“Oh. I see.” He chuckled, and they lifted off the surface of Jurk Six. “I was looking forward to nursing you back to health. After all, you went above and beyond in the line of duty.”
She grimaced. “I wasn’t keen on their idea to use you as a genetic donor.”
His smile was smug. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Jiska sighed. “Fine. It was rather obvious.”
“It’s all right. I was not too happy with the captain’s offer for you to take up residence with the Correnor. I am glad you didn’t accept.”
“Why?”
He pulled them out of the atmosphere and set the controls to return them to Udell.
“Come with me, Jiska.”
She followed him, her curiosity hammering at her skull.
He took her into the bedroom and through it to the lav. He stood behind her and stared into the mirror. “What do you see when you look in this mirror?”
She shrugged. “I see you standing behind me. Why?”
His eyes were dark and intense as he stared into her face via the mirror. “I see truth. You are the truth that I have been seeking in the face of every woman I have ever met. They were all lacking this. This truth. I am yours until I die. What you choose to do with that information is up to you.”
She turned in his arms and went up on her toes, bringing him down to her for a kiss. His lips were smooth and warm, firm against hers. “This is so much better when you are awake.”
He leaned back. “You kissed me while I was unconscious?”
Her cheeks heated. “It was my first kiss, so I wanted to be in control of it, and you looked so peaceful sleeping there.”
He placed his hands on her hips. “So, how was it?”
She settled her hands on his shoulders. “A little one sided.”
“That can be remedied, but don’t knock me out.” He leaned in, and she leaned up.
They met in a kiss that shared his constraint and her curiosity. After several heated moments of groans and sighs, he broke the kiss. “This is not the place for this. The idea of a rushed beginning is not to my taste.”
She blushed and backed away. “I see. Oddly enough, that has not been my experience. Most of the men in the barracks would have jumped at the opportunity I just offered you.”
He grinned. “I know. I am not a horny teenager. Sure, I am horny, but I have patience to wait until the moment is right. Right is not while we are on the way back to a debriefing with Guardian and Pax.”
She nodded. “Fine, we will wait, but can you kiss me again? It’s surprisingly enjoyable.”
He chortled and lifted her against him, walking back to the command deck, settling her in his lap.
They kissed over and over during the hours that the ship transported them back to Udell base. By the time they arrived, Jiska was a raw nerve and her body was humming so badly, she was sure that Deskin could hear it.
A physical release was demanded, but she didn’t know how to go about it. Aside from the mandatory information necessary for a young woman, she had not been provided with anything resembling a sexual education. Gossip in the barracks had given her what little she knew of her physiology and that wasn’t much.
When they settled in a boardroom for the debriefing, Deskin did all the talking, which was fine with Jiska, because all she could think about was finishing what they had started and finding out what the scars on his chest were from.
“A drinking contest?” Guardian appeared shocked.
Deskin nodded, his face earnest. “Indeed. It was not negotiable. Blink took the initiative and did the Citadel proud. The Alliance trading team was sent back to their base, and we were free to return to Udell.”
Pax gave her a sly look. “Blink, how did you manage to drink twenty-nine cups of wine and not die?”
Jiska inclined her head. “Urgat do not process alcohol. We secrete it from our pores to purge our systems. One hard shower and I was fine.”
Pax laughed. “Handy.”
“In this instance, yes. It isn’t a trait shared by all those from my world.”
Pax smiled, “We are aware. Deskin has no trait of that nature.”
Jiska turned her head to stare at Deskin, “Why would he be compared to someone from my world?”
Guardian was surprised. “Didn’t he tell you? Deskin is a Neccial. He was forced from his home as a child and tortured to work for the state until he could escape on a transport.”
An icy ball settled in Jiska’s stomach. “Neccial?”
Deskin looked at her with calm on his beautiful face. “I was going to tell you.”
“When? After we had sex?” She felt brittle.
“Ideally, yes.” He got to his feet, but he was too late.
She let the power surge and the three beings in the room collapsed.
Jiska found the gym, and she started to work out. The men of the base were eager to help her set up the equipment, but her heart didn’t flutter when she saw them.
Neccial. He was one of the enemies that she had been trained to fight her entire life. If the people of their world hadn’t been a mix of nineteen different species, it would have been easier to see what he was.
She grunted as she pressed the weight and shoved hard. She was going to feel it the next day, but it was helping her with her emotional pain.
A shadow fell over her and hands lifted the weight from her. “Jiska, we need to talk.”
She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Why?”
“Because, you need to hear the whole story, and I am sorry for not telling you up front.” Deskin’s face was sincere.
She got to her feet, and he offered her his hand. She walked with him down the halls until they reached a section marked as Citadel quarters. He opened the door that had both their names on it, and a comfortable sitting room greeted her gaze.
He sat down on the couch, and she sat across from him. “I am sorry I did not tell you earlier. I was afraid of how you would react.”
“Funny, that.” She kept her hands folded in her lap.
“When I was nine, a seeker came to my door and demanded my skill for the war effort. My parents fought and were killed by the recruiters accompanying the seeker, and I was hauled to the training base in shock.
“My skill at reading truth was not welcome when the dignitaries and politicians came to gauge my level of usefulness. No one wants the bald truth staring them in the face when they spend the days lying to all around them. I was rewarded with these marks, and when I was eleven, I ran away, hiding on an off-world freight transport that brought me to a Citadel outpost.
“I watched the war and paid attention to the lack of death that surged about the time that you took to the field. The Neccial were prisoners of war and the Urgat were no longer suffering catastrophic injury. Once the two governments asked for a mediator to help with their issues, I knew that my time had come. The documents provided showed me your history, and I included you in the negotiations. The price on your head was to be expected, given your history.”
She sighed. “It is plausible. More than that, it is likely. So, the Neccial were assholes too? Good to know. It makes me feel marginally less guilty.”
He reached out and pulled her into his embrace. “I am sorry that I had to hide the truth, but you weren’t ready to hear it.”
She looked into his eyes and read the truth there. “Were Guardian and Pax upset by being knocked out?”
He wrinkled his nose. “I am fairly sure that you should avoid asking for a raise anytime soon, but they did understand the reason for the upset.”
“It is a little embarrassing. I was caught off guard and that doesn’t happen often.”
Deskin hooked a finger in the front of her bodysuit and pulled her to him. “Allow me to test that. I plan to keep you off guard as often as I can.”
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he began a series of nibbling kisses on her lips and jawline. Her Masuo retreated, leaving her naked in his arms, and he took full advantage of her vulnerable state.
It seemed that the timing was just right.
Jiska lay in bed with Deskin’s arms wrapped around her. She didn’t remember leaving the sitting room, but here she was with a pleasant ache and a physical satisfaction that her body was enjoying.
Deskin being a Neccial was going to be hard to deal with, but she would manage. If her mother could enjoy having a daughter who controlled the largest army in the region, she could manage to have a partner who had been born on the other side of the continent from her.
It would not be easy, it would not be pretty, but for a woman who could drop and army with a single thought, dealing with Deskin would be the most enjoyable challenge of her life.
Author’s Note
Embracing someone’s more irritating habits is what makes couples go from stable to eternal. I have been lucky enough to witness a few couples who had this peculiar link to each other, and despite their differences, you can literally feel the love when you are near them. You can also feel irritation and an urge to kill, but that is a tale for another day. J
The next Tale of the Citadel is
Mauled by Destiny
. There is a delicate moment in every woman’s life when she can either follow the path laid out by tradition or she can be clawed up by an alien interloper and begin a transformation into something far beyond her wildest dreams.
Thanks for Reading
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.