Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) (8 page)

Drake woke up and stretched widely. Dammit, he forgot about Cali in bed
with him.

Jerking his arms and legs back together he started to roll over, “Cali,
I’m sorry—” He stopped his apology when he realized the bed was empty. Sitting
upright he looked around his bedroom.

“Cali?” he called. If she were in his quarters, she would hear him. When
he didn’t get an answer, he knew she’d left.

“Dammit.”

Rolling off the bed he grabbed his pants and jerked them on, careful to
tuck his dick out of the way of the clasp. Striding into the solar shower, he
requested a cleaning for himself and his clothing. Once he was spotless, with
angry strides he went to the console at his door.

“Computer, location of Captain Edal,” he snapped out.

“Unauthorized user. Request not recognized.” The computer answered.

He knew it had been a long shot, but he wanted to try anyway.

“Computer, can you relay to Captain Edal to contact this room?”

The computer denied him again.

“Computer, can you tell me the status of the scans for stasis pods?”

And again.

Stepping away from the console before he did something he would regret,
Drake stormed to the food dispenser. Getting some sustenance would be imperative.
All of the energy he’d expelled during the last hours would need to be
replenished. He made sure to order triple of everything he liked.

With a satisfied
smile,
Drake ate
his food and thought about what to do now. Everything had changed. Somewhere
deep down he’d known it would. The way Cali pulled him like a lodestone was
telling. There were other unmistakable signs as
well
if he chose to study them.

He had a lot to explain to her. It would take some time, but she would
surely understand. It wasn’t just the physical attraction between them, it went
deeper than that. Thinking about her soft cries, and her bodies savage response
to his, made him want Cali again, and he wasn’t sure if he could last until her
return on her own.

Pacing his quarters, he took deep breaths. The slight smell of flowers
lingered in the room. Concentrate on the flowers, he told himself. Don’t lose control—

He heard Cali over the intercom, “This is the captain—” her voice reeked
with panic and his heart froze.

There was a loud growling noise and Cali was cut off.

“Cali,” he snarled and a red haze went over his vision. Taking deep
breaths, he drew her scent into his lungs. He felt his body expanding and his
senses intensified. Running at the door, he smashed through the solid metal
without breaking stride.

There were two guards at his door, but they ran screaming the other way.
Mindless with worry for Cali he ran in the direction of the lift. Cali would’ve
had them taken to medical. What floor was that? Think… “Computer.
The medical
floor.” Drake growled and
thankfully the lift started moving. Though the ride lasted
only seconds
, Drake tore at the walls in his
anger. He would apologize later for the long grooves he clawed into the
metal
if there was
later.
His mate was in danger, which meant this ship was in worse
jeopardy.

When the lift stopped, he charged out. Ignoring the hallways and locked doors,
Drake ripped through walls until he made it into the medical unit, not caring
if he cut himself in
the
process. He
picked up their scent instantly.
Dak’za
,
Tae, Arik, and Mica. Cali had found his friends. He forced his arms to his
sides, and his eyes flashed around the room. Male guards were lying prone on
the ground, and his senses reached out, Drake felt six living bodies that were
wounded and unconscious but alive.

Another scent reached his nose. Flowers, he smelled flowers.

“Let me go!” That was her friend, Vareen. “Cali, No. Don’t shoot.”

If Cali had
a weapon the others
would see this as a threat.

He tore with superhuman speed into the next room. Four more male guards,
along with Nellia were prone on the ground, but his priority was his mate. She
had her back to him, with a weapon pointed at the others.

“Let my friend go or I will kill you.” The little hellcat’s voice was
steady, and his heart swelled with pride at her courage, and his dick swelled
at her nearness.

The others had raised their eyes to him when he entered. He towered over
Cali, his stance protective. “Leave this one.” His voice was unearthly and
menacing. He needed to be very careful not to hurt his mate, she was precious
to him.

She had gone rigid and with agonized breaths he waited. She slowly
lowered her gun and turned to stare, first at his chest, and then up his body
to his face.

“Drake?”

Panic took hold when Cali fell into a heap at his feet in a dead swoon.

Cali was having a nightmare. She
was standing with
Nellia
and Vareen
between the doorway and the beds in the medical unit. There were ten security
guards placed throughout medical and at the doorway.

