Colonial Commander (5 page)

She put her hand on his chest. “Don’t do that. I’m probably making a bigger deal out of this than I need to.”

He covered her hand with his. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Ava’s heart was pounding. No one had ever said that to her before, and she believed him. There was something about AshOR that made her feel safe with him. She looked into his eyes, those dark eyes of his made her melt. “Thank you.”

The intimate moment was broken when two lieutenants walked past them giving them a curious look.

“I’ve got to go back and check on the survivors.” She pulled away.

“See you later Ava.” He called out behind her. She was about ten feet away when she looked back, he was still standing there watching her. He gave her a sexy smile and a wink then turned to leave.
Damn that man was hot.

Chapter 7

Ava had been sitting for what seemed like hours next to Zander’s sister, holding her hand and talking to her in a calm, soothing voice. Her arms were getting tired, and she needed to shower and change before going to dinner with Commander TylOR and his mate. She started to release the girl’s hand, when suddenly she felt a squeeze. She glanced down into Lizetta’s exotic-looking blue face. Her almost completely black eyes were open, and full of pain and fear.

“Hi there. I’m Ava.”

The young girl pulled her hand free and tried to sit up. She looked around the medic wing, panic evident on her face.

“Easy, honey. No one here is going to hurt you.”

“Zander. Where is my brother?”

“He is being given a shower. One of the medics is going to go help bring him back.”

“Why does he need help?”

“It’s Lizetta, right?”

“Yes.”

“How much do you remember about what happened to your people?”

“I was helping the females collect firewood when we noticed these things coming down from the sky. By the time I got to my village, everything was on fire. My parents were killed. I called out for my brother, but someone grabbed me from behind.” She gulped, looking down at her hands.

Ava knew this must be difficult for her. She reached out a hand to gently clasp Lizetta’s. “You’re safe now. You don’t have to say anything more if you don’t want to.”

Lizetta whispered. “They ripped my clothes and—hurt me. I managed to get away and stumble to our hut. When the grey males came after me again, Zander tried to stop them. They cut him. I tried to get to him, to help him, but I couldn’t. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“Don’t try to think too hard about the details. What’s important is that you’re both alive. You have time to work through what happened. I think you should be aware that your brother suffered severe and permanent injuries.”

“What happened to Zander?”

Ava wondered how much she should tell Lizetta about her brother’s condition. She would hate for Zander to return and have his sister look at him in horror. It wouldn’t help matters if Lizetta wasn’t prepared ahead of time and reacted badly when she saw Zander. “He lost a foot and part of his arm.”

“Oh my Goddess! How devastating for him. He’s always been the strongest and bravest of all our people. There was talk of him one day being chief.”

“Well, he is still strong and brave. He’s just different now. The medics gave him temporary artificial limbs.” At her confused expression, Ava explained. “He lost part of his arm and leg. The artificial limbs are mechanical and biological so they will give him the use of both arms and legs again. Unfortunately, he has to go through a lot of physical therapy to train him to use them so that he can walk again.”

“Poor Zander.”

“He doesn’t need pity; he needs your acceptance of him the way he is now.”

“Of course he has my acceptance, he’s my brother. All we have left is each other.” Tears formed in the girl’s eyes.

“You have a few of your friends still with you, and you have new friends now. Anything you need from me, just let me know. You can talk to me about anything. Trust that I will understand. I’m here to help you.” She glanced up and saw the medics bringing Zander back inside. She smiled up at him. “Here he is.”

Lizetta turned to look for her brother, and her face lit up. “Zander!”

Zander struggled to break free from the medics holding him as he walked forward. “Lizetta!” He growled at the medics, who finally released him. He stumbled but made it to Lizetta's bed, sitting down on it and taking her into his arms.

Ava wiped away a few tears that slipped down her cheeks as she watched the touching reunion. The siblings had a long road to recovery ahead of them, but they had each other. That was a lot more than some of the other survivors had.

She stood up, feeling like she was intruding on their moment. “I’ll just be leaving.”

Zander looked up and smiled at her. “You don’t have to leave.”

She shook her head at him gently. “You need time with your sister. Besides, I have a dinner to get ready for.”

He frowned. “Which male are you sharing your meal with?”

“It’s actually with Commander TylOR and his mate.”

He looked relieved. She was going to have to put some distance between them. She didn’t want him to form an attachment, not that she wouldn’t be attracted to him. He was handsome in a very rugged, muscular, Smurf-blue way. She just didn’t find him as appealing as—AshOR.

“We’re friends, Zander. That’s all.”

He sighed with acknowledgement. “I understand.”

“I’ll come by in the morning to check on both of you.” She was about to leave, but stopped to touch Zander’s shoulder. “Take it easy on her, she’s not ready to talk about what happened yet.”

