Mercenary Hearts

Mercenary Hearts


Chapter the Fifth: Keep What You Steal


Four weeks later – late February 2553

Piro’s door was locked. Kya stood in the middle of the hallway of the base living quarters, wearing nothing but a Human-style nightshirt decorated with a picture of an Earth animal, and tugging uselessly on Piro’s door handle. For a brief second, Kya considered returning to her own room and abandoning her foolish purpose here.

The throbbing between her thighs overruled her better judgment.

No sooner was she fully healed from birthing her latest egg—Piro’s child—than she’d found herself beset by erotic dreams. Dreams strong enough to wake her up in the middle of the night, hot and bothered and desperate for relief.

On the Fleet it had been an easy matter to deal with. The Sangheili in Shadow of Intent’s medical unit, all outcasts more or less due to their profession, tended to bond together. Sometimes the unit resembled a little family, with the chief doctor as its patriarch and the various health care workers under his command as his de facto children. Other times, though, inter-unit relations were more like those of a keep, where the males and females regularly mated with one another. They were doctors—of course they knew how to avoid unwanted eggs. And they were already shamed, so there was no further stain to their honour if they used birth control. They understood one another, each other’s needs, each other’s desires, and they were generous to one another. Kya had never lacked for company, male or female, as she desired.

Here on Earth, though, there were only three other Sangheili. N’tho and Usze were bondmates, and even on the Fleet, Kya had never extended her requests or her generosity to those with permanent partners. She would not come between N’tho and Usze now.

Which left her with Piro, and he was also out of bounds. She had already pestered the poor creature into giving her a child; she could not expect him to be her sexual plaything as well. He had narrowly escaped a forced retirement to Sanghelios, where he would doubtlessly have lost much of his dignity, pressed into a role as a stud—the common fate of an unmarried male who was no longer suitable to fight and had no other skills with which to earn a living.

So Kya had no one to turn to help her with her natural urges.

She had attempted the honourable thing of taking matters into her own hands, as it were, and she had done this many times before, but for some reason, tonight, satisfaction was eluding her. It seemed as though every touch of her fingers brought back memories of Piro and his damned salve, that wicked, delicious stuff that had felt so impossibly good. So shockingly moist—so sweetly tantalizing—so decadently pleasurable, and Piro’s cunning fingers playing over her body like an instrument. By the Ancestors, she had dared to moisten her own fingers to try to replicate the sensation and it had not been nearly enough.

She had become desperate enough to go in search of the real thing.

Piro was in the nursery, standing guard over her eggs, though it would be some time before either one hatched. Caring for children was not a masculine thing to do, in Kya’s eyes. She wanted a warrior mate, not an emasculated, servile creature who did a woman’s work.

But on the other hand, what was Piro to do on this world? His official title was “honour guard,” but everyone could tell that N’tho was more than capable of guarding himself and his mate. And Piro had never been anything but a basic soldier; he had no mechanical skills, no artistic ability, not even medical knowledge like hers. He had spent his life fighting, and probably felt useless now that the fighting was done. Perhaps she should be more charitable; perhaps tending the children made him feel useful.

And, when it came right down to it, it was unusual but not illegal for a male to care for young.

Break and enter, on the other hand, was as illegal on Earth as it was on Sanghelios.

Kya had hoped Piro had left his door unlocked. The living quarters of the Sangheili Embassy were very private; strangers did not wander through it uninvited, and the Human guards had better manners than to snoop. Why had Piro secured his quarters? Who did Piro think would be going through his personal things?

Perhaps he knew some things about Kya already.

Whatever he knew, it was not nearly enough. Kya produced a small, thin piece of plastic from her pocket, slid it into the crack between the door and the doorframe, and then struck the door near the latch in an upward blow. The card disrupted the sensors in the frame, making them think the door had been opened, while the blow popped the latch out of its socket. Kya caught the card before it hit the ground, opened the door, entered the room, and closed the door behind her.

She stood silent for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness. The glow from under the door was enough for her to perceive a lamp on the far side of the room. She did not use the overhead lights; they were too bright, and should Piro pass by in the hall, he would notice their illumination under the door frame. But the lamp, turned on to its dimmest setting, would not betray her.

Piro’s room was orderly, very proper, with every item in its place. His bed was neatly made, and all his drawers were closed. A small altar sat against the far wall; Kya wondered if Piro still had any use for the Covenant religion. Kya had never had faith in the gods beyond what custom forced her to feign, and she did not mourn the revelation that the Covenant’s faith had been as false as she had always suspected.

