Dr. Ariel Landon
Pyre was standing across the room, looking at me with dubious golden-green eyes. I sat down on the bed and studied him for a moment, wondering where we might start.
“What is the opposition? And why do you need me?”
Pyre sighed and crossed the room, his tall body taking long, capable strides until he reached the altar, where I had spent the early evening studying the relics from Earth closely, nostalgia stirring in my breast.
“The opposition is a group of Verian men who oppose what the Doyan is doing.”
“Why do you oppose it?” I asked.
I had never even considered the possibility that there might be a Verian on the planet Helna that didn’t want war, a man that didn’t want what his leader wanted. It was shocking. But it was more shocking that I had never even thought it was a possibility. Not even after speaking with and learning to love Greandol as I would have loved my own nephew, or even my own child.
“The Doyan wants to employ very drastic methods to subdue the people of Earth. He thinks that the war has gone on far too long already. There are men who grew up into adults and died only knowing the war between Helna and Earth.”
“Well, I agree in that sense. It has gone on too long. We may never know peace in our lifetimes.”
Pyre looked at me as if trying to decide whether I was being serious or not, then finally nodded. “I, too, find the whole process tedious. But it is the people of Earth who refused to settle this matter peaceably, and this is the result.”
I glowered. Whether I had anything to do with it personally or not, it didn’t feel very good to constantly be reminded that, in Pyre’s opinion, Earth had been the cause of the whole issue in the first place. None of us were even alive yet when the war had begun, and it didn’t seem fair to be pushing the blame in either direction. The fact was that our present lives were tumultuous and filled with violence and danger. What mattered wasn’t who started the war; what really mattered now was who was going to be the one who finished it.
“Anyway, tell me what it is that you don’t like about the Doyan. I don’t know the difference between them. They all want to kill the people I love. Forgive me if I don’t know them by name and sing their praises.”
Pyre sighed, his broad shoulders slumping slightly as he lowered his head to think. Finally, he straightened up, and his whole muscular body came alive as he crossed the room once again to sit beside me. The bed sank down under his weight, and I had to fight the physical pull of my body to rock closer to his.
“The Doyan Yoltaz is a very cruel, short-sighted man. He is abusive of the Verians and the humans in his charge. He encourages his men to commit serious offenses–war crimes, essentially–against the human females in our care. And worst of all…”
Pyre’s voice trailed off, and I studied him as he labored to put his thoughts into words. His eyes had clouded over, and his fists were clenching the silky red covers of the bed we were sitting on together.
“What is it?” I asked as gently as I could, surprising both of us by touching his shoulder. I don’t know why I wanted to comfort this man. The image of him protecting me had been both terrifying and thrilling. But I barely knew anything about him. But maybe if I could understand just this one thing, then the other missing pieces would begin to make sense, and I could get a picture of who this man truly was. Maybe I could justify the forbidden feelings that were trying to surface.
“The resources of Earth…the humans, and even the Verian people…it’s all in danger. The new Doyan wants to destroy it all. With the kind of nuclear fallout he’s talking about, Earth will look like Helna in just a matter of years and all these decades of war will be for nothing!”
My stomach dropped at the news, and we both sat in silence.
“How could he be so stupid?” I whispered.
Pyre glanced at me, his peculiar golden eyes serious and beautiful. “I fear he has another agenda at heart. He received his position of power through a very corrupt election, and he has ties with an organization that is very dubious. I don’t know what their plan is, but I know it can’t be good. And I can’t stand to see the Earth’s beauty go to waste.”
I was touched by his passion for my planet’s beauty, but did he only feel that way because of the desolation of his own planet? Whether he was sincere or not, he was still the enemy…wasn’t he?
“The Earth is still beautiful, in most places,” I agreed. “But the war is taking its toll.”
“Yes,” Pyre said, his eyes flashing with sadness. “There is something so remarkably peaceful about Earth. It’s an incredible specimen among the universe. A rare jewel. Even many Verians overlook that about it, and see it for only what it’s good for: how they can use it so that we might grow more powerful.”
“Not you though,” I said, glancing at the altar. It warmed my heart to see the little things that he treasured; a rock here, a twig with a single shriveled brown leaf there. It was like looking into the heart of a sentimental young boy. But he was not young. He was a grown man, who simply seemed to treasure life and wellness. And on top of that, he was so unbelievably sensual…
“No, I try my best to appreciate the things that are in front of me. I see beauty where many others see only inconvenience. It’s saddening, but I’m surrounded by such people more and more every day. The Doyan brings more heartless Verians onto the Council every rotation of the suns, and with them, I can smell the promise of destruction. If only we had the evidence to convince my people that the Doyan Yoltaz is not making the right choice!”
