by Mary Winter
Spaceport: Juiced
Mary Winter
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2008 Mary Winter
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ISBN: 978-1-59596-807-4
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Editor: Katriena Knights
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Spaceport: Juiced
Mary Winter
Tomak thinks his partner, Zaiden, is full of shit. His lover has brought him to Spaceport to meet some guru reported to heal addictions through meditation. Tomak doesn’t believe he has a problem, but an ultimatum from his manager has him agreeing to Zaiden’s crazy plan. Except the guru isn’t some ancient old man, she’s the hottest woman Tomak has seen since the groupies at the last TriZ tournament. And she’s making him meditate naked with her for eight hours a day. The cure may kill him, if his addiction doesn’t do it first.
Ioanne accepts Zaiden’s proposal to help his lover only because they grew up together as spaceport brats. And, she’s kind of always had a crush on him. But when she meets Zaiden’s lover, she realizes his perfect male body lends itself too well to her naked meditation therapy. It doesn’t take long for Ioanne to find that she’s the one with the bad habit -- them.
Chapter One
Tomak gripped Zaiden’s arm hard enough to stop the man in his tracks. Zaiden looked at his lover. Anyone else might have noticed the sun-kissed blond hair or the hard, muscled body. Not Zaiden. He’d known Tomak Trucco, mega TriZ star, long enough to see the hesitation in those warm brown eyes and the tension in his body.
“Are you sure?” Tomak asked. He glanced at the security scanner on the door, trailing his gaze over to the chip in Zaiden’s wrist.
Those three words hit Zaiden like a punch to the gut. His father had been a medical prodigy, a virtual saint volunteering his time in the Industrial areas to help those who couldn’t afford medical care. His father had always been sure, always known exactly what he’d wanted to do and done it. Zaiden had tried to emulate it, except every time he learned something new about his lover, it shattered Zaiden’s well-ordered world.
Like when Tomak had revealed his addiction to Styng.
The drug, a cross between a steroid and a stimulant with a little something extra thrown in, was all the rage among professional athletes. Someone like Tomak wasn’t just expected to take it, but damn near required to in order to maintain his level against drugged-up opponents.
“I’m sure.” His stomach flip-flopped, calling him a liar. “If anyone can help you, Ioanne can, and she’s renowned for her discretion. No one will know you’re here as long as you let me get us inside.” He pointedly glanced up and down the empty hall.
“All right.” More than anything, Tomak’s defeated voice told Zaiden what this meant. An ultimatum from Deke, Tomak’s agent, and a discreet recommendation had sent them here to Ioanne Sidi, the woman Zaiden had once, and probably still, loved.
Zaiden sighed and waved his wrist in front of the sensor. It clicked, and before anyone could emerge from one of the residences in this section of the Burbs, Zaiden pulled Tomak inside. Zaiden didn’t even wait to put their luggage down before slamming the door behind them. It automatically locked.
This time, it was Tomak’s turn to sigh. The austere room left little to the imagination. A wooden door, a low counter on which sat a screen flashing information about the Temple of the Sacred Stars. “Welcome to Gai’chabunda,” Zaiden said. “I’m sure you’ll like it here.”
Tomak went to the screen and looked at the reader with its sensor offering discreet, anonymous donations to the Temple. He waved his wrist. A brief “Thank you” flashed on the screen. “Doesn’t look like she’s here.”
“She said she might be meditating. We’re to make ourselves comfortable.”
“Out here?” Tomak snorted.
“No, she prepared a room for us.” Zaiden stopped and studied his lover. “I know Deke made you do this, but Ioanne is a friend of mine. You’re not going to --”
Tomak crossed the three strides separating them and clapped his hand on Zaiden’s arm. “I’ll be good. I promise.” The return of the old twinkle to Tomak’s eyes relaxed Zaiden.
Maybe his lover would behave himself. Yeah, and maybe the broken planet beneath Spaceport Adana might just sprout a lush rainforest, too. He just hoped Tomak remembered that he’d promised to get clean, and not just for his career. Zaiden closed his eyes, trying to block the images of a drugged-out Tomak returning from practice. Sure, the sex had been hot and sweaty, but afterwards, when the stimulant wore off and left Tomak in a thoroughly pissed-off mood, the fights had been terrible. Make-up sex without Styng had been even better and highlighted why Tomak had to get off the stuff. Zaiden opened the door.
From somewhere came the sound of a babbling brook and chirping birds. The recorded wind whistled through leaves that rustled as if on cue. They probably did. No doubt instead of being recorded on some lush planet, the music had come from a few caged birds and a waterfall up in the arboretum. Jewel-toned tapestries, each one showing a nude female figure in a meditative pose, covered the walls. Several soft cushions in a sea of jade green and sapphire blue covered the floor, and in his mind Zaiden pictured Ioanne’s willowy body sitting nude on one of them while she meditated. His cock jerked to life. Damn, not even Tomak’s playful wink had done it for him so quickly. He’d have to make sure he was the one to behave, lest his past catch up with him and remind him of all of the years he’d been gone.
