9781618852014TheSpaceCougarsCadetPierce (5 page)

“Earth’s
Central Command informs me that we will be stepping up our military presence
all over the quadrant,” the Chancellor continued when the auditorium quieted
again. His stern brow wrinkled and his chilly eyes swept the room. Though he
was in late middle age now, his tall, lean frame still exuded tightly
controlled physical strength and authority. “Our new graduates can expect to be
put on patrol ships right away. The Institute is temporarily suspending all
applications for post graduate research fellowships and tutorial posts.”
 

The
words made
Layla’s
pulse speed up. Once
Jaret
was assigned to a ship, she would most likely never
see him again. He would segue into a distinguished military career, while she
welcomed a new class of students to the Institute, and the younger cadets would
move into their natural roles as upperclassmen. At least she knew that she
would never get involved with one of her students again, no matter how close he
was to graduating. She couldn’t think of her time with
Jaret
as a mistake, but she didn’t care for the ache he’d left in her heart, either.
After the assembly, she and
Xath
walked together
across the campus arm in arm.
Layla
couldn’t hide her
sadness from him. He’d always known her better than anyone.

“I
won’t ask for any specifics,” he said, reaching up to pat the hand resting on
his bent elbow. “I assume it ended badly, though.”

Layla
sighed. “No…I wouldn’t say that, not exactly. The
truth is, my first responsibility is to the Institute. That hasn’t changed. I
don’t suppose it ever will.”

They
stopped walking.
Xath
bowed his head and touched his
thick, fleshy horns to her forehead in a gesture of affection. “Loyalty and
responsibility are admirable traits, to be sure. Yet in some cases it is no
crime to put your own happiness first. If this young man has made you feel
something you long to feel again, you must reach out and grasp the opportunity
with both hands.”

The
tenderness of his gesture, and the sincerity of his words, brought tears to her
eyes. “That would be a bit like grasping at air, I’m afraid.”

“Isn’t
air a bit like love, though? You can never see or weigh it, at least not
without specialized instruments and years of training in atmospheric
simulation—you just have to have faith that our engineers have put it there.”

Love?
Funny how that word kept coming up lately—but yes. She did love
Jaret
. Loving him also meant respecting the future he had
with
Starforce
, and she would not take that from him.

When
Xath
dropped her off at the lift to her quarters,
Layla
went directly to her room, threw her uniform on the
floor and crawled naked into her empty bed. She forced herself to go to sleep,
her cheek resting on a pillowcase already damp with tears.

* * * *

She
saw nothing of
Jaret
for the next two solar days,
though his name came up several times in conversations with faculty members who
praised his nearly perfect exam scores. She also heard more talk of the cadets
mobilizing as soon as the graduation ceremony was complete. Rumor had it that
within an hour after the last exam, each would receive orders.
Jaret
would get an excellent assignment befitting his
skills and bravery. Of that, she felt certain.

As
she left her office on the second day, she spotted
Jaret
himself across the courtyard. He stood among a group of fellow seniors, male
and female, all of whom had presumably just come from an exam. The cadets
discussed and debated the answers they had given with animated gestures and
earnest expressions she found endearing and yet tragic. In a few short days,
academic conundrums and philosophical debates would be the least of their
worries. They would be girding themselves for battle.
Layla
drew out of sight behind the side of the building until he and his friends had
walked on. She was about to continue on her own way when someone loomed up
behind her, startling her.

“I’m
glad to see you,
Layla
.” She whirled to find the
Chancellor watching her, his hands clasped behind his back, his uniform crisp
and buttoned up to the throat, as always. “I have been hoping we might speak
privately. Will you accompany me to my office?”

