Enforcer (Battle Born Book 11)

by Cyndi Friberg

  “It’s called a stintomiter. It’s a magnification device similar to a human telescope.”

  “Really?” She moved closer, clearly interested now. “Is it functional?”

  “What would you like to see?”

  “I don’t know. Jupiter. How powerful is it?”

  “Jupiter is no challenge.” He moved to the control panel on the side of the stintomiter and quickly navigated through several holo-screens. “How about the Andromeda galaxy? We’re pointed in the right direction for a live image.”

  “Yes. Show me Andromeda.”

  Rather than helping her up onto the direct viewing stand, he sent the image to the projector. A detailed representation of the neighboring galaxy soon spanned the entire room.

  “Oh my God,” She walked toward the center of the galaxy, head tilted back so she could see the gently rotating image. “This is live?”

  “Yes. If you look through the viewer you’d see the same thing, only much smaller.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Her tone took on a familiar reverence born of awe. “I had no idea the spiral was so distinct. This is way clearer than anything they’ve gotten from Hubble.” She fell silent, obviously mesmerized by the grandeur.

  He watched her, fascinated by her enjoyment. She was more relaxed in that moment than she’d ever been in his presence. The realization both challenged and frustrated him. Why was she so determined to push him away? She had volunteered for this program, had known what would be expected of her before she came to Lunar Nine. Why was she here if she didn’t want a mate? Or was there something about him personally she found objectionable? Her scent lingered in his nose, assuring him that her resistance was emotional, not physical. Scent didn’t lie. She desired him. He just needed to figure out why she was so determined to resist their attraction.

  Chapter Four

  Alyssa turned in a slow circle, soaking in the beauty of the image rotating above her head. She’d been to planetariums and IMAX theaters that attempted to express the grandeur of space. Those presentations fell flat when compared to the three-dimensional display before her now.

  “Does it store images? Can I see space from other angles?”

  “Of course. The stintomiter is fully adjustable and there’s an index of thousands of images available for viewing.” Dakar moved his hands through the holographic control matrix and the image changed, then changed again. He’d triggered a cosmic slide show. “How’s that?”

  “Unbelievable,” she breathed, unable to take her eyes off the gradually morphing display. “You need couches and chairs, or mats so people can sit on the floor.”

  “I agree and so does Raylon. He’s arranging for a renovation. We only discovered this yesterday.” He moved to stand beside her, close enough to touch, but not touching.

  It didn’t matter. She could still feel his body heat sinking through her cloths and the frantic flutter of her heart as his strong arm wrapped around her waist. It was wrong to lead him on, to let him think she was considering him as a potential mate. But her body didn’t give a damn. She felt restless and achy, wanted to wrap her arms around him and lift her face for his kiss. And he’d kiss her if she gave him the slightest encouragement. She had no doubt of that. His gaze smoldered, his hunger obvious.

  “We need to leave, if I’m going to keep my promise.” His voice was rough, more growl than actual tone.

  “I’m not sure I want you to keep it.” The confession slipped out before she realized she intended to speak.

  It was all the encouragement he needed. He turned and pulled her into his arms, lifting her to the balls of her feet as he bent to claim her mouth. For a feverish second his mouth ground against hers, the intensity almost painful. Then he backed off and his lips clung, sliding over hers instead of crushing.

  She wrapped her arms around his back and rubbed against his hard chest as she’d wanted to do since he arrived. He groaned into her mouth, then bent and wrapped one arm around her thighs. Sliding her up his body, he brought their faces to a better angle. Her feet no longer touched the floor, so all she could do was cling to him.

  Her core ached and she was inescapably aware of his massive erection as it pressed into her belly. If she let this build, he’d throw up her skirt and claim her right here on the dusty floor. And she’d revel in every touch. But then the fire would burn itself out and she would face the consequences of her foolishness.

  She pulled back enough to speak. “We have to stop. I’m not ready for this.”

  “I know.” But he went right back to kissing her.

