MERCILESS : Alien Sci fi Romance (Invasive Species Control Unit Book 1)

by Kelly Goode

  ‘You should get dressed,’ Blake said, hoping his statement came across more as an order than a request.

  ‘I should,’ she replied, but made no attempt to move.

  One of them had to take charge of the situation, inject a dose of reality, but it took an immense amount of self-control just to speak.

  ‘Your shoulder will be fine,’ he said. ‘Fortunately the scratches aren’t deep, so will heal on their own. Keep taking those painkillers the doctor gave you.’

  ‘I will.’

  Blake walked towards the bathroom door and each step felt as if he was wading through mud. He didn’t want to leave.

  He had to leave.

  ‘I’ll let you get dressed,’ he said.

  ‘Ok.’

  ‘Still want to go out for dinner?’

  Blake’s eyes searched her face, looking for any sign or indication that she wanted him to stay. He’d been hoping for a better reaction than Carson shrugging her slim shoulders and he released a ragged exhale.

  ‘I’m not hungry anymore.’

  12

  Blake opened the bathroom door and hesitated over the threshold. Carson could tell he didn’t want to leave and she certainly didn’t want him to go.

  ‘If you’re not hungry, I’ll head home,’ he said.

  ‘Ok.’

  She wished she wouldn’t keep saying that. She wasn’t ok. This situation wasn’t ok. Blake’s eyes locked with hers and she saw his frustration reflected back at her. She felt the same way, but it seemed as if neither one of them wanted to admit it.

  ‘See you tomorrow, Carson.’

  ‘See you tomorrow, Blake.’

  ‘Ok then.’

  ‘Ok.’

  ‘Oh, fuck this.’

  Carson barely had time to catch her breath before Blake invaded her space and pulled her into his arms. His lips found hers and she responded as if she’d never been kissed - forcibly, intensely, and passionately.

  Carson pushed her fingers through his dark-blond hair, tugging at the long strands, desperately wanting him closer. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and tasted beer and mint on his breath. His massage had been agonisingly arousing and she wanted to show him exactly what affect he had on her.

  As Blake pulled her tighter against his chest, the bulge in his trousers pressed against her stomach and confirmed that he was as turned-on as she was. Carson wanted to feel him in her hand. She wanted to taste him so badly that it was only the sound of a phone that stopped her from reaching down to unzip his trousers.

  ‘Shit,’ Blake cursed, as he released his hold on her.

  ‘It’s not my phone,’ she said, and her throbbing lips felt too large for her face when she spoke. She noticed her hand shook when she reached up to touch them. The sensitive skin felt bruised, but not like the rest of her body. This injury was worth the pain.

  ‘It’s mine,’ he replied, looking at Carson regretfully. ‘I have to take this call.’

  Carson reached for him but he shook his head. His green eyes flashed with irritation before they levelled to calmness. She hated how fast he switched between emotions when she was still raging inside. Blake stepped out of the bathroom and let the door close behind him with a bang. His voice was too muffled behind the wood for her to make out the conversation, so she crossed to the door and took her black silk robe from the hook. She shed the towel, slipped the robe on, and tied the belt in a double knot for safety.

  ‘Stupid, stupid,’ she muttered as she tried to fix her sticky-up hair with a brush. The singed bits were not complying and she felt the sudden urge to cry.

  Blake had the decency to knock this time before he re-entered the bathroom.

  ‘Saved by the bell, I guess,’ he said, trying to make light of the situation.

  ‘Mmmm,’ she muttered, not trusting herself to speak.

  ‘I have to go back to HQ.’

  ‘Has something happened? Shall I come too?’

  ‘No,’ he answered, slightly quicker and sharper than she appreciated. His gaze flicked around the bathroom, almost as if he couldn’t bear to look at her.

  ‘It’s just a paperwork issue, Carson. There’s nothing for you to worry about. You need to rest. Doctor’s orders.’

  ‘Oh, ok.’