“Of
course,” she said, struggling not to betray the dread she felt. Had the news of
her affair with
Jaret
somehow reached the
administration? Surely
Xath
wouldn’t have shared his
suspicions, but rumors had a way of gaining momentum in such an insular
community as theirs. Anyone might have let the wrong word slip—someone in the
travelcraft
bay, perhaps, or one of
Jaret’s
friends? The chancellor said nothing until they reached his office, where he
motioned her into a seat opposite his desk. He sat twisting his fingers for a
few moments.

“This
new wrinkle, with the brigand invasions….” he began. “To call it a worrisome
situation is, I am sure you can appreciate, a serious understatement.”

So
this wasn’t about
Jaret
, after all.
Layla
was so relieved she almost wept.

“Oh,
yes,” she blurted. “Yes, I quite see that.”

“We
will need everyone to pull together in this time of great stress.”

Layla
nodded, wondering where in the galaxy this
conversation could be going. “I suppose that’s true enough.”

The
chancellor’s eyes narrowed, jolting her pulse rate again. “It’s no secret you
have opposed some of my policies with respect to the Institute taking a new
direction in the face of this crisis.”

“I
don’t think we should become a training ground for warriors and mercenaries,
no. This Institute has always promoted peaceful exploration and diplomacy
first. I understand the need for a strong defense of our colonists, but what
you’re proposing seems to go further.”

“I’m
sorry you feel that way.” A muscle in the chancellor’s clean-shaven jaw
twitched and the veins throbbed visibly in his wide forehead. “I am doing what
must be done to save lives, nothing more and nothing less. Sometimes, drastic
measures prevent greater tragedies. The men and women who train with us
understand that. I would hope our instructors do, too.”

She
sighed, wanting nothing more than to leave his office and forget about the
whole depressing topic for a while. “I am loyal to the Institute and the
Institute must follow the dictates of Central Command. Whatever my personal
misgivings, I will go along with what is asked of me.”

“I’m
glad to hear it.” The chancellor looked relieved. “I also want to advise you
that this new direction for the Institute will necessitate some curriculum
changes.”

“Curriculum
changes? You mean, as in my classes on diplomacy?”

“Some
adjustments must be made, of course, to ensure that all the courses at the
Institute present a unified philosophy.”

Meaning a militaristic one
, she thought
grimly. The very thing she’d fought against since she’d given her first
Institute lecture nearly twenty Earth years earlier. Though she felt as though
the chancellor had leaned over and punched her square in the gut, she knew
better than to betray anything beyond a resigned half-smile.

“I
suppose some changes are inevitable. We’ll have to do our best to both advance
a practical approach and maintain our individual integrity.”

The
moment she said it, she felt shocked at her own hypocrisy. Over the last few
days, her own definition of ‘integrity,’ at least as far as students were
concerned, had undergone a few adjustments. Luckily, the Chancellor remained
oblivious to her inner distress. His expression grew smug.

“I’m
glad you’re beginning to see things my way,” he said.

* * * *

Later
that night, after she’d changed into a loose-fitting leisure garment, someone
buzzed her door. She got up and pressed the “admit” button, expecting to see
Xath
. Instead, she found herself staring at
Jaret
.

“I
finished my last exam today,” he announced. “A few hours ago, I received word
that I had passed all of them with distinction.”

“Congratulations,”
she said with genuine pride in his accomplishment. He blushed so deeply that
the tips of his ears turned red.

“Thank
you,” he said. “An hour after that, I received the following communication.”

Jaret
reached into the pocket of his uniform jacket and
pulled out a chip.
Layla
took it from him and walked
over to slip it into her desk reader.

“
Jaret
, this is amazing! You’ve been offered a junior
officer’s position on a flagship! The Trailblazer is one of our finest vessels.
You will be on the fast track to a command of your own. This is wonderful.”

“I
suppose it could be considered a fitting cap to my education here.”

“You’ll
have a place in
Starforce
for the rest of your life.
I know you will be one of its finest officers. Your name will be in the history
tapes one day. I’m sure of that.”

“If
what you suggest ever does come to pass, I shall owe much of my success to
you.”

