Zahra Unveiled
Trace Komoros
Published by Fyreminx Publishing, 2019.
Zahra Unveiled (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2019 Trace Komoros (of Fyreminx Publishing). All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For permission requests, please email [email protected].
Fyreminx Publishing
PO Box 718
Chicopee, MA 01021-0718
First U.S. edition, June 2019
Version 1.3, June 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-1-7331732-0-9
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Ranks and levels
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Author Notes
Dedication
FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVED and encouraged, and especially to those who demanded, “More!”
Thanks also to the many authors who paved the way in this genre, and their support of others who join the fun.
Huge thanks to my alpha and beta readers, as well as my editor, for all their help.
Angus Hutto
Charles Tillman
David Nightshade
Kelly O’Donnell
Lori Ann Burwell
Mitzi Byrnes
Randy Barber
Ranks and levels
STRENGTH LEVELS ARE indicated by Greek numbers. Once characters reach level sigma and demonstrate mastery of their powers and/or skills through real-world applications, they also earn the lifetime rank of Master. Many don’t claim that rank although they’re entitled to.
1 = alpha
2 = beta
3 = gamma
4 = delta
5 = epsilon
6 = digamma
7 = zeta
8 = eta
9 = theta
10 = iota
20 = kappa
30 = lambda
40 = mu
50 = nu
60 = xi
70 = omicron
80 = pi
90 = koppa
100 = rho
200 = sigma
300 = tau
400 = upsilon
500 = phi
600 = chi
700 = psi
800 = omega
900 = sampi
Prologue
Zahra
IT'S FRUSTRATING AS hell to be a super whose powers depend upon sex to level up. Not just any sex, either. It has to be great sex—the kind that satisfies you physically and emotionally, and leaves you too spent and limp to move afterward but buzzed and complete in ways you can’t describe. Screw the "make me a sandwich" joke. If I'm able to walk anywhere after we've been going at it, then you haven't done me right.
Yep, I went there. Go ahead; I’ll wait while you snicker your way through the “that’s what she said” jokes.
Whether you read it as a challenge or a flat statement, it's the truth: if we don't have great—okay, mind-blowing!—sex that satisfies a particular set of needs, then I can't level up.
What? I can hear you ask yourself. I thought lots of sex was just part of life for a super. You're not wrong; most of us do enjoy a very, er, healthy lifestyle when it comes to that. Some might even call it hedonistic. That's a conversation for another time, though.
What matters here, at least from my point of view, is that I need completely satisfying sex to level up and make it stick. Call it a quirk of my powers; it's the easiest way to describe something that would otherwise take far too long to explain. Sure, I can get minor charges from any ol' kind of sex. It's like an energy drink—you get that quick, minor boost to get you through whatever you're doing, but you know it's not gonna last.
Unfortunately for me, that’s what I typically end up with if I hook up with my fellow supers. It's fun and takes the edge off, but that’s all. Which is a problem, since my inadvertent stumble across some shady goings-on here on Stratis pinned a big-ass target on my back—and I have the equivalent of tinfoil armor.
Chapter One
Zahra
A CROWD HAD FORMED around the fountain in Zatler's Park. Catcalls and wolf-whistles cut through the air as bystanders watched a group of five supers put on an impromptu performance—although “performance” might be a misleading term unless you're already familiar with Stratis.
We're not the most profligate of the cities and planets here in the Centaurus A galaxy, but we do have a hedonistic reputation. The current performers—who used the fountain as their backdrop and prop to publicly indulge in a titillating and erotic combination of yoga, calisthenics, and sex—are a large part of what contributes to it.
I watched from a nearby hill as the performers’ lithe, sweat-sheened bodies bent, flexed, and twisted in ways that even an artist would find difficult to envision. Their muscles rippled under their skin, taut and strained before they released and contracted as positions—and partners—changed. I was too far away to see the fine details or hear anything but the loudest sounds of their play, but I didn’t need to be closer to know they were all enjoying themselves immensely. Not that I was surprised. I recognized all five and knew they were exhibitionists through and through. For them, an audience was a requirement to get off.
I scanned the crowd again. As my view ranged toward the edges, I noted others who watched from more-concealed vantage points. Some had looks of ecstasy on their faces which made it clear they’d hit the big “O” as they watched the show. Others were inspired enough to start a semi-private show in one of the more secluded nooks.
