Tarasch

by A. C. Ellas

  Cai had to admit, to himself, that Nick had a point. But there was a big difference between dreams and reality, and in a moment of total candor, he said, “I’m scared.”

  “Then, let’s take this slowly,” Nick suggested. “I want to cuddle with you and finish feeding you dinner. Just that, nothing more. If you think your control is slipping, I’ll stop.”

  Cai lowered his gaze and fought back a blush. “You mean naked? Like you suggested a while back?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. You’ve already begun the process,” Nick noted, gesturing to his topless state.

  Cai opened his mouth to refuse but his heart betrayed him. “Very well,” he said.

  Nick quickly turned his attention to undressing him.

  Cai was quick to retaliate, and between the two of them, it wasn’t long before they were both naked. Nick had a body every bit as beautiful as their dreams had claimed, though Cai wondered about some of the scars. Now wasn’t the time to ask, but Cai was suddenly certain that someday, he’d know. Cai shivered in tactile pleasure as his skin brushed against Nick’s. The man’s strong arms came about him and Cai suddenly felt comforted and protected. He relaxed, leaning back against Nick’s sculpted chest.

  Nick’s hands wandered over his front, exploring his skin in quite a pleasurable manner. Nick’s hands steered clear of his aching sex, a fact that Cai had decidedly mixed feelings about.

  Before Cai could decide if the avoidance was a blessing or a curse, Nick resumed offering morsels of food to his lips. Cai delicately pulled the food from the fingers and enjoyed the flavor as he chewed and swallowed. Another bite followed and another, and with each successive bite, Cai relaxed further, until he was not only sucking the food from Nick’s fingers, but also licking them to catch stray bits of sauce.

  By the time the plate was almost empty, Cai was very aware of two things—Nick’s erection, rubbing against his ass crack, and his own erection, bobbing neglected before him. Cai found Nick’s free hand and drew it down to his groin.

  Nick’s hand splayed out, exploring Cai’s crotch. Finding the sac, Nick scooped it into the palm of his hand and rolled the balls between his fingers. He brought another bite to Cai’s mouth and nuzzled his ear. “Are you enjoying this, my dear Astrogator?”

  Cai sucked Nick’s fingers into his mouth to get the sauce off, then once he’d dealt with the mouthful of food, replied, “Very much, Captain.”

  Nick’s non-feeding hand slid out from under his balls, only to encircle his shaft. He pumped his fist up and down Cai’s length as he continued to offer bites of food. Cai’s hips rocked, grinding his crack against Nick’s meat, but the captain didn’t ask for more. Nick seemed content to offer him pleasure and take nothing in return.

  It felt so good that Cai didn’t question it. The food, so tender and flavorful, was what he needed. Nick’s hand, so skilled and warm and strong, was what he wanted. He reveled in his physicality as Nick pampered him, showering him with attentions of the best sort. To Cai’s surprise, the plate was abruptly empty, and once he’d sucked and licked the last of the flavor from Nick’s hand, that hand slid down his torso toward his groin. Cai groaned, his back arching.

  Nick’s hand stopped short of the goal, though. “What’s this?” Nick’s hand stroked the bulge in his belly, centered on his popped-out belly button.

  Cai shot to his feet. “Please leave.”

  True to his word, Nick did not argue. He stood off the couch, gathered the clothing from the floor and dressed quickly, setting Cai’s garments on the arm of the couch as they came untangled from his own. Once dressed, he murmured, “Until tomorrow, Astrogator.”

  Cai nodded but didn’t so much as glance at Nick. He thought he might die of embarrassment if he did. He waited for several long minutes after Nick had left before he took the empty plate back into the kitchen area then went into his bedroom and threw himself across the bed. He didn’t bother to dress; nobody could enter his chambers without his explicit permission. He didn’t know whether he should laugh or weep. His body’s betrayal had come as something of a shock, and of course, he was still horny, because Nick hadn’t finished him before he’d kicked the captain out.

