“There you are,” Arak greeted Caitlyn when she arrived. Krinar needed little sleep, but humans were different, and she’d gone out like a light when he’d allowed her to rest. Still, given her drive and enthusiasm for her work, he’d expected her before ten a.m. He’d missed her. He wanted to kiss her, but Omacia was watching. It wouldn’t bother him, but a passionate public display would embarrass Caitlyn.
“I’m running a little late today.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She swallowed and tucked her purse over her shoulder. “I got fired this morning.”
“What happened? No, wait.” He grasped her elbow and ushered her into his office. He sat on the sofa and pulled her next to him. “Tell me what happened. But first, this.” He kissed her as he’d been dying to, tasting and claiming her lips. She returned his ardor with tentativeness, her job loss hitting her hard. He released her but kept her close. “Why did you get fired?”
“According to Viral News, I lost my objectivity about the story, and also the big boss was mad about the loss of VN’s equipment.”
“I’ll pay to replace it.”
“I doubt that will matter to them. They believe I’ve been compromised and won’t be able to do the job. Mike, my former producer, is convinced you planned to seduce me at the start.”
“I did set out to seduce you.”
Her jaw dropped. “You did?”
He wound a strand of her hair around his finger. “You’re mine. I claim what’s mine.”
“Didn’t it matter what I wanted?”
“Of course it did. But I decided to pull out all the stops to convince you if you had reservations.” He grinned, but she didn’t. He tilted his head. “Are you saying you didn’t want to be with me?”
She shook her head. “How can I be sure I wanted what I thought I wanted?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Her mouth drooped. She looked so forlorn that Arak shifted on the sofa, and pulled her onto his lap.
“Arak—someone might come in.”
“They won’t.” He waved his hand. “There. My office won’t allow anyone in.”
“How do you do that? Is it some mental thing? Telekinesis?”
He chuckled. “No, it’s physics and computer technology.” He tapped the inside of his wrist. “The building is programmed to respond to my DNA.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Now, tell me more of what happened this morning.”
“There’s not much more to tell. I lost my job at Viral News and my job with the mayor’s office.”
“I’ll call the mayor. I’ll have you reinstated.”
“Please, don’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have to do this on my own. If VN and the mayor aren’t interested in me, then I don’t want to work for them.” She bit her lip. “But I have to find something quick or I won’t be able to afford my apartment.”
That solved his problems. “Move in with me. I don’t like where you’re living, anyway.”
“We just met.”
“So? I won’t feel any different about you two weeks, two months, or two years from now.”
“Maybe I need time to adjust. You can’t control everything.”
“I don’t want to control you.” Fuck her, bite her, mark her, claim her. All that, but not control. “I’m trying to help you.”
She took a breath. “Thank you, but I’m going to take care of myself.”
“Maybe you’d like to work for K Tech?”
An arrested look came over her face, and he could see the idea appealed to her. “Doing what? I don’t have the same abilities your other employees have. I can’t call up a virtual reality keyboard or even open a door—not that you have doors.”
He would need to reprogram the coding so the building would respond to her needs and commands. “We’ll work that out.” He’d made the suggestion on the fly, but now it seemed like another perfect solution. Another way to keep her close. “Maybe you could be our liaison to the mayor’s office.”
He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered, “I hear your boss is a heck of a nice guy, and the fringe benefits are amazing.” He nibbled on her earlobe while inching up her skirt. If he couldn’t convince her with words, then he’d resort to surefire plan B.
She caught his hand. “So you’re asking me to work for you so we can have sex at the office?”
He widened his eyes, faking surprise. “I never considered that. Good plan.”
She started to wiggle off his lap, but he caught her and held her fast. He tried to steal a kiss, but she averted her face, so he nibbled a trail from her jaw to her ear then down the slope of her throat. Her pulse throbbed against his lips, and he recalled the incredible rapture biting her had evoked. They’d reached the pinnacle together. He nuzzled her neck.
