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Harliss
The Watchers Series Book Two
Copyright Mindi Stewart 2018
Ebook Edition
Electronic book publication 2018
All rights reserved. Any violation of this will be prosecuted by the law.
Cover by Dar Albert
Edited by Em Petrova
Dedication
To Brian Crain, your music is so beautiful that it has inspired me and helped me get through a few writer’s blocks.
To Em Petrova who has talked me off the proverbial ledge when I get overwhelmed.
Thank you to Dar Albert for such rocking covers. I’m elated at what you do for me.
Thank you to my husband for knowing my writing means so much to me and never rolling his eyes when he sees how much I spend on my second love.
To my readers,
Harliss is a surprise to me. I came up with the name from a Facebook quiz by combining my parents’ names! So, I knew I’d have a character with that name, but I knew nothing else about him or her. Until she showed up and told me her story. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.
What happens when a wild Cougar mates a man who is new to emotions? Pure love.
When Being scientist Micah sees a Watcher named Harliss Tanielu, in his Exchange House Social Center, sparks fly. Big changes are happening fast to the once emotionless Being, and for the first time in his life, he’s losing control of everything. After their explosive mating, unexpected consequences forces Micah to protect his mate to save her life from hidden dangers within the walls of his own facility.
This story contains lots of purring, growling, fights for domination and changing eye colors. The love between these aliens is hot, explosive and life-changing (for the aliens). Read only if you can stand the heat.
Harliss
The Watchers Series Book Two
by
M. D. Stewart
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
Coming Soon
Other Books by the Author
About the Author
Chapter One
Micah turned to his once colleague and now friend. “I have just ordered supplies for the bar. Medical also requested a few items such as condoms. I will never understand why these are popular things, but humans insist. No one in this facility has any disease and most are on birth control of some sort.”
Avery shrugged before turning back to the bright flashing lights and loud dance music. The bodies moved against each other, grinding to the music. Since the testing facility was remodeled to accommodate the new Exchange House program, most of the main floor had been converted to expand and enlarge the social area.
“I am amazed at the change in our old home.” Avery turned to his boss and smiled. “I am also amazed at the change of our people in so short of a time. It is hard to remember being those emotionless people who had conducted human studies and were unable to produce children. I realize humans are a relatively new race compared to other humanoids throughout the universe, but they have evolved fairly quickly.” Both men were Beings, responsible for testing humans in the past but now oversaw the program that put Humans, Beings and Otronians together to get to know one another.
“Perhaps they have evolved because of their passions and that is why we found our answer with them and not the other races. Our race has tried to fix our issues for a very long time but humans held the answer with their deep passion. After all it was Mace and Abby, two humans, who created the first psy-bond in centuries. If not for them, our people would still be little more than robots.” Micah’s attention was shifted back to the people on the dance floor as the music switched to a slow song. The couples began pairing off.
“Humans have accepted the knowledge of our race on Earth better than expected. But I was surprised they were fairly receptive that Otronians had been here on Earth since the beginning of the evolution of humanity.” Avery raised his eyebrows as one said Otronian male picked up a human female and wrapped her legs around his waist. He followed their progress as they left the social area. Micah grinned and shook his head.
“Perhaps because they were known as The Watchers and were only on Earth to keep an eye on them to keep the peace and steer them away from the mistakes other humanoid species had made. They did not harm the humans and contributed to their culture. But this is why these Exchange Houses were set up to hopefully help ease tensions. We provide a safe place for The Beings, Otronians and humans to gather in small groups. They get to know one another and stop the hatred that seems to be second nature to humans.” Avery snickered at the comment as the Otronian male carried the human female out of sight to someplace more private.
“There goes one example of how we are stopping hatred.” Both Beings chuckled.
The beat of the song changed again. The various races of people began dancing to Robin Thicke’s most famous song. The lights were low, but his race came from a shadowy world, so they could see in near darkness. Their eyes were larger than humans’ and their skin was nearly snow white. Viewing people on the darkened dance floor was easy for him. His gaze roamed over the crowd, taking in everyone having a good time. He spied a couple in the corner clearly making out. He grinned. Some were having a better time than others. He sighed looking around the writhing bodies on the dance floor. He thought he would enjoy dancing very much but couldn’t bring himself to give in to the pulsing beat.
“Sometimes I wish I could let go of the mantle of leadership and enjoy myself. Many women avoid me because my eyes are black. Most Earth women especially find that disturbing saying it reminds them of mythological demons. I see these people enjoying themselves and I guess I am lonely.”
Avery slapped him on the shoulder in quiet understanding. Avery had just finished the series of injections to restore his emotions, but Micah had finished the injections almost a year prior to the announcement of the Exchange House program. His body had changed with the restoration of his normal hormonal levels. He could grow facial hair and his muscles had increased in mass. He talked with several men from other planets who helped him learn about exercising; lifting weights and boxing. It was something he enjoyed doing and he took out his frustrations in the new gym.
