Tessi

TESSI

My eyes snapped open. I flung the sheets off of myself and sprang to my feet, gaze swiveling around like a frightened animal.

Everything was too bright, the noise in the vents was too loud.

And the scents…

Alkard.

My gaze snapped over to him, and the next thing I knew, I was at his side. He sat in a chair, slumped over in sleep. One of his arms was bound up to his chest by a sling, but otherwise he seemed fine.

I almost woke him to ask what had happened to me, but then it came flooding back to me. The Volek had hit me like a meteor, and my body had broken. Alkard bit me…claimed me.

My hand clapped up to the side of my neck. I felt something there, small indentations in my skin. I rushed into the bathroom and flipped on the light by instinct.

"Fuck me," I cried, throwing my arm over my face. "When did that get so bright?"

I used the panel to decrease the illumination output level until I could stand to open my eyes. Then I gaped in astonishment at what the mirror revealed.

Purple sigils, the same color and pattern as the ones on Alkard's left side. They trailed from my wrist up my arm, along my neck, and finally terminated on my cheek.

The marks didn't hurt, but felt faintly warm to the touch. Other than that, I felt fine. Better than fine. Like I could run a hundred miles without getting tired.

In shock, I didn't hear him coming.

"Tessi, are you hurt?"

I spun to face him. "What's happened to me? What's going on?"

He reached for me, then let his hand fall to his side.

What was that in his eyes?

Regret?

Nonsense.

"I couldn't let you die."

Looking back at the mirror, I swallowed hard. "I'm not dead, but what am I?" My body itched, weirdly uncomfortable, like thousands of ants were under my skin.

"The best thing would be to show you," he purred, sliding the sling to the floor. "Let's go hunting."

"I must still be on drugs," I mumbled as he slid a cloak over me, drawing the hood up carefully before grabbing one for himself.

"Shall we?"

Slipping my hand into the crook of his elbow we left the mansion. Everything seemed to have a much sharper focus and as we stepped into the Promenade the smells of the station assailed me, more potent than ever before.

I'd known that the different species looked distinct. I had no idea they smelled differently as well.

Alkard stayed silent as I looked all around us. Everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion as we glided past.

"What's wrong with them? Why are they frozen like that?" I whispered to myself, but he squeezed my hand.

"Nothing has changed for them," he answered. "This is how they truly are, compared to you now."

The memory of how fast Alkard had moved when fighting flashed before me. Of course. That inhuman speed was mine now.

As we entered the Under, my eyes adjusted to the gloom quickly and more completely than I'd have thought possible. It looked almost as bright as day down in the Under.

Alkard pulled me into a small alcove. "You need to learn more about your body, what it can do." The brush of his lips over mine was electric, and for a moment, my brain stuttered. If everything else was so much more intense, what was it going to be like when we came together again?

"Go on ahead, and do what you will."

I blinked, surprised. "Really?"

His hand cupped my cheek. "I suspect you'll be fine. But have no fear. I will watch, just in case." Another kiss. "Go play."

Play. Right.

I made my way through the tunnels, bare feet making no sound as I passed like a shadow's whisper in the gloom.

I paused at a junction. I could smell Ewani down the left passage, but faintly underneath…

Was that Mera?

I turned to the left, a low growl escaping my throat. On instinct, I hugged the wall, keeping my profile small in case they glanced my way.

My nails scraped along the metal. When had they gotten so long?

I came upon a circle of Ewani standing over the body of a Talimari. Judging from his garb, the tentacled alien had been well off financially. They must have lured him down to the Under somehow.

Probably, they promised to sell him some kind of contraband. Whatever the case, they had killed the man and were now divvying up everything he had on him. One of the Ewani already wore the man's fancy hat. Another sawed at a tentacle, trying to get a jeweled bangle free.

The one with the hat noticed me, and squeaked in alarm.

"Look out, it's a Vinduthi…"

His voice trailed off, and a sneer crossed his rat-like features.

"Never mind, it's just ssssome human wench. Get the fuck out of here, thissss is our sssscavenge."

"I think you're too hasssty," said the other, his eyes going up and down my body. "I think we could use this one for sport, then take whatever she has on her as well. Double haul."

"Double haul," agreed the one with the hat.

