Chapter Five
Three whole weeks had already passed, and he
was starting to get the hang of shooting pretty good. Brantly was also learning
to keep his mouth closed too. The Lieutenant’s punishments were truly nothing
next to what some of the others had endured.
Cleaning the bathrooms with toothbrushes,
scrubbing the kitchen and doing kitchen duty, two-hour hikes after long days of
training, and no weekends off, had been put some of the others in a more docile
frame of mind.
He did notice three of those who’d come in with
them were gone. He had no idea where or why. It wasn’t like anyone was telling
them much about their reason for being here or the secrecy.
Gorgeous Lieutenant Garnett was still as
enigmatic as ever. He’d caught the cutie looking at him more than once and
Brantly was still trying to decide if he should say something.
He was attracted to the man but was it wise?
It wasn’t like he was looking for a ring or
anything. So, a brief fling wasn’t going to change the price of beans.
“Cadet.”
His head came up from his task. He was working
kitchen duty today. He’d learned to make bread and cookies with the cook over
the last two days. Two men in his unit had gotten them into trouble, but he’d
ended up here while they’d ended up on harder duties.
“Yes, ma’am?” he asked the woman who filled his
vision. She was clad in blue fatigues and boots. Her black hair was pulled back
in a knot just as he was today.
He’d taken the lieutenant’s advice for fear of
getting a haircut.
“The general’s tray?”
“Oh.” He got to his feet and hurried into the
kitchen where the staff was already beginning to do the prep work for dinner.
Brantly retrieved the tray from the warmer and
silverware rolled in a napkin and wrapped in a biodegradable plastic substance
that had been introduced into their town five years ago.
“When you’re done with that, go ahead and go to
your training, cadet,” the woman in charge of the kitchen, Gracie, told him.
“I’ll see you back here after for clean up duty.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. He took the tray out.
“Walk with me, cadet,” she said.
“Ma’am?” He met her gaze then but only
momentarily remembering he wasn’t supposed to hold her eye more than a few
seconds.
“You heard me,” she said lightly and then
started from the empty dining hall.
He’d cleaned up after the lunch diners had
filed out and everything was spotless.
“I hear you’re a college grad with a degree in
history,” she said. “Why are you here? All teachers like the horticulturalists
get a pass on the training.”
He hadn’t known that. By the same token he
hadn’t been certain he was going to teach rather than work at the museum. He’d
hoped for an offer from them.
“I didn’t know. I was ordered to come here.”
“What was your rank?” she asked.
“Two.”
“Ah,” she said. “You scored second highest yet
highest in your area. You have a talent that could be used in security, but
your kind never served in battle. Teachers are valued.”
“I don’t understand,” he said. “My kind?”
“You are rare but when you were on N4 or 5 and
ended up in security you were trained to be soldiers who could destroy with
your mind. Your talents lie in a telekinetic or telepathic ability that was
destructive,” she told him.
“Huh?”
“You’ll outlive us all. At least in your
natural habitat that used to be true. Your kind were indestructible and a few
of the special breeds were immortal. Some of those were your kind, the mental
combat specialist that were coveted by many. You were often soldiers for hire.”
“What?” Brantly demanded in a hushed tone.
“Each generation produced at least three
immortals. The only down-side was you could only have three children, but as a
warrior you could never take a mate.”
“How? I mean, I don’t understand.”
He didn’t know this about his family. His
parents were both very open about their history, but no such information had
ever come from either of them.
“Here on earth, your people perished. This
climate didn’t agree with the majority of them. A few may have survived after
mixing with others from the N5 region.”
“What was N5?”
“It was our home, cadet. It was a region of
five planets. Your trainer hasn’t explained this to you yet? You’re to become a
great asset to our people and—”
“Sergeant Taggis what are you doing with my
cadet?” Lieutenant Garnett’s voice was hard as it snaked around them from
behind.
She stiffened next to him but turned.
“Garnett,” she drawled. “I see you’re doing exactly what the general feared.
You know you could be court-martialed.”
“For what?” he demanded as he came to stand
toe-to-toe with her. “Doing my job, soldier?”
“For holding him back,” she snapped. “I’ve seen
his results and they are sub-par. You’re not even training him in the mental
warfare his kind was meant for.”
“Don’t press me,” he told her.
“I’m going to relay my findings to the general
today,” she said. “He’ll order tests and when he sees what this boy is capable
of, you’ll be sanctioned from keeping that from us.”
The air around them seemed to chill despite it
being a hot day in June and Brantly almost shivered even as the lieutenant took
a step toward her.
“The girl will also be tested to ensure you
aren’t holding her back as well, and both will be removed from you,” she said.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m a cadet
fresh out of the academy Sergeant,” he said acidly. “Interfere in my business
and you won’t be pleased with the results.”
She laughed. “I’m not afraid of you, Garnett,”
she said in a derisive tone. “I can kick your ass all over this base.”
“You can keep believing that, Sergeant,” he
replied. “But if you fuck with me, I will kill you as sure as I would any
stepping into my territory thinking to rule.”
Her brown eyes snapped with fire, and she
reached out with her free hand. Heat slithered up his side and stole his breath.
“His training would have given him some kind of
cue of how to defend against me,” she said. “But he’s weak. He won’t be in a
few weeks after training with me.”
The fire ignited in him by her grew eating a
path through his side to his stomach. The burn intensified there, and he let
out a cry.
“Inhale deeply, pretty boy,” Lieutenant Garnett
told him softly.
It was as if his voice was in his head, a soft
touch on his body.
“Exhale out, and extend your and hand to me,”
he said.
Brantly followed his instruction despite the
pain now radiating up to his chest. He let out a cry and fell to his knees.
“Now, cadet.” Garnett’s voice was a whip.
