unguarded

Getting away from Julian wasn't easy. The only reason she was able to pull it off was because he liked his peacekeeping classes.

Truth was she'd wasted too much time today on the crushing pain in her chest and trying to figure out how to let her family know that they are everything to her.

No matter how difficult it was she had to let that go and start taking care of business. There was so much to do and some of it would be impossible with everyone watching.

They loved her. Cared about her but that wasn't what she needed right now.

Later, when there was nothing left to do but cry and die, she would look back and know how much they cared. How much they wanted to save her.

But they couldn't. She was going to save them. Or at least give them a fighting chance.

She gave a sigh of relief when Sinclair finally dragged his fine ass to class and sat across from her. Without bothering to look at her, he slouched in his chair and looked like he was already taking a nap.

"Is it true?"

Jess frowned when he didn't answer her. "You know I know those headphones don't work. Don't be a jerk."

He still didn't answer.

She kicked him under the table.

The look he gave her suggested that she take a flying leap. With a roll of his sexy green eyes, he removed his headphones.

"Is it true?"

"You'll have to be more specific, sweetheart."

Since this was the first time she's heard him speak, his sexy southern drawl caught her off guard and she forgot to smash his face in.

"Look, I'm not interested." He gave her a once over. "Much. So, run along."

Jess grounded her teeth together. "You're friends with Hayley, right? She says you hang out."

"If by hang out, you mean she stalks me. Then yes, we hang."

The guy was a cool drink. Before Kell had completely ruined her for anyone else she would have been stalking him herself.

Bad attitude. Asshole. Brooding. Sexy as hell. Just her type.

If Lee was right, he'd only been one step from being kicked out of here when he put in a request to leave. Several of them.

He was Hayley's two favorite topics. Someone who was getting to leave here and doing him before he was gone. "You really getting out of here?"

"That's right. All I have to do is play nice for the rest of the day."

"What's so bad about this place?"

"You might be an alien lover, but to me, this looks and feels like a prison. Anything else you want to know, or can I get back to my shit?"

She reached across the table and put a piece of paper in his hand. Careful not to give herself away but it wouldn't matter if the ass didn't play along.

"Why did you come here if you didn't want to be here?" She took a deep breath when he didn't rat her out.

He smirked and she knew she had caught his interest.

"Looking for my brother. He's not here. It's time to move on."

"What will you do out there?"

"Live."

He kept her waiting forty-five minutes. To be honest, she was surprised he showed up at all.

Seeing him approach, she quickly got to her feet and handed him another note. Jess looked over her shoulder to see if any of the washouts that hung around at the bus ramp were paying any attention to them.

"Screw that." He said without bothering to open it. "Follow me back to my place. I have nothing better to do with my evening."

She flipped him off. "How can a girl say no to that?"

"Want sweet talk find it somewhere else. I'm good at other things."

Damn it, she just bet he was.

"Lead the way."

They didn't speak along the way. She couldn't have if she wanted to. Dude didn't live nearby. By the time, they got there she was out of breath and had a stitch in her side.

He looked at her like she was pathetic, so she flipped him off again.

Jess eyed his place with her nose turned up. "They hooked you up with a dump."

"This is my own place. I don't like cameras."

He shed his beanie and his hoodie. Ran both hands threw his hair.

For privacy, he had traded his comfort. The place was an old building with no furniture to speak of. His bed was some blankets piled in a corner. There were a few books on a crate and a backpack with a few food items spilling out.

"Nice bed."

"You won't have any complaints with it."

Suddenly, she was worried that he actually thought she was here for sex. Crap. Of course, he'd think that. He obviously thought he was God's gift to women, and all her note said was when and where to meet her.

He headed for an open door that had to be a restroom. "Place has no running water, but I managed to roll in a few of those large water jugs. I've been using that to wash up with."

He motioned her to follow then motioned towards the sink. "Wash up so we can get busy."

She frowned. "You got a thing about being clean?"

With a grunt, he reached around her and grabbed her hand.

Fuck if that wasn't enough to send a bolt of lightning followed by a flash of fire through her gut. Double over in pain, she was already trying to figure out what she was going to say to Kellum.

"Human Jessalynn, are you in need of assistance?"

When Sinclair went to touch her again, she shook her head like a person possessed. "No." The only way she could speak was through clench teeth. "Tell him I just hurt myself. It's fine."

"Human Jessalynn, if you would get back to an unrestricted location, I could run a______."

"No. Jeez, get a life. You didn't tell him where I was, did you?"

Double fudgy crap.

"He has not asked. Would you like_____."

"No. Hell no."

Still unsure if Kellum was going to show up any second, she looked Sinclair's way.

That's never happened before but she could see where the no touch rule would be amped up around this dreamboat.

Right now, he looked like he'd decided she was too much trouble. Before he could ask her to leave, she put her hand into the sink, which is what he'd been trying to do.

"Deeper."

She kind of felt like an idiot when she realized what he wanted. Her computer cuff in the water. "Does this work?"

He gave her a dry look. "They can't hear a thing like that, but they still get all your vitals. You can't stay like that long or it will send up a flag, so switch it in and out."

She eased it out acting like she was washing her hands. "Have any soap?"

