by Cherry Adair
"Yeah. That'll keep us busy." Logan set aside his half-empty bottle. "You'll take people to visit the moon before we're done here. Maybe the end of our salvage will see your trip to Mars becoming viable."
Finn and his people were working on it. The trip was a lot closer than he'd told the press, but he was keeping that under wraps until they'd done more tests.
"How long will it take to get to Mars?" A skein of glossy hair escaped Ariel's untidy topknot to slowly unfurl, much to Finn's fascination. It fell to curl enticingly over her left breast.
While his mind was stuck on how the red of her hair, when the light caught it a certain way, matched the color of Mars, he murmured. “Years.”
Unaware everything about her was a goddamn distraction for him, her eyes widened. “Years?”
"Mars is about 140 million miles away." Finn withdrew his hand from her leg. Aroused by the heat of her skin, and the unconscious - or conscious - flexing of her thigh muscle he couldn’t take much more. He cleared his throat. "It'll take approximately nine months to get there depending on where it is in its orbit. A round trip could take up to three years."
"Only nine months one way? So, the passengers are awake the whole time?" She looked disappointed. "No pod people in stasis like in the movies?"
He smiled. He'd heard that question so many times, he expected it. "Unfortunately, not."
"Why do you say, 'round trip'? Wouldn't everyone want to come back?" she asked.
"Some people will stay to colonize Mars."
"That's amazing." She glanced around as if suddenly remembering that there were other people with them at the table. "Isn't that incredible?” Her attention returned to Finn. "They'll be the pioneers and settlers of their generation. I wonder what space smells like."
He smiled. "Human's can't smell anything out there. We'd die if we tried. It's a vacuum after all. Our solar system is particularly pungent, however, because it's rich in carbon and low in oxygen." Finn loved the way her entire focus was on his face as he spoke. "Astronauts returning to their crafts report space-born polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons adhering to their suits. They say the smell is distinct; burnt meat. The smell of the moon is similar to spent gunpowder."
She wrinkled her nose. "How much would it set someone back to fly one way to Mars?"
"About thirty-five million."
"Say what?!" Zane, already on his third helping of lamb, paused to give him an incredulous look. "Each? Holy shit. Count me out."
"That's okay," Finn assured him with a smile. "We're fully booked for the first five Mars flights over the next fifteen years." Red Star One wasn't scheduled to take colonists when she launched in five months. That flight was scheduled to take scientists on an exploratory mission for a year- after that. . .
"Meanwhile," he told an avid audience. "We've done dozens of sub-orbital flights. About eight thousand people have already gone up."
"Have you?" Ariel asked, meal barely touched and apparently forgotten.
"Several times."
Her eyes shone. "I'd love to go."
He wanted to take her. Just her. What would it be like to make love while looking at the Earth from space? The thought fired his blood and made him even more impatient to be alone with her.
"How much does that trip cost?" she asked, clearly fascinated.
"The sub-orbital flights? Two hundred thousand for about two hours. At an altitude of about 50,000 feet, the plane climbs toward the edge of the atmosphere.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said, eyes lighting up as she leaned forward.
Finn's gaze went from her bright eyes to her parted lips. God, he wanted to kiss her. His fingers tightened on the stem of his glass. “Passengers experience roughly five minutes of weightlessness before gliding back for landing.” Finn contemplated what it would be like to make love while weightless. Couldn't wait to try it for himself. “Presently we're doing five trips a day with a massive waitlist." He'd add a sixth flight just for her. Them.
“I’m patient,” she smiled.
Not, he thought, amused.
One of the Cutters cleared their throat. Finn had been lost in her for several minutes.
For now, though, the dinner plates had been cleared and they were waiting for dessert. Glancing quickly at the brothers, he realized that they were looking at him with assorted expressions. Logan curiously. Zane admiringly. Nick’s expression, impossible to read, but he had a dangerous glint in his eyes that Finn had never noticed before. Jonah’s Cutter-blue eyes were merely curious as he looked from Ariel and back to Finn.
