True Lies
By Jaci Burton
“M’Slork ju kusor Soljilskilon m’nor glusun limsok frr!”
UlRic Lor spit out a stream of curses as he approached the watery planet’s atmosphere.
“Of all the cluster fucks in the galaxies, this one has to happen on Earth,” Ric mumbled again, this time mentally converting from his native M’Loran to English. Might as well acclimate to the correct language mode before he landed. Although humans were polite enough to aliens, M’Lorans weren’t their favorites right now with all the rebel warrior K’Mor running loose on their planet.
He maneuvered the craft through Earth’s atmosphere, the directionals guiding him toward the west coast of North America. New California, specifically the northern section. At least that was the information they’d passed on when he’d received the message from Earth’s Alien Crime Enforcement Unit.
The message he’d received when he was, literally, inches away from getting good and fucked by a prime M’Loran Pleasure Aide. But did he get the relief he so desperately needed? Well, yes, and no, he thought wryly, aligning the craft to dock at the Unit’s headquarters. He’d gotten fucked all right, but not in a good way.
So much for his recreation period. The time he’d been looking forward to for months after chasing K’Mor rebels through the galaxies. He hadn’t had sex in a very long time, needed it damn badly, and had been just about to get it when the Commander notified him he’d have to return to Earth immediately.
Earth. Where the women were too short and too ugly to even fantasize about. Not like M’Loran women, whose large bodies could accommodate his natural form. He’d fucked Earth women before, and swore he’d never do it again. They bored him.
He stepped out of the craft and into the wide tunnel leading to the enforcement unit, his lungs filling with the atmosphere that was, at times, too oxygen rich for him. But he dealt with it, like everything else in his job.
The unit was busy today. Crime was up in New California, as he’d learned on his last visit. Some of that had to do with M’Lorans, but not all of it. Earth was a prime place for anyone to hide out with its mix of cultures and differing laws. Bad enough M’Lora had two distinct species that barely saw eye to eye. On Earth it was anything goes.
He nodded to the Unit Enforcement Officer on guard near the entrance to the interrogation center. The guard motioned Ric to the DNA testing sphere. A low hum began and within seconds he was cleared to proceed through the protection grid, his identity registered.
He stopped at a counter and reported in.
“They’re waiting for you in Room Three,” the officer informed him.
Ric nodded, headed down the brightly lit hallway and stepped into the anteroom.
“Sorry you had to come back so soon but the shit has really hit the grid this time.” Lou Maxwell rose to greet him. Lou was one of the best enforcement officers with the unit and Ric had worked many cases with this human. More than a Co’Lal older than Ric, Lou still had the balls and guts of Earth’s old time detectives, and had long ago earned Ric’s respect.
Ric shrugged. “What happened? I thought you had Vad well imprisoned.”
“Beats me,” Lou explained. “The hypnotist gave us the code, but when the guard tried to use it to subdue him, it didn’t work. He killed two of our facility guards before he escaped.”
Ric jammed his fingers through his hair. Just what they didn’t need—more negative feelings among the human population about M’Lorans. Could this day get any worse?
“I have more bad news,” Lou said, motioning Ric to the wide window where he could see a woman interrogating a M’Loran prisoner in another room.
“I can’t wait. Tell me.”
“You have to take the hypnotist back with you.”
“Bullshit. No, I don’t.” Ric never took human interrogators to M’Lora.
“Yeah, you do. Commander says she’s the only one who can control him and demands you take her along.”
“Kusor!” Ric bit back the string of other curses that hovered on his lips. The worst part of his job as a hunter was having to deal with other cultures’ laws. “I can control Vad without anyone’s help.”
“Sorry.” Lou grinned sheepishly. “You know how they get about their goddamn rules around here. If the hypnocode doesn’t work, the hypnotist must accompany the hunt for the escapee.”
Ric silenced his anger and turned to watch the action in process. Instead of the stark interrogation rooms of Earth’s past, this one had brightly colored walls and comfortable, soft furniture. Ric spotted Mal Vor, a M’Loran one of the other hunters had spent months searching for. His friend, Sev, would be glad to know that Mal Vor had been captured.
“Is that the woman who must accompany me?” Ric asked, motioning to the woman seated in the room beyond the mirror.
“Yeah. Mia Logan.”
Ric knew that hypnosis was Earth’s prime method of subduing both alien and human suspects. Each unit now had expert hypnotists as part of their police force. They were an advanced breed of mental enforcers, with a very high success rate in maintaining control over prisoners, as well as extracting criminal confessions.
