Charming Charly: Magic New Mexico / Zolon Warriors, #3

By Tianna Xander

Charly Campbell's life has always tilted to the weird side of the spectrum. She hopes work as a lab assistant at Hasitaeon Labs might level things out a bit. All seems to be going as planned until she accidentally grabs her boss's lab coat, giving her full access to parts of the compound she should never see. She mistakenly wanders into a top-secret section of the facility where she sees something she shouldn't. Make that someone she shouldn't. Almost immediately, her status changes from employee to unwilling test subject.

Held against his will, Xeno Brewerigeron is not happy. Not only has someone abducted him, but they've also managed to find out he's an alien. His life will surely spiral downhill if they find out he's also a shapeshifter. On his last thread of hope and about to give in, a luscious scent wakes him, revitalizes him, and ignites a fire he had long since lost hope of feeling. With one sniff, Xeno knows the gorgeous woman staring at him through the thick glass of his cell is one woman who can be his mate. So far, he's been safe, but his last secret is in danger when he sees the tall, full-figured beauty brutally shoved into his cage.

Can he get her to trust him in time to save them both?

A forbidden lab, an unwilling subject, and a luscious beauty. Can they escape before his captors discover his last secret?

Held against their will, Xeno and Charly had better escape before someone lets the cat out of the bag.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tianna Xander
• Release date: Aug 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386118749

Book preview

Charly Campbell’s life has always tilted to the weird side of the spectrum. She hopes work as a lab assistant at Hasitaeon Labs might level things out a bit. All seems to be going as planned until she accidentally grabs her boss’s lab coat, giving her full access to parts of the compound she should never see. She mistakenly wanders into a top-secret section of the facility where she sees something she shouldn’t. Make that someone she shouldn’t. Almost immediately, her status changes from employee to unwilling test subject.

Held against his will, Xeno Brewerigeron is not happy. Not only has someone abducted him, but they’ve also managed to find out he’s an alien. His life will surely spiral downhill if they find out he’s also a shapeshifter. On his last thread of hope and about to give in, a luscious scent wakes him, revitalizes him, and ignites a fire he had long since lost hope of feeling. With one sniff, Xeno knows the gorgeous woman staring at him through the thick glass of his cell is one woman who can be his mate. So far, he’s been safe, but his last secret is in danger when he sees the tall, full-figured beauty brutally shoved into his cage.

Can he get her to trust him in time to save them both?

A forbidden lab, an unwilling subject, and a luscious beauty. Can they escape before his captors discover his last secret?

Held against their will, Xeno and Charly had better escape before someone lets the cat out of the bag.

Chapter One

C harlene, would you mind getting my lunch? Dr. Moore didn’t even look up from his computer. Instead, he stared at the monitor as though it held the secrets of creation. Get me a ham and Swiss on rye with mustard and a bag of chips. He’d just run a few tests, and he was so absorbed with the results, he didn’t even want to look up, let alone walk to the other side of the complex to get his own meal. She wasn’t sure if he was busy, or lazy since he hadn’t gotten his own food once since she’d started working as his assistant two weeks before.

Of course, Doctor. She slid from her seat and headed for the door. Bite your tongue. Bite your tongue. He doesn’t need to know you think he’s a lazy creep.

She was halfway through the doorway when he called, Don’t forget your lab coat or you won’t get very far.

Right. Reaching in, she grabbed the lab coat and draped it over her shoulder. She didn’t have to carry the badge they’d given her that unlocked doors to the areas of the compound where she could go. She merely had to have it on her or her coat and the RFID chip did the rest.

It made it convenient for employees, like her, who seemed to almost always have their hands full. Yeah. I always have my hands full of his coffee, lunch, dinner, snacks. She scowled as she marched down the hallway, her one-inch heels click-clacking against the glossy tile.

She checked her watch. It shouldn’t take long to get her boss his lunch and get back to her work. Besides, Dr. Moore wasn’t an unreasonable man. He surely wouldn’t hold it against her if she turned her work in late when he was the one causing her to leave it, to run errands for him several times a day. I sure hope he doesn’t. If he does, I’m not going to have this job long.

Unfortunately, this would be like every other job she’d ever had. Something weird would happen. Something she wouldn’t be able to explain away. After which, she’d have to leave her job or risk possibly becoming a test subject herself. She didn’t think Dr. Moore was into illegal experiments, but she wouldn’t put it past him either.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked her messages while she walked. There were already two from Dr. Moore. Sighing, she opened her text messages while walking and read them.

Get me two cups of coffee while you’re at it.

And a cinnamon bun.

Unfortunately, the reach into her pocket shifted her too tight panties, drawing her attention to her discomfort.

Really? She glanced around, making sure she was alone, and attempted to pull on the errant piece of clothing that had managed to wedge itself between certain sensitive areas of her anatomy. She managed to give it one surreptitious tug before the elastic on the waistband broke. Dammit!

A door opened to her right, and two people wearing lab coats passed her, carrying cups and a bag from the cafeteria. She nearly bumped into them as she attempted to tap out a quick, one-handed reply to her boss’s latest message.

Her panties sagged beneath the slacks of her power suit, and she cast her gaze around, looking for a bathroom.

Another message popped up. You might as well get me a wet burrito while you’re at it. Forget the ham sandwich, unless you want one. I’ll buy.

She made a face as she took another turn, walking through two sets of double doors, as she finished her reply. Are you sure you want all that? It sounds like a heavy meal for lunch.

Charly paid little attention to where she was going as she attempted to answer her boss while holding her panties in an effort to keep them from bunching up around her hips. I knew I should have bought a larger size. Still another turn took her through two more sets of double doors.

