Chapter 1
Three years ago, in the broken down subway tunnels
Corey Nash smiled as he looked over at his friend Maggie. She was a few years younger than him, and pale like all the people who lived in the tribes in the subway tunnels. They were also all becoming increasingly thin, thanks to the ever-scarcer resources. Maggie was definitely thinner than when he had first met her, but no less beautiful. Her body, despite the lack of provisions, had become quite shapely over the last several years, and he hadn’t been the only one to notice.
It wasn’t just her looks, of course, not really; Maggie had something sweet and innocent that drew people to her. She could laugh and brighten up the atmosphere. While his interest in her had started out as simply that of a protective friend, it had grown into something… more. There had been many nights where he’d dreamed about holding her in his arms. Maggie was still his best friend, but now he’d begun wishing for a romantic relationship with her as well. He was just waiting for the right time, though it never seemed to come. “Pineapple. Why pineapple?” she asked, holding up the dented can.
Corey shrugged. “It’s a popular fruit for canning.”
“Why not strawberries? I love strawberries.”
He laughed at Maggie’s longing look. He would do just about anything to make her happy. If it had been possible, he would have given her her own field of strawberries and picked her a fresh basket every day. Of course, fresh anything was impossible to come by now.
Almost two years before, there had been a worldwide nuclear disaster that had almost annihilated the entire globe. The world governments had saved some of the populace, the select few. The rest of the population was turned away to fend for themselves. He had managed to get down to the subway stations and the tunnels below the city along with others. It had been their salvation and only home for these past few years.
It was a long while before any of them could venture back above ground because of the radiation. The city had stockpiled canned food, bottled water, and vitamins in secure areas in the tunnels in case of disasters, and this was what they survived off of. Each stockpile area seemed to have slightly different types of food, and on rare occasions they found dried meat as well. Otherwise, the only real meat they managed were any rats they ran across.
He moved closer to her and leaned against the wall. “I have a can of cherries I’ve been holding on to for a special occasion.”
She bit her lip curiously. “What kind of special occasion were you holding out for? Canned cherries aren’t as hard to come by, but still...they’re a real treat. I can’t believe you would hold out.”
He’d failed her once a few years ago, when she’d been attacked brutally. He hadn’t been there and guilt ate at him constantly. He felt like he’d do anything to make up for it. No one as kind and gentle as her should ever suffer what she had. She was delicate, but strong; beautiful, but seemingly unaware of her appeal; and, of course, completely ignorant of the fact Corey was in love with her. He had been for these past several years, holed up together in the subway tunnels with their tribe. He’d been waiting for years after her attack, being there for her as best he could, holding off until she she seemed ready for something more between them. Was she ready now?
“I thought that maybe we could enjoy them after dinner one night. Um, together.”
“Sure, Lily and I can grab some of our food to make a real family dinner.”
Corey looked at her and spoke carefully, trying to guage her reaction, “I was thinking that maybe it could be just the two of us for dinner...at my subcar.”
Her first expression was confusion, then shock as the meaning registered. She blushed next and glanced away from him. “Corey…”
He desperately backpedaled, suddenly terrified of what might happen if she felt like she had to turn him down. “Just think about it! But know no matter what decision you make, we’ll always be friends. I can’t help but hope for more, though.” He turned and walked away, not ready to hear her refusal yet. Maggie needed time to take in the fact that he had feelings for her. He would wait for her.
He hoped time would be on his side, but it wasn’t. As it turned out, time slapped him down—hard.
*****
Current day
Corey grunted as he circled the sparring mat in the training room of the Drastan command ship. The Drastans had come to Earth to offer aid to the humans in recovering from the nuclear disaster. Their presence was both a miracle and a source of conflict.
The human government was anxious to get their hands on the Drastan technology and weapons. That wasn’t what the Drastans offered. Other humans feared that the Drastans would take over Earth completely. Small spurts of resistance had risen up, causing problems for all.
Corey had been training with the Drastan warriors for over a year now. His body was no longer thin and pale, weakened by radiation poisoning. Now, sweat gleamed across his bare, muscular chest. His eyes were sharper and his reflexes spot on. The changes in him were incredible. He felt stronger than he ever had in his life… but something was still missing in the region of his heart. Too bad the Drastan medikos didn’t seem to have a cure for loneliness.
