Atrophy

by Jess Anastasi

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tannin winced as Zahli placed the ice-cold gel pack against his jaw. Bloody Sherron. Anyone else might have given him a pat on the back, shaken his hand, or at least thrown him a thanks. But not Rian. No, the deranged sonuvabitch had to go clock him one.

  All right, so he could understand the captain’s position, because he hadn’t followed orders. But surely there were some instances when the needs of the crew overruled standing orders? Lianna had certainly agreed. Besides, coming at them from behind had worked, because the aliens had turned tail and run.

  Sherron could have simply given him a stern word or two. Tannin flexed his jaw, feeling the pull of aching, bruised muscle. He supposed words wouldn’t have been as effective.

  “Maybe I should go get Kira. Her MRD will fix this up in no time.” Zahli pulled the gel pack off and leaned in to look closer, standing between his legs where he sat on one of the cots.

  Oh, hell, no. He’d had enough of that thing when they’d repaired his shoulder. “It’s just a bruise, how about we let it heal on its own?”

  “Fine, walk around with a disfigured face.” An annoyed look crossed her features as she pushed the cold compress back in place, a little less gentle about it this time. He took it from her before she could do him any more damage. Wasn’t half hard to tell who she was related to.

  “I’m sorry, are my battle scars offensive to you?”

  She made a face at him. “If it were a battle scar, I’d be impressed. Getting hit by Rian doesn’t count. Everyone’s been hit by Rian.”

  “Everyone? Including you?” He might have to go find their captain and pick that fight the man had been asking for.

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. He might be a bastard sometimes, but he wouldn’t hurt me. I’m disappointed you could even think that.”

  “I didn’t really think that. I just had to check. I go a bit nuts whenever I think of anyone hurting you.”

  Like those moments up in the bridge, when he’d watched the viewport as the Reidar forced their way into the galley and opened fire.

  He’d had no thoughts of self preservation and had burned to storm his way through every Reidar, if only to get to Zahli, to make sure for himself that someone defended her, that nothing would happen to her.

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Yes, I’m beginning to notice your appalling tendency to throw yourself into the line of fire when you think I need protecting. You do realize I got along just fine before you came into my life?”

  The lingering echo of apprehension that had torn through him made his heart stutter and his chest tighten. “Maybe you were getting along just fine, but I don’t think I was.”

  He dropped the gel pack on the cot, since it was doing shite-all anyway, and reached out to grab the thin twine of her necklace, tracing his fingers over the skin at her collarbone.

  Zahli sighed and moved closer, her hands coming to rest in the middle of his chest. “Why do you tempt me when this can’t go anywhere, when we could get caught at any second?”

  He slipped a hand to the back of her neck and tilted her head. “Because, no matter what I do, I can’t resist you.”

  Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his and slid off the edge of the cot to stand, so he could pull her lush curves against him, feel her sensuous body from thighs upward. As he kissed her, as he allowed himself the luxury of tasting her, of touching his tongue to hers, sparks swirled and rose like a wildfire catching a summer wind. He could no longer ignore the need to have her, to make her his in the most primal way.

  When he moved, she went with him and he walked her back until they came up against the wall next to the medbay doors. He couldn’t stop kissing her, even as he slapped a palm over the display to close the hatchway, even as he wrenched the whole damn thing off the wall and reached in to grope at the micro-crystal components so he could rip out whatever he could get his hands on. The sabotage wasn’t exactly a complicated job and no doubt easy to fix, but as long as it kept everyone else out, he couldn’t really care less.

  The door taken care of, he caught the bottom edge of Zahli’s shirt and tugged it up, breaking the kiss for the fraction of a second it took to pull the material over her head. Her fingers caught the top stud of his shirt, pulling it free. But doing that one by one would take too long, so he took over, ripping it open down to where it was tucked into his pants, tearing the fabric and sending a few studs pinging to the floor. As he shrugged out of the shirt, her hands were cool on his too-warm skin, raising swirls of pleasure wherever they touched.

