The man laughed, the sound bringing a subconscious smile to Valerie’s face. “No, I’m Javen Ning and I do not have any earthly affiliations.”
Valerie furrowed her brow. “That doesn’t make any sense,” She said.
But then Javen placed a soft hand on her cheek, his eyes locked on hers. “Of course it does. Just think hard enough and the answer will come.”
Valerie let her eyes flicker shut. She knew that if she could bring herself to sense his emotion deep enough, she might be able to uncover what he was hiding.
But something wasn’t right. Her mind kept hitting some sort of mental block. It was like he refused to let her in. But that didn’t make much sense, because in order for him to refuse her entrance, he would have to know that she was knocking on the door in the first place, which meant… “You can do it too.”
Javen’s lips folded into a smile. He nodded slowly. “I’m like you.”
Valerie let out a slow breath. “I thought I was the only one. Well… my parents… they were more like me. I mean, they seemed to always know what to say and how to act it was like they had a constant read of everything I was feeling.”
Javen nodded, taking a sip of his own water. He then set it down and reached for a blanket, which he then used to cover Valerie.
Valerie shook her head. This was impossibly thoughtful of him.
“Your parents were like you.”
“What are the odds?”
“Pardon?”
“What are the odds that you would rescue me? That you would be exactly like me?”
But Javen just raised an eyebrow. “It’s not as much of a coincidence as you think.”
“What? Do you mean you were searching for me?”
Javen leaned into her, placing a hand over hers.
Valerie resented that her efforts to hide her anxiety had been in vain.
“I am looking to reunite our kind. I want to tell you more. I want to tell you everything, but I cannot breathe another word until I am certain that you are what I think you are.”
“And how do you plan to gain this certainty?” Valerie asked. She resented the idea of being held just outside of this exclusive club.
“I can run a DNA test right here in my lab. It will only take a few hours and then you’ll know. All of those questions you’ve had your entire life can finally be answered.”
It all sounded far too good to be true. Insane almost. But Valerie felt herself drawn to this man. Just looking at him was enough to send her heart into overdrive and her body on fire. She didn’t know if she could control herself being alone in a secluded lab with him for a couple of hours. She feared the consequences of actions she held practically inevitable. “But I have to get back. They will be looking for me.”
Javen flexed his jaw. “They will be looking for you, which is exactly why I can’t take you back. Those men, whoever they were, will be waiting for you at the surface. We have to give it time. They need to think that you’re dead. Or else you won’t be able to survive the seawall.”
Valerie knew he was trying to be persuasive, she could see it in his magnificent eyes, but as hard as it was, she needed to try to see things with her own mind. She evaluated his statement at face value. A short cost-benefit analysis told her that it didn’t matter whether he was just trying to be persuasive or not, he was right.
“Okay,” She nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter Five
Valerie hated needles, but somehow, Javen made it bearable. After fetching her a change of clothes that consisted of a pair of joggers and a large t-shirt, he began to massage her arm. Valerie had been given shots hundreds of times to immunize herself against diseases and such, but she had never been prepped so thoroughly. It was like a dance with Javen, for his touch was gold and had the power to eradicate all of her fears.
“What could a person like you have done to be wanted killed?” Javen asked, right when he stuck the needle into her elbow.
Valerie winced at the strong ache. “What do you mean a person like me?”
He shrugged, his brow furrowed in concentration. “You’re a beautiful, obviously smart, woman with an advantage over everyone else. What did you do to get yourself in trouble?”
Valerie’s heart fluttered at the complement. “I ousted one of the largest drug trafficking groups in the world.” She couldn’t help but feel pride just saying it out loud.
Javen’s lips stretched into a crooked smile. “Did you really?” He said as he took the vile of fresh blood into the kitchen.
For lack of anything better to do, Valerie followed him. “Yes.”
“And how did you manage that?” He said, turning to her with a cotton swab in his hand.
Valerie shrugged. “I’m an accountant for a corporate law firm out in Miami. It just turns out that that very law firm is owned by a man affiliated with this group.” Valerie shuddered to remember the gory details of how she went from a happy, healthy employee, to a disillusioned woman running for her life. “He was laundering their money.”
“Please open your mouth. I need a DNA sample.”
Valerie felt a warmth in between her legs as he placed his hand on her face once more. It only lasted one short, agonizing moment.
“So, how are you certain?” He asked as he drove the swab into a test tube full of a blue-ish liquid.
Valerie frowned. “However anyone is certain. It was obvious the numbers didn’t add up. And the more I went asking, the more walls I hit. Then I started getting threats…” Valerie had to stop here. The last four months of her life had not been the easiest.
Javen poured the sample of her blood into what looked like a drive, then plugged that drive into her computer. He then turned his attention to the mixture in the test tube.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
Valerie let out a humorless laugh. “It is utterly remarkable that you even care.”
