“Haze, about what you said - do we really think it’s the work of the Suhlik? That it's been under everyone's tails the whole time?”
“That’s the word going around in circles most of us don’t frequent quite enough, apparently. I'm still surprised I haven't gotten wind of this before.” He thought back on some of their missions, trying to re-analyze his connections. He'd need to beef up connections with some different networks. Clearly, he'd gotten lazy.
Seban nodded. “Captain, if this is true, I need to act on it. There are tests I could run, if I had access to a bigger facility, check for markers that might have been discounted. I think it's possible to verify, if I wasn't so limited, as I am here."
"What do you have in mind?" the captain asked.
"I'd like to head to Earth. I'll say I'm checking on some Human Vargys compatibility tests. My contacts will do me the courtesy of not registering it with the Mahdfel, as they know of the stakes. I'd also like to reach out to the Vargys homeworld, anyway, check on things. I think I can do that more easily, and privately, from the base."
“You should probably skip the teleport network,” the captain advised. “No reason to give the Mahdfel reason to look too closely at us.” He shook his head. “I sometimes think we are only one step away from the Mahdfel figuring out about the Vargys plague and quarantining all of us.
“Yes, I had that thought too,” said Seban. “With your permission, I'd like to take a shuttle, once Oz has them back together. There's the old jump gate, one system over, that’s not monitored. It would allow me to get some samples through without causing any blips on the Mahdfel network. I have some contacts still at Earth's moon base. They won't be suspicious.”
“It sounds like a solid plan. While you are away, we can take Saetyria back to her new home. Perhaps meet back up in a few weeks after we've had a chance to—”
Haze groaned. Please don’t say it.
The captain continued, “—mine here."
Frasken fraska.
And it was settled. Too much yapping for Haze's taste, and inevitably the captain had chosen to come back to this forsaken place.
But at least it was frasken settled: Seban to his corner, back on the moon base; Haze to his corner, mining on some empty rock to no purpose.
The thought flitted through his mind though: perhaps Vi might come along. He could show her a few things. At least make his days a little more interesting.
37
Violet
The Vargys colony on Balanger was beautiful, filled with green plant-life and water everywhere. For one thing, Vi had never seen Molly so happy or content.
It was certainly nice to have land beneath her feet again, especially since it was not the repulsive, Latoran kind.
They spent one day on an R&R of sorts: Oz and Molly splashing in the water; Vi dipping her toes in the water, basking in the sun; and last, but certainly not least, Haze sitting behind Vi, so she could lean back against his muscled chest, his arms wrapped around her. She tipped her head back, and he obliged her quickly with a soft kiss.
The hellhounds - or whatever they called the ship's beasts - were also there. Vi handled it by not looking at them. Seriously. Nothing should have that many scales or claws.
The previous afternoon they'd seen Saetyria off to her new home. It turned out she had a distant cousin she'd never met here. There was talk that she might be able to join a … something or other… verlok…? A verlok was some kind of Vargys harem with multiple guys and gals linked up as one family unit. She supposed it was a bit like the lions back on Earth. Several lionesses and lions in a pack.
She settled against Haze again, sighing deeply. What was the saying? Not her monkeys.
Then she felt Haze harden against her, and he grunted softly. He squeezed her arms slightly. "You want a little time out of the sun? Don't want you to melt or anything…"
Vi felt the same zip of lightning run through her as she nodded.
He came up, graceful as a cat, and reached down to help her up. He led her a short distance away to some shade and privacy, a blanket already spread out for them.
"I thought maybe…" He glanced over at her. "The sun gets so hot…"
She leaned into him, enjoying his kiss on her lips. "Yes, the sun… it's so hot."
She reached down, running her hand down the hard length of him.
Haze scooped her up and laid her gently on the blanket. He lay down beside her, his head on one hand, his other hand making mad circles over her skin.
"Are you happy?" he asked.
For a moment, she could only gaze at him. She nodded. "Yes, I'm really happy," she smiled.
He gave her an answering grin. "Good," he said.
As his hands stroked along her side, her breath came faster. She felt like the world was fading away again, to that distant place where nothing mattered but the two of them.
"Kiss me?" she managed.
He leaned in, a half-smile still on his face.
His lips were soft at first, then everything was moving so fast, his hands running through her hair, his mouth hard and dancing against hers.
He pulled off her bathing suit. At first, he left her naked and exposed, then he bent down to pull first one nipple, then the next, into his mouth. As he pulled hard on her, she called out. In response, he increased his pace, leaving her panting and needy.
Soon, she had to bite her lips to keep from crying out as his skilled fingers and mouth worked magic all over her warmed, naked skin. As his hand slid between her thighs, Vi arched her back as hot anticipation shot through her. Her knees parted.
He flicked a finger against her clit. She jerked.
Then he was moving fast against her mound. She moaned. His mouth moved between her legs and his tongue made a wicked dance against her mound. He zeroed in and toyed with her until she was quivering and shaking.
