Sex, Love, and Aliens, Volume 1

  Sex, Love, and Aliens

  Volume 1

  by

  Imogene Nix

  Ashlynn Monroe

  Jaye Shields

  Beth D. Carter

  Sex, Love, and Aliens, Volume 1

  Tangled Webs: copyright © 2014, Imogene Nix

  The Spaceship Captain’s Wife: copyright © 2014, Ashlynn Monroe

  His Human: copyright © 2014, Jaye Shields

  Gravitation: copyright © 2014, Beth D. Carter

  ISBN: 9781940744490

  Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.

  Electronic Publication: October 2014

  Editor: Pamela Tyner

  Cover: Fantasia Frog Designs

  eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.

  These stories are a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Tangled Webs

  by Imogene Nix

  In the course of a single day Gia Montgomery loses her job and discovers that her boyfriend—now ex-boyfriend—is a two-timing sleaze. After downing a bottle of wine, she catches sight of Cedun in her backyard. He’s the Ba’Tua heir who has been living on Earth for several years. Gia struggles to ignore the strong attraction between them, because she’s sure he’s seeing someone else. Someone very close to her, in fact.

  When the situation with her ex turns nasty, Cedun finally has a chance to set things straight between himself and Gia, but nothing is as simple as it seems. Cedun must protect Gia and sort out an impossible love-life tangle before it’s too late.

  Content Warning: this title contains sexy aliens and feisty heroines, together with enough action—of every kind—to keep readers on the edge of their seats

  Dedication

  Thanks to everyone who made Tangled Webs a reality. Pamela at Beachwalk Press, and Tara from Fantasia Frog for such an awesome cover.

  Ashlynn, Jaye, and Beth—thanks for being such great partners in crime!

  As always, thanks again to my family, Mark, Charlotte, and Beth, and of course, Super Pup (Teddy).

  Lastly, thanks to the readers. Without you there would be no story.

  Chapter 1

  Gia slumped down onto the wooden tabletop. “I hate my life.”

  Since this morning her carefully ordered world had fallen down around her. She’d overslept, missed the train, and arrived at work two hours late.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, Jeffrey, her boss, had called her into the office and told her, “Gia, I have some bad news. The company is shutting its doors.”

  Losing her job was certainly a biggie. But when she arrived at Garret’s—early, due to the shut-down—Garret, her lover, had been home...with chesty bimbo ‘Floss’. Gia had thought only to surprise him, maybe even soak up some sympathy, but when she let herself into his apartment she had found them in bed. Naked. Rolling around like overactive, loud teenagers.

  It was a sight she wouldn’t forget in a hurry.

  The bottle clanked beside her head as she moved her hand. It tipped and the dregs of wine splashed their way across the tabletop. “Shit!”

  She reached for the tissue box and mopped up the mess. Hunting for the rubbish bin, soggy tissues in hand, she jumped when the phone rang. Gia waited, wondering what more depressing news she could possibly receive.

  Hi, this is Gia. I’m not available to take your call, so leave a message.

  “Gia? This is Valerie. I heard about your job—and Garret. Call me.”

  Gia groaned. Oh, why is life so unkind? Her mum, Valerie, wasn’t the nurturing, baking biscuits kind of mother. No, instead she was more like a friend. A close and tight friend.

  “Right now a traditional parenting arrangement would be infinitely welcome.” She glanced around, thankful that no one would hear her say that.

  With several wobbly steps, she thrust the used paper into the bin and moved to the sink, gripping it firmly.

  Nothing had been the same since the Ba’Tua had made contact with Earth. Now hospitals had shut down. The advanced healing techniques had been made available to all with tremendous success, putting traditional medical attendants out of work. Of course, the same was the case for many industrial outlets too. Including her place of work.

  “So much has changed in the last three years.” Her voice echoed in the empty kitchen as she gazed blindly out the window.

