The Bond That Ties Us Read online

  Haylie managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Sara thought most men were pretty good looking.

  “So what is your prognosis, then, Doctor?”

  “You need to get laid.”

  They burst into laughter.

  “Well, I think you’re in good enough health for your doctor to disappear for a few moments. I need to take a shower before I visit the med bay,” Sara said as she took a whiff of the front of her jumpsuit. “I’ve built up quite a stink lying around for the past two years.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to work already. We haven’t even had time to settle or eat something.”

  Sara shrugged. “I’m not going to work—that would be crazy. I just want to pop in and say hi. Introduce myself.”

  “Mark your territory,” Haylie said.

  Sara knelt down and rummaged through her duffle bag. “Hey, I’m the only human doctor. I want to make sure the Briel know who the boss is.”

  Haylie smiled as Sara swore under her breath and stuck a finger with a now broken nail into her mouth. The apparently more than proper Briel doctors were in for a surprise. They both stayed silent for a few moments. Sara moved quickly around the room, gathering bits and pieces she needed for a shower. The conversation continued only once she reached the bathroom.

  “I never understood why they didn’t bring in a human doctor sooner.” Sara spoke loudly enough to be heard through the half-closed door.

  “Probably for the same reason they’re only now getting a new security chief. Politics. They’ve only re-established communications with Earth in the last two months.”

  Sara’s only answer was the hiss of the shower. Haylie relaxed. She loved her like family, but Haylie always felt exhausted after one of Sara’s interrogations. The only way to stop her was to bore her with facts and figures. Not that this one was bad but with all that had happened in the past two weeks she was played out.

  No, it’s been longer than two weeks. Hard to believe several years had gone by in the blink of an eye. Haylie sighed and stretched her arms high above her head. She prayed nothing was wrong with her because she’d go nuts if they said she had to be cooped up in one of those damned cryo pods again. This was a one-way trip—end of story.

  Haylie swung her foot over the side of the bed and stuck her toes into the gap between the zipper and the end of her bag. It took an awkward jerk of her foot to force the hole wide enough to be able to fish her notebook out of the end pocket. Despite all the technology out there she preferred to use old fashioned paper and pencil for her sketches. She was able to connect on a more primal level with her art this way.

  With one smooth motion, she picked up the edge of the book with her toes and pulled it onto the bed. God, she loved doing that—throwback to her youth.

  She rested the notebook on its spine and let go. The covers fell open, the bend naturally falling to the page that held her charcoal pencil. She should really follow Sara’s example and check in on her new security office. But an empty room and some quiet was too much temptation.

  She ran her index finger along the smooth wood, the smell of it reaching her nose. With the tip of her nail, she tipped the pencil so it balanced on the lead. It hovered for a second in the air before it fell gently back into her hand.

  The rest was instinct.

  The smooth lines flowed easily from hand to paper, Kamran’s face taking shape on the blank page. Every detail matched the image in her head, the fullness of his lips, the cord of muscles that flexed in his neck, the way his eyes seemed to stare into her. It took her only a moment to finish and, before she knew it, Kamran stared back at her from the page.

  As she continued to draw, she took liberties with the rest of the picture. Naked. That was how she really wanted to see him. His clothes clung nicely to his sculpted body, but she would much rather take her time and strip them slowly from him to reveal every inch of his dark flesh. She drew the muscles of his forearms she’d felt when she’d touched him. His chest would be well defined, his pectoral muscles rippling. The rest of him would be close to perfect as well. She pictured his abs, the perfectly formed muscles over his stomach, strong and powerful. God, I wonder if he’s as I imagine.

  Her pencil stopped suddenly before she continued her pictorial exploration of his body. Her palm itched to continue, to draw the one part of his body she most wanted to see. No, she wouldn’t draw that. She wanted to see his cock up close and personal. Feel his body shake as he came with powerful thrusts into her pussy.

