Parallel Desire

by Deidre Knight

  "Why the last-minute switch?" Jared stiffened slightly against her, and Kelsey wondered what about this change disturbed him.

  "Security precaution, per lieutenant Daniels. Standard op, sir." The young officer's face reddened slightly, his dark brown eyes blinking nervously. Clearly it was a major assignment for the guy, and she got the idea that he hadn't spent much time in her husband's presence prior to today.

  "Lieutenant Harty, what possible security precaution should dictate a move from my quarters—where we were scheduled for a late afternoon lunch—to the impersonal planning room?"

  Harty gave his head a slight shake. "I'm not sure, my lord. But those were my orders."

  Jared disengaged from Kelsey's grasp, slipping an arm around the officer's shoulder, walking with him and whispering something in quiet tones. A look of pride shone on Harty's face, and he nodded while punching something into his comm. Jared returned to her, grinning. "We're going to eat in the planning room."

  Kelsey scrunched her nose, confused. "What did you tell him? And why did that bother you so much?"

  "I told him that he was doing an excellent job, and would receive a glowing report from my staff." Jared folded both arms over his chest, glancing at the control tower. "And that he was to do everything within his power to personally impress my father-in-law. I suggested there could be a promotion in it for him if he made me look especially good today."

  Kelsey slugged him playfully. "You're shameless, Your Highness."

  "My pride knows no bounds."

  "It's not pride." She smiled up at him. "You're just looking after me. He will love you, just like I do."

  Jared stroked her cheek. "I wish I felt so confident."

  They'd talked about Jared's anxieties repeatedly, his fears that her father would resent him for essentially secreting her away from the rest of her family. Not to mention the very fact of Jared's alien nature—and that he'd put Kelsey squarely in the midst of an ongoing war.

  Officer Harry returned, half jogging to where they stood. "My lord, Lieutenant Daniels explained the reasoning behind the move. They wanted to perform a last-minute security sweep of the main lodge and of your quarters. He suggests that perhaps you might bring the queen's father there directly after lunch."

  Something didn't feel right to Kelsey; whether it was her newly developing intuition, inherited from Jared upon their mating, or simply her gut instinct, she wasn't sure. She turned to her husband. "Is something going on here? Something more than Dad's visit?"

  "Security is elevated, my lady," Harty volunteered. "We've raised the code by two levels since yesterday."

  Kelsey cut her eyes at Jared. What is going on, huh? Something you're not telling me?

  He's a human, Kelse—an outsider. We have to take precautions.

  But he's my father; something more must be going on.

  Jared's lips parted as if he would answer aloud, but catching himself, he spoke through their bond. We had disturbing intel come through yesterday. We're acting on it, heightening our security alerts.

  And you were going to tell me when exactly? Kelsey planted one hand on her hip, and Harty watched them like he would a tennis match as they volleyed back and forth wordlessly.

  Jared grinned at her, doing his best to look guileless as he bent to kiss her forehead. "Once you'd delivered the baby and I knew you wouldn't worry."

  Harty squinted, glancing back and forth between them in confusion: Obviously their navigation between spoken and internal dialogue was difficult for an outsider to follow—much less understand.

  "I expect details once my dad leaves." Kelsey stared at her husband meaningfully, widening her eyes. "There can't be secrets, not between us."

  A loud horn sounded, a digital light blinking red by the main hangar door. "And that would be our guest," Jared said, drawing in a heavy breath.

  Kelsey's hand swept protectively over her large belly. Oh, Dad, please love them like I do. Please accept who I am … who they are.

  One of their midsized transports entered the bay, and Kelsey reached for Jared's hand. "Here we go. Showtime."

  Kelsey watched as her father disembarked from the craft, flanked in front and behind by a joint force of several Refarian and USAF flight officers. Even though some of the human ranks had been coming on base for months, the sight of her father in the company of mixed human and alien forces shocked her slightly.

