Parallel Fire (7 page)

“You don't intend to have anyone know,” she'd said, clutching at his arm.

Waving her to the far corner of the main room, he'd whispered, “Not now, Anna. Give it time.”

“We can't keep this secret—you do know that.”

He'd given her a stern look. “Lieutenant, our first duties are within this military. Not to each other.”

Mouth agape, she'd backed away from him, saying nothing.

“Anna!” he'd called, but she had kept on walking.

Shortly after that, she vacated the main compound, and he'd not seen her since. When it became apparent that she wasn't returning, he finally decided to visit his personal doctor down on the base. The least he could do was learn the truth about the situation between he and Anna—the biological truth, that was.

The doctor appeared in the waiting room. “Lieutenant Daniels,” he said with a pleasant smile, “please come with me.”

 

 

 

Nevin rolled down his shirt sleeve, arm aching from the blood sample the doctor had just drawn. “So you'll be able to tell me today?” he asked the doctor who had already injected his sample into the diagnostic computer.

“I'll be able to tell you within moments—just have to let the data upload.”

Nevin raked both hands through his hair. “I don't get it,” he complained, “Look at me—silver-haired and totally mature by every outward sign. And yet you're saying I might still be fertile?”

“It's not common, but it does happen on rare occasions,” the man explained, studying the computer screen. Nevin's heart began to pound; if he was still fertile, that could mean… “Of course, if you aren't actually mature, then you need to be thinking about any unprotected sex you might have had recently.”

Inwardly, Nevin groaned. Unprotected sex? Oh, yes indeed he'd had it; he should have taken precautions it now seemed, but more than that, he should have done a better job of protecting his heart too.

The computer screen changed hue, a data trail scrolling downward, and the doctor let out a whistle. “Good grief, Lieutenant, you're not just fertile—you're as fertile as a
gnangat'ai
in springtime.”

“Wh-what?” Nevin stammered.

The doctor spun to face him, grinning like a school boy. “You're what we deem ‘dynamically fertile', sir. Congratulations. You must be having a splendid time of it.”

Nevin blushed painfully. “I don't understand.”

“The rare Refarian male makes a change—gets the silver hair like you've got there—but his body enters a sort of sexual hyper-zone. His drives intensify keenly, his fertility ratio goes off the charts…and it lasts for years. If you've been making love to any women lately…?”

“Just one,” Nevin admitted, throat dry as he thought of Anna. Gods, if he'd gotten her pregnant, there'd be no hiding their lifebonding.

“Well, if you coupled with her more than once, you might not be looking at just one pregnancy, but a second laid down on top of that one. Possibly a third.”

“Doctor, are you trying to give me fucking heart failure?” Nevin barked.

“I'm trying to explain the situation to you, young man. You are a fertility powerhouse right now—and if you've been spreading your seed around beyond that one woman, you may need to figure out just how many children you've sired.”

“You're my doctor, you should have warned me about this. I saw you after my hair went silver.”

The doctor shook his head. “And you were no longer fertile. Something brought this on.”

“Something—or someone?” Nevin thought of the absolute mating
frenzy
that Anna had put him in.

“Yes, high fertility like this can be induced by a particular partner. It's nature's way, you know, how newly mature men become so randy. Every now and then, too, it drives the male back into fertility. You might even go black-headed again,” the doctor volunteered with a jocular laugh.

Nevin shot a look at himself in the sink mirror, and imagined himself with dark, unsilvered hair once again. Then he flinched, realizing that he might have seeded several babies inside of Anna. “I need to find that woman,” he said, still studying himself in the mirror.

“She's not just any woman, now is she, Lieutenant Daniels?”

He grinned at the wizened doctor. “No, doctor,” he admitted with a grin, “she's my lifemate.”

 

 

 

When Nevin returned to the lodge, Anna was nowhere to be found, and he learned from her twin sister that she'd been working with several soldiers down at Base Ten. It felt as if she would never return, and although he retreated to the meeting room to study schematics and some battle strategies, he couldn't bring his mind to focus. All he could think of was Anna being pregnant—maybe even with multiple babies. As much as he yearned for a family with her, it was the last thing either of them had really imagined.

