Alien Sex 103 Read Online Free Page B

I’d stand you up?”
    Benni crossed her arms. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you totally refused to acknowledge me in public yesterday and acted like you were someone else. I don’t know why that would raise some doubts.”
    At least he had the decency to look sheepish. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I rarely run into someone who knows me personally when I’m on the job, and even then they never recognize me after I shift. You sort of threw me for a loop. You almost blew my cover.”
    “Cover?” Benni felt her heart skitter in excitement. “You were working undercover?”
    He nodded.
    “You’re in code enforcement?”
    “No.”
    Who else ever worked in disguise? “A secret government agent?”
    He answered slowly. “Not exactly. Let’s just say I can’t have anyone who knows me as Rion Nach finding out my real identity. It would cause some serious trouble.”
    Awed and more than a little intrigued, Benni just stared at him for a moment. He’d said he wasn’t exactly a secret government agent, not that he wasn’t a secret agent at all. Whom did he work for? What kind of assignment was he on? And wait a second—his real identity?
    “Is Varion your real name? Did you tell the truth about that?”
    Benni was all for a good time, but she at least wanted to know the name of the man she’d been sleeping with.
    To her relief he nodded. “Aside from our little run-in yesterday, I’ve never been dishonest with you.” Stepping closer, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t let my work be an issue. It’s just a job. Right now, I’m looking to play.”
    His smile was pure boyish enthusiasm.
    Pleasantly distracted, she let the issue drop—for now—and struck a challenging pose by planting her hands on her hips. “You think you have what it takes to compete in full-out, zero-g, virtual reality laser tag?”
    “I could blast you out of orbit with one shot, little girl. Team up with me, and I’ll tag all our opponents before you even get a shot off.”
    “Ha! In your dreams.” Rolling onto the balls of her feet, she shot him a challenging grin. “I’m fast, I’m wily, and I’ll race you to the counter.”
    She threw the last word over her shoulder as she turned and sprinted for the admission desk. Behind her, he grumbled something about fair play before sprinting after her.
    Minutes after her small footrace victory, they were geared up and standing in line with four other people to get into one of the gaming rooms. The lightweight jumpsuits they wore looked like black combat fatigues and would register even a glancing shot to a player’s head, toe, or anything in between. Every player went in with three lives, and the scoreboard near the entrance to the room recorded each strike and fatality as well as tags against opponents. Tonight everyone was playing as partners, so it was her and Varion against two teams of two.
    “Ready?” Varion pointed the firing end of his laser pistol toward the floor as if it were a real weapon.
    “You bet,” she said confidently, palming her own gun. “Just try not to get shot right away, big guy. You’re a much bigger target than I am.”
    He scoffed. “But I’m harder to see, carrot-top.”
    She gave him that one. With his dark skin, he was blacked out from head to toe. Considering they were about to play the Asteroid Belt sim—a space scenario—that was a major advantage.
    Before they could exchange more banter, a computerized voice invited them forward, and they walked into a spacious holo-room. Unactivated, the walls were dark gray, and the place was at least three stories high and more than twice as deep.
    “Players,” the voice said, “please move to the starting squares for team assignment. Play will commence in fifteen seconds.”
    There were red, yellow, and blue squares projected on the floor along the walls. Benni strolled over to the blue area and stepped inside the box with Varion. Immediately, an armband lit up with a dull cerulean