Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1)

by Stormy McKnight

  He had been warned that anyone from Cestori would take pleasure in torturing him, but they hadn’t warned him that this was the form it would take. Cali’s sweet touch was enough to get him talking if he wasn’t careful. The smell of some type of flower floated to his nose, and the slight twitching in his pants became a hard bulge.

  If he didn’t get control of himself, Cali would be bent over this couch. An image instantly popped into his head of her gloriously naked body. He could trail his hands up her shapely thighs, to massage the bouncing globes of her ass. There was a special spot his thumbs could rub…shaking his head just as he pictured the hidden spot between her thighs, he hastily grabbed the uniform and sat down. With jumpy movements, he draped the uniform to try and cover his lap.

  “Thank you. I can try it on later.” His voice came out much harsher than he would have liked.

  Cali seemed confused for a second, and then shot him a sympathetic look. “If you prefer your own garments, the solar cleaning of the shower will work on most materials. I’m sorry to say that your shirt was unsalvageable, but our computer could be programmed to make you a new one.”

  Drake was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying and didn’t respond.

  “I’m sorry, you must be tired after everything that has happened today. Would you rather I left you alone?” She turned to go to the door.

  “No,” he almost shouted the word and had to clear his throat. “Sorry, I’m having trouble regulating my voice.” He hoped she bought the excuse. “I would like it if you stayed.”

  Why? His mind was screaming at him. Why would you ask the crazy Calinae Edal to stay in your room? The answer came back in a flash. Because he didn’t believe she was crazy, and even though his body was out of control, he needed her to stay. She epitomized soft and sexy. Innocence and attitude.

  If anyone here was crazy it was him for putting himself through this torment.

  “Okay.” With a shy glance at him, she went to sit down.

  Drake gave a satisfied smile when she chose to sit next to him.

  After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “I’m curious, can you tell me what world The Reliant hails from?” Drake wondered if Cali would tell him the truth.

  “We hail from Cestori.” She answered him without hesitating, and Drake felt a deep satisfaction at Cali’s honesty.

  “I’m unfamiliar with this world. Can you tell me about it?” What he’d been told wasn’t entirely accurate so far, so maybe he would get a better idea from her.

  “Well. The planet is located on the outer edge of the Buffer Zone. The closest neighbors are planets we call Titus and Atheon. Cestori is about three-thousand miles wide. There are two main bodies of salt water, we call oceans that are broken by one large land mass. The majority of the population resides in cities, Thalesti being the main one. There are over twenty million people there alone.”

  Drake wanted to laugh. It was like listening to a dictionary. She didn’t put any personality into her description. “What is Cestori like,” he teased. “For the people living there I mean?”

  “Oh.” She laughed breathlessly and he was glad for the uniform covering his crotch. “We are advanced enough to get into space, as you can see, but there is so much more to our people. We have agriculture, technology, art, a logic based belief system…”

  Drake couldn’t help himself, even though Cali had warmed up to her topic, he interrupted. “Did you say ‘logic based’ belief system?”

  Cali smiled, “Yes. Our main belief system is based on logic. There are citizens who are more emotional, but they are in the minority. Starting in the primary education system and into our higher learning at the Academy, logic is taught. My people frown on emotions.”

  “What about laughter, happiness, love, and passion?” Drake’s eyes wandered to Cali’s mouth when he asked the last one.

  “It’s not that people from Cestori don’t feel emotions. We do, very strongly in fact. It’s that a decision wouldn’t be made based on those emotions. Some on Cestori battle constantly to keep their emotions in check.” Cali’s voice was whisper soft.

  Drake forced his eyes upward and was happy to see her gaze was centered on his mouth. Sitting for a moment watching her, Drake concluded that Calinae Edal was a mystery. Raised to function on logic, she’d turned into a romantic. She was scary sexy, but the way she blushed at every glance, told him she was somewhat innocent. Drake wanted nothing more than to solve the puzzle she presented, and that scared him. He knew nothing about her except what his intuition was telling him.