"Above your head."

"How do you know this works?"

He only shrugged.

"Why don't you have one?"

"My condition for being a good boy. Any more questions?"

"No, just a statement. When you leave tomorrow, I'm coming with you."

"Is that so?" He eyed her hand because it was out of the water.

"They know but no one else can know."

"Then what is the big secret?"

"No, secret. Just a lot of rules to follow." Making sure her hand was completely covered now she rushed into what she needed to say. "They're letting me go but I'm not going alone. I can handle it all, I just need you to make sure Hayley and her sister are at the gate to see you off. If I do it, they will know something's up."

"You're planning to sneak them out? How in the hell are you planning to do that? There are guards, check points. A shield. Believe me, I've cased this place. There's no getting out or in without their help."

"The guards are a bunch of freaking weenies who'll be too afraid to touch us. By the time, they know what the hell is going on we'll be gone."

"It will never happen."

"Let me worry about that."

"Even if you get them out, they're just going to drag their asses back in."

"I have it covered."

"Let's say you do. What do I get out of this?"

"Supplies and a car."

"Okay then. I guess it's a win win for me." He stepped closer to her. "Entertainment, even if the supplies fall through."

"You'll get your supplies. And whatever you do, don't touch me. Not if you don't want company of the big angry kind. Let's just say my guard dog knows when someone is touching what is his."

"Is that what that spark was? No wonder you're wanting out of here. Won't he be pissed that you're here with me?"

"No. As long as he's not worried about me, he doesn't check up on me."

He'd been nothing but worried about her all day. "We better cut this short just in case. I can't afford to mess this up. Just make sure they are both there."

He waited until her hand was out of the water before he smiled at her. It was the kind of smile that could weaken a girl's knees.

Even hers.

"You came all this way, might as well stay for a bit."

"Did you not hear what I just said? No touching."

"Let's see if you're telling the truth."

That mother fucker.

He grabbed her ass and pulled her hips to his. She was still doubled over when she realized she might be needing to save the asshole.

Big and angry, yep.

Sinclair was slammed against the wall, held there, and forgotten while Kell took in the scene.

She supposed it may look a tad bad. They were all crammed in a small, dirty bathroom and she probably looked like someone had just removed her spleen or something.

Poor Sinful looked stunned at suddenly having a giant standing in his space, one that looked like he wanted to kill. Kell's hand was at his neck and not exactly making breathing easy.

Not that the jerk off didn't deserve a new arrangement of his pretty face.

Jess let Kell land one good hit while she admired his barely controlled strength wrapped up in a form that could send her heart into hyper drive.

Sometimes she forgot just how strong he was because he never showed her anything but tenderness.

"The advisors aren't going to like that."
"What did he do to you?"

The question was asked calmly but she knew better. She could feel his rage. "We were hanging out. No big."

"Untruths are not going to save him, Jessalynn."

"Fine. We were hanging out and dill fuck had making out on his mind. He grabbed my ass."

The hand he had fisted shook.

"Sweetheart, I don't think that's going to save me either."

"Nah, Kell would never kill a guy just for touching me. Hurting me, yes. Touching, no. If anything, he's just going to break a few bones." To her guy, she said. "It was a lapse of judgement on his part."

"Dezrick, I want him in containment until I can______."

"Kell, you can't do that. He's leaving tomorrow. Till then I'll stay away from him."

Big guy took a deep breath. "I find I cannot do that. Either I hit him some more or I make sure he is locked away from you until I have time to deal with him."

"He's already dealt with. Try to remember on my planet he didn't do anything wrong. He's not the first guy to grab my______."

Seeing that Sin was having trouble breathing again, she shut up. Or tried to. "Fine. Kill him if you want to. The advisers already don't like me. You have more important things to worry about. You're holding up a whole damn meeting to be here but go ahead. Kill him. Just because he thinks I'm pretty. It's not even his fault. He can't help it that our numbers are so high that he got carried away. If anything, it's my fault. I shouldn't have come back to his place. And maybe I was flirting. A little bit. You know how I am."

Sinclair was put back on his feet. "Why are you here?"

"I told you. Hanging out. Now tell him if he ever touches me again, you'll kill him and let's get out of here."

He eyed the other man then held out his hand to her. They ended up in her room.

"Dezrick, if he gets within twenty feet of her, I want to know about it. I must get back to my meeting but call a committee meeting with all the remaining members at once. I want to know how both sides think I should have handled the situation."

Finally looking at Jess, his arm tightened around her waist. "We will talk about this. I do not know how long I will be, but we will talk about this."

"Okay." She gripped his candora. "I could come to your place and wait for you. If I'm sleeping, you could wake me up so we can spend some time together."

"Yes, Jessalynn." He kissed her tenderly then pulled back. "Why_______"

"Get back to your meeting. We'll talk later. I'm sure the four tops are about to blow their tops. We'll talk later."

He kissed her quickly. His eyes troubled. "As soon as I have a second to think, I am going to figure out what is going on." He promised and was gone.

Hopefully, she'd be gone by then.

Before she could let that thought hurt, she moved towards the door. She had to get back to work. There were only a few hours left for her to try and learn how to use her new gift.