  Earth now had several trading partners off-planet and long-term issues, such as global warming, had been eliminated with the help of the Ba’Tua.

  But there was a catch. The Ba’Tua needed to learn to break free of the restraints they’d learned as younglings—so they could procreate and learn to live as one society. So groups were sent to settle on Earth. To learn to be free.

  The Ba’Tua had been technologically advanced but hideously repressed, with a look-but-don’t-touch attitude to life. The generation of ‘Ti’—the ones who’d made first contact—could barely handle being close to one another. They might be technologically advanced but their social skills, for the most part, were sadly lacking. Especially those who’d just arrived.

  She snickered. “Must make sex a difficult prospect.” Not that the Ba’Tua discussed that either.

  Of course, Earth wasn’t the only planet they’d been working with, but to date, it seemed to have been the most successful species they’d encountered in terms of helping them overcome their issues. Just this morning, she’d seen several younglings, as the children were known, on the train, laughing and flirting with a group of girls.

  For a moment a smile curved her lips. Shame the men are so damned sexy. The women weren’t hard on the eyes either, Gia conceded.

  Turning away from her position, Gia caught sight of movement from the corner of her eye. This time she looked out the window and in her garden was a Ba’Tua male.

  “Holy hell, what’s he doing here?”

  Gia headed for the door just as Cedun was removing his Montgomery Industries t-shirt by the side of the pool. Her mind was sluggish and her coordination impaired, and she slammed into the edge of the door as she scurried through it.

  “Shit!” The curse escaped her mouth as she kept moving, her hand rubbing the injured section of her side. “Cedun, what the hell are you doing in my backyard?” In her haste, she didn’t see the hose on the deck and tripped.

  She did notice the bright violet of his eyes—wide and startled—and the bronzed rippling muscles as she cartwheeled, flailing for something to grab onto, then she was falling backward. It’s all so slow! A thunk sound married with the explosion of pain in her head.

  The water closed around her and invaded her mouth and lungs. Her chest burned as the water weighed her down. Just as it all seemed too much, strong, vise-like arms slid around her middle, hauling her up to the surface.

  “Do not struggle, Gia. Let me help you.” He did, hauling her out of the pool and laying her flat on the concrete.

  Then he rolled her over as she hacked and coughed. Water gushed from her mouth and nose, and she moaned once the indignity was over.

  “Now, De’ Gia, tell me why you ran out of the house and threw yourself into the pool. De’ Valerie told me that you had been removed from your post. It cannot be that which is distressing?”

  “Job,” she corrected, quietly hoping to stop his liquid voice. Her head and chest ached viciously, and all she wanted was bed. “I want to go to bed.”

  C
edun stilled. “Is that not precipitous?” A smiled crept over his face, and it turned her insides to molten lava.

  Clarity speared her. Their grasp of the English language was literal. She said she wanted to go to bed and was speaking to him, ergo, he thought sex. Horror filled her.

  Cedun was probably the most relaxed and least repressed of all the Ba’Tua she’d met. Gia also suspected he’d been involved with Valerie for some time. After all, Valerie was still young at forty-two.

  Gia groped for his t-shirt, meaning to push him away. The realization of being so close to Cedun’s muscular and unclothed chest flooded her as her hands made contact with hard and well-formed naked flesh. He’d removed that covering before her fall into the pool. Heat flared beneath her fingers as her heart rate sped up. “Cedun, I didn’t mean…”

  He chuckled. “I laugh with you, De’ Gia.”

  She struggled to free herself. “Go laugh with someone else.” Gia couldn’t get away fast enough. It was embarrassing that she had a serious case of the ‘hots’ for her mum’s young stud lover. It would be worse to actually act on it.

  “Rest, De’ Gia. I mean you no harm.” His gravelly voice set her to tingling. All over. In places where she shouldn’t be tingling, she told her errant body.

  Now Cedun was lifting her, her wet, dripping body tight against his warm, bronzed chest. If she moved just a fraction, she could brush her aching nipples against him. As he resettled her in his arms, she moaned.

