The Naked Truth

by Lilly Cain

  From Asler’s perspective, he watched again as they reviewed the first memory of her torture. How would Susan feel about watching the memory she’d been so glad to lose? Now she would have it again, although without the pain, thankfully. She and the rest of the audience would watch what had happened to her as though it were a three-dimensional vid. As though they watched hologram actors playing out parts on the Confederacy stage.

  The memory faded, and was followed by one of his own, saving the injured diner and watching Susan beat down the fire in the dining room, risking her life to help save the men and women aboard the Horneu. He admired her again—her bravery, her beauty. There was no escaping this; his feelings were going to be revealed as clearly as though he said them aloud to the watching audience. There was no lying in m’ittar, or even hiding emotions. This was part of the risk to his career.

  Salis moved on to the next memory he’d shared with Susan. A second interrogation, and torture, and the revelation of the Gathan technology. As he watched again the glow from the alien device, he sensed Salis withdraw from his mind. The gray field surrounding them dissipated, the viewers becoming clear. He and Salis had moved into a close embrace. They drew apart as Commander Finar stepped forward.

  “This is the proof that you needed, gentlemen. The device you saw around that man’s neck is clear indication that the terrorist group Terran Purity is working, albeit unknowingly, with the Ravagers. And I think you will also agree that the information Captain Branscombe revealed was under extreme duress.”

  Admiral Jeffers nodded and appeared to be about to speak when the SID officer broke in again. “What kind of proof is this? That man—” he pointed to Asler, “—has developed a relationship with Captain Branscombe. Of course he is going to review the memories that favor her actions. And how are we supposed to know that a shiny necklace is some sort of advanced alien spy technology?” He sneered as he spoke.

  Asler glanced at Susan. Her face appeared more pale than usual, but the glint of anger and determination in her eyes assured him she was going to recover from seeing herself tortured once again. Asler stood. “You have my word as Examiner that these memories are accurate, and that Captain Branscombe is completely exonerated. Commander Finar can present more proof on the technical aspect of the Gathan device.”

  Admiral Jeffers stood. “I accept your word, Examiner Kiis. Thank you for your expert testimony.” He turned to face Susan, sitting only two rows from him. “Captain Branscombe, you are released from custody. You may return to your base.”

  “But—” The Starforce agent tried to interrupt.

  “The SID are relieved from the case. You are dismissed.” He ignored the rage on the man’s face.

  “Actually, Admiral Jeffers, I would ask that Captain Branscombe return to the Horneu for further examination and therapy,” Finar requested. “She may still have memories that can help identify the attackers, and she needs to be under the care of a therapist for the emotional stress and pain she has undergone.”

  Asler listened in surprise, his heart thudding loudly in his chest. This was more than he had hoped for. The quick fire of heat flashed along the lines of his L’inar. He wanted her, needed her with him. He stared at her, trying to catch her eyes, but she kept her gaze firmly on the floor.

  “Captain Branscombe? Would you be willing to undergo further questioning?” Concern edged the admiral’s voice.

  Asler held his breath as she hesitated. What could she be considering? Was she unwilling to face her memories again, or had he been wrong about her feelings for him?

  “Yes.”

  What the hell did I agree to? Sue asked herself the same question again. She’d been freed, and here she was back onboard the Confederacy ship Horneu, assigned to go over memories that she never, ever wanted to think about again. Asler hadn’t wanted to acknowledge her before the Treaty officials, wouldn’t even answer her, let alone admit that they’d had any relationship. Part of her knew it was for her own good as well as his that he hadn’t, but still it rankled that he hadn’t defended her in a more personal way. She didn’t want to discover that what she felt for him was only in her mind, that he respected her or admired her but didn’t feel anything more. That it had really been only sex.

  So why was she here?

  She drummed her fingers against the heated cushions of her seat and startled when they responded with a soothing vibration. The Confederacy had a Council meeting going on behind closed doors, and despite asking her to be here, they had not included her in whatever they were discussing now.

  Just as she was about to rise and pace the tiny waiting room, the doors slipped open and Examiner Salis Fiiten waved her in.

  “Captain Branscombe.” Salis introduced her to the table of seated Inarrii. An empty stage like the one that Salis had used to project Asler’s memories to the Treaty officials was positioned nearby. Asler stood to one side of the stage, his brilliant green eyes intent on her.

