The Torid Affair by Laurann Dohner

Chapter Two

 

Michael found Jessa just as she got off shift. The tall blond grinned. “Are you ready to come to my tent? It will give us privacy. No one will be able to see us.” He ran his gaze down her body, pausing on her breasts. “I’ll give you a massage, along with that dinner.”

Jessa stared up at him, suddenly suspicious of why he’d been so nice to her earlier. “Do you mean sex?”

He winked. “That was my plan.”

Of course. He wasn’t interested in her job or becoming friends. Just getting into her pants. “Pass. I don’t do casual hookups. Go find someone else interested in that.” She stepped around him.

“Hey, don’t be like that.”

She ignored him, heading toward the back of the building. There was a large convention room in the mansion that had been set up for fleet members to sleep in, where she had a cot assigned. Her feet hurt, her back ached from toting around the heavy med kit, and she’d kill for sleep. It wasn’t going to happen anytime soon though. She needed to meet with Maith.

Entering the room, she found her assigned cot and slid her med kit underneath, then pulled out her fleet duffle bag and quickly opened it.

She glanced around. There had to be eighty cots, though she spotted a few tents along the back wall. All marked with tactical team logos. One of them would be Michael’s. She rolled her eyes. It figured that they could bring extra gear. Maith probably had a private tent too.

She bent over and yanked off her shoes and socks, before removing her uniform. There was a bathroom to change in, for privacy, but it was a long walk. Only about twenty people were currently in the room and most of them sleeping. She didn’t care if they saw her stripped down to her plain gray bra and matching underwear. They were all fleet members.

She dug into her bag and pulled out a black jumpsuit. It doubled as sleepwear and loungewear. It was also fleet issue. All the clothing that she’d packed had to be, since she was on assignment, including her bra and boy-shorts-styled panties.

She put on new socks, then her shoes, before storing her dirty uniform in a laundry bag. The duffle had a special compartment for that. Then she shoved the duffle back under her cot and headed toward the meeting point. Hopefully Maith wouldn’t make her wait long.

She arrived in a corridor filled with offices for reporters the governor kept on staff. None of them were currently working in the building. A tall, familiar figure was the first thing she spotted. Maith pushed off the wall where he had been leaning and faced her.

“I expected you three minutes ago when you were off shift.”

“I changed.” She waved her hand down her body. “My medical uniform smelled, and I wanted to be more comfortable if I’m playing the role of a spy.” She kept her voice soft.

He made a low rumbling sound.

She wasn’t sure if that was an agreement, a protest, or just Maith being grumpy. It didn’t really matter. “What’s the exact plan?”

He held out his hand. She stared at it blankly before looking at his face.

“Take my hand. We are a copulating couple.”

“Right.” Jessa reached out and clasped his large hand. The body heat radiating off him was intense. “So we’re going for a romantic stroll?”

“Until we reach an access point to the basement. Drak hacked into their mainframe computer and sent me the mansion schematics. There’s an access point not too far from here. They have the basement labeled as an emergency bunker. It’s nearly as large as the building aboveground.”

“Wow.” That information surprised her. “Every fleet member knows that United Earth constructs emergency bunkers on planets they colonize, but they’re only supposed to be located under community centers. They’re built for the residents to use in case of an alien attack or a catastrophic planetary event, to keep people alive and safe until help can arrive.”

“It’s suspicious. Clark Yenna said he looked at other colony buildings and none had a bunker under a residence. He also spoke to Commander Bills. They both agreed that is an odd location for a bunker.”

Jessa silently agreed that something was off about that. “Earth tends to avoid placing bunkers under government buildings and hospitals, since they’d be the first places targeted during an attack. Colonies are planned out with at least four community centers in each city. They usually build them next to parks or other open spaces. They double as recreation places and landing sites, if evacuations are needed. Residents are supposedly assigned to a certain one to go to if they need to seek emergency shelter for any reason.”