Piro’s walls were covered in tastefully framed holos and photographs. Piro with N’tho. N’tho with Usze. Piro and Usze with her eggs. Even one of her, standing with the other three Sangheili at the dedication of the Sangheili Embassy.

She turned away, not wanting to think that she was betraying a friend. She let herself dwell on the sharp pangs of lust piercing her body and her soul. She was here because she had a need.

Kya checked the bathroom first, but Piro did not leave that little bottle of salve standing next to his soap dish or fang cleaners. As she rummaged through drawers, she began to worry that Piro had taken it with him. Why would he do such a thing? There were no other females on Earth!

Unless he was playing with Human females. Why should it bother her if he was?

Or, hells, perhaps he kept it with him for the same reason she wanted it now!

She jerked open the drawer to his bedside table and her pulse began to hammer.

There! Was that the quarry she sought? Her knees felt weak as she imagined the cool glide of the salve. She sat on the bed and plucked the little jar from the drawer.

Kya had just begun to unscrew the lid when the door of the room suddenly opened, and the light snapped on.

*-*-*-*

Piro was certain that that he had to be dreaming. He saw Kya, seated on his bed, her sleeping gown rising up to mid-thigh, clutching the bottle of salve in her hand. A fantasy, to be sure, save that her expression was not an inviting smile but rather the gaping mandibles of surprise.

“Kya,” he said quietly, willing himself not to tremble with a sudden hot excitement as a whisper of delicate musk crossed his sensitive nostrils. No, she no longer smelled like the rich, earthy scent of a female in heat; now her fragrance was lighter, sweeter, that of simple arousal rather than breeding urges.

Could she really have come to seduce him? Did she want more of him than simply the siring of young?

Why else could she be here?

He crossed to the bed, trembling with excitement.

There was a voice in the back of his head reminding him that mating with a female so much younger than he for no other reason than pleasure was a selfish act. He should not be keeping the young lady from the courtships of males her age…

…but there were no single males her age on Earth. What could he be keeping her from save her solitude?

She had to be lonely, and the more he looked at her, the more he felt the same.

Kya bowed her head in deference as he approached. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Piro hesitated with confusion.

“For being here?” He sat on the bed next to her and could not hide his chuckle. “Kya, surely you realize that retiring to bed only to find an attractive female in a short dress curled up in your bunk thinking…carnal thoughts…” His eyes dropped to the bottle in her hand. She flushed. Piro forced himself to continue, though what he truly wished to do was stare at her. “…is a fantasy for any warrior with any taste for females whatsoever.”

He put his arm around her shoulders. He could feel an electric tension in her frame, and it was contagious.
“Who else is there to comfort either of us?”

He felt himself growing hard.

“Now, let me help you with that.”

*-*-*-*

Kya sat in frozen shock as Piro took the jar from her unresisting fingers and finished opening it. He sat next to her, then set the lid on the bedside table and slipped his finger inside, stirring to spread the contents.

Their eyes met. Piro smiled smugly and began to stir more provocatively…sliding his finger in and out of the jar…swirling within…

Kya moaned.

She had come to steal, pure and simple, and Piro had caught her at it. She deserved to be punished in whatever way the local authorities punished thieves. But Piro had completely misread her intentions; he thought she was here to seduce him.

And so she had a way out of her just desserts, and all it would entail was for her to pretend some desire for Piro.

So she forced herself to lay her head on his shoulder. This should not be so bad. She had already mated with him; she knew he was gentle and kind. It would certainly be better than being publicly shamed in front of the Humans who had come to be her friends.

Piro’s body was warm against hers. He might be old, but his chest was still firm, his hearts still pulsing strongly, his scent still a pleasing warrior-musk.

She hadn’t come here for this. She’d come here for…

…a substitute for a real male. Now she had a real male.

She tried to think of Piro in the nursery, cuddling the children like a nest-mother, but the scent of him now was pure masculinity as he watched her appraisingly.

Kya still felt unsettled. Dishonest. She was now both a thief and a deceiver. She should disabuse him of any notion that she was the sort of person worth his generosity.

Then Piro stopped playing with the jar.

He still had a warrior’s swift strike when he chose to use it. In the blink of an eye, the jar was on the table and the hand he’d been using to hold it was wrapped around her, pulling her back against his chest. And his other hand…

His aim was true as his finger slid under her skirt and went straight for its target.