  There was that word again – ok - and she hated the disappointment within her tone.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he said, although he didn’t sound so sure. Did he really think one kiss would send her running for a new partner?

  Carson forced a smile even though her stomach churned.

  ‘Of course, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  Blake returned the smile, but she noticed it didn’t reach his eyes.

  ‘At least you don’t stink anymore. You’d better put some clothes on before you catch a cold.’

  Carson nodded in agreement although catching a cold was the least of her worries. Once she’d heard him walk down the stairs, and open and close the front door, she released the breath she’d been holding.

  Falling so eagerly into Blake’s arms was a mistake. She’d worked hard to keep a professional distance from the other agents within the unit and had nearly ruined her reputation with one little kiss. Ok, so maybe it had been more than a little kiss, probably the best kiss of her life, but she couldn’t afford to mix business with pleasure. Her barriers were going back into place and she wouldn’t let anyone break through them again.

  13

  ‘I told you to stop calling me,’ Blake hissed into his mobile phone as he sat on the balcony of his bedroom. He’d been enjoying an early morning cup of coffee, but the ringing of his phone had broken the silence that surrounded his home. There was a blanket of nothingness that he’d grown accustomed to feeling since purchasing the old farmhouse. There was no bird song, no scampering feet of fox or squirrel, no buzzing or clicking of insects on his land. He was left alone here, as if the wildlife sensed the danger of the numerous crumbling buildings and more so of the occupier.

  ‘I will call you whenever I please. Have you forgotten who you’re dealing with?’

  ‘What do you want?’ Blake replied, cursing the day he came to be in this man’s debt.

  ‘What I always want - information.’

  ‘Nothing’s changed since you contacted me last night. I don’t know where the injured jaktten went or who it was.’

  Blake took a swig of his coffee and pushed back the memory of what he’d been doing before the interruption. He closed his eyes but the sensations were too much to repress. He could still taste Carson’s lips against his. She’d surrendered so easily, and after nearly a year of restraint, he given in to his desires too. He would’ve taken her there and then in the bathroom had it not been for that damn phone call. He’d walked away from Carson on so many other occasions, occasions when he’d wanted to kiss her more than he’d wanted to breathe, but last night was different. He’d felt something inside him change. It was a feeling he’d usually blame on the lunar cycle. The full moon did strange things to jakttens. His home planet had seven, but he’d endured many other full moons and escaped unfazed. He was a fool not to admit the real reason for his temporary insanity.

  Fear.

  Walking into that warehouse and finding Carson cornered by that crazed alien was a kick to his chest; a real physical kick that stopped his heart. He could have intervened and rescued her. He would have gladly put himself between her and the desquamater, but he hesitated. Not because he didn’t want to help, but because he would have shifted forms and if Carson knew what he really was then their partnership would be over.

  Blake needed to keep a tighter rein on his fear. It made him weak. Like any mortal man in love, he now had an Achilles' heel. The problem was he was not a mortal man, and he’d used that word – love. He loved Carson and that was another kick in itself. He couldn’t afford to love anyone. His life was too complicated. Men, like the one on the other end of the phone, would ensure he never had a chance to live peacefully on Earth.

  �
�I need you to check something for me.’

  ‘What?’ Blake asked, dragging his mind away from Carson and back to his present problem.

  ‘That chief of yours keeps a list.’

  ‘What kind of list?’

  ‘A list of aliens that he doesn’t want the usual agents dealing with; ones he won’t input into the central computer system.’

  Blake finished the last of his coffee, but his mouth still felt dry. He cleared his throat, wondering if his name was on there.

  ‘Where is this list?’

  ‘That’s what I need you to find out.’

  ‘I’m supposed to report to HQ in an hour. I don’t have time to sniff around the chief’s office.’

  The man sighed down the phone.

  ‘I don’t care how you do it; just get me that damn list.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘The deal was no questions, remember? You do as you’re told and I keep my mouth shut. Unless you think your pretty partner is ready to hear the truth about you now?’

