by Pamela Fryer
Brooke smiled. “Jager.”
His name on her lips was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.
* * * * *
She felt light, as if floating on air. Her head was swimming and her insides still churned, but Brooke felt as if she were coming out of a terrible sickness. There was that feeling of relief, the exuberance and hopefulness one experienced when a bad fever finally broke. No longer sick, but not quite right yet either.
“What happened?”
“You were unwell, but you’re healed now.” Jager smiled, and his eyes had a shiny quality.
“I was...infected?”
He nodded, gently brushing his thumb over her forehead. He carefully avoided the sore spot at the scratch caused by the Tetra. The tenderness of this strong, powerful man reached the deepest part of her.
She glanced past him. The medical chamber still stood open. “I was in there?”
His gaze fell away, as if he felt guilty for putting her inside. “Yes.”
She took a deep breath, in and slowly out, reveling in his touch. “I feel better.”
“I am so glad.”
She detected a tremor in his voice.
“You saved me.” She smiled. “My hero.”
He returned her smile. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the brush of his hand as his fingertips lightly combed over her hair.
The understanding she’d nearly died pulled a dark shadow over her heart.
“If the infection had gone too far, you would have...destroyed me?”
Jager slid the back of his finger down her cheek. The hesitance in his answer sent a chill rippling over her.
“I would have spared you great suffering,” he finally said.
It saddened her, while she knew it was the most humane thing he could have done. Somehow, she knew the choice would have been nearly impossible for him.
She’d walked the edge of death, alone. In her hometown but with no family or friends by her side. Her mother, not ten miles away, didn’t even know she was home.
“I care for you a great deal, Brooke Weaver. I would not have let you come to such a terrible end.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She reached up to cup his cheek. “I know.”
She was so lonely she ached. How had her life come to this? She spent her days searching for other people’s family and friends while sacrificing her own. The emptiness in the pit of her stomach almost felt worse than the illness that had nearly claimed her. The difference was the loneliness had claimed her.
Jager turned his face into her palm and closed his eyes. Need rose within Brooke, desperation to fill the empty void and share in another’s love, if only for a few minutes.
“Lay with me, Jager.”
His eyes flashed open. She rolled onto her side and slid her hand over his shoulder. He leaned closer and touched her hip. The strange blanket he’d draped over her crinkled, a soft sound like Christmas presents being opened.
“I need to feel you next to me.”
Chapter Ten
“Brooke, I mustn’t...” The protest slipped away even as he settled his hip on the padded bench. She pushed the thermal blanket off and urged him close, sliding her hand under his shirt. He sucked in a breath as she found bare skin, and his stomach trembled under her hand.
“Touch me, Jager.” Her fingertips discovered the tiny bud of his nipple.
“We do not have a license. We are not properly prepared.”
“Thank goodness.”
She pushed onto her elbow and kissed him before he could protest again. His entire body stiffened, and then went pliant with relief. His lips were soft yet firm, and obviously on—Akron? Olon? Ocreon—they knew how to kiss. He responded to her parted lips and when her tongue teased his, he matched the intimate touch with fervor.
She stopped only to pull his shirt over his head. He helped her, revealing his own desperation in frenzied movements. He might be from another planet, but he was as typically male as they came.
This time it was he who kissed her, and she met him hungrily, lips to lips, tongue to tongue, teeth to teeth. He caught his breath when her fingers fumbled with the waist of his pants. There was no button she could find, but an instant later his hand was there, releasing them. He pushed her shirt up, taking her bra with it in one tangled mass that went over her head and off the reclined chair.
Skin came against skin with an explosion of sensation. Brooke’s body ignited with magnificent fire. She arched against him and kissed his collarbone, inhaling the potent scent of virile male. She peppered tiny kisses down his amazing chest, taking her time to memorize each tiny bump and valley, every curve and hollow in the intricate weave of muscle and bone.
She needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone. Their loneliness was matched, but together they forced it away and joined their hearts, a brief respite from isolation.
Jager shivered under each kiss. He breathed out a sigh of pleasure. When her tongue flicked across his tightly budded nipple, he gasped.
“Ah, Brooke.”
He pulled open the button of her jeans. Brooke leaned her head back and closed her eyes as he tugged them over her hips, dragging her panties away with them. She toed off her shoes and heard the rumpled ball of it all softly tumble to the floor.
And then Jager was between her legs, settling above her.
He looked down into her eyes. His were pale and mysterious, questioning. A shiver of uncertainty rippled over her. She didn’t know this man. But the pleasure was so intense, the loneliness so fierce, there was no turning back.
“I need you inside me,” she whispered.
And then he was, filling her with the glorious weight and thickness that she both couldn’t imagine how she’d lived without, and was thankful she’d waited so long for. Waited for him.
He slid into her slowly and deliciously, letting out a guttural moan as he arrived fully and deeply, gloved within her. He planted both muscular arms beside her head and nuzzled in her hair.
