That’s what I want, he thought, filled with sudden, unwilling longing. Just to be touched without feeling pain. Just to talk to another person and have a normal conversation without having to feel their emotions crawl all over me.
But how stupid was it to wish such a thing? It was impossible…impractical. And it was never going to happen.
“So tight right here. I think I need to hit some trigger points.”
There was that voice again—for some reason it sounded familiar. Suddenly, Reddix found himself hovering over a tiny room near the back of the alien building. He watched what was going on in the room with interest.
Lying on his stomach on the padded table was a large, flabby man with thinning brownish hair.
“Yeah, I’m a little tense, darlin’” he was saying. “Business, you know. We did several multi-million deals this week, and of course, I had to be involved in them all. Had to keep it all running smoothly.”
“Of course,” said the girl bending over him. “That sounds stressful.”
“Well, it is but when you’re the firm’s top earner…”
The flabby man went on in a boastful voice, but Reddix had already tuned him out. He only had eyes for the girl, because now that he saw her, he realized he had seen her before—many, many times.
I’ve been dreaming of her for months, he thought, shocked. Why couldn’t I remember until now?
Looking at her, he couldn’t answer the question. Couldn’t see how in the Seven Hells he could ever forget a face and body like that.
The girl was tall for a female, though she would still be at least a head and a half shorter than him. She was leaning over her client, working intently on his back and neck. Her slender shoulders were hunched, and her head was tucked down so that Reddix couldn’t see her features.
His eyes traveled down her body instead.
She had long black hair with reddish highlights that fell to her curvy waist. Despite her loose uniform smock, he could see she had full hips and a generous heart-shaped ass. Her skin was a warm shade of coppery-brown, which spoke of either hours in the sun or an exotic heritage.
Well, of course she had an exotic heritage—she was an alien, at least to Reddix. Probably, she looked perfectly normal for Earth. He wondered what her face looked like—for some reason, though he knew the girl, he couldn’t quite remember it. If he’d had a proper Touch sense like every other male of his clan, he could have sent a whisper-tendril to trail along the back of her neck and make her move so he could see her. Instead, he had to content himself with willing her to look up.
Finally, she stood up straight, and Reddix caught his breath—or would have if he had been breathing.
She had lovely features—strong for a woman but no less beautiful for all that. Her high cheekbones gave her a striking look, but it was her eyes that really caught his attention. Deep, pure blue with golden flecks, they looked like twin pools filled with sunlight.
Reddix had never seen eyes like hers before, and he found he couldn’t stop looking at them. They stood out in her face, a vivid contrast to her warm, copper skin. They turned her from merely pretty to strikingly beautiful.
And they were filled with anger.
“Please don’t ask me that again, Mr. Witherspoon,” she said tightly, taking a step away from the table. “All the massages we do here at Massage Envy are strictly therapeutic.”
“But come on, Nina, darlin’—what could be more therapeutic than a happy ending?”
A happy ending—what the hell is he talking about? Reddix wondered.
The man turned over on his back suddenly, showing a tent under the white sheet and giving Reddix his answer. He felt a growl rising in his throat—or would have if he’d been there in person. How dare this filthy son of a bitch go near her? How dare he try to touch her like that? Despite his determination to keep himself aloof and distant from the girl, Reddix felt an instant surge of protectiveness. Floating above, watching the scene as a silent, invisible observer, he had never felt more helpless. He could do nothing but watch as the scene unfolded…and it wasn’t nearly over yet.
“I’m sorry but no,” the girl called Nina said firmly. “And if you say anything else about it, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Just a little…” The man reached for her hand. “Come on, sweetie—just a little rub. Just touch it. Just once.”
“No!” Nina yanked her hand away, a disgusted look on her face. “I told you, this isn’t that kind of a place! We’re a national chain, for God’s sake—what’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong is that I need your sweet hands on me.”