"Are you based in Buenos Aires, Ariel?" Jonah asked as the flan was set before them and everyone dug in. It was startling to Finn how similar in looks all four Cutters were, considering Jonah's mother had been Daniel Cutter’s mistress. The brothers’ eyes were identical, piercing blue. The only other person he'd ever met with such distinctive eye color, was Ariel. In her case a clear blue-green.
Her shoulders straightened, and she blinked, clearly surprised the conversation had detoured to her. Finn suspected she preferred being a fly on the wall, rather than a participant. "I'm based at the Ministry of Antiquities, which is housed in the Government building there. But since this salvage could feasibly take months, if not years, I'll be based out of my home on the coast. It'll cut down on my commute time."
She didn't mention that she'd built the house. Or that she'd done so before she'd gone to work for Dr. Núñez. Information he'd received from his PI the moment he learned who she really was. That she'd omitted the timing was interesting. For Finn, details mattered. It was the difference between life and death with a million pounds of thrust under a live crew and passengers. So why omit this small detail? By doing so she unintentionally gave this info more weight. Made him even more curious.
"But you're staying on board Blackstar, aren't you?" Nick asked. Finn didn't like how intensely the other man observed her. Nor did he like the surges of jealousy he felt every time his friend looked at her with a little more goddamn warmth than was warranted by a perfect stranger.
He’d been a perfect stranger, and look how that had turned out.
"Yes." Peri kept steady eye contact. "I will need to go home periodically, and of course I'll start visiting your ships and cataloging your artifacts in a couple of days. I've already got plenty of work to do on board Blackstar Two."
"But you're bunking on Blackstar, right?" Zane had a wicked glint in his eyes, and Peri's cheeks flushed. "Why's that Rocketman?"
"I brought in extra divers for this salvage," Finn told the lie easily. "No available cabins there, plenty of room here."
"Buenos Aires is a long way away," Logan observed. "You didn't mind leaving your family and friends to work in such an isolated place?" He studied her over the bottle. Like his younger brother, Logan, too, watched her with a little more than polite interest. Finn wanted to remind both men they were happily married, and that their wives would be there in a few days. "Do you have family? In Argentina?"
"Not in Argentina, no. But I have a brother. We're really close, but he travels a lot, so we don't get together that often." She tucked the loose strand back up into the topknot, and within seconds it slithered free again. He preferred her a little disheveled. In fact, Finn liked her a lot disheveled. "The office is only five hundred miles away. I’ll go back periodically."
Zane pushed aside his empty plate and accepted the untouched desert Bria slid in front of him all without taking his eyes off Ariel. "Dr. Núñez must value you highly to trust you on such a monumental salvage."
Her smile was a little tight. "He must. I'm here."
"He'll be pleased with today's find, will he not?" Bria asked from across the table.
"Without a doubt,” Ariel agreed. “But there were other noteworthy finds retrieved in the past few days. A surprising number, since none of your grids are in place yet. The ocean floor must be rich with artifacts from the four ships."
"Spread out over fifty nautical miles," Zane pointed out.
"Right." She took a sip of her water. "It'll take time, but if what you've retrieved so far is an indication of what's down there, I think everyone will be very pleased with the outcome. I know Dr. Núñez will be thrilled with the variety of artifacts you've recovered so far. He's more into the historical value of the objects than the percentage eventually due the Ministry. I'm sure he'll be as excited by this artifact,” she nodded in the direction of the table where the golden slab sat, “as we are."
Finn had no doubt Núñez was going to line his own pockets before the Ministry got their cut. Like pretty much anywhere in the world, government graft was a given.
Bria leaned her forearms on the table with a jangle of her gold bracelets. "I think we should send for our tablet and compare the two, don't you think, Nick?" Putting her arm across the table she waited for her husband, who sat directly opposite her, to take her hand.
Nick stroked his thumb across the back of his wife’s hand. "I agree, my love. It would be worth seeing them together to determine if they are in any way related, or if they're two separate entities."
