Burning Love [Flights of Fancy 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

by Melodee Aaron

  "It's very good to finally see you, Lieutenant. Please, have the rest of your party come out to meet us."

  While the introductions were uneventful, the Hendri delegation seemed amused by the Marines. When Star asked him, Krell chuckled. "We are a peaceful people, in spite of the minor conflicts with the Rangor. You have no need for warriors here, Lieutenant."

  "Please, call me Star. I understand, but this is part of our protocol for first contacts."

  He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It doesn't matter. Your people will simply be bored and have nothing to do while you are here. Perhaps additional scientific or diplomatic personnel would be of better use for you."

  "Perhaps so, once Major Spencer and Captain Davis feel comfortable."

  "We shall endeavor to make them so." He glanced around the landing pad for a moment. "Come, let's go to my office and we can talk more comfortably about your concerns and the future for humans and Hendri."

  Krell extended his arm to her, and she placed her hand on his elbow. She again felt the slight chill despite the fact that the air was nearly forty degrees and his skin much hotter.

  * * * *

  "So you see, Star, the small fight your ship saw was nothing more than our police force protecting our food supplies." Krell shrugged, a movement that made him look even taller while sitting at his desk. "The Rangor are little more than animals."

  She nodded, brow furrowed in thought. "But if they're animals, how do you explain the fact our sensors showed them shooting back?"

  Spence felt a wave of pride. Even though she wasn't a command or combat officer, Star caught that part. He sat near the door of the office, his weapon across his lap, as he watched the two diplomats play the political games.

  "Perhaps animal isn't the right word in your language." Krell thought for a moment. "But I know of no other from my studies of English so far. They are capable of learning and using tools, but they lack any kind of rational thought processes and have only limited problem solving skills."

  "Something like an ape or dolphin."

  Krell glanced at some papers on his desk for a moment. "Yes, like those creatures. There is no doubt they're intelligent in the strictest sense, but they are not our equals."

  Something about Krell didn't sit well with Spence. He wondered if maybe he'd spent too long fighting wars and killing people, but Spence just didn't trust him. If he had to, he couldn't point to anything concrete to show anyone else why he felt suspicious, but his gut told him that Krell, and the rest of the Hendri, were lying to them.

  * * * *

  The rooms provided for the landing party were spacious and comfortable, especially after she explained that the heat bothered humans and Krell arranged for the installation of some kind of air coolers. Another detail Krell dealt with was the moving of one of the two beds from each bedroom to the sitting area of the suites. Originally laid out with two beds in the bedrooms, the problem that Star and the science officer were women and all the Marines were men came to light. It seemed more appropriate to separate the beds. Right now, Spence paced the sitting room while Star sat on the sofa and watched him.

  "I can't explain it, Star. I just don't trust him."

  "I really need something more than that to go on."

  "I know." He slapped the wall with his palm, but not hard enough to hurt his hand. She thought he would escalate to punching with a closed fist if his frustration level didn't drop soon. "I have this feeling in my gut that Krell is lying to us."

  She nodded as sympathetically as she could. "About what?"

  "For one, this whole thing with the Rangor sounds too pat, like he rehearsed his answers."

  "Isn't it just as possible that he's telling the truth?"

  "Sure, but I'd rather be wrong my way than yours."

  She laughed a little. "I'd rather not be wrong at all. What else is bothering you?"

  He managed a small smile. "I just don't trust him."

  "There's nothing I can do about that. Maybe as you get to know him and the other Hendri, you'll come to trust them more."

  "Remember when we were talking about the military? This is just more of the same. We have to assume the Hendri are hostile until we have facts to prove otherwise."

  "I remember, but like I said then, that's a pretty fatalistic view of the galaxy."

  "And the galaxy is still a pretty fatalistic place. Stupidity is a capital crime."

  She'd spent her whole life learning to think like a diplomat, looking at all options and finding the peaceful ones open to her. She always believed the military mindset was different, closed to options that didn't involve a gun. When she looked up into Spence's gray eyes, though, she could see the worry there. Star didn't know what to do to calm his worries.

  She stood, bringing her eyes almost to the level of his. "Well, I think I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll know what to do in the morning to make you feel more at ease about this."

  He stepped to stand in front of her, his eyes filling her vision. "You're way to trusting, little girl."

  "Maybe I am." She smiled. "I know I trust you."

  He looked like he needed a hug, but instead Star leaned and kissed his cheek gently before turning and going to her room.

  * * * *

  Spence was fairly certain he didn't react before Star clicked her door shut, but as soon as the sound of the latch reached his ears, he felt his arms bunch and a small shake ripple through his body. He was afraid to move, his fists clenching and relaxing as he watched the closed door. A battle raged in his mind and body, and the sure sign of the conflict was the pressure the protective cup of his armor placed on his hardening cock.

  His cheek burned where her soft lips had touched him. When she leaned close to him, he'd caught her scent, and he didn't think it was some kind of perfume; what he'd smelled was her, Star's skin and sweat and breath and, maybe, a whiff of her pussy. It all combined to trigger feelings in him like he never even knew existed before, not just simple lust and passion. Those things flared in him, but something else he couldn't put his finger on colored and flavored the mix, too.

