Accidental Slave to the Kralians: Sci-Fi Ménage Romance (The Complete Edition) Page 12

  When her boss turned to look at her, Avery relaxed. There was more than trust in his dark eyes. She could also see a sort of kindness that he’d never showed her before. She nodded at him and backed down. In truth, she was shocked by her own reaction. When Kryan and Aedar had first told her about the plague, she had felt sorry for them, and even for the other four races. Now, her empathy was almost completely gone. She should have known. This shouldn’t have been news to her. Sure, the aliens called the human females they kidnapped “pleasure slaves”, but they didn’t only keep them for pleasure. That was secondary.

  “I’m sorry… I… overreacted.” She turned away from the brothers. “I guess I knew all along. Deep down. I guess I just didn’t want to see it.”

  She sat back down, grabbed her cup of coffee, and made a point to keep her eyes on the dark, cold liquid as she swirled it around. Everything had gone so well until Kryan had mentioned the half alien, half human children. Now, all she wanted was to get out of there. Take a walk, maybe. She needed to distract herself with something, so she’d stop thinking about cute, innocent Grace and strong, determined Kaylee being forced into motherhood when they hadn’t chosen the time, nor the father.

  “Agent Tonkin…”

  The Captain’s voice startled her.

  “Can we continue, or do you need a break?”

  “No, no break. The faster we do this, the better.”

  Silence fell over the room. Even though Avery had agreed to go on, no one seemed willing to put in the effort anymore. Simon came back into the living room and grabbed the only available chair. He sat down in a corner, far from the others, as if he was just a spectator. Captain Shaw studied Kryan and Aedar for a moment, then sighed and went to sit behind his desk. He looked at the notes he’d taken in the past three hours, but he couldn’t quite focus on anything specific. At his request, Lisa had recorded the whole meeting.

  “We know where we stand,” he started in a calm, calculated voice. “It’s time to see what our options are.”

  “War,” Avery whispered. When everyone turned to look at her, she smiled bitterly and shrugged. “Don’t give me that look. It’s the obvious solution. This is an invasion. What? Do you suggest we should invite them to tea and ask them nicely to return our women with their children and leave us the hell alone?”

  Kryan almost snickered. He tried to hide his amusement by covering his mouth with his hand and coughing lightly.

  “You think that’s funny?” She shot him a murderous glance.

  He shook his head but didn’t say anything.

  Captain Shaw caught Kryan’s gaze and asked him seriously: “If that were our only option, would the Kralians support Earth? More than support… would they fight for Earth?”

  Kryan was still silent. Aedar exchanged a glance with him, then sighed deeply.

  “Yes, we would. But our help wouldn’t mean much. Humans don’t have the technology, nor the power and resources to wage war against four highly advanced alien races. Not even when they’re down to a few soldiers and only one spaceship each. The Hordaa wouldn’t make much of a difference.”

  “It’s true,” Kryan said. “War is not an option. We’re at a disadvantage, and not even the best strategies will tip the balance in our favor.”

  “There has to be a way…” Avery insisted. “Dreamland has been working on various weapons.” She turned to Chris and Zadie. “Right?”

  Chris nodded. “Yes. We’ve been working for years at developing weaponry that combines human technology with alien technology. Some of the results are impressive, but we’re nowhere near to building a spaceship anytime soon.”

  Zadie cocked an eyebrow, as if some interesting thought had just crossed her mind. She looked at Kryan, then at Aedar.

  “The blueprints of the Hordaa might help…”

  Aedar blinked in confusion. For a second, he thought he hadn’t heard right.

  “Did you just say what I think you said?”

  “Out of the question,” Kryan cut in.

  Zadie crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I believe this settles it. You don’t actually want to help us. You’re just wasting our time, selling us intel we can’t verify, and distracting our attention while the Alliance is planning God knows what.” She looked at Captain Shaw. “They’re not helping us. We’re helping them. They will go to the other ship captains and tell them everything they saw and heard here. Tomorrow, we’ll all be slaves on a worldwide plantation.”

  Shaw didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Zadie’s words had ticked Kryan off so bad that he was visibly shaking with anger.

  “That’s not how it is, and you know it. The Kralians haven’t done you any harm. Aside from some books and movies that paint aliens in a positive light, we haven’t done any damage to your planet, nor to your people. If we weren’t here, you’d be in a much dire situation, with four enemies knocking on your door and no ally to match them on your side. You’d be clueless. You wouldn’t even know what you know right now because my brother and I were nice enough to come and tell you. So, you know what, Zadie Childs?” He fixed her with a harsh, intense gaze. “The Kralians are doing more than anyone has ever done for you. No, you cannot have the blueprints of the Hordaa. If you want war, then you’ll have your war, and we will fight on your side. But we will not give Earth the blueprints to a technology that is so advanced that it might be its undoing. If nothing else, we’re doing you a favor.”

  No one said anything. To Kryan and Aedar, it was obvious now that no one had thought of it that way. Avery was the one to break the silence.

