Havoc (11 page)

"Mm.” He winked, then turned and jumble-stepped away, more or less in the general direction of his living quarters.

When he had stumbled out of sight around a corner, she said to Elion, “He's an adventure, isn't he?"

Her phrasing made him smile, not the huge, easy grin of Kels's, but a slight lifting of the lips. Where Kels was bold sunshine and big mountains, Elion was cool, deep waters and snow on the meadow. She wished she knew more about the first mate. She'd been about to excuse herself and tell him she could find her own way home, but changed her mind. When would there be another opportunity for the two of them to be alone? Besides, there were things she'd like to learn from him. “Elion,” she said, “would you walk with me for a while?"

"You don't want to go back to your cube?” he asked.

"Not right now. I don't feel like I can sit or stand still.” She shook out her hands. “I've got the jitters. The scan, the Dome, everything. I hate to say it, but I'm feeling a bit uncertain about tomorrow."

A layer of ice melted from his eyes. He tipped his head to peer at her more closely. “You're not ready, are you?"

"I'm not sure. Can you tell me anything about it?"

"Only what I saw today.” His lips pressed together. “I think you're right. We should take a walk and...talk."

Without his asking, she slipped her hand around his elbow, and they strolled to where, she didn't know. He led, and she followed. Slightly shorter and more slender than Kels, he gave off an air of steadiness and calm she truly needed to absorb at the moment. She hadn't been lying about her jitters.

Once they were in a quieter corridor, he said, “Sayal, if you're going to back out, now's the time. Don't wait until you're at the arena gate."

"I have no intention of quitting. I just want to be prepared."

"Other than practice, nothing can prepare you. Have you and Kels fucked?"

She'd never get used to the bluntness of the language. “Not exactly."

"Either you have or you haven't. And I'd imagine if Kels fucked you, you'd remember.” His tone was wry but not unkind.

"Then no. We—how do you say it—messed around a little this afternoon. I think we click well. I do desire him."

"And he'll take care of you in the Dome, believe me. He'll teach you and watch out for you. The women he's been with—they all say he's patient and considerate, and I think you've seen some of that for yourself. Look, if your nerves really get the best of you, just lie back and let him do the driving. He'll get you where you need to go."

"I can't believe an unresponsive woman would do very well in the games."

"You'd have to be dead to be unresponsive with him, even if you tried. From what I understand, being with Kels is like being sucked into a vortex. I've never known him to fail with a woman—sexually at least."

She laughed and wrapped her hands around his arm, leaning into him. “The way you describe things... Driving and vortexes. What have I gotten myself into?"

He slipped her another small smile, even though his eyes were serious. “I watched that triad today, and I honestly don't understand how humans can perform under those circumstances. There's no...intimacy, no privacy."

"I suppose that's part of the thrill."

"For the people watching, yes."

"Kels told me some people get flipped on by being watched."

"Yeah, sure. Not me."

"I hope I do.” She bit her lip. “I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

Complicated emotions swam through his gaze as it roamed from her eyes to her mouth and back again. “Sayal, I admit, when I first met you I had my doubts. Now...you seem like a decent bird. I don't know what's in the Zone that's so important to you, but it's a living hell out there, and you could do so much better. How about we skip the games tomorrow, give you a ride out to some pretty planet, and drop you off? Kels wouldn't mind. He'd always want to do what's best for you."

"And you?” she challenged lightly.

"Of course. I want what's best for all of us."

And would that include keeping her away from his captain? Was he jealous? She skimmed his life force and felt only concern and deep, unreadable emotion. This was a man with secrets, the darkest of them all, perhaps, being his desire for his friend. She rubbed her hand over his firm biceps. “I did ask Kels about... Well, whether you and he and—"

"Keeva. Yeah, he told me, and I'm sure he also told you the answer is no."

"Have you ever...with him?"

He pulled back and scowled down at her. “You're as bad as he is. Sex, sex, sex—is that all that's on your mind?"

"No.” She felt her cheeks heating from his gentle scolding. “I'm sorry. You're right. I was prying where I shouldn't."