  She returned the kiss for a time, enjoying the frenzy. Then her father’s disapproving image flashed into her mind. She jerked her face to the side. “I mean it. Put me down.” Dakar didn’t look pleased, but he loosened his arm and let her slide down along his body. She groaned and closed her eyes, more than aware of every muscular inch along the way. “I shouldn’t have let you kiss me. That was a mistake.”

  His gaze searched hers and he brushed her hair back from her face. “Are you sure?”

  “No,” she admitted, but twisted away until he lowered his arms.

  “We can’t be alone together or this will happen again.”

  He chuckled. “Would that be so bad? Were you traumatized by kissing me? It didn’t seem that way while you were in my arms.”

  She didn’t try to deny that she’d enjoyed his kiss. It was pointless. She hadn’t simply allowed it. She’d enthusiastically participated in the exchange. “I want to go back now.”

  “Of course.” He turned off the stintomiter and the projector, then opened the access panel in the floor. “After you.”

  She started to climb down then paused. “I’m sorry. This is why I’ve been avoiding you. I’m not sure I’m going to go through with this, so I didn’t want to…let things start.”

  A slow, downright wicked smile rolled across his lips. “Your determination comes too late. Things started back on the Fearless when I first caught your scent. You’re my mate, Alyssa. That might not mean the same thing to humans as it does to Rodytes, but I have no intention of just letting you go.”

  “It’s not your decision to make.” She tried to sound assertive, but his smile said she’d failed. She climbed down the ladder, desperately needing some distance between them. He was too tempting, too appealing for her to resist.

  They walked back in tense silence. She’d already apologized and she couldn’t change her position. She wasn’t really his potential mate. In fact she was his enemy.

  Shame washed over her as she remembered her reckless response. She’d kissed him back just as ardently as he’d kissed her. But she’d tried to stay away, tried to spare him. This wasn’t her fault. She fought back another wave of guilt. It was her fault. She was using the transformation program, representing herself as something she was not. And it was all horribly cruel to Dakar and Sedrik.

  He walked her back to village one, but didn’t come inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Rest well.”

  “Dakar, there’s no reason for you to return until I know whether or not I’m staying.”

  “Kelsey has been approved. She’ll arrive first thing in the morning.”

  She looked at him, confused by the claim. “How do you know that?”

  His expression was still guarded, but a hint of amusement now lit his gaze. “Jakkin just told me. I’m notified of all approvals and those who have been disqualified. I’m responsible for maintaining order on this outpost. I need to know these things.”

  “Thank you for telling me. I’ve been worried about her.” She was relieved that Kelsey was on her way, but the only way out of the mission just slammed shut in her face. There was no help for it now. She would sabotage the rebels’ agenda, perhaps make it impossible for them to stay in this star system.

  And then she would go back to her lonely life.

  * * * * *

  Kelsey entered Alyssa’s apartment the following morning and dropped her small bag just inside the door. “Jakkin
Arvik is the most aggravating male in this or any other universe!”

  Alyssa smiled. Such outbursts were unlike her stoic friend. “Good morning to you too.”

  Pausing to look around, Kelsey let out a long sigh. “Good morning. I was told we could share this apartment or I could have my own four doors down. What’s your preference?”

  “There are two bedrooms.” Alyssa pointed to the doors on the other side of the main living space. “We’ll probably spend the majority of our time together anyway.”

  “I’m for sharing too. It’s safer that way, and I’m all about safety.” Kelsey picked up her bag and carried it into the vacant bedroom. “Indigo said the classes were finished. Our time is basically our own.”

  Alyssa moved closer to the open doorway as she clarified, “Our time is our own until our potential mates start ‘courting’ us. Did any of your other matches contact you, or have you only been interacting with Commander Arvik?”

  “Jakkin informed me that none of the males could approach me until I’d been approved, then he proceeded to break the rule repeatedly.”

