Triangle

by Sara L Daigle

  A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in,” he called.

  Allyn pushed open the door, carrying a file folder. “The Justern Memaxthal file,” he said as he placed the folder on Merran’s desk. Allyn stood in front of the desk, looking nervous, his hand still on the smooth cover of the file.

  “What is it, Allyn?” Merran asked, as he reached across his desk to pull it out from under his assistant’s tense fingers.

  “I thought this issue was resolved on Azelle, when Justern was found innocent last month.”

  Merran nodded. “He was. But unfortunately, he was not found innocent here on Earth, and considering that the crime was committed here on Earth, we’ve had to fight this through human appeal channels. That hasn’t been as easy as you might think, considering our ‘proof’ is psi in nature.”

  Not long ago, fellow Azellian and exchange student Justern Memaxthal had been found guilty of raping a human girl. That case is going to have far-reaching consequences, Merran thought, not just because a number of Azellian abilities were openly revealed, but also because I am still dealing with the political ripples of the case itself. The girl’s father is furious at the overturning of the verdict by the Azellian courts and wants Azelle to extradite Justern back to Earth. The Azellian Council is backing Justern, thank the aarya, but it’s tricky. Wars have started over less, even among friendly planets, and the last thing we need is a war. He didn’t mention any of that to Allyn, though. He doesn’t need to know about something that might never happen. And, if I have anything to say about it, it never will.

  “Are you making some progress?” Allyn asked, concern written across his face. “I know Justern personally. He and I trained together.”

  Merran shrugged. “It’s hard to tell,” he replied evasively. “Diplomacy is an art … and sometimes a damned uncertain one. Justern’s trial and subsequent exile were political hotspots, and the human authorities are trying to make a point with him. I’m doing everything I can, hoping that it will work out for the best.” As Justern’s friend, Merran had a personal stake in trying to make this come out right, but if it came to choosing between Justern and peace between Azelle and Earth, Merran knew what he’d have to do. He fought the urge to sigh and turned to the phone. “Get me a cup of tea, will you, Allyn?” he asked as he dialed his friend and fellow Azellian Greg Tenricth’s number. As a Healer and as one of the people who had been very involved with the drama last semester, Greg’s insights would be invaluable. One impossible task at a time, he thought to himself. I’ll deal with the fourteen others later.

  “Certainly, Ambassador,” Allyn said, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  Not far from the embassy and the downtown area, Tamara Carrington shoved open the door with a shoulder and threw her bags down on her neatly made bed, grateful that she’d taken the time to make it before going on semester break. There was something cheerful about coming back to a neat room instead of a disaster area. She pushed a lock of soft brown hair out of her eyes, looking around the familiar room, the indirect southern midday light and east-facing windows making the room bright but not uncomfortable. Another semester about to begin, hopefully less chaotic than the last one had been. So much had happened last semester—from the death of her mother, whom she had recently found out was actually her stepmother, to the discovery and exile of her half-brother Justern, to the revelation of her own mental abilities and half-Azellian heritage—that she didn’t think she’d be able to top it in a million years. Of course, she hoped she didn’t even match it.

  A light knock on the door interrupted her scan of the empty room, as a mind brushed across the shielding that swathed her. She thinned her shielding enough to recognize the Azellian mind at the door and felt her heart skip a beat and speed up. She took a breath, forgetting to release it, as waves of dizziness made the ground seem unsteady under her feet, anticipation and nerves causing her to feel shaky. This semester break, she’d done nothing but talk to him awkwardly a few times on the phone, with her father and sister listening in on every conversation. Her father had lived on Azelle for a year, even had an affair with an Azellian woman (which had resulted in her own birth), but for some reason, Peter Carrington had decided that his daughter needed to take time before leaping more deeply into a relationship with an Azellian. That had led to stilted phone conversations and miserable separation under the pretense of a “family vacation.” Dad probably did it on purpose, to “teach me a lesson,” she thought to herself, her body forcing her to breathe even as the rest of her forgot about everything but the rush of emotions. Forget that I have no idea what that lesson was and that the time away was the worst time of my life.

  Tamara opened the door, more than a little breathless, and felt her heart leap to her throat at the sight of the tall, dusky-skinned redhead who stood nonchalantly at the door. She and her family had just returned from the “vacation” late last night, and she hadn’t had a chance to see Alarin until now. Had he missed her as much as she’d missed him? “Alarin,” she said in a voice that sounded higher than normal. She stepped back so he could walk into the room.

  “Hi,” he answered, his musical accent lilting in her ears, the thrill of it moving through her from head to toe. He let the door swing shut behind him as he entered, looking around the room. “You cleaned before you left.”

  “I made my bed,” she said. “I hardly call that cleaning. My closet is a mess, the bookshelves are chaos, and don’t even look under the bed.” She scowled at the room. “Classes start in two days, and I barely had time to relax. So much for a vacation!” She came to stand beside him, not quite touching him, hugging her arms around her stomach in an attempt to control her emotions. After being away, she felt shy and awkward in Alarin’s presence—especially since he seemed to be relaxed, as though their relationship was nothing more than the friendship it had started out as. “Did you manage to get an apartment?”

