Part One: Kier’Ahn & Chloe

ALL OF THE STORIES IN THE SHORE LEAVE SERIES OF SHORTS TAKE PLACE THREE MONTHS BEFORE SINFUL MATE, BOOK ONE OF THE INFINITE UNIONS SERIES. MOST OF THIS SHORT STORY APPEARS IN SINFUL MATE: A FRIENDS TO LOVERS ALIEN ROMANCE

CHLOE

The bar on the Venus Space Station had an old Earth piano bar feel to it. Low lighting glinted off the bronze metal accents on the rails and tables. A beautiful baby grand piano sat just behind me near the curving wall of windows with a stunning view of Venus and the ships that were currently docking or leaving. The drinks were also throwbacks like ‘Manhattans’ and ‘Gin and tonic’, though I was more of a wine girl myself.

It was my favorite place to meet a friend or relax when the Intrepid docked at the station, which was a bit on the quaint side itself. A throwback from the time just after first contact with the Atavarians, Venus Station had been retrofitted and repaired hundreds of times because no one had the heart to decommission it. And I was glad, honestly. In spite of how updated the station was, the Galactic Union had made sure that it also retained its old time charm. As a result, the halls were narrower than other stations, portions of the walls were marked with legendary blaster pistol fights from the mythic outlaws of the early days of the Galactic Union. A few had even signed their scorch marks before being carted away for trial.

Even though they really didn’t need them, there were miles of service tunnels that ran under the decks, officially abandoned except for either those running illegal businesses on the station or the occasional adventurous tourist. I’d once had a tryst with a Zorestran in one of the tunnels under deck eight, which was better in theory because the floors were narrow and slick with gods only knew what.

I adjusted the straps of my flowy red dress and sipped the Talosian white blend in front of me. The clock on the wall behind the bar told me that my date was late enough that they probably weren’t coming, which should’ve been far more disappointing than it was.

It had been almost a year since my last casual fling, and while I was pretty damn horny these days, no one really appealed to me. The Talosian I was going to meet was gorgeous, and we’d had a good time last time I was on this station, but in this moment I wasn’t nearly as disappointed as I felt I should’ve been.

This is the weirdest dry spell I’ve ever had.

“Another wine?” asked the bartender, a tall Human male with a shaved head.

“No thanks, I think I’m gonna call it a night.”

He nodded and glanced at something over my shoulder and back at me, a deep frown on his face.

“Could you do me a favor before you go?”

“Okay?” I said with my own frown, wondering what the hell this stranger could be needing to ask me.

“That Atavarian over there, you’re both from the Intrepid and I…well, we don’t get many Atavarians here and he looks mad but then again, how can you tell right?”

Atavarians were tall red skinned aliens with horns and sharp incisors that they once used to rip out the throats of their adversaries. But about a thousand years ago they went through an Enlightenment, as they called it. Now, they used cognitive training to control their strong, primal emotions and were known for their cool heads and logical thinking. They were one of the most respected species in the galaxy, and most places treated them like royalty, so it didn’t surprise me that this guy was nervous about making a good impression.

If the Atavarian in question was from my ship, then it could only be one person: Kier’Ahn, one of my best friends.

“He’s harmless,” I assured the bartender.

“Yeah, but my boss is getting antsy because he’s just sitting there looking more uncomfortable by the second. Do you think you could find out if he needs anything or why he’s here? Every time one of the waitresses approaches him, the guy just says he doesn’t need anything.”

I sighed. Kier wasn’t shy, but he also still had a bit to learn about social interaction. I found it charming honestly, but I understood why others might not.

“Do you have any chamomile tea?” I asked.

The bartender’s face relaxed, and he nodded.

“Oh yeah, absolutely. Does he want blood in it? We have all the synthetic blends.”

Atavarians were blood drinkers in addition to eating fruits and vegetables, but they only drank synthetic blood since their Enlightenment. Trouble was, Kier was half human so he couldn’t digest the blends meant for full-blooded Atavarians, a fact he was a bit sensitive about.

“No, that’s alright. Just the tea.”

I hopped off the stool and walked over to Kier’s table with a playful sway to my hips.

