Chapter Six

The next morning, I was awoken by a brief knock on my door before Rel sauntered in like he owned the place. He crossed his arms as he studied me, his tail swishing back and forth mischievously. I grumbled and shifted onto my side, pulling my pillow over my head.

“Now, now, none of that. You may have had a late night, but we have things to tend to,” Rel remarked in a tone that made my skin prickle into goosebumps and made several body parts twitch. A devious chuckle escaped him as his fingertips traced up my bare leg to my hip. “It seems we need to teach you to control your colors, Salaith-daiyr. Though, I’m flattered, I assure you.”

Rel gently grasped my forearms, sending an involuntary shudder through me as he pried me from my pillow and pinned my arms above my head.

“You’re shameless,” I grumbled blearily as Rel’s gaze drifted down my nude torso.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward into an amused, self-confident smile. He released my arms, instead trailing his fingers down their underside. Just before I could begin questioning where his hands would wander, he backed off and stood up, crossing his arms. “I would feel a modicum of shame…if you didn’t so clearly crave my attention. Now, we have places to be and Ciheri is waiting for us in the lobby. Get up.”

“Fiiine,” I grumbled, attempting to do just that. My head spun because I stood too quickly, and I stumbled, catching myself on the nightstand—and my knee into the side of it. “Ritorbiro! Why do I keep this damn thing— Hey!”

Rel lifted me off the floor by my waist and carried me over to the bathroom. He set me down and backed me toward the shower, his eyes narrowed. “While you get ready, you are going to tell me what happened last night. I haven’t heard you speak Syldran in weeks.”

“I? Oh…uh…” I blinked up at Rel as he pressed closer, his gaze drifting downward and his thigh beginning to press between mine. I’d half-expected his expression to be hazy, but instead it was crystal clear. “Rel, what are—?“

“Cooperate, before I decide to join you.” Rel leaned down and gave me a brief kiss on the forehead before grabbing himself a chair in the adjacent room…facing the shower.

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized he’d backed me all the way into the shower itself. Sighing, I peered around the door at him, “You said Ciheri is waiting for us?”

“Yes.”

“In that case…” I frowned, mulling over my word choice for a moment. “Once we’re no longer tied up for the day, and we are alone, there are some things we need to talk about.”

Rel arched an eyebrow, though his attention didn’t seem to be focused fully on what I’d said. “And you don’t think you can cover this topic right now?”

“We will be here all day, and not in the way I think either of us prefers.” I grimaced, shaking my head. Then, I wracked my brain for a word that might grab his interest and make him more likely to cooperate. After a moment, I found something fitting—something that seemed to be a form of address for a personally close, dominant Lun’iri. “Is that ‘acceptable,’ Vyresehje?”

An amused smirk sprawled across Rel’s face, his head shifting to the side. “You’ve picked up some interesting terms in the past day. Yes, I will let you wait to explain yourself in full. For now, you may give me the shortened version.”

I resigned myself to regaling him of the prior night’s events while I showered, doing my best to ignore how…exciting I found it to have him watching me through the steamed-up glass. When I got out of the shower, Rel met me with a towel in one hand and a mischievous smile on his face.

“May I?” Rel motioned toward me with the towel, his glow a persistent sapphire blue.

“Uh…sure…?” The answer came out of my mouth before I had fully thought about it.

Rel laughed and wrapped me up in the towel, leaning down so his face was by my shoulder. “And here I thought you’d continue to feign bashfulness.”

“Feign? I’m not feigning—” My breath caught when I felt his lips against the side of my neck, his hands firmly running the plush towel down my torso.

“Perhaps you’re a little bashful,” Rel remarked casually, running his lips down the back of my shoulder as he slowly crouched down to dry my legs. “Turn around.”

I felt like my head was going to erupt when I did as he asked and found him peering up at me with a playful look to him again. He ran the towel up my legs sensuously, then caught me off-guard by pressing his lips against my left thigh, maintaining eye contact from the corner of his eyes.

“Rel—” I started in half-hearted protest but cut myself off when he started moving upward again, peppering my thighs in kisses and nips. Where my hips and thighs met, he paused to gently nibble the sensitive skin there, flicked his tongue over where he’d bitten, then continued upward.

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Finally, he pressed me back into the wall, his mouth covering mine as he clutched me tight against him. I felt myself drawn in and submitting to his passionate kiss. A kiss that ended much sooner than I was expecting.

Rel let out a low, husky laugh as he hooked his fingers under my chin and lifted my head up a little further. “We should get going before anyone decides to spectate in person, or Ciheri finds himself in trouble.”

“At this rate, you are going to find yourself in trouble,” I growled at him, grasping the front of his shirt in one hand.

“You can say that…but your glow, and your refusal to use your power make it quite clear where you stand,” Rel informed me, gently gripping my jaw and lifting until I was on my tiptoes. “Get dressed.”

“…where are we going?” I asked as clothing slid onto place over my body.

“To get Ciheri more clothing, and to find some gloves for you that will be suitable,” Rel answered, eyeing the sultry, dark red bodysuit I’d picked, his amused smile broadening into a grin. “Maybe we can find a color that matches your aesthetic preferences?”

“Hey, don’t push it,” I commented dryly, prodding his chest with one finger.

“She claims, in direct contradiction to the colors she’s displaying,” Rel teased, taking my hand in his, and gripping near my elbow with the other, making it painfully clear that my colors were sparking between a variety of pinks and reddish-pinks, many of which had a blue halo.

