With hands shaking, she touched his chest. Everything felt the same, but his skin continued to glow.
Cooper smiled and lifted her palm from his chest to his lips. Then she noticed his eyes. Black. All black, void of any color. Was he high on some kind of drug? But that didn’t explain his skin. She pulled away and scooted back on the bed. “What’s wrong with you?”
When would he have taken anything anyway? His issue had to be something more organic, something natural and yet so very, very far from the norm. Had the government experimented on him, genetically altered his genes in utero? She usually didn’t jump to conspiracy theories, but his mother had seldom let him go anywhere. Was she afraid someone would find out?
Cooper glanced at his arm and paled. “Oh no. No, no, no. You weren’t supposed to see me like this. I thought I had better control. Shit, no one is supposed to know.” He rolled off the bed and grabbed her clothes then tossed them on the covers beside her. “Get dressed and then get out. No one is ever supposed to see me like this. Oh fuck!”
“But….” A lump formed in her throat. Tears stung the corners of her eyes. Getting kicked out after sex stung worse than any initial rejection. She’d given him her body, yearned to give him her heart. Why did he want her to leave? Because she’d seen him as something other than normal? “Please, if you’d just tell me what’s going on. I-I won’t tell.”
“No, don’t tell.” He placed his palm on his forehead and turned away from her. “I should never have done this. This was such a bad idea.”
The burn of his rejection boiled into anger. Melinda tossed on her dress and shoved the rest of her clothing into her clutch. “Fine, if that’s the way you want this to end. I can be very open-minded, but you don’t seem to care. Have a nice life, whatever the fuck you are.”
Melinda grabbed her pumps then stormed out of the bedroom and the suite. So much for her fantasy man. He’d dropped in ranking to her worst date ever.
Cooper’s hand shook as he held the phone to his ear. “Tabitha, she knows what I am.”
“Wait. What?” He heard the confusion in her voice. “Who knows what?”
“Melinda, my date.” He rubbed his temple, his head pounding. “She knows what I am.”
“How? Did you tell her?”
“No!” He regretted yelling right away, worry blocking out all common sense. “She saw my skin, the way it changes. I couldn’t help myself after we…. I’m in trouble.”
“Why? Did she react badly? Did she run away?”
“No, I kicked her out before she had the chance.”
“Cooper….” Her voice remained calm, too calm, the way his mother had spoken to him the night she’d caught him coming inside, wet to the bone, after the grade-nine dance. “Go after her.”
“And do what?” Restrain her? Make it impossible for her to tell anyone what she’d seen? He would rather move away, go into hiding, than hurt anyone.
“Tell her you’re sorry and that you overreacted.”
“I can’t.” He could never fix what he’d said, what she’d seen.
“Do it. Then, when you’re both back in the suite, tell her the truth.”
“But—” He’d never told anyone about his extraterrestrial father, been reminded of the consequences of revealing his secret over and over again.
“Madame Eve would never have set you up with anyone she didn’t believe could handle learning the truth about you. Now, get your ass in gear and go find her.” Tabitha hung up.
Shit!
Melinda
had
asked him to explain. But he’d panicked, stopped thinking with reason. And kicked out the one woman he might have had a chance with, someone who perhaps wouldn’t fear his alien ancestry. After all, she did write about romances with extraterrestrials.
After a quick glimpse in the mirror to ensure he’d return to his human image, Cooper slipped on his shoes and grabbed his key card. He didn’t know Melinda’s room number, but he would acquire it. He rushed out the door and down the hall to the stairwell, no patience to wait for the elevator. When he reached the lobby, he sidled up to the front desk.
A balding, middle-aged man raised an eyebrow at him. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I need the room number of Melinda Rose. She left something in my room, and I’d like to return it to her.”
“You can leave it with me.” The man rested a hand, palm up, on the upper portion of the desk. “I’ll ring her and have her come down and get it.”
“No.” Cooper stepped back. “It’s a little personal. I’d rather deliver it to her in person.” He didn’t have anything but couldn’t let the desk clerk know.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you her room number. It goes against hotel policy.”
