Chapter 9: Chapter 09: Possible Co-Habitation

CARTER

They sat in silence a moment as he mentally wrapped his head around all they’d just discussed. She really did understand how he felt about Texas, and they’d literally just met last night. Everything he learned about her made him more glad he’d helped her.

“I appreciate the way you listen,” Carter told her. “But I’m also making this all about me, while you’ve got actual bounty hunters coming after you. Will they ever stop?”

“I don’t know a reason they would,” Allison said. “However, thanks to your brave actions last night, I believe they’ve lost my scent. I should be safe for a time.”

“Does that mean you’re staying here with me?”

Now, it was her turn to blink in surprise. “Would you allow that?”

“I actually would. After learning all this, I’d be a dick not to offer.”

She considered him carefully. “While I’m certainly not opposed to this arrangement, I hesitate to impose. I also won’t lie to you. You could be targeted for agreeing to help me.”

“I don’t know if I can protect you from an alien bounty hunter, but I can sure as hell give you a place to eat and sleep for as long as you need it. If...” He frowned. “Do you even eat?”

“I enjoy human food and drink, though I do not need it survive. To thrive and grow stronger, I need...” Her smile grew soft. “We’ve already discussed what I need.”

“But you still like to eat.”

“I do,” Allison assured him. “While I can reconfigure my mass through mental effort, the form I’ve taken at the moment is as human as any other on this planet. Any doctor that examined me would find nothing unusual. The only function I eliminated was my period.”

“Oh,” Carter said.

“Those were unpleasant.”

Carter managed another grin. “I’ve heard they can be.”

“As a result, you need not worry about making me pregnant. The alterations I’ve made to this body eliminated those functions. Finally, I am immune to human disease.”

“That’s... all great.” Carter had always used protection with his former partners and would have insisted on doing so with Allison too, but it seemed there was no need. In fact, using protection, with her, would actually stop her from getting what she needed.

Allison held his gaze. “Before I agree to partner with you, however, I need to be clear about one thing. Accepting me as your partner means accepting who I am. That also means acknowledging interstellar law and all that comes with it. I need you to understand that.”

“Which means what exactly?”

“The laws that forbid Tharons and others from acting against humans do not apply to those who already know aliens exist. Forming a partnership with me means you are also now subject to interstellar law. Like your US marshals, I do not believe a Tharon would kill you, but if they knew you had aided me with full knowledge of who I am, they could imprison or mentally interrogate you. You would be subject to arrest just like me.”

“Damn,” Carter said. “I might get arrested by space cops.”

Allison’s expression darkened for the first time since she’d met, and Carter was glad she’d promised she wouldn’t actually read his mind. Otherwise, she’d know how cute she looked when she was trying to be intimidating.

“This is no laughing matter,” Allison informed him calmly.

“No more inappropriate than your swallowing joke. Right joke, wrong time. And you know what? I don’t care.”

She tilted her head in that quizzical way he was finding he already liked very much. “You don’t care that you’ll be exposing yourself to detention and interrogation by aliens?”

“I mean, I won’t say it doesn’t bother me. That’d bother anyone. But what would bother me more is knowing I had a chance to help you and threw you out on the street. I don’t think I could actually live with that, and after getting to know you, I don’t want to.”

“I see,” Allison said. “There is another option. We haven’t even been together a full day, and erasing that time is well within my mental capabilities.”

Carter frowned in confusion. “You can erase time?”

“I have told you I am capable of mental manipulation. What I have not explained is the full extent of my abilities. If you consent, I can enter your mind and erase your knowledge of all that occurred since you closed the store last night. We could even wait until tonight if you wished. We could spend an entire day and night together before I departed.”

“No way!” Carter stared at her. “You’d mind wipe me?”

“Never without your consent,” she reminded him firmly. “But even so, I feel compelled to make the offer. Please consider what a partnership with me means very carefully, and understand that simply ‘tossing me out on the street’ is not your only option.”

“How is that not my only option?”

“You could simply take a day off to fuck me, as frequently as you like and in any way you like, until I’ve absorbed enough of what you offer to become strong enough to go out again on my own. I would not be so helpless then. I could protect myself and not commit you to what could easily be an ongoing struggle to evade alien bounty hunters. After I’d regained my strength, I’d wipe your mind and you’d lose a day or two at most. Like a bad hangover.”

“Holy shit.” Carter scowled. “That’s... well, I’m actually offended now.”

She winced at his warning tone. “You are not the only one with protective instincts.”

“I get that. I really do. But Allison...” He gripped her arms and pulled her close. “I couldn’t do that to you. I’d never want to do that to you.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You’d never want to spend a whole day fucking me?”

“You know that’s not what I meant, and yes, that day sounds absolutely amazing.” His scowl faded. “But I’d never take that deal. The whole time I’d be thinking about the fact that you’d have to leave, and even if you could erase the guilt, I wouldn’t want you to.”

