by KD Jones
She tried to push away from him but he pulled her into his tight embrace. She felt her body instantly spark to life. Her lips parted with a moan. She finally gave into his sensual onslaught.
He lifted her up and Jaxon automatically wrapped her legs around his waist. Kyd walked them into the shadows and pressed her up against the wall of the building. The female drove him crazy with lust.
Jaxon had the fleeting thought—this balcony is seeing a lot of action tonight.
Her dress rode up to expose her panties beneath. He pressed his lower body into hers and she could feel the hardness of his arousal as it rubbed against the juncture of her covered crotch. She wanted him desperately. His thick, rough fingers moved her panties aside and teased the lips of her sex. She shivered with need.
“You are wet for me,” Kyd growled at her.
“Commander …” They should probably stop before this went too far. Jaxon just couldn’t get the words out.
“Call me, Kyd,” he whispered as he pressed his finger deep between her feminine folds. He pumped it in and out, harder and harder.
“Oh God, that feels so good,” she moaned.
“Say my name,” he demanded.
“Kyd. Oh fuck … please.” She pressed herself back and forth against his hand.
He added another finger. “You are so tight, Jaxon. Release for me.”
“Yes! Yes!” She came so hard she almost lost consciousness. It had been a long time since she had been intimate with anyone. Frankly, she had never had such a strong climax before now. The man had talented fingers.
He had just started to undo his pants when his comm link went off. “Kitana!” He hit the link. “Commander KydEL here.” He gave her a look that said not to move an inch. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Ten minutes? That wasn’t going to be enough time. She wanted more. She wanted to get naked with him and lick him all over.
He ended his communication and slowly lowered, Jaxon, back to her feet. “I am needed in the Operations Room.”
Jaxon nodded her head with understanding. She wasn’t sure her voice would work. She could barely stand.
Kyd grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him for a deep kiss. When he finished kissing her, he stepped back to see she wore a sexually satisfied expression. He smiled smugly.
“You will not dance with any more males this evening.” It wasn’t a request.
If she had been in her right mind, she would have told him to stuff it. However, she was still foggy and could only manage to nod her head in agreement. She leaned against the building and watched the Commander’s firm ass walk away. What the hell just happened? She needed a strong drink. She tested her legs out and took one step, then another as she made her way back to the ballroom.
Chapter One
Eighteen Years Earlier
“Come on, Jaxon, I dare you to,” a skinny boy yelled at her.
“Don’t listen to him, Jax. He’s just trying to get you in trouble,” a little red-haired girl called up to her from the ground below.
Jaxon was a gangly, ten-year-old girl with wavy, brown hair. She stared down at her twelve-year-old foster brother, Ricky, on the ground below. He wanted her to give up.
They had been playing truth or dare with a group of neighborhood kids. Jaxon chose to take the dare. Ricky had dared her to jump from the roof of their foster parents’ home.
Jaxon looked down at the little red-haired girl; her BFF, Cassie. “I have to, Cass, it’s a dare.” And Jaxon never backed down from a dare—not ever.
Randy turned to his buddies. “She’s too scared to do it. Besides, she’s just a girl.”
“No, Jax!” Cassie screamed as Jaxon leapt from the roof.
It was the most incredible feeling, Jaxon, had ever experienced—flying through the air. Actually, it was more like falling through the air. The thrill didn’t last that long. A few seconds of pure joy and then—the most excruciating pain she had ever felt in her young life.
The doctor said she had broken her right leg in two places and it was going to take six weeks to recover. She needed assistance getting to the bathroom. Her foster parents were furious. Her foster mom, Janet, argued with the social worker because social services wouldn’t pay for Jaxon to stay at the hospital. Janet complained that she just couldn’t handle a child with “special needs.”
Cassie’s grandparents, the Tomlins, overheard the argument and offered to care for Jaxon while she was recovering. Her foster parents didn’t care as long as they still got paid from the foster care system. So for six weeks, Jaxon lived with Cassie and her grandparents—it was the best summer of her life.
The foster home Jaxon lived in was crowded and noisy. The kids there constantly fought over food, clothes, toys, and space. Jaxon never had anything that was her own. Her foster parents cared more about the money they got paid than they did the kids they took in. It was the same as all the other foster homes that Jaxon had been in and out of over the years. The only difference this time was that Cassie lived next door.
For once, it was nice to be a part of a real family like the Tomlins. Cassie was already her best friend and by the end of that summer, they had become as close as sisters. They didn’t fight over anything. Whatever Jaxon wanted, Cassie was happy to give it to her. In turn, Jaxon became very protective of Cassie.
The day Jaxon’s cast came off was one of her best memories from her childhood. Cassie’s grandfather, a retired Air Force pilot, rented a Cirrus SR20 airplane. He took both Cassie and Jaxon up for their first flight. Cassie wasn’t really into flying and spent the whole time with her eyes closed and fingers crossed—not Jaxon. She fell in love with the small plane the moment she caught sight of it and when Mr. Tomlin took them up in the air, the whole world melted away. It was just her, the plane, and the sky—it was heaven.