The one who caught my attention, though, was the man who stood aloof and mostly hidden in the shadows of a tall tree. I couldn’t see his face, but his height, broad shoulders, and muscled build were recognizable from descriptions
I'd heard. I was looking at the super known as Gavin.
GAVIN IS AN ENIGMATIC legend on Stratis and throughout the Centaurus A galaxy. His feats are legendary. Stories about the villains he's defeated and the worlds he's traveled to are numerous. His combat style is part of the standard teachings for every super on our planet. He's that good. Nothing enigmatic about that, right?
That's only a fraction of who and what he is, though. If the things I've learned are even partway accurate, it's the rest of his lifestyle which is the enigma. Probably rightly so, if a particular quiet thread of rumors is true. Once as open as many Stratians are, Gavin is now their polar opposite.
That intrigues me.
I studied him from afar as I mentally sorted through the details I’d learned when I tried to discover more about him. I knew he'd become reclusive. Several people commented that he was jaded and wanted to get away from activities like the one in front of us right now, although I knew he had a past. He’d been right in the thick of several escapades—sexcapades, really—that were talked about even now, many years after the fact. By all accounts, his prowess in the bedroom matched or exceeded his skill on the battlefield and did so with a flair unmatched by anyone since.
In light of those details, I was surprised to see him here even though he stayed mostly hidden from the main event.
As I continued to study him, trying to get a glimpse of his face, he suddenly turned toward me. My breath caught as his piercing green eyes met mine. The people and distance between us, the public sex happening in front of us, receded as our gazes locked and held for an unknown amount of time. I felt like he read me on a soul-deep level. I trembled while it happened, not sure if I was terrified, turned on, or some combination of both as I tried to read him in return. I say “tried,” because he didn't give anything away. If you asked me to tell you what I thought of him at that moment, I couldn't have said anything more than "tall, strong, green eyes that can cut you in half, terrifying...yet strangely safe."
As I registered that last reaction, I felt a feather-light brush against my mind and heard a deep and resonant voice quietly murmur, ::You and I will meet again, little one.::
Shocked as much by what he said as the fact that he'd used telepathy, I stood rooted to my spot. His dark brown hair briefly gleamed in the sunlight as he turned. His muscles rippled under his tight shirt, moving like a well-oiled machine as he strode out of the park. Holy...fuck... was the only thought I could process for the next several minutes, as it played on repeat in my head. Holy fuck.
When I was finally able to move again, I turned and stumbled as my toes caught a divot in the grass. While that kind of clumsiness typically resulted in me muttering scathing comments to myself, this time it went almost unnoticed. My thoughts were awhirl with everything that just happened as I slowly walked back home. Who is Gavin, really? How was he able to read me that way? How did he speak to me telepathically when neither of us has that ability? were just a few of the questions that ran through my head at warp speed. I tried to sort through everything I'd just experienced, but it was a losing battle. Like it or not, everything needs to settle in its own time and way. Some things can't be rushed, was my brain’s last word on the matter as I walked into my house.
Chapter Two
Gavin
THERE COMES A TIME when you’ve seen and done so much that you become jaded. I'd hit that point. Truthfully, it had happened a long time ago, but it was only within recent months that I'd removed myself from most of the day-to-day goings-on in Stratis. Believe it or not, there are only so many times you can be part of sexcapades, orgies, and the like before you say, "enough is enough."
Don’t shake your head at me. Until you've lived it for as many years as I have, you can't know what it's really like.
Suffice it to say that while I never left my partner—or partners—unsatisfied, sex had diminished to little more than going through the motions. It sucked. It sucked hairy, piss-scented monkey balls—more so because, at heart, I need an emotional connection with my partner for the sex to be everything it should be: Sublime. Mind-blowing. Earth-shattering. Soul-fulfilling.
Unfortunately for me, I'd become so jaded by most of my fellow supers’ antics that now it was anything but, which is why I chose to remove myself from that scene. It was a breath of fresh air when I didn't have to “perform” to expectations. I experienced a new-found freedom when the group I most often “played” with fell out of my immediate circle. I was outright giddy—as much as a guy like me ever gets, anyway—when I was no longer invited to those kinds of gatherings, much less expected to be a star attraction.
As time went by and I started to regain my sense of who I was and what I wanted, I realized two things. One: I wanted, and on several levels needed, a deeply intimate connection with a steady partner. Two: I didn't think there was anyone within a galaxy's travel who matched my needs.
