Odd Coupling (4 page)

The ride was rough, and he shifted his
weight to get more comfortable. He closed his eyes. Various scents
mingled with the smoke and chemical smells trapped in his nose. He
slightly curled his upper lip and drew in a tasting breath that
allowed the air to flow over the glands in his nose and mouth. The
truck smelled of grains, leather and a heady fragrant mixture of
perfume and female. The little human scented of fresh air, fruit
and musk. She smelled delightful, very attractive. He wondered what
he’d detect if he nuzzled her neck. Would her scent strengthen for
him?

Although he realized he should never
attempt such a thing, he toyed with the idea, anyway. Even in his
impaired state, her smell called to him, and his body tried to
answer despite his mind’s warnings. To his surprise, his cock
swelled. It soon competed with the pain in his head. To ease the
pressure, he pushed up to a semi-seated position and leaned his
head toward the window. Fresh air rushed against his face and
helped him revive. It also masked the female’s arousing
scent.

Clearly he was severely injured and
out of his mind for even considering such thoughts. If his skull
wasn’t fractured, the commandant and Mendoran ambassador would make
sure it was cracked if they found out he’d even entertained the
idea of coupling with a human female.

After she spoke to him, he took his
time to make sure his words would be understandable. Like all
aboard his ship, he had a translator implant. Most of the
first-contact personnel were taught at least one of the Earth
languages. The ambassadors insisted it was the best way to
communicate with a new species.

Vren had taken a cycle’s worth of
teaching probes to learn English. The process was painless but
time-consuming. They couldn’t teach everything, and his implant
helped him understand her meaning whenever his vocabulary fell
short. The more they communicated the better his language skills
would become. Right now, he was glad he’d endured the teaching. He
wanted to talk to this female. His first instinct was to thank her
for her help. By her response, he knew he’d pleased her. Afterward,
he enjoyed their brief conversation, even when there were a few
lapses and breakdowns.

* * * *

Commandant Tram, captain of
the star cruiser
Seeker
and leader of the entire Alliance taskforce,
turned his back on the main screen. No one on the bridge spoke.
They were all too respectful to intrude on their high-ranking
captain’s personal grief at the loss of a friend and fellow
officer.

“
Alert me if further
details become known.”

Before his emotions could overcome
him, Tram stalked away from his command chair, intent on reaching
his office. It was located between the engineering officer’s
station and communications. He made it inside, and the door closed
before an anguished yowl sprang from his throat. He slumped into
his chair and propped his elbows on the desk for support as he
leaned his weary forehead onto his palms.

The door swished open, then closed
once more. Soft padding steps approached. His mate’s welcome scent
enveloped him. Her gentle fingers started near his backswept ears
and stroked through his thick mane. The tip of his tail stopped
twitching at her touch.

“
The fly over you requested
will take place shortly. One of our shuttles is leaving the NASA
facility at this very moment. They have the medical instruments on
board to detect Commander Vrenden’s personal transponder signal.
Perhaps…”

“
At least we’ll know the
exact location of his body.” Tram raised his head and looked at his
mate’s concerned face. Her pale gold eyes narrowed as she gazed at
him. “His striker crashed, Misha. None of our pilots would’ve
survived.”

She gave him a wry look. “Vren isn’t a
normal pilot, and he has a warrior’s luck. If anyone could’ve
survived, it’s him.”

A shrill buzz came from a comm-unit
near his elbow. Tram jabbed a finger at the voice-only button.
“Tram here.”

His Sauren communication
officer’s baritone voice came from the speaker.
“
Explorer
requests
permission to send a retrieval squad to the planet…again,
sir.”

Tram snarled in anger while
inwardly he mourned the loss of such a fine officer. He knew how
the
Explorer
’s
crew felt about their captain. Most were D’Lyrian, and all were
unwavering in their loyalty to their commander. It was no surprise
to him that they wanted to ignore all the regulations placed on
them by Earth’s government in order to find Vren’s body. However,
his hands were tied.

“
Denied, again. Send a
warning to First Officer Theral. If he tries to crack open a
shuttle bay door, I’ll personally fire on the
Explorer
. There’ll be no unauthorized
landings on this planet.”

“
Acknowledged.” The
comm-unit fell silent.

“
Do you think the Earth
government tracked the striker’s descent?” Misha asked.

Tram shook his head with
certainty. “No, but NASA has the upgraded scanners. They can detect
something so small, and they’ll send a search team. I’m not sure we
can avoid an
incident
with the NWG if they find him.”

“
I’ve been in contact with
a xenobiologist at NASA. Her name is Marisella Grainger. She’s very
curious about the biological differences between the various
species in the Alliance.”

Tram huffed out a cynical laugh.
“Several lifetimes of study ahead for her.”

“
She seems trustworthy and
eager to learn. Perhaps she can help?”

“
No, my love. The human
female might be more inclined to slice up what’s left of Vren’s
body in to tiny pieces.”

The comm-unit buzzed once
again.

“
Yes?” Tram’s patience was
quickly eroding.

“
Commandant,” the Sauren’s
voice was spiked with excitement, “the shuttle has detected a
signal. It’s Commander Vrenden’s, sir. They’ve located his
position, and according to the readouts, he’s alive.”

“
Can they tell if he’s
injured?” Misha interrupted, as was her right as medical
officer.

After a brief silence, the comm
officer reported, “Life signs within normal range and stable.
They’ve sent the coordinates for his location.”

Grafton, his senior security officer
who was also a D’Lyrian warrior, broke into the conversation. “Sir,
the commander is located in an area the NWG has declared as hostile
to the Alliance. I recommend we send an armed rescue team for
him.”

