Colliding Worlds Trilogy 01 - Collision (16 page)

“Yeah, but what about what’s best for her? For Apolo?”

Legian brought himself up on an elbow and ran his hand over her skin. “That’s not her way. Or his, for that matter.”

“Well, I don’t get it.”

“I agree. Especially now that I have found my
tahren
and discovered the depth of the bond.”

With that, he kissed her, at first hard and commanding, then becoming gentle and passionate. The heat of his body cloaked Sienna as he came over her, kissing her senseless, inhaling her moan.

He pulled himself back and rested on his knees. His fingers climbed up and into her shorts, and she lifted her arms over her head, enjoying the pleasure. Two fingers floated over her clit, and she rocked against him.

He pulled away and she pouted, until she saw that he had only done so to pull her shorts down, being extra careful with her leg in the brace. He brushed his fingers against her again. “Bente has quite the collection of magazines. Some of the women in these publications had more hair than this.”

She shrugged. “Wasn’t in the mood for carpeting anymore. Just kept an area rug by the entry way.”

He gave her a cockeyed look and pulled back enough to pull down his pants, freeing a very hard cock.

She giggled, and then gasped when he thrust into her with one shove. Legian gave her an up-to-no-good grin, and he began to pull out. But he didn’t get the chance because she grabbed his ass and lifted her thighs to pull him deeper into her. He needed no more encouragement as he took it from there, careful not to put any weight on her left leg. In another moment, when she inhaled his faint Sephian scent, she lost all rational thought. Legian had a knack at doing that to her.

Her pleasure was raw, intense as he surged into her over and over. Tension grew until she could no longer see, and she felt his muscles tighten. She took all of him and demanded more. The pressure, the friction, the passion. It brought with it a shared climax that consumed her. At that moment, they weren’t Sienna and Legian. They were one.

Tahren.

After a yell that could have (hopefully) been mistaken for an aggressive battle shout — not that she cared — they lay on the floor together in sweaty bliss. Once she caught her breath, she bit his shoulder.

“Hey,” he scolded without looking too bothered.

“Don’t you think we should put our pants back on? We’re kind of out in the open. And this is a public facility.”

“I’d worry more about what the com-tecs will do with the video. After watching our escapades, every Sephian on this base is going to be on a mission to find their own human.”

Her mouth dropped. “Shit. I forgot about the cameras.” She shoved at him, and he shrugged with a boyish grin. He leaned back on his heels. He grabbed her bandana and, with gentle hands, wiped her dry of his golden semen, slid her shorts into their rightful place, and then did the same with his.

He bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “Any videos of us will be quickly destroyed. I give you my word.”

“Well,” she replied sweetly. “I wouldn’t mind if we kept one video for a little in-room entertainment.”

“I like the way you think,” he murmured as he kissed her neck, and the heat in the room began to jack up again.

“No. Playtime is over. Get off, you big oaf. Time to get back to work.” She pushed him — or at least tried to push him — off her.

He rolled onto his side. “I happen to like where I was.”

“I like where you were, too. But I’ve got to get this body back into shape. And unless you can bang me back into shape, I have a lot of training to do.” Sienna straightened her clothes and pulled herself to her feet. Already the muscles in her bad leg were beginning to lock up. She had a sinking feeling tomorrow morning’s stretches were going to be pretty much the most God awful thing since the creation of a certain sing-songy purple dinosaur.

She bent her leg slowly until the muscles released.

“Your leg needs rest. Why don’t we stop for today?”

She spun to face him. “And if my leg never heals? What if I’m a cripple forever? What then, Legian?”

He jumped to his feet and walked over to her. “But you can’t rush it. Human healing takes time. Take it one step at a time.”

“But what if?”

Legian frowned like he didn’t understand.

“What if I never heal? What if I — ”

“Sienna. I would love it if you never stepped another foot in combat. My heart broke when I heard the base was attacked.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “The thought of losing you was too much, my
tahren
. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I understand, hon. I couldn’t handle losing you, either. But I’m your Achilles’ heel, and I always will be. Unless I learn how to fight with a bum leg, I’m a burden to both you and Apolo.”

