by Tasha Black
She moved toward him mindlessly, needing to be closer to that big body that pulled her as mercilessly as gravity.
“Stop,” he said in a voice that was cold as ice.
She froze in place.
“Go back to your room,” he told her, in that same steely voice.
Hot tears instantly prickled her eyes and she fought to stay standing. She had already displeased him. Or maybe she was right, and he wasn’t attracted to her after all.
That hurt more than she expected.
And she suddenly realized that it was because she did want him, badly.
“I’m s-sorry, Councilman,” she managed, her voice shaking with sobs. She crossed her arms at her chest to bow to him.
“Hailey,” he said. His voice was different now, helpless and pained. “Don’t.”
She paused, uncertain.
“Come here,” he said softly, patting the side of the bed.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I understand, you don’t want me here.”
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the glow was gone.
“Please just come,” he whispered.
11
Orion
Orion held his breath, inwardly cursing himself for making her feel unwanted.
He had been trying to send her away to avoid taking advantage of her. If he was being honest, he didn’t trust himself to sleep in the same room as her. He was having a hard enough time just being under the same roof without ravishing her.
At last, she put one foot in front of the other, moving to sit on the edge of his bed as he had asked.
He could smell the fragrance of the body wash, and her own sweet scent just beneath it. He nearly groaned at the idea that she had bathed and readied herself for him.
“Let’s just talk for a few minutes,” he heard himself say, in a voice that was far calmer than he felt.
She nodded, her mouth set tight as she fought her tears.
He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, but that could only end in one way. The beast inside him stormed and railed for him to claim her. But Orion tried to be a good man.
“First of all, why are you wearing that?” he asked.
He was hoping to distract her, but he was also genuinely curious.
“The wardrobe printer said it was traditional,” she said weakly, looking down at it. “And I thought maybe… other things were traditional too?”
Her turn of phrase was adorable. How could she be ready for the way he longed to defile her when she couldn’t even talk about it directly?
“First of all, I think that gown might have been traditional in my great-grandmother’s day,” he said with a smile. “Secondly, I’m not asking you for a romantic relationship, Hailey.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and he noticed her shoulders slump a little in what could only be relief. Bitter disappointment settled over him. It had almost seemed like she was attracted to him, too. But he was so glad he hadn’t fallen prey to his own temptation. He did not want to force himself on her.
“We just met,” he went on. “And everything here is new to you. You agreed to come here without even beginning your training at the agency. That was very kind of you. I want to assure you that you are here to be family to Opal. I will not take advantage of you.”
“Oh,” she said softly.
“How old are you, Hailey?” he asked, hoping the answer would help him keep to his word.
“Twenty-one standard years,” she replied.
Gods of the rings.
Though she looked even younger than that. He was grateful to find that he wasn’t lusting desperately after a teenager. But twenty-one standard years still made him nearly twice her age.
“How old are you, Councilman?” she asked.
Something about the way she said councilman stirred his lust even further.
“Thirty-five standard years,” he told her gruffly.
She nodded, her eyes bright and unconcerned.
“Please, call me Orion,” he said softly. “We’re family now.”
“Orion,” she breathed.
The sound of the oh in her mouth nearly sent him out of his mind. He felt like a horny teenager.
But she was visibly shaking.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he told her.
“I’m not afraid,” she told him, her eyes suddenly fiery.
“You’re shaking, Hailey,” he pointed out gently.
“I’m just cold,” she said. “Why is it freezing in here?”
“That’s just our climate,” he explained. “We’re more exposed up here, so it’s warmer in the afternoons and colder at night and in the morning.”
“I s-see,” she said, her teeth chattering.
“Gods of the rings,” he said. “I didn’t think about the fact that you wouldn’t be used to this. I’ll be sure the engineers see about adjusting the climate control in your rooms tomorrow, okay?”
“Th-thank you,” she replied.
She looked so small and cold. He wasn’t really responsible for what he did next.
“Do you want to come in with me, just to warm up?” he asked, opening his arms.
Her eyes lit up and she crawled in beside him before he could rethink his offer.
Her small, soft body pressed to his as if she had melted herself.
“You’re so warm,” she said, sighing and shivering with pleasure.
His entire body surged with lust, and he had to clench his jaw to stop himself from warming her mouth with hungry kisses.
“You’re safe now,” he whispered to her. “Get some sleep, Hailey, and we’ll explore your new home tomorrow.”
“Mm,” she murmured back to him.
She snuggled in closer, and he trailed his hand up and down between her shoulder blades, praying she couldn’t feel the molten steel of him throbbing helplessly against her thigh.
Gods forgive him, she might feel it but not know what it was. He’d assumed she would have some sort of romantic experience, but now he wasn’t so sure of that.
After a time, her breathing slowed, and he felt her drift off to sleep.