“
Denied!” Tram snarled at
the comm-unit.
What part of the Earth
prohibitions does mine and the
Explorer’s
crew not
understand?
“Unbelievable,” he muttered
while his mind churned with possibilities. After a few hard thought
moments, he swiveled his ears forward and stared up at Misha. He
didn’t even try to hide his sly, calculating grin. “I have an idea
that won’t violate our agreement with the NWG.

* * * *

Since he was alert for the
most part, it didn’t take Bethany long to help him out of the
backseat and into the house. He leaned on her for balance the
entire way. Once she’d flipped the light switch on and maneuvered
him into the living room, she stopped to think. Her friends from
Houston might drive down for the weekend. In anticipation, she’d
stripped the sheets off the beds in the two guestrooms. She hadn’t
washed them, and there were no spares. He couldn’t stay on the
couch. Anyone who came to the front door would see him. That left
her bed as the only logical choice at the moment. Her bath had a
huge walk-in shower, and the big alien guy most definitely needed a
bath. He smelled awful—a mixture of blood and acrid smoke. She
could just imagine how her ranch truck would smell in the
morning.
Damn
. It
was just one more thing she had to worry about. She’d take care of
it tomorrow. Right now, she had to hide the alien.

“
This is my home. There’s a
large bath in the next room if you feel up to taking a
shower.”

“
I would like to
clean.”

Thank god.

On the way through her bedroom and
into the bath, Bethany avoided looking at him for as long as
possible. She let go of his arm, and he grabbed the countertop to
brace himself. One look at his big hand made her gulp. Four fingers
and a thumb rested on the granite top, human-looking, except for
his fingertips. Where fingernails should’ve been, he had long,
raised ridges of thick skin. She didn’t want to think about what
they might be hiding. She looked away when she realized they were
glazed with blood.

While he waited, she started the
shower and then adjusted the water temperature. She had no idea if
he preferred hot or cold so she decided on warm. Come to think of
it, she didn’t know if he’d like to bathe in water at all. Her barn
cats certainly hated to get wet, but he hadn’t protested when she’d
turned on the water.

The fact that she knew so little about
him made her nervous, especially since she was all alone with him.
He’d killed the dogs that had attacked him. Would he decide she was
dangerous and kill her too? Did he understand she wasn’t his enemy?
They’d exchanged pleasantries, and he’d thanked her. That had to
count for something, right? No matter how much she tried to
convince herself otherwise, a tiny bit of anxiety slipped in and
made her doubt her decision.

“
Do not be afraid. I will
not hurt you.” His rumbling voice gave her a start.

“
Okay,” she blurted, then
looked at him. It was a mistake. She drew in a sharp
gasp.

He cocked his head. Curiosity shone
from a set of the most exotic green eyes she’d ever seen. They were
a little larger than a human’s and almond shaped with very
un-cat-like long black eyelashes that swept out sideways. His
pupils were vertical slits, slightly oval shaped at the moment
since the bathroom lighting was dim. He blinked and broke her out
of a trance.

Her field of vision expanded to take
in his whole face. For a second, she wondered if a Bengal tiger had
escaped from a zoo and found its way into her shower. Bethany
identified familiar features while she struggled to comprehend the
rest. They were a mixture of feline and human. The coloring and
striped patterns were almost identical to the tigers she’d
seen.

His chin, jawline and mouth looked
human, especially his very attractive full lips. She was a bit
surprised to see he didn’t have whiskers at all. His nose was
slightly flattened and somewhat cat-like, from the tip all the way
to the bridge between his eyes where it joined his forehead. Much
like a cat’s, his brow was almost non-existent. It seemed to start
at the juncture where the upper part of his nose flowed above the
most luminous eyes imaginable. At that point, his brow line faded
into the thicker fur on his forehead. A narrow strip of skin, which
formed an eyelid of sorts, moved in unison with his lower one when
he blinked. The movement was startling and very
un-human-like.

Strong feline features took over from
there. Perfectly proportioned cat ears stuck out from his head, but
their tops weren’t rounded like a tiger’s or like most of the large
cats she’d seen in zoos and in pictures. The lynx sprang to mind.
At the moment, the two tufted tips were turned directly at her. She
couldn’t tell how large they were since the bases were embedded in
a mane of hair, which consisted of long and short strands in a mix
of colors. Most notably white, black, gold and a few strips of
orange.

To her amazement, the skin on his face
and neck appeared suede-like, as if he had a micro-thin pelt of
hair on the surface. The tiger patterns were most pronounced on his
forehead and the sides of his face and jaw while his central
features were colored a solid tannish-gold shade. Near the back
edge of his jaw where a human’s ear would normally sit, a matching
short ruff of multi-colored hair grew and blended into the rest of
his very lion-ish mane. His overall appearance was reminiscent of
Cats, an old Broadway musical whose performers wore cat costumes
and makeup.

Except he’s not an actor,
or a lion or tiger. He’s a living, breathing, intelligent alien
male, and he’s standing in my bathroom.

Determined to banish any fear, she
cleared her throat and swallowed nervously. She had to focus on the
most important things right now. First, get him cleaned up and then
try to see if he had any other injuries.

“
I think the shower is
ready if you want to undress. There’s soap and shampoo on the
shelves and plenty of towels on the rack.” How she managed to speak
so calmly she’d never know since her heart raced in a frantic
rhythm as she stared at him. She had to look away simply to take a
breath. “I’ll get a bag for your clothes if you want to save them.”
Bethany sidled around him, trying to avoid touching him. As she
passed, he shuffled around.
He just wants
to keep an eye on me
, she thought. She
tried to convince herself she didn’t want to bump into him, but in
reality she feared her own reactions if she did. His eyes and lips
did crazy things to her, gave her urges she thought had died long
ago. “Call me if you need anything.”