“You are no one’s burden.” He nearly spat the words with vehemence.

“Apolo said it himself. The Draeken — and quite possibly the Americans — aren’t going to give me time to be ready. They’re not going to give any of us time to be ready. They’ll come at us sideways, when we least expect it. Whether we want it or not, we’re in this is war together.”

She kissed her lover softly on the lips. Then she took hold of each of his wrists and removed them from her shoulders. His arms hung loosely at his sides and she turned away. Uncaring of the pain in her leg, she hobbled over to the weapons rack and grabbed a long wooden stick and twirled it in her hand.

She’d seen the Draeken in action. They would never back down, never give up. There was only way to protect Earth from the Draeken. They would have to kill them all.

Sienna didn’t know what else to do as she stood there, leaning on her cane for support. So she took Alanis Morissette’s advice. She tucked one hand in her pocket. She figured it looked better than nervously chewing her nails.

She stood at Legian’s side, finding it impossible to stand still. Her adrenaline was too amped up. She’d been around plenty of military bigwigs in her day. And she’d been to some impressive events. But nothing compared to this. This one was huge. Like, bigger-than-the-
Guinness
-
Book
huge.

She glanced up at Legian to find him watching her with humor in his eyes.

“What?” she mouthed.

He bent down and kissed her cheek. “It’ll be fine,
tahren
,” he whispered in her ear.

Sienna pulled herself taller, knowing in her soul that he was right. Getting to stand at Apolo’s side, she was being afforded an incredible honor, even though some, if not most, of it was for no doubt for show. Similarly, Jax stood at Apolo’s other side. That way, when the general stepped off the ship, he’d see how they — Sephians and humans — could get along like one big happy (albeit dysfunctional) family. She glanced over at Apolo and Jax. Straight as soldiers, neither looked the least bit stressed.

They reminded her so much of Bobby right then. He’d been a lieutenant alongside Jax. But non-military personnel weren’t allowed to be in attendance at most military functions, let alone stand between the leader and his right hand officer. They hadn’t been married long enough for her to get to know many of his fellow officers. She’d met most through her job. Things had been so different back then.

A texting teen-aged driver had changed everything in an instant.

The doctors said Bobby never felt a thing. One second he was walking across a cross-walk. The next second, he was taken from her forever. Just an ordinary, mother-fucking accident. Sienna had quit her job the following week, sold their loft, and began construction on her cabin. She’d had enough of a world that no longer made sense. Had enough of the bullshit. She wanted to be alone. Alone was safe. Alone didn’t break her heart.

Then something happened that went against all the plans she’d made and all the promises she’d pledged to herself. Just when she thought she had reclaimed control, Legian came literally crashing into her life. Now she thanked God each and every day for not listening to her — for not giving her what she wanted — and for giving her what she needed. And what Legian needed.

The huge hangar doors began to open, jarring her from her reflections. The loud
whoomp-whoomp
of a large helicopter was dampened by the hard plastic-like walls. She watched in awe as the Super Stallion settled through the doors and onto the open ramp below. It dwarfed the Sephian ships, and she wondered if they were ready for the change touching down on the landing pad.

It seemed to take forever for the huge blades to stop moving and the hangar doors to close over the ramp, sealing everyone inside. The sudden silence was deafening. Sienna’s heart thumped in her chest as she willed herself to calm down. She’d told Apolo so many times that he should trust humans. Now he was giving them that chance. It was all so surreal.

Apolo was stuck behind the proverbial eight ball. His troops had been decimated. He’d lost touch with his inside guy. They didn’t stand a chance against the Draeken alone.
Time to improve the odds.
Everything teetered on the notion that the military would see things her way. Jax had been allowed to talk freely with his CO every day, but still, today would be a moment of reckoning. She prayed Jax’s general saw this as an opportunity to work together.

