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SOLAN DIDN’T WANT TO be friends. Lena needed to get that fact through her thick skull. He didn’t want to shoot the shit or get a beer after work. They were supposed to show up, do the job, and then go their separate ways.
Why was that so hard for her to understand?
Whatever relationship they had off the job, they needed to find a way to make it mesh. Things had started going so well at their last training session that she hoped they could build on it. Progress was progress, but she wanted to be moving faster. She wanted real assignments. Real ways to stretch her wings. Literally.
When she arrived at the training facility she was confused when the door attendant directed her away from the dressing rooms and down a hallway she’d never ventured before. But maybe Solan had different ideas for the day. She wasn’t in charge. It hadn’t chafed yet, but she was sure it would when she had control over her powers. That was a problem for future Lena.
She found Solan sitting on a bench in a large office and took a seat beside him. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure.”
They didn’t have to wait for long. A few minutes later a Zulir woman walked in and closed the door behind her. “You’re looking good, Solan. Matching suits you.”
“Major Ozar.” He smiled. “I was hoping it was you who called us in.”
Ozar. Was this woman related to Oz? Lena looked closely. She supposed there could be a resemblance, but she wasn’t sure.
The major took a seat on a bench of her own. “Command is accelerating the training schedules. You’ve been cleared for your first field mission.”
Lena grinned. Yes. This was what she wanted. Her excitement caught the major’s attention.
“Neither of you are ready, if I’m interpreting Zadra’s reports correctly. If it were up to me I’d keep you here for another month.” It wasn’t exactly a rebuke; she didn’t look at Lena harshly. But Lena still wanted to sink into the floor.
“I won’t disappoint you,” she promised. She’d never met this woman in her life, but with just a few sentences she already didn’t want to let her down.
The major nodded. “You’re on a short leash. Prove yourselves and you’ll be given more responsibility. Fail and we’ll need to look into... other options.” She gave Solan a pointed look.
Lena had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but from the way Solan stiffened, he knew. Under other circumstances, Lena would have asked then and there, but they were about to go into the field and she didn’t want to risk the assignment being taken away. The major let them go after giving them the basics: they’d be the backup of the backup of the backup for a guard unit going to apprehend the head of a thievery ring that had been terrorizing Osais for months. If things went perfectly, they wouldn’t have to do anything.
Things rarely went perfectly.
Lena was even more excited a short time later when she got her uniform and saw it came with a blaster. Sure she had her wings, but she was still getting the hang of using them and feeling the reassuring weight of the weapon in her hand was a comfort she hadn’t realized she was missing.
She and Solan took a borrowed guard vehicle to their location, a narrow alley that smelled of rotting fish and urine. How could she be hundreds if not thousands of light years away from Earth if the alleys smelled exactly the same?
Solan leaned against one wall while Lena took a seat on a kicked over crate. They had at least an hour before the main team approached the building and it was time to get comfortable. “You don’t look too happy,” she said.
Solan played with a flap on his jacket, glancing toward the main street every so often. Lena had a clear line of sight to the street on the other side of the alley. If their perp came either way, he wouldn’t last long. “I’m glad we’re in the field, but this is grunt work. There are a hundred trainees they could stick here. We’re unlikely to do anything but waste a day where we could be training.”
Lena groaned. Training. Training. Training. She understood the need, but if they kept up their schedule for much longer she was going to go crazy. “I’ll take the break,” she said. She had her blaster out and was studying the power mechanism. It was more like a Taser than a gun, meant to be nonlethal and powered by electricity. As an extra security measure the grip was keyed to her and Solan, so if she lost it in a scuffle it couldn’t be used against her.
They lapsed into silence, but it didn’t last long. And somehow they got on the topic of Solan’s brother’s wedding. Lena listened in horrified fascination as he went through every detail. It sounded like every rich person’s wedding she’d ever paid attention to and she was more than happy not to worry about the planning.
“And on top of everything he’s inviting our father. He’s the last person I’d want there, but...” Solan shook his head and then looked back towards the main street as if he could summon a running criminal with his mind.
