Coalition Reckoning

by Cassandra Chandler

  “Yeah,” Dane said. “But we have bigger problems.”

  Craig burst into the room. Amazingly, Brigid only let out a little ‘eep’.

  “Barbara.” Craig rushed to his mate and wrapped all four of his arms around her. “Is it really time?”

  “I think so,” she said.

  “But it’s early.” The worry in Craig’s voice was clear.

  Barbara just chuckled. “Earth food is incredibly nourishing. He wouldn’t be ready to emerge this soon otherwise.”

  “He?” Craig said.

  “Sounds like you’re getting a baby brother.” Dane fought back the emotion that surged in him.

  Henry was going to get a chance to know his brother—even if they were two totally different species. Dane wished he had been able to do the same with Marq.

  Craig looked over his shoulder at them and smiled. “You should probably leave now.”

  “Right,” Brigid said. “This is private.”

  “Sure,” Craig said. “That’s why.”

  A long, thin tentacle whipped out from Barbara’s chest. Craig caught it quickly, and said, “Somebody’s eager for a change of body chemistry.”

  He ran one of his hands along his stomach, revealing some sort of pocket built right into his skin.

  “You’re marsupials?” Brigid said.

  “Excuse me?” Barbara glared at her.

  Brigid quickly said, “It just means you have pouches that your young live in for a time while they’re growing. Until they’re ready to come out.”

  Barbara cocked her head to the side. “How do you know that?”

  “There are many ani—” Brigid cut off whatever she’d been about to say, and instead said, “life forms on Earth who reproduce that way.”

  “Really?” Barbara smiled broadly at Craig. “How did we not know that? Earth is truly amazing in its biodiversity.”

  “Perhaps we can discuss this later,” Craig said, struggling to hold on to the nestling’s appendage.

  As curious as Dane was about Lyrian reproduction, every instinct he possessed told him to get the hell out of there. He grabbed Brigid’s hand and pulled her to the door, hugging the wall to stay as far from the Lyrians as possible.

  “Holler if you need us,” he said.

  “There will be hollering.” Barbara grinned at them, but it just made him more eager to leave.

  Craig laughed. “And you should absolutely not come when you hear it.”

  Brigid sped up so that she was in front of Dane, tugging him out the door.

  Chapter Nine

  Brigid paced back and forth in her bedroom, trying to figure out which of her new housemates were aliens. Aliens!

  She suspected Vay was Sadirian, just from her odd mannerisms. From what Barbara had said about Earthlings and Sadirians “pair-bonding”, that meant that Henry was the Earthling in that couple.

  With Brendan and Kira, it wasn’t as easy to say. Kira was in training, and Brendan was making all this super-advanced technology. Brigid figured he was probably the alien there.

  And, of course, with her and Dane, she knew who the Earthling was.

  Not that they were a couple.

  She couldn’t date an alien. Could she?

  Vay was one of the sweetest people Brigid had ever met. Everyone she’d met at the lodge was nice. Even Barbara, the space-Sasquatch. The only person associated with Brendan that hadn’t been extremely welcoming and kind was Zemanni.

  Brigid froze, remembering how the scar around his neck had seemed to glow—and how she’d thought at the time that no one could survive such an injury. No one human.

  Oh my God. He’s an alien, too.

  Was he the same as Dane? Could Dane survive injuries like that?

  Brigid suppressed a shudder. She hoped she would never find out.

  As if all this wasn’t enough to process, there was a warship on the way. From the sound of things, the aliens on board the Reckoning were decidedly unfriendly.

  “What have I gotten myself into?” she whispered.

  At least all the strange howling had stopped. She hoped that Craig and Barbara—and their nestling—were okay.

  “This situation is so weird.”

  Someone knocked on the door, and she jumped. After taking a moment to calm herself, she called out, “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me.”

  Dane’s voice. She would recognize the low timbre anywhere now, even after such a short time. Her heart skipped and her skin tingled from the sound. Her brain might be conflicted, but her body seemed to be all-in where he was concerned.

  I can’t date an alien.

  She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Come in.”

  Dane stepped into her room. He closed the door behind him. For a few moments, they just stood there, staring at each other.

  “Were you ever going to tell me?” she said.

  His voice was even lower than usual when he replied. “I was hoping I’d never have to. Brendan said at dinner you’re only here for a couple of weeks. If I could’ve just kept my hands to myself, it wouldn’t have been an issue.”

  “You were going to walk away from…”

  She stopped, shaking her head. What exactly would he be walking away from?

  They had amazing chemistry, and everything she’d learned about him so far she loved—admired. She admired.

  Crazy timelines for other couples aside, there was no way she was ready to be throwing around the “L” word, even in her thoughts. She couldn’t believe how much it stung that he seemed so willing to drop everything that had passed between them, though.

  “A lot of the others are making this work,” he said. “But I know better than to try. I shouldn’t have let any of that stuff happen earlier, and I’m sorry for that.”

  “I’m not.” The words slipped out. She couldn’t bring herself to try to take them back.

  His lips parted slightly and he leaned away from the door. But then his expression hardened and he looked down.

