The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance Book 1)

by Dianne Duvall

  When she would have sat beside him, he instead took her by the hips and settled her on his lap astride his thighs so she faced him.

  Her cheeks pinkened. He could tell she liked the position though. Her breathing changed. She even scooted a little closer, the heart of her almost but not quite touching his cock, which lengthened and hardened in his pants at the feel of her.

  “I’m too heavy,” she protested.

  “You’re as light as a gravi,” he murmured, any pain her slight weight caused offset by the pleasure she inspired. Reaching out, he fingered a soft lock of her hair and brushed it back over her shoulder.

  “What’s a gravi?”

  “It’s a mammal on Lasara that looks a bit like the meerkats we saw on television last night, except with larger ears like a rabbit’s.”

  She grinned.

  He shook his head. “You’re so beautiful, Lisa.”

  Her eyes lowered, betraying her disbelief. That and fear.

  He urged her closer until she rested against his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin. “Don’t be afraid,” he murmured. “I vow I will protect you and keep you safe.”

  She curled a hand around his neck, her fingers stroking him and sending little tingles down his back. “Now vow you’ll keep you safe. That will ease my fear.”

  He couldn’t do that. If he had to die to protect her, he would.

  She sighed.

  Taelon pressed a kiss to her hair. “Shall I distract you with a confession that may offend you?” he murmured.

  She straightened. And the shift in pressure against his hard cock nearly made him groan.

  “Okay,” she agreed with a slight smile.

  As though imparting a confidence, he whispered, “I am eager for our daughter to be born so I can make love with you.”

  Her breath caught. “I am, too. I mean, I’m not eager for the baby to be born because I’m actually terrified of giving birth. But I’m very eager to make love with you.”

  Settling his hands on her hips, he urged her tighter against him.

  Desire flared to life in her brown eyes. “You make me burn, Taelon.” She drew her tongue across her lip in a sensual stroke he could almost feel on his own. “You don’t even have to touch me to make me want you. All you have to do is look at me the way you are right now.”

  Lust ripped through him.

  Sliding his hands up her sides, he palmed her large breasts, skimmed his thumbs across the taut peaks that pressed against the light fabric of her tunic.

  She moaned. “Pregnancy seems to have made every part of me more sensitive.”

  He squeezed the mounds.

  She hissed in a breath. “That hurts and feels good all at the same time.”

  He stilled. “It hurts?” When he would’ve pulled his hands away, she covered them with her own and held them in place.

  “It’s the pregnancy. It makes my breasts tender.”

  The last thing Taelon wanted to do was hurt her. “What about here?” Once more, he skimmed his thumbs across the hard peaks of her breasts. “Does this hurt?”

  “No.”

  “What about this?” He delivered light pinches to her nipples.

  “Shit, that feels good.” The muscles in her slender thighs bunched as she ground against him.

  Pleasure shot through him. “Will achieving release without penetration cause you harm?” he asked, his voice deeper and hoarse with desire. If he couldn’t bury his cock deep inside her warm, willing body, he at least wanted to help her orgasm.

  “I don’t know.” She rocked her hips against him as he played with her breasts. “But it’s been a long time and I’m not going to last, so if we’re going to stop we should do it now.”

  Drek that. Leaning forward, he captured her lips in a heated kiss.

  She tasted so good. He had only meant to distract her. But now he needed her, needed to hold her, stroke her, feel her come apart in his arms. Needed to feel her wrap her arms around him as she did now and bury her fingers in his hair, rake her fingernails across his scalp.

  He deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue with his own as he continued to tease her breasts.

  “Taelon,” she breathed as she undulated in his arms.

  He slid one hand around and down her back, grabbing her beautiful bottom and helping her find a rhythm that sped his pulse and shortened her breath.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He growled. He had never wanted a woman so desperately… as though he would lose his sanity if he didn’t bury himself deep inside her soon.

  “More,” she pleaded, her words stoking the fire inside him. “I want you inside me.”

  Drek, he wanted that, too. But he wouldn’t risk harming her or their child. So he urged her to ride him harder until she stiffened and cried out in ecstasy.

  He clenched his teeth, close to release himself. But he refused to spill his seed in his pants like an untried boy.

  She slumped against him, her harsh breaths fanning his neck.

  Taelon smoothed his hand over her hair as he struggled to bring his body back under control.

  She straightened. Her lips were plumper and pinker from his kisses. Her eyes were heavy lidded and dark with satisfaction. “Now you.”

  She rested a hand on his chest. When she started to draw that hand down toward his trousers, inadvertently brushing his wounds and causing pain, he captured it in his and carried it to his lips.

  “The next time I find release,” he told her, “I want to be buried deep inside you.”

  She stared at him, desire flaring to life once more in her eyes. “That’s so hot.”

  He lowered their clasped hands to her belly. “How do you feel? Are you well?”

  She nodded. “My stomach got tight for a minute there. But it feels like it’s relaxing now.”

  A tiny foot or fist thumped against their hands.

  He frowned. “You don’t think the baby is aware of what just happened, do you?”

  “Sheesh, I hope not,” she said with such dismay that he laughed.