  “You are ill. I will heal you.”

  She glanced up, and for the first time, she caught the heat in his gaze. Before it could disappear she levered up, giving into the need that had been welling for months, and placed her lips against his.

  * * * *

  Cedun had to repress the groan that rose in his mouth as he pulled away. De’ Gia was everything he’d hoped for. Her lush body nestled in his embrace and he was hard already. He might be a ‘Ti’ but his years of space travel had relieved him of his inhibitions many cycles ago.

  But De’ Gia was different. He’d suspected that she thought he’d been intimate with De’ Valerie. For the first few months, it had suited him to give her that impression. But over time, it had become a barrier.

  Then she’d met Da’ Garret.

  Cedun had nearly entered seclusion then. Only De’ Valerie telling him that she suspected it was a shallow relationship and she believed Da’ Garret was seeing other women, had helped him to keep waiting for De’ Gia to see him. So many times Cedun had wanted to tell her the truths she’d stubbornly resisted. Now she was here, in his arms, and he clenched them around her as he strode toward the doorway.

  “Cedun? I don’t feel so well.”

  He looked down and noted the slightly green tinge to her skin. The way she shook wasn’t indicative of desire anymore, but something more, and he cursed himself and every moon. The erection in his pants was more than an irritation. She would need healing.

  “Then I shall make that pass.”

  She laughed, but the quivery sound died away with a groan as she clapped a hand over her mouth. The look in her eyes froze his center, and she squirmed. He loosed his grip and she slid to the floor before fleeing from him and into the house.

  He followed her into the kitchen, but she’d headed up the hall, possibly to the bathroom he thought, once he heard the sounds of her distress.

  “What should I do?” His query went unanswered. He looked around the room, frowning at the sparse emptiness before spying the bottle on the table, empty. He grinned. “Ahh, so you imbibed too freely, De’ Gia.” Humans had little stomach for alcohol and the aftereffects were rather uncomfortable to his mind.

  A creak behind him had Cedun turning. There she was, pale and glassy-eyed, her black hair a wet tangle against her sodden pale blue shirt.

  “I’m sorry, Cedun. I probably gave you the wrong impression.” Tears dripped down her face, and the warmth that bloomed in his chest threatened to overwhelm him.

  He took a step in her direction, stilling only when she raised a shaking hand.

  “Cedun, I shouldn’t have kissed you. I deeply regret…”

  “De’ Gia…”

  “No. It shouldn’t have happened, and I’d prefer that you left now.” There was a fragile dignity to her words. One he couldn’t ignore, but it angered him. One day he would make her see, though knowing she was unwell now reinforced for him that it wouldn’t be today.

  “At least let me heal you.”

  Gia shook her head, drips splashing, and shaking fingers flew to her lips. “No. Trust me, it’s better that you just go. I’ll be fine.”

  A forceful and unnamed emotion raced through him like quicksilver. “I will heal you first, De’ Gia. I will not let anyone say I neglected my responsibilities.”

  When Gia laughed it was cold and brittle. The sound stopped him in his tracks. “I’m not your responsibility, Cedun. Go. Now.” Her green eyes were cold and distant, her body tightly coiled as if ready to spring away should he come closer.

  Indecision warred. He needed to heal her and give her relief from whatever ailed her, yet his brain told him this wasn’t the time to push her to accept his ministration.

  “I will leave you for now. But this discussion is not ended.”

  He slammed out the door, grabbing his shirt from the concrete beside the pool, but he chanced a last look through the window. De’ Gia remained where he’d left her, but her hands covered her face.

  With a growl, he strode away from the view.

  * * * *

  Gia woke to the ringing of bells. Groping for the alarm clock with a hangover wasn’t a pleasant thing...especially when it wasn’t the alarm clock causing the ringing sound. As her brain settled, she realized it was the front door.

