by Imogene Nix
He banged his hand on the comm button. “Hang on. I’m on my way.”
Sandon hastened to the bridge, wrestling with his conscience as the need welling inside himself unfurled. By staying away, he’d fed his anger, and a chink of regret trickled through his nerve endings like a frozen cube of ice. He’d accused of her things he had no right to blame on her. He needed to apologize, and he hoped she wouldn’t just deck him there and then.
Levia’s spine was stiff and straight when he caught sight of her, and he sighed.
He wrapped the straps around himself just as they jolted to an almost sudden stillness. Sandon frowned, realizing this wasn’t the way she normally piloted, and he chanced a quick glance at her.
He noticed the pale tone of her unpainted face, and the jerky movements thrust home just how childishly he’d handled the whole situation.
She was hurt and still had accepted his criticisms with only a single outburst.
“Levia, I—”
She raised a hand. “No worries. It’s done.” Not once did she turn in his direction, and frustration built within him.
The chasm that had existed before was little more than a crack compared to the distance that stretched between them after his actions and careless words.
She rose and, without looking in his direction, staggered to the rear of the shuttle. “I need to manually interface with the ship to engage the tractor to the Echo.”
He knew exactly what that meant—employing the neural net interface straight into her brain. The very thought of it, that they’d turned this woman into what she thought of as only a machine, kept his gut churning.
“Before you go, Levia, I need to talk to you.”
At his words, she whirled. “Right now I’m not sure I want to discuss anything with you. My sole purpose aboard the Golden Echo is to pilot your ship and ensure we meet the demands of the PMA.”
An arctic blast couldn’t have been more effective in chilling his marrow. “Look, Levia, I’m sorry. I was out of line. I should never have said what I did. It was wrong and cruel, and I didn’t mean it. I was just... I was angry and let that cloud my judgment.”
But she turned away and started walking off the bridge. “A professional relationship is all I’m interested in.”
A crimson veil settled over his mind and he tore at the straps and strode toward her, catching and gripping her arm.
She stilled, and he wasn’t sure if he should be thankful or not as she turned, her face a mask of disdain.
“Let. Go. Of. Me.” She jerked, but he held on, desperate to explain why he’d acted like a class A jerk.
“Not until you give me a chance to explain.”
Her brows drew close together and furrow formed between them.
Sandon took her silence as a chance to say his peace. “I was angry, yes. I was furious with you and even more so with myself. It seems I can’t ever protect you from yourself or anyone else.” His chest rose and fell in jerky movements. “No, I don’t know why you take those risks, and to be honest, I wish there was some way to show you that you don’t have to.”
A tiny muscular twitch betrayed the depth of her emotions, and he hoped it was a positive sign.
Without letting himself investigate that, he forged on. “I want to protect you. To take you away from all this.”
A sad half-smile crept over her face. “You can’t. That option was taken from me long before I met you.”
If only he could make her see that settling for the half-life she’d lived previously would just make matters worse. “There’s so much more to life. So much more to our existence.”
He leaned in, knowing that his breath fanned her face. He needed to touch her so she’d read his fear that he’d damaged their fragile accord. He framed her jaw lightly.
“Levia, you’re more than that. To me, you’re…” The woman I love? Could he claim that? Was it true? Of course it was. In that instant he felt no shock, only pleasure and a need to make sure she understood.
Her pupils dilated. “What do you mean?”
In her face, he read hunger and fear. It tore at his emotions. He wanted to soothe her, to give her the entire universe. Instead, he took a chance. “I mean, I…” He gazed deep, drew an unsteady breath, and plunged. “I love you, Levia.”
Shock and wonder dragged at him, and he kissed her. It started out as a soft and tender caress, nothing more than a brush of lip to lip. The heat he associated with Levia scorched him. Her scent invaded his mind, filling the empty parts of his soul. When her mouth parted, he pushed deeper, seeking the heated recesses of her mouth and her taste. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, gripping him, and he wound his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, willing her to know just how deeply she affected him.
