Dark Taste of Rapture (Alien Huntress 6)

Then again, Noelle enjoyed treating Ava like a servant. And Ava took it.

Huh. Why were they here again?

Ava leaned over to Noelle and whispered, “Are you meaning to sound like such a douche?”

Noelle winked at her.

If Hector hadn’t been so focused on the pair, he would have missed the byplay. Now his attention sharpened. So … there were times Noelle didn’t sound like a douche?

Could the bubblehead thing be an act, then? If so, what was her purpose? And why hadn’t Jaxon, her blood kin, recognized the difference?

That last question had Hector shaking his head, dismissing his suspicions. Jaxon was sharp, one of the best and most observant agents out there, and he would know his own cousin better than a friend/servant would.

Dallas cleared his throat, the universal sign for make-the-damn-introductions-already.

Jaw clenched, Jaxon made them. Dallas first, then Hector. No one tried to shake anyone’s hand, thank God, but at least Ava met his gaze. Noelle peered somewhere over his shoulder. After pinching Dallas’s cheek as if he were the sweetest toddler she’d ever seen.

Stupid shit enjoyed the fondling, giving her a high-wattage grin of encouragement.

“You both know I can’t show you preferential treatment while you’re here,” Jaxon said, uneasy. His scarred face paled in the sunlight, becoming almost waxen. “Right?”

“Of course we do.” Finally removing her attention from Dallas, Noelle patted the top of Jaxon’s head with the sugary tolerance usually reserved for the brain damaged. “But that’s okay, because everyone else will.”

Uh, that would be another are-you-kidding-no. No one got preferential treatment in this shit box.

Hector was kicking things off this first week, and would then hand the reins of control over to Dallas, who would run things for a week before handing the reins to Jaxon for his week. Jaxon would then hand the reins to Ghost, as well as a female agent named Phoenix for their hell week. Then, Ghost and Phoenix would return the reins to Hector, and he’d have to endure another seven days.

He’d make damn sure Ghost and Phoenix knew these two were to be ridden harder than everyone else.

Ridden … harder …

Damn. Now he was Freuding himself. Arm-wise, that was the first sign of trouble.

Dallas he didn’t have to worry about. Boy would know what to do. It was the principle of the thing and all.

“I can guarantee you’ll get the gold star treatment from me,” Dallas said, bombing Hector’s expectations into oblivion. “After you answer a question for me. Do you like pretzels?”

Ava rolled her eyes and muttered something unintelligible under her breath.

“Oh my God, yes!” Noelle’s grin was all white teeth and that damn innocence. “I love pretzels! They’re just so yummalicious.”

Yummalicious?

“I’m so glad you said that,” Dallas began. “Because—”

Jaxon reached around Hector and slugged Dallas in the jaw.

“Ow! What was that for?” the agent grumbled, rubbing the already swelling area.

“Just be happy I don’t have a spoon.” The scowl wiped from Jaxon’s face as he gave Noelle his full concentration. “Don’t pay him any attention. Just … go get settled, honey. Orientation starts in an hour.” He gave her a gentle push in the direction she was supposed to go.

Noelle stopped at Ava’s side and slung her arm over the girl’s shoulders. “All right. We’ll go. We know you guys have important stuff to do. I just want to say thank you. You’ve done your best to make us feel welcome, and we’re just so grateful.”

Were those tears in her eyes? Shit. They were. Deep down, he’d known she was a crier. How pathetic. And even disappointing.

“Take your bag already,” Ava snipped at her. “It’s, like, two hundred pounds heavier than mine.”

“Impossible. I merely brought the essentials. Clothes, my favorite boots, face cream, makeup, a few books to read, a couple cans of caviar, lingerie, and my coffeepot. Plus a few other things a girl like me just can’t live without but can’t mention in mixed company because it would be indelicate. You know, because they’re sexual.” There at the end, she whispered, the hints of smoke blending with echoes of midnight.

Worse, at “lingerie,” Hector and Dallas had stood a little straighter. At “sexual,” they’d moaned. Jaxon punched them both in the back of the head.

Hector always ignored his attractions, yeah, but come on. Now images of the elegant Noelle wearing a trashy, barely-there scrap of lace and a take-a-bite-out-of-me grin were seared into his brain.

And wouldn’t you know it? His arms began to burn, his hands to itch. The second and third signs of trouble.

If this kept up, his arms would begin to glow and the tattoos etched from his shoulders to his fingertips would crackle. The final oh, shit signs that meant he was nearly too late to stop the ensuing carnage, that his skin, muscle, and bone were about to mutate into fiery mist and melt everything he touched. A transition that would last several hours, until the heat finally lost steam and died down.

Problem was, he couldn’t masturbate his sexual desires away because he’d fry off his cock. And he couldn’t take pills because they scrambled his cognitive process, preventing him from solving his cases.

So, when sexual frustration became too much for him and his arms, he called a hooker for a blow job. That way, the girl stayed on her knees, mostly out of reach, and he got off without having to worry about torching an entire town.

Another problem made itself known. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—call Happy Endings while he was here. That would mix the secret, seedier side of his personal life with the crucial business side, and he would never do that. AIR was the one pure thing in his life; he refused to taint it. For any reason.

“I think I just heard someone groan from inside the bag.” Ava shouted the words as she fumbled with the zipper. “You have a body in here, don’t you? Well, you’re not framing me again, and that’s that.”

Noelle stepped away from her, palms up and out. “Darling, just carry the thing already. You’ve been whining about needing to step up your exercise program for a long time, and I’ve decided to help you. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I never asked—oh!” Ava stomped a foot. “I’m going to murder you in your sleep.”

Noelle gasped, intense waves of hurt wafting from her. “I can’t believe you just threatened me like that. I … need a moment to collect myself. Excuse me, everyone.” Sniffling, she walked away. Without taking her bag.