Defying the General

by Maddie Taylor

“But this is getting old, Kerr.”

  “I agree,” Eryn put in. “I was targeted repeatedly, and I’d rather not have it happen again. What he did to Lana and Trask was a gamble that paid off big-time for him. He probably got his jollies from seeing Trask live in misery without his mate for as long as he did.”

  “Easy, Purrada,” Ram growled.

  “But it’s true,” she told him as her gaze landed on Trask. “The proof of his anguish lies in more than one punched-in wall.”

  Lana let out a shuddering breath, and the cause wasn’t smoke inhalation. Trask’s hand sought hers and gripped it.

  “I’d like to know why she was sick,” he told everyone gathered. “Whenever she was around me, she became physically ill. Thankfully, it has not affected her this time, but what if it returns? It was painful to watch and be able to do nothing, and neither Jarlan nor the other physics could find the cause.”

  “Perhaps,” Ker suggested, “Like with Eva, she hadn’t fully accepted you as her mate.”

  “I don’t understand,” Lana said, first looking at Eva then to Eryn and then through the males in the room. “How could the lack of acceptance make me ill?”

  “I can attest to symptoms from fighting the attraction,” Eva explained while leaning into her mate. “I suffered headaches.”

  “And you know how sick I was,” Eryn reminded her. “Like the worst flu imaginable. No one has ever really explained why. Whether separation or resistance or the pregnancy I denied or a combination of them all. I only know they went away once I accepted Ram as my fate—”

  “And her mate,” the big warrior added. Her friend who had been so staunchly against being mated to him less than a year ago, looked up at him sweetly, love in her eyes. And now, Lana had a chance at the same happiness.

  “There might be something behind this acceptance theory. My illness began with a terrible migraine,” Lana recalled. “After I found out how opposed Trask’s family was to him taking me for his mate, I started doubting everything.”

  “Did someone actually say this to you?” Ram asked in surprise. His eyes went to Trask’s. “Who dared interfere between you and your mate? Further, is he still breathing, and if so, why?”

  “Because he was like a father to me, cousin. To all of us. And I couldn’t bring myself to kill the man who raised me.”

  “Aylan said this?” Kerr exclaimed. “I can’t believe it of him.”

  “With Mordrun’s instigation, no doubt,” Eva suggested, her tone edged with anger.

  “Yes,” Trask acknowledged. “How did you know?”

  “Aylan wouldn’t come up with such an idea on his own, but his brother would, and he’d sow the seeds of doubt. Call it women’s intuition, but I’ve always suspected Mordrun had an aversion to us humans, me in particular.”

  “I’ve felt the same way,” Eryn said in a hard voice. “Ever since the beginning, when he thought it was a good idea to cage us like animals.”

  “And neither of you thought to mention this before now?”

  She glanced at Trask who posed this question. “It was a feeling I had. He never said or did anything to me directly. But, General, wasn’t he the first to accuse Maggie of poisoning the warriors on the Odyssey?”

  “Yes, and he was adamantly opposed to the capture from the beginning. Only after the tests turned out promising did he become a supporter, though grudgingly.”

  “He strongly advocated for my dissolution from Eryn,” Ram added.

  “It seems we have a sinister pattern with Uncle Mordrun at the heart of it.”

  “Let’s not overreact without basis,” Kerr urged. “Right now, we have an unidentified elder, twelve of which fit Lana’s description. Or it could have been someone posing as one. We can’t accuse an elder of masterminding these plots without evidence.”

  Eva grasped her mate’s arm as she suggested, “Can we put the elders in a lineup and have Lana pick out her volunteer from the clinic that day? My money says it was Mordrun.”

  “No one is going to bet against you there,” Eryn muttered.

  “I’m not sure about this lineup you’re referring to,” Kerr replied, with a shake of his head. “We don’t want to tip his hand, whether it be Mordrun or one of the others until we know for certain. We could have another dinner; the elders would attend, and—”

  “No!” Lana and Eryn cried emphatically.

