Dazon Agenda: Complete Collection Read online

  Everything felt just a little empty without him, and even the pleasure she experienced performing functions that had been impossible for her for the past few years, like the simple joy of walking in the park, didn’t seem to be as enjoyable without him.

  It was kind of ridiculous, but there was no point in fighting it. She loved him beyond all sense of reason, and since he felt the same, though neither of them had actually said the words yet, there was no harm in allowing her feelings to progress. She was going to tell him she loved him as soon as he returned from his mission.

  The evening seemed to tick by with incredible slowness, but finally, he was there, simply folding into the living room with a flash of lightning. She cried out in shock at the sudden arrival, and then with joy at the sight of her mate. Jess lumbered to her feet, which was no easy task at the advanced state of her pregnancy, and threw herself into his arms. “You’re back. I missed you so much.”

  He held her tightly against him for a long moment, as though soaking in the joy of holding her, before finally pulling back with obvious reluctance. He looked down at her, brushing hair off her face before he bent his head to kiss her. It was a slow and tender touch, and he seemed to pull himself away with a great deal of reluctance before the kiss could deepen.

  “I love you, Jessminda. I bitterly regretted having accepted the assignment, and I’ve already made it clear to Commander Darvig that I will resign my commission before I accept another mission like that one. I won’t be torn away from you or our children again.”

  “Can you do that? I mean, could you leave the Armada without regret, if it comes to that?” Her heart rejoiced at the idea, but she was cautious, knowing such a decision could fester and turn to bitterness directed toward her if he changed his mind.

  “Easily, though I don’t believe it will be necessary. Before you, my career and protecting the Empire were the most important things in my life, but they seem of little significance now that I have you and our daughters are on the way. You are the most important thing in my life now—you and the babies. I swear to you I’ll never voluntarily leave you again. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She hugged him before kissing him again, this time not bothering with sweet and gentle. It had been too long since they had touched each other, and the kiss rapidly escalated, as did the touching and stroking. They fell to the floor together in a frenzied rush, clothes tossed haphazardly away before their bodies surged together.

  It was only afterward, as she lay cuddled against him in the rosy glow of aftermath, that they spoke again. “How are you and the children?” His hand splayed possessively across her naked belly.

  “We’re doing well. No one really knows what to expect from a human/Dazon pregnancy, so Dr. Wy is just projecting based on commonalities and averages for both species’ pregnancies. He thinks the girls will arrive within a week or two, and there has already been a birth among the other human women Dr. Ha used in his experiment.”

  He nodded. “When I was debriefing at the consulate, one of the men mentioned that in celebration.”

  She tried not to let a hint of her apprehension show. “It’s not entirely a celebration, my love. The woman who gave birth wasn’t strong enough to survive the labor. They saved the babies, but they couldn’t stop her hemorrhage, and she died.” Her voice broke on the last word. She hadn’t even met Weizerit Abebe, though she had probably seen her when they were all held at AmbaCorp, but she couldn’t have picked her out of the lineup. Still, it was sad and scary to know the first human woman to give birth had died due to complications from the pregnancy.

  Val stiffened against her, his eyes shadowed with fear. “I won’t lose you, my mate.”

  She put a hand on his chest, patting softly. “Dr. Wy thinks I’m much more stable than she was. From what I heard, she lived with uncaring relatives before Ha took her from Nezret, and Abebe was in poorer health than many women with Kaiser’s Syndrome when she was impregnated. After your group arrived, and Dr. Wy administered the nanotechnology to the women impregnated, it healed her, but she still had problems all along. Other than the loss of our son, I’ve had a complication-free pregnancy.”

  “I won’t lose you,” he said again, even more intensely.

  “I’m sure you won’t.”

  His lips tightened. “The human woman, had she taken the father as her mate?”

  Jess couldn’t help a grimace of distaste. “No, she hadn’t. I don’t know exactly who the father was, but I did hear he was part of the team that was holding the women hostage, so I doubt anyone bothered to inform him, and she certainly would have wanted no part in bonding with him, I’m sure.”

  Val nodded, looking slightly reassured. “Then there was no one to speak up for her and insist she be saved over the children. That won’t happen with you, my mate.”

  As his words sank in, her eyes widened. “You can’t do that. If it comes down to it, you tell them to save the babies.”

  He gave her a fierce scowl. “No. We can have more babies, but there will never be another you for me. You are my priority, Jess.”

  She let out a soft sigh as she curled against him again. If Dr. Wy wasn’t overly concerned, she was trying not to be, and it was likely to be a moot point. She didn’t like the idea that he would choose her over the children, because her babies were everything to her, but she couldn’t deny it warmed her to know he would pick her in that situation.

  They had come together to start with because of a pregnancy neither had expected or planned, but now they were mates in every sense of the word, aside from an official bonding ceremony, which would be something to handle in the near future. She would never be grateful to Ha for his machinations, but she couldn’t regret how things had unfolded, and she was thrilled beyond measure to have found the one person meant to complete her.

