Daughter of Destiny (10 page)

Half asleep, Zane hugged
her close as he rolled off and then held her within the circle of
his arms. She closed her eyes and burrowed against his chest. They
lay in silence for a time. Just as she began to doze Zane
jackknifed into a sitting position.

"Kraghak."

Her heart leapt into her
throat and her stomach seized. "What's wrong?" She slammed her
mental barriers back into place so fast it made her head hurt. A
cold chill of dread washed over her.
He saw what's inside me.
Not him, too. God, please, not him, too.
She wiggled into a
sitting position, pulling the sheet up to cover her
nakedness.

Zane got up from the bed
and began pacing the room. He muttered curses in at least five
languages. At least, she thought they were curses. She couldn't
access the jumble of information from Zane's head as easily as her
own thoughts and memories.

"Zane, you're freaking me
out. What is wrong?"

He stopped pacing and ran a
hand through his disheveled hair. He turned and looked at her. "We
bonded."

"What?"

"Search your mind,
Katarina. What is different?"

She closed her eyes and
concentrated. She doubted he meant the information in her head,
since that preceded this evening. She looked for something out of
the ordinary. Used to sensing Zane, she almost missed the mental
chord of sorts running from him to her. She tried closing the
connection, envisioning a wall blocking it, but nothing worked. The
thought of such easy access to her mind rattled her. Her eyes
popped open. "Why can't I break the connection?"

"As I said, we bonded."
Zane circled the bed and sat down beside her. "It's a telepathic
connection that is for all intents permanent."

"That isn't so bad,
right?"

Zane propped his elbows on
his knees and rested his head in his hands. "Katarina, do you know
what regulations require me to do to anyone who discovers my
identity?"

She found that nugget of
information. An uneasy feeling ran through her.
Did I misjudge
him?
"Yes."

He turned and looked her in
the eye. "I crossed a line when I decided to meet you in person. I
knew going in that I would willfully defy orders and alter records
if need be to keep you safe. I'd sooner die than harm you. Under
different circumstances bonding with you would be an amazing
experience I'd celebrate, but it puts you in danger."

Katarina hesitated and then
reached out. She placed her hand on his. He turned his hand palm up
and her hand in his. "Life is full of risks, Zane."

"I know. I've made a career
out of taking risks. I got carried away and didn't even consider
the possibility, because to be honest, one just doesn't run into
many human telepaths. We have no way of knowing what will happen
when I leave."

Katarina closed her eyes
and tried to
see t
he information he knew. At first random
inconsequential bits of information flashed through her head, but
finally she found what she sought. She gulped.
Bonded couples
rarely travel alone, as going beyond the limits of telepathic
communication can trigger intense, irrational behavior. In cases
where one half of a bonded pair dies, without proper psychic
counseling, the other follows in death or sinks into a catatonic
state.

"I shouldn't have dropped
my mental walls."

"It wasn't just you and it
goes beyond you and me dropping our walls, although yes, had we
kept them up we would not have bonded." He gestured with his other
hand. "It was the whole deal, the emotions, the sex, all of it. I'm
more at fault because you didn't even know about
bonding."

"Earth is a bit short on
psychic counselors, but I think I'll muddle through. I've been told
I'm quite stubborn."

Zane's lips twitched. He
turned and looked at her with a long heated gaze. He leaned toward
her and slipped his hand through her hair and cupped the back of
her head. "Funny, I've been told the same thing." He kissed her,
long and slow. "I had to cross half the galaxy to find you. I'm
going to enjoy every damn minute and to hell with what happens
after." He captured her lips again and she wrapped her arms around
his neck. She sensed him drop his walls once more and she followed
suit. The sliver of connection inflated, as if it pulled his mind
into hers and vice versa.

She pulled away from him
for a moment. "Can you see everything in me, Zane?" Katarina
whispered.

He met her searching gaze.
"Yes." He cupped her cheek in his hand. "You think you're a freak.
You aren't, Katarina. You’re a miracle."

"But-- "

Zane cut her off. "I can
see into your soul, Katarina, and I see a beautiful caring person
who would never hurt anyone unless she had no choice. Look into me,
Katarina. I’ve killed. I’ve ended lives and felt not the slightest
remorse. I've killed people that I'm not sure deserved to die, and
those I do regret, but I can't undo my past. Tell me. Do you think
less of me?"

"No. You are a soldier. You
were protecting the innocent."

"So were you,
love."

Tears streamed down her
face and Zane kissed them away. "Shhh. It’s all right."

"I hate crying."

"If I could, I’d promise
never to make you cry again, but that isn’t in my power,
love."

"What are we going to
do?"

"Enjoy now. We’ll deal with
tomorrow when it gets here."

Beep….Beeep….BEEEEP!
Katarina moaned. It couldn’t be time to get up. She just went to
sleep. Katarina allowed herself a moment to enjoy the feeling of
Zane’s body against hers. One of his legs nestled between hers and
even in sleep his hand cupped one of her breasts. She smiled in the
dim light of dawn. The alarm escalated in volume, spoiling the
moment. Katarina lurched toward the alarm clock and tumbled out of
bed, hitting the floor with a loud thump and a shrill screech of
surprise.

Zane’s face appeared over
the edge of the mattress. "Hey, beautiful! Do you fall out of bed
every morning?"

Katarina glared at him as
she sat up and took out her annoyance on the alarm clock by
smacking it extra hard with a resounding thwack.

"Bed hog." Katarina stood
up on shaky legs. Despite the strength gained from years of martial
arts, her muscles protested their mattress marathon workouts. She
put a hand on the bed to steady herself. Before she could take one
step toward the bathroom Zane’s strong arm snaked around her and
tumbled her back into bed.

