SCORPIUS SYSTEM
The very tall elf strode onto the operations deck of the Freyja, discriminating gaze passing over the pandemonium. Varanger turned away from the control board for nothing more than the elf's sheer presence. If the delegation hadn't come aboard under terms of peace, he would have made even her shake in her boots.
Horns of black and bronze stretched and curled a foot from his head of raven-black hair that rested against his neck. If that wasn't enough to make him intimidating, his features were harsh and unyielding, like a football coach displeased with the progress of the game.
She'd seen him with the chancellor and the other elf he'd brought with him, but he seemed larger than life now. She almost gave him a report of the battle as she would have for William. She turned and gave a quick command to a technician before taking long strides toward him. His piercing green eyes bore down on her from his impressive height of six feet six inches.
"Would you like to explain to me what is going on here?" he asked in a quiet voice nearly drowned out by the cacophony, Varanger surprised he didn't use the voice his kind seemed fond of using for humans. Despite the quiet tone, however, his eyes called her to task.
"The Ljosalfar have arrived and we're—"
"That is one ship," he said in precise English.
"That one ship is firing on us," she said testily. "What do you suggest?"
"That is exactly what they want. They are testing your defenses and you're showing all your cards."
She pressed her lips together. "If we don't, they'll destroy us—"
"Cease fire."
"Excuse me?"
"You have twelve ships not including this one and you've barely dented it—"
"We have other contingencies," she said cryptically and those powerful eyes stared her down.
"Cease fire," he repeated, walking past her before she could give a response and she turned to look him over, considering her options before she gave the order. "Open a channel," he commanded a nearby technician in a voice of authority she couldn't help but appreciate. The tech turned to look at her and she nodded.
"Cease fire?" another corporal asked in confusion. One look from the horned god had him averting his gaze, sitting down to comply with the order. The Dokkalfar looked at the screen as it changed immediately, the ship and space replaced by the most gorgeous, cold creature she'd ever laid eyes on.
He almost reminded her of an angel if it weren't for the horns and eyes that held such ice, she felt a chill. This creature wants our utter destruction, she thought as the Dokkalfar met the gaze of the light elf who drew himself up, giving him a distant, if superior gaze.
"Valiskar," he said in a voice like butter on silk.
"Find what you're looking for yet?" the Dokkalfar asked in a tone like the light elf's gaze.
"I wondered if Loridian would have left a lone guard."
Valiskar gave him a tolerant gaze.
"Are you finished with the production?"
"I have my purpose and you have yours, I trust."
"Your friends aren't here, L'aeric. It's just you and me. Let us come to an agreement before this can escalate much farther."
A deep rumbling filled the speakers, those icy eyes filling with sardonic amusement.
"Only you would try to turn me, Valiskar. I have missed our talks. You never call, you never write."
"This war is unnecessary and you know it."
The light elf sighed, an admittedly glorious sound.
"That ship has sailed and we both know it, my friend." Something close to a smile filled his eyes. "I do appreciate the attempt, though. I always did enjoy your audacity."
"Then come aboard and we can handle this like civilized elves."
The light elf gave another low chuckle and it reminded Varanger of Hades after the outbreak of a war.
"Think to talk your way out of this, Val? Of course you do, what am I saying." He gave him a dominant smile Varanger found engaging. "The time for conversation is past."
Valiskar gave him a measuring gaze.
"It will take the fleet time to get here. Come aboard. You have gathered and delivered all the information you're going to."
The light elf shook his head.
"Why prolong the inevitable? You have chosen the wrong side in this fight—"
"We have each always done what we feel is best for our people."
The light elf gave him a calculating gaze. The Dokkalfr switched to a language she didn't know, but it almost hurt her ears.
The light elf gave him a dominant look that lost its friendliness. He responded, Varanger looking down at the holographic map of contacts floating above the control board. They flashed when a contact initiated its firing sequence and they were no longer flashing. She was surprised he had ceased fire just to have a conversation.
She couldn't imagine their technology would prohibit communication and firing at the same time. The screen flicked back to the ship and space and the Dokkalfar turned around. She couldn't be sure, but he appeared harsher than before the conversation with the light elf.
"What's going on?" she asked as he took long strides toward the entrance.
"He's coming aboard," he replied quietly. "You have a reprieve until he gives the order to continue firing, which he won't do as long as he's on board."
She turned to stare at his back.
"And we're supposed to just let him on board?"
The Dokkalfr rounded on her and she almost took a step back, but she never had after twenty-five years in the Navy, and she wouldn't start now.