  “Call me an optimist, but with one spaceship on our side and with whatever Dreamland has been cooking in their labs, we might stand a chance, after all. Why not? Come on! We just have to figure out all the details.”

  “It’s your call,” Aedar whispered. “Earth is your home, so the final decision is yours. If that’s what you want, bring it up to the governments of your countries, and we’ll go from there.”

  “Wait.”

  Everyone turned to look at Lisa. The petite brown-haired woman pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, suddenly feeling uncomfortably conscious of herself.

  “War means…” She took another few seconds to look for the right words. “I mean… war is the end. Either ours, or theirs.”

  “Theirs, preferably,” said Avery.

  Lisa shook her head slowly. Her voice sounded small, yet determined.

  “But do you really understand what you’re suggesting? What you’re all suggesting? You’re talking about the complete destruction of four races that have already been hit by tragedy. I understand that they’re a threat to us. I do. Everything they’re doing is because they’re desperate. Think about it. What would we do if we were in their place? We’re all talking about war, strategies, and advantages… but what about ethics?”

  Avery smiled indulgently. Lisa was such a pure soul…

  “Do you think they thought about ethics when they infiltrated us and started kidnapping our people?”

  “We’re better than them… We have to be. That’s what makes us… human.”

  Avery sighed and rubbed her left temple, trying to chase away an incoming headache. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t contradict Lisa. Of course the IT girl was right. In other circumstances, maybe Avery would have made the same point. But Lisa hadn’t seen Grace and Kaylee in the brig of the Alliance ship.

  “She’s right,” Carter Bloom said. “We have to come up with at least another possibility, if not two or three. War should be Plan B, if not Plan Z.”

  Avery cocked an eyebrow. She couldn’t help throwing Lisa’s IT colleague a half sarcastic, half exasperated look.

  “Since when have you become a decent person, Bloomy?”

  Carter rolled his eyes but chose to ignore her.

  “Huh,” Avery thought. “Maybe I judged this one wrong.”

  “People, we’re going in circles.” Ben Shaw
checked his watch. “If no one has any other ideas, then I suggest we should all go to lunch and meet back here in an hour.”

  Aedar stood up. “I have an idea. Why don’t we try to go for the exact opposite of war?”

  “Peace?” Avery threw him an unconvinced glance.

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t understand. We’ve just decided we can’t invite the ship captains to tea and ask them to return our people and leave Earth.”

  “No, that would be a death sentence since it’s unlikely they will be able to find another habitable planet. Not much different from war. But, maybe… we could all live together here. Maybe we could share Terra.”

  Avery’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. A quick glance around the room revealed the others were just as shocked as she was. Ben Shaw was the first to find his voice.

  “You’re suggesting we should invite these people… these aliens… in with open arms? After all they’ve done to us?”

  Kryan pushed himself away from the desk he was leaning on and stepped next to his brother.

  “You’ve just said you want to be better than them. So, be better. War is death, for either you or them. Sending them away is also death. Only for them, this time. Living together? Middle ground. Balance. And you get to be the bigger person, so to speak.”

  “That… would have to come with a lot of forgiveness,” said Avery.

  “Forgiveness wouldn’t be the first of our concerns,” said the Captain. “I doubt there’s any way we can convince any of the ship captains to consider this alternative when they have already decided on a plan of action. And put it in motion. And never asked us for our opinion.” His last words held a hint of sarcasm.

  “There might be a way,” Aedar said. He looked at Avery as if he was just thinking of something. “The allergy, as Agent Tonkin called it…”

  “You guys said it first, not me.”

  “The allergy the Kralians have toward humans is not an allergy at all. It’s empathy. When we first came to your planet, we discovered than every time we touched a human, or sometimes even merely stepped into her personal space, we’d get glimpses of her thoughts and feelings. We could never harm you even if we wanted. There’s this connection…” His eyes were fixed on Avery now. “We can’t explain it.”

  “All right,” Shaw said. “But I’m not sure I’m following.”

  “What my brother is trying to say is that if we find out what makes us feel so connected to you, then maybe we can replicate it in the other four races. It might as well be a shot in the dark, but if there’s the slightest chance of success, we should try it.”

  The Captain smiled tensely. “I expect you’ve already researched this…”

  “We did. So far, our scientists haven’t gotten any conclusive results. However, there’s been a breakthrough recently…”

  Avery stiffened. She was their breakthrough. What she felt when Kryan and Aedar were pressed against her… the heat of their bodies, the sweet burns of their kisses… What they felt when they were inside her… Her face flared up with embarrassment, and she was glad everyone in the room was too entranced by the alien brothers to pay her any mind.

  Aedar cleared his throat. “New tests are being conducted in the lab of the Hordaa as we speak.”

  Avery could swear the Kralians felt it too. The tension, the electricity between them… She was so hot that she was sure she’d faint if she didn’t get some fresh air soon.

  “We’ll let you know when we have something… err… promising. Reliable.”

