The Fallen Part 8

When Kirin returned to the bed chamber, he saw that the woman was still struggling with her bonds. For many moments, he stood at the foot of the bed, staring at the curling nest of bright hair that covered her womanas place, and at the soft pink petals between her thighs. Tension coiled inside of him again in a wave of heat.

His c.o.c.k came to attention, pulling the blood from his head so quickly dizziness followed, disorientation.

How long since he had known a woman at all? He wondered, but he knew that was not the source of his dilemma. He a.s.suaged the needs of his body when he was relieved of his post, and it had been little more than a week since he had returned to duty.

It was this woman--with her soft body and big blue eyes, with the fiery hair that was like none he had ever seen before. It was this womanas scent that drugged his mind and deprived him of wit or will.

Swallowing with an effort, he lifted his gaze to hers, trying to recall what it was that he had meant to say to her.

It eluded him.

aBy what name are you called?a he asked finally.

She looked at him curiously. aDanielle. Dr. Danielle Logan.a Reaching down, he ripped the tape that bound her ankles to either side of the bed. He climbed over her then. Placing his legs on either side of her hips, he sat back, studying her, his b.u.t.tocks resting lightly against her belly.

Her breath had caught in her chest. He saw a touch of fear in her eyes, but he saw more than that. He saw a reflection of his own desire.

It sent his own desire barreling out of control. For many moments he could think of nothing but sprawling atop her, feeling her soft body pressed tightly against his, sampling her lips, burying himself deeply inside of her and feeling her moist heat cupping his s.e.x.

Leaning forward, he grasped the tape that bound her wrists one by one and freed her. When he looked down at her face, he saw confusion.

aYou will fix this machine of yours, Danielle, so that none may use it to penetrate the gateway to my world.a She blinked several times and finally nodded, though he could see distrust in her eyes.

He lingered over her, not because he doubted his ability to subdue her if she tried to flee again, but because he still struggled with the need to taste the desire he had seen in her eyes.

He had seen fear there as well, however, and it was that that at last tamped his clamoring needs, more even than the fact that his laws forbade it.

When he sat back on his heels at last, she pushed herself up on her elbows. aYouare not just saying that?a aOn my honor, I will allow it--if you will give me your word that you will do as you promise.a Her face brightened, broke into a smile of pure delight that made Kirinas stomach tighten. aOh you darling man--uh Elumi! Yes, yes! I must fix that!a When he moved away, she tumbled from the bed and hurried from the room.

Bemused by the abrupt transformation, Kirin followed her.

When he reached the large room, he saw her flitting about from one thing to another like a brightly colored flitterby seeking nectar.

She had not dressed, and he found himself distracted by the bounce and sway of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s as she moved--and the tight little pink tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s--and the curling thatch of hair on her mound and her rounded b.u.t.tocks. Propping one shoulder against the wall, he immersed himself in studying her to his heartas content.

The moment the computer booted, Danielle flopped into the chair in front of it and vacated it almost as quickly when her warm a.s.s came into contact with the cold plastic seat. aOh!a Glancing around a little distractedly, she spied the T-s.h.i.+rt shead discarded earlier and grabbed it up, sniffed it to make certain it wasnat rank and pulled it over her head. A pair of pull on knit pants lay close by, but there was no sign of her panties. Shrugging, she pulled the pants on and went back to her computer, studying the data that scrolled across the screen. Finally, she told the machine to print. Grabbing her reading gla.s.ses, she shoved them on and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the paper as the printer spit it out.

aDo you have food?a Startled by the male voice, Danielle glanced toward it in surprise, wondering why he was still here. Didnat he have someplace to go? Something to do? aWhat?a aFood?a She frowned, thinking. aMaybe. It would be that way.a She pointed in the direction of the kitchen, then grabbed up the last of the printout, looking around hopefully for a more comfortable place to sit and study it.

