Resident Alien: Department of Homeworld Security, Book 2

by Cassandra Chandler

  “I would have told you if we were in danger.”

  “Right. Because showing up in an escape capsule that you then promptly destroy is a sign that everything’s peachy keen.”

  “Peachy what?”

  “It’s an idiom.”

  He stared into her eyes for long enough that she grew uncomfortable. Her stomach was fluttering and her skin still tingled from the cold. Strangely, she felt hot at the same time. Especially where they touched. The feeling spread to…places she was not used to paying attention to.

  The form-fitting undergarments she wore under her uniform were wet from the lake water. She was cold and her body was trying to find equilibrium. That was all it was.

  She knew the thought was a lie.

  “You’re shivering.”

  His voice was gravely and lower than usual. His pupils were dilated too, as if he was excited.

  It was probably from the shock of her arrival—not from her proximity. She wondered what her nanites could tell her about what else was going on in his body.

  “Clothing would be useful given the cool temperature in the region,” she said.

  Slowly, he let her go, as if he didn’t want to. The ground shifted beneath her feet. Sand. It squished up between her toes, abrading her skin.

  She was about to say something when Brendan pulled his shirt up and over his head. Sunlight gleamed along his shoulders and highlighted the smooth skin of his pectoral muscles, abdomen, navel…

  Something deep inside her destructed as her gaze seemed locked at the fastener for his jeans. Heat pooled in her belly, tingling spread between her legs. She felt almost like she’d taken a hit of Coupling, only the effects were much more intense.

  “Here.”

  He handed her the shirt. It was still warm from his body.

  “Won’t you be cold now?”

  “My cabin isn’t far. I’ll live.”

  She handed him the med-kit, then slipped into his shirt. The soft fabric whispered across her skin. A rich, sweet scent surrounded her. Brendan’s scent.

  He took her hand and started to lead her toward the grass. Earthlings referred to blades of grass. But he wouldn’t lead her into something dangerous. She trusted him.

  She stepped onto the green foliage.

  The plants poked at her skin, tickling the sides of her feet. She took another step. Both feet were on the life-forms. The leaves were cool. Some of the sand stuck to her was wiped away. More of it seemed to be grinding deeper.

  Cygnus-X, she was a soldier. She had been trained to withstand torture. But she had never been planetside before. Not in an undeveloped, pristine environment, teeming with life.

  She paused and said, “Wait.”

  “What’s wrong?” Brendan turned to face her, creases appearing between his eyebrows.

  Focusing on him made her feel better. She gripped his hand more tightly.

  “There’s too much… Too many…” She shook her head and closed her eyes. Even that wasn’t enough to shut out all of the stimulae.

  Birds were singing nearby. The hush of processed air whispering through the station’s vents had been replaced with leaves rustling in the trees. The swells and ebbs of the wind were nothing like the steady drone she was used to. They left her breathless, made her wonder what would happen next.

  She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky—a clear and crystalline blue with a few fluffy white clouds breaking up the monochromatic backdrop. Very different from the speckled black canvas visible from the station’s viewports—from every viewport she had ever used.

  The wind picked up and the trees bent, branches turning over and leaves waving like thousands of tiny hands. It was beautiful and terrifying.

  “I don’t think I can walk,” she said.

  “Are you hurt?” He stepped closer, but not close enough. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold on forever. Or at least until they could get inside.

  “I’m not hurt. I’m just…overwhelmed. I’ve never been outside of… Well, I’ve never been outside before.”

  “You can’t be serious. Don’t you have…planets where you’re from?”

  “We do, but they’re mostly dome-worlds or otherwise covered in tech. I was raised on space stations and ships. I’ve only been planetside for training.” Training that seemed absolutely inadequate at the moment. “And there was no grass. And I had shoes.”

  Planets like Earth were rare. They were valuable. That was why the Coalition had assigned Earth preservation status. Most soldiers were unlikely to ever encounter a planet so rich in life. Her training hadn’t covered anything like the springy green plant-matter beneath her feet.

  “Are you agoraphobic?” he asked.

  “No, there’s just…so much here. Clouds and birds and—” She swatted at a small flying insect that buzzed past her face.

  “I get it.” He smiled. “Earth’s a happening place. I tried to tell you it’s the only place to be in the Sol system.”

  She surprised herself by being able to smile back at him. “I came for the company, not the scenery.”

  That…was not what she meant to say. It was the truth, though. She cleared her throat and looked away, but not before she caught how the furrows between his brows eased.

  “Come on.” He let go of her hand and turned around, then crouched in front of her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to give you a piggyback ride.”

  “A what?”

  “Lean forward and wrap your arms around my neck. Just don’t choke me.”

  He shifted so that his back was brushing her stomach. Was this some sort of Earth mating ritual? She shook the thought away.

  He patted his shoulder, as if encouraging her. She leaned into him, holding onto his neck carefully.

  “I’ll need you to carry this.” He handed her the med-kit, then said, “We’re playing hot potato with this thing.”

