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  Destin caressed the skin at her waist, wanting more. He had been with enough women on Earth to know that he was a good lover, but this felt different. He sucked in a breath when Sula’s hands move up under his shirt and the cool breeze coming off the ocean touched his heated skin.

  “Damn,” he muttered, briefly closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath.

  “I do know that you like this,” Sula stated with confidence. She slid her hand downward to press against the front of his pants. “The evidence of your desire shows that you do, unless you are built different from the Trivator and Usoleum men.”

  A hoarse chuckle escaped Destin and he pressed his hips forward so his cock, the ‘evidence’ that she was talking about, was pressed firmly against her hand. His eyebrow rose when he heard her startled breath and saw her eyes widen. Unable to resist, he captured her lips again, drinking deeply and challenging her to meet his desire with her own.

  He pressed her back against the transport. His hips moved back and forth in response to their growing passion. Her legs parted and he stepped between them. Sula broke their kiss with a gasp and leaned her head back against the clear glass. He ran his lips along her jaw to her neck. His hands slowly moved down to her hips and he pressed up against her.

  “Destin,” Sula moaned, gasping for breath. “I have never felt this way toward a man before. What are you doing to me?”

  It wasn’t so much her words, but the confusion in her voice that broke through the haze of desire and need engulfing his mind and body. Closing his eyes, he continued to press hot kisses along her neck, peppering them with the tip of his tongue and the scrape of his teeth even while he forced himself to start thinking again.

  This was neither the time nor the planet for this. Unfortunately, his body wasn’t willing to listen to rational thought. It was ready and willing to do it now and up against the side of the transport. He pressed one last, lingering kiss against her throat before he drew back and gazed down at her with eyes he knew showed his internal struggle.

  “You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?” he muttered, drawing in a long, hissing breath.

  “What… I do not understand. What is this easy?” Sula asked in a barely audible voice, blinking several times as if to clear her vision.

  Destin raised his hand and cupped her cheek. His gaze moved to her face as his thumb caressed her skin. He never thought about the color of skin before, but the contrast between his dark tan and her light blue coloring was arousing to him.

  “How many relationships have you had, Sula?” Destin asked, voicing a question he had never asked any of his previous lovers.

  “I…,” she frowned at him and shook her head. Her nose wrinkled slightly with an expression of distaste. “None. The men I have met are… not the type I have found to be attractive. They are generally crude, rude, and arrogant – what is the word I learned on your world? Oh, yes! Ignoramus! I truly liked that word when I learned its meaning.” She pursed her lips together and glared at him. “Of course, that word also perfectly describes my father and brothers most of the time. How my mother ever tolerated the lot of them without suffocating them is beyond me.”

  Destin swallowed the chuckle that replaced the expletive he was going to say. Sula was able to coldcock him once again without even being aware of it. Why was he surprised? Didn’t he already decide that this woman was different from any other woman he ever met? She was an alien princess, an innocent, and a fierce fighter – a lethal combination for his peace of mind. He had never met the first, had actively avoided the second and only knew the last.

  “You are dangerous without even knowing it,” he whispered, leaning forward to brush a tender kiss against her lips. “It has been a pleasure meeting you, Sula.”

  “You say that as if we will not see each other again,” Sula said, tilting her head and searching his face.

  Destin shook his head. “We won’t. Perhaps if things had been different.... Goodnight, Princess,” he said, stepping back and thrusting his hands into his pockets. “Make sure to safety-check your lodging before you go inside.”

  “I will,” Sula replied, turning to open the door of the transport before she remembered she was wearing his jacket. “Oh, here.”

  “Thanks,” Destin replied, reluctantly pulling a hand out of his pocket to reach for the leather jacket. His fingers brushed her hand in the exchange and he yanked the jacket toward him. “Be safe, Sula.”

  Sula nodded before she turned and climbed into the transport. Destin stepped back several feet, giving the alien vehicle room to take off. He saw her gaze down at him. He could see the confusion in her expression. Unable to stop himself, he raised his hand to wave farewell. She responded, her slender hand rising in response before she returned her attention to the controls.

  Destin stood on the beach for almost an hour, staring out at the ocean, his mind filled with regret. In another life, it might have been different, but with the challenges and new dangers now facing Earth, it was better to leave love and hope for someone else.

  “Someone who isn’t an ignoramus,” Destin murmured, tossing the word into the wind with a shake of his head and a chuckle when he remembered her saying she loved that word. “What a woman!” he added with a deep sigh.

  7

  “What’s the plan?” Destin asked Razor the next afternoon.

  Razor studied the small group of men sitting around the dining room table. The men, namely Hunter, Ajaska, and Dagger’s brother, Trig, had converged on Razor and Kali’s house shortly after noon. Destin had remained at the house when Razor took Kali and Ami over to Hunter’s place.

  Kali, Ami, and the other women would travel with Scout, Dagger, and Saber to the mountain village where Scout and Shana had a home. It was remote, and Razor and Hunter felt comfortable with the other men staying there to protect them.

