The Naked Truth (4 page)

She looked him in the eyes, her glance seeming to measure him. Her gaze seemed to catch on the feather he’d pulled from her memory and brought along with them to his home world, its edge flaring out from the narrow pocket of his robe. Finally she nodded.

“Roll on to your back.”

She lay back in the sand, stretching out her lanky body with a grace any warrior would be proud of. She rolled over, giving him her back and her trust. He lowered himself to the sand beside her and pictured the vial of oils he’d left at home, bringing one memory into the other and blending them as only a master Examiner had the ability to do. Unstopping the bottle, he breathed the scent in, a blend of herbs infused in siland oils that brought peace to a restless mind. A few drops on his hands and he began, slowly stroking her unmarked skin. He kneaded her muscles, applying pressure as he’d been taught by his first lover.

He ran his palms over the lean length of her back. The edge of her pettan had slipped, and he could see the dimples at the top of her tailbone. He swallowed hard. This contact, pushing the limits of her trust to deepen the strength of their m’ittar, also pushed the limits of his desire. He shouldn’t have put off engaging in sex with the eager young officers on the ship. The urge to run his fingertips under the soft material of her pettan and pull it down to expose the rounded cheeks of her ass tightened his groin. When he realized that she was moving under his hands, leaning into the pressure of his palms, he nearly groaned aloud.

After a few moments she glanced back at him. Her eyes were solemn, and his heart stirred as he realized that despite his efforts, she could not imagine herself as anywhere other than still deep in trouble—her future, perhaps even her life in jeopardy. Sensual she might be, but her mind moved in complex patterns.

He took a chance, lowered his mouth again to hers. In the contact of m’ittar, desire became reality. Their lips touched, his questioning, hers answering. He parted her mouth with his tongue, tasted her as he’d wanted to since she’d been healed.

She rolled to one side. Her arms returned his embrace, stroked his back. The soft lines of his L’inar markings across his torso stiffened into ridges as she stroked him, unknowing what her actions were suggesting to him. He groaned with desire as her hands explored, but released her when she broke the embrace.

His kiss, so gentle, and so sensual was a marvelous distraction. He didn’t pressure her. For a few minutes she forgot where she was, and why she was there. More importantly she forgot what had happened before, or at least she could pretend to forget. There was something in his intense green eyes, something…honest. He’s delicious. Admitting to herself that she wanted him was easy enough in this unreal alien place. He’s…beautiful.

Sue stood and faced the lapping waves of an alien ocean. She heard the soft rustle of sand as he stood as well and imagined the way his eyes would be watching her. Would they be filled with pity?

All her adult life had been spent in the military. She’d fought for every advancement and never shown a moment’s hesitation to stand up for herself or her brothers-in-arms. She was tough, never needing all the mushy emotional crap she saw in the vids. It wasn’t for her. If she wanted a man, she took him or let him take her, but never worried about intimacy. And if that was sometimes a lonely existence, well, that was what life had in store for her. Sex was sex.

But sex with this man, this alien, wasn’t going to be that easy. She could feel it. He was nearly the opposite of every man she’d ever been with, the way he seemed to consider every action, never jumping right in like she would have. If she followed her hormones this time, it would be complicated.

“Between Inarrii, sensuality is an experience that offers comfort. Forgive me if I have taken this too far.” His mental voice rumbled with what she thought might be restrained passion but also carried the weight of complete sincerity.

She turned back to him. There was no pity in his expression. He honestly wanted to soothe her, make her relax enough to find the strength to face the past.

She made a choice, and stepped in to kiss him again. She’d never shared more than the hot sweaty motions of sex, but this time she wanted more. He was offering her a tenderness that seemed to chase away the dark, that made her remember herself as her body pushed for more. The more she desired him, the more she felt like herself.

He hesitated. Was her kiss tainted with her desperation to forget? Or perhaps he sensed the culmination of a lifetime of loneliness. But as she ran her hands over his forearms, he shuddered and met her lips again.

The preliminary reports on the Inarrii, and her former superior’s comments were correct. The markings over most of Kiis’s body were not tattoos, they were something else. The more she touched them, the firmer they got, forming ridges that rose above his skin. In some places only a few millimeters, and in others nearly an inch.

She ran her fingers over the ridges and looked up in time to see his eyes dilate. He liked it—no, she was pretty sure he loved it. She stepped deeper into the embrace, reached around him to stroke the ridges on his neck. She slid her hands under the edge of his robes, traced the lines as they curved down his back. They seemed to cover him, and she grinned as she wondered just how far they went. Hell. If I wanted someone before, I just took them, right? She pushed herself further. I’ll find out just how far they go, have a little fun, and all this shit will be over before I know it. She liked sex, enjoyed it as often as she could. So why stop now? My career is likely over anyway, and this isn’t even my real body, for fuck’s sake. I want him, want to imagine something more than a quick lay.

I want more.

