“I lost my mom when I was young. That was…hard. Dad loved her so much. He isn’t like most politicians. He and my mom were childhood sweethearts, and he got into the politics game late. He didn’t even want to be president—it just kind of happened. After my mom died from breast cancer, he just fully lost himself in it. But he still loves me. I know how much his work means to him, so I didn’t complain about the security details or the charity balls or the political dinners.”

  Soren rubbed a hand up and down her bare back, soothing her in a way she hadn’t realized she needed. It was as though he could tell she’d wanted to talk to someone about this for a long time but had never had the chance until now.

  “I understand your father focusing on work to escape the dark oppression of tragedy in his life. You are a good daughter to help him through that grief by being at his side, even when you were grieving your mother’s loss too.”

  She sniffled, her nose suddenly burning as she blinked away tears.

  “When you invaded Earth on K-Day, it scared me, Soren. You just showed up, and I never had the chance to deal with it, the feeling of losing my planet, losing my future as I knew it.”

  “We didn’t want to scare you, but we had to be firm, or more lives would have been lost. We couldn’t afford to let the nations of Earth attempt to attack us. We had to take control right away.”

  “I know—I get it. But you scared me too, Soren.” She shivered, remembering how he’d caused her nightmares and her sexual fantasies for the last few years.

  “I didn’t know.” He lifted her head, and she looked up at him through tear-coated lashes. “But I promise you will never need to fear me again.”

  She managed a smile. “I know. I’m not afraid anymore.” She turned her face against his palm so she could press a kiss to his skin, and the soft affection in his eyes warmed her all over.

  If only they could stay here on this island and never worry about anything ever again…but that was a foolish dream. They both had important jobs—or at least, they would once she was working in the aquarium to help conservation efforts for the ocean. She wouldn’t give up her dreams to be his charl, and if he stayed true to his word, he wouldn’t make her give them up.

  When they were ready to leave, Bianca bid the beautiful hut on the water farewell. She and Soren climbed into his sleek silver ship on the shimmering white sands of the small private island. Within half an hour, they were back in New Jersey. He landed the ship on the lawn outside her dorm, and she paused at the sight of the agents in their car, still watching the dormitory. They didn’t react upon seeing her standing there next to Soren or his alien craft, which the bracelets had also been attuned to. She waved a hand at Mike and Scott, stunned that Soren’s cuff really seemed to work.

  “Remember, you must press the small groove on the side to turn off the cloak. But don’t do it until you are back in the building.”

  Bianca turned back to Soren, afraid to let him go. “What… What will you do?”

  “For now? I will find a new place to live nearby and will come for you tonight.”

  “Okay.” She pulled him to her for one more kiss. She didn’t want to think about how addicted she had become to him in so short a time. A glint of humor lit his eyes as he tapped the tip of her nose with his finger.

  “Work hard so tonight I can fuck you for hours and not worry about your exams.”

  She batted her lashes at him. “You’d better deliver on that promise.”

  He bent his head to nip her shoulder and cupped her bottom. The feel of his large palm gripping her, squeezing gently, only doubled her arousal. Her body throbbed with a desire for him to bite harder.

  “That’s a promise I’ll keep,” he assured her with a wicked wink, then turned back to his ship. Soon it rose into the sky and shot away toward the sun.

  Bianca watched the horizon a long moment before she sighed and headed inside her dormitory. He’d left her in a state of sexual frustration, and now she’d have to try to focus on her studying. Claudia was at her desk in their room. When Bianca closed their door, Claudia looked up, eyes wide in panic. She slowly reached for the drawer that held her can of Mace.

  “Who’s there?”

  “Claudia, it’s me!” She scrambled to find the groove on the cuff Soren had given her, and then she felt tingling all over her body when she pressed it. Claudia screeched and fell back onto her chair.

  “Jesus, Bianca!” Claudia pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me!”

  “Sorry.”

  “You okay? I couldn’t find you last night, but I didn’t want to call the agents. You looked like you knew what you were doing. We really need a system, you know? Text me next time.”

  “You’re right.” Bianca flopped down on her bed, her body languid after her marathon of sex with Soren. Claudia seemed to notice this with a cheeky smile.

  “So spill it. What happened?” She sat on her own bed opposite Bianca. “Or should I say, how much happened and how often?”

  “We went to that basement room your sister’s friend mentioned. It was… Oh my God. I can’t even… The furniture actually floats like your sister’s friend said. And…he bit me, Claudia.” She pulled down her blouse just past her neck, but she knew there were no marks, no evidence of that life-altering bite.

  “What was it like?”

  “Fucking amazing. You can’t imagine. He’s…” She couldn’t believe she was telling a friend about this, but she felt like she needed to tell somebody. “We did it against the wall, and then he bit me, and we did it again in bed until dawn. I only remember bits and pieces. After they bite you, it kind of scatters your mind a bit. I can only see last night like a highlight reel. You kind of lose your mind. And everything they do afterward feels so good.”

  She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, remembering all the dirty things Soren had done to her, how much she’d loved it—hell, begged for it. To go from a virgin to a Krinar sex toy in just a few days should have been shameful, but she couldn’t hate herself or Soren for simply embracing who they were together.

