She arched one eyebrow, her lips twisting into a wry half smile. “What? Did you think I didn’t know I had Delroi spies in my midst?”
He stared at her, unsure how to reply. He must be slipping. She chuckled and slid a finger down the side of her face.
“The tattoos are distinctive.”
He nodded and rubbed his palm over the tribal markings over the right side of his face. Of course they were. But most people didn’t pay close enough attention to recall where they’d seen them and he made a huge effort not to catch the notice of the more observant ones. He’d underestimated her.
She smiled, her eyes flashing a challenge. “So what do we do about it? Spying on me on Earth. Spying on me here. One assumes you aren’t operating without direction.”
An accusation against Alrik? He bowed deeply to her, as he would on Delroi when she was Alrik’s acknowledged mate. Surprise flashed across her face before it was quickly concealed. He grinned.
“I am an insomniac roaming the halls at night, my lady. Nothing more or less.”
Again she raised one of those perfectly arched eyebrows. “I must be the Queen of England then.”
With those parting words she left the room and he went in search of a computer to find out who this mysterious queen was.
Alrik woke hard and wanting. And alone. He panicked for a minute before reason set it. Laney was on board a spaceship in orbit; he felt her presence nearby. She couldn’t go far. And they were bonded, which would hold her close even more than the physical captivity. All the warriors on board knew she was his der’lan. No one would aid her escape or dare harm her.
He crawled out of bed and into the shower, setting the hot spray to pound in to his tense shoulders. His der’lan was going to be more difficult to woo than he thought. He shouldn’t have been surprised and maybe a part of him expected it. She was not the kind of woman who’d easily submit and that pleased him. But as the humans would say, it chapped his ass at the same time. There was the bond but there was also a different kind of connection. Or was that just chemistry? Was his desire to know her, know what made her tick a result of merging biologies or something else? He had to assume it was the otherness that intrigued him. After all, he’d been fascinated with her before their first encounter across that desert valley. Of course then he’d also been wondering if there was a way to have her killed without the blame being placed on the Delroi. That was out of the question now. Thank the gods he hadn’t given into the need for vengeance after Roses.
He finished the shower and reluctantly dragged his clothes on. His nerve endings were raw from wanting her and the rough fabric scraped over his skin. He gritted his teeth against the painful sensation, his anger rising the harder his cock throbbed for release. She should be here to relieve the pressure.
He reached out with his mind, seeking her out in the halls of the ship. He connected with her in the large conference room where the talks would be held, surrounded by her generals. He sensed her leaning close to one as he whispered in her ear, felt her shock as Alrik moved into her thoughts. She wondered if the man who spoke softly to her could get her out of the bond. He’d expected that. That she would struggle to gain her freedom before she accepted their fate. But he hadn’t expected the surge of jealousy. She was his woman and she’d turned to another man for help.
This time the punishment he imagined for her would be reality and he shared the vision with her as he left his room and strode down the corridor to her. When the talks broke for lunch, she would remain behind. With him. He’d strip her slowly, maybe with his teeth. His lips curled back in a snarl. He’d mark her. Mar that creamy pale skin that she’d damn well better start accepting was his. But he was getting ahead of himself.
When she was naked, bare and at his mercy, he’d spin her around, place her hands flat on the surface of the conference table and spank that pretty ass just as she deserved. And when he felt she’d learned the lesson, that it was very dangerous to deny your mate or make him jealous, he’d fuck her just as she stood. Fuck her into submission. He’d finish with her just in time for the lunch crowd to return, securing her promise there would be no more sneaking out of his bed or he’d tie her to it.
He felt her shock and reluctant arousal as he shared the vision. Smiled as he felt her determination harden. She hadn’t accepted that they would be together. He, on the other hand, knew it was a foregone conclusion, but the chase would be interesting. It surprised him how much he was looking forward to tangling with his wary mate. Life would never be boring.
His steps slowed as he approached the door to the conference room and he pulled his thoughts together, focused on the talks to come. Two of his soldiers stood guard outside and snapped to attention, their palms fisting and thudding once over their hearts. Then one stepped aside and slapped the panel that forced the door to slide open. Alrik nodded as he stepped through.
The first thing he did when he stepped inside was seek Laney out. She stood near a table by the wall where refreshments had been set out, talking with her friend. There was very little distance between them and Alrik sent her the image of a crouched growling beast. She stepped away, but her eyes when they met his were narrowed, angry. It irritated her to be ordered around, but infuriated her that she complied. She turned her back to him and continued speaking with her people. He grinned at her show of rebellion. He couldn’t wait to bring her to heel, but first things first.
Taking note of the natural division in the room, he turned and strode towards his men. Daggar hadn’t arrived yet, but several of their top and most trusted generals were already present. He nodded to them as he passed, but his attention was on Barak Trace. The spymaster. Trace stood apart, in the shadows. His identity was so secret, the rumors of his fierce skills so terrifying, that the people who did know who he was tended to steer clear. He was the kind of bogeyman mothers used to scare their children into obedience. No one wanted to find themselves under the scrutiny of Barak Trace.
