A Touch of Lilly Read online

  Unlike the alley where Dallas had taken her, this narrow passage had no windowed stores. No other souls walked the muted shadows. Only the back-door stoops and heavy ductwork of businesses on the main street broke the monotony of the stone walls. Pulling the tiny fur coat tighter around her waist, Lilly quickened her steps. Years on the police force had taught her how to defend herself, but it wouldn’t do for a working woman to be seen turning down business. The whole lady-of-the-night getup worked for catching felons off guard, but she hadn’t meant for Dallas to think of her that way.

  Sheesh, she needed to forget the man and focus on the job ahead of her.

  “Well, look what’s tripped into my hold.” The gravelly clicks and pops translated in her ear as an Ickbata slithered from a shadowed doorway. Pulling up to his full height, he blocked her path and stared down at her.

  She forgot how big they actually were. “Wisc thek, schont fral.” Good evening, sexy male. Another one of those sentences she could say in multiple languages. Silently, Lilly cursed. She’d had her mind wrapped around that damn human, not focused on her surroundings. A very dangerous thing for a human female. The energy sluicing off her was high, but she focused it in her hands and reached out to touch his bare chest. “I was just headed to the tavern.” The soft scales rippled beneath her palm. “Kal auct ral tsk, pa?” Buy me a drink, stranger?

  “You look good enough for business.” He stepped closer, the thick scent of leather filling the heated air between them.

  “Actually, it’s been a long day and I was hoping to relax a little before doing more business,” she said, hoping his translator would pick up her sultry whisper. The large nostrils at the end of his snout flared, scenting the air laced with her heady aroma. The temperature of his skin rose and Lilly focused the current to her palm. Even in the muted light she could see his eyes widen and the skin below his abdomen swell. “A drink with a good-looking Ickbata would be the perfect ending.” Another push of energy and the soft scales of skin fluttered beneath her fingers.

  The Ickbata, drunk on the endorphins coursing through his veins, compressed until she could look him in the eye. “We think you like us very much. Happy we make you.”

  “Of course you will.” She wanted to laugh at his reference to his cocks as separate parts of himself. She hoped that was his ego talking and not an effect of the hormone overdose she was producing. But it couldn’t be helped. She didn’t have much time to mess with this alien. One more push of energy and the Ickbata stumbled back to the wall and slid down the bricks, his appendages falling limply at his sides.

  “Tsk phleg ronk tsk tsk.” He slurred the words out of his mouth before his eyes rolled back in their sockets. His head fell to his shoulder, a crooked smile curling under his snout.

  “Enjoy your wet dream, buddy.” Lilly patted him down, a habit borne from years on the police force. She wasn’t surprised to find the Treljon laser tucked into the waist of his trousers, but the Ba’alkin dagger strapped to his walking appendage caught her by surprise. Not street legal but definitely an effective weapon. She slipped the dagger up her sleeve and the laser in her other boot. “Thanks for the extra weapons, buddy. And remember to seek medical attention for an erection lasting longer than four hours.”

  With one last touch to his snout, she made sure he was breathing before heading down the alley to the tavern. If all went well in the next few of hours, she’d take down Venair Grebetz just as easily and collect her reward for his bounty before the third moon set.

  Chapter Three

  Dallas hoped his posture gave the impression he was a man who just didn’t give a shit—exactly the opposite of how he felt. Leaning on the bar with one elbow, his boot hooked nonchalantly on the brass pole a foot off the floor, he worked to tamp down the slow crawl of nerves over his skin. He wasn’t sure what was making him edgy, but he’d learned a long time ago to trust his instincts. And his gut was definitely operating at yellow alert levels. Running his hand over the scruff of his chin, Dallas spoke quietly into the communications unit at his wrist. “Gamma Team, check.”

  He downed his third shot of gall’s blood while one by one his men responded in his ear with the all-clear sign. Grebetz should be arriving shortly. With the two Drikspa in the surrounding alleys, the Xerick on the roof across the street, out of sight of the arriving Znedu, the Braugtot on the roof of the tavern and him and Thaegan inside, Dallas had no doubt they were ready. Routine. Yeah, that’s what he believed about all missions. Even the ones where people got killed.