Looking up, she noticed she didn’t recognize the area. Frowning, she spun around, trying to remember the path she’d taken up to that point. Maybe she could retrace her steps if she could remember how she got there in the first place.

Dammit. She sighed. Why does he always have to text me when he knows I’m walking through a strange building? With her phone in one hand and the broken side of her underwear in the other, she slowly turned around trying to figure out where in the hell she’d gotten herself. Unfortunately, she’d been preoccupied with her misbehaving wardrobe and answering her boss’s texts, instead of looking straight ahead, watching where the hell she was going.

Crapoly! She stomped her foot. The waistband of her underwear snapped from her grip and immediately settled around her hips. Son of a...

A set of double doors to her right caught her attention. They reminded her of the last turn she’d made. She headed for the doors. Just as she was about to enter them, she noticed another set to the right, yet again. Which set had she come through?

I seem to be lost, Dr. Moore. I might be a few extra minutes.

With her underwear around her hips on one side and the other side bunched between her legs, Charly headed for the first set of doors she’d spotted and walked through. She sighed with relief when she saw another set. Confident she’d made the right choice, she kept going and pushed through the second set of doors.

Her phone buzzed again, and she stopped, having already learned her lesson. She wasn’t about to walk and text anymore—at least not until she knew her way around the place better. Sighing, she gave up the hope of no one catching her on camera with her hands down her pants, she reached into her slacks and tried to retrieve her errant waistband.

Friggin’ cheap elastic. She looked down at the newest message.

What do you mean, you’re lost? It’s almost a straight shot to the commissary.

Not sure, she replied. I just realized I don’t remember seeing two sets of double doors close together.

The reply was almost immediate. Stay where you are! You have my coat. Don’t move.

She glanced around her, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach as she realized the implications of taking off with her boss’s lab coat.

Her phone rang; he was calling her now. That couldn’t be good.

For the love of God, Charlene. You took my coat, and now you’re in one of the top-secret labs. Stay where you are, and whatever you do, don’t look at anything. I’m sending security to find you.

Of course, the moment he’d told her not to look at anything, she looked up.

Why? What top-secret lab? You told me nothing exciting happens here.

"Nothing you have clearance for. He sighed. Tell me you’re not looking around."

Of course not. Her gaze fell on a large, glass enclosure.

She really wished he’d stop telling her not to look around. All it did was make her do the opposite. She chewed her lip before turning her attention back to her phone.

Are you standing still?

Yes, she lied as she moved closer to the glass, her damaged underwear forgotten for the moment. She wanted to listen to her boss. She didn’t want to lose her job for getting nosey during the ninety-day trial period, but she couldn’t help herself. It was almost as though some strange force pulled her toward the large, plate glass window.

What could possibly be so sensitive that her boss was freaking out about her seeing it?

Slowly, she moved toward the glass. She sucked her bottom lip through her teeth and tried to make herself stop. Charly knew she shouldn’t go on, but her feet just wouldn’t obey her brain’s demand to stay still.

What the hell? I knew I should have stayed over there. Charly stared into the large, sterile-looking room. Inside, on a stretcher, was a man. Not just any man, but the most perfect specimen of manhood she had ever seen, with one exception. He was blue, with darker blue stripes covering what she could see of his body, which was almost all of it. The large man was almost bare, except for the short, medical pajama pants he wore that covered his more interesting parts.

Yes, my dear, you should have. In fact, I wish you had.

Dr. Moore! Charly spun around at the sound of her boss’s voice. I-I can explain.

Was that her voice sounding so strange? Was it actually trembling? She glanced down at herself and noticed her entire body was shaking.

Two armed men grabbed her by the arms, the one on her right grabbed her phone from her hand and handed it to Dr. Moore, who turned it off and shoved it in his pocket.

Take her in to see him. She might as well get to know the being. I suppose we’ve finally found our female test subject. Though I’d really rather have you working on this side of the glass. He shook his head. And you showed so much promise, too. I was certain you were the one who would help me find what I’ve been missing from my data. He shook his head with a sigh. Such a pity. You really should have listened to me when I told you to stay where you were.

The guard on her left punched a lengthy string of numbers into the pad. He probably thought he was too fast, and the code too long for her to remember. Luckily, Charly had always had a knack for numbers. She had a knack for a lot of things. Things that might come in handy over the next several hours she hoped.

After opening the door, they dragged her through to see the man whom, she now noticed, was strapped to the table with several thick, clear bands. They started at his forehead and went all the way down to his ankles. Was the man so strong that they needed to take such precautions?

He was long. If she had to guess, she would say he was at least six-foot-seven. His short dark hair looked as though it could use a washing. It probably could, if he’d been held captive on that table for very long. His long, muscular legs looked like toppled tree trunks. His upper arms were almost the size of her thighs and all muscle, and no one would ever accuse her of being too skinny. No wonder they had him strapped down the way they did. He’d probably broken out of his restraints more than once.

Amber eyes followed her every move like a great jungle cat. Charly swallowed thickly, his nostrils flaring as though he smelled something nasty... or tasty.

I know I don’t stink. She fought the urge to smell herself. She showered every morning, no matter how dry it made her skin. She patted the lab coat pocket, remembering too late that it wasn’t hers and she would find no sample bottle of lotion there.

Get my lab coat off her and leave her in here with him. Our first experiment will be to see if he can free himself to get to the female, or if she’ll feel sorry enough for the trapped alien to release him. Dr. Moore tapped some notes on the tablet he always had with him. He looked up, his expression one of clinical disinterest. The first question is, will he kill her, and if so, will he eat her remains?

He glanced at the two guards. See to it that the cameras are recording; I don’t want to miss anything. He turned to leave the room. Oh, he stopped at the door as though what he was about to say was nothing more than an afterthought. "Don’t feed him tonight. Leave