fugue - Oblique Publications

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FUGUE ˆˆˆˆˆ
JANE BARON
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ
hour cycle, all the crew had become proficient at
the conversion to ship’s time.
And this clock was telling Blake that
Kerr was late. Over an hour so. Tomorrow they
would be skirting the edges of a Federation
system in a new test of Avon’s augmented detector
shields; it wasn’t a day for sleeping in. And
where was Kerr anyway?
Blake frowned at the twilit chrono and
bit at his finger while he mused. When he found
himself brushing his tongue back and forth over
the joint he decided it had been long enough.
With a sharp sound of impatience, he stood.
Kerr, Blake knew, paid attention to neither
Spaceworld chronometers nor Terran
watches; he lived by his own internal clock.
Tonight something had obviously happened to
throw that clock off, and Blake was tired of
waiting. He needed Kerr now.
Thrusting his arms into the sleeves of a
robe, he yanked the belt in tightly and stepped
out of his cabin. More discreet to dress fully, of
course, but he didn’t plan to be wandering the
corridors for long. In fact, having woken Kerr,
he just might stay with him in Avon’s cabin.
The thought brought an involuntary grin
as he turned the corner—and a rush of blood to
his groin. He had not been back, to the place
where it all had started, since that first time when
he had been seduced. Kerr came to his own room
every night like an incubus or a dream and
departed alone every morning, in an arrangement
satisfactory to both of them. Just now,
though, the thought of doing it there, in Avon’s
cabin, in Avon’s bed…held appeal. It had the
same spice of forbidden pleasure as looking at
the soft leather over Avon’s crotch by day,
letting his eyes linger importunately over the
sweet line of inner thigh when he knew Avon
wouldn’t catch him. Yes, definite appeal. He and
Kerr would have to be very careful, of course—
the inherent danger was great. But the picture of
it, of exchanging moist clinging kisses in the
sanctity of Avon’s spartan quarters, of lowering
Kerr onto that narrow bed and letting him come
all over Avon’s sheets, was too exciting to be
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ PÆAN TO PRIAPUS
easily put aside.
And perhaps, though the evidence was
erased by morning, Avon would wake up and be
stirred carnally without knowing why. An indefinable
electricity left in the air, a spot or two of
dampness on the coverlet, which when brushed
yielded the sudden perfume of musk and male
sex. Avon might ponder that, trying to connect it
with the languor of his body, lying all the while
in the very place where Blake had caressed that
body into ecstasy the night before…
Blake’s thought pulled up short in shock.
This was madness. Did he want Avon to find
out? Of course there would be no clumsily
concealed evidence as grist left for the ice-cold
mill of Avon’s intellect. The idea was just as
mad as standing here outside Avon’s door, with
the chill of the metal floor seeping into his bare
feet, and a hard-on threatening to burst through
his robe.
Angry with himself, he fumbled for the
keypad, glancing uneasily over one shoulder. He
side-stepped into the room quickly, still looking
out as the door slid open. As it began to slide
shut, he turned gratefully to smile at—
Avon.
Shock robbed his senses, made him
lightheaded. Avon. Still wearing the same
chaste gray outfit he’d worn all day, he was
sitting at his desk with a gutted detector shield
before him. Astonishment and disbelief held
him as frozen as Blake, his face curiously open
in its blank disconcertion.
And that worked in Blake’s favor, gave
him the seconds he needed to mentally scramble
for an explanation, to think of something—
anything—to say.
What he lit on finally was that the best
defense was a good offense. He therefore made
his voice as offensive as possible and his face as
pointlessly belligerent.
“I’d been wondering where that had got
to.” Flat and antagonistic, he jerked his head
toward the disassembled device. As he’d hoped,
Avon’s eyes dropped to it, then raised, along
with his hackles.
ˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆˆ