by Rena Marks
“Dr. Irina?” A strange voice interrupted her sexual fantasies.
Covet was one of the men she’d met when she first arrived. He, Reson, and Blaze were best friends; the three were always together. He had helped take Blaze to his quarters when she’d come to examine Blaze after helping his wings to emerge.
Covet wore jeans instead of the usual khaki pants everyone seemed to favor and like a lot of Xeno Sapiens, went shirtless. But he wore a leather jacket.
Amanda had once explained that a lot of Xeno Sapiens chose to go shirtless to support their brothers who couldn’t pretend to be human. She understood in Covet’s case. He appeared human in every way—until one saw the brilliant colors of his chest. Blues, reds, the brilliant colors looked like a painting on a canvas instead of the skin on his chest. Once a person saw he was other, it made his features pop into focus. The fact that his cheekbones were way too sharp. His eyes had vertical pupils that were barely noticeable because they were a deep, dark brown that matched his irises.
The fact that under his hairline, he had small bumps that signified horns.
“Covet.” She smiled at him. “What can I do for you?”
He glanced around. “I have a lot of pain. In my belly. I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t want anyone to know I’m seeing you.”
“We’ve explained this. You’re entitled to privacy in your exams. No one has the right to know what you’re seeing the doctors for unless you choose to disclose your medical history.”
“Promise?”
“I swear. Tell me about your symptoms. Is it a sharp pain?”
“Yes. And my emotions. I have crazy thoughts jumping through my head. I’m not sure what’s going on.”
She placed the back of her fingers on his forehead. He was cool to the touch, but that didn’t mean anything with Xeno Sapiens. She’d need a temperature strip or a scanner to be sure.
“Come on back to my office.”
He followed her and waited while she unlocked the office door and placed her semen sample in the refrigerator.
“Have a seat,” she said, noticing when he chose the small sofa instead of the examination table. She came and sat next to him.
“Do you mind if I scan you?”
He shook his head and removed his leather jacket while she switched on the device. She ran it over his head first, but it didn’t pick up any unusual activity.
“Tell me about your thoughts.”
“They don’t feel like me. I alternate between anger and neediness. Jealousy and shame. I don’t want to see Robyn or Amanda because they’re both mated. For some reason, that offends me. I have no idea why. I’ve never felt this way before.”
There were small surges of a chemical in his brain but not enough to alter his brain chemistry. His thought processes should remain unaffected.
“When did this start?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“The stomach pain?”
“Around the same time.”
She ran the scanner over his belly. There wasn’t anything that showed any abnormalities.
“No swollen tissues or tenderness.”
“See, that’s just it, doc.” She looked up at him.
He sighed. “Most Xeno Sapiens are fit. We’ve been bred to have more muscle tone of both our human half and the other DNA. But I don’t work out. And two weeks ago, I had a six pack.” He rippled his abs, but then groaned painfully. “Now I have eight.”
He definitely had an eight pack. Irina tried to count them professionally, trying not to make him think she was ogling him, but it really was extraordinary.
“Without working out?”
“Yes. I’ve been too weak. Exhausted, really. But my abs are changing.”
The scanner still picked up nothing unusual though the skin of his abdomen was a bit thicker than his medical records indicated.
She placed the device on her lap and used her fingers to manipulate him. Good grief, she’d forgotten her gloves. She lost all professionalism after her session with Blaze.
He groaned loudly under her touch. It sounded strangely sexual, or perhaps that was her feeling guilty for just having the hardest orgasm of her life? The skin of his belly was hard as if armored. Why wouldn’t the scanner have picked up on the exact measurements or the change of his anatomy?
She grabbed another scanner from the drawer.
Still nothing.
“Nothing is showing up, Covet. May I run some tests?”
“Anything for you, doc.” Though his voice was wicked, his eyes showed exhaustion.
“What the fuck is going on?” Both she and Covet snapped their heads toward the door that had abruptly opened.
From the doorway, Blaze looked like he’d erupt; his face as furious as his hair.
“An examination,” she snapped. “Get out. You know the rules. When that door is closed, we’re in session.”
“Session? I thought I was the only one who signed up for that, doc.” Seriously? He was jealous of her job?
He glared at Covet, who suddenly glared back. That wasn’t normal. Covet was one of Blaze’s best friends.
“Blaze, Covet’s medical condition is none of your concern. I need you to remove yourself from my office, or I’ll call security.”
“Don’t worry, doc. You want him, you got him.”
With a turn, Blaze was gone, leaving a gut-wrenching pain in her chest. Damn him. She rose and slammed the door.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to Covet. But he stared ahead with a glassy silence.
“Covet?”
He turned toward her but didn’t really see her. Instead his eyes looked beyond her. “Is that what you want? To mate?”
“No.” She was horrified. “Of course not. I’m your medical doctor. I’m here to help you.”
He ran a finger down the side of her neck that was throbbing with her pulse. “I know you want me, sexy.”
“Covet.” She was alarmed at how horrified her voice sounded. Two shocks in one day was a bit much.