  Alyssa thought of Dakar’s broken promise in the observatory and smiled. “Seems like a Rodyte predilection.” Kelsey emerged from the bedroom and Alyssa motioned toward the nutri-gen kiosk. “The in-room selection is really limited, but have you had breakfast?”

  “I already ate. Can we go for a walk or something? I’m stir-crazy.”

  “Only if we let one of the guards tag along,” Alyssa reminded.

  Kelsey rolled her eyes. “We seriously need an escort to take a stroll?”

  “Yep. No exceptions.”

  “That is so ridiculous.” She looked around the apartment again, gaze lingering in specific locations. “We really need to talk.” She dropped her voice to barely a whisper.

  Alyssa nodded toward the door leading out onto a small balcony. The entire residential zone was relatively quiet, but village one bordered a sprawling industrial park. The drone of machinery and beeps and whistles of the transport-bots would make security monitoring difficult.

  They stepped onto the balcony and Alyssa closed the door. “No guarantees, but I think we’re safe to talk out here.”

  Kelsey moved closer and spoke in hushed tones. “We’ve got to get this mission moving. Jakkin is driving me crazy!”

  Alyssa fought back a smile. Clearly Kelsey wasn’t amused by the unwanted attention. “Dakar is mostly behaving himself, but he won’t play nice for long.”

  Tension crept across Kelsey’s expression and her gaze turned serious. “Have you located the crystal array?”

  “I’m relatively sure I know where it is. There are only three restricted areas and I’ve learned what’s in the other two. I was this close to having a guided tour from Dakar.” She indicated the distance with a tiny space between her thumb and index finger. “He’s supposed to stop by later today. I can probably get him to take me if I’m willing to flirt a little.”

  “I hate to tell you this, princess. If they’re serious about not letting us roam around unescorted, you’re going to have to do a whole lot more than flirt with him.”

  “I know and I’m not afraid of making out with him. I just feel terrible about leading him on. He honestly thinks he’s courting his mate. It will crush him when he realizes what we’ve done.”

  Kelsey searched her gaze for a long time before she spoke again. “You really like him, don’t you?”

  “What’s not to like.” With a heavy sigh, Alyssa faced the railing and looked out over the industrial park. “He doesn’t deserve to be played.”

  “Your father would disagree. Our side tried to negotiate with the battle born, but they were in too big a hurry to adhere to our suggestions.”

  “Suggestions?” Alyssa scoffed. “The U.S. government doesn’t make suggestions, they issue orders and ultimatums.”

  Kelsey turned Alyssa’s face around and their gazes locked. “Shake it off. You’re not here to bond with one of these brutes. This is a mission. Get your head back in the game!”

  “I hear you.” She twisted her face away, worried that her gaze would give her away. It wasn’t just Dakar. She was upset by the idea of betraying the rebels, any of them. Much of the information contained in the orientation hadn’t been new, but hearing it from people who lived through it made it so much more personal, more compelling. The battle born honestly felt their cause was just. And more and more, Alyssa agreed with them.

  “You said Dakar behaved,” Kelsey persisted. “He kissed you, didn’t he?”

  A nervous laugh escaped Alyssa. “Now you sound like my father. What if he did? You said it yourself. He’s going to have to do a lot more than kiss me very soon.”

  “Have you forgotten about the pull? If Dakar kissed you, he turned on the chemical reaction that makes him seem like the most amazing male in the universe. You can’t trust your judgment right now. He basically drugged you.”

  “The pull doesn’t affect humans the same way it affects Rodytes. Some humans never feel it.” Besides, she’d been fixated on Dakar even before he kissed her. The kiss had just confirmed what she already knew. She was honestly attracted to an alien.

  “Look at me.”

  Alyssa sighed then looked at Kelsey. “I’m fine. Really.”

  “I’m not sure I believe you.” They stared at each other in silence for a moment, then Kelsey echoed her sigh. “We’ve come too far to abort now. Are you going to be able to spend the night with him, and then complete the mission?”

