Invasion Earth

by Loribelle Hunt

  “And what did you say?” she asked, but suspected she already knew the answer to that too.

  The Prime Minister looked at her sadly, but she’d known him a long time and wasn’t buying it. She’d disapproved when the Assembly had picked him, but what could she do? Seize power for herself? Even if she’d had the support to do it, what did she know about running a government, especially in peacetime?

  “I’m sorry Sergeant Major. We just don’t have a choice.”

  “Of course,” she answered, anger beginning to swirl through her stomach. Hell, she even understood it. One woman was worth sacrificing for an entire planet, right? “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my quarters.”

  She sat the untouched beer on a nearby table and quickly strode from the room, fully aware of her weakening control. Power was key to surviving in the high stakes, high ranks world she moved in. It did not pay to lose control. Her cool and calm were well known and had led to her achieving the highest rank available to an enlisted soldier in their Armies. Hell, she had more influence and power than most of their generals. But now she was gripped with an urge to toss that all aside and throw something, and it appalled her.

  She entered the room, observing the smooth open and close slide of the door with regret. No satisfying slamming there. Pacing was unsatisfactory too, in the small space. Three feet up and three feet back. She growled in disgust and turned to the door.

  Her mounting rage had more than one focus. It was bad enough her own people were willing to sell her off like a chattel, but that barbarian had sat and talked with her. Sat and calmly, condescendingly, explained the role of women in his culture without a word about this—and surely he knew! It infuriated her. And it hurt, her heart constricting as if held in the grip of a vise. She’d thought she’d seen respect in his eyes, but she’d obviously been wrong. Why did that matter so much? Her body’s own betrayal was worse, even now keying up for him. Enough! She would find him and give him a piece of her mind. The jerk had it coming and it was the only way to work off this energy. She was never having sex with him. No way.

  She didn’t have a clue where she was on the ship, and retraced her steps back to the shuttle bay. Workers teemed and several warriors lounged against a wall. She approached them.

  They eyed her warily.

  “Where’s General Torfa?” she asked.

  They looked at her as if she had two heads and her gaze narrowed. She knew how to deal with men. Bulldoze over them and refuse to take no for an answer. Directing her gaze to the tall one she’d followed onto the shuttle earlier she spoke.

  “Take. Me. To. General. Torfa.” She enunciated each word, growing more furious with each delay.

  Finally, he responded.

  “Of course, Sergeant Major. This way.”

  The others deferred to him and they showed no surprise when he spoke her rank. Did everyone know who she was? Why she was there? The thought only served to fuel her fury.

  The warrior walked a maze through the ship. She would never find her own way back. She was positive he did it on purpose. After she was completely lost, he stopped in front of a door and rapped his knuckles on it three times.

  “Enter.”

  He stepped just inside, blocking her behind him and came to attention. “The Sergeant Major would like to see General Torfa, my lord,” he said.

  “Send her in,” she heard that velvety voice again, and her body, traitor that it was, responded. Her pussy dampened and clenched in anticipation. She beat back her libido, called up her anger, and stepped around the warrior.

  “You’re dismissed, Captain,” Torfa said.

  “You son of a bitch,” she said, ignoring the others in the room.

  He arched an eyebrow. “My mother would probably disagree.”

  “Really? But it’s okay to just sell women off on your world, isn’t it? Forgive me if I don’t rush to trust her judgment. How could you sit there, knowing about this, and not say anything? How could you sit there, treat me like an equal, like a soldier deserving of respect, and do something like this?” She looked at him and mustered as much scorn as she could. She wanted him to feel her pain, her disappointment that he thought so little of her, of her needs. It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t a touchy feely, share your emotions kind of woman. Anger was so much easier to deal with. “What makes you think I’d be willing to spend any of my life with a barbarian like you?”

  That last bit got to him, she noticed with a surge of satisfaction. His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared.

