He looked at her. “So tell me the truth on this question. Are you attracted to me?”
She laughed and then stared him right in the eye. “More than I want to let myself believe. It’s every damn thing I can do to not drag you into that bedroom.”
“Oh, great,” he said, smiling at her. “A woman with self-restraint.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
HE HAD ENJOYED the lunch and the conversation with Gina more than he wanted to admit. She was smart and attractive and funny.
And clearly she was attracted to him as much as he was to her.
But then when she started really telling him about herself, including how old she really was, he felt just stunned.
And when she just vanished from her chair and appeared across the room, then appeared back in her chair, he had damn near gone over backwards.
He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from a woman from space, but that had shocked him.
And her age, for a moment had shocked him as well.
But what had shocked him more than anything was her telling him that he had a special gene that allowed him to join her organization if he wanted. And that was why he had remembered her and the spaceship.
He really didn’t understand everything she had told him. But he did understand when she said she could barely keep from taking him into the bedroom.
That he liked and understood completely, because he felt the same way about her.
After she said that he stood, indicating that she should remain where she was.
He moved over to the stairway door and bolted it closed as she watched.
Then he came back over to her and took her hand and helped her to her feet.
Then he kissed her.
For an instant she seemed shocked, then she melted against him, her perfect body pushing into his as her lips matched his.
He had kissed his share of women over the years, but that felt like a combination of a first kiss with a first girlfriend and kissing someone who he had kissed forever.
It was both perfect and exciting at the same time.
They fit together.
The kiss seemed to last for a very long time, then finally he pulled back and she looked at him. They were both almost the same height, so she looked him right in the eye, which he liked.
Her face was red and flushed and he had a hunch his was as well.
“Sorry,” he said, smiling, “I just don’t have as much self-restraint as you do.”
She laughed, then said, “Well, you killed mine with that kiss, that’s for sure.”
With that, she took his hand and led the way into his bedroom. She kissed him again as they stood beside the bed. Then she pushed back and started unbuttoning her shirt.
He stood there, staring, more than likely his mouth open.
She pulled off her shirt and tossed it to one side, leaving her in jeans and a sports bra.
Wow.
She smiled at him. “You’re falling behind.”
Then she unzipped her jeans and slid them down over her hips, showing him her black panties.
She had to be the most attractive and in-shape woman he had ever seen or met.
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to one side, then took off his pants as well as she slipped her sports bra over her head and then took off her underwear, exposing a small area of dark hair.
He took his pants off, showing her that he was about as aroused as a man could get.
She stared at him for a moment, then went into his arms, putting his penis between her legs and kissing him, pressing against him.
And he kissed back.
He pushed back into her strong arms, enjoying the feel of her breasts smashed into his chest, her legs holding his penis.
Finally, he pulled away, picked her up and put her on the bed.
She pulled him down on top of her and he was inside her.
Then he lost all track of time and emotions and everything as he made love to the woman of his dreams.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
GINA LAY WRAPPED in Benny’s strong arms, her head on his shoulder, her right leg over him.
She was still breathing hard and trembling from the number of orgasms she had had.
Benny’s chest was raising and falling as he too worked to recover. His skin felt hot and wonderful to her.
Everything about this man felt right.
And making love to him had felt perfect, as if they belonged together.
One part of her mind wondered how that was even possible while another part didn’t care. She just wanted to enjoy being with him more and more.
She pressed against him, not wanting to move.
“It seems,” he said, “that when we’re together, self-restraint might be a problem.”
She laughed. “Trust me, what we just did will never be a problem for me.”
“Me either,” he said, turning his head to her and kissing her again, just long enough to make it clear he cared, but not long enough to get things started again.
“I got to ask another question,” he said, staring up at the ceiling. “A serious one.”
“Go ahead,” she said.
“If I joined on to being a Seeder,” he said, “would we leave here?”
“No,” she said. “When I discovered you had the Seeder gene, I asked Chairman Carson if I could recruit you to help. I figure the two of us here could get a lot more done together than if I was trying to hide from you.”
“Chairman Carson?” Benny asked.
“The man who gave the speech on the ship. Seeder ships, and most human spaceships from other planets, are all businesses. And everyone on board is hired to do a job. So instead of having captains, the person who runs a Seeder ship is called a chairman.”
“As in chairman of the board?” Benny asked.
“Exactly,” she said.
“So we would remain here, helping here, working together?” Benny asked.
“We would,” she said.
“And how would you feel about that?” he asked.
She pushed her naked body into his and kissed his cheek.
“Besides the sex,” he said, trying not to laugh.