  Epilogue

  The bonding ceremony took very little time. It was faster even than going to the courthouse for a human marriage ceremony, which they had done last week, laying the groundwork to ensure their union was legal on both planets. Not that it looked like Val would be returning to his own planet any time soon, since he’d refused to accept assignments that took him farther than the consulate on the Moon.

  She looked over to Jada and Ryland, who held her daughters in their arms. The girls were only a couple of weeks old, and they seemed to be growing at the typical human rate, though perhaps a bit accelerated. Elisa could already smile, and Allie had held up her head for a few minutes just that morning after nursing, as Jess dressed for the bonding ceremony.

  Fortunately, the delivery had been relatively uncomplicated, and she hadn’t hemorrhaged. There had been excess bleeding, and she’d needed a cesarean to deliver the second twin, but Elisa had come out first and quickly, followed by her more stubborn little sister, Allie. Little hadn’t been that apt a descriptor really, since Allie had weighed eleven pounds, a full three ounces more than her older sister.

  They were a beautiful mix of the two of them, but also obviously alien. Until they knew how Earthlings would adapt to the existence and presence of the Dazon Empire—and the government hadn’t yet mentioned anything about the aliens’ request for fertile females—they had made the reluctant decision to keep the girls out of sight as much as possible, until they were old enough to understand and master a phase-suit that could make them able to pass as nondescript human children.

  Her mother and father had flown in from California in time for the courthouse ceremony and had stayed for the bonding ceremony. They had appeared to take most of the events in stride, but the reason why wasn’t difficult to ascertain as she looked over again in time to see her mother taking Elisa from Jada, while her father reached for Allie. They didn’t care that their granddaughters were half-Dazon, or their son-in-law was an alien. They just seemed happy that she was whole, healthy, and finally married off—without need of a dowry, as her father had teased her the night before after the courthouse quickie wedding.

  Pradheep had yet
to come around, but she still hoped he would. In the meantime, she was surrounded by family linked to her both by blood and by choice. With her hand still bound to Val’s in the traditional kursti, where it would remain for a full Dazon day, or thirty-one Earth hours, she moved to join the loved ones waiting for them, happy and content with the future before her.

  DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS (DAZON AGENDA, BOOK THREE)

  Co-Authored By Juno Wells and Aurelia Skye

  © 2016 Juno Wells

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

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  Amourisa Press and Kit Tunstall, writing as Aurelia Skye, reserve all rights to WRITTEN IN THE STARS. This work may not be shared or reproduced in any fashion without permission of the publisher and/or authors. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  © Kit Tunstall, 2016

  Cover Images: Depositphotos.com/bst2012; SpinningAngel

  Edited by J.C.

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  Blurb

  Curvy Ambassador Embeth Williams is on Dazonia Major to negotiate a peaceful solution for Earth and the Dazon Empire. She expected difficulties in her mission, but is blindsided by her attraction to Second Prince Ysaak Chon. He avoids her at first, determined to resist the mating flare, but soon succumbs. Falling in love is the last thing she should do on an alien planet while surrounded by potential enemies, but when negotiations break off, and war seems imminent, her alien lover is the only one who can get her safely back to Earth.

  Chapter One

  The pictures she had viewed during the three months she had prepared for this mission hadn’t done Dazonia Major justice, Embeth Williams realized as she stared out the window on the spaceship carrying her from Earth to the Dazon home world. Below her was a vast expanse of purple, green, and orange, with other colors swirled throughout.

  Though she knew the scientific reasons behind such differences from Earth—different light wave spectrums, varying chemical reactions, and dissimilar mineral composition—that made it no less wondrous to be viewing the beautiful planet below her. The planet she was quickly approaching was so alien to her. Its vast difference from Earth only underscored how alien the planet was.

  As though she had needed a reminder. She wasn’t likely to forget she was entering an alien world in an attempt to ensure peace between humans and Dazon. It was a precarious position and a fragile mission, and she wore the weight of it heavily. At thirty-three, she feared she was too young and inexperienced to successfully navigate the turbulent waters ahead.

  However, her father, a consummate ambassador with a distinguished career, had personally picked her for the assignment and suggested her to his superiors. Warwick Williams liked to remind her she came from a long line of diplomats, and that she had a more personal stake in the negotiations than other ambassadors might.

  After watching Elena suffer for years from Kaiser’s Syndrome before succumbing just a few months before Jorvak Ha had kidnapped all the Earth women with the disease had given Embeth a unique perspective. She didn’t suffer from the illness, so she wasn’t a biological match for the aliens, but she empathized with both sides.

  On one hand, she was still outraged that Ha had kidnapped four hundred Earth women and experimented on them, creating several hybrid alien-human babies, and disregarding all rights of the women involved, and had yet to face any consequences for his actions.