  Sue sucked in a quick breath at the sight of him, his bronze skin exposed except for where the pettan covered him. His L’inar seemed darker than ever, and he seemed to be struggling to keep them flat. The thought had her blood heating, her cheeks flushing. Whatever the reasons for his earlier actions, he desired her, at the very least.

  “Ahem.” Salis caught her attention.

  “Sorry,” she sent to Salis. A gasp came from one of the Inarrii, and she realized with a start that they had heard her apology. If anything, she flushed harder.

  Salis addressed the gathering. “Captain Branscombe has agreed to review her memories with us. However, as you have just experienced, she has developed strong m’ittar capabilities. I feel that it will be necessary for her to continue to work with Asler Kiis on this, even though he is no longer an official Examiner.”

  Sue stiffened. “Why is Asler no longer an Examiner?” she demanded.

  “Despite the precautions we took at the Earth hearing, Asler Kiis has been relieved of his position for allowing his memories to be exposed,” Salis explained. “While we know that there was a very urgent reason, there is no help for it. Confederacy Law dictates he must abandon his commission.”

  “What? I can’t believe it! He saved the Treaty!”

  “Yes, and for that reason, he has been offered a position with Earth, in a new role as Ambassador. He will also be helping you sift your memories for clues, as well as recover from your recent ordeal.” One of the Inarrii, a gentle-looking old man, spoke mind to mind with her. “We have one difficulty. Until Asler has a sufficiently shielded area on your Starforce Base, he must work here. But as he is no longer an Examiner, he must have witnessed permission to initiate deep, investigative m’ittar contact.”

  Sue hesitated. Asler had shut her out at the Treaty inquiry, and had kept silent about their relationship. Did he avoid it because he believed her reputation would be damaged? Or because he didn’t want to commit formally to her?

  She looked again at him. He stood completely still and silent, only his heated green eyes and the ripples in his L’inar conveying anything to her. But she couldn’t hide her feelings for him.

  “Yes, I want to work with Asler Kiis.” She said the words aloud, needing to hear her affirmation and her future spoken as any human woman might.

  “Please join him on the stage and initiate m’ittar, and indicate that you agree.” Salis touched her gently on the shoulder.

  Sue walked to the stage, her eyes intent on Asler. Reaching for his hand, they stepped onto the stage together. Her heart raced, and a shiver passed through her at the heat radiating from his skin. She lowered her eyes to his chest to see the L’inar ridges rising to attention before her.

  “Susan, are you well? I can feel your pain. I am sorry I couldn’t free you earlier.” His thoughts caressed her and she realized she could feel the emotion behind them, nearly taste it now in a way she hadn’t before.

  “You gave up your career to prove I was innocent. Does this mean you lost your clan as well? Is that what they
meant at the hearing?”

  “It doesn’t matter. The truth is revealed, and you are free. That’s all that matters.”

  Her heart pounded. He really had given everything away for her. Elation was chased by guilt as she thought of what this meant. If she hadn’t agreed to the m’ittar densah, this would not have happened to him. But they might also have not found the correct memory that exposed the Ravager involvement.

  She felt the weight of the Council’s attention on her. Now was not the time to worry about what might have been. This was the moment she had dreamed of for the last few days. She had to know how Asler felt, even if it meant exposing her feelings first. “I love you.” The thought raced from her mind.

  “They can hear you, Ya’lenali.”

  “I don’t care. What does that word really mean?” She leaned in, laid her face on the bare skin of his chest.

  “It means ‘my heart, my love.’ I love you.” His mental voice grew ragged as she began to lick the hard ridges of his L’inar. “You must stop that.”

  “No, I must not. I love you. I give you permission to initiate m’ittar, to work with me to look for clues about the Ravagers. I agree to your help, and ask for it willingly.” She worded the permission as carefully as she could, even as she licked and traced the path of his L’inar down his chest. Keeping her mind on two things was more difficult than she had thought.

  “I heard that too.” Asler laughed into her mind.

  Behind her, she caught the sounds of chairs sliding out from the table. She glanced back, and the old Inarrii grinned and waved at her.

  “Wait, I thought I had to do this in public. You know,” she insisted to Asler, “like in the dining room.”

  Salis laughed from the doorway. “M’itta lensahn is a private thing. Congratulations, and welcome to the Confederacy.”

  Sue frowned at the closing door. “What is M’itta lensahn?”