"That would be awesome, but will the museum lend you the tablet? To take halfway around the world?" Ariel asked Bria with a frown. "That seems unlikely, doesn't it?"
"Bria is the Crown Princess of Merrezo," Finn told her. "She started that museum, and owns it, right? "
Bria shrugged. "My people own it. But there will be no problem removing the tablet- temporarily, accompanied by my curator for safe keeping."
"Great. My plane is available," Finn offered. "My pilot, Kathleen will go to Merrezo and return with your tablet." He too was intrigued by the thought that both items might've come from the same time and place.
Bria smiled. "That would be most excellent, Finn. I think, if we may, we should have Ale Vadini accompany the tablet. I think he'd be an enormous help in comparing your artifact and La tavoletta d'oro Merrezo."
It was late. The sun had set, the black arc of the sky filled with stars. "Excellent idea," Finn told her easily, now impatient for everyone to go back to their respective ships.
He wanted to show his Persephone the stars so she could see them as he did. Beautiful and full of possibilities. Just as he saw her. He wasn't done exploring every freckle on her body. Stars first, followed by the rest of the night and well into the morning in his cabin. In his bed. The thought made him hot, eager for his friends to get the hell off Blackstar. He pushed back his chair and rose. "I'll have Kathleen file a flight plan. She'll leave first thing in the morning."
"All things considered," Nick said as he and the others rose, too, "we need to get security on this immediately, don't you think?"
"Hell, yes. I'll send some of my guys," Finn offered. "They'll see to the Merrezo tablet's safe transit."
"No need," Nick told him easily. "I have people in Italy. I'll take care of security from there."
Nick Cutter did black ops contract work for a counterterrorist group, utilizing his ear for dialect, and God only knew what other talents. He was a good man to know and seemed to have limitless resources. Yet, when Finn had asked him, casually, if he'd dig into Ariel's background, Nick had shut him down, saying unless Finn suspected her of terrorism, he didn't surveil innocent civilians.
“It’s settled then.” Finn started them walking toward the sunroom so they’d get the lead out and head back to their own ships. He was done socializing.
EIGHT
Can we go to the top deck to look through that fancy telescope of yours?" Peri asked as she observed the Cutters cross the solarium then disappear downstairs leaving her alone with Finn. Since, for some mysterious freaking reason, the shoe she'd been waiting to drop, had not dropped, she was filled with excess energy. She could think of a lot of ways to get rid of all that pent-up energy. All included Finn.
Excitement zinged through her veins, as her thoughts tumbled and spun. Between finally meeting the Cutters, the thrill of the tablets, and the host of freaking secrets she was holding onto, she was way too wired to sleep. Filled to the brim with questions she dare not ask, and exhilaration that buzzed and fizzed through her veins she needed something to distract her.
Finn would do nicely.
All through dinner he'd touched her. Her hand, her arm, her thigh. . . If his plan was to prime her for sex, she was ready, more than ready. As distracting as it was titillating, it hadn't been easy to concentrate on the conversation when he had his hand high on her thigh through most of the meal. He wasn't touching her now, but the electric current arcing between them was almost visible in the flickering candlelight.
Adrenaline seared through her veins in a heated rush, and her breath snagged in her lungs. Her lips tingled. Kiss me.
Tall, muscular and dangerous, he looked ridiculously sexy in dark slacks, and a pale blue dress shirt, open at his strong throat. His features were taut, and his eyes glittered as if he had a fever when she turned back to look at him. "Another time."
It took her a moment to recall the request she'd made. They were going up to the next deck, but she didn't think he was heading to his giant telescope. Peri fell into step beside him. He didn't touch her as he started walking, following the path through the solarium the others had just taken.
The black and white checkered marble floor reflected the ten-foot trees evenly spaced in front of tall windows running the length of the narrow room. Comfortable deep seating chairs, in small, intimate groupings were scattered about for private conversation. Enormous skylights, black with the night sky, would flood the room with sunlight in the day time. The air smelled faintly citrusy.
