The Bond That Ties Us Part 13

He watched her eyes light for a moment before she looked away. His heart sank.

"h.e.l.l no. Would you want to pick up and move to Earth with a person you'd just met a few hours ago? I don't think so," she said with a distinct lack of conviction.

When Haylie moved to stand up, Kamran quickly pointed to something on the screen. "Sit down. We are being monitored in here."

Haylie continued to stand but instead of leaving, she touched a few b.u.t.tons that were just out of reach on the monitor before sitting back down.

As she spoke, she nodded and smiled slightly. However, her tone of voice told him how angry she was. "What the h.e.l.l do you mean we are being monitored? We're in my security office. You didn't say anything about it last night."

66.

"Bring up something on the history of the Ecada for me. After you left me, I received a message from Taber. He received word earlier in the day that Donaldson has placed monitors in most of the human areas of the station. Video only. When he found out I was with you, he wanted me to know immediately."

Haylie shivered. "That son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h," she said, then froze. "s.h.i.t, what about the observation room?"

He'd shared her panic earlier. "I had him scan the room. He couldn't find a recording device. If Taber couldn't find one, then there isn't one to be found. It seems we were lucky."

"Thank G.o.d. Wait, did you tell Taber why?"

"He knows already. He's as close to me as family. I'd never be able to keep such a thing from him. There are too many changes to my personality."

"Oh."

Haylie seemed to accept this far too easily. He knew she didn't understand. With every pa.s.sing day it would be harder and harder for them to pretend there was nothing between them. The more their bodies grew in tune with each other, the more obvious it would be. And not only to the people who knew them, but to everyone.

"Taber's going to spend the day scanning the Briel quarters, in case Donaldson's managed to get some cameras in there without our knowing."

"Wouldn't that break about half a dozen treaties we have with your people?"

He reached out and brushed her hand with his. Even the slight contact was almost too much for him. Kamran ground his teeth together painfully until his l.u.s.t ebbed.

"Yes, but I don't think Sean is worried about that any longer."

"I'll scan my own quarters once I get off duty. I'll have to do it before Sara gets home or she'll ask a million questions."

Action. He was beginning to understand her. She needed action, something to do in order to feel in control of her life. Even now he saw the tension was starting to melt from her face.

"So the computer glitch you mentioned in your note was referring to the cameras? I want to be sure I'm not missing something else."

He wasn't sure, but she almost sounded disappointed.

"That was why I sent the note. Was there something else you wanted to...discuss?"

"Nope, simply wondering."

They sat in silence for a minute, the only motion in the room was the computer screen as it searched through the mountains of data stored on the system. Kamran looked over and watched Haylie rub her thumb over her fingertips.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked.

Before she could answer, the computer beeped at them.

67.

Haylie's voice had lost its angry edge. "There are one thousand and eleven articles on the Ecada. How would you like me to cross-reference them?" She turned to look at him, clearly puzzled. "What makes you think I wasn't feeling well?"

"You seemed bothered by Donaldson earlier. And it was more than him threatening to replace you. Did something happen before I arrived?" He paused before adding, "Bring up any Briel articles referencing this planet. You'll find them in a separate section of the database."

Haylie took a deep breath as her fingers worked frantically. Kamran stared at the speed in which they moved.

"No, Donaldson didn't do anything. But I had a dream last night."

"I told you that would happen." At least something was predictable between them.

"No, this wasn't of you. The dream was..."

She stopped and frowned.

"The dream was what?" he asked. She couldn't stop mid-sentence like that!

"Shhh. Let me read."

There was something in the tone of her voice that pulled him out of his l.u.s.t-induced haze.

"What's wrong?" Leaning forward, he tried to see what had intrigued her in the reams of data.

"I'm not sure. But...that can't be right." Haylie's curiosity was all encompa.s.sing.

She readjusted her chair before bringing up a doc.u.ment. The crest at the top indicated it was an official council report.

He scanned it quickly and tried to find a problem with the information before him.

"This is a standard Elder Council planetary survey. Our people create one of these for each new habitable planet we encounter. Everything seems to be in order."

"Is it the survey for this planet?" She faced him fully, her rich hazel eyes wide.

And, for a moment, he forgot to breathe. The contrast of her dark hair against her pale skin was mesmerizing.

"Kamran?"

"Sorry." Re-reading the doc.u.ment was a thankful distraction. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Yes, this is one of our preliminary land a.s.sessments for this planet. Why?"

"I'm not sure, but there's a check sum mismatch here."