  “More than marriage. It is a permanent mating, a joining of souls. Do you still want to keep licking me like that?” Hope and desire tinted his mental voice.

  “Oh, yes. I love you, Asler Kiis. Treaty be damned. This is a contract between our hearts.”

  She couldn’t wait, didn’t care that this was a public room or that there was no time to find a ring. She knelt on the platform, her heart pounding as he joined her on his knees. She reached out her hands to touch his chest and the thick ridges of his L’inar. “Ya’lenali…” She stumbled over the word slightly. “My heart. I love you, and I don’t care what the future might bring, as long as I spend it with you.”

  He slid his hands over her smooth skin until they rested against the nape of her neck. “Inar tel sahan yowlenaii. Ya’lenali, I will teach you all I know of m’ittar, and I will learn all I can from you as well. I will always love you.”

  He pulled her to him, kissed her. Carefully he began to caress her, tracing patterns against her skin. She moaned, his touch both arousing and frustrating as he explored her neck, her shoulders, her breasts. In return she began to stroke his L’inar, following the tightening skin with her fingertips and then her lips, finally licking them. His skin tasted of the same scent she’d associated only with him.

  He trembled as she licked the whorls of ridges surrounding his left breast. Encouraged she traced them farther down his abdomen. “Gods, woman, you are killing me.”

  “Someday soon we will talk about your gods.” She returned his earlier words to him. “But for now, Ya’lenali, you will just have to grin and bear it.”

  His soft chuckles turned to moans as she grabbed the edge of his pettan and yanked it down. His cock sprang into view, the ridges circling it defined for her viewing pleasure. She wet her lips, and he moaned in anticipation. A coil of feminine satisfaction curled through her. He was completely at her mercy.

  “Lie back and let me enjoy you, Asler Kiis.”

  Immediately he dropped down to the platform to comply. As his naked skin touched the platform she realized it was still active. Around her, above her, she saw and felt his memory of their last lovemaking. It was her turn to groan. His emotions, his pleasure, no, their pleasure combined pulsed all around them.

  She looked back at him, saw the love reflected in his eyes. Slowly she lowered her mouth to the crests at the base of his cock. She licked them, followed them until she reached the tip of his cock and they were both panting with desire. His eyes locked with hers as she took him into her mouth.

  With a long pull of suction she made her final, silent promise to him. She would please him, just as he would pleasure her, for the rest of their lives.

  Asler shuddered uncontrollably and called out her name. She ran her lips over his L’inar, licking and sucking until his seed spilled inside her waiting lips.

  A moment later she was in his arms again and experiencing his pleasure and love as it reflected from him around the projection platform. Surrounded by this intense feedback she gasped for breath. He pulled her down beside him on the platform and peeled her pettan from her body. Inch after inch he caressed her, touching and stroking until she could not concentrate on anything but his touch. In seconds he had her naked and spread open before him, his fingers caressing her clit, her helpless moans seeming to drive him on.

  He brushed her most sensitive spots until she could take it no longer and cried out his name. Before she could fully crest the peak of her orgasm, he rolled on top of her, pressing his cock against her wet heat. Slowly, one ridged section at a time, he drove into her, thrusting until their rhythms matched, from the sounds of their panting breaths to the beat of their pounding hearts.

  “Ya’lenali.” The word whispered from between their joined breaths, and they were one.

  Don’t miss Alien Revealed and future books

  in the Confederacy Treaty series from Carina

  Press.

  About the Author

  Lilly Cain is a wild woman with a deep, throaty laugh and plunging necklines. She is a great lover of all things sensual—perfume, chocolate, silk! She never has to worry about finding a date or keeping a man in line. She keeps her blond hair long and curly, wears beautiful clothes and loves loud music. Lilly lives her private life in the pages of her books.

  Lilly lives in Atlantic Canada, although she spent eight years in Bermuda, enjoying the heat and the pink sands. She returned to her homeland so she could see the changing of the seasons once again. When not writing she paints, swills coffee and vodka (but not together) and fights her writing pals for chocolate.

  When not living up to her pen name, Lilly is a single mom who loves reading and writing, dabbling in art and loving and caring for her two daughters. She loves romance and the freedom erotic fantasy provides her imagination. She loves the chilling moments in her novels as much as the steaming hot interludes. Her stories are an escape and a release, and she hopes that they can give you that power, too.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4268-9175-5

  Copyright © 2011 by Lilly Cain

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside t
he imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

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  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author