NO WORDS ALONE

by Autumn Dawn

  She laughed, surprised at his humor. He took her to the couch and sat down, arranging her with her head in his lap. He stroked her hair. “Rest, if you will, azie ami. I will listen and keep you safe.”

  She blinked, faintly astonished. From what she’d seen, human men just didn’t act like this, being so concerned and kind. She’d expected demands and pressure, and perhaps some egocentric questions. Weren’t the Scorpio a warlike race? Was this some kind of underhanded psychological trick? But after a moment she decided she trusted and liked it. She’d expected to kick Ryven out and indulge in a fit of tears. She’d gotten something much better.

  Still, her previous thoughts were enough to dampen her eyes. “I’m never going to see my sisters again.” He stroked the hair from her face, and she felt the bite of rage. She wanted to hurt him. “It’s your fault!”

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  A little of her anger slid away, undermined by his continued calm. Her throat got tight. “I hate you.”

  “Yes,” he agreed softly.

  That made her cry. It was long minutes before she could admit, “I don’t. I just hate…everything that’s going on.”

  “So would I.”

  That loosened the mortar that held together her fortress of sorrow. She poured out her anger, her heartbreak. She even told him how she’d felt during their time on the desert planet where they’d crashed. There was no one else to tell, and she needed it out so badly. “I was as scared of my crew as I was of yours. I thought we’d be stuck there for years, that it would become a prison. I thought being the only woman there would make me…you know. Vulnerable. A commodity. I think Khan’s attitude might have been part of what made me so scared.”

  He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I would not let you be hurt.”

  “I didn’t know that. You seemed scary yourself,” she admitted.

  He smiled. “Even then I wanted you for our ambassador.”

  “That was all?”

  His eyes were hooded as he looked down at her. He traced her cheek. “No. That wasn’t all.”

  “Why? Because I was the only woman there?” She laughed wryly.

  His smile held secrets. “I knew a ship was coming for us. It would only be weeks before I was home again.”

  “Surrounded by women,” she said, a bit sourly.

  “They had lost appeal. I’d found what I’d been looking for.”

  “What was that?” she asked softly. She stared at him. His eyes had that certain glow.

  He brushed a finger over her lips. “A fierce heart. You thought I would kill you and you faced death with courage. You didn’t complain as we marched through killing sands and men fell around us. You’re a survivor, a fighter. All that and gemstone eyes, flame red lips…I could not believe such beauty was allowed to serve in such a dangerous position. I wanted to kill your captain just for allowing it.”

  “Our cultures are different,” she mused, even as he brushed her lips with his.

  “I will never understand it,” he replied, his voice a murmur against her temple.

  He straightened, even though she could clearly feel his arousal with her head in his lap. His hands remained soothing, stroking her arm. After a moment he said, “Tell me about your family.” He seemed genuinely interested, and she was quietly pleased by his questions.

  “My sisters?” She thought about it. “Moody, headstrong, infamous…and that’s just my younger sister, Brandy. Gem is the oldest and…motherish.” She made a face.

  He laughed. “Motherish?”

  “You know, always trying to steer us in the right direction. Bossy, though she tries to rein it in. At least having kids has given her someone to unleash the instinct on besides us. She’s married to a cop. He gets bossed around by her, too.” Not that Blue seemed to mind. He’d once said there were compensations, then had given his wife such a hot look that Xera blushed. She’d stopped teasing him. Truth be known, he could hold his own when he needed.

  “Do you fight much?”

  She shifted to get more comfortable. “Not really, not anymore. At least, not with Gem. Brandy drives me crazy. She’s so stinking moody. She’ll snarl at you for nothing when she gets in one of her snits. It doesn’t help that she’s always holed up in the brewery, tinkering with formulas.”

  “Brewery?”

  “We make the finest beer on Polaris. Make a mint, too, now that offworld exports have gotten more affordable. We own a bunch of inns,” she confided. “My dad started the first when he home-steaded the place.”

