Untitled (9 page)

   Gabriel nodded dumbly as Jhuun gracefully crouched down next to him and began explaining the functions of the various controls on the underside of the cannon. Throughout it all, Gabriel found it terribly difficult to pay attention, as his attention was captured by the sight of Jhuun's long legs folding beneath him as he sat on the floor, by the gently flutter of his ridges, by the movement of his lips. Gabriel could not even stop staring at Jhuun's elegant fingers as they glided over the switches and buttons, preoccupied by the thought of those fingers touching him. He wondered how they would look gliding down his chest, touching his cock as it swelled within Jhuun's touch—

   Oh God. Gabriel quickly ran the back of his hand against his brow, drenched with sweat.

   "Gabriel?" Jhuun looked at him, puzzled. "Is the temperature affecting you?"

   "Er, yes," Gabriel muttered. He nearly jumped out of his skin as Jhuun reached over to brush his fingers against Gabriel's bare shoulder. "Yeah, I'm feeling a little…funny."

   Jhuun's large green eyes were on him, concerned, and for a moment, Gabriel couldn't help but think of the Nhor character again, twisting around in ecstasy against the sandstone wall, and before the moment could get any tenser he bolted to his feet and went to stand by the nearest console.

   "Perhaps I should begin a few tests myself," Jhuun offered, looking rather discomfited as he kneeled by the Fnorn cannon.

   "Sounds good to me," Gabriel squeaked. He had the damndest feeling that Jhuun knew exactly what he was thinking. Of course, if he didn't, then he was surely wondering just what the hell was up with Gabriel's suddenly awkward behavior.

   They worked mostly in silence for the next few hours, with Gabriel assisting from the console as Jhuun fiddled with the cannon. The alien explained how the device concentrated and fired proton bursts, something that had been tested in the past but proven ineffective in disabling Maedrom energy shields and the rest of their systems. However, the Fnorn weapons had last been studied as a possibility four years ago, before the M-Alpha was purchased from the Glispex marauders.

   After a few of Jhuun's increasingly more optimistic modifications, Gabriel had begun to relax, slowly pushing away the inappropriate thoughts that had danced through his mind since that morning, in favor of concentrating his energy on their work. So much that, after watching Jhuun work on the Fnorn cannon and developing a feel for its functionality, he left his safe spot behind the computer console and slid down next to Jhuun, helping him program the cannon to a setting on the kappaproton spectrum.

   "You seem confident," Jhuun remarked as he watched Gabriel intently program the device.

   "Well, I think we're on to something," Gabriel said, trying to ignore the skipping of his pulse as he felt Jhuun's gaze on him. "And I think we're ready for a test here. Want to get the M-Alpha ready?"

   Jhuun clucked and rose to his feet, flexing his back to stretch out kinked muscles. Gabriel's gaze was intently fixed on the control panel as he completed the programming.

   While Jhuun went to stand over the remote controls of the M-Alpha, Gabriel found the power cable of the Fnorn cannon, tracing it over to the console where Jhuun had previously connected it, a safe distance away from their experiment. He checked to make sure the switches were in the correct position before nodding to Jhuun.

   "Ready? Let's try it."

   "I will now activate the M-Alpha," Jhuun said. With the flick of a switch, the weapon rippled dully with energy. Gabriel was getting sick of seeing the thing still alive and strong after all their efforts.

   "Now the kappaproton beam," Gabriel said, carefully pressing the button to activate the cannon.

   The four corners of the lozenge-shaped cannon began to glow and hum. The beams then slid down each side to connect the four corners and it was only the reading on the console that indicated to Gabriel that the beam of invisible kappaprotons was firing.

   At first, nothing at all happened and Gabriel was ready to scream a hearty
Anarkh
and order the devices switched off. But then the M-Alpha's amber glow began to flicker, steadily growing weaker. It didn't deactivate completely, but the power drop was enough to tell them one thing— the kappaproton beam was working.

   It was a step in the right direction. No, scratch that, it was a damned
victory
!

   "Okay, that's it, cut the power for now," Gabriel said and, as Jhuun obeyed, the M-Alpha hummed and grew quiet. Overjoyed, Gabriel practically leaped over the console, grinning like a fool as Jhuun smiled widely and rejoined Gabriel in the center of the workshop.

   "You saw?" Jhuun said, grasping Gabriel by the elbows. "You saw? We are approaching success!"

   "I saw!" Gabriel said. Before he realized it, he'd returned the embrace, squeezing the warm skin of Jhuun's forearms in his palms. "It didn't destroy it, but it's obviously vulnerable. We just need to try a few more modifications, try a test on a stronger scale…but we're getting there!"

   "Ma
shara kha!"

   "You said it!"

   In his excitement, Gabriel hadn't realized how close he stood to Jhuun, practically body-to-body, enough to feel the warm exhalations from the vestigial gills. He tensed, remembering the intimacy of the previous day as Jhuun had let him touch his chest…and Gabriel's smile began to die on his lips. Jhuun was staring down at him, with unreadable green eyes.

   Pulse roaring, Gabriel was about to clear his throat, to release Jhuun's arms and extirpate himself from his companion's grasp, to bring their attention back to their project. But Jhuun, it seemed, had other ideas.

   His long-fingered hand slipped away from Gabriel's elbow, went to the back of his neck and pulled him close, into a shy kiss.

   It was obvious Jhuun had never kissed before— his lips were clumsy, moving uncertainly, but sweetly against Gabriel's own. Despite his surprise, Gabriel kissed back, shocked at how much he wanted this. He tasted Jhuun, so alien— like earth and water and something clearly not of his world.

