Invasion Earth (7 page)

Alrik needed to distract her and thought of
the small rose tattoo on her breast. He found it sexy, but it had
been a surprise. 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.

Chapter Six

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.

“I think you would like that, my
der’lan
. Perhaps that is a game we’ll have to attempt soon.
For now though...” He straightened and pulled her to her feet, “I
have an earlier promise to fulfill.”

He spun her around and forced her to bend at
the waist, placing her palms flat against the surface of the table.
She remembered the visions he’d shared earlier started with a
spanking. No way in hell. She tried to stand, but he’d nudged her
legs as far apart as they would go with her pants trapped around
her thighs and he’d stepped between them. She was caged in. She
felt his cock against her ass and groaned. Maybe this wasn’t such a
bad thing.

Alrik took a step back and reined in his need
to pound into her. She shifted and he felt her confusion as he
placed his palm on the back of her neck. Slowly, he dragged it down
her spine enjoying the smooth feel of her skin, the way it heated
under his touch. He paused at the small of her back, taking a
moment to enjoy the way she looked in the submissive pose,
wondering if she would like what came next. His breath quickened.
He sure as hell would.

Finally he lifted his hand and lightly
slapped her ass. She gasped but otherwise gave nothing of her
reaction away. He tried it again, this time harder, but she stayed
still and silent. He frowned. His need for control didn’t stretch
to her not enjoying being disciplined. If she wasn’t into it, he’d
find another way. Before he could pursue that, she turned her head
to look over her shoulder at him arching one eyebrow in question.
Then she wiggled her ass. If that wasn’t an invitation, he didn’t
know what was.

The next slap was hard enough to leave a rosy
mark and she groaned, moving into the next stroke. His reason for
punishing her began to blur. Was this about her leaving his bed? Of
something else, something darker? She was his
der’lan
, but
she’d made it clear she wouldn’t surrender easily. She was still
his enemy and had been the worst of them. Possibly still was.

He slapped harder and harder until they were
both panting and he was afraid to go on. He didn’t want to hurt
her. Ever. But he felt his control slipping, the black rage over
what she’d done at Roses rising. She’d sunk to her elbows against
the table and he knew she was at her limit also. She looked over
her shoulder.

“Don’t stop, Alrik,” she whispered.
“Please...”

May the Gods help him, but he couldn’t go on
now. The rage had to be conquered before he attempted this again.
Instead he moved his hand between her legs, testing her channel. He
hoped she was ready because he honestly didn’t think he could hold
back. To his relief she was wet and hot and he didn’t even pause to
think about it before thrusting into her. She screamed, convulsing
around him as she came. It was all he needed to follow her into
orgasm and he bit her neck, not resisting the instinct to mark her,
as the hot jets of his come filled her, the past and what had
brought them to this place temporarily forgotten.