Fuck. I released an exasperated sigh. “We aren’t going to ‘get to work’ like t-this… Nnngh, can you knock that—”

Rel gave me an innocent smile and pulled my arm up, placing my hand over his shoulder. He traced his fingertips down my arms, along the sides of my torso, and placed his hands on my waist.

“Struggling with your new skin still?” Rel inquired deviously. “Perhaps, later tonight, we can see about getting you ‘acclimated?’ If we are both free, of course.”

“…I will consider it.” I eyed him. It wasn’t like I could truthfully say ‘no,’ after all. The idea sounded damn good to me… If I didn’t get dragged out to another mission.

“Come along then. I’ll stop teasing you, for the moment.” Rel nudged me toward the door. Once we were out in the hallway, he put an arm around my waist and his voice reverberated inside my head. [You believe the Lun’iri you met last night was the true leader of this ‘cult?’]

Undoubtedly. Aldiner’s response to his presence was…extreme. I don’t quite understand the severity of his response myself, but I have to assume there’s something I can’t sense.

Rel shook his head subtly. “Or you are immune to it. Even for a queen your power is…different. I will leave it at that for the moment.”

“Elara, Rel, wait a moment!” Zafir called, hurrying toward us as we waited for the elevator. “Rel, can you give us a moment? There was something Elara and I were meant to discuss last night but—”

“Make it quick. I have to open the cafe for dinner tonight.” Rel made a graceful motion with his free hand. “I will wait here.”

Zafir ushered me to his office and let out a hefty sigh. “I apologize, Elara. The aftermath of last night’s events is still echoing through various channels.

“Last night, you asked me… I believe it was, ‘if there is a mental equivalent to cellular dissonance?’ I take it that you mean something other than the cognitive dissonance you’ve displayed?”

“Oh, yes. To both questions.” I nodded, deciding not to take offense to the latter part. He wasn’t wrong, after all. “It’s like…when I look at this city, I feel like I’m looking at a poorly constructed illusion. Like it isn’t what is supposed to be here. The same goes for the humans. They…aren’t supposed to be here. How far back does their history on this planet go back?”

Zafir stared at me in disbelief, before carefully speaking, “Elara, as far as I am aware, this planet has always belonged to humans. Rel might have a better idea since he arrived here much earlier than I did, but…”

“But?” I prompted.

“I will do what I can to look into it. I’m hesitant to think that this is a side effect caused by your changing genetic makeup.” Zafir shook his head and picked up his data pad. “Official history and the truth are different things in almost every culture. I will see what I can find. There is likely a reason you feel this way…just as there is likely a reason this planet seems to attract visitors from across the universe. There is simply something…alluring about it. I will let you know what I find—and, Elara? Please let me know if this feeling changes or worsens.”

“Sure.” I nodded to him, then glanced to the door. “Should I…?”

“Ah, yes. And don’t forget a jacket and gloves. It is cold out today.” Zafir gave me a small, tired smile.

I nodded and left but took a detour away from the elevators and over to Sarah’s office near the common area. I peeked my head in after knocking on the open doorframe, and she looked up from her book inquisitively. “Hi, Elara. What can I do for you?”

“Can you check in on Zafir later? Make sure he doesn’t pass out from exhaustion or some such?” I asked with a grimace. “He’s tired as hell and seems a little out of it, like he’s not all there right now.”

“Aw man,” Sarah sighed heavily and closed her book. “I told him to go take a break earlier! Think some…uh… Syldrari ‘coffee’ would help? I’m not even gonna try to pronounce that word.”

“Yeah, maybe. I didn’t see any drinks in his office,” I answered dryly. “I gotta go—keep an eye on yourself too, okay?”

“No problem there—I’ve got plenty of reading to do.” Sarah grinned in response, so I took my leave and wandered over to the elevators.

Rel was waiting with his back against the wall, his arms crossed loosely and a contemplative expression on his face. It wasn’t until then, being more awake, that I realized he was wearing a black mesh shirt with an intricate pattern of opaque material. It went from just below his jaw, to somewhere tucked into his pants. The long sleeves ended part way down his hands, with a gap his thumbs were looped through. The shirt was so damn tight that it may as well have been a second skin. For pants, he wore a pair of tight, leather-like pants that fused into a boot with a low, chunky heel.

No wonder he’d seemed a little taller.

And more distracting. His personality combined with his looks…I was starting to think they were the most dangerous thing on the planet. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. Most ‘dangerous’ thing to me on the planet? Hmm…

“All done?” Rel inquired, giving me a welcoming smile when he spotted me approaching. “That was faster than I expected.”

“Mmhmm, all done.” I conjured a leather jacket and gloves, obscuring my Syldran hands and forearms. “Can we stop somewhere to get breakfast?”

“That is the plan,” Rel answered, escorting me into the elevator. “Ciheri is curious about human cuisine, so I ordered breakfast for the three of us from a friend of mine. We’ll pick it up on our way to the Syldrari Sector. Lynir won’t mind if we eat at his shop—he knows you’re coming.”

“Isn’t his store a bit…” I grimaced, “…expensive?”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Rel shot me an amused smile. “I hear he’s quite taken with having you ‘model’ his designs. Once we’re finished there, we will stop by some human stores if needed.

“You can check in with Zafir later to see if you’re going to be called in for a mission.”