There wasnat one. Shead moved all of her furniture out of the living room when shead turned it into a lab. Grabbing a pen, she headed for the bedroom, peeled off the blue stained comforter, and crawled onto the bed to go over the data.

aThere is only this.a When Danielle looked up distractedly, she saw that Kirin was holding a half of a pizza that was so dried out it was barely distinguishable from the cardboard box that contained it. aOh,a she said absently. aI guess not.a Kirin frowned at her. aAre you not hungry?a Danielle thought it over and realized the pain in her stomach probably was hunger. aI donat have any money,a she said apologetically.

aWhat is money?a She stared at him blankly a moment, blinking, and then it dawned on her that he would have no reason to know what money was. aWe use it to get goods and services.a He nodded, seemed to think it over for several moments and finally shrugged. aI will get food.a Surprised, Danielle merely stared at him, wondering how he was planning on getting food when he couldnat possibly have money. For that matter, she doubted he would even have any idea of where to get food. Before she could question him about it, however, he walked straight to the wall a and went through it.

Danielle felt her jaw drop. Scrambling out of the bed, she dashed to the spot where head disappeared and touched the wall. Her palm tingled. Warmth suffused her skin.

Head transmitted himself through the wall! He could naturally do what her machine did!

After several moments, she returned to the bed and sat down again, thinking that over. Wave length and speed! That was the key head been talking about before! It had to be the crux of her problem, as well. It wasnat just taking the machine longer to disa.s.semble and rea.s.semble when she transported larger, more complex objects. The complexity of doing so was altering the speed and wave length of the transmission.

She needed to figure out how to prevent that.

She was going over the schematics when Kirin returned as abruptly as he had departed. The smell of hot food wafted past her nostrils, immediately distracting Danielle.

aFood?a she said hopefully. aOh! I am so starving! I canat remember the last time I had anything to eat.a Kirinas brows rose. aThis is why you are like this.a He held up his small finger.

Danielle gave him a drop dead look. aYou didnat seem to mind the way I looked a while ago.a His eyes narrowed, but his lips curled faintly. aI do not mind, but I do not want to be stabbed by bones when I take you.a Danielleas jaw dropped. aWhen you a what?a After glancing around and discovering there was no table, he moved to the bed and settled on the mattress cross legged. Setting the bags he carried down, he began pulling boxes of food out. aWhen I take you for my woman,a he said almost absently. aI have given it much thought and I have decided that there is no reason why I should deny myself of what I want. I will settle here and begin a new life.a Danielle decided she must not have heard him right. Or maybe he had meant something else? He seemed to have a very good grasp of English, but, because of the difference in their cultures, there were probably some things that just didnat translate well, or even at all.

Like when head tried to explain how head found her.

Danielle forced a half hearted chuckle. aI think that lost something in translation.a He studied her thoughtfully for several moments. aYou wish to be wooed,a he said finally. aI had not considered that.a Turning apple red, Danielle concentrated on examining the contents of the boxes. Why was it, she wondered, that she always seemed to end up with such a.n.a.lytical guys? Ordinarily, she didnat object to it. She was a scientist after all, but she couldnat think of anything that was more of a turn off than having I guy ask if he could kiss you--or whatever.

If he wasnat smart enough to catch the d.a.m.ned signals, or b.a.l.l.sy enough to handle a few rejections for taking the kisses, he needed to stay out of the frigging game.

He settled the box head chosen on the bed, stretched out on his side and propped on one arm. aI am a warrior, not a poet,a he said.

Danielle slid a glance at him from under her lashes. aThis is news,a she retorted dryly.

He frowned as if considering her comment. aBusiness first,a he said finally, nodding. aProtecting Pearthen must remain my first priority, even above my own desires.a Danielle reddened again. And desert later?

aYouare not my type, actually,a she said nastily.

aWhat is type?a he asked curiously.