  Waiting for her eyes to meet his again, he delighted in the passion burning in the amber depths. A protective urge rose up in him when her cheeks bloomed with color, and she averted her gaze. Before he made a fool of himself and scared her in the process, he asked, “What about the governing body? Who makes decisions?”

  Cali licked her lips and Drake bit back a groan. “Cestori is a matriarchy. The population is governed by the lower courts for trivial things. The Council of Three makes all major decisions. My moth—” Cali coughed slightly, “That is, the leader of the council is a woman named Aicen Edal.”

  So it was true. Aicen Edal was her mother. The supreme leader of a planet ruled by women. That part of the warning was accurate at least. What was Cali doing here in the Buffer Zone? If she was being trained by her mother, why wasn’t she on Cestori? Also, why would Cali use her given name and not admit to being Aicen Edal’s daughter? There was something odd going on.

  “So your planet is matriarchal. Is that why the majority of the crewmembers I saw on my way here were women?” Drake had wondered at the disproportionate number of females as opposed to males on the ship. The only other men he had seen were the guards.

  “I suppose so, most of the positions that have any authority are held by women. The physical jobs are usually held by males. I never really thought about it before.” Cali looked at him under her lashes and leaned closer, “I don’t mean to change the subject, but may I ask you something?”

  Drake stiffened in his seat, instantly alert. “Of course. What would you like to know?” The damn smell of flowers intensified, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning toward her.

  “Can you tell me the truth?”

  Drake had been staring at her mouth, his focus on her lips and not the words. “Truth?” He was pretty sure she had said that.

  “Yes. The truth about what you remember.” Her voice held an edge to it and Drake forced himself to concentrate. It would seem his little flower had thorns.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cali forced some authority into her voice. It was almost impossible to concentrate with his gorgeous blue eyes and full mouth distracting her. They didn’t teach this at the Academy. Cali cracked a smile at the thought of an Academy class titled: How to Interrogate When You Are Sexually Attracted to The Interrogatee 101.

  “I’m not an idiot Drake.” Cali leaned back to put some space between them. She hadn’t realized she had leaned so far forward, and if she wasn’t careful she’d end up in his lap. “I know you weren’t telling the truth in medical. I didn’t press the issue because that would’ve resulted in your being thrown into a security holding cell. For some reason I trust you, and I want you to trust me as well.”

  She couldn’t help the slightly breathless quality to her voice as she said that. His nearness seemed to cause a wide variety of reactions that she had never experienced before. From her voice to the rate of her heartbeat, to sweaty palms. Her attraction to him hadn’t lessened in the hours since leaving the medical unit. If anything, it had increased.

  “I don’t think you’re an idiot,” Drake murmured. “In fact, I think you’re very intelligent.”

  “Then give me an honest answer,” she got the words out in a whispered rush. “Where are you from? What’s the name of your starship? What were you doing in the Buffer Zone?”

  Drake watched her with lidded eyes and Cali held her breath. Would he talk to her?

>   “My people value complete honesty, and I’m no different. I’ve told you the truth,” Drake insisted. “I don’t remember. The only thing I’ve considered since I woke up is there may be others from my ship in trouble. I might not be the only one who was left behind. Could you please scan for other stasis pods?”

  She hated seeing the shuttered look fall across his face because she knew it meant he was lying. His people probably did value honesty, because he obviously had no practice with deception. However, his concerns regarding other survivors were valid.

  Sighing at the position he was putting her in, she said, “I’ve already thought of other survivors and have Vareen scanning for the material of your pod. If any others are found, I’ll inform you right away.”

  “Thank you.”

  Cali was happy the tightness left Drake’s frame at her assurance they would search for other survivors. She suddenly had the thought that perhaps it was a life-partner he was looking for. The thought of Drake committed to another person made her a little crazy. On some level she knew feeling jealous was ridiculous. She didn’t know anything about Drake, and thanks to his pushing away her questions, she never would at this rate. There was no logical reason for her to be jealous if he was already taken.