This particular hypnotist apparently sucked at her job, because she’d lost control of Vad. And cost Ric a good weeks worth of fucking in the process.
Bad enough he had to deal with an Earth woman in the first place, especially this one, whom he instantly disliked. Earth women were pushy, opinionated, too skinny, lousy at sex and all around disappointments as a female species.
The woman faced away from them, so he couldn’t see anything but her back and hair. What hair she had, anyway. Short, black and spiked on top, there was very little to it. Like the woman herself, who looked like she needed aSiktor of constant eating. Didn’t they feed the women on this planet? M’Loran women were very tall, with full, heavy breasts, wide hips and ample asses, exactly the kind of female he liked to sink into when the need for sex became overwhelming. Like now.
He sighed and leaned forward, intent on giving the audio command to the system monitor next to the mirror.
Lou stopped him. “No problems with your microchip, is there?”
“It’s in place,” Ric replied. Knowing how hypersuggestible M’Lorans were, hunters were equipped with microchips that blocked any attempts at hypnosis.
He activated the audio system and the woman’s voice filled the anteroom.
“Imagine yourself in the place that gives you pleasure,” she said to Mal. “Surrounded by still waters, comfortable air and a beautiful M’Loran woman.”
Ric snorted. Yeah, he could imagine that all right. Her voice held a husky, seductive edge that sparked his attention.
“Tell me what you want Mal,” she urged. “Let me take you there.”
She reached for Mal’s hands and held them, massaging slowly with her thumbs. Instantly, images of her long fingers wrapping around his cock had Ric’s penis springing to life, despite his aversion to human women and this one in particular. She had a mesmerizing voice that could coax any man into an erection.
Within moments, Mal had closed his eyes, appearing completely relaxed. No small feat for the six foot nine giant with a warrior’s sense of vengeance and mayhem.
“Tell me your crimes,” Mia coaxed, and Mal confessed as easily as if she’d just asked for directions to the nearestJolsu shopping center. If Ric weren’t so annoyed, he’d have laughed at her easy expertise in extracting confessions. Too bad her hypnosis hadn’t worked that well at keeping Vad imprisoned.
She continued to massage Mal’s hands while he spewed forth his list of crimes in great detail. Her fingers lightly trailed up his arms and down again. Ric fought the ache between his legs. He absolutely did not desire this woman. She merely had a seductive voice. And besides, he was horny as hell, which was her fault in the first place.
“When you hear the phrase,flowers grow in the sunshine , you will immediately cease all hostilities. Repeat the phrase to me.”
Mal recited the phrase like a lovesick poet and Ric rolled his eyes toward the cosmos. Mia stepped out and a guard came in to remove Mal.
Women. He could imagine some guard at the facility shouting that out as a convict made an escape out the doors. He laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Lou asked.
“Flowers grow in the sunshine?”
Lou cracked a smile, his full face wrinkling even more. “Yeah, I know, but they let the hypnotists pick their own subdue codes.”
“It’s moronic.”
“Well, thank you very much for that comment.”
Ric turned to find her standing at the door, a very annoyed look on her pixie face.
Urksa.No, English . Shit. No wonder Mal was mesmerized by her. He’d never seen eyes so vividly blue, so wide and expressive. She had a flawless face, creamy cheeks and lips made to suck a man’s cock. For an Earth woman, she wasn’t half bad to look at. Still too skinny, though. And where were her breasts? Those small things under her tight shirt couldn’t be all she had. They looked like pieces ofKinsto , tiny M’Loran fruits.
She lifted a brow and asked, “And who the hell are you?”
“UlRic Lor.”
“Am I supposed to kneel or bow or something? Your name doesn’t mean squat to me. What’s he doing here, Lou?”
Lou’s wry smile widened as his gaze flitted between Ric and Mia. “He’s here about Vad.”
“Oh.” She shrugged and entered the room, inching her skinny ass onto the top of the long table. “I don’t know what happened with that. They misused the code, I guess.”
Ric approached, stopping only inches in front of her, enjoying the way her eyes widened as she assessed his height. He’d guess she was nearly five foot eight or so, which made him a foot taller than her. “So, you blame someone else for your failings?”
She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, glaring at him. Gone was the mesmerizing hypnotist, replaced by a woman of fire. “Hey, asshole. I didn’t fail at anything. I did my job, the facility guards just fucked up.”
Ric turned at Lou’s quiet chuckle. “UlRic Lor, meet Mia Logan, the unit’s number one hypnotist.”
Mia crossed her arms at Ric’s snort. “What bug crawled up your ass, M’Loran? Have you got some problem with me?”
