The Bond That Ties Us

by Christine d'Abo

  Haylie’s voice had lost its angry edge. “There are one thousand and eleven articles on the Ecada. How would you like me to cross-reference them?” She turned to look at him, clearly puzzled. “What makes you think I wasn’t feeling well?”

  “You seemed bothered by Donaldson earlier. And it was more than him threatening to replace you. Did something happen before I arrived?” He paused before adding, “Bring up any Briel articles referencing this planet. You’ll find them in a separate section of the database.”

  Haylie took a deep breath as her fingers worked frantically. Kamran stared at the speed in which they moved.

  “No, Donaldson didn’t do anything. But I had a dream last night.”

  “I told you that would happen.” At least something was predictable between them.

  “No, this wasn’t of you. The dream was…”

  She stopped and frowned.

  “The dream was what?” he asked. She couldn’t stop mid-sentence like that!

  “Shhh. Let me read.”

  There was something in the tone of her voice that pulled him out of his lust-induced haze.

  “What’s wrong?” Leaning forward, he tried to see what had intrigued her in the reams of data.

  “I’m not sure. But…that can’t be right.” Haylie’s curiosity was all encompassing.

  She readjusted her chair before bringing up a document. The crest at the top indicated it was an official council report.

  He scanned it quickly and tried to find a problem with the information before him. “This is a standard Elder Council planetary survey. Our people create one of these for each new habitable planet we encounter. Everything seems to be in order.”

  “Is it the survey for this planet?” She faced him fully, her rich hazel eyes wide.

  And, for a moment, he forgot to breathe. The contrast of her dark hair against her pale skin was mesmerizing.

  “Kamran?”

  “Sorry.” Re-reading the document was a thankful distraction. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

  “Yes, this is one of our preliminary land assessments for this planet. Why?”

  “I’m not sure, but there’s a check sum mismatch here.”

  Kamran sighed. “I’m going to pretend I know what that is supposed to mean.”

  Haylie began to sort through reams of data as it scrolled continuously over the screen. Kamran could feel her heartbeat increase, smell her excitement as she attempted to solve the puzzle. He couldn’t follow the complexity of the code and chose to watch her instead. It was a far more enticing sight.

  “Anything?”

  She turned to face him, eyes wide and sparkling with excitement.

  “I still have some work to do. But it looks like someone hacked into the document and was tampering with it.”

  “Hacked?” He needed to brush up on his human idioms again.

  “Tampered, changed, altered—usually for not very nice reasons.”

  Holy maker. “No one has ever tampered with Briel reports before. The security in place is more than adequate to prevent someone from breaking in.”

  In all his years as ambassador, he had never encountered something like this. The council would have to be notified.

  “Well, someone has shot down that theory. Look, see this,” she pointed to a serial number that seemed out of place on the screen, “that’s a marker. Hackers love to leave them when they’ve done a job. It’s their way of pissing off security. We can track what jobs they do by their markers but can’t trace the marker back to them.”

  “Where would we find such a person? We need to know what he did.”

  “He or she could be anywhere. But with the security that the colony has on its data feed, I’ll start by checking the station first. Even that isn’t the right question,” Haylie said. She touched his arm and he instantly felt her excitement course through him.

  His heartbeat matched hers as a surge of adrenaline pounded through his blood. He wasn’t merely engaged by her excitement, he was absorbing it.

  Kamran’s throat was dry. “And what do you suggest is the right question?”

  Haylie didn’t speak. Her eyes were focused on the spot where their bodies connected. She began to move her fingers over the warm skin of his arm, flexing them as she went. She wanted to do more. She wanted to slide her hand up his arm and across his chest. She wanted to pull open his jacket so she could lean in and kiss his neck.

  Kamran inhaled sharply. He knew. How was he able to know what she was thinking? Not guessing at thoughts and feelings, but truly knowing what she wanted. The noise of his surprise was enough to break the momentary spell they were under. Haylie removed her hand, but reluctantly so.

  “Who,” she said, he voice shaky. She coughed once and started again. “Who would want to tamper with documents of this nature? Humans would need this to be accurate in order to prove the legitimacy of their claim on this planet. And the Briel would not gain anything by altering the files.”

  She still faced him, and Kamran had to look away to focus. He wasn’t going to be able to do this. He couldn’t think straight when he was in the same room as Haylie. How would he be able to work with her on the tampering problem if he couldn’t be near her?

  Distance. That’s what he needed. Kamran stood and began to move around the room. After a moment, his head cleared and he could concentrate once more. He could feel her watching his every move. For the moment he had to ignore her.

  “Perhaps someone wanted to make it look like the Briel tried to incite a conflict between humans and the Ecada. Give the humans false information, knowingly put them in a dangerous situation,” he offered.

  Her voice drifted to him from over his shoulder, “There’s no basis for such a claim. The Briel are respected by most races out there as being impartial. Lord, you’re a planet full of negotiators and diplomats.”

  “Not true. All of our diplomats and negotiators are off the planet.”

  When he turned, she was smiling at him. “That’s crazy. What kind of race sends all their smart, single men off their world?”