  Some perverse part of her brain wouldn’t let this go. “If the others are making it work, why do you think we can’t?”

  “They only think they’re making it work,” he said. “They don’t know what the Coalition is willing to do to keep control. The lengths the High Council will go to. It’s better not to risk it.”

  “There’s always risk involved in living.”

  Point in case, her tossing the job she’d been trying for in Australia and taking this one instead. But she wouldn’t have met Dane or the others if she hadn’t taken Brendan up on his offer. She wouldn’t know that aliens were real. As scary as it was, she realized it was also exhilarating.

  “I’m glad I know,” she said. “About you and Vay and Brendan and the others. I… I want to help.” She made the decision as the words left her lips, resonating in her chest and making the skin on her face prickle.

  It was absolutely terrifying to put herself out there like that. She didn’t even know what she could do for them. She just knew she wanted to be part of this. Something meaningful, at last.

  If there was an invasion force coming or aliens walking among Earthlings, she wanted to know what to do to keep her planet safe. Her family, her friends.

  “Before you commit yourself to this, you need to know what we’re dealing with.” The color leached from Dane’s face. “What the others don’t even know.”

  “I’m listening,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm and level.

  “You can’t tell anyone. Not anyone here. Not anyone you know.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Swear it.” He pushed off from the door and stalked over to her, towering so close she could feel the heat from his body. “Swear it on whatever you hold most sacred.”

  She didn’t hesitate to respond. “I swear on my family. My sister. I won’t tell anyone. There’s nothing more important to me.”

  “Good. Then I know I can trust you with this.” He reached out and took her hands in his. “Y
ou’ll understand what’s really at stake.”

  A knot formed in her stomach. She just nodded, waiting for him to explain.

  “From what I’ve been able to find, my parents were miners in an asteroid field near Alpha Lyncis,” he said. “They lived in the dome the Coalition had built there. It was a small operation—just the two of them. They never logged a pair-bond, but kept volunteering to remain, even when their assignments were up.”

  He paused and cleared his throat before going on. “There was an accident at the site. When the Coalition arrived to help, the first thing they did was put them both in regen beds to scan them and heal their injuries.” He let out a mirthless laugh. “I can’t imagine how surprised the med-techs were to find that my mother was pregnant.”

  Brigid smiled, though something was nagging at the back of her mind. “Barbara said that Sadirians are genetically engineered.”

  Dane half-shrugged. “Sadirians might use maturation chambers, but physiologically, we’re almost identical to Earthlings. The Coalition does everything it can to control everything. The food we eat, the air we breathe. Right down to our DNA.”

  “What did they do?” she asked, though she was dreading the answer.

  “Coalition technology can do amazing things,” he said. “My parents received mind-wipes so they wouldn’t remember anything about their assignment together. And the med-techs transferred us to maturation chambers to finish our development.”

  The blood rushed from Brigid’s head. Of all the things she imagined, that had not been one of them.

  “Wait… ‘us’?” she said.

  Dane let out another of those sad laughs. “Yeah, that was the other surprise. I have a brother. A twin.”

  “What?” Brigid gasped.

  “Guess we have more in common than you thought.” His lip twitched up on one side. “Somehow, my brother and I were on the same space station at the same time. The genetic engineers don’t make clones. The High Council wants to preserve our biodiversity. When Marq and I saw each other, we knew there was a connection. It’s taken us years to figure this all out.”

  “That’s amazing…and terrible,” she said. “Do you ever get to see each other or talk?”

  “We’ve done our best to hide how similar we look so we can meet every once in a while.”

  “You must have been so happy when you met,” she said, trying to find some way to comfort him.

  “I was. But Marq is part of a group of elite fighters selected by the High Council to have his emotions suppressed.”

  “That’s…also awful,” she said.

  “Seeing me broke through Marq’s conditioning.” Dane’s expression finally brightened a bit. “It started us on the path to restoring his emotions and figuring out what other things the High Council has been doing—and they’ve done a hell of a lot worse than what they did to us.”

  “Does anyone else know about this?” she said.

  He let go of her hands, but only to grip her arms instead. “No one does—except Marq and now you.”

  “I can’t believe you’re trusting me with this.”

  “I have to. Because if you’re going to stay and help us, I won’t be able to stay away from you. I’m not strong enough. And you have to know what you’re risking. What they’re capable of. Wiping your memories is the least of what they could do to you. You can still walk away.”

  “No, I can’t,” she said. “This is my planet. I want to protect it.”

  Even if she didn’t want to stay involved to protect her family, hearing his story would have convinced her to help. No one should have had to go through that. The Coalition needed to be stopped.

  And Dane… Dane needed her. She could see it in his eyes, as much as she felt the answering need within her heart. Whether it was the weird pair-bonding between Earthlings and Sadirians or fate or whatever, she’d never been more certain of anything.

  They belonged together.

  He let out a little laugh and shook his head. “Beautiful and brave. I don’t know that I deserve you.”

  “Life is full of risks,” she said. “And this—you—are worth it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Dane was stunned for a moment. He had always been treated as a tool—like all his fellow soldiers. No one had ever really wanted him before.