She and Cassie planned to live together when they got older. There was just one small problem: Jaxon was three years older than Cassie. When she graduated from high school, her foster parents insisted that she move out. Cassie’s grandparents offered to let her stay with them, but Jaxon didn’t want to impose.
Then she had gotten the most absurd idea from her idiot foster brother. Ricky had joined the Army when he turned eighteen. While he was visiting their foster parents, he complained about boot camp and how hard it was. He told Jaxon that she would never make it in the military. She would be cycled out of boot camp the first day.
The following Monday, Jaxon took a bus downtown to the Air Force recruitment center and signed up. The Air Force was not going to let her enlist with them at first, but Cassie’s grandfather called in a favor. To everyone’s surprise, including Jaxon’s, she excelled in the military.
Her motto was to never back down from a challenge. She proved herself by accepting every mission offered to her. She preferred the more dangerous missions. She earned respect from her superior officers and advanced quickly through the ranks. Then she was given a mission that would change her life—forever.
Present Day at EWG Military Headquarters
Three generals sat facing each other at the small conference table: General Clarkson of the Army division, General Millian of the Navy division, and General Campbell of the Air Force division. They were part of the EWG, Earth World Government, and Military Force.
A few years before, all the world’s government leaders had gotten together to form a one-world government, the EWG. They had two goals: find a way to resolve the overpopulation crisis the planet was experiencing and replenish Earth’s natural resources. Little did they know the solution to their problems would come from the most unlikely place, an alien race known as the Katieran Nation.
General Millian appeared annoyed. “Why are the Katierans being so stubborn about the military exchange? It’s like they want to keep us in the dark.”
General Clarkson agreed. “Of course they want to keep us in the dark. They know that we might pose a threat to them if we have their technology. That’s why we need ‘Operation Eagle Star
.’”
Operation Eagle Star was an intelligence-gathering operation the EWG Military planned to initiate. It entailed selecting lesser officers from the EWG Military to be sent to the alien planet of Katiera. While under the guise of learning basic Katieran Military training and fighting techniques, they would gather Intel on weaponry and other advanced military technology and report back to the EWG.
“The Katierans agreed to a few hundred of our military. That Prime Commander of theirs has turned down half the people we sent to apply for transport so far. Did he state his reasons for the ones he rejected?” General Campbell passed out a copy of the most recent rejected applications.
The other two generals began to read over the report. “It seems as though the candidates the Commander rejects are either male, married, or over the age of 45,” General Millian noted.
“So it’s true then. They are only interested in unmarried women who are in their childbearing years,” General Clarkson grumbled.
General Campbell nodded in affirmation. “Yes.”
“Who do we have that they will accept?” General Millian asked.
“Colonel Stevens is bringing in a candidate as we speak,” General Campbell replied. He passed out the candidate’s résumé to the other Generals. They all took a few minutes to read through it, finishing just as someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” General Campbell called out.
Jaxon walked into the meeting room following behind Colonel Stevens. She glanced around the room with her sharp eyes, looking for potential threats and possible escape routes, a habit from her training. Jaxon and Colonel Stevens stopped in front of the table where the three Generals sat watching them—no, watching her closely.
General Millian spoke first. “Thank you for coming, Master Sergeant Malone, on such short notice. Do you know why you are here today?”
“Yes, sir. Colonel Stevens says that you need me to infiltrate the alien nation of Katiera under the guise of becoming a ‘refugee.’ I am to gather Intel from the other side regarding all weaponry and advanced military technology and report my findings to you, sir.”
General Campbell nodded affirmatively. “I hate that it has come to this, but the Katierans are not being very forthcoming with anything. The medical advancements are great, but we need more than that.”
“I think they are keeping a lot more from us. We need to know what that is. We understand that what we are asking you to do is unusual and there are many unforeseen dangers facing you. We would like to compensate you by promoting you to the rank of Captain. Do you think you are up for the task?” General Clarkson asked.
“Captain? I’ve only recently completed my advanced program to be promoted to Master Sergeant. I don’t qualify and don’t have the years yet for Captain.” Jaxon didn’t like the idea of spying on this alien nation. However, to be promoted to Captain so early in her career, was unheard of. Could she really turn this down?
“What is your answer, Captain?”
“When do I leave?”
*****
“It’s going to be okay, Cassie. I promise,” Jaxon reassured her friend as they walk through the lobby of the hotel in Oklahoma City. Jaxon didn’t stop to ask the front desk for directions. Instead, she took an educated guess the group of women heading towards a ballroom were here for the same reason: to apply for relocation to Katiera.
Jaxon tugged on Cassie’s hand. She hoped that this relocation would help solve her friend’s predicament. Cassie was now a fugitive from the Earth World Government. The EWG, in an attempt to resolve Earth’s overpopulation problem, created a law stating that all citizens had to apply for a license to have children. If you didn’t have a license, you could resolve the unauthorized pregnancy by getting a government-mandated abortion.
Cassie’s loser ex-boyfriend had knocked her up almost six months ago and abandoned her. But Cassie wanted to keep her child, so she had gone underground—she had no license. If the EWG found her, they could still force an abortion on her and send her to prison.
