“I already told your boss no. Four years hasn’t changed my mind. How did you find me?” Gabriel scowled at the Aksukt looming over him.
“Finding people is what I do, among many other things.” Mit-noc’s ingratiating, toothless smile, though no doubt meant to placate Gabriel, had the opposite effect.
With looks like his, it’s no wonder the Aksukt usually keep to themselves. Gabriel felt bad for the unkind thought, but the fact this Mit-noc had come looking for him on behalf of a Dantovonian brothel owner—that he’d found Gabriel after such a long time—was disquieting.
The face hanging over Gabriel’s head, at the end of a knobby stalk of a neck, leaned closer. The stockroom’s dim environs made Mit-noc’s face skull-like, a horror mask. His eyes flickered red and orange. “My client proposes a fair and equitable contract. Your basic needs of clothes and food will be seen to. You’ll keep any gifts your patrons see fit to offer you. The clientele is quite wealthy, you know.”
Gabriel eased back a step, glancing into the well-lit shop mere feet away. Iliana stood in the middle of the store, among shelves of pre-packaged gourmet foods. She was angled to watch for customers entering their store and to keep an eye on him at the same time.
Affection warmed him. Despite being four years younger, his sister was as protective of him as he was of her.
He returned his attention to the bluish-white-skinned alien. “I refuse to work in a Dantovonian brothel. Even if it appealed to me—and it doesn’t—it’s along Earther military routes. They won’t think twice about snatching me from your employer and putting me on trial.”
As he spoke, the image of a man screaming as his genitals were sliced into erupted in Gabriel’s head. He shut down the memory as quickly as it came, a skill honed from years of devoted practice.
“They’ll never know you’re there,” Mit-noc wheedled, his slitted nostrils opening and closing faster than before. He waved node-covered hands. “Your presence and activities will be kept under the highest discretion—”
“Hold on.” Gabriel had peeked into the shop again. His heart slammed into overdrive at the sight of three huge men talking to Iliana.
His first impression had been they were steroid-fed human ground soldiers, rarely seen on the Adraf’s Zryktysk Station. But the trio was bigger than most men he’d seen, and the black uniforms weren’t Earth issue.
Kalquorians?
Without another word to Mit-noc, Gabriel plowed into the store, his head lowered like a charging bull, fists clenched. At five-feet-nine, with half the carved musculature of those accosting his sister, he was no match for Earth’s least-favorite aliens, should they prove hostile. No matter. They’d touch her over his dead body.
Three pairs of blue-purple eyes slid his direction as he neared. Cat-slitted eyes, set in dark brown faces framed with long hair as black as his. He glanced at Iliana as she looked at him.
She blinked. One, slow, deliberate blink. Their signal that she wasn’t in trouble. At least, not yet.
Gabriel assumed a slightly less confrontational posture and took his place at Iliana’s side. Her stance, with her arms crossed at her waist, was relaxed. Okay, good. No sign of danger.
Trained in taekwondo, Iliana was more capable of handing a guy his ass than Gabriel. Nevertheless, he glowered at the Kalquorians, playing his role of the man who wouldn’t hesitate to guard his sister’s honor. Other men always saw him as the bigger threat.
Well, I did beat the shit out of that stalker on Mercy Colony. I do okay when a baseball bat is handy.
Unfortunately, he’d left his bat in the storeroom. He’d have to run for it if the situation went south.
“Ah. You’re already spoken for, Matara?”
Gabriel started at the friendly, accented voice more than the fact the brute in the blue-trimmed uniform spoke English. His gentle demeanor was as surprising.
Not really a brute. Big and muscled…and quite striking. Bearded, chiseled-jaw handsome, despite the slightly crooked nose that hinted at a past break.
“This is my brother, Captain Baknu.” Iliana turned to Gabriel. “These fellows are inviting me to Kalquor. To live in luxury and freedom, as Earth won’t allow.”
She was apparently quoting their sales pitch. Her smirk told Gabriel what she thought of the proposition.
It was the latest bid for her affections in a long line of such. Overt or subtle, they all added up to the same thing—her execution for breaking Earth’s strict morality laws. With a side of torture.
Reminding himself of that helped Gabriel ignore the Kalquorian’s engaging smile. “Did you tell them what they can do with their offer?”
“I was getting to that.”
Since the captain’s good looks were a tad too distracting, Gabriel looked at the bigger man on the alien’s left. Prophets, he was gorgeous too. Unrepentantly masculine, his red-trimmed sleeveless uniform gave Gabriel an unhampered view of carved biceps the size of tree trunks. What the formfitting outfit covered left little to the imagination. Heat filled Gabriel, and he dragged his gaze to the man’s face.