“But it’s not as if I’m some stranger off the street. I’m a guest here, too. And I just spent several hours with Melinda. It must have slipped her mind not to tell me which room she’s staying in.”
“I’m sure.” The clerk pursed his lips and shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
Cooper threw his hands in the air. “Geez!” How was he supposed to apologize if he couldn’t find her?
At the ding of the elevator, he instinctively peered over at the opening doors. Melinda strolled out, her hair rolled up in a bun, and her lips a brighter red than when she’d left him in the suite.
She caught his gaze and spun the other direction, heading down a crowded hallway.
Cooper darted after her, dodging yet another swarm of women along the way. “Melinda!”
She didn’t turn around, didn’t even pause. She marched across the plush carpet, straight through a double doorway.
Fuck!
What lay inside the room, he had no idea, but he followed her inside anyway. He couldn’t let her out of his life forever, not unless she sent him away. No more than he deserved after his behavior. Shoving her out of the suite had been the stupidest move in his life.
More women mingled in the large room, traveling from one group to another, chatting and laughing. Some men lingered around, too, but the female population in the space far outnumbered them. All authors like Melinda?
He surveyed the area, tables at one end, a stage at the other. Melinda had to be somewhere. After a few moments, he spied her at the bar in the far corner. He wiped his palms on his jeans and rushed over to her. As the bartender set her drink in front of her, Cooper slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter. “It’s on me.”
She turned and scowled at him but didn’t refuse the gesture. “What do you want?”
“I’m sorry. I panicked. I should never have kicked you out.” Regret twisted his gut. He needed her forgiveness more than anything.
“I’d listen to him.” A short, African-Canadian woman with long, bleached-blonde hair eased up to the bar beside Melinda. “Any guy who apologizes and accepts the blame has got to be worth a second chance. Unless he hit you.” She turned her attention to Cooper, staring him down. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
“No, ma’am. Never.” He gulped at the intensity of her gaze.
“Fine, talk.” Melinda sipped her drink.
“I’d rather talk to you back in the suite. I mean, there are some things I’d rather not tell the world.”
Melinda peered over at the woman beside her, turning her back on Cooper. “It’s room 316. Think I should?”
She nodded. “Go on, sugar. I’ll let Lauren know. But, if we don’t hear from you within the hour, we’ll come looking.”
Melinda hugged the woman, obviously a friend. “Thanks, Michelle.”
When she circled back to him, Cooper held out his hand, praying she’d take it. She slipped her fingers along his palm, the warmth from her touch enough to give him hope he could recover from his previous actions.
“I’m really sorry,” he repeated once the elevator doors had closed behind them. “I have secrets I’ve never told anyone.”
She tightened her grip on his hand. “I always knew you had secrets, even when you were only a boy. Why else would your mother have been so protective of you. But I would have preferred you just tell me, not kick me out of the suite. And your life.”
He blinked hard and rocked in place. “I don’t have a dysfunctional family or anything. Well, maybe I do, but it’s bigger than that. If the wrong people found out, it would be a matter of national security.”
“Okay…. I told you, I won’t tell.”
Cooper slammed the red emergency button, not wanting to expose his secret the moment the doors opened to a crowd of people. “My father—he’s no longer with us.”
“He passed away?” She rubbed the back of his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“No. He returned to his home planet.”
Her brow furrowed. “You’re joking, right? Just because I write sci-fi romance. What is he, some kind of mob boss?”
He shook his head.
Here’s where she runs away screaming
. “I’m half-alien. No joke.”
Cooper released the emergency brake, and the doors opened right away. Melinda studied him through shuttered eyes.
He stepped out, tugging her along with him, but she worked her fingers free. “Are you coming?”
She knew, had seen the proof. If she didn’t believe him and wanted to be with him, he’d run the risk of ruining the rest of his life. The choice remained hers.
As the elevator doors closed, she watched him yet made no motion to follow him. Cooper’s heart sank. He turned toward his suite, anxious to pack and leave before the authorities tracked him down.
