Page 18 of Scars & Starlight (Of Blood and Conquest #1)
TARA
W e decide to spend the rest of the day and the following night at Maggie’s, so Kairen runs to the Talon to store Kiko and grab a few things, including a nano bot package he had prepared for my own exoskeleton. We’re sitting on the bed now, ready to implement them.
“Is this going to hurt?” I ask with trepidation as he marks off the areas where I’ll have ports that match his.
My prince shakes his head, and the silky-looking tresses atop his head brush against his forehead. I don’t know what I’m more jealous of – the forehead, or the hair. Damn, I’ve got it bad.
“They’ll numb and heal as they work. You’ll only feel a tickle.” I shudder when his breath hits the shell of my ear, and feel goosebumps emerge. He kisses the side of my neck in response, making me arch.
“Keep doing that and we’ll never get those installed,” I warn him somewhat breathlessly. His answering chuckle feels so intimate in the narrow space between us.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to allow you to go unguarded for a moment longer. ”
I purse my lips. “Does everyone on Avaris have these then?” When there’s no reply, I tilt my head to see the thin lines on his face pulsating.
“These are military-grade nanites,” he explains. “With them, you’ll be impervious to many attacks and able to call up weapons such as plasma blades and the pulse emitters.”
“The what and the what?” I ask, grinning at him. I’m squinting a bit, trying to focus on him from this close, and he smiles wryly in return.
“I’ll teach you everything, Princess,” he vows.
“When you say ‘everything’, do you mean–” I inhale sharply. “Oh, my god, that tickles!”
His teeth flash in the dim light of the suite Maggie assigned us, the view of the sharper canines sending a thrill through me. “I’m almost done, love.”
That’s the second time he’s called me that, and I don’t know how to respond. Are words of affection something that comes easily to him? I don’t know him well enough yet to see if I should assign any meaning to it.
“Avaris to Tara,” he murmurs, making me choke on a laugh.
“Do you know what a mockingbird is, Kai?” I ask with a playful tone, then watch as his eyes flash. A bemused expression barely crosses his face when I continue: “Will I be able to talk to my nanites? What do they sound like? What kind of things can they do?”
“Canary,” he calls me, and I playfully punch his arm, then promptly shake it out when that hurts.
“Fuck, you’re hard,” I complain.
We both freeze and look at each other. My lower belly tightens when I see his nostrils flare in response to my words. Is he feeling what I’m feeling?
TARGET EXPERIENCING ELEVATED CARDIORESPIRATORY ACTIVITY. VASODILATION DETECTED IN FACIAL AND GENITAL REGIONS. NEUROCHEMICAL SIGNATURES CONSISTENT WITH SEXUAL AROUSAL .
“Holy hell!” I exclaim. “It’s like hearing voices without a sound.”
Kairen raises an eyebrow sardonically. “Are they talking to you?”
“Sure are,” I reply, still awed. Then I look at his crotch, where his cargo pants tent. “Very specifically.”
He snaps his fingers under my nose, then waits for me to look up. “They only give you the information you ask for, my princess,” he purrs, examining his perfect cuticles. I look at my torn ones, then ball my fists. Can’t my nanites heal that?
DIVERTING MENDING EFFORTS FROM CRANIUM TO UPPER EXTREMITIES.
“Argh!” I grab my now-throbbing head. My heartbeat echoes in my brainpan.
“Relax,” Kai murmurs, grabbing my shoulders with his long, elegant fingers. His eyes flash red, but it doesn’t frighten me at all. “I’ve overridden the medical protocols. They will ask for my confirmation before proceeding until you’re comfortable with them.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my forehead against his chest. “You’re a walking blessing, Kairen Veyrath.”
I feel his chin settle atop my head. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
I chuckle self-deprecatingly. I’ll let him live with his illusions.
“Are you too tired to learn how to utilize the exoskeleton armor, Princess?” he asks with a stirring of breath against my hair.
“If I say yes, can we stay like this?” I ask him with a hopeful note in my voice.
His shoulders shake with soundless laughter. “I’d hold you like this until we both return to stardust, but I would prefer to not worry about your safety for a moment longer than necessary.”
I make a cooing sound. This alien is the embodiment of a green flag.
“Alright,” I say with resolve, extricate myself from his embrace, and straighten my back. “How do I turn the exoskeleton on?”
I barely finish speaking when a tingling sensation travels through my body, starting at my neck and moving down to my feet. Jumping up, I twirl and look at myself from every angle, then run to the mirror on the dresser.
The armor is a pearlescent white, the pale imitation of his, broken by neon purple lines. But that’s not the freakiest part. I touch the side of my face, admiring the flickering line on my cheek.
“Your neural filaments are as beautiful as you are,” Kai says from behind me. I didn’t even notice him joining me at the mirror, but I now lock my eyes with his. We look good together. We look like we belong.
