Alien General's Beloved: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (13 page)

Lana knew exactly how to handle his kind, luckily.

"I'm going to ask you a few quick questions to get up to speed. In the meantime, the rest of you, I may be your captain, but I know practically nothing about running a ship like
Flora
. Report to me in five minutes and let me know if something's wrong and the extent of the damage."

Quick, simple, confident. That was the key to taking over a new command when the crew had just parted with their former leader. Lana forced herself to keep going on the adrenaline of it, because if she slowed down, she might begin to doubt herself. The crew scattered to work by their stations.

"Now, Commander. Tell me about the last two captains. No family history. I want to know what the fuck happened here."

There was an appreciative look on the Palian's face. He reminded Lana of Fraly, sending a razor-sharp flash of pain through her. Her grief was too fresh, but she had no time for it.

"Captain Taska jumped us into this system," the commander said. "He immediately realized what was happening; we had all heard the rumors. He ordered the ship to pull in formation, but some of the military officers panicked."

Yeah. As I thought. Nothing smells like a good old overthrow.

"Go on."

"They thought we might stand a chance running."

"I see," Lana said. "Were they blind, deaf, or stupid?"

"I think all three," Yarel answered with a small smile. "The Brions had made their commands very clear."

"But they still thought it was wise to provoke them? And run after that? Have they ever
met
a Brion? Or know
anything
about warfare with them?"

The Palian answered with another kind smile, the trademark of his species.

"I don't know, Captain. Perhaps they were taught the unknown secrets of outrunning a plasma cannon."

"I assure you, it's not in the Terran curriculum," Lana said and shrugged. "All right. I think I can guess the rest. They killed Taska, the other guy took over and he's the one I spoke to."

"Yes," Yarel assured her. "We were listening and most of us agreed, but they had weapons."

"Bad guys always do," Lana said, looking at the
Abysmal
's gun turrets again. Funny how they kept drawing her attention so much more now that she'd seen them in action.

She felt like she owed the crew something. A silver lining, perhaps, if not real, tangible hope.

"Listen," she said, raising her voice. "I want you to know that while I will aid the general for the purposes of defending the fleet and the
Flora
, I will not take shit from him. If I can protect all of you and all of those innocent people out there, I will. But we have to do as they say for now."

"For now," Yarel repeated, his lidless eyes going wide.

"Yes," Lana said, giving him a hard look. "Now, report."

***

Most of the reports were predictable. With cold fury, Lana sat through all the lists of the dead and other damage that the Brions had done around the ship and in the landing bay. Compared to the lives taken, the
Flora
itself stayed in relatively good condition. It felt strange to call it positive, but Lana told herself—as well as the crew—that they had to take every win they could.

The
Flora
was divided into sectors and every one of them was calling in. Lana listened and tried her best to memorize it all, but failed easily enough. The carrier was simply enormous. It would take weeks for her to start making sense of it all. She dearly hoped she would live to see those weeks, but when the final sector reported, the captain began to doubt it.

Lana suddenly found herself hoping for a miracle. It was exactly like back on the
Raptor
. A large, strong group of Brions turned up dead with no explanation. Even hearing it had been the Torons didn't manage to quash her wish to see Corden again. Could he have escaped her ship after all?

Still, whoever it was, it left Lana with the unpleasant task of informing Worgen. The general had made his way back to the
Abysmal
for a reason he didn't feel like sharing with her.

"Dead," the general growled at her, the image of him crackling on the holoprojector. The Brions had jammed the communications systems, but left the short-range hololinks for easier communication than sending fighters back and forth.

Lana watched the crew shrinking back from the figure.

Strong, you have to be strong.

"Dead, General. Torn to pieces by the Torons," she said.

Worgen gave her a hard look, one that nearly made Lana fall over the edge of her own platform. She stared back, knowing this time she had nothing to hide.

"Why would they go to the beasts?" Worgen asked, his cruel eyes poring over Lana. "My warriors had no business with them for now."

"I don't know," Lana said honestly, trying to ignore her heart and mind having a shouting match with Corden's name. "Perhaps they were lured there."

Worgen's eyes narrowed, but Lana added as calmly as she could:

"You can't be surprised, General. The crew tried to fight back. A few of them apparently succeeded."

That was a fair account with no lies, Lana thought, at least to the best of her knowledge. She prayed that Worgen didn't know anything more.

A thin smile played on the general's lips.

"I will send someone to examine the bodies," he said with vicious joy. "You better be telling the truth."

"Yes, General," Lana said. "But I'm told there isn't much left. The Torons were very thorough."

It occurred to her again that Worgen took the loss of his men very lightly. The general shrugged and said nothing more on that topic. Instead, he added:

"I will return to the
Flora
tomorrow. Round up all the Terran women and all the Palians. I will meet with both."

"I don't think that's possible," Lana said carefully.

As she'd thought, the general frowned, his piercing look making Lana wish she could back down.

"There are about twenty thousand of each," she said. "There is no place big enough to gather them all and you wouldn't be able to see them all in one day."

With that, she could hopefully buy time to find out what it was that Worgen wanted.

The general seemed to consider that.

"Gather as many as you can," he said, cutting the feed.

"That went well," Yarel said, standing a bit further away, so as not to appear on the projector.

If that was anyone else, Lana would have thought it was a sarcastic remark, but Palians had an odd sense of humor.

"Thanks," she said. "I try."

"What do you want to do, Captain?" Yarel asked.

"As he said," Lana said, smiling sadly. "Gather as many as we can. Let him look and see. Maybe afterward we can hear what he asked and start figuring this out."

"And if he finds her? The fated?"