No winning smile there, but he was riveting all the same. Bearded like his companion, but otherwise dissimilar to Baknu—broader features, a sense of wildness that was more aura than facial structure. Every bit as handsome as the captain. As Gabriel met his gaze, his pulse pounding in his ears, the other man’s attention focused on him with laser-beam intensity.
The alien looked Gabriel over, taking in the expensive shoes, well-cut trousers, and silk blue shirt that matched his eyes. The stare swept up until it greeted Gabriel’s again.
A grin appeared, dazzling against the black facial hair. A knowing leer, as if he’d discovered Gabriel’s best-guarded secret.
The alien winked at him. His lips moved, forming silent words. Pretty boy.
Gabriel felt as if he’d been punched in the gut, without the pain. He couldn’t breathe. He went strangely warm, his body almost light enough to leave the ground. He tried to speak, but his lips had numbed. He had no idea what he’d have said anyhow.
The Kalquorian’s grin stretched larger. He nodded, as if to answer a question Gabriel hadn’t asked.
All the while, Baknu and Iliana had been talking, a distant hum of meaningless syllables. Gabriel forced himself to break from the other man’s stare, to attend to the potential threat the aliens posed to his sister.
“I had no idea you had family, Matara.” Baknu’s gaze assessing Gabriel was as intense as his companion’s had been, though gentler. “I take it the ties are strong?”
“Very strong. Where I go, he goes. Same the other way around.” Iliana nudged Gabriel.
“Yeah. All we have is each other.” He was surprised he could speak and embarrassed he’d shared something personal.
“Commendable that you’re so dedicated.” Baknu’s regard wrapped itself around Gabriel. He could feel it, warm and secure.
He cleared his throat. “Totally dedicated.”
“Then I extend the invitation to you as well, young man. You would be a most welcome guest on my ship, should you desire to join us.” Baknu drew out the word desire, his meaning apparent to even a virgin unused to propositions.
Gabriel’s cock twitched, and the ground wobbled under his feet.
Desperate to get control over the confusion swirling his brain, he glanced at the biggest man of the trio. Black hair swept in careless waves from clean-shaven, guileless visage. Twinkling purple eyes, gentle smile, beautifully symmetrical features. The broadest shoulders he’d ever seen on an impossibly sturdy, strong frame. Kalquorians apparently held the patent on hot men.
The trio bowed to him. They actually bowed in a courtly manner, their gazes never shifting from him. His heart stuttered.
The captain’s voice was velvet. “I am Dramok Baknu, captain of a delivery freighter currently docked here. My clanmates, Nobek Kisk—” he of the lecherous wink “—and Imdiko Takat. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”
Normally, Gabriel wouldn’t have responded, except to order those who posed a danger to his sister out of the shop. He was too off-balance to think twice. “Gabriel. Gabriel Rossi.”
“Hello, Gabriel.” The manner in which Baknu spoke his name, caressing the syllables, was like being physically touched.
Where had the air gone? He couldn’t draw a proper breath.
The broad-shouldered Takat looked him over, much as the winking Kalquorian had. His expression was openly lascivious. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes. A great pleasure.” Nobek Kisk’s growling tone shook Gabriel’s bones. His intense stare told him what was on his mind.
Iliana gave Gabriel’s sleeve a sharp tug to wake him from the hypnotic spell the aliens had cast. “He’s unavailable too, Kalqs. Are you trying to get him killed? If the wrong people saw how you’re looking at him…”
She scanned the store’s open front, past the shelves of packaged gourmet foods, along with a smattering of gift items and basic toiletries, all geared toward Earther needs and tastes. She knew as well as Gabriel that no Earther ships were currently docked at Zryktysk Station. Living in fear had made it a habit to look for fellow humans when any situation seemed dicey.
Baknu blinked at her, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “No Earth ships are in the vicinity, Matara.”
“None scheduled to dock for a month. None close enough to get here for three weeks, even at top speed,” Kisk added.
“It’s perfectly safe to discuss our offer.” Takat’s musical tenor was at odds with his brawn.
“An offer for you both.” Baknu gazed at Gabriel before addressing Iliana again. “A fine home for you, Matara, with a top-ranking government official and his clan. The liberty to pursue whatever interests you, whether it be career, hobby, or sitting around and being adored.”
“In exchange for what?” Her tone bordered on aggressive.