He seemed to snap to. “Dr. Irina. I’m—I’m sorry. I don’t know what—”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
That was the strange thoughts he’d hinted at earlier. She grabbed the scanner, running it over him again. This time, there was small, barely perceptible changes. His abdomen shifted like a protective plate over his body. His brain chemistry was diluted with an unrecognizable hormone. It was probably what triggered his mood change.
She placed the scanner down. “Is that what you meant by the weird thoughts?”
He nodded, a look of abject horror on his face. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I thought it was worse around mated couples, but maybe it’s just all males. I don’t know.”
“It’s okay, Covet. There’s something going on with you, and I’m going to find out what. Don’t you worry about a thing. I’ve gotten some samples to run and we’re going to go through every test imaginable until I pinpoint this. In the meantime, if something happens, you call me any time, okay?”
He nodded. “I’m really sorry about Blaze. Do you want me to go —”
“No. Blaze was out of line. You don’t owe him anything. Not an explanation, not an apology, nothing. If anything, he owes you.”
Covet nodded. “I’ll keep in touch, Dr. Irina. Thank you.”
As soon as he left, she hurried to the fridge to pull out Blaze’s semen. She should have known he wouldn’t be able to handle the help she’d given him to retrieve the sample. It had been too intimate and made him possessive.
Hell, who was she kidding? She couldn’t handle it either. It wasn’t help. It was full blown need. She needed Blaze, naked and under her while she writhed on his magnificent, hard cock.
She shuddered.
All thoughts of sex with Blaze fled as she stared at the semen sample in disbelief. It was black.
Dead.
She ran it through her analyzer to be sure. There was no motion, no swimmers. Nothing to test. She glanced
at her watch. The entire time with Covet hadn’t taken more than fifteen minutes. She should have been fine with the semen sample.
Now she had nothing. No Blaze. No semen. And no answers for Covet.
Dammit. She shoved the analyzer aside. What could have gone wrong? She pulled up a digital screen, using the edges of the hologram to pull up information about Blaze’s alien species.
His bones were thinner, lighter than a human’s, but that would make sense. Still it didn’t explain how he was able to fly, not with all that muscle he had to carry. But then again, his chest was broader than a human’s. Perhaps that was why. His wings appeared fragile, but it was misleading.
There was no information about his species mating rituals.
A small beep signified her next patient. Irina closed the hologram and rose to close her office blinds.
Gray smoke poured in from under the door, but it didn’t alarm her. This was how Winnie—a wisp—usually arrived. She was shy and didn’t mingle with the other Xeno Sapiens much.
“Hello, Winnie.”
The smoke concentrated into one spot in the room, piling higher on itself until it was nearly as tall as her. Then, within the confines, a woman appeared. She had milky white skin and pale white hair. Her eyes were barely blue, covered with a filmy substance. Her clothing was a gauzy beige sheath dress. She sat perfectly still as if she was a statue.
When she was fully materialized, she acknowledged Irina’s greeting.
“Hello, doctor.”
“Call me Irina.” Irina smiled. It was a ritual they went through each time she visited. “What can I do for you today?”
“There is a new person arriving. A human. An officer.”
“Arriving to Xenia?”
“No, he is already here. I mean arriving to your office. I wish to get to know him. Please figure out a way to send him my way.”
Irina was only aware of her mouth hanging open when the air hit her tongue. She snapped her lips closed. “Are you telling me this is something that is going to happen?”
Winnie nodded. “He is here.” She smiled, her blind eyes glazed over as she suddenly froze in time. Irina had witnessed this before, so it didn’t quite stun her like it had the first time. Though her patient was blind, Winnie didn’t stumble about, hold out her hands, or use a cane. She had a different kind of sight, another sense.
And when she was not needed, she zoned out—escaped her body. Irina was trying hard to understand it and recorded Winnie’s unique abilities.
A small knock on her door had her open it.
“I know you’re busy,” Amanda said. “But I wanted to introduce you to a new patient, so when you’re done—”
“It’s fine. Come on in.”
Amanda understood when she saw Winnie standing frozen in place. She moved into the doorway, making room for someone else to pass.
“Sam, this is Dr. Irina Mescar.”
Irina held out her hand. “No formalities here. Call me Irina.”
“Thank you. I’m Sam, Sam Grasie.” His eyes darted to the frozen wisp.
“Don’t mind Winnie. She’s not exactly present at the moment.”
“Sam is one of the two officers who are new to Xenia. Who had brought Jett and Brax back after their excursion to the outside.” The two Xeno Sapiens had been following their human mate, Heather, who had lived outside the city. Crooked policemen had wanted to kill her, and Jett had been shot. He might have died had a couple of officers not done the right thing and brought him back to Xenia for treatment.
But the world hadn’t been kind to them. They were offered refuge on Xenia if they wanted it. Apparently this one did.
“Oh, of course. How do you like living here?”
“It’s a great place. Just me and my little girl, Olivia. She’s three. I’m glad I took the position here.”
“We wanted the two officers to join the city because they’ve now been targeted by hate groups for helping Xeno Sapiens even though they’ve never been charged.”
“My little girl doesn’t deserve that,” Sam said. “I’d do anything to keep her safe.”
