Vareen & Mica (The Alliance Book 2) Read online

  “Okay. I’ll start.” Vareen waved a hand at him. “Who are you?”

  “I am Mica Jataci. My clan is responsible for meting out justice where I come from. You may call me Mica. Now my question. Who are you?”

  “I am Vareen Nas. I am the science officer and second in command of the ship you’re on.” Vareen answered without hesitation. “How did your friends attack so many guards without injury?”

  Mica’s laughter boomed out startling her. He moved to stand in front of the barrier right in front of her, his legs braced apart, his hands on his hips. Vareen couldn’t help but appreciate the flexing of his thigh’s in the black pants. His black shirt was open at the neck and a few inches of tanned, smooth skin peeked out. The stance was arrogant and Vareen smiled slightly.

  “We could defeat many times over the kind of guards you have on this ship. They aren’t a match for our abilities.” His boast made her smile. “What is the name of this ship?”

  “The Reliant,” Vareen quickly asked her next question. “What are your abilities exactly?” She moved to mimic his stance. She knew the barrier was active so she gave herself just enough distance to keep from getting shocked. Her hair had come undone from the bun she normally wore, and the top of her jumpsuit had opened a few inches. She matched him in a disheveled appearance at least.

  His eyes were drawn to the slight swell of her cleavage and Vareen pulled her arms back so the material opened even further. If she could distract him enough he might not answer and then she could get a concession.

  “We have the increased speed you saw, along with a heightened sense of smell. Our strength is increased, and the ability to interpret a threat and implement a tactic to defeat that threat. We call ourselves valkie warriors. Where is your home world?” Mica stretched his arms over his head and she watched fascinated by the show of muscles she got when his shirt gaped open. He was mimicking her attempt at distraction and it was working.

  What had he asked again? The name of her home world, hadn’t he heard it before now? Maybe he was testing her to see if she was answering honestly.

  “Cestori.” Vareen licked her suddenly dry lips and went with the truth. “Where is yours?

  His eyes flew to her mouth. “Titus.”

  “Titus is inhabited by barbarians—”

  “It is not.” Mica puffed up in anger at her words. “We obviously have different abilities than your people, but we are far from barbaric.”

  “I don’t know, attacking a roomful of people for no reason smacks of barbarism to me,” Vareen argued.

  “We woke to find ourselves surrounded by armed males with no memory of why we were being held. It was instinct for us to defend ourselves and not one of your puny male’s was killed.” A satisfied look came across his face. “You’ve broken the rules of our give and take. I get a concession.”

  “I didn’t,” Vareen protested.

  “You did. I answered that I was from Titus. Before I could ask my question, you accused my people of being barbarians.”

  Vareen thought back and realized he was correct. She did owe him a concession. With a small thrill, she wondered what he was going to ask for.

  Chapter Two

  Mica had never met someone so enthralling in his twenty-eight years as the woman before him. She was one of the females he’d heard upon waking in their medical unit.

  “Now that the extra guards are here do you think I should add more?” A woman had spoken.

  There were guards? His fighting instinct kicked in. He could feel the adrenaline running through his veins.

  “Ten is plenty.” A different female spoke this time. Her voice filled with relief.

  So there were at least ten guards.

  “I think even the large one would have trouble with ten Cestori security guards,” the first female spoke again.

  He could sense movement in the room and knew it was time to act. The medical unit he was attached to started making noises, along with others on either side of him. His friends must be here as well. Jumping up he landed on the end of an exam bed. He took in the fact that Dak, Tae, and Arik were also here with him. Where was Drake? They’d been on the bridge of The Maxon together.

  A golden blur swept past him. Dak was on the move. Then the red shirt of Tae blurred past him and the blue one of Arik. He heard fighting coming from the other room. Still, he remained where he stood. There was something here in this room drawing him, calming him. What could it be?

  His gaze swept around. A small brown-haired female had screamed and collapsed on the floor. That left a platinum-haired, buxom figured, small female and …her.

  “Computer transmit,” the blonde yelled. “This is the Captain—”

  The small one was the captain? He almost laughed but wanted her to stop transmitting so he moved toward her. He knew his eyes would be glowing an electric shade of blue and hoped this would intimidate her. Growling menacingly, he reached for her.

  “Leave her alone,” The taller, black-haired hellcat jumped between him and the blonde.

  “Vareen. Don’t—” the blonde had stumbled and fallen. From her prone spot on the ground, she tried to intervene.

  “I wouldn’t hurt the small female.” Mica couldn’t help that his voice came out deep and rumbled around this small room. Seeing his friends return through the doorway he asked, “Dak? Tae? Arik? Is this area secured?”

  “Yes, Mica. There were only ten guards.” Dak found this amusing.

  “How many dead Tae?”

  “You even need to ask? No need to be insulting.”

  “I only got to watch.” Arik grumped with laughter in his voice.

  “How is it insulting?” the one named Vareen snapped at him.

  Mica had never seen eyes this purple color before. They flashed with anger and an answering spark flared to life inside him.

  “You’ve killed innocent guards. They were only protecting us.” The black-haired beauty wanted to strike out at him, he could sense it.

