Invasion Earth

INVASION EARTH

Delroi Connection Book One

By

Loribelle Hunt

PUBLISHED BY:

Loribelle Hunt

Copyright 2013 Loribelle Hunt

Smashwords Edition

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the
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may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,
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prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above
publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author
acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various
products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used
without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not
authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark
owners.

Chapter One

Sergeant Major Laney Bradford stood on a
ledge cut into the cliff side, watching over the battlefield
through binoculars. The valley spread out before her, dust swirling
around troops and sending plumes into the air. Hazy heat shimmers
obstructed her field of vision. At least from this lofty position
the smells of battle didn’t assault her nostrils—the too old
latrines and lingering blood from the night before. The cordite
from discharged weapons drifting on the breezy updraft provided a
harsh enough reminder of the carnage.

Things weren’t going well. She snorted. That
was a laughable understatement. The Alliance army, her army, had
called for a temporary cease-fire and the enemy, in an odd show of
largess, had granted a small reprieve. Laney clenched her jaw and
resisted the urge stomp her feet in frustration. Acting like a
petulant child had never been her style and it wouldn’t get her far
anyway.

The Alliance had managed to hold back the
invaders from the mainland for a year, sacrificing outlying
territories here and there, but it was a wasted effort. The Delroi
were winning. They knew it. The Alliance knew it. Hell, everyone
knew it.

She studied the enemy’s array on the valley
floor below. The Alliance’s superior numbers were insignificant in
the face of the Delroi’s superior technology. Laney’s spies stole
it when they could but there was no way to put anything into
production in time to save the Alliance.

A truck lumbered to the front of the enemy’s
lines and she watched with apprehensive interest, a sinking feeling
in the pit of her stomach. This was something new
.
New
couldn’t be good. She heard the agitated murmurs of the others
around her and knew they’d reached the same conclusion. The
vehicle’s driver and team exited. They looked human—any one of them
could have passed for one of her soldiers, except the Delroi tended
to be a few inches taller than average and most of them didn’t keep
their hair cut to the short military precision demanded of the
Alliance’s male soldiers. They set to work quickly removing the
vehicle’s sides. They removed a tarp from the top to reveal its
contents. Laney felt more than heard the collective gasp of the
soldiers around her. Lowering the glasses, she reached for her
radio and turned to the man beside her.

While she admired the enemy’s ingenuity and
wished she could counteract it, dismay was uppermost in her mind.
She couldn’t even find it in herself to be angry. She’d fought too
long and too hard to create the Alliance to see it destroyed by
their own damned weapon. Damned being the operative word. Fear
added an unfamiliar tremble to her voice.

“General, that’s one of ours. We should order
a retreat and clear as much of the surrounding area as we can,” she
said.

He nodded. “They’ll want to discuss terms for
surrender, not retreat.”

She shrugged, hiding her unease behind her
usual cool and professional facade. The wishes of the Delroi were
not her immediate concern. She keyed the mike and sent the order to
move out down the chain of command.

The alien enemy had uncovered an experimental
bomb. Called the
Doomsayer
, it gave new vision to the
ancient Roman practice of salting the earth. If detonated, it would
poison the land for a hundred square miles, killing everything in
its path. A truly horrifying weapon and one that never should have
been created. She’d protested its creation, had been overruled. She
would do whatever was necessary to dismantle it now including
agreeing to a surrender and forcing her superiors, the generals
behind her, to accept it.

Laney trained the field glasses on the enemy
command center on the opposite cliff. While she watched, commotion
erupted in their ranks after someone pointed out the Alliance’s
preparation for retreat. A newly arrived general lifted his field
glasses, studied the valley floor, and then turned them on her.

Laney bit back a gasp. She had seen this one
before, and he was quite the specimen. He made her heart pound
wildly, had since the first time she’d spotted him. Tall, at least
six-foot-four with a broad chest she was certain was chiseled under
his tight tunic, he had long golden hair and a hard jaw. A shiver
worked down her spine and she shifted under the weight of his gaze
across the distance.

Snap out of it, Laney. He’s the enemy.
He was also gorgeous. What could lusting from afar hurt? Her radio
crackled to life and interrupted her thoughts. Handing it to the
general standing beside her, she continued watching the Delroi
general. She’d never met his gaze before, if this could count, and
was loath to break it. She wished she could tell what color his
eyes were, if they were as intense close up as his regard was at
this distance. Like a childish game of chicken, she refused to look
away first, somehow knew he felt the same way. Did kids play
chicken on his world? She shook her head and focused on the match
at hand.

“Sergeant Major,” a low voice called behind
her. She slowly lowered the binoculars, unwilling to break contact
first, and turned.

“Yes?” She sized up the circle of generals,
noting her old friend, General Bob Darren, at the center.

“They sent a message and a radio frequency.
He said he’ll only speak with you. You’re on,” Bob said, his face
solemn.

She reached for the radio he held out and
turned back to face the enemy command center, glasses zeroing in on
the blond.
He’s still watching
. As she stared, he lifted a
corresponding radio to his lips. They were full, firm. Totally
kissable. She scowled. Where the hell had that thought come from?
She hadn’t combined
male
and
kiss
in her thoughts in
longer than she could remember, not even the last time she’d seen
him. She lifted the radio, which now had the proper frequency,
forcing herself to focus on the situation at hand, and a gravelly
voice came over it.
His
voice.

