19. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
They landed in an airfield that Angela was familiar with, though she was smart enough not to announce that she knew exactly where they were. They were met by guards from the base as they came off the plane, and she heard some of them call out to the contractors who had hitched a ride home with them.
She was strangely optimistic after her nap on the plane. It was the most at-home she'd felt in ages and the best sleep she'd gotten since she'd been arrested. Her dream with Zoric didn't hurt either, though she found herself aching to complete it in person.
Zoric, on the other hand, was tense and hypervigilant as they disembarked and she hesitated to reach out and ask him why. It might have just been the interruption to their spontaneous shared dream but she didn't think so. Something had happened while she'd slept and he didn't want to talk about it.
They were led to a room for a debriefing and Colonel Schuh closed the door once everyone was inside. He didn't blink when Zoric and Ae-cha adjusted the chairs to fit their tails.
"We'll be staying here for a while," he announced without preamble. "An Orvax delegation will be meeting us in a day or so. Dr. Phillips, Dr. Torres, you have reservations and a driver to a local hotel. Private McBride, Zoric, you'll be staying on base. Ae-cha, you will also be staying on base, though you have the option of a private room or barracks."
"A private room would be best. As close to Angela and Zoric as can be managed."
"I was given to understand that you would not want to be near a newly mated couple," Colonel Schuh said. "Was my information correct?"
"Your information about my preferences is correct, however, recent events have indicated that I may need to be nearby in case of emergencies."
The Colonel gave her a long look before he nodded. "Very well, I'll make sure you're where you need to be."
"If I may, Colonel, why are Dr. Phillips and I staying off the base? If we're here to look after the health of Private McBride, it might be better if we were to all be here."
Colonel Schuh gave the neurologist a skeptical look. "To be honest, Dr. Torres, I was going to give you some down time before the next round of disasters. Questioning is on hold until we hear from the Orvax and so you're services will, hopefully, not be needed. Get some rest and be ready when I call you to come back."
The look Dr. Torres gave the Colonel told Angela that he'd never been in the military. Protesting a solid day off to rest would have been suspicious in almost any profession, and doubly so for someone in the military.
But there it was, the mutinous look on his face that told her he was about to complain about the down time.
"Very well, Colonel," Dr. Torres said, to her surprise. "I do have some reading that needs to be done. We'll be ready when you call."
Dr. Phillips looked ready to protest her inclusion in his pronouncements but thought better of it when there was a knock at the door. A young soldier stepped into the room and saluted the Colonel, then waited at attention.
"Excellent timing," Colonel Schuh said. "Dr. Phillips, Dr. Torres, this is your escort to the hotel. He'll take good care of you and we'll see you back in a day or so."
The young soldier stood back and let the doctors file in front of him, before he saluted again and close the door.
Once the sound of footsteps faded away down the corridors, Colonel Schuh turned to the three remaining and smiled.
"Now, who wants to tell me what the fuck happened on the plane?"
Angela caught a guilty giggle before it could escape but she knew the Colonel had seen her start. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir."
"Don't try that bullshit on me, Private," Colonel Schuh said. "I may not be the most observant person in the world but even I knew what I was smelling. And since I didn't actually see anything happening, something must have happened where I couldn't see it. Especially when there was what appeared to be a very angry conversation between the two Chelion delegations."
"Ah," Zoric said, and shifted nervously. "You witnessed one of the side effects of the Bond, sir."
"Explain."
"As the Bond grows stronger, the couple have the ability to pull each other into their dreams by accident," Ae-cha cut in. "Until that Bond is consummated, the dreams they'll each have will grow increasingly explicit. The emotions from those dreams can leak out to be experienced by those who are sensitive to that kind of thing."
"So you were angry because you were caught up in their foreplay," the Colonel said. He looked skeptical but didn't argue with her.
"That's right," she said.
"And you want to be close to them now why?"
Ae-cha sighed. "Because a trigger was introduced to the dream. One set specifically to happen during their consummation. Because it was a dream, Private McBride was able to control the manifestation and neutralize it. Zoric pulled me in to remove and analyze it."
"I see," Colonel Schuh said, his brows pulled down in worry. "And you suspect there are more of them?"
"I believe there is an active attempt to introduce more triggers into Private McBride's psyche," Ae-cha said. "And they're getting sloppy about it."
"Well, then, I respect your willingness to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation to help Private McBride. I'll show you to your rooms so you can get some rest."
