by Lyn Gala
John ignored him and headed for the back of the bar. With a sigh, Tank got up and followed them. It was unfair that he’d been in Chow’s crosshairs the whole time, but Aldrich was right. Real soldiers got assigned their share of unfairness along with the uniform.
Besides, if Tank had to deal with the fact that Chow had been fucking with his life, that was a fraction of what his friends had suffered. Somehow that made his own confusion and frustration seem a little smaller. Tank didn’t exactly wall off his feelings, but he put them aside for now as he headed after John and Colonel Aldrich.
Chapter Thirty-Six
THE COLONEL signed himself and Tank into the Picatinny guardhouse. John had decided to test security by slipping through without warning, and the colonel had allowed it with a quick reminder that if John got himself shot, the colonel reserved the right to laugh at him.
Instead of ordering Tank back to enlisted quarters, Aldrich had given Tank directions to Lev’s quarters and told him to avoid getting caught in officers’ territory. He’d then headed in the opposite direction. That was about as close as Tank was going to get to an engraved invitation, and he took it before some less generous officer caught him.
He quietly knocked on Lev’s door and waited. Lev answered with a curt “Go away!” Tank definitely couldn’t afford to make too much noise, so he just knocked quietly again. This time the door flew open, and Lev stood there looking frustrated. He stared at Tank for a minute or so, his face blank until he finally started to smile.
He grabbed Tank’s arm, dragged him into the room, and slammed the door. “Tank.” Lev fell silent after that. Tank really hoped that pity hadn’t set in, because Colonel Aldrich was right about others having it way, way worse.
“Hey. I’m home. Kinda home, anyway, since this isn’t technically a home.” Tank eased farther into the room. “And if you’re going to yell at me about running off, that’s totally fair, because I shut you out.”
Lev moved with Tank, nearly mirroring his movements. “Are you okay?”
“That would depend on the definition of ‘okay,’” Tank admitted. “I’m used to being the normal one, and then it turns out that Chow orchestrated big chunks of my life.” Tank stopped.
“Not so normal, huh?” Lev said softly.
“Not really.” Tank sat on the end of Lev’s bed, since every chair was covered in alien devices and printouts and laptops. “And now the colonel tells me that my father isn’t really my father.”
“God, I’m so sorry. I tried to threaten Clyde into telling me where you were, but he was acting like an ass.” Lev’s hand ran up Tank’s back to rest against his shoulder blade. “I should have been there. Whatever Clyde said, just remember that he learned his manners from a baboon.”
“The only thing he said that upset me was that my genes were all German.” Tank let himself fall backward so he was lying down, looking up at Lev.
“Why? You don’t have a thing against Germans, do you?”
Tank laughed. “Nope, not at all. But the woman who carried me, who gave birth to me, who raised me, who I always have and always will call Mother despite her slightly distracted and neglectful parenting style, is Scot/Delaware.”
“Oh.” Lev grimaced.
“Exactly. Oh.” Tank closed his eyes. “And my mother wasn’t exactly the sort to go for embryo implantation, so I don’t think there’s a chance that someone just screwed up at the genetics office.”
“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think they even had embryo implantation when you would have been conceived.” Lev started rubbing Tank’s thigh, a gesture more comforting than sexual. “What did Clyde say?”
“He might have said a lot if I’d told him.”
“You didn’t?” Lev sounded scandalized, but he was tracing circles against Tank’s arm, sending little tingles through Tank’s skin.
“Does it matter? I mean, this is sort of my fucked-up life.”
“If you want to wait and get your head around this, that’s fine. But up until you said that, I was arguing that you were an unaltered and largely uninteresting human Chow was using as a control to better judge the effects of his alterations on Zhu.”
“And now I’m one more science experiment, but at least that makes me interesting.” Tank swirled his finger in the air, mimicking a pathetic and unenthusiastic cheer.
“You have been interesting since Day One when you pinned me up against a shelf and then resisted the urge to fuck until you were sure I was as into it as you were. I might have fallen in love with your sexy way with machines, but first I fell in lust with a man who controlled himself well enough to put me first.”
Tank huffed. “I kinda knew something was wrong, although I assumed it was magical.”
“Magic doesn’t exist, but goodness does, and you proved yourself a good man. The rest of this is just the crap life throws at us. It’s all external, and nothing can change who you are.”
When Tank opened his eyes, Lev was studying him with an open and earnest expression on that handsome face. He was so easy to love. Tank reached up to catch Lev by the back of the neck. Lev yielded easily, his palm resting against Tank’s chest as he leaned down for a kiss. When Tank stopped, Lev sat up and let his hand rest against Tank’s cheek.
Tank put his own hand over Lev’s. “I love you, Dr. Underwood.”
“I love you too, Tank Tankersley.” Lev shifted around and then leaned in for another kiss, their lips pressing together as Lev’s hand slipped down to Tank’s neck, resting against the curve of it. Wrapping his arms around Lev, he pulled him closer, and Lev’s mouth came open. Tank returned the favor, and their tongues pressed close until he could taste the coffee musk that was all Lev. Moaning in lust and pain, Tank thrust up.
“I’m overdressed,” Tank complained. Considering that he didn’t have a change of uniform in the room, he really didn’t want to get come stains on this one. He sat up and started shrugging out of his clothes, dropping his shirt to the ground and unbuckling his belt.
Lev knee walked to the edge of the bed and reached up to trace the edges of a bruise on Tank’s arm. “What happened?”
“I slammed it into the car door when Chow was getting up close and personal.” Tank stopped and looked down at his right arm, the one the alien had grabbed. “I know the scanners you used didn’t find anything, but now that you know Chow watched me and clearly had something to do with my conception, what do you think Chow did to my arm?”
“My first theory was a tracker. If he’s trying to keep Zhu off the literal radar of any aliens that come around, the best way to find him without putting a tracker in him is to track you. I didn’t tell you in the field because I didn’t want you panicking or Clyde pulling you off the team. Well, that and the tracker theory was pure conjecture based on no evidence, since the scans were all negative.”
“You have another theory now.”
Lev leaned back. “It’s a little creepy, but it would explain a lot.”
“More creepy. Yay.” Tank didn’t even hide his distress. “However, I do better when I can see the creep coming at me. I’m not that good with shadows and secrets, so lay it out.”
“The IF was started after the military found out aliens were using Earth as a big science lab. The first experiment they caught was with these eight girls… young women, really.”
“This sounds like the setup for porn.”
Lev laughed. “It gets even stranger when you see pictures of the women. Eight of them from different parts of the country, different social statuses, different families, different parents—all perfectly identical.”
“Clones?” Tank guessed.
“Yep, back before human beings had even figured out the double helix. The assumption was that the aliens were trying to see how much upbringing affected the individual. We know they repeated the same experiment in India, and we assume they did it in other countries, although trying to get Russia to cooperate is a little like trying to pull teeth out of a Siberian tiger.”
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“What does that have to do with me?” Tank hated the idea of there being other Tanks running around, but more than that, it didn’t make any sense.
“It’s only been in the last few years that humans figured out that a person’s environment and choices actually affected their DNA. The children of holocaust survivors carry the inheritance of stress and anxiety, even though they never stepped inside a concentration camp.”
“And?”
“Tank, if you were from a cloning experiment, he might be tracking environmental changes on genetics. It’s what I would do. I would get a really good piece of equipment, and I would test it in different circumstances. It would explain why he’s showing so much interest in an unaltered human, and it might be why getting a DNA sample from you would be worth sacrificing one of his avatars.”
“Why would he assume I’m a good piece of equipment to clone? Because I was willing to kill my lover rather than let him take over the world? That’s not feeling like something to brag about or the basis for a good stud animal. And can I say thank God, because I really don’t want aliens using my DNA.” Tank shivered in horror.
“You misunderstand,” Lev said softly. “It would make sense if you were the clone. He might have collected the original DNA fifty or a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago. It would explain why your DNA doesn’t show the genetic mixing we find in modern humans who tend to immigrate and travel and spread their DNA out a little.”
“But….” Tank figured if the weird kept coming, his brain was going to freeze and never unfreeze again. “That would mean….”
“Hey!” Lev grabbed both of Tank’s hands. “I could be totally wrong. It’s possible that you’re a normal embryo that he harvested to get a better control sample. That arm thing could still be a tracking device. It’s even more possible that Chow is doing something amazingly alien that we can’t even guess because it makes no logical sense from our point of view. We’re working on a pretty limited set of data here. Don’t panic.”
Tank put his arm over his eyes. “I’m not panicking. I will not panic. If I say it often enough, I can even believe it. You get to tell this theory to the colonel, and I plan to be nowhere near when you do, because my ability-to-cope cup runneth over. Right now my ‘cope’ is all over the floor and dribbling through the cracks like dog piss.”
“We don’t have to tell him at all,” Lev said. The bed moved as he lay down next to Tank.
“Yeah, we do. That theory fits too well. It’s a contender.” Tank uncovered his eyes and looked over at Lev. “Do you mind if I bet against it and secretly pray that you’re amazingly wrong?”
“Nope. I don’t mind at all.” Lev leaned closer and rested his chin on Tank’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes my brain runs ahead of my common sense. You didn’t need all that dumped on you tonight, not when you already have so much to deal with.”
Tank curled his arm around Lev’s back. “I’m a cards-on-the-table sort of guy. Whether Chow was using me as a control for what normal human looks like, or whether I’m part of an active experiment, ignoring the possibilities won’t change them. I’d rather face it.”
For a time they lay in each other’s arms, studying each other. Lev traced circles on Tank’s chest. Finally he said, “You’re an amazing man, George Tankersley.”
“Potentially. Potentially I was chosen for my ability to be perfectly genetically average.”
“You will never be average.” Lev got a wicked look in his eye. Leaning forward, he braced his hands on Tank’s waist and then licked Tank’s nipple, letting just the tip of his tongue trace a line north. Tank shivered.
“Better?” Lev asked.
Tank caught Lev’s shoulders. “Much.” He pulled at Lev’s shirt. Finally Tank tossed the shirt to the side and considered the strong, lithe body in front of him. He leaned in, only instead of kissing Lev on the lips, he placed a kiss at the base of Lev’s throat. Lev made a hungry little noise and settled back against the pillows, letting Tank work his way down over Lev’s chest, tasting the salt from his skin.
Tank rolled Lev’s nipple between his finger and thumb while thrusting down into Lev’s body. Lev’s mouth fell open in a silent cry. After a brief second, that silence was broken by a string of guttural moans. Smiling, Tank sucked at the puffy nipple while Lev dug fingers into his shoulders.
Reaching down, Tank pulled at Lev’s pants. But Lev caught his wrists, pushing Tank’s hands out to the side before he unzipped his own pants and started wiggling out of them. Tank took the opportunity to finish stripping and lay his clothes out next to the bed as neatly as he could. He didn’t want to be a complete mess of wrinkles in the morning. When Tank turned back to Lev, the man was in just his underwear.
The first sight of Lev’s cock pressing up through blue boxers made Tank freeze. Lev wanted him. That was about the best feeling in the world, and Tank took a second to press a kiss to the fabric tented over Lev’s cock.
Lev pulled his knee up, flipping Tank. Because of their position on the bed, Tank ended up flat on his back with Lev’s crotch in his face, which was not a problem. Tank kissed it again before Lev squirmed down so they were nose to nose. “No distracting me,” Lev said. “I’m supposed to be distracting you.”
“Bossy, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” Lev agreed with a grin. He ran his fingers over Tank’s shoulders and down his chest, using them to explore every curve as he worked his way down with a scattering of kisses. Fisting the sheets, Tank arched his back. Before he realized it, Lev had pulled off Tank’s underwear, and Tank’s hard cock bobbed into sight.
“This looks painful,” Lev teased before he kissed the end of Tank’s cock.
“You’re killing me.”
“Doubt it.” Lev stroked up Tank’s body until he reached the nipples. He ran his fingers over them, feather light, and Tank’s skin seemed to grow more sensitive. Then Lev pulled at one nipple hard enough to make Tank cry out while he sucked at the other. The different sensations coming hard on the tail of the gentle teasing left Tank writhing as he moaned low in his throat.