They walked hand in hand, only coming across one of the mansion guards. He opened his mouth but promptly closed it when his gaze locked on Maith. Jessa didn’t blame the guard for being afraid to say anything to the imposing Veslor, even one that was a medic. On average, the males of his race stood about six and a half feet tall with muscular bodies. Maith looked as if he could kick ass without breaking a sweat.

They passed the guard and ducked through a door soon after they were out of his sight, which led them into a long, dim hallway. Jessa stopped, causing Maith to pause walking. She mentally flipped modes in her artificial eye, scanning every inch of the space from floor to ceiling.

She suddenly turned and put her body in front of Maith’s, reaching up to slide her fingers around the back of his neck. He was tall enough that she had to go up on her tiptoes to put her mouth at his ear. It also meant plastering her body against his.

“Camera,” she whispered. “At the end of the hall near the ceiling. It’s hidden inside the vent.”

He leaned down and pretended to kiss her, keeping his lips a hairsbreadth from her own. “We need to reach one of the doors down there.”

“Give the camera your back by pressing me against the wall. Hide my face from it while I work. My artificial eye is going to light up for what I need to do.”

He spun her as requested, pinning Jessa to the wall. He pressed his mouth to her forehead, hiding her face from the camera. “You can deactivate it?”

His hot breath tickled her flesh. “I can try. I’m betting the tech here is a bit outdated. It’s not like on Defcon Red, where we do annual upgrades. The military always gets the best tech.” She surreptitiously covered her artificial eye with her hand, knowing it was about to glow brighter than normal from the power usage as she began to concentrate on the signal coming from the camera. “The downside is, if I turn the camera off,” she whispered, “someone might come to investigate why if they’re watching live feeds.”

“I didn’t know you could deactivate cameras.” He nuzzled her neck with his warm lips. “That is not something an artificial eye should be able to do, unless you have hidden laser optics. You’re not zapping the camera with your eye though. You’d need a direct line of sight for that.”

“It’s more than just my eye that got upgraded,” she admitted, trying to ignore that Maith speaking against her skin, his breaths making her hyperaware of him. “I’ve got an additional implant behind my eye. I was only eight at the time I got hurt, so luckily, the damaged part of my brain took well to the additional hardware. Kids adjust to implants like that faster and our bodies are more flexible to physical changes.”

She regretted sharing such personal information instantly, when Maith’s body tensed against hers. It had to be anxiety making her overshare. And pure exhaustion. The fact that he was pressed up against her, his velvet lips caressing her skin, definitely wasn’t it. At least that’s what she told herself.

She also reasoned that she wasn’t cut out to be a spy or to work the long, physically draining hours she’d been putting in. Maith was making her sneak around the mansion and she was afraid of getting caught. His touch didn’t make her flustered at all. Not a bit.

“Who hurt you?” He sounded angry.

His tone surprised her for a split second before she remembered it was a common Veslor trait to be protective. “It wasn’t like that. There was an explosion on the floor above our living quarters when I was a kid living on Mars. It caused most of the area to collapse. I survived but it took time for the rescue teams to dig us out of our bedroom. I was fortunate to live.”

“Us?”

“My sister and I shared a room. It happened in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. She survived too, but a support beam crashed down on her feet and crushed them. The rescue teams had to amputate them to get her out.”

A low growl came from him.

She decided to tell him the rest of it, since she’d already blabbed so much. “Our parents didn’t make it. They were killed instantly in the bedroom next to ours. We knew because neither of them yelled out to us during the two days while we were trapped.”

Maith suddenly lifted his head, and she stared at him with her uncovered eye. It was dim in the hallway…but she was certain that was pity on his shadowy features.

“Two days?”

“Yeah. Feel bad for my sister. Not me. I kept losing consciousness because of my head injury. She was in a lot of pain, but not enough to knock her out.”

He reached up and gently cupped her cheek.

“Don’t get all sappy on me, Veslor. We don’t have time for that. I had to burn out the camera and completely deactivate it. It was hardwired, so I couldn’t temporarily shut it down. I caused a power surge to the signal relay that fried the wires. Someone might come to fix it soon.”