  On the other hand, she wanted the nanotechnology that could help women with Kaiser’s Syndrome, or any other illnesses for that matter, by keeping their symptoms in check. Her end goal was to find a way to help her people, and she knew she would have to concede certain points to the Dazon for that to happen. She was nervous, but optimistic, about her mission.

  Damon Connors, her chief bodyguard, cleared his throat from the doorway to catch her attention. She looked over at him, tearing her gaze away from the ever-nearing landscape beneath them. “Yes, Damon?”

  “The captain wanted me to tell you we’ll be landing in five minutes, Ambassador.”

  She nodded her head. “Thank you.”

  Damon inclined his head before leaving her without another word. He was a taciturn man, and careful with her security. It made him an ideal bodyguard, and she didn’t mind the lack of chatter. It was nice to be around someone who didn’t always feel the need to fill the silence. Working in the ambassadorial corps meant a great deal of socializing and pleasantries, including small talk which she had always endured rather than enjoyed.

  As the ship began a steep descent, she shook her head to clear away silly, useless thoughts and focused on soaking up the view before her. From what she could observe, there appeared to be wild, untamed areas teeming with vegetation until they approached the city. There was a dome over the urban area, and she knew from her own research in preparation for the mission that it was to protect from the fierce lightning storms that raged on the planet half the year, rather than to seal in oxygen.

  Their visit coincided with the other season, and the lightning storms were brief and infrequent this time of year. As the dome opened, and the ship slipped through, she briefly wished she was on the other side of the rotation, just to see the spectacular light show from the safety of the dome. It was rumored to be extraordinary, but she wasn’t slated to be there long enough to ever see it firsthand. The mission was tentatively scheduled for ten days, though she was flexible enough to know that could shorten or extend, depending on the outcome of the peace talks.

  The ship set down gently, with barely a noticeable bump, and certainly nothing as gauche as a bang to jostle her. She was certain her luggage would be attended to by the Dazon or her own personal staff, so all she had to do was step out of the ship and meet the delegation sent to greet her.

  Having received a thorough tour of the ship upon boarding that morning, before they folded, she was familiar with the layout and made her way to the exit doors. Damon fell into step beside her about a hundred yards from the open doorway, which was really the cargo bay doors opening and angling downward to allow their departure.

  The closer she got to the exit, the clearer she could see a distinct solitary figure waiting for them at the bottom. He must be the delegate sent to greet her, and he was attractive indeed. Her heart gave a funny little skip when she got close enough to see that rather than the typical brown-gold eyes most Dazons had, this male had startling green. It was the color of old green bottles left to fade in the sun, but that description didn’t do him justice. They were far more vibrant than the color suggested they should be.

  He was a little more golden than some of the aliens she had seen in pictures and met back on Earth and at the Moon’s consulate, but it only gave him a more magnificent aura. Like all the others she had seen or met, he had no hair on the side of his head, but he made up for it with a thick mane of brown hair atop his head, feathering down to bristly strands at his temples.

  He had no eyebrows, but possessed a strong brow ridge and a patrician nose. She was unsurprised when he introduced himself as royalty a moment later, bowing his head at her in that gesture of respect she had come to recognize from Dazon males.

  “Welcome, Ambassador Williams, to Dazonia Major. I am Second Prince Ysaak Chon, and I’ll be your guide during
your visit.”

  The ambassador’s picture hadn’t done her justice. Ysaak had felt a strange and unusual pull toward the visual representation of the woman coming to Dazonia since he had received the image a few weeks ago, along with her dossier. He had spent hours looking at her image, and he had been entranced by her.

  Now, in person, he could see her lips were even fuller than he had expected, and her skin was more of a mocha than a caramel. Her hair, which seemed to be a rich brown in her pictures, was actually black in real life. It waved around her face and fell halfway down her back in a lustrous cloud that he wanted to bury his fingers in to see if the waves were as soft as they looked.

  It was a strange reaction, and he almost flinched when she held out her hand. Instead, having studied as much Earth culture as he could over the intervening weeks since they had set up the peace talks, he recognized it as a common Earth greeting and took her hand to shake.

  The first touch of her smooth skin against his slightly rougher palm sent a shockwave through him. His entire body stiffened, and all his senses seemed sharper. His erection, which had stirred to life at the first sight of the ambassador, was now hard and aching, pressing against his trousers in an indecent display of desire. He was thankful he had worn the traditional garb today, which included a long overjacket, though the formfitting suits the military and many other Dazon males opted to wear simply for comfort would have provided support and disguised his reaction as well.

  The intense reaction frightened him, and it was as though a voice whispered in the back of his mind that she was his. No, whispered was far too tame of a word. The voice was shouting at him, hammering into his subconscious that he needed to claim this woman immediately.