Invasion Earth (19 page)

“I’m going.”

“No. You aren’t. It’s going to be hard enough
to convince them without you glowering over the proceedings. We
need to argue it out amongst ourselves. Don’t worry,” she added
with a cocky grin. “I never lose.”

She slipped out the door and down the
corridor while he stood rooted in place.
I never lose
. What
the hell did she mean by that? Had he made so much progress during
the week that she had decided being bonded to him was a win, and
not the end of her world? Or, did she intend to try to leave him?
Anger got him moving after her. There was no way he would let her
go.

Daggar stopped him before he caught up to
her. “I think we should let her handle it, brother.”

He was hesitant for the first time since his
youth. “She never loses,” he said, confused. “What do you think she
meant by that?”

“She intends to make them see reason. What
else?”

Alrik closed his eyes, willing the panic to
dissipate. Staring at the closed door she’d entered, he mumbled,
“What if she intends to leave me?”

It was such an alien idea, that mates might
separate, that Daggar looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

Chapter Fourteen

It was very late when she left the Council.
After she had a few hours sleep, she might feel triumphant at
wringing success from the endeavor. She and Bob had spent hours
convincing the skeptics, often one by one, that peace and an open
trade agreement were their best options. Backing out at this point,
or worse, attempting to assassinate one of their leaders, would
only end in more war and that was the last thing they could risk.
They were in enough trouble as it was, critically short of the
basics needed for survival.

Expecting to find their quarters dark and
silent, she was surprised when she tried to enter quietly and found
both brothers waiting for her. She was too tired for niceties and
held up a hand, interrupting their questions before they could
ask.

“It’s done. They’ve replaced the Prime
Minister, and there won’t be any more conspiracies.” She yawned and
looked with longing towards the other room and its large bed. “I’m
so tired I can’t think straight anymore.”

She watched the brothers exchange a long
look. Daggar nodded and rose from his chair. “I’ll go find your
General Darren. We can discuss the details later.”

Too tired to move, she stood in place as he
left and warily watched Alrik approach her. He hadn’t spoken a word
since her entrance and the expression on his face was remote and
distant. He stopped inches away, close but not touching.

“I’m really not up for fighting with you
right now,” she said, swaying on her feet a little.

She just wanted to sleep for about twelve
hours. She sat on the nearest surface, a wide ottoman next to the
couch. She unzipped her boots and removed them and her socks.
Twisting a little to one side, she unbuckled the straps on her gun
holster and removed it, placing it carefully on the floor. Then she
repeated the action on the other thigh and the knife joined it.

“The shirt next.” She looked up to see Alrik
watching her. He’d stepped back and stood with his arms crossed
over his chest. The emotional distance from earlier was gone, to be
replaced by a dominant predator. Her heart sped up and she pulled
the shirt off, let her bra drop next to it on the floor. Her
nipples hardened under his stare.

“Now the rest of it.”

Slowly, she came to her feet and opened the
button at the top of her pants. As she shoved them down she
stumbled and he caught her, one arm around her shoulders and the
other under her knees. He strode towards the other room as she
clung to his neck. It was a heady experience. No one had ever
carried her to bed before.

He sat her on the edge of the bed and removed
her panties. In seconds he had her naked and under the blanket.
Bemused, she watched him as he undressed and joined her.

“We’re fighting naked?” she joked.

“No, we’re making up naked,” he teased. She
was so charmed at seeing him relaxed she almost missed the rest.
Turning serious, he went on. “You said something earlier I was
wondering about.”

“What?” she prodded when he paused for a long
moment.

“You never lose.”

“Yeah. So?” Confused, she rolled to her side
and propped her head on one hand. He was upset because of that
comment? Did he think they were still plotting against him, or
worse, that
she
was?

He grew distant again and coolly met her
gaze. “You know I’ll never let you go.”

With a soft laugh, she leaned over his chest
and dropped a light kiss on his lips. “I wasn’t planning on going
anywhere. You aren’t what I thought you were—what I was afraid you
were.”