“I have no problem with you, Logan. Other than I think you’re inept and I’d rather not deal with you.”
He could tell she held her anger in check, but it simmered on the surface. She may not be considered attractive by M’Loran standards, but her passion excited him. Which added more fuel to his already pissed off state. He didn’t want to feel anything for this female. She wasn’t his type at all, despite what his cock thought. He mentally counted to ten in M’Loran to dampen the hardening.
“You want to tell me what the hell is going on here, Lou?” Mia asked, turning her back on Ric.
“Vad’s escaped and Ric has to track him.”
“If I know Vad, he’s probably already returned to M’Lora. He’ll seek shelter with the other warriors, who will protect him,” Ric added.
“So, why did you come back here if he’s already there?” Mia asked.
“Because I was ordered to do so by your superiors.”
Mia turned to Lou. “This doesn’t make any sense, Lou. Explain it to me, would you?”
Lou held up his hands. “Hey, don’t get me involved. I was just here to witness Mal’s confession. You and Ric will have to deal with this.” With a wink in Ric’s direction, Lou made his escape.
Mia heaved a sigh and closed her eyes. She really didn’t need this today. Or any day, for that matter. Her caseload had gone through the atmosphere, and now one of her M’Loran subjects, Vad, had escaped and left the planet.
She’d never lost a subject before. Something had to have gone wrong with the way the guard gave the subdue code.
And to top off an already miserable day, this giant with hair like midnight and dark eyes to match had insulted her. Not that she cared. She’d been insulted by better than him. It all rolled off her back.
She scooted around on the table and found him standing in the center of the room, legs spread and hands behind his back. He sure as hell was hot to look at. The man screamed sex like a neon sign emblazoned across his crotch. Dressed in black leather pants, a tight black reflective t-shirt of some kind and a full-length leather duster, he looked dark, dangerous and sexy as hell. A throbbing stabbed between her legs and she felt the dampness gathering, but fought to ignore it.
So, she hadn’t had sex in a while. A good, long, drought-stricken while. So, this tall hunk of space beefcake set her libido to pumping like a marathon runner’s heartbeat. So what? She’d ignore him and he’d go away.
“Apparently you’re going to accompany me to M’Lora.”
“Huh?” Had she heard him right? She gazed around the room, wanting to be sure he’d been speaking to her. “Not me, buddy. I stay on terra firma.”
“Check with your superiors. I’ve been told you have to go along. And believe me, I don’t like the idea any more than you. In fact, I probably hate it much more than you do.”
“Gee, thanks a lot.” She slipped off the table and approached the monitor, giving the command to bring up Lieutenant Morris, her unit commander. A gruff voice responded.
“Yeah, Mia, what can I do for you?”
“Some space cowboy named…” She turned to Ric and asked, “What is your name again?”
“Ul…whatever, says I have to go to M’Lora.”
“Yeah, you do,” Morris replied. “I want you to help Ric track Vad and accompany him back. We don’t want the subdue code to get screwed up by anyone else again. You give it, and you monitor him.”
Mia ignored the increased pace of her heartbeat. “You know I don’t do space travel, Morris.”
“Today you do.”
Shit. She hated traveling via those body-melting methods. She’d tried it once with a friend of hers who convinced her a quickie trek to Mars would be fun. She’d had space sickness for a month after that and never cared to repeat it.
She sighed, knowing she had no choice but to follow orders. “Fine. I’m on my way out the door.” She turned to Ric and crossed her arms. “Looks like I’m your traveling companion.”
“It would appear so. Are you ready to go?”
“No. I need to pack.”
Ric laughed. “There’s nothing to pack. Your earth clothes won’t be acceptable on M’Lora.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because you’ll freeze to death. Meet me at the ship in asikto and I’ll have preparations made.”
“A what?”
Ric inhaled deeply, showcasing his broad chest and flat stomach. “An hour. Tunnel Seven.”
Before she could even respond with anokay orkiss my ass , he’d turned and walked out.
Rude bastard. But damn sexy. Just what she didn’t need to endure right now. Then again, she’d been complaining that her life was routine and boring. Next time she thought about bitching about routine, she’d remember this trip to hell and back she was about to take. Already her stomach was doing somersaults at the prospect of the flight.
She stormed into her office, thinking about the massive amount of work that would only grow while she was gone. She had system entries to make, codes to input, and hypno-classes to teach to new recruits.
No wonder she had no time for a personal life. Work had become her life.
How had she ended up in this line of work? Granted, she’d been born with inherent hypnosis abilities, thanks to her parents, and she’d naturally gravitated to investigative work. But lately, what had once seemed like a thrilling adventure into detective work had turned into nothing but a series of ten-minute hypnosis sessions followed by hours of paperwork.