“She’ll be safe here. No one will ever harm her. Winnie here runs the clothing shop if you ever notice her around. Oh, but you’ll probably need to get a couple things for Olivia rather than head outside the gates all the time. We’d introduce you to her if she’d become present.”
The words being said aloud didn’t have Winnie rushing back to her body to meet the new resident, however.
“I don’t think I’ve noticed her around,” Sam said, studying Winnie.
“She may have noticed you. Just because she’s blind doesn’t mean she can’t see,” Amanda said.
“She’s blind?”
“Surely you see her eyes are white? Usually a person who has a white film covering their eyes is blind.”
“What white eyes?” Sam looked truly puzzled.
“You don’t see her eyes?” Amanda was stunned.
It was curious. “Sam, what do you see when you look at Winnie?” Irina asked.
“A beautiful, vibrant woman. Her hair reaches to her waist and it’s various shades of silver. Her skin is a cool pink, her lips deep red. Her eyes are the bluest blue, and she’s wearing a deep blue gown.”
“Whoa,” Amanda breathed. That wasn’t what they saw.
“Why? Does she look otherwise?”
“Apparently so,” Irina said.
“But she’s beautiful?”
“Very.” She was. But she was colorless, not a pink-cheeked woman with blue eyes.
“I’ll look forward to meeting her.”
“In the meantime,” Amanda said. “Sam needs to have a physical before he can begin active duty. We’ve assigned him to you since your patient staffing is low.”
“No problem. When would you like to come in?”
“Perhaps tomorrow if you’re not too busy?”
“Not at all. I can get you in at ten if you’d like?”
“That would be perfect.”
With one last, lingering look at Winnie, he left with Amanda. When she was alone, Irina stared at Winnie. What was it that he saw? What made her different to him? Irina rubbed at her cheek as if she could get the pale cheeks to come to life. Nothing. She rubbed a lock of Winnie’s hair. It was colorless, white. Not the brilliant silver that he seemed to see.
Suddenly Winnie sucked in a breath of air, her lips parting. She came to life.
“Too bad you missed him,” Irina said, looking into her eyes. No dilation. Just like always, Winnie didn’t have physical sight.
“What was he like?”
“Rather handsome. Said he has a small daughter and they’re living here. He’s coming back tomorrow for a physical. We mentioned that you run the clothing shop.”
“What are you looking for?” Winnie asked curiously, holding still as Irina studied her. That was always so odd, how Winnie “saw” without sight.
Irina leaned back. “Winnie, when you see yourself, what do you see?”
“Hmm. I’m wearing a flowing blue gown. The blue matches my eyes. My hair is silver, and it waves down my back.”
“That’s what Sam sees, too.”
“Is it incorrect, Dr. Irina?”
“Not at all, honey.” Irina smiled. “After his appointment tomorrow, can I bring him to Supply to meet you?”
“I would like that.”
Chapter Five
When Irina entered the mess hall, the first thing she noticed was Blaze standing with two other Xeno Sapien males. It wasn’t unusual, but normally the two other men would have been Covet and Reson. Not today. She knew from the way they stopped talking that she had been the topic of discussion.
Should she get her food and then ask him to talk? Should she fix him a plate just in case? Perhaps they could flag down one of the teens to bring them something? It wasn’t as much fun to have someone else prepare your plate but there was the convenience factor. She decided to just go for it. She’d fix herself a plate, b
ut with extras. And she’d stash an extra plate underneath hers just in case he wanted to eat.
She was aware of his eyes watching her the entire time she stood in line and while she chose items to load. After she finished, she was surprised to find he’d turned his back to her as he visited with his friends. Blaze never turned his back to her.
She was also unprepared for how that made her feel. Rejected—lonely. Lost.
Nonsense, she told herself. It was just that she had gotten used to Blaze always being underfoot with her. Since her first day here, he was always lurking about, joking about something or giving her a shoulder bump. Catching her in the hallways, sitting next to her in meetings. Underneath the sexy crush she rejected, he’d somehow become her friend.
She balanced her tray with one hand as she came up behind him and lightly touched his arm at the elbow. “Can we talk?”
The other two men grew quiet. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what he’d do and was barely aware of holding her breath. Then he nodded and she felt a flood of relief flow through her.
He motioned an empty table with one arm while the other hand pressed lightly at the small of her back. Even with everything going on, he still touched her. This was what she loved about Blaze. They sat.
“I grabbed an extra plate,” she babbled. “And grabbed extra of everything. In case you want something. Or we can get one of the kids to make you something else if you want.”
He didn’t speak, but he deliberately retrieved a second fork from her tray and speared it into her mound of mashed potatoes, eating off hers as if they’d share.
Okay, then.
She grabbed the other fork. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For all of this. I miss our friendship. I’m not sure where we stand since our focal point changed with my new project. But I need you to know I’m still a doctor. I’m treating Covet as a patient.”
His eyes shut as if the thought pained him. “I’m sorry, too. I know something isn’t right with Covet, and he needs a doctor. I wish it wasn’t you.”
She placed her hand over his. “I know he’s your friend, Blaze. There’s nothing inappropriate between him and me. You can trust that from both of us.”