Alien General's Baby (Brion Brides 7)(14)

"It's not like I can turn it off," Braen said.

You meant you don't want to.

"Then discount it," Naima argued, trying to keep her voice from shaking, but it was difficult. "Be a normal human being."

When in doubt, try to rationalize yourself out of it.

"I am neither human nor anything resembling your understanding of normal," Braen pointed out, but before Naima could nervously snap something back at him, the general gently brushed his fingers through her hair.

The act was so surprising and the carefulness all the more so. Every reprimand washed away from Naima's mind as she leaned into Braen's touch without thinking. Every instinct in her body simply demanded that she get closer to the general.

"This strand of white in your hair," Braen went on, his deep voice softer than before. "Has it always been there?"

"No," Naima admitted, lost in the simple pleasure of Braen's touch.

"Then I was right. The Fearless gave it to you."

And just like that, the moment was over. Her eyes flew wide and she tried to push the general away, only to find that Braen was a statue that didn't move when he didn't feel like it. She would have had more luck trying to claw her way through the walls of his warship than to get away from the general when he didn’t want her to go.#p#分页标题#e#

"What difference does it make?" she demanded.

"All the difference in the world," Braen said.

There was a dark edge in his voice now. This time, it was Naima who could read the general’s thoughts, not the other way around. She didn’t quite catch the note of worry in his blue gaze, though. He wanted to know how it happened. He wanted her to tell him all about it.

Even the notion of thinking about those nightmares, nightmares that she now knew to be the truth, sent a spider web of ice crawling through her veins.

"I don't think so," she argued. "I agreed to help you find the Fearless, but I will not let you play mind-games with me. Seeing one monster was traumatic enough, I don't want to relive it for your amusement."

Naima stopped when the light in Braen's eyes turned threatening like a flash of lightning.

The light of his valor squares flickered from white to red and Naima could hear a low beat, reminding her of thunder on the horizon, pulsing out of him.

Underneath the obvious irritation, Naima was certain she saw deep, real concern.

"Amusement," Braen repeated, his voice pure venom. "Miss Jones, somewhere in the galaxy there is a creature that can hurt you without ever laying a hand on you. Your team might have ignored the warning signs, but I do not.

"In the short span of time I've known you, the Fearless slipped into your mind twice and once it actually made you drop the protective bracelet, or at least it was ready to immediately seize the opportunity when it came off. That strand in your hair? I find it to be very far from funny. Next time, the Fearless might freeze your heart."

Silence set over them, reigning for a long minute while Naima searched for words. Suddenly, she felt incredibly hollow.

"And you don't see why I wouldn't want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.

The look in Braen's eyes was impossible to describe following that.

"That is why I need you to tell me everything," he said. "If I know what the Fearless is capable of, I can think of ways to kill it. How else would I protect you?"

Naima couldn't fight down a smile at that. Men really were the same all around, even when they were from the other edge of the galaxy.

"I know you Brions love challenges," she said. "But it's like you said, General. The Fearless might get to me if I'm not careful. I felt it when I the bracelet fell before. I didn't open it on my own, I wouldn't have done that. I saw it looking for me in that moment. I feel like when that happens, it becomes easier for the Fearless to find me.

"I don't want to die and I'll help, but I think you and I both know this could very well be a one-way ticket for me. I am fine with that. You should be as well."

Finally saying it out loud felt good, in a way, even if it wasn't actually comforting.

Braen clearly didn't agree. She wasn't sure how that was possible, but the general seemed to grow in front of her, becoming even more imposing.

"Over my dead body," he said, his deep voice solemn and sure. "The enemy is trying to scare you, to show his power. It is a powerful move, but it is not a death sentence, not at all. We have the greatest minds in the galaxy trying to figure out how to defeat it and you have me to make sure we will both live long after the Fearless is gone.

“Together."

"Together," Naima heard herself say quietly, almost a whisper.

Braen came even closer and Naima was caught in his aura of authority and power and sheer, masculine presence that made her knees weak.

