by Megan Hart
Jarden kissed her throat and looked up at her. He had not yet softened inside her. He moved her, just a little, to slide a hand between them. His thumb pressed her clit.
“What are you doing?” Milla asked, biting her lower lip at the pressure.
Without taking his eyes from hers, he moved inside her. Small, subtle thrusts, barely rocking. “Clench down on me.”
When she did, they both groaned. She tightened her internal muscles in time to the small press-press of his thumb and the barely discernable thrust of his cock inside her. Neither of them moved even enough for anyone watching to see, but it didn’t matter. It was more than enough.
She murmured his name. Her fingers dug into his shoulders. It was impossible that this should build up ecstasy inside her again, but there was no denying that’s what was happening. Each tiny motion sent desire curling through her. Soon, Milla was moving faster against Jarden, who stayed still. She rode him, hoping he wouldn’t move, wouldn’t shift, wouldn’t make her lose the tenuous thread of climax beginning to unspool inside her.
He didn’t. He gave her total control, and when she came with a cry, her body shaking and shuddering, he closed his eyes and echoed the sound of her pleasure.
Breathless and boneless and utterly astounded, Milla relaxed in Jarden’s arms. She blinked. She tasted sweat on her upper lip. They breathed together, in time, and she started to speak, to say something, she wasn’t sure what, but the pounding on the door stopped her.
Jarden gave her a smile, but his eyes looked bleak. “You’d better answer.”
Milla nodded and untangled herself from him. On weak legs, she found her robe and pulled it on and went to the door. Her mind reeled from what had happened, at last, with a stranger. Not with a Pleasurebot, but with a man.
She opened the door. Two uniformed men stood outside. She didn’t step aside to let them in.
“Ma’am, pardon us, but we’re conducting a routine inspection.” The taller officer flashed a wrist tattoo Milla assumed was a badge, and then held up a holo-tablet with a scrolling list of numbered sentences.
She didn’t have to read them to know they were the Newcity Standards. Milla let her robe gape open, just a bit, and tossed her hair over her shoulders.
“Can’t you come back later?” She asked, sounding bored. “I’m in the middle of a hot fuck-and-suck. I mean, really, what sort of pleasure cruise is this?”
The officers gave each other a glance. “If you don’t mind, ma’am, we need to inspect everyone here, even the fuck-crew.”
These were the men who would take Jarden away, if they could, simply because he didn’t conform to their standards. Milla stared them down. She’d faced scarier sights. She’d undergone a union dissolution on Nidar, after all, where women had next to no rights, except for the one to run away.
The shorter officer didn’t wait for her to step aside, but pushed into the cabin. Milla turned. Jarden had already gotten out of bed and pulled on the sleep pants. He stood, resigned. His eyes met hers. She couldn’t forget how it had felt to look into those dark eyes as pleasure burst through her. It was better even than seeing stars.
“Identification?” The shorter officer was asking Jarden, but Milla did her own pushing to get between them.
“Excuse me,” she said, “but take your hands off my field-husband.”
The officers exchanged glances again. The taller one spoke. “Field-husband?”
Milla nodded, her heart pounding. What would the punishment be for lying to a R.I. Op? Behind her, Jarden put his hand on the small of her back. She faced the officers.
“That’s what I said.” She lifted her chin, affecting the haughtiest attitude she could with her knees shaking and her throat dry.
“Do you have identification?”
“I do.” She sniffed and took the folder of paper documents from their place in the nightstand drawer. “As you can see, I’m an official Homesteader, protected under the Homestead Council. This man is my field-husband.”
She pulled out the sheaf of papers she’d honestly never expected to use. “And he’s also protected under the council. So unless you have a reason to suspect—”
“No, ma’am,” said the taller and presumably smarter officer. Apparently even R.I.O. respected the Homestead Council. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience. It’s a routine check. Sorry to bother you.”
“I’ll be filing a complaint,” Milla said to their backs as they headed out. “You’d better believe it.”