  “Leave us,” he curtly ordered and the room emptied. She felt like she’d grabbed a tiger by the tail, but she didn’t care. She wanted him to feel her wrath, wanted to see his eyes snap with anger too. She was a free woman, a soldier, from Earth. She would not be bought and sold by two warring governments. Even if she maybe saw the sense in it. The necessity for her people, at least. That didn’t mean she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, rail against her fate.

  When the room cleared, he stood. She ignored the throb in her pussy as she watched him move, muscles rippling. The man was her enemy. He smoothly stalked towards her. She knew she should be running, but she stood her ground, certain he would never hurt her. Lock her up and not let her have a life, sure, but not actual physical injury. He would just kill her spirit a little at a time.

  Alrik reached her and pulled her close, and she fought the urge to melt against his broad chest. Why couldn’t they just have sex and leave it at that? Why did he have to try to take over her life?

  “We’re connected, you and I. When you left the ledge three days ago, you went back to your quarters and masturbated,” he said quietly.

  She gasped and tried to pull back. There was no way he could know that. But his eyes made it clear that he did, that he felt the connection too, felt whatever it was that linked them so carnally together.

  His head dipped to her neck and he nibbled at her pounding pulse before continuing, murmuring in her ear. “You imagined it was my hands on you, my cock in you. I’ve been walking around with a hard-on for three days while you found relief. I haven’t quite decided on your punishment for that.”

  She felt her eyes drift closed. There’d been no real relief, just a temporary appeasement of her libido.

  Somehow during that monologue, he had opened her uniform jacket, and his hand found her breast through the thin shirt underneath, kneading it just the way she had imagined before pinching the hard tip. His mouth returned to her nape, finding the sensitive hollow of skin between her throat and collar.

  “Oh,” she gasped, head falling back under the assault of his teeth and lips.

  He ripped her shirt, bottom to collar, and dragged it to her elbows, knotting the ends together so that her arms were pinned behind her back. Catching her nipple in his mouth, he wrung a long groan from her, and her pussy clamored for attention. Okay, maybe I’ll have sex with him just this once.

  With one arm locked around her waist, and his lips on her breast, she didn’t notice how close that was until she felt cool air on her ass. He left her pants and underwear around her knees, and when she tried to step back to remove them he growled low in his throat. She felt a thrill at the unvoiced command and the restriction of movement. The loss of control.

  Already hot, she swayed against him when he cupped her pussy with his palm. His hand was hot, searing. Slowly, oh so slowly, he pushed one finger inside her. She trembled at the contact, would have been a puddle at his feet if he weren’t holding her up. She felt a sudden yearning for a bed. Now.

  His head dipped lower, in slow torturous increments. Dropping to his knees, he gripped her hips with both hands. She whimpered. The hell with a bed. The floor would do just fine. His tongue swirled, tasted everywhere. Her hipbones, her belly button. He slid his hands down as his tongue traveled south. His fingers were bruising on her thighs, but the sting of pain barely registered. She held her breath as his tongue traced the sensitive skin around the top of her legs, as he explored her pussy while ignoring he
r clit.

  She remembered his promise to punish her. By withholding her orgasm? She considered growling herself, but then his tongue darted over it and she flinched in response, again straining to him, demanding more. He lightly flicked his tongue over her, occasionally nipping her with his teeth. No alphabet method for this guy. He should give lessons. It was ten times better than anything in her experience. How was it possible the men she’d known over the years were doing it so wrong?

  Awash in sensation, she was amazed to feel her orgasm move through her so quickly. Every nerve tingled, and when she opened her eyes, she saw spots and sagged along him.

  She watched bemused as Alrik reached down, pulled the zippers on her boots, and had her out of the rest of her clothes in record time. Then he stood and freed himself from his own pants, dropped them to his ankles, and sat down.

  She eyed him while she tried to maneuver out of the restraining shirt. He was big, long and thick, and his cock was as golden hued as the rest of him. She needed that in her now. Amused, she thought, you couldn’t pry me from the room with a rocket launcher now. So much for noble intentions.

