His hands spasmed on my hips and his head fell back to rest against the patterned glass behind us.
“Move, Felicia. I need you to move for me,” he ground out, the words a harsh, guttural command.
So I did. My hands went back to his broad shoulders, my fingers curving around them and digging into the skin and muscle, desperate for something to hold on to. His hands guided me as I carefully rose over him. I paused at the peak, just the tip of him still inside, before easing down on him again. The feel of him sliding back into me made my breath catch, then escape on a moan.
Alexei cursed mindlessly in Russian. He felt wild and barely in control, as if it were all he could do not to crush me in his need to have me in every way he wanted. I moaned again at the thought as I brought myself up and back down on him. Soon, I moved with more speed and confidence as my body opened for him, wet and ready, wanting to draw him farther into me.
“I could watch you like this for hours,” he ground out, his eyes drawn to where our bodies connected. “The feel of you just kills me. Come on me, Felicia. I need you to come because I can’t last when you’re wild like this.”
“Yes,” I whispered feverishly. “Yes, just you. Like this. So close…Alexei, I’m so close…”
“I’ve got you,” he promised.
He was as good as his word as he pressed skilled fingers to my clit. With just a few passes of his hand and his admission of how much he wanted me, I was there. My body detonated around his, and I lost all rhythm when the orgasm hit me. But by then, he’d grasped control and raised my body for me, getting me through the first mind-warping orgasm and hurtling me into the next with ferocious speed as I screamed his name. That was all it took—my body shuddering over his—to finish him. The corded muscles popped out in his neck while his hands nearly bruised me. I watched in awe as he greedily used my body to stroke himself through his own staggering climax. Only I could do this to him, and that knowledge had me coming again, screaming myself hoarse.
I collapsed on him, overwhelmed by the heat in the shower sauna and the dazzling orgasms that shattered me. Panting, I slid down his chest and might have fallen to the tile floor if he hadn’t caught me. He cradled me in his arms, petting me, making me feel like I was the only thing that mattered in his world.
“I love you,” he whispered into my damp hair and over my skin as I fought for breath, the words a promise and an oath. “Everything you do, everything you are. I don’t want this existence to go on if you’re not in it with me. I want us regardless of what happens.”
“I want it too. I want it for as long as we’re allowed to have it.”
“Don’t,” he whispered. “Don’t look for trouble where there is none.”
Was it trouble, or was I the only one of us willing to face reality? I opened my eyes and met the stunning blue of his. And finally, with us both so close, I said the thing that had been consuming me for weeks, if not months.
“Could you talk to Karol about my eggs he harvested last fall?” I asked. “Could you tell him I’m finally ready to try the fertilized embryo option? I wasn’t ready before, but now I am.”
He gazed at me a long time, unblinking and still. I’d wanted to conceive naturally, but maybe it was time to let science and genetic manipulation in and do things One Gov’s way.
Before I could say more, he nodded. Then his arms tightened and he held me as if I were the most fragile thing in the world. Long moments passed until he spoke.
“Did you run the cards earlier? Did they tell you something?”
“I don’t need the Tarot for this,” I lied. Alexei wanted redemption. I would do my best to give it to him. If he believed we could make a baby, maybe his belief was enough for the two of us. “Will you tell Karol I’m ready?”
“I’ll tell him tonight.”
6
I went to work Jovisol with the Nine of Swords and a call to Grandmother hanging over my head. Also hanging over me was a talk with Felipe regarding the fallout from Terrasol’s—or rather Friday’s, since One Gov still used Earth’s naming conventions—progress meeting. Not the ideal way to start the week, and both situations left my stomach knotted with dread.
I’d run the cards to get a sense of what I might be facing, but they’d been less than helpful. The Tarot had an annoying habit of being vague and cagey when you kept asking about the same problem in the hopes of receiving a different answer. It was like a slap from the universe telling you to stop being such a whiner and to leave it alone because it was trying to sleep.
The luck gene was equally useless. There was no prodding whatsoever from my gut, meaning I walked around as clueless and stupid as the next person. It made me wish I’d brought Feodor to work. Everyone in the office adored him, and his antics would have distracted me. Instead he was with Alexei, probably riding around the planet in a flight-limo and having a great time.
I went to see my grandfather first. A chat with him would be a hell of a lot more pleasant than dealing with Suzette.
I knew his schedule, but Felipe kept such odd hours that seeing him in person could be a challenge. Some sols, he was in the office. Others, he worked from home. Then there were the travel sols when he moved from site to site all across Mars. As his Attaché, I traveled with him and had seen most of Mars this way. He preferred face-to-face meetings. Personal connections mattered to him, and I liked that. It made me understand how bereft he must have been when Monique cut off contact and insisted on him never seeing me.
I suspected he didn’t need me on these jaunts all over Mars; he just wanted me as company. I didn’t mind; we were getting to know each other. In half a year, he’d be returning to Earth. I didn’t want to miss out on any time with him. Plus I liked watching him work and learning the intricacies of One Gov operations. When Felipe ultimately left, I wanted to be able to hold my own without him.