  “Wow! High-five, girl.” Claudia lifted her hand up, and Bianca delivered. Then they both laughed.

  “So what about you? Did you stay at the X-club long?”

  Claudia’s face reddened. “Oh yeah. There was a K there named Magnus. He was working the bar. I waited there for a bit to see if you would come back, and when you didn’t, I got to talking to him. Then he took his break, and we danced for a while. It was nice. Real nice. I’m going back to see him tonight. He’ll be working, but at least he’ll be there to spend the night with me.” Claudia bit her lip. “Did the bite hurt? I’m afraid that…” She trailed off.

  Bianca looked at her friend. “It hurts a little, only for a split second. Then all you feel is pleasure.” She paused. “Just be sure you trust him, though. Once you’re bitten, you’re not really in control anymore. They can do anything to you. So make sure you trust him.”

  Claudia frowned. “Maybe I shouldn’t go…”

  Bianca had an idea. “I can ask Soren about Magnus, make sure he’s a decent guy if you want.”

  Claudia brightened. “Could you?”

  “Absolutely. Now, let’s get some homework done. Soren made me promise to work hard, or else no sex tonight.”

  Claudia snickered. “Girl, you got it bad.”

  Bianca couldn’t disagree. She had it very bad indeed for that sexy Krinar ambassador.

  Soren entered his home in Washington, DC, unsurprised to find his twin there waiting for him.

  “You were supposed to return here last night. I waited for you.” Sef shrugged off his leather motorcycle jacket. Soren stared at the garment in surprise. Their people no longer ate meat or used animals for any purpose such as coats. Yet here his brother was, wearing leather. Sef followed Soren’s gaze back to the jacket.

  “My latest assignment. The Council wants me to infiltrate a group of resistance fighters in Kansas. I’m going incognito, as the humans would say.” Sef grinned. “I have contacts to make my eyes blue, and I’ll be dyeing my hair blond. No one will know I’m Krinar. It’s primitive, but it should be effective.”

  “Sounds like you found your calling,” Soren muttered.

  Sef frowned at him. Neither of them was accustomed to discord between them. They were somewhat unique. Naturally conceived children on Krinar were rare, given their lifespans, and twins were almost unheard of. When they were born, their scientists had run hundreds of tests on them. As they had grown up, their lives had continued to be monitored with interest. Soren and Sef had never shared just how deep their emotional connection ran, that at times they could in fact sense the other’s emotions.

  When Soren had been captured on Zaruth, Sef had known he was still alive and had spent the next two hundred years trying to find him before the Council had commanded him to stop. They had chosen wisely to push Sef into the role of a guardian, letting him pursue justice for their people since he could not rescue his own brother.

  When Soren had returned a hundred years later, he had changed and so had Sef. Darkness shrouded them both in different ways. Soren had grieved the loss of freedom and grieved the loss of his other half. The easy dependency between them had been severed. Soren often wondered if Sef was secretly still angry with him for disappearing, for leaving him alone when they had made a promise to never do that to one another.

  Sef watched him closely, leaning back against the kitchen counter as he sniffed the air. Soren wasn’t foolish—he had washed himself twice to erase Bianca’s scent from his skin.

  “So where were you last night?”

  “Grieving the loss of my charl,” Soren replied. If he dared to say something more flippant, it wouldn’t be true, and Sef would know it.

  Sef crossed his arms over his chest, his intense gaze still on Soren. “You’re a little old to be pouting, aren’t you?”

  Soren struck without hesitation, curling his fingers around Sef’s throat and smashing his brother into the wall by the fridge. Sef struggled to get free, his eyes finally showing a hint of gold lurking beneath the brown.

  “You beat me yesterday. I deserved it for stealing Bianca away and taking her virginity like that. But you will not win the next fight so easily. I suggest you hold your tongue, brother.” He gave Sef’s throat another squeeze before releasing him. Sef coughed and slapped a hand on the wall behind him for support, but he wasn’t angry. There was instead a strange look of relief on his face.

  “There you are. Been wondering if I’d ever see you again.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The brother I knew before Zaruth was a fighter. The male who came back from that planet was too cautious, too afraid of life, especially living his own.” Sef reached out and clapped his brother’s shoulder. “You’ll need that fighting spirit when you meet with Arus.” Sef left him alone, and Soren waited for the sound of the front door closing before he relaxed. He exhaled slowly and headed into his office.

  Several video messages awaited him from Arus, and he played through them all. By the last one, he could see the growing tension in Arus’s face. He contacted Arus; it took only a moment for them to be connected.

  Arus looked relieved. “You didn’t report in last night.”

  “I’m not exiled yet. My time is my own, for now.”

  “I was worried you might have done something foolish.”

  “I needed time to grieve losing my charl, Arus. I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me.”

  Arus’s gaze softened. “I can imagine how you suffer. Even having a charl for one day is long enough to feel the pain of losing her.”

  Soren didn’t like to lie to his friend, but the die had been cast. He would do anything to keep Bianca. As long as she wanted him, he would do everything to make her his.