He nodded to show his understanding. She could see the pain in his eyes. Zander was a very proud male, and he must feel useless for not being able to protect his sister. Ava smiled at them and walked out of the medic wing.

She was about to break down into tears. She was used to seeing people in horrible situations, and she’d learned to harden herself enough to get the job done. But that didn’t mean that she was heartless and that things didn’t get to her. Ava had gotten to know Zander a little, and his pain had become personal to her. She hoped his new life on Kiljor would be a good one. Maybe this dinner tonight would help get her mind off everything.

*****

AshOR wasn’t happy with the uniform he laid on his bed. He questioned whether he should go casual or formal. He had his formal dress uniform, which was used for special occasions. Would he come across as trying too hard?
Kitana! Why was this so difficult?

He chose to wear his dark blue uniform vest, but left off his jacket. The vest allowed the muscles in his arms to show. Most females admired his muscles. He remembered how Ava stared at him when he was naked; she wasn’t unaffected by his looks. Just the thought of Ava had his cock hardening.

AshOR was confused about his feelings for the female. Everything male in him wanted to claim her, and had since the first moment he saw her, scented her, and even heard her voice. He thought about her all the time. It didn’t matter where he was or what he was doing, she always invaded his mind. He could be sleeping, working on the bridge, eating his meals, or in the shower. There were many times he stroked himself to release in the shower while picturing all the delicious things he wanted to do to Ava. He knew he was becoming obsessed with her.

He didn’t like it when other males looked at or talked to her, especially the male Zander in the medic wing. He found himself extremely jealous of him, even though he was injured. That male wanted Ava, and it pissed off AshOR to no end. If she was visiting the survivors he always found a reason to go there too, just to keep an eye on her.

Something had to be done, and soon. Maybe if he had her, shared sex with her, he could finally move on and forget her. He had a job to do, and building a relationship with a female just wasn’t feasible at this time. Finding the Morins was his top priority. Then he would have to go back to his home world. Ava was planning on living on Katiera. How would a long-distance relationship work if they were on two different planets? What bothered him the most was that he didn’t really believe that being with her just once would be enough.

Should he cancel going to dinner? No, it was too late to do that. Besides, Lizzie would be furious with him if he cancelled at the last minute without a good reason. He would go, but he would find a reason to leave early, to avoid any uncomfortable situations.

*****

Three hours later Ava found herself standing outside Commander TylOR’s quarters, unsure what to do and why she was there. She barely knew the commander, and she hadn’t met his mate yet. What would she be like? She was probably tall; leggy with big boobs. That seemed to be what AshOR liked, at least.

Ava knew she wasn’t bad looking. She never had problems with men asking her out. Even though she usually dressed casually with very little makeup, when she put in effort she could look quite attractive. She had honey-colored blonde hair, and she thought her pale blue eyes were her best feature.

She looked down at her tight black cocktail dress. Why did she let Megan talk her into wearing this? All she had packed were jeans and t-shirts. Megan had come over briefly while she was getting dressed and was livid that she was attending a dinner looking like a teenager at the mall. 

She was wearing heels and her feet were hurting already. The heels also belonged to Megan. She was going to have blisters in the morning. Why did she make such an effort to dress up for this? She reached out a hand to knock but pulled it back. Maybe she could call and tell them she was sick with something. She turned and started to leave when she head the door behind her open.

“Going somewhere?” A deep male voice called out.

Ava closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew that voice. She turned back around and faced the man standing in the open doorway.

“Good evening, Commander AshOR.”

Chapter 8

Ava knew she was blushing. Why did seeing him make her pulse beat faster and her body heat up? This was a bad idea. She should have cancelled.

“Let the poor woman inside, AshOR,” a woman’s voice called out from the other side of the doorway. She had a bit of a Southern twang to her voice.

AshOR stepped to the side, but not too far, forcing Ava to brush against him as she passed him. She stiffened when he leaned toward her and sniffed the air around her. Damn their super senses. What did he smell on her? She tried to ignore him as she moved further into the large quarters.

It was bigger than her quarters, and even bigger than what she had briefly seen of AshOR’s. Hers only had a bathroom and one main room with a bed, a small table, and two chairs. This one was much larger, probably similar to a presidential suite on Earth.
 It had a nice dining area, a sitting area with two couches, and a hallway that he assumed led to bedrooms.

The very short red-haired woman standing next to AshOR’s brother TylOR, snagged her attention.

“It is good to see you again, Miss Collins.”

“Thank you for inviting me, Commander.”

“Please call me TylOR. This is my mate, Dr. Elizabeth Connell.”

The short woman stepped forward and offered her hand. “Call me Lizzie.”

“I’m Ava.” She shook the woman’s hand, then paused. “Wait, Dr. Connell? Didn’t you help create the cultural classes taught on the transports?”

