Resident Alien: Department of Homeworld Security, Book 2 (3 page)

“That’s part of it. My superiors wouldn’t be happy to find out we’ve been communicating. But they aren’t the ones I’m worried about.”

“Okay, now
I’m
a little worried.”

“Don’t be. All my tech is destroyed or offline. As long as we don’t fire anything up, they shouldn’t be able to find me.”

“But doesn’t that mean you’re stuck here?”

“‘Stuck’ isn’t the word I would use.”

A stream of words came to mind. Giddy, happy, relieved.

Free
.

A small structure came into view nestled in the trees that lined the lake. Its walls were wood and the roof was hidden under an array of primitive solar panels. Antithetical to the space stations and domes where she had always lived, and yet…comforting.

She let out a sigh and relaxed against him. A feeling similar to safety washed over her. Similar, but stronger. She couldn’t put a word on the emotion until Brendan did it for her. He opened the door and stepped inside.

“Home sweet home.”

Chapter Five

Brendan felt Kira slide down his back with every nerve-ending in his body. He didn’t want to let her go—to stop touching her—and now he was losing his excuse.

With all the questions about who she really was and where she was from rattling around in his brain, only one kept repeating itself.

Had she heard him when he told her he loved her?

That led to more questions. Did her people even have love?

He hoped so. His heart clenched at the thought of her not being able to reciprocate his feelings.

“Thank you for helping me,” she said.

He realized he was staring at her. Had been for a while.

“Sure. Of course.” He shook his head and closed the door. “I’m sorry. This is a lot to absorb, you know?”

“I can imagine.” She looked around the small room, curiosity lighting her features. “This is your home?”

“One of them.” He wished she was seeing one of his bigger houses. Then again, after being raised on space stations and ships, maybe she’d be more comfortable in the cozier space.

The cabin had a great-room design and was built for practicality above all else. In front of them, an octagonal wood-burning stove provided a means of cooking food as well as warmth for the right half of the room. The kitchen took up the corner on the far right from the door, his desk and all his equipment filled the other right-side corner. A free-standing counter in the center of the space sort of separated it from the rest of the cabin.

He had put his couch as close to the stove as he dared, which wasn’t as close as he would like. He also didn’t like that it meant he would be sitting with his back to the door, but he didn’t use the couch that much anyway. A fireplace set into the middle of the left wall supplemented the heat, and when he built it up, the stones would warm and hold enough heat to get him through most nights. It also helped to heat the bathroom, which was behind a door in the far left corner.

His bed was to their left. He tried really hard not to think of the bed.

“What’s that smell?” she asked.

Brendan sniffed the air. All he detected was wood smoke. Well, that and his burritos.

She walked to the counter and stared at them, practically salivating.

“That’s my lunch. Are you hungry? I can make you something fresh.”

“No thanks. I mean, yeah, I’m hungry, but don’t go to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all. But if you want those, go ahead. I wasn’t going to eat them anyway.”

She gave him a brief smile, then put her med-kit on the counter. She picked up a burrito and sniffed it, then took a bite. Her eyes rolled shut. He watched her eat another few bites, reacting as if it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

“I’m guessing you don’t have burritos where you’re from,” he said.

“
Burritos
. No. This is delicious.” She licked some refried beans from her thumb.

“Cold bean burritos. There’s not even any cheese in there. What is it that you normally eat?”

“Nutrient bricks. They have everything we need in a compact package.”

“Sounds like soylent green.”

“What’s soylent green?”

“People.”

Her eyes widened and she paused mid-chew. Then she spit her food back on her plate and started wiping at her tongue.

“Relax! Relax, it was a joke. That’s not made of people.”

She gave him the clearest
what the hell?
look he’d ever seen. He did his best not to laugh.

She cleared her throat, then asked, “Is there a place I can get this sand off my feet?”

“Yeah. The bathroom is right through there.” He pointed to the bathroom door. “I can show you how the shower works.”

“Thanks, but I think I can figure it out.”

“Okay. Well,
H
is for hot water, not that there’s much of it. I’ll find you some dry clothes.”

After she disappeared through the door, Brendan ran his hands over his face again, then just held them there. How could this be real? How could any of this be real?

Kira in his home. An alien. He didn’t know which was harder for him to believe.

He heard the water start to run in the bathroom. Yeah, she was here all right. Whatever else he believed, he was sure she needed his help. He kicked himself into gear.

Fires were already burning in the fireplace and stove. He grabbed a few extra logs from the firewood rack and built up both heat sources as quick as he could.