Groaning, he pulled her down with him onto the fine black sand. For an instant she wondered if he had read her mind, knew her intention to take whatever pleasure she could and to hell with the consequences. Or worse, did he realize she wished for something she couldn’t hope for—emotional attachment? The red fog had nearly dissolved, and a yellow sun, so like her own, now bathed them in mild warmth. He laid her back, covering her with his hot skin. His lips raced across her earlobe, cheek and mouth to devour her. Her questions evaporated with the intensity of his touch.

Hunger. That’s what she sensed from him, but not anger. She remembered that feeling all too well. Suddenly his weight seemed crushing, and she fought to breathe.

It flashed back to her. The pain she’d endured in captivity. Her mind bucked.

“No!” She gasped and pushed at the man covering her. Blackness crouched on the edges of her vision. She would not be sucked back into that memory, not now.

“Susan, look at me. That is the past. I am here now. You are safe.” Kiis held her, soothed her.

“He…hurt me.”

“I know, but that is not now. That is the past. It’s gone, Susan. Trust me.”

“I…I don’t even know your first name,” she stuttered. Somehow, the waves of panic the flashback had caused were fading. The weight of Kiis’s body no longer seemed constricting. Heat radiated from him. Even though she was desperate for his touch, to feel connected in a way only he could make her experience, maybe rushing into sex and intimacy wasn’t such a great idea. She looked into his eyes. “Don’t look at it. Don’t look at that memory.”

“Shhh.” He touched her short cropped hair. The warmth in his eyes, the caring, nearly eclipsed the desire she saw in their depths. The combination shook her, made her swallow as she realized how intensely he was focused on her. “I am called Asler. Be here with me now, in the present. Just be with me.”

Asler slipped from her mind, pulled the two of them back to the reality of the ship. He led her psyche into a deep sleep before releasing her entirely. His senses still reeled drunkenly as he lay with her on the bench in his office. Who could have imagined that the cool-skinned humans held so much passion and heat? He’d nearly given in to his desires and taken her as he would have any Inarrii woman, case be damned.

He drew a shaky breath and thanked the gods things hadn’t progressed further. Where was his Examiner control? What he needed to do with this woman was find the truth. To do that, he couldn’t treat her as he would an Inarrii, no matter what his instincts were telling him she needed—or even openly asked for.

The contact between them, the m’ittar, had been inexorably strengthened. He would be able to take her through her past without her rejecting him, without her being able to stop the flow of images. He shut his eyes against the innocence on her face as she lay beneath him. She had shied violently away from the thought of her torture. She would feel betrayed if he forced her through it, forced her to remember it all only so he could decide if she had been party to the terrorist attack in any way, or if she were as guiltless as her sleeping face appeared. The urge to protect her from this pain pulsed within him. She was so different from other women and the way they made him feel.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have taken things to such a physical level so quickly. But in m’ittar there was no way to lie—they had both wanted the sensual contact almost immediately, and in Inarrii culture, this contact was perfectly acceptable. In the face of her recent painful experience he desired, more than anything, to heal her wounds and comfort her. Sex shouldn’t have been part of the equation, and yet it seemed that it was already part of the way they reacted to each other.

Asler slid from her embrace and rose above her. He wouldn’t need sleep for some time, but humans needed to rest about every ten hours, if possible. Inarrii had much longer cycles, going twenty-five to thirty Earth hours before needing a sleep period. The ship had no hour-based schedule.

He looked down at Susan, admired her beautiful skin. A flick of his hand over the side of the couch turned its air blanket on to a warm setting.

Susan’s skin still flushed with a ruddy color across her cheeks and down her neck and breasts. Passion. Surprisingly she had been able to feel it with him, had reached for it in his arms even after the torture she’d experienced. There was no question that she had been hurt badly by the terrorists. The question was, had the torture happened before or after she told them the location of the Confederacy ship? And how much had she told them? Were there more terrorists than the few found and killed onboard the attacking ship? They needed the answers, and needed them soon.

What the Confederacy hadn’t told the humans was just how close the alien Ravagers were to Earth. They would soon lay waste to the fragile planet if no Treaty had been established. Even with one in place, the Ravagers would likely attempt to loot and destroy anything left unguarded on Earth.

He ran a light touch over Susan’s short hair. He liked these humans. In particular, he liked this one very much. Being within her mind allowed for an understanding of her psyche that would take years without m’ittar. She was a strong individual with depths that begged to be explored. Their planet should not be left unprotected, to be ruined. His feelings were not only based on the obvious advantages Earth’s resources would bring the Confederacy. His inner sense told him these people would be very important to his own, and that this woman would be important to him.

Since the full development of his m’ittar, he’d focused everything on his career. His clan relied on the younger men and women to bring them honor. That honor became a kind of currency on Inarr and within the Confederacy, where Inarrii were present. He’d never taken the time to look for a mate, although he’d always imagined it might happen some day.

He shook his head at the direction his thoughts were taking. Nothing was possible until the truth had been established and dealt with.

Quietly, Asler made his way to the cleansing unit. Spending time in the ultrasonic cleanser could be very relaxing if it was put on the lowest setting. Susan would sleep for at least four hours if he understood the human physiology he had studied. He’d take a break in the cleanser and then file his report.