“Children. Our people are going extinct.” Takat’s beam faded into mournfulness.
“Really? I’d heard you’re after sex slaves.”
That reminded Gabriel of Mit-noc. Prophets save him, he couldn’t look away from the Kalquorians to see how impatiently the Aksukt must be waiting for him.
“You’ll be equal to any Kalquorian on our planet. The hope is that you and the clan selected for you will enjoy each other’s company enough to produce a new generation and save our culture.” Takat gave Iliana a smile that should have melted her socks. Was she wearing socks? Gabriel couldn’t move to check that either.
“The clan selected for me? Not your clan?” Gabriel’s sister wasn’t melting. She never did.
Baknu tempered his words with a slight bow. “You’re a most lovely woman, Matara. However, my clan—we aren’t the sort of men who can properly appreciate a lady.” He glanced at Gabriel briefly. Assessing. “We’re here to extend our planet’s deal on behalf of clans more suited to loving a woman.”
“Love, huh? What if I think they’re jerks? What if I hate them?”
“Then you can choose another clan. With the freedom to experience all they have to offer with no fear of execution.” His gaze cut to Gabriel again. “Your brother has the same option.”
With you and your clanmates? Gabriel’s heart thundered.
Even if Baknu was interested in nothing more than a tryst, Kalquorian men were known to enjoy intimate liaisons with all sexes and many species. Gabriel had indulged in more than a few fantasies that such men might find him attractive. That he’d discover some opportunity to experience what he’d only fantasized about.
The freedom to be himself, with no fear of repercussions. Was that what this Baknu proposed? A life on Kalquor itself, out of reach of Earth’s judgment? His soul cried for the sweet promise of no more lies, no more pretending, no more nightmares—and no more loneliness.
He fought off impossible hope and spoke, the words fish hooks tearing his throat. “Not possible.”
“Entirely possible. You just have to take a chance.” Takat’s regard was gentle. The men’s attention was riveted on him again, as if they’d forgotten Iliana stood there.
“Are you really going extinct?” Gabriel wasn’t sure where the words came from.
“Within three hundred years, or so the rumors say.” Baknu stepped closer to him, close so Gabriel caught the scent of his cologne. Sweet. Cinnamon-y. Like candy. Or pastry. Can I have a lick?
“Well, good luck with surviving. I’m not in the market for a husband, let alone three. Gabriel, did your visitor take off?” Iliana wandered off, dismissing the Kalquorians.
Gabriel had no answer. He was stuck in place, unable to move as the alien trio shifted nearer to him. Close enough to touch, to run his hands all over those powerful physiques. Prophets, he wanted to. So bad, it hurt.
It was impossible, though. It had to be impossible.
Kisk of the knowing wink smiled down on him. “What about you, Gabriel? Are you in the market for a clan?”
“I—I won’t leave my sister. Not for anything.” Fish hooks tearing at this throat again, bleeding tears to wash his aching heart.
They exchanged glances. Baknu nodded. “Then we’ll have to see what we can do to sweeten the bid for her. A boy as lovely as you, so devoted and loyal, deserves a clan to keep him happy and safe.”
Gabriel tried to respond. He stood there, mute and aching for what was so close but eternally out of reach.
They backed away. Bowed. “We’ll see you again soon, Gabriel.” A promise as they left the shop, their gazes lingering on him until they passed out of sight.
He resisted running to the door to watch them go, that glimmer of a paradise forever denied him. He stayed rooted to the spot instead…barely.
Now on sale!
After
fleeing Earth’s Mercy Colony six years before, Gabriel Rossi and his sister
Iliana have carved out a decent life on a remote Adraf space station. Each
avoids contact with other humans as much as possible. Gabriel’s life is
adequate, but he yearns to be free to love as he was born to.
Clan
Baknu has been tasked with convincing Iliana to return to Kalquor with them to
join a clan. But when Baknu, Takat, and Kisk meet her stunning older brother,
they’re eager to claim an Earther companion of their own.
Though
Gabriel falls for the three men on sight, his priority is Iliana, who’s less
than enthralled about joining a Kalquorian clan. Worse still, a sadistic slave
trader is determined to claim Gabriel for purposes too terrible to imagine.
Clan Baknu pulls out all the stops to convince the Rossis that they can find love and happiness among the Kalquorians. They dare death to keep Gabriel out of the grasp of a murderous crime lord, who won’t stop until the Earther is his. Yet their greatest challenge is showing Gabriel dreams can come true…if he’ll accept their love.
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