Cosmic Sex (17 page)

Nick’s pulse began to race. If he had a heart attack, would they know to dial 911? He was a goner for sure. “Kia, we can’t. Not all four.”

When she sighed, he let out his breath. He’d won. He didn’t have a clue what the hell he was going to do with a puppy, but he’d try to figure something out.

The clerk looked disappointed. “I really hate to split them up. Two brothers and two sisters. It almost seems a shame to break the family apart.”

“Family? They’re a family.”

Ah, no. Not the family sales pitch. He glared at the clerk, who refused to meet his gaze. Yeah, he knew better. “Kia... ”

They left the pet store an hour later armed with puppy piddle pads, puppy carriers, puppy sweaters, puppy chew toys, puppy food, puppy dishes, puppy collars, puppy leashes, and four wiggling, squirming puppies.

“Shi-Tzu puppies,” he grumbled as the clerk helped him load everything into his car. “They’re not even manly dogs. Not even close.” Damn it, he didn’t want a bunch of flea-bitten dogs. He didn’t want a commitment of any kind—including dogs.

And yeah, he liked dogs.

He’d often wished he had room for a German shepherd or maybe a Doberman. Now, those were dogs a man could take out for a walk.

He glanced at the pups. Cute and cuddly. That was the only way to describe them. He could just see himself with the four on leashes, walking them in the park. A tough undercover cop with four cutesy puppies.

As soon as everything was loaded and the clerk had left, Kia turned toward Nick. “This is purely for research, of course.”

“Of course.” Research. Yeah, right.

Kia suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

It only took a second for him to wrap his arms around her and pull her even closer. Maybe it was her smell that made him give in to her every desire. Soft, seductive, and all woman.

And just as deadly as the puppy smell.

Chapter 19

It took three trips to sneak the puppies and all their supplies up to the apartment. Nick just thought he was paranoid before. As they made the last trip up, he could feel someone watching them. Ridiculous, of course.

He’d kept the dog carriers partially covered, and thankfully, the pups had remained quiet. He was almost certain they were in the clear as he shut the door behind them and leaned against it. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

“You’re not sorry we brought the animals home, are you?” Kia asked.

Sorry? Why should he be sorry? Not when all he could picture were 101 Dalmatians. Except in his mind’s eye, he saw 101 Shi-Tzus with their flat little faces. He could clearly see wall-to-wall piddle pads... and chewed furniture... and puppy poop.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Sorry? Of course not. They’re cute.” What the hell was he supposed to tell her when she looked at him like she was holding her breath, waiting for his answer?

“Good. I was afraid when we were driving back to the apartment that you might have regretted your decision.” She sat down on the floor and opened the carriers one at a time.

His decision? When had it become his?

The puppies bounced out of the carriers and right into Kia’s outstretched arms.

“Are you hungry?” Anything to get her mind off the little monsters that were taking over his living room. What would be next? First a puppy, then a... a baby?

That thought was enough to knock the wind out of anyone’s sails. He really liked Kia a lot, but he and babies didn’t mix. He had no desire to be a father. Or get married. At least not for another ten years, if then.

“I’d rather play with the puppies,” she said. “Clearly for research, of course. I’d like to observe how these animals behave.”

It was worse than he thought if the puppies took precedence over food, and he didn’t even buy this research crap. Nope, the puppy smell was getting really strong.

He hated being the bearer of bad news, but it was something he had to do. “What are you going to do when you leave? You said there were no animals on your planet.”

Her hands stilled for the briefest of moments, then she returned to petting. “I don’t have a plan.” She glanced up, looking confused. “You’ll take care of them for me?” Her eyes pleaded with him.

Why the hell did she have to look at him like that?

“Yeah, sure.” It shouldn’t be too hard finding them good homes.

That seemed to satisfy her even if she didn’t look thrilled with the idea of giving the pups away. He had a feeling she regretted her decision to bring the dogs home just because she’d get attached to them. He certainly didn’t buy that she’d only wanted to observe them.

Two hours later, they had the pups behind a makeshift barrier in the kitchen and it looked like they’d settled down for the night. He pulled Kia closer to him as they sat on the sofa. He liked feeling her softness pressed against him and he couldn’t stay ticked off forever.

