Madelyn gave me my drink as I finished my water. "You have a friend waiting for you in your office," she announced.
"Who is it?" I asked. Nobody bothered my at night. I was too damned busy to deal with anyone other than my business then.
"It's your special friend," she replied, and I knew exactly what asshole she meant. Special friend my ass. If they knew…fuck no, they only knew him as someone that showed up a few times a year. Four to be exact. We both knew why he did, but his timing was way off this time.
I'd better go see what the son of a bitch wanted. I basically lived in the club. The former owner had a bedroom and bathroom coming off of the office. It made it easier for him to fuck the dancers and still go home all nice and clean to the little woman. I wanted to take a shower, and if the bastard had done anything to what was waiting for me in my bedroom, I was going to kick his ass all of the way to the state line. He better have stayed in the office.
"Stay out here and help the girls," I ordered the twins. "And nobody is allowed in my office until I come back out, okay?"
They nodded. It was funny. When those two told someone to stay out of my office, everyone listened to them. They knew where the directive had come from, and they didn't want a furious Madelyn and Miranda jumping their asses. If either of those two little girls told a bouncer to throw some asshole out of them club, the asshole ended up with a face full of asphalt as they skidded across the pavement on their way out.
I went into my office and there he was, sitting in my chair. Nobody sits in my chair. There were two other chairs and a couch. He was pulling that alpha male bullshit and I was not in the mood to deal with it. He stopped being my CO a long time ago. I started to get my barcode burned off on a regular basis, and Zack the CO ceased to exist in my mind.
"Hello Zack," I greeted. "You're six weeks early. Now get the fuck out of my chair. As a matter of fact, I'm going to take a shower. Get the fuck out of my office while I'm in there."
"Nice to see you again Terran," he replied, not standing. I didn't say anything else; I left him in there as I went into the bathroom. I knew he'd be there when I got out, but he better not be in my chair.
I turned the water hot enough to steam. What was he doing here? His timing was normally perfect. He'd show up just as I went into heat. See, there's a thing to the X-5 males. They don't go into heat, but when they were around a female that was in it, the phemerones she's throwing off drives them into the same uncontrollable lust that's infecting the girls. Zack would pull that "I'm just checking on you" crap, but I knew the truth. He wanted to fuck me, and this way he could say he didn't have a choice, it was biology.
Biology my ass. GI Joe just needed an excuse. I was pretty sure he'd slept with most, if not all twelve of us. Yeah, even the guys. It was his way of establishing and keeping control. I wasn't too sure if he'd bagged all of us. Max and Ben especially. I could tell who was playing the good soldier by the way Zack would talk about them. After over ten years, what he doesn't say speaks more than what he does, if you know how to interpret it.
But he was here six weeks before my next heat, which meant he wanted something besides my delectable body. God, he was great in the sack though. Maybe it was just the heat, but it was always the same. With me, it wasn't just him establishing control. He liked it even if he wouldn't admit it. He'd show up, and we'd spend the next twelve hours tearing into each other. He'd be covered with scratches and bites, and I'd be bruised and barely able to walk the next day. I'd lose count of the number of times I climaxed over the past half-day, and have to buy new sheets for the bed to replace the torn, stained ones. The scientists at Manticore were nothing short of monsters, but they did do some things rights. All you had to do was see Zack's perfect genetically engineered body all hard and ready, and you had to give the good folks at Manticore a little thank you.
We'd spend the next day apart, healing mostly, and then have dinner together somewhere. I knew every business owner in the Quarter, and we'd always get something special from any restaurant we went to there. He'd act pissy that we'd slept together again, but he knew what he wanted when he showed up. It was the entire solider-boy act that he never dropped. I was never much one for talking to him; he just pissed me off whenever we tried to have a real conversation. I much preferred him showing up when I couldn't resist him, and then him leaving quickly after. Otherwise he was way too much of an asshole to deal with. Never mind the past, he was here now, and I had to deal with him. After the water in the shower got cold.
I got out of the shower and put my robe back on. I wasn't being overwhelmed by my needs, and he wasn't getting into my bedroom tonight. If that's what he was here for, too fucking bad. He was still in my office, but he was standing, staring out my window.
"So what's up Zack?" I asked. "Zane tell you he wasn't in the mood to bend over again earlier than you expected, or did Max say no again?" The fury in his eyes was scary, but I held my ground. He was in my office. He wanted me to be afraid of him, screw him this was my turf.
"Have you seen Ben?" he asked, his eyes drilling into mine.
"Awww, is Ben being a bad solider?" I mocked. "Did he not drop to his knees on command?"
I was pinned against the wall in a heartbeat. "I'm not in the mood to fuck with you," he growled. "I know you've met up with Ben. Is he here in New Orleans?" He slammed me against the wall. "Where is he you little bitch?" he demanded.
Show no fear. That's one of those Manticore gems that never left me. I could show no fear of anything, including Zack. "Baby if you're wanting the rough stuff, I'll get Sugar and Spice in here, 'cause I only go for that when I'm in heat." I paused, and we glared at each other for a long minute. He knew he didn't intimidate me in the slightest. I don't know where the hell he is," I finally snapped. "What do you want him for anyways?" Zack let me go and turned away to leave.
I was in front of the door before he could reach it. "What do you want him for?" I repeated.
"It's none of your concern now move," he ordered.
"Fuck you," I replied. "If you want him bad enough to show up here, I better know in case he decides to see his little sister bare all."
"He's killing people," Zack finally explained. He's putting his barcode on their necks and hunting them. Lydecker's all over it, and if he's here…"
"I get it," I said. "I don't want Lydecker looking for anything X-5 in this city." I stepped away from the door. "Bye Zack…see you in six weeks." He glared at me and muttered something about not likely, but we both knew that was a lie. He'd be back. I was the one that could lie like a rug. Even though he swore he could tell the difference, he'd just shown he couldn't.
"He gone?" a beautiful voice came from my bedroom door. I locked the front office door and turned to face the most gorgeous male I'd ever seen. If Zack was perfect, Ben was nothing short of divine.
"Yeah baby," I said with a smile, and let my robe fall open. His gaze on my nude body warmed me. I moved to him slowly, letting him get a good glimpse of what was going to be his. "It's just us now." I put my arms around his neck, and we kissed deeply. His hands started to roam over my back and squeezed my ass a little. He knew how to start me slow and work me into frenzy.
"Zack said you've been very bad," I said when we finally separated. "You killed a bunch of people." He shrugged.
"It's something I have to do," he replied. Like I cared really. Everyone has his or her own little issues and problems. That was the first important thing I learned outside of Manticore. There was only one thing I cared about right then, and it had more to do with the sweet skin I was tasting on his neck.
"Don't do it here," I hissed into his ear, and then started to lick his earlobe and kiss his neck. He was still dressed, but I could feel his hardness already through his jeans. If I didn't get those jeans off of his genetically engineered ass in the next two minutes, I was going to explode. "Okay baby? Not in New Orleans." I pulled back a little so out eyes could meet.
"Terran," he started, then saw the seriousness in my face. "Okay Terran, not in New Orleans." I smiled. His hands caught my breasts. Without another thought wasted for mundane matters, we slipped into my bedroom and the pleasures that waited for us there.