  When he looked surprised by their reactions, Eva told him gently, “I hate to have to tell you this, honey, but us girls are not big fans of your formal dinners. Something always happens, and it's never good.”

  “Agreed.” This time Ram and Trask spoke at once.

  “If I may interrupt. I have a much easier solution to this mystery.” This came from Ellar who had slipped in unnoticed and stood in the background listening. “Whoever accessed our system that day, it would have been tracked. All entries are date and time stamped by the computer and the user notated. We do so if an error is made so we can retrain the technician or physic at fault, so it doesn’t happen again.”

  “We’ve had no real leads to the mastermind behind all of this.” Trask’s gaze shifted between his warrior and his leader. “This could be the missing piece to this whole unsolved puzzle.”

  “Thank God, because, as I mentioned, this shit is really getting old,” Eva muttered.

  “Language, mate...”

  She looked up at him with a little grin. “Sorry.”

  The Princep didn’t get to acknowledge her response because the usually reserved Ellar suddenly became very vocal. “Due respect, Princep, but your Prima is correct. Except for one small correction. This shit isn’t getting old; it's well past it. I have been too close to too many of these malicious acts, and I’m not anxious to endure another. This evil must be stopped. I’ll advise Jarlan, and we’ll get an analyst assigned to determine who accessed both databases, right away.” With his piece said, he stalked out.

  Like statues, they all stared after him—stunned. For Lana, it wasn’t so much from shock over Ellar’s vehement reaction, but by the revelations of the last several minutes.

  “Whoever is behind this wanted me gone,” Lana whispered as everything sank in. “He won when I left you, at least for a while. I came back which must have ticked him off, but by then thousands of mate bonds had happened, children were being born. I can understand sabotaging the mine and setting back the new colony, but why target only me?”

  “You can identify him,” Eryn stated. “If he’s the mastermind as we suspect, you can bring his whole evil world tumbling down.”

  She nodded. “So, he set me up on Terra Nova, expecting I’d be exiled back to Earth.” She looked up at Trask. “But you stepped in and saved me. Worse, you brought me here.”

  “Where it's only a matter of time before you’d pass him on the street and put two and two together,” Eva breathed. “Like we are now.”

  “I’m scared, Trask. Sending me away wasn’t working; he had to find a more permanent solution.” Her hands slid over her stomach and the new life growing there. “The fire would have done that. We’d both be dead now if you hadn’t come when you did.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.” His big hand covered hers. “I’m doubling your guard.”

  “What if that isn’t enough?”

  He told his Princep. “Tarus and Remus can go to the colony in my stead. I’m not leaving Lana until this is done.”

  “Agreed,” Kerr replied without hesitation.

  “We’re going to find him, Lana.” His fingers brushed her cheek lightly, a familiar caress she was growing to love. “Until then, I’ll protect the both of you with my life.”

  “As will I,” Ram vowed.

  “The same goes for me, as it does for all of our warriors,” Kerr declared.

  Trask’s gaze swept through the others. “The news that Lana is breeding stays among us. I don’t want to incite him more.”

  A murmur of agreement was his answer. Then he leaned over and pressed his lips
to her forehead, whispering for her ears only, “After waiting an eternity to get you back, I’d die before letting something happen to you, mate.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  ONCE ELLAR RELEASED her, Trask took her home and straight to bed, insisting she get some rest, except it wasn’t their bedroom, but a guest room on the first floor.

  After he tucked her in, he went to inspect the damage. While she’d undergone treatment at the clinic, the response team investigated and sent their report. The fire had been triggered by a chemical reaction which caused a small explosion in a room down the hall from the master suite. It had fortunately been contained to the third floor, thanks to Trask’s top-notch home automation and the efforts of the response team.

  When he returned to her, he didn’t look pleased. “If the automated system hadn’t activated the closure of the fire doors, we’d be sleeping somewhere else. And, we’re fortunate the autocleaners have been busy while we’ve been away. I can only detect the faint smell of smoke downstairs.”