  He struggled against the rising tide of want in him. If he let the flood swamp him, he'd kick the door in. He wrote the building lust off as simple hormones. Here, more than 8,300 parsecs from Earth, it wouldn't be at all unusual for him to have the hots for the prettiest, sexiest woman on the ship. Perfectly normal, in fact, and it would probably be healthy, too.

  Kicking in the bedroom door of a fellow officer and taking her would be neither normal, healthy, nor a good idea. He couldn't help the slight chuckle as he thought about that and the outcome. It would be a bad idea unless she really liked it.

  The little flash of humor didn't help calm him, not even a tiny bit. He paced the room a few times, trying to focus his mind on something else, but no matter what, Star still filled his thoughts.

  Spence changed into his fatigues and tried standing on one leg as he took apart his rifle and reassembled it again. Five times. He ran in place as fast as he could for ten minutes. He tried sit-ups, doing 200 in five minutes. Pushups were better, especially one-handed, and he did 100 in three minutes for each arm.

  He rolled to sit cross-legged on the floor and wiped the pouring sweat from his face. The planet's gravity was so near Earth's that he couldn't tell the difference even from the way the beads of salty water ran down his skin. He felt better, more in control than before his workout. He could actually think of something other than fucking the beauty in the next room.

  At least his cock wasn't as hard as the barrel of his rifle now.

  Chapter 4

  Krell walked beside her in the garden of what he called the capitol building as they talked. Spence followed them at a discreet distance, his eyes constantly scanning the area around them for perceived threats, his gun resting easily in his hands.

  Star marveled at the plants around them. Despite the oppressive heat, alien flowers bloomed in every color of the rainbow, from blues so dark they looked almost
black to reds as bright as a laser blast. She saw no irrigation systems, and felt a little surprise at the explosion of colorful blooms and lush dark green foliage until she remembered that these plants, unlike similar growth on Earth, had evolved for millions of years to perfectly fit this environment.

  She smiled. "This is a beautiful garden, Krell."

  "Thank you. All Hendri are proud of this place, and it belongs to all of us."

  "There are still a few questions I have about that firefight we saw from orbit. My captain wanted me to ask you about some waves of energy we saw. Our science people say it looked like heat energy."

  Krell nodded slowly. "Yes, that." He walked a few steps in silence, not looking at her. "There is something you should know about the Hendri. I have studied your language, looking for the correct word, but I'm not certain I've found it."

  "Why don't you try what you have, and I'll ask questions if I don't understand?"

  "Very well." He took a few more steps. "We have what I think you call pyrokinetic abilities."

  She stumbled a little. "You mean you can start fires with your mind and will?"

  "Yes, just that."

  Star didn't believe in psychic powers like ESP or precognition, let alone something as wild as pyrokinesis. "I don't want to sound like I don't believe you, but I've never heard of such a thing."

  He shrugged. "We're not human."

  "True, but the idea of being able to start fires by thinking about it seems a little far fetched."

  "Perhaps so for a human, but not for a Hendri." They came to small bend in the path and a clump of what looked like dark green grass stood perhaps a meter from the edge of the walkway. He nodded at the plant. "Watch." Krell stared at the plant, his arm reaching out toward it with his palm and fingers held as if he expected to touch an invisible wall in the air.

  Star felt the air temperature climbing, and sweat broke out on her brow and arms. When she glanced at Krell, she realized it wasn't the air getting hot as much as it was radiant heat pouring from his body. Her eyes tracked down from his face and across the length of his long, slender arm. She blinked to make sure it wasn't a trick of light and shadow, but his fingers actually glowed reddish-white.

  Suddenly, a ball of flame burst into existence in his outstretched palm and leapt to the plant like a pulse from a blaster. The clump of grass nearly exploded as it erupted in a roaring fire that caused her to take several stumbling steps backwards.

  Blinded by the flaming grass, she didn't see who grabbed her arm and yanked her rather roughly away from the fire. A green spot swam in her vision from the white heat of the fire, but she heard Spence's voice as he barked commands in the voice Marines always used to demand instant obedience.

  "Star! Get back!"

  Krell's attention returned to the here and now from where ever it had been as he incinerated the plant. "Everything is under control, Major."

  Spence stood between her and where Krell hovered near the burning grass, his armor blocking the heat radiating from the fire and Krell's body. He didn't exactly point his gun at Krell, but neither did he point it away. "Drop your weapon, Krell."

  "I have no weapon." Krell spread his arms and fingers wide to his sides.

  "Yes, you do have a weapon. Keep your hands where I can see them."

  She needed to intervene before this got totally out of hand. "No, it's alright, Spence. He doesn't have a weapon, and Krell wasn't trying to hurt me. He was just showing me something the Hendri can do."

  "Right. They can make fire. Big deal."

  "Spence, they can make fire with their minds. Pyrokinesis."

  He looked away from Krell long enough to give her a glance that said he thought she'd left her marbles in hyperspace. "Pryo-what?"

  "It's a long story, but there's no danger here."