After sticking the test-tube in a boxlike machine, Javen turned to face her. He took a step towards her, putting less than a foot between the two of them. Valerie could feel his body heat radiating from him. She lifted her hands, an instinctual gesture, and laid her palms on his chest. All restraint had left her. She was too tired to deny herself what she really wanted.
Javen brushed his finger against her thigh. It was a small movement, but it spoke volumes. “How could I not?” He whispered, his gaze falling on her lips.
Valerie’s chest rapidly rose and fell with her breath. Her nipples were hard from the cold… and from him. She could feel him undressing her with his eyes and she couldn’t take it anymore. A short cost benefit analysis yielded little to no negative repercussions for. One. Little. Kiss.
She reached for him, her hand landing behind his neck, and pulled him down towards her. She drank him in, her eyes rolling back at the sensation of his hand hiking up the inside of her shirt. She wanted him inside of her already! She hitched her leg on his hip as he shifted her around so that her back was to the counter.
He hoisted her up on top of it, peeling her shirt off of her head. Her breasts bobbed free. He licked his lips before he licked her nipples. He had one hand on her free breast and the other clenching her jaw. Valerie moaned as she sucked on his finger, her hands clutching at the back of his head.
Javen ripped her joggers off, exposing her nakedness. He pressed his head against her torso, driving himself up through the center of her chest. She attacked his lips, a purr rolling in her throat as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She pressed her fingers into his face, squeezing him as hard as she could with her legs.
He ripped them open, sucking on her neck as his fingers pressed into her cunt. Her jaw swung open as she sucked in buckets of pristine air. Her eyes watered; he was sucking on her so hard. One long, guttural grunt slipped from between her lips as she peeled off his shirt and dragged her nails down his back.
Javen grabbed her wrists with both of his hands and slammed them against the cabinets over her head. He dragged his tongue
from the center of her collar bone up to her chin, landing a passionate kiss on her lips.
Valerie shoved him off of her and jumped off of the counter. She pulled his pants off, letting them pool around his ankles.
He stepped out of them and grabbed her arms, forcing her to turn around.
Valerie let out a sigh of ecstasy as he pushed her until her chest pressed against the cool counter. He entered her.
He pulled on her hair, stretching her neck taught as he banged her. One hard thrust after another after another.
Valerie could feel it in the belly of her being, the essence of the two of them radiating out, their lust filling the entire submarine. He fucked her harder and harder until she was shaking back and forth, her breasts bobbing up and down and her lips flapping around.
He let out a groan, followed by three swift grunts.
And then he came.
Valerie took a moment to catch her breath, but she could feel that ache in her abdomen. “Javen?”
“Yes?” he sounded just as out of breath as she felt.
“My stomach hurts.”
“Oh!” he hopped off of her like he had been shocked. “I’ll get you more medicine.”
“Thank you.” Valerie found it hard to talk around her dry mouth.
“Of course.” Javen traced his finger down her spine, planting a soft kiss on the back of her shoulder before putting on his pants and leaving her to redress herself.
Chapter Six
Valerie’s eyes popped open to the sight of a woman that looked exactly like her. She shot up from the bed. There were obvious differences in the holographic image. She appeared far more tan and had shorter, thinner hair. But other than that, Valerie was staring right at herself. She turned to her right to find Javen sitting in a small chair, gazing at the image.
“What is this?” She asked.
Javen tore his eyes away from that woman and faced her. “My late wife.”
Valerie watched him drop a thick file of papers onto the ground. “What are those?” She asked, a sick feeling seeping into the pit of her stomach.
“They’re your results.”
“And?”
“You’re one of us. You had a twin sister. I married her. And then she died.” His voice broke at the end.
Valerie stood up. “I think I want to go back now.” Every moment she spent in that lab made her feel more and more suffocated.
Javen stood, towering over her. “I don’t understand.”
Valerie ducked her head in disbelief. “No! I don’t understand! You knew I was her twin and you didn’t tell me. You fucked me.”
Javen set his jaw. “I couldn’t have been certain.”
Valerie let out a humorless laugh. “So, what, you just let your penis decide?”
“I wasn’t thinking of her when I made love to you!”
“Oh? Really?” Valerie said, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “How nice.”
Javen frowned, his flexed arms crossed in front of him. “I don’t know how to explain myself. I can’t understand what happened myself.”
“You can start by explaining to me how the hell I happened to have a twin on another planet.”
“What? Do you expect a full history of Kahara?”
Valerie jabbed her pointer finger into her chest. “I deserve to know who I am!”
“You’re a refugee!” Javen roared. The sentence sounded more like an insult coming out of his mouth.
Valerie froze.
“Your parents belonged to the province that lost the Great War. They escaped to earth like so many others did. Your sister couldn’t fit in the pod so they had to make a hard decision. You’re the lucky one because now she’s dead.”