“How is it possible that you can you do that?”

“It was the result of a few experiments done on me. Let’s just say that I can hack certain things from short distances and sometimes cause them to overload.”

Maith stroked her other cheek with his own. “Who experimented on you?”

“That’s a story for another time.” Like never, she silently added. “The camera is down. Let’s do this.”

Maith released her and stepped back, moving quickly down the hallway. She dropped the hand covering her artificial eye, now that it wasn’t brightly glowing anymore, and followed.

He reached a marked door for authorized personnel only and yanked out a tiny flat device from his pocket, slapping it over the access pad.

Jessa could guess what it was. “A hacking device? Nice. Is it one of your tactical team tools? I figured you guys would just blow stuff up or kick down anything in your way.”

Maith snorted. “It depends on the job.”

The panel flashed green and the door popped open. Maith retracted the device to pocket it again and shouldered his way inside. She followed, closing the door behind them. A narrow stairwell waited, leading downward to pitch blackness. Maith paused at the top.

“Follow me. I’m almost better than a flashlight, unless you want us going totally dark. Can you see?” Jessa stepped to his side and activated her eye to glow again.

“Yes. Are there any cameras here?”

She was already scanning downward, having cleared the top of the stairwell. “No. There are sensors though on the third and sixth steps down.”

“I can’t see any.”

“I can. There’s wiring under the steps that’s active. It looks like faint pink webbing to me. Avoid those steps. Follow me.”

Maith gripped her arm. “I will go first.”

“We can’t see all the way to the bottom of the stairwell since it curves out of sight. I can spot the sensors; you can’t. I’ll lead and warn you if there are more.”

He growled low.

She took that for agreement and stepped down, avoiding the third and sixth steps. The stairwell had a landing right before the turn, and she stopped. “No steps below have sensors, but don’t touch either of the railings. They’re both wired.”

“Smart.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “If someone suspected any of the steps would set off an alarm, they could avoid putting weight on them by using the railings to hold themselves up. Then whoops! It would still trigger an alarm.” She walked the rest of the way down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, scanning the small pitch-dark area. “Two doors. No cameras or activity sensors here.”

“It’s the one to the left.”

She walked to it but paused, carefully searching every inch of the door and handle.

Maith brushed against her side. “What now?”

“Just checking. It’s clear.”

“Stop glowing.”

She switched modes in her artificial eye.

“I’ll lead this time.”

She stepped out of Maith’s way. “You still need me to scan for cameras and sensors.”

With a nod, he tried the door. It wasn’t locked. An empty room was revealed on the other side. Jessa visually scanned and sought any frequencies being transmitted. “Nothing.”

He approached another door, but glanced back at her before touching it.

“It’s clear too.”

He carefully opened it and paused. She slipped around him and stared at a wide hallway. There were no doors except for one at the very end, which was big and metal.

“That has to be the entrance into the bunker,” she deduced as they approached the door. “So weird. We had bunkers on Mars. All of them are clearly marked to help people find them in an emergency. I haven’t seen one sign to indicate this is here. The door and the walls to either side are completely blocking my scans. I’m reading it as a dense mass. Probably solid metal.”

“As opposed to what?”

“The other walls I can scan through enough to see support beams and even heat signatures, indicating active electrical wiring. Not that one.”

Maith glanced down at her. “As a medic, I can see how that would be an advantage to be able to scan for heat signatures through debris. Does your fleet send you on rescue missions if buildings collapse?”

“A.R.S. Not a medic. It means I’m a human doctor with extra training to learn alien biology. But no. They don’t send me on those kinds of missions.”

“Why not? You’d be a great advantage to have.”

She sighed, not wanting to answer. But she did it anyway, because she understood why he asked. “One, it’s not listed as an ability that I have in my standard file. People assume my implant is only to help me see. Two, I’d never be emotionally or mentally cleared for that kind of work because of my past.”