At the first moist touch—oh so good—Kya lost her ability to tell Piro anything.

*-*-*-*

Piro closed his eyes and listened to the thundering pulse of Kya’s hearts, the rasping of her breath, the quivering of her sweat-slicked body against his as she came down from her peak. He breathed in the sweet, sweet scent of aroused female and savoured it. How long had it been since he’d had a female in his bed?

Longer than he could recall. Six years at least, ever since N’tho had graduated from War College and been posted to the 812th. Piro had taken Lela’ra’s son under his mentorship as soon as he could, even taking him into his room when others had threatened the young soldier bearing the Mark of Punishment for his grandfather’s crimes. Mating in front of his son was simply inappropriate, and Piro would never have dreamed of suggesting to the boy that he would ever be unwelcome in his own quarters. N’tho had precious little stability as it was.

So Piro had occasionally gone out to enjoy a female’s company—or even more rarely, a male’s—but none of those relationships lasted long enough for there to be an issue made of the fact that no one ever spent the night at Piro’s save N’tho and Piro himself.

It was so strange, now, to have a female in his quarters. Strange and yet, also wonderful.

Because Kya knew. Kya knew what happened when he mated—Kya knew the name on his tongue was not her name. It had gotten him kicked out of more beds than he could recall.

And yet, here she was, in that silken gown, waiting for him….

“Move back,” he urged her, leaning back and supporting himself on his left arm—curse the tremors in his body!—while guiding her back on top of him with his right arm. His left arm gave out when his body was just an inch off the mattress. He fell into the mattress, pulling Kya with him. She squealed.

They lay partly on their sides and partly on their backs, with Kya’s shoulder blade gently overlapping Piro’s chest. He stroked her inner thighs and she settled at once, spreading her legs for him.

He could feel her gently rounded rump parting to admit his shaft and he felt the room spin dizzily at the thought. By the Rings, how he wanted her.

But first, he had to thank her.

These days he sometimes forgot where he put his belongings, or he would put them in strange places, like food in his desk and writing tools in his refrigeration unit…but he had not forgotten what Kya liked.

He teased her until she squealed. Then, slowly, generously, he let his finger spread the salve all over her, moved his fingers slick against her, slipped in and out of her. He closed his eyes and groaned as she mewed in pleasure. His memories did not measure up to a live female in his arms…

When her breathing had steadied, Piro murmured in her ear, “Have you strength enough to mount?”

She twisted away and stared at him, her eyes wide.

He was puzzled. She appeared to be shocked. Hesitant. It was not the seduction he’d expected.

“Are you still timid about that?” he guessed.

Her mandibles moved but no sound came out.

“I can…” Her reaction was unnerving him. He reached out to stroke her bare flanks. “What do you desire, my beauty?”

“If I…” Colour rose in her face. “If I…climbed atop you…simply to indulge my own pleasure…” Her words trailed off in a cough. She tried again, “If you were to lay there and watch a selfish female making a spectacle of herself as she pleasured herself on your body…”

Piro smiled. “I think I would enjoy watching such a spectacle.”

Kya whimpered, her control slipping.

‘Kipaz slipped his hand between her thighs and thought that a light stroke, almost a tickle, with one finger, ought to do it…

‘Pomor cried out with desire and mounted him.

And Piro sighed with pleasure, and closed his eyes, and summoned up his mate’s ghost from the recesses of his mind.

*-*-*-*

Kya lay on her side and tried to come to grips with what she’d done.

Beside her, Piro was sound asleep already, breathing rhythmically, and he was smiling. It was not the smug, self-satisfied grin of a male who’d just proven his virility and skill; it was a soft smile of contentment. Kya had no doubt that in his dreams, Piro was lying next to Lela’ra, having grown old with his beloved bondmate at his side.

In that moment, Kya decided she had no reason to feel guilty.

She’d used him to get pregnant. But he’d used her as well.

Why should she feel badly about mutual pleasure?

No, next time she would not sneak into his room and rifle through his things in search of a jar of salve. Next time she would simply slip up behind the old male and ask him if he might find space in his bed for her…

And she would let him dream. She would let him cry Lela’ra’s name, and behind her closed eyes she would dream of young, handsome warriors whispering sweet nothings in her earbuds.

Surely a mutual fantasy was better than two lonely hearts lying cold in separate beds.