“Well, fancy meeting you here,” I said.

His eyebrows raised, the only sign that I’d surprised him. His glove covered hands remained folded on the table. He was wearing his uniform instead of more casual clothing, which meant that he was covered from neck to toes. All Atavarians were touch telepaths, but a few, like Kier, had a difficult time controlling those gifts and preferred not to touch anyone skin to skin. Kier seemed more sensitive than any I’d ever met, however, not even wanting to be touched through his clothing, so I always made sure to be careful not to cross that boundary with him.

“Chloe, hello,” his green eyes slid down my body and darted quickly back up to mine. “You look as if you were dressed for a date.”

“I was,” I said as I sat across from him, “but they didn’t show, so now I’m bugging you.”

Most people thought that Atavarians were incapable of emotion, but I’d known Kier for about two years now and I recognized the very subtle signs that told me exactly what was going on in him. Not all the time, of course. There was a lot about this sexy red alien that still remained a mystery. But whether it was that he showed me more of himself than others, or that I just observed it better, I could read him pretty well.

And that little look down my body? It was accompanied by a widening of his pupils, a tensing of his hands on the table. He’d been affected by the way I looked.

I like that way more than I probably should.

“I do not feel inconvenienced by your appearance,” he assured me. “I am simply trying to determine if my errand for Chief Althea will be compromised by your presence.”

The waitress brought a black and gold trimmed tea cup and saucer to the table with a matching tea pot.

“Your Chamomile tea,” she said with a smile at him.

“I did not.–“

“Thank you,” I said.

She gave Kier one last appreciative glance that he seemed to ignore before sashaying away.

“You ordered this for me?”

“I did. It’s your favorite, and you seemed a little tense.”

He nodded.

“I am. This errand is strange.”

“Fill me in. Maybe I can help.”

“Security Chief Althea requested that I pick up a package for her. She was not feeling well enough to leave the ship.”

Althea was a Boethelian, a species that had lost their planet and most of their population when the K’Tavi attacked. She was our head of security and usually didn’t take leave, preferring the silence of her hydroponics lab instead.

“I am to meet the courier here,” Kier continued. “But he is late and now I am concerned that I have misunderstood.”

“You’re supposed to meet them here instead of the docking bay?”

“Yes, I thought it curious as well, but the Chief was not willing to answer very many questions.”

“Well, that sounds like Althea. I wonder what she ordered that you wouldn’t be able to pick up through normal channels, though.”

Just then, a very broad Zorestran walked up to us, his blue skin darkened with tattoos that ran up his neck and a brutal scar that ran down his forehead and across his nose. Half the bar had quieted the second he’d walked up to us, and the uptight maitre’d looked about two seconds from attempting to escort the scary male out the door.

“You Kier’Ahn?” he asked, voice hoarse.

“I am.”

He handed Kier a medium-sized round object wrapped in a nondescript gray cloth that was tied into a handle at the top. When Kier took it, his arm dipped as if it were much heavier than he expected.

“Tell her next time it’s double, that thing was nothing but trouble.”

“I will be sure to relay the message.”

The Zorestran stalked out, two ladies trailing him out as they ogled his ass.

“What is that?” I asked, leaning down to get a closer look.

“I do not know, but it is quite heavy for a simple package.”

I was not one to put my nose where it didn’t belong, but curiosity was eating at me. Althea kept pretty simple, sparse quarters, and led an even a more disciplined life than Kier did. The only thing she did that appeared in the least frivolous was grow a bunch of plants that used to be from her home world.

“Is it perishable?” I asked, giving it a poke.

The outside was very hard, like a big bowl, while the top was soft. What the hell could it be and why was it being delivered by a really scary looking Zorestran?

“I feel that I should deliver this to the Chief straight away, “Kier said.

I nodded and stood with him, hoping that the Chief would let us know what this weird package contained.

“I’ll go with you. This night wasn’t exactly what I’d planned.”

“Perhaps we could go to the observatory after I have discharged my duty?” he asked.