  “A race with not enough women,” he said, returning her smile.

  They stayed like that for a while. Looking at each other across the short distance of the room, each of them wanting to do a lot more and both knowing they couldn’t. How long could he fight against this?

  “So…” Haylie said, turning her face away to stare back at the computer screen, “What do we do from here?”

  Kamran could think of a few things, and none of them had to do with the damned computer files. It only took a few steps to return to his chair beside her. He needed to take advantage of their short time together. Once he sat down, he shifted his position so that his back was to the windowed wall and placed his hand on Haylie’s leg. He shifted the chair over to block his actions from the camera.

  “Don’t move,” he said.

  “What about surveillance?”

  He slowly slid his hand up her thigh, “I’m half insane with desire and you’re sitting there perfectly calm.”

  “I’m not—” she didn’t finish, sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes as his fingers reached her pussy.

  He smiled. “Yes, Haylie?”

  He pushed his fingers a bit harder against the spot he knew would send her over the edge, circling her clit. She bit her bottom lip as her hands gripped the edge of the table in front of her. He increased the pressure and could feel her dampness, smell her arousal as her cream began to flow. His cock was threatening to explode, his balls tight against his body. A single touch was all it would take.

  “We…shouldn’t do this.”

  “Would you like me to stop?” He withdrew his hand only an inch.

  She moaned and swiveled her hips as she sat. She was perfect, ready for him to pound into her over and over. He could see she wanted him and he wanted nothing more than to claim her for his own. But he couldn’t move. His hand fell in his lap with a soft thud.

  Haylie’s eyes flew op
en. “What’s wrong?”

  He hadn’t intended to stop and now, seeing the look of confusion on her face, he wished he hadn’t.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “It’s okay.”

  Pain and confusion washed over him. He couldn’t tell if the emotions were his or hers. It really didn’t matter. He’d made things worse for both of them.

  She then made an attempt to change the subject. “Do you want to tell someone in your government about what we found?”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “Haylie, we need to talk about this. Us.”

  “I don’t think so. You’re not very good at finishing your conversations.”

  He opened his eyes and looked at her. Really looked at her. Her jaw was clenched, the muscle in her cheek jumping from the pressure. Her normally beautiful eyes were clouded over, making it difficult to read her emotions. He didn’t need to worry about that. Their bond was growing stronger every second. She didn’t like being out of control. Everything he did to her, their whole relationship, grated against her personality. He was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

  All he wanted was to be with her.

  He stood quickly, knocking the chair to the floor. The crash echoed in the small room.

  “I won’t bring this new information about the documents to the council at this point. I’m afraid of how they would react without any proof.”

  “Kamran?” She reached for his arm.

  “Don’t.” His breathing came out in harsh gasps. He had to get out of here.

  “Are you okay?” Her voice was soft.

  He couldn’t look at her. He had to leave before he lost complete control.

  “Please get me the proof of the tampering and I’ll be able to get help from the council.”

  Kamran spun on his heels and left the room as quickly as he could.

  Chapter Seven

  Haylie’s eyes began to itch. The lines of code stood silent before her, refusing to present their secrets.

  “Computer, time please.” Her voice sounded thick, the words barely making it out of her mouth.

  “The time is twenty-hundred hours, twelve minutes.” The computer sounded more like a woman speaking to her lover than a machine of wires and circuits.

  This wasn’t going anywhere.

  Several hours earlier, Sara had arrived for their lunch date and immediately left when Haylie looked up at her. She’d commented before that when Haylie fixated on a problem, there was no point trying to talk to her. Apparently, the look on Haylie’s face spoke volumes.

  Other than that, she’d stopped only once to meet her security crew. The meeting had been brief but informative. The complement of twenty-five officers were exhausted, under-trained and overwhelmed. She had a lot of work cut out for her. She’d promised them she would request additional personnel from Earth. God, even if she recruited some of the miners from the outlying colonies to help it would be something. At the very least she won her team over by the sincere promise to do something about their problem.

  After that, she met with the man who’d acted as the liaison between the security crew and Donaldson. He wasn’t shy about showing his relief at being free of the administrator. When the men had left and she returned to her desk, Haylie was feeling a bit overwhelmed herself. Not that she was one to shy away from hard work, but this was a lot even for her. She returned to the data files and hoped if she spent enough time staring at her monitor, she’d solve the problem.

  It hadn’t done a damn bit of good. She was still no closer to figuring out what exactly had been changed in the Briel document. She’d been able to track the hacker’s marker to a number of other jobs on neighboring colonies. His real name was Brent Hughes. He’d arrived on the colony three months ago and was working in the mines until yesterday. In the process of locating him, she discovered that he was the man killed in the bar fight last night. That death was a little too convenient for Haylie to ignore.

  The only positive thing to have come from this day was the fact that she’d somehow managed to push all thoughts of Kamran from her mind.

