Captured: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Romance (Garrison Earth Book 1)

by V. K. Ludwig

  “I’m Eden,” I said and stepped aside, closing the door behind us. “My mate’s in the kitchen. We were just about to make lunch together.”

  Anna followed me through the living area, the whitewashed logs stacked high beside the large windows to the front. “I didn’t mean to interrupt or anything.”

  “Oh, you’re fine, really. Torin, this is Anna, our neighbor.”

  Torin was wise enough to remain behind the counter, his hands tugging his shirt over his abs before he threw one up in a greeting. “Hey, I’m Torin. Nice to meet you, Anna.”

  “The Commander of the First Brigade,” she said, nodding and rubbing her red fingertips together. “My mate is First Officer Dainal. He was very excited when he heard you were moving to sector thirteen.”

  “I served with your mate during the Jal’zar invasion,” Torin said. “Next time, you should bring him with you.”

  “He’s on Heliar Five right now. Dainal doesn’t really spend a lot of time on Earth. Always busy traveling the universe.” A smile came and went from her face, a hollow nod bouncing from her head before she pointed at the swing. “And you’ve got a baby. He’s adopted, right? I saw the interview.”

  “Would you like coffee?” Torin asked, gazing about all those small appliances lining the counters. “I don’t know which of these makes coffee, but I understand one of them does.”

  “Torin doesn’t know what half the stuff is for,” I said with a wink.

  “I wouldn’t want to impose, especially since I interrupted your cooking and all. I just wanted to introduce myself and, not gonna lie, I wanted to see the house from the inside. It’s so different from all the others.”

  “Yeah, Torin had it designed after a cabin I went to as a kid.” My eyes caught with his, and for a moment, it was as if we were alone. Just him and me in this cabin, the drawing he took from my room framed in our upstairs bedroom.

  Fate. A word I refused to use much ever since the Vetusians came, but now snuck into my thoughts, worming itself into the warm depth of my core whenever I looked at Torin.

  “It’s huge,” Anna said. “How many bedrooms you got?”

  “Uh, four?”

  “Five,” Torin said, walking up behind me and wrapping his hands around my waist. “For lots of children.”

  “Don’t listen to him. Give it two years, and he’ll probably agree two is enough.”

  Anna’s eyes dropped to my stomach. “Oh, you’re pregnant?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “That’s exciting. I worked as an art therapist with children… before.” The obligatorily silence ticked for a few awkward seconds, before she did what we all did: talk about the now. “Anyway, I work at the infirmary, offering art therapy to wounded warriors and healers. But if you ever need a sitter,” — she pointed at herself — “I’m the one for the job. With no kids and my mate gone all the time, I’d love to help.”

  “That’s real sweet of you,” I said. “You wanna stay for lunch?”

  “Oh, no, I just came to say hi, and now I’ll leave you guys to it.”

  I brought Anna to the door, remembering to mention she should come for coffee one of these days, just like I used to before. The door hadn’t even fallen into its lock yet when Torin wrapped his arms around me.

  I let out a yelp. “What are you doing?”

  “What do you think?” He picked me up and carried me over to the kitchen, planting me back on the counter. “I can see it in his eyes, he’s about to scream. Spread your legs, gorgeous, because I can do fast if I have to.”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  A taunting stare met mine, and he pinched my nipple. “One more comment like that and I won’t be so nice anymore and let you nap when he does. I might just fuck you for two hours instead.”

  I fumbled my panties down once more, planting my feet beside me on the counter while putting my hands behind me in support. “What about me?”

  “Oh, I’ll make you come, don’t worry about it.” His cock was back inside me with one thrust, desperately rocking in and out as if he understood it was a race against time. “I paid real close attention whenever you refused to take pleasure from me. Moved at the pace that made your lips part. Took you from the angle that made you spill those moans you tried to keep from me.”

  I threw my head back and lifted my pelvis, meeting each pounding stroke. “It was wrong.”

