by T. J. Quinn
“I love you, Nalina,” he murmured and kissed her tenderly at first and then more passionately. He was so hard for her it hurt, and he relished the feeling.
“I love you, too,” she replied when their lips finally parted. “And I am glad you will be my first. I never wanted anyone like this before.”
“Not even Mikal?” he asked, unable to stop himself.
“Not even Mikal. I wanted a family, and he was a kind man,” she admitted. “It wasn’t love, I know that now. I love you.”
EIGHT
He smiled at her and slowly sat down drawing her down with him to sit on his lap facing him with her legs open. Before he pulled her against him, he slid his hand between her legs and into her folds to her slit to check her wetness. She was practically dripping. He gently probed to locate her sensitive bud and rubbed it with his finger then probed her opening until he met her barrier.
Nalina caught her breath and moaned a sigh. She moved against his hand wanting to fill the empty feeling in her center. After a moment he took his hand away and brought it to his mouth to lick her essence off his fingers.
After he did that, Nalina moved against him and maneuvered her pussy against his cock, so the head pressed into her entrance. She looked up into his eyes and inched forward until it was pressing against her hymen. She tried to take him deeper, but the pain stopped her.
Orin sensed her hesitation and started kissing her again. He kissed her a long, deep tongue dueling kiss while tweaking her nipples with his fingers. Then he kissed her face and trailed kisses across her cheek, pushing back her hair to nibble her earlobe.
He slowly moved down her neck, nibbling and kissing, lingering where he neck met her shoulder and moving on to her breasts. As he sucked and gently bit her nipple, he slid his hand between them and found her sensitive bud and pressing it and squeezing it gently between his fingers.
Soon she was writhing and pressing against him until the barrier gave away and his shaft was fully sheathed inside her. She cried out as it burst through but she didn’t stop pushing until he was all the way inside and the flesh over his pubis pressed against her clit.
Nalina clung to his shoulders as he pleasured her breasts until the pain receded and she had to start moving back and forth on his shaft.
“That’s it, baby,” he crooned, “you feel so good.”
Orin let her set the pace, wanting her to have as much pleasure as possible now that he had her where he’d wanted her for so long. She threw her head back, cooing and moaning each time she took him deep. The pain was forgotten as she seemed to ride the surges of pleasure building to what she now knew would unleash waves of delightful sensations through her body.
Orin could feel her muscles tensing in his arms, and her breathing grew faster with each thrust. He could feel his own release building low in his back, and he closed his eyes and concentrated on holding back. When he knew he couldn’t hold out much longer, he reached down between them again to stimulate her closer to his level.
Finally, she let out a cry of triumph and quaked as her orgasm exploded inside her. As her inner walls contracted around his cock, he groaned as his release spilled his heat inside her and they rode the waves of ecstasy together.
But they didn’t part right away when it waned. She held him tightly inside her as he wrapped his arms around her torso and held her tightly against his chest, kissing her tenderly.
“I love you, Nalina, I love you!” he whispered and kissed her again.
Orin Hart had no idea what the future would bring, but he would cherish his first joining with Nalina for the rest of his life.
NINE
Months passed, and their life on the isolated complex fell into a regular routine for Orin, Nalina, and Lanimer. They generally rose at dawn to carry water to the fruits and vegetables that sustained them and gather those that were ready for harvest.
Orin had found a small watering trough in one of the collapsed outbuildings. It wasn’t quite big enough for him to sit and bathe in it, but it was for Nalina and Lanimer.
The water from the artesian well was very cold, so they filled the trough by the bucketful and left it to warm in the sun when they planned to bathe. By afternoon the water was comfortably warm. They had no soap, but Nalina found a plant that would work up a lather that worked almost as good as soap.
Sometimes, they would bathe Lanimer and put him to bed, then slip off to their special spot to make love and later wash each other in the still tepid water afterward. Orin knew without a doubt he wanted this woman with him for the rest of his life, but on the war-torn world of Zevus Mar, he never dared to speculate how long that might be.