As he stood inside the unit, he waited for peace to consume him again, to restore his equilibrium. It didn’t come. She wouldn’t leave his thoughts. He left the cleanser and skirted the office to enter his private bedchamber. In silence, he logged his time with Susan in his private records. An Examiner kept detailed reports, secure both physically and legally. What happened in any interrogation was private to all but the Examiner, at least until it was time to present any findings.

Upon returning to the office, his eyes were drawn to her relaxed body sprawled guilelessly across the couch. He moved to stand over her. Would these hours ever end? Despite his training to uncover the truth, there was something more that compelled him to be with her. Something surprising. He wanted to be with her, wanted more from her.

Asler sighed and stepped away, paced the short room twice as he tried to grasp the underlying current of the surprising desire. The woman wasn’t even Inarrii. Perhaps he really had been too long without the comfort of his kind. Without sexual release. His eyes trailed over Susan’s sleeping form again. He turned to make a third silent pass through the room when his communications desk beeped.

He strode to his desk, grateful not to have to question himself again. The communication panel slipped open to his touch, extending the seat and flashing the visual panel open to show him the Confederacy logo from the Inarrii outbase that had been secretly established on one of Jupiter’s minor moons. Very few of the humans were yet aware of its presence, but they would be grateful of it if the Treaty was passed in time to protect them from the approaching Ravagers.

He signaled his acceptance of the communication to the desk and watched with unease as the face of one of his Inarrii commanders and an old friend, Jannii Finar, filled the screen. Lines of stress radiated across the man’s face.

“Inar tel sahiir—” Asler began the formal greeting to his superior, but the Inarrii cut him short with a wave of his hand.

“Examiner Kiis, do you have the human Starforce Captain Branscombe?” Jannii asked intently, his voice taut with tension. The words were automatically translated to the human standard by the computer, Asler having programmed constant translation to aid in his fluency.

“Yes, she has been physically healed, and we have begun the process of deep m’ittar connection. What is wrong?”

“Is there any problem with your bond, since she is human? Will you be able to find the truth?” Jannii pushed. “Will you be able to discover exactly what she told the terrorists?”

Asler stared at the screen. Something was seriously wrong. “What happened?”

“There’s been another attack. This time they hit our outbase on the Jupiter moon. It was well planned, Kiis. There were two deaths, both Inarrii, and more damage than we expected. Hydroponics were affected, communications partially shut down.” His eyes bore into Asler’s. “There was more damage than we would expect from human weaponry. And they shouldn’t even know we are here. Only the mobility of the small fighters saved us.”

Asler’s heart thudded. His commander’s implication was clear. Some other race could be involved. It was possible an unknown entity had powered the attack under the guise of human anti-alien terrorism, someone strong enough to be a real threat to them all. The Ravagers could be here, although this kind of calculated subterfuge wasn’t their usual style.

That the small fighters had aided the base was of special importance, as they had been provided by the human Starforce Marines, guided by the very officer who had made first contact with the Inarrii. This aid would allow the Treaty negotiations to continue, despite the taint of any human anti-alien dissident group.

“There will be no difficulty. When we touch, m’ittar is possible. I took her under, mind to mind. Our bodies are…similar.” Asler shifted uncomfortably as his ridges hardened under his chammiss robes. He hoped in vain that they didn’t show above the neckline. “The more we touch physically and mentally, the easier contact becomes.”

Tension drew away from his commander’s face, although it remained in his eyes. “I wish I could hear more about it. Your L’inar are rising.”

Asler cleared his throat. So much for the hope that Jannii wouldn’t notice. Memories of Susan’s body against his pushed at him, hard. “It will work.”

“You have to get answers, Kiis. We need to know her involvement and what she told them. We need to know who they are. I know this attraction will not pull you from the truth.” Jannii was once again the commander, and his tension was back. Asler felt as though he’d been shaken.

With a short salute and a formal well-wishing, they signed off.

Asler leaned back in the communication seat. It shifted with him, the low back rising to cradle him as he ran through the short communication again in his mind. His instinct told him to trust Susan Branscombe, and it wasn’t because of the kisses they had shared. But could he believe in himself when he had such an immediate response to her? Not so much physically—his race was highly sensual and it was expected that that could happen—but emotionally? Could he trust that he would find out all that she knew, even subconsciously, when he felt such a connection and desire to protect her?

He also sensed that she had certain doubts and even a feeling of guilt over what had happened. Could she be, even unwittingly, marginally responsible?

A soft rustle behind him alerted Asler. He turned and met Susan’s eyes. It was impossible to think of her as Captain Branscombe now. How long had she been awake? How much had she heard?

“So, will you discuss how good I was with him later? After you make me relive the pain? After you lock me up? That appears to be the plan—you screw me in my mind before you screw up my life permanently.”

He looked away from her eyes, eyes so alert, so condemning, even when her body still wore the sleepy flush of fulfillment.