Fallen Star (18 page)

Fallon considered what she was feeling. She was furious. Wound tight with anger, and that anger definitely wanted something. She rubbed her jaw. It ached from clamping her teeth together.
Her teeth ...
She looked at him. “Bite,
‘Syr
.”

He nodded. “Blood.” He pulled back his right sleeve, baring his forearm. “Come here.” He stretched his arm out to the side, his hand fisted.

Fallon couldn’t look away from the blue veins in his pale arm. She stepped toward him, drawn. She wanted to bite him with everything in her ... and something else. She wanted something else, too.

“Down, get down.” His voice was hard, firm, and oddly encouraging.

She dropped to the cold metal floor and crawled on hands and toes toward his bared arm. A breath away from his arm, she stopped. She could smell the blood pulsing under his skin. Her mouth watered and her jaw ached to sink her teeth into him. She looked at him.

He nodded. “Just your mouth, not your hands, and pull your teeth out to suck.”

She licked the soft skin of his arm. The moan erupted from her throat before she could stop it. She pressed her teeth against his skin. His forearm was too broad to get her teeth into. She moved closer to his wrist. Her teeth sank into the thin skin with a slight pop.

He grunted and his fist tightened.

She pulled her teeth back out and closed her mouth over the holes. She sucked gently. It was salty, sweet, and right. She swallowed, and liquid copper fire burned down her throat and warmed her belly. Her thoughts drifted apart along the edges under a muzzy wave of warmth.

She blinked.
Am I getting drunk?
She swallowed again. The ache in her heart eased, washed away under the warmth spreading from her belly.
I
am
getting drunk.
She thought about stopping. A fist of pain closed around her heart.
No, I’m tired of hurting.

She sucked harder, greedily. This was right; this was good; this was ... comforting.
More ...
Her thoughts subsided into a warm, comfortable lull that pushed the pain away. She swallowed and swallowed. Something in her calmed, eased, unfolded, and a strange low vibrating sound came from the very base of her throat. It wasn’t a growl, but it was a sound she’d never made before. It felt good to make that sound. She relaxed and let it happen.

“Ah, there we are.” Khan curled his arm toward his body, slowly, pressing her backwards toward him. “You needed to be fed.”

She moved with his arm, too hungry to let go or resist, until her back pressed against the edge of the seat, sitting between his robed knees with his arm curved around her. Her stomach filled and her mind drifted toward the edge of what felt like sleep.

“That’s it.” His free hand swept down her hair. “Drink, pet, feed from me.”

That sound in her throat became louder and her mind stilled, awash in a warm safe place where nothing hurt. She took one last swallow and licked the wounds she’d made. Her head fell back onto his hard thigh and she looked up at him, her mind silent, her heart utterly at ease, and her body completely comfortable at last.

Khan smiled. “Better?”

She felt a smile tug at her mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to even think of a vocal reply. She let her body reply for her. She nodded slowly.

“Feel good?”

She nodded again.

Khan raised his hands with the black chain between them.

A small shimmer of alarm slipped into her place of comfort. She swallowed and that sound disappeared.

He lowered it around her throat and gently encouraged her to lean forward.

She did so and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about this. There was a subtle click. The chill chain draped loose around her neck. She flinched. There was a second click, and a weight tugged on the chain around her neck. She turned.

Khan held up his hand, showing her another chain with a handle. It was a leash. He’d attached a leash to her collar. He leaned over to collect his computational and then rose to his feet. “Come.”

Fallon climbed to her feet and stared at the chain between them. The meaning was simple: follow. There was meaning beyond this, but she didn’t want to consider it. Beyond that was pain. Pain she didn’t want to feel.

He turned toward the door and walked.

Fallon followed, automatically moving to the left, his offside, one pace behind.

Chapter Sixteen

The door opened and voices stopped.

Khan stepped through the doorway and two men in gleaming, iridescent black armor came to attention on either side of the doorway.

Fallon jerked in surprise, but she was just too ... comfortable to feel real alarm. Her gaze darted around the dimly lit medlab’s outer office. Tah turned to look at her from behind his smoked-glass desk on her immediate right. A Skeldhi she didn’t recognize in dark gray sleeveless robes, his pale hair pulled back into a long tail, leaned against the examination and surgical couch before them.