“Did your parents know you were going to be an enforcer when you were created?” she asked.

He lightly ran his fingers up and down her arms. “On Earth, we each have a choice what we want to be or what we want to do with our life. That’s not the way it is on Nerak?”

She shook her head and snuggled closer. “We’re each given specific characteristics. I was given warrior qualities. All warriors are similar in appearance.”

“But your sisters aren’t warriors?”

“No, they were given other characteristics. Lara is a gentle soul, a healer. Theora reads minds. I have many sisters. We’re connected with one isolated gene. With Mala, the gene was split and she became our cousin. She reads emotions and can feel others’ pain.”

“But you have no choice what you want to be?”

“The Elders are wise. Our planet doesn’t have too many people doing the same job.”

“Yet, since there are no wars, your job is obsolete.”

She stiffened in his arms. “I’m a warrior. Have no doubts, Earthling.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Damn, that came out all wrong. “What I meant was that you are a trained warrior but you can’t use your skills. Am I wrong?”

“No. That’s why Mala left,” she finally answered, her body relaxing against his. “Why Lara is curious to know more about your planet. Not that my sister would ever leave.” She hesitated. “But we have things that Earth doesn’t. We don’t have wars, or disease. Our air is clean and pure.”

“It’s perfect,” he said.

“Yes, it’s perfect.”

Silence filled the room. He wondered what she was thinking.

“If you can be anything, that means you don’t have to continue in the same job,” she said, breaking the quiet. “You can change? If it’s your desire.”

“That’s right.”

“Have you ever wanted to change?”

How many times? “Yeah,” he told her. “Someday I’m going to open a bar. On a beach maybe. Get away from the city. I’ve always liked the ocean.”

“You have oceans?” She sat up, looking at him.

“More than one.”

“Earth does have some good qualities,” she admitted and he felt as if he’d won something very important. She snuggled against him again. “What’s a bar?”

He grinned. “A place where people go to relax, to unwind. Toss back a few drinks.”

“Damn, that sounds nice.”

His grin widened. He had a feeling when she did leave, she would be taking a lot of stuff back with her that might irritate the Elders. Maybe they’d get pissed and send her back. He liked having her around. That was an idea. Then again, they might vaporize him for being such a bad influence.

“You don’t like being an enforcer, then?” she asked.

“I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. I joined the force when I was twenty-five, about ten years. Seeing what I’ve seen can make you old in a hurry.”

She turned in his arms, raising her lips. “Then have sex with me and we can enjoy each other before you get any older.”

He chuckled, but his laughter died when he gazed into her eyes and felt himself falling deeper and deeper into a place he’d never been before. “With you, I don’t think it’s ever been just sex. No, when we make love it’s like sweet music.” He lowered his mouth, capturing her bottom lip with his teeth, gently sucking before his tongue delved inside her mouth.

The heat emanating from her seared him with passion. He turned until he faced her, placing his hands on her shoulders and drawing her closer. She moaned and leaned into him.

His dick throbbed with the need to be inside her. To plunge again and again into her moist heat, to feel her muscles contracting as she pulled him deeper and deeper inside her body. Damn, she was so frigging sweet that she made him ache.

He ended the kiss, his breathing ragged. Her body trembled in reaction. What the hell was she doing to him? What were they doing to each other? He had a feeling she was experiencing the same thing.

“I want you so badly I hurt deep down inside me,” she confessed.

There was nothing coy about her. Maybe that’s what made her so different from the other women he’d dated. Kia didn’t play games. But then, she didn’t have to.

“I feel the same way.” He leaned back, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “But you know it wouldn’t work between us. We’re from two different worlds. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Nor do I want you to be hurt when I leave. Have no doubts that I will leave Earth. My home is on Nerak. But it doesn’t mean we can’t make the time count that we do have together.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement. Hell, he was about to bust out of his pants now. Yeah, he’d make it damn special. Something she wouldn’t forget for a long time.

He unbuttoned her top and slipped it off first one shoulder, then the other, baring her to the waist. She had the most beautiful breasts. High-tipped, tight nipples, rosy areolas.

Her chest rose and fell. She arched her back. He knew what she wanted but rather than caress her breasts, he pushed her hair behind her ear, tugging on her earlobe, running his thumb over the fleshy part.