  Excitement rushed through her as she pictured how he’d looked at her. What had passed between them? She wasn’t the obsessive type. Not normally, anyway. She snapped the book shut and tried to push away the memory of how her body had reacted. How she was still reacting. This was crazy.

  Haylie took a deep breath and rested back on the bed. The sound from Sara’s shower drifted to her ears. Concentrating on the running water, Haylie tried to clear her head, needing to forget her alien Adonis. When she closed her eyes, her imagination took over.

  In her mind, Kamran made his way over to her, now clothed in a loose-fitting tunic that exposed his broad chest. She was lying naked on a bed that wasn’t hers. The room had a soft glow, the color warm and inviting. The bed sheets were as soft as satin, and teased her skin everyplace it made contact. The air was warm and she reached up and ran her finger down her neck, stopping an inch above her breasts. The heated look he gave her sent a charge of desire through her that shot straight to her cunt. Haylie moaned but refused to touch herself to relieve any of the tension.

  He approached her slowly, cautiously, as one might a wild animal. Her chest tightened in anticipation, her heartbeat out of control. He stopped short, close, but never touching her. This wasn’t going to do at all. She pushed up from the bed to stand in front of him. Kamran sucked in a breath, stepped back and gave her room to move forward. She sauntered over to him but made sure to leave a space. She needed him to be the one to touch her first.

  The heat from his body washed over her skin like liquid fire. Haylie looked into his silver eyes and saw unrestrained need. He wanted her and it didn’t look like anything she did would stop him from taking her. Kamran moved silently around her, pausing briefly at her side before stopping directly behind her.

  Her skin tingled at his closeness. Her desire stoked higher than it had ever been, her body aching to be touched. God, she needed him. She heard a moan and barely recognized her own voice. When he touched her back, she moaned again, but this time she arched against him, needing more.

  His hands traced a slow trail along her sides to her stomach. Haylie felt him nip tentatively at her earlobe before sucking the flesh into his mouth. She couldn’t hold back and ground hard against him, feeling the pressure of his erect cock against the small of her back. It was his turn to moan, the moist heat of his breath hot against her neck. She closed her eyes as his hand moved up across her chest to cup her breast. Haylie’s breath hitched as she felt his fingers roll the tight peak of her nipple, driving her body dangerously close to orgasm. His other hand lightly caressed the skin across her stomach to her throbbing pussy, damp from wanting him.

  Haylie’s eyes flew open as she gasped. What the hell?

  She was alone with the sounds of her pounding heart and the spray from the shower. That was way too real. Her skin tingled everywhere that Kamran had touched her. Her back, breasts, stomach, her…everywhere.

  Her mind must be caught in some weird hyper-excited cycle. Or else that was the best erotic dream she’d ever had. Haylie inhaled and swore she smelled Kamran. A light hint of his scent floated in the undercurrents of the re-circulated air of the colony. A subtle scent of musk and cinnamon she now recognized as his. Maybe she should get Sara to do a quick scan to make sure everything was okay.

  The wail of Sara singing jolted her back to reality. No, the last thing she needed was an exam from the tone-deaf doctor.

  “Hey, you napping?” Sara said as she emerged from the bathroom wear
ing fresh clothing and a towel expertly wrapped upon her head.

  “Yeah, caught a quick one. Your singing woke me up.”

  “Whatever.” Sara rolled her eyes. “Well, I feel a hundred percent more human. Want to get something to eat before I crash the party in med bay? I wonder if they have an alien version of pizza here.”

  “I doubt it. Give me a second, okay?”

  Maybe a walk and some hot food would help clear her head. If nothing else, it should burn off some of this extra energy she had pent up. Haylie flicked the lid of her trunk open. Her belongings had left Earth ahead of her on a supply convoy. It was a relief to see they had arrived unscathed. She was searching for something to wear when the internal communication system went off.

  “Who the hell is that?” Sara’s muttering was drowned out by the chiming of the com again. She made her way over to the small, flat control panel and tapped the acknowledge button.