He had just kicked off his boots when Kira emerged from the bathroom. Her eyes were wide and she held a roll of toilet paper in one hand and paper towels in the other. Nightmare scenarios played through his head. He should have made sure she understood how toilets worked.

Brendan didn’t mind roughing it, but he infinitely preferred working facilities. He had no idea how Kira would adjust if she had destroyed their only toilet by filling the pipes with paper towels.

“My training covered this,” she said, holding up the toilet paper.

Thank God.
He let out the breath he’d been holding in a little puff.

She held up the roll of paper towels, her jaw set and a determined look on her face. Her voice shook a little when she spoke, though.

“But what in the name of the Solar Cross is
this
for?”

It took him a moment for his mind to recover. There was no disaster in the bathroom after all. And her expression… She was obviously trying not to freak out, and seeing both items right next to each other, he couldn’t blame her. The thoughts that must be going through her mind.

Brendan laughed, hard. “That’s for something else entirely.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

“Those are paper towels. They’re for cleaning up spills and drying stuff. Like, you could use them to dry your feet, for instance. I keep a roll in the bathroom for when I get behind on laundry and don’t have any clean towels. Just throw them away in the little trash can in there when you’re done.”

Kira stared at the paper towels for a few moments longer, as if she was deciding whether or not she believed him. Finally, she said, “Okay.” Then she turned and walked back to the bathroom.

Brendan was still chuckling as he peeled off his jeans and put them on the drying rack near the stove, along with his socks. Kira should probably put her clothes on it too.

The thought of her naked was more powerful than the cold, and his boxer-briefs started to tent. He grabbed the quilt from the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. Which was good, because when Kira emerged from the bathroom a moment later, she was completely naked.

Her long legs were bare, her hips curving and then dipping gracefully into her narrow waist. The curves just got better the farther up his eyes travelled, rounding her small but perfectly formed breasts and stalling at the dusky skin of her nipples.

Brendan dropped his eyes to keep himself from staring at her breasts, but then they latched on to the dark curls between her legs. He bounced his gaze up to her navel and suppressed a groan.

Her stomach was perfect. Flat abs faintly outlined under the smoothness of her lightly tanned skin, a gentle line flowing up from her belly-button…

And he was staring at her breasts again.

“These clothes are wet,” she said. There was nothing suggestive in her tone, but that voice of hers… She crossed the room to the drying rack and draped the shirt he had given her and her undergarments next to his jeans. He hadn’t even noticed her carrying them.

He snapped his gaze to hers when she turned back to him, doing everything in his power to maintain eye-contact. He bit his lips and pulled the quilt more tightly around his shoulders.

“Did you find clothes for me?”

“Hmm? Oh right.” Brendan was grateful both for the distraction and that Kira would soon be clothed. “There are drawers built into the bed.”

She nodded, then turned and crossed the room. Dear lord, that ass… He let out a little grunt.

Looking back over her shoulder, she asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Absolutely… Things are great.” He looked up at the ceiling, then down along the walls.

Brendan had never been that great with women. Being a ginger nerd had not helped. Once he’d made his first million, interactions became even more difficult. It seemed like everyone he met would feign interest to try to get close to him, then eventually realized you couldn’t fake geek. When he sold his company at just the right moment and that
m
turned to a
b
, he had all but given up on forming a genuine connection with anyone.

Kira was bringing him back to his nerdy high school days, designing robots in advanced engineering classes and exploring computer systems he really shouldn’t have been getting into.

She knelt and opened a drawer. Rooting around, she stood with one of his long-sleeved shirts. She draped it over her head, lifting her arms through the sleeves as it settled around her body. He didn’t know he could be jealous of a piece of clothing, but in that moment, he sort of wanted to be that shirt.

She bent over, nearly killing him as the hem rode up to just below the curve of her ass. His shirts were long, but she was tall. His brain calculated their heights and he realized that if she braced herself on the bed, they’d be perfectly aligned for…

This was not helping. His cock was so hard it hurt. He made sure the quilt was covering him, keeping his arms out from his body enough that he hoped she wouldn’t notice.

“I can grab some clothes for you too.” She rifled through his shirts.

If he tried to get dressed in front of her, she’d see how worked up he was. Even grabbing the shirt from her was out of the question. He didn’t want to let go of the quilt for a moment.

“I’m good.”

She glanced back at him, one dark eyebrow raised high on her forehead. Then she shrugged and stood. She pushed the drawer shut with her foot before walking back to him.

“There’s another quilt on the couch,” Brendan said. “I recommend wrapping up and sitting near the wood stove.”

Maybe he should sit far from it. Cooling off could help. He thought about running back to the lake and diving in.

