Knell (6 page)

When Loxin came through the door, Dot got to her feet. He pulled his helmet off and tucked it under one arm, and his features showed exhaustion again.

She walked up to him and put her hand behind his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. His free arm snapped around her and lifted her up until neither of them had to strain.

She heard the others unsealing their helmets, but she didn’t care.

Jekross calmly said, “I’ll get us something to drink. Oh look. Oracle has prepared tea and sandwiches. I am really going to have to show her what foods are corollaries for ones she grew up with, I mean…once Loxin puts her down. I am betting ten credits that it will be in three minutes.”

Ralos chuckled. “I would go for five.”

Yekesh said, “Ten.”

Against her lips, Loxin smiled as he wrapped his wings around them and dropped his helmet to get a better grip.

She opened her mouth under his urging and wrapped her arms around his neck. The feel of his tongue sliding along hers made her shiver and her skin tightened in reaction. She felt hot, shaky and on the edge of control, but she had no idea what was coming next.

There was a strange safety in making out with him while he was dressed for battle. He couldn’t do anything too invasive with his hands and his crotch was safely confined. There was nothing safer than kissing a man in a battle suit as long as there weren’t weapons attached.

When her lips were numb, her body was humming and her senses had completely shorted out, he slowly lowered her to the floor.

Yekesh cackled. “Pay up!”

Blushing, Dot pressed her fingers to her lips and looked up at Loxin. “Apologies.”

He chuckled. “And apologies from me. Your lips must be numb.”

They were but she didn’t tell him that.

“I believe I said I would show you that portrait. Would you come with me while I get cleaned up?”

She looked at everyone else, and they were all staring at her expectantly. “Better with you than facing the gathering of gazes here in the living room while they relive the glory of your successful day.”

Loxin grinned and took her hand with his, hauling her down the hall and through the door next to hers. She should have been surprised but it seemed appropriate.

He had a stand for the armour and settled his helmet before reaching for the armoured ridge across the top of his wings. “This is annoying but it has definitely come in handy. With the right swipe, I can slice through stone.”

“I am guessing that is a good thing. From what I have seen, you don’t use standard weapons.”

He grinned and hung the ridge up on the stand. “Correct. If we used weapons, we would be standard law enforcement and we are not.”

He pulled off his gauntlets and flexed his fingers. “As nice as it was to have you in my arms, I missed the feel of you.”

She chuckled and wrapped her arms around her torso. “Oddly enough, your armour made me feel safe.”

He backed into the stand and it gripped the armour, triggering the release.

The suit hissed and parted along unlikely lines, pulling back to let him out. The shoulders folded open like a flower petal, freeing his wings and upper portion of his chest. The segment around his waist unclasped and swung loose.

The plates over his legs lifted and let him step free. He was wearing a thin black bodysuit and nothing else.

“Wow. That looked uncomfortable.”

“You get used to it.” He bent and flared his wings out to their full extent.

When he straightened, he shivered slightly before his head came up. The scarlet iris was glowing. “I think I should take a cooling shower, but in the meantime, here is the image I received from Yacaro.”

He leaned over his desk and pulled up a file that projected an image onto the wall.

He left her to stare at it while he went to cool down.

She swallowed hard at what she was seeing. It was obvious that they were both naked, but thankfully, she had something obscuring the view of her body. His wings.

Dot saw herself leaning back against his chest, her head to his shoulder and she was looking up at him. He was looking down at her and his lips were only a breath away from hers. There was no doubt as to the intimacy of the pose; they were both smiling.

She stepped closer and noticed the backdrop of a mountain and tiny ships flying in the distance. If she looked closely, she could make out a ship and three men standing together with their battle armour gleaming in the sunlight.

The Nixos Guardians were part of Loxin’s destiny, not that there was any doubt. With a slight quirking of her lips, she wondered what the image would look like if it was painted for her and not for Loxin. She was betting that more clothing would be involved.

The sound of running water started up and she looked around, using his preoccupation to rifle through his personal effects. He had an image of a family taken with them in casual poses. Loxin was on the ground with two siblings next to him, both girls. His parents were standing together in the background, close enough to make it certain that they were still affectionate.

She moved past the image and found a few more of his sisters’ graduations from whatever secondary learning agencies they had attended.

He had a modest selection of clothing, not a lot of clutter and a notebook was tucked in the corner of his desk. Few species used anything similar to paper so the notebook got her curiosity up and running.

She finished her exploring and wondered if she needed to leave or if she should stay. When the water cut off, she had to make her decision quickly. With her stomach flipping, she took a seat on the edge of his bed and she waited for him to emerge.

He came out with a few damp spots on his shoulders and a towel around his hips. Loxin gave her a slow smile. “I didn’t expect you to still be here.”

Dot grinned. “It was an act of will.”

He headed for his wardrobe and started to rummage through it while his wings dried. “Well, I would be honoured if you would go for a walk with me tonight. After dinner.”

“I will. Today has been silent so far. I hope that trend will continue through the night.” She tried to keep her voice even, but when he dropped his towel and turned, the tone ended up a little strangled.

“So, I am guessing that you have not had a lot of exposure to the opposite sex.”

His cock was semi-erect and it shifted from side to side as he stepped into a charcoal bodysuit and tugged it upward.

She started breathing again when it covered his hips. “I have not. I was given the most basic of introductions to sex in a clinical and calm manner. Up until this point, it had all seemed dreadfully mechanical.”

He slid his arms into the sleeves and pulled them upward. “And what do you think now?”

She shifted slightly. “The word hot suddenly springs to mind.”

The grin on his face was predatory as he finished setting the suit into position. “Shall we go and see what Jekross has concocted for dinner?”