“Yes, she did,” TylOR said with pride, making Lizzie blush.

“I had help from Dr. Morris and others who collaborated.”

“Well, it was very helpful.”

“Please come in and have a seat. The meal is being delivered. I would have cooked, except that…”

“She can’t cook.” TylOR finished for her, chuckling.

“I can cook some things,” Lizzie defended herself.

“I didn’t mate you for your cooking skills,” TylOR growled as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly.

Lizzie giggled and hit him on the shoulder. “Stop that, we have guests.”

Ava tried to find somewhere to look besides at the happy couple, but when she turned her head to the left and her eyes caught AshOR’s. He was staring at her with an intensity that made her feel slightly uncomfortable but excited at the same time. She licked her suddenly dry lips, and his eyes tracked the movement.

A knock on the door caught everyone’s attention. AshOR walked over and opened it so that the staff could bring in the food. A few minutes later they were all sitting around the table. Lizzie had put Ava and AshOR next to each other on one side of the table, while she and TylOR sat on the other side.

The servers helped dish out the food before they left. Conversation flowed smoothly, and she found humor in the way AshOR and his brother interacted and teased each other.  She could see that it was all done with love and respect.

“You would not have to reset the shields so frequently if you reduced your power usage two hours a day,” TylOR informed his brother.

AshOR shook his head. “That would leave us vulnerable to a Morin attack.”

“Two hours spread apart. You can manage using warships to help guard you until the power comes back online.”

“I’m not a new lieutenant. I have plenty of experience on a transport.” AshOR crossed his arms over his wide chest.

“I’m just trying to help you out.”

“Maybe I don’t want your help.”

“Then you’re an idiot.”

Both of them growled at each other. Ava felt awkward at first, but then Lizzie’s burst of laughter at them had her laughing too. She looked up at the confused expressions on the men’s faces and laughed even harder.

“What is so funny?” TylOR demanded.

“Yes, why are you two laughing?” AshOR also demanded, but there was no heat in his voice.

Ava looked at Lizzie, who winked at her and answered them. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because you’re like two macho cavemen beating their chests and arguing over who has the bigger club.”

“What’s a cavemen?” TylOR asked.

“I don’t know, but whatever this club is, mine is bigger,” AshOR said, chuckling. TylOR grinned.

There was more joking and laughter after that, and the rest of the dinner was pleasant. She had no idea how funny AshOR could be in a social setting. He always came off so cold and distant. According to Lizzie and TylOR, AshOR had been the black sheep of the family, always getting into trouble. He’d sure done a turnaround. The only thing that hadn’t changed was AshOR’s reputation with the women.

“What was that singer’s name that you started something up with back on Katiera?” TylOR asked.

AshOR’s cheeks reddened, and he glared at his brother. “That was a while back, and it wasn’t serious.”

“It never is,” TylOR said without thinking. “Ouch, what in Kitana! Elizabeth, that was my knee you just kicked!”

Lizzie’s face turned red as she glared at her mate. “Watch what you are saying.”

“Why?”

“I think it’s time for me to leave.” Ava stood up and headed toward the door.

“Don’t go, stay and talk some more with me. It feels like it’s been forever since I spent any time with a human,” Lizzie begged.

“I would love to talk more with you, but if I am going to help relocate the survivors to the Kiljorn transport tomorrow, I need to get some sleep.”

“I wish you would consider traveling with us to Kiljor. You would love it there, it’s so beautiful.”

“Maybe one day I can come for a visit.” She felt AshOR coming up behind her. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Any time.” Lizzie smiled and gave her a hug.

Ava walked out into the corridor. She glanced back to find that AshOR had followed her out. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to walk you back to your quarters.”

“I don’t need an escort.”

“Well, you are getting one.”

Ava rolled her eyes and kept going down the corridor without looking at him.

*****

That damn female was driving him crazy with need. All evening he sat next to her, feeling her body heat and inhaling her delicious scent. He’d had to control the urge to reach for her and pull her onto his lap.

Her voice was soft and sweet, and those strangely blue eyes of hers could melt him. But it was her laughter that got to him the most—she had the best laugh.

He sensed vulnerability within her, as though she’d had something happen to her that made her more sensitive to everyone else. It only increased his overwhelming need to shelter and protect her. When they arrived at her quarters, she fumbled with opening the door.

“Well, thanks for walking back to my room.”

“It was my pleasure.” He placed one arm up over her head, leaning in against the doorframe. “Invite me in,” he whispered.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ava whispered back.

AshOR reached up with his other hand and gently caressed her face. “I think it’s an excellent idea.”

He groaned with need as he lowered his head and kissed her. The soft kiss quickly turned wild and passionate. He pressed his body against hers and marveled at her response. There was no going back for either of them now.