Odd Coupling (11 page)

If there was one thing she
hated the most about being single, it was spending each and every
night alone in her bed. Tonight she had Vren, but he wasn’t exactly
with her at the moment.
Maybe he doesn’t
know how.
It’s possible. D’Lyrians might
not like to snuggle.
She focused her
attention on his breathing. It was calmer and his tail had stopped
beating up her bed.
Good.

As if reading her thoughts,
he rolled toward her. A strong arm reached out and encircled her
waist to drag her back to him. They spooned, his warm massive chest
to her naked back. Unable to help herself, Bethany settled against
him, wiggling her hips to press tighter into his groin. Nothing
long or hard pushed against her bottom. Apparently, he’d gotten
himself and his penis under control.
Too
bad.

Bethany was amazed by how disappointed
she felt. The desire to have sex with him again impatiently gnawed
at her. She could always make up some excuse about needing to get
out of bed. A visit to the bathroom might rouse his interest. Even
better, a trip to the kitchen for a drink of water was quite
believable. She was actually parched.

He’d snuggled so close his mouth
nuzzled into her hair. Just as she was about to announce her
intention of “leaving the bed” to get some water, he purred. A
deep, soothing to the bones sound rolled from his chest. If she’d
had a tense muscle in her body, it would’ve turned to mush in an
instant. Bethany lost the will to speak or think. Her last coherent
thought was about how “right” he felt before sleep claimed
her.

* * * *

A soft caress across his chest nudged
him closer to awareness. He recognized the touch and the smell of
the female tucked close to his side. He purred, content to hold her
with one arm while he lay on his back. The flat, thin nails on her
fingertips scraped harmlessly down his torso, tickling across his
ultra-sensitive abs before stopping near the waistband of his tapa.
They dug into his skin to gently knead his flesh as she wiggled
closer. She ground her pelvis into him, rubbing her sex against his
thigh. A soft, throaty moan escaped her lips.

At that moment, Vren realized two
things. Bethany’s leg was draped across the front of his thigh and
she wasn’t awake. His little female was dreaming, and judging from
the scent of sexual excitement filling the air, she was more than
ready to couple.

She’d been aroused before
he’d finally gained some measure of control a few hours ago and
been able to use his
settling purr
on her. If she hadn’t gone to sleep and given him
some time to calm down, he would’ve taken her back to the couch.
Given his state of need at the time, he wouldn’t have been gentle.
He was rested now and ready. Apparently, she was ahead of him, at
least in her dreams.

She was so different from
the females of his species. A D’Lyrian female would never act so
shameless in bed. It was unthinkable. No, he corrected the improper
thought. Humans couple in their sleeping areas. This is normal
behavior for my mate.
Mine?

Vren woke completely,
staring wide-eyed up at the ceiling. It was ridiculous to keep
thinking such thoughts. She wasn’t his. He took a deep breath,
hoping to clear his head and insanity. Her scent hit him full
force, rousing him further and assuring him that she was, in fact,
his. His marking scent mingled with hers. It was a sure sign that
something close to a mating had occurred between them.
Impossible, but unmistakable.
He considered arguing with himself some more, but another
breath made him forget about everything, except Bethany.
Mine.

No female had ever taken his scent.
Many had wanted to, but none turned out to be right for him. How
could he and a human create the unique blending, which signaled
they’d make a perfect pair?

He took another breath to catch his
own scent to verify that it’d mixed with hers. He slightly lifted
his upper lip to taste the sample, but her intoxicating arousal was
too distracting. He untwined their legs, threw off the covers and
reluctantly slipped out of her arms so he could stand. His
movements roused her, and she squinted at him sleepily. In the dim
light he could clearly see her delicate features, so beautiful and
precious to him. Her golden hair spread out over the pillow and
beneath her shoulders, the backdrop for an image of perfection in
his view. Her lips curved into a sexy smile as she slowly
stretched. He wondered if she tried to drive him wild with desire.
If so, her tactic worked.