  He looped an arm around her waist and yanked her harder against him, his mouth landing on her neck, sucking a path down to the upper swells of her breasts, right to the edge of the red-wine-colored bra she wore.

  “We can’t do this. Someone will catch us.” Zahli’s breath came out short. But her half-hearted protest didn’t faze him, considering she had her hands on his ass.

  He growled, snapping open the top catch on her pants. “We’re already doing this. And I’ll shoot anyone who tries to come in before we’re finished.”

  She laughed. “You don’t have a gun.”

  “Then I’ll make them wish I did.” He paused, a palm against her cheek as he looked into her passion-drenched dark blue eyes. “I’m not letting anything or anyone come between us. Not anymore.”

  She leaned up to kiss him again and he could feel and taste her acceptance, telling him without words that she’d take all he offered. With a hand on each hip, he turned them and took the few steps back to the cot he’d been sitting on, setting her on the edge of the thin mattress.

  He tugged her pants and she braced her hands back on the bed, lifting her hips, a seductive smile edging her lips as he slid the pants down her legs and abandoned them to the floor, leaving her in low cut panties that matched her bra. He dropped to his knees in front of her, putting him at eye level with her beautiful, rounded breasts.

  His erection pulsed and throbbed, constrained against the inside of his cargo-pants. The urge to take her, to plunge deep inside her until they both exploded almost overwhelmed him. But he’d wanted Zahli since the moment he’d seen her back on Erebus and had resisted this long. He didn’t intend to waste a minute. He’d make the most out of every stolen, fleeting moment, taking and giving pleasure until they both went over the edge.

  He flicked the clasp on her bra, gliding the straps from her shoulders down her arms to her wrists. He caught Zahli’s gaze, sending her a wicked smile as he wound the scrap of material until it tightened, binding her wrists, trapping her arms back and thrusting her breasts out in a decadent display for him.

  As he let his hands travel to rest against the arch of her lower back, his lips touched the side of her breast, knowing what she wanted, what they both wanted, but drawing out the torture a moment longer. Placing short, hot, open mouth kisses over her flushed skin, he at last closed his lips over her taut nipple, catching her harder against him as a shudder ripped through her entire body.

  While he laved his tongue over one nipple, before giving the other equal attention, his hands smoothed over her skin, following the curve of her waist, the jut of her hips, to the turn of her upper thighs. He wrapped his fingers into the soft flesh and urged her legs apart. From the bottom point of the star she wore on her necklace, he trailed a hand down between her breasts, over her rounded stomach, past her navel to the top of her panties. She moaned his name as he skimmed a light touch over her pubic bone and down to the only place he wanted to end up.

  He hooked his fingers into the elastic edge and sent her underwear the same way her pants had gone then ran his mouth across her breasts to the center of her chest, kissing her in the same places he’d touched moments ago, moving inevitably downward. She twisted against her restraints, her breath shorter and shorter, body undulating beneath him, and he couldn’t tell if she was trying to get away or get closer.

  She tried to close her legs as he got lower, but he braced a shoulder agai
nst her knee, stopping the action. Though he hadn’t completed his journey, he could already taste her, could imagine her coming apart under the insistent stroke of his tongue.

  “Tannin, no… no. I want you.” Her words made him pause and he looked up at her. She tugged against the bindings again, her gaze intense on him. “I want you.”

  He stood with one swift movement, pulling the bra from around her hands and tossing it. There was no way to resist her plea, not when she looked at him like that, like she—

  His mind stumbled over the idea of her caring for him like no one else ever had, but then all thought fled as she unfastened his pants and gripped the aching length of him, freeing his erection. He found her waist again and sunk his fingers into her supple skin, pulling her forward as he angled her hips against his cock.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he caught her mouth in another breath-stealing kiss, blood pumping through his body so hard it almost hurt. His erection slid against her wet, heated center, almost sending him over the edge. He slammed a hand down against the cot, closing his fist hard around the edge of the thin mattress, striving to keep control, even as she shoved him farther toward oblivion with her light fingers and enticing mouth.