She stared at him. Irritation surfaced that the insult seemed to have gone right over his head. She thought about being blunter, but she couldnat bring herself to be that rude. What could she say anyway? Youare too pretty to suit me? I prefer spineless worms? All that testosterone makes me nervous?

His eyes narrowed speculatively. aYou desire me,a he said. aI have seen it in the way that you look at me.a aSo--weare talking f.u.c.king here? Well, thatas a relief. I thought you were talking about something else.a She shrugged. aWhy not? I havenat been laid in a while.a Anger glittered in his eyes. Before she could blink, he had settled one hand in the crook of her neck and shoved her flat, s.h.i.+fting over her so that his chest pinned her beneath him. Fried rice rained down over them as Danielle threw her hands up reflexively in an attempt to catch her balance. She let out a startled squeak just as his mouth covered hers.

Caught completely off guard, she had no defense. He blindsided her. The heat and hunger of his mouth flooded her instantly with a tidal wave of sensation. Her cleft moistened with arousal. Her belly clenched with a spasm of l.u.s.t, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s swelled, making her nipples engorge to near painful points against his hard chest.

She moaned into his mouth, almost animalistic, hungry, and needy.

The instinctive, defensive tensing of the muscles in her body vanished, melted away by the fierceness of his possession as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and explored the sensitive flesh, touching off waves of keen sensation that stole her breath. Blood pounded almost painfully in her body, depriving her mind of much needed oxygen and making it reel dizzily.

Her womb contracted, eager for fulfillment. Every muscle in her body seemed awakened by his kiss, honed to react to the slightest touch, the smallest movement.

She lay perfectly limp when he broke the kiss at last and lifted away to look down at her. Sensing his gaze, she struggled to lift the lead weight of her eyelids and gazed back at him, panting for breath.

His own breathing was ragged, his eyes glazed, almost fevered. aI frightened you,a he said harshly, aand now I do not have your trust. I understand this, but you must understand that it was not something I wanted to do, or a lack of control, but my duty to my king. I am disciplined to control my anger. On my honor, I will never harm you. Or allow you to be harmed.a Danielle swallowed with an effort, struggled to a.s.similate what he was saying when all she really wanted at the moment was a little more out-of-control behavior.

It occurred to her, finally, when he moved away and helped her to struggle upright that he hadnat been out of control. He had kissed her to show her he knew d.a.m.ned well she was lying when she said she had no interest in him.

d.a.m.n his hide!

Still more than a little disoriented, Danielle looked around vaguely, trying to remember what shead been doing before head kissed her. Food was liberally covering the bed around her, as if shead thrown the box straight up in the air. Embarra.s.sed, she felt color flood her cheeks as she concentrated on picking the food up and dumping it back into its container.

He handed her another box.

Danielle stared at it for several moments before she felt an insane urge to giggle. She bit her lip, wondering if it was hysteria, embarra.s.sment, or true amus.e.m.e.nt.

The bed was a mess, however, and it occurred to her that Kirin hadnat missed the mark when head said he was just a soldier--plain, to the point, incredibly fast and aggressive but without much finesse. She chuckled.

He was studying the mess wryly when she peeked at him. His own mouth quirked upward on one side when she laughed. aNext time I will remember to take the box from you first.a He shook his head. aYou make me behave like an overeager, witless youth, Danielle.a She actually found that comment, and the sentiment, rather endearing.

Clearing her throat, she changed the subject. aI think Iave figured out what happened with the transporter pods.a His brows rose questioningly.

She shrugged. aI wonat bore you with a lot of jargon, but itas the wave length and speed--I think. Itall take me a few days to figure out how to adjust it and how much. Actually, I wouldnat have to adjust it at all if not for the little accident I had pa.s.sing through your territory. I could patent it as is, since itas a working model. All I really needed to do was to prove that it worked, and I did that. Now Iam going to have to do some more experiments to see what will work and wonat make the detour,a she added slowly, realizing that that could actually take far longer than shead originally considered. She would have to start the testing with larger objects of a similar size and weight to an adult human.... It might have to be adjusted any time there was a significant difference in the size, she realized suddenly--or would it? She would have to experiment with that, too.

aI can help you with this.a

Chapter Six.