“Now that the extra guards are here
do you think I should add more?” Cali teased Nellia.

“Ten is plenty.” Nellia laughed.

“I think even the large one would
have trouble with ten Cestori security guards.” Cali looked over to Vareen, who
hadn’t stopped staring quietly at the black clothed male.

The medical computer started
beeping at one bed, then another. Before Nellia had made it to the first bed Cali
gaped in horror as the four prone males moved so fast as to be flashes of
color.

Nellia screamed and fainted dead
away. A golden blur swept past her, along with red and blue ones. She heard
fighting coming from the other room. The scariest part was there was no
screaming or gun blasts, just the soft thuds of flesh striking flesh and bodies
hitting the ground.

Cali tapped her
comm
badge, “This is the captain—” her knees
buckled and she stopped her emergency announcement. The largest male suddenly
towered over her, and that he wanted her to stop talking was clear. She slowly
tapped her comm badge to break the connection. His eyes were glowing an
impossible electric shade of blue. Growling menacingly, he reached for her.

“Leave her alone.” Vareen jumped
between them and Cali stumbled back and fell over the body of one of the
guards.

“Vareen. Don’t—” she fumbled to see
if the guard was still alive. With a small sigh of relief, she found that he
was. His weapon hadn’t even been drawn, so Cali wrenched it from the holder on
his hip.

“I wouldn’t hurt the small female.”
The black clothed male’s voice was so deep it rumbled around medical. “Dak?
Tae? Arik? Is this area secured?”

Cali looked behind her to see the
other three had returned. They strode to stand next to the tallest male.

“Yes, Mica, there were only ten
guards.” The golden male seemed to find this amusing.

“How many dead Tae?”

“You even need to ask?” The
red-shirted
male answered. “No need to be
insulting.”

“I only got to watch.” The blue
clothed male had laughter in his voice.

“How is it insulting?” Vareen
snapped. Cali had never seen her friend so angry, and she couldn’t blame her.
“You’ve killed innocent guards. They were only protecting us.”

Before Vareen had finished her
sentence, Mica was pressed indecently against her friend. A male that large
shouldn’t be so graceful! To Cali’s further astonishment, instead of backing
away, Vareen stood her ground and glared up at him.

“I like this
one,
” Mica announced, and then bent his head to
breathe deeply at Vareen’s neck.

Cali drew her weapon up.

Mica snatched Vareen as if
weightless and tossed her over his shoulder.

“Let me go,” Vareen yelled. Cali
could only watch as her friend strained against the hand on her back.

Cali jumped up and pointed her
weapon at Mica.

“Cali, No, Don’t
shoot,
” Vareen called and Cali met her
friend's
serene gaze.

The other three males growled low
in their throats but didn’t move.

 
“Let my friend go or I will kill you.” Cali
was seething, how Vareen could be so calm was beyond her.

Behind her an inhuman voice
growled. “Leave this one.” Cali’s whole body felt like she was being encased in
freezing gel, beginning with her brain, which stopped working and oozing down
her body. Her arm lowered and she turned slowly. Drake?

His chiseled chest was in front of
her, but she refused to believe it. Raising her eyes, she saw his stubborn
chin, slightly crooked nose…electric blue eyes?

“Drake?”

Cali snuggled into his warm body and sighed sleepily. “What a terrible
nightmare.” Pressing her face into his smooth chest, her lips automatically
caressing the skin. “It seemed so
real,
”
Cali smiled mischievously when gooseflesh rose along Drake’s chest.

“Cali…” Drake’s voice held an uncertainty that had her frowning.
What was wrong
? She struggled to wake up.
Opening her eyes, she found she was lying
on
Drake’s chest, hips and thighs. On a medical bed? In the medical unit? Her
other senses picked up slight noises and she stiffened.

“Tell me it wasn’t real?” her eyes flashed to Drake’s and she knew instantly
it hadn’t been a nightmare. His slightly glowing blue eyes were a testament to
the truth. “Oh, Drake,” She struggled to get up.

“I can explain.” He held her against him.

“Let me up.” She pushed at his chest. “Now Drake!” He instantly let her
go. She rolled off the bed and landed clumsily on her feet. Backing into the
wall, she looked around.