  Before she’d finished her sentence, Mica stepped up until he was pressed against her. To his delight, she didn’t back away. Instead, the little fireball stood her ground and glared up at him. Mica wanted to laugh. At his most easygoing he was intimidating, when trying to get others to back down, it had always worked. Here was one small female standing up to him. It was unheard of.

  “I like this one,” he announced, and then bent his head to breathe deeply at Vareen’s neck. Her scent filled his lungs and imprinted on every cell in his body. He couldn’t get enough.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her friend draw her weapon up. The weapon would be useless. He snatched Vareen as if weightless and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “Let me go,” she yelled.

  Mica put a hand against her back to keep her from falling in her struggles against his shoulder.

  The small blonde jumped up and pointed her weapon at him.

  “Cali, No. Don’t shoot,” Vareen begged her friend.

  His friends simply growled low in their throats at the weapon but didn’t move.

  “Let my friend go or I will kill you.”

  Mica had to hand it to her. She was almost as brave as her friend. If not for the shaking in her hands, he almost believed she’d do it.

  Another flash entered the room and Mica tensed.

  “Leave this one.”

  So Drake had survived as well. This was a good day.

  His friend’s stance over the small blonde told all of them that this was someone special to him. Mica didn’t stick around to find out the details. He took Vareen and sequestered her in a holding cell. He didn’t want her to be able to get away from him, and this was the only place he could think of that was secure.

  Now she owed him a concession. Reaching over he pushed the button that would take the barrier down. Vareen didn’t move away. He liked her bold nature already.

  “I can think of only one thing I want.” Mica could feel the valkie sensation trying to take hold again. Only
this time it wasn’t a fighting instinct, but a mating one.

  “What would that be?”

  Did she do that on purpose? Licking her lips to drive him crazy? Her mouth was so lush and pink. With every swipe of her tongue, Mica wanted to possess her. Taking her upper arms in his hands, he pulled her against him. She was tall enough that her breasts pressed into his chest, but still short enough that she had to look up to see into his eyes.

  “You know what I want Var. I won’t lie to you.” He noticed her eyes widened and the brilliant purple darkened with what he hoped was passion. “I must taste you or I’ll go mad.”

  Bending his head, he gave her time to turn away. She didn’t pull back. Instead, she tilted her head and when his lips were the barest breath from hers, closed her eyes. Mica didn’t wait any longer. He brushed his lips against hers. The petal softness of her mouth made him groan. The special smell that was Vareen swamped his senses again. He would never walk in the gardens on Titus thinking them sweet now that he knew her scent.

  When she put her hands against his chest, Mica let her arms go and wrapped her more tightly against him. His fingers wound into the hair at her lower back fingering the soft curls. His lower body strained to get closer, so he moved his hands to cup her bottom.

  At her soft gasp of surprise, he broke their kiss. Her eyelids fluttered open and he was encouraged by the passion burning in her eyes. Opening his mouth slightly on hers, he flicked his tongue against her full bottom lip. She answered by opening her mouth more fully on his and her tongue swiped out to clash with his. His hard arousal was pressing into her stomach and the kiss turned carnal.

  Mica forced himself to break away. He only wanted a small taste of her. This wasn’t the place for lovemaking and if he wasn’t careful he’d have her on the small bed, naked at this rate.

  “Sweet Var,” he put a small distance between them to cool his ardor. “Do you have a mate? Someone special to you waiting for you on Cestori?” If she did, he needed to know who to kill.

  “No. There isn’t anyone.” Vareen’s composure was slow to return, and he was pleased by his ability to make her forget herself. “What about you Mica, do you have someone on Titus?”

  “No,” he was never so happy as when he could honestly say that. “I’m not mated. Can you tell me what you were doing in the Buffer Zone before you found us?”

  “It’s not my place to tell you the full story.” It was the first prevarication he’d gotten from her. “I think that Cali, she’s the captain and a good friend, will tell Drake and then you’ll know as well.”

  Mica liked that she was honest. He had heard them talking and knew that Cali was the captain. That Vareen was telling him the truth made him admire her even more.

  She stepped back away from him and Mica wanted to follow her.

  “What about you,” Vareen asked. “What were you doing in the Buffer Zone?”

  It was his turn to play with words. “I can’t tell you the full story until I’ve spoken with Drake and the others.” He stepped back from her a bit further and reestablished the electronic barrier to keep her in the security cell. “I’m sorry Var. I don’t want to lock you in, but I’m afraid you’ll lock me out if given a chance.” When she went to argue he continued, “Not that I’m worried about physically being detained, I don’t see you doing that. I fear that you would build invisible barriers between us. Find reasons to avoid me, and block my attempts to see you.” Taking a deep breath to clear his mind he went to leave. “I need to speak with Drake and then I’ll return. I’ll bring us something to eat. You must be hungry by now.”

  He strode quickly from the room. The sooner he talked with the others, the sooner he could return to her.