  Haylie looked over to see the image of a woman in her mid thirties appear on the com screen. Haylie mentally flipped through the personnel records and recognized her as one of the nurses who’d been one of the original colonists ten years ago.

  “Doctor Fergus? I’m sorry to be disturbing you just after you have arrived.”

  “That’s quite all right. Is there a problem?”

  It didn’t take Haylie long to lose track of the conversation. Not that the details mattered much once she learned what she needed to know. She would be eating alone tonight.

  Haylie straightened when Sara finished her conversation and turned to face her.

  “I’m sorry,” Sara said.

  “No worries. Guess you won’t get to scope out the scene before you have to put on a performance.”

  “Instead, I’ll be the one getting evaluated. I hate starting without having an edge.”

  “You never did like to get one-upped.” Haylie smiled.

  “Are you going to be okay?”

  That was the question of the day. “Sure. I’ll get changed and go find a place to eat. Maybe there’s a gym or something around here. I gotta stay buff. Don’t want the locals to think their security chief is a wimp.”

  All kidding aside, she wanted to make sure she was in shape to handle whatever the colony threw at her. She’d been able to talk briefly to one of the security personnel after the induction. Things had gotten pretty intense on the colony recently with many of the miners acting strangely. The Eurus ore mines were some of the toughest places to work in the sector. While the occasional fight and work stoppage were normal, she’d been told of a major increase in violent crimes both in the mines and on the station. The guard also told her the previous chief lasted only eight months before burning out. Haylie wasn’t about to let that happen. That was all she’d been able to learn before Sara hustled her out of the assembly.

  “Well, use some of my clothing if you want. You may run into our friends from this morning and I know you don’t have the sexiest wardrobe.”

  Haylie smacked her foot on the edge of her trunk as she turned quickly to face Sara.

  “Ouch!”

  “Holy crap, relax! I meant the two guys from the line, not your ambassador.”

  “I’m relaxed. Just clumsy.”

  “Well, stop it. I don’t want you wandering down an engineering duct and ending up in med bay. Unless, of course, you’re bored.”

  “Shut up and go.”

  Sara tapped Haylie’s drawing as she passed by. “Nice! Good to see you obsessing already. By the way, Briel have more abs than that. Bye!”

  Sara grabbed her jacket and laughed as she bolted from their apartment.

  Maybe she should stay in tonight. With everything that happened this morning with Kamran, it seemed the wisest, most practical course of action. She should strip out of her synthetic jumpsuit, crawl into her flannel pajamas and go to sleep.

  The cool recycled air of the room hit her skin as she peeled off her clothing. Clothed in only her damp panties and tight undershirt, she flitted around the room examining her temporary shelter. The walls were amazingly not gray or black. Never before had she considered beige to be a welcome change. There were two of everything, beds, dressers, lamps and even a small desk all made from a combination of plastic and metal. She walked around the room and touched everything once, memorizing its exact location. When she began to do it a second time, she stopped. Her father’s voice scolding her for her restlessness and obsessive behavior pounded in her ears. Her control hadn’t slipped like this in years. She needed to relax.

  Haylie looked around her room. The low-pitched hum from the air vent made her ears tickle. She stood and listened for a moment, her brain spinning with indecision. The faint scent of cinnamon reached her again and drove her body forward. There’s no way in hell she’d sit still tonight.

  She’d get dressed, find some food and then do a quick inspection of the station. It’d be interesting to see her new home through the eyes of a civilian for one night. Tomorrow, she’d be introduced to her team and any chance she had to move around unnoticed would be gone.

  Careful not to hit her foot again, Haylie quickly searched through the neatly folded stacks of clothing and strategically placed personal items in her cargo trunk. She paused when she came to her birthday present from Sara. She pulled out the loose-fitting silk dress and smiled. This was Sara’s way of telling her to loosen up. She’d even made Haylie swear she would wear it before her next birthday.