  “He sounds enterprising.”

  “Yes.” She abruptly clammed up.

  When she said nothing more, he asked, “What was your home like?”

  “Clean, busy, happy mostly. Business was always good, but it’s taken off during the last few years. Gem really came into her own. She knows how to manage people, resources. I swear, all she did for years was breathe through the business—it was like a third lung. Nobody did it better. I think she’d have had an aneurysm or something if Blue hadn’t found her and dragged her away from the office. She kicked and screamed then, but she doesn’t seem to mind now. She’s in love.” She ducked her head slightly, the mention of love making her self-conscious.

  Ryven smiled. “You must have had some lonely years in space, judging from the quality of men who were in your crew. What did you dream of doing when your time was your own again?”

  She blinked, a little surprised. How had he known she was lonely? For that matter, it was a little arrogant of him to assume that she’d never fraternized with anyone in a romantic capacity, even if that were true. “Actually, I served with a couple of decent guys. No keepers, though.” Let him chew on that. It might keep him from taking her for granted. “What did I dream of though? Little things, mostly. I dreamed about eating at home again—we always had the best cooks.”

  “Space rations are not always enough,” he agreed. “What else?”

  “Sunlight. A garden to snooze in. I was never much for weeding, but my sister always grew the best flowers. Windows open to the breeze, good beer, good neighbors.”

  “The home you knew,” he said.

  “Yes. I’d gotten my fill of exploring by the time we crashed. The GE soured it for me.”

  “You don’t like them,” he remarked carefully.

  She was silent for a moment, held in check by old company loyalty, then admitted with irritation, “No. No, I don’t. They’re greedy, corrupt and have really lousy benefits. It’s a wonder they haven’t started a war yet instead of skirted around it. Even then, if they had more money and better leadership…but they don’t. They’re a bunch of land-grabbing investors ruled by a board of nincompoops. I’m glad I’m out of that mess.”

  “So I rescued you, did I?”

  She huffed at him, trying not to laugh. “Please! My ego can’t take much more.”

  He kissed her. “Take a transfusion from mine. I have enough to share, according to my sisters.”

  “They would know,” Xera retorted, but his kiss distracted her. He really had a talent for it.

  The mood was light-years different than before, but still he only teased her and retreated. The mischievous smile he gave her only made Xera want to chase him. “Come here,” she demanded at last.

  Mock regretful, he shook his head. “I don’t think I should.”

  She frowned and sat up, wincing as she did. “Another kiss won’t hurt.”

  He obliged, and then said breathlessly, “Anything else will hurt. I’d rather not cause you pain.”

  “Then don’t.” She pulled his head back down, still hungry from his clever, enticing kisses. At this point, not having them would be worse.

  “Such a lot of work you are,” he complained huskily. “You’ll have me start all over. I’m exhausted from your demands, wife.”

  “Tough luck.” She grabbed his head in both hands and shut his mouth with hers. It felt good, powerful to be in charge. She wanted to control him, but oddly enoug
h, the feelings brought back the anger. She became more aggressive, almost hurting him.

  His head snapped back and he gave her a warning look. His old command surfaced. “No! Not again. We will not follow that pattern. This time, we will be soft because it is best. You will be soft for me.” His lashes swept down and screened those volcanic eyes as he kissed the corner of her mouth.

  She turned her head, sulking. “You don’t always know what’s best.”

  “This time I do,” he said softly, and cupped her breast in his hand. She didn’t have time to object before he palmed it, delivering a jolt of pleasure. “Be soft for me, wife, soft where a woman should be soft, and I will be your rock.”

  He was asking for trust, for openness. Though he was remaining dominant.

