Page 82 of Alien Jeopardy

“Cranyx?” she asks, tripping over the word.

“Another species,” I tell her. “They were… populous here.”

Alarm bells sound, a klaxon in my mind—talking about the species who were on this station all those years ago feels like a very dangerous proposition. The station’s sentience, the one Ellison named Ken, is surely listening in to all our conversations.

The being is not stable, or it would not have taken over this competition.

Bringing up the missing population won’t help matters, of that much I’m sure.

“Come on,” I tell her. “I will show you. The sleeping quarters are typically below ground, where the Cranyx are more comfortable. There will be a bath there as well.”

“And no cameras,” she says. “We’ll be alone.”

“That’s what Ken No Privates said,” I tell her seriously.

I hope the sentience was telling the truth, because what I have planned to help my Ellison relax tonight is just between me and her.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

Ellison

The so-called bath is more like if a hot tub met an underground grotto.

Steam forms a cloud of vapor over the bubbling waters, and I stare at the bath, hewn out of rock, in complete disbelief.

The air down here, in the underground level, is colder than above, and the steaming waters sound like the perfect way to unwind.

I don’t even think about it. I don’t even pause to consider anything other than how badly I want to get in that tub and get clean and relax.

I strip the filthy clothes off me in a matter of seconds, then scramble over to the rough stone steps and submerge as quickly as I can.

It’s blissfully quiet and hot under the surface, and I’m immediately soothed.

When I surface, Rex hasn’t moved from the bottom of the stairs.

He looks shell-shocked, and I tilt my head, trying to figure out what’s wrong with him.

“What is it?” I ask in a hushed voice.

I thought I was all out of adrenaline, but the sight of him, so still—it freaks me right out.

“You are the most desirable female I have ever laid eyes upon. I would have thought I was sated after last night; I thought I could lie to myself about not needing you again, but right now? Right now I do not even want that water to touch your skin. I want all of you to myself.”

Oh, is that all?

A slow smile turns up the corners of my cheeks. “You scared me.”

His eyes narrow, and his shoulders slump slightly. “I promise you I can practice self-control.”

I stand up, the water coming up to just beneath the curve of my breasts.

His throat bobs.

“I wasn’t asking for self-control. I thought something was wrong.”

He says something in a low tone that doesn’t translate, and then he’s half running, half flying towards me. His pants hit the floor, and when I blink, he’s next to me again, wings spread high over the water.