“Lev. Fuck. Oh, shit.” Tank couldn’t really find any other words in his overtaxed brain. When Lev ran a thumb over Tank’s slit, catching a drop of moisture, a strangled shout slipped out of Tank’s throat as he involuntarily thrust up, sending Lev into the air like a bronco rider. The force of it brought Lev down onto Tank so their overheated bodies pressed together.
“Those curls of yours, soaked in sweat and sticking to your skin…. You look debauched,” Lev whispered.
“Um, the Army cut off my curls,” Tank pointed out. Lev reached down and ran his fingers through the tangle of curls around Tank’s cock, and Tank was suddenly aware of the thin trails of sweat that had gathered where their bodies met.
“Those curls,” Tank said. “I thought—” Tank stopped when Lev’s fingers wrapped around his cock. Every brain cell turned off, and all his blood went south.
“What do you want?” Lev asked. “Tell me one thing you want.”
Tank looked up into those beautiful blue eyes. What he wanted was to see Lev’s muscles strain. Tank wanted to dig his heels into the mattress, to hold Lev’s strong body as it surged toward orgasm. He wanted to watch as Lev’s body hijacked that brain of his and gave Lev that perfect moment. He wanted to feel Lev’s cock, to taste it, to explore every bit of skin.
“I want to suck you,” Tank said. Okay, he blushed because dirty talk wasn’t his strength, but then Lev blushed too, so Tank wasn’t worrying about it.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah,” Tank agreed. Slowly Lev slid over to the side, wiggling out of his underwear as he went. Permission given, Tank ran a hand over Lev’s slicked skin, feeling the muscles contract and tremble before he slid down to explore Lev’s cock. Glancing up, he watched as Lev tilted his head back, the arch of his neck and the underside of his chin curving. Around his face, Lev’s hair was darkened with sweat, and he panted even though Tank hadn’t started y
et.
Tank kissed the end of Lev’s cock a second time before licking his lips to taste the salt and sweat that had transferred. Lev was muttering now—vocal even as his cock bobbed up into the air with need. Without warning, Tank took the head of Lev’s cock in his mouth, using his tongue and lips to feel the shape of it, the firmness. Lev shouted as Tank slid down until the head nudged the back of his throat. Maybe it was his imagination, but Tank could almost feel the heat gather in his mouth, feel the throbbing, and sense Lev’s cock grow.
He pulled back and then slid down again. This time Lev thrust up to meet him, and Tank’s gag reflex kicked in. Tank backed off fast, but Lev was too far gone to notice. Wrapping his fist around the base of Lev’s cock to keep from having another accident, Tank went back to sucking the end, using the tip of his tongue to explore the slit and ridge and the veins that stood out from the skin.
His own balls throbbed painfully, and his lower jaw ached, but he wanted to feel Lev lose control. More than that, Tank wanted the pleasure of feeling Lev as if they were part of one machine, their parts interlocked as Lev came. Tank pulled back and brushed his lips over the head of Lev’s cock, then sucked in a breath before going in for another round. Suddenly Lev lost control. Maybe it was the air across his damp cock. Maybe it was the tightness of Tank’s hand around the shaft. Either way, Tank could feel Lev’s body twitch as the cries grew wilder right before Lev struggled to thrust up, his heels braced against the mattress. With a guttural shout, Lev came, splattering himself with come.
Lev reached for Tank. When he found Tank’s arm, Lev pulled him up until their bodies slid against each other, the come smearing between them. Tank’s cock ached and his balls were pulled up tight, but he ignored that for a second, focusing on the sight of a panting and worn Lev. He looked so incredibly sexy laid out on the white sheets.
Eventually those blue eyes opened, and Lev reached up to pull Tank close. As they kissed, Lev’s hand stroked Tank’s side, over a hip, and down to his cock. Lev teased Tank, his fingertips brushing over the end of his cock. Tank thrust hard against Lev’s hip, trapping Lev’s hand between their bodies, and that was enough to make him come with a shout. Thrusting against Lev a few times, Tank panted through his orgasm and then sank down into the bed, not even caring about the mess.