Interstellar Service and Discipline 03 Fallen Star.lit

by Morgan Hawke

  “Ah, there we are.” Khan curled his arm toward his body, slowly, pressing her backwards toward him. “You needed to be fed.”

  She moved with his arm, too hungry to let go or resist, until her back pressed against the edge of the seat, sitting between his robed knees with his arm curved around her. Her stomach filled and her mind drifted toward the edge of what felt like sleep.

  “That’s it.” His free hand swept down her hair. “Drink, pet, feed from me.”

  That sound in her throat became louder and her mind stilled, awash in a warm safe place where nothing hurt. She took one last swallow and licked the wounds she’d made. Her head fell back onto his hard thigh and she looked up at him, her mind silent, her heart utterly at ease, and her body completely comfortable at last.

  Khan smiled. “Better?”

  She felt a smile tug at her mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to even think of a vocal reply. She let her body reply for her. She nodded slowly.

  “Feel good?”

  She nodded again.

  Khan raised his hands with the black chain between them.

  A small shimmer of alarm slipped into her place of comfort. She swallowed and that sound disappeared.

  He lowered it around her throat and gently encouraged her to lean forward.

  She did so and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about this. There was a subtle click. The chill chain draped loose around her neck. She flinched. There was a second click, and a weight tugged on the chain around her neck. She turned.

  Khan held up his hand, showing her another chain with a handle. It was a leash. He’d attached a leash to her collar. He leaned over to collect his computational and then rose to his feet. “Come.”

  Fallon climbed to her feet and stared at the chain between them. The meaning was simple: follow. There was meaning beyond this, but she didn’t want to consider it. Beyond that was pain. Pain she didn’t want to feel.

  He turned toward the door and walked.

  Fallon followed, automatically moving to the left, his offside, one pace behind.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The door opened and voices stopped.

  Khan stepped through the doorway and two men in gleaming, iridescent black armor came to attention on either side of the doorway.

  Fallon jerked in surprise, but she was just too ... comfortable to feel real alarm. Her gaze darted around the dimly lit med lab’s outer office. Tah turned to look at her from behind his smoked-glass desk on her immediate right. A Skeldhi she didn’t recognize in dark gray sleeveless robes, his pale hair pulled back into a long tail, leaned against the examination and surgical couch before them.

  Khan turned to her and smiled. “It is done.” He stepped back, encouraging her to follow him into the room.

  Fallon stepped over the door’s bottom edge, staring at his smile. He was pleased. Something lightened in her heart. She smiled and eased back into that warm place.

  Tah rose slowly from behind his desk. “You succeeded in breaking her impression?” His voice was low, but tension tightened his mouth.

  Fallon heard and saw, but filed it all away for later consideration. At that moment she didn’t want to think. It was more comfortable to just feel.

  Khan’s smile broadened, but his teeth remained hidden. “It appears that she didn’t have one.”

  The other male, the one she didn’t recognize, straightened upright, his eyes wide. “What?”

  Khan nodded toward Tah. “Ordinary affection.”

  “Affection? That was all?” The other Skeldhi looked over at Tah. “Then how did she go into rahyt? ” He shook his head. “Why would she ... do what she did?”

  Fallon frowned. The other Skeldhi’s voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t smell anything beyond Khan’s scent. She couldn’t identify him.

  Khan turned to look at him and frowned. “Calmly, she’s just fed.” Khan turned back to Fallon. He caught her gaze, pulling her attention back to him, and offered his palm.

  She pressed her cheek into his palm and released a small breath. She didn’t feel like making the effort to consider the somewhat recognizable Skeldhi any further. She was too busy being ... comfortable.

  Khan pulled his palm back and his gaze flicked from Tah to the other Skeldhi. “Humans have been known to accomplish some rather amazing things from the strength of their emotions.” He tucked the handle of her lead into his sash and held his hand out to the left.

  The left door guard handed him a length of red silk.