She moaned, a complex mix of arousal, surrender, and self-deprecation. “I can’t believe I’m doing this with you—again. You’ve cast some sort of spell over me.”
He chuckled. If only it were that easy. “You’re the enchantress, the spell weaver,” he contradicted. “You made me want you the instant I saw you. From that moment, I had no other choice but to pursue you until you said yes.”
“You’re serious,” she said.
“Of course, I’m serious.”
“You didn’t do some sort of Krinar wizardry to get me to fall for you?”
He couldn’t imagine what that would be. “No. What we have is what you humans refer to as chemistry. What kind of ‘wizardry’ do you think we have?”
She waved her hand. “You have intelligent technology. You can manipulate the laws of physics to make stuff happen. Doors that appear and disappear, flying vehicles that wink in and out of existence.” She narrowed her eyes.
“The laws of physics are immutable. We don’t manipulate them—we use them. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed—as one of your more advanced thinkers once said.”
“Your building destroyed the pendant.”
“It absorbed it and turned it into energy,” he said. These were no idle conversation topics. She had concerns. He guessed her former employer had put doubts into her head. “If we manipulate anything, it’s things, not people. If you’re asking if I somehow brainwashed you into falling for me, well, I didn’t.”
He’d rushed her into a sexual relationship, taking advantage of her inexperience, but a connection like theirs didn’t occur often. A Krinar could go hundreds of years, a thousand years, before he found his mate. When they met the person who made every cell in their body sing, they didn’t let her get away—or leave her behind. He didn’t have time to conduct a long courtship Earth style. He would be returning to Krina soon. He had had no doubts—but she still did.
He eased her off his lap and stalked to the long window to peer out at the ocean rolling in the distance. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I had no idea you suffered such deep doubts about me.” His chest tightened to the point of pain.
Soft arms encircled his waist, and even softer breasts pressed against his back. She rested her head on his shoulder. If he held her, kissed her, possessed her, he could make her come so that she screamed his name and promised to stay with him. He had used her innocence and their mutual attraction to get what he wanted. Guilt mingled with anxiety. He’d rushed her, and now was paying the price. Arak stood rigid, allowing her to make the first move.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had to ask the question. I had to be sure. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Things have moved very fast for me, and my entire life has changed overnight. You say, ‘you’re mine,’ but what does that mean?”
He disengaged her hold and turned. “It means I have to return to Krina next year. I want you to come with me.”
Her eyes widened. “For a visit?”
“No, to live permanently. You’re the one woman I want to spend forever with.” He recalled the conversation at dinner when he’d told her becoming his charl was something for the future. He’d been fooling himself. He wanted total commitment now.
“Don’t the Ks live a long time?”
“When we reach adulthood, aging ceases.” To humans, he appeared to be a man in his late twenties, but he’d been born more than a thousand years ago.
“I’m human. Our average life span is about seventy-five years.”
“Not if you’re my charl. You’ll live as long as I will.”
Her eyes widened.
She had a lot to process, and as recent events had proven, he couldn’t force acceptance. Perhaps a trial? “Maybe you would like to see Krina for yourself?”
“You mean go there?” Her jaw dropped.
He could show her his planet via virtual reality. She could experience it in 3D, walk through the beautiful fields and woods, among the towns and landmarks. It would seem as if she were there. But they would still be grounded on Earth, and that wouldn’t work for his purposes.
He smiled. “Yes. For a little vacation. Couples do that, don’t they? Go away on little trips together? We could go to Krina for a couple of weeks. I could show you my planet, where I grew up.”
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect answer. If he brought her home, he could eliminate distractions and detractors. Mike, her “producer,” had influenced her. A couple of weeks of focused time together would eliminate her doubts.
“And then what happens?”
“Then we return here—and I hope you’ll decide to come work for K Tech and move into my condo in Century City. But that will be your decision. What do you say?” He tilted his head. Taking her to Krina would tip the balance in his favor once and for all.
She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Yes, Let’s do it.”