When nightfall came, he made an appearance at dinner, positioning himself at the table with Jared and Kelsey. He could only hope that Anna's hurt and anger from his earlier behavior wouldn't keep her gone all night. He'd been cruel, treating her dismissively with their king, and she hadn't deserved any of it.

Of course she wanted to share quarters with him—and of course she wanted the world to know. As the day had worn on, he'd realized what a ridiculous fool he'd been to even imagine that they could hide the true nature of their relationship, the depth of their lifebonding, from those around them.

Beside him, Jared cleared his throat, explaining that he'd voiced some polite question three times now without a reply. Nevin blinked back at him, feeling dazed.

He placed his right fist over his heart, and bowed deeply. “Apologies, my lord,” he said, feeling ashamed to have shown such dishonor to his king and commander.

“Rise, Lieutenant,” Jared told him impatiently. Nevin knew all too well that the king had little patience for his deeply held traditions, but he would as soon have resigned his position than treat his commander any differently.

Again, Jared intruded on his thoughts. “
N'Vsai
, are you feeling all right?” Only then did he realize he was still frozen, one hand over his heart, bowing deeply. With a stiff gesture, he sat up straight in the chair.

“No, my lord, I am feeling quite…unlike myself.”

“The past few days took a toll on you, I am certain,” Jared agreed.

Kelsey gazed at him in concern. “Perhaps you should go to the medical area?”

“No!” He shook his head, softening his tone. “No, my lady, I have already been.”

“It wouldn't hurt you to go back,” she offered, clearly wondering why he'd been so adamant.

Pressing both hands to his temples, he decided that there was no moment like the present; sucking in a fortifying breath he whispered, “I have much to confess.”

 

 

 

Nevin tossed back a shot of whiskey that his king had poured for him. “Well, congratulations are definitely in order,” Jared had thundered joyously. Nevin wished he could share his king's good humor.

“Sir, you don't seem to understand—I have faltered to the worst possible extent with her. There may well be nothing to celebrate,” he admitted miserably, draining the rest of the whiskey.

Jared wasted no time, and hit him again; Nevin wasted no time, either, and drained the glass dry with one gulp. He saw Jared's black eyes sparkle with amusement.

Nevin turned to him, feeling fuzzy and warm and tossed both hands in the air. “I know! I know! It doesn't seem at all like me, does it?” he half-slurred. “She's changed me, Jared, that's why. She did something to me, Kelsey.” He plunked his glass back down on the table, feeling very cozy with his king and queen. It felt nice to call them by their first names.

He saw them exchange a look, stifling smiles, the both of them. “Go on, it's all right. Laugh. I'm sure this is pretty amusing, isn't it?”

Jared slipped an arm about his shoulder. “
N'Vsai
, it's only amusing because in the past months my wife and I have known just how falling in love can dismantle you. Completely. It strikes me that Anna has had quite the time taking you apart, piece by piece.”

“She's pregnant,” Nevin blurted, reaching for the bottle of whiskey himself.

He didn't have to look at the royal pair to see the confusion in their faces. “Yes, indeed, it seems that”—he thunked a fist against his chest proudly—“that I'm actually fertile as the day is long. Nobody knew it. Nobody told me, so hell no, we didn't take a single precaution. The doc says she might have a few babes inside of her already. A
few
.”

Nevin paused only long enough to drain yet another glass filled with Scotch, holding his verbal place in the conversation by keeping one hand extended. “And she has no idea,” he gulped, slamming the glass down once again. Only this time Jared slid it out of his reach, and Kelsey took the bottle back into the kitchen.

“You need to slow down there, Nevin.” Jared propped both hands behind his head, tilting backward in his chair. “Otherwise, you and your lovely new lifemate will have one hell of a time when she returns. You don't want to unload all of this upon her without warning.”

