Asteroid (2 page)

“That sucks.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized that the Alliance Common interpretation would not match the Terran equivalent.

Issul-Zeering tilted his head. “I don’t understand the reference, but it was not pleasant.”

“How did he end up in an escape pod?”

The eyes swirled gold again. “I was on a diplomatic mission for Zeering, negotiating for travel through our system, when we were struck with some of the floating asteroids in the field where you found me. The ship came apart under the assault and I had to seek safety in the pod. I am simply glad that you found me. How can I thank you?”

Sebena shook her head. “No thanks are necessary. Again, it is my job to help where I can.”

“You went beyond duty for this and I will not forget it.” He reached out and took her hand.

A wild tingling ran up her arm at the contact. He jerked his hand away and rubbed his fingers together. She fought the urge to do the same. The tingling continued up her arm to run through her torso and rippled through her groin.

Sebena kept her thighs together and ignored the sensual response that tightened her nipples and caused a surge of wet heat within her.

A command officer strode up to them and cleared his throat nervously. “Avatar Issul, the captain would like to offer you space at his table and an evening of entertainment.”

Issul sighed. “I would be happy to accept.”

He got to his feet and smiled down at her again. “You
will
accompany me to the surface. Zeering insists.”

Sebena smiled. “If the planet insists, I will file the request for time.”

The Avatar looked as if he wanted to say or do something else, but instead, he followed the staffer out of the dining hall.

Trembling, she bussed her tray and walked blindly out of the dining hall. She needed a hot soak now, to hell with tomorrow. If she interrupted Nilia’s little plan, tough.

Sebena spent two hours working out in the gym, her efforts drew a few admirers, but most folks who passed wanted to know about the Avatar. On a small ship with less than two hundred crewmembers, gossip was the fastest form of travel.

A quick shower later and she was ready for a soak.

The hot tub was a favourite feature for most of the staff, but with the refiners and packagers on duty, only the gunners were in need of the muscle relaxation.

Nilia was soaking in the tub, her breasts barely beneath the heated gel that pulsed and twisted against her.

“Hiya, Nilia. I needed the soak after all. Don’t mind me. I will be over here.” She smiled and dropped her towel, sliding into the heated gel away from Nilia and her seduction project.

Sebena sank to her chin and groaned as the warmth surrounded and supported her. Her hair was still braided up, so she didn’t have to worry about getting gel in it and given the activities on the mining vessel, the gel was filtered, cleaned and then re-circulated every few minutes. It made for quite a bit of peace of mind considering that there were over twenty-five species represented in the population and everyone used the hot tub.

She found a seat and relaxed with the gel tugging gently at her limbs.

Nilia floated over and smiled. “Tell me about the Avatar. Is he as hot as Merkil says?”

Sebena gave her friend a sobering look. “Tell me that you haven’t been gossiping with him about the newcomer.”

“Well, he stopped by and you know he has an eye for beauty.”

Sebena grimaced. Merkil was a flirt and he wasn’t fussy. One of the rare masculine Selna, he had a sex drive that did not restrict itself to conventional pairings. He would screw anything if it held still long enough. His only criterion was that his sexual partner was attractive. He wouldn’t fuck ugly.

Sebena had kept herself from falling into his bed, but it had been an effort of will. His pheromones were strong and seductive. Merkil had no problem using them to capture his bed partners of either sex.

“You shouldn’t listen to Merkil, he thinks with his penis.”

“Well? You saw the Avatar. What does he look like?”

Sebena opened her mouth to answer, but she saw a figure approaching from behind Nilia’s head. “Like that.”

Issul had a towel loosely draped around his hips that left little to the imagination. From the top of his head to his toes, he was gorgeous, elegant and lethally sexy.

To her shock, that sexy gaze was aimed straight at her.

Chapter Three

“Avatar Issul, how nice to see you again.” Sebena kept her voice pleasant, but it was far too high even to her own ears. To her consternation, he dropped his towel and slipped into the hot tub right next to her, smiling and leaning back against the edge of the pool.

