Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Wake-Up Call

Groaning, she opened her eyes to a dark room. What the hell woke her? She heard a sound and bit back a yelp of surprise when Baby jumped on the bed. She was pretty sure this was the cat's how dare you sleep in— wake-up call. The animal needed to be fed. Grace had been sleeping hard. She had no idea where her phone was... or her clothes, for that matter.

Good thing there weren't any windows on the spaceship. She could run around naked and take care of Baby. Then go dig through her stuff and find something to wear. Once she dressed, she'd look for her phone. Grace needed to make sure she didn't miss any calls from her family. And she wanted to check the town's news page, to see if anything unusual was reported last night.

However, she didn't want to be crawling around on the floor naked. Or bending over. Raptor might get ideas. She needed to over her body. Grace snorted, admitting to herself that she wouldn't mind those ideas if she had time for a shower and food first.

Pulling away from Raptor's arms, she sat up. When she did, the cat shied away from her hand as Grace reached out to pet her. Baby backed up, hissing with bared teeth, and then the monster turned, leaped off the bed, and bolted out the door.

Rolling her eyes, she pushed the covers away and climbed off her side. The damn cat was taking this too far. Loving all over Raptor and hissing at her. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Standing, she was thankful the rooms and hallway had running lights a few inches from the floor. At least she could see to walk around without smacking into something. They also cast the perfect glow over her bedmate.

She peered down and realized that he'd slept through Baby's wake-up call. Grace couldn't count the number of times they made love last night, and it amazed her that she wasn't a mass of sore muscles and tender flesh. But she felt good. Better than good . She licked her dry lips in anticipation of his taste and silently did a little hissing of her own.

Somewhere between taking care of the cat and looking for her phone, she needed about a gallon of water. The pollen she licked from Raptor's body made her mouth dry as the Sahara Desert. Talk about cottonmouth. But she had no regrets. Nor did she feel like she was doing the walk of shame through Raptor's spaceship... naked . Grace felt fantastic. Healthy. Happy. Ready to kick Garret's ass.

She grinned and did a little shuffle dance. Swaying her hips before going after Baby. Calling to her pet, who must have found somewhere in the ship to hide because the animal never appeared, Grace made it to the closet, put out food, and got fresh water from the kitchen. Then she took a minute to scoop the litter box.

With that chore finished, she headed for the bathroom. Grace knew there was one in the hallway off the kitchen. It was small, but it had all the important parts. A toilet, sink, and mirror. She needed to wash her hands after seeing to Baby's needs. And take care of a few of her own.

She left the door open so she could see enough to wash and dry her hands. Then she turned the light on before using the toilet.

When Grace cleaned the cat box, she always scrubbed her hands and disinfected them before touching anything. Even a light switch. As an obstetrician, she was extremely familiar with toxoplasmosis, an illness humans could get from their cats when scooping litter. She counseled pregnant women to never change a litter box, and Grace usually wore gloves and disinfected her hands after the chore—since she didn't want to take any chance of infecting her patients. Which meant she needed to search through her stuff for the gloves and the disinfectant. She didn't want to take the risk of infecting Makayla and the girls.

About fifteen percent of adults and older children in the United States had toxoplasmosis—often without even knowing it. In adults, the symptoms were typically flu-like and not critical. But an infected pregnant woman could pass the illness on to her baby. Which could cause serious birth defects in the early stages, including eye and brain damage.

Finding those plastic gloves and the disinfectant went to the top of her list of things to do.

When she finished her business, she moved back to the sink and washed her hands for the second time. Grace glanced in the mirror and had to clutch the sink to hold herself upright. Her eyes widened, and she bit back the urge to scream. She was going to Kill Raptor!

She needed to tighten her grip on the sink and hold on tight to keep from collapsing in a heap on the floor. What the hell!

Oh, God... no wonder Baby hissed and ran from her. She was... silver. Her body had thinned out. She was taller, very slender, with long fingers... and her skin was light silver. Not to mention, Grace now had bright pink hair and girly bits. She blinked. And eyes. Her eyes were also hot pink.

With those wild pink eyes, Grace looked around the alien bathroom and tried to control her panic. She needed to think. Taking a deep breath, she realized she looked like Raptor in his natural form. Except his skin was a darker silver color and the hair on his head and private parts were a dark, dark olive drab green. His eyes were a shimmering gold.

