Awakening (Earth Evolution Series Book 4) Read online

  “Increase goal,” Quinn ordered

  “Goal increased.”

  “What are you doing?” a voice called out from behind him.

  Quinn turned to see his oldest cousin, Jared, leaning against the doorframe. “I’m working out. What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “You’re pushing your body to the limit, Quinn. How many times have you ignored the recommendation to end the session?”

  Quinn shrugged, turned back to the panel, and punched a few more times. Maybe his cousin would get bored and leave. That was too much to hope for. He heard Jared’s footsteps as he approached. Jared was a mediko and he took the medical care of all the crew seriously.

  “Why are you working out at this time of night?”

  “I couldn’t sleep. I have to get back to top shape if I hope to lead a mission. When are you taking me off medical leave?” He stopped to look at his cousin expectantly.

  “I told my dad you were physically ready, but he’s worried about your judgment.”

  “What about my judgment? I have the same training and experiences as others my age who have led their own missions.” Quinn was insulted.

  “You’re family and he worries about you, we all do. You keep taking unnecessary risks. You jump into dangerous situations without thinking it through. You volunteer for every dangerous mission that comes up.”

  “I just want to prove myself.” Quinn never knew his own father. He died when Quinn was a baby. His only father figure had been his uncle Devlon. He saw his uncle every time he came to check on his sons who stayed with Quinn and his mother. Quinn admired Devlon and wanted to grow up to be an experienced warrior and a great commander like him.

  Jared approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to prove anything. We all know you’re a capable warrior. Father is always bragging about how well you are doing. He’s just worried—all of us are—that you’re pushing yourself too hard. It would devastate us if something happened to you. You could have died in that bombing when you risked your life to save Squirrel.”

  “Was I supposed to let her die?” The thought of her death didn’t sit well with him.

  “No, but you could have waited for backup.”

  “There was no time. She would have died, and don’t call her that horrible name.”

  “That’s the only name she has.”

  Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “She needs a new one. Couldn’t you search the DNA database to find out who she really is? What if she had family somewhere like Maggie did?”

  “I asked her but she said she didn’t care to find out. Maybe you could convince her to let me try.”

  “Just do it.”

  “I would like her permission first. Maybe she had a bad home life. I wouldn’t want to reunite her with an abusive boyfriend.”

  He growled at the possibility that she could have another male missing her. Quinn had to admit that Jared had a point. “I’ll check on her in the morning. Is she still in mediko?”

  “Yes, she refuses to live in the quarters we arranged for her.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t experienced the things she did so I can’t imagine what she is thinking or feeling.”

  “Why do you think I would have any influence on her? I barely know her.”

  Jared gave him a knowing smile. “You have been by my mediko more in the last few weeks with her there than you have the last few years while we were in deep space. She asks about you too.”

  Quinn tried to act nonchalant. “She does?”

  “Yes.”

  “What does she say—about me?”

  “I’m not going to sit here and gossip with you. If you want to know more about her and what she thinks of you, you’ll have to come and visit with her.”

  “Is she still sleeping in the cabinets?”

  Jared sighed. “Yes, no matter what I do or say, she prefers to hide in dark tight places. It makes me feel like I’m failing her.”

  “She doesn’t feel safe so she seeks out places that are more familiar.”

  “You seem to understand her. This is why you need to talk to her, spend time with her. She hasn’t even toured the ship yet, despite how many times my Lily has asked her to walk with her. Lily has visited her many times and brought Thomas with her to try to encourage her to get out of mediko for a while. She refuses, though I sense she has grown curious.”

  “That’s not healthy.”

  “I know and that’s why I’m seeking you out. I think she’ll respond to you.”

  “Other than her not leaving mediko, how’s her health?”

  “She’s responding surprisingly well to the treatments. Her skin has the pink coloring again and her eyes are bright and clear. Her hair had started to fall out in places when she was found, which was why she had kept it cut short, but now it has grown out quite a bit. She looks almost completely different.”

  “I’ll try to get her to go on a tour with me if you promise to talk to your dad about letting me take on a mission. I need to feel like I’m doing my part to serve the fleet.”

  “Okay, you deal with Squir—the girl—and I’ll deal with dad.”

  *****

  Quinn worked out for another thirty minutes before he left the gym. He meant to go straight to his quarters but found himself heading to the mediko. He was relieved that Lt. Tagar Orti was on duty. Tagar had been handpicked by his uncle to be the girl’s bodyguard. All the humans on board had a bodyguard because of the threat against them from both humans and Drastans. Tagar was Devlon’s first choice and Quinn approved. He knew Tagar was a good male.

  “How is she, Tagar?”

  Tagar shook his head. “She sleeps in the cabinets again. I want to go in and pull her out so badly, but she would be scared by my size and she is so tiny.”

  Quinn nodded. Tagar was over seven feet tall, taller than any Drastan warrior he had ever met. Not many would dare go against him, but Quinn knew how careful he was not to use his strength unwisely.