“Barak.” Alrik nodded as he stopped next to the spy. He was a little surprised to see his old friend at this meeting. It didn’t bode well. “Problems?”
The other man shrugged and Alrik studied him, trying to determine if there was some real worry or if Barak was just indulging his naturally suspicious nature. It was impossible to read the man. He was big and imposing like everyone of the warrior caste, with the tribal tattoos of the southern rebels stretching down one side of his face and neck. He stood relaxed, loose limbed, no air of expectation about him. Simple curiosity then. Alrik scowled. Except nothing was ever simple with Barak. He was known to keep his thoughts close to his chest and wouldn’t necessarily share them with Alrik unless he had something concrete to cause alarm.
Barak jerked his chin towards Laney. “What’s she like?”
Alrik allowed himself a small reluctant smile. “Stubborn.”
As if sensing their scrutiny, she lifted her head and met his gaze. Her stare was level, controlled. Then she turned and looked at Barak. An assessing gleam lit her eyes and she tilted her head to one side, frowning like she was trying to figure out why he looked familiar.
“She’s suspicious of you,” Alrik said.
Barak frowned his disapproval. “Didn’t read the report I sent over this morning? I spoke to her in their common room last night. She knows what I am. Recognized me from Earth.”
Damn. That should have occurred to him. Barak had been on Earth months longer than the rest of them, gathering intelligence. He’d wormed his way into the Alliance army. Back home on Delroi the man’s tattoos set him apart, but the Earthlings seemed to have an obsession with marking their bodies and it wasn’t so uncommon here. They considered it art. Still, on the face and neck were not so common. He should have realized Laney would remember Barak and he didn’t want her questioning too closely what the spy was doing now that they were in peace talks.
Alrik needed to distract her and thought of the small rose tattoo on her breast. He found it sexy, but it had been a surpr
ise. Women on Delroi did not mark their skin permanently like that, but there was an old, mostly abandoned tradition he wondered if she’d adopt.
In the past bonded females, of warriors in particular, had pierced their nipples. It was a painful procedure, and a show of submission and strength. His cock hardened again and he shared the image with her. He wanted her to do it, needed that sign of her surrender. He crossed his arms over his chest, snaring her with his gaze, watching the blush spread up her neck to her face. Felt her arousal. He watched the emotions play over her face, knew some of what she was thinking. She didn’t think there was a submissive bone in her body, yet she responded to the carnal demands of his shared visions. He wanted to drag her from the room and demonstrate exactly how much mastery he would have over her body. Thankfully, he was spared the embarrassment of dragging a kicking and screaming woman off by the arrival of his brother. It was time to get down to business.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Five
Laney sat through the morning meeting and seethed. Silently, of course. She wasn’t sure what she was angriest about—Alrik with his hot gazes and hotter thoughts, or his people’s insistence they be integrated into Alliance society. Post haste if you don’t mind. They wanted everything from control of Earth’s medical facilities to a voice in their government to military outposts. Outrageous demands to make of a people who’d surrendered to prevent the use of a particular weapon but had not been conquered. The Earth forces still had a lot of fight left in them and maybe they’d get lucky. Defeat or repel the alien force. She focused on Eldridge’s words the previous evening. What if there was another way?
There was no mention of marriages or bonding or any of that crap either and she wasn’t about to bring it up yet. She wanted to speak privately with Bob and the Prime Minister first. After the images Alrik had mentally shared with her earlier—and how the hell did he do that?—Laney knew exactly what Alrik expected from her. Not disclosing this odd ability the Delroi had to bind women to them seemed a betrayal of every woman on Earth.
As Daggar and the Prime Minister argued back and forth over concessions and terms, something else crystallized for her: the Prime Minister was furious with his military staff for surrendering. Given her own role in that surrender—ordering it before any of the generals with her had agreed to it—and her current role in the peace talks, she was in a unique position to share his frustration and rage. She was also the recipient of most of his ire. She got the impression he was more than happy to throw her to the wolves. Approaching him about what would happen to the women of Earth under this treaty would be damned tricky.
Unfortunately, she was a reasoning woman and she didn’t miss the undercurrents in the room. The Earth contingent was beyond suspicious—rightly so—and the Delroi were ready, willing, and able to launch a full out assault on the planet. She knew the military position of their forces better than most people in the room and she just wasn’t sure they could defeat the Delroi. Part of her realized continuing the war would be suicide and didn’t care. Better to die fighting, right? But the other part of her insisted she hadn’t spent years at war to lose it all here and now.
Which begged the question: Did the freedom of what were undoubtedly a small number of women outweigh the needs of every man, woman, and child on the planet? Was she seriously considering selling some of her own people into servitude? Or was she being overly dramatic because she couldn’t quite deal with being in the same situation? She didn’t have enough information to make an informed conclusion.
Too bad none of her spies were around. She could use Britt’s help right about now. Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the room and met the tattooed man’s gaze. Speaking of spies. He sat eerily still. Never fidgeted. Never reacted to the heated arguments in the room. She wondered if he’d reported his run-in with her the previous night to Alrik. She couldn’t guess. When she met his gaze, there was no flicker of awareness, no acknowledgment they’d met.