  “I will journey to the Alliance Headquarters to report what happened here and reiterate the information we discovered on Dises V,” Razor said, glancing around at the small group. “Ajaska will journey with me before returning to his own world to address the council there.”

  “I will stay here,” Hunter replied, glancing at Trig. “The attack on our soil has shown we need to improve our defenses. Destin, Trig will journey with you back to your world.”

  “I’ve already alerted Cutter to the situation here. I’ve also dispatched additional Battle Cruisers to your world. We will not lose it now that we finally have peace and Earth’s reconstruction is progressing,” Razor stated with a grim expression. “Jag will command the deployment in space. The advanced technology of the Kassisans and the Elpidiosians as well as the added support of their military gives us a decisive edge over the Waxians and the Drethulans.”

  “I’m still set to leave tomorrow, aren’t I?” Destin asked.

  “Sooner. I’ve already alerted Jag,” Razor stated. “You and Trig leave in an hour.”

  Destin whistled under his breath. “It’s a good thing I told Kali and Ami goodbye this morning,” he muttered, clasping his hands together when he thought of another woman he wished he could see one more time before he left. “You guys don’t waste any time, do you?”

  “Not when it comes to dealing with those bastards,” Trig replied, sitting back in his chair. “I’ve dealt with both. I’d sooner kill them on sight. The females are just as bad as the males, so you can save any sympathy you might have. The Drethulan young have to be caged so they don’t kill each other. They’ve been known to cannibalize their siblings.”

  “From the information our informant shared, the Waxians just teach their young to kill,” Ajaska added with a shake of his head and rose from his chair. “I have to return to my world first, Razor. There are things that I must prepare for, as you know. I’ve given all the information that I have.”

  “I understand,” Razor said, rising from his seat as well. “Thank you, Ajaska. Safe journey.”

  “Remember, what I told you,” Ajaska murmured.

 
“We are taking precautions,” Razor assured Ajaska.

  Ajaska gave a brief nod to each man, his gaze lingering on Destin for a moment before he pulled it back to Razor. A strange sense of warning filled Destin and he regarded Razor’s stiff face. Something was going on that the two men were not sharing with the rest of them. He glanced down at the table before peeking out of the corner of his eye at Hunter. The same tense expression was on Hunter’s face.

  “It was good meeting you, Ajaska,” Destin commented, rising out of his chair and grasping the huge man’s hand. “Safe journeys.”

  “You as well, Destin,” Ajaska replied, staring into Destin’s face as if he wanted to say something more before he nodded. “You are a good man, Destin Parks. It was an honor to meet you.”

  Destin gave Ajaska a puzzled smile when the other man shook his hand in a firm grasp before releasing it and turning away. Destin could tell the meeting was over when Trig stood up and stretched. He grinned. Trig reminded him a lot of himself. Both of them had a problem with authority figures and didn’t like being cooped up for long. In fact, Trig was the only one of the group at Saber’s bachelor party who could keep up with him.

  “I’ll grab my stuff,” Destin said, turning to leave.

  “I’ll be waiting by the transport. We’ll head to the port and take a military cargo shuttle to the Star Raider,” Trig replied.

  Destin stepped into the room he had been using and glanced around to see if he had forgotten anything. His hand automatically moved to his chest to touch the medallion before he remembered that with all the turmoil from last night he forgot to get it from Sula. A part of him regretted the loss of it, but another part was glad that she had it. Perhaps he could get Sula to give it to Kali or Razor.

  At least he now had some new memories to replace it. Kali gave him a photo of Ami, Razor, and her. He could have a new medallion made. Kali looked so much like their mother when she was Kali’s age that it would be like having her there. Destin grabbed his duffel bag, slung it over his good shoulder, and exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Perhaps one day he would come back again, this time to stay.

  “Once the Earth is healed,” he whispered, thinking of all the work in progress.

  He would be damned if let another alien species tear up what he fought so hard for and sacrificed a part of his soul to achieve. Even though the humans did a pretty good job of destroying the Earth before the aliens arrived. Still, they certainly had plenty of violence left in them for the next seven years of massive fighting. The humans fought both the aliens and each other with a viciousness born from their tribal origins, seeking to conquer and retain what limited resources they could find instead of joining forces. In many ways, that helped the aliens win control, and once the humans were in hand, the walls between each human faction were broken down and they were forced to work together – for the most part. There were still battles left on Earth. Nothing could change human nature, after all.

  For a brief moment he wondered if the fighting would ever end, then he pushed away the negative, depressing thought. He didn’t have the time, the patience, or the luxury to dwell on the what-ifs. Still, he could not stop thinking ‘what if’ he had a beautiful, fiery, blue-skinned woman standing beside him? That was one what-if he would hold on to and tuck away for the long, lonely nights ahead of him.

  * * *

  *.*.*

  * * *

  Several hours later, Destin was gripping the bar next to the seat on the shuttle, trying to ignore Trig’s grin. He was seriously thinking of putting the heel of his boot in the Trivator’s mouth, but at the moment they were too firmly planted on the metal floor. He would have to wait until they were on the ship. If they had a workout room, he would give the grinning bastard a run for his money.