  “Is there anything your magic house can’t do?”

  He glanced her way but didn’t laugh or even crack a smile at her comment. “Construction,” was his reply. “There is some minor structural damage. I’ll contact some technicians for repairs in the morning. Until then we’ll have to make do here.”

  After removing his clothes and ordering, “Night lighting on,” which magically dimmed the overhead fixtures, leaving only the soft glow of the floor lights, he climbed into bed beside her. He wasn’t distant, hauling her up against him and keeping her there, but he was quiet.

  “Are you very angry with me?” she asked when a few minutes passed and he didn’t say a word.

  “I’m disappointed, Lana, and frustrated we lost so much time together.” He rolled onto a hip, propped up on one elbow, and angled her face up to his with a hand below her chin. “It shouldn’t have been for you alone to decide.”

  “You’re right,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to his dark stubbled jaw. Since she’d been back with him, he shaved every day. His smooth skin and clean-cut appearance were equally attractive, but she missed the bearded alien-warrior look she’d first encountered in the jungle, which he’d maintained even when he took her up to his ship, and later brought her home. She raised her hand to his cheek, fingertips tracing over the coarse black stubble when she continued, “I was shocked by the news and that, in all this time, no one had ever told me. Then I thought of my recent visit with Mailynn who was gushing over her pregnancy, and she went on and on about how happy her mate was because he thought he’d never have a child. It wasn’t fair to either of us, but especially to you since more mates stayed on, and I knew scores more would come if the talks with Earth were successful. I wanted you to have the chance to be a father, to rebuild your world, even if it meant you did it with someone who wasn’t me.”

  “I understand the thought process behind it but making such a drastic decision unilaterally was wrong.” He gazed into her eyes when he said sternly, “Moving forward, mate, no secrets, no lies, and no leaving. Understand?”

  She nodded without hesitation. “I do, and I’m sorry for hurting you, Trask.”

  “That I have you back is what’s important, Lana.”

  “I have something else I want to tell you.”

  “Nothing of this magnitude, I hope.”

  “It is beyond this magnitude.”

  He groaned and closed his eyes. “Tell me now. We’ll deal with it, as we have everything else, and move on together.”

  She rolled onto her belly, came up on her hands and knees, and lifted one leg and swung it over his hips. Once she moved on top of him, she took his beloved face between her hands. Her thumb swept over the dimple in his cheek, as sweet as it was sexy, but his smooth skin couldn’t compete with his beard rasping against the tender skin of her inner thigh when he went down on her.

  “Lana.”

  She blinked at his impatient growl which snapped her back to the present.

  “You had something of magnitude to tell me?”

  “Oh, yes, well, the thing is...” She paused for the span of a heartbeat, unsure why she was suddenly shy, she’d said it before. Maybe because today, with the truth revealed, everything changed.

  “Best get to it, mate.”

  “I want you to grow your beard back. I miss it,” she blurted out like a coward. Except when his eyes flared wide then narrowed, she added quickly. “But that wasn’t what I meant to say. I love you, Trask. Always have. I think I fell in love with you the first day in the forest, looking into your beautiful eyes.”

  He stared at her for a moment then gave a short laugh. “Were you proclaiming your love when you kicked my balls up into my belly that first night in my tent?”

  “I’m trying to be serious.”

  “I know you are, but it’s too funny because you sure didn’t love me when I put you over my knee and paddled your bottom for doing it.”

  “I may have vacillated at first because of the feelings I didn’t want to acknowledge, you were my barbarian captor, after all. But the days passed, and you were so gentle with me, I fell for you—hard. Leaving you was the toughest thing I ever did, but that love never wavered.”

  “Nor did mine for you, sweet mate.” He slid a hand between them, palm up, so it covered her belly. “And now that love has created a child.”

  It was her turn to be amused, and she giggled. “It was more like wild, hungry, raw, angry passion that created this little one. No matter what you say, you were angry, but it had to be then, don’t you think, Trask? If I’m two weeks along?”