At least two dozen troops, all dressed in black fatigues with matching skull-and-crossbones emblems on their shoulders, poured out of the helicopter. The general came prepared. If he wanted to intimidate, it was working. Even though the Sephians still outnumbered them twenty to one, Sienna had no doubt the general had more than enough reinforcements waiting an arms-reach away to take the base.

The last of the group to emerge, the general stepped out of the helicopter, safely encircled by his soldiers. It was easy to recognize him, even in basic black fatigues there was a presence about him. An air of confidence that surrounded all strong leaders. If she had to fathom a guess, he wasn’t used to hearing the word, “no.”

He walked toward Apolo’s group, a wall of men flanking both sides. The general stepped with intent yet he came across laid back, as if he was attending a ribbon cutting ceremony rather than stepping on alien territory for the first time.

Sienna immediately recognized Buzzcut behind the general, and it hit her that this was Jax’s squad of Army Rangers. She could have sworn she’d also seen the general before. She had met many high-ranking officials through her life. But she couldn’t quite place exactly where she’d seen him.

The men stopped in accord several feet away.

Jax stepped forward and saluted. “Welcome to the Sephian base, General Jerrick, sir.”

Sienna jerked.
Jerrick?
That was Jax’s last name. Coincidence? No way. She furrowed her brow while she examined the general. Gray buzz cut, Jax’s was brown. Both had the same chocolate eyes. Same nose, same chin. The older man even had the same saunter. That was why the guy seemed so familiar. He had twenty or so years on his son, but the resemblance was uncanny.

Things just got a lot more interesting.

“To hell with protocol. Come here, Jackson, my boy.” The general pulled his son into a full embrace hug, and she couldn’t help but smile at the family reunion. There’d been too little love seen around the base lately. The embrace cut through the tension better than any words could do. He stepped back, but he held Jax’s arms as he gave him a full look-over. “How have they been treating you?”

“I have been treated fairly and with respect, sir.”

The general watched him for a moment, as if he were gauging the sincerity of Jax’s words. Then he nodded. “Good to hear.” He let go of his son and turned his attention directly on Apolo. “Now let’s get this dog-and-pony show started.”

Jax motioned to Apolo. “General Jerrick, this is Commander Apolo, leader of the Sephian force here on Earth.” Jax said the last word with a slight hesitation, like he’d never used it in an introduction before. Which he probably hadn’t. “Apolo, this is General Jeremiah Jerrick, commanding officer for all unidentified activities that take place within the United States. Officially, the general heads up the 51st Army division, which includes my Rangers squad.”

Apolo held an open hand out to the general and spoke in near-perfect English. “It is a pleasure to meet you, General. Having your son as our guest this past month has been a tremendous opportunity for us to learn from one another.” If this was the first time Apolo had learned of Jax and the general being related, he showed no surprise. The two men had likely spoken much more often than Sienna had realized.

The general returned a hearty handshake. “I look forward to our conversations. And I’ll warn you — I won’t beat around the bush. That’s not my style. I have plenty of questions. And I’m expecting even more answers. Starting with why my son tells me you say you come here in peace, but yet you set up a secret base on American soil without permission.”

Apolo gave a slight tilt of his head. “That is understandable, and it is a concern I would have if I were in your shoes. It was an error on our part, which I hope to rectify shortly. You see, we had very little time to study your world before being forced to make a decision. It was a difficult decision made by our great leader, Krysea, who remains on our home world of Sephia. She favored a more
discreet
approach. If she had known how advanced your race was, I assure you we would have reached out to you directly, before we touched down.”

“I can see your reasoning. If what Jax says is true, then your hand was forced. Your coming here will require some finesse on the PR front, make no doubt about that. But that is something I can help with. I assure you secrets will not be tolerated if there’s to be any hope for an alliance.”

“I would expect — and demand — as much. I demonstrated my commitment to our alliance today when I provided Jax the coordinates of our base so you could fly directly to us at any time. I will provide you with open, secure communications as well. As such, I am placing the safety of this base and its three hundred souls in your trust.”