Fifteen years, to be exact. After five, he’d stopped calling himself an ass for not going to see her. After ten, he’d graduated from college, found a job, and had found Tomak. By then, he hadn’t wanted to play the “what if” game. Now he kind of wished he had.
“Through there?” Tomak’s question pulled Zaiden from his reverie.
A beaded curtain hung over the opening to a hallway, the only other exit from the room.
“Guess so.” Zaiden stepped through it, listening to the tinkling bells on the ends of each strand of beads as he passed. At the end of the hall a door stood open, and taking it as a sign, he headed toward it into a modest-sized room with a double bed. He hated to think what Ioanne must pay in rent for a place this size. Unless she owned it… He refused to contemplate the amount of money it would take, though he knew Ioanne was as wealthy as he. And he’d heard she’d taken vows, so maybe if she ran it as a church it got special dispensation.
In addition to the bed, the room boasted a large vid screen on the wall, a mural of an underwater scene over the bed, a wardrobe and a desk. With the exception of being larger, it could have been any hotel room in any number of stations. Zaiden sat on the bed. Definitely much softer and much better quality than the last place they’d stayed. Tomak’s team tended to be cheap.
Tomak stretched out on the other side of the bed and crossed his legs at the ankles. Resting his hands behind his head, he stared at the ceiling. “I’m going to cr
ash here for a bit. Why don’t you find your friend and let her know we’re here? I sure hope she doesn’t want to start tonight.”
In spite of the sight of his lover lying on the bed in a casually sexy pose, Zaiden struggled to keep his mind on the conversation. Instead, he thought about Ioanne and how much she might have changed over the years. She’d always had a lean and boyish figure. He doubted maturity would have rounded her much, but he wanted to find out.
“You’ll be okay?” Zaiden asked out of habit. Now that they’d arrived, he battled nervousness. On the station Tomak could go anywhere -- get anything. Although Zaiden trusted him, he had to admit it was mostly because Tomak’s career meant too much to him.
Tomak grabbed Zaiden’s hand. “This means too much to me. I’m not going to run out and buy a hit.”
The hurt in Tomak’s voice twisted a knife deep in Zaiden’s gut. Not only was he thinking about the woman he’d lived with all those years ago, but he was also worrying that Tomak might do something stupid. “I didn’t think that,” Zaiden said. “Ioanne is my friend. You don’t know her. I’d be a bit uncomfortable if our positions were reversed.”
Tomak slid his fingers from Zaiden’s. “So, you have the hots for her? You said that you guys lived together.”
Zaiden stood and swallowed hard, using the time to walk to the door to try and find an answer. “We were good friends,” he said at last.
“But you wanted more? I know you, Z. You haven’t talked about anyone with that kind of wistfulness in your voice. Hell, I don’t think you even talk about me like that. You wanted her. She didn’t want you.” Tomak rolled over and reached across the bed toward him. “You know I may not be pretty once the detox really starts to kick in. I’ve had my share of indiscretions. If you want to, I totally wouldn’t blame you.”
“No!” The word exploded from his lips. Though Tomak dallied with beautiful women and men on the TriZ circuit, that was part of his persona. Not Zaiden. He believed in two men, together, forever. True love and all that shit.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Tomak sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed Zaiden had just vacated. “I understand. Why don’t you go find your friend? You can let her know that we’re here and see if she wants to get started right away. We have about a week before things really get bad.”
Zaiden nodded. The Styng Tomak used stayed in the system about a week. Apparently he’d dosed up before getting the order to come clean. A week, then things got bad. “I’ll be back shortly.”
“Go!” This time, Tomak shooed him toward the door.
“All right.” Zaiden went, stepping back into the hall. Outside of the entryway he found a closed door, and another, smaller, open door that led to a kitchenette. Next to it was the door for the bathroom, and then the larger room where the meditation sessions took place. He didn’t see Ioanne.
Deciding she must be in the room with the closed door, he returned to it and knocked softly.
Silence greeted him.
Zaiden reached for the knob, remembering the years he’d lived with her and hoping he wasn’t disturbing her. No doubt, she’d heard them come down the hallway and to their room. He closed his fingers around the doorknob, debating on whether to open it or not. Maybe she wasn’t even home.
He turned the handle. It clicked, and the door swung open, almost too easily. A single bed sat in the corner, a brightly printed comforter over it. A wardrobe similar to the one in their room sat across from it. Opening the door a bit farther, he took in several emerald and sapphire-colored pillows on the floor. And there, in the middle of them, sat Ioanne, naked.
Zaiden’s breath whooshed from his lungs. Ioanne sat with her head bent forward, her short cap of red hair barely covering her forehead and cheeks. Her small, high breasts showed no signs of age, and neither did her flat stomach. With the soles of her feet pressed together, her legs framed her smooth mound. His fingers itched to slide over all that silky skin and use his thumbs to part her folds to suckle the pearl nestled inside.