  “Very likely,” he answered, gazing up at her with an aqua twinkle. “Was this the news of great magnitude you wanted to share?”

  She leaned forward intent on another kiss as she whispered, “Yes.”

  Two resounded smacks landed crisply on each cheek. Lana yelped in surprise while rearing back, but she didn’t go far with his large hand clamped over her butt. “Hey! You can’t spank me!” she protested. “I’m expecting.”

  “I can and will, when you need it, mate. Like just now, when you led me to believe another catastrophe was heading our way.”

  “Oh, that...” She reached back to rub her stinging butt except he caught her wrist and pinned it to her lower back.

  “Mmm, yes, that. I’ll be white headed like an elder by the time our baby arrives at this rate.”

  “That isn’t fair. I didn’t set the house on fire.”

  He raised up, his nose touching hers. “No, but you did climb out a window.” Then he groaned, and his head fell back on the pillow. “While carrying our child.”

  “But I didn’t know I was.”

  A mix of dark blue and stormy sea green, his gazed blazed up at her. “No more of that, or anything that puts you, or her—

  “Him, you mean, I’d like a boy, first.”

  He shook his head in exasperation, even while a smile tipped his lips. “Him or her, either way, I’m happy as long as there are no more reckless, impulsive acts while you’re carrying our little one, understood?”

  “That goes without saying.”

  “You’ll forgive me, but with you, I don’t think that it does.”

  “Ouch,” she said, with a little wince. “That hurts, even if it’s true.”

  “Just making things clear between us, baby.”

  Trask calling her baby, so naturally, eased the sting of his words. With the air cleared between them, she planned to win back his trust. She’d start as soon as she kissed him, which would hopefully lead to more, because lying on top of him with his hands lightly caressing her still-warm and tingling bottom, and so near to other warm and tingling parts, was getting her hot.

  She leaned down again, her hands sliding up his chest, to his neck, until she curved them around his jaw. “Can I have my kiss now?”

  “After I get your promise.”

  She had to think a moment before she remembered. “Yes, Trask, no more reckless impulsive acts wh
ile I’m carrying our baby.”

  “How about no more—ever?”

  “That’s a long time to keep a promise,” she teased.

  His fingers flexed in warning. “Are you asking for more?”

  “Of your kisses? Always,” she said with a grin, deliberately misconstruing his threat to her bottom.

  He chuckled softly. “You’re mighty cheeky considering my hands are on your bare backside.” He squeezed her still- tingling cheeks gently. “I remember you being rounder before. We’ll have to fix that, and especially since you’ll be eating for two during the next seven months.”

  Taking the opportunity to shift the conversation away from her less round bottom, she said with a grin, “That’s right. Eva and Eryn’s pregnancies were much shorter than usual, which is a plus.”

  “Here’s another one.” His hands left her bottom and slid up her back, one stopping to rest on her upper back, while the other moved up to tangle in the hair. He drew her down until she was close enough to feel his breath on her mouth when he next spoke. “With Remus and Tarus assigned to investigate this new problem on the colony, I’ll be able to be here to pamper my breeding mate.”

  “Expecting, please. I’m not a prized mare.”

  “Of course, you aren’t, little one. You’re the very beautiful mother of my child.”

  Lana’s broad smile brushed his lips. “Does this mean I’ll have you home every night until the baby is born?”

  “I’ll limit travel to Primaria, and overnight, only when absolutely necessary.”

  She imagined falling asleep in his arms and waking the same way each morning. “I could get used to that.”

  “Me, too,” he murmured against her lips. “Do you think you can be happy here with me, little one?”

  “I’m already halfway to ecstatic, big guy.”

  “Only halfway?”

  “I am still waiting for my kiss. What about you?”

  “How could I not be, when I have the female I love in my arms, and she is making all my dreams come true.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “Now that sent me from halfway, passed full, to overflowing.”