Query (4 page)

He pulled his head back, and her breast showed the marks where he had sucked and nibbled.

“My talent is a focused psychic projection. It works on animate and inanimate objects.” He stroked the curve of her waist.

She shivered and clenched her hands in his hair. “Do you want this?”

Rune stared at her in surprise. “Of course. This is my reason for being here. Nothing else could have gotten me so far from Admar.”

She leaned toward him and kissed him slowly. He lowered her to the floor and pressed her against him. The tingling pressure between her breasts eased and dissipated.

She smiled and kept her hands in his hair, forcing him to bend at a sharp angle toward her.

He alternated touching her and pulling at his clothing. It was awkward, but it seemed to be what he wanted. Soon, his bodysuit was peeled open and shoved down his legs, and he had to sit to remove the boots that were keeping his suit on.

He groaned and stared at her while he pulled at the leather that encased his lower legs. When the boots were free, he pushed the fabric from his limbs, and he was nearly as naked as she was.

She thought that he was nearly naked because his body was covered with symbols from ankle to elbows with some of the marks creeping up his neck.

Freddy reached out and touched one of the marks. She could feel it humming against his skin and her own. She shivered when she imagined the feel of his skin against more than just her hand, and with a few steps, she made it happen.

She ran her hands up his chest and across the width of his shoulders.

Rune had his eyes nearly closed, and with a slow motion, he wrapped her in his arms. “You feel amazing against me. Soft and strong with an undercurrent of power.”

“You definitely don’t feel soft.” She smiled slightly and let herself continue her exploration of his tense form.

“Thank goodness for that. It wouldn’t work if I was.” He smiled and ran a hand down her back. The rough pads of his fingers woke every nerve near her spine.

His room was similar to hers but that was all she registered as he lifted her and turned, placing her on the edge of the bed before coaxing her to sit as he parted her thighs and knelt between them.

She shook as he pulled her toward him. She tipped back and thudded to the bed a moment before he pressed his lips against her sex and parted her folds with a long stroke of his tongue.

The live version outstripped the fantasy of her early-morning dream. She moaned, shifted and grunted when he inserted two fingers, stroking while he tongued her clit. His free hand gripped her hip and held her as he worked her with long thrusts of his digits.

She felt the climax rushing toward her and heard her cries rising to a high pitch. When her body clenched on his fingers in rhythmic pulses, Freddy froze in place. Heat rippled through her in heady waves, and Rune forced her to experience every one. The moist, wet sounds that his fingers continued to draw from her were enough to heighten her embarrassment, but the sweet release that pumped through her was enough of a distraction so that she didn’t comment on it.

When she slumped to the bed, panting and covered in a fine sheen of sweat, he pulled his fingers out of her and sucked them into his mouth.

Embarrassment flared again, but the enthralled look in his eyes burned it out.

He stood, and she could see the column of his cock wrapped in the same tattoos as the rest of him. He held his erection in his hand and slowly stroked it.

She squirmed back so that her ass wasn’t hanging off the bed, and he moved so quickly, she barely saw him shift position. He wrapped an arm under her and lifted her to the centre of the bed, following her with an intense focus that was slightly unnerving.

“I would love the chance to kiss every inch of you, but I can’t manage it today. Being devoted to the idea of a Terran has spoiled me for all other women.”

She smiled and stroked his cheek. “There will be other times. There will be thousands of other times.”

He grinned. “I love the sound of that.”

Rune shifted against her and slid into her, rocking his hips in short undulations to work inside her.

Her mind’s eye filled in the image of his buttocks clenching with each short thrust, and her skin tingled from the inside out.

She gripped his back and clawed at him as her second climax rushed toward her without warning. She bucked upward, taking him completely, and Rune shuddered in response.

Freddy shook and jerked under him until her body stilled again. This time, he withdrew and slid completely into her in a long, deep thrust.

She inhaled sharply as he started a slow and deliberate rhythm that activated every nerve in her body. Her hands and feet were hot. She wrapped her legs around him and clutched at him as her pulse took over her thoughts and actions.

