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  Attraction takes a strange turn when Polly finds herself stepping into the position of a planetary guardian, but there is someone in her space.

  Polly takes the position of Guardian with a talent for magnetic attraction with an open mind. Meeting her first W’lyn sets her sights on a one-night stand, but Loesh wants much more.

  On her first day, Polly shows that she is competent in battle and able to think on her feet, but when she is exposed to experimental nanites, her entire life takes a sudden shift, and what she sees isn’t necessarily what is in front of her.

  Loesh wants a Terran mate for the potential to have a family and a woman who can match him skill for skill. Polly’s skills are already developed, and her attraction to him is obvious. Screwing it up should be difficult, so why does it come so easily?

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Magnet

  Copyright © 2014 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0116-0

  Cover art by Carmen Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  Magnet

  Terran Times Second Wave

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Polly Amber Garner gripped the strap of her backpack and squeezed.

  “I need to leave, Stella.”

  “You have to be here, Polly. I have a client coming in.”

  Polly shifted from foot to foot. “I need to go. I have an appointment.”

  Stella tapped her multi-ringed fingers on the velvet table covering. “You can leave when the client has their reading. You can be replaced, you know.”

  Polly raised her eyebrows. “Really? Well, to hell with you. Enjoy your visit.”

  She stalked out of the shop with Madame Stella shouting behind her. The all-seeing eye picked out in neon stared at her while she began striding to her appointment. She had no idea if the Volunteer Project was going to accept her, but she wasn’t going to miss the chance to be invited into something better than helping a fake psychic push a Ouija planchet around to rip off her clients.

  As Polly walked down the street, she noticed the quivers of small objects as they skittered toward her. She quickly calmed herself and the objects stopped streaking to her feet. Composition didn’t matter. When she got irritated, everything came flying at her. A loss of control meant precisely that—she could not control the objects around her and that was what she hoped the Volunteer Project could give her.

  When she entered the project centre, she checked in at the reception desk and was immediately taken to an interview room.

  Less than three minutes passed before the door opened and Recruiter Norz arrived.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Garner. How are you this bright and lovely day?”

  “Eager, Recruiter Norz. What are the odds I was accepted?”

  “Oh, you have been accepted; this is just the interview to see when and if you are prepared to leave your home and all that you know.”

  Polly wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know if anyone is ever prepared for that, but my family supports my decision and I have just quit my job. I am ready whenever you are.”

  Norz sat back and grinned with surprisingly sharp teeth. “We can have you on a shuttle to the moon base in a matter of hours. Will you go?”

  “Just tell me where to be.”

  He chuckled. “I will have a car take you to your home to collect personal possessions that you want to take with you.”

  “I just need to make some calls. I have been running around with my personal collection on my back for three weeks.”

  Norz laughed. “In that case, you will be taken to the launch area and you will wait for the shuttle window. We will get you a phone and you can make all the calls you want.”

  She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “I have mine. It has the numbers I need.”

  “Then, please sign these documents and you will be on your way. They are our confirmation to your government that you are doing this of your own free will and to the Alliance and Nyal governments that you will be amenable to any changes they wish to make to your physiology or mental structure. They will train you and it will be hard, but you need to agree to it before it begins.”

  She nodded and began reading the tablet that he slid over to her. She got excited when it mentioned off-world operations and that was all it took. The tablet fuzzed and twisted.

  Norz chuckled. “It was something we were waiting for. On to the hard copies.”

  Polly looked at the obviously expensive equipment and winced. “I am so sorry.”

  Norz laughed. “Don’t be. There are tech talents lined up who can master repairs like this in their sleep. We will be giving them the chance to prove what they can do.”

  As if silently summoned, one of the men in uniform came through the door with a sheaf of papers.

  Norz had a kindly expression. “It will take longer, but you won’t be able to burn out the pencil that your people have provided.”

  “Pencils can be erased.”

  “Not after the pages are laminated.”

  Polly grinned. “Good. I am glad you have a plan.”

  Norz chuckled. “I always have a plan. Ask me any questions as they arise. I will be here.”

  Polly looked at the pile of paperwork, took the mechanical pencil that she had been given and got started.

  She paused when she reached the document on interspecies relations. “Whoa. What does this mean?”

  “That you are an adult female and you can choose a mate of any available species, and they can choose you. The males of W’lyn are exceptionally attractive by your species standards, or so we have been informed by the other human females who have made it their home.”

  Polly gave him an arch look. “There are already other Terrans on this world? If so, why don’t you send me somewhere else?”

