by neetha Napew
The Jorenians liked to give me name, occupation or rank, and birthplace when we chatted for the first time. I had no idea why. “What can I do for you. Educator Torin?”
Ktarka smiled at Reever, who stood waiting next to me. “I desire but a moment of your time, ClanCousin. The educator staff would very much like to give you this.” She thrust a small folded package into my hand. “A token of our appreciation.”
I unwrapped it. Inside was a pendant, the kind Jorenian females sometimes wore attached to their vocollars. The dark, polished stone felt cool against my fingers as I touched it. I knew better than to refuse. Jorenians were very sensitive about things like personal gifts. “This is gorgeous, Educator. Thank you.” And why was I getting it?
She took it and attached it to my vocollar. “You devote much time to the children, Healer. The teaching staff has been negligent in expressing our gratitude.”
All I’d done was play some games with them and put together a sandbox for the littlest ones. “You really didn’t have to do this. I think I have more fun than the kids do.”
She adjusted my vocollar, then smiled. “You are as generous as you are wise.” With another fluidic gesture, she returned to her table, where four more educators sat beaming at me.
“The crew has grown extremely fond of you,” Reever said as he dialed up a strange-looking concoction of vegetables and protein for himself.
“No kidding.” I gave the educators a little wave.
We sat down and I eyed his meal. Whatever he had programmed resembled organic refuse. It smelled worse. It couldn’t be a Jorenian dish. Their noses weren’t as sensitive as mine, but they still functioned.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Serada baked with shredded nyilophstian root. A favorite of mine from childhood.”
“Your childhood where?” I leaned over and sniffed. Yep. I’d smelled nicer backed-up disposal units. “A waste-recycling facility?”
“No.” He didn’t elaborate. Reever was an expert at that.
“I need to program a meal for you sometime, Reever. Remind me.”
My own selection smelled great, but was too hot to eat immediately. While it cooled, I sipped my herbal tea and nibbled on a synwheat cracker. The silence went from there to noticeable.
I tried again. “So, what’s the problem?”
“There is no problem I am aware of.” he said, giving me another of those enigmatic looks.
“You just felt like having a meal with me?”
“I desired your companionship.”
“Uh-huh.” I tasted my dish once more. The prep unit had successfully incorporated my recipe program. It was delicious. He still wasn’t talking. “Well, here I am.”
“Yes.”
This was going to be as challenging as performing open cranial surgery while wearing a blindfold. “Did you have a particular topic you wanted to talk about?”
“Yes.”
Make that a blindfold and one hand tied behind my back. “What is it?”
“I would like to know your impressions of the Jorenians.”
That was innocuous enough. “They’re an interesting people. Great to work with. Extremely friendly. Why?”
Reever lifted his server of tea and gazed over the rim at me. His eyes were nearly as dark as mine today. I didn’t look into them for very long. A soul could get lost in there.
“Would you prefer less attention from the crew?”
I shrugged.
Reever swallowed. Replaced the server. Took a bite of his baked garbage. He chewed it and swallowed again. A faint line appeared between his light brows. “This is not as I recall. My data must be in error.”
“At least. Here, try mine.” I held out my spoon.
He looked like a man being asked to sip hydrochloric acid.
“Liquified synprotein, reconstituted vegetables, and carbohydrates. A dash of sodium chloride. Go on, Reever. Try it. It has to be better than that stuff.”
Cautiously he tasted it, and his eyes widened.
“Good?”
“What do you call that?”
“Chicken noodle soup.” I gestured toward the prep console. “Go dial some up for yourself. I left the program on the main menu.”
He left and returned a moment later with his own bowl. The serada was summarily disposed of. I was glad I didn’t have to smell it anymore.
My turn to initiate polite conversation. I noticed his skin tone was paler than it had been on K-2. No botanical gardens for Reever to dig in on a ship. At last! A neutral topic. “What have you been doing these past weeks, Reever?”