Brantly drew in another breath and exhaled
roughly as he stretched his fingers out toward Garnett. Flickers of orange danced
on his fingers and Garnett seemed to catch the orange in one hand and moved
slightly as if going into a crouch.
He threw out his other arm and flames slammed
into the sergeant. The tray flew from her hand and Garnett moved then, grabbing
her around the throat and pushing her back into the nearby brick pillar.
“Don’t you ever lay another finger on him or
your ambitions to run this camp will end in ashes, shemasha.
Breathing hard she tried to break free and
stomped on Garnett’s foot. He released her and backhanded her.
“Don’t forget your place soldier,” he growled
at her. “Or I’ll remind you of why I’m your superior.”
Fire shone in her eyes, flickered on the
fingertips of a hand but remained contained.
“You’re going to regret this Garnett,” she
whispered.
“No, soldier, your dumb-ass brother will when
he comes to defend your honor,” he told her. “If you’re smart, you’ll consider
this a loss and wait for another chance to best me rather than get him killed.”
She drew in a rough breath. Her stare was a blade
edged with fire as she stared him down.
“You better go back to the kitchen and get the
general his lunch. You know what a bastard he can be when he misses his meals.”
She glared at him. “Cadet, I’ll see you later.
When you’re in my charge, you’ll find out just how hot my wrath can burn.”
“Threaten him again, and we’ll go to the mat
soldier.”
“You have no authority—”
“Fuck. Off, solider. Now.”
She snarled but stalked away, rubbing her
throat.
Garnett helped him to his feet, his hand
calloused and his touch set off a fire of arousal inside him.
“Sons of bitches,” Garnett muttered. “I’m going
to have to do this sooner than I planned.”
“Do what?” Brantly asked.
“You’ll find out, but first let’s get to
training. We have a few things to do before you’re called to preform for the
generals.”
Preform for the generals?
“What do you mean?”
“She will go running to the general. I knew
someone was watching your training, checking into your family.”
“Why? She said—”
“Silence, cadet,” he ordered.
Brantly bit the inside of his jaw to keep from
speaking and grimaced. He followed the lieutenant back to the training building
where he stood and waited ten minutes while he talked to Evergreen and gave her
instruction.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes for a pop quiz,”
he told her. “Cadet Solaris, let’s go get you started.”
The lieutenant led him to a private room where
mats were laid out. Above them on the wall were several glass inserts.
The lieutenant walked over to the wall and
touched a panel. “Come here cadet,” he ordered. “Take off your shoes on the
side first.”
He did was he was told before walking along the
wood floor toward the handsome man waiting for him. For a moment, Brantly
imagined he was walking to his lover, the man who’d pull him into an embrace,
kiss him softly and hold him close.
He knew those big hands would feel so good on
him. His body would melt, he would get so wet and—
“Brantly,” Lieutenant Garnett growled, but his
brown eyes were a rich chocolate as they ate him up alive.
Brantly’s pulse kicked and his breaths grew
shallow.
“It’s like you’re reading my mind,” Brantly
murmured as he came to a stop before Lieutenant Garnett.
“It’s all you, sweet boy, but I can only read
certain breeds thoughts.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It means you’re telegraphing loudly and my
low-grade telepathy brings your thoughts right to me loud and clear.”
“You’re a telepath?” Brantly asked. Many of the
people in his town were low level telepaths so that wasn’t a surprise.
However, Brantly was the only one in his family
who’d tested above average in the skill.
He’d always been able to send over longer
ranges as well as receive. He owned a phone, but his mother never used it. She
always just telepathed to him and so did his sister.
“Those thoughts are dangerous, Brantly,” he
said softly. “I can’t—I’m not supposed to get involved with cadets.”
“That’s why all you do is look?” he asked
matching the lieutenant’s tone. “When I can tell you want to do more.”
“You can’t read my thoughts,” Lieutenant
Garnett replied evenly. “Unless I let you.”
They were all trained in the arts of protecting
their thoughts. Maintaining mental shields was of the highest importance and
they were tested on it frequently in school. Then, they were given a refresher
every year as adults.
“But you, you’re easy to read when you send
like that.”
“Maybe I wanted you to know,” Brantly
commented. “But I guess knowing isn’t half the battle in this case, eh, GI
Joe?”
Lieutenant Garnett chuckled. “In this case,
it’s exactly that.” He reached out and ran his fingertips along Brantly’s jaw.
“Your eyes are so beautiful.”
He lowered his head blocking out the soft glow of the
overhead light and their lips touched. Garnett’s were soft on his and Brantly
parted his lips. Grayson’s were soft on his, and Brantly parted his lips. He
was eager to feel Grayson’s tongue against his tasting him.
He could feel his heavier body pressing against his and his
hands on him, stroking his body to a more heated state.
However, Garnett’s tongue didn’t slip into his mouth. Still,
his eyes were a blaze of hunger that knocked the air from him.
However, Garnett’s tongue didn’t slip into his
mouth.
His head swam though, his mind went blank.
To be continued...
~~@~~
The Price of Passion
Dade is aware that a gay man can’t be sheriff. So, torn between the
life he wants and the life he must lead, Dade claims Rhys, only one of his
mates. He accepts that their relationship can only survive if it’s kept in the
closet.
Rhys loves Dade with all his heart and he knows Dade feels the
same, but he also accepts that Jori is Dade’s mate, too. So, Rhys urges Dade to
claim to complete their triad. However, Jori is resistant to sharing Dade. She
fears she’ll hurt, but with both men romancing her she gives in to the passion
stalking them. Then disaster strikes and Dade is forced to track down a killer.
The killer is after alien relics. Jori has one of the most dangerous pieces and
the killer won’t stop until he gets it. The price of passion just might demand
more than either man’s heart can take.
~~@~~
E.A.
Reynolds