He leaned in and kissed her, biting lightly at her lips.

His hips shifted, and he increased his tempo until nothing mattered to her but the friction of his skin on hers and the wild tingling that ran through her everywhere they touched. Even his cock was giving off a peculiar static-like charge. She held on as he pounded into her, and when he bucked and pressed his hips into hers, her nerves were still singing with energy.

Rune pressed his forehead to hers, panting to catch his breath. As his chest rose and fell, it pressed her breasts until she was nearly screaming with the urge to orgasm again.

He stayed inside her and shifted so that he could reach between them. Her clit got the attention it desperately needed, and a quick shiver ran through her from head to toe and continued to ripple through her for what seemed like hours.

When she was finally still, Rune gathered her in his arms and kissed her temple. She smiled and rested her head against his chest. She licked her lips and tried twice before she was able to whisper, “Okay, so it started now.”

He chuckled. “Has the future changed?”

She closed her eyes and smiled. “No, this is what was destined. Nothing has changed.”

“Perhaps in our future. My day has definitely looked up.”

She giggled and peeped at him through lowered lashes. “Excellent. Now get me my sandwich.”

The Guardians en masse were happy about their shift to lovers. Ember and Axis were especially relieved.

Late that night in the gym, Freddy asked Ember what was going on.

Ember grinned. “Well, Rune is notoriously temperamental. He uses the edge of acceptable violence on those we apprehend. I am thinking that he will be slightly more temperate now.”

“Because he has gotten laid?”

“For the first time in centuries. Yes. The Admaryn sleepers took their vows seriously. With all the Guardian groupies here, it has been the work of severe self-control that has kept him from ending up in a local’s bed.”

Freddy looked across the gym to where Rune was working out with some of the others. Ember had loaned her a bodysuit, so Freddy was working out. Life as an Oracle was not exactly an exertion of the physical sort. She had to keep her body up or it would atrophy.

“So, do you get your share of offers?” She smiled at Ember.

“Now and then. It is always awkward to sleep with the untalented. They don’t know what to expect or they expect too much. I consider it a success if I don’t scorch them.”

“That would be awkward.”

“And hard to explain to the emergency medical personnel. I am waiting until a flameproof female is posted here.”

“Do you think one will come along?”

Ember smiled. “Can you tell me?”

Without hesitating, Freddy reached out and looked into Ember’s future. “Oh, dear.”

“What? Is it a Nyal? I would hate that.”

“No, that isn’t what it is. Based on the timeline, there is a connection coming to you quickly.”

Seeing Ember tangling with a woman with bronze and black skin was a visual that was going to haunt her.

“Will you tell me what you saw?”

“I would rather not. It will unfold shortly, and I don’t want to influence you. I influenced myself enough already.”

“Is it someone with powers?”

Freddy smiled. “It is. Don’t worry about it.”

“That is very cruel of you.” Ember settled on a machine and started doing presses.

“It isn’t cruel. You aren’t a client, and it will be better if you don’t force anything. It will happen in its own time, or at least that is what I am guessing. It feels right.”

Freddy focused on her workout for the next half hour until Rune came to her and quirked his lips. “My lady, you need to rest.”

She made a face. “I am not sleepy.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist. “You will be.”

Freddy had to admit that after he worked her over and loosened all of the tense muscles in her limbs with a spectral massage, she was sleepy.

She cuddled against him and held onto him for a few minutes before the fidgeting started.

He sighed. “What is it, Oracle?”

“I need Sneed.”

He stiffened. “Who is Sneed?”

She squirmed. “He is my stuffed toy. When I am in an unfamiliar bed, he helps me sleep. I used to use him on business trips.”

“Where is he?”

“On my bed.” She started to get up, but he pulled her back, and then, he stroked one of his markings. Two minutes later, the door opened and Sneed floated in.

“You have a toy Drai?”

“Sort of. Dragons are mythical back on Earth, sort of like elves.” She smiled and plucked Sneed out of the air, cuddling him against her and breathing in his familiar scent.

