Alien Salvation (29 page)

Without a word, his mouth took hers in
a sweet, slow kiss that made Lindsey’s knees buckle. His mouth
still locked on hers, Bacoj swung her up in his arms and carried
her a few steps before laying her gently on the sleeping mat. His
heavy bulk settled over her, caging her wonderfully beneath
him.

His hands worked at her clothes,
pulling them off, making her naked. He touched her all over, as if
to memorize every dip and curve of her. Lindsey moaned, her
carefully rehearsed speech far from her mind as the hard, calloused
hands enveloped her. The only thing that existed for her in this
dark sanctuary was Bacoj’s touch and the eternal kiss he warmed her
lips with.

Her lover shed his formsuit like a
snake sloughing off skin. He was so warm, so welcoming, like coming
indoors from a winter storm. Lindsey felt his hard prods at her
thighs, the tips tracing wet designs on her flesh. She parted her
legs in silent invitation, and he moved to press inside her,
seeking her heat.

She arched beneath Bacoj as he breached
her openings, filling her to perfection. Once fully immersed
inside, he went still, nestling in her hearth while his mouth and
tongue worked hers, kissing her as if he might die if
separated.

They lay like that for a long time,
joined at mouth and groin, content to be one entity for a time.
After a while, Lindsey could no longer separate where she ended and
Bacoj began. They were fused, two halves making a perfect
whole.

But passion woke, stirring them to move
at last. They twined together, sliding against one another in
sinuous harmony. They moved slowly at first, lazily slithering
about their combined bodies, in no hurry to ignite in tumultuous
explosion. When they glided against each other a little faster, it
was a natural progression. They let their senses dictate the pace,
sometimes slowing again, sometimes stopping completely. If Lindsey
had been forced to put a name to their joining, she would have
called it organic. There was none of the usual frenzy to push to
the end. There was only the purity of ultimate
connection.

When at last the need to find
completion did overcome them, they still moved as if joined by one
soul. No words were spoken, no encouragement was needed. Their
unity was so total that they climaxed together, their mingled
groans ebbing and flowing in time with each other. Only after the
last pulse of orgasm spent itself and their breath quieted did they
realize Japohn and Vax had come into the room, silently standing
back and watching the pair.

Once they knew Lindsey and Bacoj had
discovered their presence, the Nobek and Imdiko joined them on the
mat. Again, no words were needed or even wanted. The four bodies
twisted and knotted together until it was impossible to tell whose
limbs belonged to whom. For a too-brief time the hurt was healed
and the clan was made whole again. The group made love far into the
night until exhaustion claimed every one of them, sending them into
reluctant oblivion.

* * * *

Lindsey’s eyes opened. The lights
overhead were set to gradually brighten as the sun rose, and the
room blazed. She looked into Bacoj’s steady gaze. She felt Vax’s
body firm against her back. His and Japohn’s thicker arms circled
her waist from behind.

Bacoj looked at her with a look of
agonized adoration. She swallowed. No one had ever looked at her
with such hopelessness and love before.

“Hi,” she whispered.

He smiled at her, but the pain in his
expression remained nonetheless. “Hello. Last night no
change—”

She put her hand over his mouth. “Stop.
I know, Bacoj.”

“I so glad you visit. I think you no
forgive me.”

She fought for a light tone, thinking
he’d be more likely to listen to her if she spoke gently, without
an argumentative tone. “I figured, why deny myself the little time
I have left here with you?”

He smoothed her cheek with a calloused
thumb. “Thank you.”

She snuggled close to him, deliberately
letting him feel the warm softness of her body. She had no
compunction about using any unfair advantage she might possess. “I
have an idea if you’ll hear it.”

His eyes closed down with the finality
of a slamming door. “Please no make harder. Hurt
enough.”

Vax propped himself up on an elbow and
snarled, “I want hear idea.”

Japohn sat up and with a respectful
tone added, “What can harm to hear, my Dramok?”