If the Tregans found him, they would kill him. If the Federation forces caught him, he could spend the rest of his life in a prison colony. Neither thought was encouraging. So he chose not to think about it, but to live in the present. Every minute spent in her arms was more than he ever dared to dream when Tregans came for him.
Orin never considered himself one of them, or he never could have killed the others. How could he be the same as them? They were the evilest people he had ever known. No one with any honor could do the things he’d seen done to innocent people for pleasure.
He had taken no pleasure in the killing he had done. In dark moments, he wished he’d acted sooner so he could have saved Lanimer’s parents. He didn’t know what he needed to do until he saw Nalina, so small and so brave.
Not until he found her lying in the desert did he realize he was attracted to her. Now he knew he loved her and he always would whether they could make a life together or not. He had no way of knowing what the future would bring. So, there was no sense in worrying.
They had today. It would have to be enough.
TEN
When Casir E’Lonne’s hovercraft settled down on the complex, Nalina was gathering fruit in a field alone a short way from the pump house. Orin and Lanimer were near the far side of the complex gathering roots and teal lizards for a stew. It had been two or three weeks since they'd eaten the last of Orin's food wafers---not that it was a real hardship. They were living off the land quite nicely.
Nalina was terrified when she first heard the hovercraft landing. Unarmed, she ran an indirect course toward the pump house where they kept a nearly spent laser hidden. But, before she could get there and slip inside unnoticed, more vehicles landed, and men and women began crossing the various points back and forth between Nalina and shelter. She could only hide and pray for Orin to come back and save her. He had the only other laser that worked, and he would know what to do.
On the other side of the desert farm, Lanimer suddenly stopped and looked up from the thick yellow root he was digging with a small piece of metal. A worried look crinkled his elfin features, and he shook his blond head, trying to discern the source of his unease.
"Orin, I think we should go back now," he said finally. "Sometimes, Nalina doesn't like to be alone."
"Sure, kid. I know that, but we have to eat. Just let me snare a couple more of these lizards. That'll last us a couple days."
"Okay," Lanimer sighed reluctantly. "Make it quick. I just feel that Nalina wants you to come now ... but there are other feelings and thoughts jumbled in with hers. It's hard for me to pick up just what is bothering her."
A cold fear sent a chill down Orin's spine, and he shuddered suddenly when he looked over at his little companion from where he was squatted over a lizard's den. "What do you mean?" Orin asked in that serious, quiet tone of his.
"When there are other people around, it's hard for me to pick out one special person's thought patterns. I-I'm still young for it. Mother said it would take many years for me to learn that well," Lanimer explained. "She was pretty good at it; she could usually pick father or me out of a small group and sometimes even in town if we concentrated on her. Right now, I feel that Nalina is thinking hard about you---and I'm not sure why."
"Well, then, let's not waste time trying to figure it out," Orin said decisively. "I do
n't want to take any chances. Let's take what we've got and get back to her. We can come back and get more in a couple days."
Orin's face set in a worried frown as he stood and checked the power pack in the laser in his belt. It was pretty low. Now he wished he had kept the weapons he had sent back to Elran with that load of dead Tregans. He might need one right now.
At the time, he was so sick of killing, he didn't want to touch another weapon let alone use one. He had only had second thoughts for a while afterward---and now . . .
ELEVEN
Construction foreman Bren Maxim paused as he was going over the old plastic on the original layout of the agricomplex and watched Casir climb from the gray company hovercraft. He'd sent for it from Farelix where he left his own for his friend Hankura Narcaza to use and join them later when he finished his medical cases there.
A mild breeze ruffled Casir's platinum hair, and Bren pushed thick fingers through his own hair. No wonder Casir was the boss---as always, he looked like a man who was well in charge of things. He would know just what to do. Most of the equipment was already unloaded, and the crew was just waiting for Casir to give the word before they got to work. But, Bren wanted him to take a look at what he had found in the pump house before they went any further.