  Leaning forward, he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her close, not allowing her any freedom of movement.

  “Just like you are,” he said, his voice almost guttural, the demand in it unmistakable. She’d never liked being ordered around, especially in bed, but it wasn’t protest that rose. It was lust, pure and simple. He was a man she’d never be able to push around. She couldn’t fight the urge to give him control, didn’t even try.

  Eagerly, she straddled his hips and looked him in the eye as she slowly lowered herself. He gripped her ribcage, guiding her and forcing her down at the same time he thrust up. She gasped and closed her eyes. Impaled. In a good, full way. Pleasure and discomfort mixed before she adjusted to his size. She felt him watching her, and stilled until she did.

  Once she softened around him, he lifted her until only the head of his cock was still inside her. He held her there until she opened her eyes and met his gaze, saw the stark need stamped across his features. Then he plunged deep, building a slow steady rhythm. She leaned forward, a little wobbly while incapable of bracing her hands on his shoulders or chest, but unable to resist the allure of his skin, the compulsion to taste his lips. She flattened her tongue against his neck, following a leisurely trail up his salty skin, smiling at his grunt when her teeth closed over his ear lobe and nipped.

  He didn’t give her the chance to kiss him. After pulling her flat against his chest, she heard him murmuring something in his own language. Struggling to breathe, dragging his masculine scent deep into her lungs, she didn’t have time to consider the words, or the radar-like pinging she felt straight to her marrow. Another orgasm rolled through her and she felt the hot spurt of his cum inside her. Replete and exhausted, she collapsed against him, barely registering when he freed her arms or stood and carried her into a bedroom.

  It was done. Alrik hadn’t planned on doing it so soon. The binding prayer had burst forth from him when he felt her channel tighten around his cock. Even if he could take the words back, he wouldn’t. She was his now. She might despise him in the short run, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do for everyone.

  Tomorrow they would begin negotiating trade agreements that would put more of the Delroi’s unattached males on Earth. Hopefully, it would be enough to save his people. Until then, he had a warm soft woman in his arms and duty could wait.

  Her hair was still up and braided, the length twisted and pinned against her head. He pulled the small pins out and dropped them on the bedside table until finally the length was free. Surprised, he noted it reached the bottom of her back. Removing the band holding the end, he slowly worked the plait loose.

  Wavy from the braid, her hair was like heavy silk in his hand. He held it to the light to examine its color, a deep brown shot through with big streaks of red. He brought it to his face and breathed in its sweet scent, which smelled faintly of the flower called gardenia on this world, a plant the Delroi women with them had quickly discovered and adopted. He loved it.

  Alrik dropped the strands and they fell around her like a curtain. Grinning, he wondered if it would drape them both when she rode him. He would test that at the earliest opportunity. For now, he was content to explore her without her yammering at him.

  He had admired the tactical cunning of this woman for months. Her body was just as impressive. The bulky uniform concealed feminine curves. A small waist accented her flared hips and high breasts. Her skin was smooth and blemish free except for the small rose tattooed on one breast. Laugh lines around her eyes added to the appeal of an already pretty face.

  He rested his palm over her flat stomach, wondering how she would look swollen with his child. Nostrils flared in desire when he realized she could even now carry a babe. Would she give him girls? A houseful of females with their mother’s warrior spirit?

  She moaned in her sleep and leaned into him, her ass rubbing against his still hard cock. Spooned up behind her, he pulled her leg over his. Testing her pussy with his fingers, he found her soft and wet with his cum. With one hand pressed on her belly, he used the other to guide himself into her. With a long sigh, she cracked an eye open and looked up at him.

  “Not a dream,” she murmured, moving against him.

  “Shh,” he answered, hand sliding down to where their bodies joined and circling her clit to match his gentle glide in and out of her core.

