Invasion Earth (18 page)

She went back to their rooms and noticed
Jaxon was still gone. No one had been waiting when she’d left the
rooms earlier. She frowned. She’d grown accustomed to Jaxon’s
steady presence. It would have been nice to have him as a silent
witness earlier.

Inside the sitting area, she paced and fumed.
It was hard to say what made her angriest. That they assumed she’d
play a part in their plan? Execute the plan? Or that they were not
only willing to sacrifice her life, but the first real chance for
peace and recovery on Earth in a generation. The Delroi weren’t
just bringing unattached males. There were scientists and engineers
and doctors, food and supplies, and the technology to make more—all
things in desperately short supply.

She had been suspicious at first, too. No
doubt, generations of war bred it into her. But in the week she had
been on board their ship, she’d watched the Delroi closely. They
were a stern, perhaps severe race, true. But they were fair and
appeared to care well for their own. Alrik had shown her no
cruelty. She wasn’t altogether positive that, were their situations
reversed, she would have been capable of the same restraint.

And there was the child to consider. She knew
his chances would be better with his father’s people. Her own
couldn’t let go of their paranoia and suspicion long enough even to
test this peace.

She sighed, some of her anger ebbing when she
thought of Alrik. She had to stick to the plan. She’d let Alrik
know what was going on, then corner Bob. Find out how deep he was.
The real question was, were the Prime Minister’s plan to kill Alrik
and the Delroi rebel attack on Earth carried out by the same group?
It seemed too coincidental to her. If the rebels really wanted to
undermine the Torfas what better way than having a third party
assassinate him?

When she refused to assassinate him, her
former allies would tap someone else for the job. She could avoid
that by having them arrested, but the only authority she might have
to do that was Delroi. No, they needed to be dealt with another
way. She’d never approved of the Prime Minister’s appointment.
Played right maybe this was the chance to be rid of him. She had to
act quickly, though. Instinct told her they wouldn’t wait long for
her to kill Alrik or refuse to. She
would
refuse. There was
no use pretending to herself any longer she was here only for the
child. Sometime in the last week, she’d fallen hard for the enemy
warrior.

“Mate,” she whispered, testing the word on
her lips.

Where was he? He should have arrived by now.
Her heart pounded. Had they gone after him so soon? She slapped her
hand against the door panel and damned near sprinted to the landing
bay. The shuttle was there, but it was empty. Where the hell was
he? She’d try Daggar’s office. When she left the shuttle bay, she
was running, her sense of urgency and danger high.

The guard outside the door let her in without
questioning or announcing her. Finally some progress on the road to
trust? Daggar and Barak both stood by a view port and turned to
watch her enter.

“Where is Alrik?”

Daggar’s eyes were cold and angry. Suspicion
flashed across his face before he answered.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” he answered
dryly.

What was going on now? How would she know
where Alrik was? Her confusion must have shown.

“The bond, Laney,” Daggar said so softly she
almost missed it.

Oh. Right. She should have thought of that.
Did she want to use it to track him down? She looked at Barak and
Daggar and felt the heavy weight of their disapproval and distrust.
And reached for Alrik. A little backup never hurt.

At first she felt only swirling anger and
dark need. The force of it staggered her and she was distantly
aware of Daggar grabbing her elbow for support. She struggled
against the flood of emotion from Alrik, afraid she’d get sucked
under and be unable to find her way out. She felt as if she was
sinking deeper. Then she felt warmth surround her, felt herself
lifted and shielded. Alrik was with her, let her see him coming
down the corridor and then through the door. The connection was
severed.

He came to her, and setting his hands on her
shoulders, shook her a little. She met his gaze and recoiled at the
fury there.

“You went too deep, Laney.” Somehow he
managed to force the words through clenched teeth. “You can touch
the surface of my mind, but no more.”