They'd reached an isolated old part of the station, and her mouth dropped open when she looked up to see enormous floor-to-ceiling fabriglass windows, at least thirty meters high and sixty wide, looking out into the absolute blackness of space. A red-and-gold-striped ball hovered prominently—the closest planet, Mirinor—and behind that, the gauzy glow of the Proteus Nebula floating like a scarlet scarf on an ebony background, dotted with glowing, still-forming stars, the universe renewing itself.

Awestruck, she dropped Elion's arm and walked to the curving glass, then pressed her hands upon it, feeling the cold of space pressing back. “It's beautiful."

He came up beside her, hands in his pockets. “I'd hoped you'd like it. It's become my favorite place to run away to, to meditate or hide."

"It reminds me of my childhood.” Watching moist heat form a halo about her fingers, she said, “I was raised on a deep-space liner, and I spent endless hours watching the galaxy stream by the port-view windows. It was much like this.” She pointed to the planet and the faint lights around it that were its four moons. “Mirinor and the four sisters—Aleac, Transor, Barinor, and... Oh, I've forgotten the last.” She glanced at Elion for help remembering, and he, looking faintly amused, shrugged. She turned back to the window. “I had a wonderful tutor who was quite patient with me and answered any question I had. Sometimes I felt as if my head would burst with knowledge, but then I wanted it to so I would have room for more. Isn't that silly?"

He shook his head. “No. Not silly at all."

Rather than watching the view, he seemed to be more absorbed in her. Awareness flushed over her skin. She couldn't read him as well as she'd thought after all, for could it be he desired her? Or was he just doing his duty as the captain commanded? Facing him, she leaned her shoulder against the curved glass. “How did you and Kels meet?"

He arched an eyebrow as if he found this question impertinent too, but then he took her hand and led her to a metal bench where they could still gaze out the window. They sat close together, and he said, “You already know my military history apparently."

"It was public information. I simply looked you up on my digipad."

"Hm.” His lips thinned, but he said, “Kels was in the Conflicts too, only he'd been recruited, where I was born into it. I mention that only because it's part of what brought us together. We both were sent to Aleppo for one of the worst battles of the seventeenth cycle of Conflicts. I was a pilot. My ship was shot down in a no-man's land in Aleppo's great desert. Do you know what a cravator is?"

"Isn't it a giant carnivorous predator with two heads and six razor-clawed feet?"

"Yes, that's the one.” Propping his elbows on the back of the bench, he said, “Well, they infest Aleppo, and I landed right in a nest of them. They started gnawing apart my ship pretty quick, and since the interior had caught fire, I was in a tight fix. I also knew no one would be insane enough to come rescue me. I figured I had a few minutes before I either burned to death or was snack for a crav.” He dragged his hand over his short-cropped hair. “Just as a big crav was about to punch through my front panel, there was a blaze of blaster fire and a scream, and here came you-know-who, our mutual friend. He killed or frightened away the cravs, knocked in the panel, and dragged my half-burned body out of there."

"Burned? Was that the injury I saw mentioned in your public records?"

"Yes.” He drew back the right sleeve of his white shirt, revealing skin not quite the same color as that on his left arm. “I had third-degree burns over both hands and my right side, ankle to wrist. These two fingers"—he wiggled the pinkie and ring fingers of his right hand—"were burned off completely. For once, I was glad we'd made contact with those filthy fucking Primes. It was Prime technology that gave me back my fingers and my skin."

She shriveled inside at his casual epithets but kept her reaction off her face. “What happened to you then?"

"I couldn't walk, couldn't talk. I was in seven hells of pain. Kels slung me over his shoulder and carried me through territory crawling with cravs and Pakkat warriors for kilometers until he found an allied medi-unit."

"No wonder you're so loyal to him,” she said softly, marveling at the story.

"That's not the half of it. Turns out the only reason he was in that hell pit was because he was going AWOL. He rescued me at his own expense. Since it wasn't his first time slipping off, he was condemned to five years in the sharrit mines as punishment. I pulled rank and got it reduced to two, but there was nothing else I could do.” Elion shook his head. “Once his sentence was served, he sought me out. I was still a broken man. The military had been my life, and they wouldn't take me back unless I got on their regimen of pharmas. I didn't want to lose...who I was. So I was directionless, lost. I'd even considered joining the Earth First Council. It'd gotten that bad.

