by Kayla Stonor
“You’ve written about your rehabilitation before, but why do you think HD-X has been so successful at indoctrinating young minds?”
“Well, you said it. Young minds. Believing in a cause validates your existence, your experience, the trauma of training, and then for the girls, losing a child. Believing becomes addictive and confronting those beliefs is scary, a trauma in itself, a mental withdrawal if you like. Remember, the members of Human Defense-X today are not the same people who hated the Qui Empire of three hundred years ago and who vowed to fight interspecies relations with their lives. Today’s members have been born out of institutionalized rape, and believe me, procedural insemination and forced pregnancy is a terrible violation for any woman. The offspring are then raised from their earliest years in a doctrine that taught us we were fighting the good cause. We had no opposing views to balance the argument. Resistance, disobedience, rebellion was crushed in childhood. We are victims of a fanatical terrorist regime. We need help, and rehabilitation, not incarceration.”
The audience seemed receptive, but stepping outside the news studio into the pouring rain, Ahnna couldn’t stop shaking. The sight of her son jumping out a ground vehicle and running towards her, his boots stomping out puddles like targeting missiles, chased the dark cobwebs of her past away. As Joseph wrapped his arms around her thighs, the rain stopped. Rays of sun squeezed through the clouds and hope bloomed anew. She watched the tall, dark handsome man walking towards her, her husband, mate, the father of her child, the best father she could have wanted for her son… her Qui.
He had stood by them both, through the good and bad, patiently working through Joseph’s distrust, supporting her when she’d broken down before her son’s obstinate hatred for the man she loved. Seven years of lies fed to her son could not be easily overturned, but slowly, steadily, the deprogramming drew back the beautiful boy she remembered. The psychologists warned her the teen years would test them the most, but Joseph paved the way for all HD-X children to follow.
Tierc leaned down and kissed her lips, pheromones igniting fires she had no chance of putting out until much later that night. “Well done.”
His words were warm, understated. Every time she put herself out there, she raised her profile, made her and her family a target for HD-X assassination attempts. Tierc called her a beacon of hope, a force for change. She could be no less and, despite the challenges ahead of them, they were together, building a family and a future. With her ferocious Qui lover at her side, they could face the perils of two universes and come out ahead of the game.
Ahnna smiled, felt a light kick, and pulled his hand down to press on her rounded belly. “Someone’s pleased to hear you.”
Thank you for reading Ceasefire: Team Orion Nebula!
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Other Books by Kayla Stonor
QUI TREATY COLLECTION
~ Each episode is a stand-alone romance
set within a wider saga ~
Under by Treaty~ (#1)
Release by Treaty ~ (#2)
Restrain by Treaty ~ (#3)
Hunted by Treaty ~ (#4)
Submit by Treaty ~ (#5)
Obsession by Treaty ~ (#6)
Betrayal by Treaty ~ (#7)
Atone By Treaty ~ (#8)
Books 2-5 are available in box set.
THE SURRENDER COLLECTION
~ All stand-alone novels ~
Under By Duress
Under By Treaty
Under By Vengeance
The Qui Treaty Collection is edited by
Travis Luedke
Adult Paranormal Romance ~ Urban Fantasy ~ Space Opera Romance
Try his amazing Angel 6.0 series.
About the Author
Writing under a pen name, Kayla Stonor writes sizzling erotic romance set in contemporary, sci-fi and fantasy settings. She loves to push the boundaries of romance with stories that cross into psychological thrillers and fantasy space opera.
Kayla’s romance can be dark and edgy, hot and wicked, punishing and uplifting. Some of her darker work is not for the faint-hearted, so if you find certain mature themes uncomfortable reading, check for warnings at the front of her books, or on her website, which carries book pages for all her work.
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