I SHOULD’VE BEEN INSULTED BY his “little human” remark. But his tone was so warm, and the enchanted look he was giving me made it seem like the greatest of compliments.
“Hi.”
I couldn’t think of anything more eloquent to say as I stood there staring at him—feeling the strain in my cheeks from the goofy grin that had spread, unbidden, across my face. I knew exactly which grin it was, too. It was the same one to be found in every one of my elementary school photos—before I’d learned with age and good sense how to rein it in and smile like a normal person.
It was my overly excited, unrestrained smile, and it had absolutely no business staging an appearance now—in front of the mocking, domineering, sexy bastard of an alien who had used incriminating sex tape footage to blackmail me into coming to his x-club tonight.
It became easier to control my exuberant grin, while harder overall to will the rest of my features into a semblance of something more subdued and appropriate, as Vair walked toward me. With each graceful step, the closer he came, his sheer size and magnetic, otherworldly male energy had me feeling torn between turning around and fleeing, and leaping into his arms to climb him like a tree.
Even at a distance, and with me wearing my blurred-vision glasses, those black-brown eyes of his were drawing me into their infinite depths, making me forget all the reasons I hadn’t wanted to come to his club tonight—all the reasons that he was a danger to me and to the human race.
In that moment, there was only the energy that flowed between us: a force that defied logic and reason, scoffed at the inherent differences between our species, and disregarded entirely the complications of our interplanetary politics.
“Hey, man. Great to see you again.” Jay stepped forward, directly in front of me, obstructing Vair’s path in what was at once the most badass and foolishly suicidal best friend cock-blocking move ever. “Thanks for having us back to your club.”
I had completely forgotten that Jay and Zyrnase were even standing in the hallway with us.
Jay’s height and musculature may have been impressive for a human male, but Vair’s Krinar physique dwarfed his easily. And Vair did not appear happy with Jay for interrupting our moment. His mercurial dark eyes had gone from warm and effusive as they’d stared at me to possessive and forbidding as they’d narrowed on Jay.
My concern for my friend prompted me to find my voice at last. “Vair, you remember my best friend, Jay,” I reintroduced them, putting added emphasis on the “friend” part.
His jaw tight, an imitation of a smile on his lips, Vair clapped Jay none too gently on the shoulder and bit out a curt welcome, before bodily steering my best friend aside, out of his way.
My grade-school grin came back, accompanied by the most embarrassing schoolgirl blush, the moment Vair stood directly in front of me—his imposing presence once again blocking out all else; the heat emanating off of his powerful body burning straight through every part of me.
“Hi,” I said stupidly again.
He laughed softly and parroted, “Hi.”
He took both of my trembling hands in his, warming them and chasing away the last of the residual fear that I’d been carrying since the limo ride to his club. Replacing it with a different brand of excitement as he brought each of my hands to his lips, one after the other, depositing scalding kisses that made me regret I hadn’t stashed an extra pair of panties into the tiny evening bag hanging from my shoulder.
“You look very nice, Amy.” His deep, lulling voice was hypnotic as his lips brushed across the sensitive skin of my knuckles. “It’s good to have you here.”
My whole body came alive at his slightest touch, my muscles tightening with anticipation, my insides turning to liquid fire. My eyes fluttered shut and I swayed closer, breathing in his scent like the xenophile that I was for him.
“I’m glad you were brave enough to come tonight, darling.”
The familiar words he’d used in my dream the night before proved to be the figurative bucket of ice water I needed.
My eyes flew open as it hit me: I had been right. Vair had visited me inside Jay’s condo last night. That hadn’t been a dream.
I gave myself a mental slap.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
I yanked my hands from his grasp. He relinquished them with a frown, and I took a step back, putting much-needed space between us.
I’d been standing there blushing! Gazing into Vair’s eyes, stealing whiffs of his heavenly K scent, acting as if we were a couple out on our second date, when this was the same mocking, stalking, wall-dissolving-and-entering, videotaping, blackmailing K who was a threat to both my career and my life.
“Brave?” Jay interjected with a laugh, stepping up to my rescue when I remained at a loss for words. “Vair, man, no offense, but Amy and I have been to waaay crazier sex clubs than yours.”
I nearly choked on my own spit. My head whipped in my friend’s direction. Jay was either the bravest person I knew, or he seriously had a death wish.
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.” Jay shrugged, looking unperturbed by the cold promise of murder that had bled into Vair’s tone. “We’re reporters, as you know. Goes with the territory.”
I cringed internally as my coworker proceeded to double-down on his sex-clubbing boast.
Jay beamed, looking from me to Vair as he confided with a chuckle, “And, well, since Amy and I are the youngest and best-looking journalists at the Herald, naturally, we’re the logical choice to go under cover to research the most exclusive sex clubs in the city.” Another shrug. “When dut-y calls,” he sing-songed. “So here we are. No longer under cover and ready to roll whenever you are with those interview questions that you promised you’d allow Amy.”
