From the Depths

by S. J. Sanders

  “Real nice,” Darcy whispered and scanned the console for the disconnect. She wasn’t going to put up with this bullshit any longer. Wharkuz might find their behavior sweet, but she wouldn’t have strangers disrespect her like that.

  “Right. Oh, fuck. Darcy. Darcy Georgiana Huntaur. Shit, girl, I’m sorry to come at you like that.” Jess-Jess looked back and forth behind Darcy to view what little she could have the lab. “Is Jeffrey there, too?”

  Darcy leaned against the console heavily. “What are the odds? No, Jeffrey isn’t here. I guess you’ve not really been in touch, huh? He up and left for some research. I think he said Antarctica, but to be honest with you, I think he just wanted to piss off the grand dame. Who the hell are you anyway? How do you know my cousin?”

  The sisters exchanged a worried look and then turned back to Darcy. “We went to school with him. We’re local girls. Um, you’re in the lab so you must have put it together that aliens came to visit us and we sort of got carried away. Not really a good way to phone home. Sorry, I’m Emily and this is my sister Jessica,” Twin number two, Emily, explained. “I guess Jeffrey didn’t say anything about us?” She sounded a little sad about that. “I was so worried he’d go digging around and stir up trouble after we left.”

  Darcy frowned in thought and then shook her head. “I didn’t actually see him. He left me a letter but it wasn’t very personal and that’s pretty weird, but we’re talking about Jeffrey. I expect strange. The fact that he surrendered his estate and everything to me sort of eclipsed the odd factor in the whole thing.”

  “Yeah, you have a point. Congratulations on the inheritance. That is really unexpected, but totally a Jeffrey thing to do.”

  “I’ll be in touch with him soon. He left me a way to contact him. Just need to figure out this thing with Wharkuz first. I can’t leave him.” In fact, she wasn’t even sure how to get out of the underwater facility without her scuba gear or the chameleon drive he used on her to get her through the lake to the lab.

  “Let me get Lan,” Emily said and vanished from the screen.

  Jessica ran a hand through her hair and regarded Darcy across who knew how much distance. Galaxies? Light years? It was a little freaky. “Sorry about earlier. We love Whar like a brother. He helped us a lot and I didn’t mean to freak out or act weird. We’re just protective of our little bro.” She glanced away, looking uncertain. “Welcome to the sisterhood. Shit, but you two can’t be mated.” She pressed her hand to her lips. “Oh shit. Sorry. Fucking awkward.”

  Darcy felt her stomach sink to her feet. “No, it’s okay. You’re right, we’re just friends.” Despite the mutual affection shared between them and her deep attraction to him and the love she felt that was far too big to remain hidden.

  And he was sick.

  And had not emerged from the tank yet.

  She refused to consider what would happen if he didn’t recover.

  Jessica looked uncertain and sympathetic. “Hey, I came with my sister by myself after she hooked up with Lan. And I found my guy after. There are so many different species out here if you’re single.”

  The very idea of just finding someone else was completely objectionable to her. She couldn’t imagine anyone who suited her better than Wharkuz on an emotional and intellectual level.

  “Or, you know, whatever,” Jessica said, apparently reading Darcy’s expression. “You never know what life has in store for you.” Glancing away she perked up. “Here’s the general.” And she was gone like a shot.

  Looking back on it, Darcy didn’t exactly know what to expect this Lan person to look like. Human probably. Her only alien reference was Wharkuz. She stumbled back when the monster appeared on the screen.

  Somewhere in the wide span of galaxies, a saber toothed lion, an eagle, a human, and an elk had a love child and created Lan.

  His shimmering green eyes fixed on her and she froze in place. His features were so animistic and alien that she couldn’t read his expression. Her mind scrambled for a reference to process what she was seeing.

  Standing upright, his body appeared human, particularly because he was dressed in a black uniform tailored to his massive body.

  That’s where the human similarities ended.