  There was the heart of her problem. She wasn’t logical, she never had been and never would be. Some part of her she hadn’t known existed screamed that Drake was the life partner for her. She needed to know if he was already in a committed relationship, she had too much honor to take someone else’s mate.

  “Is it possible there might be someone special to you in a stasis pod?” she asked as innocently as possible.

  Drake looked confused, “I would imagine friends were with me. It’s possible one of them is out there.”

  “What about someone other than a friend?” Cali prodded.

  His face remained confused. Drake wasn’t getting the hint at all. She’d need to be direct it seems, trying to remember some of the terms she had learned other cultures used for a couple she blurted, “A life-partner perhaps? A wife? A lover? A mate?”

  Dawning flashed across his face and he hastened to say, “No. I don’t have anyone like that waiting for me. In a stasis pod or on my home world.”

  Cali wanted to be happy but eyed him suspiciously instead. “How would you know if that’s true? You said you can’t remember your ship or home world.”

  Drake paled, and remained silent.

  Cali decided to have mercy on him. “Never mind. For some reason you feel you can’t talk to me.” She made to stand up, “I’ll wait for you—”

  Before she could gain her feet, Drake had taken her hand and pulled her back down. Cali’s startled eyes flew to his.

  “Cali, I want to tell you.”

  The way he said her name caused a heat to flush over her skin. The hand holding hers was causing small thrills to run up her arm. “Then why won’t you?” her voice came out hushed.

  “I…can’t,” Drake looked pained. His thumb was brushing across her fingers. “I want you to know that I’m not dangerous. I just can’t tell you what you want to know.”

  “Okay, I understand.” Cali couldn’t believe she meant it too. Maybe it was the distracting heat of his fingers, but crazily enough she believed he wasn’t a danger, to the ship or crew. That would have to be enough for the moment. Her eyes met his and she felt her breath catch.

  “Why do you have to be so perfect?” he groaned, his face inches from hers.

  “I’m not—” Cali didn’t get any further because suddenly Drake’s lips were brushing against hers, her face cupped in his large hands. His body leaned over her until she was backed against the arm of the couch. It wasn’t the most comfortable angle to be sitting, but Cali didn’t mind. The excitement of being pressed into Drake washed all other concerns away. Her hands flew up to rest against his bare chest, her nails scoring lightly along the muscles.

  Cali had been kissed before, but never like this. The reaction she had to him was like something she’d read about. Drake’s lips pressed into hers, once and then again in the barest of touches, as if trying to gauge her acceptance. When she flicked a tongue out to trace his lips, Drake growled low in his throat. Cali’s fingers slid from his chest to tangle in the hair at his neck.

  All pretense of teasing evaporated and Drake’s mouth became demanding and hard. His tongue lashed out to duel with hers, causing tremors of excitement to run through her body. When Drake took her lower lip into his mouth and sucked, Cali followed suit and did the same to him.

  Her senses were alive like never before. The air in the room was thick and she could feel every inhalation of Drakes breath against her breasts. She strained against him yearning for more of something she couldn’t name. The friction when she rubbed her breasts against his chest caused an increased heaviness, and her poor back could attest to their normal heft. All Cali could think of was getting her uniform off, and finding out if that hard bulge pressing into her stomach was as impressive as it felt.

  “Cali,” Drake groaned against her mouth. “Sweet, Innocent.”

  “I’m sorry.” Cali felt bereft at the loss of his lips against hers. “Did I do something wrong?” Her lips felt swollen and there was an ache between her legs that demanded gratification.

  Drake pulled back. “Moons no, It’s not you. This desire I feel for you is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I just don’t want you to be hurt.”

  Cali’s heart swelled with happiness that he desired her, then crashed down when he said she would end up hurt.