When the door closed behind them, she let out the breath she’d been holding and sank onto the bed, clutching her stomach. “Oh, God-of-choice.”
Jarden sat next to her. “Thank you.”
She looked at him. “You’re welcome.”
He smiled at her and reached to brush a strand of hair from her face. “You shouldn’t have done that, Milla. They can check the records. They’ll know I’m not your field-husband.”
“Will it be worse for you if they find out?” The scent of their lovemaking still tantalized her nostrils. The Arous-All lotion should’ve worn off by now, but sitting this close to Jarden, feeling the heat of his thigh nearly touching hers, Milla couldn’t stop from feeling the tingle of pleasure between her legs.
“No. I don’t think it can be worse for me, no matter what you told them.” Jarden stood, taking his heat and scent away from her. “But it will be worse for you.”
He headed for the door, and Milla stood too. “Wait! Jarden, what are you doing?”
He stopped, but didn’t turn. She watched his shoulders tense. He reached for the hand panel, though, of course, he had to know it wouldn’t open. His biceps bulged. He didn’t say anything.
“Are you turning yourself in?” She moved toward him. Her fingertips traced the faint, nearly invisible white line of a scar she’d never have noticed had he not pointed it out to her. “You can’t do that.”
“I can.” Still, he didn’t turn. “There’s no reason for you to—”
“I have a reason,” Milla told him. “Turn around.”
He did, slowly. She took a deep breath. She’d ordered a ’bot and been delivered a man, instead, which was what she really had wanted all along.
“There’s no telling how long they’ll keep us in here,” she told him. “And I have cred-time left with you.”
The smallest, faintest quirk of a smile tugged at his mouth. “Yes, you do.”
Milla lifted her chin and stepped back, letting her robe fall open. “Don’t tell me you’re going to run out on me without honoring them?”
The fact that she’d probably used up almost all but a few minutes of the complimentary time meant nothing. She knew that, and knew he knew it too. But that didn’t stop her. Milla crooked a finger, but Jarden didn’t move.
“Milla—”
“Shh,” she told him sternly. “Does it matter if you turn yourself in now or later? Will they go easier on you for being quick?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”
She crooked her finger again, feigning more confidence than she felt. “Then come here.”
His smile quirked a bit higher, and Milla’s stomach twisted with delight. “Anything you want.”
He moved toward her and she envied his confidence. Perhaps it was purely male, that ability to put aside the past and focus on the now. Whatever it was, Milla admired Jarden’s adaptability. That he’d been willing to sacrifice himself to prevent her from coming to harm had moved her too. They barely knew each other, despite having fucked together so well.
“Thank you,” he said solemnly before brushing her hair from her shoulder. His fingers traced the curve of her shoulder, and Milla felt ashamed at how she’d treated him earlier.
“You’re welcome.” She took a backwards step toward the bed and held out her hand. He took it, following. She drew him down with her onto the softness and laughed a little. “I don’t expect a bed this nice on Selkca.”
He stretched out beside her, his hands already
sliding beneath her robe. The bed dipped under his weight. The simple sensation thrilled her.
Jarden slid a hand to her knee, then higher, to her thigh. “That’s a hard planet.”
Milla arched, her robe parting for him, and in moments she lay naked. Jarden eased out of the sleep pants just as fast, but didn’t move on top of her. He sat, his hands idly tracing patterns on her skin.
“Yes,” she said, “I know. But the compensation package is three times larger than for one of the other Homestead planets.”
He looked at her, his fingers easing closer and closer to her center. “Is that why you need a field-husband?”
Milla parted her legs for him. “It will make it easier, but…ah.”
She sighed as he found her warm and willing flesh and stroked it. Jarden smiled and moved closer to use his tongue on her thigh. His fingers and mouth moved in tandem as he eased his lips over her skin, moving toward the place she wanted him to lick and kiss.