The instant of surrender, when she sagged against his frame, left him hyper-aware of every inch of her body, the way she fit against him. His mind chanted mine, all mine as he pushed on, hands fumbling against the closure of her suit.
* * * *
Levia was lost as the myriad of sensations zinging through her mind drugged her. Languor spread, leaving her soft-of-limb and dazed. Her hands clutched at him, needing support as she fought against the euphoria and other startling emotions which crowded her brain.
His taste filled her head, like a dark deep wine, and she moaned low in her throat. When he pulled away, she couldn’t conceal the hunger and a groan rose. Sandon’s chuckle as he pushed her into the cabin was a glimmer of reality.
Planting a hand on his chest, she meant to push him back, away. “No…” The breathless word escaped on a hiss.
The sudden tension in his frame had her holding onto the oxygen in her lungs.
“Why, Levia? Why should I stop?”
Her mind whirled. What could she say? “I’m scared.”
“What are you scared of?”
If only it were so easy to pinpoint one thing. He deserved the truth though. Every facet. “Of you and me. Of the pain that will come if this is all a dream. Of where it will take us and where it will end.” She closed her eyes, knowing that the next words were the most honest of all.
“I don’t ever want this to end. Why would I? I want to be with you until time stops.”
She shook her head, her lips trembling as she fought her emotions. “I’m not quite finished.” The whirl in her mind made it hard to form a coherent sentence that adequately explained her fears. She opened her eyes again, staring deep, searching for the power to continue. “I’m terrified of what you’ll think when you look at my body.” The lump in her throat nearly choked her. “The scars… They’re everywhere.” She wanted to turn away, but his gaze mesmerized her.
“I don’t care about the scars, Levia.” He traced his thumb over her lips and leaned closer. “They are what makes you who you are.”
“But—” The quiver started down deep in her body, shaking her to the core.
“Shhhh.” When he moved closer, rubbing his lips over hers, she gave in, her body warming, but the taste of him stole her senses and she gave herself up to the pleasure.
Her mind could barely compute the competing emotions. Need and desire. Hunger and warmth. The deeper the kiss, the harder it was for her to cling to that final thread of sanity. It thinned before snapping. She was left reeling. The kiss was voracious as his hands moved down her body, playing with the closures of her body suit.
She tried to suck in a breath, to push through the cloud that settled on her brain, knowing she should stop this—stop him, before she was too committed. The thought floated away on a haze of sensual desire.
When his lips left hers to feast on the skin at the side of her throat, her knees buckled. Two steps backward and her legs rested against the edge of the bed.
“Sa—”
“Shh… Let me adore you.” His gaze roamed over her, and she understood the unvoiced question.
“Yes.” Something in his tone made her insides melt, and right now she’d agree to just about anything. His words pro
mised pleasure—sexual or emotional, it didn’t matter, as her hunger overwhelmed her thought processes.
“I love you, Levia.” His voice became deep and rough, the timbre echoing through her nerve endings, setting them quivering.
Her skin cooled, and it was only then that she realized he’d pushed down the shoulder of her suit, baring skin. A convulsive shudder wracked her, and she started to raise a hand. He stilled it gently.
“No.” His breath caressed her skin.
Emotions she’d shied away from clamored, and she couldn’t deny them. Accept or deny what he was offering. He claimed to love her. That he wanted her. Could she let him? The time for decisions had arrived.
Levia tried to weigh them, but her mind was awash with sensations and his touch soothed the ragged edges of her carefully banked needs. She gulped, understanding it was time to strip away the tissue-thin layers of protection she’d cloaked herself in.
“Levia?” He was asking permission to continue, and the thought left her shaking.
Screwing up her courage was one thing, uncovering every scar on her body was something totally different.
I don’t want to be afraid and alone. I want Sandon. Her body had made that clear, and she wasn’t one to hide from the truth. Now, she stared at him, willing him to understand the chance she was taking. “Don’t stop.”
