Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Thank you so much to Fameanon, maba7x and gkell for reviewing!
Renuk straightened his tunic as he headed for Seraphina Goodman, a respected aide to the president of Earth himself. She was back in San Francisco to get a part-time degree in diplomacy so she could start an even more advantageous career.
He almost purred with delight as he stepped up to her and offered her a tiny smile. "Good evening," he murmured to her. The scent of her perfume had that now-familiar intoxicating effect on him, and he poured her a drink from the table right behind him. "Would you like some champagne?"
"Thank you," she said graciously, pushing a lock of her chestnut hair from her delicate features. He handed her the glass and carefully tucked another stray hair behind her ear, and she glanced at him with uncertain bright amber eyes.
V'Lok finished the last algorithm. His brother's PADD flashed and he leaned back in his chair, contemplating the vision before him. It was as he suspected; his brother was seeking conquest, of the human female kind. The human framed in the PADD was most aesthetically pleasing, but if his brother's normal taste held, her interest was nothing more than surface. He steepled his fingers under his chin to watch. He would know his brother's intentions soon.
Sera sipped her champagne and nodded. "This an expensive vintage...If I had to guess, it's Cristal, and that hasn't been made since the 21st century."
Renuk smirked. "A woman of distinctive tastes and refined knowledge. I am impressed."
"Are you really?" she teased, taking another sip of her drink. "I was under the impression that Vulcans don't impress easily."
"We do not," he replied smoothly. "But you are impressive. Not to mention beautiful beyond the capacity of your tongue to describe."
V'Lok felt his cheeks flush with irritation as the woman blushed, a reluctant grin tugging at her lips. "A smooth talking Vulcan who is impressed by me and thinks I'm beautiful," Sera murmured into her glass. "It's almost too good to be true."
He smirked as Renuk's heart rate increased for a brief moment, and he thought perhaps this woman was not as easily taken in as the others.
"This song is rather pleasing," Renuk commented offhandedly. "Would you like to dance with me?"
Sera placed her glass on the table and held her hand to Renuk. "I would love to dance. It's nice to be with a man who dances, and I never expected that from a Vulcan."
V'Lok's eyebrow rose. They were moving out of range of the PADD. He tapped at his console, accessing the remote surveillance, and his panel of viewers flashed on. The entire place was now viewable, and he stuck in a data crystal into the console and began recording.
Renuk pulled her against his body and began moving smoothly across the floor with her. He looked down into her eyes, allowing a smirk to play on his sculpted lips; she smelled divine. "You are a most pleasing woman," he murmured, moving his head so he could smell her hair discretely.
Sera could smell something on him she couldn't quiet catch, but she felt a touch unnerved by it. "You are an impressive dancer. Where did you learn human dancing?"
"Diplomacy requires knowledge of some of your customs. I was trained on Vulcan," he lied smoothly, twirling her out and then pulling her back in even closer. Her eyes darkened a little, but she looked uncertain.
"I know this must be strange for you, but I thought you'd be pleased," he said, almost pouting a little. "It was not easy to learn how to do this. Vulcans do not dance."
"You're doing great," she assured him, and for the rest of their dance, they seemed to be agreeable to one another. V'Lok suppressed the jealousy and anger roiling in his stomach, then watched with narrowed eyes as his brother led Sera off the dance floor.
"Would you like to take a walk in the gardens with me?" he murmured. "I find the air in here stifling, don't you?"
V'Lok tapped effortlessly at the console and the garden area came into his view.
"I love the gardens here," Sera replied. She made to put her hands behind her back, but Renuk took her hand in his. Her eyes widened. "My research indicates that your people don't..."
Renuk cocked his head. "Again, Seraphina, I know your customs. Tonight I wish to show you my deep interest in you and your people. On Vulcan, we would only be allowed to do this in public."
He slid two fingers down the backs of her knuckles, letting his guard down so he could see her swoon. She did and his eyes darkened. "But now, we may hold hands as your people do."