"What do you use this room for?"
Peri could hear the Cutters voices coming from below as they boarded their runabouts to head to their own ships. The splash and slap of the water and the murmur of voices drifted up as they took the stairs. To his cabin or hers?
"I work in here sometimes, mostly my office staff uses it in their off hours."
"If they live on board when do they get time off?"
"Ninety days on, thirty days off."
He walked so fast she had to double step to keep up with his speed and longer strides. "Your employees get a month off every three months? That's generous of you."
Finn shrugged. "They work hard. They're usually across an ocean from their families, it's the least I can do. My people come from every far-flung corner of the world. Blackstar is constantly in motion. Anything less than a month off wouldn't be worth such a long commute."
"You fly them home?"
He shrugged. "I have a plane." At the foot of the stairs, he stopped to back her against the paneled wall. "Take down your hair."
The man knew how to change the subject. Wordlessly, she reached up with both hands and slowly removed the pins, placing each in Finn's waiting hand. He stuck them in his back pocket. His eyes were all pupil as her hair slowly unfurled down her back in soft waves. The brush of his slightly roughened thumb over her mouth made her shiver in response.
She parted her lips, then flicked out her tongue to taste him. He shuddered. "I've never wanted a woman as much as I want you. I didn't give a damn about dinner, I just wanted to eat you." His warm coffee-scented breath fanned over her damp lips as he sank his fingers into her hair to cup the back of her head, while his other hand slid between her tank top and the waistband of her slacks at the small of her back. His hand felt shockingly warm against her cool skin as he dipped a finger beneath the thin ribbon of her thong.
Her butt cheek flexed. His pupils flared, and a muscle clenched in his jaw.
"I hope you do." Legs weak, her knees buckled. Bracing her hand on his chest, she felt the thud of his heartbeat beneath her palm. It echoed the staccato beat of her own.
His voice, low and husky, stroked her frayed nerve endings. "Dinner seemed interminable."
God yes. On so many levels. She shot him a wicked glance under her lashes as he withdrew his wandering fingers to slide his other hand to the small of her back under her top. "I enjoyed it."
&
nbsp; He lowered his head, lips almost touching hers. "It was too long to wait to do this."
Cupping his face, she lifted up to close the small gap between their mouths. The kiss was shockingly gentle considering the tension she felt in his jaw as his tongue stroked over hers.
He lifted his head, leaving her lips damp and aching for more. "Come and see my etchings."
There were paintings all over the ship, Peri knew they were all the real deal and must be worth immeasurable fortunes. Artwork was the last thing on her mind right now. "Are they in your bedroom?"
He smiled as he opened a nearby door. "Yeah."
The blood in her veins surged as she felt the heat of each of his fingers on the small of her back as he guided her into the middle of the room. "What kind of etchings?" She glanced around the large, private sitting area dominated by a plush dove-gray suede sofa. Comfortable-looking easy chairs flanked a dark stone coffee table with a lush green plant spilling over the surface. A sleek, modern mantleless slate fireplace soared to the coffered ceiling. Wide windows showed the black sky and moon tipped ocean framed by white drapes which fluttered in the breeze of the open window.
"Naked nymphs dancing through fields of flowers trailing diaphanous scarves?" she teased. Through double doors, a dimly lit room gave her a tantalizing glimpse of the corner of his big bed.
"Self-portraits of the artists mostly." Finn unbuckled the thin black belt at her waist.
Peri enjoyed the feel of his hands on her, the way the back of his fingers lingered on her stomach as he slid the belt from the loops with painstaking care. His eyes never left her face.
With sure hands, she started unbuttoning his crisp dress shirt. Pausing as he drew her top over her head, she continued until she got to the waistband of his slacks. As he tossed her top somewhere behind her, she tugged his shirt free and spread it open to expose the hard ridges of his abs, and the drift of dark hair arrowing down. She felt as though she'd been starving all her life and was suddenly being offered a banquet.