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Without another word she sank into his arms, and this time, Carter was more than happy to hold her. She breathed in and out, and was that... a sob? He’d swear he’d heard just the tiniest of sobs. Yet when he tilted her face up to face his, she was smiling.

“I had to make the offer,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t present all our options. I already fear that simply by having you last night I am taking advantage of your desire to protect others, your kindness, and, well... your species’ strong desire for sex.”

“I do love sex,” Carter agreed. “But that’s not why I want to help you.”

“I believe you, and I’m grateful you did not accept, but still, I had to offer.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I get that, and I forgive you, and I don’t believe you’re taking advantage of me. My offer stands. You can stay with me as long as you need to.”

She nodded against his chest. “And?”

She needed him to say it. “I also fully understand the mind wipe thing isn’t an option after you’ve been here awhile. I could get over losing a day, but losing weeks would be impossible for me to explain, to myself and others. So I understand that when we finalize this, I’m making a serious commitment to running from space cops.”

“You do understand,” she agreed softly. “Even so, I have one more condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Think about it for a day.”

Carter frowned again, then acknowledged the sense she made. “All right. That’s fair to ask. Agreeing to go on the run from alien bounty hunters together is a big decision.”

“The biggest,” she agreed. “I will agree to partner with you provided you have not changed your mind in twenty-four hours. Please consider what this means carefully.”

“Not much to think about,” Carter told her. “But I’ll wait.”

“Wonderful,” Allison agreed. “Would you like to cuddle while we wait?”

Carter relaxed against the couch and extended an arm. “It’s so damn cute when you ask things like that.”

She scooted into the crook of his arm and pressed up close against him, then wrapped her arms around his waist. Her genuine affection sent tingles through his whole body. Once he has his arm wrapped around her, she fit perfectly. She settled contentedly into his embrace as silence returned to his apartment.

His mind was still spinning with what were literally world-changing revelations. Aliens. Bounty hunters. Whole worlds beyond Earth filled with life and actual space travel. Science fiction made real. All of it was really intimidating... but also kind of awesome.

For the moment, at least, they didn’t have much more to talk about. Not until twenty-four hours elapsed. He doubted he’d change his decision, but he appreciated that she insisted he wait. Allison really did seem like a good person, too. Or... a good alien.

He couldn’t imagine ever leaving her to run from these hunters alone. He’d never have remained free this long without the help of his uncle and his family, all of whom understood what he’d done for Jenna and protected him from going to prison. A fugitive on their own would never be able to keep running, but with enough support... they might have a chance.

As heavy as their secret sharing had been, having it all out there was actually a relief. Every moment that passed in the silence of his apartment as he held this brave, resourceful woman—which she was, biologically—firmed his resolve. It wasn’t just that he’d loved their time last night. It was that he felt, to his bones, that helping her was the right thing to do.

Allison hardly stirred as he shifted his weight to ease a cramp developing in his shoulder. She snuggled close again afterward. He could feel the slow rise and fall of her chest and, in particular, the side of one of her breasts pressing against his ribs. Her toned legs remained as bare as ever, and he couldn’t stop glancing at them. Did she know that?

Soon enough he was gently rubbing her back above her shirt, a small bit of affection she accepted with a contented sigh. Next, he found his hand roaming her hip and side, all too aware that the side of her other breast was also easily in reach. He rested his hand on her hip instead.

She snuggled against him encouragingly, then nuzzled his chest through his black T-shirt. His hand slipped off her hip and up her side, and the way her grip tightened around his waist was all the encouragement he needed. He felt her breathing quicken against him.

As his fingers continued up her side, she raised her upper arm invitingly. A moment later, his fingers curved around the side of her breast. When he squeezed, she rewarded him with a soft moan.

Damn, that made him so fucking hard. Allison eased back just enough to gaze up at him with light green eyes he was already starting to adore. She glanced down at hand, on her breast, and then back up. The naughty little smirk from last night returned.

“Carter?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Would you like me to suck your cock again?”

“Maybe.” When he slid his hand around to fully cup her breast above her shirt, she offered an adorable little gasp. “Not yet.”

The longing in her eyes was obvious. “Then what it is I can I do for you?”

“You feel like showing me any more of your mind powers?”

“I could,” Allison agreed. “But I would need you to restore my strength after I finish.”

“So you agree to show me some cool alien telepathy and shapeshifting tricks, and in return, I fuck your brains out after?”

“That would be ideal.”

Carter had nowhere to be today. It wasn’t even lunch time yet. “All right.” He dropped both hands to her waist, lifted her easily enough to elicit a surprised gasp, and dropped her once more onto his lap. “What do you want to show me first?”

She beamed up at him. “Help me get this shirt off and we’ll get started.”

Author's Note: Tomorrow, Allison shows Carter a cool trick.

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