"What was that?"
He leaned into her, brushing her hair back so he could whisper in her ear. "It is a Vulcan way to kiss...did you find it agreeable?"
"Not at all what I expected," Sera replied as evenly as she could. She took another drink of her champagne to calm her nerves, but it seemed this Vulcan wasn't about to let her go that easily.
"But did you find it agreeable?"
She smiled at him. "Yes, it felt quite lovely." She paused, staring into his bright blue eyes. "You're rather forward for a Vulcan, aren't you?"
"Forward, or straightforward?" he countered, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Straightforward...yes, that is a common Vulcan trait, isn't it?"
Renuk nodded. "It is not logical to be anything other than straightforward. Skirting around an issue never solved anything." He leaned down and stroked her cheek. "And I do not find it necessary to skirt around you either. I wish to be straightforward with you."
V'Lok smirked at the man's easy lies and narrowed his eyes at the PADD. He illogically wished the woman would run away, refuse to go another step with his brother...she seemed cautious for a woman her age, and he wished wildly for a moment that she was here with him instead of in the garden with Renuk...
Sera nodded. "Fine, we are being straightforward." She turned to Renuk. "Are we?"
Renuk nodded and guided her to the two-person swing by the fountain. "Please. I would find it most refreshing."
"What do you want? I've been around other Vulcans and..."
He cut her off, pressing his finger to his lips. "I am not as other Vulcans. Not with you."
She grabbed his wrist and leaned back, her eyes narrowed. "Ok, that was a douche move. You don't want to talk with me, you want to touch me, and I finally got the smell...off your disgusting fingers. You know, if you're going to finger a woman and then place your finger on another woman's lips...you should wash your filthy hands before you do."
She tossed her drink on his face and dropped the glass on the gravel before his feet as she stood.
"I thought I could smell something "fishy" on you.." she growled and nearly gagged, longing to wash her face from the possible STD-laden germs on her lips.
"Good night, Renuk. Don't ever contact me again."
She walked off in a huff.
V'Lok smirked as the woman walked away from his brother, and he copied the video onto a separate data crystal, ready to send it to his brother as a gift for Surak's day. He considered making another copy for his clan mother and Renuk's bondmate, but he decided that might be a little too cruel.
Once the video was done copying, he saved another copy to his personal comm and sent the original to Ambassador Soval, along with more incriminating evidence. He calculated that Renuk had no more than five days left on Earth.
Business was complete, so he turned his attention to the beautiful woman with enough sense to reject his kin. Seraphina...what a lovely name. He looked her up in the database and raised an eyebrow at the amount of credentials she had. Sera had a background in security, but was choosing to try for a diplomatic career instead...his brother, while forward and lewd, did occasionally display good taste, and Seraphina Goodman seemed like a lovely woman.
…
Judith sighed as she set her bag on the floor of her room and sat down on her bed, and Meral immediately sat down beside her, wrapping his right arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his strong, solid body and smiled into his tunic.
"Finally...we be home, ai..."
My home is wherever you happen to be, Meral chimed in her head, and her grin widened. He had introduced her to their newfound ability to speak to each other in their minds, and she found the concept rather nice. Now she could talk dirty to him and not get weird looks from passerby.
Before she could reply, the doorbell rang, and she ran to get it, flinging open the door to reveal her father, as jolly and jovial as ever. She felt Meral follow her down the hallway, and her husband placed a protective hand on her shoulder.
"Papa!"
"Eh, Judith, dat be my girl!"
Jovan pulled her into a tight bear hug. "Emmie-girl told me you be marryin' dis Vulcan." Her father looked approvingly at Meral, who straightened.
"Good muscle on 'im, Judith. He be good in a fight, if push come ta shove, eh?" the human man murmured.
"Ai, Meral be my knight in shinin' armor, Papa."
Her father grinned, then pulled Meral into an enthusiastic hug. "Welcome, Meral! Welcome to de family!"