  With a slight tilt of her hips and a rolling movement toward him, he pushed against her. They were joined. He’d at last fallen deep within her.

  She moaned his name again, stretching herself like a bowstring against him. All the plans he’d had of savoring the moment came to nothing as pleasure hummed through his veins like a thousand watts of electricity. With a growl, he pinned Zahli down against the bed, his teeth scraping over her nipple, sending another shuddering wave through her. His control had gone, leaving him defenseless against the onslaught of untamed lust and passion storming, thunder rising within him. He had no finesse or poise as he stroked her, he could only count the fractions of seconds as they built an atomic bomb within him, hurtling him towards the inevitable explosion.

  Zahli’s fingers dug into his shoulders as she went taut and arched up toward him, his name a litany and a moan.

  And that was the end of him. He thrust hard once more as the very atmosphere exploded around him, stealing his breath and stopping his heart. Dropping his head against her breasts, he shuddered at the aftershocks of fine pleasure as they ebbed away, leaving him drained and languid.

  Zahli wrapped her arms around him, breathing out a quiet sigh. He agreed with her unspoken sentiment. God, he’d needed her. And it’d been so damn good. Relief and contentment created a curious mix with the yearning to start all over again. But not now. Not when the chances of getting caught increased with every second they were here naked. He shifted, his belt buckle clinking against the rail of the cot. Well, almost naked. Christ, he hadn’t even managed to get his boots or pants off.

  He looked up at Zahli’s gorgeous, expressive features. Her eyes were closed and the bright, medbay lighting caught every one of those adorable freckles. Shifting upwards, he kissed the bridge of her nose and then nuzzled against her neck, intense emotion battering him, emotions he didn’t want to think about right now. Particularly considering their brief interlude was over.

  “We’d better get dressed before someone comes looking for us.” Zahli added another sigh to the end of her words, this one despondent. “I hate to see what Rian would do to you if he caught us like this.”

  Now the mind-altering flush of passion had passed, her words brought a trickle of alarm. Sherron was already pissed at him. If the captain found him here with Zahli naked beneath him, he probably wouldn’t be coming back from whatever wound the man chose to inflict.

  Tannin stole one more slow, burning kiss then moved off her. They helped each other dress with a few quiet laughs, especially when it took them a few minutes to find her bra. His shirt ended up being a lost cause. He had no way to refasten it with so many missing studs.

  At the doorway, Zahli leaned against the bulkhead, watching him with a lethargic, sexy gaze as he worked to put the micro-crystal components back into place and refit the display.

  “What about that?” She nodded to where his top gaped open all the way to his stomach.

  He shrugged, unable to stop the grin tugging at his lips. “I’ll just have to hope I don’t see anyone between here and my quarters. If I do, I’ll pretend I got attacked by another Reidar who’d been hiding onboard.”

  “Who wanted to do what, strip you naked and have his wicked way with you?”

  He made a face at the mental image she’d created, making her laugh.

  “Thanks. Now instead of dreaming of you tonight, I’ll be having nightmares about that.”

  The doors slid open to an empty passageway. Knowing he was pushing his luck, but not caring when he felt so high, he pulled her in for one more soul-searing kiss before releasing her and jogging along the corridor to the stairs. He glanced back over his shoulder as he reached the top step to see her still standing where he’d left her, looking a little dazed.

  Shaking his head, because the craving to take her again had started to creep into the edges of his common sense, he tore his gaze from her and continued to his cabin. Luck stayed with him and he got there without seeing anyone. He tossed the damaged shirt in a corner and pulled a new one from the few hanging in his locker.