  He motioned to the bartender. “Another gall’s blood and Regeant’s ale and make them both double.” The Xerick nodded one of his heads while the other carried on a conversation with a Ka’al female two stools down. He didn’t even want to imagine how they’d manage that hookup.

  “I think you might want to go easy on that stuff.” Thaegan stepped up next to Dallas, speaking low and keeping his eyes facing the mirror behind the bar. In the noise of the crowded tavern, they both knew no one heard. Thaegan signaled the bartender. It wouldn’t look good if he didn’t order something. “Whiskey neat.”

  Dallas raised an eyebrow. “Do as I say not as I do?”

  “You Earthlings make alcohol that wouldn’t get a Ka’al baby drunk.”

  “And I could say the same for alien swill.” Though they both knew the alcohol content of the local brew had nothing to do with Dallas’ ability to drink anyone under the table.

  The bartender dropped off their drinks.

  “Here’s to bad guys getting justice and the good guys getting just ass.” They lifted their glasses, quoted team gamma’s motto and downed their respective drinks.

  Thaegan motioned for another drink. “You know nothing’s going down tonight.”

  “It’s a dry run.” Dallas took a long pull of the ale.

  “We’re going to get a look at Grebetz. Run the team through their paces. Have a couple of drinks. Get laid. And do it all before the rest of the world wakes for their morning coffee.” Thaegan laughed, downed the second shot of whiskey and slapped Dallas on the back hard enough to make him cough. “Relax, you’ve got half of that crossed off your list already, my friend.” He melted back into the anonymity of the crowd.

  But the Ka’al’s words hadn’t convinced either of them. Dallas felt Thaegan’s apprehension as surely as his partner sensed his. The last two years had tested their friendship far beyond normal bonds. Dallas expected he knew things about Thaegan even the alien’s ex-wife hadn’t known. Thaegan felt the restlessness as much as Dallas. It was no doubt why the Ka’al had stopped over. But it seemed neither of them could pinpoint the source of that apprehension.

  He checked his watch. Another twenty minutes and Grebetz should be arriving. Another hour after that, if nothing unusual happened, he’d call it a night, head back to the hotel room and leave a couple of his men to tail the alien.

  Dallas sipped his ale. It wouldn’t look right for a human to keep pounding down the Regent’s without showing the effects. It would surely call attention, and that was one thing he didn’t need tonight.

  “Gamma one reporting.” The voice hummed low in his ear. “Heads-up, boys. It’s showtime. Gamma four reporting. The mark is coming in. Repeat. Mission is a go.” The alien on the roof across the street ran through the team’s check points. “Gamma three, do you have him?”

  “Check.”

  “Gamma two?”

  “Ready,” Thaegan said from the corner where he’d settled in.

  “Team leader?”

  “Ready on your go.” Dallas spoke softly before turning. Leaning his back against the bar, his foot still propped up, and the stein of ale in his hand, Dallas looked like any red-blooded human male checking out the female patrons.

  But he’d chosen this spot not for the view—though the sensual sway of the female Ickbata on the crowded dance floor certainly added to the scenery—but from his vantage point at the corner of the bar, he could just see through the revelers to the door. So when it op
ened, he nearly choked on the ale he was drinking.

  That sure as hell wasn’t a Znedu sashaying through the door, looking to quench his thirst.

  * * * * *

  The inhabitants of Garalon Five certainly enjoyed their nightlife. The tavern had been busy before she’d left with Dallas, but the crowd appeared to have doubled in the time it had taken Lilly to screw the human, take a useless cab ride around the city streets and take down an Ickbata. And all before she did some major bounty hunting.

  Lilly maneuvered through the crowd, pleased she slipped past the males with barely a glance. After the encounter with the alien in the alley, it had taken some real effort to bring the energy down to a manageable level. Of course an explosive orgasm or two would have completely dropped her levels, but Lilly had made two promises to herself when she’d discovered what genetics had given her. Never physically hurt anyone with her gift. And never—no matter how bad her nipples ached and her body thrummed—never satisfy herself in public.