Pyre turned to me, his eyes pleading. “They know everything you know. They have the knowledge to destroy your people; your beautiful planet. I don’t want that to happen. I can’t let it happen. Please! Will you help us?”
I studied the handsome man’s features; he was so strong, and yet every day he seemed to grow weaker as the disease that had taken hold of Greandol coursed through his body. I could cure him of that disease. I could even touch those hard, handsome features and feel them as I had so longed to the night I woke up in his bed, his powerful form slumbering lightly beside mine. I had been so terrified by my overpowering longing for him that I’d woken him then and there and begged for an escape. How would I have been able to live with myself if I’d given in to those urges?
But now, studying his serious face under the dim, comforting lighting of the Red Room, I saw a new man. One I wasn’t afraid of; a man whose eyes flashed with a combination of desire and duty; a man who would do whatever it took, not only to protect me, but to protect my planet as well. And I knew then that I would tell him. I would tell him everything he needed to know, even if I lived the rest of my life regretting it. To help him shoulder that burden was all I wanted at that moment.
“I will help you,” I whispered, another powerful tendril of desire snaking its way through my loins. He seemed immediately to sense my arousal, and his eyes darkened with a need so powerful, I was shocked he was able to hold himself at bay.
“Thank you, Yula,” Pyre growled gently, his voice a deep rumble in my ear. We stared at each other, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.
I cried out in surprise and pleasure when Pyre’s hands found their way to me, pulling me close to him. Our eyes locked, his sensual lips hovering just inches from mine.
“I’ve wanted you since I first saw you, Yula. Come. Be one with me tonight.”
Everything in my head was telling me not to do it. How could I possibly lie with a man who had virtually stolen me from my home to serve his own agendas? Whether they were noble or not, I had been abducted, kidnapped, turned into a prisoner.
“Are you even sorry?” I whispered.
Pyre backed away, startled and confused by the question.
“Am I sorry for what?” he asked. “Sorry for submitting you to so much agony? If you knew how awful that made me feel you would never have to ask. I would have traded places with you in a second. This was the only way. They would’ve taken you eventually. But any other man would have treated you much worse. I hope that you realize that. Doyan Yoltaz’s men are unkind and barbaric. And they still pose a threat to us. So yes, Yula, to answer your question, I am very sorry.”
Small, hot tears trickled down my cheek, and I bowed my head. Suddenly, I was being gathered up in Pyre’s arms and showered with hot and tender kisses all over my face and hands.
“So long as I live, I will never let another person lay a finger on you. I swear it.”
“How can you promise me that? You are succumbing to the same disease as all the other men of your race are,” I said miserably.
“Maybe not,” Pyre said. “Not with your help. And even if I do, I will die trying to protect you.”
Suddenly, I felt the heat of his lips pressed against mine, and a powerful surge of heat overpowered me. My body grew weak as his hands began to roam up and down, leaving trails of fire in their wake. Even for having the mysterious disease of his people, Pyre was still strong, and he lifted me easily from the bed so that I was on top of him and being held against his broad and muscular body.
I cried out in ecstasy, my body alive with tiny explosions of pleasure with his every slight touch. I could feel the urgency of his longing pressed against my thighs, and a flood of dizzying heat drove all rational thought from my head. Hadn’t I wanted him more than anything I had ever wanted in my life? Wasn’t it all right to indulge, just this once? I had been a good woman. I obeyed the rules; I did what I was meant to do to further the race against the alien menace. Wasn’t I entitled to even one moment of pleasure without guilt-tripping myself about it?
“You belong with me, Yula,” Pyre said, his deep voice growling into my ear and heightening my ecstasy. “You and I were meant to join in this way, under the moon of my people. Together we are one.”
I wanted to believe his words, to just escape my own head and allow the pleasure he was engulfing me with to spread through every small crevice of my body. It was all I could do to keep from declaring that I believed what he said, that I would do whatever I could to make his vision my reality. Even though my brain wasn’t working at full capacity, I just couldn’t make that commitment.
Still, my body was a traitor, and wave after wave of pleasure coursed through me as Pyre slowly began to strip us both, his warm fingers and hot tongue testing and tasting me, causing my breath to catch in my throat as he examined me closely and sensually, almost as if I were a perplexing mystery he was eager to unravel. I had never felt so treasured – so seen – in all my life.
“Please, say you will be mine, Yula. Promise it.”
I said nothing but moaned deeply as his member found its way between my legs, gently caressing my most sensitive area. I nearly blacked out with the pleasure of it and had to struggle to open my eyes as Pyre sunk his mouth against the nape of my neck, heightening my bliss almost to its breaking point.