The injured crew members were gone and only one of the four males from
the pods were in the room with them. The giant, Mica she’d heard him called, was
gone, along with Vareen, Nellia,
Tae,
and
Arik.

“Where are the crew? My friends?” She turned accusing eyes on Drake.

“The wounded guards are in holding cells, along with the doctor and
anyone else who resisted my friends. Your doctor friend is seeing to them. As
for Vareen.” Drake swung his legs around and stood to lean against the bed, “Mica
is with her. I think he will claim her.”

“It’s how it’s
done,
”
Dak
spoke from across the room.

“Not now Dak, go help Tae and Arik,” Drake ordered and the golden male
bowed slightly and then hurried from the room.

“What’s going on Drake?” Cali couldn’t keep the confusion out of her
question. She had no idea what the hell had happened, but she had a really bad
feeling about it.

“I wanted to tell you so many times, so many things” Drake held out a
hand and she ignored it.

“Start now.”

With a sigh, Drake motioned for her to take a seat on the medical bed.
She stubbornly stayed standing. Her eyes narrowed in pain and frustration on
the man she thought she knew. The man she thought she could love.

“We are from Titus.”

“Titus?” Cali gasped. “That planet is inhabited by barbarians—”

“I’ll
thank you for being
careful
with your words,” Drake interrupted softly. “We aren’t ‘barbarians’ Cali.
Different, yes…but not barbaric.”

Cali was reeling from what Drake was telling her. The humanoids on Titus
had advanced enough to be spacefaring? Why didn’t anyone on Cestori know this
was happening?

“We worked with Atheon to build a starship.”

“Atheon?” The surprises kept coming didn’t they. She was beginning to
rethink standing to hear this.

“Yes, They approached us to acquire trianium. They scanned our planet and
since we use trianium in our transportation system they detected it. We began
diplomatic talks and they helped us with building a spacecraft we named
The Maxon.
It was during a trial run to
Atheon that
The Maxon
had technical
difficulties and the crew escaped into stasis pods.”

“We only found five of you. What could’ve happened to the others?” Cali
asked.

“We sent out a distress signal to
The
Cariyel
, an Atheon ship. It must have found the others. My pod along with
Dak, Tae, Arik and Mica were probably knocked off course when
The Maxon
exploded.”

“You remembered all of this from the beginning.” Cali could feel her eyes
blurring with unshed tears. “You didn’t tell me this before? Why?” at his
pained look it came to her.

“
Cestori’s
history with Atheon?
Someone from Atheon warned y
ou
about having
anything to do with us. What else were you told?”

“Nothing,” he denied but it was
too
vehement. Cali knew he was lying.

“You were,” Cali couldn’t take it anymore. “If there is one shred of hope
for this day to end with us parting amicably, you’ve better start telling the
truth.”

Drake stiffened at her words. “You’re upset Cali and I understand.” His
voice grew harder, “Please don’t threaten me when I know you’ve been holding
something back as well. Can you honestly say you’ve told me
everything
?”

Cali bit back a retort, her guilt eating at her. She hadn’t told him
everything. He didn’t know she was betrothed to Vathral, her plans to return to
Cestori, or of her mother’s intentions to have her sitting on the council one
day.

“Okay, I may not have been entirely open with you,” Cali admitted unhappily.
“There are things I would’ve told you if we hadn’t found your friends and ended
up in this mess.”

“I’ve told you the truth about everything you asked me before.” Drake
moved slightly and Cali’s eyes narrowed on him. “What else can I say? Your crew
from this level are the only resistance my friends encountered. They’re safe
and will be released as soon as you order it. We only locked them in the
holding cells so there wouldn’t be any more misunderstandings. When my friends
woke in the medical unit they thought they were in danger. It was instinct for
them to defend themselves. Everything else I’ve already confessed to you. My
ship, our alliance with Atheon, my purpose for being in the Buffer Zone. I know
you’re angry, but you must believe me.”

Drake leaned forward to hold her, but she held up her hand in warning.

“We need to get all the lies out in the open. Until then, stay back.”
Even she didn’t recognize her own voice. It had never been that cold in her
life.