The door to Felipe’s office was open and he sat behind his desk. From the mess spread out around him, consisting of numerous coffee cups, an assortment of data pads he used for quick reference, and a pixel projector that could pictorialize abstract thought, it looked like he’d been at it for a while. So much for my early bird catching worms.
“Hi,” I said, stepping inside. His office was a fantastic space with massive windows, comfortable furniture, a glossy black marble desk so big you could nap on it without fear of falling onto the floor, and a gorgeous view of Isidis Bay. I loved my own office, but it looked like a prison cell in comparison—and I was in a position to know all about prison cells. “I hoped we could talk, but if this is a bad time, I can come back.”
There was a gleam of excitement in his green eyes. “Your timing is impeccable,” he said, rising from his desk and crossing to me. He put an arm around my shoulders and drew me farther inside. “I know I was a little vague after Terrasol’s meeting, but we needed time to let things simmer. Plus, I thought you needed a break from the politicking.”
I frowned. “A break is putting it mildly. I feel like you set me up as the bad guy in your master plan to take over Venus.”
Felipe grinned. “Yes, it does look that way, doesn’t it? I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to put you on the spot. Tanith and I wanted Kian gone and Venus out of his control, but never at your expense. I should have prepared you ahead of time. I didn’t and I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t appreciate being out of the loop, but I’ll get over it,” I assured him, waving it away.
“Did you tell Alexei about the meeting?”
“I doubt anyone would believe me, but Alexei and I don’t talk much about work. I mentioned it but didn’t say anything about the Venus project being in jeopardy—which I hope isn’t the case. Please tell me I didn’t do all that work for nothing. Or was getting Kian out of the way the first step to making the Venus initiative a reality?”
Felipe looked excited and proud all at once and had a hard time keeping either emotion off his face. “It’s a constant surprise how perceptive you are, though I don’t know why
since you’re my granddaughter. Alexei has no idea how lucky he is to have you.”
“Oh, believe me, he knows. Now tell me what’s going on. Is Venus on hold?”
“Of course not! The opposite, in fact. What you’ve accomplished so far with Venus has been extraordinary. Since we first opened the planet to colonization, no one has put as much time as you into unraveling its thorny social problems. Life on Venus is hard. We all know that. But you’re actually working to improve the social infrastructure and straighten out its broken economic system. I’m thrilled with the job you’ve done.”
I could feel myself glowing under his praise. “I can’t take all the credit. It’s the cards guiding me, telling me where to focus.”
“I disagree. I think you could have the same level of success without them. Regardless, with Kian and his supporters gone, we can broaden our work with Venus to other responsibilities.”
“I’m not becoming Adjunct of Venus,” I said in case he had any ideas.
He laughed. “No, nothing like that. Being Adjunct would require you relocating to Venus. I doubt either you or Alexei are in a hurry to uproot yourselves from Mars. Further, I want you here for as long as possible. I don’t plan on cutting our time short.”
I smiled, though I felt a little uneasy. Not a gut-feeling uneasy, but an uncertainty as to Felipe’s angle. “This sounds well and good, but all this hinting and broad speculation makes me nervous.”
His grin widened. “Far be it from me to hint and speculate. Let me lay out my plan, as I see it. Removing the current Adjunct of Venus is the first step. Done. Second, ensuring economic and social stability on Venus, so we can see continued growth and colonization. With Mars working as a resource-based powerhouse for the good of the tri-system—thanks to the improved fuel and raw mineral resources we can access from Jupiter and the asteroid belt—the surplus can be leveraged for Venus’s benefit, as you’ve already shown. With the Consortium pushing outward to Jupiter and beyond, it’s opened up a host of new opportunities. I don’t know Alexei’s long game, but his current push works in concert with where I see One Gov headed in the future.
“And that, my dear, opens up the field for the third step and the one I think will have the biggest impact—the gradual repealing of the Shared Hope program. First on Venus. Then Mars. And finally, Earth.”
Holy shit. It was like he’d knocked me over and picked me back up only so he could knock me over again. Felipe wanted to abolish the program that kept population levels in check and regulated every aspect of human reproduction in the tri-system. Could he do that? He was One Gov’s Under-Secretary, but did he have that kind of power? It would completely change the playing field in the tri-system. What kind of authority would One Gov have if they didn’t hold the power of life and death over us?
“Tanith and I feel the tri-system is ready to stand on its own. We don’t need these controls regulating our lives anymore. However, this needs to be a slow and strategic transition. The Shared Hope program has been entrenched in our society in one form or another for two centuries. To abolish it won’t be an easy thing. Even modifications will take work. I’m putting together a task force to clean up Venus with the ultimate goal of ending the program, and I want you to head my team.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“But I am. I already have some suggestions as to your new support staff. You don’t need to go with my recommendations, but I wanted to give you a jumping-off point.”
There, he turned on the pixel projector.
I blinked, looking at the 3-D holo-image that appeared—a list of names and a personnel image as referenced in One Gov’s queenmind. The first was Caleb Dekker, along with a résumé of his personal details and qualifications, not the least of which was living on Venus for the past twenty-five standard years. His list of connections on the planet was as long as my arm.
