Page 21 of A Ruthless Bargain
I sighed. “The way you did it is bad in our culture.”
“You enjoyed it.”
“That’s a complicating factor, to be sure,” I reluctantly agreed.
“Perhaps I should stay away from human females.” Jax sounded forlorn with that pronouncement.
“Perhaps,” I agreed, albeit still reluctantly. Oh, fuck it. It was already done, and he didn’t know any better. “But then we wouldn’t have had our fun.”
“Correct. So what I did was okay?”
“No. And don’t do it again with any other Earth females.” My fingers traced the muscles in his upper thigh. “You and I can play any time and any way you want while you’re here.”
“Back to the alley?”
“Except that,” I said with a disgusted shake. The hotness of the frisk did not mitigate the nastiness of the alleyway. Unfortunately.
Jax started to glow. “Now is a good time to play.”
“Yes, yes it is,” I agreed, as he pushed me back onto the bed and his lips smashed into mine. We’d work out the details later. Much, much later.
Six Months Later
“Do we grab him tonight?”I asked Jax, sitting opposite me at the small table in our latest nondescript hotel room. I’d adjusted to the transient enforcer lifestyle much faster than I’d anticipated, given my desire to control my external world. He looked up from his communication device—similar to a cellphone, but with a hell of lot longer range—and I caught my breath. I’d never get used to the glowing blue around his cat’s eye pupils.
Jax lifted an eyebrow. “We? Are we having that conversation again?”
“Yes. When are you going to let me come on an apprehension?”
“Never.”
“I’m ready,” I argued. “For six months, I’ve been your analytical brain. I’m ready to go on a mission.”
“Mel, I appreciate how your facility with numbers has assisted me in understanding some of the more complex human documents I have come across,” he began in his conciliatory tone that drove me up a wall, because abutalways followed. “But, you will never go on an apprehension. It is not something you need to be a part of.”
“It doesn’t matter that I want to?” I wasn’t sure why I’d begun pushing this. The first few months had been cool, and I was more than content to stay behind, shielded from the Syndicate wet-work, a shockingly common occurrence on Earth, given the Brak resemblance to humans. I’d accepted the fact that my alien boyfriend was essentially a Mob hitman. Except, somewhere along the way, I wanted to see the reality of what was happening. Sometimes, Jax arranged transport of a Runner off-world for punishment. More often, Jax made the Runner disappear. It was sweet that Jax wanted to protect me from it. But, I was stronger than that.
“No, it does not,” he said with a note of finality, returning his gaze to the device on the heavy wooden table before him.
I jumped to my feet, hands fisted on my hips. “Then maybe I won’t help anymore.” Anger blazed through me. I wasn’t going to be sidelined anymore.
Jax lifted his gaze again, surprise flitting across his face, before it hardened with resolve. He stood and stepped around the table to stand over me, his gargantuan size dwarfing me. “What will you do?” His normally inflectionless voice wasn’t so inflectionless now.
“I…”
“Yes?” The single syllable question dripped with an unknown danger.
I swallowed audibly. Heat had begun pooling deep inside.
“What happens if you are hurt?”
“You wouldn’t let that happen,” I whispered.
He cupped my chin. “I cannot control everything.”
“You control enough,” I insisted.
“No, I do not,” he disagreed, his fingers caressing my cheek now, his silky smooth skin and gentle touch deepening my desire.