Healing the Broken Read online

  “Not quite the best thing I’ve had in my mouth.” His pale eyes glowed red for a moment. “But it is very good.”

  Sarah felt her cheeks get hot at the way he was looking at her and her stomach fluttered. Why had she put it like that?

  But before she could get any more flustered, Dod was saying it was time for them to try harvesting some of the champles for themselves.

  “Just push off real easy,” he instructed. “If you jump too hard you’re going to bang your heads on the ceiling and that’s never any fun. Hold on to the stalks when you get to the top and give the chample you want to pick a little twist. Don’t forget to put it in your suction bag before you come back down. All right? Everybody ready? Then go.”

  Sarah thought later that picking champles was more fun that almost anything else she and Sazar did (at least in public) while they were on Alquon Ultrea. The feeling of near-weightlessness was exhilarating although it took some time to get used to.

  She watched as Sazar took off and then Chandra, who was pointing her black square at him, probably taking pictures. Sarah didn’t want to be left out so she pushed off from the spongy ground too, only she pushed too hard and went rocketing up at a frightening speed.

  Oh no! she thought as she saw the thick glass dome of the ceiling getting closer and closer. I’m going to bang my head, just like Dod said! That’s going to hurt!

  She tried to shield her head but Sazar, who was already holding tight to one of the long thin chample stalks, reached out and snagged her arm. Pulling her tight against him, he murmured in her ear,

  “Be careful, Ladara. I wouldn’t want you getting injured.”

  “Oh—I think I jumped too hard,” Sarah said breathlessly.

  “Stay with me. I’ve had experience in low G.” He twisted two of the bright yellow, cube-like fruit from the branch and handed one to Sarah who put it in her suction bag. Then, keeping an arm wrapped firmly around her waist, Sazar let go and allowed the two of them to drift slowly back down.

  They jumped up again, this time holding hands. Now that she felt safe, Sarah couldn’t help laughing in sheer exuberance at the wild sensation of being nearly weightless and flying upwards. Sazar laughed too, a warm, deep chuckle she hadn’t heard before but liked at once. His face was so different when he smiled, Sarah thought. So much more open and free. It made her feel close to him.

  Again and again they jumped from different spots, aiming to get one of every kind of chample growing in the huge glass dome. They spent some time on the ground trying them, too.

  “Just don’t eat any of the brown ones unless you’re bound up inside,” Dod advised as he named and explained the various varieties they had picked.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Sarah asked. “I don’t understand.”

  “They’re medicinal champles,” Chandra said delicately. “For…digestive health.”

  Oh, so it must be like eating prunes or taking some kind of laxative, Sarah thought.

  “They work pretty quick too,” Dod put in. “So be certain you don’t eat one when you’re too far from a bathroom.”

  “We’ll keep it in mind,” Sazar said dryly. “I don’t think we’ll be trying those particular champles right now.”

  But there were plenty of the strange alien fruits that were grown simply for their flavor and texture. Sarah’s favorite was a red one with yellow and green spots which she thought tasted just like a cheeseburger. Sazar favored a dark purple chample that had a sweet and sour flavor Sarah couldn’t place. He said it reminded him of a food from his home world.

  Chandra asked him if he liked it and he smiled.

  “It is good but not nearly as delicious as other things I have tasted recently,” he remarked, giving Sarah a meaningful look.

  “Oh…” Sarah put a hand on her fluttering heart. Was he talking about the taste of her blood…or other things? She kept seeing him in her mind’s eye, between her thighs healing her pussy with his tongue the night before. The memory made her feel hot and breathless.

  She wished she had the nerve to kiss him again, as she had that first night in his room. But everyone was watching and Chandra was, presumably taking pictures for the Alquon version of social media. So she simply looked into those pale eyes, flickering red with desire as he looked back at her, and wished this moment could last forever.

  At last Chandra remarked that it was late and they’d spent much more time at the chample farm than she’d intended.

  “I’m afraid we don’t have time to see the yeechee fields or the to-ti works either,” she sighed. “We’ll have to get the two of you back to your room to get changed for the Breeding Ball tonight.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Sarah remarked. She didn’t know what a to-ti was but the yechees were the toilet snakes and she had no wish to have any kind of contact with them at all—let alone go visit a whole field full of them.

  They thanked Dod who nodded good-naturedly and gave them some extra bags of champles to take home and share on the Mother Ship. Sarah hoped they would last—she had no idea of the shelf life of the alien fruit but she really wanted to share some of it with her new friends Kat and Liv and Sophie.

  I wonder if they’ll keep until Christmas, she thought as they made their way back to the tuve station. They would make really unique gifts. Kat, especially would love them. She struck Sarah as being kind of a foodie.

  Then she thought of Tsandor—he would probably like the purple one Sazar had liked. Or maybe the bright yellow one that tasted like a mixture of lemon cookies and grape popsicles…

  Her heart gave a little lurch when she thought of Sazar’s son. How was he? Was he lonely? Waiting to see her again? Still hoping to have a complete family?

  Sarah couldn’t let her thoughts go in that direction, though—she knew things between herself and Sazar seemed really close now but once they were back on the Mother Ship, who knew what might happen?

  She was aware that she needed to ask Sazar about allowing Tsandor to celebrate Christmas with Sophie’s family. But again, it didn’t seem to be the right time.

  Christmas isn’t for a little while yet, she thought. I’ll ask him later…when the time is right.

  But whatever happened, she promised herself sweet little Tsandor wouldn’t have to spend the holiday alone or in the care house.

  * * * * *

  “So do you have your outfit for the Breeding Ball all ready to go?” Chandra asked Sarah as she walked them to the door of their room. She had hooked an arm through Sarah’s and was strolling beside her in a chummy way, with Sazar on her other side. Minister Obglod had pleaded exhaustion again and returned to his own home.

  Privately, Sazar thought that was best. The elderly Minister irritated him with his constant complaining and lecturing. Despite her “ditzy female” act, Chandra was much more pleasant to be around. Although if he had his preference, he would simply spend time with Sarah alone.

  “Oh yes—the gold outfit. It’s all ready to go,” Sarah said, nodding.

  “Good. Oh, and I had Lemmy make a new outfit for you too, Commander Sazar,” Chandra remarked, looking up at him. “It’s silver to match Sarah’s gold. It’s going to look spectacular with those pale eyes of yours.”

  “I thank you,” Sazar said a bit stiffly. “I’m certain it will look fine.”

  “There is one question I wanted to ask you about my, uh, outfit…” Sarah’s voice dropped to a confidential tone. It was clear she had no idea how sharp a Kindred’s hearing was—though she spoke very softly, Sazar couldn’t help catching her words. Still, since his little human obviously wanted privacy, he walked a little ahead to at least give her the illusion that her conversation could not be overheard.

  “Yes, what is it?” Chandra murmured, also keeping her tone low.

  “It’s the panties that go with it,” Sarah murmured. “They seem to have an, uh extra hole.”

  “What?” Chandra started to laugh. “What do you mean an extra hole?”

  “Shhh!” Sarah his