She pressed her lips together to hold back
angry words of her own. How was she supposed to know that? It was
not as if she’d done it on purpose. She’d just reached out to find
him. This was all new to her. She didn’t deserve his fury because
she was inexperienced in mental bonds. Her eyes narrowed and she
jerked out of his grasp. He’d already been furious; now he was just
taking it out on her.
I don’t think so, bubba.
Well, there
was the remote possibility that his anger had been at her for
something else. He seemed to spend a lot of time irritated with
her.

She looked at him, noting the cold glint in
his eyes and the tension tightening his body. He crossed his arms
over his chest and glared down at her. She reached out but he kept
his mind closed. Shit
.

He jerked away and moved to the other side of
the room, but not before the connection between them opened again.
He paced, his fury a living thing between them. His presence in the
room was enough to accelerate her pulse and the anger in the air
seemed to exacerbate it. The nearer he came, the more her body
responded. Her breasts ached and her pussy clenched as if preparing
for the spasms of orgasm. When she thought she couldn’t stand the
build up of sexual tension anymore, he stood still.

His hooded gaze wandered over her body
possessively. Stopping inches from her, he loomed, big, masculine,
and sexy. Anger seemed to ooze from his pores and the combination
of it and lust held her stationary, her thighs trembling so hard
she was afraid to try to move.

“So, when are you supposed to do it?” he
asked.

Alrik couldn’t believe that after the week
they’d spent together, after discovering they were going to have a
child, she would conspire with her countrymen to kill him. There
was no denying the evidence though, gathered thanks to his
brother’s guarded nature. The ship’s sensors had been set to track
the movements of the entire Earth contingent and record
conversations in public areas.

Instead of the woman he expected to meet him
in the shuttle bay, his grim faced brother greeted him. He had
refused to accept the news, and had to hear and see the records for
himself. It was a blow. Under normal circumstances, conspiring to
kill a general was a death sentence, but nothing about this
situation was typical. She was
his
woman and he wasn’t
willing to give her up. Then there was his son. Besides, their
plans for this planet were nonnegotiable. They couldn’t afford the
damage or loss of life that would result from continued war.

“I feel your anger,” she said softly. “What
happened?” She looked up at him and laid a hand over his heart.
There were questions in her eyes. He grunted, not wanting to buy
the innocent act but willing it to be so.

“Why didn’t you meet my shuttle?” he
countered.

Her eyes shuttered and she stepped away,
pacing to the far wall and back. He felt her agitation and watched
her stiffen her spine as if reaching a difficult decision.

“I was on my way to meet it...”

“And?” he prodded.

She sighed and looked at the floor. With two
fingers, he lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. He saw
conflict there and hardened his resolve. He wouldn’t give her up,
but the sooner he got her home where he could ensure she got up to
no trouble the better.

“When are you supposed to kill me, Laney?” He
asked the question softly, surprised and angered at the pang of
grief he felt that she might try.

She gasped and jumped away, but he gripped
her upper arms and hauled her hard to his chest. He clenched his
jaw against the sensation of her body molded to his and pushed away
the urge to take her to the floor right there. Time for that later.
Right now, he needed answers.

“You actually believe I’d do it?” She looked
at him through damp lashes and tried to get free, anger and despair
shining in her eyes. “We didn’t settle a time. Did you want me to
say no? To give them an excuse to find someone willing?”

He continued to stare at her. Did he believe
her because he heard the ring of truth in her voice or because he
wanted it to be true?

“Tell me everything,” he said, wincing at the
harshness he heard in his voice. Her eyes narrowed and she ground
her back teeth.

“Why bother? If you’ve decided I’m involved
in some plot to kill you then what I say won’t matter, will
it?”

He gave her shoulders a gentle shake. “Don’t
push me, Laney.”

“Fine. Let me go. I want to sit down.”

He was reluctant to give up the contact and
compromised by taking her hand and pulling her to the small couch.
She glared at him when he didn’t release the hand she tugged. He
was aware of Barak and Daggar standing by the window. Waiting to
hear her explanation too. He didn’t acknowledge their presence but
looked at her pointedly, waiting for her to continue.