“Well, I am far from mythical.”

“Well, you are pretty fantastic, I can tell you that.” She smiled and then yawned.

“Your fuzzy beast seems to be doing the trick.”

She nodded and yawned again. He pulled her against him, his chest to her back. A light sheet made up for the lack of blanket, and the heat he put out was more than enough for her purposes. She fell asleep in his arms with Sneed cradled in hers.

A kiss to her temple woke her slightly.

“Sorry, love. I have to go to work. Sleep tight. Sneed, keep her safe.” He stroked her cheek and left her alone.

She thudded her head back to the pillow and slept. Sneed was on his own.

Breakfast was silent once again, but this time, she knew that the Guardians were gone.

She headed for her station as soon as she had managed to put all the dishes from breakfast away.

Her first client wanted to know the fate of their children and she told them.

It was the beginning of a very long day.

When she finished her shift, she had done nine readings and her head was pounding.

Ember was waiting on the other side of the walkway, and she was smiling. “Happy weekend!”

“What?”

“You get two rest days. Back to back.”

“I do?”

Ember grinned. “You do. Would you like to head into town tomorrow?”

“I thought I would be in danger.”

“Yes and no. I found a camouflage belt for you. It will make you look like a local as long as you don’t have any weird outbursts of talent.”

Freddy smiled. “It is rare for folks to be able to tell when I am having an outburst if I am not talking. If I am talking, I am stuck with whatever comes out of my mouth.”

“We will have to make sure that you don’t have a chance to say anything.” Ember grinned.

Freddy smiled. “When do we leave?”

“Midmorning. I can take you shopping for something other than the gowns.”

Freddy wrinkled her nose. “I don’t have any money.”

“You do. We just haven’t had time to get your payment implant. We can do that right now if you like.”

Freddy rubbed the back of her neck. “Sounds great. So how was work?”

“Normal. We went to two different disasters and rescued citizens. Now, Brakes is on meal duty, so we are in for a treat tonight. His continent specializes in noodles.”

Freddy laughed. “Excellent. I am looking forward to it.”

“Good, now let’s get Rune to sign off on your pay chip.”

They walked through the base, and Freddy followed Ember to the medical chamber once again.

While Freddy sat on the med bed, Ember called Rune and summoned him to authorize the pay chip.

Heat crept into her cheeks as she waited for Rune to make his appearance. When he came around the corner, his tired expression faded and turned into a slow smile. “So, you want to get paid?”

She made a face but couldn’t calm her blush.

Rune walked over to the monitor and pressed his thumb down on the pad before using his ocular scan to authorize the minor medical procedure.

She watched as Ember loaded the implement with the tiny little tip that was going to go under her skin.

Rune leaned against the wall, and the anticipatory smile was still hovering on his lips.

She was so busy staring at her new lover that she didn’t even flinch when the chip was slipped under her skin. Her senses flared for a moment, but the chip was going to be with her for the rest of her life, so its future was just what she had been seeing for herself. It was going to be under her skin for its lifetime.

“There you go, all done. Your financial balance has been connected to the chip. You are ready to go.”

Freddy smiled. “Thanks, Ember.”

“You are quite welcome. What are you up to now?”

“I think I am going to crash for a bit. Looking into the future is a little tiring.”

Rune’s expression suddenly shifted to concern. “Are you uncomfortable?”

“Just a little headache. Some rest will help.”

“Anything else?” He frowned. “Do you need anything?”

“I will be fine. I just need a nap.”

“I will come with you.”

She snorted. “I actually need to nap.”

“Then that is what you shall do.” He offered her his arm, and she took it, leaning against him as they walked to his quarters. Apparently, there was no longer an option for her location. He had moved her in with him.

She verified her new location by opening the wardrobe. Next to his bodysuits, the Grecian gowns hung in all their colours.

She shrugged and headed for the bed, flopping onto it and cuddling Sneed as if Rune wasn’t there.