The odor almost broke his imposed calm. He fumbled down two gla.s.ses and filled one. Raising it, he said, "Just to prove it's not poisoned." He downed it all in one draft, trying not to let his ecstasy seem too apparent. Then he half filled the other gla.s.s and handed it to her, hoping she wouldn't drink any. He wanted to lick up every drop.

She held it close to her chest, wrapping both hands around it as if it were brandy, sniffed, wrinkled her nose, then tipped a bit into her mouth. With a strangled noise, she said, "It's awful. But I guess it tastes like blood."

When she handed the gla.s.s back to him, a thrill danced up his arm. The blood had absorbed a hint of her ectoplasm. It was the best known medium for the nonmaterial substance luren called ectoplasm. As a scientist, he was loath to use the term. It shouldn't exist-but it did. And he needed it as much as he needed blood. The dead, freeze-dried blood would sponge up ectoplasm from any human it touched. He savored every drop, forgetting to control himself, for, charged even faintly, it was more satisfying than any elixir of the G.o.ds.

When it was gone, he noticed her watching, and wondered if he dared. His hunger finally overwhelmed his judgment. He refilled his gla.s.s and handed it to her. "Hold it to you. Taste it again if you want."

"Why? It tastes like blood."

"There are differences. This doesn't come from a human. It isn't alive. I need that life as you need vitamins as well as calories. Please. It will cost you nothing."

Self-consciously, she cradled the gla.s.s, sniffing at it, then examined him over the rim.

Very gradually, her whole being became, suffused with a glow that sent tremors of fear-laced pleasure through him. No human had ever looked at him like this before. But it was instantly addictive. He couldn't live without it now.

"Oh, dear G.o.d, t.i.tus, what I've put you through! I'm so sorry! I didn't know."

She believes! He dared to move closer, drawn like a moth to a flame. Dreading yet another rejection, he watched in dismay as his hands rose to cup her cheeks. But she didn't shrink from him.

Hardly aware, he lowered his lips to the gla.s.s and drank from between her two hands. It wasn't the same as taking human blood. Yet it was enough.

He raised his head, not hiding what she had done to him. He couldn't speak. He had only his hands to convey to her the depth of his reverence and surrender.

But she seemed to understand. For one long held breath, he thought she was going to kiss him. He was already aroused beyond bearing remembering that one voluntary kiss she had bestowed upon him. Then she shuddered and drew back.

"If you'll brush your teeth, I'll kiss you."

He lifted the gla.s.s from her fingers. "And more than kiss? Promise me more."

"More. Everything. Hurry."

When he returned, she was in his bed, wearing nothing but a curl of sheet shading her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Absently, he shed his clothes on the way. Scooping her to him, he sank into the ecstasy of it, and discovered his own driving urgency. She matched him move for move, as if she too hungered. He'd never had such a human, and it brought him to himself. Inea!

He sought control. No. She has given me what no other has ever freely offered-not just ectoplasm but love. This is for her.

"What's wrong? Don't I please you?"

She's never been with a man who cared for her pleasure! The realization was like a cold shock. Oh, Inea! Humans could use humans more cruelly than luren ever did. He rolled her over to her stomach and whispered in her ear. "Remember you told me if it could be better with me than with. a human? I'd I said I'd make it special for you. Well, I will."

He went to work, using the skills garnered over twenty years of more casual encounters, less fully informed consent. He'd used Influence to cast a glamour for his women, but he always made sure that what he took and what he gave balanced out, and in the process he'd learned the intricacies of the female response. Regarding Inea as a strange kind of virgin who didn't know the power of her own body, he used his vampire senses to track her responses, but never focused Influence. What was between them would be real.

When he eased her onto her back, she was flushed and beautiful, hypnotized by her inward sensations. But she touched his arousal, feeling his moist tremors as he fought his body. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

That she would be so mystified nearly tore his heart in half. "Because you've earned the glory due a woman."