“We had more arrivals in the last few days to replace those who returned to the surface. I suppose most find it hard to live underground for the required year. Except for our people. Humans and Otronians are used to sunshine and fresh air.” Avery’s words had Micah looking around. This facility was hidden under the farms of Iowa so deep that no human technology could find its location. That was one reason it was one of the biggest facilities on US soil. It had the most participants in the program as well.”
Strict protocol was in place to pick the humans who wanted to participate. Rigorous background checks by almost every government agency was performed. From what Micah knew, even their financial background was gone over extensively. If they were in debt, they were turned down. This wasn’t a place to come and hide from debtors. If they had substantial amounts of money they were really scrutinized. It wasn’
t too much of a stretch to imagine hate groups giving money to someone who would come in and cause trouble or mass damage.
Although this was a mission to get to know each other, security inside the facility was also tight. Human military special forces and Otronian Hunters were always on patrol. Otronian men were huge, massively muscled and highly trained in combat and bounty hunting criminals. Not very many people would give them trouble. Part of the security was bringing the participants in without their knowing how to get here or leave. All exists were monitored by humans or Hunters along with cameras. Cameras and live feeds were in every hallway and outside every door of the living quarters, gym, lab and covered every inch of space at the social center. Humans and Beings monitored all cameras at all times.
Humans who were selected were given a mild sedative before leaving the processing center and then placed in transport vehicles with blackened windows. Once on the underground train tube, participants were given the life-stabilizing serum to cross the time pod lines. No living creature could cross time pod lines without it. It was an added layer of protection for all involved and living in the Exchange House.
All cell phones were confiscated, and their belongings searched with Being technology to make sure no bugs or GPS tracking devices were present. Safety was priority one. New cell phones were given to all participants when they arrived that allowed for them to be tracked by security personnel and for them to contact security immediately if needed. Calls outside to family and friends were monitored with technology that searched for code words and threats.
Micah looked at the time on his wrist commlink and noticed it was around 2:00 a.m. and he had another hour of duty before he could return to his living quarters. How these humans could stay up all night then sleep so late was beyond him. Maybe if you were out there having fun instead of standing here brooding, you might understand it better. He shook his head, knowing his inner musings were right. He was working even in his sleep.
He looked across the dance floor, his eyes drawn to an Otronian female. He wasn’t familiar with her, apparently, she had been brought in to replace one who had returned to the surface. As with all her race, she was exceptionally beautiful, that was nothing new to him, but she was smaller than most women from Otron. Her body was lithe, and she moved gracefully to the music. He took a deep breath and tied to look away. She danced with no one in particular, was in fact surrounded by other women. She would show them dance moves and they would imitate her movements.
His body was starting to respond. It was made worse when someone leaned in and talked into her ear, making her laugh. The sound went straight to his groin. She happened to look at him just as he was turning to leave. When their eyes met, his body froze to the spot. She smiled, and Micah knew he had to find out who she was before he lost his mind.
*****
Harliss Tanielu had arrived at the new Exchange Program and had nearly asked to leave. She was used to being in the outdoors on Otron helping her family with their farm. Then when she became a Watcher and she could come and go as she pleased. Being so far underground, it was a struggle to not have the wind in her face and the sunshine on her skin. Her only saving grace was meeting some of the women who had living quarters near hers. It was so hard to live away from her friends and family when she came to Earth, but she found she liked the people here, so digging down to find that same courage, she decided to give this place a chance too.
She was surprised she was accepted as a Watcher. Her instinct to find and cause trouble wasn’t a new discovery for anyone, especially the High Council on Otron. Part of being a successful Watcher was the ability to get along with others and just observe the inhabitants. She liked humans and got along well with them, but her impetuous nature could get her in trouble. Her mom always said she embraced the Cougar in her blood a little too much. But her Aunt Shaela had gone to bat for her and recommended she not only become a Watcher, but when the new Exchange House program opened, that she volunteer. She thought Aunt Shae was crazy, but hey, she mentioned the program before its inception, so her wicked cool abilities of foresight wasn’t to be ignored.
Her human friend Monica and Being friend Lily had told her about the social center on the main floor. She wasn’t sure if she’d like the dancing that humans did. She was used to the type of war dance the men did on Otron and the dancing in the social centers in the cities on her planet. But the beat of the humans’ music called to her blood and she found out she really loved to dance like humans. She decided she wanted to go again tonight when the social center started its evening hours. The human disc jockey always had a wide variety of music that kept the floor full of people. They served a limited number of alcoholic drinks, but she didn’t like the smell of it and it made the Cougar in her sneeze.
