Sex or Suffer [Dark Colony 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Lara Santiago

  Nathan pondered the problem for a minute, trying to think of a way to make the awkward sexual act less embarrassing. “I have an idea for that when the time comes. But first, how much time do I have left from when we were in the cave? I don’t want to over stay my welcome right now.”

  Penelope glanced across the room at the time piece on the wall. “At least two hours maybe more. What’s your idea?”

  “I’d rather surprise you. Then you won’t be thinking about it for the next five days. I’ll call you an hour before we depart the ship and outline my plan.”

  Penelope nodded and her trembling mouth was too hard to resist. Hands cupping her face, he kissed her lips with tender attention several times before he stood from the bed.

  “We don’t know each other very well, but from now on and forever, I’m always your friend, Penelope. Always. No matter what happens.”

  “Thank you.”

  Nathan exited her room and reminded her to sterilize it once he was out of the room. He headed to the command deck with a sense of purpose. He’d pull every ounce of power out of the engines to get to the Parsec Colony as fast as possible.

  Out of nowhere the notion that he’d have sex with her again pinged his mind.

  Knowing what he knew now about her illness and her relationship with Gray, the idea of having sex with Penelope once again was an idea that both compelled and dismayed him.

  * * * *

  “You’ve been avoiding me.”

  Angelica’s heart skipped a beat. Ensign Cahill had entered the command deck without a whisper of sound. He was exceptionally good at sneakiness because of all his military training. Plus, she’d been lost in thought pondering Dr. Drake’s illness and what she might do in the same situation. Likely there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to cure herself and sincerely hoped she’d never be put to the test.

  “Yes. I guess I have.”

  “I miss you, Angelica.”

  She released a deep sigh. “I miss you too, Ensign.”

  “Do I get to know why we aren’t seeing each other anymore or are you just done with me on general principle?”

  “It’s because of Nathan. Now that he’s taken over as captain…” She paused and cleared her throat. “I just don’t want him to know. It would be uncomfortable if he found out about us.”

  “Why, because you two used to have a hot sexual thing going?”

  Angelica twisted in the captain’s chair so fast she almost fell out of it. “No! Where did you get that from?”

  Cahill shrugged, but the expression on his face said he was relieved she hadn’t slept with Nathan. “Why can’t he know about us? The captain didn’t seem to care.”

  “Captain Wyckoff is my boss, but we’ve worked together long enough that he trusts me. While he would worry about our working relationship, as long as we didn’t go for it on the command deck or any other public places aboard, he wouldn’t care.

  “Nathan, on the other hand, is like a big brother to me. I don’t believe he’d be happy with anyone I chose. He definitely wouldn’t approve of us because he’s opposed to shipboard affairs. With him as acting captain, I don’t want to cause problems on this journey.”

  He moved closer and his male scent greeted her first. “I really miss you, Angelica. There are things I’d like to do to you. Tonight. After your shift.”

  The spicy muskiness of him caressed her lungs and teased her libido. She could almost taste him in the air from every breath she took. An ache formed in her core the likes of which she’d never felt before. “What do you want to do to me?” The desperate sound in her voice couldn’t be hidden.

  “Make you scream in delight.”

  Angelica almost moaned out loud. She took a deep breath and with it came his delectable scent again. She’d denied herself the pleasure of his touch for four days and each one had been utter torture. She attempted bravado. “And you think I miss that?”

  “I know you do. I think you need it. Or maybe you need me, Angelica. Admit it.”

  “Never. I don’t need anyone.”

  “You’re absolutely right. You don’t need me, but tell me you’ll come to my room tonight anyway because you want me.”

  “No.” But her resolve weakened with every breath she took.

  “Please?” The whispered request with a hint of desperation was unexpected. She’d thought he wouldn’t even miss her, but deep down truly wanted him to track her down. He cared about her, if just a little bit. Or maybe he just missed the sex.

  She stiffened her resolve. “I’ll think about it. No promises.”