  Tah looked over at the unknown Skeldhi. “Strong emotion has been mistaken for impression before.” He looked over at Fallon. “In fact, emotion is normally the trigger for impression.”

  Khan opened the silk out, revealing a short sleeveless robe. “The telling difference is in the possessive display of the emotional state versus the possession display in impression.” He stepped closer to Fallon and slipped it behind her, holding it up with the obvious intent to dress her.

  Fallon put her arm into one armhole and then the other, focused on his pleased expression. She wanted to please him. She liked pleasing him.

  Tah frowned. “When did you know?”

  “The moment she touched him.” Khan pulled the robe closed, folding one side over the other and knotting the side ties. “She didn’t try to feed, she tried to comfort, and neither displayed the physical traits of impression abstinence.”

  The unknown Skeldhi tilted his head and frowned. “That was comfort?”

  Khan held out his hand and another length of silk was handed to him, black this time. “Protective display. She was angry because he had gotten hurt. It was a purely emotional reaction, and he reacted in the same manner.” He shook the silk open, revealing another robe, this one with long sleeves and embroidered, black on black, with a design similar to the one tattooed on his back.

  Fallon tucked her arms into the sleeves. The hem fell to mid-thigh. She would wear his personal mark. That pleased her.

  Khan folded the robe across her chest. He held out his hand and received a red sash. “My biggest difficulty was in getting through the emotional connection to get her to acknowledge the impression.” He wound the sash around her waist.

  Tah frowned. “The emotional connection was that strong?”

  Khan sighed as he knotted the sash. “Quite. If there had been more physical contact between them, the emotion would most definitely have become impression.”

  Tah looked down at his desk. “Then is it wise to put them on the same ship? If the emotional connection is that strong, will this not cause emotional distress?”

  Khan smiled, but his copper gaze chilled. “Absolutely.” He turned to look at Tah. “May I have the ear clips?”

  Tah frowned. “Yes, of course.” He scooped up something from the top of his desk. He stepped out from behind the desk and approached Khan. “Would you like my assistance?”

  “No, thank you.” Khan held out his hand but did not remove his gaze from Fallon’s face. “I’m going to do this in the traditional manner. I do not wish to disturb her current ... focus.”

  Tah dropped whatever was in his hand into Khan’s palm. “And the traditional manner will not?”

  Khan’s smile drifted away. “She has come to expect ... such, from me.”

  Tah glanced at Khan. “Is this what you wanted?”

  “This is not a matter of want, but of need.” Khan sighed and glanced down at his palm. “My needs are ... complicated.” He raised his palm toward Fallon’s head. “As are hers, apparently.”

  Her gaze flicked to his raised hand. His fingers caressed the lower curve of her ear. She frowned. His touch was a little disturbing, but it seemed to be what he wanted. And she wanted to please him.

  “Our natures are more closely suited than I expected.” Khan smiled briefly then wrapped one arm around her and tightened until she was firmly pressed against him, chest to breast with her arms trapped between them. “Impression happened the moment she came with me in her body.”
<
br />   Fallon leaned into his warmth. She couldn’t move her arms, but liked being held by him. She felt safe. He brought his other hand up and encouraged her to turn her head.

  Fallon felt him set something metal around the lower arch of her ear. His breath feathered her ear. She shivered. His lips caught around whatever was in her ear and his hand pressed against her head to hold her to his mouth. His tongue swept wetly across the curve of her ear and the metal piece. His flat front teeth caught hold of it. She heard a distinct crunch.

  Sharp pain stabbed from her ear’s lower arch. She jerked in his hold and cried out.

  His arm tightened around her and his hand pressed her head still as he sucked on her wounded ear. A rumbling purr vibrated in his chest and into her.

  She made small sounds of distress but leaned into him, comforted by the vibrating sound pressing into her. She hurt, but she’d pleased him. She liked pleasing him. She stilled.