  “I don’t have a choice. One of the guards will insist on following me anywhere I go unless I’ve been scent marked.”

  Kelsey leaned her hip against the railing, still looking a bit dubious. “Then flirt with Dakar. Get him to show you the crystal array. That way we’ll know what it takes to access it.” When Alyssa only nodded, Kelsey added, “Then go back to his quarters and let nature have its way.”

  Excitement tingled through Alyssa and her heart flipped over in her chest. She was looking forward to the intimacies they’d share almost as much as she dreaded what would happen after she left him. He would be furious and heartbroken, and his wasn’t the only heart she was about to break.

  * * * * *

  After breaking up a fight between two of his enforcers and making adjustments to the shift rotation for the third time, Dakar found a few minutes and responded to Jakkin’s request for a holo-com. The commander had already notified him of recent developments with the human females, so Dakar couldn’t imagine what was so urgent.

  “I have serious concerns about Kelsey,” Jakkin said after they’d exchanged greetings.

  “Then why did you approve her? Your command gives you final say.” He sat behind his compact desk in his equally small office on the top level of the commerce tiers. He spent very little time in his office, so he didn’t care that it was tiny. He was two doors down from Raylon, which helped him keep on top of anything that took place on Lunar Nine.

  “It’s strategic,” Jakkin told him. “I slipped nano-trackers into her drink before I let her go. She’s up to something and we need to know what it is.”

  Dakar stared at Jakkin’s image, confused by his vehemence. “I don’t have a detailed dossier on her like you do, but I didn’t see anything suspicious in my summary. What do you think she’s done?”

  “Nothing yet. I’m worried about what she’s about to do.”

  “Meaning? You have to be specific if you want me to take action.”

  Jakkin sighed and leaned back against the edge of his cluttered desk. He’d been commander of the Fearless for less than a week. A little clutter was to be expected, but Sedrik wouldn’t allow it for long.

  “She’s hiding something, something dangerous.” He pushed off the desk and resumed his pacing. “I don’t know if it’s because we’re compatible, but I sense things about her that I’ve never sensed about anyone else. She’s not who she’s pretending to be.”

  “Has she done or said anything actionable? I trust your
gut feelings, but I can’t arrest her for creeping you out.”

  Jakkin shot him an impatient glare. “Trust me, I am not creeped out by her. Letting her off this ship was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

  “I feel your pain, brother. I’m dealing with a reluctant mate myself.”

  “I’ve tried to punch holes in her cover story, but I couldn’t find anything that contradicted the information she submitted initially. I just know it’s kaunashit.”

  “Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what you know. It only matters—”

  “What I can prove,” Jakkin finished for him. “Yeah, I know. That’s why I bugged her.”

  “She’s your mate. If she does anything suspicious, you’ll be the first call I make.”

  Chapter Five

  The traditional dinner hour came and went, yet Dakar hadn’t visited or commed to indicate when he would arrive. “Screw it,” Alyssa muttered. “Let’s go check out the restaurants.” She’d spent the day with Kelsey in their apartment, exploring the entertainment library, but they’d had a hard time agreeing on what to watch. Kelsey was all about action-adventure, while Alyssa preferred something with an in-depth plot. It could be romantic, dramatic, or hilarious as long as it told an involved story.

  Kelsey swung her legs over the side of the sofa and sat up. “Fine by me, but we’ll end up with a tail.”

  “I don’t care. Let them shadow us. I’m desperate for something that’s cooked, not printed.”

  They made it to the elevators without being spotted by Heather or any of the other females, but one of the guards fell in behind them as they crossed to the footpath leading to the commerce tiers.

  “Told you so,” Kelsey teased.

  “I didn’t argue with you,” Alyssa objected. “I knew he’d follow us.”

  “So are you Werton or Trask?” Kelsey tossed the question over her shoulder without breaking stride.

  “I’m Trask,” he told them, his bland expression unchanging. Were they trained to be robotic or were they unsure how to behave around unclaimed females?