by Juno Wells
"You weren't particularly concerned about the damage that security officer could do."
"She only did damage to me, not to the ship or the crew. She couldn't destroy the whole mission." Vrix folded his arms over his chest, silver eyes flinty. "This could be a ploy, Vaant. What if she's using you just to get access to the controls? Once she worms her way in here, the sandworms only know what she could do."
"She's tired and worked hard all day," Vaant said. His temper flared and the blue faded from his skin, replaced with red and fiery orange. "And she's finally realized the role the Argo played and that the Alliance is a corrupt bucket of shit. She's struggling with it, and how to tell her friends. It's not a ploy and it's not a trick. I'm going to feed her, let her rest, and send her back to their quarters."
Vrix didn't look convinced. "Just be careful. If you bond with her and she decides to leave..."
"I won't." The scales rattled more and Vaant had to rein back his temper. "And whether she leaves or not is neither here nor there. Have a good night."
The security chief opened his mouth to argue, but Vaant hit the button to close the door, growling, "Dismissed."
By the time Isla reappeared from the bathroom, wearing a clean uniform held up by one of his belts knotted around her waist, Vaant had time to spread the food out on the low table and set out plates and utensils. He wasn't sure how the humans preferred to eat, and even though she'd done well eating the Xaravian food by hand the night before, he wanted her to be comfortable. She shuffled over to the couches, hiking up her borrowed trousers, and Vaant gestured for her to sit in the nest of pillows he'd built for her.
"Do you feel better?"
She sighed, rubbing her face. "Yes and no. I feel clean, at least, so that's infinitely better than the last two days. But everything else... I feel sick. I've been in the Fleet almost half my life, if I count the academies and language study, and it's all been a lie. A complete lie."
"Your service is not a lie," Vaant said slowly. He eased onto the couch across from her and removed the covers from the trays of food, then poured her some juice and just a touch of liquor. To help her sleep, of course. "You genuinely wanted to help people, and you dedicated your service to that. That is still true. You can still do that."
"How?" She reached for the liquor first, looking into the glass for a long moment before she swallowed the fiery liquid and immediately started coughing. It took Isla a while to breathe normally again, while Vaant tried not to smile, and she managed to croak, "I can't serve the Alliance when it's at best corrupt and at worst evil. What else is there?"
"Well," he said, and tucked his leg under him on the couch, trying to get comfortable as all his scales rattled in reaction to her distress. At least the spikes on his neck and head hadn't stood up, or he'd have some explaining to do. Vaant considered his words carefully, pouring himself more of the liquor for a touch more courage. "You can do what we do. We search out places where the Alliance is taking advantage of those weaker than them, and we intervene. We are not part of the rebellion, but we certainly know where they are and when they need assistance. There are many opportunities to help, Isla — as many opportunities as there are galaxies."
A hint of a smile crossed her face. "We would need a ship for that, and there are only six of us. Certainly not enough to crew a ship. It's a nice idea, but I think we'll have to find a planet and figure out something there. Once you release us, of course."
Vaant didn't want to think about that. Not yet. So he redirected the conversation to the food he'd ordered, and started loading her plate with Xaravian food and Earther dishes alike, wanting her to eat more than enough to silence the rumbling noises in her stomach. He smiled, watching her try the Xaravian pickles, and half-reclined to enjoy the quiet comfort of having a female in his room, at his table. The stress of the day and everything that would come the next morning drifted away as he listened to Isla's musical voice.
Chapter 17
Isla
Fatigue weighed Isla down, but the spicy food helped wake her up. It was sweet that Vaant got Earther food as well as the fiery Xaravian dishes, but she much preferred the eye-watering spices of his people's cuisine. She nearly choked on the liquor, though she needed the courage after her thoughts ran wild in the shower. Vaant looked even more attractive in his casual clothes — loose trousers and shirt, bare feet, and his hair pulled back from his face. Every time he spoke, his husky voice sent shivers through her.