“Oh yes, yes, Jager.” She wrapped her legs around him. As if shedding his uncertainty, he rose onto his elbows and drove into her with a slow, savoring thrust.
Her vision swirled as the pleasure intensified, building in waves that crashed higher and higher over her head until she was drowning in ecstasy.
Her strength returned by the second, as if by touching her, his energy fed into her.
She planted her feet on the edges of the narrow bed and lifted her hips to meet his driving thrusts, soaring into oblivion with him as both captor and savior.
He gasped into her hair as his movements became strained. She clawed at his back, urging him deeper with each powerful plunge as her own orgasm built in bright, sparkling surges. The swelling intensity was more powerful than she’d ever known. She closed her eyes and let it take her over the edge into blissful oblivion, until there was nothing but the magical sensation rolling through her middle and outward to her limbs. The rest of the world ceased to exist.
A light sheen of sweat formed between their bodies. Their breathing slowed in time with the other’s movements. Jager pressed soft kisses here and there, against her temple, across closed eyelids, over her lips and along the edge of her jaw.
Not only was he a Herculean lover, he was tender and thoughtful as well. She should have known he would prove to be a true prince.
For long moments they lay together, lightly exploring secret places with their fingertips, reveling in the pleasure of simply being joined.
“Brooke,” he whispered against her ear. “You are like no other.”
She didn’t know whether to feel flattered or sad. How many others had he been with? It didn’t matter. The experience had rejuvenated her and chased away the loneliness.
“That was incredible.” She felt as if she could run a marathon.
He eased away from her and sat up. Brooke pulled the silver thermal blanket over herself. It wasn’t really like any thermal blanket she’d ever seen, but she no longer feared the str
ange and wonderful things she discovered in Jager’s world.
“It should not have happened. I apologize.”
Her elation snuffed out. “Don’t—” she said too sharply. “Don’t say you’re sorry.” Anything but that.
He looked at her sideways, guilt swimming in his handsome features.
“There may be laws on your planet preventing you from free choice, but there aren’t here. Nobody tells me what I can or cannot do in the privacy of my own bedroom...” she glanced around, “or wherever, with whomever I choose.”
She sat up and grabbed him, pressing her bare breasts against his chest. His arms slipped around her. The light caress of his hands around her back brought the desire alive all over again. She took his chin in her hand and kissed him. He hesitated for the space of a heartbeat before kissing her back just as hungrily, as if he knew he must resist, but couldn’t.
She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes. “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” She then opened them to find confusion in his. “Should anyone question you, it would have been rude for you to refuse me.”
“I would never be rude to you.” He managed a small smile.
“I only wish you were going to be here longer so we could have a repeat or two.” She smiled back, even as the thought was disheartening. “Does this ship have a bathroom?”
“The ionic chamber will refresh you,” he said, clearly still not free of his guilt. “It will prevent fertilization.”
Her irritation rose. The heroic intergalactic warrior was worried about being burdened with an Earthling bastard.
“First of all, you didn’t get me pregnant. I’ve taken precautions. Second of all, I’m not crazy about that idea.” She inclined her head to the still-open chamber. “So either point me in the direction of a real flush toilet, or let me outside to pee in the woods.”
“You should remain inside to rest.” He stood and pulled on his pants, covering up the most gorgeous derriere in the universe. “I must resume the hunt for the Tetra. I have lost too much time in my pursuit.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” She surged to her feet. She would not be left behind. A rush of dizziness surged and fell, but she clenched her jaw and did her best to hide it. “I’m going with you.”
At least he hadn’t said he’d wasted too much time.
“You are too weak. It is best that you rest.”
Her shirt and bra were a tangled mess. She yanked them apart and dragged her bra on with jerky movements. She turned her shirt right side out and pulled it over her head. “You need me. Everyone knows men can’t read maps.”
He pulled on his own shirt, hiding all those glorious muscles. In an instant, they’d become strangers again, as if they hadn’t just joined their bodies in the most intimate way possible.
There was no way she was letting him go after Sara by himself. If the girl was infected, she was twice as bad off as Brooke had just been. Jager might try to fry her with that laser gun.
“Do you have another one of those weapons?” Surely the navigator must have had one.
Jager considered her. Almost reluctantly, he turned to the far wall. “Armory open.” Two panels slid open in what had been a solid wall, revealing a small cache of weapons. The cabinet was only a few inches deep and the assortment of odd-looking weapons hung neatly, suspended by some type of invisible force. Already that no longer seemed strange.
He withdrew a handheld pistol much like his own and programmed commands into it with an electronic symphony of beeps, blips, and warbles.
“This button fires a heat pulse at approximately six hundred and twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit.”
He leaned close as he pointed out the weapon’s features. She caught his scent, now raw with the musk of sweat and sex. She really did regret his impending departure. She hadn’t had such good sex in...never.
He stopped and met her eyes. In his, she saw a world of regret. They softened, and he offered a small smile. She suddenly felt petty for being so snappy with him. After all, he was the one who had nothing to look forward to but a life of rules and restriction.