Jarden asked no more questions, just bent to her waiting cunt and kissed her there. The pleasure wasn’t intense, or sudden, or shocking. It was exquisite. She sighed at the warmth of his tongue and lips on her heated folds. As his mouth moved on her skin, Milla reached to run her fingers through the silk of Jarden’s hair.
“How could I have thought I wanted a ’bot?” she murmured, looking down to watch him nuzzle and lick between her legs.
He paused to look up at her with a grin. “I told you I could do anything you wanted.”
What might have felt awkward became comfortable with their shared laughter. Milla’d had many lovers, but few who’d laughed in bed with her. Derek never had. Derek hadn’t laughed much at all…ever. She reached again to smooth her fingers through Jarden’s hair.
“Come here,” she said, and he did.
He moved up her body with fluid grace and settled himself between her legs. His cock was a thick heat against her thigh, and Milla shifted just a little to move him closer to her. Jarden looked down into her face with a faint smile toying on his lips.
“Thank God-of-Choice Pete broke,” he murmured before dipping his head to kiss her throat.
Milla tipped her head to give him more room to get at her skin. “Hmm?”
Jarden laughed. “Never mind.”
He had to be thinking about what was going to happen if the R.I. Ops checked her story, but Jarden didn’t falter as he used his mouth and hands to urge Milla’s body toward pleasure again. He’d been good the first time, when she hadn’t been able to allow herself to climax, but now there wasn’t any barrier. She moved beneath him, reacting. Giving in.
And Jarden took what she offered. He had to be paying careful attention to what was working for her, and to Milla, it seemed as though he never faltered, not once. She didn’t even consider blaming the Arous-All this time. This was all the man before her. His hands, his mouth, his tongue, his body.
She fisted her hand in his hair and brought his mouth to hers, hard. Bruising. Jarden opened to her and their tongues dueled. He was inside her a moment after that and Milla gasped into his open mouth. She wrapped her legs around his thighs and twisted them both. There was no way she could have turned him if he hadn’t allowed it. He was too big. But Jarden rolled with her, still connected. He knew what he was doing, too, because Milla ended up straddling him.
She sat up straight, already moving. Her head tipped back, her eyes closed, as she rode him. Jarden’s hand slipped between them, his thumb stroking directly on her clit. Milla shuddered, no holding back this time, no hesitation.
She climaxed with a cry, her body shaking. “Jarden, come with me!”
He did, with a final thrust and a groan that sent more shocks of pleasure through her until, exhausted, Milla sank down onto his chest. She sighed. The pounding of his heart echoed in her chest where their bodies aligned. The puff of his breath caressed her hair. He put his arms around her and held her, tight.
“Don’t go,” she whispered. “If they come back…we’ll deal with it then. But don’t invite them to take you away.”
Jarden said nothing, but beneath her, his muscles tensed. He was going to turn himself in anyway. She knew it. And why? To save her? Because if he were discovered, her lie would hang her as neatly as his truth?
Milla pushed herself up to look into his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be untrue, you know.”
He frowned. They parted, their bodies slick with sweat. She reached for her robe and drew it around her, but Jarden seemed as comfortable in his nudity as he did in clothes. He sat up against the headboard.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
She glanced toward the folder of documents on the desk. “Those papers are my future. I’ve been granted a field-husband. I didn’t think I’d actually find one. I wasn’t sure I wanted one…not really.”
Milla shrugged and got up, padding across on bare feet to take up the folder. Jarden’s gaze weighed her as she did, but he still said nothing. That was fine. He didn’t have to speak. Made it easier, in fact, if he didn’t.
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to be tied to someone else again.” She held up the folder. “But I knew that Selkca isn’t an easy planet to homestead. I knew having a partner would make it easier. Someone strong.”
She looked at the firm, strong lines of his body.
“Someone smart.” She smiled, and he smiled too. “An engineer would know how to fix equipment and build new tools.”
“Are you asking me to be your field-husband?” Jarden’s smile didn’t falter, but it hadn’t quite reached his eyes either. “Why? Because I made you come?”