But it was a long time before sleep took Orion. Instead, he lay in the starlight, holding the woman who was to be his wife in name, craving her with every fiber of his being, even as he wished he knew how to be a better friend to her.
12
Orion
Orion came downstairs feeling like Arkadia was spinning off its axis.
He had hardly slept, then woken alone in his bed, his body pleading for relief.
But even under the pounding of the hot shower and his lonely hand, he chased his release fruitlessly.
It seemed that his body craved only the young woman he had brought into his home. Nothing else would do.
In frustration, he’d dressed and headed downstairs without even checking the newsfeeds.
“I’ve got to get her climate control dealt with today,” he muttered to himself.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand that,” the house replied in its cheerful automated voice, having heard him use the words climate control.
“Never mind,” he told it, feeling irritated. He would need his engineer to look into it. Adjusting the climate in one set of rooms without impacting the others was beyond the usual house control center.
When he reached the lower landing, he heard Hailey’s voice and stopped.
She was sitting on the floor, near the family room fireplace, with Opal in her lap.
“You are the best, baby, ever,” she declared, walking her fingers up Opal’s little body suit and landing on each word, with the final one tapping the baby’s nose.
Opal made a happy little gasping sound followed by a string of unfathomable syllables.
“Yes, Opal,” Hailey praised her. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Something about this simple scene made Orion feel centered suddenly, as if everything that had been lopsided about his morning was now put to rights.
Even the morning nanny, glaring at Hailey from her seat on the sofa, could not ruin the mood.
“Good morning, Hailey,” he called out. “Good morning, Nyreen.”
The nanny nodded crisply.
“Good morning,” Hailey replied happily, then turned her attention back to the baby. “Look who woke up, Opal.”
She scooped the little one from her lap, and held her up so she could see her father.
“Knock, knock,” a familiar voice called out.
“Kypha,” Hailey said happily.
The intrepid publicity consultant strode inside like she owned the place, her head-tentacles wiggling excitedly when she saw Opal.
Opal squeaked up at her, fingers wagging like her own little tentacles.
Orion chuckled to himself.
“Now, I know you just want to cuddle that baby,” Kypha said to Hailey. “But I rescheduled our makeovers for this morning.”
Hailey stopped smiling suddenly.
“You have time for coffee, of course,” Kypha said. “Don’t worry. There’s a great place next to the spa. We’ll treat ourselves.”
“I really appreciate the offer,” Hailey said carefully. “But I think I’d like to pass on the makeover.”
“Can she pass?” Kypha asked, looking over at Orion as he tried to hide his smile.
“She can do whatever she wants,” he said firmly. “Hailey is under no obligation to change anything about herself. She’s her own woman. What would you like to do today, Hailey?”
“What are you doing?” she asked, smiling happily at him, like he’d just given her a gift.
“I’m just going to a brunch at the Senior Center,” he told her. “We were going to talk about public access facilities.”
“Can I come, too?” she asked.
“Of course,” he told her.
She beamed up at him, and he decided to join her by the fire. To hell with Kypha for wanting her to look and dress differently just to fit in, and with Nyreen for wanting her to act like someone she wasn’t.
He liked Hailey exactly the way she was.
13
Hailey
Hailey sat at the huge round floating table by Orion’s side, watching him speak with the group at the brunch.
He had long since rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt, and it was hard not to stare at those strong, veined forearms.
“I would love to hear any other ideas you might have,” Orion told the man beside him earnestly. “Any thought, no matter how small, could be something we bring back to the team for exploration.”
The tiny old man beside him smiled so hard his wrinkles disappeared, and for a moment he looked like a young boy.
“Well, now, son,” the man said. “Take my wife, she has troubles with her ankles.”
The woman beside him with bright pink hair in a neat bun nodded twice, crisply, as if she were allowing one nod for each ankle.
“The public chutes can be jarring,” the man went on. “Even though they don’t technically require an accessibility feature.”
Orion nodded, frowning.
Hailey tried to follow, though she had no idea what public chutes might be.
“If you had a stack of small hover cushions at the top and bottom of the chutes, then a person could take one and ride it up, then deposit it at the top,” the man said. “And vice versa. If they’re plainly marked, I doubt anyone would steal them.”
“That would improve quality of life for a lot of people,” Orion said thoughtfully. “And at a relatively low cost.”
“Might mean some of us could get out for more of our own shopping,” the wife said. “And exercise is a good thing.”
“Very good point, less stress on the social systems when we can run our own errands and stay active,” Orion said. “I predict this will save more than what it costs to implement. I can’t thank you enough for this excellent idea.”
The little man practically glowed as Orion’s hands swept the air above the hologram tablet, noting down the idea and its benefits to society.
“What are your names?” Orion asked, looking up. “I would like to credit you when this is presented.”
The man chuckled as his wife spelled out their names, looking very pleased.
“He’s a looker,” the woman beside Hailey whispered suddenly in her ear.
Hailey turned to her neighbor.
