Janaya (3 page)

He’d fallen down a damn rabbit hole! Luke’s arms throbbed. His shoulders ached from holding his body weight. And he worried for his sanity. Little green men and talking dogs. Yep, he was losing it.

“Are you going to help me or not?” Okay, he was starting to sound a little testy. Must be something to do with the psychosis he’d suddenly developed. The woman disappeared from his sight but Luke could hear her issuing orders to the younger one.

At the top of the cliff, Hinekiri glared at Janaya. “Help him.” Then she fixed her glare on the dog. “And you, shut up about food. We’ll find some later.”

The dog wagged its tail. “Shutting up right now.”

Janaya gaped at her aunt. “How can I help him?” She wasn’t going anywhere near that cliff edge.

“Janaya.”

The crisp no-nonsense tone of her aunt’s voice had Janaya moving like the well-trained protection officer she was. Swallowing, she inched closer to the cliff edge. Instantly, vertigo made her head swim and she jerked back to safety. “I can’t.”

“You’re a bodyguard. Go guard his body.”

Janaya’s guilt grew. She’d been so rattled with her aunt’s revelations about bonding with the Earthman she hadn’t thought first. She’d merely reacted to the noise and fired her weapon. A failure of a basic bodyguard principle—confirm target before discharging weapon.

“Are you gonna bloody help me or not?”

He sounded irritated and she could hardly blame him. She’d have to help. She couldn’t let her aunt put herself in danger and Hinekiri would go over the edge if Janaya didn’t do something quickly. Janaya sucked in a deep breath and pushed every scrap of fear to a compartment at the back of her mind.

“Oh for goodness’ sake,” her aunt snapped.

Janaya felt a shove in the middle of her back. She stumbled forward and fell headlong over the cliff. A panicked screech emerged as her arms windmilled. Somehow, she slowed the fall and her body righted itself. “Hinekiri!” she cried, her heart pounding so loudly she could hardly hear herself think. “What’s happening?”

“I’m here.” Her aunt’s concerned face peered down at her. “Fly,” she ordered. “Use your strength.”

Fly? Her aunt had flown her bucket of bolts too close to the sun.

No sooner had she thought about flying than she hovered in the air beside the man. Janaya looked down. Terror jerked her into a frenzy of movement. Her hands shot out to clutch at the man’s waist. Their combined weights strained the flax bush. Dirt pelted their heads and the plant roots made a cracking noise as one by one they released their grip on the cliff. Janaya screamed. The Earthman cursed fluidly with words she’d never heard before.

“Janaya! Drag that man back up here this instant. Don’t make me come down there.”

“No! Stay there!” Terror made Janaya tense. Couldn’t her aunt follow instructions for once?

“Do you have a rope?” Luke shouted up to her aunt. He didn’t believe Hinekiri’s assertions any more than she did.

“Janaya, move your butt. Now.” Something in her aunt’s voice told Janaya to obey. Without looking down, she thought about flying again. Traces of panic shimmered through her mind as she clung to the man and raised her head to look up at her aunt’s encouraging face.

“That’s it, Janaya. Think about moving upward. Imagine solid ground beneath your feet.”

“Get a rope,” the man gritted out, his hands gripping a fist full of flax leaves so hard the color bleached from his hands. “Don’t listen to your damn-fool aunt. That’s a hundred foot drop below.”

Janaya looked down. She gasped and clutched at his shirt. She was very aware of the Earthman’s hard muscles pressed against her breasts, her belly, her thighs. His clean scent teased her nostrils, making her heart beat faster. Then remorse surfaced at the direction of her thoughts. She was promised to Santana.

“Sweetheart, as much as I’m enjoying being personal with you this is neither the time nor place.” For an instant, dark eyes held a hint of amusement along with masculine interest. Then his eyes glinted with determination to survive. “A rope. Now.”

Janaya jerked her hands from behind the Earthman’s neck and pushed against his chest. Instantly, she dropped several feet down the cliff. A screech squeezed past her lips.

“Center your mind, Janaya,” her aunt hollered. “Pretend you’re training.”

The words pierced her rising panic. In a leap of faith, Janaya loosened her grip on the out-jutting rock she’d clutched. She pushed away from the cliff and found herself hovering beside the Earthman. Unattached to anything. For an instant fear strangled her. She grabbed for the nearest handhold. Sharp spikes pierced her palms, and she let go as quickly as if she’d grasped flames. A masculine hand grabbed her outstretched hand.