Kamran sighed. "I'm going to pretend I know what that is supposed to mean."

Haylie began to sort through reams of data as it scrolled continuously over the screen. Kamran could feel her heartbeat increase, smell her excitement as she attempted to solve the puzzle. He couldn't follow the complexity of the code and chose to watch her instead. It was a far more enticing sight.

"Anything?"

68.

She turned to face him, eyes wide and sparkling with excitement.

"I still have some work to do. But it looks like someone hacked into the doc.u.ment and was tampering with it."

"Hacked?" He needed to brush up on his human idioms again.

"Tampered, changed, altered-usually for not very nice reasons."

Holy maker. "No one has ever tampered with Briel reports before. The security in place is more than adequate to prevent someone from breaking in."

In all his years as amba.s.sador, he had never encountered something like this. The council would have to be notified.

"Well, someone has shot down that theory. Look, see this," she pointed to a serial number that seemed out of place on the screen, "that's a marker. Hackers love to leave them when they've done a job. It's their way of p.i.s.sing off security. We can track what jobs they do by their markers but can't trace the marker back to them."

"Where would we find such a person? We need to know what he did."

"He or she could be anywhere. But with the security that the colony has on its data feed, I'll start by checking the station first. Even that isn't the right question," Haylie said. She touched his arm and he instantly felt her excitement course through him.

His heartbeat matched hers as a surge of adrenaline pounded through his blood. He wasn't merely engaged by her excitement, he was absorbing it.

Kamran's throat was dry. "And what do you suggest is the right question?"

Haylie didn't speak. Her eyes were focused on the spot where their bodies connected. She began to move her fingers over the warm skin of his arm, flexing them as she went. She wanted to do more. She wanted to slide her hand up his arm and across his chest. She wanted to pull open his jacket so she could lean in and kiss his neck.

Kamran inhaled sharply. He knew. How was he able to know what she was thinking? Not guessing at thoughts and feelings, but truly knowing what she wanted.

The noise of his surprise was enough to break the momentary spell they were under.

Haylie removed her hand, but reluctantly so.

"Who," she said, he voice shaky. She coughed once and started again. "Who would want to tamper with doc.u.ments of this nature? Humans would need this to be accurate in order to prove the legitimacy of their claim on this planet. And the Briel would not gain anything by altering the files."

She still faced him, and Kamran had to look away to focus. He wasn't going to be able to do this. He couldn't think straight when he was in the same room as Haylie.

How would he be able to work with her on the tampering problem if he couldn't be near her?

Distance. That's what he needed. Kamran stood and began to move around the room. After a moment, his head cleared and he could concentrate once more. He could feel her watching his every move. For the moment he had to ignore her.

69.

"Perhaps someone wanted to make it look like the Briel tried to incite a conflict between humans and the Ecada. Give the humans false information, knowingly put them in a dangerous situation," he offered.

Her voice drifted to him from over his shoulder, "There's no basis for such a claim.

The Briel are respected by most races out there as being impartial. Lord, you're a planet full of negotiators and diplomats."

"Not true. All of our diplomats and negotiators are off the planet."

When he turned, she was smiling at him. "That's crazy. What kind of race sends all their smart, single men off their world?"

"A race with not enough women," he said, returning her smile.

They stayed like that for a while. Looking at each other across the short distance of the room, each of them wanting to do a lot more and both knowing they couldn't. How long could he fight against this?

"So..." Haylie said, turning her face away to stare back at the computer screen, "What do we do from here?"

Kamran could think of a few things, and none of them had to do with the d.a.m.ned computer files. It only took a few steps to return to his chair beside her. He needed to take advantage of their short time together. Once he sat down, he shifted his position so that his back was to the windowed wall and placed his hand on Haylie's leg. He shifted the chair over to block his actions from the camera.

"Don't move," he said.

"What about surveillance?"

He slowly slid his hand up her thigh, "I'm half insane with desire and you're sitting there perfectly calm."

"I'm not-" she didn't finish, sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes as his fingers reached her p.u.s.s.y.

He smiled. "Yes, Haylie?"

He pushed his fingers a bit harder against the spot he knew would send her over the edge, circling her c.l.i.t. She bit her bottom lip as her hands gripped the edge of the table in front of her. He increased the pressure and could feel her dampness, smell her arousal as her cream began to flow. His c.o.c.k was threatening to explode, his b.a.l.l.s tight against his body. A single touch was all it would take.

"We...shouldn't do this."