  But clearly not so much as the entire event shocked her father, whose normally warm blue eyes had a startled expression to them, much like the time she'd announced her plans to become a geologist. Not a politician like he had always planned for her to be. Her father glanced about as if he half expected to come under attack by evil aliens, and Kelsey's anxiety doubled.

  But then his gaze lighted on her, and she broke away from Jared, rushing into his arms. "Dad!" She flung her arms about his neck, her large belly bumping him squarely in the stomach before she remembered just how pregnant she really was. Some part of her mind wondered if he'd been briefed properly, or if her advanced state of pregnancy was a surprise. Still, she didn't care; it had been five long months since she'd seen him or even much of the outside world. "I'm so glad you're here," she said, burrowing her face against his shoulder.

  "Whoa, whoa," he chided. "Let me get a good look at you." But she only clung to him harder, tears stinging her eyes.

  "I'm pregnant," she blurted, slowly peeling away from him.

  "I can see that." His mouth tightened slightly, and he kept hold of her shoulders, raking her with his parental gaze. Disapproval, shock, confusion, were obvious on his freckled face, the lines around his normally boyish eyes bracketing with tension.

  "I hope they told you—I mean, well, the USAF or whoever gave you the briefing."

  Her father nodded and slipped his hand atop her belly. "I just can't do this math, sweetie.… You're almost full term. They said you were four months pregnant." He glanced about them, blinking at the bright work lights suspended over their heads in the hangar.

  "Four and a half months, actually, and that's a big part of my story—our story, Jared's and mine." Kelsey turned, searching over her shoulder for Jared, who gave her a cautious smile but still kept his distance. She waved him closer, then turned back to her father.

  "That's him?"

  "Of course it's him." She laughed uncomfortably because her father didn't exactly sound overjoyed to see him. Again she sought out Jared, who walked toward them, his gait a bit more regal than usual—an obvious defense mechanism that nearly caused her to giggle uncontrollably from nervousness.

  "Sir, it's my honor to meet you." Jared extended a firm hand toward her father, inclining his head slightly out of respect.

  For a beat her father hesitated, then clasped Jared's hand, giving it a stalwart shake. "I'll admit it's a strange day for me." Her father broke into a strained smile. "Normally I'd know everything about you, Bennett. As it is, I'm playing catch-up, and that's a pretty big disadvantage for any father."

  "Understood completely, sir." Jared nodded thoughtfully. "I have many regrets on that point, but I hope that today will begin to remedy our situation."

  Kelsey suppressed a grin, hearing Jared speak so formally with her dad, a man who—although well acquainted with the upper echelons of political society—was still, in his heart, an outdoorsman and a rancher.

  "Look," she interjected, noting the many curious faces of the engineers and soldiers on the flight deck, "let's go someplace private, okay? I've got so much to tell you, Dad, but not out here where the world can see."

  "The world? Sweetheart, I just took a top-secret flight with a USAF escort. I don't think the world's eyes are on us right now."

  He didn't laugh or smile as he said it, and she fought a flash of anger. Of course her father wouldn't make today easy for her; as much as he loved her, he'd never made much of anything comfortable, at least not when it came to the things that mattered most to her heart.

  Thankfully, Jared intervened. "We have lun
ch waiting in one of our meeting rooms." He extended his hand, indicating the direction they would go. "If you will, sir, follow me?"

  "I saw you five months ago, Kelsey, at that fundraiser." Patrick took a sip of his water. "Were you pregnant then? Were the two of you already involved?"

  Jared leaned back in his seat, letting Kelsey take the lead in answering the questions. So far, he was having a hard time getting a fix on his father-in-law's mood about current events, much less his opinion.

  Kelsey stared down at her plate. "Dad, you know, it's just really complicated."

  "You either were or were not pregnant. That's not too complicated."

  "I hadn't met up with Jared … again back then. The gestational period"—Kelsey patted her belly—"it's different because of the baby I'm carrying."

  Patrick scowled at each of them, his eyes, so like Kelsey's, narrowing in confusion. "I don't understand any of this. Met Jared again? I thought you only met him …" His words trailed off, and he gaped at his daughter as if finally hearing her words. "What kind of gestational cycle?"