  Norz nodded with a serious expression. “Because you are needed.”

  “What?”

  “Your skills with magnetic fields can be used to block attacks, take down aircraft and interfere with communications. You are immensely valuable, Ms. Garner.”

  “We are talking about my sex life, so why not call me Polly.”

  Norz coloured and looked around. “I am not discussing what you choose to do if you find someone you feel is attractive. That is your business and theirs, whatever you choose to engage in will be between you.”

  Polly snickered at the discomfort on his face. Even the silver skin and solid black eyes couldn’t disguise the embarrassment.

  “Right, so I have the right to get laid if I am so inclined. Good to know.”

  “Inclined, upright, the position you choose is up to you.”

/>   Polly blinked as Norz rallied with that comment. “Fair enough. Now, back to the paperwork.”

  She signed a form that said she would agree to abide by all legal and social requirements of the world she was placed on, she agreed to minor alterations to her body and mind’s capabilities. Her agreement to all psychic training and physical boot camp was signed with a flourish, and she continued onward.

  They would give her enzyme supplements to help her with digesting alien foods and booster shots for all necessary illnesses. With those two changes, she would effectively cease to be human, but she could and would remain a Terran on her documentation.

  Marriage was covered near the bottom of the pile, and she agreed to remain on the world of any child she bore. There would be no separation of custody. If she chose someone to father her child, she would have to live with that decision.

  It was sobering, but she signed that document as well. Birth control just became a high priority. She wasn’t planning on fooling around during her three years abroad, but the best-laid plans sometimes went awry. If the W’lyn were as attractive as the other Terrans apparently said they were, she might want to look into what kind of medical options were available.

  She signed over and over until she was well aware that she was handing herself over, body and soul, to folk that she hadn’t even imagined existed when she was a child. Fairies, sure; Vampires who didn’t move a little faster after their first horror movie? A species that blended the two would be both deadly and fascinating.

  She was all tingly waiting to find out what a blend of two of the most fabled creatures in human myth and legend would look like. Something told her that she wasn’t going to wait long.

  When she shoved the pile of signed papers over to Norz, he nodded his head and one of his men came in to collect them. Twenty minutes later, he returned and the laminated documents were placed before her for confirmation. She signed a seal that confirmed it was her signature on all the paperwork and then things got busy.

  Two days later, she was on the moon base and living in a bodysuit that restricted her magnetism. Polly didn’t blame them; she didn’t want to interfere with life support or any of the air-processing systems.

  Tovnani was her instructor, and he did not have her precise talent but he was willing to lead her to tools in her own mind that she didn’t know she had.

  It was her first day of formal instruction. She had enjoyed breakfast with the other Terrans, and they had all scattered for the training they were to undergo.

  “Good morning, Ms. Garner.”

  “Polly, please, Instructor Tovnani Rin-Aloth.”

  “Tov, please. I am going to be rifling around in your mind; this is not time to stand on ceremony.” He smiled, and his vaguely feline features were enhanced by the expression.

  His dark chestnut skin with its fine nap of velvety coating looked like it would be both soft and hard to the touch. His feline teeth were needle sharp and were charming when he grinned. The flattish nose and tilted eyes completed the resemblance, and the wild mane of hair didn’t hurt either.

  “Tov then. Good morning.” She smiled and rubbed her gloved hands together. The material was thick, and it gave her the feeling of being in a playsuit and heading into the snow.

  “We are going to begin with meditation. You need to reach inside and find the parts of you that actually activate your talent.”

  A platform with two sets of cushions was in the centre of the dome that looked out into the sky. It was obviously where class was going to be in session.

  They settled onto the cushions, and Polly sat with several pillows in her lap to support her arms. She closed her eyes, relaxed and smiled. “Found it, what is next?”

  Her tutor gave her a wry look, and she felt the touch of someone else’s thoughts on her mind for the first time. “Well, hells, it looks like you did.”

  She rubbed her hands together. “Now. What is next?”

  Sighing, her teacher straightened and said, “Hidden in this room there are five objects with metallic signatures. Find them and bring them to me.”

  “Yes, Tov.” She grinned and closed her mind as she went hunting. Training was going to be a piece of cake.

  Chapter Two

  Polly lifted her head and looked at Tov with something akin to hate in her eyes. “What next?”

  Her piece of cake had turned to brick somewhere around day twenty.

  She stood with nineteen objects of different compositions and weights swirling around her in steady orbits.