Then I saw her.
I ENCOUNTERED THE “PERFORMANCE” in Zatler's Park purely by accident. I'd planned to stroll around while I sorted through some troubling information I'd received over the past few days. Walks through the park’s lush grass, towering trees, and shady nooks relaxed me, especially when I was tired of the same four walls in my house. It was a nice place—plenty of room and set up to suit my tastes—but I needed a break from it.
I stopped abruptly and let the shadows of a nearby tree obscure me as I heard five all-too-familiar voices coming from up ahead by the fountain. Judging by the moans, squeals, sucking noises, and the unmistakable sound of flesh slapping against flesh, I'd almost run into one of their many attempts to satisfy their exhibitionist streaks. If the wolf-whistles and catcalls from the large crowd were any indication, they were putting on quite a show. I had no desire to watch—I just wanted to walk in solitary peace.
As I looked around for a path that avoided the bystanders—some of whom had joined the fun and games—I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn’t ill-intentioned, I'd been in the crosshairs enough times to know how that felt. No, this was merely someone who was intensely curious.
I turned my head to the side and let my gaze sweep over the crowd then froze as it locked on a woman standing atop a nearby hill. I'd never seen her before but felt as though I knew her, in ways which had nothing to do with having met, much less fucked... It was like seeing the other half of my soul, and it shook me to my bones.
I held her stare across the distance separating us. Her vivid blue eyes darkened to an intense blue-gray the longer our gaze remained locked. Her long hair—fantasy red, although I thought I caught brunette undertones—blazed like fire in the sun, and her tall, thick but stately frame stood firm even while I swore I felt her tremble with the force of her emotions. It was shocking to experience that kind of connection—assuming I didn't imagine it.
I suddenly remembered something an old graybeard once told me, in what seemed like another lifetime. "Son, eventually you’ll encounter someone who’ll rock your world. You don’t understand it now, but you will when it happens. It won't be the person who excites you because of their looks. It won't even be the person who understands you better than most. It'll be the person who, when you first encounter each other, triggers the reaction of, 'Yes. I know you.' And when you do find each other, it’ll both terrify and complete you in equal measures."
I hadn't entirely believed him but hadn't discounted everything he’d said either, because he was damned uncanny about stuff like that. It was one of the things he'd been known for back in his day.
All that rushed through my mind as I stood there, staring. I’m not sure which of us was more shocked, the mystery woman or I, when I reached out with my mind and brushed a feather-light touch across hers then murmured, ::You and I will meet again, little one.::
I held her gaze for an instant more before I turned and walked away, my thoughts churning.
Chapter Three
Gavin
THE ENTIRE TRIP HOME, I cursed my temporarily-scrambled wits for not IDing
her when I had the chance. As soon as I walked into my study, I pulled up a holoscreen and began to search the central database. If she lived on Stratis, her wrist holo was permanently registered—it was mandatory since that was how we maintained everyone’s records and stats. It was the easiest way to do it. Each wrist holo instantaneously tracked all biometric changes in the wearer's body, including temporary or permanent level-ups, and pushed those changes to the central database as soon as they were confirmed as permanent. Visitors were also logged but in a separate database.
The first few searches came back negative. Then I recalled the visual search option. I didn’t use it much since the interface was often quirky, but it was my only option at the moment. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to dig beyond the public records, although I was one of the few people who had access to the restricted sections if I needed to go that far.
I closed my eyes and cleared my head of all but her physical characteristics. Once I thought I had the details filled in, I captured them through my wrist holo then sent them to the interface on the holoscreen with a quick swipe. I opened my eyes and checked to be sure everything looked correct before tapping ‘Search.’
The results came back slower than expected. There was no information available about her level and powers, which was odd. Even the newest supers had that listed. All that showed in her entry was:
Name/Moniker: Zahra
Gender: female
Level: unknown
Powers: unknown
Notes: Full powers unknown but genetic records indicate probable sigma [200] or tau [300] Master strength once manifested and trained. Requires certain elements present and full satisfaction from sex to level up. Strong emotional attachment a key factor. Subvert if possible, kill if not.
“Holy shit.”
I reread the notes in disbelief. There was no way in hell that information should come back in a public search. The fact that she had a target on her back worried me, too. Prompted by a hunch, I snapped a screenshot, saved it to a private file collection I’d assembled, then closed out my search and flicked the screen off.
Zahra Unveiled Page 1