  He released her ear.

  Weight dangled uncomfortably on the bottom of her ear. She frowned.

  Khan caught her gaze. “Do not touch.”

  She nodded slowly. The weight shifted along the bottom of her ear and she winced.

  Khan turned to look at Tah and raised his brow. A smile appeared briefly. “Tradition seems to suit her. Wouldn’t you agree?” He turned Fallon’s head the other way.

  Fallon looked at Tah.

  Tah’s expression was perfectly placid, but tension showed in the corners of his mouth. “Her eyes are dilated very wide. I thought she seemed a little ... quiet.”

  She leaned against Khan and sighed.

  “Blood intoxication.” Khan placed another piece of metal in the lower arch of her other ear. “I fed her for a good quarter, right before we stepped out.”

  Tah frowned only slightly. “In the traditional manner?”

  “Yes.” He shook back his sleeve to display the mark of her teeth then cupped the back of her head to encourage her toward his mouth. His lips captured her ear and the metal piece in it.

  Fallon felt his breath in her ear, his sweeping tongue and his teeth clamping on the metal in her ear. She closed her eyes. Pain was coming. A small sound of distress escaped.

  Khan’s chest vibrated against hers with his rumbling purr. He waited.

  She took a small breath and leaned into him, seeking to keep that purr, that sign of his pleasure.

  He bit down.

  Crunch ...fire .

  She cried out but held still as he sucked on her ear. The pain mixed with his comforting purr and wrapped her in warmth. She blinked and felt something slipping away. Her knees buckled.

  “She’s falling.” Tah’s voice came from far away.

  Khan bent to catch her under the knees, then lifted her up against his heart. “She needs rest. This was a rough impression. For both of us.”

  Fallon blinked blearily up at him and curled up against his neck, snuggling into his warm hold and warmer scent.

  Tah’s mouth tightened. “I saw the bites.”

  “I have as many, if not more than she does.” A chuckled vibrated in Khan’s chest. “And she really likes using those claws of hers.”

  Fallon pressed her lips to Khan’s throat in a brief kiss then set her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. That strange sound bubbled up in her chest and lower throat.

  “She’s purring.” Tah sounded surprised.

  Purring? Fallon frowned then sighed. Oh, that’s what that is ... She released the rest of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think right then, she was too busy feeling warm, and comfortable, and sleepy.

  “Some Primes can.” Khan’s voice was soft. “I need to get to my ship. I’ll contact the captain with my new data on the incident as soon as I get this one settled.” He started walking. Footsteps followed.

  Fallon’s eyes opened briefly to see the two guards about three paces behind them. She glanced to the side where Tah paced beside them. Khan’s hand slid down her back. Safe ... She closed her eyes and relaxed. Warm...

  “Was this ... separation between them necessary?” Tah’s voice was very quiet, but his distress was clear.

  Khan sighed. “‘Syr Tah, even if they had imprinted, I would have had to separate them.”

  “What?” Tah’s question was barely a breath of sound. “What is so terrible about the two of them paired? Is it because she’s an upuaht -level Prime rehkyt? ”

  Khan snorted in crystal-clear derision. “No. It’s because this upuaht -level Prime rehkyt also happens to be the Fallen Star, one of the Moribund Company’s code-crackers. She has a file about as long as this ship.”

  “Mother Night ...”

  “I was already on my way here to take custody when your call came through about the incident.”

  Fallen Star...

  Fallon’s mind struggled up from her warm, comfortable place of nothingness and into the place that pulsed with a hurt that felt like betrayal. She opened her eyes. She was being carried through one of the gray hallways. She swallowed and the purr in her throat disappeared.

  Khan stiffened and turned to look at her.

  She turned to look at Khan with that hurt pulsing around her heart. “You knew, all along?”

  Khan glared briefly at Tah, then looked at her. “Yes.” Tension tightened his mouth. “It changes nothing. You are safe with me.”

