“Truly.”
Chapter Twenty-One
3959, New Translaw Calendar
“This has come in from Ashland Harbour for you.” Ang passed over the letter the next day.
After a slow start — a very slow start — Fin had started writing to me regularly. And I always looked forward to reading his letters. As did Ang. We usually read them together of an evening; he would bring them home and we would sit together and share the news. Which was why I found it odd that he passed this one to me in his office.
“Why the hell are you here?” The question finally blurted out of me. I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“I beg your pardon, Flight Sergeant?”
I hung and shook my head. “I’m sorry.” A phrase I had to use far too often.
“Thankfully, this is not the diplomatic corp, you wouldn’t survive.”
My eyes flicked up to him. he was joking, which was a new phenomenon.
“But I am not clear what you mean by the question.”
I raised my chin. “Forgive me, perhaps I’ve become over familiar.”
His lips, those oh so kissable lips twitched almost into a smile. “I’ll let you know when that happens, what is it you want to know?”
“I’ve been wondering for years and never dared ask.” That was true and it was killing me not knowing. “Thing is, I’m here for alleged blasphemy. Jimny’s here because he pissed of the Dean of Riders in Murmaberg. Fenwick because he disobeyed aeuthanasia order. Boutros because he asked awkward questions. Gahunia because he refused to kill civilians. We’ve all done something the military or the church considers wrong. But you’ve never put a foot wrong that I’ve seen. I can’t imagine you ever doing so. So why are you here?”
For a moment, his eyeline fell away. Then he looked back up at me, that emotionless mask back in place. “Because I’m very selective about whose rod I’ll suck.”
The memory of just how it had felt to have his lips around mine, my tip deep in his throat, his hot, wet suction drawing me on, took my breath away. That had only been a few short hours ago and I was eager to return the favour.
His eye slid to my crotch, the bulge developing beneath my trousers.
“Mmm,” Shi murmured. “Your eagerness is appreciated. Later.”
By the Gods, my body wanted now. It might have been a year, but I still had the urge to rip his clothes off every second we were alone.
He snapped back to professional, so I had to too.
“I also had this from Sky Commander Zemich.” He tapped on a thick folder. Then he pierced me with a look. “Do you trust Zemich?”
I blinked, my throat dry. If he’d asked me this in our quarters, there would have been no hesitation in my answer, but here in his office, it all felt rather too official.
“I, er, do not have as much contact with Sky Commander Zemich as you do, and you know he considers me a worthless blasphemer. So, no, I don’t trust him. I know Zemich is well in Tiernan’s pocket too.”
“Who in command isn’t?” Ang asked. “My concern is that the things Zemich says don’t necessarily match the things in the newssheets.”
“No, sir.” I swallowed. “Talking of the newssheets, have you noticed that it’s becoming more frequent that pages are missing from them?”
He nodded, but his eyes fell back to his desk and the folder. “This is to be delivered to one Sky Commander Llwydadain. I believe that you are acquainted with that particular officer?”
“Yes, sir. He was my Sky Commander in Pasaocea.”
“Then you might recognise him more easily among the professors in the College of Riders at Rhastac.”
My heart thumbed. Fin’s college.
“Of course,” Ang said, “I could take it—”