  Alarin nodded. “The argument that I need a place for the next year and a half so I don’t have to move out every three to four months apparently worked. That and the school wants us Azellians off campus.” His tone remained neutral, despite the reference to the mess last semester created when Tamara’s recently discovered half-brother Justern had been falsely accused of the rape of a human woman and deported back to Azelle. That situation was still messy and they were still working through all the implications of it. He walked over to the dresser to lean against it. “How was your vacation?”

  She shrugged and gave him a look from the corner of her eye, recognizing that neither of them wanted to talk about the repercussions, so she let him change the subject. “Miserable. I would have preferred staying here with you.”

  Alarin grinned delightedly. His mind immediately slipped around hers, as though he’d been waiting for that encouragement, and slid underneath her shielding. The touch raised shivers up and down her spine as he brushed up against the erotic centers in her brain. “And I would have preferred to have you stay,” he replied, stepping forward and pulling her into an embrace.

  She wrapped her arms around his slender waist and rested her head on his chest, feeling his wiry strength. A tension she didn’t know she was holding in her shoulders drained out through her arms and feet and the top of her head. He dropped a kiss lightly on her hair. “So you missed me?” she asked softly.

  He didn’t answer in words, leaning back instead so he could lift her chin, tilting her gaze up to meet his. He lowered his head, brushing a kiss across her mouth. Her breath caught in her throat as a tingling sensation raced down beyond her stomach. She deepened the kiss, pressing herself against him.

  He made a sound and pulled her more tightly against him, kissing her aggressively, his mind twining itself around her so intensely she could barely tell where he began and she left off. He shoved the bags off the bed, using those mental abilities that had been revealed last semester. Not releasing her mouth, he walked her backwards and pushed her down to the surface of the bed.
His hands found their way up under her shirt, touching her sensitized skin lightly, his long fingers cupping her breasts through her bra. If she’d had any questions about him missing her, they were washed away in the urgency of his touch, the almost desperate pressure of his mind and body against hers.

  Their lovemaking didn’t last all that long—probably not surprising, considering the length of time they’d been separated—but it was extremely intense, minds and bodies wrapped around each other in an intimate embrace that blurred the boundaries between them. They lay, still intertwined on the bed, as their hearts slowed and their breathing returned to normal. Belatedly, a thought occurred to her after it was over. “Uh, Alarin?” she asked, shifting slightly, so his weight was a little less centered on her chest.

  “Hmmm?” he asked, sounding very sleepy and content. He moved so she could breathe, but he didn’t completely pull away from her.

  “Uh … how do you think this impacted Merran? We didn’t give him any warning and I know he’s at work right now.”

  She felt the tension spill through him. He rolled off her and stared up at the ceiling. She shivered, hugging her arms to herself, the always constant link forged between them at her Awakening giving her a glimpse of the poorly understood, roiling emotions coming from Alarin. Last semester, Tamara had been cast into the Azellian world of psi, Awakening traumatically to her own mental abilities and leaving Alarin, Merran, and herself tied in an emotional and mental bond that linked them all through sex. Merran always knew when Alarin and she were together and vice versa. The two men shared her mentally, whether she—or they—wanted to or not.

  “Merran’s fine,” he said, after a few moments of silence.

  “Are you mad at me?” she asked, finding herself unable to look at him.

  Alarin shifted on the bed beside her. “No,” he responded. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she felt the flare of hurt despite the shields they tried—unsuccessfully—to maintain between them. “But why is it that the first thing you ask about as soon as you see me is what’s happening with Merran? I haven’t seen you in weeks and that’s the first thing you ask about?”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” she protested, pulling herself onto to her elbow. “I only mentioned Merran because I was concerned that our activities might have inconvenienced him, since he can sense it any time we’re together,” she added with an obvious frown on her face.

  “Did you call him last night? You certainly didn’t call me.”

  She sat up. “I didn’t call anyone last night, Alarin. We got home at midnight, and I went right to bed. I didn’t even speak to Merran while I was away … it’s actually been longer than that. Not even one phone call. What’s going on?”

  Alarin rolled over to face her. He reached out to trace a fingertip over her lips and jaw, cupping her cheek lightly in his palm and guiding her to lie down next to him again. “I guess I was a little thrown off balance because you were concerned about Merran. It just seemed like we’d hardly had a chance to spend five minutes together before you started asking about him.”

  Tamara made a sound and moved closer. “Why wouldn’t I be concerned that we might have interfered with Merran’s day? He has a job, Alarin, and our activities can impact his job, whether we like it or not. It’s not like we waited until tonight, when he’s not in the middle of meetings.”

  He pulled her more tightly into his body, stroking a hand over her hair.

  She could feel his remorse. “I know, I’m sorry. I reached out to him just now. Merran said it was fine, that he had a moment or two before he went to a meeting, and that we had pretty good timing, considering what could have happened. You don’t have to worry.”

  She leaned into the embrace, resting her head on Alarin’s shoulder. She could feel his body respond as she cuddled closer, even despite their activities a few moments ago. He rested his chin on her head, wrapping her in his arms as they lay quietly on the bed.