With her head tilted, he couldn’t see her lips and wondered if they were as lush as he remembered. He’d spent countless nights in bed, his fingers wrapped around his cock, thinking about what she’d look like on her knees, his shaft in her mouth. He stifled a groan.
At last she exhaled, a long breath that seemed to come from her very soul. When it finished, she lifted her head to look at him. Shock flashed in her gaze, though she studied him, taking in his hair, his body, all the way down to his feet, then back again. His work with the team had introduced him to weight training and fitness beyond a run around the station. He’d filled out, broadened and gained a few inches since they’d last seen each other. What did he look like to Ioanne now, and how did that compare to her memories of who he’d been?
Zaiden was aware he’d leaned in the doorway while he watched her, his ankles casually crossed, one hand tucked in his pocket. His erection tented the front of his slacks, clearly visible, and he could see her pink labia. He bet her clit was swollen, peeking from its hood, and he longed to tease it with his fingers… or his tongue.
Her breathing sounded harsh in the small room, quite the contrast from her deep, even meditation.
“You arrived. Welcome.” Her breathy voice hardened his cock even more.
“We did. Thank you again for working with Tomak. Your work is very well-known.”
She stood in a lithe movement that revealed her strength and flexibility. Grabbing a robe that lay over the end of the bed, she slipped it on, but not before he noted her hardened nipples.
Ioanne wanted him.
Forcing himself to think about his lover in the other room and ignore the blood pooling in his cock, he kept his attention focused on her face, not on the skin revealed by the opening of her robe or the way her damn nipples tented the fabric. This was going to be a very long visit if she insisted on meditating in the nude all the time. Part of him hoped for it, the other part dreaded it.
“Thank you. I do what I can to help. My order has taught me much. If you can give me about half an hour we can dine. Usually I eat in the meditation room if that’s all right with you.”
“Anything we can do to help?”
She shook her head. “Just relax. I’m sure you’ve had a trying trip.” Her easy dismissal of him indicated she wasn’t willing to talk about anything beyond the reason why they were here.
“We have. If you need anything you know where to find me.” If you need me to suck your nipples. If you need me to fuck you. Zaiden reined in his unruly thoughts.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks.” She closed the door before they could have any more awkward exchanges and, turning on his heel, Zaiden returned to his lover. And wondered how he’d deal with this renewed attraction to Ioanne.
* * *
The news feeds didn’t do Tomak justice. Sitting across the table from the two men, their affection for one another obvious, Ioanne found herself coming face-to-face with the fact. Even if she were still attracted to Zaiden, and she was sure she wasn’t, the fact that he and Tomak shared looks and touched each other under the table told her that she wouldn’t be exploring anything beyond meditation with them.
That was for the best. Any feelings she had for Zaiden had been buried beneath layers of spiritual training. She wasn’t the moonstruck youth she’d once been. She straightened her spine and nibbled on the steamed vegetables from the arboretum. She noticed the men also ate, clearly not concerned by her vegetarian cuisine.
She watched Tomak just to test the effect he had on her. But Tomak -- that was like a sore spot that she poked at just to see what would happen. He looked better than the pictures, better than the images she couldn’t manage to avoid no matter how hard she tried.
These men would shatter her calm. She ate, each bite measured, each ingredient carefully selected for the most nutrition, the highest purifying qualities. Her meditative schedule had her sitting for ten hours a day, thinking of nothing and everything all at the same time. Clothes constr
icted her. She’d perfected control, and it was with that control that she’d kept her demons away.
And now Tomak and Zaiden had entered her life -- she’d invited them into her life -- and deep inside, she knew it would never be the same.
Zaiden didn’t know why her meditation had such a high success rate, didn’t realize the reason why she provided the tools for people to slay their own demons was because she’d fought, and subdued, her own. They weren’t gone. They never were. But with meditation and powerful will she could keep them at bay. She could keep her life calm and orderly.
Those six months of drinking and drugs after Zaiden had left numbered among the worst of her life. Second only to her mother’s chemical-induced suicide that had brought Zaiden into her home, and into her heart. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt either of them.
The strength of her desire for these men startled her. Sure, after she’d enrolled in the order she’d been celibate. Subduing her body’s desires seemed the better way to keep her will in check. Now, watching these two, she wondered what they’d look like together, and what it would be like to be at the center of their world.
Every time she moved, the silk material of her loose-fitting robe slid across her nipples. The garment conformed to her, catching on the stiff peaks, then pooling around her thighs. She shifted in her seat, aware of her engorged clit and slick labia. The flutter of material around her ankles evoked the images of summer-sweet caresses. Every new sensation brought her attention back to the two men sitting across from her.
Zaiden she’d expected, though the breadth of his shoulders and the way his body narrowed to lean hips and muscular thighs was new. He’d grown, matured, his lips full with a male’s sensuality, the slashes of his cheekbones stark. Tomak looked like the adored TriZ player he was, with an athlete’s hard body and carefree smile. Tiny lines bracketed his eyes, his lips a bit too tense, making her wonder when his last Styng hit had been and how long before the full-blown effects of detox kicked in.