Bonded to the Alien Centurion

Chapter 2-1

2

“Well, don’t you scrub up well?”

Danielle Black, Dani to the rare few she called friends, grinned at the wolf-whistle as she entered the shuttle bay dressed for dinner aboard the Latharian vessel.

Shannon Taylor, her second in command, leaned one shoulder against the shuttlecraft that would take Dani over to the alien vessel. She was still in her duty uniform, the rank of Lieutenant Colonel glinting at her collar. Like Dani, she was career army, practically born and bred into uniform. Also like Dani, she’d been a colony brat, going into service as soon as she’d hit sixteen to escape a life of menial work in the colony factories. Neither of them had looked back.

“Sexy boss lady,” Shannon winked as she pushed off and approached. “You’ll have them eating out of your hand. You mark my words.”

With a grin, Dani did a little twirl to show off. The girlish movement was one she’d only make while alone with someone she trusted. She looked good in her formal uniform, the military collared jacket fitting her like a glove over a tailored sheath dress that made the best of her trim figure. With her hair neatly slicked back and in high heels, she felt good too.

“Thanks. I certainly hope so,” she replied, her amusement dying away in the face of the seriousness of her visit to the alien ship. “I need to bring Cole back or command will have my head on a damn plate.”

Of all the damn fool things her previous superior officer, Hopkins, had done while in command, nothing came close to the sheer stupidity of mounting an attack on an alien opponent with superior technology. Not only had he pissed off a species who could wipe out humanity without a second thought, he’d also managed to get himself and the vice president captured into the bargain.

Which meant she now had to sort that s**t show out, up to and including negotiating the release of the captives… all from a severely reduced position of strength. Great. Just f*****g great.

Shannon’s brow creased. “I’m really not sure this is a good idea, boss. You’re the IC… let me go instead.”

Dani shook her head. “No. I made a connection with that commander the last time we spoke. I don’t want to risk a loss of confidence, especially as it could jeopardize us getting Cole back.”

Shannon lifted an eyebrow, her expression blank. “And it has nothing to do with the fact the place is filled to the brim with hot as hell men?”

Dani flipped her the bird. “The day a guy turns my head is the day I resign my commission. They’re pretty and all… but I’ve yet to meet a guy that can keep up with me.”

For some reason, as she said it, an image of one of the alien warriors filled her mind. Not the commander—he was all darkness and intent focus—but one of the others. The first man she’d spoken to when she’d commed their ship after she’d realized Hopkins’ plan had become the complete FUBAR she’d told him it would be. Tall, broad-shouldered and handsome as sin, with a shock of dirty blond hair pulled back, his bright blue eyes had haunted her sleep since.

Quickly, she shook her head to clear the image. She didn’t do relationships. Ever. As soon as she made the mistake of falling for someone, they left, died, or simply moved to a new posting on the other side of the galaxy. It all amounted to the same thing. Her being alone.

So if she was going to end up that way, she might as well start the same way.

“Huh. You just make sure you stick to that. Okay? I’ve heard stories about their seduction techniques,” Shannon commented as she walked with Dani toward the back of the shuttle where the loading ramp was open.

There was no pilot. A qualified combat pilot herself, Dani didn’t need one, nor would she risk someone else’s life just in case the Lathar weren’t on the level.

This time it was Dani’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “And just how do you know that? None of the women the Lathar took the first time have returned, so we’re literally flying in the dark on what they, and their seduction techniques, are like.”

And they were. So far, even though the return of women who hadn’t accepted Latharian “mates” was on the negotiation table, none had yet made their way back to the Terran systems. So, what they actually knew about the Lathar was very little.

But Shannon’s expression didn’t alter. “Two words… Jane. Allen.”

Dani pursed her lips for a second. “Okay. I’ll give you that one.”

Jane Allen was a marine legend, as hard as nails and not a woman to be easily seduced. The fact that she was one of the women who had married a Latharian warrior had sent ripples of shock throughout the military community. Dani had been sure she’d have gone down fighting rather than cozy it up with an alien lover.

“So… don’t you dare go and do a Jane on me, okay? I’d hate to have to write you up as TSTL.” Shannon winked, patting the side of the shuttle as she pushed off.

“Huh? What the f**k does TSTL mean?” Dani called after the other woman. Shannon was always making up her own codes.

“Too stupid to live. Because you’d have to be to let some sexy bit of stuff take you down,” Shannon called back over her shoulder, bright red hair a flag against the gray bulkheads as she left the shuttle bay.