Judith laughed aloud at the look on Meral's face; obviously, her Vulcan man had not anticipated being hugged by a large, burly Jamaican upon meeting him for the first time, but Meral simply straightened his robes and bowed his head to Jovan.
"I promise you, sir, I will take excellent care of your daughter. No harm will come to her while she is at my side."
"Dat be de spirit, Mister Meral! And dese be yer papa and yer mama?"
"Yes, sir. May I introduce my father, Sivik, and my mother, T'Lon."
Jovan pulled them both into a group hug, Sivik in one arm and T'Lon in the other, and they both glanced at each other, the looks of surprise on their faces making Judith howl with laughter.
"Papa, dat's not how de Vulcans greet each odda!"
"Dey comin' to Earth, dey need ta learn to be happy! Jus' because dey be Vulcan don' mean dey can't be sunshine in de world, eh?"
She shrugged and glanced apologetically at Meral's parents, but Sivik did not seem bothered by Jovan's odd greeting. He seemed intrigued, if nothing else. T'Lon was as calm and collected as ever.
"I have never met a human with more joy flowing through his veins, T'Lon," Sivik said to his wife. "Save perhaps our new daughter."
"He is a very happy person. It is...refreshing. Your emotions are powerful, Osu, but not unpleasant."
"Tank you kindly, madam," Jovan said graciously, bowing his head a little. "Tell me now...dis be yer first time on our planet, no?"
"We are first-time visitors, yes," Sivik replied.
"Wonderful!" Judith's father exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You come wit I, and I show you de sights of dis city, ai?"
Sivik looked to T'Lon, who was already tucking her PADD into her robes. The Vulcan woman reached for her husband's fingers and put a pleasant expression on her face.
"Lead the way, Mr. Keeler."
Jovan roared with triumphant laughter and immediately led them out the door, babbling all the while about everything he wanted to show them. He waved goodbye to Judith and Meral, who stood at the doorway, slightly stunned.
"Dat be my papa," Judith finally breathed. "'Ere one minute and out into de street in anoda. He always be comin and goin...but now..."
She turned to him with a sly grin and fingered the clasp of his tunic. "Dat leaves you and I togetha in dis house...alone...fer tree, four hours..."
Meral snapped the door shut and locked it, then pulled her to his body and captured her mouth in a possessive, greedy kiss. "I was contemplating as much," he purred, unbuttoning the top button of her shirt. She cut to the chase and tore open his tunic, lightly scratching her nails down his wonderfully hairy chest, and he followed suit, ripping her shirt off of her in one swift movement. Buttons clattered everywhere, but Meral ignored them and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist.
She gripped tight with her knees as he continued to kiss her, and it took several minutes for them to reach the bedroom door. Her bra was unlatched and hanging on a piece of artwork on the wall before the door was shut, and she gasped in delight as he tossed her onto her bed.
"What a way ta be welcomed home, eh, love?"
"What a way indeed," he purred. "Forgive me, but I must familiarize myself with your bed, with you in it..."
She laughed and took his earlobe between her lips, and he growled, shrugging out of his tunic and tossing it aside. She rolled with him, pushing him on his back, and she palmed him heatedly through his trousers as she licked up his neck.
Their hearts raced in tandem as their movements became evermore spontaneous and wild, and she found herself pressed down onto the bed, on her stomach, with Meral's lips and teeth exploring her back and spine.
She moaned, and was just about to try to shrug out of her shorts when a PADD started beeping.
They both froze, listening for where the sound was coming from, and the culprit was Meral's PADD, abandoned on the floor in the wake of their passions, but he leaned over the side of the bed and quickly scanned the message on the screen.
A victorious smirk tugged his thin lips upward, and she leaned over his shoulder, trying to read the script in his hand. However, she couldn't read Vulcan, so she looked to him for an answer.
"I may be staying here longer than I thought," he said.