I smiled up at him as we walked out of the bar. The observatory on the Intrepid was our special place, far away at the very top of the ship. No one ever went there except us, it seemed. Over the last two years, Kier and I had spent countless hours watching the stars in quiet or eating late night snacks on a blanket as he taught me chess and I gushed about the latest discoveries in nano tech or viral medicine.

“That would be nice. Give me a chance to–“

Rough hands grabbed me from behind and the cold bite of a blade bit into my neck. I could just barely see gold skin on the hand holding the blade, indicating a Talosian, a species that was just as broad and tall as Atavarians, sometimes more. Why the hell was someone holding me at knife point?

And then the male spoke and I knew that this simple shore leave was about to get a lot more complicated.

“Hand it over, big red,” said a gravely voice behind me. “Or her blood is gonna be on your hands.”

KIER’AHN

At the sight of Chloe with a knife at her throat, a spike of anger attempted to slip past my mental barriers. She appeared afraid but also quite ready to fight. Though I knew she was capable in an altercation, there was a concern that the very large Talosian male would be able to harm her delicate throat with his vicious blade.  All of this was making it quite difficult to control these emotions, but not impossible.

I set the package down on the floor and raised my hands. I had no intention of letting them get away with Chief Althea’s belongings, but they did not know that. Subterfuge was not a ploy many Atavarians engaged in, but there were times it was a necessary strategy.

“Let her go,” I demanded, my voice much lower than normal.

I could feel the urge to attack beginning to course through me, the need to protect Chloe at all costs. I took a breath, taking charge of that instinct and channeling it so that instead of merely reacting, I studied the situation in front of me.

Two more males, a Human and another Talosian, stood behind this one exchanging looks as if they were considering attacking me. The Talosian glanced down at the package and then back at me. For a moment, it appeared that he was thinking of hurting Chloe, possibly demanding something else. I took a step forward before I could think through the consequences and held the male’s gaze. I did not have the intimidating black eyes of full-blooded Atavarians since I was half human, but I knew that my red skin, height and broad shoulders along with our history of brutal blood shed was enough to convey the message that I would not tolerate it if he hurt my friend.

He began to lower his blade when Chloe shoved her elbow into his stomach, then drove her foot into his instep. The two others lunged forward. The Human attempted to seize the package, but I tackled him to the ground, the physical contact a harsh brush against my mental walls. I could not read his thoughts, but his psyche was there, a shadow on the edges of my consciousness. I shoved against it as I punched him across the face. I did not hold back my strength, and he was unconscious in one blow.

Rough hands pulled me off him and struck me on the cheek. Pain exploded across my eyes and this time I did feel the Talosians thoughts, but only for a second. He was furious, and he wanted blood.

Chloe screamed behind me and I turned fast to see her being dragged away by the first Talosian, though she was giving him quite a fight. Two trails of blood fell down his face from the tracks of her nails, and his nose was at an odd angle. He also had the package in his other hand, though it was not my main concern at the moment.

I jumped to my feet and began to go after them when the other Talosian yanked me back and attempted to punch me once again. I dodged out of the way, seized his hand, and twisted it at the wrist. The bones crunched, and he screamed. I then clapped either side of his face to disorient him and knocked him unconscious with a well-placed blow to the head.

“Ow you human felshtick!” screamed the first Talosian.

I turned back around to see Chloe attempting to drag the package away from the Talosian, who was gripping his genitals and groaning loudly. He lunged for her again and instead captured one side of the handle of the package. They were engaged in a tug of war when the tie at the top loosened and the cloth was ripped open. The pot inside was propelled up just enough by the disturbance that some of its contents spilled out onto Chloe, who had been on the floor as she’d struggled to gain the upper hand.

The Talosian and Chloe both stopped as I neared and stared at the dark, rich soil that had been inside the ornate gold and green pot.

“Dirt?” Chloe asked as she brushed it off her chest and arms.

The Talosian once again lunged for the pot, but I was there first. I seized him by the collar and yanked him up so high that his toes dangled on the floor.

“You are in violation of statute seven b of the interstellar code of conduct governing all space stations within Galactic Union space. Do you concede?”

“Huh?”

“You broke the law. Are you giving up or does he have to pummel you?” Chloe said.