"He gave me a job and a purpose. How the mines didn't break him, I'll never know. He's got a huge heart, a ton of raw courage. Not always a lot of common sense, as choosing the most dangerous route for his escape proved.” He smiled a bit. “But in a universe driven by mistrust and hatred, he's a gem."

"You love him,” she said simply.

He tipped his chin. “He's my best friend and my captain. I owe him my life and more."

"I'm sure he loves you too."

Elion hung his head and sighed. “Listen, Sayal. I figure you probably mean well, but you're not the first bird to try to psychoanalyze the vibe between me and Kels. Take my advice and leave it alone. We've been bumping along together for many years, and saints willing, we'll have many more ahead of us."

Perhaps it was the surge of sexual power she'd absorbed from Kels that made her want to touch his lips and discover their texture, but she thought not. Elion's loneliness suffused the slight bond she shared with him, colored it like rain and ash. He'd suffered from a distance for so long, keeping his love for Kels tended deep in his heart like a secret fire. “Elion."

When he looked at her, she asked, “Will you kiss me?"

"Pardon me?"

She sidled closer to him and put her hand on his thigh. “I want you to kiss me. Will you?"

"Why?"

"Because I like you. Because your story moved me. Because we're sitting alone in an empty place on a lonely station at the fringes of a hostile universe.” Then she did reach out and touch her fingertips to his mouth. His lips moved softly over them, back and forth, while his gaze sharpened on her. Her inner muscles tightened, and her nipples tingled. Sex with Elion would be gentle, slow, prolonged with exploration. She loved Kels's brash style, but she also couldn't help thinking about Elion taking her, fucking her with his cool eyes upon her, his healed hands covering her breasts.

They met each other partway, Elion's surprise at his own actions translating into a soft intake of breath as their lips touched. His kisses were sweet, unhurried, catching her lips between his, learning the taste and feel of her. She craved his hands on her body but satisfied herself with the revelation of his mouth on hers.

When she thought he might draw away, he cupped her cheek with his palm and slanted his mouth over hers. His tongue slipped between her lips to seek out hers. She shyly played with it, and her pussy grew wet and achy, and desire flourished beneath her skin. She slipped her palm over his erection covered by the fabric of his earth brown pants. He slid his fingers into her hair as she kneaded the promising length of it.

She broke the kiss. Elion's wide ice blue eyes glittered with desire and uncertainty. She knew he thought of her as his captain's woman, but she belonged to no one. She was free to make some choices at least, and one was to pleasure whomever she desired.

"Let me do this for you.” She whispered, “I want to,” and held his gaze while she worked the fastener on his pants and drew his veined, rigid cock into her palm.

"Sayal..."

With her thumb she rubbed the bead of moisture at the tip around the head and leaned in to lick his lips once more, silencing him except for his heavy breathing. He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands, as if he was afraid to touch her. She took the option from him by moving onto her knees between his thighs.

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Elion knew he should stop her.

But then Sayal gazed boldly into his startled eyes as she lowered her mouth over the head of his cock. She took him in deep, deep into her willing, hot mouth, sluicing her tongue around his shaft as she descended toward the base. It took no more than that for Elion to surrender. He threw back his head, spread his arms across the back of the bench, and relaxed his legs along her sides. He could fight it no longer.

Desire had been riding him so hard for so long. Today, watching Kels convulse in the grasp of the triad's lust, he had thought he'd lose it. He'd actually planned to get back to his cube and masturbate, but oh, this was better, so much better. And the notion that someone, even this strange girl, understood his pain was revelatory. He'd dwell on it later; for now... By the saints, she had a tongue on her.

Once he'd surrendered, she grasped his cock in both hands and worked her lips over it in long, slow strokes. She couldn't take him all in, so she used her hands instead, circling his shaft and drawing the tight ring of her fingers up and down with the movement of her mouth. A sweet, aching tension flowed under his skin, drawing up his balls. He clenched his ass cheeks together, then relaxed them, wanting to thrust hard between her lips. Had she done this to Kels already?