He marveled at her body, so lush in
all the right places. It tempted him to forget his cultural taboo
and pounce on her, but he held back. She was small and fragile.
Perhaps that was why he felt such an overwhelming urge to protect
her. At the moment, he craved her. He was out of bed, and they were
separated. His body rebelled. The need to feel her skin against his
once more was almost painful. He desperately wanted her on her
hands and knees beneath him as he mounted her. His cock strained
for release as the image formed in his mind. He tried his best to
banish the thought.

It was sheer madness to think about
mating with her. A list of reasons he should resist scrolled
through his mind. Nevertheless, he scooped her up into his arms and
hurried out of the bedroom. He was beyond caring, acting purely on
instinct. Nothing else mattered. The only thought driving him was
the fact he wanted her.

*

Vren carried her out of the bedroom.
That could only mean one thing—sex. Very hot, very good sex.
Bethany threw her arms around his neck and buried her face against
his hard chest. He smelled so good. His sexy purr added to her
desire and sent a gush of renewed moisture to her already damp
pussy. He’d better hurry or she might finish without
him.

Headlights filtered through the thick
curtain over the kitchen sink. They brought him to an instant halt.
A car horn blared and grew louder by the second as the vehicle
approached the house. Bethany squirmed in his arms. He slowly
released her and let her glide down his body until her feet touched
the floor.

“
Who’s here at this hour of
the morning?” Bethany shot a quick look at the clock. The digital
readout glowed. Two fifteen. She gripped his shoulders. “You have
to hide!”

To her exasperation, he just shook his
head.

The car engine died, a door opened and
then slammed shut. “Bethany! Let me in!” A woman’s voice shouted as
footsteps thudded on the front porch. The sound of two fists
pounding out a desperate beat on the door came next. “Bethany,
please open the door. It’s just me. Shelly!”

Bethany jerked at Vren until he
reluctantly turned around. She shoved his massive body toward her
bedroom as she called out, “Just a sec! Be right there!” She
grabbed her robe and slipped it on. To her “lover,” she whispered,
“Stay in the bedroom out of sight.”

He gave her a disgruntled green glare,
but did as she told him. Bethany puffed out a sigh of relief. She
dashed to the door and unlocked the latch. As soon as she opened
it, her friend barreled inside, wild eyed with fear and
panting.

“
Close it,
hurry!”

“
Shelly?” She stared at her
disheveled friend in astonishment.
“Whiskey-tango-foxtrot?”

“
The world’s gone crazy,
Bethany. I thought Houston was bad, but when I drove up to your
gate…” Shelly shuddered and ran a manicured hand through her long,
bright red curls to swipe them away from her face.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Don’t you
know?”

Bethany shook her head while she tried
to figure out what had her best friend so freaked out.

“
There are trucks and
military vehicles lined up on each side of the road just outside
your gate. Some of the men weren’t even trying to hide their
weapons. They’re carrying assault-type military looking stuff. One
truck had some missile launcher thing in the back. What’s going
on?”

“
You should’ve turned
around, Shelly. Why are you here so early?”

“
I’d planned to catch a
ride with Ashley tomorrow, but after work this evening I walked to
the college to see how a rally in support of the Alliance was
going. A group of protestors stormed the stage and things got out
of hand. A fight broke out. People started running and shoving
others out of their way. I barely made it back to my apartment. By
the time I grabbed my keys and jumped into the car, people were
rioting in the street. I drove away and headed here. I would’ve
called, but I lost my phone in the crowd at the college. Oh! That
reminds me. Juan said to tell you the phone lines are dead. He
tried to call you a few minutes ago, and I heard some of the men at
the gate say their sat phones weren’t working either.”

“
I should go. Now.” Vren’s
deep voice broke into their conversation.

Shelly stopped talking to stare open
mouthed at the nearly nude alien male who stood in the bedroom
doorway.