“Extending the linguistic database. Exploring the ship. Interacting with the crew.” He finished his soup in record time. I was impressed. Not one slurp. “And you, Cherijo?”
“The same, work, finding my way around, making friends. Though I keep getting lost and everyone wants to be my friend.” The intense way he watched me made me self-conscious. I lifted a hand to smooth my hair, then dropped it. “Stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?”
“Staring at me.”
“I’ve missed you, Joey.”
The words hung between us. His fair head inclined as one of the crew greeted us in passing. I tried to think of a witty reply. Encountered a blank wall.
“Reever, I-“ I downed the rest of my tea in one gulp. “You always do this to me.”
“What do you mean?”
My lips thinned. “We get to a certain point in the conversation, then you get enigmatic and call me Joey.” And here I’d put all that effort into making polite small talk, too.
“I have no demands. Only a request.”
Oh, this I wanted to hear. “What?”
“Will you spend some off-duty time with me?”
Now I was getting suspicious. I knew what part of me Reever was really interested in. The convoluted grej stuff between my ears.
From the first moment we’d met on K-2, Reever had repeatedly established a connection between our minds. Through that telepathic link, he could completely paralyze my body, and access my long-term memories. That was how he’d discovered I was a genetically engineered clone.
This ability of his didn’t thrill me. In fact, after the first time he’d done it, I’d punched him out.
Reever claimed he’d never achieved that type of link with another human being before. He could even do it without touching me. Another first. The unique connection we shared was, beyond a doubt, the only attraction I held for him.
Or was it? Suddenly I felt rather warm.
He repeated the question. “Will you spend some time with me?”
“Doing what?”
“Cherijo.” One badly scarred hand crossed the small gap on the table and took my wrist. I pulled back automatically, but he held on. “No. I won’t force you to link with me.”
“Good idea. You wouldn’t look good with lukewarm chicken noodle soup all over your face.” I let my hand stay where it was, for the moment. Why was it so damn stuffy in here? “Just what do you want, Reever?”
“I am human,” he said, while his thumb moved back and forth over my knuckles.
The small, intimate gesture had the most embarrassing effect on me. I could literally feel the color creeping up my damp neck. “Uh-huh. And?”
He threaded his long fingers through mine. “We share more than you will admit, Cherijo.”
Okay, I knew what he meant. Although I’d been created in an embryonic chamber, I had the same natural, healthy urges of any human female. Reever knew that from personal experience.
I felt a trickle of sweat inch down my cheek. “I take it you want more than just the pleasure of holding my hand.”
“Yes.”
He’d had more than that already. Reever, manipulated by the Core life form, had attacked me in an isolation chamber back on K-2. Assault quickly turned into a weird kind of seduction. I didn’t cherish the memory of what Reever and I had done on top of that exam pad. That didn’t mean I’d forg
otten what it had felt like. In fact, parts of my body were reacting in much the same way right now.
I cleared my throat. “You’re interested in the more... biological stuff.” What was wrong with me? I was acting like a overly hormonal adolescent.
“Yes,” he said again.
You’re not a virgin, I reminded myself, so quit acting like one. Kao and I had spent one glorious night together, the memory of which I would cherish forever. All Reever had to offer were one-syllable answers. I need a lot more than that.
“You refuse.” His hand began to withdraw.
Feeling distinctly reckless, I decided it was time to ignore my pride and Reever’s lack of human emotion. I needed him. Certainly that was more important than pride now. In fact, it was all I could think about.
I snatched his hand with mine, and forced my fingers back through his. “Tell me exactly what you want.”
The words came from him, with great difficulty. I could almost hear them being dragged out, kicking and screaming not to be uttered. “I want you to be with me, to share your experiences. I want to know you, to talk to you. I want to touch you. I want to link with you. I want-“
“Okay.” I wanted some of the same things. Especially that touching part. “Good enough.”
His fingers tightened between mine. “You will spend time with me?”