She stopped and chuckled. “Honestly, I think we could be a fantastic team and help a lot more people together than we ever could apart. And I like the idea of working with you a great deal.”
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Seriously,” she said. “Right from the first moment I saw you, I had a hunch we would be a good team. And I hoped beyond hope that you learning about me and Seeders wouldn’t mess all that up. It didn’t, did it?”
He could hear the worry suddenly in her voice. And that relaxed him even more.
“I got a lot of things to figure out,” he said, turning and kissing her. Then he said, “But wanting to work with you isn’t one of those things.”
“Good,” she said, kissing him again, this time with more passion.
She could feel his penis starting to stir again under her leg and she liked the idea of that.
“Hold on,” he said, pulling back from the kiss. “One more question. Is there an easy way for me to learn all about Seeders? Some sort of brain meld or something?”
She laughed. “We have high-speed education systems that can help you learn something quickly, if that’s what you mean.”
“Perfect,” he said. “I want to do that so I really understand before I agree to anything.”
“Very smart thinking,” she said.
Then he kissed her again and pulled her over on top of him.
A moment later he was back inside of her and time ended and all the problems she faced flew away for her for the moment as all she wanted was to make love to this fantastic man.
And she did.
For longer than she ever thought possible.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
JUST OVER AN hour later, they had managed to get untangled and get dressed and head down the stairs for some dinner. Outside the windows, th
e sun was still pretty high in the evening sky and he could tell it was a hot day out there.
Thankfully, with the two generators running air-conditioning, the floor had stayed cool.
Benny felt stunned at how good it had felt to make love to Gina. Perfect in more ways than he could even imagine.
And her body was stunning. Her skin was smooth, her hair soft, her muscles hard and firm. He doubted she had an extra ounce of fat on her. He would have to ask her later what she did for exercise. He had brought up to his floor a treadmill and some free weights, and he figured on decent days, he could run around the observation balcony a few floors up.
If he had ever thought to imagine his perfect woman, he wouldn’t have done that good a job in his imagination to even come close to Gina in reality.
She only had a few problems. She was from space and she was two hundred years old. But he was fairly certain he could deal with both of those.
They walked down the stairs hand-in-hand, like two kids on a first date, which he guessed this actually was.
Then just outside the door to the floor where the professor and the three kids lived, he turned and kissed her again.
“What’s that for?” she asked, smiling at him.
“Because it feels good,” he said, grinning like a kid in high school at her.
She kissed him then.
“What was that for?” he asked when she pulled away.
“Because it feels good and a promise for more later.”
“Now that I like,” he said.
He turned and pulled the stairway door open.
The professor and David were working on dinner at the kitchen counter they had moved in from a nearby furniture store. Freddy and Candice were sitting at the big wooden conference table they used as a kitchen table.
Candice was dressed in a blue blouse and jeans and she had her blonde hair combed and pulled back. She smiled at him when they entered.
He couldn’t believe how really thrilled it made him feel to see Candice sitting there like that.
“Wow,” Benny said, smiling back at Candice. “Wonderful to see you feeling better.”
“Exhausted still,” Candice said, “but I needed to get up and move around again.”
Benny indicated Gina and introduced her.
“Thank you,” Candice said, smiling at Gina. “The professor tells me you were carrying me here. I don’t remember at all, other than thinking a beautiful angel had come to rescue me.”
Benny agreed with both the beautiful and the angel part.
“You are more than welcome,” Gina said. “And trust me, I’m really glad we met. You were the one that directed me here to this wonderful place and these great people. So I need to thank you for saving me.”
Benny smiled at that fib. It was a perfect one. Gina really had a great way with making people feel right about themselves.
“I did?” Candice asked, looking surprised.
“When I met you on the street,” Gina said, “you mumbled something about needing to get to the Empire State Building and then collapsed. So I brought you here.”
Candice shook her head. “I don’t remember any of that. But thank you for getting me here and getting me cleaned up.”
“You would have done the same for me,” Gina said, sitting down at the table across from Candice.
Benny took the seat across from Gina and nodded.
Candice was smiling, clearly feeling better. Benny figured that with one small lie, Gina just might have saved a life.
“So you like the apartment we set up?” Freddy asked.
“I do,” Gina said, her voice enthusiastic. “It’s wonderful. Thank you all for allowing me to stay here. I promise I’ll carry my weight.”
“Before you two came in,” Candice said, “we were talking about how Benny thinks there will be more people joining us. Do you think so as well?”
“I do,” Gina said. “That’s part of what Benny and I were talking about upstairs.”
Benny nodded, really, really appreciating how smooth Gina was. “She has information about where some other groups are located, and where some single people are holed up.”