  The languid action quickly gave way to more pressing urges and when he felt her clenching around him he quickened his thrusts. Her head fell back against his chest and he gave into the temptation of her bared neck, sucking the soft skin hard. She would bear his mark, he thought with satisfaction as his thrusts reached a crescendo. Her body stiffened and trembled. He held her tightly, unwilling to release her even after they’d both come.

  By the time he eased out of her, she was once again sleeping. He was content to hold her, drifting between sleep and wakefulness. Some time later, a soft knock came at the outer door. After untangling himself from her limbs and pulling on his pants, he let his brother in. Daggar glanced over at the sleeping chamber.

  “It’s done then?”

  “It is.”

  She woke a short time later and dreamily studied the ceiling, wondering how she got into this situation. Alrik’s soft murmur drifted to her from the outer room, joined by another. The brother. Daggar.

  Rolling, she buried her face in the pillow and dragged the sheet over her head. His scent enveloped her, and she wondered how long till he came back to bed. Not helping, Laney.

  She tried to remind herself why she shouldn’t be here. He was her enemy, had come to her planet bringing war. So what if his tactics impressed her? Not just his tactics, she conceded, but the way they went about war. The Delroi were very disciplined soldiers. There was no useless butchery, no reports of rape, no executed POW’s, no wanton destruction of property or land. It confused some of the other military leaders, but she understood. They planned to occupy the land they conquered, assimilate its people. She would have proceeded in the same manner. She sighed. That appeared to be inevitable. At least they didn’t show signs of cruelty. Much.

  Controlling the fate of women as they did struck her as cruel and unusual punishment. Yet she liked Alrik despite that. On the shuttle she’d been intrigued by him. Amused and appalled was a curious combination. He was charming and funny, but his certainty that women had no place in warfare rankled. She did what she had to do and she was good at it. What was she if not a soldier? She had spent her adult life mastering the art of war. Sadly, she admitted to herself she had no other skills and it seemed she was embarking on a brave new path. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

  She should be angry, but as a professional soldier, she had always dealt with reality. Reality was they couldn’t defeat the Delroi and this was their price for surrender. She could make the best of it, or she could turn to rage. Or she could try to fi
gure a way out of it. Rage was tempting, but wouldn’t get her anywhere. And other options … well, at the moment she didn’t appear to have any. Accepting the change though, might give her enough leverage to help her people. Provided of course, their offers were real, that they could be trusted. Provided she was willing, able, to give herself over to Alrik. She suspected that would be demanded of her. It was going to be damned hard to resist if he was in the same room.

  At least the benefit of that journey was sex. By the time they’d docked on the ship, she was completely turned on by him. Then came the shock of my impending marriage, followed by incredible sex. Even now, sore in places that hadn’t seen action in well, years, her body hummed with awareness of him.

  She closed her eyes and imagined she could feel him moving around the next room. With a jolt of shock, she realized that was exactly what she was doing. There seemed to be a growing connection between them. She felt it almost as an invisible cord stretching from him to her. Recalling the ping she felt between them the first time they had sex, she knew with abrupt clarity he had somehow tied them together. Some of the psychics she knew on Earth claimed to have that kind of connection with their spouses, but she wasn’t psychic and had been given no reason to believe he was.

  Trying to filter out sensation, she replayed the scene in her mind, skittering to a stop over the strange words he’d uttered. What were they? Were they responsible for this?

  She knew she should be pissed. It was bad enough being forced to marry her enemy. That she actually liked him while he had used trickery to force her acceptance was unacceptable. She should feel angry and tried to work up a good temper. It didn’t come. Instead, she remained confused, almost disoriented, and filled with need for him. It crawled through her body and invaded every cell like a palpable thing.

  Dread set in. It was complete lack of control and she stood, wrapping the sheet around her. He would answer for these strange feelings and stop whatever was happening. She barged into the other room, barely noticing when his brother, Daggar, beat a hasty retreat.