Khan turned to her and smiled. “It is done.” He stepped back, encouraging her to follow him into the room.

Fallon stepped over the door’s bottom edge, staring at his smile. He was pleased. Something lightened in her heart. She smiled and eased back into that warm place.

Tah rose slowly from behind his desk. “You succeeded in breaking her impression?” His voice was low, but tension tightened his mouth.

Fallon heard and saw, but filed it all away for later consideration. At that moment she didn’t want to think. It was more comfortable to just feel.

Khan’s smile broadened, but his teeth remained hidden. “It appears that she didn’t have one.”

The other male, the one she didn’t recognize, straightened upright, his eyes wide. “What?”

Khan nodded toward Tah. “Ordinary affection.”

“Affection? That was all?” The other Skeldhi looked over at Tah. “Then how did she go into
rahyt?
” He shook his head. “Why would she ... do what she did?”

Fallon frowned. The other Skeldhi’s voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t smell anything beyond Khan’s scent. She couldn’t identify him.

Khan turned to look at him and frowned. “Calmly, she’s just fed.” Khan turned back to Fallon. He caught her gaze, pulling her attention back to him, and offered his palm.

She pressed her cheek into his palm and released a small breath. She didn’t feel like making the effort to consider the somewhat recognizable Skeldhi any further. She was too busy being ... comfortable.

Khan pulled his palm back and his gaze flicked from Tah to the other Skeldhi. “Humans have been known to accomplish some rather amazing things from the strength of their emotions.” He tucked the handle of her lead into his sash and held his hand out to the left.

The left door guard handed him a length of red silk.

Tah looked over at the unknown Skeldhi. “Strong emotion has been mistaken for impression before.” He looked over at Fallon. “In fact, emotion is normally the trigger for impression.”

Khan opened the silk out, revealing a short sleeveless robe. “The telling difference is in the possessive display of the emotional state versus the possession display in impression.” He stepped closer to Fallon and slipped it behind her, holding it up with the obvious intent to dress her.

Fallon put her arm into one armhole and then the other, focused on his pleased expression. She wanted to please him. She liked pleasing him.

Tah frowned. “When did you know?”

“The moment she touched him.” Khan pulled the robe closed, folding one side over the other and knotting the side ties. “She didn’t try to feed, she tried to comfort, and neither displayed the physical traits of impression abstinence.”

The unknown Skeldhi tilted his head and frowned. “That was comfort?”

Khan held out his hand and another length of silk was handed to him, black this time. “Protective display. She was angry because he had gotten hurt. It was a purely emotional reaction, and he reacted in the same manner.” He shook the silk open, revealing another robe, this one with long sleeves and embroidered, black on black, with a design similar to the one tattooed on his back.

Fallon tucked her arms into the sleeves. The hem fell to mid-thigh. She would wear his personal mark. That pleased her.

Khan folded the robe across her chest. He held out his hand and received a red sash. “My biggest difficulty was in getting through the emotional connection to get her to acknowledge the impression.” He wound the sash around her waist.

Tah frowned. “The emotional connection was that strong?”

Khan sighed as he knotted the sash. “Quite. If there had been more physical contact between them, the emotion would most definitely have become impression.”

Tah looked down at his desk. “Then is it wise to put them on the same ship? If the emotional connection is that strong, will this not cause emotional distress?”

Khan smiled, but his copper gaze chilled. “Absolutely.” He turned to look at Tah. “May I have the ear clips?”

Tah frowned. “Yes, of course.” He scooped up something from the top of his desk. He stepped out from behind the desk and approached Khan. “Would you like my assistance?”

“No, thank you.” Khan held out his hand but did not remove his gaze from Fallon’s face. “I’m going to do this in the traditional manner. I do not wish to disturb her current ... focus.”

Tah dropped whatever was in his hand into Khan’s palm. “And the traditional manner will not?”

Khan’s smile drifted away. “She has come to expect ... such, from me.”