  Blake felt his anger spark and his inner-beast howl.

  ‘Keep her out of this. I’m warning you.’

  The man laughed. ‘I’m not scared of you, Blake. You’re forgetting who saved your arse when we crash-landed on this shit-hole planet and while you keep me supplied with information, I’ll keep quiet about your dirty little secret. From what I’ve seen, your girlfriend doesn’t strike me as the understanding type. She’s more likely to shoot you than accept your true nature.’

  Blake clenched his teeth in an attempt to stop his body from twitching. The muscles in his back contracted as he squeezed his fists together. He needed to calm down before the change took him further than he could recover from.

  ‘She is not my girlfriend,’ he replied as evenly as possible. ‘She’s an agent, like any other agent within the organisation I’m investigating for the jaktten council.’

  ‘Whatever you say, Blake. Just find that list and bring it to me. Trouble is brewing in the colony. You have forty-eight hours.’

  14

  Carson entered the office and gingerly settled into her chair. She was glad that the building was empty. She had a reputation to protect. She was Carson Towers, the super human. Yeah right. She ached like hell and had shuffled down Romford High Street like an old lady, hoping no one heard her huffing and puffing from the effort it took just to walk from the station to the office building they used as HQ. She checked the clock on the wall. It was a little before eight in the morning and as most of the other agents had worked through the night it was only Blake due in. Great – the two of them alone was not what she needed right now.

  Carson was sore. Sore all over. Sore in places she couldn’t even see, but mainly sore because the closest she’d come to having sex in months was rudely interrupted. She sighed and closed her eyes, not wanting to admit that the untimely phone call had probably saved her a world of embarrassment. You didn’t sleep with other agents. It was an unwritten rule.

  The Invasive Species Control Unit was small and funded in secret by the government. The purpose was to protect the public from any threat that arose from the alien invaders and to gather Intel about any future attacks. Carson was an effective enforcer and she didn’t have time for romantic involvements, especially not within the team as that could lead to unnecessary tension and mistakes, but that didn’t stop her craving the feel of Blake’s hands in her hair or remembering how his lips demanded she respond in kind.

  ‘You look better.’

  Carson flinched at hearing Blake’s voice in her ear. His breath caressed her lobe and heat warmed her cheeks. She opened her eyes to find him crouched beside her desk.

  ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’

  ‘Clearly. I wouldn’t let the chief catch you napping. You know what he’s like.’

  ‘I wasn’t asleep. I was thinking.’

  ‘About me?’ he asked, and his dimples deepened as he grinned.

  Blake had nice, straight teeth that looked extremely white against the contrasting dark stubble on his chin. Carson’s eyes focused on his mouth, remembering what the inside tasted like against her tongue.

  Don’t go there. Forget about last night.

  ‘I was thinking about breakfast actually,’ she lied.

  ‘You don’t eat breakfast,’ Blake replied suspiciously, causing Carson to raise her middle finger at him, which was childish but made him laugh. His dark-blond hair looked wilder than normal around his shoulders and his green eyes were slightly bloodshot.

  ‘Are you ok?’ she asked. ‘You look a little…different.’

  ‘I’m fine. It was a late night.’

  ‘Did that paperwork issue go on longer than you thought?’

  Blake arched an eyebrow. ‘That paperwork issue, of course. I was working on it all night.’

  Carson recognised a lie when she heard one. While she had no right to question what he did with his evenings, the fact he’d left her half naked to do that something, meant it better have been worth it. Or rather she had better be worth it.

  ‘Any news on the missing jaktten?’ she asked, switching to a safer subject so she could curb the jealousy that erupted when she thought about Blake choosing another woman’s company over hers.

  ‘Not yet,’ he replied, as he stood up and ruffled her short, scorched hair. ‘I hope this grows back soon, you look like a mad professor.’