  He didn’t care about her brother’s rules, didn’t care what Sherron thought was best for them all. What he had with Zahli went deeper than a fling or casual relationship. Eventually he’d have to broach the subject with their captain, because sneaking around might be well and good for now, but it couldn’t last forever. He wanted a place on the crew, but had come to realize he wanted Zahli even more than that. And to be totally selfish, truthfully he wanted both.

  Once he got the new shirt fastened, Tannin checked his appearance in the privy mirror. Yep. Sex-hair. He ran his fingers through it a few times, but short of having a shower and starting all over again, his attempts didn’t make much difference.

  Deciding he’d just have to brazen it out, he went back up to the common room, following the drift of voices.

  Rian glanced up at him as he walked in, and Zander gave a low whistle.

  “That’s a great look you’re sporting there.” Zander slung a chair around and dropped into it.

  Cold apprehension stabbed at him, and Tannin ran a self-conscious hand through his hair. Hell. Had it really given him away?

  “Yeah,” Callan agreed. “That’s heaps more colorful than the last bruise Rian gave me.”

  Relief coursed through him as he touched a finger to his forgotten jaw. Of course they were talking about where Rian had punched him. Apparently sex was a great pain killer.

  “So, what’s the plan then?” he asked, uprighting a chair and then sitting on it.

  “Put the engine back together and get the hell off the Rim.” Rian set a bottle of Violaine down on the table with a thunk. Typical. Tannin shook his head as Zander passed glasses around.

  Tannin leaned back in his seat, the reality of the past few hours hitting home. “Niels will just keep coming until he gets what he wants, won’t he?”

  Rian nodded. “That’s why we’re going to go find him first.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Tannin watched Rian tap some kind of information into a commpad then hand it back to the mine foreman who’d come out to greet them. An automated drone unloaded the heavy ball bearings from the back of the ATV Callan had hired.

  The trip to Tetsu had been uneventful. After everything that’d happened, he probably should be grateful. Except he wasn’t. Because uneventful included no repeat performance with Zahli.

  He’d hardly gotten any sleep last night, turning restlessly and wishing Zahli could take the edge off for him. He’d considered sneaking over to her cabin, but it would have been too risky. The walls were far from soundproof. Once or twice, he’d heard Rian yelling in his sleep—presumably nightmares left over from the war. And the captain slept a level above them.

  Since he lost his
mind when he had his hands on Zahli, he didn’t imagine keeping quiet would be at the forefront of his thoughts if he got her naked again. The only good thing he could say was that Rian didn’t seem to suspect anything.

  After Captain Admiral Graydon left the ship, Callan hired an ATV, and Rian ordered Tannin to ride shotgun, while the ship’s security specialist had climbed up to stand behind the crates, huge-ass nucleon rifle strapped across his back and four other guns holstered to his hips and thighs. He’d kept hold of the roll-bars as Rian had driven them out to the mining compound.

  There wasn’t much to see on this part of Tetsu—the climate seemed kind of arid, nothing but dry yellow grasses and spindly shrubs in the rocky terrain between the modest spaceport and the mining headquarters. He’d seen the small city from a distance, since the spaceport was on the very outskirts of the municipality, but the low, austere buildings hadn’t looked like much.

  Once all the crates had been moved onto a hover pallet, Rian waved to the foreman and climbed back behind the wheel of the ATV. Tannin returned to play shotgun, the seat beneath him hot from the sun. Now that the crates were gone, Callan sat in the back, flipping the huge gun around to rest across his thighs as they took off.

  Tannin tried not to let his thoughts drift, but the scenery was all the same, and even though Zahli’s brother was sitting right beside him, it was hard not to think about what they’d done in the medbay the night before, and when they might be able to do it again. Having her hadn’t cured his cravings, it’d only made them worse.

  Something glinted as it dropped into the road in front of them. Rian swore, yanking the ATV into a sharp turn that almost sent them into a roll. Tannin grabbed onto the bar next to his head, shooting an annoyed look at Rian.