“Not a good relationship?” There was finally a fact to hold onto. Lena could describe the flower arrangements and the food for the wedding of a man she’d never met, but Solan had been tight lipped about anything that had to do with him. She assumed he liked his brother, if he knew so much about the wedding, but knowing he hated his father was more interesting.
She probably shouldn’t be interested. Concerned? Sure, that sounded better. Not that he could read her mind.
“It’s complicated.” He didn’t elaborate.
Why would he? If Lena prodded he’d close off, and they were finally talking. So she wrenched the conversation back on topic. “When is the big day?”
“Not for another two months. My mother is now obsessed with seeing all her children settled.” He shuddered.
Lena did not blame him. “I know that feeling! Every time I visited home I swear there was a nice boy waiting to have dinner with us. Total coincidence, my mom insisted. I thought she’d give up hope when I turned thirty, but that just made her more determined.” She’d laughed about the setups in college and been thankful for the reprieve when she was deployed, but it got old fast. And that old frustration quickly turned to sadness when she remembered her mother would never see her happily paired off. She couldn’t think of that now. She wasn’t going to cry on the job or in front of Solan.
He didn’t sense her mental distress. Thankfully. “Is that common on Earth? Your parents choosing your partners?” he asked.
She could spend all day going over the different ways to choose a partner on Earth. But explaining hundreds of cultures and variations on courtship, dating, sex, and marriage was about as appealing to her as talking about his father was to Solan. So she shrugged and made it as simple as possible. “Depends on where you are. My grandparents didn’t meet until shortly before their wedding. Some of my cousins were happy for the help. But it was never for me.”
“You have to make your own path,” he observed with a little smile.
She was really growing to hate his smiles and what they did to her. “I’ve always been stubborn.”
“Yes.”
They both laughed. Lena couldn’t deny it. Not when it had always been true and she’d basically bulldozed her way into this partnership. She tried not to feel hopeful about their future. One decent conversation didn’t make decades of friendship. But it was a start. And she’d take it as the first step to their partnership meshing together. In no time they’d be the ones going directly after bad guys instead of the backup’s backup.
A voice crackled through on the comm and they both sprang to attention. The suspect had fled and was heading their way. Chances were he’d be apprehended long before he made it to them, but they needed to be ready. Lena flexed her shoulders, ready to call on her wings, when Solan put a hand on her arm.
“No wings,” he warned. “They’ll give us away.”
They were in the middle of an alley; no one could see them from the street. “Then how can I use my powers?” She already felt naked without them.
“You can do it” was her partner’s less than stellar advice.
“Not helpful.” Lena grit it out. They hadn’t gotten to that part of their training yet, and judging by the increasingly frantic chatter on the comm they didn’t have time right now. She tried to feel for her spark, but it was stubbornly dormant. She reached again and grabbed a little, her hands lighting up with pale streaks of power. It was something. Hopefully enough. And she was still holding the blaster in her other hand. She kept it out, just in case.
The comm warned the suspect was almost on them, and panicked pedestrians gave him away before he got there. She and Solan went to the correct end of the alley and waited.
Right on time the suspect rushed by, not even sparing them a glance. He wouldn’t have noticed her wings, but Lena didn’t take the second to rub it in Solan’s face. She took off in pursuit.
It was just like her run through the market a few weeks ago, but this time she had the authority of the guard and people got out of her way. She reached for her power to zap him, but she didn’t have it. Something tripped Solan up and Lena knew if she didn’t stop the suspect now he’d get away. She wasn’t letting that happen.
She stopped where she was, raised her blaster, and took the shot before he got out of range.
The suspect fell to the ground, groaning and bruised but very much alive. She ran towards him and got him secured before he could regain his senses. A minute later Solan joined her, some sort of sauce smeared across his uniform and a large piece of something that looked like cabbage stuck in his helmet.
“And you said I wouldn’t need a blaster,” she said with a smirk.
“Good job.” They hauled him up and had him waiting.
But the ground commander wasn’t happy when he learned how Lena had taken him out and yelled at both her and Solan on the way back to headquarters. She could have hit a civilian, he fumed. She could have used too much power and killed the man. She could have caused utter chaos and destruction. Lena kept her mouth shut and took the reaming. She didn’t point out that all those things would still be true with her powers. Clearly the commander was pissed that his other teams had failed in their duties and it had taken her and Solan to get it done.