She pulled him down. "But I'm ready."

"No you're not. Not by half. I don't enjoy taking a woman before she's ready." Never mind that his human body wanted it and no more nonsense.

She kissed a line up his abdomen, threatening to drive him over the edge. Her whispered words tickled his flesh. "Let's just see how ready I am."

She moved and his sensitive organ was almost enveloped before he realized he couldn't endure much of that and still bring her to a higher pitch. He pushed her away with a gasp.

"t.i.tus, what is the matter with you!"

Her sharp frustration bit into him, and nothing but whole truth would do. "I want this to be perfect for you. Everything between us is real-and I'll never lie to you. Never. I said what you gave me would cost you nothing-and so it shall be. If you let me do this for you properly, all I took when you let me drink will be restored and more. Otherwise, if you give to me repeatedly, you'll grow weak and depressed, and I'll hate myself. Even with just this once, you'd feel a drain on your vitality.

Her features, wiped clean of the years by her rapture, froze as a new reality intruded. "You really are a vampire."

He kissed the base of her neck and traced a line up to her lips. "Yes. I live in your love and wither without it. Let me show you the gift I have for you, if only you'll be patient enough to receive it. Please. Let me."

"If you don't hurry, you'll have to start over."

He let his kiss tell her how much further they could go together. He took his time, following the body currents, stimulating each and every bit of skin and deep muscle, until the currents of o.r.g.a.s.m would move un.o.bstructed by tension. As he worked his last devotions, he felt the intense surge of ectoplasm, as if energy had come into her from nowhere and she had made it living substance for him to feed on.

It was magic. He dared think no further than that. "Now, you're ready!"

In that deep penetration and matching of even deeper rhythms, his body soaked up the excess substance she poured forth, and the liberating joy of it drove him over the top and into the headlong plunge of release.

It was the greatest perfection he had ever achieved.

Chapter nine.

"t.i.tus?"

"Hmm?"

"I think it's morning."

"What?" He sat up, disoriented. The clock said he'd slept ten hours without even rigging his wires around the bed. His clothes were strewn across the floor. On the sink, the gla.s.ses and pitcher sat, dry and crusted.

Inea had one arm flung carelessly over her face, her eyes buried in the crook of her elbow. The ends of her fingers brushed his shoulder. They were shaking. He kissed her palm but his touch didn't trigger the expected response. It wasn't just his sated condition, either. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just a nightmare. I hate watching the news before bedtime. d.a.m.n Abramovitch, anyway."

Abmmovitch? It was an incredible effort to dredge up the a.s.sociation, but then he had it: the Russian who wanted to prove Earth was vulnerable to attack from outer s.p.a.ce aliens. Her xenophobia! Cold sweat broke out all over him. Had he misjudged her? If she hadn't changed her att.i.tude, though, why was she on the Project at all?

Inea turned to sprawl over the edge of the bed examining the apartment's master controls on the bedstand.

"Do I use the shower first?" she asked. "And how do I charge the water bill to my apartment?"

Alarm lanced through him. Abbot could trace her to him through bills. All Abbot knew for sure right now was that t.i.tus would like to feed on Inea. He had no idea how very much Inea meant to t.i.tus, and so if casual checking turned up no other connection, Abbot would have no reason to look closer at Inea, no reason to consider using her as a weapon against t.i.tus, and thus no reason to discover that t.i.tus had broken the Law of Blood by not silencing her with Influence.

Striving to seem casual, he palmed sleep out of his eyes. "Never mind, my water allotment is generous. Go ahead and shower. The boss can be late."

She rolled off the bed gathering her neatly piled clothing. "Actually, the boss is too zonked to move."

"The boss is replete for the first time since leaving Earth. Maybe for the first time ever." He lay back and flung his elbow over his eyes as she dialed the lights up. "Just let me enjoy it another five minutes."

