Made For Her

By Jessica E. Subject

After terrorists murder the love of her life, Colonel Mikayla Jones trains squadron after squadron of the clones he brought to life, to take to the skies. When she discovers a young clone of her husband in her newest class, her world spins out of control. How can she command the look-a-like when she can't help but yearn for him to fill an ache in her heart?

Dare was created to be the best. As the first Daniel clone to leave Onatria labs, he needs to prove he is more than just a DNA copy. To do that, he must rely on the wife of the man who donated his genes. But when she refuses to train him, Dare faces discharge and returning to the labs. Can he convince Colonel Jones to finish his training and find a way into her bed? Or will long kept secrets unhinge the entire clone project?

Please note: Made For Her was previously published with another publisher. It has been revised and expanded from the original version. This version also includes the short story, Replicated Consequences, which takes place in the same world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jessica E. Subject
• Release date: Oct 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9780994843166

Jessica E. Subject

Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you can not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous. When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to go to fitness class, listen to BTS, and walk her Great Pyrenees/Retriever her family adopted from the local animal shelter. Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Reader Letter

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Thank You

Sneak Peek: Another Night, Another Planet

Bonus Story: Replicated Consequences

Bibliography

About the Author

Dear Reader;

A long time ago I was invited to be a part of an anthology with some of my favorite authors. I wrote my story as quick as I could, received some help from an airline pilot in writing one scene, and had other authors critique it for me to ensure it was the best story I could submit. Unfortunately, the anthology didn't happen. I had a finished story I loved, and no place for it. Thankfully, my publisher took a chance on it. During its time with Decadent Publishing, Made For Her received two mentions on the USA Today HEA blog, and one on io9.

Made For Her deals with cloning, an already controversial subject, one that caught my attention back in 1995 with Space: Above and Beyond. I was fascinated with the character Cooper Hawkes, a race conceived through In Vitro fertilization and suspended in cryogenic sleep until the age of eighteen when they went on to serve in the military. It was him and the show that provided much inspiration for this story. Only I took it a step farther with genetically altered clones.

After receiving the rights back to this story, I made some minor revisions throughout, and added an extra chapter. In this edition, I’ve also included a bonus story, Replicated Consequences, which takes place in the same world. While this is a standalone story, I do have another clone story plotted. And right now, I’m working on a new series, Galactic Defenders. The first one, Bryce, will release later in 2016, and the second, Jager, in 2017 with more to follow.

Wishing you all the best, and many good books to read!

Jessica

~Dedication~

To Karlene, for all your help.

Thank you also to Liza and Daryll.

Chapter One

Captain Mikayla Jones opened the door and gazed up at the Skymaster II rocketing another group of pilots toward SFTC, the Space Flight Training Center. She’d been the instructor of most of the men and women on that flight and would come face to face with a new class on Monday morning. But she hadn’t rushed to the door to bid the squad farewell. No, instead she stared at the four men in uniform standing before her. She recognized three of them from the base, knew they hadn’t come with good news—they would never have arrived at her door together other than to inform her of a tragedy—but it was the fourth man dressed in black, his hands drumming a beat on his utility belt, who worried her the most. He wasn’t military.

May we come in?

Lieutenant Colonel Madison’s question yanked her back from her thoughts. What is it? Tell me what happened.

The chaplain from the base stepped forward with a heavy nod. Captain, it’s best if we go in and sit down. Detective Krug of the Northwest Police Department has something to tell you.

She braced her hands on the door frame, afraid if she let them in, their bad news would be true.

C’mon, Mikayla. Lieutenant Colonel Madison draped an arm across her shoulder and guided her into her home. He would be the only one to call her by her given name here, the only one who knew her well enough. You need to sit down. It’s about Daniel.

She stopped in her tracks, dread pooling in her stomach, but the chaplain, the detective, and his military police escort continued into her living room.

This isn’t funny. It’s our anniversary. We’re supposed to go out for dinner. He promised he’d be home. Whatever this surprise is that you’re all involved in, I’m not impressed. Her voice hitched. Go over to the lab and tell Daniel to come home.

I’m afraid that’s not possible, Detective Krug said.

Her knees threatened to give out. Why? He works just over there. She pointed in the direction of the military labs where her husband conducted experiments for the government, ones so top secret, Daniel couldn’t even mention them in her presence.

No, Mikayla, the colonel said. He was contracted out to Onatria Labs.

She gasped. Her chest tightened. Had she misheard him? The lab rumored to be involved in cloning? But that lab was blown up this morning.

She waited for one of them to tell her that her assumptions were wrong, that Daniel was okay, but they all stared at her, their eyes solemn. No, it can’t be true.

The Natural Lifes have already claimed responsibility for the bombing, Detective Krug said.

Drawing in a deep breath, she willed her body to stop shaking. Captain Jones could not break down, not when cadets depended on her every day to train them for flight. Where is my husband? Which hospital is he at? She couldn’t stand still. She had to get to Daniel, to take care of him. Their anniversary dinner no longer mattered, but she had to be with her husband.

Mikayla, I’m so sorry. The colonel rested a hand on her shoulder. But Daniel didn’t survive.

She stepped back, grasping for something to hang on to. A tear slid down her cheek, but she wiped it away. Her husband had to come home. Yet, her heart had already broken, processed the news before her mind. Grasping the back of a chair, she turned to the detective. You have to be wrong. He can’t be dead. He can’t. It’s our anniversary. How do you know it was him, huh?

We read his military ID chip. I’m sorry, but there’s no mistaking his identity.

No! She was no longer Captain Jones. She melted back to Mikayla, wife to Daniel Jones. And she let go, falling to the floor. Terrorists had stolen her husband from her. She was alone. Forever. All of their hopes and dreams, gone. Her chance at having a family, no more. She had nothing to live for.

Madison knelt beside her and rubbed her back. I’m very sorry.

But she turned away from him. Leave me, please. She wrapped her arms around her knees and wept for her husband.

***

Ten years later

Colonel Jones grabbed the remote before focusing on the three-dimensional holographic picture beside her. Another presentation for the general public, but she doubted it would work to recruit anyone. The audience was always more curious than willing to enlist.

In 2084, as you know, Earth made first contact with the Rafkels, a peaceful species living on the planet Raf, located twenty light-years from Earth. She pressed the button to show her spectators an image of the still-foreign planet. While meeting this species remains years away, their message warned us of other intelligent life forms in our own galaxy.

Mikayla rolled her eyes. The actual message had not been a warning, rather a fact, but the government insisted on changing the wording to garner more recruits and support for cloning. "Since then, world governments have combined efforts to develop a spacecraft that will take us faster and farther into space.

If you join the military today, you will learn how to fly these vessels and train the clones for future wars. Science fiction has now become our reality. Yeah, like that would work to recruit people. Who wrote the speech, anyway? Very few, if any, would ever make it to the SFTC, Space Flight Training Center. It will never be your life on the line, but that of men and women created only for that purpose. Serving your country is no longer about sacrifice, but about honor.

She cringed at the bullshit words. People still died all the time. Terrorists, like the ones who’d killed Daniel, still objected to cloning, causing destruction and death. Just last month, a popular off-base nightclub, known to be a military hang-out, had been turned to rubble in a matter of seconds after a suicide bomber with known allegiance to the Al-Tidoa group blew himself up inside the building. Many, both clone and human-born, had died.

When Mikayla switched the display to the live feed from Onatria’s main lab in Geneva, she sighed at the collective gasp. Robotic arms transferred material between Petri dishes at various stations while other, more complex equipment dissected strands of DNA. Human-born