  Remembering the sensation of cuddling with Nick was enough to make himself hard again. With a sigh of regret, he stroked himself. Now, he regretted that he’d kicked Nick out. He should have at least allowed the captain to finish him off. So what if Nick learned where Essence came from? It wasn’t likely to shock the man, if his read on Nick was at all accurate.

  When Si-el glided into the room and attached the suction canister to his belly, he sighed again, this time in relief. The organ had been uncomfortably full, and the pleasure of the suction would aid his efforts to come. It wasn’t nearly as good as having Nick there, of course. Cai almost called him to ask him to return and finish what he’d started, but stubborn pride reared its head. He couldn’t bear to admit that Nick was getting to him.

  Chapter Nine: Celebration

  Nick read the action reports and follow-up damage reports with all due attention. Laughing Owl was engaged in a deceptively slow slingshot around the trinary suns, as close to them as was safe to get without risking damage to the ship’s systems. In another day, Laughing Owl would transition into a new flight path that spiraled out of the system, passing by, once more, every major point of interest as far as the mapping went.

  The system modeling was actually nearly complete. The second flyby was more for confirmation than for the collection of new data, though, of course, anything new would be promptly added to the model.

  The science team was amusing itself by making predictions about local conditions then scrambling to confirm those predictions. From what Nick had seen, their predictions were mostly bearing out.

  Cai was using the slingshot time to focus his sensors and telescopes on what he called the dark heart of Tarasch—the black hole that had the three stars in thrall. Although there was nothing to see by focusing on the singularity itself, they could learn much by studying the high-frequency screams of gases at the event horizon.

  The post-attack repairs were nearly complete, Nick determined as he finished reviewing the last of the reports. He skimmed his own report on the battle, checking for any errors in spelling or grammar before he appended the section reports and finalized the whole affair as AR-427956-LO and archived it. The report would be submitted to Space Corps Command when next they made port.

  Tradition demanded a victory celebration at this point, so Nick had officially sanctioned one for that night, to occur in the forward off-duty lounge. He had no doubt that the crew was already setting up for it. He had every intention of attending, but he had no intention of attending alone. Fortunately, protocol gave him the out—if the Astrogator wanted to attend, it was the captain’s job to escort him. This was both to ensure the Gator wasn’t ignored or avoided due to the fear some had for their psionic power and to shield the Gator from any awkward social situations, which might arise.

  Even though he was itching to get to the party, Nick stubbornly stayed on the bridge, checking various reports and other miscellaneous paperwork, until his watch was over, then he casually told Cortez, “I’m heading for the party, you have the conn. Are you sure you’d rather stay on the bridge?”

  “I’m sure, Captain. I might come in later, once the third watch is here.” Cortez cocked an eyebrow, looking as if he wanted to add something, but in the end, he only shrugged. “I have the conn, sir.”

  “See you later, I hope.” Nick headed out with a brisk step, not even stopping by his quarters as he made a beeline for Cai’s chambers.

  He found the Astrogator sitting in his front room with the full holographic display of Tarasch lit up in front of him, filling the room. It was such a high quality image that Nick could see individual chunks of rock floating past his nose. He edged into the room sideways along the bulkhead so as not to disrupt the display.

  Cai’s voice floated
to him from the darkness of illusory space, “Hello, Captain. How do you like my map?”

  “It’s very impressive. I didn’t know you could render detail so finely.”

  The map abruptly vanished and the room flooded with warm yellow light. Cai was lounging in his chair before his console but had swiveled to face Nick. He looked relaxed and happy. “I don’t know what that alien ship was doing,” he said, “but I think it was alone. There’s no sign of anything else in the system that shouldn’t be here.”

  “Were you getting signs of another ship before?”

  “Nothing concrete, nothing provable. Nothing I could come to you with because I had no evidence, just a feeling.”

  Nick thought about it for a few seconds. “Next time, tell me anyway. I trust your instincts. Just a feeling might also be subconscious psionic ability trying to indicate a problem. If nothing comes of it, fine, but better forewarned for a false alarm than unprepared for a real one.”

