Page 38 of Command

Threxin drew back. “It is on purpose?”

She shrugged. “Yeah…”

“But it is always in your eyes.”

“I can see fine.”

Why would she lie?

“You endlessly shove this away so that you can see,” he said.

“I do? Haven’t noticed.”

“I have.”

“That’s a very detailed thing to notice in someone of a species you despise.” She faced him now, with an eyebrow raised and arms crossed on her chest.

His spikes lifted as he considered her. Of course he had been noticing. She had to be monitored if he was to decide what to do with her after this. He had to learn whether she would remain useful, and for how long.

A bubbling of irritation was subdued by his limiter. Threxin put a finger to her mouth, where Alina Argoud wasagain working at her lip as if he wanted to bite chunks from it.

“Stop that,” he commanded, tugging at the pink flesh until it lay soft under his talon.

His eyes honing on the effect, Threxin monitored her with added vigilance. He noted for the first time the microscopic asymmetry of her mouth. Her top lip was smaller than the bottom and a little dimpled on the left side. He monitored her mouth’s texture, swiping the sensitive points of his fingers across the flesh. It gave under the pressure. When she parted her lips slightly for a sharp intake of breath, he analyzed the wet line that led to the inner portions of her mouth. He studied the subtle flash of blunt white teeth beyond. Threxin leaned forward and observed the scent of her hitching breath. It was light and artificially crisp on his mouth and nose. Some kind of oral scent chemical.

He leaned in and her arms remained rigid across her even as with a small, stuttered gasp, she drew in his breath. It chilled the space between them as he closed the distance to monitor her texture.

Soft.

“Wha-re-you-doin?” she mumbled against his mouth, squeezed against hers in motionless study.

“Monitoring.”

The act was simply an observation. It was permitted. If Threxin was to stop contact between the uhyre and these aliens, he should know what it was they were all chasing.

“Th… rexin.” His name stammered on her breath made his apertures widen receptively. He licked at her mouth, studying the words.

“Threxin,” she tried again. And yet she did not withdraw. “I… The exorin.”

“There is no exorin now,” he rasped against her.

And why should she trust him? For all she knew, the addictive toxin inside him could be on his tongue even now.It could be on his breath. Yet her shoulders slumped and her arms unfolded as if his words could not possibly be a lie. Something inside him coiled with craving to take more of that blind faith—to take it all.

The exorin did come then. Spikes puckered on his tongue, and soon the taste of it was at the roof of his mouth. Reluctant, Threxin pulled away before it could taint his lips, swallowing the traces.

Alina looked confused at the sudden cessation of his studies. Her eyes were half-closed, pupils almost as wide as when he’d taken them by force. For several ticks Threxin simply looked, evaluating his specimen.

He watched her sheepish uncertainty ferment.

“I don’t know what’s happening here,” she said finally, voice shaky. “It’s the isolation. This isn’t… We’re just not thinking straight.”

Threxin’s apertures narrowed. What did she think this was?

He was onlystudying. It had only been a test.

“You have mistaken me, human,” Threxin said coolly.

“I have?”

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