Jaxon had tried many times to persuade her friend to stay with her, but Cassie didn’t want to put Jaxon at risk. After she had accepted the mission to Katiera, Jaxon contacted Cassie and convinced her to come and apply for relocation. Cassie needed help and this may be her only chance.
The interviews for relocation were being held in a small ballroom in the hotel. Inside the room, Jaxon noted there were about fifteen human women mingling with a group of large men. They smiled and laughed amongst themselves. All of the men were tall, at least six foot six, and built like linebackers with huge, bulging muscles everywhere. Their skin had a golden bronze coloring similar to Native Americans. They had dark hair of various lengths and styles. They were the hottest group of men Jaxon had ever seen. Yummy.
They approached the center of the room. The men appeared to raise their heads and take a sniff of the air before they turned towards her and Cassie. Jaxon squeezed Cassie’s hand for support.
One of the men walked towards them. He spoke to them in a strange, alien language. The words were garbled and made no sense, sounding to Jaxon like he was saying, “Ayer token stada.”
Jaxon responded, “Hey big dude, we’re here to apply for relocation. Where do we sign up?”
Two more men came and joined the first one. All three spoke in the alien gibberish. “Sa Sa talles ayer token stada.”
“Right, well, ‘Sa Sa’ to you too. We would like to sign up for RE—LO—CA—TION. Please,” Jaxon said sarcastically. She checked out the rest of the room. A few other women were also experiencing the same language issues.
One of the big guys attempted to talk to Cassie but she shook her head, unable to understand what he was trying to say. Then he moved closer to Cassie and Jaxon reacted immediately to Cassie’s panic. She jumped in between Cassie and the big guy and yelled at the hulking man to step away. He spoke more gibberish and pointed at Cassie. The other men came over to support him. One of them tried to grab Cassie’s arm and Jaxon saw red. She pushed the man away roughly.
“Back away, King Kong! Don’t touch her again!”
The other women noticed the confrontation and came to help Jaxon and Cassie. One of the women with really short, blond hair pointed to Cassie’s stomach. Jaxon knew what she was silently asking and nodded. The women formed a protective circle with Cassie in the center.
Two men tried to infiltrate the protective circle. Jaxon took them down to the ground within seconds. When she glanced back up it seemed that everything was in slow motion. Two more large men ran into the ballroom and screeched to a halt upon seeing her. Her eyes locked onto the darkest pair of eyes she had ever seen. Wow—just—wow.
The newly arrived men yelled in gibberish. Jaxon tried to keep her mind on protecting Cassie, but the taller man kept drawing her eyes to him. There was something about him that called to her. She shook her head and tried to keep her focus. They were up to something, she could feel it.
The men surrounded the circle. This was it, Jaxon thought. They were going to make their move. She kept her eyes on the new big guy.
“Don’t fight them, Cass,” she yelled to her friend.
That was all she had time to say before the men surged forward and each grabbed a woman. Jaxon admired their timing. It was a perfect strategic move. The new big guy grabbed her before she had a chance to maneuver out of his hold—he was fast. She was pulled up against a large, muscular body. Oh God, he smelled divine—like woods, rain, and man. She was helpless as she watched the other newcomer move towards Cassie.
“No—don’t touch her, jackass!”
“Sa, Sa, talle,” a deep male voice whispered in her ear. The timbre of his voice sent shivers down Jaxon’s spine.
More large men ran into the ballroom. They wore something that resembled smocks. They gave each of the restrained women a shot in the neck with some kind of syringe looking device. When one of the men came to do the same to her, she struggled to get free.
“Key mile,” the
huge man that held her said as the other man gave her the shot. It felt like air pressure against her skin. It didn’t hurt—it just felt strange.
“Sa Sa talle, key mile.” The big man repeated the words over and over until they started to make sense. “No, no, female, be still.”
“What did you say?” she demanded. She wiggled her bottom against his front in an attempt to free herself.
“Be still, female!” the big guy responded in a suddenly raspy voice. He lowered his head to take a whiff of her intriguing scent. With her scent and the movement of her bottom against his shaft, he became instantly aroused.
Jaxon felt his male response to her against her backside. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Let me go!” She kicked back at his shin for good measure. The big man grunted and then released her. He watched for any sign that she might attack him.
Prime Commander KydEL rubbed his shin. “Damn female.” They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then he yelled, “Warriors, report!”
All the men scrambled to take positions in front of the Commander. “The breeding female is being taken back to the temporary medic room. No injuries to report, Commander.”
Commander—as in the Prime Commander—head of the alien military force of Katiera—the one she just kicked in the shin—well shit!
The Commander didn’t look at the female warrior as he tried to get his focus back. He still felt the female’s body pressed against his front. She was a damn distracting female. He ordered his males to take the females to a room for interrogation.
One of the warriors stepped up to the Commander. He was followed by one of the women with very short, flaxen hair. “Excuse me, Commander. This female says she is a human medic. She asks that she be allowed to check on the breeding female. I request permission to take her to the temporary medic room.”
The Commander nodded. “Permission granted.”
Jaxon was distracted by what the other man said. Breeding? Did that mean they knew Cassie was pregnant? Did they plan to turn her over to the EWG?
