Close Liaisons (The Krinar Chronicles 1)

For some reason, that pissed her off. Yes, she felt like he had stripped her naked with his words in the car, leaving her feeling raw and vulnerable. Yes, if she thought too deeply about the meaning of his last words, she would probably start running and screaming. But she was hardly a Victorian maiden – her lack of experience notwithstanding – and she refused to let a few explicit phrases send her into vapors.

Resolutely getting up, Mia left her bag in the chair as a placeholder – nobody would steal a computer that old – and headed to the coffee shop to get something hot to drink. On the way there, she stopped by the bathroom. Splashing warm water on her face in an attempt to regain her equilibrium, Mia inadvertently caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The usual pale face staring back at her looked subtly different – somehow softer and prettier. Her lips appeared fuller, as though slightly swollen where he had touched them. Her eyes looked brighter, and there was a hint of color on her cheeks.

He was right, Mia thought. She had been extremely turned on in the car, his words alone bringing her nearly to the edge of orgasm – despite her shock and fear. What that said about her was not something she cared to analyze too deeply. Even now, she could feel the residual dampness in her underwear and a slight pulsing sensation deep within her loins whenever she thought back to that limo ride.

Taking a deep breath, Mia squared her shoulders and exited the restroom. Her sex life in all its extraterrestrial manifestations would have to wait until the paper was done and submitted.

Her priorities were two-fold right now – an extra-large coffee and a few hours of uninterrupted quality time with the Mac.

* * *

The ringing of the doorbell and an excited squeal by her roommate woke up Mia twelve minutes before her alarm.

Groaning, she rolled over and put her pillow over her head, hoping that the source of the noise would go away and let her get the remaining few minutes of precious sleep.

She had gotten home at three in the morning, after finally finishing the evil paper. Unfortunately, she had a 9 a.m. class on Mondays, which meant that she would get less than five hours of sleep that night. Even so, her overtired brain had refused to let go of the day’s events, with dark, erotic dreams interrupting her sleep – dreams in which she would see his face, feel his touch burning her skin, hear his voice promising both pain and ecstasy.

And now she couldn’t even enjoy a few moments of peaceful rest, as Jessie apparently couldn’t contain her excitement over whatever it was that came to the door.

“Mia! Mia! Guess what?” Jessie was practically singing as she knocked on Mia’s bedroom door.

“I’m sleeping!” Mia growled, wanting to smack Jessie for the first time in her life.

“Oh come on, I know your alarm is about to go off. Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty, and see what you got from Prince Charming!”

Mia bolted upright in her bed, all trace of sleepiness forgotten. “What are you talking about?” Jumping out of bed, she flung open the door, confronting her disgustingly cheerful and bright-eyed roommate.

“This!” With a huge excited grin, Jessie gestured toward a large vase of exotic pink and white flowers that occupied the center of their kitchen table. “The delivery guy just came and brought this. Look, there’s even a card and everything! Do you know who sent it? Is there some secret admirer that you haven’t told me about?”

Mia felt a sudden inner chill even as her pulse speeded up. Approaching the table, she reached for the card and opened it with trepidation. The content of the note – written in neat, but clearly masculine handwriting – was simple:

Tonight, 7pm. I will pick you up. Wear something nice.

Her hand shaking slightly, Mia put down the note. For some reason, she hadn’t thought he would want to see her again so soon, much less come to her apartment.

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense!” Unable to wait any longer, Jessie grabbed the note and read it herself. “Ooh, what’s this? You have a date?”

Mia felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache. “Not exactly,” she said wearily. “Let me get dressed for class, and we can talk on the way.”

Ten minutes later, Mia grabbed a breakfast bar and headed out the door with Jessie, who was nearly bursting with curiosity at this point. Sighing, Mia relayed a shortened version of the story, leaving out a few details that she felt were too private to share – such as his exact words and her reaction to him.

“Oh my God.” Jessie’s face reflected horrified disbelief. “And now he wants to see you again? Mia – this is bad, really bad.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe he just openly told you he intends to have sex with you.” Jessie was wringing her hands in distress. “What if you don’t show up tonight – go to the library instead or something?”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to find me there. He’s done that before. And I don’t know what he’ll do if he gets mad.”

Jessie’s eyes widened. “Do you think he would hurt you?” she asked in a hushed tone.

Mia thought about it for a few seconds. All his actions toward her thus far had been . . . solicitous, for lack of a better word. It could all be an act, of course, but somehow she doubted that he would physically abuse her.

“I don’t think so,” she said slowly. “But I don’t know what else he might be capable of.”

“Like what?”

“Well, that’s the thing – I just don’t know.” Mia nervously tugged at one long curl. “He’s definitely not playing by any kind of normal dating rules. I mean, he practically kidnapped me off the street yesterday . . .”