by Jack Archer
“What are you up to?” Rystar asked when it had been silent for too long.
“Trying to find out where that Marsters guy went,” Enzo said, his long black hair waving around his face. Rystar took a moment to study him, the rich, oak tones of his skin in the blue light, his amber eyes as bright as any of the computer screens in his room.
“Well, stop for a moment. We need to talk,” Kyran said, slipping down to the floor and pulling Enzo’s hand into his own. Enzo looked up at him and set his keyboard down, gazing into Kyran’s eyes before flicking them up to Rystar.
“What about?” Enzo said, pushing some hair from his face and furrowing his brow.
“I can’t imagine what you went through this past month, Enz,” Kyran began, looking everywhere but Enzo’s face. “And I’m not saying we had it worse, but I went through some tough times without you here.”
“Kind of hard to not have someone security-minded on board,” Enzo snorted, but Kyran held his hand tighter.
“I meant as my friend,” Kyran explained, pulling both of Enzo’s hands into his own. Enzo gulped and flicked his eyes between Rystar and Kyran. Rystar gazed down at the pair of them and didn’t have a shred of jealousy anywhere in her body, just a sense of warmness tingling through her bones and a low heat somewhere near her belly.
“I missed you, too,” Enzo said in a quiet voice, his eyes focused on their hands. “All of you. I couldn’t stop thinking about where we left off.” He cast his gaze to Rystar, whose cheeks reddened as she slid down to the floor as well, placing a hand on Enzo’s knee. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about what if I didn’t get a chance to tell you how I felt, Ky.”
Kyran smiled and pulled Enzo close, wrapping his arms around Enzo’s neck and letting out a huge sigh. When he let go, Kyran put a kiss to the top of Enzo’s forehead and moved away, placing Enzo’s hands on Rystar’s.
“So tell me,” he purred, his red eyes smoldering dangerously, “where did you two leave off?”
Enzo lowered his head and smiled, white fangs gleaming in the computer light. He raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Rystar, who shuddered under his gaze. Leaning forward, she pulled him closer by his hands and placed a light kiss on his lips as Kyran’s hand slid around to the small of her back.
“I’ll let you two catch up,” Kyran said, leaning forward to kiss Rystar on the cheek before standing up.
“Are you sure?” Rystar asked and looked up at him, hands still entwined with Enzo’s. Kyran looked between the two of them with that same face she had earlier and could not put a finger on what it was. It was happy, loving, warm, and something else, and it made her chest melt.
“I’m sure,” Kyran said and crossed the room to Enzo’s door, letting himself out and shutting it behind him.
There was only a moment of awkward silence before Enzo pulled her close, and she climbed into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. She kissed him deeper and moaned at his insistence. Rystar didn’t want to play favorites, but Enzo’s taste was intoxicating. The way he rolled their tongues together and slid his hands up her shirt, and clawed at her back made her fall apart at his touch.
With some effort, he lifted them both up and sat her on the couch, crawling over her body and kissing down her neck and chest. Thumbs rubbed at her nipples through her shirt, and she thrust her chest further into his grasp. She grabbed at the hem of his shirt and yanked it up, over his head, and onto the floor where it splayed across a keyboard.
Enzo smiled and talked to her in between kisses, his low voice sending her over the edge. “I never did thank you for saving me.”
“This is thanks enough,” she said, muffled from his lips.
“I’m glad we got to pick up where we left off,” he said, kissing down her jawline and neck, sucking bruises, and making Rystar cry out. She dug her nails into his back, and he sucked in a breath, biting at her collarbone.
“I’m glad we did, too,” she said against his shoulder, “you’re amazing.”
“Eh,” Enzo said with a shrug, slowly kissing down her body until he reached the waistband of her jeans and unbuttoned them. He pulled down the zipper and hooked his fingers in the waist, pulling down and helping Rystar kick them off fully.
It was incredibly comforting, laying there with Enzo in her underwear and shirt while his warm body pressed against her legs as he let his lips linger against her thighs and hips. The couch barely fit the both of them, and they squeezed together until Enzo pulled away for a moment and reached to the floor to grab his tablet.
“I should have seen that coming,” Rystar chuckled to herself, legs still wrapped around his knees. He let out a laugh and shook his head, tapping a few times on the tablet surface until a faint wavering of notes floated through the air. Back on the couch, he curled around her again, putting their foreheads together and kissing her cheekbones.
“Is this Sustri music?” she asked after a moment, the instruments hanging in the air foreign to her.
“Old, a couple hundred years old,” he said. “Never could get into the new music of today.”