“Be very sure, Levia. There’ll be no going back once you’re mine. I won’t allow it.”
Was he also laboring under fears? The thought stripped away the veil of her anxiety, demanding that she stop and consider. It seemed logical that he was unsure, just like she was. Yet he was willing to move forward, beyond the fear that enveloped her.
She could gain assistance from her neural enhancement. It would tell her how his heart rate had increased and his respiration. But she didn’t want that. She wanted the experience with the man who waited before her.
“I’m sure. No going back, Sandon. Not ever.”
His hands shook as he tugged at the closure of her suit, pulling the zipper all the way down, uncovering the body she hid. Instinct made her want to drag her hands up, to cover herself, but something must have betrayed the reflex, and he stilled them.
“Don’t hide from me.”
Her knees assumed the consistency of custard and her face flamed, but she stayed in his grip. Letting him see what very few had.
She knew of the ropey purple scars that crisscrossed her body; she hated them. But as he trailed a cautious and soft finger over them, all she could think of was the way her consciousness zeroed in where he touched her.
In the cool air, her body responded with a shiver of longing. Her pulse thrummed, and her body ached, breasts engorging, and the soft, secret recess between her legs quivered.
“Sandon?” The tiny catch in her voice echoed.
“Trust me.”
Amazingly, she did. He pushed the suit over her hips and down. She pulled at the buttons on his jacket, and with great concentration the first, then the second popped free. His hands worked at her bra, and the instant he released her breasts she sighed. Her nipples standing erect as his fingers burrowed beneath the elastic band of her white panties, then they too disappeared, forgotten.
His body was hidden beneath a thin undershirt, and she bunched it in her hands. “Sandon? Take it off for me.” Her words slipped out on a thready moan.
He did, with a single jerk and the sound of tearing fabric. Torn strips of cloth pooled on the floor.
Naked musculature blinded her. Perfectly formed, hairless, and bronzed. Displayed for her.
Levia’s mind shut down, and she reached out, her body reacting instinctively. Her hand curved over the warm skin he’d bared, gliding over the silky texture of his flesh. She’d never felt like this before, as if her mind were filled with oozing quicksand. Her fingers touched and danced, learning the contours and glorying in the zing of connection.
“Oh God!” She sighed the words as she dragged her fingernail over his nipple.
He hissed.
The rattle of a belt buckle sounded, and he was nude. No longer obscured by layers of cloth. The rhythm of her heart jumped in an uneven beat. Such beauty, her mind declared before that spun away.
His mouth traced down the line of her body, and she tensed for a second. “Trust me.” The whisper against her flesh had her quivering.
Sandon followed the scarring, and for the first time ever, she didn’t hide the ravages of what she’d endured, as the rasp of tongue and nibble of lips played havoc with her body. Deep inside her belly, a pool of molten need grew. Her eyelids drooped to half-mast as Sandon’s hot breath whispered over her skin.
When he touched her sensitized mound she gasped. “Sandon?” Her fingers moved involuntarily, burying themselves in his hair.
“Shhh…” He covered her, mouth and tongue dancing over virgin territory.
Her knees sagged and she dropped to the softness of the bed.
“Beautiful.” The guttural tones made her open her eyes wide and look at him, hovering over her.
The red flush on his skin, the rapt expression as he gazed at her was a drug.
Without thought, she widened her legs. She could barely accept that the smile on his face could only be called carnal. The oxygen in the room was sucked out and she wheezed.
He touched her then, with long and gentle caresses as she bucked, puffing and panting, struggling to fill her lungs. “Oooh...”
Pressure built inside her, while wave after wave of dizzying sensation crashed over her.
“Mo… More! Oh God!” She couldn’t say when she’d released her grip on him and buried it in the bedding, but now she clung, twisting the material, needing an anchor in the sea of emotions.
Inside her, something cracked wide open, and pleasure and glorious hot spears released. Her body exploded in a mind-blowing orgasm.
She was barely aware that he’d continued to ravage her until the pressure started to build once more, the heaviness filling her abdomen.
