Lovers and Lunatics (Mars Adventure Romance Series Book 2)

by Jennifer Willis

  And then suddenly he was inside her, his body pressed hard against hers as he groaned into her hair.

  “Hannah.” Her name was a soft mantra on his lips as he clung to her and plunged deeper within.

  They drifted in space as they moved together, bumping up against one wall where Gary pressed Hannah flat against the surface and grabbed at the tethers as he worked inside her. She panted against his neck, her ardent sighs growing more urgent until she was singing out with every gasping breath, her orgasm shuddering through her body as she felt his throbbing climax inside her. He growled her name again, deep in his throat, and then let go of the wall.

  They hovered together as one body, floating in space. Gary wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, and Hannah nibbled playfully at his ear.

  Gary laughed. “You’re not honestly trying to start me up again already?”

  She sighed into his hair. “Just enjoying the moment.”

  But as her breath slowed and her body cooled, she felt the sticky layer of sweat between them. She felt the chill of the room. And she remembered the trailing end of their previous conversation.

  “What did you mean about being permanently grounded?” she asked.

  Gary emitted a sound somewhere between a snore and a cough. “What?”

  “Before. You said, ‘We’ll probably all be permanently grounded.’ What did you mean by that?”

  His grip on her loosened as he pulled back far enough to look into her face. “Seriously? That’s what you want to talk about?”

  “I was just curious.”

  “You can compartmentalize better than anyone I’ve ever seen.” He laughed as he released her and searched around the cabin for his jumpsuit. He grabbed at one garment and futzed with it for a bit before realizing it was Hannah’s. He pushed it her way and started pulling on his own suit.

  “So . . . ?”

  “Well, like you mentioned, there’ll be a lot of legal activity we’ll probably have to be part of. Even if we don’t end up being charged with anything ourselves.”

  Hannah slid her legs and arms into her suit and stared at Gary, her eyes wide.

  “Breach of contract to start with,” he explained. “And maybe some kind of espionage. But I doubt that would happen. There won’t be anything left of Rufus or DayLite to bring suit against us, and to the rest of the world, well, we’ve just exposed some serious and dangerous fraud. We’re the good guys.” He zipped up his suit. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “Okay, so then the whole grounded thing?” Hannah knew she’d spent more time in space, beyond the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, than was good for her. But space station and salvage crews received regular anti-cancer treatments to at least partially counteract their radiation exposure, and space medicine was evolving all the time. If they were going to be stuck on Earth, it wouldn’t be for medical reasons.

  “After all the dust settles, and life sorts itself into something more normal . . .” Gary crossed his arms and sighed. “Haven’t you had enough of space?”

  Hannah blinked at him. Did he think that after all of this, she would choose to ground herself? “No, I haven’t. But it sounds like you have.”

  Feeling the unexpected rise of tears, she pushed away from the wall and headed for the cabin door. She’d sooner bear witness to Sid and Dana’s Disney row than embarrass herself in front of Gary.

  It was the argument from her dream—not in so many words, but in the same context and tone. She couldn’t bear to have it become a reality so soon.

  “Hannah. Hannah, wait.” He reached the door before she did, but he didn’t block her exit or grab hold of her to prevent her from leaving. Instead he touched her shoulder with his fingertips and, with a soft tenderness, turned her to face him.

  “I just thought you wouldn’t want to go anywhere near orbit again, not after everything you’ve been through.”

  Hannah almost laughed. “After everything I’ve been through? Gary, you were nearly killed. At the very least, you’ve got a busted nose. But you were right all along, about the romance and the adventure of space travel. I guess I just had to experience it for myself—especially the danger—to be able to appreciate that.”

  She reached for his hand when she noticed his eyes glistening, and she squeezed his fingers in her own. “You gave me that.”

  “You’d honestly want to try this again?”

  She did laugh this time. “All this again? Not on your life. But now that I’ve gotten a taste of the next frontier, I think I could stand a little more.”