That was one way to put it. Could he sense the way I was burning up inside? Was that sweat beading above his lip? “Sure.”
The cold eyes warmed a degree or two. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I felt shaky, but there was no backing out now. Every nerve ending in my body was demanding some attention. What a relief not to have to think about it. I slipped my hand from his and rose from the table.
“When can I see you again?” he asked me as he stood.
He needed an appointment? Unmanageable demands surged inside me, overriding what was left of my usual caution. “Come back to my quarters with me. Now.”
I don’t know who was more shocked. Reever, who had admitted he wanted me, or me, the amateur seductress. I tried not to ruin my suave moment by taking back my offer the moment it left my lips.
Duncan looked like I just kicked him where it hurts Terran males the most. His pupils enlarged. When he got the words out, they were raspy. “You are sure?”
Did I really have that kind of effect on him? “No.” I held out my hand. I thought that was better than shrugging off a corner of my tunic and fluttering my eyelashes. “Come on.”
We walked back to level nine and stopped at my quarters. Before I could open the door panel, he took my shoulders and turned me around. I stared at the collar of his tunic, and bit into my lower lip.
“Cherijo. Don’t be afraid of me.”
Did I want to have sex with him? Yes. Did I want him to play the protective male calming the hysterical, near-virginal female? No. I had some pride left. Somewhere. Not to mention enough heat streaking through my vessels to melt an infuser tube.
“I’m not afraid of you.” I hauled him by the arm into my rooms. Jenner greeted us with a casual yowl as he scampered out into the corridor. I adjusted the lighting, then leaned against the wall panel for a moment, dizzy with need.
This was wrong. Wrong. I needed a distraction. A delay tactic. My head examined. Why was I doing this? It was him, definitely him. Every time Reever came near me, every nerve ending went on full alert. What could I do to keep him away until my head cleared...? My prep unit! “Would you like something to eat? Drink?”
“We just had a meal.”
Okay, maybe my disc collection would buy me some time until I got my libido back under control. “Do you like Terran historical music?”
He was right behind me. “I have no preferences,” he replied, and moved closer.
“What about archaic jazz?”
“I’ve never heard any.” Each word puffed a breath against the nape of my neck.
I swallowed a groan. “Sit down. Jazz is the only audio art form ever produced on Terra.” I selected a disc. “We’ll start with Miles Davis. He played the trumpet like an angel.”
He didn’t sit down. He started touching my hair. “Angels are characters in religious mythology.”
I let myself enjoy the feeling of his fingers against my scalp. “Wait until you hear Miles. You might change your mind.” Davis’s subtle syncopation colored the air with cool, dark sound. Reever’s hand gripped my waist. No, don’t do this, I thought, and swiftly turned to my prep console. “Would you like a drink?”
“No”-he started coming at me again-“thank you.”
“Well, I could use a server of tea.” He knew I was stalling and knew I knew he knew. My thought patterns were beginning to degrade. Fast. “Did you know on Joren they brew some varieties of saltwater vegetation and-“
“Cherijo.” His hands touched me again. This close, I could smell him. Clean, masculine, familiar. Human. “Calm yourself.”
There wasn’t a system in my body that was functioning normally. “I’m calm.”
“I am not,” he said. I could feel his heartbeat accelerating just above my left shoulder blade.
“You, Reever?” Humor was my last resort. Panting ruined the effect, though. “You’ll ruin your reputation.”
Too late. His hands bracketed my wrists. “Link with me.”
“Are you sure about the drink?” Frantic to prolong the inevitable, I began babbling. “You haven’t tried my Terran blend. Do you like rosehips and camomile?” I felt the intimate sensation of his mind reach out to me, and closed my eyes. “Maybe some coffee-“
“Joey.” His thoughts flowed over the edge of my consciousness. “Let me in.”
I had never liked this telepathic thing. Reever somehow completely incapacitated my will as he connected my mind to his. He took me in his arms, and swept me into a waltz as Miles Davis’s trumpet played like angels crying.
