Chapter One

 

The Council of Nine reported today that in lieu of death sentences for the five female aliens whose ship crashed on the freeway, killing innocent Pra’kirians, the aliens will be fostered out for conditioning to society. Sources say the aliens, who came from a planet called Earth, may have been hit by debris circling our planet, which caused them to crash and their fuel cell to explode. According to military sources, there is no possibility for the aliens to communicate with their planet or ever return. The information on where each alien will be placed will be kept confidential.   ~Pra’kirian News Report

 

~.~

 

All Jakk wanted was a moment of peace and quiet. Too bad they no longer existed in his world. He left the busy courtroom and entered his office, head pounding.

“Judge Ereen, your brother left an urgent message. I think it’s about your nieces.”

He barely contained a groan. Again? Really? “Thank you, Sanda.”

She nodded and looked quickly away—a reaction he got from most females. Make that all females. Born with eyes two different colors, he was a misfit in Pra’kirian society.

He flicked on his communicator, which had been silenced while he held court. “Call Gav’n.”

The screen sprang open, showing Gav’n’s face. The furrow between his twin brother’s brows was deeper than usual, and he appeared to be out of breath.

“What happened now?”

Gav’n’s head bobbed like he was jogging, and sweat beaded at his forehead. “The nanny left them—alone. According to Darley, their rashes got worse, and the nanny panicked. I told the stupid woman they weren’t contagious. Anyway, the girls are without supervision at the moment, and I can’t go home because we’re in the middle of a smuggling raid.”

Pain throbbed in Jakk’s temples. He’d had the same headache since the day the aliens’ ship crashed and killed their sister, leaving him and his twin brother responsible for their three young nieces. He’d gone from living a quiet life alone to attempting to coexist with Gav’n and their nieces in his sister’s home. To say it wasn’t going well was an understatement.

He muttered a curse. “I’ll go. The magistrate is going to have my ass over all these absences, though.”

This was the fifth nanny they’d lost since taking custody of the girls. Between the children’s unexplained skin rash—blisters that came and went all over their bodies—and their general bad behavior, it had become impossible to find anyone willing to stay with them. Dammit. He should have Gav’n arrest today’s nanny for leaving her post. Endangerment of underage children was a serious offense on Pra’kir.

“Thanks. I’ll see you at home when I’m off,” Gav’n said, already focusing away from the screenon whatever he was hunting. The screen blipped off.

Jakk sighed. He’d better explain the situation to the magistrate in person. Even though he held a position of power and technically could come and go as he pleased, he’d been absent more than he’d been in the courthouse lately, and with Rowth, it was better to communicate any problems than have him find them on his own.

“I’m out for the day,” he told Sanda as he left his office. He ignored her curious gaze. “I’ll visit the magistrate in person on my way out. Please contact me on the communicator with anything important.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

He took the chute to the second to top floor to see his boss, Rowth Lashat, the general magistrate for the superior court and the highest authority on the planet, except for the Council of Nine.

Rowth’s assistant sat in reception, tapping away on her screen. “Is the magistrate in?”

The receptionist lifted her head. “Yes, Your Honor. Is he expecting you?”

“No. I only need a minute, though.”

“Judge Endove to see you, Your Honor,” she said into the communication device. She glanced back up at Jakk. “You may go in.”

He opened the door and stepped inside but didn’t take a seat. He didn’t have time for a long conversation—his young nieces were completely unsupervised at the moment. “I have to leave for the day—again.”

Setting his tablet aside, the magistrate raised his eyebrows in a rare show of emotion.

“I know. I don’t find it acceptable, either, but Gav’n and I are having a terrible time keeping a nanny to watch our nieces. They can’t go to school, either, due to some health issues. Needless to say, I understand this is a problem, and we’re working on a long-term solution.”

Rowth stood and walked around his desk, then perched on the edge of it. “I may have a solution for you, Jakk.”

Doubtful. “Oh?” He did his best to appear polite.

“The Council of Nine has ruled the aliens are to be fostered out.”

“I’d heard that,” he said neutrally. And? How could this possibly apply to him?

“They were responsible for your sister’s death. Doesn’t it seem reasonable for one of them to give back to society by taking her place in your home and raising her children?”