  "Dad, it's five months with this baby." Kelsey's voice rose slightly. "I'm almost to term, okay? Your granddaughter, Erica, will be here in a few weeks. As for Jared"—she glanced nervously in her mate's direction—"we met a long time ago. It's something that we'll have to explain over time."

  But, not surprisingly, Patrick Wells seemed fixated on the health of both his daughter and his granddaughter. "Five months. You look well past eight months on a, uh, human time frame."

  Kelsey leaned back in her chair, blotting at her mouth with her napkin. "That's about right, Daddy. Almost done." She laughed, a bit hysterically. "Thank God! Man, it's been really uncomfortable for the past two weeks."

  "You hadn't told me that, love." Jared's black eyes narrowed in concern. "That you've been in such discomfort."

  Kelsey tossed down her napkin. "Geez, just what I need, not one but two men in my life, worrying about me, hovering."

  "It's an alien pregnancy, sweetie." Her father took hold of her hand. "Perhaps the first? Hell if I know the truth about that."

  Kelsey avoided both of their eyes, hanging her head. "No, it's not the first. We know of others."

  Patrick squeezed her hand, smiling at last. "You'll do fine, then. The baby is healthy, right? All the signs are that she's progressing okay? That you are?"

  Kelsey played with her food, almost like a little girl. "Daddy, it's all fine. Me, Erica … don't worry. We really are okay."

  "You named the baby after your mother," Patrick observed softly, not quite looking at his daughter. Jared felt a strange tightening in his chest, a painful yearning for his own mother and father spearing him to the core.

  Kelsey didn't look up, didn't meet her father's stare. "She's my daughter, Mom's granddaughter… of course."

  "Didn't Jared have someone with a name?"

  A hard silence fell over the room, and Jared knew it was his responsibility to reply. "Sir, my own mother is long dead, lost in this war that—even now—we still fight. Our daughter's name was not my choice, but your own daughter's. Erica is perfect for our precious girl."

  Kelsey's heart rate sped double time. "You know, Dad, I get that you don't approve of this situation or my choices, but I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm twenty-eight years old, and for once I'm doing something for me. I'm here with Jared because it's where I want to be." Her palms began to sweat where she'd planted them on the table, and it was all she could do to meet her father's heated stare straight on. "When Mom died, you never cared what I wanted. You hauled me across the country for your career and never thought twice about it. So you know what? I don't really care if you approve of my relationship with Jared or not."

  Kelsey's throat constricted, and she couldn't bring words forth at all. Her father's warm eyes grew cold, angry. "How can you claim I was never there for you?"

  "I didn't say that," she managed to squeeze out, hot tears filling her eyes. "But you didn't care what was good for me, or what I needed."

  "You needed a father, and that's what I was."

  "No! I needed my home, Daddy! I needed to be here, in Wyoming, close to the life we'd led as a family. And to my memories. Instead, you just uprooted me and went after your own dreams."

  Kelsey leapt to her feet, pacing the room. She'd never been allowed to return home throughout high school, only later—when she'd insisted on attending college out here—had she even set foot on Wyoming soil again. From that moment, she'd felt the heavy sense that something was missing. Someone more than her mother.

  "I might even have found Jared sooner." She threw her hands into the air. "Who knows, Dad, but none of that matters anymore. All I have is here and right now, and you can either turn your back on me again, or you can try and understand why I love him so much." She stopped just behind Jared, planting her hands on his shoulders. Jared covered both of her hands with his own, and she longed to see his face.

  Love, take it easy, he cautioned gently. He just needs time.

  "No, he doesn't! He needs to support me," she cried aloud, not caring whether her father understood the private bond she shared with her mate, that it allowed them to communicate privately. "So, Daddy, you still planning to marry Blaire?" She practically spit the woman's name.

  Her father's reaction was surprisingly sedate. "We're making plans, yes, sweetheart."