Laney shrugged. “So I won’t be a soldier
anymore. I have the opportunity to do something constructive
instead of destructive for the first time in years. No more wars,”
she added with longing.

She rolled onto her back, crossed her arms
under her head, and watched at the ceiling.

“I’m looking forward to that. And I’m not
letting you go either, Alrik. I told you. I never lose. Plus.” She
smiled. “I have a son to raise.”

“
We
have a son to raise.”

“We, then.” She rolled to her side again and
propped herself up on her elbow. “That’s not why I’m doing this. I
chose
you
, Alrik. Son or not. Peace or not.”

The mattress dipped when he rolled on top of
her. He cupped her face in his hands and smiled, the cold façade
replaced by the real man. “So we both win.”

“Oh,
yes
,” she sighed and reached to
pull him down to start the making up part.

About Loribelle Hunt

Loribelle is a former Army MP who traded in
her combat boots for motherhood, flip flops, and all the Diet Coke
she can drink. (She almost misses the combat boots.) She’s the
author of more than 20 books, herder of three energetic children,
and occasional sun worshipper.

Loribelle can be found on the web at
www.loribellehunt.com
,
http://www.facebook.com/loribelle.hunt
, or join her
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Delroi Connection:

Invasion Earth

Leaving Earth

Stolen Earth

Claiming Earth

Delroi Prophecy:

Freedom

Irresistible

Redemption

Excerpt from Leaving Earth: Delroi Connection
Book Two

Daggar Torfa, Overchief of the Warrior Caste
of the planet Delroi, wouldn’t say he was hiding. He stood in the
shadows on the observation deck in the Royal Palace keeping watch
over his sister in law, Laney. A job that should have belonged to
his brother, but the responsibility fell on Daggar while Alrik was
away looking into rumors of rebellion. Laney didn’t know he was
there and he didn’t feel the need to clue her in. She’d overreacted
already to their vigilance in watching over her, something that was
unavoidable since she carried the heir.

As he watched, the shuttle landed in the bay
and its ramp lowered. The baby was due in just a few weeks, two
months at most, and his growth in his mother’s womb was really
starting to be obvious. Laney waddled across the tarmac of the
landing bay to greet its disembarking passengers. He grinned. Not
that he’d ever tell her she was waddling. He valued his skin too
much.

If he felt the slightest pang of envy, he
rationalized it was natural and forced it away. What red-blooded
Delroi warrior didn’t want to see his
der’lan
, the mate of
his heart, heavy with his child? Unfortunately he had neither mate
nor impending fatherhood to look forward to.

The number of females born on Delroi dwindled
every year, a fact which had prompted them to invade Earth after
his scientists assured him the Delroi would find mates there. The
invasion of and subsequent treaty with the other planet had, in
large part, been successful. The other planet was recovering from
its long years of war with the help of the Delroi people. The trade
was a bonus, but the real triumph was the number of mated pairs
returning to Delroi in the last few months. The women of Earth may
save his planet after all. Not that things were going particularly
smoothly. The grumbling on Earth had died down to be replaced by
complaints on Delroi—that the process wasn’t fast enough, that the
Warrior caste benefited unequally.

To appease the people of Earth, the process
of merging their peoples
was
cautious going. His detractors
claimed it was too slow, purposefully dawdling, and the selection
process to rotate to their colonies on Earth was weighted in favor
of Daggar’s allies. At the same time, very few people had been
brought from Earth to Delroi and most of them were male.

But among today’s arriving Earth contingent
were two single women and he lurked in the shadows, watching with a
small seed of hope. He
felt
different, as if his life would
soon take another direction. He’d felt the same when his scientists
came to him with the discovery of Earth. Somehow he knew his mate
was going to step off this shuttle. Or maybe it was just a
desperate wish. Foolish hope. He wanted what his brother had, even
if he prayed his own mate would be more manageable.

Finally, people began to disembark. There
were several men, from Earth and Delroi, a few women escorted by
warriors and finally the two women Laney was waiting for. The first
was petite, pretty with long black hair. His gaze dismissed her and
zeroed in on the other one. He was overcome by a surge of lust so
intense he almost hit his knees.
This one
, his soul cried
out.

