Alien Love

The T’An Chronicles: Kiele – Book 2

Lily Marie

Copyright, 2015

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except for use in any review. This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, locales, and events are either pure invention or used fictitiously, and all incidents come from the author’s imagination alone.

Cover Design by ResplendentMedia.com.

Sign up for Lily’s new release list here:

http://lilymariewrites.wix.com/books#!new-release-sign-up/ckbv

Book 2 of the sexy sci fi alien romance. ***This is book 2 of 2, so no cliffhangers to see here.***

Trapped by the T’An faction in charge of the secret labs, Kiele Suun fights to survive – if only to strike at those who condemned his love.

Anji Suun Pearce survives her death sentence, with the help of an unexpected ally – one that will help her rescue the only man she has ever loved, and lead her closer to an ugly truth about the aliens she has come to trust.

With two of his most loyal crew at his side, Kiele must face a powerful faction, and tear apart a web of secrets that only courage can reveal.

And it may very well cost him everything.

So this is
what dying feels like.

Anji Suun Pearce fought against the weights dragging her deeper into the water. Without the use of her hands, she knew it was a battle she wouldn’t win, but she refused to give up.

She took precious seconds to push each shoe off, then started kicking. She wasn’t making much progress, but at least she wasn’t sinking into the bottomless, watery depths. The next problem she had was the pressure on her lungs—and that little luxury she liked to call breathing. She’d need to do it soon, whether she was free of the water or not.

With renewed determination she kicked harder, her legs starting to cramp from the effort. She was going to die down here, without ever seeing Kiele again, touching him, knowing if he was all right—

No!

Her lungs wanted air, begged for air, and the pressure in her head from lack of oxygen left her dizzy. It was getting harder to focus, or remember why she fought so hard. The water was so cool on her skin, and she could simply float, rest for a minute, then—

God—focus, Anji.

She forced herself out of the growing stupor, though it became harder with each second she couldn’t breathe. Any time now, her lungs were going to mutiny, and suck in a big mouthful of water. Then Kiele would have no chance at all.

Movement froze her. Were there fish down here? Big enough to see her as lunch? That was all she needed. Stopping had her sinking again, even faster than before. She tried to kick, to get away from the fast approaching threat, and to keep from dropping even farther.

She screamed when the threat smacked into her, and did what she’d been fighting—she let the water in.

***

Kiele Suun gave
up trying to free himself, but not before his wrists were bloody, his sensitive inner wrists throbbing from the abuse. He clutched the icy cement floor, forced himself to take slow, even breaths.

His right set of gills were already drying out, rippling from the need to be immersed. The blood still leaking from his left gills would keep them moist, but eventually the blood loss would cause him to black out, or smother his gills. Either would give the result his captors waited for. His death.

Worse, his failure walked Anji straight into her own death. The ache he tried to drown under his desperate escape attempt burst free, threatening to take him under. The one woman he had searched for his entire adult life, the one woman who called to his heart, was gone. If not for his need to stop the labs, and the faction behind them, he would allow himself to die here.

He ignored the building fire in his back and pushed himself up, ready for another go at the shackles. Better to fight, for Anji’s memory, for his people, than accept his fate.

Anji coughed, and
sucked in—air.

She was still in the water; she could feel its cold grip, still trying to drag her into the unseen depths. But strong fingers gripped her arm. Warm fingers. She pried her lids open, and stared into the last face she ever expected to see.

Melissa, the woman who had stumbled out of the alley in the city center, held Anji, pressing some kind of breather against her face. She tapped it, then hers, and Anji jerked when her voice echoed in the water-free void.

“It’s a portable breathing unit. The T’An designed it for humans, so they could swim down to the underwater city.” Melissa pointed below them. She looked down, and saw lights flickering through the dark water. “For all their space exploration, most of them still prefer the safety of being near the source. I got that damned weight belt off you, but I wanted to make sure you were breathing okay before I untied your hands.”

“Okay,” Anji whispered. Her voice sounded awful, her throat raw.

“You sucked in some water. The breather cleared it out, but you coughed up a good bit from your lungs. I’m sorry I startled you like that. There wasn’t a lot of time to play polite.” She moved around Anji as she spoke, and a second later her aching arms were free. “Give it a minute, then we’ll head for the surface.”

“Kiele—ˮ

“I know.” Pain flashed in her eyes. “I saw what happened, which is how I knew where to look for you. Let’s get you up top first, then we can make a plan.”