This wasn’t fun anymore. And work had always been her passion. God knows she didn’t have any others. Other than a handful of colleagues she called friends, she lived a boring, lonely, isolated life with very little time for fun or pleasure.
Pleasure. How long had it been since she’d had decent sex? Or even bad sex? What had happened to her lifelong dreams of adventure and passion? She’d lost focus somewhere along the way, and had allowed herself to be led into this career that consumed her. Now she was approaching thirty, with no prospects of love, marriage or family in the future.
And she was complaining about space travel? Her somber and thoroughly unpleasant traveling companion wasn’t her first choice, but how many years had she wanted to see M’Lora? After dealing with the criminals from their mutant clan, she’d learned much about their culture.
The blue planet, they called it. With two moons—one blue, one amber. The stories she heard painted it as a garden of winter pleasures.
She snorted. If Ric’s irritating personality was indicative of the natives to that planet, the only pleasure she was going to get was in leaving it.
She wondered, though, if all the M’Lorans were as hot as UlRic Lor. There was some secret about M’Loran males that she’d never been able to uncover.
Maybe this was her chance to find out why Earth women returned from visits to M’Lora with huge smiles on their faces.
“You’ll have to remove your clothes.”
Mia’s head shot up at Ric’s comment. “Excuse me?”
He motioned to her jumpsuit. “Naked. You can’t travel in clothing, they’ll burn up.”
Naked. Great. First she couldn’t pack anything, then she arrived at tunnel seven only to find this tube-like thing that she was supposed to travel light years through the galaxies in. And now she had to do it with her ass bared? “I don’t think so.”
Ric crossed his arms. “You have no choice. Either travel naked or die.”
Well, those were rather limiting choices, neither of which she cared for. This trip was becoming more and more dismal by the second.
“Fine. Let’s get naked then, and get our show on the road.” She grabbed the zipper, then noticed him just standing there watching. “Well? If I’ve gotta strip, so do you.”
He smirked. “I’m not undressing.”
“Why not?” Was this some kind of sexual come on? If so, she wasn’t in the mood.
“I’ll become gaseous in flight.”
Mia placed her hands on her hips. “Look, I don’t really care to hear about your intestinal problems with space flight. I have my own worries.”
He laughed then, rich, dark and tripping along her nerve endings. She resisted the urge to shiver at his husky tone.
“Not that kind of gas,filor . I will shift into gaseous state for the trip.”
Oh, shit, that’s right. M’Loran’s were shapeshifters. Where the hell had her brain gone today? “What’sfilor mean?”
“Woman.”
“The name’s Mia and I already know my gender.”
“Time is of the essence here,” he continued, ignoring her. “Undress so I can cocoon you.”
She really hated her job some days. Grabbing the zipper of her jumpsuit, she yanked it down, stopping halfway. “Do you have to watch?”
His lips curved in a sensual smile. Her body reacted with puckering nipples. Traitorous damn female hormones.
“I will be placing you in the cocoon. I’ll see you completely naked then. It seems that your modesty is a little unwarranted, don’t you think?”
“Whatever, let’s just get this over with.” She unzipped the suit and stepped out of it, feeling exposed in more ways than she wanted to think about. His eyes roamed over her body as if he were assessing her in depth. She resisted the urge to cover herself and stood still, hands on her hips. “Look, M’Loran. Don’t get any funny ideas about having your way with me in my sleep, okay? Because I’ll know it if it happens.”
“Indeed, you certainly would,” he said, mirth evident in his laughing voice.
He directed her to a transparent, upright tube. She was no scientist so she didn’t have the slightest idea what the M’Lorans used for space travel. It looked like an old fashioned tanning bed to her. “You’re overly confident in your sexual abilities, aren’t you?”
“No. Just honest.”
“Quit staring at me. You might as well give up any notions that you’re going to fuck me, because it isn’t going to happen.”
“I don’t want to fuck you.”
“Good.” She slid into the chamber, but before he could close it she grabbed his wrist. “Why not?”
He tilted his head. “Why not what?”
“Why wouldn’t you want to fuck me?”
“You’re not my type. I’m going to close this now, and when I do—“
“You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet don’t you? And what do you mean I’m not your type?”
He leaned against the chamber. “Why do you care? You just said you weren’t going to fuck me.”
She shrugged and said, “Just curious, that’s all. I’m not repulsive, you know.”
“On M’Lora you would be.”
Wonderful. Now she was really looking forward to ...
Monkey14