  “I’ll leave my door unlocked. You won’t be sorry.”

  Angelica had avoided his gaze since he’d been next to her, but she looked deeply into his eyes. Mistake. She wanted him. She needed him. “I’m already sorry.” Because I love you, Cahill. And that’s the true problem. I don’t know how you feel.

  Even though he was already too near for her comfort level, he slid even closer. Now she could reach out and touch him if she wanted. And she really wanted.

  “I’ll never be sorry.” He sent her one last smoldering look before leaving her alone to ponder the fantasy of permanence with a co-worker aboard the Dalton and the inherent difficulty of such an arrangement.

  Three hours later, Nathan arrived to relieve her on the command deck. Angelica planned to exit the bridge and race to Cahill’s room before he changed his mind and locked her out.

  She slipped from the captain’s chair and handed Nathan the communication device.

  Leveling an uncomfortable look at Nathan, she asked, “How is Dr. Drake doing?”

  Nathan took the device and glanced at it before responding, “I would have to say that she’s been better. However, she’s resting. I assured her we’ve been making good time.”

  Angelica brightened. “We’re running the engines at fifteen percent above capacity today. So far they seem to be bearing up to the strain.”

  Nathan nodded distractedly. “Noted. I’ll keep an eye on them. Anything else I need to know?”

  “Kerchner from engineering will relieve you in six hours. The rotating shift is logged in the communication device and I guess that’s it unless you have any questions.”

  “Nope. Carry on, Lieutenant Brice.”

  She got as far as the door when he added, “Tell Cahill he better not hurt you or he will deal with me.”

  “Sir?” She took a deep breath, cleared her face of emotion and twisted around with the best quizzical expression she could master.

  Nathan laughed. “You heard me.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” Angelica crossed her arms and lifted one eyebrow, daring him to explain.

  “You know exactly what I mean. I can see it in your eyes, Angelica. You like him. He likes you. The truth is Cahill’s carried a quiet torch for you since he boarded this vessel. You must have made the first move because he never would have.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Nathan’s gaze twinkled as if he had secret information. “Three things. His past career in the military didn’t lend itself to permanent relationships. He is cautious regarding the life he has now aboard the Dalton because he wants to keep it. And most importantly, I threatened him within an inch of his life if he ever did anything to upset you the first time I noticed his adoration.”

  “What?” Angelica blinked and refocused on Nathan’s sardonic expression.

  “You heard me. What I said still goes as far as I’m concerned.”

  “My relationship, whatever it is, with Ensign Cahill isn’t in your purview, sir.” She didn’t want to be thwarted in her sensual mission tonight.

  Nathan tilted his head to one side. “Perhaps you’re right, Lieutenant, but I’ve decided to amend my thoughts on the matter.”

  “Oh? To include what?”

  “Screw him if you must, but don’t drag it out. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt when you’re done.”

  “You think that anything I did could pos
sibly hurt him?”

  Nathan fixed a surly glare on her. “I know it would. Tread lightly. I mean it.”

  “I will neither confirm or deny your allegations. But I will say, mind your own business, sir.” She did a crisp about-face and exited the bridge without another word.

  Interesting conversation. Angelica marched toward Cahill’s room and thought so hard about what Nathan had just inferred that she almost walked past his room.

  She opened the door without knocking and stepped inside Cahill’s dim quarters, quickly closing it behind her. Across the room, he sat up abruptly in bed. “Whoa. You surprised me.” He ran a hand down his face as if he’d dozed off waiting and quickly scooted across his bunk.

  “I thought you invited me here.”

  Cahill threw his legs over the edge of his bed and stood. “Given your absence of late, I didn’t know if you’d show up, now did I?”

  Angelica watched him emerge from his bed to see if he’d been naked beneath the sheets. He wore shorts so she sighed and said, “Nathan knows about us.”

  Cahill’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I didn’t tell him anything.”