“
They’ll track you. Don’t
leave…” Bethany said, wishing like hell she had the fortitude to
add “me” on to the end of her plea.

“
Who is he?” Shelly pointed
at Vren.

“
I’m the one they’re
looking for,” he told her. “Convince Bethany it’s best for me to
leave so she won’t be in danger.”

Bethany grabbed Shelly’s arm and shook
her. “Don’t listen to him. He hit his head. He’s irrational, out of
his mind.”

Shelly did a double take before she
focused on Bethany. “You’re trying to protect him.” Her eyes
widened. She raked her gaze up and down Bethany’s loosely gathered
robe. Between clenched teeth, she gritted, “You’re naked underneath
that robe.” Since Bethany didn’t immediately deny the accusation,
Shelly gasped. “Oh! My! Gawd!”

Bethany ignored her friend’s intuitive
guess and released her arm to storm over to him.

“
You can’t be serious about
leaving. You heard what she said. Caleb has an army out there.
They’ll find you.”

“
If I leave right now, they
might follow me and you’d be safe here with…Shelly.”

“
Come on, Bethany. Listen
to him. He’s not out of his mind. It makes sense.”

Vren gave Shelly an appreciative nod
for her effort as he pulled Bethany into a tender
embrace.

“
No,” she pleaded with him.
How could he stand there so relaxed, gazing at her with those
gorgeous eyes, melting her will? “They’ll kill you,” she whispered
tearfully.

“
Maybe not,” he said. “If I
go now, I might be able to slip away under the cover of darkness
and find a place to hide.”

Just as she was about to rip into him
for being a stubborn bull-headed alien another knock hit the door,
followed by two more very firm, very insistent ones. Vren moved
incredibly fast, and was in front of the doorway before she or
Shelly could make a sound.

*

He held a hand up, palm outward, to
caution both the females to remain quiet. Ears perked up and
forward, he listened intently as he took a searching breath to
capture a scent. He darted a look at Bethany and gave her a slight
nod while he motioned for them to retreat into the bedroom. He was
relieved when she and her friend obeyed without any
argument.

“
Back away!” Vren growled
as he waited until he heard the male step back several paces before
he opened the door. “Who sent you, Tauran?”

A uniformed Tauran male with shaggy
black hair smiled broadly and spread his arms away from his sides
to show he was unarmed. “Your illustrious commandant, Captain Tram,
contacted us. He said an unfortunate accident had befallen one of
his crewmembers. I assume that would be you?”

Vren ignored him to scan
the area around the porch and yard. The male appeared to be
alone.
Very unlikely
. He couldn’t detect the presence of any others. From his
appearance and uniform, he was a spacer, one of the crew members
from the Tauran battleship, which hid behind the Earth’s moon. Vren
knew the details of their mission and he was sympathetic to their
plight, but he didn’t trust them.

“
You assume correctly. You
came to the surface without any weapons or troops?”

“
Tram insists on a ‘no
weapons’ policy. My shuttle is nearby, waiting for a signal. My
name is Morshant, and you are…”

“
Vrenden.” Like the Tauran,
he provided his name, but didn’t divulge his rank. The male’s
overconfident attitude grated on his nerves. Morshant knew
something, a secret he wasn’t sharing. “A moment.” Vren slammed the
door in the man’s face, then rushed across the room, quickly
slipping into Bethany’s bedroom.

He was relieved when he saw she was
fully clothed and had just pulled on her boots. She grabbed his out
of a bag and gave them to him.

“
A Tauran shuttle has
arrived to take me off planet,” he explained while pulling on his
footgear. “I fear for you safety.”

“
Then take us with you.”
She rushed into his arms.

He crushed her to him and dipped his
head to nuzzle the top of her forehead before he slid her up his
until he could kiss her. She hungrily met his lips. Her soft moan
of desperation put a crack in his resolve to leave without
her.