A snippet of conversation from yesterday played through her mind. She'd said something to Raptor about dying before he did. Or her growing old and him staying young. She couldn't remember.

What she clearly remembered was his reply about what sense would it make if she died a few years after meeting him, when he'd searched for his Keeper over centuries. Then he stated that the Binding Pollen would take care of it. Grace had a pretty good idea that this was what he meant by taking care of it.

She mumbled to herself, "Stupid asshole. Son of a bitchin, God damned Guardian. What the hell have you done to me? I didn't sign up for this! For turning silver..." She paused in her rant. Or did she?

Hell. In the middle of all that mindboggling sex... she might have agreed to anything. One thing she was sure of, Raptor knew this would happen. He had to know. If it happened to her, it happened to the other Keepers. Her nostrils flared . But he didn't mention that she would turn all silvery. Grace was sure of that. She was going to... what? Go beat the hell out of him.

No. It had to be something more creative than that. Something... memorable.

Ice water ... she had a core memory of her uncles trying to wake her up. They'd dumped a bucket of almost frozen water over her as she slept. It was a definite shock to the system and something she never forgot.

What a wonderful idea!

But first, she wanted clothes on her naked silver body. Then she'd see what she could come up with. Raptor was going to learn that her family's motto was, Paybacks are a bitch! And that Grace's uncles taught her well.

It didn't take her long to throw on jeans and a tee shirt. While she did that, she discovered a five-gallon paint bucket she used in the garden. Her gloves and gardening tools were in it. But she dumped them out, took a few moments to figure out how to lock the door, and moved her big-ass, extremely heavy dresser near the entrance to the room. Then she headed toward the kitchen, making a stealthy pass by Raptor's bedroom to make sure the man was still asleep.

That may have been a mistake. He'd kicked off the covers.

There was a soft glow in the room from the running lights. It was enough to see... everything. He still wore his muscled hunk, biker man's body. The naked man, naked Guardian , was a sight to behold. Long dark hair spread over the pillow, gorgeous face, washboard abs, perfect pecs. Thick, muscled thighs and calves. And a cock that made her lick her lips.

She did lick them and remembered that... God, she needed water . And she needed to get out of here before she dove on his body and didn't make him pay for his omission. He promised to tell her everything— this was a damn big thing to forget!

Overcome with building lust, Grace took her bucket and practically ran down the hall to the kitchen. She went right to the sink and turned on the faucet. Grabbing a glass from the counter, she filled it to the top, lifted it to her lips, and closed her eyes in rapture as she drank the first few gulps. Damn, that was wonderful! She was so thirsty it took three glasses before she could turn her thoughts back to revenge.

Grace had discovered the spaceship's icemaker when she found the refrigerator and her sweet tea. Within moments, she poured ice into the bucket and filled it with water. Then she added some salt from her pantry items. The chemical reaction of the melting salt would lower the freezing point of water so it would become colder, faster. It's why you salted the ice when making ice cream or when you put ice in a cooler. The ice and salt were colder than ice alone. It would be nice to say she learned all that in science class, but no. It came from the uncles who liked to pull pranks and taught her how to get even.

While she waited for the salt to do its thing, she turned on the monitor. It must be early morning. The light in the meadow had that golden glow to it. The fawn she'd watched scamper about the day before was back, playing with a friend. It was amazing.

She turned back and stuck her fingers in the bucket. The liquid was frostbite-inducing cold. Raptor wouldn't be exposed to the frigid water long enough to actually get frostbite, but it should do the trick of making her point.

Her walk back to his room was slower. As she didn't want to spill water anywhere but on Raptor and the bed. Once again, she stood just outside the room, quietly ensuring he remained asleep. She watched him take a slow, even breath. Grace carefully slid into place by the bed, lifting the bucket into position about two feet above his body.

Grace tilted the bucket. Aiming the water—she started at his face and quickly poured the slushy ice mixture down to his chest. Then she dumped the last of the ice on his groin. She didn't wait for his shocked bellow or for him to jump out of bed and strangle her.

Instead, she turned on her heels, dropped the bucket—and ran!