  “The Council is still discussing the matter. I am doing my best to convince them not to send you back to Krina. But as you have been removed from the ambassador position, your ranking in society is falling. Many agree you should have chosen more prudently who you wanted as a companion. There are billions of human females to pick from. You did not need to choose the daughter of a leader whose support we need.”

  Soren nodded as though chastened, but secretly he replayed in his mind the moments of making love to Bianca in the large canopy bed on a private island in the Caribbean. How she’d screamed his name when she’d come undone beneath him. Then he remembered how she’d lain beside him on the sand and held his hand while he’d talked of his family and his people. He would have no connection to another woman the way he did with her. There could be no other. If he had to, he would wait, seduce Bianca over the next fifty years, and when her father died of old age, there would be no one to protest, and Bianca would be his without fear of consequences.

  “Arus, do you wish for me to leave the city?” he asked.

  “I think it’s for the best. I’m going to have you reassigned while we await the Council’s decision.”

  “What about the West Coast? I think putting distance between myself and the president would be wise. There are several conservation movements and organizations I feel I could help.”

  “Human organizations?” Arus asked curiously.

  “Yes. I could reach out and see if they wouldn’t mind working with our people. We could do much to help them.”

  Arus was silent a long moment and then nodded. “I like this idea. I will also report this to the Council. I believe it will help your chances of staying on Earth.”

  “Thank you, Arus.” He meant it. Yes, he was lying to his friend about his intentions, but nothing would keep him from courting Bianca in secret. No one would know. No one would get hurt.

  Tarah paced the length of her office, scowling as she watched the TV beside her desk. It showed the president touring a shelter that had been recently designed by K technology to provide food to the homeless.

  Ambassador Soren always accompanied the president on these quaint little outings, yet the ambassador was conspicuously absent today. The president’s daughter was also missing. Tarah knew the girl lived in the Princeton dorms, but she was frequently flown home for official functions. No doubt Tarah’s attempt on Bianca’s life had left her father more determined to protect her.

  “That little bitch is going to die.”

  Bianca should have been dead. She should’ve been found outside of an X-club. Her death was supposed to make the Krinar look like the monsters they really were, and Tarah’s newspaper would have covered the exclusive story, revealing to the world that the Krinar were killers, not the kind and benevolent overlords they purported themselves to be.

  Tarah stared at the TV for a long minute, then picked up a burner phone from her desk and called a number she’d memorized.

  “This had better be good,” a gruff voice answered.

  “I thought you’d like to know that President Wells’s daughter has garnered the special attention of Ambassador Soren.”

  There was a long silence, and the man spoke more softly. “And why does this interest me?”

  Tarah scowled. “Don’t be naive. K males only get interested in women for one reason. To fuck them. Soren has been seen rescuing her, whisking her away to God knows where. She wasn’t returned to her home immediately after the attack, not until a full day passed. A lot can happen in a day. I think you need to look into it. Consider using her to get to Soren. If he’s made her a charl and you capture her, you will have control of one of the most powerful Ks on the planet. You might even be able to make them leave Earth.”

  Another pause, this one quicker, though.

  “Doubtful. But it is leverage, if nothing else. She’s still studying at Princeton?”

  “Yes. She has a two-agent detail, but they don’t go inside her dorm. The way I see it, you find a way in that building or anywhere that she’s alone and”

  “We’ll take it from here.” The man cut her off, and the line disconnected.

  Tarah smiled for the first time in days. President Wells had made a mockery of her paper, even threatening to investigate her finances, and now… Now she would be able to take away what he loved most. His only child. She would have the added bonus of making the Krinar look guilty. Once Bianca was dead, the president would retaliate, and her paper would make a fortune off the bloody outcome.

  “Nobody fucks with me.” Tarah laughed softly. “Nobody.”

  “I’m sorry?” someone said from the doorway to her office. She spun and saw a janitor with a mop staring at her in confusion.

  “I—Oh, fuck off!” She dissolved into an angry snarl and slammed the door in the janitor’s face.

  9

  Bianca slipped off her Secret Service alert bracelet and then pressed the small groove on her Krinar stealth cuff, as she’d decided to call it. The flash of tingling on her skin lasted only a few seconds. She went to look in the full-length mirror on the inside of her closet door. She stared at the empty space where her body should have been. She looked down at herself and could still see her body, her black cocktail dress and black heels with the little red bows on the back. But when she looked in the mirror, nothing. This Krinar technology really was amazing.

  She slipped out of her dorm and headed toward the sleek silver ship waiting on the front lawn. She could see it, but no one else could. It was hard not to laugh at Soren, who was staring at the agents at their usual location in the SUV. When he turned to face her, his brown eyes burned a honey gold.

  “Fuck, Bianca, you look good enough to eat.” He pulled her against him and kissed her until she was dizzy and excited.

  “Hey.” She greeted him with a silly grin, trying not to think about how this man had turned her into a purring cat who craved his affection more than anything in just a few days.

  “Hey.” He greeted her solemnly, but she saw the flash of teasing in his eyes.

  “So, what are we going to do?” she asked.

 

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