Anji nodded, and started kicking. Her arms felt like lead weights, but she used them as much as she could. Melissa ended up pretty much dragging her up, and they slid out of the water in the middle of what looked like a subterranean pool. She yanked the breather off her face, crawled up the steps, and stretched out on the floor, pulling in the cold, fresh air.

Melissa crouched next to her. “I know you’re exhausted, but we can’t stay here. I know a way out, and my brother lives in the city. He’ll take us in until we’ve recovered. Come on.”

Anji used the last of her strength to stand, every inch aching from her struggle to stay alive under the water. With Melissa’s arm around her waist, she was able to stumble toward the shadowed hall at the far side of the room.

They made their way along the narrow corridor, forced to hide in niches or down intersecting corridors a dozen times, avoiding the T’An scientists and soldiers that moves from place to place. Melissa seemed to know where she was going, which made sense, since she had escaped them once.

An eternity later, she led Anji up a steep slope, and stopped next to the door at the top.

“This is where we can get caught. There isn’t usually a guard up here, but with the activity, and me escaping, again,” a satisfied smile crossed her face. “The security may be more widespread. If there’s a guard here, I want you to run, straight to the city center. Go into the first café you find and ask for Nathan. Tell them Melissa sent you and she’s in trouble. Understand? Everyone knows him, and they will get word to him.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because you tried to help me, and your T’An, Kiele, is the reason I was able to escape. Ready?”

Anji had more questions, but she nodded. They could wait—Kiele couldn’t.

Her heart pounded as she watched Melissa ease the door open. After endless seconds she waved her hand at Anji and stepped outside.

The same electronic palm trees greeted her, which told Anji they were still on the spa grounds. It was close to sunset, the trees throwing off a glow that highlighted them, left them exposed. Melissa took her hand and they moved, faster with every step, until Anji adopted a staggering jog to keep up with the taller woman. The city came into view, and Melissa moved even faster.

Instead of heading directly into the city, they skirted the edge, until they were almost around it.

“Here,” Melissa said, and swerved into a dark, stinking alley.

It was thankfully short, since Anji was barefoot and stepped on she didn’t want to know what as they bolted through it. They emerged on a noisy, dirty street, surrounded by the workers who kept the city running. This was a part of the city the tourists obviously didn’t wander into.

Melissa pulled her into a rundown building that smelled like food heaven inside. “Stay here, and run if you see a T’An. Don’t wait for me, just run, and try to get to your ship. Understood?”

Anji nodded, her throat still too raw to do much talking. She watched Melissa walk quickly toward the front, stopping only to speak to an older woman at the counter.

The woman looked shocked to see her, and immediately grabbed her and disappeared through a door behind them. Anji pressed her back to the wall, and watched, praying for Melissa to return. She had no idea where she was, or how to even get back to Kiele’s ship if she had to.

After what felt like hours, though it had to be only a few minutes, Melissa appeared, and waved to Anji. She used the wall to help keep herself steady, and made her way to the counter. The older woman met her halfway and wrapped one arm around her waist.

“You must be exhausted, sweetheart, after your long day.” She spoke loudly enough for the people at the tables nearby to hear. “Why you never ask for a ride is beyond me. Let’s get you to bed before you fall into one of my customer’s soup.”

Laughter followed them to the counter, probably what the woman intended. The perfect distraction; they would remember what she said, and not Anji. Once the woman guided her into the back room she turned Anji and scrutinized her.

“I’m Jane. You have mated with your T’An.” She touched the tattoo on Anji’s wrist, her protective bandage long gone. “Now you’ll want to save him.”

“Yes,” Anji croaked.

“Nathan! Get out here—and bring Mel with you.”

A tall, good looking man walked out, holding tight to Melissa’s hand, a male version of her. They were twins.

“Is this her?” His deep voice was gentle, his brown eyes kind as they studied Anji. He let go of Melissa long enough to hold out one hand. “Welcome to the resistance, Anji.”

“I can’t stay.”
Anji paced the living room of their quarters, adrenaline masking her exhaustion. She knew the second she slowed down, she would crash. So she kept moving. “Kiele’s down there, alone. He’s—dying.”

Jane moved to her, a surprisingly comforting presence. “I understand your fear, sweetheart. But we can’t go down there, for obvious reasons. And I won’t let Melissa near that murder factory again. All we can do is get you safely back to your ship. They will do all they can to get one of their own back.”

Anji scrubbed at her face, and hated that Jane was right. “I’d appreciate that. Can we leave now? Kiele doesn’t have much time before he needs to immerse.”