“Thank you for the translation,” I said.

“No problem.”

“I give up. No pay day is worth getting my blood sucked by an Atavarian,” the Talosian said.

“I do not feed off of living beings,” I said as I pressed him rather hard into the wall. “Now, I will call the authorities and — .”

“Hey!” Chloe yelled.

I turned to see her sprawled on the floor, a slim Human running off clutching the package and trailing dirt behind them. I let out my frustration through a sigh and pressed my lips together. Chloe jumped up and took off her high-heeled shoes.

“Come on, if we hurry, we can catch him!”

“But I have to wait for–“

“No time. Do you want to tell Althea that you lost her special dirt?”

I raised an eyebrow and thought about that for a moment.

“The Chief cares a great deal for her hydroponics. I do not think she will be very happy if I were to lose her soil.”

“Okay then, come on!”

I released the Talosian, who ran off so quickly that he slipped on the pile of dirt on the floor and half crawled until he was once again on his feet. Chloe was already half way down the narrow hall way where the thief had disappeared down and it didn’t take me long to catch up to her.

We turned to the right and then a quick left, finding ourselves in a section of the station with the evidence of scorch marks on the walls, and not the kind that were preserved for posterity.

The Human male slipped through a hatch in the wall to our left and slammed it shut.

“Damn it!” Chloe said when she attempted to turn the handle. “It’s either stuck or he locked it.”

I seemed to be unable to help glancing at the dirt that still clung to the pale skin across her chest, which was on display to a distracting degree this evening. Chloe was a beautiful woman, this was something I had noticed the first time we’d met, but the way the dress clung to her waist and hips, the sway of the fabric around her calves, the dip at the center of her cleavage, it was all very…

Enticing. I must refocus. There is a task to be done and Chloe is my friend…yes, my friend.

“Allow me,” I said, grasping the wheel that would unseal the hatch.

It was indeed very tightly closed, but I leaned into it with all of my considerable Atavarian strength and heard the pop of the gears giving. Soon the wheel spun freely, and the hatch swung open. I climbed through first, followed by Chloe, and took quick stock of the tunnel.

There were approximately seven platforms barely wide enough for someone of my breadth to walk along. The one we’d entered onto was against a wall on one side and open with a low railing on the other. It appeared as if the other platforms were open on either side, a few were missing sections of railing. Each level had a short set of stairs leading up or down to the next platform. This particular tunnel system was lit with red and very low white lights, causing an odd effect of shadows that tricked my eyes for a moment.

“There!” Chloe said, pointing down.

I looked over the edge of the railing and saw the slim human running on the narrow floor one level below us.

We bolted to the stairs at the end of the platform we were on. I got there first and jumped over the last three steps. My feet crashed loudly on the platform, startling the thief. He turned and fired a blaster pistol at me. The first bolt went wide, but the second one grazed my upper thigh.

I hissed out in pain, a flash of fury beat against my cognitive barriers, demanding release. I breathed instead and attempted to put weight on it. The wound throbbed and burned, making it hard to move as quickly as before.

“Kier,” Chloe said as she ran up beside me.

“I’m fine, go, but be careful.”

She took off even faster and managed to tackle the thief just before he made it more than a step down the staircase leading to the next level. He went tumbling down the stairs, and Chloe had managed to take the package from him, but it had slipped out of her hand and started to roll over the side of the platform, spilling dirt everywhere.

I was nearly there when Chloe, who was laying awkwardly on her stomach after the tackle, attempted to grab the pot and lost her balance. She followed the pot over the side and just barely managed to grab one of the broken railings.

“Chloe!” I screamed.

Pain was a distant thing as I sprinted toward her. Panic slipped past my every defense as I imagined her falling to her death before I could reach her.

When I did, she was barely hanging onto the pot, which was mostly empty now, and her hand was clearly slipping off the bar.

A blaster bolt pinged off the bar she was holding onto, and she screamed in fear that matched my own. I dove, reaching out for her just as she let go. My gloved hand caught hers just in time, and I pulled with everything I had to bring her up. The thief fired one more blast at us, which hit the floor right next to me before he ran off further into the tunnels.