She held up her hand to halt him from speaking. “I offered to help on search missions. The medical team in charge of my welfare refused, stating it might traumatize me by reminding me of the explosion and what I’d suffered through, trapped under all that rubble as a kid. I experienced nightmares for years and had an aversion to being in dark, cramped places underground. I’m too valuable as an A.R.S. for the fleet to risk me having a mental breakdown if it turns out therapy didn’t totally fix my issues. I don’t agree, but it’s not my call.”

She dropped her hand and changed the subject. “There’s an access panel on the wall that probably operates the lock but it’s not like one I’ve ever seen before.”

“It’s a Deki security lock.”

An image of a gray alien flashed in Jessa’s memory. They were a race about three feet tall, with big heads and eyes, and were known to be reclusive. They were also geniuses with technology. She’d learned about their race in her common studies but had never met one. They refused to have anything to do with Earth and the fleet.

“How in the hell did someone on this planet buy tech from them? They don’t sell to humans. We were deemed untrustworthy.”

Maith snarled, ignoring her question. “We can’t get past this lock.”

“Your hacking device won’t work?”

He shook his head, leaning in to study the strange lock sealing the solid door. “My hacking device needs direct access to a system in some way. Can you do anything?”

“No. I told you. It’s showing as a solid mass to me. I can’t see anything beyond what you do.” She focused on the lock, trying to feel it out with her implant. “There’s no signal that I can even try to remote link with.”

He spun. “We need to retreat. I don’t have an explosive on me.”

Her mouth fell open but she snapped it closed fast. “You think that would work? It would certainly draw attention to us being down here. You’d probably have to use a lot of explosives to make a hole in all that metal.”

Maith turned back and grabbed her hand, hurrying to get them out of there.

“Be careful,” she reminded him when they reached the stairs. “Don’t touch the rails and remember the steps wired after the curve.”

Maith snarled. “I know.”

He was definitely in a shit mood all of a sudden. That was the Veslor she knew and called “grumpy ass.”

Jessa quickly followed him until they reached the top of the stairwell. He eased the door open slowly, looking around before stepping out. She followed, softly closing the door behind her.

Maith paused halfway down the hallway and spun, surprising her when he suddenly grabbed her upper arms. The breath was knocked from her lungs when he took her down to the floor. She suddenly had hundreds of pounds of Veslor male sprawled on top of her.

She sucked in air just before his mouth covered hers.

Jessa was too stunned to react as he grabbed her leg and yanked it up to hug his side. He wiggled until his hips settled between her spread legs. He didn’t kiss her, really. Just pressed his full lips over her own.

She reached up to fist his uniform shirt, trying to shove him off her. It wasn’t possible. He was too big and heavy. The space was dark—but suddenly bright lights shone around them. Her eyes widened as booted feet rushed down the hallway.

“Here!” some guy bellowed.

Another door was thrown open near them, hard enough that it slammed loudly into the wall. Maith jerked his mouth from hers and turned his head, a snarl tearing from his throat. Lights blinded him and he closed his eyes.

Maith lifted one of his hands. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Dr. Jessa Brick, you are to come with us,” a man demanded.

“We are off shift,” Maith snarled. “Is it illegal for us to seek privacy to copulate?”

“We need the doctor now,” the guard demanded. “The governor wants to talk to her.”

Maith carefully climbed off her, helping Jessa stand as he did so. She also noticed how he kept his big body between her and the armed mansion guards.

Jessa had a bad feeling as she peeked around Maith. “Is this about me arguing with Carlton George earlier? I don’t take orders from him. I’m fleet.”

“I don’t know what it’s about. The governor has ordered us to bring you to his office,” the man barked out. “Now move!”

She had no desire to spend any time with the asshole. “I’m not―”

“We’ll come,” Maith said, cutting Jessa off.

She shot him a glare, irritated when he didn’t let her explain that Governor Rodney Boyd had no right to have her hauled into his office.

“Only her.” The same mansion guard did all the talking.