Just like that, Valerie gained and lost a sister in less than a minute. Guilt she had inherited from her parents’ situation washed over her. “How unfortunate,” she said through her clenched teeth.
Javen released his arms and stepped towards her, but she stopped him with her hand. “Don’t!” Then she glared at him. “I think it’s safe for me to go back now.”
Part of her wished he would protest, but he didn’t. He just made his way to the kitchen, muttering something about a wet suit.
***
Three years of religiously running the five miles it took for Valerie to get all the way down the beach did not prepare her for a thirty minute swim under water with a huge oxygen tank attached to her back. Nevertheless, she survived the swim and broke the surface more than ready for another nap. As soon as she ripped the mask off of her head, she glanced to see that Javen was still there. But when she laid eyes on him, she found him gazing, eyes wide with terror, at the seawall.
“Oh my God.” Valerie said as she saw the wall of men waiting for them. Her heart sunk at the sight of the guns in each and every one of their hands.
“There are too many.” Javen said, his voice unnaturally rigid.
“We have to go back!” Valerie screeched. She could not believe she was staring death in the face yet again.
But Javen shook his head. “It’s no use. They will just keep waiting for us.”
Valerie gasped. She knew he was right. “Oh God, no, I can’t! I can’t let them touch me again. You have to do something!”
Javen thrashed through the ankle-deep water to reach her, but as she looked into his eyes, she could see… feel that he had no solutions for her. “We can’t run.”
Suddenly, Valerie hated herself. If she had known that this is what they would meet, she wouldn’t have been so unkind. This… creature had put himself in danger for her and now it was perfectly possible that she may never see another sunset again. “I’m sorry,” She hissed, her eyes tearing up.
He took her face in both of his hands. “No. None of this is your fault. I’m sorry I wasn’t transparent with you. I’m sorry I can’t control my emotions.”
Now the tears were pouring from Valerie’s eyes. “The FBI said that they would probably kidnap me. That they would try to get me to refuse to testify against them and to call myself a liar. I won’t do it, so they’ll probably kill me. I can’t imagine what they’d do with you.” She melted into his arms, the despair getting the best of her.
Javen petted the top of her head. “If they kill you, it won’t matter what they do to me.”
Those words were a small glimmer of happiness into this impossible situation. She opened her mouth to say something more, but didn’t manage to, for something distinctly sharp hit her back. It wasn’t a bullet, but a needle. Perhaps…..
Her eyes flickered shut.
Chapter Seven
Valerie’s eyes flipped open. She was in a bedroom with linoleum floors and a white ceiling tainted with water damage. The sun streamed in through a high window. There was an ache in her back from where the blow had hit. She blinked her eyes, struggling to regain her composure, but she couldn’t manage any coherent thoughts because she was so foggy.
Then she heard a beeping sound coming from within her. She scrunched up her face, glancing around her for the source of the annoying noise. “Oh shit,” She whispered as she shoved a finger into her mouth. Of course she would have forgotten about the police tracker and of course it wouldn’t have worked a mile under water.
But now it was kicking. Her heart thrashed around in her chest as she heard the sound of sirens wailing. It got louder and louder as an armada of police cars raced in her direction. She went straight for the window, peering out of it, the colorful lights only confirming her guess.
“Holy shit!” she screeched.
Just as she said this, she could hear the rumble of steps racing overhead and just outside of the door. The men were clearing out, trying to get away while they could. They had given up this business of extracting her. She raced to the door, but was disappointed to find that it was locked. “Help!” she slammed her fist against the wood over and over again.
“Valerie!”
It was Javen.
She could scream for joy. “Oh my God, you’re
alive!” she yelled over the sounds of him dislodging the iron rod that had been slid across the door.
He yanked the door open, his eyes wide with expectation.
Valerie threw her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Oh thank God. Thank God!”
“Ms. James?”
Javen kissed her on her forehead, but then held her at arm’s length apart. “I can’t be here when they come.”
The footsteps were getting closer and closer.
“No, but you can’t leave me!” Valerie felt the urge to hold on to him even tighter now that it was apparent that he was getting away.
Javen wrapped his arms around her, giving her one long kiss.
Valerie sighed, wondering how she could have ever lived without his touch.
“I’m not leaving you. I’ll come find you after all of this.”
Valerie narrowed her eyes at him. “You swear to me.”
He nodded. “I swear to you.”
Valerie nodded. She had to trust him. So she watched him run down the opposite end of the hallway. “How are you getting out of here?” She asked.
He stopped, pointing upward. “I’m gonna scale some buildings.”
He disappeared around the corner just as the first policeman made it to the top of the stair case. “Valerie James?”
Valerie rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of this kind of thing. “Yeah, that’s me.”
THE END
Desired by the Alien Lord
Kahara Lords
Book 4
(Can be read as a standalone book)
By: Lindsay Blanc
Desired by the Alien Lord
MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance) Page 72
