Her Commanders Read online

  Her Commanders

  By M.K. Eidem

  Her Commanders

  By

  M.K. Eidem

  Turtle Point Publishing, Inc

  Copyright © 2021 by Michelle K. Eidem

  Cover Design by Judy Bullard

  Edited by: [email protected]

  All rights reserved: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the express written permission from the author.

  All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is strictly coincidental.

  License Statement

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Synopsis

  Cali Baker has spent her entire existence hiding everything she truly is from everyone, including her family. Love isn't something she believes in. She's seen the harm that so-called emotion can cause in her own parents' relationship and wants no part of it.

  Star Base Commander Jamis Dexxirs and his Sub Commander Taarig Ynn are well-known for their attitudes toward females and their sexual preferences. They are Apre, one of the most powerful, long-living beings in the universe, so why settle for one female when there were so many to choose from?

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue - Twenty-five years later

  Epilogue - One hundred years later

  About the Author

  Additional Books

  Chapter One

  Cali slid into her seat in the middle of the transport and watched as Star Base Commander Jamis Dexxirs flirted with the stunning Si female who had sat down next to him in the front. She followed the interplay between the two openly, unconcerned about being caught. Cali knew she would never attract the attention of such a prime specimen of male. Not because Cali was unattractive, because she wasn't even if she did say so herself, but because she was Earthan and he was an Apre.

  The Apre were one of the most powerful, long-living beings in the universe. They were also elitist snobs as far as Cali was concerned. Many chose to serve in the military to defend those they considered weaker than them and, therefore, inferior.

  No, she never would attract his attention, and in all honesty, she didn't want to. While Apre had brawn, they also had brains, and she had secrets, big secrets, that she didn't want anyone discovering.

  Earthans were considered an inferior species since their life spans were so much shorter than nearly all others, and their bodies didn't tolerate the rigors of space travel well. Cali wasn't thrilled with space travel herself, so she only did it when absolutely necessary, and this trip had been necessary.

  She watched the Commander lean down as the Si female ran a blue hand up and down his bare forearm. The Commander had taken off his Coalition jacket before sitting down. His deep chuckle told Cali he was amused by whatever the other female was whispering in his ear.

  Not interested in watching where she knew this flirting would lead, Cali leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Commander Dexxirs was renowned for his very active sex life. Although to his credit, she'd never heard of him becoming involved with any female under his command. It was also well-known that he and his second-in-command, Sub Commander Taarig Ynn, liked to share partners, separately and together.

  She could understand the attraction. After all, both males were prime specimens, with Sub Commander Ynn being only slightly shorter and leaner than the Commander. They both had the black hair and dark eyes swirled with silver, indicative of their species, but that's where their likeness ended. From what Cali'd heard working in The Brink, the Commander was the strong, silent, forceful, and abrupt one, while the Sub Commander was the more gentle, easy-going, flirtatious, and caring one. To experience both those things at the same time…

  They were midway through their flight from Vavis Prime to Star Base Twelve when Cali was jolted from sleep and flung sideways in her seat when the transport suddenly shifted. Those not belted in went flying out of their seats as emergency lighting came on along with the strident sounds of the evacuation alarm.

  Her gaze immediately traveled around the cabin, searching for the cause of the disruption. Some passengers were helping the injured, while others only thought of saving themselves by getting into the two escape pods at the back of the transport. It never ceased to amaze Cali how selfish some beings could be when she watched a male push a female out of his way so he could get into one of the quickly-filling escape pods first.

  Unfastening her safety harness, Cali started to rise when an unexpected blow forcefully shoved her to the floor, knocking the breath out of her. By the time she was able to get herself up on her knees, the cabin was empty, and the hatch to the last pod was closing. The Si female standing inside smirked, wiggling her fingers at her in farewell as the pod launched.

  Knowing her only hope now was to either somehow stabilize the transport or get into the pilot's escape pod in the cockpit if it was still there, Cali pushed herself to her feet and used the back of the seats to move forward. As she did, another alarm went off.

  Ignoring the pain in her back, Cali ran down the narrow corridor. Shoving open the door, she entered the cockpit and found the Star Base Commander slumped over the transport's controls, the pilot on the floor. The angle of the pilot's neck told her his life span had ended. Looking to her left, she breathed a sigh of relief, seeing his escape pod was still attached to the ship.

  Moving to the Commander, she found a strong, steady pulse. Cursing, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the chair. No easy feat as the Commander was nearly three hundred kips of solid muscle. She cringed when he hit the floor with a hard thud. Switching her grip to the back of his collar, she used both hands and began dragging him toward the only remaining escape pod.