“My female goes nowhere without me.” Maith growled the words. “Stop pointing your weapons. If you want her to see your governor, I go with her.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Carlton George appeared, pushing one of the guards aside. “Rodney wants to speak to that cunt right now!”

Maith snagged Jessa’s hand and tugged her closer. “You do not speak about my female that way. We will comply, but know that the other medics are aware that you were the human who threatened my female. You’ll be held accountable by the fleet if anything happens to her. You also will not take her anywhere without me. My team of medics will report us missing to the fleet if we don’t return to my tent within half of one of your hours.”

The governor’s assistant sneered.

Maith made a rude grunting noise. “You threatened my female in front of many fleet members, Carlton George. Did you believe that they wouldn’t share that with me? She’s my female. Veslors are very possessive—and protective.”

“Goddamn it,” Carlton swore. “You know what? Forget it. Rodney can speak directly to your superiors.” The assistant stormed off, leaving her and Maith with a few confused-looking guards.

“Lower your weapons,” Maith demanded. “All guards will be arrested and interrogated by the fleet if any harm comes to us. We’ve already reported several issues with the governor’s security to Defcon Red.”

The guards lowered their weapons. One of them, the man who seemed to be in charge, glared at Maith. “This area is off-limits to you.”

“We will go to my tent.” Maith gripped Jessa’s hand tightly enough to almost hurt and led her past the guards.

Part of her worried that they’d be shot in the back. It wasn’t as if she’d met anyone working for the governor or his assistant who seemed decent. But they continued on their way unharmed, remaining silent and passing a few more armed guards until they reached the large room where the fleet slept.

Jessa tried to pull her hand free when they were close to her cot, but Maith refused to let go. He growled low, giving her a hard tug as he continued past her cot. He stopped at a tent set up in a far corner, the last one in a short row. Finally, he released her hand, bent, and opened the flap.

“Inside,” he hissed.

Jessa crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”

“They attempted to take you.” He kept his voice low as he glanced around. “You’re staying with me for now.”

It was tempting to argue, but Jessa wasn’t an idiot. She’d seen those weapons the guards had pointed at them. The governor had sent them to bring her to him. That, or Carlton had lied. Either way, she would have been taken by force if Maith hadn’t been there to protect her. Then there was no telling what would have happened. She’d bet it wouldn’t have been anything good.

“I appreciate you saving my butt.”

He snorted. “Inside.”

She sighed, resigned, and bent to go through the opening. The roof of the tent stood much higher, so she was able to straighten. The interior was dominated by a much bigger cot along the back wall. It was nearly twice the width of hers, and longer.

“It figures.”

Maith gently pushed her farther inside his tent as he entered and then sealed the flap. He straightened, but the top of his head brushed the fabric roof. “What did you say?”

She lowered her voice. “It figures that you tactical team guys get all the extra perks.”

“We earn them.”

She couldn’t really deny that. Working in a lab most of the time, doing research, beat the heck out of fighting monster alien bugs and risking their lives when humans were dumb enough to try to settle on a hostile planet. It happened more than it should. She was very aware of that reality, since everything alien was brought to her attention before any missions. It helped her prepare if anything went medically sideways…such as the soldiers being exposed to an alien virus or toxin. She’d be the one treating them.

“Should you notify your medic friends that we’re back and give them an update on what happened?”

“They don’t know what we just attempted.”

She was impressed, as well as a little surprised. “You lied.”

“I bluffed.”

“I didn’t think Veslors tolerated dishonesty.”

“We learned quickly from you humans. It is a way to avoid confrontation.” He lifted his wrist, opening what appeared to be a hologram keyboard and tapping something into it.

“Fair enough.” She decided to change the subject. “I noticed you have two wrist bands instead of one. That one isn’t fleet, is it?”

He ended whatever he was doing and twisted his arm to show her. Jessa studied the bands. One was fleet issue, similar to hers, only slightly thicker with a few more buttons. It was silver in color with a fleet stamp embedded on the surface. The other one was a dark metal, almost matching his skin. It was adorned with silver symbols, probably the Veslor language.

