3013: STOWAWAY (3013: The Series) (8 page)

Sonja squealed with joy and bounced in place, hugging Deke so hard his ribs creaked under her hands. “I’m going with you? I get new clothes? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” She glanced down at her too big shirt and the pair of pants they had modified by cutting the legs much shorter and using a bit of cord as a makeshift belt.

“Well, Trevar wanted to take a look around first and make sure it was safe. If there had been a bunch of Alliance personnel around we wouldn’t have risked you being seen, but as it turns out, there aren’t that many on the station right now. It’s about as safe as we can hope for.”

Still bouncing, Sonja nodded and beamed. “It’ll be fine, I’m sure of it.”

“Promise me that you’ll listen to us out there. This based is run by the Reema, and that means things are little different than you’re used to.”

Sonja was surprised by the note of concern in
Deke’s voice. Trevar had described Jikrat as a trading post of sorts, where races and ships from a myriad of worlds came to do business. “Care to explain that in a little more detail? How different could it be? I mean, apart from the fact that it will be full of aliens.”

“For starters, assume everyone you see is armed. We’re still in Alliance space, but that doesn’t mean things are exactly like they’d be on Earth. Whatever you do, don’t get separated from us.” He lifted his hand to trace the lines of the tattoo that marked her face. “Back home, this protected you. Out here, Trevar and I are your only protection.”

Sonja felt a thread of ice weaving through her veins at the thought of being alone and unprotected. For the first time since she’d fled her parents’ shuttle, she felt the full weight of her decision. She was going to have to learn to take care of herself, and quickly. “Before we get to X2, will you teach me how to protect myself?”

“I’ll teach you. And we’ll make sure the Krytos that run the bar there will keep an eye on you. T’karra is something of a friend. She’ll see to it that you’re safe. I don’t like the idea of you being
alone out here in the big black. What if something happens and I’m not there to protect you? What’s worse is knowing that by the time we get sent back here, you might have left. I want you to swear to me that if you decide to leave the station, you will tell T’karra where you are going.”

“You going to check up on me?”

Deke’s arms tightened around her as he walked her backward a few steps until her back hit the work table. “No, sweetheart. I’m not going to check up on you, I’m going to come
get
you.”

Sonja opened her mouth, but nothing came out. What the hell was he talking about? This was only temporary, wasn’t it? Looking up at him, his eyes full of determination and his jaw set, she suddenly wasn’t so sure. He pressed his body into hers, letting her feel the thick ridge of his erection against her stomach. His mouth crashed down on hers a second later, hands tangling in her hair as he claimed her lips in a kiss that made her toes curl in her woolen socks.

Damn, the man could kiss. There was nothing cool or calculating in the way he touched her. Lips mated and tongues entwined as he ground their bodies together, fucking her through their clothes. Clothes were suddenly a barrier, frustrating her sudden need to be naked and in his arms.

Deacon heard the whimper of frustration from the angel in his arms and grinned. She wasn’t arguing against him coming to get her someday. It didn’t matter that she was a scroll and he wasn’t authorized to claim her. One way or another, she was going to be his.

There was no way he was going back to the way things were before she’d stowed away on their shuttle.

Stepping back, he scooped her into his arms and headed for the door, leaving the droids, tools and everything else scattered across the workroom. For once, he didn’t give a fuck about keeping things organized or about ship protocol. All he wanted in the worlds, all he cared about, was in his arms. When they passed the door to his quarters Sonja stirred, breaking their kiss.

“I thought we were going for a shower?” she asked.

“Later,” he growled and kept walking, using the lower gravity to his advantage as he lengthened his stride to a pace that would have been impossible on Earth. He carried her to the lounge, barking orders to the computer as he went.

“
Arca
, turn off all light sources in the observation lounge. Increase air temperature by three degrees and prepare to deactivate artificial gravity in that section of the ship only.”

“Why no gravity?” Sonja asked, squirming lightly in his arms.

“Because, sweetheart. I thought it’s time I taught you how to fly.”

***

CHAPTER EIGHT

Most of the ship was set to slightly less than Earth standard gravity, but so far Sonja had not experienced full weightlessness either. Before she had time to think about it much, Deke had carried her into the darkness of the observation lounge and she was
simply too stunned by the view to think about anything at all.

They were docked so that the
Arca
was facing into the station, fastened to one of the many jetties that spanned the outer docking ring. The ship’s observation deck was lower than the ring, however, giving them an incredible view of both the station and the planet they were in orbit around.

Roisa was a gas giant, the surface of the planet whirling with multi-hued storms and striations that dazzled the eye. It was also a ringed planet, encircled by bands of red and gold. It looked like a work of art created by a long forgotten god and left to hang forever in a gallery of stars. The glowing colors of the planet cast Jikrat Station into star
k relief, the black metal structure highlighted by twinkling lights and encased in the arc of the docking ring that echoed the planetary rings beyond.