Dani shook her head with a chuckle as she triggered the ramp. Shannon was one of her closest friends, but she had the strangest sense of humor. The image of the sexy alien pushed to the front of her mind again and she shook it away.

“Yeah, not happening,” she muttered to herself as she started the shuttle’s engines and initiated the launch procedures. “My name’s not Jane Allen.”

The flight to the alien ship was short, sweet and uneventful, which allowed Dani to concentrate on what she was seeing. The Veral’vias was huge and she easily recognized the sleek lines of a warship. One big enough to wipe out the entire human fleet with ease. And it wasn’t alone. Her sharp gaze picked out another, just behind it, which had arrived at some point this afternoon.

“Computer, enhance main viewscreen image,” she ordered, a frown on her brow as she focused. She needed to pick up as much intel as she could. Even the slightest little thing could aid them in their understanding of the Lathar. “Focus on sections g-five through k-seventeen.”

Part of the viewscreen in front of her sectioned off and zoomed in on a view of the second ship’s hull. There were marks there that she assumed were in Latharian, but she couldn’t read them. A ship designation perhaps?

“Computer, look for similar markings on the Veral’vias and compare. See if you can find a match,” she ordered, swiping the console in front of her to clear the zoomed section. The shuttle rounded the hull of the large alien ship and she spotted the open shuttle bay looming ahead of her.

“Terran shuttle, this is the Veral’vias,” a deep voice announced over the comm as all her propulsion systems suddenly went unresponsive. “We’ll bring you in from here.”

“This is Major General Black. Acknowledged,” she replied and sat back in her seat as the alien ship piloted her toward the shuttle bay. The voice had been a new one, not the hottie she’d spoken with before, and she wondered where he’d gone. Probably off shift, doing whatever it was Latharians did when they weren’t working. A sense of disappointment filled her. A small part of her, a very small part, wanted to see him again… find out more about him. Like his name.

Putting that thought to the side, she watched as the shuttle approached the open door in the side of the alien vessel. As she got nearer, she realized just how big it was. Her eyes widened. Hell, what did they launch out of there that they needed a door so frigging huge?

Within a minute the shuttle entered its cavernous maw. Dani shifted in her chair, the hair lifting on the back of her neck. Perhaps Shannon had been right. Perhaps this had been a bad idea. She was alone in enemy territory without backup and only the combat dagger sheathed on her thigh to defend herself with…

Shaking off the thought, she took a couple of deep breaths and forced herself into a sense of calmness and ease. Fake it until you make it, baby… a lesson she’d learned a long time ago.

She kept her eyes open and the sensors on the shuttle running as they were pulled inside and then gently set down on the deck with a soft bump. Her live stream to the Defiant had cut off as soon as they’d gotten within the large alien ship’s hull, but the recordings would be of use later.

If they ever let her leave, that was.

The dark thought sent a chill down her spine for a second, but then she shrugged it off. Just a dinner, K’Vass had said. Then, if she wanted to leave, both she and the vice president could.

“Welcome to the Veral’vias, Major General Black,” the voice said again. “Please disembark. Your escort is waiting for you.”

She rose from the pilot’s seat and made her way to the back of the shuttle. A smile quirked her lips. She was more used to jumping out the back of one of these at high altitude in full combat gear rather than waiting for the ramp to descend while dressed for a formal function. Her dress uniform was the nearest she was going to get to being a princess for the day, though, so she’d take it.

But the man standing on the other side of the ramp stole that smile right from her lips and she gaped at him in surprise for a second. The sexy Latharian communications officer stood waiting for her, a hesitant smile on his lips. Her gaze raked him, taking in the well-fitted leather combat uniform that stretched over a heavily muscled body and the hair, shades of grey rather than the dirty blond she’d thought, with its multitudes of braids brushing one broad shoulder.

“Welcome to the Veral’vias, Major General,” he said with a small bow, offering her his hand. “I’m Sardaan K’Vass, assigned to be your escort for this evening.”

He straightened with a frown when she didn’t take his hand to help her step off the ramp. “Although, if I am not to your liking, I can arrange for another male to take my place?”

His words startled her into action.

“No! No, not at all. You’re fine,” she said quickly, adding a smile as she walked forward. Her hand was tiny in his larger one as she stepped off the ramp. “It’s not like I have to marry you. Is it? You’re just being kind enough to escort me for the evening.”