“What are they?” I ask in awe, turning my face this way and that to catch all the angles.
“A physical manifestation of the nanites,” he explains. “The more nanites you host, the more numerous the filaments. Adult Avaren have them over most of our bodies, depending on the occupation and station.”
When he places his hands on my shoulders, I instinctively step back until I’m pressed against him.
He rests his hands on my lower stomach, making the muscles there clench, then ever-so-slowly glides them up, stopping right under my breasts, accentuated by the skin-tight armor.
I wiggle against him, urging him on, my lower back brushing against his groin.
Rather than escalating the tension between us, Kai takes a step to the side and turns me around. “Look at your palms,” he instructs, his voice showing how affected he is by the sparks flying between us, reassuring me that it’s not all in my head.
I do as he says and admire the larger ports with the muted purple light in their center.
“Is this how you killed the Ghorvek the day we met?” I ask him. I remember the prince hovering behind our enemy and making it drop like a sack of stones with one pulse from his hands.
“Yes. This is as powerful as the gun I gave you, though it works at a shorter distance.” He gently takes my hand and turns it palm-up.
“Wait!” I panic, trying to pull back. “What if I accidentally set it off and hurt you? ”
“Don’t worry,” he soothes, massaging my fingers.
The sensation is odd coming through the ultralight armor between us.
I wonder if that’s how a snake senses touch, and consider asking my nanites.
Maybe they can talk to snakes? “They’ll be inert until you’re familiar enough with their use,” Kai continues, oblivious to my internal ramblings.
“Well, that’s a relief.” I laugh nervously, trying to resist the urge to kiss away the mischievous twist of his lips. This malien is too tempting for my sanity. “How do we practice without me giving innocent bystanders lobotomies, though?”
The sides of his eyes crinkle. “We’ll practice intent and control. Once you’ve mastered that, you’ll be able to utilize all aspects of your nanites safely. In the meanwhile…” The area around me shimmers purple. He must have had the nanites show themselves.
“Pretty. I’m guessing that’s the shield?”
Kairen nods and walks back to the bed. “Have the armor retract and then reappear,” he commands. The way he’s sitting back on the bed, leaning on his hands, makes me want to retract more than just my armor.
Gosh, I really do have a one-track mind, don’t I?
OBSESSIVE COGNITIVE FOCUS IS CONSISTENT WITH HORMONAL PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH PAIR-BONDING. ELEVATED OXYTOCIN, DOPAMINE, AND NOREPINEPHRINE DETECTED. CONCLUSION: EARLY-STAGE ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT.
I freeze, grimacing at myself.
“What’s the matter?” Kai asks, leaning forward like he might launch himself out of bed and intervene with whatever’s bugging me.
I wave him off. “I keep asking the nanites questions by mistake, and I’m shocked when they answer. They don’t sugarcoat, do they?”
His smile reveals those dangerous-looking canines. “They also don’t have a sense of humor, so don’t bother trying to explain your thoughts to them. They don’t care. ”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to reprogram myself to be more aligned with their program,” I murmur, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Don’t suggest that again,” he answers sternly. “You and your nanites will become accustomed to each other and work in synchrony.”
“Synchrony, eh?” I tease him. “What if I try to call off my armor and instead have them dissolve my clothes?”
The commander gives me a ferocious grin. “That would make them synchronous with my desires.”
I throw my head back and laugh, thoroughly enjoying the ease between us. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as free to be myself with anyone as I do with him.
“Alright, armor off,” I say out loud, then shudder when my skin tickles everywhere, retreating in the direction of my neck and the brand-new ports there.
“Perfect,” Kai praises. “Although there’s no need to say it out loud, I understand the impulse. However, you might give yourself away in battle if you’re attempting to command them to neutralize an enemy as you lie in ambush.”
Chuckling, I call the armor back, then off again, silently this time. I do a little dance when I’m successful.
“Now what?” I ask Kairen, excited to continue my training.
“Now, we’ve been invited to dinner with Elmsleigh and her commanders.” He tilts his head. “Do you think I could bring a nourishment drink from the Talon without causing her insult?”
I snort at his discomfort. “Speaking of the handy-dandy synthesis machines, do you have any extra ones we could give the humans? My base?” I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.
“We will create food production centers around the planet once the threat is more manageable,” he says, then stands up and walks toward me until our boots are inches apart.
“I know you want to help everyone immediately, but some things will take a few of your moonfalls. Some will take cycles.” His hands come up to rub my arms in soothing motions.
“I understand,” I mutter. The bemused look he gives me tells me my tone doesn’t match my words.
I step onto my tippy-toes and give him a kiss, the action still new and thrilling to me, but not scary at all.
“Let’s get this dinner over with. I want to see if Orien managed to get Maggie flustered yet. ”
Kairen grins evilly. “I’m not surprised my match and I are of the same mind here.”