  'Warning. Breathable atmosphere at forty percent.'

  "I know!" Cali muttered. She didn't need the blaring alarm to tell her they were almost out of oxygen. Her burning lungs told her that.

  When her ass hit the closed pod door, she jerked the Commander up into a sitting position, then braced him against her lower legs so she could slap her hand, with the embedded bio-chip, against the security panel. It took a moment for the bio-scanner to recognize her code, but when it did, the door slid open. She'd forgotten about the Commander's weight, and it had her falling back, her butt hitting the hard, cold floor inside the pod. That took time she didn't have to get out from underneath the Commander's dead weight. When she did, she cursed, seeing the Commander's legs hanging outside the pod's hatch.

  'Stupid, credit-pinching bastards!' she thought of the transport owners because of the escape pod design
ed for only one standard-sized pilot. Well, it would just have to accommodate her and one over-sized Commander.

  'Warning. Breathable atmosphere less than ten percent.'

  Reaching down, she pulled the Commander in as far as she could, then, standing on the single bench seat, pulled him up into a sitting position. Climbing over him, she pulled on first one muscled thigh and then the other until she finally had his entire body inside the cramped pod. Diving for the emergency release, she flipped up its protective cover and hit the red button. The hatch of the pod slammed shut just as the computer spoke one last time.

  'Zero atmosphere.'

  She barely had time to wonder whose brilliant idea it was to install that particular alarm since, without atmosphere, there would be no one alive to hear it. The pod's engines engaged with a whoosh, and her body was brutally slammed against the hatch by Jamis's weight from the thrust as they hurdled into the cold void of space.

  Cali's last thought before she blacked out was that her parents were going to be royally pissed.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Jamis frowned at the unconscious female sharing the cramped survival shelter with him. He'd woken up to find her floating beneath him in the tight confines of the escape pod just moments before this planet's gravity grabbed them. He hadn't had time to prevent his larger body from slamming down onto hers, and he'd feared he'd killed her until he finally felt the gentlest of breaths on his cheek.

  Who was she?

  What had happened?

  And how the ruk had they both ended up in the pilot's escape pod?

  Reaching up, he carefully touched the large lump on the back of his head. The last thing he remembered was trying to stabilize the transport after he'd found the pilot dead in the cockpit. Then…

  Nothing.

  Not until he'd woken up in the pod.

  With her.

  Somehow, he must have gotten them into the pod, but why had he chosen the pilot's pod and not one of the larger multi-being ones? Looking at her, he remembered she'd been seated several rows behind him in the transport. It had been her hair that had caught his attention. It hadn't appeared to be anything special at first, just long and brown, typical for many species. She had it pulled back from her face, restrained by a tie at the back of her neck, but when she turned her head, for just a moment, he could have sworn some of the strands had pulsed with power.

  He'd planned on speaking with her during the flight until a beautiful, sensuous Si female sat down next to him. He'd forgotten all about her. Looking at her now, he wondered how. She was beautiful with her heart-shaped face and pale, flawless skin. Finely-arched brows rose over two eyes that closed horizontally, and a straight nose centered between them. Sharp cheekbones drew his eyes down to a lush set of naturally-colored lips. She should have color-enhanced them because even the slightest touch would have made every male that saw them want a sample. He knew he wouldn't have forgotten her so quickly if they had been.

  She was also quite small in stature and light, something Jamis had discovered when he'd carried her out of the pod. Once in the shelter, he'd wrapped them both in the extra protection of the survival blanket. Surprisingly, she'd fit perfectly onto his much larger, bulkier frame. With her head tucked under his chin, their chests and hips aligned perfectly, even though her booted feet rested halfway down his calves.

  He wondered what species she was because he was sure he'd never seen anyone like her before. Was she a Bix hybrid? Bix were a hardy species despite their small size. The harsh conditions on their planet demanded they be. He'd never been attracted to a Bix before; there was something about their double-lidded eyes that always bothered him. While the outer lids ran horizontally like most species, the inner lids ran vertically like the more reptilian or avian species that populated the universe.

  He hadn't noticed her having double lids on the transport, but then he hadn't been looking at her eyes. If she were a Bix hybrid, he might have to visit her once they got off this planet since her world was only a short transport ride from his Star Base. Knowing there was nothing he could do until rescued, he pulled the female closer and let sleep claim him.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Cali's nose twitched as she scented something strange but enticing. What was it? Why did it call to her?

  Her hearing returned next with the sound of wind hitting taut fabric. It had her frowning in confusion. It sounded like she was outside, but that couldn't be right. The only place she ever slept outside was on her homeworld, and it had been a long time since she'd been there. So, where was she?