Lana thought of all the stories she'd heard about the sacred bindings and what they meant for the Brions. She was also relieved he was still looking, which meant it wasn't her.

"If he does, there is nothing we can do."

The captain sighed, heading for the door. "I'm going to go and get some sleep," she said, but stopped right before the doorway. "Yarel."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Tell me honestly. Do you have any idea what he wants with your kind?"

The bridge commander gave her the saddest smile she'd ever seen on a Palian. It was one of heavy, deep regret.

"Many, Captain," Yarel said, taking her seat. "Each worse than the next. Go sleep. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

Lana wanted to stay and listen, but her body was convincing her that she needed rest. It had been a long, long day.

The old captain's quarters were a bit eerie, but that was where she'd been taken. She supposed it was fine, they were hers now. Comfortably close to the bridge and equipped with everything the captain could need. Lana figured it would take a few weird days, but she'd banish the ghost of the previous owner from the quarters.

She headed straight for the bedroom, discarding clothes as she went. All the bad emotions—grief, fear, exhaustion—threatened to overtake her, but Lana refused them. Once she let them in, they wouldn't be going out. She needed sleep and a clear head, that was all.

The coat slid over her shoulders and dropped to the floor. Lana stood before the bed, dressed only in her white long-sleeved tunic and panties, wondering where she might find clean sheets. She winced and a cry escaped her lips when a pair of strong hands slid around her.

"Did you miss me?" a deep voice whispered.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lana

Lana's body reacted faster than she did. She knew who it was, holding her in his strong embrace. But while her mind struggled to find a logical explanation for it, her entire being resonated to the scent of him. Corden's touch seemed to have an almost magical effect on her, instantly soothing all her worries, taking away her fears. Lana knew it wasn't true, strictly speaking, but she just felt
safe
.

Warring emotions were completely overwhelming her. The blinding relief that he was alive, the incredible pleasure of being in his arms, the hope that everything would be better.

Lana's voice shook when she finally managed to whisper: "I thought you died."

Saying that out loud allowed her to come face-to-face with that eventuality at last and she felt her heartbeat quicken. She'd come so close to losing him—even if she hadn't fully figured out what he meant to her—that seeing him again made her re-live watching the
Raptor
being destroyed.

Corden swiftly turned her around in his arms and Lana was greeted by the cocky smile she had missed.

"My
gesha
," he said and the word meant
beloved
. "I wouldn't die now that I have you."

Well, that's reassuring.

Hearing his voice, being able to touch him, was slowly driving the truth home. Corden was alive, he had never died, and that meant a world of trouble for everyone. While her body made insistent demands that she give in to the general at once, Lana's mind was starting to catch up to the implications. To keep a cool head, she wiggled out of Corden's grasp, but that did absolutely nothing to solve her problems.

On the contrary, now she could see him clearly, even if she had to crane her neck a bit to meet his eyes. Corden was a head taller than the average Brion, making her feel ridiculously small compared to him. Lana had to bite her tongue not to moan, her body immediately reacting to the sight of the amazing warrior before her.

Lana's treacherous mind was not focusing on the tactical situation like she wanted it to, instead parading image after image of increasingly hot scenarios before her eyes. What it would look like if Corden shrugged off that armor of his, what his tan skin would feel like under her touch... how good it would be to be held in his powerful, thick arms again.

The general's green eyes were watching her with amusement, but Lana didn't miss the desire burning in them. The two long braids fell over his eyes as his gaze undressed her. Lana had no doubt that it was exactly what he was doing when a low growl escaped his lips. Feral, like a beast ready to pounce.

She took a step back, although her body wanted to take several closer,
much closer
. What had begun as simple lust was now threatening to drown her, making every inch of her ache for the warrior. Her
gerion
, for God's sake.

That ripped Lana out of her daze. She wanted to say something about the matter, but her tongue seemed glued to her mouth. No words were enough to express what she felt. Hope and desire, yes, but above all, she felt like the world was not broken anymore.

The desire was growing inside her, however. Lana knew it would have that effect. The Brion bindings were always like that. The couple was pulled toward each other with unseen cords, never breaking, never easing up. It was so much worse for Corden, but Lana couldn't deny she felt it too. She whimpered in need before she could regain control of herself, but of course Corden had heard. The Brions heard a lot.

The warrior took a step closer, coming for her like a storm she had no chance of stopping. But no, he was not just any warrior. A
general
.

"You lied to me," Lana said, taking one more step back.

A part of her was distinctly aware of being practically naked. The tunic hanging loosely was long enough to almost reach the bottom edge of her panties, but not quite. She knew the Brions had keen senses; there was no way Corden didn't know
exactly
how turned on she was.

"You lied," she repeated, mostly to keep talking and distract herself from the fact that she was alone with the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. "You should have told me."

"Told you what?" Corden asked with a grin, coming closer with slow, predatory steps.

"That you were a
general
," Lana said, lifting her eyes to catch his gaze. "I would have—"

"I wasn't sure I could trust you," Corden said, his voice deep and lined with passion. "Now I know I can."

That's nice, but there's still the whole lie thing.

"I could have done something different," Lana protested, lust diminishing when she thought of the
Raptor
. "I could have hidden you or—"

She wasn't able to continue. Corden was alive, but the pieces of her ship were still out there, floating, empty of all life.

"There was nothing you could have done to stop him," Corden said, and the reassurance in his voice was enough to make Lana listen. "He is not someone you can reason with, only bargain."

"But the
Raptor
, my crew..."

Then Corden knocked the air out of her lungs for the second time in a few minutes.

"They're alive," he said. "At least most of them. I sent them away before the
Abysmal
opened fire. I believe they were able to reach the other ships."