  Cupping her belly in both hands, he addressed the baby. “It’s your mother’s fault. She’s so drekking desirable that I can’t resist her.”

  Lisa laughed. “Don’t tell her that! You’re the one who started it.”

  He winked. “And you’re the one who finished.”

  Before she could respond, engine noises disrupted the quiet as vehicles pulled into the parking lot.

  Multiple vehicles.

  Sobering, they looked toward the window, then at each other.

  “That was fast,” she whispered as she clumsily scrambled off him and stood beside the bed.

  Taelon rose and crossed to one side of the window. Carefully moving the curtain an inch or two, he peeked outside.

  Three shiny black vehicles rolled to a stop in the parking lot. One blocked the entrance. The other two parked in a V formation in the center, nose to nose. Doors opened. Soldiers garbed all in black stepped out.

  “It’s them,” he murmured. “There are more this time. Three vehicles. Ten men. All armed.”

  “Do you recognize any of them?” she asked.

  “Agent Walker is with them. Looks like he’s in charge again. I see one more who was here with him before. And I think the one with the shaved head was at the base the night we escaped. The rest I don’t recognize.”

  Walker strode toward the motel office, two soldiers on his heels.

  “Any vampires in the mix?”

  “I don’t see Roland or Marcus. If any other vampires walk among them, I can’t tell them apart from the humans. But no clouds darken the sun, so I think it unlikely.”

  The motel clerk exited before they reached the door and spoke with them.

  Walker said something.

  The motel clerk nodded and waved toward the far end. Then he held one hand above his head as though describing someone’s height. He stared at Walker, his gaze darting to the tough-looking soldiers who accompanied him. Again he nod
ded and pointed toward Taelon and Lisa’s room.

  Walker turned away. Reaching up, he touched a black device on his shoulder and spoke into it. A moment later, he said something over his shoulder to the clerk.

  Eyes widening, the clerk nodded and hurried inside the motel office.

  Walker and the two soldiers strode back to the vehicles.

  Rustling drew Taelon’s attention away from the window.

  Lisa leaned down, stretching her arms around her belly, and tried to don her shoes.

  Taelon left the window and knelt before her. “We’re still taking the safe route,” he insisted, guiding her foot into the sneaker and swiftly tying the laces for her.

  She rested a small hand on his shoulder. “Can you make that many men not see us without hurting yourself?”

  He hoped he could but wasn’t certain. “Projecting an image into the part of the brain that interprets visual signals is easier that infiltrating the part of the brain that stores memories, then combing through present and past thoughts until I find the ones I seek.”

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  He guided her other foot into the second shoe. “I wouldn’t have lured the soldiers here if I thought I couldn’t.”

  “I’m still not hearing a yes or no.”

  Sighing, he rose. The concern he saw in her eyes touched him deeply, because he knew it was for him rather than herself. “I should be able to.”

  “But?”

  He picked up the rifle, returned to the window, and peered out. “I am weak.”

  “You aren’t weak, Taelon. You’re injured.”

  “That doesn’t make it any easier to admit.” He wanted her to see him as a strong male capable of protecting them.

  Outside, Walker led six soldiers to the room at the far end of the motel. The remaining three soldiers positioned themselves outside Taelon and Lisa’s room. “They’re breaching the other room now,” he said in a low voice that wouldn’t carry, “and have stationed three soldiers outside our door.”

  She moved to stand beside him and took his hand.

  Taelon laced his fingers through hers. “When they enter, remain silent. As soon as the doorway is clear, we’ll slip outside and determine which vehicle should carry us.”

  “Okay.”

  “Whatever happens, don’t speak.”

  “Okay. Please, be careful.”

  He nodded and pressed a kiss to her hand.

  They didn’t have long to wait.

  Taelon stepped back from the window as Walker approached their door.

  “Anything?” one of the soldiers guarding it asked.

  “No. And the room is clean, as though no one has stayed there.” He banged on the door. “DEA,” he called. “We’d like to ask you a few more questions.”

  Lisa’s grip tightened.

  “Are you sure they’re still in there?” another male asked.

  “They should be. The clerk said they pay him in cash every night. Go ahead and open it.”

  A key slid into the lock. The knob turned. Then the door swung open, admitting blindingly bright daylight.

  The sun’s rays dimmed as four bodies entered, guns at the ready.

  Every male’s face darkened as they glanced around.

  Walker swore.

  Another soldier stepped up beside him. “It’s empty. What the hell?”

  “Check the bathroom,” Walker ordered.

  The men ventured farther into the small room.

  As they did, Taelon eased past Walker, drawing Lisa with him.

  “It’s empty, too,” one of the men called. “But someone has been here recently. The shower and sink are still wet and the bedding is mussed.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Walker muttered.

  Taelon slipped through the doorway. Once outside, he tensed. He had succeeded in showing Walker and the other three what he wanted them to see. But now he would have to alter the visual input of six more men. This would be a greater test.

  Having found no one in the room at the far end, the soldiers were now working their way back to the motel office, checking every room. One soldier directed two to search behind the structure.

