Page 5 of Narzek
“I haven’t eaten since last rotation, so I thought you might be hungry as well,” he said, breaking the silence.
“Sure, now that you mention it, I am hungry, thank you.”
That was all the invitation Narzek needed to carry the tray over to the small table. He set the tray down and took the seat against the wall. Cayla padded across the floor, still barefoot, and took the other chair.
“I don’t know what you normally eat, so I picked a few of the things we normally have at first meal,” he said, setting a covered plate in front of her, a steamy mug of liquid. “The mug is slightly sweetened tea. It contains a mild stimulant, which is mainly why we drink it.”
Narzek lifted the cover from her plate and then his own and set them on the tray off to the side.
Cayla couldn’t identify anything on the plate, but it smelled good. There was a small bowl of steamy mush that looked a bit like oatmeal, possibly a meat patty and some assorted pieces of fruit. “I’m sure it’s okay. It looks and smells better than the stuff they fed us at the farm.
She picked up a utensil that was a spoon with three short tines and the serrated knife on her plate and cut a piece of the meat patty. Popping it into her mouth, she chewed it, concentrating on the flavor. It tasted a bit like lamb with some mild spices that enhanced the flavor.
“Not bad,” she said. “But I’m not that fussy. I’m used to army chow.” She paused to take another bite. “So, Lieutenant Commander Pardantu, are you going to tell me why I’m here on this warship instead of the passenger transport with the others.”
His gaze was openly admiring, yet he seemed to hesitate with the answer to her question. “Because you aresolmatu---mysolmatu,” he said finally. “Please call me Narzek.”
“Okay, Narzek. That must be one of those ancient Uatu words that don’t translate with my inferior translator.”
“Is it so hard to figure out? Can you tell me that you don’t feel the powerful attraction between us?”
Did she feel it? Oh, yeah! Her girly parts came to life for the first time in---too long. She was almost afraid to get too close because they might rub sparks off each other.
“Are we even the same species? You look human enough, but I haven’t seen that skin color variation before.” His skin was a light lavender blue.
“I am human. Humans are sprinkled all over this galaxy, maybe others. The Uatu people have a kind of sixth sense that allows them to recognize their soul mates. That issolmatu.You are my,solmatu,” he explained. “I knew as soon as I caught your scent. I wanted to stop everything and take you somewhere that we could get to know each other, but I couldn’t. So, I had you brought here until I finished my assignment. If I let you go with the others to the passenger ship, it could be a sun span before I might see you again.”
Cayla could only guess, but in that context, he probably meant about a year. “I see. What is customary when you recognize your soul mate?”
“I declaresolmatuto my commander, which gives me the right to have you onboard our ship so I can court you,” he said, never taking his eyes from her face. “To spend time with you so you can decide if you wish to become my mate for life.”
“Oh.” Cayla frowned. She didn’t know what she expected, but that wasn’t it. Initially, she thought maybe he just wanted to get laid and maybe have a fling for a few weeks or whatever time standard they used. “Wow.”
“You don’t have to decide whether to become my life mate now. We have a few weeks before we get to the next star system on our route, time for us to become better acquainted before you decide.”
“There is no way I can get back to Earth is there?”
“It could be arranged, but it would take some time,” he admitted reluctantly. “We would have to rendezvous with an Alliance ship, then they would arrange transport to Earth.” He looked even more disheartened as he said the last.
Cayla reached across the table and put her hand over his. “It’s nothing against you, LC. My parents probably think I am dead. I was in a war zone when they kidnapped me. It’s not like I can call them up and let them know I’m okay.”
“We can arrange to get word back to them. Earth is now a member of the Alliance, and they can relay a vid message to them. They’ve done it for other Earthers. Or are you determined to go there.”
Narzek turned his hand so he could hold hers. Now that she was touching him, she began to feel that unspoken connection between them. There was kindness in his eyes and longing. This man didn’t just want to get laid. He wanted to love and be loved.
Whether or not he really was her soul mate, Cayla was intensely attracted to him. Getting word to her parents was really the most important thing. If she went back, she’d probably spend a couple weeks with them and go back to the army and finish her tour.
Watching her face, he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. She sucked in her breath audibly as she felt that kiss all the way to her core. Suddenly, the thought of going back to Earth and never seeing Narzek again was not all that appealing.
Narzek stood up and pulled her into his arms. Cayla instinctively looked up at him, parting her lips to accept his kiss as he lowered his mouth to hers. At first, it was a gentle caress of lips, and then his tongue slipped into her mouth as he deepened the kiss. He pressed her body tightly to his, so her breasts were squeezed against his firm chest.
Her heart was racing, and her core was throbbing as she felt his erection against her belly. The kiss went on and on until they were both trembling with desire, and Cayla could not think of one reason why not to just fuck him. She had never wanted a man the way she wanted him.
She was just about to throw caution to the wind when Narzek pulled back.
“I’m not trying to rush you into bed, I just wanted you to understand what is between us, what we could have together,” he said a little tightly.
“Yeah, that was pretty hot,” Cayla said as her cheeks grew warm. “Maybe we should sit back down and finish our breakfast.”