“This feels lovely. No wonder it is a common relaxation spot on the ship.” He closed his eyes and the expression on his face was pure bliss.

“Yes, it is.”

She heard her friend clear her throat and quickly made introductions. “Avatar Issul of Zeering, this is Gunner Nilia Vordi.”

The Avatar lazily opened his golden eyes and smiled at the lush Wyoran. “I am pleased to make the acquaintance of any of your friends, Sebena.”

He leaned forward and took Nilia’s hand in greeting. The Wyoran smiled brilliantly at Issul and he smiled politely before reclaiming his hand.

Nilia was in shock. Not one male on the entire ship had dismissed her since her season had struck. “I am pleased to meet you, Avatar.”

“And you as well, Gunner.”

He returned to his seated position next to Sebena and suddenly she was no longer relaxed.

Nilia looked from Sebena to Issul. “So, Issul, how long have you been an Avatar?”

“Nine hundred and fifty-three years.” He opened his eyes and navy blue was trickling into the gold.

“Have you enjoyed it? I have heard that the life of an Avatar is a lonely one.” Nilia lifted herself out of the churning gel slightly and the dark peaks of her nipples were exposed.

His gaze was mildly interested and so the perverse hope that Sebena had been holding onto sank. “I will leave you two alone to discuss whatever you choose.”

Sebena moved to the edge of the tub and levered herself up and to her towel, the slick gel sheeted off and she wrapped the towel around her, not looking back at the hot tub and its inhabitants.

She didn’t hear him, but a hand gripped her arm. “Sebena, what is wrong?”

Sebena turned and looked up into Issul’s face before allowing her gaze to wander lower. His body stirred and his cock slowly rose as she watched.

Surprised, she brought her gaze back up to his face. “I thought you and Nilia wanted some time together.”

“I came here to spend time with you. The captain did nothing but sing your praises when I questioned him and so I came here to find out what you are like when you are not on duty.”

“What about Nilia?”

“A Wyoran in heat is not my idea of a good companion for an evening. If I simply wanted sex, there are plenty of women on my world who would oblige. I want a companion and I would like her to be you.”

Her hands on her towel clenched. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“When I woke, Zeering gave me information on a new trend sweeping the planets. Avatars are choosing mates and he thinks that it might help me adjust to my return to his world.”

His hand was still on her arm and he stroked her slick skin slowly. The tingles that he was sending through her shook her to the core.

“Wait. I am a gunner, I am not a mate.” She pressed one hand against his chest in an effort to hold him back. He was suddenly far too close.

The electric feeling ran up her arm and he felt far too good under her hand. She wanted to caress, to stroke and then to taste.

“You are not merely a gunner. You are a woman who follows her own instincts. What are your instincts telling you now?” He continued his slow touch.

“That you are attracted to Nilia and that I should be getting back to my quarters. Excuse me.”

She didn’t wrench away, but she gave a visible shudder and pulled herself away, heading for the women’s showers. She was going to make the gel as cold as she could. Her body wasn’t going to handle any more heat.

The showers were on a gender lock, just in case any of the hot-tub antics needed to be cooled off. She slipped through the field just in time to hear the energy crackle in protest.

Inside the showers, she set the controls for cold and flipped her towel over the edge of the unit. The gel covered her skin and calmed the inflammation in her nerves. It cooled her in the seconds before it shattered and took the liquid from the hot tub with it.

Breathing deeply to calm herself, she got dressed and left the locker room, sneaking down the hall to her quarters.

Sneaking around on the ship was all around wrong, but if she was confronted with Issul one more time, she was going to do more than simply walk away. Her instincts were screaming at her to lunge into his arms and find out if he tasted as good as he looked, but her sex drive was the one part of herself she had always kept under the firm grip of logic.

Merkil was loitering in the hall near her room. “What is it, Merkil?”

He smiled at her and it was a seductive smile. “I came to offer you another chance. After all, you are of a rare kind, I am of a rare kind…”

“Selna are not rare.”

“Male Selna are. There are less than a handful of us out in the worlds.”

