the headlines now. Three alien men mauled by sex-starved women. She winced at the imagery her mind conjured, because right at the center of it, leading the charge, was Caro herself. Sex-starved? Perhaps she was. Prior to this morning and her subsequent drooling over Mr.-Sex-On-A-Stick Malo, she hadn’t thought about it.
“Would you like a beverage or something to eat while you wait for Malo?” Perhaps mentioning his name might get his men to trust her? She gestured to a side door. We keep our sex torture chambers in the lower levels. Please follow me. She smothered a giggle. “The canteen is through there. My treat.”
“I have not tried Earthian food, though the buzz does indicate it is passionate,” Garix said in an accent as breathtaking as Ronin’s. They shared a cadence to the way they pronounced certain vowels.
Caro pasted on a smile, hoping it came across as sweet, polite, and not rabid. “We like our food to taste good, whether it is healthy for you or not.”
The staff in the canteen fell silent. She ignored them and pointed out different meals and beverages, describing their flavors. In the end, she’d carried pizza, burgers, fries, iced coffee, and soda to a trestle table. When she sank onto the bench for the fifth time, her eyes grew wide at the amount of food they’d consumed within a minutes. She chastised herself for her reaction since they were so bulky. Massive men required copious amounts of food. That was a logical assessment, and yet logic for her had taken a sick day.
As soon as one dish was finished, the fascinated canteen staff would replace it.
“Are you not eating, Lady Caro?” Ronin asked between mouthfuls of his second pizza.
Garix wolfed down his third burger.
She blinked, torn between asking him where he put it and digging deeper into Ronin’s use of ‘lady.’ “No, thank you, I’ve had breakfast. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat a late lunch.”
“Two meals per day? And that sustains your curves?” Garix shoved his fries across to her.
She grinned but it faded when his gaze traveled over her straining breasts. For the second time today, she cursed at herself for burning her shirt. Izzy was petite, so of course anything Caro wore of hers would be too tight. She was lucky the buttons had held on for as long as they had.
“If I eat more, my curves get bigger.” She brought her elbows onto the table, clasping her hands together to conceal her ‘curves’ from their admiring gazes. And they did admire. These were men starved for breasts.
“Truth?” Ronin gasped, a slice of pizza halfway to his mouth.
“You get softer?” Garix asked after downing his fourth iced coffee.
She chuckled. They were like teenagers. “What’s your fascination with my curves?”
Garix trailed a finger across her wrist. “We do not have softness in any aspect of our lives, and it is thus cherished.”
She blinked. Where had they been for the past three hundred years? The diet industry wouldn’t have been so lucrative. “Earth has many soft women,” she said, sounding like a digi-ad. Wait, if you order now, you will receive one free woman with guaranteed curves.
“We are aware of this,” Garix said moments before he shoved a chocolate brownie in his mouth. “This is my favorite,” he mumbled.
“Are you sure, Garix? You’ve only had one of those but three burgers and many iced coffees.” She swept out an arm at the array of empty plates.
He grinned. Ah, there’s his dimple. “Your food is passionate, Lady Caro.”
Her phone buzzed, and she squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of stuffing it into her cleavage when she’d carried the coffees. She turned her back to the men and yanked it out.
“Hello?” she breathed into the handset.
“Caro, Director Reyes is asking for you.”
“Oh?” Caro sliced a glance at the overladen table. Why would Reyes need to see her? Was it something to do with Chief D? She closed her eyes as another possibility came to mind. Was it to do with the alien man and the way she’d bolted? She shivered. “Um, thanks, Lisa. I’m on my way.” She faced Garix and Ronin. “I’ve been summoned to the director’s office. May I leave you two here?”
Their bright smiles contrasted with their earlier scowls. When she scurried into the lobby and summoned an elevator, she laughed. Apparently, the way to an alien's heart is through his stomach. Who would have thought?
As she stepped onto the director’s floor, Duncan leaped in front of her. He’s sickly-sweet cologne tickled her nose. A sneeze didn’t follow, thankfully. She blinked and tried to dart around him. He lunged to the side, blocking her again.
“What do you want?” She folded her arms across her chest.
“Why did Reyes summon you?”
She huffed. “I don’t know yet.”
“Well, Lisa tells me you’re to entertain these...aliens. What is Reyes thinking?” Duncan threw his hands into the air. “I don’t trust them, Caro.”
Her? Entertain? Visions rose of her shimmying on stage with credits tugging her panties down on one side, her jiggling reflected in Malo’s sunglasses? Maybe even a lap dance? Her skin tingled, and she barely hid a gasp. Yes, please, hot mama.
A caress running along her arm snapped her back to the man standing before her. “Don’t fall for his looks, Caro. Don’t let him fuck you either. He’s an alien, and we don’t know their agenda.”
Let Malo fuck her? Oh, yummy. She smirked. “So, you find him attractive?”
Duncan’s ruddy cheeks darkened. “That’s...not what I meant.” He glanced behind him, maybe to check if anyone was watching or eavesdropping. “He... When he met me, he muttered something in a strange language, but death rolled off him, Caro. Like he wanted to kill me.” Duncan ran a hand over his face, his fingers trembling. “I don’t think he’s an engineer. I get the feeling he’s some sort of assassin.”
She swallowed a giggle. “Assassin?” Tapping her chin, she pretended to give his words some thought. “You may be right. He does look amazing in black.”
“This isn’t funny, for pity’s sake.” Duncan gripped her shoulders as if to shake her. “He studied you like a specimen, Caro.”
She gurgled—yet another swallowed laugh. “Me? Aw, Chief, are you worried the aliens will probe me?” She broke away from him to pat his forearm. “I didn’t know you cared.”
Well, what could she say? If Malo wanted to do anything to her, he could go right ahead, all permission granted. She doubted D-for-Douche would appreciate her enthusiasm or a lecture on the purpose of desire and how it scattered her wits? He’d lock her up in an asylum for sure.
“And how do you propose I thwart a probing?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “What if he’s interested in you? Maybe the words he spoke were some kind of mating ritual?”
Duncan paled and staggered back. “What? No, no, he wanted to kill me.” He shook his head, mussing his perfectly coiffed hair. “Something about him became more...menacing...deadly.”
“Maybe he’s like a praying mantis and will eat you after, y’know, doing the deed?” She pinched her lips, but that didn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up, so she glanced down, trying to hide a grin.
“I’m serious, Caro. Stay away from him...them.” Duncan stormed off, fists at his side, then glanced over his shoulder at her. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
As she hurried to Reyes’s office, she muddled over Dee’s strange behavior...and warning. If Malo was an assassin, then so was Garix and Ronin in their black uniform. She snorted, trying to imagine Garix sneaking. So what, maybe all of the aliens were assassins? There hadn’t been markers or designations on their uniforms to indicate rank.
She bobbed her head at Lisa and paused outside the glass door, her gaze snagging on the man staring out of the window. Everything about him screamed discipline—something she greatly admired in others. She gathered her wits about her and knocked.
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