  “Stubborn female.” Shirt tossed to the ground, he grabbed my hands and shoved them over his chest, as if he needed my touch to survive. “You and I felt there was something between us from the start. We just both ignored it. You a little longer than me.”

  I dug my nails into his skin, fingertips sinking in between battle scars. A handful more strokes and I could have come. Would have.

  If it not for Gabriel sending an ear-shattering wail into the room with no warning, so loud, not even the logs absorbed his distress.

  “Keep going! Hurry!”

  But Torin already pressed his forehead against mine, letting out a sigh. “I can’t when he’s crying like that. It breaks my heart.”

  His cock disappeared once more, and my mate right along with it. He washed his hands and turned the milk synthesizer on, pulling his hair on his way over to the swing.

  “Okay how about this…” Panties back in their place, I turned the knob on the stove and grabbed for the spatula. “You feed him and try to get him to nap. I finish lunch. Once he’s asleep, we finally do this, empty stomach or not; I don’t give a damn.”

  Onions sizzled the moment they hit the oil, sending a billow of steam into the kitchen. And while I shoved them around, browning them slowly, Torin cradled Gabriel in one arm, giving him the bottle with the other.

  “He’s eating a lot more now,” he said. “Last night, I had to make him an extra bottle. I’d say there is a potential warrior in this child considering how tough he is.”

  I added the peppers and broth, then put the lid on top to let it simmer for a bit. “Perhaps with the right bionics.”

  I walked over to him and leaned my forehead against his, Gabriel gulping underneath us. “This isn’t what you expected, is it? Night-time feedings, diaper changes, and no time to ourselves?”

  “No, it isn’t what I expected,” he whispered with a kiss against my temple. “This is by far surpassing all expectations. That’s how much I love it. And I will always love you.”

  My chest imploded at his words, making a million tiny sparks sizzle along my ribcage. Nothing about us had been easy, forcing us to grow beyond our borders of species and suffering.

  “I’ll sit on the couch with him. Maybe he’ll want to nap there, and we can put pillows around him.”

  I watched him walk out of the kitchen, the way he smiled down at Gabriel, and whispered to him in Vetusian clutching my heart. It filled me with such happiness, I couldn’t even feel guilty over it anymore.

  It was as if I had finally found myself, and made peace with the fact that this was my life now. And it was a damn good one. In a few days, I’d start working at the agency, trying to find adoptive families for the other babies.

  Torin traveled a lot. Something which worried him, although I assured him a dozen times that I was used to it. Dad deployed and came back. Torin left and returned. No biggie for me.

  “I’ll just finish the sauce real quick,” I shouted over to the living room around the corner. “And we’ll just boil the grains later.”

  I turned off the milk synthesizer. As difficult as the first days had been for Torin, he did a fantastic job with being a dad. He took Gabriel for walks, told him stories, and sometimes got up with him in the mornings so I could sleep in.

  As much as he could be stiff and formal in his role as a Warden and a Commander, he was open and kind whenever he was around us. We were a couple.

  A family.

  “Is he asleep?” I asked.

  No answer.

  Not a single noise.

  I turned the stove off and added the cream, then walked ar
ound the counter and into the living room.

  And there, on the couch, was my mate. Fast asleep, he held one arm draped over his face, the other pressing Gabriel firmly against his chest.

  Legs tugged underneath his belly, our little boy wrinkled his nose, one arm pressed against Torin’s pectoral, the neuroplate resting on a scar.

  Bliss and contentment swelled inside my core, making me shake my head at myself. I grabbed the knit blanket and draped it loosely over them. I loved that child like my own. And no matter how I had promised I wouldn’t, I was falling in love with the man underneath.

  Chapter 24

  Eden

  The woman sitting on the couch in my office dropped her gaze to the floor, her voice suddenly thinner than only a moment ago. “I can’t have children. They tried to fix whatever was wrong with me, but apparently, I was born with a low egg reserve.”