The Drastan’s treatment for the radiation had been truly miraculous for him and his people. The humans, especially those in the tribes, were now all as thriving as he was. They were growing stronger every day, and the future looked brighter and brighter. The tribes in the tunnels were planning on building underground cities, and the tunnels now even had a few subway cars actually running from tribe to tribe and between several government-sanctioned domes. With the ability to travel safely underground, they could trade between tribes and the dome people. This would allow for real commerce for his people, finally an opportunity to build and grow instead of just existing in survival mode.
“Pay attention, Nash!” a woman’s voice called out.
Distracted, he failed to look up in time, and the warrior he was training with caught him in the jaw. He fell backward. Trying to regain his balance, he glared over at the woman that had yelled at him. The bane of his existence and the woman that haunted his dreams—Lieutenant Nix Saber.
Nix was the most beautiful woman, besides Maggie, he had ever met. At five feet eight inches, she was just a few inches shorter than Corey’s six foot two. He had always thought he preferred shorter women, like Maggie, but since meeting Nix, long-legged women suddenly had much more appeal. At least, this one did.
The beauty before him had long black hair that she always kept rolled up in a tight bun, silky-looking naturally golden skin he longed to run his hands up and down, long slim legs, a small waist, and curves her drab grey uniform couldn’t quite disguise. It wasn’t just her physical and exotic appearance that fascinated him, though. She was smart, strong, and opinionated, which often resulted in verbal sparring matches between them that left him feeling both confused and turned on. He had also witnessed her compassion as she visited injured warriors, and her patience in training him, someone who wasn’t even of her own species. At times he didn’t know whether he wanted to arm wrestle her or kiss her. And then kissing would lead to other things he spent too much time fantasizing about.
It was strange how since meeting Nix, he hadn’t thought of Maggie in a romantic way at all. Just the thought of Nix had him hard and ready to go, a reaction he unfortunately had sometimes at the worst possible moments. His solution was to try to act like he had no reaction to her at all. But who was he fooling, really?
“I warned you to watch out.” Nix shook her head in irritation.
Well, he was irritated, too. “You distracted me. How am I supposed to finish my warrior training if you keep distracting me?”
She snorted. “You’re not technically a warrior. You’re human.”
Her dismissal infuriated him. Corey stormed over to her, but kept his voice down so the others wouldn’t hear. She had been needling him for months now and he wanted to know why. “I need to speak with you privately.”
She tried to turn her back on him, but he wasn’t going to put up with her attitude toward him any longer. It hadn’t always been that way. True, she had started out questioning his place there, but as Corey had grown stronger and learned quickly, she’d started showing him respect. She’d been amazing, offering advice, being patient with him and staying late after regular training hours to give him extra help.
Then a few months back, her attitude toward him seemed to completely change. He’d held his tongue about it as long as it wasn’t interfering with his training, but enough was enough. It was time they got to the bottom of what the problem was. The only family he had left was on board the command ship and he wasn’t about to leave them. He had to make this work.
“I don’t have time,” she said, trying to brush him off yet again.
“Lieutenant, we can either have a private conversation now or we can have it out right here in front of everyone. Your choice.”
She raised her eyebrow at him, anger clear on her lovely face. “Fine, you want to talk in private...let’s talk.” She walked toward the exit of the training room, and he followed her down the corridor to a steam room, currently occupied. “Out now!” Nix ordered the poor warrior, who scrambled to keep his towel on as he shuffled obediently out of the room.
He couldn’t help but find her commanding nature (and her ire) sexy as hell. Surely she would be a woman full of passion in bed. He felt sure her fire would make things hot. Really hot. Not that he planned on having sex with her...or anyone. He hadn’t had sex in a while, not since right after Maggie had married her Drastan husband Captain Liam Estro, one of the commander’s sons, and maybe, just maybe, it was starting to affect his thought processes.