She ran her hand over the quilt, looking up at him with a shy smile. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not. What kind of host would I be if I let you freeze?”

Half a dozen sci-fi movies hit him at once that made his off-handed comment send a chill through him—stories where aliens used human bodies as hosts. He shook off the thought, but was grateful for its calming effect on his body.

His cock was already starting to calm as she wrapped herself in the quilt. He let out a sigh of relief when she was covered.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

They walked around opposite sides of the couch and sat facing each other. The warmth from the wood stove washed over him, helping to banish the last of the chill from the lake water. He stared at her for a moment of comfortable silence.

Kira. The woman he’d talked to every day for months. That he’d laughed with, teased, offered his heart to…

She kept her head bowed a bit as she smiled at him—a shy smile, but gorgeous. Then she laughed and leaned back against the couch. His heart gave a little jerk in response. Warmth spread through his chest that had nothing to do with the quilt or the fireplace or seeing all of her incredible body and everything to do with knowing she was safe.

Chapter Six

“I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

Kira laughed, her stomach fluttering. “That makes two of us. I suppose you’ll want answers to those questions now.”

“Only one matters at the moment. Are you okay?”

Of all the questions to start with… Her throat felt tight. She coughed so she could answer him.

“Yeah. I have a bit of a headache, but trust me, it was much worse for them.”

“Them who?”

Right. He would need context. Kira wasn’t used to talking to other people.

“The station was being boarded by hostiles. I set it to self-destruct.”

His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. She stared at his lips again. They looked soft.

“Kira.”

He scooted closer, then picked her hand up from her lap. He held it in his, tracing his thumb over the backs of her fingers.

More bumps spread over her skin. Tingling spread through her chest and down her belly, pooling between her legs. It reminded her of
Coupling
, but felt so much better. She could feel her nipples brushing against the shirt she had borrowed from him.

She swallowed hard.

“Are you all right?” he asked again, emphasizing each word.

“I… No.”

That wasn’t right. Of course she was fine. She was alive, uninjured, and had secured a safe location to regroup.

“What happened?”

She shook her head. “You can’t tell anyone any of this. You know that, don’t you?”

“I kind of figured. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about you. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It was such a sweet sentiment. But if the Tau Ceti or even her own people showed up, Brendan wouldn’t be able to stop them. Neither would she.

He waited patiently. Ready to listen to
her
. That was new. She was in this far, and he deserved the truth. She trusted him with it.

“I am an alien,” she said.

His lips tightened a bit. She noticed because she was still staring at them. She couldn’t seem to look away.

“I’m part of a Coalition of planets that has—well, had—a listening station in orbit, watching Earth’s broadcasts and observing your development. It was automatically gathering data and compiling it, then sending it to a committee for review until about two years ago when I was assigned to the station. I was told to start parsing the data before it was sent, which is usually a sign that a planet is nearing a tipping point.”

“What kind of tipping point?”

“There are a variety. Maybe the planet was getting to a point where they were ready for first contact. Or a big event was imminent—like a war or a meteor impact—and the committee wanted someone there to get the best record possible.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

Neither was the truth that she had pieced together. “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure in Earth’s case it was something else.”

“I’d worry less if you were smiling.”

She smirked and shook her head. “It’s a simple story of corruption.”

“Again, not really helping me relax.”

She took a deep breath and tried to explain everything again. “Earth is designated as a nature preserve. You have no idea how rich this planet is in resources or how rare that is. And the planetary liaison assigned to manage Earth was just arrested. I’m certain that’s not a coincidence.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“The head ship of the fleet—the
Arbiter
—was involved. I’m sure everything will be sorted out in short order. Except for me. I think the liaison used his connections to have me assigned to the station so that he could filter the reports I was sending to the Coalition. When the
Arbiter
left orbit, no one contacted me. I don’t think they know I’m here.”

“My equipment can send a signal. You can let them know—”

“I don’t want them to. I don’t want to be found. I want to stay here…with you.”

“Oh…” He looked puzzled, but then his face relaxed and he smiled. “Oh.”

“I mean, I can figure something else out. But after all our talks, I thought—”

Brendan didn’t let her finish her sentence. He released her hand so that he could cradle her face, pulling her close as he leaned toward her. Those soft lips gently brushed against hers.

Stars
…

Kira melted into him. That was how it felt. His lips moved on hers slowly, gently coaxing her response.

She had used
Coupling
with other people a few times. It had always seemed more mess than it was worth. Kissing had not been involved. If it had, she might have formed a different opinion.

Rising on her knees, she kissed him back. His lips were warm and strong. They parted to let his tongue slide along her mouth. When she gasped, he pushed his tongue deeper.