  Until Brigid.

  She reached up and gripped his face, pulling him down for a kiss that shook him to his soul. The passion they’d shared earlier was nothing compared to this. They devoured each other, tongues dancing, breath mingling.

  He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist tight. Staggering forward a few paces, he reached the bed and fell onto it, careful not to crush her with his weight.

  Having her beneath him felt too good. Too right.

  He thrust against her as she groaned, squeezing her legs around him even tighter, holding him closer. They slid up the bed together, lips still exploring, limbs tangling. When they reached the pillows, he reared back, but only long enough to pull his sweater and the undershirt he wore beneath it over his head and toss them away.

  Brigid hissed in a breath, her hands suddenly on his chest and abdomen. His skin rose in goosebumps as she raked him with her nails.

  He pinned her down again, letting more of his weight press her into the mattress, claiming her mouth once more. Her hands didn’t stop moving.

  She trailed her fingertips up his back, mixing light scratches with soothing touch. He’d never felt anything like the arcs of electric pleasure that raced along his nerve endings from what she was doing.

  She released the lock her legs held on his waist, wrapping them around his thighs instead. Her hands slid down beneath his waistband, clutching his ass as he thrust against her.

  His dick was throbbing almost painfully. He was afraid he’d climax any moment. He wanted this to last.

  He shifted his weight onto his elbow, reaching for one of her arms to pull it away and try to slow things down, but she used the opportunity to push on his chest and roll him onto his back. He went along with it, letting out a low moan as she straddled him and sat up, pressing her core against his dick.

  Closing his eyes, he fought to get his body at least a little bit under control. Then he heard the soft rasp of her clothes against her skin, and the thump of whatever she’d removed hitting the floor.

  He almost didn’t want to look. It would make resisting that much harder. Instead, he ran his shaking hands over her hips, sliding them up to her waist. All he met was smooth, warm skin.

  He had to see. Opening his eyes, he found her staring at him, lips swollen, eyes wide, as if she was as awestruck by this connection as he was. That look kept him grounded, helped him back away from the edge they were both hurtling toward.

  He reached up to cup her cheek, sitting up and bringing their chests together. The soft fabric of her bra rubbed against his chest as he kissed her slowly, deeply.

  She shifted away from him a bit so she could angle her arms behind her and unclasp the undergarment. He felt her wriggle out of it and toss it away as well, then she pressed her chest against his again.

  This was so much better. Nothing between them, the warmth of their skin mingling. He wanted more.

  Wrapping his arms around her back, he rolled them over so he was on top of her again. He reached between them to undo her jeans, then started to tug them down over her full hips.

  She’d already taken off her shoes, so it was easy to slide down along her body, pulling her clothing with him. He cast her jeans onto the floor, then quickly pulled off her socks.

  Brigid lifted herself on her elbows, watching him. He kissed her legs as he made his way back up the bed, nuzzling the tender skin on the inside of her thighs. When he reached her panties, he hooked his fingers in their waistband, slowly pulling them down her legs.

  His breath hitched as her soft curls were exposed, the scent of her arousal hitting him like a blow to the chest. He couldn’t wait to bury himself in her, to feel her clench a
round him. But he had to regain more control.

  This wasn’t like using Coupling—the Coalition drug designed to control their citizens’ sexual needs. This was just him and Brigid. This was real.

  If he threw himself back on top of her, the rough fabric of his jeans could hurt her. He wanted to feel her skin against his. He wanted to feel her heat.

  He slid to the foot of the bed, pulling her panties past her ankles and feet, then dropping them. He unlaced his boots in record time, then kicked them off and pulled off his own socks before standing again.

  Taking a deep breath to return more self-control, he slowly undid the fastener of his jeans.

  “Wait,” Brigid said.

  He froze. Was she having second thoughts?

  His heart stuttered at the thought, his dick giving a painful pulse of disappointment. He might need a dose of Coupling after all if she changed her mind—just in the privacy of his own room.

  “Come over here,” she said.

  Hopeful, he walked around the bed to where she gestured. She swung her legs over the side, then slid to her knees. She reached for his jeans, slowly pulling them down to his ankles so he could step out of them.

  His erection pressed against the fabric of his boxer-briefs, held to his stomach by the uncomfortable elastic of the waistband. He completely forgot the mild discomfort as she ran her fingers along his shaft.

  Pleasure like a shock cannon went off deep in his belly. His dick pulsed, sending more of those arcs of electricity through his body.

  “I’m on birth control,” Brigid said. “Just so you know.”

  “Okay.” His brain only half-registered what she was talking about, the heat she was building within him consuming his thoughts.

  “And I’ve been tested recently,” she went on. “I know you don’t like the regen beds, but are you safe to… You know. Do this?”

  “Safe?”

  Mentioning the regen beds had grounded him a little, pulling him back again from that glorious edge. He shook his head, trying to figure out what she was talking about. What would make sex unsafe on a planet at Earth’s med-tech level?

  “Are you talking about pathogens?” he said.