  “Hot potato?”

  “Forget it.” He laughed, then reached back and gripped her thighs. She let out a gasp as he lifted her into the air, with most of her weight spread over his back.

  “Relax.” His voice was gentle. “I’ve got you.”

  The fluttering in her stomach intensified as he started walking, carrying her along with him. She felt like she’d been given too much Balance—the chemical mixture most Coalition citizens used to maintain their contented state of mind.

  She hadn’t used it herself for years, though the Coalition made sure she always had some on hand. Even the med-kit had several vials. But she hadn’t bothered with Balance since she’d been sent on her first assignment.

  Balance always gave her a weird buzz that she didn’t like. Maybe it was because she was a glitch. She was more likely to use Coupling. The physical release it generated was enough to keep her content. Too bad Coupling wasn’t part of a standard med-kit. She could introduce Brendan to Coalition mating rituals.

  Moons, where had that thought come from? She glanced at Brendan, but looked away quickly. Her face was probably as red as a skeelbat’s belly.

  At his age, Brendan was statistically likely to have had multiple sexual encounters—none of them involving a drug that would take care of everything for him. Earthlings did things manually.

  Kira was suddenly very aware of his hands on the bare skin of her legs, on her chest and pelvis pressed against his back. His hands were large and strong. And warm. All of him was warm. She wondered what it would be like to snuggle up with him under a blanket and explore their anatomical compatibilities.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She had never lied to him and wasn’t about to start. “I’m not sure. This is weird.”

  “You think this is weird? I’m the one giving a piggyback ride to an alien.”

  She laughed and started to feel a bit lig
hter. She had made it this far. The Coalition would send someone to investigate what had happened to the listening station. She would be presumed dead, if they even knew she had been there in the first place. They would discover the Tau Ceti involvement when they scanned the energy field of the explosion and take action. She wouldn’t have to do anything.

  And she could live out the rest of her days happily on Earth. Once she acclimated.

  “You not wanting to be found…” Brendan said. “Does it have anything to do with you talking to me? You said you weren’t supposed to make contact.”

  “That’s part of it. My superiors wouldn’t be happy to find out we’ve been communicating. But they aren’t the ones I’m worried about.”

  “Okay, now I’m a little worried.”

  “Don’t be. All my tech is destroyed or offline. As long as we don’t fire anything up, they shouldn’t be able to find me.”

  “But doesn’t that mean you’re stuck here?”

  “‘Stuck’ isn’t the word I would use.”

  A stream of words came to mind. Giddy, happy, relieved.

  Free.

  A small structure came into view nestled in the trees that lined the lake. Its walls were wood and the roof was hidden under an array of primitive solar panels. Antithetical to the space stations and domes where she had always lived, and yet…comforting.

  She let out a sigh and relaxed against him. A feeling similar to safety washed over her. Similar, but stronger. She couldn’t put a word on the emotion until Brendan did it for her. He opened the door and stepped inside.

  “Home sweet home.”

  Chapter Five

  Brendan felt Kira slide down his back with every nerve-ending in his body. He didn’t want to let her go—to stop touching her—and now he was losing his excuse.

  With all the questions about who she really was and where she was from rattling around in his brain, only one kept repeating itself.

  Had she heard him when he told her he loved her?

  That led to more questions. Did her people even have love?

  He hoped so. His heart clenched at the thought of her not being able to reciprocate his feelings.

  “Thank you for helping me,” she said.

  He realized he was staring at her. Had been for a while.

  “Sure. Of course.” He shook his head and closed the door. “I’m sorry. This is a lot to absorb, you know?”

  “I can imagine.” She looked around the small room, curiosity lighting her features. “This is your home?”

  “One of them.” He wished she was seeing one of his bigger houses. Then again, after being raised on space stations and ships, maybe she’d be more comfortable in the cozier space.

  The cabin had a great-room design and was built for practicality above all else. In front of them, an octagonal wood-burning stove provided a means of cooking food as well as warmth for the right half of the room. The kitchen took up the corner on the far right from the door, his desk and all his equipment filled the other right-side corner. A free-standing counter in the center of the space sort of separated it from the rest of the cabin.

  He had put his couch as close to the stove as he dared, which wasn’t as close as he would like. He also didn’t like that it meant he would be sitting with his back to the door, but he didn’t use the couch that much anyway. A fireplace set into the middle of the left wall supplemented the heat, and when he built it up, the stones would warm and hold enough heat to get him through most nights. It also helped to heat the bathroom, which was behind a door in the far left corner.

  His bed was to their left. He tried really hard not to think of the bed.

  “What’s that smell?” she asked.

  Brendan sniffed the air. All he detected was wood smoke. Well, that and his burritos.

  She walked to the counter and stared at them, practically salivating.

  “That’s my lunch. Are you hungry? I can make you something fresh.”

  “No thanks. I mean, yeah, I’m hungry, but don’t go to any trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble at all. But if you want those, go ahead. I wasn’t going to eat them anyway.”