She spoke to the other woman as they walked
down the ramp and he drank her in with a groan. Blonde, tall,
curvy. She was dressed in no nonsense slacks and blouse and walked
with a military bearing he couldn’t deny. This was Laney’s friend,
the Army doctor who’d come to help deliver the first Delroi-Earth
child, a suspicion confirmed when she reached the other woman and
embraced her. Alrik would get a good laugh at his expense given how
much Daggar had teased him over the past few months about not being
able to control his independent, former-soldier mate. Instinct told
him this one wouldn’t be very obedient either. Would she at least
privately be sub to his dom? He hoped so.

He abandoned his plan to stay hidden and went
to the stairs, taking them two at a time down. When he reached the
landing bay floor, he paused and took a deep breath. He needed more
of a plan in mind than stalking over and pulling her into the
closest empty room. Something told him she’d cause a scene if he
tried.

It was Laney’s laughter, her obvious pleasure
in being reunited with her friends that spurred him into movement.
But it was the other one, the blonde doctor, who arrested his
attention. Her pinned-up hair was a pale, almost silvery blonde.
She was taller than her friends, only a couple inches shorter than
six feet. But her height in no way hid her curves, the soft
voluptuously feminine body designed to drive a man crazy. To drive
him crazy.

Her features were not the soft loveliness of
her brunette companion or the striking sharpness of Laney’s beauty.
Her forehead was too high, her nose too straight to be considered a
classic beauty. She was stunning all the same, with a calm regal
air and an appraising startling green gaze that flared with heat
when she met his eyes. To his disappointment she quickly suppressed
it and he wondered what it would take to get it back, to make her
lose control. He’d find out, and soon.

Laney met his gaze, arching one eyebrow and
shifting her gaze back and forth, as if acknowledging the
connection that sparked between him and her friend. How could she
miss it? He couldn’t peel his eyes off the woman.

“Daggar.” She inclined her head. “I didn’t
think we’d see you until dinner.”

“I had a free minute. Thought I’d stop by to
be introduced to your friend,” he said, reminding her without
asking for an introduction.

He didn’t want to appear overeager. Hell, who
was he kidding? Laney smiled and there was a mischievous gleam in
her eyes. She knew precisely what he was thinking. That was the
problem with Laney, he and Alrik had both discovered. She always
seemed to know exactly what they were up to.

“Of course,” she gestured to the short
brunette. “Britt Anderson. Daggar Torfa, Overchief of Delroi and my
brother-in-law.”

With a reserved smile the woman extended her
hand and grasped his long enough to be polite while he gave Laney a
disapproving frown. She hid a laugh with a cough.

“Britt is a wonderful painter. I think she’s
making this a working vacation. And,” she said, turning to indicate
the doctor. “This is Dr. Kendall Marks, another old friend who’s
come to deliver the baby.”

“Dr. Marks.”

When he clasped her hand, awareness surged
between them and he had to force himself to release her. His
surging cock protested the action, but she wrenched her arm back to
her side as if shocked. Her eyes were suspicious and her expression
became guarded.

“So, what do people call you?” she asked.

“My lord, usually.” He grinned. “But since
you’re a friend of Laney’s, I’m sure we will be friends too. Call
me Daggar.”

“Daggar seems too...informal.”

What had she meant to say? Familiar?
Intimate? He knew when he heard his name on her lips it would be
both familiar and intimate. He was surprised how much he wanted to
hear her use it, surprised at how much he yearned for her approval,
because he sensed she would withhold the use of his name until she
decided how she felt about him, until she didn’t find him
lacking.

It rankled a little that she didn’t
immediately fall at his feet, but it also pleased him that she was
a cautious woman. If she weren’t she could have easily been married
to some human man by now. The idea of her being with another man,
of belonging to another, filled him with fury. He tried to control
it, push it away. She was free, so
might have
wasn’t
important. He wasn’t so successful at keeping the anger out of his
eyes though and when he pinned her under his gaze, she flinched and
stepped back half a step. He needed to get away, get a grip on his
wild emotions.