  Gary lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I can’t tell you what a relief that is. Because I just knew there was no way I’d want to come back without you.”

  “Oh, come on! You’re the Face of Space! You’re the loudest, most persistent evangelist for space exploration on Earth, or anywhere else. I can’t imagine anything that would keep your feet planted on the ground.”

  He reached for her and drew her close. “Except you. Laugh at me all you want, but I just don’t think I want to be anywhere you’re not.”

  Eyes closed, Hannah stretched her arms and legs out long, relishing the pull of full gravity and the support of the chaise beneath her body. She took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, green scent of the healthy lawn, and listened to the chirping of the night’s crickets and frogs. Luxuriating in the feel of soft leather against her bare shoulders, she smiled.

  She was back on Earth. It wasn’t a dream this time.

  “Don’t fall asleep on me now.”

  Hannah’s smile widened as Gary laid a fleece blanket over her and then lowered himself onto the chaise and fitted his body around hers. She opened her eyes and stared up into the wide, starry sea of night. Her skin prickled in the cool air and her brain was quiet, soothed by a timeless awe that had her feeling both vast and limitless and tiny, insignificant—and deeply connected to her little planet and the universe that contained it. She blinked, and the miracle above her remained.

  She’d never seen constellations like this before—glimpses of the Milky Way, too. She might have enjoyed similar views from the desert surrounding The Ranch, if she’d ventured away from the compound. But she’d always been working—lining up the next shot, taking care of the Mars colony candidates inside the dome, or grabbing what little sleep she could before she was due back at her production bay.

  Looking up at the brilliant expanse of stars above her in Gary’s backyard in Arizona’s Rim Country, she wondered if she might have been a little more sane if she’d started stargazing earlier.

  She shivered and sank into a deep contentment.

  “I get it now.” She hugged her arms against her body and snuggled closer to Gary. “Why you’d want to live all the way out here. Less light pollution.”

  “Mm-hmm.” He stroked her hair and settled onto his back. “Want me to pull out the telescope? It’s a full moon, and I’ve got a pretty good ‘scope. It’s a 10-inch Dobsonian reflector, with a 1200mm focal length. We won’t be able to spot the Churly Flint’s crash site, not in detail, but I can show you where you’ve been the past few days.”

  Hannah was still getting used to the idea that she’d been in space and had walked on lunar soil. Even as space-faring employees of private companies grew to outnumber government-sponsored astronauts three and four to one, the ranks of those who had ventured beyond the atmosphere remained thin.

  “I’m like Sally Ride now,” Hannah sighed. “Valentina Tereshkova. Peggy Whitson. Anita Laghari.”

  Gary chuckled and gave her a squeeze. “Still my space cutie, though.”

  There hadn’t been any further word about the October Surprise, her crew presumed dead and the ship’s parent company less than anxious to mount a recovery mission in the tumultuous space salvage climate. Hannah thought of the families who would likely have to wait years for any satisfaction, and she felt suddenly cold.

  She pressed her body against Gary’s. She didn’t think two people on a single c
haise would be the least bit comfortable, but nestling against Gary under the open sky was downright cozy.

  They’d lain side by side since an hour after sunset. Gary had pointed out the patterns in the sky as the stars became visible, telling her about the five primary circumpolar constellations that can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year, while the others rotate around seasonally.

  Hannah frowned. Was that right? Five constants? She was past the point of saturation with new astronomical knowledge. Gary had had years to learn the stars and planets, types of galaxies, orbital planes and planetary precessions and declinations . . . She couldn’t keep it all straight. Not yet.

  But she was beginning to see what he saw when he looked up at the stars. All the possibility and the menace and the wonder. Her whole body buzzed with excitement. She was no longer an associate producer who happened to work on a Mars show while knowing only enough to get by. She was a true believer now. Gary had given her this.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing away a sudden tear.