“It will stop the heart of the queen,” Jager continued in a softer voice. “But the weapon will only fire six times before it must recharge for two minutes.”
“Six shots hot, two minutes cold. Got it.”
“After a direct hit, her head must then be immediately severed from her body, or her heart will resume beating in two to three minutes.”
“You told me that already. Any more good news?”
“This button fires an electrical pulse. It is enough to kill the hatchlings, but likewise the weapon will only fire six times before it must recharge for two minutes.”
“And if there are seven hatchlings?”
“Make your choices wisely.”
“Lovely.”
“Target one immediately beside another and they might both be electrocuted.”
“Two birds with one stone.” He was placing a lot of faith in her aim.
“This weapon is much more dangerous than a stone.” He held it sideways and pointed to another button. “This shoots a heat pulse that will ignite flammable objects. Use it if you need a diversion, or a defense. The Tetra will not pass through fire to attack you.”
She looked at the weapon. This must have been what he used to incinerate Emily’s body.
Brooke forced the thought from her mind. Focus on saving Sara. Let nothing intrude on positive thoughts—like how the sexiest man you’ve ever met just took you beyond oblivion.
“Why don’t I just use the heat pulse on the hatchlings?”
“Rapid use of the heat pulse may cause the weapon to overheat and malfunction. Additionally, the pulses are dangerous and should be used with caution. If the nest hatches, the situation is often too chaotic to use the fire pulses with adequate accuracy.”
“Often?” she asked him. “Just how many times have you done this?”
“I have encountered a Tetra swarm four times before.”
That was good news. He was an expert.
“At all incidents, the infestation was cataclysmic. Drastic measures had to be taken.”
“Explain drastic.”
He paused. “Nuclear.”
She should have known the bad news was not far behind. “Then we’d better get going, because that cannot happen here.”
“We have approximately six hours until the nest hatches.”
“Give or take...” She raised her eyebrows.
“Five minutes.”
“Wonderful.” She was about to head into the sewers after a super-bug from outer space with a weapon that may or may not malfunction in her hands. “What about my gun? Surely a slug from a .45 is enough to blow a hatchling to smithereens.”
“I do not know where is smithereens.”
“All right, tell me this—what happens if I shoot off its head before stopping its heart? Does it grow a new one?”
He considered it for a moment. “I do not believe it will.”
Good. Then her trusty Colt would serve as a nice backup. She started for the general direction of the sliding door, which had vanished into the wall. “In that case, I’ll need to stop at my car.”
“Brooke—”
She stopped.
“I must advise you once more to stay behind. The Tetra is a dangerous creature, and will be much larger now.”
The news just kept getting better and better, but there was no way he’d convince her to stay behind.
She shook her head, even as she asked the question she didn’t really want the answer to. “How much larger?”
“Very much larger.”
* * * * *
The last thing she remembered was bright sunlight, but now there was a gray layer of overcast in the sky that turned the forest milky.
Jager had left the keys in the car, the ignition turned to ALT. He probably hadn’t realized how to remove them. She turned the car to OFF and tossed the keys under the driver’s seat. She retrieved her goody
case from beneath the passenger seat and opened the combination lock. She donned the holster and slipped into her denim jacket.
The leather coat she’d worn last night was still at the hotel room and probably beyond repair. Her denim jacket wasn’t much protection against the underground cold, but it was better than nothing. She folded up the schematics to the sewer system and placed them in her back pocket.
She cringed as she changed from her athletic shoes back into the muddy hikers she’d stowed in the back seat. The ick had dried to a stiff crust and stank like a spilled septic tank. These were going in the trash when this was all over.
She and Jager passed beneath the fallen trees and Brooke started up the road at a jog to show him she was fully recovered. Jager matched her pace easily. He didn’t even breathe hard. By the time they reached the factory, she was lightheaded and winded.
“They keep you guys in good shape.” She tried to keep her voice level to make it sound like this was normal for her. She drew her .45 and aimed it skyward as they started cautiously through the cavernous shell of the administrative building.
“I feel I should thank you,” Jager said. His voice faltered, as if he were uncomfortable. “Perhaps such intimacy was commonplace for you, but for me—”
“Stop. Don’t even say it.” And here she was thinking she was about to be complimented. “I assure you, that was not commonplace for me. I don’t do that unless I have feelings for...” She cut herself off. She couldn’t believe that almost spilled out.
“I have offended you. I am not saying this properly.”
She fought to keep from scowling as they picked their way carefully around the refuse and empty beer bottles. “Give it another try.”
“As I said, there are stringent laws for soldiers in the Interplanetary Alliance. Therefore, I do not engage in sexual activity.”
That was not what she’d expected. “Never?”
“I have experienced intercourse only once before.”
Holy cow. Only once? “A girlfriend?” she asked casually. Say no.
“I am not permitted to have a relationship. She was a married woman.”