  “I know you wouldn’t hurt her, and she will learn that, too, in time. There’s no one I would trust more with her safety.”

  Tagar puffed out his chest with pride. “I take my assignment seriously.”

  “I know you do.”

  “Why are you here so late?”

  “I wanted to check on her. I’m going to go inside and see if I can get her to come out from the cabinet.”

  “Good luck with that.” Tagar entered the secure code for the door to open.

  Quinn entered the darkened room. He waved the panel on the wall to raise the lights careful to not make a lot of sound. He didn’t want to startle her but her eyes were still very sensitive to bright lights.

  He walked over to the cabinets where the corner of a sheet was poking out. He knelt down and called, “Little one, can you hear me?”

  Mumbling came from inside but the doors did not open. He reached for them and opened them wide. The girl was curled on her side, holding a pillow to her chest. He could tell by the expression on her face that she was having a nightmare.

  He reached for her, lifting her out of the cabinet and into his arms.

  “Who—” she mumbled, trying to open her eyes. She was clearly exhausted. He would have to ask his cousin to give her something to help her sleep at night. She did not need to suffer these nightmares.

  “Shhh…I’m here, little one. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

  “Quinn,” she whispered. Something about the simple trust in him she showed by the way she said his name had his gut clenching. She snuggled against him.

  Holding her close to his heart, Quinn stood and carried her back to her bed. He laid her down gently and pulled a blanket up to cover her. Her hair had grown out quickly, proving the supplements and treatments were doing wonders for her.

  He lifted a strand of blond hair in between his fingers; soft and silky. She was so beautiful and tiny, a miracle in a small package. When he first found her in the
tunnels, he thought she was just a child. He was shocked to find out she was a fully grown woman, twenty years old. When she looked at him her eyes read older, though, like she had seen her fair share of horrors.

  “Dimples, you came.”

  He blinked, realizing she was looking at him with droopy eyes. She seemed to find the indention in his cheeks appealing for some reason. She reached up to place a finger in the small crease. He smiled as he leaned down and whispered, “I told you I would not let anything happen to you. You are safe.”

  She smiled and fell back to sleep. He hoped she would remain in the bed until morning but doubted it. More than likely, an hour after he left she would be back in the cabinet again. He turned to leave.

  He waved his hand at the wall panel to turn the lights off and exited the door.

  “You managed to get her in the bed.” Tagar sounded impressed.

  “I don’t think she’ll stay there.”

  “Habits are hard to break, especially ones that are born of keeping one safe.”

  “You’re right. Let me know if there are any problems.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Everything in him wanted to go back and get Squirrel and take her to his quarters. He shook his head trying to clear those thoughts. She was too scared of men to open herself up to one right now. Also, he didn’t have time for a relationship right now, but if he did she would be the one he would want to pursue. He couldn’t imagine anyone else.

  Quinn headed back to his quarters. He planned to approach his uncle again tomorrow to request his own mission. His dream since childhood had been to command his own ship. He wasn’t going to let anything stop him.

  *****

  “The human rebels failed. The commander refuses to leave, and now we have even more humans on board than before and a half-breed, a first of many if something isn’t done about it.”

  “What can we do? Commander Devlon has proclaimed the humans are to be protected and anyone who means them harm will be considered a traitor. He’s in charge so it limits our actions.”

  “That would be true, unless he is no longer in charge.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “A commander can be replaced.”

  “You have to prove he’s unfit, otherwise it can be considered mutiny if we tried to overturn his command.”

  “Who says we’re going to be the ones to overturn his command?”

  “Who—”

  “I’ll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it. Just be on the alert.”

  Chapter 3

  The Next Morning

  Squirrel woke up early in the morning, knowing she was no longer in the cabinet. At first she was startled, then she vaguely remembered seeing Quinn. She thought she had been dreaming about him again. She had quite a few dreams about him the last few weeks.

  He was her angel with dimples who did wicked things to her libido. The problem was he never stayed around for long. He would visit her and just when thought she could see interest in his eyes, he would leave and stay gone for several days at a time. Finally, she had met someone she wanted to get close to and let him get close to her, only he didn’t want to stay around long enough for her to do that.

  She sat up and went to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. The thought of having warm water to wash with was so appealing, she couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough.

  Taking a shower had become one of her favorite things to do. She rarely did it in the tunnels. The safest way had been group showering with the females and children, but she’d never felt comfortable with that. Her underwear was long gone so instead of being naked in the shower she would either shower with her clothes on or she went without showering.

  Since coming on board the Drastan command ship, she was allowed to take as many showers as she wanted. The first time she kept her clothes on, not trusting that someone wouldn’t try to watch her or interrupt her. After a few showers she couldn’t stand keeping the clothes on anymore.

  She turned the water on and it adjusted automatically to the perfect temperature. When she stepped into the spray, she sighed.

  “Oh God, that feels so good.”