In between the kisses he
trailed down her throat, he said, "I’ll just have to keep a tighter
grip on you from now on. Besides, what’s the hurry to get
up?"

Katarina’s usual morning
surliness vanished as liquid heat pooled between her legs. The man
could work wonders with that mouth and those hands. Despite her
sore muscles, she already wanted to feel him inside of her again.
Her head was fuzzy with awakening desire and the driving demand to
get to the lab didn’t seem quite so urgent. She gave Zane a
lingering kiss and reached for the power button on the
communications terminal. "Remember where we left off. I need to
call in to work. I think I’m past due for a vacation."

"Comm, dial work. No
video." In seconds the departmental secretary came on the line.
"Good morning Carol," Katarina said. "This is Dr. O’Brian. I need
to take some personal time."

"Dr. O’Brian, is it?" Zane
whispered in her ear. "Well, doctor, I have this terrible ache." He
took her hand and placed it on his hard erection. "Can you cure
me?"

Katarina playfully punched
him in the abs and rolled away to focus on the comm call. "What?"
She forced herself to listen to Carol repeat her question even as
Zane’s hands and mouth roamed her body, teasing her into breathless
agony of aching need. "No, no. I’m fine, Carol," she managed to
answer. "I’ll stop by later. Something personal came up." Katarina
broke off as that something personal showed just how up he was by
sliding into her as he took one of her nipples into his mouth. The
secretary was still talking, but Katarina didn’t hear anything she
said. "Bye, Carol." She smacked the off button, chatty Carol
already forgotten as Zane moved within her in a slow gentle
rhythm.

Their lovemaking was tender
and sweet now that the desperate edge of their initial need was
slaked, but their climax no less intense. When she regained the
energy to speak, Katarina said, "God, Zane, you’re
terrible."

"That isn’t what you said
while I was deep inside you."

Katarina laughed. "You know
what I mean."

"It’s not like she could
see us."

Katarina tried to frown at
him but she couldn’t manage it. She snuggled into his embrace,
content to spend forever in his arms and to hell with the rest of
the universe, but Zane started growing hard again and the pressure
his hand exerted on her mound traded its soothing quality for
arousing.

She opened her eyes and
eyed Zane. "At the risk of feeding your ego, your stamina is
unbelievable."

"It's my Trrrork genes. I'm
a quarter or so Trrrork, but I got the best part of that legacy.
There are very few male Trrrorks born, so every male is given to a
female clan when he comes of age. The larger the clan he can serve,
the more prosperous they are and the more likely he will father a
male child. His role in life is to please the females and father
children. It's an interesting society and a much harder life than
the average male, human or otherwise, thinks. Aside from a few
hours of sleep and time to eat, his entire life is nothing but
sex."

"Really? And since I'm a
little sturdier than the average human female, I think we could
keep doing this all day, but that wouldn't be very productive. I’m
going to go take a bath. Then I’ll get us breakfast."

"Spoilsport."

Katarina moved to get up
and let out a squeak when she found herself swept off her feet. The
man moved like lightening without the accompanying thunder. She
considered protesting his carting her around, but gave into the
feminine urge to enjoy the moment. Zane carried her to the bathroom
and she instructed him on how to turn on the tap. She could see in
his eyes that he wanted to join her, but they both knew that if he
did, they’d end up making love again. Zane kissed her and left her
to her bath.

***

Zane put on his spare
coverall. He could always bathe later, and at least if he was
dressed he might not be quite as tempted to bury himself in
Katarina and never pull out. He shook his head.
I have no
business falling in love with her. What am I doing?
He sighed
as he wandered into the living room.

He walked through the room,
touching her things and smiling at the eclectic mix of items.
Positive energy surrounded him. Even a non-sensitive would pick up
the energy and feel at ease here. Katarina set out to create a
peaceful home and despite the lack of any style, she succeeded. He
passed a faux fish hanging in the entrance hall. Layered over
lingering echoes of laughter he picked up the impression of Naia’s
baffled annoyance. Zane let out a low laugh.

After circling the room, he
stopped in front her bookcase. Zane studied the handful of
photographs displayed. Except for one or two childhood pictures,
the ones where the smile on her face reached her eyes were taken
with Naia at her side. He stared at a picture of a young Katarina
standing with Naia in between a woman and man. Zane went inward,
searching her memories that were now his as well. The memory played
in his head like a personal holovid. Not all memories could be
retrieved with such vivid clarity, but this one etched its details
into her mind so deep Zane suspected it would remain clear until
the day she died.

***

Katarina sat at a long
wooden table in the library. The lights dimmed. An announcement
echoed through the quiet library, "The library will close in
fifteen minutes. Please gather your selections and proceed to the
checkout desk. Thank you."

She looked up from the
notes she was scribbling, blinked, and glanced at her watch. "Dang
it!" She scrambled to gather her belongings and the books she
needed for her science project, once again bemoaning that the
information she needed could not be found on the internet. She
tossed books into her backpack, set aside the reference books and
journals for the librarians to re-shelve, and piled another stack
of books and photocopies in her arms. She calculated whether she
would make it home before her ten o’clock curfew. It was a quarter
‘til now. It would take about five minutes for checking out.
Another three spent to pick up Naia down the street. Then if luck
held, the remaining time would be enough to get home if she didn't
hit any red lights or police with radar guns and a ticket quota to
meet.

She waited in line at the
checkout desk, dancing from foot to foot, willing the line to move
faster.
Damn. I should have left fifteen minutes ago. I hope
Naia and Rachel are done with their project.
If not, they'd be
late for sure and they'd both be grounded.