  Taelon strode across the parking lot to the vehicles parked in a V formation. Uncertain which would be the best one in which to hitch a ride, he waited beside them.

  Lisa nibbled her lower lip and leaned into his side.

  Releasing her hand, he wrapped his arm around her.

  Walker’s soldiers confirmed every room was empty. The two who had disappeared behind the motel returned and said they had found no evidence that anyone either hid behind the motel or had fled into the forest.

  The soldiers clustered together in a circle.

  “What do you want to do?” one asked. “Do you want to call Roland Warbrook and ask him to return?”

  The soldiers all exchanged a glance Taelon couldn’t identify.

  Did they fear the powerful vampire they worked for?

  Walker looked up at the bright sun that dominated the sky and shook his head. “Maybe tonight. We’ve yet to identify any network soldiers who are unaccounted for. So I’m still not sure this isn’t just a wild-goose chase the motel clerk created out of boredom.”

  “And we sure as hell don’t want to piss off Roland,” one soldier added.

  All nodded, increasing Taelon’s belief that they feared him. Were these men slaves to the vampires as in some of the stories Lisa had read?

  “I’ll report to Henderson when we get back to network headquarters and see what he thinks,” Walker said. “In the meantime, Donovan and Fredricks, I want you to stay here, inside that damn motel room”—he pointed to Taelon and Lisa’s room—“so the couple won’t be able to elude you if or when they return. If weird shit is going down here, I’m convinced they’re involved. Mercer and Howard, I want you to remain behind as well and find positions in the forest that will allow you see any and all who approach the motel. I’ll have supplies and ghillie suits delivered within the hour.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Any questions?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then let’s book.”

  The soldiers parted. Four strode toward the motel. The rest broke into twos and headed for the vehicles.

  Taelon followed Walker to the closest one. When Walker opened the driver’s door, Taelon opened the one behind it and urged Lisa to duck inside.

  Walker closed his door before Taelon could follow.

  Taelon paused, waiting for the second soldier to open his door. Then Taelon ducked inside, seated himself—coordinating his movements with the other man’s so the rocking of the vehicle wouldn’t spawn suspicion—and closed his door at the same time.

  Nevertheless, Agent Walker frowned and glanced in the rearview mirror. Twisting, he glanced over his shoulder.

  “What?” the second man asked as he drew a safety strap across his chest and fastened it.

  Walker looked through Taelon, not seeing him. “Nothing.” Facing forward, he turned a key that was already in the ignition and started the engine. Moments later, they rolled out of the parking lot and left the motel behind.

  Lisa rested a hand on Taelon’s knee.

  When he looked at her, she raised her eyebrows. Are you okay?

  Her thought carried to him clearly, making him wonder once more if the child she carried made the link between them so strong and effortless.

  He covered her hand and gave it a squeeze. Yes.

  Taelon had hoped the two men would engage in conversation that would lend him some clue regarding where Amiriska was being held. But they didn’t. Their job done, the two spoke of trivial matters. Then Walker turned a knob that filled the vehicle with music.

  Lisa leaned her head against his shoulder.

  The drive was not as long as he had expected, explaining how the soldiers had arrived at the motel so quickly.

  Soon they swung off the main road and onto a long narrow drive. At the end of it lay a tall fence i
nterrupted by a booth that was so small it could only hold two men. Beyond them lay a sprawling one-story brick structure that bore no windows.

  Agent Walker slowed the vehicle to a halt at the gate.

  A soldier in black stepped out of the booth, his hands loosely gripping a long firearm. He glanced at Walker and his man, then peered into the back seat. Retreating a few steps, he nodded respectfully to Walker. “Sir.”

  Walker nodded back.

  Leaning inside his booth, the soldier pressed a button.

  The gates slid open. Walker drove forward.

  A rectangle of asphalt preceded the nondescript building, numerous cars dotting it. Walker continued past them and followed a path that took them behind the building.

  Another patch of asphalt greeted them there, this one filled with vehicles that were all black like the one Walker drove. Behind them, another structure rose, taller than the first. Taelon peered through the large open doors of it and saw machines commonly used by Earth’s military—helicopters, planes, trucks, and tanks. More soldiers in black moved industriously around the grounds, each seeming to have a purpose.

  Walker parked the vehicle and cut the engine. The other two vehicles parked beside them.

  Stay here, Taelon told Lisa telepathically. When I exit, lie down and stay down until I return.

  Her hold on his knee tightened. Where are you going?

  To seek information.

  She shook her head. That building is probably full of these soldiers. You can’t make them all not see you!

  I won’t have to. He motioned to his clothing. I’m garbed as they are garbed. The only ones I have to keep from seeing me are Agent Walker and his team. If I walk in with them, everyone else who sees me will assume I’m with them.

  She bit her lip. It’s too dangerous.

  He handed her the rifle. I’m leaving the weapon with you.

  Walker opened his door and stepped out. Taelon waited until Walker moved to the nose of the vehicle, then opened his own door at the same time the second soldier did.

  Giving Lisa’s hand one last squeeze, he stepped out and closed the door in conjunction with soldier number two.