  His head and face were lionlike, with saber-tooth fangs. His wide rack of antlers were decorated golden engravings. But it was his coloring that confused her. He was the strangest shade of purple. His mane was nearly black in contrast to the lighter hue of his face and muzzle.

  As if a purple lion-elk hybrid wasn’t weird enough, a pair of feathered wings framed his shoulders. They were the color of a storm cloud, ranging from pale indigo and fading to a smoky blue at the tips.

  She caught sight of his tail just before he settled into the seat. It had a full, feathery tip.

  “I am Lord General W’sta Lannin,” he said simply, folding his huge paws together before him.

  That would explain the medals and ornaments on his jacket, she thought franticly.

  “Where is Wharkuz Tarsh and what are you doing in our laboratory?” Though he sounded perfectly calm, the undertone and unspoken warning was a scream to her senses.

  She did not want this alien coming back here to deal with her.

  “I-I’m sorry, sir. I’m Darcy Georgiana Huntaur. I’m a friend of Wharkuz. He’s very sick.”

  “I do not understand. How can he be sick? How did he get into this condition?” While he spoke with perfectly good English, there was a strange, lilting accent to his words, unlike Wharkuz, who had no accent at all.

  So Darcy explained what had happened. She went back to when Sweetie was hurt. Detailed how the men had attacked her, though she glossed over why Whar had been there. When she ended on her cold and how she’d managed to get him sick, his long, deer-like ears flicked back and vanished into the thick mane.

  “I see.” He continued to look at her. His vivid green eyes never left her face. “What I do not understand is what my very rational, sane-minded lead scientist is doing bringing a human into our laboratory when he scolded myself and my men on more than one occasion. At length. He’s not even a full male, what want and use could he have for a female?” He held up a paw to prevent her from fumbling for an answer. “Never mind. I will find out when he can answer for himself. I look forward to hearing his reasoning.”

  Cracking a smile, he finally lowered his gaze and began to tap lightly at something out of sight of the camera.

  She wanted to explain that Wharkuz needed friendship and company. Companionship and emotional intimacy with someone he could confide in who didn’t judge him for something he had no control over. He’d made it quite clear that, if he’d had the choice in the mater, he would want to be male, but that hadn’t been an option for him. Whar deserved affection and love freely, not just because he had a cock.

  It wasn’t a conversation she was going to have with this seven-foot-tall alien, though.

  “Ah. Here it is,” the general murmured at last. His eyes tracked up and down, reading, and then shifted to back and forth as he reviewed the report. “Interesting,” At last he focused on her again. “And how are you feeling?”

  The question wasn’t what she was expecting and she blinked at him a moment. “Uh…” How was she feeling? Since she’d woken to the call from Jessica she hadn’t given much thought to her illness except that she was in desperate need of a shower. Her body no longer ached and her throat was a little scratchy but not sore. Her sinuses were clear and there was no cough tickling in her chest. “I feel fine. I think the illness has passed.”

  Her heart squeezed. Why wasn’t Wharkuz up already?

  The general gave a small nod. “Very well then. He will be fine. Give him time for recovery. When he wakes he will be hungry. The tank provides nourishment and other supplements needed while the body is healing, however it isn’t the same as real protein of fresh meat. Do you understand, little female?”

  She nodded, thinking about the storage unit in the kitchen. “Yes. I can
do that. No problem.”

  “Do not cook it. I do not understand the fascination you females have for burning everything, but do not, for all the stars in the galaxy.” He shifted his weight and peered at her, the ridge above one eye cocking up. “What is your relationship with Wharkuz Tarsh?”

  The question brought a rush of heat to her face. “We’re friends.”

  He just stared at her.

  “I like him. A lot. You obviously don’t understand because you equate affection with sexuality. It’s true that physical contact is important, but I love him for what’s between his ears, not what’s between his legs.”

  Well, that fact was out of the bag now. She really would have rather had Whar be the first being aside from herself to know that fact, but it just leapt out of her.