Bacoj glared at them both for an
instant before his body sagged. He covered his face with his hands,
muffling his groan. “All right. What idea you have,
Lindsey?”

Lindsey sat up, shooting a look of
gratitude at Vax and Japohn. Bacoj also rose and sat cross legged
facing her. His expression was still grim, letting her know he was
ready to shoot down anything she might say. But at least he would
let her speak.

She took a deep breath. “I’ll go to
Kalquor tomorrow as you wish. I’ll meet the suitors my sister has
lined up for me. I’ll do everything I’m supposed to do. Does that
meet with what you feel is right?”

He watched her with sharp eyes. She
could almost hear him turning her words over in his head, looking
for the trap. Finally he gave her a slow nod. “It is what is
required.”

“Your assignment is for one year,
right? Then you return to Kalquor, to the lives you had before the
war.”

Vax answered her. “Better lives. Bacoj
qualify for better position after service.”

Japohn added, “I have new opportunity
when return. Real work, no more bounty hunter.”

“So you’re going back to Kalquor in
less than two years. Right, Bacoj?”

He frowned, still obviously trying to
figure out what she was up to. “Correct.”

Lindsey was proceeding very carefully
now. “That’s enough time to look over my clanning options. More
than enough, in fact. Now suppose I don’t like any of the clans who
court me?”

His eyes narrowed. “Many men. Many
clans to choose from.”

“I’m a picky girl, especially since I’m
already madly in love. So Bacoj, here’s my proposal. If I’m still
unclanned when you get home, can we reconsider my being your
Matara?”

He blinked at her, his surprise
apparent. “We will still no rank high enough.”

Lindsey fought the huff of frustration
that wanted to spring from her lips. “You know I don’t care about
that.” She took his hands in hers and felt the strength in them.
“Bacoj, I’m not going to clan with men I don’t feel something for
no matter their pedigree or bank account.” At his confused
expression she added, “Only belonging to a clan I love will make me
happy. Isn’t my happiness worth something on Kalquor? To
you?”

He looked at her with an earnestness
that broke her heart. “You happy worth everything.”

Bacoj stared at their linked hands, his
face heavy with concentration. Lindsey could feel Vax and Japohn at
her back, holding their breath as their Dramok struggled to do the
right thing.

Finally he looked her in the eye again.
A tired smile hinted at his lips, and Lindsey dared to hope. Bacoj
nodded. “You no clan when we return, we reclan.”

Vax and Japohn began laughing in
celebration, but when Bacoj held up his hand for silence, they
immediately quieted. There was no smile on his face when he said,
“Lindsey, you want different clan, you join. Do no give up happy
life for this clan. You swear this to me.”

She tightened her hands on his, her
heart racing and soul singing with victory. “Yes Bacoj. If I fall
in love with another clan I won’t wait for you. Deal?”

He picked her up and put her in his
lap. His very hard, very stiff lap. “It is deal. I love you, my
Lindsey.”

Vax and Japohn crowded close, ready to
join the celebration. And for Lindsey, it was a triumph, because
there was no doubt she would be their Matara again.

* * * *

The next day came too soon. Lindsey’s
heart throbbed painfully as the shuttle’s engines cycled on behind
her. She did not want to board it. She did not want to go to
Kalquor. Not without the three men Tara was bidding
goodbye.

Her mother kissed each cheek in turn.
Japohn was almost bent double so she could reach him. They were all
three blushing furiously, their smiles shy to be treated with such
affection. Had Lindsey not been so miserable, she would have
laughed to see the hulking Kalquorians so bashful with the tiny
Tara McInness.

“Take care of yourselves,” Tara told
them.

Bacoj bowed. “Yes, Imperial
Mother.”

Tara frowned at him, her voice all
maternal disapproval. “You know better than that.”

Bacoj’s grin split his face, and he
wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug. “Be well, Matara
Tara.”