She hadn't had a chance to talk with Jessalyn about Xaravian culture and what the different colors of his skin meant, but since she'd walked into his quarters, Vaant stayed blue and purple. Periodically his scales rattled and moved, and Isla desperately wanted to touch him and feel the rough warmth of his skin. She wondered what he looked like under his clothes, and if the Xaravian physiology was at all human-like.
Isla saw the way he watched her, and knew some signals were universal. She caught Vaant staring at her chest and adjusting the way he sat, and as they both drank more of that awful liquor a sip at a time, everything grew warm and fuzzy. Isla wanted to feel safe and loved. Her entire world and reality crumbled around her, and nothing seemed solid. Nothing felt real anymore. And Vaant had told her the truth even when she didn't want to hear it. He stood by them and did what was right. Isla needed someone like that in her life, even if it didn't last forever.
She didn't know how long she'd been in his rooms — hours, maybe — by the time the dishes were all empty and only the liquor remained. Vaant chuckled at a story Isla told about some trouble she and Griggs found during their academy days, which almost got them both kicked out forever. Kinetic foam covered most of the campus for weeks afterward, and they both met Rowan when she designed the machine that eventually disposed of the foam.
Isla smiled into her glass, heat flushing through her as she caught Vaant watching her with a distinct hunger, despite all the food they'd just eaten. "I still owe Rowan for that. I think my career would have ended very quickly if she hadn't been able to get the mess off the Newton statue."
Vaant smiled, teeth flashing white in the dim light, and the beads and bones clicked in his hair as he shook his head. "I cannot imagine you making that kind of trouble. Griggs, sure. But you look too sweet. You look like a rule-follower, through and through."
"A rule-follower? Too sweet?" Isla raised her eyebrows in challenge as she sat forward. "You, sir, don't know a thing about me. I'm the reason Griggs had to learn so many different martial arts."
"I find that hard to believe." His smile grew as he leaned back on his couch, arms along the masses of pillows until he took up practically the entire space. She'd forgotten how big he could be when he wanted to take up room. "You were probably a perfect child, as well. Never naughty. Always cleaned your room and made your bed."
"It's all a facade," she said, and laughed. She'd worked very hard to fit the image of a responsible Alliance officer, and yet... There they were. It was all for nothing. She might as well start enjoying herself. Which meant getting drunk and taking advantage of an alien spaceship captain. Isla put her glass down and sat forward, letting her borrowed shirt gap just enough to give him a good view of her cleavage. "You've no idea."
"I look forward to learning more about you," he said, words muffled as he drained his glass.
Isla picked up the bottle of liquor, considerably lighter than it had been when they started, and eased to her feet. Vaant's eyebrows rose as he watched her, and his legs spread a touch, his hands gripping the pillows next to him. Isla had to concentrate on keeping her pants up as she shuffled around the table, holding up the bottle. "Would you like more?"
Vaant nodded, his skin turning brilliant purple, and a series of spikes rattled as they rose from his hair. Isla didn't let herself get distracted by the fascinating way his scales rustled, and instead knelt on the couch next to him. Vaant took a deep breath, reaching for the bottle, but froze as Isla straddled his hips and sat back on his thighs. She braced a hand on his chest, heat sp
arking between them as he adjusted his hips and Isla felt his interest growing. She took a swig from the bottle and held it in her mouth, leaning forward to press her lips to his.
His lips parted and his tongue swirled out, and Isla shared the liquor. Vaant made a deep humming noise in his chest, and his hands found her waist in a tight grip. Isla smiled against his mouth as Vaant swallowed the liquor and tried to do the same with her tongue, and she rocked her hips against him. Heat and lightning raced through her. Isla moaned as his hand slid up her back to tangle in her hair, his other arm tight around her waist to keep her close.
She finally broke the kiss, panting for air and wondering if Xaravians somehow had gills so they could breathe without their mouths, and sat back to get a better look at him.
Vaant grumbled as he tugged at the front of her uniform. "You taste delicious."
She smiled and stroked her fingers down his chest, toying with the waist of his pants. "And you seem to be in quite a state."