She moaned against his mouth, opening herself to him, pressing her chest against his body. Her tongue tangled with his as she gripped his shoulders and pushed him back against the couch. At some point, she had shifted to straddle him and his hands had moved to her hips. She wasn’t even sure when, but she loved it. She loved feeling his firm grip, the heat of his kiss, the hardness of his…

Moons, his…member…was poking her belly. Without the aid of
Coupling
.

Of course he could hold an erection without the Coalition drug. Earth mating practices were far different from what she had experienced. Giving and receiving pleasure from another person using only their bodies… Kira wanted to know what that was like. With Brendan. Immediately.

Contact, stimulation—touch and friction.

Clenching her fingers on his shoulders, she slid up his body. He hissed in a breath and moved his hands to her ass. She felt muscles deep within her responding.

The cotton of his boxer-briefs was so thin. She rubbed herself along his length, groaning as the tingling between her legs grew into a current of electric pleasure coursing through her. Nothing had ever felt so good. Not
Balance
, not
Coupling
. She wanted more.

He tilted his head to the side, breaking their kiss. That just gave her a better angle to reach his neck. She latched onto his skin, layering kisses and nips as she worked her way up to his ear.

“This is all happening kind of fast,” he said. “Not that I’m complaining. But are you sure you want—”

“Yes.” Stars, she was sure.

Reaching between them, she slid her hand down the hard plane of his stomach, tracing the ridges of his abs. She didn’t stop until she hit the elastic of his waistband, stretching it so she could reach him.

“I’ve heard this called a cock,” she said, wrapping her fingers around him.

He groaned and his eyes rolled shut. “Um, yeah. That’s one word for it.”

She applied more pressure, watching his response. Loving it. He leaned his head back against the couch, eyes still clenched shut, lips tight. He pulled in deep draws of air between long pauses, as if all of his body’s attention was on her hand.

Stimulus. Simulation.

He groaned as she started moving her hand on him, mimicking mating. She imagined what he would feel like inside of her, filling her. More electricity arced through her body, this time centering from between her legs, even though he wasn’t touching her there.

How could her body be doing this without
Coupling
? Without even being touched?

If they had used the drug, they would have already climaxed by now. She wondered what else they could do in the time their bodies needed to respond naturally to each other.

“In one of the broadcasts I reviewed, a man who swore he had encountered aliens called them
cocksuckers,
as if it was a bad thing.” It didn’t make sense. The heat and wetness of her mouth would be an even better simulation than her hand. “Is that a bad thing?”

She watched his throat move as he swallowed.

“That’s a loaded question.”

“I want to give you pleasure.”

He gripped her wrist and pulled her hand away from him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You don’t have to do this.” His expression was grave. “I’ll help you no matter what.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to trade sexual favors to get me to help you.”

She felt her eyes grow wide. “People
do
that? Seriously?”

“Well… Yeah.” He shrugged, scowling at her.

Kira started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. The idea of trading sex for anything was so…
alien
to her. That thought made her laugh even harder.

“Care to clue me in?” Brendan asked.

“I’m sorry. That’s just one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.”

She wiped at her eyes as she sat back so that her weight was on his lap. He picked up the quilt that she had cast off and threw it around her shoulders, keeping his scowl in place. She had a feeling it was mostly for show.

“People in the Coalition… Well, they don’t really have sex,” she said. “Not like on Earth, anyway.”

“See, now you’re just making me uncomfortable.” He grinned a little, letting her know he was joking. But she could sense there was a thread of honesty woven into his statement.

“There’s a drug called
Coupling
that we can use instead of having sex. It takes care of everything.”

“Your people only have sex alone?”

“Not always. For some, it doesn’t satisfy all their needs. Those people pair up and use it together.”

“Nobody just…gets it on the old-fashioned way?”

“Gets what on?”

“Has sex.”

“Oh. Not that I’ve ever heard. And I’m a very good listener.”

She loved talking to Brendan, but she wanted to do other things. It had been too long since he had kissed her. There was too much space between them. The energy that had been building in her was threatening to turn to frustration. She wanted to go back to pleasure.

She leaned forward and brushed her nose along his neck, then pressed a kiss there. He didn’t relax into her as she’d hoped, so she pulled back again.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You’ve done that before, though. Right?”

“Done what before?”

“‘Coupled’ with someone. Used that stuff with another person. I mean, you’re not…”

“I’ve had sex before, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He let out a breath. “Okay. Cool. Because this is going fast and it’s already complicated enough and—”

She kissed him again, pressing her lips to his firmly to make sure he received the message. She wanted this—wanted him—for no other reason than that he was himself.