“Some will see our lights,” the professor said. “Others, I think we need to go talk to.”
“I agree,” Benny said. Then he looked at Gina. “Can you tell us which ones you met that might be good candidates for this building and if they would want to come here?”
“I met some of them,” she said, nodding, “and saw a lot of lights at night after the power went out. I think I can find them again.”
“This building is clearly large enough for more people,” the professor said.
Benny couldn’t agree more. And from what he remembered of some of those people while they were all in the spaceship, they needed a better place to stay and some of them would need help and a direction and a feeling there might be a future to just survive.
Gina changed the subject by asking Freddy what he had been studying in school.
Benny watched her be sociable, smiling easily, keeping the mood light and the questions away from the tragedy.
He flat wanted to spend a lot of time with her. As much as possible, actually. He knew that without a doubt.
Tonight, after dinner, Benny would ask Gina what benefits there would be for him being a Seeder as well in the coming years. If being able to jump around from place to place like she did was one of the things he would learn to do, that would be enough.
And a chance to be with her for a long time would be even more worth it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
GINA ENJOYED HER dinner with the professor, his three charges, and Benny. The conversation was light and about survival. She knew that all of them had a lot of trauma to get through, but with time they would work through it.
And Gina had decided about halfway through dinner that she would help Candice. The girl had a real brain and if she could get past the next few weeks, she would be a real asset to the future of this planet.
After dinner, all of them showed Gina the other floors they had set up for more survivors. Each floor had once been offices, but now were set up to handle five or six people living comfortably in lots of room. Each floor had a number of bathrooms, had private bedrooms for everyone, and a community living area with kitchen and couches and big screens for movies.
They had done the work on eight different floors. Gina was flat impressed.
Then they went down a few more floors to offices that had not been set up.
“We have room here and in the three floors below this one for more people. Each floor would hold six or seven more people.”
“I honestly don’t want to go back out into that smell right now,” Candice said.
Gina moved over and put her arm around the young girl. “I have a hunch we can wait until things calm into the fall before worrying about these rooms.”
“I agree,” Benny said. “Candice, I don’t see you needing to go back out there anytime soon, to be honest with you.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
Gina kept her arm around the young girl and together they went to an elevator.
“Working on a generator?” Gina asked.
“Starts up when the button is pushed,” Benny said. “And only this one elevator works. As we go up I’ll tell you how to get out of one if it stops or gets stuck.”
“Thank you,” Gina said, suddenly realizing she hadn’t even given that any thought since she could teleport anywhere if she needed to.
When they got back to the main floor, Gina asked Candice how she was doing.
“Tired,” Candice said.
Gina led the young girl into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Candice dropped on the bed. “I’m so glad I’m back here.”
“I think everyone is glad you are as well,” Gina said, smiling, “in case you can’t tell.”
“I can,” she said, her voice quivering a little. “They are my new family, aren’t t
hey?”
“They are,” Gina said. “And you couldn’t ask for a better group. We all are family now, and we all have to work together.”
Candice nodded, clearly getting more tired by the moment.
“Crawl in and get some sleep,” Gina said. You are safe here. And if you need something, I’ll be here. Us girls got to stick together, you know.”
Candice smiled at that and nodded. “Thank you for carrying me here.”
“Thank you for getting me to this wonderful group of people,” Gina said.
Then she stood and headed for the door. “Sleep well.”
“I think tonight I will,” Candice said.
Gina went back out into the main area and pulled the door closed behind her.
Benny was cooking something in the kitchen and he glanced up at her and she nodded.
She could hear the professor and the two boys talking in the living room area about movies. Benny was working on making them some popcorn.
“She going to be all right?” Benny asked, indicating Candice’s room.
“I think she might be now,” Gina said, moving over and leaning against a counter so she could see Benny.
“Great work with her,” Benny said.
Gina nodded. “She’s going to have some rough patches, as everyone will. The key is for us to help them through the bad times as much as possible.”
Benny glanced over at the living room area to make sure he couldn’t be heard, then turned back to her. “Knowing there is a larger world out there and that we are getting support helps me more than I can tell you.”
She nodded. “Too bad we can’t tell everyone, but most would not believe it and many it would hurt instead of help.”
“Found that out the hard way, huh?”
“On a lot of different worlds in a lot of different ways,” she said. “It was why I had to have permission to even talk with you, even though you remembered the ship.”
“Makes sense,” he said as the wonderful-smelling popcorn started to pop.
“Are we joining them for a movie?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “I was kind of hoping you could give me a quick lesson on the Seeders.”
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