  “Okay, I will.” Cai smiled at him with enough warmth that it lit up his brilliant blue eyes and left Nick almost breathless. “So, there is a party tonight?”

  “Yes,” Nick said, breaking out of his near trance. “It’s tradition after a victory like ours. I’m here to act as your escort. The crew would be honored if you’d attend.”

  Cai stood and stretched, flashing a teasing smile at Nick as he did so.

  Nick swallowed against a throat gone dry then boldly offered his arm. “Shall we, Astrogator?”

  “Indeed, Captain,” replied Cai, almost purring as he glided over and tucked his hand into the crook of Nick’s elbow.

  Nick wondered what was going on. Cai was not acting like himself. Their shared dream the night before had been an interesting one, with Cai using him hard in several positions, but it wasn’t any more or less than what had been done before. Perhaps it was because it was the first dream where they both knew, beyond a doubt, that it was shared.

  * * * *

  Cai floated along in a cloud of euphoria brought on by the discovery that Nick had been right. While Nick had dealt with reports, Cai had delved into his databanks, learning everything he could about telepathic bonding, which was the only thing that could account for their shared dreams. Apparently, the ultimate cause of a telepathic bond was unknown.

  Theoretically, it could be a result of Cai’s subconscious recognizing that Nick was a kindred spirit or the ideal partner for him. It could also be random chance, that Cai was seeking for a connection at the same time as Nick was. The bond was there, that was an indisputable fact in Cai’s mind, for once he’d looked for it, he’d seen it with his inner eye.

  The danger to Nick from Cai making love to him had been real, of course, but the captain was right in that there wasn’t any difference between mind sex and real sex when telepathy was involved. Or, to put it another way, if Nick’s mind was going to be burned out by Cai’s psi, it would have happened during their first shared dream. The thought that he’d actually get to have Nick for real had him almost giddy with excitement.

  As much as he wanted to attend this party, part of him wanted to skip it in order to have Nick that much sooner. He consoled himself with the thought that even if he skipped the party, Nick couldn’t. As captain, he had to attend the crew’s celebration. It would be horrible for morale if Nick failed to show, just like it would be a boon to morale if Cai attended, for the Astrogator was never obligated to spend time with the unshielded masses.

  The party was already underway when they arrived, sailing in through the hatch like a couple of cadets on a lark. People were everywhere, laughing, talking, eating and drinking. Cai tightened his shields, but he relaxed as people smiled at him and offered proper greetings, allowing him into their space as one of them and not a dangerous outsider.

  Everywhere, the crew discussed the tactics used in their short battle. Cai was praised often and so was Nick. Cai quickly adopted a routine of smiling and saying that the captain deserved the credit, not he. The crew accepted that, but strangely, it seemed as if they liked him even more after that. Cai was drawn into discussion after discussion and quickly discovered that he liked these people, his crew.

  It was the sudden spate of music that caught his attention. Two men were tuning guitars. A clarinet came out. Drums, a bass…Cai drifted over to the stage and found a rack of instruments stored in a closet. Without thinking about it, he selected the violin and tuned it. He played a few measures of an old song to warm up his fingers then slipped onto the stage with the other musicians.

  * * * *

  When the music started up, Nick didn’t immediately turn his attention to the band. Cortez had arrived, and they were talking about what could have been done differently with Kenison, the wing commander. Besides, although he liked music just fine, he couldn’t carry a tune if his life depended on it. It was Cortez who cleared his throat and said, “Our young Astrogator is a man of hidden talents, apparently.”

  “Oh?” Nick inquired, curious as to what his XO was talking about.

  For an answer, Cortez pointed across the room, to the stage.

  Nick turned and drew in a sharp breath of pleased surprise at the sight of Cai playing fiddle with the impromptu band. As he watched, they finished the song they were on and immediately struck up a stirring rendition of the Space Corps anthem. In moments, the entire room was bellowing the lyrics of the space ditty. Nick slipped closer to the stage, finding a table where he had an unimpeded view of Cai.