You think somebody's been living here? Casir looked at him, raising his nearly white brows.
Bren nodded a mute affirmation. In the span of his next thoughts, Casir knew all he did.
The telepath stood silently for a moment, listening with his mind. His face went through several thoughtful expressions before he turned his gaze back to Bren. I'm getting images from another telepath---a child. But, he won't respond to me, and I can't figure out where he is or what he's up to.
Bren shrugged and waited for Casir to walk with him to the pump house to look at the collection of possessions inside it. Casir looked them over carefully for a minute or so before he finally spoke again.
"I guess you might as well have someone pack up this stuff until we find out who it belongs to. Some of that stuff is Tregan, but that doesn't mean anything. The Zevians stole from them every chance they got. I promised Hankura we'd try to help him find out what happened to Lanimer before we go and I meant it. Chelle's having a kid, and they need to get to Oltarin and build a place to live before she delivers."
"When did this happen?" Bren asked.
"A day or so ago, I guess. Hankura told me they confirmed it this morning."
"And that's just making you all the more itchy to see those two sweet ladies of yours."
"You're telling me. If we get off this rock soon enough, I can make Rego in time to see the babies come out of the Nurtury."
Bren just grinned at his friend. His tough, iron-handed boss was soft as hell where they were concerned. He couldn't blame him a bit; Jana and Delara were two fine women. He should be so lucky.
"Are Hankura and Chelle making out all right now?"
"Yeah, but this morning we found his friend Mikal's grave. He's taking it pretty hard."
Bren shook his head ruefully. "That's rough. I still don't quite figure him and Chelle coming back here after the hell of that prison camp. I'd have thought they would want to get as far away as they could."
"Not if you knew him the way I do. It's just the kind of thing I would expect from him---and Chelle is a whole lot like him. Of course, they're psi-mates."
"Whatever that means," Bren muttered. He didn't really understand.
"Hell, Bren! I explained it to you before. All it means is that they are telepathically en rapport on some level all the time. I'm on the same level, telepathically, but I don't have that kind of closeness with my ladies," Casir told him. "Anyway, Hankura's conscience wouldn't let him turn away from the people he tried to help when they broke out. That was only half the job."
As the two started back toward the com center, they heard a woman scream. Then, a fair-sized rock glanced off the side of Casir's head painfully. Other rocks followed, pelting them mercilessly, with the thrower screaming curses at them in Zevian.
Hey, cut it out! We're not trying to hurt you, woman. We aren't Tregans; we're just looking for a kid for a friend. Casir sent his thoughts into her mind, but she seemed oblivious to them. The rocks kept coming, and they tried to shield themselves almost futilely.
There was no reasoning with her, panicked as she was. Casir hated to do it, but there was only one way to deal with her short of violence---and that was getting tempting. He stunned her with the force of his telepathy under careful control. Nalina became quiet and docile immediately and stood staring blankly ahead in a daze.
Bren looked at Casir sharply. "Casir, you didn't---"
"No!" he retorted indignantly. "I didn't wipe her mind. What do you take me for, anyway? She'll be okay in a while. By then, I'll get a hold of Chelle and Tira and have them come out and try to reason with her. You go and keep looking. I'll get her and take her back to the portable com center."
A pained look of surprise crossed Casir's face as he walked mindfully toward the woman. He sank to his knees and coughed, trying to breathe. Blood colored his lips as he fell to the side on the ground.
Bren stared in shock and cursed. "Mother of Life! It's a goddamned Tregan!"
Before the big man could fire again, Bren pulled out the utility laser from his belt and fired a fully-charged shot into the midsection of the hulking body.
The hand laser slipped from Orin's fingers, and he sank heavily to the ground, his eyes reaching wildly for one more glimpse of the little Zevian woman who had captured his heart.
So, this is how I die, he thought bleakly as darkness enveloped his mind and his eyes closed out the red sun in the hazy, purplish sky.
