Tamed By The Alien Barbarian by Celeste King
Candi
Seriously?
I swung my hips as I sauntered over to the podium. He might have jumped on stage first, but I’d come prepared to make a media stir of my own in a spandex red dress and matching red lips. Sex appeal was how I’d built my fortune, flipping a client’s stock tip into a billion-dollar business.
If people wanted to reduce me to my body, fine. They’d pay later, in dollars, for underestimating me.
I’d heard of this Sanax dude. There wasn’t a soul in mining who hadn’t. He worked hard and played harder. I hated to admit it, but he was even more impressive in person. His booming voice drowned out the increasingly weak protests of the mining director, and the audience hung on his every word.
He was charismatic as hell.
But I knew how to command a stage, too.
“So tell me, Jack-all...”
His eyes narrowed. “I am called Jaxil.”
“Sure.” He moved towards me, and my heels clicked on the stage as I stepped sideways. Soon we circled one another like two caged fighters, ready to attack. He looked like one hell of a fighter. “You dominate the private sector, but Terra Firma, my company, has completed twenty-five military contracts. All of them on time and under budget. You’ve had, what, ten? And one was canceled.”
“There’s more money in asteroids,” he said, dismissively. “You would know if you could afford to play with the big boys out in open space. Government contracts are all your puny company can handle.”
He said all this and looked around like he was shocked the mining director hadn’t already just handed him a pen and a contract. Confidence rolled off him in waves so strong I had to struggle not to laugh at his puffed-up chest.
“So you admit you have little experience meeting governmental deadlines.”
“I go where the money goes.” His swagger didn’t change, but he finally gave me more than a brief glance. He took his time, trailing his eyes lazily across my body.
Normally I felt nothing more than scorn for businessmen distracted by my assets. I enjoyed nothing more than picking their companies apart for scraps once I inevitably won the boardroom battles.
There was something different in the way he looked at me. No, his hot eyes and the way he licked his lips were entirely familiar. There was something different in the way I felt about it. I didn’t feel the usual annoyance or disgust.
I felt powerful.
“Very patriotic.” I put an extra swing in my step. “My company specializes in military contracts. They’re forty-five percent of our revenue.”
His white teeth gleamed in the hot stage lights as he bared them in a vicious grin. “Yes, I bet you specialize in serving the military. Bootlicking is the only reason you’re getting any crumbs at all.”
The misogynistic prig was proud of that one, I could tell. His shoulders stretched back, and he preened at the whispers and murmurs that filled the room. I swallowed a hot surge of fury. Assholes like him had been taunting me about my origins since my first business deal.
He’d choke on his words once I won this contract.
They always did.
It was a shame a body like his belonged to a complete jerk. Sanax men were always a treat; he was no exception. Casual business attire couldn’t hide his sprawling chest, and he’d rolled his sleeves up to expose massive forearms. As much as I wanted to kick him in the balls, I couldn’t deny that a small part of me also might like to taste that delicious-looking column of his throat.
“Bootlicking,” I pitched my voice as husky as it could go just to watch his eyes darken, “might be fun, but Terra Firma gained one billion in revenue last year because we met deadlines. Do you think you can share with the class how well you handled deadlines on Titan?”
The delays hadn’t been his fault. Some scientists had lobbied some politicians to rescue a lifeform the size of a pea discovered during mining operations. And sure, personally, I would have made the same call, with or without the political pressure. It was ethically, morally, and legally his obligation to pull out of Titan.
I didn’t care.
I just wanted to win.
The way I had set it up, any explanation would come across as an excuse. I’d studied Consolidated Mining until I could recite its stats in my sleep. And I would twist and manipulate every single one if it got my company this contract.
“Um,” the director said, “while I want to thank you both on behalf of Mars for this very lively debate, do you think you could both take your seats so I can continue the presentation…”
“I think,” Jaxil said, “this woman should be open about the cancellation of her A-33S contract before I bore everyone here with species preservation acts.”
Stunned, I almost let my jaw drop.
He didn’t look like the type to research. Even as he recited my failed contract casually, he looked bored with the entire debate. Why are we even up here, his demeanor suggested.
He angled his face away from the press’ sight and winked at me. I wanted to slap him.
I forced myself to ape his feigned boredom.
“Cancellations happen,” I shrugged. “You’ve had thirty-three. Let’s start there.”
I didn’t mention that he had so many contracts, that thirty-three was minuscule in comparison. I was counting on the press to not understand whatever explanation he’d come up with on the fly. It’s not like Jaxil was known for being a great communicator. He was better known for his tabloid exploits and bold outbursts than any sort of business acumen.
“Shit in one hand and hold my annual cancellations in the other, and see which one fills up first,” he bragged. The press snickered. “My company’s name is known galaxy-wide, sweetheart. There are planets with less cash on hand. You really think your little vanity project can compete with an empire like Consolidated Mining?”
He didn’t stop. He rolled into vivid, vulgar descriptions of business deals I could hardly even recall. When had he even had the time to learn all this? He mentioned things about my company that I’d just learned. Statistics and numbers rolled off his tongue with the fluency of another language.
The only thing that kept me sparring with him onstage was that he seemed as thrown by my performance as I was with his. I hit back, hard, until we both glared at each other. His chest heaved, and even I was out of breath.
When was the last time a contract proposal had left me breathless?
“Thank you,” the director cleared his throat for the tenth time. “Um. We will notify the best candidate for the job once we’ve had time to examine your, ah, passionate, proposals…”
“The best candidate,” Jaxil laughed. “As if some booty-shaking stripper could compete with me.”
The press all held their breath. Here it was. He’d finally run out of ammo, so he chose to hit me with what he thought was his winning shot.
Did these guys think I’d forgotten I used to dance on poles with my clothes off? That’s where I’d learned all my best business tricks.
I kept my voice saccharine-sweet. “You would know all about strippers, Jaxil because the only naked women you see are women you pay for.”
He advanced towards me, one step, and then another. I could tell that I’d pushed him too far with my little quip. Every one of his muscles moved with smooth and coiled power, like a panther preparing to pounce.
My heart began to race, a primal reminder that I was nothing but prey to a Sanax like him.
Awareness spread through my limbs. He towered over me like a tree, and I had to bite my lip against the urge to climb him in front of the entire press corps.
What the hell is wrong with me?