"Would you prefer to be destroyed now or later?" he asked in a clipped tone.
"We have a nuclear weapon that is going to deploy within the next few minutes—"
He pressed his lips together as fire filled his eyes that silenced her.
"You will not release that weapon until I give the order, Chief."
She bristled at his tone and he turned, striding from the operations deck. She almost saw flames in his wake.
Head of Council Valiskar Kierin waited impatiently at the hangar bay, his features a slab of rock that concealed the intensity of his emotions he kept carefully in check at all times. When High Elf Commander L'aeric came striding into the corridor in gleaming armor and pristine white uniform, the dull metal seemed to gain luster. At six foot two inches, he would be considered short among the Dokkalfar, but he'd always made up for that with presence.
L'aeric stopped in front of him with dominant ice blue eyes before Valiskar turned to escort him down the hall. The high elf said nothing as he fell into step with him, the heavy sound of his boots as they hit the floor the only interruption of the silence. When Valiskar stepped inside a tube, the high elf said nothing as he followed, but he looked over at him with an expression Valiskar didn't care to translate.
The door slid open and Valiskar went out first, leading the way halfway down the corridor before turning into his suite. L'aeric took in the room within seconds, stopping just inside as the door slid shut behind him. He watched him take slow, confident strides to the liquor cabinet. He set down a glass on a table in front of a couch. L'aeric walked up to it, leaning over to take the glass, sloshing the contents around before raising a measuring gaze to him.
"Elvish?"
Valiskar's dominant gaze only met him as he took a drink from his own glass. The high elf gave something close to a shrug before he drained the glass. He sat in a chair beside the couch, looking up at him. L'aeric brushed some lint from his uniform, looking down at his sleeve.
"Did you mean what you said?"
"Have I ever said something I don't mean?"
L'aeric titled his head, his gaze turning calculating.
"You would do that for this rabble?" Valiskar looked away from him tolerantly. "The battle has already been lost, Val, you know that—"
Valiskar returned his gaze to him and the light elf silenced himself, giving him a chiding look.
"Are we in agreement?"
L'aeric glanced away from him.
"It doesn't mean as much to us as it does to you Dokkalfar."
Valiskar raised an eyebrow. "Then why come over here?"
Those ice blue eyes studied him, and once again, he couldn't read him. He rose to his feet, setting down his glass before walking past him into the bedroom. Valiskar's gaze followed him, pressing his lips together.
Valiskar filled the doorway, L'aeric by the bed, untying his armor sleeves. He knew he shouldn't press the subject, but he felt anger building in him.
"Do you want this or not?" he asked with more intensity than the conversation required. "You seem like you could just as well have another drink—"
L'aeric turned, giving him a tolerant, if fond gaze.
"Our people show passion differently, my friend, you know that."
Valiskar calmed a bit. He walked up to him, those eyes studying him as he approached.
"I am only willing to do this if it's what you really want. You've been hinting at it for years..."
L'aeric's gaze gentled. "I never imagined you would agree."
Valiskar's gaze lost some of its ice.
"Because of our opposing peoples?"
L'aeric's gaze grew distant. "You never struck me as particularly sexual."
Valiskar grunted. "And you do? I've never been sure if you were mocking me or if you had legitimate interest."
The high elf walked up to him with slower pace than usual, Valiskar finding himself drawn into his heated gaze as his fingers took the ends of his hair and released it, the gesture having the effect of a caress.
"Has anyone ever feigned interest in you, my friend?"
Valiskar's gaze heated as well before L'aeric took his head, guiding him down for an experimental kiss. Valiskar returned it with sensual heat before the light elf leaned back. He looked down into his usually icy gaze filled with fire, from desire or something else, he couldn't tell. L'aeric took his robe and slid it from his shoulders, casually dropping it on the bed behind him in an authoritative movement, returning his gaze to him.
He came closer, looking up into his eyes as he took his tunic apart that fastened in the middle. He rested it on the bed on top of his robe instead of dropping it on the floor. He unzipped the side of his pants, his blue eyes never leaving him, sliding them down his hips until they fell on the floor. The high elf then sat down on the bed, taking his time looking at him from head to toe before returning his gaze to Valiskar's fiery eyes. He walked up to him and kissed him with dominance, his hands in his blond, nearly white hair, pushing him back on the bed as he went on top.