  She wanted to believe him. Part of her already did. That part was loud and inviting and promised ease. She wanted that ease. She nodded and set her chin on his shoulder then closed her eyes. But another part of her refused to believe.

  The purr didn’t come back.

  * * * * *

  A door buzzed closed.

  Fallon’s eyes snapped open. She was lying under a thick black comforter in a pile of black and scarlet pillows. She jerked upright to discover that she was in a huge, circular bowl-like bed draped with sheer gold curtains that hung from a ceiling high over her head. She groaned. She was dead tired and desperate for sleep, but there was no way in fury she could sleep in this. It was too exposed, with too much light, and it was way too low.

  She crawled to the edge of the bowl and shoved back the curtains. The damned bed was sunk about knee-deep into the floor! Her lips curled. There was no way she could fall asleep in this. Anything crawling along the floor or spilling across it would end up in the bed with her.

  Beyond the edge of the bed, the room was long and fairly broad with gold carpeting. Though only a few of the sconces at the edges of the high ceiling were lit, there was a disturbing amount of light. Tall, smoked mirrors on the dark red walls made the room look even more cavernous and bright. She would not be able to move an inch across that floor without being seen in those mirrors.

  A massive set of black trunks sat against the left wall, a low but broad round table with four thick sitting pillows occupied the room’s center, and a pair of huge doors were set into the wall on her right. Small tables with art objects were posted along the walls. She had no clue where the exit was.

  There was barely cover at all.

  However, the good news was that the room was so exposed she could tell in a glance that no one else was in it.

  The bed she occupied appeared to be set in a small alcove and was the darkest part of the room, but it was far too open and exposed for comfort. Worse still, the whole setup led in a clear straight path to the bed. Anyone entering the room would come straight there.

  If she was going to get some decent sleep, she needed to find someplace a lot more secure, higher up, and dark. Her gaze drifted to the doors in the wall.

  She moved cautiously from the bed, watching for any sign of movement. Her gaze darted to her own reflection moving in all the mirrors. It was unnerving as fury to be so visible.

  She tugged open the tall door on the right. It was a wardrobe stuffed full with hanging robes, mostly black and red, and assorted trunks. She looked up. Above the hanging clothes, a broad shelf occupied the top quarter with the far ends concealed by the fact that the doors did not o
pen the entire width of the wardrobe. There was a meter of shelf space concealed at either end even with the doors wide open. Boxes filled the center of the shelf, but the concealed ends appeared to be empty. Perfect .

  She went back to the bed and collected two black pillows. Holding the pillows with her teeth, she grabbed onto the wardrobe’s inner edge and climbed up. Hanging onto the top edge of the wardrobe with one hand -- thank the Maker for augmentations that allowed her to lift twice her own body-weight -- she pushed all the boxes out of the right corner then pulled herself up and shoved her feet into the empty space. Folding her legs tightly, she wriggled her butt onto the shelf. She turned over onto her knees and leaned out from the shelf to grab the top edge of the open door. She pulled it closed.

  Darkness enveloped her. She wriggled back into the corner, tugging one of the boxes along the shelf with her. She set the box at her head to block her from view should someone open the door. Curled tight in the small space with her head nestled on one pillow and the other jammed against her back for comfort and warmth, Fallon sighed in complete ease. The shelf space was actually roomier than her bed at home. She snuggled into the pillows and promptly went to sleep.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Moon Blade --Skeldhi Mehdjay Battle-Cruiser

  Outer Rim of Imperial Space

  Local Space

  Somebody chuckled.

  Somebody else cursed. It sounded like Khan. “I know she’s in here ... somewhere.” It was Khan, and he was seriously annoyed.

  Fallon curled tighter into her dark corner, clutching the pillow under her head. If he was pissed, she was better off where she was.

  “I’m sure she is, but I told you she wouldn’t stay in the bed.” Sobehk’s voice was calm and very smug.