Holy hell…

"Yes," the general repeated, his lips brushing against hers. "Together."

Naima wanted to say a thing or two about her not saying yes to anything yet, but Braen's words got to her. The way the general spoke, she could almost believe that there would be a life for them. That he could do it, save her and the galaxy and defeat the monster.

That it was possible to live in a world without compromises, only the two of them against the world.

Like Braen really could, simply by wanting to, do it all.

When did I even start thinking that this might be what I want?

She never got to answer that question for herself. When the general kissed her, Naima no longer bothered to lie to herself. When didn’t really matter, in the grand scheme of things.

It would have been way too hard to deny herself the thing she'd wanted to do from the second she laid her eyes on Braen. That tiny bit of respite from all the insanity that had been going on since she saw that little flash of light in the bottom of a black ocean.#p#分页标题#e#

The kiss was soft at first. Tasting, careful, their tongues engaged in a slow dance until the whimper she'd been holding back slipped over her lips.

She could feel the change in Braen and the gentle kiss turned into fireworks in her blood. Braen's hands slipped into her hair, cupping the back of her head and pressing their lips together so tightly the air they breathed was one and running out very quickly.

Naima's own hands tugged at Braen's armor, pulling herself upwards to meet his demanding mouth. Standing on her tiptoes, she felt her entire body shaking with desire, the heat of arousal overwhelming her.

Braen's smile against her lips would have been infuriating if Naima didn't find it equally irresistible in that moment. On the contrary, the general's confidence only turned her on. A little arrogance was fine for someone who made her head spin, who made her forget about everything else in her life.

Including the damn stone of infinite bottom in her pocket, and the immortal monster on a warpath to take down the universe.

He kissed her like she was the most precious thing in the universe. And for a moment, she felt like she just might be.





8





Naima





That night, Naima woke with a scream.

She sat up in her bed, feeling tears running down her face as the shock refused to register.

She had had nightmares before, of course. Everyone had nightmares. Naima imagined even the great Brion warriors sometimes dreamed of things they didn't want to witness.

Hers... was beyond a simple night terror. Naima clutched the sheets, pulling them against her chest like a child, feeling utterly alone in the darkness.

One of the walls of her room slid out of the way to reveal a passageway.

This time, Naima didn't scream. Her hand searched for the gun she'd taken with her from Matthos IV, ready to defend herself, but there was no need.

The general rushed to her bedside, his clear blue eyes filled to the brink with concern.

"Naima," was all he got to say before Naima threw her hands around him, burying her face against his warm, wide chest.

For a second, she was very distinctly aware that Braen was practically naked but for a pair of tightly fitting boxers. His chiseled abs were pressed against Naima's breasts, the muscles bulging under tanned skin. The general's scent was strong and masculine and made her pussy wet even while the rest of her refused to calm down.

Then the nightmare came back to her and even Braen wasn't enough of a distraction from that.

"What happened?" the general asked, the growl in his voice telling Naima he was ready to murder whoever was responsible for causing her such distress.

Only there was no culprit, at least not one they could reach.

"I had a bad dream" sounds so stupid, Naima thought, but it was the truth.

"I saw it," she said at last.

Braen pulled back, looking at her with a frown. The hard lines of his face were gorgeous in the dim light, reminding Naima with jarring clarity that he was the perfect tall-dark-and-handsome type.

And she was his gesha.

It occurred to Naima that she should ask Braen to get dressed so as not to make the situation any more awkward, but there was not one part of her that wanted that to happen.

If any other man had claimed his eternal love for her, Naima would have taken it as a foolish gesture. Braen wasn't joking. Brions had no sense of humor when it came to their sacred bonds.

To be fair, Brions barely have any sense of humor to begin with.

In that moment, seconds after legitimately fearing for her life, light years away from the enemy, Naima wanted nothing more than to believe him. To let herself drown in the love and devotion he offered. It seemed like a way, way more appetizing way to spend her time then embroiled in nightmares and what-ifs.