“Concentrate, dammit,” the Earthman growled. “At least fly up to the top and get a rope so you can haul me up.”

Fly to the top. Huh! Ungrateful lout. Janaya grabbed the Earthman by his shirt collar and hauled upward. They shot upward like a cork from a bottle of sizzling cacjuice. At the top of the cliff, they barely missed her aunt. Janaya twisted her body to compensate. The Earthman flew through the air like a lightweight trainee. Janaya glanced down at the ground. They were hovering half a body’s height above the ground. And Janaya wanted to stand on solid ground. Desperately.

No sooner had she thought the image than they plummeted. The Earthman hit the ground first and Janaya dropped on top of him. He groaned.

“Are you all right?” Janaya demanded. Guilt gripped her mind as she pushed up on her elbows and ran her hands across his chest, shoulders, and arms.

“Stop,” he gasped out.

“Tell me where it hurts,” Janaya demanded. Before he could answer, she ran her hands down his legs.

The male let out a husky groan. His eyes fluttered open to look right at her. His sensuous mouth turned up slowly into a grin. Dark eyes shone with warmth and distinct humor. “Keep that up, sweetheart, and we could get real cozy.”

Janaya froze, her right hand on the Earthman’s upper thigh. His hands curled around her shoulders and lifted her off him. His eyes crinkled at the corners in silent laughter. She felt answering warmth in her cheeks. The heat intensified when she heard her aunt’s cackle.

The dog growled suddenly, a low deep rumble that raised the hairs at the back of Luke’s neck. Luke leapt to his feet as two figures in lilac one-piece suits sprang from beneath the drooping leafy strands of a rimu tree. They charged Hinekiri, shiny weapons the size of a handgun extended in front of them.

Janaya thrust Hinekiri behind her and faced the alien mercenaries.

Luke gaped up at them. It was hard not to. The lilac duo stood at around six foot, with long white blond hair and equally pale skin. Their faces seemed to bleed into their hair, making it look as though they had no face. Their pale white eyes reinforced the nothingness. Luke had no idea what sex they were. But he knew one thing. The sneers on their colorless lips were mean and he agreed with Janaya. They didn’t intend to leave survivors.

“Give us the charts and the journals and we’ll let you go,” Luke heard a guttural voice order.

“Bite my arse,” Janaya snapped. Balanced lightly on her feet, she held her hands in a defensive position.

Luke moved up beside her, thinking he’d love to bite her butt along with a few other parts.

“Take Hinekiri and lock yourselves inside the ship,” she said without taking her eyes off the aliens.

“I’m not leaving—”

The lilac duo rushed them. Luke pulled out his gun but Janaya moved even faster. She spun about and let rip with a kick at one of the weapons. It glinted silver as it flew through the air. The other alien fired. The violet flash from the weapon was blinding, close enough to sear his eyeballs. But it missed.

Janaya took one bounding step and smashed her knee into the alien’s face.

“Go, Janaya!” Hinekiri cheered from behind him.

“Get her in the ship,” Janaya snarled over her shoulder.

Luke gestured at Hinekiri with a jerk of his head. “Do as she says. Let Janaya concentrate on what she needs to do.”

“We may as well,” the dog complained. “They don’t have food.”

Once he was sure Hinekiri was inside the ship, he turned back to Janaya. She feinted a move to the right then lashed out with another lethal blow with her left foot. She landed a kick. Luke heard the crack of bones as one of the aliens crashed to the ground. Janaya pointed her weapon at the still form and calmly pulled the trigger. The alien disintegrated before his eyes, leaving nothing but a pile of smoking embers.

Luke stared, shock holding him immobile. Janaya stalked the other alien.

It backed up, then fumbled for its weapon. Luke noticed the weapon shook despite the alien’s scowling bravado.

“Police,” Luke shouted. “Put the weapon down.” Healthy fear slithered through his veins as the alien’s cold gaze sliced through him, rampant with the promise of retaliation.

“Stay out of this,” the alien snarled, brandishing his weapon at Luke.

Luke froze, glancing at the pile of dust that was all that remained of the dead alien. He didn’t want to end up in the same condition.

Behind him, the dog barked. Luke watched it dart into the low scrub to the right of the spaceship. Seconds later, the dog shot out behind the alien and sank sharp teeth into the back of his calf.