  W’sta Lannin’s ears perked forward and he roared out a huge laugh, slapping a heavy paw on the table before him. “Indeed. Indeed. I look forward to meeting you, Darcy Georgiana Huntaur. Do take the best of care of our Wharkuz. I will tell my mate’s sister that he will contact her at his leisure and assure you that she will not bother him until he wishes it. The female can be a plague.”

  “Y-you’re coming back here?” she asked, wincing at how terrified she sounded. Well, he was scary. Even his show of amusement was frightening.

  “We return.” Was his answer, his tone firm, though the wide smile remained on his lips. “Remember to feed him meat.” And then the connection cut off.

  Chapter Three

  For four days she roamed the lab with only Sweetie for company.

  She spent most hours sitting with Wharkuz.

  His hands, from fingertips to elbows, were now a stunning dark red that was nearly black and from his toes to his knees was also the same color.

  The rings under and around his eyes now covered the top of his head from crown to just bellow his high cheekbones, slashing across the bridge of his nose. It was now the same dark red of his arms and legs. His head fins were growing long, their coloration blending from the tone of his head to bronze at the tips.

  His skin had shed, making the filtration system in the tank work overtime to keep the water clear. No longer bright emerald, he was a light, pearly sage color with more silver and bronze overtones.

  She was cooking soup in the kitchen when an unfamiliar form caught at the corner of her eye. An enormous, strange being stood in the doorway. His bulk filled the hallway leading to the dining area. Her first impulse was to scream or run and try to hide.

  She used the hot bowl of soup as a shield. But the figure didn’t move toward her. Bright red eyes blinked several times in puzzlement at her behavior.

  “Darcy?” He looked over his shoulder as though someone might be behind him and then back to her. “What is it?” Wharkuz’s voice, deeper by several octaves, came out of the throat of a being that was not her Wharkuz. He looked ready to do battle with whatever had caused her to scream.

  “Wharkuz?” His name came out in a small, worried whisper.

  “Yes, my Darcy. What is it? What has happened?”

  What had happened indeed?

  She wasn’t even sure how to explain the fact that he’d grown over a foot in height. His neck, previously so elegant and slim, had thickened and sat low into his broad shoulders and chest. There was the issue of his coloration, but she’d expected that. The emerald replaced by a stunning, silvery seafoam-green that shifted like the surface of a pearl. Somehow she hadn’t paid attention to his growth. His size change wasn’t apparent when he’d been lying curled on his side in the water.

  His horns were even larger, too. The arching spirals were thick as her wrist and so long the tips almost reached the nape of his neck.

  So much had changed in four days.

  It didn’t seem possible.

  Wharkuz held out his hand to her and then noticed their color with a start, his eyes flying open wide. “Oh!” Opening and closing his hands, he marveled at them with a smile widening his lips. He reached up and touched his temples and the horns there, discovering their change by feel.

  Whirling away, he strode back into the juncture of the kitchen and laboratory where the huge mirror hung. His roar echoed through the whole complex.

  Darcy nearly dropped her bowl as she hastily set it aside and ran after him.

  Poised before the mirror, Wharkuz looked at himself with awe. “I think I understand why the Ossirans need their daily posturing before the mirror,” he said and then rubbed a hand along his throat. Catching her gaze in the reflection, he grinned at her, suddenly looking so much more like her charming Wharkuz rather than this massive warrior.

  “What happened?” she asked, unable to take her eyes from him.

  He watched her without turning. “The fever, or my body fighting off the virus may have triggered the change, or your blood in my system when my teeth nicked your lip.” His focus moved to her mouth. “Perhaps from our prolonged proximity. A little of all of that? I can’t be certain without reviewing the reports.”

  This meant that he’d transitioned. He was a male after all. Somehow. Her heart squeezed with happiness for him. “I thought you were dying,” she admitted, tears stinging her eyes. “Y-you can find a mate now.”

  That fact made her heart plummet into her toes.

  She loved him.

  But now that he could be whole and have any female he wanted, why would he even bother with her?