She pa.s.sed the mess on the sink without a glance. Squinting under his elbow, he watched her, fascinated by the effect lunar gravity had on her b.u.t.tocks and b.r.e.a.s.t.s, lazily toying with the idea of writing the equations to describe that tantalizing motion: a Song of Songs written in physics, celebrating the similarity between the surging foment of stellar plasma and the incendiary effect of semifluid flesh.

He drifted into the abstracted state in which he did physics, letting the delicious relaxation steal over him.

It seemed only moments later when Inea emerged, dressed, combing her sleek wet hair and carrying something in one hand.

I borrowed your comb. I'll bring my things up here tonight-"

She saw the mess on the sink. "And when I move in, we'll have to do something about this sort of thing."

Abbot. How can I warn her about Abbot? If Abbot ever did investigate her mind, he'd find that t.i.tus had endangered not just himself, but his own father and all luren, by letting her go unsilenced. Worse yet, if he so much as hinted that Abbot was any sort of danger to him or to her, she'd immediately take steps to investigate Abbot and so attract his attention. But if t.i.tus threw enough of a scare into her to keep her from deviling Abbot, then she'd betray herself through sheer nervousness. No, he didn't dare say anything to her if he valued her life-and his own.

When he didn't answer, she turned, her expression mirroring t.i.tus's consternation. With wild alarm edging her voice, she said, "I can't believe this is just another one-night stand!"

Before he knew it, he was off the bed and hugging her. "No! This is forever. Permanent. Exclusive. I'll marry you-any vows you want-as soon as we get back to Earth."

She stiffened. "Why wait? Or at least, why not live together if we're sleeping together?"

Searching frantically for a way to say it, he led her to the table and sat her down. "Wherever I am, there's always danger. Always. If people notice I'm-odd-I might not know until it's gone too far. It happens to those of my blood, and most often in small communities. If it happens to me here, I don't want you hurt."

Absently, she put a small brown vial down on the table, his blood pressure medication. "What makes you think I wouldn't stand up for you now that I know the truth?"

"I wouldn't want you to. When things get that bad, anyone who defends one of us gets burned too. I don't want to risk you."

"You don't want to risk me? If you think I'm going to wait until Earth to do this again, you're very-"

"Just until tonight. Your place. Okay? n.o.body will know I'm there except you. And you'll know. I promise."

He kissed her, but as he got involved, she pulled back, studying him. "I'll be late for work. What'll my boss say?"

"He won't say a thing," he teased. "But your boss's boss may scream at us all."

"Carol? She never screams." She extricated herself and moved to the door. "But Shimon will yell at us if we don't finish tomorrow. Besides, what would Abbot say if we blew it now? He'll go down in history as a genius for reconstructing this system in record time."

"Of course. Records are important." He moved to kiss her temple, but she withdrew slightly. What's the matter with her?

She c.o.c.ked her head to one side, studying him in that way that made him nervous. Then she tossed her wet hair back and added archly, "Besides, you had me train to do this job for Shimon, and I'm going to do it! just remember that the next time you come up with a brilliant idea to send me away. I don't waste training, even training I don't need."

With that, she spun out the door. A moment later she popped back in and added, "Eight-hundred, on the nose. B.Y.O.B. I'm getting pizza and beer." And she was gone.

B.Y.O.B. could mean Bring Your Own Blood. Her quip made him smile despite his sudden uncertainty about her. At least Abbot didn't know what she meant to him, and she didn't know what to make of Abbot. But how long could he keep it that way? Scheduling time with Inea without making her suspicious about his absences, as he chased around looking for Abbot's unMarked stringers, would be a colossal challenge.

When he arrived at the lab, the rea.s.sembly of the system was well begun. Shimon had set a pace that both allowed step-by-step testing and kept up the progress rate, spurring everyone on. The man definitely had earned a raise, as had his whole staff. Knowing the thought would get lost in the affairs facing him, t.i.tus called Colby immediately.

