The Alien Trace [Cord 01] Read Online Free Page A

also determining them by being available to the people of his district. That meant a great deal of emotional sharing. Cord was afraid to share his feelings completely. Not even his parents really knew of the forbidden delight that gripped him during a hunt.
        "Cord, I'm so glad you came this evening," Bird said, greeting him warmly. She had opened the door even before he knocked; his desire had certainly alerted her in advance. He could feel the surge of her gladness underlaid with a yearning as great as his own.
        She put her arms around his neck and whispered into his left ear, tickling it. "My father's out tonight." There was a throb of relief behind the words.
        Cord was surprised. He'd felt no other emotional signal in the house, but he'd assumed the Speaker was at home; he often veiled his feelings. Cord shared Bird's relief. He was uncomfortable with her father. The Speaker was courteous, of course. He had never shown by the least sign that he disapproved of Cord. But Cord did not think he viewed his daughter's attachment to a criminal catcher with pleasure.
        Bird took him up a polished wooden staircase to her room on the second floor. The walls were tinted in pastels, the floors covered with thick carpets. Her bedroom was strewn with beautifully hand-painted cushions. She pushed him down onto a cushion and poured something from a small jug into crystal cups.
        "I know you'll like this," she said, offering him one. It was a spiced fruit drink laced with the aphrodisiac sap of a cold-climate tree. Cord stirred it idly; the beverage was the color of Bird's skin: a rich gold. He liked the way she wore her scalplock braided down her back. The velvet on her ears and spine, which ran nearly halfway down her back, was the same color as her hair, a deeper gold.
        It was easy to forget the difficulties between them at times like this. He could even convince himself that it would all work out. After all, his mother and father had married in spite of similar obstacles. And at the very least, Bird would continue to be his love-friend, surely. And now that things were looking better for his family…
        He wanted to tell her, but she had other things on her mind. When he felt her sensations, all thought of talk left him.
        "It's warm in here tonight. And getting warmer." She smiled and undipped the jeweled fastening at the breast of her downy wrap-gown. Her nipples were like topazes. Rising from her own cushion, she pulled him to her. Caught up in the flow of her passion, Cord cupped her thrusting breasts and kissed each one in turn, too preoccupied to think about undressing. That was no bar to Bird, who stripped him enthusiastically of his tunic and pants.
        The tip of her tail stroked his loins, causing his tail to twitch uncontrollably. He didn't know why she bothered with an expensive aphrodisiac; with her it was quite unnecessary.
        She kissed him, thrusting her fruit-stained tongue into his willing mouth, while her hands never stopped moving over his body. He stroked her roughly, while his tail curved up between them and caressed the soft, tender area between her legs. Slowly the furry tip intruded farther, as Bird relaxed her interior muscles. The farther the tip explored, the more she writhed in pleasure.
        She pushed him away, the tail withdrawing, and then she knelt before him. Using mouth, hands, and tail, she teased the pouch hanging there. Slowly, his organ snaked out from the protective pouch and uncurled.
        Cord drew her down on top of him, entering her carefully as she straddled him. Bird arched her spine and threw back her head, scalplock swinging. Her pleasure coursed through him, engorging his organ even more. He grabbed her, twined his legs around her, and flipped her on her back. The aphrodisiac flowed to every sensitive part of their bodies. Using the strength she so much admired, Cord took her legs and spread them apart in the