"You're driving me perilously close to breaking my code," he said in a low murmur. Vaant played with her hair, running his fingers through it, almost mesmerized by the long curls. "I did not intend to take advantage of you, Isla Lennox."
"But what if I take advantage of you?"
He chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her throat and shoulder and chest. "That is also against the code."
Isla blinked. "What?"
Vaant's purple skin shot through with bright gold arcs of lightning, and he pulled her uniform open at the front. "Oh yes. There are many things I'd like to do with you, Isla. Starting with touching every inch of this soft skin, and finding out what these intriguing mounds are."
He squeezed her breasts and all of Isla's body turned liquid. She held onto his wrists to keep herself from flying apart at the seams. His rough palms dragged against her nipples through the thin fabric of her bra, and Isla's head fell back as she rocked her hips against the hard ridge of arousal in his lap. Newton help her. The words strangled in her throat as she bit her lip. "Aren't you breaking the code? I d-don't mind, but it would be terrible if you—”
She trailed off as his mouth lowered to explore where his hands had been, and Isla forgot every word she knew in High Xarav.
Vaant grumbled as he looked at her, his eyes flashing silver and stormy gray. He tugged at the front of her bra, straining the fabric, and Isla tried to worm her arms out of the straps so he could continue exploring without the extra layer between them. Spikes stood out in a crown around his head as he pulled her uniform open still more and the chill air raised goosebumps all over her. "The code wasn't ready for you, Isla."
Whatever she meant to say was lost as Vaant's mouth engulfed her breast with a hunger that made her back arch and her thighs clench. Isla grasped at his head, running her fingers into his hair to keep from flying apart, and Vaant groaned. Isla loved the sounds he made, and that she was the one that wrung them from him. She teased one of the spikes near the back of his head, tentative at first, but as Vaant growled and his mouth and hands grew bolder against her skin, Isla figured he liked it. She stroked the spike in a long smooth motion, and Vaant's hips punched up at hers, nearly unseating her.
His eyes turned the dark gray of storm clouds as he leaned back to look at her. "I want to take you to my bed and mate with you."
It was a statement with just a hint of a question. Isla loved the power in his hands and his body, so tense under hers. She continued playing with his spikes, drunk on the liquor as well as his touch, and leaned in to press her lips to his. She whispered against his mouth, "Take me, Vaant."
He growled and lurched upright, taking her with him, and Isla clung to his shoulders as Vaant stormed into the bedroom. She couldn't breathe. Something that could have been High Xarav flooded out of his mouth as he tossed her on the low bed and stood over her, breathing hard and ripping his clothes off. Isla felt suddenly petite and delicate in the middle of his massive bed. He caught her foot and dragged her closer, tearing off the uniform that remained between them.
He took her breath away. Isla couldn't help but stare as the dim lights gave her glimpses of his broad chest and the rest of his body. Scales layered all over him in a smooth pattern, striated with blue and purple and bright flashes of gold, and muscles bulged as he flexed and tugged away what remained of her borrowed uniform.
She lay naked and exposed, a little embarrassed since she hadn't been to the gym for her physical training test in a few months, but Vaant's lips parted as he stared at her. The silver lightning flashed faster across the scales, and Vaant's grip tightened on her ankle. "I never imagined you could be this beautiful."
"I'm already naked," she said. "You don't have to flatter."
"It's not flattery," he said with a low growl. His palms chafed against her calves, and Vaant knelt on the edge of the bed so he could lean over her. "This smooth skin, so soft. Fragile. And those treasures you've hidden from me..."
His fingers drifted over her breasts, and Isla's nipples tightened in anticipation. But Vaant's attention drifted along with his hands, down her ribs to the soft swell of her stomach, and his grumbling noise grew louder as he teased down to the apex of her thighs. "More secrets you're keeping from me, Isla. What are you hiding here?"