  Cai was lost to the music, Nick realized, watching the lanky Gator as he played that fiddle like an experienced pro. When did he learn to play violin? He’s only been out of the Guild Hall for a month at the most. Nick knew there was no way, from what Cai had told him of the rigorous training he’d received as a Gator, there was no way he’d learned to play while in the Guild Hall. That left before. At some point in Cai’s suppressed past, he’d been taught to play that instrument.

  “Do you play, Captain?” asked one of the young lieutenants, Jasmine Meadows.

  “Not at all,” Nick laughed. “I’ve no aptitude for it.”

  She sat down across from him and stared at him with large, doe-soft, limpid eyes. “Well, a person can’t be good at everything, right? And as flaws go, that’s a mild one.”

  “I don’t consider it a flaw,” Nick retorted. “Everyone has a host of abilities, some strong, some minor and some things they just can’t do well. Calling something you can’t do a flaw implies that everyone should have the exact same strengths and anyone who doesn’t meet that standard is deficient.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” she backpedaled. “It’d be boring if everyone was the same.”

  “That’s true,” Nick allowed. He glanced at the stage, where the band had just finished another song. “Excuse me,” he said politely and stood, slipping away from the table to make his escape. He collected a tumbler of a very fine Synded brandy and brought it over to Cai. “You play very well.”

  Cai smiled almost shyly. “Do you like it? I didn’t know I could play until I saw that violin, then I just somehow knew.” He sipped the brandy and made an appreciative sound.

  “I like it very much,” Nick assured him. “Even though I have to admit that I am apparently flawed since I have no musical aptitude.”

  Cai’s laugh pealed out, causing heads to turn and people to grin in response to the Gator’s mirth. “Why, Captain, and here I’d thought you were the epitome of military perfection!”

  “Obviously not,” sniffed Nick, grinning back. “Now, are you going to play that thing some more, or are you going to deprive your loyal audience of your talent?”

  Cai chortled and stood, bring the violin back into position. He struck up a haunting, complex melody that caused many to sigh in appreciation. It was an old love song about a light sailor sundered from his lover by relativity and very popular with the crew.

  Nick raised his own glass to his lips, sipping the liquor without releasing Cai from his
gaze. The Gator was elegant in his motions, one hand caressing the neck of the violin, the other deftly maneuvering the bow across the strings to produce such delightful, beautiful sounds.

  Chapter Ten: Together

  Cai stayed until the very end of the party, so late it was really early morning when at last he put the violin aside and permitted Nick to escort him home. Of course, Nick had stayed at his side; it was one of his duties as captain. The man hadn’t seemed to mind, though, so Cai hadn’t felt obligated to leave early. He was more tired than he’d realized, though, for halfway back to his chambers, he found himself leaning against Nick and yawning.

  Nick smiled down at him and supported him easily. “Do you want me to carry you?”

  “Let’s not set every tongue on the ship wagging,” Cai replied.

  Nick’s chuckle was a pleasant sound.

  After another moment’s rest, Cai resumed forward travel. Nick paced him easily, inhumanly alert for the hours they’d packed into the day. They reached Cai’s chambers without further incident. Cai hesitated in the doorway. “Would you care to come in, or are you too tired?”

  “I’m never too tired to spend time with you, Cai.” Nick followed him into his rooms but broke off to the side, heading to the cabinet where the liquor was stored.

  As Cai watched, bemused, Nick poured two glasses of something and came back over, offering one to him. He took it and sniffed, raising his eyebrows at the aroma of fine mead laced with Synde.

  Nick raised his glass. “To our first victory,” he toasted. When Cai’ clinked his glass, Nick stroked the back of his hand with a long finger.

  “Captain?” Cai met Nick’s gaze boldly, pushing Nick into making a move.

  “Your music is like you are. Complicated but beautiful.”

  “You think I’m beautiful?” Cai was startled. He knew Nick was attracted to him, but he’d never called him beautiful before. He allowed his eyes to gleam with interest, and he casually touched Nick’s hand in turn.