  Tov lobbed in a stuffed bear, and she scrambled to get a grip on the magnetic traces in it, spinning him in his own rotation as he wobbled wildly.

  Applause rang out and her Azon tutor called a halt to the proceedings. “Line them up and you are done.”

  Just to be peculiar, Polly lined the objects up in order of size. “Ta-da.”

  “Congratulations. You are now able to head into the Nyal Imperium and assume your new role as Guardian support.”

  Polly chuckled. “Is that what I will be?”

  “That is what you are. Can’t you feel it? You were born to do this. This means so much more than your participating in petty crime.” His expression was wry.

  She snorted. “That had its moments.”

  Tov came up and gave her a hug. “I was glad I was here to see your evolution.”

  Polly enjoyed the hug on several levels. He was an attractive man and he had given her pointers on dealing with pheromone-sensitive species. Their fooling around had remained within the strictures of tutor and student, but she had definitely learned a few things. Despite his outward control, if he got too excited, she had to be firm with her no and firmer with the use of her talent. It only took once and they had agreed to cease all physical friction. For Polly, having her partner lunge at her wasn’t much of a turn-on.

  He carefully released her and they both smiled. It just wasn’t quite right and they both knew it.

  “Come on, Polly. Your going-away party is waiting.” Tov offered her his arm, and she placed her hand on his forearm.

  Learning etiquette along with control of her talent had been a bonus that she hadn’t been expecting. Since her assigned world was already known, the rules and regulations of the W’lyn were her primary concern. She had managed to absorb as much as she ever would.

  With the hug as her final farewell, she walked to the common room and had cake and ice cream with her fellow Terrans. Some of those at her party had just arrived, others predated her time on the moon base. It didn’t matter, they were all there to see her off and wish her well. Their time would come eventually when they had the right placement.

  A few of the tutors that she had spent a day or two with along the way were there and enjoying the ice cream.

  Master Sanyria sat next to her, the dark velvet of her skin rubbed against Polly’s arm. “Are you ready for the W’lyn?”

  “You mean after my time with an Azon?”

  The Selna chuckled. “Yes, that. I know it didn’t work out well, but it did give you an idea of what you might face in an intimate situation.”

  “Fangs and claws?”

  Master Sanyria smiled, “Well, not the claws.”

  “Have you been to W’lyn?” It was a question that she hadn’t dared ask before. Now there was nothing left to lose.

  “Once. I was a Companion to an ambassador, and I had to attend some trade functions with her. The population appears to be refreshingly open when it comes to sexual matters.”

  “And I am coming from a society that isn’t.”

  Master Sanyria laughed. “You are curious and that counts for a lot. I am sure you will get along fine, just be careful. According to our reports, you already smell like sex to them, so don’t start anything you have no interest in finishing.”

  “I know, I know. I will behave, I promise.”

  “Good girl. Enjoy yourself. You are being given the opportunity to leave your world and d
o whatever you like in a society that isn’t your own. As long as you obey their rules, you will be perfectly fine. Have fun.” The sexual etiquette instructor nudged her arm.

  “That is your response to every situation.” Polly nudged her back.

  “And it never fails to land me in very interesting adventures. Like coming here to train Terrans in the art of love, lust and conversation.” She grinned and her teeth were dazzlingly white in her black velvet features.

  “You were a thorough instructor. If I was inclined to chase after women, I would have been at your door.”

  “No, I would have had you at my feet and done whatever I wished to you. You were not meant for me.”

  Polly looked around the party at the aliens who had offered themselves for experimentation, and she scowled. “There is a lot of that going around.”

  “Shut up and enjoy your party.”

  With her bag over her shoulder, Polly stepped out of the shuttle and went through the immigration process. She was scanned, interviewed and demonstrated her talent when one of the officers decided that since he hadn’t slept with one of her kind before, now was the time.

  A female officer came in and laughed at the predicament, giving Polly clearance to join the Guardians waiting for her outside the offices.

  Even with her suit on, Polly could feel the gazes of the men on her once they caught a whiff of her scent. She deliberately thought the word men, because the tall, grey-skinned creatures were not like anything she had met before. She kept her mind on the business of meeting the Guardians, and when the men wearing armoured bodysuits stood to meet her, she had an idea that she was in the right place.

  “Polly Garner?” A man with grey skin and pale blue hair smiled as he spoke.

  The other man with him rolled his eyes. They were related, that much was certain. The one who hadn’t spoken had darker hair, but he had the indulgent expression of an older sibling watching a younger on a first date.