  Looking into his troubled blue eyes, she whispered. “You think being intimate with me would end with bad feelings?”

  “Cali,” he kissed her lips, cheek and growled in her ear. “There are things about me—”

  “I don’t care. There are things about me you don’t know too.” Cali confessed. She tried to make eye contact, but Drake kept his face tucked against her neck.

  He took a racking breath. “Leave Cali, Before I can’t let you go.”

  Cali hesitated for one second and then slowly pulled herself out from under Drake’s body. She relished the feel of his chest against her breasts and then groaned when her thigh brushed his hard erection.

  She needed to get away and allow her emotional state to settle down. If she were to follow the path her feelings yelled at her to take, it wouldn’t change things for her. If she chose intimacy with him, it would only be for a short time. She needed to be able to walk away.

  Trying to be professional, even though it was ridiculous, Cali blurted, “As I said before, I’ll let you know if we find anything on our scans.”

  She strode to the door, pressed the console to open it and almost made it into the hallway when he spoke again.

  “Cali?” his voice was thick with an emotion Cali didn’t want to name just yet.

  Turning to see him standing with the uniform hanging by his side, she gasped. The hard bulge in his pants caused an answering throbbing in her clit. Her eyes flew to his face, her cheeks flaming. “Y-yes?”

  “I will give you total honesty when it comes to my intentions.” His voice was a low growl. “If you come back to these quarters, I will have you.”

  A thrill spiked out from her nipples, and her cleft got wetter at his words. Without answering, she bolted out the door and closed it behind her. The guards were ignoring her and Cali happily moved off down the hall. Her legs were slightly shaky, and Cali worried her cheeks were never going to cool off.

  “If you come back…I will have you.” The words were a promise and a threat all in one. She recognized both. Could she commit to an intimate relationship with someone she knew to be lying to her? It wasn’t as if she had put off physical intimacy, there were plenty of men willing to date her simply because she was Aicen Edal’s daughter. The problem came in that she knew the rules when dating a male from Cestori. Drake, however, offered the ultimate allure. He didn’t know who her mother was. He desired her for what he saw in front of him, C
alinae Edal. Captain of a spaceship, nothing more, but what was the end game? What were the rules?

  If you wait, you’ll miss out on another adventure before you have to go back to Cestori. Her conscience had argued. Why not make more exciting memories than what a Nebula looks like up close?

  Because a small part nagged back. She had enough to worry about. Crazy mother betrothing her to a friend she didn’t want to be betrothed too. Said friend chasing her all over the Buffer Zone, a crew to worry about, and friends sacrificing their careers to help her.

  Arrggg, Cali wanted to scream. Maybe a nice run in the gym would help clear her mind. Ha! Yeah right. Like she was a runner. Taking the lift to the command deck she immersed herself in command of the ship.

  She had a lot to think over. The problem with thinking is that sometimes you just run yourself in circles. Cali’s philosophy was, when in doubt, ask your friends. That is why she invited Vareen, Nellia, and Diandra to her rooms for dinner that night.

  After the food was cleared away, and over drinks, she told them what happened and Drake’s last words to her.

  “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?” Diandra had a strong look of displeasure, which surprised her. Diandra was very open-minded and Cali figured she would be the most supportive.

  “’If you come back to these quarters, I will have you.’ What else could he have meant, Diandra?” Vareen didn’t look surprised.

  “I don’t know.” Diandra put her drink on the table.

  Nellia muttered, “He meant exactly what he said. What to do about it is the question.”

  “I think it’s a huge mistake for you to see him again Cali,” Diandra spoke vehemently. “You’ll just have to let Vareen deal with him.”

  “Why shouldn’t Cali have a sexual relationship with him?” Vareen argued for her. “It’s not like he’s going anywhere. He hasn’t told us his home world or what spacecraft might be looking for him. When he does decide to tell us, we drop him off and return to Cestori.”

  Nellia must have spoken with Vareen about her plans to return home. It was good that her friends were on the same page.