Page 3 of Two Aliens Are Better Than One (Bodyguards in Space #1)
Chapter 2
Vaelu
M y neighbor was an irritating little human woman with no respect for boundaries, or for the rules of the Chokreini culture. She must have been satisfied with the results of our first encounter, because she kept returning.
And every damn time the Earth woman showed up outside my door in the middle of a session, I lost my uhmi and was jarred back into reality . She kept complaining about the noise, but I’d been assured that my room was completely soundproofed. Sometimes sessions with clients got a little intense, and shouting wasn’t uncommon, but she shouldn’t have been able to hear it. The sessions were taxing enough, but being yanked out of uhmi mid-session was physically painful.
This time, she’d somehow acquired the code to my doorbell and was ringing it repeatedly. I knew it was her because her presence was larger than life, and I could feel her even outside the door. She wasn’t unpleasant — in fact, in any other circumstances, I was sure I would have enjoyed her sense of humor, and maybe even her tendency to get super horny around me. But I wasn’t accustomed to people invading my space, not even with my explicit permission. A velasu’s space was sacred, and a civilian couldn’t just storm in wearing pajama pants with cartoon characters on them and yell at one.
No matter how pretty she was.
No, I would not think about her golden hair or curvy figure. Her grumpy rants were completely disruptive, and there was no excuse for the doorbell bullshit she was pulling right now. I stood, rubbing my forehead, and pulled on my robe, apologizing to my client as I opened the door. My last client had stormed out in a rage and called the authorities, but this one was more mellow.
Instead of greeting me with the proper protocol she shoved into my apartment, her eyes widening when she spotted my client. I liked her eyes, which were a pretty indigo blue, and big and wide, but her hair was her best, most fascinating, feature. It was thick and shiny, a riot of different shades of gold, and it curled into long spirals that hung down her back. It was always a little untamed, like her, I supposed. Chokreini hair was stick-straight and fairly uniform, coming only in shades of grey and silver.
“Seriously, a guy now?” she asked. She spoke Chokreini with an intriguing accent, slowing and stretching out the words like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I don’t discriminate by gender.” I frowned, wondering why she should be bothered if my clients were male or female. But I would not pry into her mind. I did not want to get to know her. “This is Maancox. Maancox, this is my neighbor, Lucky Clarke. She’s a human astrobiologist.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry. What did you say his name was?”
“Maancox,” Maancox said. She let out a weird noise, then started choking. Maancox rushed over and started thumping her on the back, which made tears stream from her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve met a human before. Very fascinating species,” he said to me, then to her, “I like your shoes.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling widely. Her shoes looked like she’d sewn a rainbow-colored children’s toy to her feet. I didn’t know the human animal they were supposed to represent, but it was something with a shiny gold horn sticking out of its forehead.
I sighed then gently guided my client towards the door. “Come. I apologize for the interruption, but there’s no way we’ll be able to get in deep again. I’m drained.”
“You want to get deep with Maancox,” Lucky said, eyes wide. I shot her a look that I hoped communicated something along the lines of shut the fuck up, without actively pushing that into her mind.
“I’ll deal with this issue with my space and we can resume our sessions next week,” I said as Maancox resisted leaving, not because he was upset by the interruption to our routine but because he couldn’t stop staring at Lucky’s breasts, which I admit had a pleasing shape in the thin, sleeveless top she was wearing.
“Are you sure she is all right?” He was trying to peek past me as I did my best to block his view of her. I could practically see the hearts forming in his eyes, so I couldn’t tell him I was positive she was laughing at him, though I wasn’t sure what was so funny.
“She’s fine. Remember what you’re in sessions for,” I said firmly, trying to back my stern words up with appropriately forceful body language. Maancox was oblivious to body language, which might have had been why he was in a mess that required my help in the first place, now that I thought about it. He tried to peek past me again.
“She’s quite beautiful and exotic. Do you think she’s single?” That question irritated me on so many levels.
“It’s illegal to form an attachment to a human,” I snapped, then regained my composure. “Mr. Kummin, again, I would caution you to remember why you are in session with me.” With that, I took a slow breath and backed up one step, keeping my expression firm and commanding.
“It’s a mere fascination. I don’t think it hurts anyone,” he said, his eyes darting back to me, full of fear and respect.
“Even a fascination is not appropriate for someone in your position, especially if we consider the consequences of your past indiscretions.” The threat of airing his dirty laundry in the space station corridor, where anyone might hear, finally put an end to his distracted state of mind. He was a minister in the Chokri government, and had been sent to my care for rehabilitation.
The Chokreini Prime didn’t approve of dating outside our species, and he’d gone well beyond that. And even if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t condone his sexual interest in her. I all but shoved him out of the room, rubbing my hands over my forehead as I turned back to face Lucky.
She’d calmed the choking was standing next to the window that looked out towards the central pod, which contained a beautiful garden and some shops and restaurants. The light from the pod glowed in her hair and cast softly across her features. Everything about her was soft and curved, from her heart-shaped face to the rounded thickness of her legs. It was so different from the way a Chokreini woman was built, but I couldn’t help but agree with my client about her beauty.
“How do you have the code to my doorbell?” I asked.
“I have my ways,” she said, and the smile that spread across her lips was pure sex. Had she exchanged sexual favors for the code, or merely flirted with someone?
“Well, I’ll be changing it.” I wouldn’t, though, would I? Because there was something intriguing about her interruptions, about the way she flaunted civility and rules.
“I’d stop bothering you if you’d see your clients during the day,” she said.
“Their schedules don’t always allow that. Why was that exchange funny? Mr. Kummin is an important client.”
“Wait, his name is Maancox Ku—” She giggled, then stopped herself and took a slow breath. “Okay, I am not twelve years old. It’s not that funny.” She snickered a little then started laughing, holding up one finger as she tried to compose herself. “His name is a little humorous in English. In a very juvenile way. Was he hitting on me?”
“Why are you in my apartments? Again? I need to cleanse the room.”
“Because of me?” she asked, frowning and glancing around. “Fuck, don’t stop by my place.”
“Why would I stop by your place?”
“I dunno. Borrow a cup of sugar? Chat about the latest neighborhood gossip?”
I cleared my throat, ignoring that tempting vision. “I will not be visiting. Cleansing is something I do after difficult clients. That’s all you need to know.”
“Difficult? He seemed nice. Though I was expecting a woman from the orgasmic screams.”
I didn’t think there’d been orgasmic screams coming from my room during the session, but I’d been in pretty deep. Sometimes I got lost inside the client’s mind and lost track of the outside world. And Maancox Kummin’s mind had been a bit of a hellscape, though not in the usual way of my clients. Most were dealing with personal trauma or a difficult situation, but Maancox was just… not a good person. And yet not a bad enough person to go to jail for it.
“I’m sorry if there were any noises that you found disruptive. I’ve asked the Council to look into the sound-proofing between our two rooms.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” She sounded surprised enough that it was a little insulting. “I assume from the size of your room that you must have some pull.”
“Yes.”
“Right.” She twiddled her thumbs, looking around the room.
“Is that all?”
She hesitated, and I could sense something else at the edge of her consciousness, something she wanted to say, but she held it back. “I suppose that’s all. I really just want to sleep. Please? I’m a scientist, which you know, because you have clearly checked into me. It’s very difficult to use my brain for thinking when it hasn’t had any rest.”
Nodding, I showed her to the door, resisting the urge to help her in any other way. I was not permitted to use my abilities on someone like her. “I will do my best.” And that was all I could give her. I could tell that she didn’t think it was enough, however.