Dot cleared her throat and got to her feet. “That does seem like the wisest option.”

He took her hand and brought it to his lips again. “But not the most interesting one.”

It may have been her imagination but she could swear that his wing brushed her backside rather frequently on their way back to the living area, which left her wondering,
how sensitive are his feathers?

She ate dinner and ignored the jokes at her expense about being the good woman leaping into the arms of the hero at the end of the day.

Ralos, Yekesh and Jekross had an entire repertoire of them.

Loxin extended his wing to cover her back and it curled around her slightly during the entire meal.

Finally, she sighed. “No secrets. Right?”

They all nodded.

She picked up her glass, got to her feet, shoved Loxin back in his chair and dropped herself into his lap. He was startled, but then, he wrapped one arm around her waist and kept eating.

Jekross was amused, but the other two looked perturbed that she spoiled their game.

“And later, I am going to let him take me for a walk under the stars.”

Loxin was grinning as he tried to finish his third helping.

There was one thing to be said for the Guardians, they knew how to eat and they cleaned up after themselves. While she hadn’t had the opportunity to learn the arts of cooking when she was at Farrow Home, she might want to use them to fill the empty hours when the Guardians were on assignment. When she needed to learn, Jekross would know.

She got up with the rest of them and took care of her dishes, placing them in the processor where they would be scraped, washed and replaced in the cupboard. Once her hands were clean and the others had taken up spots in front of the vid screen to critique their moves during the afternoon’s mission, Loxin took her by the hand and tugged her outside.

It was a relief to stop looking at and listening to something that had echoed in her mind all day.

They walked to the edge of the stones, and he took her into the woods on a barely visible path. “Do you watch the screens when we are gone?”

“I do. I still don’t trust my talent completely, despite the training. Oh. Do you think I could send messages back to Moon Base Terra? I have friends there.”

He stiffened. “Should I be jealous?”

“No. We have already had this conversation. All seven people in that room were trying to make me suitable for duty on a Guardian base. They want to know how I am doing. They put a lot of effort into me.”

Loxin tugged her out into a moonlit clearing. “Ah, they were indeed speaking on your behalf, but I ceased to see them the minute you walked into the room. I recall that one was a Selna though.”

“Yes, Ikvaro. He fell in love with one of the first recruits to the moon base and she was reported missing. His heart is broken. He was a good friend.”

He turned her to face him and caressed her arms. “I have heard that Selna are irresistible.”

“I wasn’t trying to resist. I was trying to learn. Sex never entered the picture.”

He cocked his head. “I can’t see how any man could resist you; he must have had will of iron. Do you trust me?”

The sudden switch made her head whirl. “Yes.” The answer came out without hesitation.

“That was the answer I hoped for.” He wrapped his arms around her, bent his knees and his wings shoved upward with a heavy stroke.

Dot squealed; there was no other word for it. She pressed her face against his chest as he flew up and away from the safety of the ground.

He continued to climb until the air changed density. She could feel the difference as he tilted and flew in a slow circle. He was laughing. “Look around, Dot.”

She peeked out and gasped as the ground seemed miles away.

“I have you. You won’t fall.”

She carefully looked around and then up over his shoulder. It was beautiful. The stars were so bright; they were just as she had first seen them all those years ago. She would never get tired of the view.

“It is beautiful.” She looked at his face and smiled.

“It truly is.” He kissed her and began a slow descent back to the base.

She was enjoying the kiss, enjoying the contact, when the screaming started. She gasped and held tight as she heard shouts, people running, a crack of lightning and the rumble of stone on stone.

Dot was shaking against him.

“What is it?”

She looked up at him through eyes that didn’t really see him. “You are going to work tomorrow night.”

Their descent became more rapid and he landed next to her quarters. With a touch of his hand, the glass that made up her balcony window slid aside and he carried her in.

When he placed her carefully on the bed, she laughed. “I am not ill. It is just surprising, like someone sneaking up and shouting in your mind.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and the window slid shut again.

“I didn’t know it did that.”

“It was for my convenience. What is happening tomorrow?”

She pressed the node at her neck and explained what she had heard. When she was done, he nodded and headed into the living room to tell the others that they were going to have to deal with a landslide on the far side of the planet.

She sat in silence and tried to pull more information from her thoughts. Finally, she had a clue that would help with the identification.

Dot got up and walked into the living area. “I heard something else and it isn’t good.”

She stood and explained to the Guardians that there were going to be thirty-two children involved. She had heard the headcount. They were small, seven or eight based on voices compared to those around them and the number of attendants fanatically counting. They were going to see a glacier.

Everyone was planning for battle, but it was time for bed. Dot excused herself with the slight bob of a curtsy and she headed back to her room.

Sleep was impossible. She just kept going over it, looking for new sounds. Dot wrapped herself in her robe and went for a walk through the living area. On her way back to her room, she paused outside Loxin’s door, and unable to stop herself, she pressed his door open and looked in on him. All was quiet, but suddenly, two red lights snapped toward her and she heard the whisper, “Come in.”

Dot slid into his room and she followed the glow of his eyes until she was next to the bed. To her surprise, he was sleeping on his back, or his wings to be more precise.

“I am sorry. I couldn’t sleep and I saw your door and…” She let it trail off.

He sat up, moved his wings and eased to the other side of the bed, folding the sheets back. “Come in.”

She opened the robe and let it slip from her shoulders before climbing in next to him and pulling the sheets over her.

Dot rested on her side and looked at the glowing eyes for a moment before she made up her mind and leaned up, meeting their lips, her breasts to his chest and her belly to his.

He shivered and pulled away for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“I am sending you into danger on a daily basis. I am sure of that.” She smiled up at him, sure that he could see her.