Savor Me Slowly (Alien Huntress #3)(56)
Author: Gena Showalter

Jaxon watched as two human males took residence behind Nolan, their expressions leery, guarded as they scanned.

Hired protection?

Nolan had to know A.I.R. would be here. That’s what the alien wanted, after all. Also, he had to know two humans would mean nothing. Pyre-fire would cut through them like a knife through silk.

Nolan didn’t glance around or seem concerned in the least as the hostess led him deeper into the restaurant. That worried Jaxon. Could mean the alien knew something he didn’t. What?

Nolan kept the prostitute hidden, shielding her by keeping her slightly behind him and to the side. Purposefully? Women turned to stare at him. Even the hostess was not immune. She cast him lingering glances over her shoulder. Her ni**les were hard, her limbs shaky. Several times she tripped over her own feet and bumped into tables.

Then, the group reached their table and Nolan moved out of the way.

Jaxon found himself staring at Mishka. His heart slammed against his ribs, bones nearly cracking. She laughed up at something Nolan had said, revealing perfect white teeth.

Teeth Jaxon had licked past to get inside her mouth.

Jealousy blended with shock and arousal.

“Don’t,” Mia suddenly said, obviously sensing his need to stand and tackle Nolan. More, his need to gather Mishka in his arms, hold her tight, and never let go.

How long had the two been together? What had they discussed?

What the hell had they done?

CHAPTER 18

Le’Ace claimed her seat at Nolan’s table.

Jaxon’s hot gaze bored into her, igniting all kinds of physical reactions. Reactions she couldn’t hide. The pulse thundered in her neck. Like the waitress’s, her ni**les hardened to tiny points. Her skin flushed.

Though Jaxon had thickened his jawline, probably with rubber, lengthened his nose to a hawklike beak, and changed his eye and hair color, she’d recognized him the moment she’d stepped inside the restaurant. Her knees had almost buckled, her breath had caught in her throat, and heat had blossomed inside her chest to an unbearable degree.

He exuded a unique masculinity that she and the chip would probably always be able to pinpoint, no matter where they were or who they were with. More than that, there was no hiding the savage, possessive vibe he was now throwing her way.

Only one man had ever looked at her like that.

“You’re shaking,” Nolan said at her side, and he truly sounded concerned. He settled in his chair, his “friends,” men he’d plucked off the street and paid with jewels he’d stolen from the now fallen planet of Raka to guard him, remaining at the far wall to scope the building unimpeded. “Is he here?”

He. Jaxon. Gulping, she moved her gaze from one hand to the other. Sure enough. They were shaking like leaves in the wind. Control the goddamn shaking, she commanded the chip.

The tremors are your body’s way of releasing emotion. If they cease, the emotion will spike. Proceed with the cessation?

She ground her teeth together. No.

“Yes,” she told Nolan, supplying information he already possessed. “He’s here.” Perhaps it would have been better if the memory wipe had worked. Being without Jaxon caused the very world she’d fought to build to crumble, just as she’d expected. Only, the reality was much more devastating.

Nolan’s sensual lips lifted in a slow smile. “Finally.”

“I’m counting five other agents.”

His smile did not fade. “I only counted four.”

“You’re forgetting the van parked down the street. There has to be at least one other agent inside. Probably two or three.”

“Ah, the van.” He nodded, thoughtful. “That’s right.”

“We’re probably being recorded right now.”

He shrugged, unconcerned.

Cocky little shit. He viewed himself as invincible, women his to command. But that mind-set had a fatal flaw: Le’Ace. Oh, he knew her identity and knew she belonged to Jaxon. He simply considered his appeal greater and assumed she would eventually fall for him. Although, she suspected, he didn’t want his appeal to be greater. He wanted her to prove she loved Jaxon.

That’s what everything came down to for Nolan. Love.

He’d known who she was since she’d approached him three days ago. But then, her disguise wasn’t, and had not been, for his benefit. She had many different personas in this town, and she had to be careful which ones she showed in public. If the wrong person saw her as Marie or Clarisse or Tess or any number of other women, she could be followed, shot at, or even be forced to retire an identity she’d spent years erecting.

She sighed. Nolan expected her to convince Jaxon to help him or ultimately save him herself. Unless he’d tricked her, which was always a possibility.

“What can I get you to drink?” their waiter asked.

She wanted a shot of vodka to steady her nerves. Can I handle it?

You’ve lost three pounds in the last week. You haven’t eaten today. That much alcohol will render you vulnerable and ineffective.

“Min-water,” she said, disappointed.

After Nolan placed his order, she leaned forward and said to the waiter, “Don’t look, but there’s a gentleman behind you with a ‘God and Country’ tattoo and a pretty brunette at his side. Know who I’m talking about?”

The man nodded.

“Take him a flaming cock’s tail, compliments of me.”

With a nod, the waiter was off.

“The brunette,” Nolan said, tracing a finger over his water glass. “Who is she?”

“Just another agent,” Le’Ace lied.

“Are you jealous of her?”

Jealous of Mia Snow, bitch extraordinaire? “Yes,” she admitted. There was no reason to lie about that. “I know her. She and I have history.” And it wasn’t pretty. Mia hated her and had every right to do so.

Long ago, Le’Ace had been ordered to execute Mia’s friend to show the other A.I.R. recruits the consequences of betrayal, intentional or not. Le’Ace had made the mistake of reading the girl’s file first; the troubled past, the sexual abuse, had tugged at her heart, for she’d understood the girl’s need to love and be loved and how easily that need could lead someone astray.

She had begged her boss at the time, Estap’s father, to spare the girl.

He’d refused so she’d begged some more. In the end, her continued refusal earned her severe punishment. He’d used the chip to shoot painful electrical pulses through her brain, and those pulses had laid her flat for days. By the third day, she’d practically begged to kill the girl.