She stepped out of the shower and looked at her wardrobe and decided to just wear her jeans and a plain t-shirt. She wasn’t out to meet any men for sex. She liked sex, sure, but being stuck with the same people in a limited space for so long, it might make things uncomfortable later down the road. While the Wolf Clan always mated for life, most members of the Cougar Clan didn’t always settle down with one mate. It wasn’t to say they didn’t of course, but usually finding a mate for life wasn’t on the top of the priority list.
When she left her quarters, her friends were just coming down the hall to meet her. Monica was a tall, blue-eyed blonde who had been a model for a while before going to design school. Her parents were off somewhere in Colorado, probably living in separate homes doing things with other people. They hadn’t been a real married couple in ages. Monica and her brother were well known on the surface as spoiled rich kids who were on the news with their headline-grabbing exploits.
Lily had been assigned to the Iowa facility from one of the pods back east. She was rescued when mercenaries had been sent to America to find and destroy Mace Adams’s body while he lay in stasis. She had just finished her round of injections to replace her hormones and restore her emotions. Her eyes were a light shade of gray, strange for her race. Usually they were jewel toned.
When they arrived at the social area, the music hadn’t started yet, but it was getting crowded with all the races. So far, this experiment had become one big nightclub party experience. She looked around trying to spot the man she had spied the night before. He had been standing next to the entrance when their eyes met, but when she looked away for a second, he had been gone. He was dressed in a suit and tie, something no one else here did but on him it looked good. It was disconcerting to have such a reaction to someone from across the room. Her friends hadn’t seen him to even know who she was talking about.
“Come on, let’s get a table over here.” Monica grabbed her hand and dragged her to the far side of the room. She really wanted to get a table close to the entrance in case the mystery man returned. She was disappointed but followed her anyway. It wasn’t like she had a choice since the taller woman had a death grip on her hand.
“Why are we going way over here?” She hoped she didn’t sound as whiney to Monica as she did to her own ears. She just wanted to stand by the door. Maybe her friend had a better idea though. Her thoughts of not finding a man for sex returned, reminding her she’d sworn off sex with the men here. Well, maybe one man would be okay. One time.
She gave up fighting for control as Monica pulled her across the floor for two reasons. One, maybe being far away from the door would keep her from finding Mr. Hottie and two, she wasn’t able to extricate her hand from Monica’s death grip.
“It’s closer to the DJ! I want to flirt a little with him.” Seeing the man, Monica smiled and waved as he came up on the platform. He was a human male, thick horned-rimmed glasses and dark skin. His shaved head and button-down shirt seemed out of place from other DJs that Harliss was familiar with on the surface. But he was a nice guy and she hoped Monica didn’t break his heart. He returned her smile and started getting his station set up to play.
“I’ll be back, I didn’t eat this evening. I
’m going to order some food.” Harliss stood up knowing Monica wasn’t paying attention to her. She smiled at Lily, who rolled her eyes while pointing at Monica and shook her head. The lights started to dim as she reached the bar. She shook her head. She didn’t have a clue how much longer she’d stay at the Exchange House. It had been fun these last few weeks, but there was only so much partying a girl could do. She needed a job, something to keep her hands busy and mind occupied. On Otron, she was always working on her parent’s farm and as a Watcher on Earth, she was working at a women’s shelter.
The music started to thump, and people poured out on the floor. She glanced around to see Monica standing next to the DJ, a grin on her perfect face. She continued to her scan of the social area for Lily and saw she was doing a bump and grind with an Otronian man. Out of the corner of her eye Harliss saw him. He was wearing different clothes than his dress clothes from last night. Her breath stuck in her throat. He was wearing workout pants, tennis shoes and a tank top. Holy shit, he was built. He was also a Being. No hiding that creamy white skin. His back was to her, so she knew he didn’t notice her. He was talking to a few other men, when he placed a towel around his neck. Apparently, he had just left the gym. With muscles like that, he worked out a lot.
He turned to show his profile just as he smiled then laughed and Harliss nearly swallowed her tongue. A hand grabbed her arm, causing her to jump. “Here’s your food!” The bartender’s voice was raised to be heard over the music. “I tried to get your attention, but you were in another world.” He grinned and winked as he passed her the plate. She thanked him and turned to look where she had seen the man, but he was gone. Again.
*****
Micah was stressed and angry about the developments from the government. General Vargas had given the orders to capture the innocent Otronian, Aoki, as a result he had been brutalized. Micah thought Vargas should’ve been replaced and vocalized his opinion. Max Longstreet-Adams, the military liaison, was beside himself with the government letting Vargas stay over the Exchange House Program. It was simply a matter of the conservative government wanting to have total control of the program. Everyone would have to stay on top of their game. Any issues would have to be taken care of directly though Max’s mate, Derek and the Otronian High Council. It would put more work and pressure on Micah.
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