“Nonsense.
I only helped shape what was already there. You owe me nothing.”

He
pursed his lips, obviously ready to protest further, but ultimately deciding
against it.

“Technically,
now that I have finished my exams, I am no longer a cadet. May I suggest we
restart our relationship on a different footing?”

“In
what sense?”

“Our
lives will soon take us on separate paths. By tomorrow evening, when the
graduation ceremony is complete, everything will be different.”

“Yes…that’s
true.” One thing would still be the same, she knew. Her body burned for him
now, and it would still burn tomorrow. That would never change. She knew that
as surely as she knew her own name.

 
“Yet I believe we will always share a
connection,” he went on. “Perhaps we should celebrate that tonight, before
circumstances force us to move on.”

She
knew what he was asking. Every gram of common sense she possessed told her to
refuse, to preserve whatever shreds of her heart her relationship with him had
left intact. Yet, in the end, she could only answer one way.

“I
agree. We should.”

He slipped his
arms around her waist. His lips nuzzled her neck and then moved lower. She
gripped the mound between his legs and felt his hardness stir against her
fingers. Slowly and deliberately, she undid his fly and eased his cock out into
the open. She stroked its thick, hard length with the ball of her thumb and the
tips of her fingernails, alternating a light touch with insistent pressure.
Jaret’s
breath caught in his throat, his chest heaving with
desire. His own hands moved up to cup her breasts, massaging their fullness
through the thin fabric of her evening garment. He lifted it over her head and
let it flutter to the floor while she opened his uniform jacket and shirt. He
shed the rest of his clothes on the way to her bedroom.

Layla
stretched out on the bed, opening her legs to him. He
crawled on top of her, threading his fingers into the tuft of dark hair between
her thighs, planting kisses everywhere except the place she needed him most.

“Please,”
she urged, raking her fingers along his back. The word came out in a half-moan.
“Please,
Jaret
. I need you.”

He
raised his head, his smoldering gaze traveling across her flushed abdomen and
between her breasts. Their gazes met in a moment of perfect understanding and
raw, mutual craving. Then, without the slightest hint of hurry, he dropped his
attention back to her pussy, cupped one hand beneath the curve of her buttocks
for leverage, and gently nestled his mouth against her hot pussy.

Layla
clutched at his shoulders as his tongue probed her
moist folds, each flick urging her to greater heights of excitement. Soon he
added a finger, sliding it inside her so that she felt equal pressure both from
within and without. Meanwhile, his thumb moved upward and sought her swollen
bud. He rubbed it gently, as if polishing a delicate and precious pearl, firing
sparks of pleasure all the way up to her nipples.
Layla
marveled at how well he’d come to know her body in the relatively short time
since they’d first enjoyed each other. Apparently, he’d taken her advice to
heart about serving his partner. Every motion he made seemed specially
orchestrated to meet her needs. Some were needs she hadn’t even been aware of.

She
began to breathe faster, her pulse thrumming in her ears as he dragged her
closer to the edge. As she crested the pinnacle of arousal, she imagined
herself standing on a very high precipice, a winged creature preparing to dive
into open air and float to the ground. Just as she unfurled herself and started
forward,
Jaret
pulled away. Without a word, he
replaced his mouth with his cock and pushed deep inside her.

The
room closed in around her, every sound and image contracting in her head until
all that remained was a thick, red haze that pulsed in time to their mingled
heartbeats. They’d become part of each other, their pleasure mutual and shared,
the boundaries between their bodies dissolved. He waited until he had worked
his way inside her, nestled himself as snugly as he could and then came long
and hard, her body coasting along with him. Their problems seemed very far away
as they curled together to sleep. It was the first time he dared to spend the
entire night with her, she realized. And it would most likely be the last time
they would ever be together. She saw the pain in his face when he rose in the
morning. Already the distancing had begun. Inevitable as it was, it felt like a
fresh stab in the heart for her, too.