  Heaving herself off the bed resulted in vertigo. “Yeah, keep your knickers on! I’m coming.”

  The imperious sound continued as she shuffled in the direction of the front door, and after wrenching it open, she wished she’d just burrowed under the covers. Garret stood in front of her, a woebegone look on his face. She snidely wondered how long he’d been practicing it.

  “What the hell do you want? I said all I needed to yesterday.”

  She started to push the door shut but he leaned against it. She couldn’t close it and nearly retched when he leaned in close. “Don’t be like that, baby doll. It was only slap and tickle.” The thin edge of his voice cut through her aching brain like a rusty knife. His odd accent, as always, scraped her mind in an irritating fashion.

  “Go away, Garret. I’m done with you.”

  “Now, now. You mustn’t be like that. We got along nicely before you found out about Floss.”

  Her stomach churned, and just as she was sure she was going to throw up, a large meaty hand settled on Garret’s shoulder. “She said leave. So you will now go.”

  “Get lost, alien! My discussion doesn’t include you.” Garret whirled and gave a snarl. Gia flung the door wide as Garret swung his fist at Cedun’s face.

  “Go home. This is not an argument you wish to have.” Cedun sounded almost amused as he dodged the punch before Gia’s amazed gaze.

  “Dammit, Garret. Get lost. I don’t want you, and I certainly don’t want to hear about Floss and your sexual exploits.”

  Garret flung another wild jab at Cedun.

  “Why? Because you’ve been having sex with him? I know you salivate over him whenever he’s around.”

  She gaped at Garret’s words. “I never…”

  “This evens our score, baby doll. You wanted him, and I bet you’ve had the alien more than once. I am merely reciprocating.” This time his punch landed on Cedun’s chest with a thwack.

  “You will apologize to De’ Gia for that insult.” Cedun spoke in a low tone, but it was menacing, and for the first time Garret stopped and looked at Cedun.

  The color bled from Garret’s face, but it remained stony and defiant. “I won’t.”

  Cedun pushed closer. “Apologize now. Eithe
r that or I will be forced—”

  Garret stepped back, whirling in Gia’s direction. “I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.” He moved away and a look of glee entered his eyes as he slid into his car sitting on the roadside. “But then, you shouldn’t fuck your mother’s lover!” With that final parting shot and a hearty laugh, he revved the engine and pulled away.

  Cedun tensed and looked as if he’d run after Garret but Gia placed her hand on his shoulder, not really gripping, just letting it rest there. “Leave it, Cedun. He isn’t worth it.” Tiredness seeped into every muscle in her body and she sagged.

  Cedun moved toward her. “You are still unwell, De’ Gia. Let me help you inside.”

  His touch was gentle, but Gia was mortified by Garret’s parting shot. Am I really that easy to read?

  After letting him settle her in a chair she watched as he moved into the kitchen, filled the kettle, and set it on the burner. “You’re very good in the kitchen.”

  “De’ Valerie taught me.” He stood on the other side of the breakfast bar, watching her, and she blushed.

  “About what Garret said... I know that yesterday I told you to forget what happened, but I need to clear the air. I mean—” Gia broke off her words, feeling foolish.

  “I have never been with De’ Valerie. I have never been interested in her like that. Not that way. Never.” His gaze bored into her as if scanning to find a weakness. She could almost see his mind ticking, thinking of ways to make her believe his words.

  “Look, Cedun, you don’t have to explain. I mean, you and my mother are entitled to—”

  He was around the counter and pulling her hard against his chest before she could finish her sentence. “I have never wanted De’ Valerie the way I need you. Do you not see?” His eyes glowed and she waited, mesmerized, as he dipped down in her direction.

  This time the kiss was far from gentle. It wasn’t fueled by anger, yet her senses swam. His lips were firm and sure while his tongue thrust within her mouth, tangling with hers. His scent filled her mind, turning her brain to the consistency of mush.