Isla couldn't breathe as her legs fell open and her thighs eased apart, giving him a better view of her slick folds. Her hips moved to meet his touch, and she sighed as Vaant's large fingers teased her opening. Isla stretched her arms over her head, wanting to wiggle around and rub herself against his scales. "Have you ever… been with an Earther before?"
"No," he said. His eyes radiated heat and fire, practically glowing through the dim light, and he lowered himself still more until his lips grazed hers. "You are my only."
His only. It sounded final and forever, and Isla's heart raced as adrenaline surged through her. Newton help her. She didn't know what kind of code that fell under, but after seeing Vaant's naked body and the hunger in his expression when he looked at her, Isla didn't care whether it broke a code or not. She wanted him — all of him — at least for the night. Whether she turned out to be his only, or he was hers, at least they had that night.
Chapter 18
Vaant
Vaant didn't know much about Earther women, but what he saw of Isla, he loved. Lusted after until his spikes stood up and his scales rose and his blood boiled with the mating urge. But the sight of her, curvy and delicate with that fragile skin, lying small in the center of his bed, drove the urge to take and dominate back. He didn't want to hurt her or scare her, even though the way she reached for him just confirmed she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
He knelt on the bed and stroked her smooth legs, watching her face flush red and her eyes dilate as her hips moved, and drifted his fingers across her stomach to a small divot. Vaant teased it, wondering its purpose, and Isla's lips parted. Her thighs moved and an intoxicating scent nearly drove him back into the mating rage. Vaant's attention shifted immediately to the pink folds between her legs. He touched her and she tensed, lifting her head to look at him with equal parts desire and hesitation.
Vaant tried to relax on his side next to her, not looming over her as if he'd mount her immediately, and stroked the soft flesh until the tension ran out of her. He leaned closer as he continued the exploration, growing hungrier and hungrier as his finger delved into her and Isla sighed. Vaant marveled at the miracle of her body. "You are so soft and warm, it feels like sinking into hot sand."
She touched her breasts as her eyes fluttered closed, and her voice came out just as dreamy and soft as her welcoming body. "That's something I've never heard."
"Oh yes," Vaant said. He moved to lie between her legs, wanting to see more of her secrets, and stroked deeper until he discovered... "But wet. So very wet."
Another miracle. Isla flushed more and started to close her thighs, as if embarrassed. Vaant moved closer so he could breathe against her core, inhaling her until she tangled in his brain. "I love it. You're pe
rfect. My only."
She took a breath to respond or maybe argue, but Vaant couldn't wait another second. He kissed her delicate skin, then explored with his tongue as his spikes rattled in sheer lust. She tasted amazing, better than the spiciest food, and her body opened to his teasing in a sudden rush. Isla moaned, head tossing on the pillows, and her hips moved under his mouth. Vaant gripped her sides to keep her from moving, wanting more of her. He was addicted.
Her hands, so soft and delicate, found his head and laced into his hair. Her grip tightened as he sucked on a small bead of flesh, and Isla made a breathy moan that set his spikes rattling and surging. Vaant smiled against her and continued the onslaught as her breasts rose and fell faster and her entire body undulated under his hold. Her legs tried to close against him, but he hooked her knees over his shoulders and squeezed her ass, tilting her so he had better access. The Fates above couldn't save him from her. He was totally hers.
Her body tensed and her muscles rippled as he pressed his fingers into her, seeking more of that moisture that gathered in her lush folds. Vaant grumbled against her as the barbarian part of his brain demanded he rear up and take her, dominate her until she received his seed and bonded to him until they would never part. Isla cried out and her hand went to his spikes in a sudden grip. She held on as her entire body went rigid and a beautiful red flush surged up her chest and throat to her face.
The pressure of her grip on the thick spikes made Vaant roar, his body jerking in anticipation, and he nearly climaxed himself as she pulled and squeezed in the throes of her own passion.
Isla panted and went limp, though she still held loosely to his spikes. Vaant watched her breathe, admiring the sheen of sweat on her skin, and gently nibbled on the inside of her thigh. He wanted more of her. So much more.
