HeartbeatofSilence (3 page)

He peered over her shoulder, and she could feel the heat coming off him in waves. “What else is in there?”

“Clothing, books, a few bodysuits for workouts, the usual.” She gathered the data crystals that started just after she had been struck down, and she walked to the entertainment area of the room.

“What are you doing?” He watched her as she lined up all the data crystals in chronological order.

She smiled. “The pain is tolerable, so I thought I would catch up on what I missed in my family’s life.”

He shook his head. “No, I am afraid that will have to wait. You need to link now and the pain will go.”

Suddenly nervous, she looked up at him and saw that there was no eagerness in his gaze, only a calm certainty. Veera rose to her feet and took the hand he extended to her. Here in her quarters, there was little to no sound from the other minds on Balen, but she could hear them if she tried. No shielding could keep her safe one hundred percent.

He walked to a panel barely visible on the wall. He pressed it, and a doorway opened to a room that was obviously his.

She noted the large bed, the entertainment centre and the food dispenser, but what kept her attention were a large, soft blanket on the floor with two cushions and a large circle on it.

“What is that?”

“We will need to be comfortable and close, so it is either sitting on the floor or lying on the bed.”

She moved, and when she beamed up at him from her perch on one of the cushions, he lost himself in laughter. She watched the amusement flow over him, and she could see it pushing at the thick bubble around his mind.

He sat across from her and took her hands. It was time to get her a link.

Chapter Four

The first few minutes were careful and slow motions, tendrils of his thoughts binding to hers.

He spoke to her at intervals, but the roaring in her mind as his melded to hers was very distracting.

The bond between them grew over hours. For those hours, they sat with their hands together in the darkening room.

When Stanik completed the link, Veera fell forward into his arms. “Why do I just want to sleep?”

“Because your mind will need time to get used to synching with mine. Also, if you try, you can shut out the world now.”

She laughed weakly. “I did. It is why I am so tired. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in six years. The silence is amazing. I can hear my own heartbeat.”

She smiled and relaxed completely for a moment before sitting upright again. “Okay, I really need to get some sleep. What happens next?”

He grunted and lifted her as he got to his feet. “You get some sleep and I watch over you.”

He carried her to his bed and placed her on the covers, in her clothing. He curled up next to her, his mind and hers whirring together. The hum felt right in her thoughts, and she listened to nothing but the sound of their hearts in the silence.

She was able to sleep without being completely exhausted for the first time in years.

Hours before dawn, she slipped out of Stanik’s embrace. She tiptoed into her room, slipped into a bodysuit from her trunk and grabbed the music crystal that her mother sent her before she went to the island. Taking two lengths of steel with her and off she went.

There had to be a gym in a facility like this, and she was going to find it.

She listened to the music as it pitched up, and she raised her arms over her head. With slow deliberation, she stepped to the beat. Her dance was careful, measured and controlled.

When she had worked out muscles that were far too stiff, she picked up the blades and started to move to a song that her brother had written for her, entreating her to wake.

Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she engaged in a blade dance. She was awake now, and Reynal was going to see her dance again.

When she finished whirling and spinning the swords, she stood and panted with sweat and tears tracking her body.

“Well done, Veera. Time to take a shower and get back to bed. You are still tired.” Stanik was concerned, it radiated out of him.

She straightened and enjoyed being able to touch his mind only. His emotions radiated from him but no clear thoughts, and she preferred it that way. Listening to too many minds was what sent her into the coma to begin with.

She put her swords in their case and retrieved her crystals and player. Veera smiled at Stanik and swayed slightly as she passed him. She might have done too much too soon, but she didn’t regret it.

He paced with her back to their adjoining rooms, and he watched as she tucked her blades back in her trunk along with the music.

She showered and wrapped herself in a light robe. She scrubbed her hair with a towel and combed it straight. A blast with the dryer took most of the dampness out of her scalp, and she left the lav, creeping on bare feet into Stanik’s room.

He was sitting up in bed wearing only loose, silky trousers and reading something on a data pad. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she fought to control the hormone surge that all that muscle and size spurred. As an entertainer, she had seen men with beautiful bodies before, but to her eyes, Stanik was stunning.

He had a silky wave of black hair that was now unbound and flowing over his shoulders. His brows were straight and his features were stern as he scrolled through his pages.

He looked up as she sat on his bed. “The robe is lovely.”

She blushed. “Thank you. I got it for my birthday years ago, before… well, before.”

Veera settled carefully on her side with her back to him. He curled around her as he had before, and his mind hummed along with hers as they returned to rest. She thought she would be keyed up, but he calmed her thoughts and took her down with him into sleep.

Light streamed in through the window, bringing Veera to a gradual alertness. The arm around her shifted slightly and a voice rumbled in her ear. “If you are awake enough, we can get some food.”

She nodded and pulled her robe together as she sat up. The sash had come undone while she slept, and casual nudity had never been her forte. “Food would be good.” She ran a shaking hand through her hair.

He sat up and walked to the dispenser, his silky trousers riding low on his hips.

She got out of bed and stretched from the strain of remaining in one position all night. The wide sleeves of her robe swayed as she moved, and she walked to the window to look out at the day of Balen.

The forest was green and growing rapidly. “How old is Balen?”

“Millions of years, but it just completed a resurfacing.”

“Why did it resurface?”

He brought her a cup of tea. “Balen was grieving for its lost Avatar. She died many centuries ago giving birth to her daughter, Zenina.”

“Zenina is that old?”