Milla shook her head. “No. Because I realized I need someone strong, and smart…and noble, Jarden.”
Now he laughed and got to his feet. “I heard Nidar was old-fashioned, but I didn’t know you’d be looking for some sort of champion.”
“Not a champion. Not a savior.” She lifted her chin. “I left my family, the only life I’d ever known, the only world I’d ever known, to make my way. I expect it to be hard. I don’t want or need anyone to save me from it. But it would be easier with someone to share it with.”
Jarden paced. “You barely know me.”
“You barely know me,” she pointed out. “But then, most field-husbands don’t know their partners before agreeing to the union. Most don’t know if they’ll really be compatible. We have that advantage.”
He looked at her, that faint smile still tugging the corners of his lips. “I meant to be a Homesteader. Not a field-husband.”
“You’d still have rights,” she told him. “It’s a contract. Like any other. And you wouldn’t have to wait another year.”
They stared at each other. Jarden crossed his arms over his chest. “If I wait another year, I’ll be my own man. Owing nothing to anyone.”
She could understand that, and she nodded. “It’s an offer, Jarden. That’s all. I like you.”
He nodded then, like her words had made sense, but he’d expected them. “Are you sure?”
Before she could say more, the lights flickered again.
“Attention, all passengers. Attention.” The modulated female voice was the same as it had been before, but the sound of it sent a bolt of anxiety through Milla. Jarden looked up toward the ceiling speakers. “Attention. Pleasure Princess Cruises apologizes for the delay, but we’ll be departing Newcity airspace in approximately two ship-hours. Please be prepared for any final inspections. Thank you.”
Milla looked at Jarden. “Final inspections?”
He looked grim and bent to pull on his thin sleep pants. “It means they’ve found something they want to check. Again.”
Him? Milla swallowed, hard. “Sign the forms, Jarden. Become my field-husband. I can transfer the credits directly into your account. It’ll be a legal transaction. Don’t tell me you’d rather be put in prison than work and live on Selkca. Even if it’s with me.”
“That’s not—” The pounding on the door stopped him. Despite his bravado, Jarden�
��s face paled.
Milla handed him the documents. “Mark your name there.”
She was already pulling out her cred-account card and sliding it through the wall-reader. She punched in her passcode. “What’s your account number for the transfer?”
“You can’t do this.”
“Miss, we’re sorry to disturb you, but you need to open the door or we’ll open it for you.”
“They’re not sorry,” Milla told Jarden fiercely. “The number!”
He rattled it off and she punched it in. She forced herself not to think of what that money could’ve provided for her on Selkca. Jarden’s hands flew over the document folder, adding his name to the contract. They both finished as the door rattled again, and she opened it.
“I told you, I’m in the middle of a hot fuck-and-suck!” she complained with a pout.
“We’re here for him.” The tall R.I. Op gestured at Jarden.
“I told you before,” Milla said. “He’s my field-husband.”
“Yeah, let’s let the scanner figure that out,” said the shorter one.
But in another minute they were backing out the door, apologizing. The transfer of funds and documentation had gone through, and Milla waved them away without a hint of her relief as she sent up prayers to God-of-Choice that they hadn’t waited even a moment longer.
“Thank you.” Jarden said the words stiffly. “Should I get my things?”
Milla shook her head. Her heart still pumped faster than normal, from the delicious orgasms he’d given her and the close call with the Newcity officers. “No.”
“No?” Jarden frowned.
Milla turned from him. He didn’t want to be tied to her. She understood that, and knew it had nothing to do with her scar. Nothing to do with her. She paused, her fingers working the robe’s stick-seam closed. She smiled. Jarden’s rejection of her had nothing to do with her, and she was still smiling when she turned to face him again.
“No. You go.” She eased the field-husband contract from its place in her folder and pressed it into his hand. “You don’t want this. When we’re far away from Newcity, you can annul this contract. It will revert to me. You won’t even lose the money. All the details are in there.”