“One your fleet gave me. The other is from my grouping,” Maith informed her.

“You have your own way of privately communicating with each other?”

“Yes. It only works for our grouping.”

“So you can send messages back and forth to your grouping. That’s cool.”

“We can also speak to and hear our grouping. I activated it for them to listen when we were confronted. My grouping could hear everything said. They would have sent help if we’d been taken.”

She stared at the alien band. “Are they still listening?”

“No. I ended the audio transmission and sent them an update on the lock.”

“Why not only use the fleet band?”

“We don’t like having our private conversations monitored by your fleet.”

Nodding, she changed the subject again. “You tactical team guys get a tent for privacy and larger cots.” She glanced around, frowning. “Two clothing bags instead of one, plus your med kit. It must be nice.”

“Can you see me sleeping on one of your human cots?”

He made a good point. Veslors were usually at least a head taller than the average human and carried about a hundred pounds more muscle on their frames. His height and weight would be too much for a standard-issue cot. He wouldn’t even be able to lie flat on his back and have the mattress support his arms with that wide chest of his. They’d hang off the sides.

“That accounts for you, but most of the human tactical team medics could fit on a standard cot. They got tents. Did they also get bigger cots?”

Maith scowled at her. “I am too tired to argue. You don’t leave my sight.”

“I’m not sleeping in here with you.”

He snorted. “You will. I dislike being so close to you as well, but I won’t allow you to be harmed. You made enemies with your loud voice and rude words. I will remain with you. That includes bathroom breaks.”

She sighed. “Fine, but I’m not showering or going pee with you watching me.”

His features contorted in something akin to horror. “I don’t want to see you bare.”

“Wipe that look off your face,” she seethed, feeling highly insulted. “I’m not bad looking.”

Maith turned away. “It is not your looks that offend me. It is your rude personality.”

She flipped off his back, even while silently agreeing. His looks were pretty hot. It was his grumpy attitude that put her off.

“You take the bed. I will sleep on the floor.”

Part of Jessa knew that was unfair, but she didn’t protest. It was actually kind of sweet of him to make the offer. “Thank you.”

“Don’t lie on my bed yet. I’m going to get your sleeping bag for you to use. I don’t want mine to smell like you.”

He turned to the flap, opened it once more, and left her alone in his tent.

“Just when I think you’re not a total dick,” she muttered. She lowered her chin to her chest and inhaled. She didn’t smell bad. Then again, she probably could use a shower. She was too tired to bother before getting at least six hours of sleep first. Her next shift would start in less than eight hours.

Worry ate at her as she waited for Maith. Carlton George, and possibly even the governor himself, had it out for her. That was something she needed to be wary of, even if it meant letting Maith shadow her. The Veslor medic might be rude and annoying, but he could also scare the piss out of humans.

Maith returned carrying her sleeping bag, personal clothing bag, and her med kit. He placed her kit next to his, shoved her bedding at her, and tossed her tote near his two. She held her bedding while he pulled his sleeping bag off the cot to drop it near the exit to the tent.

Jessa twisted away from him, going to the cot and throwing down her sleeping bag. It was much smaller than the mattress. She glanced over her shoulder at Maith.

He had removed his boots and was stripping out of his clothes.

She froze. “You don’t sleep naked, do you?”

“Not with you here.”

That made her feel better. She smoothed out the sleeping bag with her hands. “I’m sure as hell not going to hit on you.”

“I still don’t want you tempted. You humans always sexualize bared skin.”

Maybe she would hit on him after all. As in literally, with her fists.

She kicked off her shoes and climbed into her sleeping bag, not daring to look at Maith as he settled onto the floor behind her. She didn’t want to know how much of his clothing he’d removed. But she still couldn’t let his last comment go. He really irritated her. “You wish. Maybe you wouldn’t be such a grumpy ass if human women threw themselves at you.”

He snorted. “Sleep. Our next shifts start early.” Then the tent went dark as he turned off the lamp.