I knew I should have been afraid. Instead, I felt almost relaxed as the rats surged forward. They moved so slowly, it seemed as if I were watching a video playback set to too low of a speed.

One of them reached out toward my face, clawed hand intending to rake flesh from bone. I moved under his limb and got in close, clamping my mouth shut on the big vein pulsing in his bicep.

The spurt of warm, salty blood in my mouth made me thirst for more. I tore a chunk off of his arm and then spat the bloody dollop into the face of another Ewani.

I saw things happening in a blurry haze. I knew I was fighting, killing the Ewani, and yet it was pure instinct.

Like I'd become a wild animal, a predator hunting prey.

When it was all over, I stood as the only living thing in that section of tunnel. The enormity of what had happened spilled over me and I fell to my knees, vomiting the contents of my stomach to the deck plating.

To my horror, it was more liquid and crimson than anything else…but it was not my own blood. I could smell the difference.

"Is it better now, my mate?"

Alkard's arms circled me as I rose.

"You changed me," I murmured as I looked around the carnage. "I'm not what I was."

He froze. "I am sorry. There was no other way to save you. Your injuries were too severe. I will not apologize for refusing to let you die." His shoulders slumped, just a fraction. "But I will understand if you hate me now. I should have waited for your consent."

Dragging my fingers over his cheeks, the traces of blood seemed to glow in the dim light. "I'm not complaining," I promised him. "Just getting used to a few things."

"Really? Is that true?"

My heart clenched. In the time I'd known him, I'd heard so many emotions in his voice. Hunger. Lust. Anger.

But never this uncertainty.

"I like being alive." I stretched up on my toes to kiss him lightly.

"And I like not having to be afraid of scum like this, ever again." Another kiss, a little harder this time.

"And I love you."

At my words, his arms tightened around me, his lips falling on mine, his tongue plundering my mouth.

"I love you as well, my mate," he breathed when we finally broke apart. "Through all the dark and back again."

Through the dark and back. That's what it felt like.

"Are you ready to come home?" Alkard asked. "I am always happy to kiss you anywhere, but surely we can find a more…" He looked around the alleyway and raised an eyebrow. "Elegant location."

Smiling, I leaned into him, then remembered.

"Mera." I turned slowly, trying to pick up the scent again. "I was following her trail."

His fingers laced through mine. "Then we will follow it together."

Before long, the twisting tunnels led to a flight of steps with no safety rail, a one way drop down into plasma conduit a hundred feet below waiting for the unwary.

And at the top, a dilapidated building sat in one of the empty spaces left behind by the enigmatic Uune.

"Interesting," Alkard mused. "Let us see what's inside." His arm circled my waist, and in a moment, we jumped up to the second story, entering through a window which had been broken in long ago.

Inside, I buried my face into his chest. Too many people had been through the warehouse too often for me to pin it down. My mind was still new to the enhanced olfactory abilities, and needed to adjust to sift through it all.

Then, I detected one scent I could tell apart from all the others.

Mera .

My heart thudded in my chest as I raced through the dimly lit warehouse, startling vermin as I went, Alkard at my heels. Mera's trail led me up a flight of steps and into a small, emptied out office area.

With a start, I realized this was where Mera had filmed the video. While standing on the ledge, looking down at the floor below.

Mera's scent was everywhere. I kept my nostrils working hard, following the scent down the steps and out onto the floor of the warehouse.

Then the trail ended, right in the center of the room.

"It's like she vanished." I circled, searching for any clues, but even with my newly enhanced senses, I couldn't find anything.

Alkard pulled out his percomm and started typing while I paced. "I'll have a team tear this place apart. Everyone who's been in and out since this place was built."

His message finished, he took me in his arms. "Because of you, we've got a new lead." He stroked my hair and I relaxed into his touch.

"I feel terrible," I admitted. "I don't know where she is, but I'm here with you. My life is like a fairytale."

I glanced up at him, tall and dark and alien, traces of blood still down his cheek.

"Well, maybe a slightly fractured fairytale," I admitted. "But still. It feels wrong to be so happy when I know my friend is in trouble."

He nodded, cupping the back of my head with his hand. "It's a terrible thing, I know. But does your worry do her any good right now? If you make yourself miserable, does that improve her situation in the slightest?