  “Neither did I. He guessed. Apparently, I look at you differently now that we’re sleeping together.” She threw up a hand in the air in disgust of apparently being so easy to read.

  A lazy grin formed on Cahill’s lips sending a pulse of desire streaking down her body. With a decidedly predatory gleam in his eyes, Cahill sauntered closer. The black silky shorts he wore hid nothing and she noticed his cock stiffening beneath the fly. “Is that so?”

  Angelica didn’t respond. She was busy watching him approach. The muscles in his very well formed legs bunched and released with each step he took closer and closer still. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest she expected to see it exit her body at any moment.

  He cupped his hands on either side of her face, stepped directly into her personal space, overwhelming all of her senses, and plastered his lips over her mouth. Angelica leaned into his warmth unable to stop her urge to touch, taste and smell him all at once.

  Cahill released her lips long enough to say, “I love you, Angelica,” before resuming the seductive kiss. Her heart skittered on the edge of shock at his quiet earnest declaration.

  Pushing back enough to break the connection, she gazed into his eyes with blissful sincerity and whispered, “I love you too, Cahill.”

  He scooped her into his beefy arms, twisted her around, walked two long steps and had her on her back and in his bed before she drew her next breath.

  “Let me love you.” His rigid cock pressed against her thigh, sending a riotous shiver of pleasure to her pussy and releasing a gush of moisture in readiness for him. “I’ll remind you of what we’ve been missing out on.”

  She pushed upward with her hips in silent invitation and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth for encouragement. Cahill lifted off of her only long enough to strip her clothes off as if trying to beat the world speed record for such an event. The final piece of clothing to hit the deck was his black shorts and then he fairly pounced on her like a feline with a tasty treat in its possession.

  His mouth clamped on to one peaked nipple. He sucked the bud into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue, distracting her as his hand slid between her legs as if to assess her wetness level.

  Angelica moaned and bucked when his large fingers shot inside her pussy unexpectedly. She groaned as his thumb grazed her clit. She screamed when he circled her clit with firm attention and sent her over the edge of a climax she didn’t realize she was at the brink of until he touched her.

  Releasing her nipple, he turned his gaze to hers and murmured, “You really did miss me, didn’t you? I didn’t expect you to release the second I touched you.”

  Panting and gasping for breath, she managed, “Me either. Hard to be sorry about it though.”

  His sudden laughter lit her libido like no other sensation. “Oh, I’m not sorry, but I almost sprayed my sheets with cum when you screamed and your pussy clamped on my fingers.”

  “What are you waiting for then? Get up here and put that cock where it is supposed to be.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Cahill’s solid warm body shifted and slid upward until his cock fell between her legs. She opened her thighs and his cock dropped neatly between her pussy lips. Half a breath later he pierced her to the hilt with one stroke and internal pleasure radiated from her womb outward.

  “We belong together, Angelica.” He pulled out half way, pumped his cock inside her body even deeper than the first stroke and paused in his movement to whisper, “We fit together perfectly, just like this.” He pushed his cock against her womb.

  “Yes.” Angelica slipped her arms around his neck. He kissed her hard on the lips, his tongue invading her mouth as deeply his cock embedded into her pussy. He resumed his heavy, hard thrusts mimicking the brutally arousing kiss. Her body was on fire. The scent of his skin, the feel of his lips against hers, the utter possession of her body made her giddy. Cahill overwhelmed her senses. She lifted her hips to meet his powerful strokes and the friction worked to ignite another swell of pleasure. She rushed to yet another commanding pinnacle of bliss.

  The orgasm crashed through her with vibrant sensation. She groaned into his mouth as he plowed forward, thrusting his cock hot and hard into her slick pussy. Seconds later Cahill stiffened, broke the kiss, buried his face at her throat and growled in release.

  Angelica clutched him hard against her body, scraped her fingernail along his shoulders, neck and through the short hair style he wore. She never wanted to let him go.