  “Yes,” he answered, a touch warily. “If I needed to find one.” Turning, his powerful legs carried him to her and he smiled down at her. “You have said you would teach me the art of snuggling. Unless you do not approve of me now.” The smile melted slowly away.

  Approve of him? She’d been too shocked by the alterations to really look and then freaked herself out assuming that this giant would now be completely out of her league. Now she gave herself permission to look at him and he smiled as her gaze raked over him.

  She liked the change in him. Before she’d found his modesty sweet, but the new confidence and actual pleasure at her regard was so much better. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you look at a mirror.”

  She smoothed a finger down his chest to his stomach. The muscles were twice the size they had been. Dear lord, if she thought he was yummy before, her libido might not be able to take this. He leaned into her touch, encouraging her and ripples of delight and joy spilled from him, tickling over her senses. Even his tail was longer, she realized. It almost reached the ground and instead of a pointed tip it had a pretty tulip shaped end. His powerful back had different dorsal fins and spines running down from his shoulders to the base of his tail and as she looked him over they fanned open.

  “Show off,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around his hips from behind, careful not to let the spikes scratch her. There had been soft frills and almost lacy fins before, but now they were sharper, tipped with little barbs that might just snare on her flesh and clothing if she weren’t careful. Until she saw that they flattened or compressed against him at her touch, the dangerous-looking spikes shielded from her.

  “You must see all to make your choice.” He reached behind him and pulled her to his front and bowed his head, pressing his forehead to hers. He was warm but no longer feverish. “Why will you not look now?”

  She knew what he meant because she’d avoided letting her gaze drop to his groin. When he was neutral it didn’t seem brazen to look at this crotch. She knew because he’d told her that he didn’t have sexual organs.

  Now, she wasn’t sure what she might see.

  “I’m embarrassed,” she admitted around a nervous laugh.

  Heat swept through her face and he brushed soft kisses along her cheeks. “Since when has that ever stopped my bold Darcy?” He straightened and stepped back, not giving her a chance to evade him.

  Taking a steadying breath, she grinned up at him and then let her gaze slide down his body. She could sense his desire like the pulse of a heartbeat against her.

  He no longer had a f
lat Ken-doll groin. There was a sizable bulge between his thighs, and instead of a smooth green surface, there was a shell-shaped marking that extended from between his thighs to his abs in a red so dark it was nearly black, matching the coloration on his hands. It was like a warning to others. But a lure to her.

  Her hands itched to reach out and caress the spot and see if he was truly male in all ways.

  Glancing back up at him, she found him smiling warmly at her. “You were beautiful to me then and you are still just as handsome.” But seeing him in this fully male form, she now understood better about his discomfort in her touching him. There was such a stark difference. Not just the addition of sexual organs. “I’d love you the same if you’d transitioned as female or stayed just as you were.” She searched his face.

  She didn’t have time to worry about admitting her feelings too freely. A fierce lance of joy struck her and Wharkuz wrapped his arms around her, drawing her against him as he once more bowed his head lower. “I have loved you since the first time I saw you on the dock.” He admitted, brilliant red eyes drinking her in. “I could not be the one for you then. I was only half of my potential. That you accepted me despite that is only one reason I love you.”

  She melted against his powerful body and stroked her hands up his chest, exploring every inch of his satin-sleek flesh. There’s no way she’d ever tire of the feel of him. Hard muscles, yet supple skin so unlike hers.

  His lips brushed the corner of her mouth. “And only now do I fully understand your desire.” He kissed the other corner. “Your hunger.” His teeth very lightly grazed her lower lip, giving the softest of pinches. “Your need.”

  Oh, and how she needed him. His teasing had her squirming, but when she tried to tip her head to catch his mouth in a kiss, he evaded her. Her stomach looped low, filling with millions of fluttering embers.

  Angling his body slightly so he could look down, he took her hand in his. “I did not experience those sensations before. Feeling the emotions through you was a pale shadow of what fills me now.”