Unlike his Ljosalfr counterpart, he tore his armor off and dropped it off the side of the bed, those icy blue eyes watching him. He knelt on the mattress as he took his pants off aggressively, leaning over him to pull his tunic over his head. L'aeric touched his hips as though testing the feel of his skin when Valiskar pulled him down closer to him, kissing him with the same aggression that he'd undressed him. L'aeric touched his hair gently as the Dokkalfr ravaged his mouth.
Valiskar brought his muscular legs around him, his hands on his butt cheeks pressing him against him. L'aeric wrapped his arms around his neck tightly as he kissed him with passion, his hands in his hair. Valiskar turned him over without ado, taking his hair in a masterful grip as he pressed himself against his backside, leaning over to bite his neck. His other hand slipped around his front and worked him hard, his Ljosalfr counterpart gasping in surprise and then release.
Valiskar rode him hard, the light elf's moans filling his bedroom. His thrusts increased speed even more, unable to differentiate if the elf's cries were from pleasure or pain, both powering his passion. When he finished, his thrusts slowed but didn't cease, his grip on his hair softening. He rode him in a nearly comforting manner, feeling his partner moving with him in a synchronized dance he never imagined he would have with a Ljosalfr.
He leaned against him, brushing his hair away to kiss his neck, his hands running down his spine in a massage. When they arrived at his buttocks, he massaged that as well, a soft moan coming from beneath him. He finally slowed to a stop, dismounting not as roughly as he could have. He rolled off the bed and walked toward the refreshment room, the light elf on the bed already fast asleep.
Valiskar returned from his shower, wrapping a robe around him, his demeanor softening when he saw L'aeric hadn't moved, in fact he thought he heard low snoring. Valiskar sat on his side of the bed, bringing his device on his lap to send Chief Varanger a message requesting an update. He sent the message and opened up another, surprisingly from Chancellor Loridian. He read the contents, looking up at his sleeping guest as he considered his response. He replied, taking longer than he would normally, before sending it.
L'aeric exhaled as he turned on his side, facing him. Valiskar looked up at him with an expressionless gaze that concealed whatever he might be thinking or feeling. He expected a comment about how rough he'd been, but the high elf only rested his head on his arm, meeting his gaze. He wasn't sure why his chest filled with pressure at his consistent gaze.
Valiskar wasn't sure how long they looked into each other's eyes before the commander rose from the bed and went into the refreshment room. Valiskar looked down, uncertain why the exchange had felt more intimate than their relations. He had intended to be cold and mechanical and felt he'd accomplished that, but the way he'd looked at him just then, for such a prolonged time, made him think he had made a misstep. You should have stopped before the massage. You should have gotten off as soon as you came. Why did you linger?
The refreshment door opened and the scent of freshly bathed male greeted him though he didn't look up from his device. From the corner of his eye, he watched him dress. When he stood facing away from him, only putting his armor on, Valiskar looked up at his lithe, slender, muscular figure. The Ljosalfr commander walked toward the doorway.
"Care for another drink?" Valiskar asked just before he reached it. He knew how the request sounded, under the circumstances. He expected a cold comment about him stalling. L'aeric looked at the carpet beside him.
"Do you have anything stronger?"
Valiskar looked at his back a moment, attempting to translate his reasons behind the request.
"I think I can rustle up something."
He watched him walk from his bedroom and Valiskar looked down at his device.
L'aeric occupied the chair when Valiskar walked inside the receiving room with a small bottle. He brought two glasses and sat down on the couch nearest him. He leaned over to pour before handing him his glass. L'aeric took it while Valiskar leaned back against the couch, glass in one hand, his arm resting on the couch arm beside him. He took a drink when the commander rested his hand beside his, his thumb touching his forefinger. Valiskar froze after he swallowed, lowering the glass as he stared hard into space.
The touch surprised him from this cold high elf. He knew he should have taken his hand away; then again, he shouldn't have done anything he'd done, even to earn more time. He told himself it was for a good cause, but he wondered if he tried to convince himself. His pinkie finger touched the broad side of his hand, his thumb touching one of his knuckles. They sat like that for how long he didn't know, Valiskar's mind racing with confusion and frustration, but he didn't take his hand away.
Only when they'd finished their drinks did the Ljosalfr commander stand. Valiskar rose as well as L'aeric clipped the gold leaf pendant that held his cloak across his shoulder. Valiskar escorted him to the door, stopping beside it as it opened. He just wanted him to be gone to end the confusing feelings running through him. L'aeric took a step to walk through when he paused, leaning upward to give him a soft, farewell kiss. He strode through the doorway and Valiskar shut his eyes, cursing him for that last kiss.