“Get the devil creature off,” the alien shouted and shook his leg vigorously, kicking out and swinging the dog through the air.

With the alien distracted, Janaya jumped him, hitting out with her fist. Off-balance, the alien wobbled and toppled to the ground with the dog still attached to his leg.

Janaya didn’t hit like a girl, Luke thought, pursing his lips in a silent whistle of admiration.

A sharp bark erupted from her lips. The dog released the alien’s leg, and Janaya snatched up the alien weapon. A bright violet light blinded Luke. He blinked twice to clear his vision. The second alien had burnt to a crisp. All that remained was a pile of purple-tinted dust.

Luke blinked. Janaya pushed past him and hurried to her aunt’s side.

“You all right?” she asked her aunt.

“Good job, dear. Where did they come from?”

“I told you they’d follow.”

“Do I get food now?” the little dog asked.

Janaya stooped to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “Do you have a calling name?”

“My former owners on Risches called me Annie. Don’t like that one. Want a new name.”

Janaya grinned at the little dog’s disgruntled tone. “All right. What would you like us to call you?”

“Killer,” the dog said with a decisive bark.

Janaya chuckled. “All right, then. Killer, thanks for the help.”

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on?” Luke demanded. He eyed the dog uneasily. He’d understood every word of their conversation and he didn’t like it one bit.

Janaya whirled around. Luke had witnessed everything. How would he judge her now that he’d witnessed the brutality that was her life? She was good at her job and she wasn’t going to apologize for it.

“Torgon,” she said curtly to cover her trepidation. Her heart pounded. Blood roared through her veins on seeing the intentness, the promise in his dark eyes. Without thinking, she lifted her hand to cup his jaw. The dark stubble felt rough beneath her fingertips. Warmth from his skin sizzled through her hand and up her arm. Janaya’s gaze tangled with the man’s and a brief shiver of awareness rippled through her sensitized body. She moistened her lips.

“You gonna tell me what you eat for breakfast?” he whispered. “Just so I’m prepared.”

Somehow, Janaya wasn’t sure when Luke had moved even closer. Every inch of her skin tingled, craving his touch, the sensation of his hands running across her bare skin. His clean scent teased at her nostrils, making her want to press her nose to his neck and breathe deeply.

His dark eyes seemed to soften and he lowered his head, his lips stopping a whisper above hers, his eyes still holding her gaze. “Right after you tell me what the hell just happened.”

“Janaya stowed away without inoculations.”

Janaya’s head jerked in the direction of her aunt’s voice. She scowled. Subtle her aunt wasn’t, referring to the way this man had imprinted on her. Janaya took a step back and looked up at Luke from a safer distance, where she couldn’t succumb to temptation and touch him. The way his lips had set to a determined line told her he’d demand answers until he got what he wanted.

“Let me check your hands,” he demanded. “You’re bleeding.”

Janaya didn’t think it was a good idea to let him touch her, not again while her willpower was at an all-time low. The need to rip off his clothes and service him shocked her rigid. She glanced at her aunt and caught a teasing smile of understanding.

“You could always kiss him, dear. That’s my suggestion.”

Give in to the desire.

Heat suffused Janaya’s cheeks at the thought, and she hurriedly thrust out her hand for Luke to examine. A gasp escaped as his fingers curled around hers. The gesture felt too intimate, too personal.

“Although tempted, I don’t require a kiss at the moment.” His dark eyes held amusement tempered with something more. Something she didn’t want to investigate too closely. “I want answers. Am I going to have aliens in lilac popping up all over the town?”

“I…ah…” Janaya glanced at her aunt.

A small box attached to Luke’s belt squawked. “Tell me in a minute.” He plucked the box off his belt and pressed a button. “Yeah?”

The tinny voice was clearly discernable to all three.

“Mrs. Bates wants a situation report. She says her sister sighted the UFO over Ted Morrison’s wheat field.”

“Oops,” Hinekiri said. “Sounds like the cloaking device is out as well as the landing gear.”

Luke stared at Hinekiri then Janaya. “I’ll look into it.” After pressing a button on the handheld radio, he said, “Tell me this is a dream—overactive imagination. Confirm my suspicions about Mrs. Bates drinking the vicar’s wine.”

Janaya tore her gaze from Luke’s somber face to glare at her aunt.

“That depends.” Hinekiri gave a delicate cough.

“That’s what I thought,” Luke snapped. “You are the little green men.”