  Chapter Three

  Vareen watched Mica go out the door and returned to her slouched spot on the bed. He was probably right. If he didn’t keep her locked in here, she wouldn’t hesitate to find a million reasons to avoid him. It was a part of her childhood that she hadn’t been able to overcome. The feeling that she didn’t belong. The orphan looking for someone or someplace to call her own but not feeling good enough when she found it.

  She’d befriended Cali, and the others but it hadn’t been easy to trust them. When it came time for dating, she’d been introduced to a new nightmare. She always wondered at the ulterior motives the males had for initiating intimacy. She enjoyed the physical nature of having a lover, it was the emotional side effects she tried to steer clear of.

  With Mica, she was drowning in uncertainty. Against her better judgment, he was already worming around in her thoughts. Why did he want to talk with her? Why had he kissed her as his concession? What was his purpose for being in the Buffer Zone?

  Silently kicking herself Vareen wondered why she’d failed to ask him what it meant to be claimed? A part of her answered back because she might not like the answer. Vareen touched a finger to her lips. Reflecting on the moment his lips brushed hers, she’d felt holes pop open in her carefully constructed protective walls. Perhaps Mica offered her something so tempting he could break through them completely.

  Vareen got comfortable on the bed and closed her eyes. She always thought better this way. After a moment, she heard Mica return.

  “Are you sleeping?” a soft voice called out and Vareen opened one eye to see Mica standing with some food.

  “No, I’m awake.” Vareen didn’t get up, just rolled onto her side. “You couldn’t possibly have met with Drake, talked, gotten the food and made it back already.”

  “I met Dak in the hallway. Drake and Cali are…talking things out and don’t want to be disturbed. The food was something Dak was bringing us, so I grabbed it and came right back.”

  “So if Cali and Drake are talking, that means you can tell me the reason for your being in the Buffer Zone.” Vareen pushed up from her side and sat up.

  “I think it will be safe to do so.” He released the barrier and entered the room with her. Taking a blanket, he shook it out and placed it on the floor. When it was arranged to his satisfaction, he put the food down and gestured for her to join him. “We can have a picnic.”

  It did smell good and she was hungry, so instead of arguing, she moved to the edge of the blanket and started picking at the food.

  Swallowing a bite of meat, she washed it down with water from a canister. “So what were you doing in the Buffer Zone?”

  “Are we doing the give and take for a concession or just talking?” there was a challenge in his eyes and Vareen hesitated.

  “Just talking.”

  His disappointment was obvious, but he answered her anyway. “We were testing our warship, The Maxon. With the help of Atheon, we have become spacefaring.”

  “Atheon?” Vareen raised an eyebrow at this news. “They helped you build a spacecraft? Aren’t they difficult to work with?”

  “Not at all, they are very easy to deal with. They helped us with some technology we needed, in return we supplied them with trianium. It is an ore we use on Titus that seems to be valuable to others.”

  “That is what you call the metal your pods are made from?”

  “Yes. The Maxon was also made from that ore.”

  “Very impressive.” Vareen couldn’t help but admit. The pods were very well built. She had to assume The Maxon had been as well. “What went wrong?”

  “There were anomalous readings and we feared a core breach. The crew was ordered into escape pods. Dak, Arik, Tae, Drake and I were the last to leave the bridge. I’m not sure how we missed getting found by The Cariyel. That is a ship from Atheon that we sent a distress signal to.”

  “Hmm. That is odd.” Vareen kept eating, letting what Mica had told her so far sink in. When she was ready she asked, “You said earlier that your clan dispenses justice on Titus. Can you explain the clan system for me?”

  Mica leaned against the wall at his back and crossed his feet. Vareen wondered how long this was going to take if he was getting comfortable to do the telling.

  “It was many ge
nerations ago that a member of the Renari clan worked to unite 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. Drake wears purple, to symbolize the mountains where trianium is mined. His clan is the Renari. My clan is the Jataci, we wear black to symbolize blind justice. Our clan is responsible for holding trials, finding criminals who have fled into the outer regions, and patrolling the borders of all the clan lands.”

  “Why did the clans need uniting. What was the conflict?” Vareen took a bite from an especially juicy fruit and waited for Mica to continue. Licking her fingers to keep them clean she waited. When he remained silent, she looked up to see him watching her intently. “What?’

  Seeming to snap out of it, he shook his head. “You asked what the conflict was?” at her nod he cleared his throat, “With everyone on the planet having special abilities, there was the possibility that someone would take extreme risks in getting the upper hand over the other clans. Biological warfare being the main fear. The clans uniting for a common goal was the only way to ensure peace.”

  “So how does it work?” Vareen was finished eating and leaned against the frame holding the bed in place. Her legs stretched so their feet were parallel to each other. “How do you maintain peace?”

  “All five clans produce something that benefits the others. For example, the Metari supply the water for industry, the mining of trianium and agriculture. In return, they are supplied with food, mineral and the newest technology. We allow the clans to intermix. For example, if you have an affinity for plants, but are born in Metari you can live in Denary if you wish. The years of using this system have built a trust among us, we live in harmony now, when before it was chaos. There are those we call Others that live outside the clans, but they are relatively harmless. It is their choice to stay apart.”