She pulled his hand down, spreading her legs for him, urging him inside. He slid a finger in and began to rub at her while his tongue worked on her mound.
She held his hand there, encouraging him on, feeling the waves build inside.
She felt the tension building until she could hold on no longer. Her body seemed to fly apart. She cried out over and over, the waves taking over, her body breaking as she crashed and floated away.
She came back, feeling like her body was floating. He kept lapping at her.
"Oh," she moaned. "I can't." She tried to push his head away.
He chuckled against her mound, clamped his arm around her waist, and held her to him. He made determined laps at her.
She built up quicker than before.
She was calling out before she knew what was happening.
He slid inside her, rough and fast. She called out in almost pain.
He settled inside her, moving his hips in a quick motion. He closed his eyes, stroking fast, getting his rhythm. His finger reached down to rub at her clit.
She jerked hard and broke apart again, moaning, vaguely hearing his moans join hers.
As she came back to herself, she snuggled into his strong arms, resting her head against his muscled chest. Somehow, she’d found her own lion and she was liking it. A lot.
They slept there together, for a few hours, nestled within each others’ arms.
38
Violet
A few days later, the Xeo Tarlith and her crew returned to the Glothus system. They were trying again to mine Haze’s “favorite” asteroid.
Vi decided it was time to earn her keep.
Haze took one look at her in her newly acquired getup and grinned. “How do you make a mining outfit look so sexy, my mate?”
“I wish,” Vi rejoined, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
By the end of the day, as they clambered onto the shuttle, Vi felt as though she had been lost to time forever. It was magical to look up and around and see such an expanse of space go on forever.
As they clambered into bed that night, she was overcome again by what she'd seen. She a
sked Haze, “How do you bear it - so much beauty everywhere?”
He stared at her with a smile, seeming to deliberately misunderstand her words. "I don't know how I do; sometimes I'm not sure I can."
Warmth flooded Vi's heart, and a zip ran through her belly. If she wasn't mistaken, he'd just called her breathtakingly beautiful.
Haze bent down and stole a kiss. “You were made for me, woman.”
“I think I prefer the Vargys way of saying it— that way Oz says it to Molly.” She blushed slightly. Was she really asking him to call her his woman? “Is it weird to call me that?”
“Not even for a moment, mah lo ma."
She kissed him. "You're my…" she raised her hand and waved it a bit. "Ergh. Something something mah or…"
He laughed. "You realize you called me a woman, right?”
"Yeah, yeah, you know what I meant."
His voice dropped low. He said it quiet and deep, so that it rumbled deliciously in his throat. "Shah la van lo va… that's how you say it."
Her chest squeezed. The translator gave her the equivalent: This man is my man/mate.
She tried it out. "Shah la van.."
"…Lo va…" he added.
"Shah la van lo va…" she repeated.
His eyes got soft. He ran a finger across her lips. "I like to hear you say it."
She repeated it for him.
He smiled, sitting up on the edge of the bed. "Actually, I got you something…"
"Ohhh." She played it up, coming up on her knees with a squeal and clapping her hands together. "Another shiny bauble, yes?"
"Something like that."
He had this nervous little grin on his face that made excitement run through her.
He knelt to dig something out from under the bed. "I tried to fashion it the way Molly described." He laid a rather large package on the bed. “…Let me know how I did?”
She smiled at him, but looking at him made her breath catch. She felt a very real pressure come over her, like her stomach would drop and fall away, like this man was going to swallow her up.
She picked slowly at the corners, pulling away the wrappings carefully. Inside was a kind of wood structure, vaguely shaped in a way she'd never thought to see again.
"It's a… No way…" She clapped a hand over her mouth as she stared at it. He'd made her an easel.
Emotions overcame her, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quick. Painting had always been a secret little hobby, never measuring up to her family’s expectations for her.
She pulled it onto the floor to set it up.
"This might help." Haze turned the wall’s viewscreen to a setting of a soft, outdoor scenery, as though she'd set up her new easel in that perfect, soft lighting she hadn't thought possible.
"Do you like it?" he asked, looking fast from her to the easel.
She leaned against him. "It's perfect. I love it." She took a deep breath. "…I love you," she said softly, so softly she wasn't sure he could hear her.
It was one thing saying it in Vargys, like it was just words. They weren't words she said to people, even her friends, certainly not her sister, her father.
She felt like she was making a new tattoo, but over her heart, permanent and deep, forever.
She looked at the easel and saw a drawing hidden there, if she could only capture it, almost like the one she’d started on the shuttle ride back to the Xeo. No bars this time.
A cluster of stars and her Haze, swirling like a whirling dervish, moving fast toward her, that dark look in his eyes, and nothing between them but what he might say next.
"Mah lo ma…" His eyes were soft then. He moved his mouth slowly as he tried out her Earth words: "I love you." His voice caught and broke on the phrase.
But then he was kissing her and the world was dropping away, and she decided he could practice the Earth words on her later…
Afterword
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Phoebe
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Haze (The Telorex Pact Book 2) Page 15