“I am aware. I am also aware that you were booted off your home world for your misbehaviour and that you have not had a serious relationship ever. I don’t do casual sex, Merkil.”

“With you, it would be far from casual. You have so much passion just below the surface.” Merkil reached his hand out to her, but it never landed.

Issul stood next to her and wrenched his hand back with a casual shift. “She said no, Selna. Back away.”

Merkil tried to swing at Issul, but the Avatar just bent his arm and soon, the Selna was on his knees. “You think she will want you instead? That woman is cold. I was merely trying to thaw her out a little.”

Sebena felt the shame that he instilled in her with that one comment. It was not the first time she had heard it. Men took her analytical approach to relationships as cold, but she merely needed to feel a little spark to fan the flames. No one had truly gotten that spark to flare. Until now.

“Issul, you can let him go. He won’t try anything. I have already had a complaint listed against him for aggressive behaviour. One more and he is off the Sheppan.” Her threat caused Merkil to wince.

The Selna rubbed his arm where Issul had held him. “I will be on my way. Good evening to you both.”

She nodded and watched him disappear before she turned to the Avatar. “Why did you follow me?”

He looked into her eyes and there was a considering expression on his features. “Why do you think? In my lifetime, I have met many women, but none set my blood singing like you do. It is as peculiar for me as it is for you, but I believe we should give it a try.”

She thought about it for about half a second before she took a step toward him. “Let’s try then.”

He reached out and lifted her chin on two fingers. Issul leaned down slowly, giving her plenty of opportunity to back away if she wanted to.

Sebena stayed firm and closed her eyes when they started to cross. His breath feathered across her lips and they parted in reflex. He stroked her lips with his own, slowly caressing her.

She shivered, her skin coming alive with just that tiny touch. Sebena was amazed. She had had a few lovers in her life, but none had been able to arouse her like this with a simple kiss. Most had found her inability to climax to be a personal failing in her and eventually, she had simply given up on sex.

Sebena leaned up to increase the pressure of the kiss, but Issul backed away, moving from her mouth to feather kisses across her cheekbones and her nose, across her forehead and then back to her mouth.

She sighed and smiled against his lips at the blooming warmth that was spreading through her at his caresses.

While he was kissing her, she heard two people pass them in the hall, soft giggles trailed away, but she kept her eyes closed. She was lost in the spell he was weaving and when he backed away from her, she swam up out of the warm haze to open her eyes.

Issul was smiling and there was enough of Zeering in his eyes to make her self-conscious.

“It is a good start, Sebena. A very good start.” He took her hand and placed it on his arm, walking her the twenty steps to her quarters. “I will wish you good night. May your dreams shake the stars.”

Still dazed, she entered her quarters and smiled hesitantly at him before closing the door. A low, moaning sigh squeezed out of her chest and she quickly stripped for bed. It was going to be a restless night, but she hoped that dreams came quickly.

Chapter Four

The message to join the captain for breakfast woke her with a harsh beep. With the bleary eyes of a woman who had not had any sleep staring at her in the mirror, she took a rapid gel cleanse and brushed her mediocre pale brown hair into a long, loose pony tail down her back. It had waves in it from her braids but otherwise was unadorned.

She dressed in her uniform and made sure that she looked presentable before heading out to the captain’s mess with only five minutes to spare. She moved quickly through the halls and skidded to a halt in front of the door at exactly the right time.

Sebena pressed her hand to the palm scanner and the door opened to show Captain Helov, Avatar Issul and the junior officer who was serving.

She greeted them, “Good morning, Captain, Avatar Issul.”

“Gunner Hadros, please be seated.”

There was only one empty place set and it was next to Issul. She nodded and took her seat.

The junior officer began to serve the moment that she was settled.

She was nervous and simply listened to the captain and Issul speaking. She couldn’t add anything to the conversation regarding Alliance politics, so she sipped at her water and paid attention.

She perked up when she heard something of interest. “We are landing today?”

The captain gave her a slight smile. “Well, you are landing today. The planet has filed for your release from the mining ship for no less than three months.”