Tah glanced at Khan. “Is this what you wanted?”

“This is not a matter of want, but of need.” Khan sighed and glanced down at his palm. “My needs are ... complicated.” He raised his palm toward Fallon’s head. “As are hers, apparently.”

Her gaze flicked to his raised hand. His fingers caressed the lower curve of her ear. She frowned. His touch was a little disturbing, but it seemed to be what he wanted. And she wanted to please him.

“Our natures are more closely suited than I expected.” Khan smiled briefly then wrapped one arm around her and tightened until she was firmly pressed against him, chest to breast with her arms trapped between them. “Impression happened the moment she came with me in her body.”

Fallon leaned into his warmth. She couldn’t move her arms, but liked being held by him. She felt safe. He brought his other hand up and encouraged her to turn her head.

Fallon felt him set something metal around the lower arch of her ear. His breath feathered her ear. She shivered. His lips caught around whatever was in her ear and his hand pressed against her head to hold her to his mouth. His tongue swept wetly across the curve of her ear and the metal piece. His flat front teeth caught hold of it. She heard a distinct crunch.

Sharp pain stabbed from her ear’s lower arch. She jerked in his hold and cried out.

His arm tightened around her and his hand pressed her head still as he sucked on her wounded ear. A rumbling purr vibrated in his chest and into her.

She made small sounds of distress but leaned into him, comforted by the vibrating sound pressing into her. She hurt, but she’d pleased him. She liked pleasing him. She stilled.

He released her ear.

Weight dangled uncomfortably on the bottom of her ear. She frowned.

Khan caught her gaze. “Do not touch.”

She nodded slowly. The weight shifted along the bottom of her ear and she winced.

Khan turned to look at Tah and raised his brow. A smile appeared briefly. “Tradition seems to suit her. Wouldn’t you agree?” He turned Fallon’s head the other way.

Fallon looked at Tah.

Tah’s expression was perfectly placid, but tension showed in the corners of his mouth. “Her eyes are dilated very wide. I thought she seemed a little ... quiet.”

She leaned against Khan and sighed.

“Blood intoxication.” Khan placed another piece of metal in the lower arch of her other ear. “I fed her for a good quarter, right before we stepped out.”

Tah frowned only slightly. “In the traditional manner?”

“Yes.” He shook back his sleeve to display the mark of her teeth then cupped the back of her head to encourage her toward his mouth. His lips captured her ear and the metal piece in it.

Fallon felt his breath in her ear, his sweeping tongue and his teeth clamping on the metal in her ear. She closed her eyes. Pain was coming. A small sound of distress escaped.

Khan’s chest vibrated against hers with his rumbling purr. He waited.

She took a small breath and leaned into him, seeking to keep that purr, that sign of his pleasure.

He bit down.

Crunch ...
fire
.

She cried out but held still as he sucked on her ear. The pain mixed with his comforting purr and wrapped her in warmth. She blinked and felt something slipping away. Her knees buckled.

“She’s falling.” Tah’s voice came from far away.

Khan bent to catch her under the knees, then lifted her up against his heart. “She needs rest. This was a rough impression. For both of us.”

Fallon blinked blearily up at him and curled up against his neck, snuggling into his warm hold and warmer scent.

Tah’s mouth tightened. “I saw the bites.”

“I have as many, if not more than she does.” A chuckled vibrated in Khan’s chest. “And she really likes using those claws of hers.”

Fallon pressed her lips to Khan’s throat in a brief kiss then set her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes. That strange sound bubbled up in her chest and lower throat.

“She’s purring.” Tah sounded surprised.

Purring?
Fallon frowned then sighed.
Oh, that’s what that is ...
She released the rest of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think right then, she was too busy feeling warm, and comfortable, and sleepy.

“Some Primes can.” Khan’s voice was soft. “I need to get to my ship. I’ll contact the captain with my new data on the incident as soon as I get this one settled.” He started walking. Footsteps followed.

Fallon’s eyes opened briefly to see the two guards about three paces behind them. She glanced to the side where Tah paced beside them. Khan’s hand slid down her back.
Safe ...
She closed her eyes and relaxed.
Warm ...