  It was difficult. She didn’t want to let go, but he had ways of persuading her. In the end it was his gentle yet commanding patience that won her over. Somehow his touch was soothing yet exciting, light and fiery, like ghostly flames licking over her skin. He made her thoughts spin away in her head, her vision dulled with passion. Even the clothing sliding from her skin was an unbearably welcome caress; the hands that followed, nirvana. It was, “Oh!” and, “Jai tai, kdi ahn,” as she moved against his fingers. “Tomou,” he murmured breathlessly, his mouth open and hot over her nipple. And “Yes!” and, “Xeinxi.”

  Each forgot any but their native language as the passion swept them, but Ryven did not change his plan. This time he took her gently, slid with utter care into her slick core. This time she shuddered with passion before he slowly rocked her, deaf to the urging of her nails, her hot anxiety. He knew better, knew to guide their bodies slowly. He rode out her impatience, took her past the first burst of light and guided her into a second, even more powerful.

  Her scream almost deafened him. He clamped his teeth gently on her neck and growled his own release.

  It was a while before she recovered enough to see their surroundings. They were on the carpet next the couch. Her backside was raw from the carpet. Ryven was heavy on top of her and deep within. She shuddered with lingering pleasure. Hot seed trickled between her thighs.

  “Mm.” He suckled her neck. “We should move to the bed, little one. This carpet looked softer than it is.”

  She laughed. “My backside is raw.”

  “I’ll put balm on it. You can attend to my knees…and other parts that ache.” He brushed a kiss over her lips and reluctantly withdrew his fullness.

  She blinked and sat up. “I thought…” She gestured at him, averting her eyes.

  He smiled rakishly. “Yes?”

  “Shouldn’t that be…ah, taken care of?”

  “Meaning?” He sounded like he was enjoying himself.

  She couldn’t bring herself to look, so she gestured. “You know. Down.”

  He grinned. “Wife. You’re naked at my feet. Your thighs are still wet with my essence, and you think I should be ‘down?’ We have much to teach you, little one.”

  Ignoring her hot blush, he scooped her up and carried her to the bed, then fetched the balm. He wasn’t shy about rubbing it all over her body, even deep between her legs. She gasped as his fingers slid deep with a generous dose of cream.

  “S-should you…be…” She ended on a moan.

  “This is what it’s for,” he murmured, enjoying himself. He spread the cream all over the inside of her thighs, held them wide with his forearms as he teased the petals of her femininity. It was necessary—she would have twisted out of his hold with pleasure otherwise. At last, when she was far gone to passion, he eased her up and handed her the jar. “Your turn.”

  She blinked at him before obediently smoothing it over his knees and thighs, forgetting to cover herself as she worked. Her hands grasped him, sweetly stroked as her generous breasts squeezed between her arms, the nipples tight little peaks. She cast him a heated, hungry look.

  He smiled and leaned back. “Come here.” He turned her when she would have lain down so that her back met his front. He used his own legs to spread her thighs wide, then sent his fingers sneaking, seeking. One hand toyed in her curls as the other played with her breast then slid up and between her lips. She moaned as she suckled him, and climaxed.

  It was as if sudden fever ignited his body. He flipped her over, facedown on the mattress, and slid into her, though careful, ever careful. She responded with a deep groan. Baring his teeth in triumph, he rode her to their reward.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Midmorning of the next day found Xera seated at her desk, perusing a report on the wallscreen while Namae silently dressed her hair. Their meeting with the GE and Interplanetary Council representatives had opened up talks, and she had to be ready to participate if called upon. She was also doing research to see why relations between the races had failed—from a Scorpio perspective. Apparently the Scorpio had taken a dim view of a GE captain’s aggression when he was discovered nosing around a section of space they claimed. The captain had pushed, tried to bluff, only to discover that Scorpio didn’t bluff. The GE vessel limped home minus its captain and delivered the terse message, “Stay away from Scorpio space.” The GE hadn’t listened.

  Fast-forward to Xera’s day. The GE and Interplanetary Council were talking, and the IC at least, pushed for peaceful relations. The Scorpio were talking. No blood had been shed. She was hopeful that they could work things out, or at least part with civil nods. She was working on a way to introduce cooperation. What they needed was neutral ground, a place to interact face-to-face. Someone had to suggest that.