Colonel Schuh wasn't asking questions and that made Angela suspicious. He was observant if he'd caught Zoric and Ae-cha fighting and she wondered what else he'd seen.
Her hackles raised even further when he drove them himself to the empty house on base and handed them the keys. She would have been less surprised if he's fluffed their pillows and wished them a happy honeymoon.
"What's wrong with him?" Angela demanded when he drove away.
"What do you mean?" Zoric asked.
"Did that not strike you as odd? He basically dropped us off and said happy fucking!"
"He thanked me for being willing to help hunt down your triggers in a situation that makes me uncomfortable. That is not quite the same."
"But he knows we're going to…" Angela trailed off. Despite her very willing participation in the dream with Zoric, she hadn't quite acknowledged what was going to happen in the waking world. It had all seemed like something that would happen in the future.
"It would seem you need to have an important conversation," Ae-cha said. "As it's not one I want to be part of, I'll excuse myself. Hopefully, I won't see either of you until tomorrow."
The lizardwoman walked into the house and Angela heard a door open and close, presumably with her on the other side.
The weight of expectation settled on Angela's shoulders and she could feel herself stagger beneath them. When she looked up at Zoric, she saw nothing but compassion in his eyes, and knew he could feel her conflicting emotions through their Bond.
"Ae-cha is correct, we should talk," he said, and held the door open to the house.
She expected him to lead her to the bedroom but he went to the kitchen instead. She sat on a stool at the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room and watched him search through the cupboards until he found a couple of glasses. He filled them with water and handed her one.
"I've been told this conversation should happen over coffee," he said casually. "But I didn't see any in the cupboards and I don't particularly care for the taste. Do you?"
"Do I what?" she asked. This was not the direction she'd expected the conversation to take and she'd been caught off guard by the question.
"Enjoy the taste of coffee," he said. She watched him drink from the glass, fascinated by the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed.
"I'm not sure it's a question of enjoying it," she answered. "It's a necessity, like air and water. And what kind of conversation is supposed to take place over coffee?"
"The kind where we discuss, like adults, how we would like to proceed with the relationship. Before we're drowned in hormones and desire, we should talk about what we want, and what our expectations are."
"Oh," she said. "I don't think I've ever done that before. It seems like a very civilized way to go about it."
She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice that he wasn't going to take her to bed and rip her clothes off. Not that she particularly wanted to be overwhelmed and told what to do, but she liked the idea that he desired her enough to do that.
"I thought so," he agreed. "So I'll start, if you don't mind?"
When she shook her head, he leaned forward on the counter.
"I would very much like to see you naked and taste every inch of you."
Her breath caught in her throat and she let out a breathy laugh. "I'd like to touch your skin and feel your scales with my fingers, my lips, and my breasts."
"I would like to make you breakfast in the morning," Zoric said. "Though I worry about my ability to cook you something you would like to eat. And I would like to have you in my bed at night, so I can taste you for dessert before we both collapse in satisfaction."
This was not the conversation she'd expected when he said they needed to talk. "All of that sounds lovely," she said.
"Now, tell me about your boundaries. Things you like, things you dislike, things you'd be willing to try?"
Angela relaxed into the conversation, using their Bond to send nuances to likes and dislikes that she'd never been able to convey to someone in the past. Every stated preference and desire raised the heat building between them until she was squirming on her stool, waiting for him to take her to bed.
Thankfully, he read her eagerness for what it was and stepped around the counter to pull her into his arms.
"There's something I'd like to try," he said. "And I've only managed it once. Are you willing to forgive me if I can't manage it?"
"Of course," she said. The hesitation and fear she felt from him hurt her in ways she hadn't realized were possible. How could he possibly think she would reject him now? After everything they'd been through?
He leaned forward, his mouth a breath away from hers, and shifted. Only his mouth and nose changed but they became softer, more human. With a hunger he'd never let her feel across their Bond before, he pulled Angela to his chest and crashed his mouth against hers.
Their lips and tongues danced, reveling in the taste and texture of each other, until Zoric lifted her up on the counter and pushed her thighs wide. A hard ridge stood out beneath his kilt and he rubbed it against the seam of her pants.
When she wrapped her legs around his waist, his hands slid under her ass, lifting her up and rubbing her against him. Angela broke the kiss with a gasp when the first flutters of ecstasy threatened to overwhelm her. His mouth changed back to his lizardman form and his tongue flicked out over her pulse in her neck.
"Bed. Now." she demanded and he didn't stop to ask if she was certain, he just lifted her and nearly sprinted to the bedroom.