  Squirrel reached for the shampoo gel and put a small amount on her palm. She lathered it up and put it in her hair. While in the tunnels her hair had begun falling out so she had kept it cut really short. Now, after only a few weeks on board the Drastan command ship receiving treatments and supplements, her hair was long, thick, and healthy looking. It was also honey-blond. She had forgotten what her true color was after years of dealing with dirt and dust that made her hair look brown. She wasn’t someone who paid much attention to her looks, but she did like her hair. She thought it was her best feature.

  She closed her eyes and imagined Quinn’s hands massaging her scalp. His hands were big and his fingers were long. They would spread the cleaning gel down her neck, over her shoulders, moving from one arm to the next. Her body started to respond when she pinched her nipples. Ripples of pleasure went straight down to her pussy.

  Leaning a shoulder against the wall of the shower, she did something she had never done before. She touched her body, exploring every inch. Her breasts were getting heavier as she put on weight and her ribs weren’t easily detectable as before. She had some hair over her lower mound and moved her fingers down until she touched the seam of her pussy lips.

  Squirrel usually shied away from anything physical or sexual. The things that she had experienced and witnessed while in the tunnels haunted her. She pushed those thoughts away. She wasn’t in the tunnels anymore and this was her body—she could touch herself if she wanted to.

  Concentrating on the image of Quinn and his amazing dimples, she relaxed and let her body react with the building desire. It was always there, barely reined in when the sexy alien was anywhere near her. Did he know the effect he had on her?

  She felt a burning need inside her. She moved her fingers against her pussy, spreading her legs farther apart to give herself room. A finger slipped in and it was awkward but also—good. She moved her finger in and out, picturing Quinn’s fingers.

  Quinn wasn’t the first good-looking man she had ever met, but he was the only one that had ever made her feel sexy and desirable. From the first time she looked into his dark eyes she was obsessed. He’d lifted her up in his arms like she weighed nothing, which she probably hadn’t since she was undernourished. He had muscles but they didn’t intimidate her, they made her feel safe. His voice—God, how she could listen to him talk all day and never tire of it.

  “Little one, you are safe now.”

  She heard him say those words to her many times. She imagined him standing behind her in the shower and whispering them against her skin as he kissed her neck. She added a second finger and pumped in and out. Her nipples hardened as the warm water streamed down over her body.

  “Quinn.” She whispered his name over and over like a prayer. She reached with her other hand to cup her breasts and tweaked her nipples. Flames slowly built inside her as she pleasured herself with her hands. She pumped faster and faster and reached out to hold the side of the shower wall as she experienced her first orgasm. It was like electricity went off inside of her body from her head to her toes.

  Her knees wobbled and her whole body quivered from her release. It was a little unsettling to be out of control like that, but she liked it. If she had known touching herself like that would bring so much pleasure she would have attempted it a long time ago. She wondered if it felt this good just imagining being with Quinn, what would it be like to be with him for real?

  She washed her hands and her body then turned off the water. She reached for a towel on the shelf as she stepped out of the shower. While drying off, she realized she hadn’t grabbed fresh clothes before coming inside the bathroom. Mediko Jared had showed her where they kept spare clothes that were a lot like scrubs for patients. They weren’t anything fancy but they were nice and clean, better than anything she had worn in years.
<
br />   Squirrel took the dry towel and wrapped it around her body. The wet towel she placed in the dirty linen bin. She felt exposed wearing nothing but a towel but it would have to do until she could get a pair of scrubs. She looked up in the mirror and stared at her image. It still felt weird seeing herself after all this time. In the tunnels the mirrors had been were as dirty as she was so she hadn’t known what she truly looked like.

  Her eyes were big and blue. Some people from the tribes told her that her eyes looked like the sky that she couldn’t remember and that was no longer clear because of the nuclear cloud dust blocking out much of the sun. Lack of sunlight made her very pale and Mediko Jared had told her she was deficient in a lot of necessary supplements. She didn’t have access to all the supplements some of the tribe people did. If she had run across them she would have traded for something like food.

  Since arriving on Earth, the Drastans had provided humans with radiation treatments and supplements. She noticed big changes in some of the inhabitants who came on board for deeper treatments. Their skin glowed and they could breathe without coughing. She was lucky she was young enough that most of the internal damage would heal completely in time. There were older people like the woman who came to visit her with Lily who might never heal completely. That saddened her to think about.

  It made her realize how precious her life was. She thought she would die buried deep beneath the earth, but now she had a chance to live a full and healthy life. One day she might even be able to stand on the surface of her planet and feel the sun’s rays on her skin without risk of radiation exposure. She looked forward to that day. Or maybe she would be standing on the surface of another planet, appreciating the beauty of a new world.

  With the towel wrapped around her, she unlocked the bathroom door and opened it. The lights were still dimmed, which she preferred since her eyes were sensitive. She didn’t see the figure leaning against the wall close to the bathroom.

  “I was worried you weren’t coming out.”

  She almost tripped but a hand reached out and took her elbow, lifting her back up. “What the hell, Quinn?”