I helped Chloe over the edge and got her to her feet. My hands clutched her upper arms as my eyes took her in. More dirt clung to her hair and her dress was ripped across the bodice. But other than that, she appeared unharmed.

My eyes found hers, fear and adrenaline made her pupils widen. She was breathing fast. The puffs of air slipped past her parted lips and brushed across my face. It was then that I realized how close to her I was, that I was still touching her.

Even though my skin was not against hers, there was the gentle presence of her in my mind, like a whisper of sunshine on a cloudy day, there, but not substantial. For the first time in nearly twenty years, I longed to linger here, with her mind almost touching mine.

“Kier, I’m alright,” she whispered.

When I still did not let go, her small hand squeezed my upper arm in reassurance. The pressure sent tingles through my arm and to my chest, startling me enough to let go.

“Yes,” I swallowed. “Yes, I…that is good. I am glad you’re unharmed.”

We had known each other for two years and besides the first time we’d met, this was the first time I had touched her or she me. Somehow I knew, as I forced my gaze away from hers, that this moment would linger on my mind, a taste of something sweet that I would never be able to explore further. And I found myself oddly saddened by that fact.

“We should get as much of the dirt back in the pot as we can,” Chloe said with a lopsided grin.

I recognized it for what it was: an attempt to move past the moment we’d just experienced, return to our normal dynamic.

And I was more than happy to oblige.

“Yes, that is a very good idea.”

CHLOE

I hoped Kier didn’t notice all the times I glanced over at him, or the times I ran a hand over the places he’d gripped my arms tight. It was odd, the way the moment stretched in my mind, how it had been so all-consuming and then vanished.

Now, as we rode the lift on the Intrepid, we both acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As if it hadn’t been the first real time we’d ever touched, the first time I’d noticed how full his lips were, the sheer size of his hands and biceps. I’d always known Kier was handsome. I would’ve had to be blind not to notice that. And I knew his intelligence, his quiet humor and deep compassion for the people around him. Things most people overlooked because he seemed unapproachable.

All of these things had made him a friend before. Now, they swam in my mind, that one brief touch activating a metamorphosis that I was aware of but could not predict the end result of. What would all my history and experiences with him transform into? Would our friendship become stronger, deeper? Would it splinter apart? Or would something else happen?

I glanced at him sideways, but except for the way he favored the leg that had been shot, he looked as he always did: Tall, back straight, hands clasped behind him.

Those strong hands…with those very long fingers.

His eyes slid in my direction and I quickly looked away. I had the package, such as it was now, in my arms. The fabric was in the bowl on top of what little dirt we’d been able to scoop up, and the bowl had a chip at the top. Even though he didn’t show it fully, I could tell that Kier felt terrible about what had happened to Althea’s package. He took any duty, no matter how small, very seriously.

I shifted a little on my bare feet, having lost my shoes somewhere in the old maintenance tunnel we’d been in. There was still dirt down my dress and some of it was caught in the cup of my strapless bra. The itch was getting horrible, and I couldn’t wait to get back to my quarters and shower the filth off.

When the lift stopped on the deck where Althea’s quarters were, we stepped off and walked slowly to her door.

“I should take responsibility for this mishap,” Kier said.

“No, it wasn’t your fault, really. How were you supposed to know that someone was going to try to steal it? Which,” I frowned up at him as the obvious question finally presented itself, “why would several people want to steal dirt?”

“That is an excellent question. Perhaps it was the bowl itself?”

“Maybe a Boethelian artifact of some kind?”

We both looked at the bowl in my arms. It was pretty, but nothing stood out about the designs. In fact, I could swear I’d seen something like it in a shop two doors down from the piano bar.

I looked up to tell Kier that, when I saw his eyes were still looking down, but instead of looking at the bowl, he was staring at my cleavage. It was a mere second, perhaps less, and his eyes darted to the door of Althea’s quarters, but I saw it nonetheless. A flush crept up my cheeks, and I reached for the call button at the same time Kier did.

“Oh sorry,” I withdrew my fingers.

“My apologies,” he said at the same time, also snatching his hand back.