  “Sorry?” Gary nearly laughed. “Sorry for what?”

  “For all the terrible things I thought about you. You know, before.”

  “Yeah, well, I might have deserved some of that. But I don’t want you going to the other extreme now, thinking I’ve been some kind of saint.”

  “Hardly.”

  They laughed together, and it felt good. Hannah turned toward him and traced the newly flawed line of his nose with her fingertip. The break had healed nicely, but Gary had foregone the cosmetic surgery that would have erased the evidence from his face. Now there was a slight tug to the left along the center line.

  He looked more normal now, more relatable. Less plastic, less perfect. More handsome, Hannah thought. She smiled and touched it again. Gary’s nose was fast becoming her favorite feature, a barely noticeably blemish in the middle of his otherwise faultless face.

  Gary gave her a sidelong glance. “Is it horrible?”

  She shook her head. “It suits you. Makes you look more . . . I don’t know. Rugged, maybe.”

  Gary laughed out loud. “Rugged. That’s a new one.”

  Hannah reached up to ruffle his hair. “You look more hardboiled now. More experienced.”

  “And more unemployed.”

  There was a hitch in his voice, and she knew he was thinking about his family—his sister’s kids, and their tuition bills coming due. Gary’s settlement from DayLite Syndicate—what was left of it—would support Ruth through her medical residency and put the last two through college. Beyond that, things were looking pretty scarce.

  There was no such settlement for Hannah. She was flat broke. And with Gary’s house on the market as he tried to raise funds to start a production company of his own, she feared this night stargazing on the chaise might well be their last.

  No, Hannah thought. The stars will always be ours. She kissed the tip of his nose.

  “More like a real person.” Hannah settled back against the chaise. She remembered what Gary had looked like before, all polished and tanned and perfect. Reality television’s golden doll host. It was hard to believe that had been only two months ago.

  She’d lived through her own suspense-filled reality show, custom-made for an eager audience. Thrust, literally, into space with little warning. Multiple harrowing escapes from death, and witnessing the deaths of others. A daring, albeit awkward and unorganized, lunar rescue. Blowing the whistle on Rufus and his shady media empire.

  And somewhere in the middle of all of that, finding connection and even love with someone she had reviled.

  The reality of the experience was taking some time to sink in. If not for the crook in Gary’s once-pristine nose, and the fact that she was cuddling with him in his backyard, she’d be tempted to chalk it all up to a dream.

  She turned her head and breathed against his neck, just below his ear. “We’re both unemployed now, space hunk. Maybe unemployable after the fiasco of our last project. So there.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. We’ll get our funding.” He kissed her forehead and then pointed up at the sky. “What do you think?”

  Hannah frowned. “About what?”

  “About the name for our production company?”

  She tried to make out what constellation he was pointing to, but she couldn’t see the pattern much less remember the name. So she guessed. “Andromeda?”

  Gary smiled. “Try again.” He traced the figure in the sky, but Hannah still couldn’t see it. “The hero, the one who saved Andromeda.” He took a breath and let out a long sigh. “The one who slew the Gorgon.”

  Hannah giggled, her head resting on his chest. “You’re talking about Gary, then. The hero who took down the wicked Rufus and made space safe, or safer, for colonists and commerce and explorers.”

  He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “I don’t know about that. I’m no Buck Rogers.” He inhaled sharply, and Hannah felt the slow frustration of his exhale. “It’s Perseus. That constellation. I thought it might make a good name.”

  Hannah placed her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. “But you are a hero, Gary. You’re not just the Face of Space or some generic, disposable space hunk. You’re a real astronaut. What we did made a difference, and the Mars Colony Program will be all the better for it.”

  “Once it gets off the ground again.”

  “Well, sure, there’s that. But it will be overhauled. It will be better, safer. Saner.” She peered at the features of his face, bathed in the moonlight. She’d been so distracted by his charming new nose that she hadn’t noticed the two, tiny wrinkles at the corner of his left eye.