“Are you ready to discuss terms?”

Laney took a deep breath, fighting her body’s
reaction to his voice, reminding herself sharply that she had an
audience who would wonder at her uneven breathing, at the flush she
felt on her cheeks and neck. “Yes. But first, we want to disperse
these armies and secure that weapon.”

“It will take several days to clear this
area.”

His tone was low and commanding. There was
something indefinable in it, something that made her heart thump
and her knees a little weak. His gaze intensified, focused solely
on her, and she swore she felt his big hands stroking her, urging
her to take him deep inside her. With a mental nudge, she shook it
off just as Bob gave her a concerned look.

“Yes,” she answered. Did she hear a tremble
in her voice? God, she hoped not. “Days which will give us time to
find a neutral location for talks and our leaders to join us.” She
thought he would refuse, but after several minutes, he nodded.

“We will secure your weapon and make
arrangements for talks on one of our ships in three days time.”

The generals around her murmured their
reluctant assent. It may have been because they were less willing
to argue with her if they refused than face the Prime Minister’s
disapproval over surrender. She didn’t care. She wasn’t risking the
lives of a hundred thousand soldiers for someone’s hubris.
“Fine.”

She lowered the binoculars, handed the radio
to one of the junior aides to make the arrangements, and escaped
the area. The enemy general’s rough voice still seemed to skim over
her skin, electrifying nerve endings that had held no life for
years. She felt an unaccustomed wetness between her legs and
hurried to her quarters. God, what was wrong with her? Of all the
damned luck, her libido came back to life for one of
them
.
The enemy.

Once inside the small space, she headed
through the cramped living area and into the tiny shower enclosure.
A small, vain privilege of rank perhaps, but she had never felt
gladder of it. Hurriedly, she stripped her uniform and boots off,
reaching in to turn on the spray. She let the hot water wash the
grime from her body while her hands traveled its length. She was
desperate for an orgasm, a longing she hadn’t felt in so long she
couldn’t remember the last time.

She shook as she fought the compulsion to
touch herself more intimately, tried to force his image, his voice
from her mind. Desperately, she tried to recall the face of her
last lover, of any lover, any man who turned her on like this, but
all she saw was the blond Delroi. Her hands clenched as she
struggled against the fire racing through her veins, the confusion
fogging her brain. Why did she feel so drawn, so pulled to him?
She’d seen him before and never had this extreme reaction. But
she’d never seen his eyes before, never been the object of a stare
so intense, a stare she swore she felt as strong fingers stroking
her, teasing her. And that voice when he asked her about discussing
terms, that voice had seemed to promise ecstasy in surrender. Her
sex spasmed with need, with
want
at the thought and she gave
up fighting against herself.

Eyes closed, she reached for her nipples,
imagining the enemy general’s big hands pinching the distended
flesh, providing just enough pain to make it pleasurable. She
squeezed and flicked at the hard tips, her breath coming in gasps.
One hand snuck between her legs. Her pussy creamed and she imagined
him licking at it, eating her until she came, and then plunging his
cock into her. She wanted him fast and hard and stroked her clit as
the fantasy gained momentum. She came with a cry; thankful the
pounding water muffled the sound, and sagged against the wall,
spent.

Several minutes later, Laney reached for the
soap and washed with brisk strokes. Her body burned with lingering
pleasure and embarrassment. Fantasizing about the enemy had never
been a problem for her before, and she had faced plenty of enemies
in her thirty-five years. It was mortifying, this attraction, and
oh so wrong. She sighed. With any luck at least, she would never
have to face
him
again.

* * *

General Alrik Torfa couldn’t believe his good
luck. When the aide brought news that Sergeant Major Laney
Bradford, was in the Alliance war party, he had rushed up to the
observation ledge. These battles were pointless. The Earth soldiers
could not prevail. They had managed to drag things out this long
because his people had an interest in not destroying this
world.

The Sergeant Major was the reason for the
humans’ success. Their most talented strategist, she obviously had
the soldiers’ admiration. They never quit and never surrendered.
The general in him admired such leadership, but the Delroi part of
his psyche was horrified the Earth leaders risked their women in
war. Women who represented the future of his people.

In a last ditch effort to bring things
peaceably to an end, he had seized one of their most powerful
weapons, a world destroyer, and drawn the battle to this almost
empty desert. If it had to be used, his scientists assured him they
could clean up the mess. Surely the Earth contingent, who didn’t
fully understand its enemy’s capabilities, would surrender rather
than test his determination.

But everything changed when he stepped on the
observation platform and got his first glimpse of Laney Bradford.
She
would
surrender. First her armies, and then her body.
His blood stirred at the thought, imagining her writhing in ecstasy
beneath him.

When she first spotted him from across the
valley, Alrik felt her gaze like a punch in the gut. His people
said he would know his
der’lan
, literally translated as mate
of the heart, by the avalanche of awareness and lust that hit at
first glance. It was a source of great amusement to his men that
their word for mate bore such a close resemblance to the human word
darlin’, a common term of endearment. Their amusement would turn
quickly to satisfaction though when they realized how accurate the
old tales were. He wasn’t really thinking about those things when
he saw her, though. Instead he felt her response to him and
hardened his resolve. He would have her complete surrender.