  The Vetusian beside her wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with you, baby.”

  She smiled at him, her features a mix of humiliation and gratitude. “We thought about, you know, using a donated egg. But then we saw you and the Commander with Gabriel, and figured why not adopt? Right?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Her mate shoved back his blue sleeve, revealing the plesh of his bionic arm extending over the skin of his elbow. “They had to remove my arm when I got it almost severed off at the job, so I understand the importance of physical therapy, cleaning neuroplates, and keeping those nerve ends sharp.”

  The woman, Chen, leaned forward, placing her mate’s metal limb onto her lap. “There was this one boy we felt very drawn to.”

  I swiped over the holograms of my workstation. “C371?”

  “That’s him,” she said with a wide smile. “I guess it sounds silly, but I felt like he was tracking us when we walked through the facility. Like… there was something connecting me to that boy.”

  “Us, baby, I sensed it too,” her mate continued, the way he looked at her nothing short of heartwarming. “Like when I first met you. That… moment of hesitation.” His gaze came back to me. “Our steps hesitated for less than a second before we walked away from him, but he’s been on our mind since.”

  I took a deep breath, taking in the scent of Gabriel, who slept snug against my chest in his baby carrier. “I checked your profiles once more before you came in today. Obviously, there are certain requirements potential adoptive families need to satisfy. Such as… your ability to support the child.”

  “Look, ma’am,” the Vetusian said. “I get I don’t make as much as the other strati, but I’ve saved up the moment they announced Garrison Earth. We’re young, but we’re not foolish.”

  “And I started a new job at the agency for interspecies relations,” Chen added. “It’s not reflected in my profile yet, but it’ll bring in some more Imperial Credits. And the best thing is that I can work from home.”

  I opted for a professional smile, the sensation of it almost strange against my face since I hadn’t used it in so long. “For some reason, the network won’t give me access to those IC’s you mentioned you have saved. Can you tell me about how much it is?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve got 11,234 IC’s, and we’re putting away another three-hundred each lunar cycle.”

  “Month,” Chen corrected.

  “I’m sorry. Month.”

  I left the workstation and sat down in the chair across from them, the scent of fresh flowers drifting from the glass vase beside me on the table. Torin had sent them from Dunatal, the foliage brown and dry, and yet they infused the room with hints of marigold and fresh-cut grass.

  “I will make an exception,” I said, watching how relief shone from their faces. “You barely miss the mark for the required income, so that’s something I’m willing to overlook. My mate and I also founded a support network for adoptive families, in case you ever find yourself in need of something. We can offer financial support, guidance on how to handle certain aspects of having an infant with open neuroplates, and such.”

  “Thank you so much,” Chen said, tears filling her dark brown eyes. “I was so devastated when I found out they couldn’t fix me. And donor eggs are so expensive right now.”

  I supported Gabi’s head and gave Chen a pat on her hand. “You’ll do fine. C371 only has one arm like Gabriel here, so be prepared for lots of nighttime frustration. It can be very upsetting for a baby to roll over, and those kinds of babies happen to roll over more often due to their imbalance.”

  “How do you do it if you don’t mind my asking, ma’am?”

  “Well, Gabriel usually sleeps on my chest, and I tug both of us snug with the blanket. That way, he can’t roll off. And he pretty much sleeps through the night like that. It’s only an option if your sleeping pod is equipped with everything to avoid accidents, though, like him falling off or you rolling over on him.”

  “What you are doing for these babies is wonderful, Eden da taigh L’naghal,” Chen said. “My entire family is so grateful that you’re the Warden's mate. It gives…” She gave her mate an apologetic glance before she turned back to me, her tone dropped to a whisper. “It gives us a voice.”

  I gave a nod of acknowledgment in response, then grabbed one of the information packages from the basket beside my chair. “I will approve you today, and you can pick him up at the facility as early as tomorrow morning. Somebody will visit you after three days, one week, three weeks, and after that once a lunar cycle for the first year.”