“I’ll bet he’s dynamite in the sack,” the woman went on, her silver eyes twinkling as if she expected Hailey to immediately describe Orion’s prowess in lurid detail.
“We just met yesterday,” Hailey said, not exactly wanting to admit that she hadn’t slept with him and probably wasn’t going to.
She felt a pang of longing at the thought. Of course, she had been nervous about going to him last night, but when he explained that he wouldn’t take advantage of her, a transport load of pain and desire had threatened to crush her.
Then he held her, and his warm arms had made her feel safe and cherished.
But she had also felt the rigid pulse of him at her thigh. It hurt all over again - that his body reacted to hers with such need, and yet he still didn’t want to know her in that way.
“Saving it for the wedding, eh?” the woman asked knowingly.
“I guess so,” Hailey agreed, definitely not wanting to burden this woman with her problems.
“Well, a bit of advice for the honeymoon, then,” the woman said. “Don’t be shy about telling him what you need. He’ll want to know.”
Hailey glanced over at her fiancé, who was furiously taking notes, while nodding to a lady with golden horns and glasses to match.
She blushed at the idea of Orion making that kind of effort to understand and help her in bed.
“He’s a hard worker, that one,” the lady beside her said approvingly.
“How often does he come here?” Hailey asked, trying to change the subject.
“Oh, once a month or so,” the lady said. “Sometimes he just brings food and hangs out, other times, like today, he comes to work.”
Hailey smiled, feeling like she was seeing a whole other side to the handsome councilman.
There was a commotion at the main door to the hall and Hailey looked up just in time to see a parade of reporters with cameras heading their way.
“Councilman VynFleet,” one of them called out in a familiar voice. “We’re just going to plug in the broadcast equipment over here.”
“This isn’t a press briefing, Bragg,” Orion said, his voice cold and hard. “This is a closed brainstorming session with my constituents.”
“We were told it was a photo op and a chance to finally get some video feed of your new fiancée,” the man called Bragg replied, continuing to slide power ends into the plug.
Video feed?
Suddenly Hailey’s heart was pounding, and a cold sweat formed on her brow.
Was that Bragg Zigon, the famous reporter?
She had escaped to Upper Arkadia and managed to get her signing bonus to her family in time to hopefully get them off planet before the Tyvarr family could track them down.
But if she ended up on the newsfeeds, they would know exactly where to find her. And she would be putting Orion, Opal, and everyone else involved with their family in danger.
Think, Hailey, think…
“Let me get us some more drinks,” she told her seat partner, sliding out of her chair and grabbing the pitcher.
Orion looked up at her, eyebrows raised.
She smiled blandly and topped off her own glass and her neighbor’s, then moved around the table offering some to each attendee as the shiny black eyes of a dozen cameras took it all in.
She made sure to let her hair fall in front of her face, in case her plan failed.
When she reached the area closest to the broadcast plug-ins, she pretended to trip over her own feet.
On her way down, she managed to pour the contents of the pitcher all over the equipment and slide plugs.
Th
ere was a sizzle and a spark, followed by a lot of angry shouting.
“Are you okay?” Orion asked in an anxious voice, leaning over her.
“I’m so clumsy,” she moaned, unable to meet his eyes.
“She just ruined ten thousand credits worth of equipment,” one of the reporters groaned.
“We can’t broadcast any of this,” another one said.
Orion lifted Hailey up in his arms and she hid her face in his chest, feeling ashamed.
“Tell you what,” Orion said calmly. “I’ll reimburse you for your equipment out of my personal funds, if you’ll surrender your memory cells before you go.”
There was silence.
“You may have other opportunities to get feed of my new wife,” he said. “But this is your only opportunity to get your equipment replaced on my dime. Mazat.”
Mazat, one of Orion’s bodyguards stepped forward, blocking the doorway. “Anyone who wants to take advantage of the councilman’s generous offer, please step this way,” he said.
There was grumbling, but no one could turn down that offer. One by one, the reporters handed off their cameras and recording devices to Mazat, who removed the memory cells and handed them back.
“Thumbprint on the screen and then enter your info, so we know whose broadcasting equipment we’re replacing,” Mazat said in a bored voice.
“I’m so sorry,” Hailey whispered to Orion. “I can’t imagine how much that stuff costs.”
“Not that much,” he whispered back. “News is a dying art. Most of them can’t afford top of the line. I’ll replace it with better than what they had. It will still be a bargain compared to letting them share feed of my wife-to-be falling down.”
“Er, thanks,” she told him, wondering if he would still want to help her out if he knew why she had fallen.
“As soon as this is done, we’re going home,” he told her. “Then we’ll introduce you to the press properly, on our own terms.”
“Um, I don’t need that,” she said softly. “I’d rather stay out of the spotlight.”
“Oh Hailey,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry, but that’s probably not a viable option. You see how public my life is.”