Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

Shehu wanted nothing more than to turn back time until that moment before he had stroked Petrov's arm and declared himself. For ten years he had kept rigorously to the Captain's policy of no fraternisation, seeking his comfort and affection in short term flings outside the ship. Now he had finally found the one man he could see a future with, a future beyond the next week or the next month and he had totally blown it. He should have started by telling Petrov he was an om and taking him out to dinner, not tried to jump him in a toilet block. He winced every time he thought about it. 

He had finally got Petrov to sit down opposite him, their cups of coffee steaming in front of them at one of the tables behind the Three Suns. He couldn't know the venue brought back unfortunate memories for Petrov of his hot embrace with the Captain. 

Shehu couldn't think where to start, all his previous conversational gambits had gone out of his head when he realised how antagonistic Petrov was. 'Would you come to my quarters tonight? We can pretend we're playing chess but really, I can't wait to kiss you the way I've been dying to, ever since I first saw you', probably wasn't going to cut it. He took a deep breath. "I'm very sorry Petrov, I shouldn't have done that. It was ... inappropriate." 

Well, at least Shehu didn't appear to be blaming him for the encounter, that was one good thing, right? Shehu seemed to have reached a standstill, but now he'd started, Petrov wanted to know more.  

"Why did you pretend to be horror-struck when I told you I was an om?" Petrov wanted to know. 

"Are you kidding? I wasn't pretending, I was terrified." He could tell the other man didn't understand. He tried to explain. "I'm an om myself, I guess that must be pretty obvious after, uh, this morning, but I've kept it secret for so long, so that I could stay on this ship. I found it very ... confronting, when you simply spoke up and admitted it. It was like opening a door on the ship to find myself looking out into open space. Maybe things are different now, but when I first became an officer it was very difficult for oms to rise above corporal. I simply never told anyone, and then I got this placement on the Diell. I mean, you know what Captain Farrell is like! I wouldn't go so far as to say he hates oms, but he certainly gets rid of any oms on his ship as fast as he can." He sipped his coffee. "Apart from that, he's a good Captain. I like being on the Diell."  

Petrov looked hard at Shehu. He honestly didn't know. He didn't know that Farrell was an om himself, that only just a few feet away the other night, he'd had his hand in Petrov's pants and his tongue down his throat. Not, of course, that Petrov could tell him that. 

"I thought you lived with a partner on Capella, a woman I mean," Petrov suddenly remembered the gossip. 

Shehu smiled for the first time, "I share a house with my sister, my half sister to be precise. Same father, different mothers. I have my father's surname, she has her mother's, that's pretty common on Tien, where we grew up. She lives there most of the time and I have room I can use when I'm on Capella." 

"Oh." That was a relief. At least Shehu wasn't faking a relationship. 

Shehu cleared his throat again. He had to ask, "Are you ... are you going to lodge a complaint about me? Report me to the Captain?" 

Petrov looked up in shock, his eyes meeting Shehu's properly for the first time since they had exchanged glances in the mirror. He could see that the other man was deadly serious, waiting tensely for his answer. 

"No, of course not. It was personal, between us. It's none of his business." He hastened to reassure him. How ironic would that be? He'd have to lodge a complaint about the Captain first! 

"Thank you," the First Lieutenant let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. "I'm truly sorry Petrov, I didn't mean to upset you. I promise it won't happen again." He stood up, leaving his coffee unfinished on the table. "I think I'll get back to work, leave you in peace." For a few minutes this morning he had really thought Petrov was saying yes, the low moan Alexei gave as he kissed him had promised so much, and now ... the disappointment was like acid eating into his heart. He couldn't bear to sit there any longer.  

"Oh." Petrov was disconcerted by the sudden withdrawal. "Fine, I'll see you later." That was what he wanted right? To be left alone? At least until he could work out what he was feeling, decide whether he wanted to pursue either man any further or just put both encounters behind him and forget them as soon as he could. 

XXX 

Captain Farrell was avoiding Rhys. He knew he should see him and apologise, explain that he couldn't see him anymore. He felt a little ashamed of himself. It wasn't an emotion he felt often, but he had treated Rhys badly and he knew it. He should have walked away when it dawned on him he had been making out with someone else just moments before. Someone who had roused him to a fever pitch within a few short minutes. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, he had to stop procrastinating, refusing to take Rhys' calls. At least Rhys was unlikely to be upset by his decision, offended quite possibly but hardly hurt, he was so obviously a flirt, the type to thrive on short term affairs. It wouldn't take him long to get over it and find someone else. 

He was avoiding Petrov too, but for very different reasons. His reputation was in the other man's hands. He spent the first few hours on tenterhooks, scanning the crew anxiously to see if Petrov had told anyone, but so far everyone seemed to treat him just the same as usual. So far, so good, he'd kept his mouth shut. Whether he had reported it to anyone else above him, at Headquarters, was of course another issue. He still couldn't believe he had been so careless, so stupid ... but god it had felt good. Who would have guessed Petrov would set him on fire like that? He remembered the feel of his teeth nipping his bottom lip, strong hands on his body, matching his eagerness, his roughness even. He realised he had a stupid smile on his face at the memory and hastily wiped it off. If anyone came in they would think he'd lost the plot, sitting there grinning to himself. 

If only he had met him somewhere else, he would have been after him so fast his feet wouldn't have had time to touch the ground. But as it was, that one encounter would have to be the beginning and the end of their relationship. He allowed himself one more moment to relive that embrace and then firmly packed it away, out of sight in a corner of his mind. 

Now what was he going to do about Rhys?