And then suddenly, like an explosion of fireworks, his muscle was pressing its way inside of me, tentatively exploring a space within me that had never been so intimately entered before. I shuddered in ecstasy as we locked eyes and Pyre began to awaken in earnest, his body, after testing the waters, summoning up a strength that kept me in awe.
Again and again, he plunged deep inside, and my hips bucked involuntarily against him, my body greedy for the explosive pleasure that his movements promised me.
Pyre smiled down at me as my body was rocked with bliss, his eyes roaming the contours of my body.
“You are beautiful, human,” he said quietly.
He unleashed a torrent of power that caused me to cry out loud, and I gasped as I felt the doorway of my climax open before me. Pyre growled, his eyes flashing with a deep need as he sensed the nearness of my orgasm, and with a decided and dynamic thrust, he pushed me through that doorway and into the most earth-shattering sensation I had ever experienced.
I trembled beneath him, my body violent with the power of my climax, only to be taken even higher as a flood of heat exploded inside of me. I gripped Pyre’s strong shoulders hard as the power of his orgasm shocked me into an awareness unlike anything I’d ever known, and we held each other close as he emptied himself into me, until each of us were utterly spent.
“I hope that you will one day understand the power of my claim on you,” Pyre said, softly stroking golden strands of hair away from my face. He closed his eyes before he had to witness the dubious look on my face. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t love this man.
The thought slipped away quickly though, and I soon lost all awareness as I slipped into the unfathomable comfort of post-coital slumber.
***
I woke up with a start, confused by the heavy weight of Pyre’s well-muscled arm draped across my chest. He stirred slightly as I wriggled out from under him, horrified by myself, and ran to the small bathroom, closing the door behind myself.
“What am I thinking?” I exclaimed, burying my head in my hands. I couldn’t answer that to myself. I had just lain with the enemy. I was a traitor to my people. And besides that, I had promised to tell him all my secrets. How could I live with myself?
I was so upset by my actions that I decided to bathe quickly and gather my thoughts. As the bathtub filled with the warm, soothing water of Helna, I began to relax and contemplate what all of this might mean. Yes, I had slept with a Verian man. He had promised me the world, and like a fool, I had believed him.
Still, a promise was a promise. That didn’t mean I owed him anything more than information. Sure, in a moment of weakness I had given into something that I would probably end up regretting for the rest of my life, but that didn’t mean that I had to resign myself to being a traitor to Earth. If Pyre was planning to protect the Earth and my knowledge truly would benefit that cause, I would share it gladly. Perhaps we could be allies, but nothing more.
As much as he wasn’t going to like hearing that, it was for the best. He had claimed to care for me, in an urgent and desperate way that I had no choice but to believe. But that didn’t mean that he would be able to care for me as a mate of my own species word. And it didn’t mean that my feelings for him or anything to do with love. I was scared, and I was lonely, and I was vulnerable. That didn’t mean that I was in love with the enemy. It couldn’t mean that. I would never let it mean that.
“Yula,” Pyre said, sitting up with a sleepy smile when I returned. “Are you well?”
I felt a twinge of guilt as I considered the tirade I had just gone on against him in my head. It was clear he was genuinely concerned for my well-being, but I just couldn’t allow myself to be sucked in by his charm. Just because it had happened once before didn’t mean that I had to allow it to continue.
“Yes,” I said as coolly as I could. Pyre frowned and straightened his shoulders as he sat up fully, the silky red blanket falling down to his thighs and revealing his flawless torso.
“Do you require privacy?” he asked, rather smartly I thought.
“Yes, please,” I said, avoiding his gaze. “I prefer to sleep by myself.”
“I see,” Pyre said, furrowing his brow. “Dershalga, yula.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” I mumbled. “Just let me go to bed in peace if you don’t mind.”
Pyre frowned and stood, pulling his clothes on quickly. He turned to face me before he left the room, his mouth open as if he were going to pose a question. Whether he was going to ask again if I was well, or if he was just going to ask me if I was still going to help him and the opposition, I couldn’t tell. And I didn’t find out either because he seemed to think better of speaking and disappeared out the door.
***
The next few days were agonizingly slow. I was brought back to my cell, where the Pelin man was the only being I saw. He brought me all of my meals and made small-talk with me every now and again.
Finally, I was graced with Pyre’s presence when he came to the door of my cell.
“It is time to tell me what you know. Things have been hard out there. Very hard. The opposition is struggling. You can either help us, or we will be rid of you. There is no in between.”