Nathan stalked across the room, halting in front of her. “After what they did to Melissa, what they’re doing to our friends, I don’t want anything to do with your alien.”

“Nathan.”
Melissa darted forward and stepped between them, pushing him back. “That alien tried to help me. Twice. I owe him a life.”

“You already saved—”

“One more word, and I walk out for good.” His nostrils flared, but he kept quiet. Melissa turned to Anji and took her hands. “Please accept my apology for my loud mouth of a brother. I’ll take you back to your ship—”

“Mel—”

She snapped her hand up and Nathan stopped. “Like I said, I’ll take you back, and stay there, for now, if you think they will be okay with that.”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“Melissa, you can’t.” Nathan moved to her, and this time she let him pull her into his arms.

“It’ll be safer for all of us, and you know it. The last place those asshats will look for me is on a T’An ship.” She framed his face. “I want you and Jane to lay low for a while. Close the café, find a place to hole up. This is going to get ugly, especially when the T’An’s crew finds out where he is. He’s Commander Suun.”

“What?” Nathan let go of her and stared at Anji. “Why didn’t you—”

“I had no idea Kiele had a reputation. Not among humans.”

“He fights for us.” Nathan turned to Melissa. “I’m going after him.”

“No.”

“Mel—”

“She’s right,” Anji said. “It’s like a fortress down there, with an alien army. I’ll need my own alien army before I’ll go back down there. Now, if that offer still stands, Melissa, I’d like to get back to the ship. Kiele’s running out of time.”

“Let’s go.” She hugged Nathan, whispered to him before she let him go and moved to Anji. “Are you up for this? You look terrible.”

“I’ll be fine.” She felt like she’d been dragged over miles of rough road, but as long as she could stand and walk, she wasn’t stopping until Kiele was safe.

***

Orlen waited for
her just inside the main hatch, arms crossed and a death glare in his eyes.

“Where have you—”

“Kiele’s in trouble.”

He dropped whatever lecture he’d been preparing and grabbed her arm. “Where?”

As fast as she could, Anji filled him in while he stalked through the corridors, half carrying her so she could keep up. She was surprised to see Melissa appear next to her, wide-eyed as she took in their surroundings. Orlen didn’t say another word until he stopped in the part of the ship Anji recognized as the crew quarters.

He palmed open the door at the far end of the corridor, then raised an eyebrow when Melissa stepped forward. “You were not invited, human.”

“I have the information you need to rescue your commander, T’An.” She got in his face, and he was so shocked he let Anji go. “If you take a second and yank that stick out of your ass, we can get him out of there before he gasps out his last breath.”

Orlen jerked like Melissa had slapped him.

Oh, shit.

Anji moved to insert herself between them, and halted when something came out of Orlen’s mouth she’d never heard before.

Laughter.

“You have fire. Not unlike another female I nearly dismissed.” He glanced down at Anji, and she swore she saw amusement in his eyes. “Come inside, and tell me, quickly. I will have a rescue team assembled while we speak.”

“Only you and one other, T’An. I won’t be able to get more than that inside without setting off alarms.” He frowned at her, like the Orlen she knew, then tapped the comm on his collar and spoke in his language as Anji and Melissa walked past him. Melissa grabbed her arm and dragged her to the far side of the small room. “Do you know how long before Commander Suun’s next immersion?”

Anji swallowed, fighting the panic that had been clawing at her since they left the spa. “He should already be in the middle of it. He told me he can wait longer than most of his kind, but he’s injured, and I don’t know how much that plays into his endurance.”

“Got it.” She strode across the room and stopped in front of Orlen, just a couple inches shorter than his impressive six feet. “We have to go now, tight ass. Your commander’s hurt, and fast running out of time. The sooner we go in, the better chance of finding him alive when we get to him.”

“Lieutenant Pern is meeting us at the main hatch.” He glanced at Anji. “I am assuming you will be accompanying us.”

“You assume correctly.”

Another hint of amusement shocked her, this time what looked suspiciously like a smile tugging at his lips. “There is a first aid kit in the cabinet next to the door. If you can carry that, Pern and I will be free to use weapons if needed.”

He palmed the door open and strode out.

“Go, Melissa. I’ll be right behind you.”

Anji darted across to the cabinet and found the small first aid kit, grateful it had a long strap. She slung across her body so the kit rested on her left hip and ran after Orlen and Melissa.

They would get to Kiele in time, save him.

They had to.