And the suspicion that he was yelling just to yell was confirmed when they were dismissed to get changed and told to report back in the morning for their next assignment, not a reprimand.
Finally. A success.
Things were looking up.
***
THE CHANGING STALLS at headquarters weren’t gender segregated, so she and Solan were changing at the same time. Lena tried not to look, she really did. It was disrespectful, and she didn’t necessarily want him ogling her. But she still snatched glances of defined muscle and thick thighs. And, okay, if he was the one ogling her she wouldn’t be upset. General objectification was bad, but she wouldn’t mind admiration from the guy she was attracted to.
Ugh. No. She couldn’t be attracted to him. She’d promised.
But adrenaline from the op was still buzzing in her veins along with the victory of a job well done, and she couldn’t completely tamp down the emotions she wasn’t supposed to be feeling.
And when Solan dropped his towel there was no ignoring what she saw.
She didn’t mean to make a noise. Really.
But that was not a human cock.
“What?” Solan looked down at himself and back to her. Lena shouldn’t have known what he was doing since the polite thing was to look away immediately, but she couldn’t stop staring.
“I wasn’t looking.” That was a lie. She was still staring right at his crotch. The base was flared out, and it tapered at the tip, probably making insertion a bit easier. Then there were ridges running along the shaft that would give the most delectable sensation. But what had her focus was the extra part on top of the base of his shaft that looked a bit like a tongue. She snapped her eyes away before she did something embarrassing, like lick her lips. But now she was intrigued to know what he tasted like.
“Clearly you were. What’s the problem?” He didn’t seem shaken by her perusal, but he picked up his towel and put it back on, blocking her from looking back at him again.
“I forgot you were an alien for a second.” And that was just a stupid excuse. Of course he was alien. How else would he have wings and fangs and fancy skin and live on an alien planet?
He made a face and scoffed. “You’re the alien.”
Lena rolled her eyes, but she had to suppress a teasing smile. “Semantics.”
He teased the edge of the towel and wiggled his hips. “Did you want to get a closer look?” There was a challenge in his eye, and if she said the word, he’d be naked and on display in front of her again.
That could not happen. “Of course not. I’m not ogling you. That would be messed up.” Professional. They were keeping things professional. This was juvenile banter, not flirting. And Lena had to keep a tight leash on wherever her thoughts wanted to wander.
But he still wasn’t bothered. “We have bodies. Nothing to be ashamed of.” He let it drop and quickly changed into his clothes. Lena did the same. She noticed there were privacy shields that could be engaged with the touch of a button, but it felt too late now to put hers up, like she’d be admitting that she lost their little game.
It could be so much worse. She’d worked with hundreds of dudes over the course of her career and some of them barely saw women as people. She’d been something to be objectified, ogled. She didn’t want to do that to Solan. They were partners, equals. Or they’d be equal once she finally had her powers under her control.
She was still feeling good and didn’t want the mood to go away. “Did you want to get that beer? Celebrate a job well done?” That was the proper way to end a day in the field, and she’d learned so much about Solan today that she wanted to keep going.
Solan straightened the collar of his shirt and closed his locker. “The commander wouldn’t agree with your assessment.”
She had kicked ass and she knew it. Who cared if she had to use a blaster instead of her new magical powers? “The point stands. Beer?”
“I would, but Allic is putting together some kind of surprise for Ortid and we all have to be there. Big family thing.” He looked disappointed, as if he really did want to go get a drink with her. It was another reminder that Lena was a completely separate part of his life. His family didn’t know she existed.
“Have fun.” It came out a bit sour, and Lena scowled at herself. She’d agreed to the arrangement. And since when did she jump at the chance to go to another person’s pre-wedding party? The events were bad enough when it was her own family. A stranger? That was a recipe for boredom or disaster. Maybe both.
She left Solan with a weak farewell and took a transport home. She wasn’t going to let a minor disappoint ruin her day. Her stomach growled and she realized it was later than she’d thought, the bright sun still throwing off her conception of time. She got off the transport in a random district and followed her nose until she found a restaurant that appealed. One bowl of steaming hot soup and noodles later, her stomach was satisfied, and she continued on her way back to Crowze’s estate.