  Sex with someone else? Now that was another story.

  It pissed her off that her gaze skimmed through the crowd in search of the man who’d left his stubble burns on her breasts, even more so when a mop of brown hair at the bar made her heart rate jump. But when she glanced back to the spot, there was nothing but a Ka’al female flirting with the bartender. Dallas wasn’t here. The man had gotten what he wanted and no doubt wasn’t mooning over her. She really needed to get her head in the game. The twenty-five hundred credits Dallas had given her wasn’t going to be enough to buy this month’s groceries. Her empty wallet depended on bringing in this bounty.

  Taking down a criminal, she’d learned, required little brawn, plenty of brain and a whole lot of her body. But timing her approach was everything. From her visits to the tavern over the past few days, she knew the best way to see everything was from the bar or the dance floor. Having no desire to fend off would-be clients happy to buy her a drink, Lilly chose the latter.

  Filled with species and sexes of every variety, the dance floor offered both anonymity and a view of the front door. Lilly undulated her body, blending in with the crowd and smiling invitingly when bodies brushed against hers. She needed to look as if she belonged. With one eye on various wandering appendages and the other on the entrance, Lilly hoped the information she had about the Znedu was accurate.

  Her fears were allayed when the door opened and the alien she wanted glided in. If he hadn’t been wearing his trademark satin robe, she wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to tell this male from every other Znedu in the tavern. Their muddy skin, elongated necks and triangular heads with their prominent black eyes made it difficult to tell them apart. But this one, she was sure, was the alien who would net her a tidy sum of credits.

  Grebetz made his way to the bar, greeting several aliens along his circuitous route through the tables. With a little male backslapping, the groping of a waitress or two, and the obligatory pressing of flesh, he finally bellied up to the bar. He greeted the Xerick bartender like an old friend and turned, surveying the patrons as if they were his loyal subjects. A mark with an attitude. The cocky ones were always the easiest. This takedown would hardly seem like work.

  By the time the bartender delivered the Znedu’s drink, a group of two or three aliens had gathered around him. Maybe they were bodyguards. Maybe they were thugs in training. Either way, Lilly wasn’t concerned. She wasn’t leaving the tavern without Grebetz. Separating him from a crowd was problematic, but not impossible.

  The Znedu pointed to a dark corner over Lilly’s shoulder. Perfect. He was going to work his way right past her.

  Closing her eyes, Lilly let the riffs of the saxophone flow over her. Already on a low hum, it wasn’t difficult to pull the energy up from her core, letting it swell and heat her blood. Lifting her arms, she swayed with the languid clarinet rolling through the jazz melody. Her mind traveled back to happier times on Earth when all that mattered was her job on the Chicago force and good times with friends, back when she believed she could actually have a relationship with a man who didn’t think of her gift as a curse. But all that had been blown out of the water by an asshole with an agenda.

  Enough of that.

  Without missing a beat, she brushed through the swaying bodies to the edge of the dance floor. Her timing was flawless. With one last peek, she turned her body just so and her breasts slid across the shelved chest of the Znedu. As if she were off balance, her hands came down on his shoulders, sliding gracefully down his torso. A giddy giggle, a flirtatious apology and the alien became putty in her hands.

  “A problem not for me.” The singsong buzz of his language translated in her ear.

  Lilly batted her lashes for effect, but she had no doubt the flow of energy had already put the Znedu under her spell. “Nral arrarnc, thraschne?” Buy me a drink, stranger? she asked in his native tongue. It was the final nail that sealed his fate.

  “Join us. I’m sure I will be happy to.”

  Having others around would make her job more difficult—not impossible—just more difficult. Tonight, with her nerves still raw from her encounter with the human, she wasn’t up for that challenge. Rubbing her body against the Znedu, a smile slid over her lips as she trailed a finger along his pointed jaw, her other hand still planted in the center of his chest. “Rrarck schrall rectnine fragtre.” I’d rather be alone with you. The words hummed over her tongue.

