There was no response.
He knocked harder. “Come on,” he shouted. “You got your money. Now hold up your end of the deal.”
“Why should I?” Her voice sounded smug over the intercom. “You must think I’m an idiot, letting a spy back into my laboratory. Now get out of here before I’m forced to use my defensive weaponry.”
Anger burst in him like a fist through a brittle ribcage. He didn’t appreciate her smarmy tone. And stealing from someone was immoral and wrong.
Especially stealing from him.
This was no time to play fair, he realized. Concentrating with all his might, he pushed his power out at her. “Open the door immediately.”
He stared at the security camera, imagining that he was instead staring into those strange white eyes of hers. It helped him focus his persuasion. He could feel the strength flowing out of him. “Open up. Now.”
With a protestingbuzz, the door opened. Zelup shoved inside before it was fully open, and before it could close again.
The doll of a doctor stood there, her head in her hands. She looked up suddenly and hit a button on the security console, but it was too late. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she stared at him.
“How’d you—what did you—”
Zelup moved past her, putting space between him and the door. He looked over his shoulder, giving her a modest shrug. “I assume you felt bad about trying to cheat me out of my investment.”
Her jaw dropped, a look of shock appearing. “I wasn’t going to let you back in.”
“And I’m sure the guilt started eating you alive, so you changed your mind.”
The little scientist’s eyes narrowed. “Stop playing games. Who are you? What do you want? And how did you manage to override the lock on the door?”
Zelup ignored her questions, heading over to observe the little robot instead. He crouched beside the creature as it worked at a miniature station. “I get the feeling you run things around here. Where can I put my stuff?”
“Your stuff?!” Her voice had risen several octaves. “For all I care, you can shove it up your—”
“This way,” the robot said, rolling away from his station and toward a door across the large lab.
“What do you think you’re doing, Ladee?” the doll growled. “You should be showing him out.”
Ladee gave her a look over his shoulder. “He transferred the credits.”
The doll grumbled under her breath as Ladee hit the panel that opened the door. Leading Zelup into what appeared to be little more than a junk pile, he pointed toward a surface covered in random equipment, odds and ends.
“If you clear off that old medical unit, it should be comfortable enough to sleep on. Unfortunately, the lab is not equipped with guest quarters, but—”
“Don’t apologize to this creep,” the doll said, leaning up against the doorframe. “And you, don’t make yourself comfortable.”
Zelup gave her a half grin, dropping his bag on the floor beside him. “It’s not quite what I’m used to, but I’ll make do.”
Her face heated. “This isn’t a damn five-star resort. Don’t expect breakfast and dry cleaning. You shouldn’t even be here. In fact—”
The robot tugged on her lab coat, drawing her attention. “Let’s allow our guest to get settled in.”
“Guest? More like trespasser! I can’t believe you’re backing him up!”
“He paid for the air, didn’t he?” The robot’s voice was matter of fact. “We’ll still be breathing tomorrow, thanks to him. I think that’s earned him a miserable cot in your cluttered chaos of a storage room.”
Her eyes were like slits, but she allowed the robot to drag her out of the doorway and back into the lab. As the door slid closed behind them, Zelup let out a laugh. “She sure has a mouth on her when she gets angry.”
Looking around him, he let out a massive sigh. The room was a mess, and the “bed” was little more than a slab with a quarter inch of cushioning. Still, he was inside now, in her orbit. He was one step closer to finding the Guardian.
And that much closer to seducing the beautiful little scientist.
“That’s not what you’re here for,” he reprimanded himself, starting to clear off the medical unit. Dr. Dawn Illya was a sexy distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. He needed to concentrate on getting the Guardian back to Vartik without arousing the suspicion of the demon Seekers who plotted against them.
Thinking about his mission didn’t make it any easier to banish thoughts of the lusty little doll. Even now, her scent lingered, causing his cock to stiffen in his pants. He remembered how she’d squirmed beneath him as he’d sampled her. Her taste was more addictive than any substance he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. He would give almost anything to devour her again.
Zelup growled, his cock aching in his slacks. How could he keep his mind on his mission when all he wanted to do was drag that delectable little doctor into the storage room and fuck her so hard she’d need to actually use the medical unit for its stated purpose?
Instead, he calmly cleared the unit, then a nearby table for his belongings. He was a leader of his people, next in line for the throne. He wouldn’t let his mission be derailed over a woman or his throbbing dick.
All the while, her scent encircled him until all he could think about was getting her under him again.