  What the hell. Careful not to hit her foot again, Haylie maneuvered around the boxes and trunks in their room and jumped into the shower for a quick scrub. She felt almost human again when she got out and started to search through the neatly folded stacks of clothing and strategically placed personal items in her cargo trunk.

  The three-quarter-length mirror next to the door revealed a sensual surprise. Wow, is that me? The tendrils of her hair had escaped the confines of her elastic band so she tugged it free. Her long chestnut hair fell over her shoulders, stopping shy of her elbows. Her taut nipples poked up from the shimmering surface of the dress, a clear sign of her arousal. This was the first time she hadn’t worn a bra since she was thirteen, but damn if it didn’t feel good.

  Without thinking, she reached up and cupped her breasts. The friction between her nipples and the smooth material was heavenly. She imagined what it would feel like to have Kamran’s hands there, teasing her sensitive skin and pinching her swollen buds until she begged him to stop. Haylie opened her eyes and blushed at the shock of seeing her aroused image reflected back at her from the mirror.

  “Okay, I need to get out of here.”

  But not before changing.

  She did rebel a little by omitting her bra before pulling on her shirt and pants. It was liberating not to be bound so tightly and it felt more than a little naughty. It’s not like she had much in the way of a chest for anyone to notice.

  Haylie poked her head out the door into the hall, her hair falling forward across her face. Empty. She took an oversized step into the corridor, allowing the door to her room to swoosh shut. Which way? Decisions, decisions.

  She’d seen the floor plan of the station shortly before leaving Earth. Having a photographic memory had its advantages at times. She knew the exact layout and where all the major areas were located. But that wasn’t the same as seeing the real thing. And there was no way she’d see it all in one night. A memory popped into her head, something her mother told her as a child. “When you don’t know which way to go, always start on your right. That way, you know you didn’t make a wrong decision.”

  The rubber soles of her flat shoes didn’t make a sound on the plastic veneer floor as she drifted down the LED-lit corridor. There were very few people around as she made her way through the smooth twists and turns of the colony’s living sector. The place was as drab as the rest of the station. No decorations of any sort appeared on the gray walls. Everything was very utilitarian in its design, blending seamlessly into the walls. The occasional window that lined the hall w
as small, offering only the slightest glimpse of the outside of the planet. She paused to look out, but she couldn’t see much of the surface now that the sun had set. Maybe in the light of day things would look better, brighter.

  Haylie continued her walk looking for anything of interest. She couldn’t help but notice the distinct lack of security as she moved about. No patrols, surveillance, or obvious security measures, at least not in the living area. Either it was extremely well hidden or she had her work cut out for her.

  Something wasn’t adding up here. She knew the reputation of the previous chief. He wasn’t incompetent, far from it. He’d been part of the team sent in to help with the aftermath of the Jupiter colony after the riots eight years ago. It didn’t seem likely he would have overlooked the very basics of security, even if he was only here a short time. What the hell was wrong with this place? She’d traveled a full fifteen minutes without seeing another soul before the hiss of a door opening behind her caught her attention.

  “Good evening.” Administrator Donaldson’s cheerful voice vibrated in the hall.

  Haylie turned and smiled when she saw Donaldson emerge from the doorway. “Hello, Administrator. I don’t believe we have been introduced yet. My name is—”

  “Haylie Bond. My newest security officer, granted the rank of chief. Previous to this, you were in charge of security for Luna’s largest shipping company, LunaCom. You have a degree in psychology and were recognized for single-handedly reducing the crime rate on Mars outpost Beta by forty-eight percent.”

  Interesting.

  “You seem to have me at a disadvantage, sir.”

  He didn’t. But somehow it seemed wrong to recite his service record to him in response. At least she was able to think clearly enough this time to remember it. Plus, her warning flags were waving frantically. She respected thoroughness in a person, but there was already something about this encounter that seemed odd. It wasn’t what he knew about her so much as how he was saying it.

  “I take great pride in knowing everything that is happening on my colony. I made a point of learning about all of our new colonists. I expect you and I will be working quite closely together.”