Dragged abruptly back from her project plans, Danielle stared at Kirin blankly for several moments before a mixture of doubt and dismay filled her. aExactly how do you think you can help me? You donat know anything about any of the equipment.a He studied her a long moment. aI will know when it is correct by the sound.a aYou canat hear....a Danielle broke off, realizing she had no idea what he could hear.

Head been waiting for her when she went through the second time, though, which might mean he actually could hear the transmission. But could he pick the signal out from others that were close?

Head walked through her wall, which meant he possessed the natural ability to accelerate his atoms and transmit. He also knew the key to the gateway--the frequency she had her machine set to.

It occurred to her to wonder if it actually mattered or not. He would be satisfied, she felt sure, with an adjustment of the machine that he knew would not send humans through his gateway into Pearthen.

Which meant he would leave, right?

She was surprised to discover she had mixed feelings about that. She shouldnat have felt anything except relief at the thought.

Maybe it was Stockholm syndrome?

Get real! She hadnat been a prisoner much more than twenty minutes. That wasnat long enough to start empathizing with her captor.

But then it wasnat him, personally, that had scared the living h.e.l.l out of her so much as it was terror at finding herself in an alien world when she had never expected to and had no idea what was going on.

It was being accused of a high crime and being imprisoned that had thoroughly rattled her.

He found her attractive--had from the first. She hadnat missed that despite everything that had happened. And it was hard to be indifferent about someone who found you appealing, especially when you were already fascinated with them on a physical level, because then chemical attraction also kicked in. He unnerved the h.e.l.l out of her when he was in soldier mode, but physically, she thought he was hunk.

And, my G.o.d, he could kiss!

The suggestion that he wanted to have s.e.x with her had had a certain amount of appeal. It had even more appeal now, when her body was still on slow sizzle from that kiss, more appeal that it should have all things considered.

She must have latent m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic tendencies!

He was huge, scary, alien, and barbaric--way too manly for a wimp/nerd like her, and he was right, she didnat trust him. She knew what head said was true. If shead crashed the gate of a government facility she might have been dead before they got around to questioning her. She would certainly have been scared just as badly, and ended up imprisoned and they would probably have beat the ever loving s.h.i.+t out of her before theyad thrown her in jail.

She wasnat at all certain she wanted to get to know him better. In fact, she was pretty sure she didnat.

She had to admit, though, that, purely on a scientific level, she was curious about him.

It was the testosterone thing, she decided, that primal instinct women still had that drew them to the strongest male, even when the logical side of her brain was screaming aRun!a, which hers was.

aAlrighty then. I guess weare all set. Iall concentrate on the data and work on adjusting the equipment and you can tell me when I hit a frequency that will safely transport.a He nodded. aWe can not stay here long, however.a aWhy not?a Danielle demanded, s.h.i.+fting gears with an effort.

aI was wounded in battle--near here. It will be far easier for them to track me to this place than it might have been otherwise.a Danielleas eyes widened. aTrack you here? Oh! You canat stay here. I only have one bed.a aWe will share.a She gave him a look. aNot if it means Iam liable to wake up with Elumi all around my bed, we canat.a He frowned. aYou are right. It will be far better if we move everything elsewhere.a aWhat is it with this we s.h.i.+t? You go. Itas you theyare after.a His eyes narrowed. aI stay with the machine until it is changed.a aWe canat move! My G.o.d. Iave spent years acc.u.mulating all of this stuff! It would take a full sized moving van and weeks to pack and transport everything. Plus thereas the little problem of where to move it to. This place is mine. I donat have money to get another place.a aThen we will stay here.a As an incentive, Danielle found that what Kirin had told her worked much better than being broke, better even than the prize--glory and wealth. It was amazing how nothing else seemed to matter when death was looming.