Deke carried her to the window before setting her down, and Sonja simply stared at the view. The lounge was full of light, a flickering festival of glowing hues that shifted as the planet wheeled beneath them, and she realized with a start that this was the first time she’d actually set eyes on another world.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“So are you. I’ve dreamed about seeing you like this, you know.” His hands were already busy stripping her out of her clothes, and she was thankful he’d turned up the heat a few degrees. She tried to turn around to undress him, but he firmly turned her back around. “You enjoy the view, sweetheart.”

“What are you going to do while I do that?”

He
laughed, and it occurred to her again how much more often he seemed to do that now. “I’m going to be enjoying the view, too, only mine’s a little different from yours.” His voice was rough with desire, the sound of it washing over her like a physical caress. He tugged the oversized pants down over her hips easily, his breath warm against her back as he eased the fabric down her legs. She stepped out of them, keeping her eyes on the dazzling view, but her senses were all attuned to him. Where he was, how close, the sound of him unzipping his uniform and the soft rustle as he stripped naked somewhere behind her.

Her breasts were heavy, nipples tightly beaded as she deliberately rubbed the fevered flesh against the cool surface of the window. She was already so aroused that there was already a trickle of moisture sliding down her inner thighs.

“Ship, is everything in the lounge secure?”

“
Yes, Officer Wilde.”

“Good. Deactivate artificial gravity.”

Sonja felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach, a sort of twisting lurch that left her feeling unsettled, but then that faded and all she felt was…lighter. Aware of the way zero gravity worked, at least in theory, she very carefully pushed herself back from the window and found herself floating up and away. “Deke! Now what do I do?”

A pair of strong arms twined around her waist from behind her and she was drawn up against his very naked, very hard body. “Well, you can flail around like a drunk monkey, which will look really adorable and get you absolutely nowhere, or you can stay right here.”

He bearded jaw grazed the tender skin at the back of her neck and he sucked the lobe of her ear into the heated depths of his mouth.

“And if I stay with you, what happens?” she asked, and a sense of déjà vu hit her so hard it made her breath catch. There were rare times, like this, when she saw more than the immediate future, but she rarely recognized it until the moment actually happened. Sometimes she saw everything in a moment of perfect clarity, other times it was in dreams that faded as she came awake. Either way, what she saw always came to pass. And she knew that she’d dreamed this moment before, just as she knew that the answer would change the course of her life, forever.

“If you stay with me, then I’ll make love to you until the stars fall,” he promised, every word exactly the way it had been in her dreams. In that perfect moment, there might have been other answers and other futures out there for her, but Sonja didn’t see any of them.

She only wanted one future. The one where she didn’t have to leave Deacon and Trevar behind and face the universe without them.

“Then I’m staying here, with the two of you.” As she spoke, she could actually sense the lines of probabilities collapse around her, vanishing one by one until only one was left. It was terrifying, exhilarating, and like nothing she had ever experienced before. Sonja still didn’t know what the future she’d chosen would look like, how they’d manage or if they’d even succeed. That wasn’t what her choice was about. Her choice was Trevar and Deacon. The rest…they’d have to figure out for themselves.

Deke felt her tremble as she spoke, and then she was turning in his arms, her movements sending them both tumbling slowly through the air. Her mouth found his, kissing him with a passion that burned away every thought, save one. He had to have her. Now. He’d imagined her naked and painted in starlight the first night she’d been on board. Seeing that fantasy made real was a memory he would cherish forever.

“You’re mine,” he told her, the words lost in the sweet warmth of her mouth, but real nevertheless. She was going to be his. He just didn’t know how—not yet. They floated up toward the ceiling and he stopped their flight with an outstretched hand, steadying their wild tumble so they were gently floating once more. He ended their kiss so that he could show her the other delights of their zero-g environment, deftly guiding her so that they were positioned head to toe. She caught onto his idea quickly, her gleeful giggles only stopping as she wrapped her lips around his dick and took him deep into her mouth.

“Fuck! Are you trying to kill me, woman?” He retaliated by parting her thighs and diving into the slick heat of her pussy, lapping and nibbling at her tender flesh until he felt her low groans thrumming right through his cock and balls. The wet heat of her mouth felt so good he could barely think, and each time she hollowed her cheeks and ran her tongue over the tip of his dick his control cracked a little more. He stroked his tongue the length of her slit, tasting every sweet inch of her pussy. Her clit swelled as he played with it, teasing the delicate pearl with the tip of his tongue until her limbs started to tremble.

They clung together, mouths feasting and bodies rubbing together as they floated slowly across the room. Deke slipped his fingers into her narrow entrance, fucking her slowly so that his movements didn’t send them spinning out of control. Her moans tore through his body and she took him deeper into her mouth, so deep that the head of his cock hit the back of her throat. She rubbed her tongue across the sensitive knot of nerves just below the head of his dick and he felt his balls tighten. This was as close to heaven as he’d ever been, the lights of the planet below painting her skin in shades of gold and crimson, her hair a gleaming halo of dark silk that brushed against his bare skin like a living thing.