But he knew he wasn’t looking just looking for sex. After Maggie married, he had tried to hide his misery by occupying himself with training, but one night, his heartache and loneliness had finally gotten to him. He’d gone to one of the socializing areas on the ship and hooked up with a Drastan woman. Apparently.
He couldn’t really remember much about that night. His body hadn’t been one hundred percent yet and Drastan liquor was three times the strength of human liquor. Fuzzy images of a dark-haired woman with a perfect body undulating under him tickled the edges of his memory. He’d had sex with her, and then somehow staggered back to his own quarters. When he woke up the next day, he’d felt so guilty about it that he hadn’t even tried to find the woman. He certainly hadn’t tried to hook up with anyone else. He didn’t think it was fair to go after someone else when his heart just wasn’t in it.
After that, Corey foused on training full time as a warrior, hoping it would help take his mind off Maggie, and it had worked. His mind and body were too busy to dwell, and as time went by, his heart ached less and less. The time he spent with Nix in training filled him with a sense of purpose… and something else. He didn’t understand it, but it was the truth. Nix constantly being on his ass to do better was what he needed, not only to become a warrior, but also to start to see he had a future ahead of him. He might have to go through some growing pains, but it was worth it. Looking at the furious woman now, though, he wondered if he might shortly be experiencing another kind of pain.
Nix crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “What was so important you had to insist on secrecy?”
“I want to know what the hell you have against me. Is it just because I’m human, or a man, or is it simply my fucking personality? You have been riding my ass even harder than usual, and honestly, that’s fine, but it’s the attitude that I’m done with!”
“I don’t owe you anything, especially an explanation on my training technique!” She tried to step around him to leave, but he blocked her.
The room was starting to get hotter from all the steam; he watched beads of sweat roll down her throat to disappear underneath that tight collar of her uniform top. He licked his lips reflexively, imagining tasting that pearl of liquid against her smooth, golden skin.
Clearing his throat hurriedly, he said, “We’re not leaving until you spill.”
She frowned. “Spill what?”
“It’s an expression. It means spill your guts.”
“That’s disgusting,” she said, clutching her stomach.
“Not actual guts...spill whatever it is that you have against me and have been keeping secret.”
“Why wouldn’t you just say spill your secrets?”
“That’s not the way it’s said... this is not the point here. You’re angry with me for something and have been taking it out on me during my training.”
“I don’t take my anger out on the warriors; I keep my emotions in check.”
“Really? So why am I the only warrior in training that has to organize the cleaning of the exercise equipment? None of the other warriors have had to do that, and there is a professional cleaning crew that performs those duties.”
She suddenly wouldn’t meet his eyes, which told him that she was about to lie. “Others have had to do that before, I’m sure of it.”
He doubted that, but continued pointing out her treatment of him. “I also assigned to make a diagram of the quickest route to medical from the commander’s personal quarters, and let me tell you, he was not thrilled to see me that early in the morning. Then I was told to patrol level two on even hours for two days. Level two is where most of the chefs sleep and the shift I was given made it impossible for them to get sleep. Oh, and my original pilot training results were somehow lost and I had to take the training for flying the fighters a second time.”
“For some warriors, it take a lot more effort than for others to get them ready to fly a fighter. No need to be ashamed. Our technology is new to you.”
“I was asked to translate for a tribe leader from China.”
“Of course. You were part of a tribe, so you should know how to communicate well with other tribe members.”
“I don’t know Chinese!” He pulled at his hair in frustration.
“It seems very inefficient for you humans to have so many different languages.”
He reached for her arms, pulling her close to him, and knew immediately that he had made a mistake. Having her body so close to his set something off in him he hadn’t expected. An overwhelming need to touch, hold, and lick was nearly impossible to ignore.
She licked at the condensation on her lips and he couldn’t look away. Her lips were so soft and sweet looking; he wanted to know what they tasted like. He had to find out. As he lowered his head, intending to find out all her secrets, she leaned forward and stomped down hard on his foot.
“Ouch!” He bent over and she squeezed past him. “Why did you do that?”
“I don’t like to be touched,” she told him before leaving him there, bent over and wincing. Damn that woman to hell and back. Glancing up, he couldn’t help but enjoy the view of her backside as she stormed out. God, what a woman.