Vax and Japohn joined them in a group
hug, much to the undisguised shock of the other Kalquorians
gathered on the parking lot/shuttle pad. Sarod’s mouth hung open to
see Tara treated with such familiarity. Lindsey suppressed an urge
to smack him upside the head.

The clan let Tara go, and she stepped
back, brushing the back of her hand against a suddenly wet cheek.
“I’ll see you all again,” she said, her words more order than
observation.

They nodded, all three blinking hard.
She turned and boarded the shuttle.

It was Lindsey’s turn to say goodbye.
She swallowed a throatful of tears as she stepped close to the men
and gulped again when each one reached to stroke her hair and face.
“Last chance to come to your senses,” she said.

Bacoj pulled her close, crushing her to
his body. He whispered in her ear, “We love you, Lindsey. Do no
doubt.”

She burrowed her face in his formsuited
chest, inhaling his spicy scent one last time. Feeling the hard
planes of his strong body, storing it in her memory to hang onto in
the lonely weeks to come. With a resigned sigh, she finally stepped
back. “I’ll see you in about twenty-one months, you big
lugs.”

The tears she’d fought broke loose as
she embraced each in turn for final kisses and caresses and
whispered words of love. Japohn’s arms shook around her and Vax
wept openly. Bacoj tried to smile, but the look was so pained it
was more a grimace.

“Be well, our love,” he choked as she
backed through the shuttle hatch, looking at her clan for as long
as she could. Lindsey felt her soul ripping to tatters to be
leaving them behind. This was such a mistake, but she’d done the
best she could. The separation was for less than two years. She
could handle it — couldn’t she?

The door snicked shut, cutting her from
her clan. It took all she had to not scream from the agony, the
torture no less than having a limb torn off. She might have stood
there forever, staring at the hatch and shaking if Tara hadn’t
gently pulled her to her seat.

Lindsey sobbed in her mother’s arms as
the shuttle lifted off, carrying her away from the three men who
held her heart.

Chapter Twenty

Bacoj clicked his hand-held, taking his
time as he rolled through the new shuttle’s pre-flight check. He
tried to enjoy the bright sun’s warmth on his bare shoulders, the
easy sounds of laughter from other Kalquorians on the launch pad as
they prepared to leave the now disassembled based camp. Half of the
search party had already departed, most on their way home to
Kalquor. He felt a jab of jealousy, thinking of how many were going
to be so much closer to his Lindsey than he was.

Not his Lindsey. He had to remember
that.

Japohn and Vax’s low conversation in
the shuttle helped. Vax was speaking to them again, buoyed by the
hope that their Matara would return once they finished their Earth
assignment. Japohn’s anger had dissipated too. They were all living
on hope, hope that she indeed loved them enough to forswear the
easy life a higher ranking clan could give her. That devotion and
loyalty would sustain her far better than a fine home would. She
was a woman of integrity, and Bacoj thought if her heart did indeed
belong to them, she would not be swayed.

But worries plagued him nonetheless.
She’d known them for such little time. Did she really love them or
had infatuation temporarily blinded her? And what of their
selfishness in keeping her from the life she deserved? How did he
condone that?

Hope sandwiched between fear and guilt
made for an uneasy Dramok.

Bacoj finished his check and stepped
back to look over the shuttle. It was bigger with a few more
luxuries than the first one. Still, he missed the shuttle now lying
somewhere at the bottom of the Gulf, missed it because that was the
first place he’d made love to Lindsey. Gone, like the base where
he’d last possessed her. He’d not only lost her, he’d lost the
touchstones that reminded him of her. Only the scent of the ocean,
fresh and salty like her delicate aroma, remained now. Once they
flew to the remains of Atlanta, that briny reminder that kept her
psychologically close would be gone too.

“Dramok?”

The thick voice behind Bacoj startled
him, and he whirled around to face another Kalquorian. The man’s
formsuit was trimmed in green, signaling his Imdiko status. He
looked near Bacoj’s age.