“Fine,” she huffed. He forced back a grin.
She was cute when she was angry.

“I was coming to meet your shuttle, and you
know where the corridor turns?” She waited for him to nod. “I heard
people whispering when I got there and stopped to see if I could
hear any of it. I’ve had Jaxon watching them all and there’s been
nothing suspicious. So when I heard what they were saying I stepped
up.
They
want me to kill you.
I
want to know if they
were involved in the attack at the test site.” She stared at the
wall a minute before shaking her head and continuing.

“And now we have a problem.” She glared at
him. “I’m
not
going to try to kill you, but they
will
try to get someone else. My people can’t afford the war that would
cause.”

Relief rushed through him. She wasn’t
involved in the conspiracy, and he owed her an apology. She was his
mate and he shouldn’t have jumped to the worst conclusion. “The
conversation is recorded and the computer’s tracking program shows
you there, but it can’t tell me what you’re thinking,” he
admitted.

“I can’t believe you thought I’d try to kill
you.” Her voice was low, but he heard the controlled anger and hurt
in it.

Unable to resist the temptation any longer,
Alrik’s hands slipped under her shirt while his lips trailed kisses
along the nape of her neck. Laney went rigid and glowered at
him.

“Let me show you how sorry I am,” he
whispered.

He felt the answering heat in her despite her
obvious wish to rebuff him. He nibbled on her ear, and she softened
enough to goad him further. His fingers feathered a soft trail up
the silky skin of her stomach, pausing to trace small circles on
the underside of her breasts. When he squeezed the pebbled tip of
one, she gasped.

“Your brother and spymaster are in the room,
Alrik. And I’m not done yelling at you.”

That was remedied easily enough. He laughed
softly. When he got her back to their rooms, she could bitch all
she liked. He looked forward to it—there was all that making up to
do afterward.

“I know.”

He stood and tugged her up. They had personal
business to attend to then he would deal with the other matter. A
quick series of raps hit the door. Damn
.
His men or Barak’s
reporting in no doubt.

“Is the cavalry coming to rescue you?” she
said sarcastically.

He snorted. The idea was absurd. She might
attempt to kill him under some unknown circumstances, but she would
never succeed.

The door slid open and Jaxon strode through,
followed by an embarrassed-looking General Darren. He exchanged a
questioning gaze with Laney’s Captain. To the casual observer he
appeared calm, but Alrik recognized the tension radiating from the
other man.

“I’m so sorry about this, Laney,” General
Darren said.

“You should be,” she answered coldly. “What
were you all thinking?”

“Don’t lump me in with that crowd. They only
cornered me because they thought I could get you involved.” He
snorted sourly. “After all these years, you’d think they would know
us both better.”

She smiled slightly in response. “You’d
think. So what do you suggest we do now, Bob?”

“Scott and the Prime Minister will have to be
replaced. I called the Council—we’ll have to convince them.”

Laney crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow.
“We? Why should I get further involved? I don’t have anything to do
with this. I don’t belong to the Alliance anymore, remember?”

He fidgeted and his gaze went from Alrik to
Daggar. “There’s some ... mumbling about this peace treaty. Some
people think it looks like an occupation.”

This time Alrik raised an eyebrow. They
viewed the new settlements as further invasion, did they? Somehow
he didn’t think they would like the alternative—all out war. Laney
must have felt his determination to get what the Delroi needed one
way or the other through their bond. Taking a deep breath, she
nodded at General Darren.

“Okay. We’ll persuade them. When?”

Darren straightened and released a pent up
breath. “Good. They should be arriving now.”

“Let’s get it over with, then.” She stepped
towards the door and Alrik fell in beside her with Daggar behind
him. Turning, she placed a hand on his chest to stop him. The
connection between them snapped to attention and he fought the
impulse to drag her down the corridor to their bedchamber.

“You can’t go,” she said and shook her
head.