Sonja was flying, l
iterally and emotionally. Her joy was tangible, pouring through her like liquid light as the two of them tumbled slowly through the air, lost in each other’s pleasure. Deke had her teetering on the brink of release, but he didn’t let her come. Again and again she rose to the crest of a wave, only to have his touch lighten and his tempo slow just enough to steal her momentum. Only when she was half wild with need, her skin afire and each breath coming on a ragged moan did he finally relent, suckling her swollen clit into his mouth and plunging his fingers deep into her channel, curving exactly the right amount to send her shuddering into a release so powerful she even forgot to breathe.

“Ship,
slowly
revert gravity in the observation lounge to previous setting.” Deke’s words pierced Sonja’s pleasant fugue and she found herself floating gradually downward, now there was such a thing as ‘down’ again. Deke carefully drew her away from his body and she was forced to relinquish her hold on his cock before she’d been able to get him off.

“I wasn’t done with you yet,” she grumbled as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her.

“I know, but I’m not done with you yet, either.” His eyes were gleaming like stars, and Sonja’s womb clenched in response to the need she saw in those green and brown depths. The moment they set foot on the ground, Deke was moving. He carried her over to the window, kissing her again before turning her away from the view and pressing her back up against the cool, smooth wall that separated them from the icy darkness beyond.

His cock w
as fully erect, caught between their bodies so that it was pressed tight to his stomach, and Sonja could feel the lingering dampness of her mouth on his heated skin. “Can anyone see us?” she asked, suddenly very aware of her naked ass pressed up to the window.

“Do you care if they do?” Deke responded before dropping his head and sealing her mouth with another scorching kiss. By the time his tongue dipped into her mouth to dance with hers, Sonja knew the answer. She didn’t give a damn if anyone saw them. In fact, the idea that someone might be watching gave her a dark thrill that made her pussy pulse and a fresh flood of honey slicken her flesh.

“No,” she finally confessed, and he groaned into her mouth, grabbing her hips and lifting her higher so that she could twine her legs around his hips.

“Good. Because I’m going to fuck you now, and I don’t care who is watching. Let them look. You’re mine, sweetheart, and the best they’re ever going to get is to see you through a window.”

“That’s possibly the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she murmured as she set her hands on the broad slope of his shoulders and shifted her body so that his cock was poised outside her entrance.

“I mean it, Sonja. You’re going to be mine. We’re going to find a way to make this happen, because I’m never going to let you go.” With that, he thrust into her, burying himself to the hilt. She moaned his name, her mind still reeling at Deke’s words even as her body welcomed his. With only the barest of pauses, he began to move, rocking his hips so his cock stroked the length of her channel.

Her inner walls clenched, gripping him tight, and he threw his head back with a groan. The muscles under her hands tensed and then the storm broke and there was nothing she could do but cling to Deacon as his control shattered. His expression shifted from second to second, a myriad of emotions playing across his face as he took her harder and faster than he’d ever done before.

There was nothing left of the calm, controlled man she’d gotten to know over the past few days. He’d been replaced by a being of raw need and power, every thrust and touch intended to claim her for his own. She liked this side of him, the hungry, passionate man whose need for her burned as hot as a sun.

“Tell me who you belong to,” he growled as he pinned her to the window and pounded into her so hard she could barely draw breath to answer.

“You. I’ve always belonged to you.” And she had. In a moment of perfect clarity the faces of every dream lover she’d ever had came into focus, and they all wore Deacon and Trevar’s faces. They were her destiny.

They always had been.

Deke made love to her without restraint, every stroke of his thick shaft sending another sizzling bolt of sensation zinging through her until her entire body was trembling and perched on the brink of another release. She fought it though, not wanting to go before he did. She wanted them to come together, needed them to fall into their pleasure together. His cock jerked inside her, thickening as his orgasm loomed and Sonja dropped her head to the crook of his neck, muffling her cries against his flesh. Her nails slashed down his back on his final thrust and he came hard.

Hot jets of cum filled her as he emptied himself into her womb, her inner walls milking him dry as she shuddered in the thrall of her own release.

“If I didn’t want to keep you before we did that, I sure as fuck would want to now. That was…” He trailed off and buried his face in her hair, still panting softly.

“Destiny.” She finished his sentence for him. “That’s what it was.”

****

Trevar was walking toward the
Arca
, his hands full of shopping bags stuffed with new clothing for Sonja, when he was hit by a blast of emotion so powerful he nearly stumbled.

What the fuck is that?

He took a quick breath and reinforced the mental walls that were already in place. Crowded places like Jikrat always took a toll on him, the throngs of people and their accompanying emotions could play merry havoc with his sanity if he didn’t keep the barriers up. Times like this he was thankful he was only a Class-B Empath. How the more sensitive Class-As managed to cope with it all, he had no damned idea. Very carefully, he lowered the mental wall a bit and immediately felt the emotional surge again. It was from a familiar source.

Deke.

No, not just Deke. Sonja, too.

Both of them were radiating a powerful sense of sexual satisfaction and…fuck. Trevar broke into a jog, ignoring the strange looks he got as he hurried back to the freighter. He’d only been gone two hours. Who fell in love in two fucking hours? He slammed the barrier back up and double-timed it along the last stretch of corridor. He’d seen more than a few bad ideas in his time. Hell, he’d come up with more than half of them, but this…this was a whole new level of insanity.