  “Good God, Angelica.” He panted and his hot breaths brushed across her collarbone. “It’s like I can’t get enough. If I spent two lifetimes making love to you, it still wouldn’t be enough.”

  “I’ve never felt this close to anyone, Cahill. Never in my life.” She kissed his forehead tenderly. “I want to tuck myself inside of you and stay forever.”

  He lifted his torso and held himself above her balanced on one elbow. “Forever may not be long enough.”

  She grinned. “You sap. Forever is all you get from me.” She brushed his face with her hand, and he leaned down to kiss her palm.

  Fixing his gaze on her he smiled. “On the day after forever, I’ll convince you to stay with me longer.”

  Angelica kissed his lips with a tenderness born of utter love and sighed. “Deal.”

  Chapter 10

  Penelope paced back and forth across the small space of her cabin. The past five days since leaving Echo Province, and Gray, came and went with agonizing lethargy. Angelica had called an hour ago to tell her the Dalton was about to dock on the Parsec Colony, at long last.

  She crossed the small room and back again two more times. Her restlessness had to do with the anticipation of Nathan’s imminent arrival and the blindingly needful sex that would take place soon after he entered the room.

  The bell chimed signaling a communication from someone on the ship. Nathan. She took a deep breath and answered, “Yes.”

  “It’s Nathan. The ship is about to dock. I’m on my way to your cabin. Are you ready for me?”

  “I guess so.”

  “And you understand where I want you to be when I get there, right?”

  “Yes. But you’d better hurry once you come into the room.”

  “I know. Leave the door unlocked for me and I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  Penelope slipped her clothing off, unlocked the door, readied herself per his slightly unusual specifications and hoped that his “idea” would work to make her less embarrassed about what needed to take place before leaving the ship.

  She entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and turned on the shower. Once the water was steamy, she stepped inside the warm spray and waited. Luckily, she didn’t have to linger for very long all alone. The bathroom door opened and closed with swift clarity. Penelope closed her eyes knowing what would happen as Nathan’s scent reached her inside the sho
wer stall. She inhaled deeply and exhaled through the mist of the shower. Her next thought? Time for sex.

  The throb of lust hit her in the same moment he entered the shower and hugged up to the back of her body. She looked down to see his arms wrapped around her torso and felt a warm kiss on the back of her neck in a very tender spot. She might have demanded more kisses on that lovely sensitive place below one ear, but her body craved something else, and she no longer had any control of her inhibitions. Before she voiced her impatient desire, he squeezed her tight.

  “Face the wall,” he whispered.

  “I need you.” Penelope started to turn around, but he halted her progress.

  “I know. Now stay right here against the shower tile and I’ll take care of you,” came his urgent whisper. He pressed into her from behind until the front of her body firmly touched the smooth tile of the shower stall. Her breasts adjusted to the cool feel of the shower surface as his firm warm chest pinned and held her in place. Because of the amorous state she was in, she might have argued and tried harder to turn around, but in the next second his hand slid between her legs and distracted her. Unseen fingers dipped into her body as if assessing her readiness to fuck. She was more than ready.

  Penelope pushed back and groaned. “I need—”

  Before she could finish her sentence and demand what she wanted, he thrust his cock deeply inside her body from where he stood behind her. She sucked in a breath of surprise and pushed her butt backwards for a deeper connection. He pulled out of her pussy half way, grasped her hips firmly in his hands and pushed inside again deeper and harder.

  Rapid thrusts pierced her and in no time, he growled and came in a rush, smothering the burning deep inside of her body with a spray of semen. She released a long breath and pressed one heated cheek to the cool smooth tile grateful for the swift relief of her pain.

  Nathan’s hand slid from the top of one hip and dipped between her legs again. Cock still hard and fully embedded in her pussy, a firm finger located her clit and started a slow circular rub. A moan in her ear soon followed as if he found touching her particularly arousing, and he carefully fastened his mouth to the back of her neck again.