He was making me dance. You can’t waltz to jazz, I thought.
Why not? His voice spoke inside my head. It is music, is it not?
It wasn’t like I had a choice. Okay, maybe we can. I moved closer to the warmth of his body. Why did you want to link with me first?
Duncan pressed his cheek against the top of my head. Your thoughts were turbulent. I thought it would calm you.
I lifted my gaze. You can read me without a link?
His lips briefly collided with mine. Shock made me stumble. Reever boosted me over his feet with a fancy twirling motion. Just dance with me, Cherijo.
We danced for some time, while Reever did something to settle my thoughts. What thoughts I let him have a peek at. I had learned early on to block him from the parts of my mind I didn’t want him snooping around in. I’d only reached into his mind voluntarily once during the epidemic on K-2. I wondered if I would ever get the nerve to do it again.
The jazz recording came to an end. Duncan twirled me one last time down the length of his arm and back, until our bodies pressed together.
I want to be with you. His hand stroked my hair. In all ways.
I could think of one particular way. End the link, Duncan.
Of course.
We stood in the center of my quarters, locked in a close embrace. For the first time I wondered how much control Reever’s mind had over mine. Had we really spent the last hour just waltzing!
We’d been doing something. I was perspiring freely. My respiration was rapid and shallow. He showed similar signs of arousal. His arms tightened around me. I felt his heart hammering against the swelling mound of my breast.
“Thank you.” His breath warmed my mouth. My thighs clenched against the subsequent inner throb. He broke off the airy kiss and let go of me. “I will leave-“
Leave? I grabbed him and pulled him back to me. “I don’t think so.” My fingers tangled in his light hair and brought his head down to my level. My mouth did the rest.
A Terran kiss was a curious thing. I could understand why some offworlders found it extremely disgustin
g. When Reever kissed me, however, revulsion wasn’t an issue. Neither was any other coherent thought. Our lips, like our bodies, matched perfectly. I wanted more. So much more.
Beneath my fingers, his hair felt silky and alive. I pushed one palm over his chest, irritated by the garments that kept our skins from touching. His kiss deepened until my throat arched. My fingernails dug into his shoulder. His arms pressed in, removing the last small spaces between us.
“Cherijo.” He wrenched his mouth from mine.
Oh, no, I thought, grabbing his head and pulling him back down. We were created for this. Male, female. The two sides of wanting. And I needed my other half. Now.
Something bizarre and ferocious instantly ignited between us. I heard fabric tearing. Felt the coolness of air on my exposed skin. Then his hands. Oh, God, his hands.
“Duncan.” I clutched at him, dizzy, desperate. “Please.”
He dragged me to my sleeping platform. Maybe I dragged him. I didn’t know. Didn’t care. We got there. Now I wanted his body over mine. Needed it. More than I needed to breathe.
“Joey.” He didn’t appear indifferent anymore. He looked ravenous. Hard hands shoved me back on the mattress. He stood over me as his narrow blue gaze burned down the length of my body.
“Come here.” I held out my arms.
He moved so fast I didn’t have time to blink. Reever’s weight suddenly forced me down, down into the slowly adjusting mattress. His hands were on my breasts, then his mouth. The rigid length of his confined erection pressed between my thighs. Yes, yes, that was what I needed. What I wanted more than anything. The way he felt, moving against me. He reached, pulled my face up to his. Sounds spilled from my throat, hummed against his mouth.
“Cherijo.”
I shook my head, caressing him with my lips. “Don’t... don’t say anything.” I didn’t need a cargo hold of words now. I was more than willing.
His head lifted. His long frame went rigid.
“What?” I was breathless, still moving under him. “What is it?”
Now he shook his head, as if to clear it. “No, Cherijo.”
I couldn’t have heard that right. “No what?”
His hands hurt me. “No more mindless seductions.”