   It was with a great deal of reluctance that he pulled away, taking a step away from Jhuun to compose himself. His mind was spinning—he was elated, but terrified at once.

   Jhuun, however, must have misinterpreted his gesture as rejection. "Apologies, apologies," he stammered, crossing his arms over his chest. "This was foolish of me. I assumed—perhaps incorrectly…I wanted to inform you of my interest. But you don't reciprocate, I understand. Apologies."

   "No, no, God no…"

   Now it was Gabriel's turn to stammer. God, Jhuun had kissed him. He had wondered, dreamed, fantasized about it for a while now. And it had felt damn good. And they weren't so fundamentally different after all. To suddenly be confronted with his fantasy as a reality was…absolutely fucking terrifying. Not to mention thrilling.

   "Apologies," Jhuun said again. "This was not appropriate of me. You must still care for Marcus, I meant no disrespect."

   The mention of Marcus' name only made Gabriel's head spin quicker. Damn it, everything was much simpler as a fantasy instead of reality. "No, it's not like that. It's…look, I do reciprocate. I've…
reciprocated
for a while now."

   Jhuun's look of relief was nearly comical. "I was afraid that I…Eunnoians don't kiss, like Humans do. I was afraid I had done something improper to you."

   Gabriel laughed and closed the distance between them. "Not at all. I liked it."

   "Yes?"

   "Yes."

   At that, Gabriel reached over tentatively and rested the tips of his fingers gently, very gently, against Jhuun's throat. The alien's lips parted in reaction to the touch and he reached over to do the same. Jhuun's fingers were warm and tender against Gabriel's throat. He wondered if Jhuun could feel his racing pulse.

   "I've never cared for a Human before," Jhuun murmured. "I've never considered it in all the years I've lived on this station. But these last few weeks in your presence have been…"

   "Pretty good, considering everything else," Gabriel finished. He covered Jhuun's caressing hand with his own, still not quite believing that this was happening.

   "Yes," Jhuun said. "I am not sure how you wish to proceed from here…but if you would like to pursue this…"

   "I think I would like that," Gabriel said. He went on the tips of his toes, meaning to close the height difference between them to press his lips to Jhuun's throat, but he stopped short. "Does the workshop door have a lock?"

   "Yes," Jhuun said, laughing that breathy laugh of his. He disengaged from Gabriel's arms and went to the door that connected them to the engineering main office, turning the locking mechanism. It had grown very late again and Bianca and Xhani would surely have retired for the night by now, but the risk was not worth taking.

   Their safety assured, they returned to each other's arms, fitting together a little awkwardly at first, Jhuun attempting another uncertain but increasingly confident kiss. He was a quick learner, Gabriel mused happily, as his own hands glided down Jhuun's chest, between the ridges, until he reached the rim of Jhuun's shorts.

   Jhuun broke the kiss then, all nerves as he met Gabriel's eyes. "You may wish to wait before proceeding. I…I do desire you, but there are differences between us…between our races, which—"

   "It's okay," Gabriel murmured, his hands poised on Jhuun's hips. "I know everything."

   Jhuun's expression turned to one of puzzlement. "You know?"

   Gabriel realized a split-second too late what his affirmation implied. "No, no, I haven't been with any other Eunnoians, if that's what you're thinking. Um, I went down to the Specialty shop— just this morning, actually—and…rented a movie."

   Jhuun blinked at him a few times. "Ah."

   "It was my friend Kurt's suggestion."

   "Ah."

   "Are you angry?"

   "Angry? No. But perhaps…" Jhuun paused, either searching for the emotion or searching for the translation. "Disappointed. Which movie did you select?"

   "Er…Koz
hi and Nhor in Yaalhi Pond."

   "It is an enjoyable movie," Jhuun said. The thought of Jhuun watching such a movie made Gabriel flush with an odd sense of excitement. "But I wish it had not been your first introduction to…sexual matters. I assume you would not approve of an ignorant Eunnoian learning Human sexuality from watching your erotic movies?"

   "Yeah, good point," Gabriel said. He lifted his hands from Jhuun's hips, bringing his fingertips back up to stroke at the tender skin of his throat. "So how about this, pretend I haven't seen it. I'm an ignorant, clumsy Human. Show me everything I need to know."

   The look that flashed in Jhuun's eyes was something Gabriel had not seen before—dark, passionate and
hungry
.

   "I will do that," Jhuun said huskily. He pressed his hands to Gabriel's shoulders, pushing him back until he was leaning on the engineering console. His lips went to Gabriel's throat, licking and sucking, and Gabriel did not even try to disguise his moan as he felt himself grow hot and hard.

   "How much do you know about Humans?" Gabriel asked between heaving breaths.

   "Perhaps not as much as you now know about Eunnoians," Jhuun quipped, his breath hot against Gabriel's throat. "But I know enough."

   "Good enough for me."

   He grasped Jhuun's hand and pressed it to the bulge in his shorts. Jhuun didn't hesitate. They were similar enough in that particular regard that the alien knew what to do, squeezing and stroking Gabriel's erection through the material of his shorts.

   "God, yes…like that…"

   Gabriel threw his head back and nearly hit the console. Twisting around in Jhuun's embrace, he managed to slip off his short-sleeved shirt, tossing it to the floor. The moment his chest was bare, Jhuun went to explore it, sliding lips against his collarbone, then lower to mouth at his nipples.

   It was funny, Gabriel thought, how Eunnoians did not use their mouths for kissing, but were quite enthusiastic about using lips and tongue and teeth to pleasure other areas. He enjoyed Jhuun's attentions for a moment, watching the sinuous movement of the alien's back as he bent to kiss at Gabriel's chest.