  Her fingers hovered above the keypad. Their encounter this morning had left her completely shaken and horny as hell. When he’d walked into the room earlier that day, she’d felt her heart stop. His scent had washed over her, setting her hormones raging again. It was only when Donaldson spoke that she’d been able to refocus. Donaldson. He was another problem, one she’d save for another day. When she had the energy to fight.

  The lids of her eyes grew heavy, closing of their own accord for only a second. No, she needed to keep going. After a few more minutes, her lids repeated their mutinous attempt to get her to rest.

  The yawn didn’t help, either. She was about to ask the computer for the time again, try and refocus when she yawned a second time. Shit.

  “Fine, just a quick nap.”

  Haylie crossed her arms on the desk to cradle her head. Five minutes, ten tops, and she’d be ready for action.

  In the darkness of her mind, she saw Kamran. Somehow this dream was different from ones she’d had in the past. She could feel her surroundings, but they weren’t quite within her grasp. She felt a current of energy pulling her toward Kamran. Haylie stepped forward, more on instinct than with curiosity, and found herself within his room.

  He was sitting at his desk, his head down, his gaze flicking across a data pad. She looked down and saw that her uniform was gone, replaced with the dress she’d worn the other night. The silk caressed her nipples and ass, tugging at her pubic hair. Her body was humming with arousal.

  Kamran looked up and stared. His tunic was gaping at the front to reveal his smooth chest. She stepped toward him, hoping that he wouldn’t move.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Once she reached him, she pushed the data pad from his desk to the floor. She replaced them with her body, stretching out on her side. His gaze was on her and she felt the warmth of his body.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.” His voice was deep and rich, pouring over her.

  “I think you need a break, Ambassador.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  He reached for her, running his hand from her rib cage down her side to rest on her hip. She was dripping wet with excitement, but she fought the urge to move. She wanted him to work for it this time.

  “That’s not where I want you to touch me.”

  “No?” He smiled.

  His hand traveled back up her body, but this time he continued over to her breast. He pinched her hard nipple, driving a sigh from her.

  “Is that better?”

  “Don’t stop.”

  He nudged her gently onto her back and she was more than happy to comply. Kamran pulled his seat closer to the desk to have easier access to her body. Leaning forward, he sucked her nipple through the silk, her body instantly responding to him. Haylie drove her fingers into his hair, sliding them through his dark locks and pulled his head against her. She needed him closer, needed him to push away her loneliness.

  He pulled back only long enough to drag the thin strap of her dress down, freeing her from the damp material of her bodice. He continued to suckle one breast as he teased and tormented the other with his hand. Each flick of his tongue drove her wild. Haylie bucked her hips up, squirming under the intensity of his touch.

  “You too.” She tugged at his tunic.

  The next thing she knew, they were both naked. Kamran rose, his engorged cock jutting out proudly in front of her face. Haylie scooted herself onto her bottom and swung her legs so they trapped him in place.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Shhh.”

  Her fingers wrapped around the base of his shaft, circling the object of her pleasure. His scent rolled off his body and filled her head. Haylie breathed it in, memorizing it, branding her memory with it. She leaned forward and ran her tongue over the slit in the tip of his cock. He tasted like musk,
salty and intoxicating. Again she flicked her tongue over the smooth skin before rubbing her bottom lip over his smooth ridges.

  Kamran said something, but Haylie ignored him. She was too intent on her task at hand. She moved her head side to side as her tongue flicked back and forth over his tip. It was his turn to clutch her head, his fingers massaging into her scalp. She kept up her teasing for a few more seconds before she pulled back enough to allow her to run her tongue up the entire length of his cock. She wanted to devour him whole.

  “You’re killing me.”

  Again and again she repeated the motion, his cock twitching against her each time she slid her tongue from his base to his tip. She knew that wasn’t what he wanted—it wasn’t what she wanted. She knew he trusted her enough to take him all the way. Only when she thought he’d adjusted to the sensation did she lean forward and take his tip into her mouth, teasing him as she began to stroke his length with her hand.

  “Haylie,” he pleaded. She knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

  Shifting her weight forward, she leaned over and impaled her mouth on his thick cock. Kamran groaned and his body shuddered when she did. She felt him grow in her mouth and was scared that she wouldn’t be able to accommodate all of him. With a firm grip on his shaft, she sucked him hard and deep into her. Slowly, his hips fell into a silent beat with her. Stroking in perfect beat to a silent erotic dance. Faster, she increased their tempo, driving him up to orgasm.

  “I’m…going to…come…soon.”

  One final hard suck and she released him. “I want you in me.”

  She didn’t wait for his response. Leaning back onto the desk, she spread her legs wide. She blinked and he was on her, kissing her face and neck. His mouth ravaged hers, his tongue driving deep inside. His cock found her entrance, wet with her arousal. He slid easily into her core and held for only a second before withdrawing almost completely. Again and again he repeated the motion. Each thrust brought them closer to the release they so desperately needed.

  Haylie grabbed at him, kissing and licking his ear, his mouth. She could feel everything. Their bodies as they rubbed together, his heart pounding against her breast. She could even feel the hum of his emotions, the possessive need and consuming desire he felt for her. Every thrust brought them in sync, closer together.