  “Uh, Alarin?” she asked after a moment.

  “Hmmm?” he replied, that sleepy content sound having returned to his voice. The rest of him wasn’t nearly so sleepy though.

  “As much as I’m enjoying this, we really shouldn’t be doing this right now,” she reminded him.

  He lifted his head. “Right,” he said, shifting away from her and getting to his feet.

  If she thought it was hard to ignore his nudity during a normal conversation, it was nearly impossible when he was in this state, half-aroused and tousled from their earlier activities. He seemed quite unselfconscious about it, but her fingers twitched as she sat up. She wanted to finish what they’d started … badly. Even knowing Merran was busy and couldn’t afford to be distracted right now was hardly enough to dampen the fires. She closed her eyes to avoid looking at him.

  A feather-light touch brushed across her eyelids. She opened her eyes to see Alarin’s fingers brush down the side of her face, certain parts of him still standing very much at attention, especially as he stood in front of her. “Having trouble?” he teased.

  She raised her eyebrows and leaned her head into his palm. “Uh, you could say that,” she muttered.

  He grinned, and she could feel his delight. He dropped his hand to her wrist and guided her hand towards his stomach, brushing her fingers against his skin, just above where she really wanted to touch. He stayed very properly wrapped in his own shields, however, so the contact was only physical.

  “Alarin,” she warned breathlessly, “you’re teasing me.”

  “I’m the one who’s being teased,” he replied, sounding nearly as breathless as she was. “And I don’t mind. Merran’s connection is with you, not me. What we do to me shouldn’t affect him.”

  She wanted to believe what he was saying, but she didn’t trust either him or herself. It was too easy to forget themselves. “No, Alarin. Not right now. Tonight, okay? We can experiment tonight, and maybe we can find the edges of this … thing.”

  “All right, fine. We don’t have all that much time anyway. I sense Kari coming up the stairs.”

  “What?” Tamara leaped to her feet, reaching out to verify that what Alarin had said was true. “Shit,” she blurted out as she grabbed for her clothes. “God damn it. Why didn’t you warn me sooner? I know, I should have been scanning the area around me, the way Greg taught me to do, but you know that doesn’t come naturally to me … which is why I don’t do it most of the time.” She tugged on her jeans, fastening them hastily. “Will you put some clothes on?” she demanded, glancing over at him. He watched her, unconcerned and amused.

  “Why?” he asked lazily.

  “Because Kari doesn’t want to see you standing there half …” she waved a hand at him.

  “Half what?” He leaned back against the oak dresser, making his body lengthen and certain parts of him leap out into sharp relief.

  Tamara blushed violently and leaned over to pick up his jeans and underwear. “Half, half … you know. Naked. Without clothes. I don’t want her to see any of you at all, much less that,” Tamara retorted, pointing at his groin and throwing his jeans and underwear at him as the sound of the dorm’s interior fire door slamming shut became apparent to both of them.

  He grinned at her and pulled on his underwear and jeans, but he didn’t bother with his shirt or socks. Tamara tugged on her own sweater and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it, then quickly pulled on her socks.

  The knock on the door made Tamara jump, even though she was expecting it. She glanced over at Alarin, who’d replaced the bags on the bed, but the covers were still rumpled, providing mute testimony to their earlier activities. He seemed calm enough, his erection gone, and there was little other evidence of their lovemaking still left in the room—just his lack of a shirt and socks. She knew it was as much of a concession as she was going to get from him, though. She hated it when friends interrupted them, or figured out what they’d been doing, but he never cared. Indeed, it had been a fight to get him to wear anything at all when friends kn
ocked on the door. He never dressed when it was Greg doing the knocking, and to tell the truth, Greg never seemed to care either. She couldn’t get over it, though, and she didn’t want to find out if her human friends could handle it or not.

  Tamara straightened her shirt and pulled open the door. “Kari, hi!”

  “Hey Tam. Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” she asked, as she peered around Tamara to see Alarin standing there wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, his arms crossed over his bare, muscular stomach.

  “No, you’re fine,” Tamara said, glaring at Alarin, who grinned at her unrepentantly. He loved to tease her about her uptight attitudes. “Will you put your shirt on, please?”

  Kari eyed Alarin appreciatively, whose grin widened. He uncrossed his arms and turned slowly in a circle, ignoring Tamara’s request. “Like what you see?”

  Kari raised her eyebrows. “Hmmm. Absolutely. You never told me he was this hot, Tam.”

  Alarin bowed to her. “Thank you,” he said, leaning over to grab his shirt off the floor.

  “Don’t hide that mighty fine chest on my account. I’m quite content to gaze.”

  “Hey!” Tamara protested. “Kari!”

  “I wouldn’t hide my mighty fine chest, as you put it,” Alarin replied, talking to Kari, his green eyes twinkling brightly, as he slipped the t-shirt on over his head and pulled the long-sleeved button-down shirt over it, “but you heard her. She told me to put my shirt on. It doesn’t bother either of us, but I think it’s disturbing Tam.”

  “I’m not sure why. If I had that in my bed, I’d be parading it all over campus,” Kari said, glancing sideways at Tamara, who could feel her cheeks burning.