  “Not much of a flyer, are you?” Trig asked over the noise of the engines.

  “Yeah, at least not going into space,” Destin replied through gritted teeth. “I like flying, but not in space.”

  “Your planet does not have space travel?” Trig asked.

  Destin looked at the other man and shook his head. “We have it, but not like this. Well, sort of like this,” he tried to explain before relaxing his grip when the shuttle quit vibrating violently after they broke through the atmosphere. “We had spaceships, but they just went to the moon and back or around the planet. Nothing like this. You guys are going up and down into space more like how our airplanes did from city to city. I’ve only been on a plane once and that wasn’t until I was in college. I’ve always liked having my feet on the ground.”

  “Jordan told me a little about your world. It was not a good place for her. Though, ours has not been much better, it would appear,” Trig muttered, glancing at several warriors when they unstrapped and began checking on the cargo they were taking to the ship. He and Destin were riding on the last shuttle before the Star Raider departed. “This will be my first trip to your world. It will be interesting to see what it looks like.”

  Destin relaxed against the seat and studied Trig’s face. The other man’s expression was calm, but there was an intense air surrounding him, almost like a storm building. Destin learned at a young age how to read a person. The Trivators were more difficult, but not completely impossible. The nagging feeling that there was something else going on continued to bother him, like an itch you couldn’t quite reach.

  “What are you guys not telling me? I know about the Waxians and the Drethulans and their plans to attack Earth. But I can’t help but get the impression there is more to the story,” Destin said, watching Trig’s expression close and harden into an indifferent mask.

  Trig regarded him, holding his gaze as if contemplating what he was about to say. Destin waited. He saw the brief flicker in Trig’s eyes before the other man looked away. He knew then that he wouldn’t get all the answers to his questions. What Trig said next, though, would help seal the Trivator’s fate. If Trig tried to bullshit him, Destin would make sure the Trivator had limited access to anything going on. Trust was a delicate thread, especially when your life was connected to it. Destin was very, very careful who he allowed to hold it. Trig finally sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. The intense expression was back, but so was the caution – and a small measure of regret.

  “Whether you like it or not, you are stuck with me,” Trig stated in a hard tone. “There are reasons I’ve been assigned to you. There are also reasons why I can’t tell you certain things.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” Destin asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion at the cryptic statements.

  “Both,” Trig retorted with a slight grin. “The first is an order, the second just to piss you off and keep you on your toes, as Jordan would say.”

  “So, what can you tell me?” Destin asked with a raised eyebrow.

  The grin on Trig’s lips widened and his eyes sparkled with amusement. “That I’m glad I’m not you,” he replied, sitting back when the shuttle changed directions and the warriors returned to their seats.

  Destin shook his head in disgust, but felt his gut relax when he heard the truth in the other man’s voice and saw it in his eyes. “That tells me exactly nothing,” he muttered, gripping the bar again and leaning his head against the hull.

  “I know,” Trig replied, folding his arms across his chest.

  “God, I hate a smart-ass almost as much as I hate space travel,” Destin muttered.

  Several of the warriors chuckled at his sarcastic statement. Destin ignored them. Instead, he decided to focus on a mental vision of Sula’s beautiful face. If he was going to die, he would rather her face be the last thing he saw instead of Trig’s ugly and smug one.

  * * *

  *.*.*

  * * *

  Sula finished placing the rest of her clothing in the storage compartments. The quarters she was given were small but sufficient for her needs. Once again, her hand moved to the medallion around her neck and she absently stroked it as she picked up the tablet.

&nb
sp; There would be plenty of time on the voyage to do more research on Earth. She did an extensive amount the last time she was there, but that was different. She was instructed by her father to find out what Councilor Badrick was doing and to report those findings directly to him.

  She read through mountains of reports, many of them contradictory to the next. It was like trying to untangle a ball of string – every time she thought she was on the right path, she would have to start all over again. If not for the human nurse named Chelsea who she met shortly after arriving, she would not have known anything that was going on. Sula caught the human version of a cold and was miserable.

  She finally stopped being stubborn and went to the medical unit in the former US Army National Guard building. Chelsea was on duty at that time. The human nurse had an infectious humor and a compassionate heart which encouraged confidences. Sula had poured out her frustrations, coated with a significant amount of nasal congestion, concerning her research on Badrick. She had broken down in tears and unleashed into Chelsea’s sympathetic ear her frustration about the lack of cooperation from the Trivator forces, her annoyance with the human man that had glared at her like she was some form of pest, and admitted she just felt lousy. That was when she first learned of Badrick’s true treachery.

  Sula sank down on the bed in her living quarters. The file this time was not on Badrick and his betrayal; it was opened to Destin Parks. Before, she had only taken an ephemeral glance at his file. Badrick had made a few references to Destin that were less than glowing. After her initial introduction to Destin, she was more inclined to agree with Badrick – at least until she had learned the depths of Badrick’s deceit. Unfortunately, she only had one brief, tense meeting with Destin before she discovered what Badrick did. She was recalled before she could see or talk to Destin again.