“She's not coming back, sir. That's what I'm telling you—I totally blew it with her this morning. She thinks I'm ashamed for the camp to know we're together.”

“Are you?”

“Absolutely not—but I
am
ashamed of my poor judgment. I completely failed you, my lord.” Nevin buried his head within his hands miserably. “I am her superior officer; I knew better…”

“There are no directives within our military structure that forbid lifemating.”

“None that are spelled out.” Nevin slapped a fist against the table. “But I feel the weight of my position, my lord.” He turned in his chair, meeting Jared's gaze soberly. “I have failed you. If you wish for my resignation, you shall have it.”

Jared frowned, tilting his head sideways. “You have always confused me, Nevin. Your intensity, your seriousness. Now, more than ever. Anna will make a splendid lifemate for you. What is your real concern?”

Nevin stared into his king's eyes, and for the very first time understood his real fears about loving Anna. “I have no control with her, not even an ounce of it.”

His queen, returning from the kitchen, began to laugh. “Nevin, you aren't supposed to have control with your mate. That's the whole point.”

“But it's terrifying,” he admitted, bowing his head solemnly.

“That,” Jared agreed with a laugh of his own, “is also the point. And if I were you, I'd go to her quickly—at least based on my own experience.”

“You are certain, my lord?” Nevin searched his king's face and saw nothing but support and genuine happiness.

“With our blessing.” Jared rose from his seat, carrying his plate with him. “But don't blurt out the part about the babies until you've had the chance to truly make up. Just a piece of advice from my marital career so far.”

 

 

 

Nevin took the connecting hallways and elevator, but apparently his lifemate had taken the trail outside, heading back up to the lodge. In exasperation, he exited the lower area of the base, hit the trail and began hiking up the mountain at an aggressive rate. The remaining snow along the mountain path was packed, so there wasn't any making out her boot prints; when he didn't reach her, he punched at his communicator angrily. “I need the location of Lieutenant Anna Draekus,” he commanded.

He expected her to answer, but the only reply he got was that she'd left the base around approximately fifteen minutes earlier—and this was not new intel.

Nothing at all came over the comm from his lifemate. “I'm still her commanding officer, and I'll be damned if she won't answer me,” he muttered, the former glow from the whiskey morphing into irritability.

“Lieutenant Anna Draekus, your position please?” he called into the comm, but she didn't answer at all.

Damn it, all he wanted was to find his mate, to make up with her, to lay with her, to tell her the deepest secrets of his heart. And he wanted all of that—every last bit of it—right now. Not later, not another day, but now.

Sinking to the ground, he calculated his position in regards to love; he and Anna were forever tied together by the bond that they'd formed. However, she could choose to shut him out forever—even though he had to admit it didn't seem much like her personality. Still, the thought of never holding her again stabbed at his most primal, base instincts. He tossed back his head and howled his need for her, giving in to the dizzying lusts that kept pummeling through his body.

No answer came from the woods, not that he expected it would. He stared upward at the moon and released a melancholy, plaintive cry for her…still no sound in return. Would she even know his call if she heard it? It was personal, intimate, memorized over time between lovers.

Personal, like their energy, he thought, his mood instantly brightening. Oh, yes, he had a brilliant idea of how to win Anna back. Opening his palm, he allowed a glowing sphere of his power to form until it swirled beneath his two hands. Working it upward toward his lips, he leaned forward and whispered her name into the fiery orb. Over and over, he whispered “Anna… Anna…” Infusing his energy with all the love he felt for her. Then, raising his hands high, he released the energy into the night woods and watched as it shot up the dark mountainside, seeking her out like his own personal missile.

 

 

 

Anna stood on the deck of the main lodge, staring at the stars overhead. It was a perfectly clear night that seemed
perfectly
designed to illuminate her heartbreak. From deep within the woods below she'd almost imagined the sound of Nevin's cry for her, but she knew her heart was only imagining what it wanted to hear.