We stood there, waiting for the other to reach and neither of us moving.

“Perhaps, since it is on your side,” Kier suggested.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” I said, my voice breathy, nervous.

It seemed like an eternity between the time I pushed the button and Althea answered the door, the two of us looking anywhere but at one another.

“Finally!” Althea answered and snatched the bowl from my hands without so much as a ‘hello’.

She was taller than me but shorter than Kier. Her dark green skin was covered on her arms, throat, sides of her face and the shaved sides of her head with intricate gold tattoos that were the symbols of her faith and people. Her white hair down the middle of her head was in hundreds of small braids decorated with beads and bands.

She was looking at the bowl intensely and hadn’t even bothered to invite us in. Kier and I looked at one another, unsure of what to do next.

“Um, we had some trouble,” I said, “and we’re really sorry about the soil.”

“Yes,” Kier said, “it was an unfortunate series of events that–“

Althea raised the bowl above her head and smashed it to the ground.

I let out a shocked yell, and Kier and I both jumped at the crash.

“Uh…” I looked from Althea to Kier and back again.

Kier’s face was tense, his eyes wide as he also looked at the Security Chief in confusion and worry.

She got on her hands and knees, sifting through the wreckage of the shattered pot, muttering to herself.

“Um, Chief?” I asked. “Are you alright? Maybe you shouldn’t touch that. Those edges are sharp.”

“Ah-ha!” she shouted triumphantly and held up a small silver disc in her hand.

It was about the size of the base of the pot, carved with symbols similar to her tattoos.

I slowly turned to Kier, and we stared at one another, speechless.

“Thanks for getting this here,” Althea said, though she was examining the disc and not even looking at us. “I owe you both. Cleaner drones activate, door close.”

And before we could ask about the dirt, the bowl or the disc in her hand, the door slid shut in our faces.

Kier’s expression went from wide-eyed shock to something resembling frustration, maybe even anger. And I knew I should feel the same. After all, we’d been shot at, I almost fell to my death, I’d had a knife to my throat, Kier’d gotten in a fist fight and was shot and she barely said thank you.

But the memory of her smashing the pot we’d been so worried about, dirt and all, onto her floor, the utter ridiculousness of the situation hit me full and I let out a long snort that ended on a sharp laugh.

Kier arched an eyebrow as he stared at me, and it just made me laugh harder.

“This is…funny?” he asked.

I wheezed and held my stomach, unable to stop the torrent of laughter that was pouring from me.

“Y-yes!” I gasped.

The longer he stared at me, the softer his expression became, the smoother his brow, the less tense his shoulders. Then that illusive, wonderful, tiny smirk appeared on his lips and I knew he wanted to belly laugh too.

“I suppose,” he said, his voice lighter, “that this is absurd enough to be amusing.”

I nodded and wiped tears from my eyes.

“That’s putting it mildly, yes.”

I chuckled for a bit more and then began walking to the lift when Kier gave a hiss of pain.

“You really should let me take a look at that in sick bay,” I said.

“I am alright. It is not bleeding and I believe that it is only a soreness that I will have to endure until it is healed.”

I understood what he wasn’t saying, that we’d already changed things between us and me seeing him without his pants on would make things even more awkward.

I wonder if that’s why he always insisted on Jack doing his exams and not me.

I shook off the thought and called for the lift.

“I fear my injury does preclude me from meeting you at the observatory, however. I should rest my leg,” he continued.

“At least stop by sick bay and get a hypospray for the pain. Will you do that?”

He gave me an indulgent nod.

“If it will alleviate your concerns, yes.”

“Why thank you,” I said with a nod of my own.

“Are you attending the Captain’s brunch tomorrow?” Kier asked as the lift arrived.

“I think so.”

“Then I will see you there. Good night Chloe.”

“Good night Kier.”

KIER’AHN

I did not sleep well.

I was sure it was mostly the discomfort from the blaster wound on my thigh, not the dreams I had of Chloe.

I would also theorize that those dreams were due to the pain. Perhaps both the odd adventure we shared and the discomfort.