“Can you please announce for your people to remain calm. Then I will tell
you anything else you want to know.” Drake’s eyes were still faintly glowing
and Cali noticed his stance was stiff. He was on edge still, but then so was
she.

Tapping her comm badge, Cali spoke clearly, despite her raging emotions.
“This is the captain. There was an emergency in the medical unit, but it has
been dealt with. Everything is under control. Please continue to follow your
normal routine. Thank you. Clear.” She tapped her badge again to stop
transmitting.

“What do you want to know Cali?” Drake relaxed against the medical bed,
and Cali slid to the bed across from him
cautiously
and leaned back as well.

 
“I want to know about
you,
Drake.” Cali’s voice was raw. “What are
you…”

“It’s a long story,” Drake hedged.

“We have time.”

With a sigh, Drake started explaining. “On
Titus,
we belong to different clans. Many years ago, a relative of
mine united all of the different factions for the safety of the citizens. Each
clan is distinguished by the color they wear. Dak’za, or Dak as he prefers, is
from the Denary Clan. They wear the golden color to symbolize the agriculture
zone they control. Tae is from the
Takari
Clan. They wear red to symbolize industry. Arik is from the
Metari
clan. He wears blue for the water zones
his clan controls. Mica wears black, to symbolize blind
justice
since it’s his clan’s duty to oversee all punishments. They
are called the
Jataci
. My full name is
Chan’ Drake. My clan is the
Renari
, we
wear purple to symbolize the Chan Mountains we control. That is where the trianium
comes from.”

“How is it that you were
so…different,
”
Cali asked impatiently.

“We call ourselves
valkie
warriors,
I’ve no words in your tongue to explain it. We’ve got enhanced fighting
ability…sight, smell, strength. If threatened or highly emotional, it comes
upon us, a type of adrenaline—”

“When you first woke up in medical,” Cali gasped, remembering. “Your eyes
were the electric blue for one second and then went back to normal. Then again
during sex.”

“Yes,” His gaze became heated and Cali regretted bringing up their
intimacy. Luckily Drake focused on the first time his eyes had changed.

“In the medical
unit,
I saw the
guards behind you and almost lost control, as my friends did. I would have
attacked…”

“How was it that you stopped?” Cali’s voice had softened.

“There are only two things that can stop a valkie male when in a fighting
frenzy.” Drake shifted uncomfortably and Cali grew suspicious.

“What two things?”

“The threat has been eliminated.” His eyes locked on hers, the slight
flow of electric blue was back in his gaze.

“And the second thing?” Cali prompted softly.

“The calming presence or touch of his chosen mate,” Drake’s voice washed
over her smooth and sexy.

“A chosen mate?” She stood upright and Drake matched her stance. “You
didn’t even know me in medical. How is it that my touch stopped you?”

“My body recognized you. Call it chemistry, magic or the universe
connecting us, but that is what you are. My chosen mate.”
Drake’s
voice dipped lower, daring her to deny
what he was saying.

“I can’t be your mate, you don’t know anything about me. I thought we
were just having fun. I may have visited your planet now and again to see you,
but—” Her protests were weak even to her, and they caused an electric charge to
enter the air. Cali knew it was Drake’s ability when his eyes flashed. She
started to scoot away slowly. “There’s something else you should know.” She had
been so adamant about honesty, and so angry with Drake for lying, she felt
about one inch tall when she blurted. “I can’t be your mate because…I’m already
promised to another.”

Cali ran for the door. She knew she wouldn’t get far, and she didn’t.
Drake was on her before she took two steps. His arms wrapped around her and
jerked her back against him.

Cali could feel him shaking against her. She held absolutely still,
afraid he must be very angry. When she felt his breath against her ear, she
flinched
and prepared for the worst.

“Cali.” His voice came out tinged with laughter.

He was amused?!

Her head jerked up, and his lips caressed the sensitive spot against her
neck.

“My sweet Cali,” His lips moved to play with her ear. “Any male promised
to you is of no consequence to me. I will kill any man who thinks to claim
you.”

“You can’t—” Cali gasped again when he pushed himself against her
backside. His hard arousal produced an answering swell of moisture in her cleft.

“I can and I will.” He growled the words and Cali’s body trembled against
his arms in response. “You’re
mine,
Cali.
I’m never letting you go.”