“I don’t even know what human music sounded like a couple hundred years ago,” she scoffed. “It’s amazing you can hold onto your history like that.”
“Considering our age, it’s not too far in the past,” Enzo said with a shrug and pulled her into another kiss. She moaned and writhed under his hands, making their way down her body and under her shirt to set her skin alight again.
He lifted her up and sat back on the couch, settling her in his lap and grasping at her thighs, digging his fingers into the soft flesh there. Since coming on board the Firehawk, Rystar had become infinitely more okay with how she looked, considering what it did to her fellow crewmates. Any curve or roll she had, they grabbed. Any stretch mark or blemish, they kissed.
Enzo’s hands slid under her shirt again and pulled it over her head, tossing it on the floor away from the computers. Rystar chuckled. At least someone on board was just as much of an animal as she was. With a hand on the back of her neck, he pulled her down and into a kiss, and she pushed her hips down in his lap. His mouth opened against hers, and she took the opportunity to dive her tongue in and taste him.
He was hands and cobber fiber and the computer screens cast a blueish glow on his face as he looked up at her, glowing amber eyes piercing through her soul. They almost seemed on fire until he closed them while she pushed down in his lap again, and he grabbed at his jeans like they burned him.
She sat up to allow him room to yank them off and toss them elsewhere. He took her hand in his and pulled her down again, this time with nothing separating the two of them except for the thin strip of cloth that she refused to take off just yet.
Enzo was huge and she pressed herself down on him, the warmness radiating from her core enveloping him as she spun slowly in circles, hitting her spot with each turn. Throwing her head back, she sent her hands splaying on his chest and dug in as hard as his were on her thighs, circling faster. Rystar’s hips swayed erratically. Her mouth dropped open as the familiar burn coursed through her lower back and upper thighs. Enzo rubbed them and pulled her face down for another kiss.
“Come for me now,” he whispered against her lips, and she exploded, letting out a soft cry and pressing their foreheads together as she fell apart in his arms.
They sat there for a moment while Rystar caught her breath, and she shook her head to get rid of some strands of hair. She eyed him and raised her eyebrows for a second while a smug grin appeared on her face, and she moved down to kneel between his legs.
“Your turn,” she breathed and sank down on him in one go, tasting herself on him and moaning. He let out a soft groan as the back of her throat hit his head, and he tangled a hand in her hair, squeezing gently. She pulled up and swirled her tongue around him, coming up for air and turning her eyes to gaze at him through her eyelashes.
“Sipe, Ry,” he sighed as she dropped again, hollowing her cheeks and sliding alon
g his length. He hissed between his teeth as she continued, and his other hand found her shoulder, leaning forward to pull her arm up so he could entwine their fingers together.
Rystar picked up the pace, wrapped her free hand around his base, pumping in time with her mouth, and twisting her legs together. She longed for him but continued, moaning as he stiffened harder in her mouth and his legs shook around her. His hand squeezed hers tighter, and she sunk down one last time until he hit the back of her throat again and released with a cry.
He twitched in her mouth, and she finally released him, still gripping the base with her fist while she licked his tip to clean it off. He shuddered, watching her every move with his cat-like eyes. Enzo let his head tip back against the couch and caught his breath, broad chest wavering up and down in the low light.
She eventually climbed up on top of him and nestled in the crook of his arm, and he wrapped it around her, twirling her hair with his fingers.
“Was that thanks enough?” he muttered, brow furrowing. “Seems like I had a much better time than you did.”
“Oh, hush,” she scoffed, swatting at his chest. He laughed and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head and sighing.
After a moment, she twisted her head to rest her chin on his chest and frowned. “What did you tell the Horoths that made Kyran trust them?”
“Hm?” Enzo hummed, pulling himself out of a doze. He thought for a moment before sniffing. “I told them, ‘if you were strong enough to survive his death, you could go on long enough to live like he wanted you to.’”
Rystar thought on that for a moment, turning her head to rest her cheek on his chest again and wondering just how much her grandfather meant to Kyran.
They must have fallen asleep like that because the sound of Rystar’s tablet ringing made them both jump. She scurried down off the couch to grab it and saw Kyran on the other line.
“Sorry to bother you lovebirds, but ship’s almost done,” he crooned. “If you can find the time, will you join us on the bridge?”
“Of course we will. Don’t be like that,” she huffed, sitting back on her haunches and scrolling through her missed messages.
“Not being like anything, sugar, just want to make sure you have enough time to… talk,” he said with that smug voice of his.
“Go away. We’ll be there soon,” she said and swiped the call closed.
“We’re not leaving tonight, are we?” Enzo asked, pulling his jeans and shirt back on while Rystar did the same.