No matter the cause, it had been an…arousing sequence of images that my brain had conjured. No matter how tempting it was to resurrect them, I resisted the urge to think in detail about what I was doing to Chloe in those dreams.

I arrived at the Captain’s quarters on time, as usual, and stepped inside. The room was spacious and comfortable, with a bookshelf along one wall and comfortable chairs nearby for reading. A couch acted as a partition between that space and where his dining table was set for the command crew. That area flowed into his large kitchen, with an island acting as an area for preparation and display of the dishes. I had already partaken of my synthetic blood blend in my quarters this morning, but the Captain still had prepared a blood quiche for me. By now, he knew of my special synthetic formula and I was curious about the ingredients in the small dish set out from the rest.

“Kier, are you limping?” the captain said, walking around from behind the island.

He wore a flour dusted apron that said “Captains make the best cooks” and was holding a bowl of fresh scones.

“I am, but it is alright, I assure you.”

The Captain was half Zorestran, half Human, so his horns were shorter and his blue skin lighter than full-blooded Zorestrans. Where other Zorestrans had bright white hair, Captain Drake had a salt and pepper mix that he kept short. Other than that, he was quite similar to most Zorestrans, though most that I knew did not have such a fondness for baked goods as Captain Drake did.

“What is with all of you and this shore leave? Everyone’s coming back with bruises.”

I glanced over at the table and spotted Dr. Goodman and First Officer Sonta, a tall Talosian woman, both nursing beverages that I suspected had alcohol in them. Both also had bruises around their eyes. Commander Sonta had a split lip and a large bruise on her golden skin that spread from her chin up to her cheek.

“I can’t wait to hear the story,” Captain Drake said with a grin. “Is Nurse Carter coming or–?”

The door opened in the middle of his question and in walked Chloe, freshly showered and clothed in a pair of pink and blue lounge pants and a loose shirt. She looked comfortable, the heavy makeup of the night before scrubbed off.

My hands tingled inside my gloves at the memory of touching her and I clenched them tight behind my back. As per usual, I was the only one in my uniform.

“Good to see that you at least don’t have any injuries,” Drake said to Chloe.

She gave him a toothy grin.

“Nope, though Kier and I had quite the night.”

“Well, grab a drink and meet me at the table. You’re not the only one with a tale, apparently.”

“Oh my gods, what happened to Sonta and Jack?” she asked me.

“I do not know, but it appears they also had an interesting shore leave.”

“No kidding.”

I indulged in looking at her longer than was necessary, just to make certain that she was, indeed, without any injuries from last night. Chloe seemed not to notice as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Dr. Goodman. The seat next to her was vacant, and I turned to make myself a cup of tea, hoping that I could perhaps sit next to her when the door opened and in walked Lt. Vabaris, another Zorestran and one of Chloe’s friends.

He groaned and poured himself a drink. I think the Captain called it a Bloody Mary.

“Ancestors above, what a night!” he complained.

But he didn’t wait for me to respond. Instead he stumbled over to the table and took the seat next to Chloe, throwing an arm around her shoulder and saying something that had her laughing.

Something dark and sour was roused in me at the sight of his arm around her, his lips so close to her ear. I did not understand it, but I knew it was not something I should let out of its cage. So I looked away and busied myself with the tea. By the time I made it to the table, the instinct was under control, sequestered away behind my mental walls.

I took a seat next to Captain Drake, leaving the chair between Lt. Vabaris and me empty.

“Alright now,” the Captain said with a wide grin, “who wants to go first and tell me why I received two messages from the station constabulary and one odd noise complaint from the Priest who works at the station chapel?”

I glanced at Chloe, her eyes wide. I knew that one of the messages from the constabulary was likely about us, but how did I tell the story without admitting to transporting what was likely an illegal artifact onto the ship?

She and I opened our mouths to talk when Dr. Goodman let out a groan and said, “I’m too fucking sore and tired to lie. Captain, what happened was…”

STAY TUNED FOR DOCTOR GOODMAN AND COMMANDER SONTA’S STORY COMING NEXT MONTH!  AND DON’T FORGET TO PREORDER SINFUL MATE TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR  KIER AND CHLOE.