Kia closed her eyes and pursed her lips.

“Do you like that?” he asked.

She nodded, apparently not trusting herself to speak. She opened her eyes, her gaze moving to his shirt.

“Want me to take it off?”

She shook her head.

“No?” He hadn’t thought she could surprise him.

A slow seductive smile curved her lips. “I want to take it off.”

There for a second she’d had him worried. It would’ve taken more than a cold shower to relieve him of this pain.

She pushed the top button through the hole, then the next and the next, and when they were all unfastened, she pushed the edges away, scraping her fingernails lightly through the hairs on his chest.

“I like the way you feel. The planes and ridges. I like the hair on your chest.”

“Better than your companion unit?” As soon as the words were out, he wanted to call them back. He wasn’t in competition with some damned robot. “I’m sorry. I—”

She placed her fingers lightly against his lips. He captured them, kissing the tips.

“Adam-4 does exactly what I want—or what I thought I wanted. He was built for gratification and nothing more.”

“Are they all like that?”

She nodded. “Most of them. It was my choice that he wouldn’t think or feel anything. I didn’t want the connection.”

She leaned toward him, running her tongue over first one nipple, then the other. He gritted his teeth as fire swept through him, but before she could go very much further with her exploration of his body, he held her away from him. He had to know.

“Why didn’t you want the emotional connection?”

She looked him directly in the eyes. “He was only a means for physical gratification. Emotionally, I didn’t need him.”

“And me? Is it different with me?” Why the hell should he even care? Isn’t this what he wanted?

“Yes, it’s different with you, but I’m not sure I like feeling this way.”

“Let me see if I can remedy that.” He knew they were playing with fire, but he just couldn’t stop walking toward the flames.

He lowered his mouth to hers, cupping the back of her head as he tasted what she so freely gave. Damn, she was so sweet... so hot. He stroked her tongue, caught her soft moan.

When he ended the kiss, he was shaking. She did this to him. “I want you so badly I can hardly stand it,” he told her.

“No more than I want you.”

He stood and began stripping out of his clothes. She leaned against the back of the sofa and watched, not making a move to cover her naked breasts or to take the rest of her clothes off.

Not that he minded. There was something about knowing he would soon have her naked and spread before him that turned him on. Anticipation was a hell of an aphrodisiac.

He kicked out of his pants. When he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his briefs, Kia’s gaze became transfixed. He watched as her breathing became more rapid, her pupils dilating as she waited.

“What do you want?” he couldn’t resist asking.

“To see all of you,” she said in a breathy whisper. “Now, Nick,” she pleaded.

His dick quivered as the material slid over it. His heart raced, the blood pounding inside him.

“Closer,” she panted, scooting to the edge of the sofa. Her tongue slowly licked across her lips.

He shook his head even though it was an effort. He knew exactly what Kia had in mind, and it was killing him to refuse her. His dick throbbed with the need to feel her lips closing over his shaft and sucking him inside her mouth. What he had in mind would give them both pleasure.

“Stand up,” he said.

She didn’t question, but stood. Her top bunched around her waist, her breasts beckoning him to taste, to touch. He couldn’t resist. He pulled her closer and lowered his head, taking one tight nipple in his mouth, his tongue flicking across the tip.

She whimpered and clutched his head, tugging him nearer. He moved to her other breast and repeated the motion.

He shoved her clothes down. They puddled at her feet. When he stepped back, all she had on was a pair of skimpy panties. God, she looked sexy as hell.

“Lie on the floor,” he said, his words raspy. She didn’t hesitate but did as he asked, lying on her back, waiting for him. For just a moment, he stood above her, his gaze slowly traveling over her. He started at her face, moved over her breasts, taking in the dusky areolas before his gaze traveled farther down her luscious body and stopped at the dark blue wisp of material that covered the thatch of dark curls.

She arched her back and moaned as if he’d actually touched her, actually run his hands over her nearly naked body.

He knelt beside her, gliding his fingers over the silky material of her panties.

“Nick, please.”

“That’s my intention.” He slid her panties down and removed them, uncovering her. This was what he wanted. “You’re so damn beautiful.” He feathered back the tight curls, exposing all of her to his view.