  Opening her eyes, she found herself looking across the vast expanse of a chest partially covered in a silvery fabric. Chest? Silvery fabric? What was going on? Moving, she suddenly realized she wasn't just looking across the chest; she was half lying across it, and one of her legs intertwined with someone else's. But whose?

  "Careful," a deep, sleep-roughened voice cautioned only to grunt when her head jerked up in surprise and connected with a chin.

  "Ruk!" Jamis cursed, his eyes filling.

  "Damn!" she swore back, reaching up to rub the top of her head.

  "I told you to be careful," he growled, moving as far away from her as he could in the tight confines of the shelter.

  "And why the ruk would I listen to someone I don't know!" she fired back.

  "Because I saved your life!"

  "You saved my life?" she asked in disbelief, as it all suddenly came back to her.

  "Well, it's not as if someone as small and weak as you could have saved me," he told her arrogantly. He wasn't about to admit that he was still fuzzy on the exact details of what happened.

  Cali opened her mouth to set him straight, then snapped it shut again. If this big jerk believed he had rescued her, it saved her from having to explain things she didn't want to.

  Her silence allowed Jamis's gaze to travel over her. Taking in her single-lidded, brown eyes, he suddenly realized his earlier assessment was wrong. She wasn't Bix at all. Or even a Bix hybrid. She was from that obscure blue planet the inhabitants called Earth. While it had been discovered five-hundred years ago, it's inhabitants had been trying to conquer space travel for hundreds of years before that. Mostly unsuccessfully. Even now, after all that time and the assistance from more advanced species, Earth's inhabitants didn't tolerate space travel well.

  In all his years, he'd only ever seen one Earthan. It had been when he'd traveled with his tad to their solar system as a youngling.

  "You're an Earthan!" he exclaimed.

  "Wow, very perceptive, Commander," she said snidely.

  "I thought you said you didn't know who I was," he accused.

  "Well, excuse me if I didn't immediately recognize the Great Star Base Commander Jamis Dexxirs' voice upon waking. After being ejected from a crippled transport, in a minuscule escape pod, with an Apre whose massive ego is the only thing bigger than his rukking size!" Cali's volume got louder and louder the longer she spoke. By the time she finished, she was so angry she couldn't prevent herself from kicking him under the blanket.

  "Ow!" Jamis exclaimed. "Why did you do that?"

  "Why? Because you are an arrogant, insufferable male! Isn't that enough?"

  "I saved your life, as pitifully short as it will be. Still, I saved it."

  "Seriously?"

  "Why would I be anything but serious?" he asked, giving her a confused look.

  "If you can't figure it out by yourself, then my explaining it isn't going to do any good." She looked around the small enclosure. "How long have we been here?"

  "It has been one standard-day since we landed on this planet," he told her.

  "A whole day?" she whispered, wondering why she'd been out so long. She didn't feel injured.

  "Yes. Luckily, your fragile body was able to withstand the roughness of our entry."

  "Roughness?"

  "For some reason, I failed to strap either of us in before the pod detached from the transport. When we hit the atmosphere, yo
u were floating beneath me."

  "So, in other words, you tried to flatten me."

  "That was my concern, but it seems to be unwarranted."

  It wouldn't have been if Cali were Earthan. Even without the extra force of entering an atmosphere, three-hundred kips of male slamming into her would have crushed her ribcage. As it was, Cali could feel how low her energy reserves had become from protecting herself and repairing the damage she must have sustained.

  "Lucky for both of us. So, did you make sure the rescue signal was transmitting?"

  "Of course," he said, looking insulted that she would think he hadn't.

  "Good, then we shouldn't be stuck here for too long." And she wouldn't be forced to contact her family for assistance.

  "It will be at least another standard-day," he told her. "No other rescue signals are emanating from this planet. Which means the recovery teams will concentrate on the pods in space first."

  "I assume we can both survive here that long?" she asked, knowing that she could, even in her depleted state. For some reason, he was the one she was worried about.

  "We have enough food and water, a breathable atmosphere, and while the temperatures drop extremely low during the dark hours, we have the advantage of this shelter and dual body heat."

  "Well, that's something, at least." Suddenly her body reminded her that it had been over a day since it had relieved itself, and it wasn't going to wait much longer. Seeing the sealed opening, she started to climb over him.

  "What are you doing?" he demanded, as he quickly lifted a knee to protect his cock.

  "I'm trying to get outside."

  His brows drew together. "Why?"

  "Because I've been out for a day." She hoped that was enough for him to understand.

  "The dark hours are quickly approaching," he told her.

  "What?" She gave him a shocked look. "It's that late in the day?"