  Carson self-consciously tried to flatten the uneven tufts, annoyed that he’d slipped so easily back into their old banter. She wanted to ask him if he regretted last night’s interruption, but the chief’s door opened and she felt a tingle of unease run down her spine.

  ‘HOLLOWAY – TOWERS – GET IN HERE NOW.’

  Carson looked at Blake for reassurance. A sudden bout of anxiety made her mouth feel as if it was full of cotton wool, but he gave her a relaxed smile and held out his hand.

  ‘Don’t worry, partner,’ he said. ‘I have your back.’

  Carson stood up stiffly, not taking Blake’s offered hand on principle. She let him go ahead of her, so he wouldn’t see her limp inside the office

  ‘Close the door behind you,’ Chief Melman barked, and Carson did as instructed.

  Tom Melman was a formidable character; short and stocky with thick black hair and matching moustache. He was hard but fair, or at least she hoped he would be on this occasion. His office was as pristine as his clothes. White shirt, green tie, and pressed black trousers. He held himself and his agents to a high standard, but that poised veneer shattered when he addressed her.

  ‘What the fuck have you done this time?’

  15

  ‘Sir, if you’ll just let me explain-’

  ‘Shut up, Blake. I’m talking to Carson.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Carson glared at Blake, expecting him to argue a little harder, but he shrugged his wide shoulders and folded his arms across his chest. So much for him having her back. It seemed she was facing this tirade on her own, so she straightened her spine and waited for the chief to continue with his lecture.

  ‘What the fuck were you thinking? You never go off on your own. I’ve told you this time and time again.’

  ‘I admit things got a little out of hand,’ she started to say, but he raised a hand to halt her explanation.

  ‘Only a little? You look like an oven baked turkey.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘And will you please sit down. It’s painful watching you wobble like that.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Sit,’ he snarled, and Carson immediately dropped into the chair opposite his desk. Blake took a position behind her and rested a hand lightly on her bandaged shoulder. The move was supposed to be comforting but it ignited a flame deep inside her stomach.

  ‘How on earth did he get away from you?’

  Carson inhaled deeply. ‘I thought the second target was sufficiently incapacitated while I took care of the desquamater I’d identified as living inside Malcolm Plummer. He was my priority
.’

  ‘But the second alien escaped. Some sort of shape-shifting beast, you say?’

  ‘Yes,’ she squeaked, and the shame caused her throat to constrict. ‘A jaktten.’

  Melman’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you know about jaktten?’

  ‘Nothing really, Blake told me-’

  ‘I was on route to assist,’ Blake interrupted. ‘Carson had it under control.’

  ‘I thought I already told you to shut it.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘It wasn’t Blake’s fault,’ Carson said. ‘I made a mistake and I’m sorry.’

  Melman studied her face and she tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

  ‘Tell me more about the desquamater inside Malcolm Plummer,’ he finally said. ‘What could possibly be so important that you risked your safety to neutralise him without reinforcements?’

  ‘He killed Liv Mitchell,’ she replied flatly. ‘He’s history.’

  The chief sighed and shook his head. ‘I thought as much. Blake, you’re dismissed. Email me your full report and then I expect you to report for assertiveness training next week. Carson is running rings around you again. You assured me you could handle her.’

  ‘But, sir-’

  ‘Go,’ he barked. ‘And close the door behind you.’

  Blake squeezed Carson’s shoulder in a silent goodbye as he left her alone to face the consequences of her actions. Once the door had opened and closed again, Chief Melman sat back in his chair and loosened his tie.

  ‘I hate these things,’ he said, and Carson felt the mood in the room instantly improve.

  ‘Be nice,’ she replied. ‘I bought you that tie for Christmas.’

  ‘Really?’

  He examined the pattern closely and eventually realised, as she had, that there were little sprigs of mistletoe dotted up and down the tie.

  ‘Not the wisest fashion choice for July,’ she replied, and stifled the grin that threatened to break out across her face.