"No," I muttered. "But--"

Strong fingers rubbed at the tension in my neck. "Are you doing everything you possibly can to find her?"

"Yes." I trusted Alkard. With his resources, we'd find something, sooner or later. Still…

"Would she be angry that you were happy?"

"No." I sighed. Mera would be pissed if she knew I moped around.

"There's nothing else you can do right now. We'll need to wait."

My head fell against his chest. "I hate waiting."

His nails scratched lightly across my scalp, easing my head back, opening me to him.

"I can think of a few things to distract you."

Warmth spread through me at Alkard's beautiful, hungry smile.

"Shall we go home?"

The moment Alkard and I reached the mansion, the energy between us crackled like lighting as we came together in a mad, torrid kiss. Swept away by Alkard's scent, his taste, his touch, all I wanted was more of him. His fingers slid down the small of my back, not stopping until they reached the curve of my hips.

He pulled me tight into him. I moaned into his mouth, my arms going around his neck. Alkard stole my breath away with another deep, hard kiss, taking control of me. I let myself go, basking in the glow of his attention, every nerve on my body lighting up with anticipation of pleasure.

My entire being seemed so much more sensitive now. I felt my pussy throbbing, growing wet just from his lips, my whole body alive in a way I'd never thought possible.

Every one of my senses had been tuned up, I realized. I could see better, and in the dark. I could hear a pin drop in the next room over during a rock concert. I could smell Alkard all over me, tasting him in myriad subtle ways.

But most of all, I felt his touch. He slid his hand down a little further.

"Do you remember the first time that I spanked you?" he purred.

I cried out as he slapped his hand on my ass, the light spark of pain only highlighting the pleasure, mixing into a heady brew that I was desperate to drink.

"Yes," I moaned.

"I think that maybe it made for poor discipline, after all. You seemed to enjoy it entirely too much."

I tried to pull myself together, but it was amazingly hard to think with so many sexy thoughts swirling in my head at once.

"What were you punishing me for again, exactly?" I nipped his neck. "Oh yes, for your own jealousy."

Alkard paused for a moment, and then a grin spread over his face.

"But now you are mine…all mine. No need to be jealous. Mine!"

He kissed me hard, then dropped his mouth onto my neck and bit down. I cried out, straining my body against his own at the flood of pleasure. He licked his tongue around my neck, kissing and nibbling and nipping me

"Alkard, that feels so good," I groaned, digging my nails into his shoulders. Our sigils glowed faintly, pulsing in unison like the beating of a heart shared between us.

We fell onto the bed, his mouth smothering my chest in hot kisses. More and more clothing came off until nothing was between us.

He ran his finger over my new purple markings, up and down my arm, tickling the side of my neck.

"Tessi, can you forgive me? You told me when we first made our deal you didn't want to be claimed."

Sliding my hands up his shoulders, I pushed gently until he let me roll him onto his back. I straddled him, staring down into his cold, hard face.

Not cold at all, as it turned out. Incredibly warm and caring.

And mine.

"I told you before, and I'll say it again as many times as I need to for you to believe me. There's nothing to forgive."

With my left hand, I traced his sigils, watching as our patterns seemed to merge together, becoming complete, before I shifted my body lower onto his.

"I guess I'll have to show you." Slowly, I rubbed my slick folds over the ribs of his rock-hard shaft, back and forth until we were both a shuddering mess.

"My love, I don't think I can stand you showing me much more." His hands wrapped around my thighs, lifting me, then lowering me again, the broad head of his cock splitting me open as he drove into me.

I let out a sharp groan, my head lolling back as bliss streamed through my body and mind.

Rapture coiled up from my belly, dragging me under until I trembled on top of him, no longer able to sit upright.

But there was no stopping him. Alkard rolled me over onto my back, thrusting into me and I surrendered to the bliss. Our tattoos glowed in unison. It was as if everything he did was enhanced, every sensation magnified.

He came inside of me and I twisted in his grasp, my nails raking down his back as fireworks lit behind my eyes, the world vanishing into nothingness.

We lay there together, sweat mingling as it cooled. I pillowed my head on his chest and traced my fingers over the hard knots of muscle in his abdomen.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too." I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling safer than I ever had…in the arms of an alien mobster.