Last night he’d seemed nervous, thrown off guard. Today he was all cool operator and she was forced to reevaluate their first meeting. Had the chance encounter and nerves been calculated? Had he reported to Alrik as soon as she left? Did he even work for Alrik? And what was a spy doing sitting in on peace talks anyway? He’d been introduced plainly as General Barak Trace. No mention of his job title or position. She didn’t call anyone on that. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to get her own spies into the enemy camp, and looking around the room she was aware that there were several games in play. The Delroi spy might come in useful later.
“One last thing before we adjourn for lunch,” Daggar said.
Laney came to attention, focused on escaping when he was done. She knew what Alrik had planned. Her body was all for it, growing hot and achy at the mere thought. Her brain was not fully on board though.
“We want the marriage ceremony scheduled as soon as possible.” He hesitated a little over the word marriage, but every eye in the room turned to her anyway.
She forced herself not to react, held her features still and calm even though her heart threatened to burst from her chest.
“We have this little tradition on Earth,” she drawled. “Brides are expected to be … willing.”
Alrik leaned back in his chair, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh you’re willing, darlin’.”
She rolled her eyes and fought the urge to lash out. The similarities between the endearment and his word for mate didn’t escape her notice. Nor did the fact that none of her people knew about it while all the Delroi in the room smirked along with him.
She smiled with false sweetness. “Don’t count on it, General.”
“It’s a condition of the truce,” Daggar reminded her, his tone disapproving.
“The Sergeant Major is aware of her duty, General,” the Prime Minister said icily.
His eyes were full of cold, contained fury. She glared back at him. Now was not the best time for him to remind her how her own people were willing to sell her off to buy a little peace. Ironic that she’d just been considering doing the same thing.
She turned back to Daggar and was held by his gaze. It was direct and challenging, without any hint of backing down. She knew in the murky waters she was moving into he’d make a better ally than enemy and she wasn’t going to win this fight, in this room, against a man who was essentially a king. He’d never allow it. Neither, she realized, would Alrik. He’d made no move to intervene.
“Perhaps we could discuss this privately. Later,” she said softly hoping he’d allow her that much dignity at least.
He turned to his brother and some kind of silent communication seemed to pass between them. Did they have the same abilities to communicate that Alrik had been using against her? She didn’t think so. Maybe it was just the closeness of brothers and years of working together. Finally Daggar nodded and stood. Everyone else followed suit and the room began to empty.
Her relief was short lived. She moved fast and with her smaller stature was able to edge ahead of a couple people in her haste to leave. She almost made it. A mere two feet from the door, an arm snagged her around her waist. She struggled against the hold, but Alrik pulled her back against his chest and leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Don’t even think about it, Laney. Or you’ll find out just how dominant I really am and I doubt that is a lesson you want to learn in a room full of people.”
She caught her breath in a mixture of outrage and lust. Was it the veiled threat that turned her on or the hard cock pushing against her ass? She watched the retreating backs of the crowd that had kept her relatively safe. When everyone was gone, Alrik stepped around her, keeping one hand on her upper arm.
“No one enters,” he said to the guards who waited outside the room. They nodded and the door slid closed, sealing off her escape route.
He turned to face her with such a feral look that her heart lodged in her throat and she backed up a step. He followed and they kept up
the ridiculous dance until the backs of her thighs hit a chair, causing her to lose her balance. He grabbed her before she could stumble, seizing the opportunity to pull her close and nuzzle her neck. She couldn’t help but moan. God help her. She didn’t want to want him, but there was no denying she did. A small voice in her head reminded her he was the enemy and called her ten kinds of idiot. She told it to shut up.
He quickly removed her uniform shirt and ripped the thin undershirt over her head. His mouth closed over her nipple, bit down, and she arched into him. He suckled her while he popped open the buttons on her trousers. He shoved them down and one long finger slid over her clit. Her whole body jerked and her head fell back, eyes squeezed shut hard enough to see stars. She was close to coming, panting now and desperate for him to finish her off. Then he stopped.
He’d pulled the chair away from the table and set her down so her bottom perched on its edge. When she opened her eyes he was stripping, watching her silently with eyes gone dark with hunger and anger. Within seconds he was completely naked. Tall. Strapping. Gorgeous. She struggled to remember why she was fighting him. He stepped forward and caught her chin lifting it to meet his gaze.
“You won’t sneak out of our bed in the middle of the night again.”
She nodded. Okay. Whatever. Could he get on with it? She was dying here.
“Say it, Laney. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us on this issue.”
The man had an amazing ability to take her from desperate for him to fuck her to completely pissed off. Two seconds flat. That had to be a record.
“Don’t be so sure you’re going to find me there anytime soon,” she snapped.
His smile promised otherwise. “But I will. If I have to tie you to it to make my point.”
She made a move to get up and he was in her in face, his hands gripping her hips hard enough to bruise and holding her in place. Her cooling body screamed back to life. Unbelievable. She liked the rough treatment, liked the promise of retribution she saw in his eyes. Liked not being treated like a fragile doll. He leaned over to rest his lips against the pounding pulse in her neck.
Invasion Earth Page 5