“He’d be a great Adjunct for Venus,” I murmured, thinking how my gut had reacted to him, wanting to create a connection between him and Alexei. The Consortium foothold wasn’t strong on Venus, not like on Earth and now Mars. I couldn’t imagine what Alexei might do if he had real clout on there. Then again, I supposed he hadn’t really applied himself; he was more concerned with the outer solar system than inner.
“I told him something similar when he first transferred here,” Felipe admitted, looking over the profile with me. “He said Venus was his past and he’s more interested in exploring new opportunities. Can’t fault a man for that. The longer we live, the more variety we crave.”
He forwarded the pixel projector to the next image. Wren Birdsong appeared. She was a new One Gov recruit fresh out of Career Design. Dark-skinned with long hair so black, it glistened even in the holo. She had the tall, willowy body type popular on Mars that could only be achieved with an advanced MH Factor. It also meant she could never go to Earth. With Earth’s heavier gravity, her body would feel all but crushed under the pressure.
“Wren excels in One Gov contract law and policies as they pertain to Venus. Memory modifications aid her recall abilities and she has advanced research capabilities. The queenmind selected her when I queried possible candidates,” he said.
“I’ve worked with her before. Very professional.”
“Which I also knew,” he said, making me laugh.
Third was Friday Piechocki, who’d been with One Gov forever and was just starting to show his age, which his personal stats showed as 134. His Tru-Tan-toned skin had a few deep lines around his eyes and mouth, and his hair was blond and floppy, beginning to thin at the temples. He was a whiz with AI queenmind programming and systems analysis.
“He’s not as good as Brody,” I commented.
“Few are, I’m afraid, but Brody may not be the most suitable fit for this particular task force.”
“You don’t think the two of us should work together.”
“Let me just say that while I trust your commitment to the task, I often wonder what Brody is searching for in life. Also, there are times when I’ve found it’s best not to poke the bear; I’d rather work with a relaxed Alexei Petriv than an agitated one.”
I rolled my eyes but made no comment. I’d moved past any romantic feelings for Brody, and while Alexei knew that, it never hurt to reassure him. I looked back at the holo. “Anyone else?”
“These are my primary picks, but I have a list of secondary choices you can go through. I’ve forwarded them to your CN-net memory blocks. Take a look and let me know if there’s anyone else you want to consider. We can assemble the task force in the next few sols. As the project goes on, you’ll find you may need to add more specialists in particular fields. And when it comes to dismantling the Shared Hope program, that beast will require a whole fleet of experts.”
I gave him a long, considering look. “This is a huge undertaking. Are you sure you’re putting the right person in charge?”
“Besides myself, I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more. Nor can I think of anyone else with a greater determination to see the Shared Hope program abolished forever.”
“You’re assuming I want to do this.”
“Are you saying you don’t?” he asked, his expression bland.
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t fool the cagey bastard. It took everything in me not to fist-pump the air. “Of course I do! I can’t wait to get started.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, grinning.
I felt like we were two coconspirators about to change the fate of the tri-system and impulsively, I hugged him. He returned it and a warm bubble of happiness rushed up inside me.
“This will be a hell of a lot of work, but it’s going to be awesome,” I breathed, pulling back to look up at him.
“It will,” he agreed, “but when we’re done, yes it will be awesome.”
And for a fleeting second, I could almost forget about Celeste’s Nine of Swords.
* * *
Once in my office, I scanned my memory blocks and pulled down Felipe’s file, linking it
to my c-tex. I could have logged in to the CN-net and accessed the memory files, but I was slow when it came to mining the data. Staff meetings were one thing, but I did the day-to-day info scans using my bracelet or data pads. With One Gov regulations only allowing CN-net access for three-hour blocks at a time, I tended to be miserly on how I spent my time.
After checking Felipe’s other candidates, I saw he’d put together the best possible team, Brody notwithstanding. I sent him a ping saying I approved his choices and to let me know when he wanted me to meet with each member. Until then, I’d keep working on my current projects.
Or I could contact Grandmother back on Earth.
I swore under my breath, dreading the shim yet knowing I couldn’t avoid it. I checked the current time in Elysium City and cross-referenced with Nairobi. It would be early evening there—the perfect time for a face-to-face shim. I sighed, the sigh itself one part anxiousness, one part wistfulness. Dealing with Grandmother was a necessary evil, hence the anxiousness. The wistfulness came from remembering the simplicity of my life back on Earth, though it had been far from perfect. I would have been heading out to work from the condo I’d shared with Roy—that bastard—and opening my Tarot card reading shop on Night Alley. My former receptionist Natty would be there with her endless parade of baked goods and demanding a critique of her latest recipe. Charlie Zero would harangue me about how we needed to increase revenue and some new gimmick he wanted to try.
But for all its easiness, I wouldn’t have had Alexei in my life. Ditto for my new family on Mars. Even my crazy dog seemed necessary. My life had changed so radically in the past year and a half, it still blew my mind. Would any of it have happened without the luck gene? I liked to think so, but maybe not. And knowing that—knowing everything I’d come to cherish might have come to me through something as fickle as luck—left me cold and a little bit afraid.
The Game of Luck Page 8