  "And you have the nerve to judge me? At least Jared's older than me, basically the right age for me, even if he is an alien! Unlike you, obviously dwelling in midlife-crisis-land, pining after some schoolgirl who barely has boobs yet."

  For the first time since arriving, her dad smiled. A real, honest smile that revealed the warmth he usually displayed toward her. "You just looked so much like your mother." He reached toward her, opening his arm to draw her close. "She was a gorgeous pregnant woman, just like you."

  Kelsey crumbled, her anger fading to dust as she allowed him to pull her close against his side. She buried her forehead against his short-cropped auburn hair, the tears streaming anew. "I need you to support me, Daddy. Please."

  He nodded his head wordlessly, the two of them in an awkward tangle because of her position standing over him, and then he slowly disengaged, rising to his feet. He took her by both shoulders. "You've got to let me catch up here, Kelsey. Just a little bit. There's so much I'm trying to understand right now. If you love Jared"—her father paused, turning meaningfully to look at her husband—"then I accept that. I trust that and I trust you. You've always had terrific instincts."

  Kelsey wiped her eyes, one hand flitting nervously to rub the strake stone she wore around her neck. It had been Jared's wedding gift, a rare Refarian jewel that possessed an almost magical power—it was hot to the touch for anyone besides the person who wore it.

  Grinning, she glanced up at her father through the tears that blurred her eyes. "I want to show you something wild." She retrieved the stone from where it dangled from a necklace, hidden between her breasts. "Jared gave me this on our wedding day."

  Patrick reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving a pair of reading glasses, studying the stone closely. Beneath the track lights overhead, it gleamed a particularly luminous ebony shade. "That's unlike anything I've ever seen."

  "It's from Refaria, called a strake stone." Winking at Jared she added, "You should touch it."

  With a tentative hand, her father reached to feel the stone, instantly jerking his hand away. "That sucker's hot!"

  "I know! Crazy, isn't it? It feels perfectly normal to me, but that's because I'm wearing it."

  Jared rose from his position at the table, joining them. "Sir, that was the prize jewel in my father's crown, something my people smuggled out for me. It's always been a symbol of the world we hope to one day restore."

  Patrick lowered his reading glasses, tucking them back into his jacket. "And will you take Kelsey there one day, too?" he asked Jared softly. "Should I prepare myself for that sort of separation?"

  Jared planted
both hands behind his back. "We don't know what the future will bring. Right now, our role here is to protect your world. It's our highest calling, and now that we're working with the USAF, that role is more important than ever. Our enemies are many, their plans as nefarious as they are ambitious."

  Patrick's blue eyes widened. "What sort of plans?"

  Jared tilted his chin upward, smiling faintly. His next words rocked Kelsey to the very core. "Actually, sir, I was hoping you might be able to help us on that matter."

  Jared had never intended to draw his father-in-law into the fray, but something about the moment—the need to gain his trust—had made the idea seem right. Perfectly right, even though it was a considerable risk to release any of their intel to an outsider. Still, this was Kelsey's father, her own flesh and blood, and using his intuitive gift, he felt certain that the man could be trusted. That he would never do anything to betray Kelsey, that much was evident from being around him, and also from reaching with his gifts to confirm what his gut instincts told him.

  "I've known the vice president for more than twenty years. I find it impossible to believe that he's any kind of traitor." Patrick stared at the table between them, clearly trying to digest all that Jared had just told him.

  Kelsey, for her part, seemed more angry than shaken. "This is what you were talking about earlier. The reason security is elevated."

  Hell hath no fury like a woman pregnant with an alien child, Jared thought ruefully.

  "We received our intel yesterday, from a very high-up source. The suspicion is that the switch has already taken place."

  "What are you people, then?" Patrick fixed him with a piercing stare. "Body snatchers?"

  "Not them, Dad—the Antousians," Kelsey explained impatiently, her gaze never leaving Jared. "You're saying they somehow replaced Vice President Clarke?"

  "So these Antousians are body snatchers?" Patrick pressed, a look of mild horror on his face. "Like some B-grade horror movie?"