  Avery smiled. “It’s either promising or reliable. Make up your mind.”

  They were all too tired, both for serious talk and for banter. Captain Shaw decided lunch was in order, if they didn’t want to make things easier for their enemies by starving to death, and gave the SPG two free hours instead of one. Kryan and Aedar were dismissed until further notice, which neither of them appreciated. Three leaders under the same roof, working on the same case… never the most brilliant of ideas.

  CHAPTER TWO

  She had wanted to stay away. She had tried, too. Really tried. As she raised her hand to knock, Avery hesitated. She heard steps behind the door, then Kryan opened it, a playful smile on his lips, as if he’d sensed her coming.

  “Don’t look so smug,” she said.

  “Why not? You’re here. Didn’t you say earlier that we shouldn’t see each other outside of the set anymore?”

  “Yeah…”

  She walked past him, and saw Aedar in the living room, sipping wine while going through some notes. She could only guess he was working on his new novel.

  “Aedar, our little slave is here!”

  Avery flinched at Kryan’s stupid sense of humor. When Aedar looked up from his papers, she waved shyly, then sat down on the other edge of the sofa. She was doing her best to keep a clear head. On the one hand, she wanted nothing more than to slide next to him, knock those papers out of his hands, then straddle him and run her fingers through his disheveled black hair as she kissed him fiercely.

  “What the hell is wrong with me?” she scolded herself mentally. “Get a grip, idiot!”

  “Wine?”

  “No, thanks.”

  She did want a glass of wine, actually. But, no. She had to keep a clear head.

  Kryan grabbed his own glass, which he had earlier abandoned on the coffee table, and made himself comfortable in the nearest armchair.

  “So, how are things at the SPG?”

  Ben Shaw and his team had met again after lunch, and Avery had been stuck at HQ until well after dinner time. To their displeasure, Kryan and Aedar had been left out, and this was their chance to find out what the humans had been talking and plotting behind their backs.

  Avery shrugged. The last thing she wanted was to lose herself in another discussion about the SPG and the alien threat looming over everyone.

  “Everything is fine. We’re still… I mean, they are still wrapping their heads around the intel you so generously offered.”

  “They don’t trust us.” Aedar made a couple of notes on a page, then went to read the next one.

  “You can’t blame them.”

  Aedar nodded. For a few long minutes, they were all silent. Kryan was simply studying Avery while sipping his wine. His brother was too absorbed by his work to pay any attention to either of them.

  Avery crossed and uncrossed her legs. Why was she here? She should have tried harder to stay away. She didn’t want to talk about the SPG, nor about their possible plan to bring the aliens and the humans together. Then, why was she lounging on the Walsh brothers’ sofa like she was at home? Oh, right. Because she hadn’t resisted the pull. She had felt it all day, since the morning meeting at the SPG HQ. The strong desire to be in their presence, to be close to them, to seek their touch. There were moments when she felt like she was addicted to them. And it had been in one of those moments that she’d jumped in her car and drove to their house. Now, she was here, and she had two viable choices: either deny what she was feeling and make a run for it, pretend nothing was happening, or give in to what her body craved, jump their bones, and get her fix. At least, she’d sleep like a baby afterward, right? She was just a mature, adult woman taking what she wanted. Nothing to be ashamed of.

  However… there were some teensy-weensy issues with what Avery wanted. Not a man for a quick, harmless romp, but two. Not a one-night stand she’d later forget all about, but a profound connection whose implications she could barely understand. And the men… they were not your regular Joes. Two warrior aliens with purple skin. All they had to do was to remove the bracelets around their wrists, and she could see their true faces. Despite herself, Avery almost moaned at the thought. She did her best to suppress the needy sound, but Kryan’s silver eyes on her made it difficult to stay collected. She was pretty sure he could sense what was going on in her head, and if she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she didn’t mind it at all.

  �
�Avery…” Kryan leaned forward and placed his glass on the table. “Why are you here?”

  She took a deep breath.

  “Fuck it.”

  In a flash, she was all over him, climbing into his lap, pushing him against the armchair, her eager mouth seeking his lips. He chuckled into her desperate kiss, then wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She moaned shamelessly when she felt his hard cock through her jeans and his dress pants.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said breathlessly. “This is insane! I’ve gone mad!” She pulled at his shirt, then raised her arms to help him get rid of her T-shirt.

  “We should take this upstairs.”

  That was Aedar. Avery turned to him and flashed him a naughty smile.

  “No. Here. I like it here. You can watch.”

  Since when had Special Agent Avery Tonkin become so confident and bossy? She certainly wasn’t acting like a good, well-behaved pleasure slave. As she was pulling at Kryan’s clothes and ordering him to take off his bracelets so she could enjoy the true color of his skin, she felt like she was the mistress, and they were her pets. She rather liked this scenario more. A random thought crossed her mind…

  “Maybe all we need is a change of perspective…”

  Kryan winced as the tiny needles hidden inside the black leather bands retreated, leaving red marks in their wake. He looked up at her.