Another cry pierced the air and Bren saw a little fair-haired boy streak toward the fallen Tregan. The boy fell to his knees, sobbing and pleading alternately in three languages for him to wake up.
But Bren was more concerned with his fallen friend than a little boy's strange attachment to a fucking Tregan. He hunkered down beside Casir and opened the zipper of his loose-fitting shirt to get a look at the wound. There was a small laser burn hole that went through his right lung. Casir's coughing had broken the sealing effect of the laser, and his lung had started to bleed.
It's not bad, Bren. Casir assured him. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be okay. Get somebody up here with a stretcher for that Tregan---I mean it. I'll explain later. I understand what's going on now.
"You think Hankura's going to treat him? After what the Tregans did to Chelle and him?" Bren looked down at him dubiously.
Casir nodded, deadly serious. The kid will make him understand. Now get with it. I can heal this little wound myself if you leave me alone for a few minutes. Then, I'll take a look at that Tregan.
Bren had a lot of questions, but he didn't ask them. He got up and ran to the com center. Casir closed his eyes and withdrew inside himself in a trance-like state, turning his mind to the functions of his own body. He forced his cells to reproduce at an accelerated rate to eliminate the damaged tissues and close his wound. He wasn't a healer, unlike Hankura; he could heal himself if the damage weren't too great. He was on his feet again a few minutes later.
Slowly, he walked to the place where the little boy wept brokenly over his friend, 'father,' and beloved companion. Casir felt a lump in his throat as he knelt beside the boy; he felt the child's anguish, and he understood everything that Orin had been to him these last few months. It was a crazy mistake, the shooting of Orin Hart. Casir couldn't even blame Orin for shooting him. Anyway, his wound was healed now. It didn't matter.
Gently, he rested his hand on Lanimer's shoulder after a moment.
He's dying. Lanimer sobbed with his ear to Orin's chest. His heart is getting tired, and the blood is running from his body.
I know. Casir returned and blinked slowly. I want to help. I can't heal him, but maybe together we can help Orin live until my friend comes. He's a physician---the best. If anyone can save him, Hankur
a can.
TWELVE
Hankura was already on his way to the agricomplex when Bren contacted him. His smoldering eyes flashed, and he scowled as Bren told him what had happened as quickly as he could. The invasion was over, but the memory still lingered bitterly in his mind.
"Let the bastard die!" Hankura thundered over the vid-com. "I treated my last Tregan in that stinking Tregan prison. What the hell do you think I am?"
His response didn't surprise Bren at all, as he gazed back at the angry face of the physician and let out a sigh. "Hey, don't tell me. That's the message Casir sent. He said you'd understand when you know the rest of the story. Just hurry up and get here," Bren pleaded. "I've got a crazy Zevian woman Casir stunned to keep from throwing rocks at us, a kid crying his eyes out over a half-dead Tregan reject, and I don't know what the hell to do for any of them. I'm just an engineer. Get your tail up here and hash it out with Casir. I’m just the messenger."
"Okay, okay," Hankura finally relented. "How bad is the son of a---uh---how bad is he hurt?"
"Bad, Hankura. I got him good, probably made a real mess of his gut." Bren shook his head distastefully.
"You got him," Hankura frowned.
"Yeah," Bren drawled miserably, "he shot Casir with a nearly spent laser. Oh, don't worry, he's okay---took care of it himself---but he's really upset about the kid and that Tregan."
"What kid?"
"Hell, I don't know. Just a kid about four or five---cute blond boy."
"All right," Hankura said with a glitter of something Bren didn't understand in his eyes. "I'll be right there---about three or four minutes. I'll have Chelle bring a portable surgical cell. It sounds like we'll need it. Tell Casir to hold on."
Hankura knelt with Casir and the little boy beside the fallen Tregan, assessing his condition with his bio-scanner. The boy was Mikal's son, and he loved the Tregan---Orin Hart. Hankura would do his best to save him for that reason, but it didn't look good.