  “Gary? Did you stop your botox?”

  “You bet your bundt cake I did.” Gary paused. “Does it show?”

  Hannah’s eyes filled with grateful tears, and they spilled easily down her cheeks. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” He pulled her close and kissed her deeply, slipping his fingers into the curls of her hair. The night suddenly wasn’t quite so chilly, and Hannah felt the blanket slide down her shoulders and fall to the ground.

  “I love you, Gary Nelson,” she breathed against his lips.

  “Niffenegger.”

  “Whatever.” She pressed her mouth against his, but resisted the temptation to climb on top of him. She wasn’t done looking up at the stars, not quite yet.

  “You think you’d ever want to visit Mars, at the new colony?” he asked.

  She was surprised by the question, but no lunar crash or even a few explosions would diminish Gary’s yearning for space. They’d been brainstorming how to get off the ground again almost since the moment they landed back on Earth. There was little chance either of them would be accepted as Mars colonists, much less as UN Space Corps astronauts, but it didn’t hurt to dream.

  “I guess so,” she replied. “That could be a fun adventure. But I don’t see how. Why?”

  Gary kissed her again, then held her tight as he looked up at the sky and smiled. “Oh, because the head of the new oversight committee for the Mars Colony Program called earlier today. They want to hire us—Perseus Productions—to go be their eyes and ears on Mars. Documentary style.”

  Hannah sat up tall with the thrill of adrenaline. She started grabbing at Gary’s trouser pockets.

  “What ever are you after, Ms. Cuthbertson?” he laughed.

  “Your phone!”

  Both his front pockets were empty, and Gary laughed harder as she dug into his back pockets.

  “We have to call them back, right now,” she insisted. “Before they change their minds. We have to tell them yes. Yes, yes, yes!”

  Gary captured her hands in his own and sat up beside her. “Already done.”

  Hannah’s heart beat fast in her chest. Her next chapter was dawning—meaningful work to challenge her, and such a man to fill her empty hands and heart. She rested her head on Gary’s shoulder and looked up, scanning across the stars and planets for her prize—a small, reddish dot i
n the west.

  “I see it,” she whispered. “I see Mars.”

  Wait!

  Before you go . . .

  I hope you enjoyed the read, and that you will continue with the MARS books. If you have a few minutes, would you mind posting a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads?

  Thanks for helping to spread the word to other readers who might enjoy this book, too, and for helping to support me as an author.

  If you’d like to hear about book news, freebies, and more, you can sign up for my mailing list at Jennifer-Willis.com.

  In the meantime, get ready for another spicy MARS tale as the series continues later this year with book 3: Mars Heat!

  Acknowledgments

  This second book in the Mars Adventure Romance Series is a continuation of a new venture for me, and I want to devote a bit of space here to thanking some important people for their support and assistance.

  The Lovers and Lunatics beta readers—Tuffy Black, Laura Graham Hirschfeld, and especially Rebecca, who again got smut-spammed—for your constructive, funny feedback all in the name of helping me produce a better book.

  The members of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and Susan Kaye Quinn’s For Love or Money group, for offering feedback and encouragement along the way.

  To my friends and fans on Facebook, who helped me sort out the name for a (fictitious) global burger chain, among other assists.

  Steve Novak, for once again creating beautiful artwork while remaining fun to work with.

  The Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers for reinforcing the importance of science in science fiction, and for running a comprehensive program to support writers in the pursuit of good science in fiction.

  Laurel Standley, for being a steadfast write-in partner and a science sounding board.

  Mike, for help with proofreading and brainstorming, and for being supportive through pretty much everything.

  The wonderful writers who are The Masked Hucksters—Dale Ivan Smith, Wendy Wagner, and Rebecca Stefoff—for cheering me onward as I continue my pursuit of something new and untested. I don’t want to think about where I’d be without you guys.