Levia strained, opening her eyes as Sandon stood, his body hard, his erection urgent, and she wanted more. More than he’d given her. This time she wanted it all.
“Sandon?”
“Now, my love.” He crawled up onto the bed, bracing himself over her, his arms shaking as he held still. “This time I won’t stop.”
“Don’t.”
He pushed her legs wide apart and settled himself so that the head of his erection nudged the center of her body. Slowly, inch-by-inch, he pushed within. The pressure left her shaking, and pain radiated as her body stretched to accommodate his invasion. Breathing through it, she fought the urge to tense.
“Levia?” His eyes were wide. Shocked. “Levia? I don’t think—”
“Do it, Sandon. Make me yours.”
He jerked, then plunged, and she cried out, the scalding pain overwhelming her. She held onto the whimper that formed in her throat. The intensity of the burn washing away the passion haze.
Embedded, he stilled. “I’ll hang on as long as I can.” The tic at the side of his face showed the strain as it jumped.
She closed her eyes and waited. Surely the pain would recede soon?
Then, incomprehensively she realized the sting was sliding away, leaving her with a sensation of fullness and… Hunger? Surely that wasn’t it? “Sandon? Is that all?”
He gasped and laughed, then gave a tiny nudge of his hips. It was her turn to sigh as the unfamiliar sensation crashed within.
He moved and she experienced the friction again, then tensed, expecting more discomfort. Only this time it wasn’t painful. Instead, it stole her breath and left her panting. “More.” She curled her hands over his shoulders.
“Wind your legs around my waist.”
She did, and the way his body filled her delighted Levia. So much deeper. All the more fulfilling. Surely he was stroking her all the way to her womb?
Then he moved again. The pace he set was brutal. Rock. Pant. Rock.
She held on,
lost in the world of pleasure and visceral reactions. Feeling the wind of pressure, like a coiled spring. Tighter and higher, until it snapped and she crashed, cradled in his embrace. Her mind and body splintered as her body released itself. She gave a cry as wonder crashed through her.
He tensed, and as her body rippled he groaned, lost in his release. She felt him, so deeply within her body, the exquisite sensation of jetting seed.
It seemed right.
They lay together, entwined. After a long while, he moved, turning his head in her direction.
“Levia? Do you believe me?” He whispered the words against her temple as his body shook. She wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad indicator.
“Believe what, Sandon?” She froze, ready for anything.
“That I love you.”
Chapter 8
She’d run—not physically, but emotionally—when Sandon told her of his love, and the irony wasn’t lost on him. Men were supposed to be the ones who dodged commitment. Wasn’t that what women through the ages had claimed? There he was, two days after the most awe-inspiring session of lovemaking with the woman of his dreams, and she wouldn’t even talk to him.
Spearing his hand through his hair, he sat, feet canted on the old, scarred desk in his office. “What the hell do I do?”
The beep of the communicator sounded, and he frowned. The comm signature he knew. Brandon on Moritar 186.
Depressing the button, he saw his friend, noted the lines and signs of exhaustion. “Hey, wondered when I’d hear from you again. Been out with the ladies?” The false cheerfulness was exhausting, but petered away as he zeroed in on his friend’s expression. “What’s wrong?” His feet slipped from the desk and he sat upright.
“Sandon, I don’t even know where to begin. You’ve got problems. Dendaran Federation-size problems, and they want more than just your blood.”
“What?” He squinted.
“Just listen, because the moment they get even an echo of this transmission you and I will both be in the deletion box.” Brandon’s lips flattened, the way they always did when he was sharing something that meant trouble for one of them. “The encoded transmission I’m sending your way gives you details of the Cybe program, the Juran Commonwealth, and particularly details of your friend. She’s dangerous, buddy. Topping it all off, though, is that the Dendarans are planning on wasting her as soon as their uber-warrior can find you and engage her in combat. You need to get rid of her and get to a safe hide-zone. Quickly. Otherwise you could get slaughtered too.”