  She gave him a brief smile, then put her med-kit on the counter. She picked up a burrito and sniffed it, then took a bite. Her eyes rolled shut. He watched her eat another few bites, reacting as if it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

  “I’m guessing you don’t have burritos where you’re from,” he said.

  “Burritos. No. This is delicious.” She licked some refried beans from her thumb.

  “Cold bean burritos. There’s not even any cheese in there. What is it that you normally eat?”

  “Nutrient bricks. They have everything we need in a compact package.”

  “Sounds like soylent green.”

  “What’s soylent green?”

  “People.”

  Her eyes widened and she paused mid-chew. Then she spit her food back on her plate and started wiping at her tongue.

  “Relax! Relax, it was a joke. That’s not made of people.”

  She gave him the clearest what the hell? look he’d ever seen. He did his best not to laugh.

  She cleared her throat, then asked, “Is there a place I can get this sand off my feet?”

  “Yeah. The bathroom is right through there.” He pointed to the bathroom door. “I can show you how the shower works.”

  “Thanks, but I think I can figure it out.”

  “Okay. Well, H is for hot water, not that there’s much of it. I’ll find you some dry clothes.”

  After she disappeared through the door, Brendan ran his hands over his face again, then just held them there. How could this be real? How could any of this be real?

  Kira in his home. An alien. He didn’t know which was harder for him to believe.

  He heard the water start to run in the bathroom. Yeah, she was here all right. Whatever else he believed, he was sure she needed his help. He kicked himself into gear.

  Fires were already burning in the fireplace and stove. He grabbed a few extra logs from the firewood rack and built up both heat sources as quick as he could.

  He had just kicked off his boots when Kira emerged from the bathroom. Her eyes were wide and she held a roll of toilet paper in one hand and paper towels in the other. Nightmare scenarios played through his head. He should have made sure she understood how toilets worked.

  Brendan didn’t mind roughing it, but he infinitely preferred working facilities. He had no idea how Kira would adjust if she had destroyed their only toilet by filling the pipes with paper towels.

  “My training covered this,” she said, holding up the toilet paper.

  Thank God. He let out the breath he’d been holding in a little puff.

  She held up the roll of paper towels, her jaw set and a determined look on her face. Her voice shook a little when she spoke, though.

  “But what in the name of the Solar Cross is this for?”

  It took him a moment for his mind to recover. There was no disaster in the bathroom after all. And her expression… She was obviously trying not to freak out, and seeing both items right next to each other, he couldn’t blame her. The thoughts that must be going through her mind.

  Brendan laughed, hard. “That’s for something else entirely.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

  “Those are paper towels. They’re for cleaning up spills and drying stuff. Like, you could use them to dry your feet, for instance. I keep a roll in the bathroom for when I get behind on laundry and don’t have any clean towels. Just throw them away in the little trash can in there when you’re done.”

  Kira stared at the paper towels for a few moments longer, as if she was deciding whether or not she believed him. Finally, she said, “Okay.” Then she turned and walked back to the
bathroom.

  Brendan was still chuckling as he peeled off his jeans and put them on the drying rack near the stove, along with his socks. Kira should probably put her clothes on it too.

  The thought of her naked was more powerful than the cold, and his boxer-briefs started to tent. He grabbed the quilt from the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. Which was good, because when Kira emerged from the bathroom a moment later, she was completely naked.

  Her long legs were bare, her hips curving and then dipping gracefully into her narrow waist. The curves just got better the farther up his eyes travelled, rounding her small but perfectly formed breasts and stalling at the dusky skin of her nipples.

  Brendan dropped his eyes to keep himself from staring at her breasts, but then they latched on to the dark curls between her legs. He bounced his gaze up to her navel and suppressed a groan.

  Her stomach was perfect. Flat abs faintly outlined under the smoothness of her lightly tanned skin, a gentle line flowing up from her belly-button…

  And he was staring at her breasts again.

  “These clothes are wet,” she said. There was nothing suggestive in her tone, but that voice of hers… She crossed the room to the drying rack and draped the shirt he had given her and her undergarments next to his jeans. He hadn’t even noticed her carrying them.

  He snapped his gaze to hers when she turned back to him, doing everything in his power to maintain eye-contact. He bit his lips and pulled the quilt more tightly around his shoulders.

  “Did you find clothes for me?”

  “Hmm? Oh right.” Brendan was grateful both for the distraction and that Kira would soon be clothed. “There are drawers built into the bed.”

  She nodded, then turned and crossed the room. Dear lord, that ass… He let out a little grunt.

  Looking back over her shoulder, she asked, “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Absolutely… Things are great.” He looked up at the ceiling, then down along the walls.

  Brendan had never been that great with women. Being a ginger nerd had not helped. Once he’d made his first million, interactions became even more difficult. It seemed like everyone he met would feign interest to try to get close to him, then eventually realized you couldn’t fake geek. When he sold his company at just the right moment and that m turned to a b, he had all but given up on forming a genuine connection with anyone.