Chapter 3

Lexi

I kept sneaking sideways glances at the stranger standing in my office. I didn't know what to think of him, but I definitely knew that he made me feel safe. That was a crazy notion because he'd just outright admitted to being an assassin of all things, a hitman, a killer for hire. This guy was not a good person, he was bad news… and yet.

The man was clearly Terafin, a humanoid alien species that wasn't very common on Earth. I only recognized him for what he was because I had a morbid fascination for anything ‘Alien'. I was even subscribed to several scientific Xeno publications. Most of that stuff was about Earth's allies, the Dragnell and the Praxidar, but sometimes other aliens were discussed. Like the Terafin who had a planet outside of the UAR's system, in the far reaches of the Alpha Quadrant.

His skin was golden, a deep warm color that hinted just barely at a metallic-like sheen. His hair was that same luscious gold, thick and slightly curled it lay in tousled locks across his head, barely brushing the pointy tips of his ears. His eyes seemed so bright a blue that they almost glowed, glancing at me at regular intervals with these banked hints of desire.

I pulled out my compact mirror to check my eyes again, worried that my mascara had run and given me horrible raccoon eyes. It was such a stupid thing to worry about. My boss had just tried to assault me, then he'd been murdered, and said murderer was neatly making his body disintegrate into nothingness on a tarp. Actually, he was folding that tarp in, collecting the dust and tucking it back into his briefcase. As if none of that had ever happened, no proof my boss had been killed, except for the pictures he'd taken with his com device.

Yanking the hairpins out of my hair, I shook out my curls and finger-combed it all into a more presentable situation. What did I think would happen next? Had he actually saved me or was I going to fare the same fate as my boss in a minute, when he got rid of his only witness? My eyes lingered on his wide shoulders, the curve of his ass as he bent over and picked up the stuff that had been thrown from my desk.

He wore black leather gloves, he wasn't leaving any evidence behind. I had to accept the fact that he wasn't going to let a witness get away either. I'd seen his face. But I wasn't feeling scared at all, why was my fear response not working? I should be pleading for my life or attempting to run away. I shouldn't be standing here, primping with my hair and hoping he thought I looked good.

"Just a final sweep and I'm all done, Lexi," he said, his voice a lovely tenor with a husky, growly edge to it. He opened his fist and a tiny, spherical drone shot up—casting a wide, red beam that methodically flashed over each surface in the office.

I'd focused on the drone, forgetting to keep my eyes on the stranger, on Rurick. Suddenly, he was standing right next to me, casually propping his hip against my desk at my side. He ran hot, his body exuding heat like a furnace, something I remembered from his earlier hug. With his arms crossed over his chest, his suit seemed to strain a little at the seams, struggling to contain those bulging biceps.

"So, you ready to leave this joint?" he asked with a grin. My stomach sank. Oh, no! Was this when he was going to whip out that pistol again and pop me in the head? My eyes flicked to the spot on the floor where not long ago, Mr. Alberade's body had been. There was not a single sign left that he'd ever been there. Was that about to be my fate?

With a dry mouth, I tried to formulate an answer but he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. "Oh no! I would never!" he said vehemently. "I'm not worried you'll talk." His eyes narrowed as he glanced back to the same spot I'd been staring at. "I would have killed him free of charge for what he did to you. You are safe, pretty face. Nobody will ever lay a hand on you again."

When he said it like that, so seriously, I couldn't help but believe him. Something warm settled over me, this feeling spreading through my body. How long had it been since I'd had someone who'd watched out for me? Obviously, he just meant it figuratively, but still. I liked that he said it, I wanted to believe in that illusion of a knight in shining armor.

Rising on tiptoe, I pressed my palm to his chest and pressed my mouth to his lips. I had intended to just peck him, a thank you for saving me, and for sparing me. He had other ideas, his arms tangling around my waist, pulling me close to his chest. That peck became a tongue-tangling, toe-curling kiss that just went on and on. He set my blood on fire with that mouth, and I couldn't recall having ever been kissed quite like this.

"Oh, excuse me!" a male voice said, intruding on the steamy moment. I jerked back in the arms of the assassin but he wouldn't let me go far, keeping me snug against his chest as he turned his head to look at the security guard standing in the open doorway. "Everything alright in here, Lexi?" the Dragnell male asked me gently, pulling his wolf-like snout into a friendly smile.

"Ah, yeah we're good, Mirak. We were just about to leave." At least, I hoped we were. I never wanted to come back to this place, and if Rurick wasn't going to kill me… I glanced up at him through my lashes and caught myself wishing he'd walk me home and kiss me again. How messed up was I? To desire a stone-cold killer like him?

"Let me help you with your coat, Lexi," Rurick said and he finally released me to pull my coat from inside the cabinet behind me. How did he even know it was there? I hesitated, unsure what was going on but equally sure that Mirak was just an innocent bystander. If I was still in danger from the assassin, which I doubted, Mirak needed to get out of here without realizing anything was off.

"Thank you, darling," I said, hoping I sounded casual and calm. I didn't miss the way Rurick's eyebrow quirked up over one eye, his mouth falling into this pleased grin. Letting him help me put on my coat felt normal and mundane, out of place among all the tension wrought moments from before. How was it possible that the assassin had just made a complete body disappear, leaving not even the faintest hint of a crime scene behind?

Mirak was absolutely fooled. The graying, middle-aged Dragnell nodded and with a greeting continued on his rounds, not even offering the most cursory of backward glances. For a species with highly developed instincts, passing the Mirak sniff test told me that Rurick was a complete expert at this kind of thing. That was deeply unsettling, but I still let him put his hand on the small of my back to escort me out.

I gripped my purse tightly as we stood in the elevator that brought us down to the ground floor. The golden Terafin male didn't speak the entire time, but he stood extremely close, his heat brushing along my spine and against my hip. My belly was filled with butterflies, all my earlier fears about those stupid files forgotten.

When we stepped out into the cool night air, Rurick kept his hand on the small of my back and started urging me down the street. Oh, seems like he wasn't done with me. "Where are you taking me?" I asked, shocked that I felt excited more than scared. Really, this guy was wreaking havoc with my senses, with my common sense.