Raptor

The shock of freezing water and chunks of ice—threw Raptor into a panic! Had his spaceship crashed, or the life support systems failed? Would the frigid cold of deep space take his last breath? The panic grew more intense when he remembered Grace, his Keeper.

Raptor's eyes shot open and the glimpse he caught of his Keeper glaring down at him with pink eyes and her silver Guardian body took his breath away. When the ice hit his groin, he bellowed in stunned surprise. He was pretty sure that Grace was angry with him.

Raptor tried to sit up—when the bucket crashed into his head. He didn't have to ask what was wrong with his woman. He could see the changes in her body.

Grace turned her murderous, bright pink eyes on him. Her slim, silver hands were on her hips, and she looked ready to pick up something heavier than the bucket to hit him. Filled with electricity, her neon pink hair stood on end. The long locks in the back brushed down to her ass.

Before he could move, she bolted away from him.

Raptor sighed. This entire mess was something else he could blame on the other Guardians. He'd accepted their advice to spend the time and be creative. Making sex with his mate, something she couldn't live without. The Guardians promised that if the pleasure was mind-blowing, it would have the added benefit of ensuring that his mate would be less likely to get mad at him or stay that way for long—if he did anything to screw things up.

He'd believed them. Raptor conveniently left out the information about her conversion because he knew it would distress Grace and might make her change her mind.

It didn't appear the pleasure and his prowess between the sheets—had overwhelmed Grace enough to allow his omission to go unchallenged. She was upset. But now, instead of just being worried about the transition, she was pissed that Raptor broke his promise to her. He swore that he'd tell her everything—and he didn't.

This was all his fault.

Slowly standing, he considered his options. Picking up his pants, he held on to them for several minutes before tossing them to the side. Reconsidering his next moves made him decide that maybe his lack of clothing would distract her like it had last night. He also relaxed his hold on his body, letting his natural state replace the First Realm human. He hoped she would remember what it was like to make love to this body.

After Grace fell asleep, he'd changed back to the more human form, believing that she'd be more comfortable waking up next to the blond biker. That might have been a mistake. He needed to remind her that she wasn't the only one with silver skin.

It was time to go find his woman.

Grace hadn't left the ship. He found her barricaded in the room where all the things from her home were stored. The door was locked, and she put something in front of it so he couldn't enter. Unless he wanted to force the issue.

Instead, he used the intercom. His brain was scrambled, and he couldn't think of anything to say. "Ah, hi Grace," he stammered. "It looks like your conversion is complete." Shit. Reminding her of it wasn't smart.

She didn't respond. For a long moment, there was silence. Then he heard something being moved away from the entrance.

He stepped back just before Grace threw open the door and hissed at him, " It looks like my conversion is complete? You ass! Look at me! I'm all silvery and my hair!" She ran her hands over her now pale silver body, reaching up to pull on the tangled hot pink hair. Her eyes were bright pink, and so was her pubic hair.

"I look like a damn Easter bunny whose owner dyed its fur with pink Kool-Aid." She put her hands up to her face, crying. " And Baby is afraid of me now! " She wailed. "What have you done to me?"

All Raptor could concentrate on was Grace. Standing there naked. He knew she had clothes on when she dumped the ice water over him. He looked past her, into the room, and saw a mirror propped against the wall with a pile of her clothes beside it. She must have been studying the changes in her body.

His eyes shifted back to his Keeper. Raptor caught the irritation and fear in her eyes, but couldn't help thinking how gorgeous she was. Her body was resplendent with light silver skin, her pink eyes blazing with an inner fire, her hair tangled and mussed and tumbling in bright pink waves. Her breasts were now tipped with dark silver nipples. Even the thin strip of hair that covered her mound had changed to a tantalizing shade of magenta. He wanted her now! Needed her beneath him, where he could claim the new woman she had become.

He was pretty sure that wouldn't be an option anytime soon.

Baby was afraid of her? He stepped closer, wanting to offer comfort.

She slapped a pale silver palm against his darker silver chest. "What do you think you're doing? You get that look out of your eyes and back the hell up. What did you mean when you said my conversion is complete ?" she demanded. "We had a talk, Raptor. You were supposed to explain everything. You said nothing about any conversion."

"Yes, I did. I said the Binding Pollen would take care of it." Raptor ducked when something sailed by his head.