“Wait!” The doors opened again, and Melinda rushed out of the elevator. “It all makes sense. You just…you caught me by surprise.”
“And?” Cooper held his breath.
She snaked her hand back into his. “Let’s go back to the suite and talk about it. And maybe I can see the
other
side of you again?”
He grinned, unable to hold in his elation. “Sounds like a plan.”
As they walked through the hall, Melinda clung to his arm and rested her head against his shoulder. “I’ve always wanted my own alien hero.”
Cooper closed his eyes, visualizing his human form slipping away, melting off his body like a second skin. Melinda wanted to see his true form, so he would show her, expose the form his mother vowed would lead him straight to a government laboratory.
Melinda held his hand tight, her grip never wavering. “You’re really…. Wow, you really are an extraterrestrial.”
He grimaced. “Only part. Those from my father’s home planet are much taller and leaner. Plus, they have a blue complexion. And, well, there are some other anatomical differences I’ve been told about.” He opened his eyes again, anxious to see her reaction.
“This is amazing.” She smiled with tears in her eyes. “I never would have guessed. All these years I’ve fantasized about you. And aliens.” She tilted her head to the side, examining him. “Maybe I always knew, deep down inside.”
“And? Are you okay with this?” His skin itched as if bugs crawled underneath. The same sensation came when he’d switched to his human form, but he’d become used to living in it long ago, perfected it before he’d started school. His survival on Earth had depended on his ability to appear human at all times. As he’d aged, the reverse held true. Showing his Ginnunian side stung for the first few minutes.
“Of course. You’re still the sexiest man alive, but in a more extraterrestrial way right now.” She splayed her fingers across his chest. “And I’m honored you chose to show me the real you. I mean, your alien side.”
She bit her bottom lip before dropping her gaze to the floor.
Nausea rolled through his stomach. “What is it?” Had she seen enough, changed her mind?
She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just…. I was wondering if, you know.”
“No, I don’t know.” He focused on his Earthbound image, the one he’d perfected to blend in on the unknowing planet, letting it envelope him again, bring back his sense of security.
“Wait!”
Melinda pushed on his chest, catching him by surprise and knocking him back on the bed. “I was wondering if we could….” Her cheeks flushed. “I want to do it with an alien.”
“You’re not serious.” His muscles tensed, his mind still stunned she seemed to have accepted him in an instant. He’d hoped she wouldn’t run or scream at seeing his true self, but he never expected her to want him to remain in his true form.
“Sure, I mean I do write about having sex with aliens. Some practical experience would really help me in getting my details accurate.”
Her boldness put him at ease. “So, I’m only a learning tool for you?” He winked and pulled Melinda onto the bed beside him.
She giggled, reaching down to massage his testicles. “Maybe. Plus, I’m a little curious. Okay, a lot. That is, if you are able to do it like this.”
She slid her fingers along his shaft, and he hardened under her touch, groaning with pleasure. “I’ve never been with another like this, but everything still works the same.”
“Good.” She scooted along the bed, positioning herself between his legs.
Her tongue grazed the tip of his cock, and he sucked in a ragged breath.
“Like this, do you?”
“Uh-huh.” He thrust his hips higher, hoping she would do it again, take more of him.
Gripping his shaft, she swirled her tongue around the head, sending a shockwave through him. She began a private exploration, using her fingers and tongue to map every inch of his cock. Then she took him into her mouth. No longer able to restrain his pleasure, he grunted, placing his hand on the back of her head. Tempted to help her up and down, he restrained himself, rocking into her mouth instead.
“You’re so good at this,” he hissed out.
She glanced up at him, her eyes alight. The speed at which she took him increased, and she sucked with more force. His thighs tightened, sexual electricity building in his belly. His mind whirled as he took everything she offered.
Already set to explode, he reached his breaking point with one last swirl of her tongue. Pulling himself out of her mouth, he burst. His body jerked as she stroked him, milking out every last drop of his release.
Within a few moments, the pressure faded, but not his hardness. He yearned to be with her again, bury himself deep inside her as an alien. For once, he was free to be his true self. Even if in front of no one but Melinda, it was enough.