Free Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) by Stormy McKnight

the position he was putting her in, she said, “I’ve already
thought of other survivors and have Vareen scanning for the material of your
pod. If any others are found, I’ll inform you right away.”
    “Thank you.”
    Cali was happy the tightness left Drake’s frame at her assurance they
would search for other survivors. She suddenly had the thought that perhaps it was
a life-partner he was looking for. The thought of Drake committed to another
person made her a little crazy. On some level she knew feeling jealous was
ridiculous. She didn’t know anything about Drake, and thanks to his pushing
away her questions, she never would at this rate. There was no logical reason
for her to be jealous if he was already taken.
    There was the heart of her problem. She wasn’t logical , she never had been and never would be. Some part of her
she hadn’t known existed screamed that Drake was the life partner for her. She needed to know if he was already in a
committed relationship, she had too much honor to take someone else’s mate.
    “Is it possible there might be someone special to you in a stasis pod?”
she asked as innocently as possible.
    Drake looked confused, “I would imagine friends were with me. It’s possible
one of them is out there.”
    “What about someone other than a friend?” Cali prodded.
    His face remained confused. Drake wasn’t getting the hint at all. She’d need
to be direct it seems, trying to remember some of the terms she had learned
other cultures used for a couple she blurted, “A life - partner perhaps? A
wife? A lover? A mate?”
    Dawning flashed across his face and he hastened to say, “No. I don’t have
anyone like that waiting for me. In a stasis pod or on my home world.”
    Cali wanted to be happy but eyed him suspiciously instead. “How would you
know if that’s true? You said you can’t remember your ship or home world.”
    Drake paled, and remained silent.
    Cali decided to have mercy on him. “Never mind. For some reason you feel
you can’t talk to me.” She made to stand
up, “I’ll wait for you—”
    Before she could gain her feet, Drake had taken her hand and pulled her
back down. Cali’s startled eyes flew to his.
    “Cali, I want to tell you.”
    The way he said her name caused a heat to flush over her skin. The hand
holding hers was causing small thrills to run up her arm. “Then why won’t you?”
her voice came out hushed.
    “I…ca n’t ,” Drake looked pained. His
thumb was brushing across her fingers. “I want you to know that I’m not
dangerous. I just can’t tell you what you want to know.”
    “Okay, I understand.” Cali couldn’t believe she meant it too. Maybe it
was the distracting heat of his fingers, but crazily enough she believed he
wasn’t a danger, to the ship or crew. That would have to be enough for the
moment. Her eyes met his and she felt her breath catch.
    “Why do you have to be so perfect?” he groaned, his face inches from hers.
    “I’m not—” Cali didn’t get any further because suddenly Drake’s lips were
brushing against hers, her face cupped in his large hands. His body leaned over
her until she was backed against the arm of the couch. It wasn’t the most
comfortable angle to be sitting, but Cali didn’t mind. The excitement of being
pressed into Drake washed all other concerns away. Her hands flew up to rest against
his bare chest, her nails scoring lightly along the muscles.
    Cali had been kissed before, but never like this. The reaction she had to
him was like something she’d read about. Drake’s lips pressed into hers, once
and then again in the barest of touches, as if trying to gauge her acceptance.
When she flicked a tongue out to trace his lips, Drake growled low in his
throat. Cali’s fingers slid from his chest to tangle in the hair at his neck.
    All pretense of teasing evaporated and Drake’s mouth became demanding and hard. His tongue lashed out to duel with
hers, causing tremors of excitement to