I frowned. He was speaking much more harshly to me than he ever had before, but in a way, it was a relief. I had been feeling so guilty for refusing him that it was nice to have a reason to really get angry at him. I had to remember he was the enemy. Didn’t I?
“As if I had a choice with you,” I mumbled.
“You’re right,” Pyre said, his peculiar eyes boring into mine. “You do not have a choice. But I do expect you to honor your promise.”
“I will,” I said glumly, standing as Pyre entered the cell. The small space immediately filled with his scent; a combination of the rugged outdoors and the sweet-scented smoke from the ceremonial cleansing. It immediately reminded me of being intimate with him in the week before, and I felt the heat rising to my cheeks as he positioned himself at the small writing desk and turned the seat to face me. His attitude was so formal, it almost made me laugh.
“Good.”
We grew quiet for a moment, each of us seemingly lost in our own thoughts before Pyre finally began to speak.
“Do you have information on the weapons of the humans?”
I took a deep breath. I had promised him my help.
For the next several hours, Pyre sat in my cell, listening gravely to everything I said. It was shocking to me that he didn’t even think to have a piece of paper and a pen to take down notes, but when I asked, he gave me a simple, despondent smile.
“It appears you know less about the Verian race than you thought,” he said. “Our memories are flawless. And in most cases of war, keeping records is foolish anyway. We have to learn to trust our comrades and do everything in our power to keep our memories alive in other ways. Still, there are records that are important…”
My mind flashed to the shack where I had been held captive on my first days on the planet Helna, when Pyre was searching frantically for something. His eyes had scared me then. They had been wild. He must have had a terrible temper…
“Were you looking for records that day?” I asked quietly, looking up at him. We had avoided looking at each other for most of the conversation, but now he returned my gaze.
“What day?” he asked, his handsome face creased with a frown.
“When you saved…well, when you took me away from my first prison and brought me here?”
I cringed, kicking myself as the words came out of my mouth. What was I thinking? I clearly shouldn’t tell him, or even imply, that he had “saved” me in any way. Handsome and good in bed or not, Pyre was still a man who had abducted me from my home. And whether he had saved my life and spared me from the cruelty of Arke and his men or not, he was not the kind of man I should open myself up to. It was idiotic.
“I was looking for the transcripts…proof that they had drugged you and forced information out of you. It is not the way to do things anymore; those methods are outdated. But I’m sure they did it, despite the public outcry it would generate.”
“Well I didn’t tell them anything willingly, that’s for sure.”
“I trust that,” Pyre said. For some reason, the way he said it made warmth spiral through my body. But what did I care if this man trusted me? We weren’t friends in any way shape or form, no matter how intimately we had gotten to know each other. I wanted to care for him. I truly wished I could just let go of my reservations and allow myself to take things to a level I had never been with him before, but I couldn’t. It would be doomed for failure, just like every other time I had opened my heart up to the wrong person.
I shook the thoughts away, and apparently, so did Pyre, because we continued on with the conversation; Pyre asking questions, and me answering them and elaborating on the answers if he needed more information on the scientific process.
Finally, after being mentally and physically exhausted by the interrogation, Pyre stood. I gazed up at the man; he was tall, muscular, and beautiful, but I realized suddenly that something was wrong.
“Are you well?” I asked, borrowing his phrasing.
He looked at me wearily and gave a small nod. “It has been a trying week, Yula. That is all.”
“No, think nothing of it,” he said, shaking his head stubbornly. “You gave me a formula to cure that with anyway. If it works…”
“Let me make it for you,” I whispered. “I was in the middle of trying to finish it in the lab before you—”
“No,” Pyre said firmly. “I refuse to use your formula on myself. I have stolen enough from you already. I will deal with things in my own way, in my own time.”
“But you could die!” I exclaimed. “Just let me do this for you!”
Pyre’s lips grew into a thin line, and he walked to the doorway of the cell.
“My burden is not yours to carry. Nor are the burdens of other Verian men. At some point, their scientists will have the cure if they thought to ask you for it during the time you were drugged with their serum, and by that time we are going to have to be ready. Readier than we’ve ever been.”
“But what good will that do you if you’re dead?” I said darkly. “Look at you! You’re leaning up against the bars of the door!”
Pyre straightened himself quickly and looked me sternly in the eye, his voice quaking with a barely concealed rage. “I have dealt with this disease for years, human, and I expect you to show some confidence in my ability to continue to do so! Is that understood?”
I nodded, afraid of what might happen if I didn’t, and Pyre visibly relaxed. “Good,” he said.
He worked the lock of the cell and walked away, leaving me staring helplessly at his back until he disappeared.