She greeted Zac, who was in the sitting room, and waved hi to Joel and Julie. If she spent many more nights all alone in her room, she was going to get a reputation for being anti-social, but her energy was starting to crash and she was ready for bed.
Almost ready.
She still couldn’t get over seeing Solan naked.
His cock was unlike anything she’d ever seen and she wanted to touch it. She wanted to see what that tongue thing would do when he was hard and aching for release. She wanted to take him in her mouth and feel the power that came from owning someone else’s pleasure.
Was it Solan? Or was she just horny?
She didn’t know which was the better answer. Generic horniness was probably better for her sanity. But when she closed her eyes she didn’t imagine any other alien.
Could it be that she just hadn’t seen any other alien? The thought knocked around Lena’s head. Maybe what felt like attraction to Solan was just a fascination with the aliens of her new home. It had to be possible, right? But how could she test the theory? No doubt there were clubs where the desperate and lonely could go to find a partner for the night, but she wasn’t into one night stands. And she didn’t need to fuck a guy to know if she was attracted or not.
Porn.
Did aliens have porn?
She reached for the tablet sitting on her bedside table. It was a wonder of technology that made her old Motorola Razr phone look like a piece of garbage. Emily and Luci had both been more familiar with the concept, saying the tablets were a lot like “iPads”, but Lena was still impressed.
She’d been using the tablet to practice her reading, and between the built-in voice commands and the holographic keyboard she could successfully search for just about anything. Dare she look for porn?
With the device resting on her knees as she lay in her bed, her fingers hovered over the keyboard. It would be so simple to make the search. No one had to know. And she was a full grown adult, she could look up dirty pictures if she wanted to.
Determination flowing through her veins, Lena called up the program to help her search. “Pornography” gave her results for scholarly papers. “Penis” led to medical articles. So did “sex.”
“Just show me people fucking,” she muttered in frustration.
The tablet beeped and the screen went black before coming back up with a dozen videos of Zulir in various states of undress. Lena stared at her options for several seconds before glancing back at the door. Had she locked it? If she got into this she didn’t want anyone bursting in and finding her in a compromising position.
She set the tablet down and checked. Yes, the door was locked, and she pressed her ear against it to make sure she couldn’t hear anyone outside, not that she planned to make a lot of noise. But she could never be too careful.
When she settled back into bed the videos were still waiting for her. One thumbnail caught her eye, a Zulir man with long braided hair and tattoos down one arm that looked a little like Solan’s. He had his arms on a naked human woman’s shoulders. She hadn’t realized there would be porn with Zulir/human pairings. Part of her wanted to look away; it was a bit too close to home with a guy who looked almost like Solan if she squinted.
But her finger had a mind of its own and she clicked on the video.
Enable holographic playback? the tablet asked in a tinny voice.
Lena almost threw the tablet across the room. “No!” she said in a harsh whisper, looking for a way to get rid of the option. Apparently the voice recognition was still working and the video popped up on her screen in two dimensions. A hologram was a bit too much for her first foray into alien porn.
Only foray.
Well... it depended on the porn.
Soon Lena was captivated by the noises the couple were making. The video description called the woman Jane and the man Wyn.
Wyn had Jane pinned to the bed and she was moaning under him, chest heaving. There was some dialogue about Wyn rescuing Jane’s ship from certain destruction and her uncontrollable gratitude. Gratitude that, of course, took the form of sex.
The camera loved the two actors, zooming in everywhere on their bodies and taking a good long time to look at Wyn’s cock. Lena’s mouth dropped open as she watched Jane take it in her mouth. And she learned the bit on top was called a stimulator. Porn could be educational and sexy, who knew?
But Lena could only take a few minutes before she had to look away. She kept imagining Solan in bed with her, on top of her, inside her, and if she watched another second her hand was going to reach into her pants and take care of the growing arousal.
She closed out of the video and tried to find a way to delete any record of ever having looked at it. She was unsuccessful, but at least it was gone for now.
And when she finally closed her eyes and went to sleep, she dreamed of alien dicks and Solan.