I gulped. Vair was looking at Jay like he might end him on the spot.
But then he smiled thinly and responded with a nonchalant, “Of course. And I’m happy to oblige. But first, I think you should have a look around and maybe spend some time behind the bar to gain a better sense of some of the inner workings of our club—see how it compares to all others you’ve been to.”
He wanted us to bartend?
“Awesome,” Jay agreed with enthusiasm. “Lead the way.”
“I’m afraid I have other business and guests to attend to for most of the night. Zyrnase will show you around.”
I tried to ignore the abrupt sense of disappointment—not to mention anxiety—that spiked in me at the prospect of not actually spending time with Vair while in his club tonight.
If my dejection showed on my face, Vair didn’t see it. Because he wasn’t looking at me—adding another unwelcome layer of rejection to round out this unsettling turn of events. Vair had professed only yesterday in the limo that he needed me back at his club. He’d expressed to Jay that we would be here under his protection. Now he was simply casting us out on our own?
Vair’s focus was on Zyrnase as he directed, “Take them to the upstairs bar, and see that Tauce looks after them. Let him know who she is, and tell him I said she was free to interview him.” He spared only the briefest glance in my direction as he said this. “I’ll send Shalee to speak with her as well, when she’s available.”
Zyrnase nodded, but I got the sense he wasn’t exactly thrilled with what seemed to me like a newly hatched arrangement. And I couldn’t shake the suspicion that we were about to be thrown to the wolves.
“Wait. You don’t need to be present for her interview with this Tauce guy?” Jay checked. “Or Shalee?”
Vair smiled. “I’m sure Tauce and Shalee will manage fine without me.”
“But I thought you were concerned about Amy’s protect—”
“It’s fine,” I cut Jay off. “I’ll be fine.”
I hoped.
I wasn’t about to let Vair think that I needed or wanted him to babysit me at his club. And I was perfectly capable of interviewing Ks on my own, without his supervision—or interference.
Vair smiled at me—a predator’s grin—his teeth gleaming white within his smoothly sculpted, bronzed face. “Of course you will be.”
He stepped closer and grasped me by both shoulders, the heat of his palms branding my bare skin as he invaded my personal space. His lips ghosted my cheek before dipping to my ear to whisper, “I’m counting on you to play nice with the other aliens, darling. Don’t disappoint me.”
The hell?
What did that mean?
Vair traded quick words in his own language with Zyrnase as he backed away from me, a sexy, disarming grin gracing his perfect, handsome face.
The moment Jay and I had a sliver of privacy again when Vair was gone and we were continuing down yet another hallway several safe paces behind Zyrnase, I socked Jay in the bicep and quietly scolded, “Quit antagonizing Ks!”
“Me? You started it.”
“What did I do?”
“Girl, you gotta get your lust under control around Vair. You can’t just look at a guy like that.”
Crap. “Like what? How was I looking at him?”
“Like you wanted to make alien babies with him.”
“I did not.”
“Did so. And like make them right there in the hallway in front of me and Zyrnase.”
“You were imagining things.”
He laughed. “Well, I wasn’t the only one imagining things. Pretty sure Vair was about to take you up on your unspoken offer before I stepped in between you two.”
“Yeah … well, thanks for that. I appreciate it. But it was foolish and dangerous. Which reminds me …” I punched his arm again. “Are you trying to get yourself killed boasting about our fabricated sex-clubbing experience?”
“Oh, come on, it was great. And now we know that Krinar can get butthurt just like humans can. I’m thinking of making that the topic of my K exposé.”
We entered the upstairs bar at Vair’s x-club through one final hole in the last hallway. The multi-colored lights that greeted us brought back memories of our first visit, as did the ethereal, weeping musical undertones of what sounded comparable to a theremin instrument playing amidst the sharper vibrations and pulsing background beat.
The bar area looked similar to the one we’d been in before, but it was definitely not the same space, making me wonder just how large the entire club was. This space was a little smaller than the one we’d been in during our first visit, but with more intimate lounge seating areas featuring privacy drapes along the walls rather than the circular tables standing in each corner that had served as bars. The dance floor here was slightly elevated, and there was a large, futuristic-looking circular half-bar composed of what appeared to be metal and white molded glass lit from within.
The Krinar were easiest to spot in the room, their superior height, bronzed skin, and stunning, supermodel attributes setting them apart from even the most beautiful of the humans present on the dance floor. As before, the Ks were dressed in simplistic, light-colored clothing that accentuated their healthy-looking, tanned skin, and in fabrics that seemed to conform to their bodies in a way that emphasized their graceful, impressive physiques—causing me to feel a moment of inadequacy and regret over my outfit selection as I covertly wiped my damp palms on the skirt of my dress.
After nine weeks of obsessing over my last visit, I was officially back inside Vair’s x-club. I was just beginning to get my nerves under control and my game face on when a ruckus sounded from the dance floor.
“I told you not to come back here!”