  “That’s not a problem for us,” the Vetusian assured.

  “If you run into troubles at pick-up, you have them com me. The cosmikin has been glitchy lately ever since they connected Earth to the network permanently. Any other questions?”

  Both of them rose, holding each other as if their lives depended on it. “No,” Chen said. “My grandma always said you get what you’re asking the universe for, so we already prepared his room. Everything’s ready for him.”

  I walked them to the reception area, where Anna already waited with her finger tapping her com. “Did you already choose a name?”

  “Mercus,” the Vetusian said. “My mate was kind enough to let me choose.”

  “That was generous of her.”

  I stared behind them as they left the agency, my stomach a roil. After a morning full of appointments, grabbing lunch with Anna had never sounded so good.

  She handed me my coat. “Another adoption?”

  “Uh-huh, the third one today.” I put my coat on and draped the fabric over Gabi, snuggling us in tight and warm. “The Central agency is apparently doing even better. It’s not happening as quickly as I’d hoped, but we’re getting there.”

  “What’s that scent on you?”

  I laughed as we left the building, making our way across the street. “Dunatal sand rose. Whenever Torin sends flowers, it usually means he’s delayed and will come home a few days later than planned.”

  “That’s kinda cute.”

  “That couple you saw just now?” We stepped into the NUFAC, the air wrapping us in warmth and the scent of foreign spices. “The Vetusian called me ma’am and his mate baby.”

  “Advanced language chips.” Anna grabbed a tray and started loading it with foods from across the universe. “They started producing them a few weeks ago.”

  I settled for a bowl of bullabhou stew with a Cerarian dough knot, making my way to a table by the window. “I tried getting Torin to be less formal with friends, but it won’t stick. He still tells me he shall love me until the cosmos collapses, and that I should throw dirty diapers out immediately for they insult his sense of smell.”

  Anna sat down with a grin hanging on one half of her mouth. “But he does send you flowers.”

  “He does,” I said, my voice carrying a good portion of that warmth radiating from my core whenever I thought of him.

  Our table fell quiet for a moment, and the bustling of healers and workers soon faded out as they left the nutrition facility and returned to their assignments. All the wh
ile, Anna stared at me over the rim of her chicken and beef burrito, that smirk on her face making her chewing motions somewhat lopsided. It sparked an uncomfortable heat in my cheeks, making me put my spoon down.

  “Just get it out,” I said. “I can’t eat while you keep staring at me like that.”

  She finished chewing, her smirk now firmly planted on both sides. “Does he know you love him?”

  “I already told you it’s not so simple.” I held my hand over Gabi’s head to protect him from drips and quickly dipped my spoon back into the stew. “It’s not something you go blurting around when you’re not absolutely sure.”

  “So, you don’t love him?”

  “I didn’t say I don’t love him, I said… ugh.” I shrugged and distracted myself with a spoonful of stew, but even the savory spices couldn’t take away from that tingle in my stomach. “It’s complicated. You know I don’t believe in this Gaia link or fate in general.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” she mouthed with a drawn-out sigh, saying nothing else at all while still bringing the message across just fine. Those unspoken words clung to the edge of her narrowed eyes: You love him.

  What did that Vetusian earlier say?

  Like when I first met you…

  That moment of hesitation…

  It had sounded as if he’d known that he loved her then and was fated to be with her. It would have been unprofessional to ask at the time, but I couldn’t help but wonder. How was that moment between them?

  Did his eyes catch with hers at the common area?

  Did he fix the light in her room, and they just stared at each other in a moment of complete suspension?

  “What do you mean, complete suspension?” Anna asked, brows arched.

  “Huh?”

  “You just mumbled complete suspension.”

  Did I say that out loud?

  “I just thought back to the day Torin caught me,” I said, my focus drifting into the deep brown of my stew. “There was that moment of hesitation between us where we just stared at each other. Only a second more, though it felt like eternity at that moment. Did you have that with your mate?”