“Her development was delayed by her father. She was kept in an incubator and dropped on the surface near the mining colony three decades ago. Once she took over the position of Avatar, Balen ceased grieving and melted the ice that coated its surface. A little help from the Sector Guard and the planet is coming back to life once again.”

She inclined her head as she sipped her tea. “How did her father survive long enough to drop her here when it was time?”

He blinked and a small smile lit his lips. “Her father was the Avatar of the sun. He is still alive and working at the Guard base on the other side of the valley.”

“He
was
the Avatar? I didn’t know you could retire from that.”

“You can if the star in question agrees to the move. Saru was only too happy to join Zenina’s mate, so now, there are, once again, two Avatars in love in this system.”

The dispenser chimed, and he walked to retrieve two plates. He set them down on the small table and placed cutlery next to each plate with precision.

She brought her cup of tea with her and took a seat. “Thank you for the meal.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You might not enjoy my selections.”

Veera laughed. “I have eaten things I couldn’t identify and things that tried to crawl off my plate. Life as a travelling entertainer means that you take fresh food or as close to fresh, as you can.”

He inclined his head. “I suppose that is a valid concern when you travel.”

“Oh yes. You always have to prepare for your next meal and your best place to bed down. If you travel with family, you all work together as a collective.” She forked up some of the noodles on her plate and started eating.

“Did you always travel with your family?”

“Yes, since I was five. Hundreds of worlds, hundreds of performances, crowds, laughter and hairy situations. It was fun and terrifying all at the same time.”

His food disappeared rapidly, and she was unsurprised to hear the dispenser beep again. Stanik got up and took another plate off the dispenser, returning to the table and starting on his seconds.

She chuckled as she finished her own meal and took her plate back to the dispenser, sliding it into the cleaning slot. Returning to her seat at the table, she sipped at her tea.

“What is on the agenda for today?”

He swallowed. “Nothing strenuous, a walk in the gardens, practice shielding and selectively reading the folks over at the Guard base.”

“Sounds good. Now, I only have one problem.”

His concern was visible. “What is that?”

“What do I wear?”

He snickered. It was a juvenile sound that made her giggle in response. “I enjoy the fact that you stick to the essentials.”

She shrugged. “Life is too short to worry about the long term. I concentrate on the next moment only.”

She got to her feet and inclined her head. “I will be ready in a few minutes.”

In her room, she pulled out a fairly thick bodysuit and a matching pair of boots. The bodysuit was black and hot pink. She tugged it on, inhaling to close it over her breasts. The fit was a little tighter than she remembered, and she was showing quite a bit more cleavage than she first thought.

She slipped on the boots and looked at herself in the lav mirror. “Not bad. Not great but not bad.”

Veera walked back into her bedroom, and Stanik was dressed in tight black pants, black boots and a brilliant blue shirt.

He offered her his arm, and they left the safety of their quarters. She felt Priina and Rhanos playing their games off in the forest again, but this time, a much more sensual theme was in both their minds.

A hot blush filled Veera’s cheeks. “Are all Lyrans so…” She couldn’t finish that sentence.

“So tall?” He raised his eyebrows.

“So fixated on mating.” The blurt was as direct as she could manage.

He gave her a grave look. “It is in the nature of all living beings to want to carry on their bloodlines. The Lyrans hover on the edge of becoming a stable population, so yes, we are very fixated on mating.”

She gave a light cough. “Good to know.”

Chapter Five

The garden was neat and well-tended. The plants were in the phase of anchoring themselves to the soil, but they were still lovely.

The wind of Balen tugged at her hair, and she lifted her chin to the light breeze.

Stanik took a seat on one of the benches and gestured for her to sit next to him.

Veera sat and looked him in the eye, waiting for the next request.

“I want you to form a bubble around your mind.”

“I have tried that before.”

“I know, but now, you have my skills to draw on. So, put a bubble around your mind.”

She tried, she really did try, but her mind would simply not be happy being contained. After a frustrating hour that brought her to tears, Stanik put his hands on her shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it, Veera. Not every mind is designed to work the same. Yours is definitely one of a kind.”

She chuckled and wiped at her cheeks. “What then?”

“You can connect to me easily now, right?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Then, imagine a tunnel that runs from your mind to mine, a private tunnel that no one can see through. Send me images from your childhood through that tunnel.”

She inhaled and tried. At first, it was weak, and her pressure on the connection caused it to bulge and flare. She continued, sending him images of family events, performances, funny fruit she saw in interstellar bazaars.

After a while, he sent her images of running through forests, wrestling with other boys his age, a woman who must have been his mother helping him with his homework while his father made dinner.

She took those images and held them, protected them as all good memories should be protected. When she focused enough to look through her own eyes, he was smiling, and they were a connected circuit with no outside influence leaking in.

“You did it, Veera. Your mind is overflowing into mine, but your sensory net is not going any further. You have contained yourself for the first time. Congratulations.”

She laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you!”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she heard as well as felt him inhale sharply at the curve of her neck.

She shivered and slowly let him go, sliding her hands to his shoulders before resuming her seat on the bench.

She didn’t apologize. She couldn’t. The look in his eyes was heated, and he moved forward half an inch before he paused. She read it in his thoughts. He couldn’t make the first move physically. It would be a breach of link etiquette.

He wanted her, she definitely could tell. They were already in the most intimate relationship she had ever had. To take it further might just break her tenuous control.

She licked her lips, and a muscle in his jaw flexed. “What comes next?”

He looked to the sun, and he sighed. “I think we will call it a day. We are losing daylight, and tomorrow morning would be a better place to start with any new training. You have done enough for today.”