  With barely a flick of his head, he dismissed the disappointed aliens who no doubt felt the sexual flux of her current. Slipping a lanky arm around her, Grebetz guided Lilly to a shadowed table along the front wall. The location worked well for her.

  Easy seduction. Easy departure. Easy bounty.

  She slid into the booth, the alien’s lithe body gracefully slipping in next to her.

  “What drink have you?” His large eyes dropped to her cleavage. Lilly shifted so her blouse opened wider, offering him a better view.

  “Regent’s ale, but I can wait for the waitress.” Lilly dropped her hand to his thigh, grateful that every species of male she’d encountered in deep space had their genitals positioned in their lap. She focused the energy in her hands. The way her own sexual levels were rising, she had no doubt the male was feeling the effects. “I’d hate for you to run off.”

  “There’s nowhere for me to be.”

  A Xerick stepped up to the table. His blue cheeks were painted a mottled purple and his bubble eyes were averted to the floor. Lilly suspected he’d pay later for this interruption. “Excuse me, sir, but it’s important.”

  Angry words of frustration hissed from Grebetz in a singsong garble that the translator didn’t manage to pick up. Whatever he said, she echoed the sentiments. This had been a long evening already and Lilly was ready for it to be finished.

  One head of the Xerick leaned in, speaking quietly to Grebetz, while the other looked everywhere but at her. Lilly pressed closer to the Znedu, but couldn’t catch the exchange. The Znedu dismissed his minion, who gratefully melted back into the crowd. Obviously horny males of any species weren’t kind to their underlings.

  “Business I must transact.” He smiled down at her. “But no time will it take.” Pulling a palm-sized communicator from his robe, Grebetz’s six fingers worked the buttons and an encrypted hologram appeared. A Braugtot in its natural form hovered over the communicator. Though the garbled message didn’t make any sense to her ears, from the quick push of buttons and low hum of the Znedu, Lilly knew this guy was higher up on the totem pole.

  She hadn’t really done enough research into the history of the alien next to her to know who else may be involved in his nefarious activities. But kidnapping and drug smuggling had been enough to put a bounty on Venair Grebetz’s head. It was the kidnapping charges that had brought this alien to her attention. Through him, she hoped to follow leads to other criminals.

  The submissive posture of Grebetz and the wild gesturing of the Braugtot in the hologram told her that this alien no doubt had a bount
y on his head as well. Decoding the audio signal going to her translator would take time. But bounty hunting wasn’t about rushing a takedown. It was the slow, precise, detail-oriented part of her work that had made her such a kick-ass detective back on earth and now would guarantee her success as a bounty hunter in deep space.

  Focusing on the hologram, Lilly noted every nuance of the Braugtot. Criminals believed they were smarter than everyone and often made mistakes. No doubt her species and gender had the Znedu believing he didn’t have to hide trade secrets from the blonde bimbo looking to get laid. It’s what made her job so damn easy.

  Another garbled exchange, a rapid pushing of buttons and the Braugtot hologram was swallowed into the communicator. When the alien turned back to her, Lilly dazzled him with a smile, further confused him with a hungry gaze and topped it all off with a tempting press of her breasts to his body. Her sexual invitation was as obvious as the Znedu’s arousal.

  “We were where?” The glazed fog of lust narrowed the alien’s eyes, his breath a soft sigh across her cheek.

  “I think you were saying you’d like to go somewhere more private,” Lilly pressed her cheek to the side of his face, purring the words, hoping she was near sound organs that would catch the sultry seduction in her voice. But she didn’t need to fake the desire humming in the air. Between the encounter in the alley and the energy thrumming hot through her veins, she was feeling the effects of the energy flux.

  Grebetz leaned down, the soft bump of his face caressing her throat, the subtle scent of vanilla filling her lungs. The delicate wisp of air tickled her neck as he inhaled her scent. Her body vibrated with desire. Damn, she really hated this part. She needed to get him out of the tavern, turn the Znedu over to the authorities, collect her credits and get back to her hotel to relieve the heavy pounding of need building in her blood.