“We shouldn’t be. I think he just wants to talk plans for our next move,” she said with a shrug, pulling her socks on.
They stood up, and Rystar made to head to the door, but Enzo caught her hand and pulled her to him. Pushing a strand of hair from her face and letting a thumb stroke her cheek, he smiled at her through a curtain of black hair.
“I’m glad you came to talk to me,” he said in a low voice. “I was starting to think you weren’t interested.”
“I’ve been interested for a long time,” she admitted, bringing her arms up to rest on his shoulders. “This just isn’t something I’ve done before. Try to be with more than one person at once, much less all of you.”
“We’re a handful, no doubt,” he chuckled and kissed her forehead. Enzo was shaping up to be the sweetest person she had ever been with, his words, the way he stroked her skin so delicately, the soft kisses he placed wherever he could. She smiled and narrowed her eyes as if the sting of tears were there but took in a deep breath instead and kissed him on the cheek.
“Come on, let’s figure out our next move,” she said, heading towards the door with him in tow.
She could have sworn Shea gave her a quick, genuine smile when she and Enzo walked through the door together. It seemed as if Shea was her personal cheerleader now, the way he pushed her to be with the rest of the crew. Na’gya, on the other hand, looked less than pleased, and a surge of guilt shot through her. She was supposed to talk to him, too.
“So, Painger,” Kyran said and clapped his hands together, winking at Enzo, who flushed. “Lupe, what can you tell us about Painger.”
“Lava world,” Lupe said, swiveling around in their chair. “Full of rocks and mountains. Don’t know why you keep taking us to these shitty places.” They grinned and tapped their nose at Rystar, who chuckled but stopped when Kryan threw her a deadly look.
“Because that’s the closest planet of the Atrex,” he explained and stepped down to the console to bring up a map of several Atrex systems. The closest was Sesbawg, full of other rocks and lava worlds they had no business being on. “The Sesbawg system has Painger, which has the third to largest military force of Atrex.”
“Why not go to Pawydezis?” Enzo asked, nose buried in his tablet.
“I don’t want to bother the capital with this just yet,” Kyran said, waving him off. “Besides, the Me’ebawg system—” he pointed to a system just past the Sesbawg one where they were headed “—is about 8 jumps away. We’d need to stop at Painger anyway for another gas up.”
“And food,” Rystar grumbled, her stomach doing the same.
“The Atrex have a diet more similar to yours,” Lupe said.
“Thank goodness,” Rystar said and rolled her eyes.
Kyran studied the map more with Lupe, and Rystar meandered over to Enzo as Shea approached them both.
“And how are you two?” he asked, a knowing grin on his face.
“We’re doing just fine,” Rystar said, plopping down next to Enzo and reading his tablet over his shoulder. “In fact, I was coming over here to ask you something serious. Did you find out anything about Marsters?”
“He covers his tracks pretty well,” Enzo said as Shea sat down on his other side, furrowing his brow and playing with his lip ring. “He was definitely able to track you down when you pinged out to the Galactic Internetwork, but beyond that, he goes ghost. The FDDS must have some badass systems.”
“They’re nothing to shake a stick at,” Rystar said, chewing a knuckle and pulling out her Cortijet. “Do you think he’ll follow us to Painger?”
“I think now that he knows our signatures and has access to FDDS resources, like border gate information,” Enzo said, raising his eyebrows at her, “he will certainly be able to find us wherever we go.”
Rystar stared out of the space shield at Yimesotwa’s sun, some name she couldn’t pronounce but held meaning to the Sustri people. There wasn’t much in the universe that could scare her, but a madman hellbent on taking her crew down and had the entirety of the FDDS’s resources at his disposal?
Terrifying.
About the Author
At the age of five, Jack published their first book, "My Lost Cat", and it all went downhill from there. Jack has splattered pages across the writing genre spectrum, from post-rock songs to short stories, fanfiction to legislative policies. In 2012, they finally settled down for seven years and penned the first of the Homestead Trilogy, "Florida is Gone", based on the apocalypse predictions of the same year.
Jack is working as a cyber security architect and raises a son with their two husbands in the middle of a Florida swamp. In between taking their son to explore the corners of the state and working, Jack finds time to write as much as they can and hopes to one day leave the technical life behind to live a life in a swampy, solitary fantasy world. Until then, they'll stick with their day job.
Also by Jack Archer
Firehawk: Rystar and the LASSOS Book One
Krimson Princess: Rystar and the LASSOs Book Two
Florida is Gone
The Government is Gone
Futeuropa
Beautiful Apocalypse
Beguiling Beasts
Love Sucks
ends