  Outside the window she could see a large planet. The orb itself was a pale lavender and dark purple swirl of deadly gas, inhospitable to life. Seventh in its solar system, it had sixteen moons, one of which was slightly bigger than Earth’s and had rings of its own. Its name was Betlefixh. The closest she could pronounce it was “Bettlefish.”

  “Namae,” she said absently, still staring at the moon on her computer screen. “What do you think it would take to convince your brother and father to set up a moon station there?”

  Surprised, Namae blinked the screen. “What? There? Why would they want to?”

  “They claim this solar system, don’t they?”

  “Yes, but no one lives this far out. We haven’t needed to colonize it yet, as this isn’t a fertile system.”

  “Yes, but it’s on the border between our peoples. Imagine how convenient it would be to start…oh, a trading post here. The land doesn’t have much value yet, but what if people of both races were stationed in the area, lived and worked together? What do you think would happen then?”

  “War?” she said doubtfully.

  Xera grinned ruefully. “Maybe. Maybe, though, something better would happen. Our races aren’t that different, you know.”

  “Hm,” Namae offered, noncommittal. “What would we trade, though? What would be worth coming all the way out here for? Your world is a long way off, isn’t it?”

  “Information, for a start. My people are curious—that’s why we explore. I bet your people would like to know what we do about our section of space as much as we would love to see what lies inside yours. If nothing else, the Interplanetary Council should know about the threat of the Khun’tat. They would also make a better effort to police the GE if their allies were threatened. You would be one of the herd, after all.”

  “I don’t like that analogy.”

  “You’re right. What would be a better one?”

  Namae thought. “Best leave it at allies. If you say anything else, it will definitely sour my brother. You mentioned information. Are you planning to send scientists here?”

  “Good idea. Astrographers, people who want to study wormholes—imagine if they learned to send drones through!—maybe even artists and musicians. Of course there would be all the other people required to support a moon station, too. This could really work.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement. Her family could actually visit her in a neutral place like that.

  What would her husban
d think of her idea?

  He listened attentively when she presented it. She made sure to use her most businesslike approach. It wasn’t difficult. She’d been honing her bargaining skills on tradesmen while working at her family’s inn. This was just another type of sale.

  When she was finished, Ryven sat back in his chair and considered silently. She knew the value of silence and waited. She tried not to let her cold sweat distract her. Either the idea had merit or it didn’t. Maybe he wouldn’t think they needed a whole moon base. Maybe he’d think an annual summit meeting would be enough. Maybe he’d scotch the whole idea and continue as they were, with ships patrolling both sides of the border and the GE playing chicken with them.

  Finally he looked at her. His expression warm but shuttered, he said, “The idea is worth bringing to my father. He may take it into consideration. It would depend greatly on the reaction of the GE and Interplanetary Council, however. If they are not in agreement…” He shrugged. If it didn’t happen, he would not be heartbroken.

  She gave a small smile. It was a start. “Thank you. That’s very open-minded of you.” It couldn’t hurt to give the compliment, and she was aware of the stretch this was for him. “I can only hope all parties are as reasonable.”

  His father found the idea, “Palatable, but only just.” The Interplanetary Council was cautiously eager, and the GE expressed neutrality, not quite willing to let go of its grudge. Of course it took a full week of negotiations to arrive at this agreement. Things promised to get even more sticky as they hammered out who would pay for what, how the station would be designed, policed and executed. Xera bargained with tact or fierceness, differing based on need. By the time an agreement had been hammered out, she was exhausted.

  “You need to go home and rest,” Ryven informed her the night they signed the treaty. “This constant wrangling is leaving you pale.” He tucked the bedclothes over her shoulder and lay down beside her.

  “It’s the lack of sun,” she told him, snuggling close with a yawn. “We all look pale. Besides, you wanted an ambassador. It’s demanding work, but I think I’m doing a good job.”