She didnat bother to ask him what would happen to her if the Elumi did come after him and found him with her. She had a feeling that was something she didnat really want to know.

But head said that it was forbidden for Elumi to consort with humans, and she thought that was probably because they didnat want humans knowing about them--which seemed to indicate to her that she would be aerased.a Unfortunately, although the fear of having a posse of Elumi catching up with them encouraged her to work until she was exhausted, a week pa.s.sed and she only found several new ways to cook.

She didnat know whether it was more comforting to have Kirin around, knowing he was capable of defending her in case of need--or more unnerving because his being there increased the possibility that they would show up.

She couldnat help but feel guilty about such thoughts. It was her fault, after all, that he was in this mess. He had never accused her of ruining his life, but she knew she had, even though she hadnat done it intentionally.

She supposed that that explained, at least in part, why he had come directly to find her and why he stayed. Earth was an alien world to him. She was the only one that he had had any sort of contact with before--and a little familiarity under such circ.u.mstances was better than nothing at all, even though the incident that had thrown them together to start with had hardly been agreeable.

She suspected, if their roles had been reversed, she wouldnat have been nearly as forgiving about the whole thing as he appeared to be. She couldnat begin to imagine how completely unsettling it would be to suddenly find herself in a strange land, among strange people, who didnat even speak the same language she was used to and to know that it was forever--that she could never go home again. What she did grasp of it, however, made her feel really low.

When he began to disappear for longer and longer periods of time, she decided it had been inevitable from the start, regardless of what head said about deciding he wanted her for his woman. He was learning the new world he had to live in now. Once he understood it better, and he had carried out his final duty to his own people, he would probably find a dozen women far more appealing to him than her.

He was probably bored watching her putter around her lab.

And either he was as good at self-control as he claimed, or he had lied about being interested in her because he hadnat even tried to kiss her again, let alone anything else.

She was almost sorry head kissed her. As wonderful as it had felt, her body never really had settled since. Every time she felt him settle next to her on the bed, no matter how exhausted she was, she would tense, hoping that he would initiate something. Instead, he would merely curl around her almost protectively and drop into sleep, leaving her feeling anxious and weepy.

She suspected that was why she couldnat get the d.a.m.ned pods fixed. Try though she might, she could not recapture the same level of concentration that she had known before. No matter how deeply aina to studying the data she thought she was, she would hear his footsteps nearby and be instantly distracted. Or she would hear the sound of the shower, and she would think about what he looked like and wonder what he would do if she joined him.

Not that she had the nerve. She was a total wimp and not nearly as self-confident about her femininity as she was her brain and her abilities.

After a week of worrying that Kirin might try to aprovea his appeal again, Danielle was so edgy that she began to think shead be better off if he would just adoa it so she could get it out of her system. She would never have thought that being promised she would aget her brains f.u.c.ked out if only she did a thinga would be enough to make it impossible for her to get s.e.x off of her mind.

It didnat help, at all, when she finally discovered that Kirin, after being mostly gone for over a week, had returned to watch every move she made broodingly, like a cat watching its prey and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

By the end of the second week, Danielle had decided enough was enough. It was bad enough to have a death threat hanging over her--which, thankfully, hadnat materialized--but to have the s.e.xual tension added to it was driving her nuts.

The problem was, she didnat have a lot of experience, and she couldnat figure out how she could get it across to Kirin that she didnat want to wait.

He gave her the opportunity shead been waiting for the day he returned wearing clothing like any human male--and minus his wings. Sitting in bed, Danielle had already finished eating before it dawned on her that something about Kirin was really different. She studied him frowningly when he got up and disposed of the food containers.

aHey!a she said finally, surprise threading her voice. aYouare wearing regular clothes! I mean human clothing.a He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the door frame. aI have been for nigh two weeks.a Danielle reddened. aReally?a she said doubtfully, struggling to think back.