"Oh, Dr. Shiddehara!" answered an a.s.sistant. He was a lanky, lantern-jawed Black with a vaguely Oriental cast to his features. t.i.tus had heard he'd given up a high post with Consumer's Union to take this job. "I've been trying to reach you. Dr. Colby wants to speak with you."

Uh-oh. "That's good. Put her on."

After a long wait, she came onscreen flushed and breathless.

might well have been screaming at somebody. "There you are, t.i.tus. It's about time."

"Yes, indeed. I-"

"Don't talk, just listen. You've been following the press coverage on that a.s.sa.s.sin? Well, that wasn't the first infiltrator we caught. But the publicity has impressed the highest government circles with the size of the anti-Project movement. We're going to lose our appropriation, and our scientific reputations, unless we convince the public we're spending their money wisely. So Nagel was forced to accept terms-I've fought, but I've had to capitulate, too.

"Twenty reporters will be here day after tomorrow to tour the station and report directly to the people. If we handle it right, this nonsense will die down, and the terrorists will be criminals, not heroes. But if we look wasteful or deceitful, that's the end of the Project.

"Now, I need your help, t.i.tus. You're right at the focus of all this because of your computer's cost overrun. It must be up and running day after tomorrow-and it's got to do something spectacular they can take pictures of."

t.i.tus digested that. Abbot must have had wind of this days ago-and that was why he was so eager to help. Abbot, whose mission was to send an SOS., had nearly scuttled the entire Project with his retaliation at t.i.tus that first day.

Abbot the invincible. Ha!

"What are you so happy about?" asked Colby.

Think quick! "Carol, let me get Shimon on the line."

He buzzed Shimon's desk without response, then resorted to the oldest method of office communication. He stuck his head out the door and called, "Shimon! Pick up on Two!"

When he got back to the vidcom, the screen was split, showing Carol briefing Shimon. In the end, Shimon studied t.i.tus's image deadpan. The silence stretched until t.i.tus said, "Shimon, I know we won't need Nandoha's help on this one." His eyes met Shimon's. Shimon knew t.i.tus had fought Abbot's presence as much as he could.

t.i.tus could almost see the wheels turning in the man's mind. He had swallowed his resentment of Abbot's arrogance with professional stoicism, and he even respected Abbot's ability. But he disliked the man intensely. He had, however, grasped early on that Colby's primary measure of an employee's value was the employee's loyalty to the immediate supervisor as well as to the Project. Nodding at last, Shimon declared, "No problem, Colby. We finish tonight, even we go into overtime. We test tomorrow and set up something visual for the press."

Colby beamed. "I see why t.i.tus has such faith in you. You give me a good show day after tomorrow, Shimon, and you'll get a big raise, retroactive."

"You got it."

Colby signed off, and a moment later Shimon stormed into the office. "Mochrotayim! She's got to be kidding!" He paced a furious circle, one hand on his head.

"Thanks for backing me, Shimon. I know it's going to be hard. Just tell me what you need and you'll have it."

He paused, hands on hips. "t.i.tus, if you didn't sent Inea to be trained for this, we'd never make it. Can I tell the crew they'll get double-time for overtime tonight if they'll stay until we've finished?"

"Yes, that's a good idea."

"It could be all night. Just one defective part-"

"I know. Meanwhile, I'll get a demo program written."

Shimon pursed his fingers at the ceiling in the typical Israeli gesture. "Rega, rega! Inea's project! It would be perfect! For fun, she wrote this program for a holographic projection of the Taurus region-complete with an animated, stomping thoroughbred bull. The thing rotates so you can view our sun from the other side of the constellation. Then you get an animated closeup of each of the stars-she said it's just a toy because she used ancient data on the starspots. I don't pretend to understand it all. Ask her."

He nodded. "Great, but do we have a projector for it?" "No, but before the chemists arrived we were using their tank. Maybe we can borrow it again?"