Only years of presiding over court kept his jaw from dropping.

“With all due respect, my brother and I can hardly manage the raising of our nieces. We certainly couldn’t foster another being.”

“She will require obedience training, yes, but even though the aliens are young in Pra’kirian years, I believe they are full-grown adults—intelligent and capable of giving back to society, if we can find the right placement for them. Your brother’s military police background and yours as a judge should make training her a simple matter—it’s one of the reasons I’m considering your household. And once she’s trained, you would have a servant for life. You might consider it an upfront investment. ”

Jakk pushed on his right temple. “Is it even safe? To have one near children?”

Rowth searched for something on his communication pad and handed it to Jakk. “This is the file of the human I suggest you foster—Mirella Janison. She’s a mechanical engineer who has shown protective behavior over the other humans. I believe the same instincts would translate to children of another species.”

He stared at the photo. “Oh.”

“Yes.” Rowth’s tone was generally dry, but even more so now, probably because the cold bastard guessed exactly what he was thinking.

The human was stunning. Small, yes—but fully developed. She had long, silky blonde hair—a color that had become increasingly rare with the homogenization on Pra’kir. Her large, wide-set eyes were sea green and, coupled with her bow-shaped mouth, gave her heart-stopping beauty. If she were Pra’kirian, she’d be guaranteed a career as a high-paid model or newscaster.

His heart thudded a little harder. Was Rowth suggesting her for them because Jakk had no chance of ever finding a mate with his mismatched eyes? While his superior was not the warm and fuzzy type, he could be thoughtful. Or pragmatic. Perhaps it suited Rowth to have this female situated with him.

He forced his gaze away from the enchanting photo of the female and back to Rowth. “So you’re suggesting we train her as our nanny? And keep her...indefinitely?”

Yes, Rowth’s shrewd gaze said he knew exactly what Jakk wanted to do with the little human. “That’s correct. Unless the placement doesn’t suit you, in which case, the Council would find another placement for her.”

“I’d have to speak to Gav’n. Although”—he glanced back at the likeness—“I can’t see he’d object, once he sees her. Will you send me this file?”

“Yes.” A tiny curve quirked Rowth’s lips. “Let me know as soon as possible, and I will present the suggested placement to the Council of Nine,” he said, referring to the true governing body of their planet. Rowth stood from his perch on the desk. “I’ll expect you tomorrow.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” He left the government building and jumped in his shuttle before calling Gav’n up on the screen. “I’m heading home, now.”

“Did he give you a hard time?”

“The general magistrate? No. Actually, he suggested a solution. He’d like to put our names in for consideration to foster one of the aliens who crashed their ship onto the freeway. He seems to believe she should repay her debt to our family by taking Analie’s place as a permanent nanny to the kids.”

Gav’n’s lip curled. “What do you think about that idea?”

His cock thickened imagining what it would mean to, essentially, own a female—a gorgeous female, no less, who would have no choice but to live with an undesirable male. To have one living in their house, obedient to their commands, subservient to their rules, subject to their punishments…. The idea inflamed him.

While he wasn’t entirely inexperienced with women, the only sexual encounters he’d had were threesomes with his brother. With his genetic deformity, he couldn’t attract any female on his own, so Gav’n brought them in and shared. It worked for casual sex, but no female would stay with them—scratch that—with him, permanently. And he had a feeling Gav’n was reluctant to take a permanent mate when Jakk couldn’t.

“Well, she’d require obedience training. But look.” With one hand maneuvering the shuttle along the track, he used the other to forward the file Rowth had sent. A beep from Gav’n’s communicator confirmed he’d received it.

“Whoa.”

“I know.”

“They didn’t look so pretty on the clip of their crash the news keeps playing. Is that really her? I say hell, yes. I’ll bring the little female to heel with a firm hand and a lot of love.”

“I’ll tell the general magistrate.” He zipped into the back alley behind their sister’s townhouse and parked. “I’m home now. Hopefully the girls haven’t set fire to their bedroom by now.”

“Good luck.”

He disconnected the video feed and parked in the allotted space for his shuttle.

Now, to deal with his young nieces. One rebellious human female had to be a walk on the beach compared to them.