  Spence's hands flexed on the gun, his arm muscles bulging and rippling as the big Marine considered what he'd seen with his own eyes and what she told him. She wondered if he would just shoot Krell and be done with it. Star wondered if she could stop him.

  Krell hadn't moved from his position with his arms out to his sides, and that was probably a good thing. It wouldn't take much for Spence to open fire. "As Star said, there is no danger here." A small smile played over Krell's face. "If I wished it, your weapon would be a glob of molten metal in your hands."

  She thought that was just exactly the wrong thing to say to Spence, but she must have misread him.

  Spence chuckled and released her arm as he clicked the safety on the gun and swung it into the holster on his back. He took a step forward, standing very close to Krell, and looked up directly into the dark, alien eyes.

  "If you even try to hurt her, I won't need a weapon to deal with you."

  * * * *

  Krell felt the pressure of the unhappiness the Elders radiated. The monitor display jumped in seeming random views from face to face as the monotone voice used by all the Elders expressed concern.

  One of the Elders finally commanded silence from the others and spoke clearly. "Krell, we agreed the humans were not to know of your powers."

  "We did, Elder, but the situation changed. We underestimated the abilities of these humans as well as their attention to details. I had to explain what they saw on their sensors in a way that would satisfy them."

  "You could have said you have a weapon able to generate heat energy."

  Krell shook his head. "They would have asked to see the machine and a demonstration. The truth is simpler to defend."

  The screen image faced to a different old and wrinkled visage, but the voice remained the same. "Is this just your way of carrying out your desired plan?"

  "No, Elder. I admit I still think we should tell the humans the truth, but I am loyal to the Council, and I will do as you wish. My actions were merely the best answer to the immediate situation."

  Another Elder appeared. "Speak of what the humans will make of this."

  "I believe Star is happy with the explanation. She doesn't understand our powers, but accepts they exist. She can make no connection to other things from this."

  A slight chuckle came from the Elders through the speakers above the screen. "Proceed as we have planned."

  * * * *

  He found himself pacing the suite he shared with Star. Between steps, he'd swear. Between laps, he'd punch the wall hard enough to hurt. Small cuts and drops of blood dotted his knuckles.

  Spence argued as best he could, both with Star and then the captain, but to no avail. Star thought it a good way to show trust for Krell if she had dinner with him without an escort. Captain Davis deferred to the diplomats. He considered invoking Article 37 and assuming command of the mission, but other than the thing this afternoon with the burning bush and his own gut feelings, Spence had nothing to hang his claims of a military emergency on, and the inevitable hearing would turn into a circus focused on his paranoia. At least he convinced Star to take a panic button. One press would sound an alarm directly to his communicator and give him her location. He could be there to rescue her in a matter of minutes.

  He frowned as he thought about the fire from earlier. What was it Star called it? Pyrokinesis? He went to the table and picked up his data recorder, tapping at the keys. His frown deepened as he read the results.

  Pyrokinesis: the ability to set objects or people on fire or to supernaturally project fire from one's own being through the concentration of psychic power.

  He tossed the device back on the table and resumed his pacing. Psychic bull shit.

  * * * *

  Krell watched the human female across the table from him as they ate and chatted. He'd convinced her to leave her barbaric guardian behind and dine alone with him.

  Star smiled. "I guess it's not all that amazing that carbon life forms can eat the same things."

  "No, but I'm not a scientist, so I don't really know about that."

  "They pay us to talk, not think."

  He had a fairly good grasp on the concept of human humor,
and saw that she tried to make a joke. As he laughed with her, he wondered. Some of the human researchers said humor was a sign of a failed or interrupted defense mechanism. Krell wondered what Star defended against. He didn't think he'd tipped his hand.

  By the human standards he'd seen in the information the ship sent to the Hendri, Star was very attractive. Even by Hendri standards she was attractive and, from the first moment he saw her at the landing pad, Krell knew he had to have her for his own. He wondered how, or if, he should broach that subject with her. Despite her training as a diplomat and her skill with empathy for differing views, she likely wouldn't understand the Hendri way. These human women were independent and self-sufficient, very different from Hendri females.

  He also wondered how the Elders would react to that news.

  The other woman, the science officer, worried him. As a scientist, she might notice tiny details Star would miss, but otherwise, he paid her scant attention. She didn't have the natural beauty of the woman sitting with him now.

  Star finished eating and pushed her plate to the side.

  "I hope you don't mind, but I have more questions I'd like to ask."

  He smiled at her, mostly because the way her face crinkled into pretty smile lines when she laughed pleased him. "Of course not. As you say, they pay us to talk."

  Her brow wrinkled in thought for a moment, then the easy smile returned. She'd done that often enough that he wondered if it was a learned thing, something humans did in negotiations and discussions with some goal in mind as to the impact on the other party.

  "I wonder about your pyrokinetic abilities. Do you have other psychic skills?"

  "As a people, no, though there are some who have a limited ability you would call telekinesis. They can sometimes move small objects with little mass."

  "Can you do that?"

  "No, I'm afraid not." Her smile told him nothing of her thoughts. Krell wondered if she found him as attractive as he did her.