Jordan (9 page)

Another woman might have fled or burst into tears. Or ignored the situation. Chin high, eyes dark with suppressed hurt, voice
calm, Vivianne addressed the bridge crew. “What I do in my own time is my business.” She shoved Lyle with her foot and he
groaned. Kneeling, she spoke quietly, her tone threaded with steel. “Lyle, you aren’t welcome on this bridge until I receive
a public apology.”

“Get him out of here,” Jordan ordered.

Tennison dragged Lyle to his feet. Lyle wobbled and leaned against Tennison, and although his tone was strong, the fight was
gone from his voice. “I’m sorry. I was out of line.” He raised his head, rubbed his brow. “And… I overreacted. I’m an engineer,
not an explorer. I didn’t sign up for this kind of stress.”

“Apology accepted.” Voice tight, Vivianne jerked her thumb. “But do me a favor and stay out of my way for a while.”

Her demeanor was strong, feminine, sexy as hell. And like a switch had been turned on, Jordan’s blood was suddenly simmering
with lust. He gaze caught Vivianne’s, and he could see twin pinpoints of light in her irises.

She wanted him. At least, he prayed the answering gleam he’d seen there was real. Because he had to get them off the bridge
fast. Like a vibration from loud music, tremors rocked him. Starting in his bones, echoing through his tendons, radiating
outward through his muscles, the thrum of sensuality was a drumbeat he couldn’t ignore.

Jordan approached the viewscreen. “How long until we orbit the dark world?”

“About ten hours,” Gray said.

“You and Sean have the first watch. Don’t hesitate to call me if anything unusual happens. Vivianne, you’re with me.”

Jordan stalked from the bridge, not even waiting to see if she followed. He was in serious need of…

Jordan halted in midthought. Ever since he and Vivianne had gone back to the engine room, he’d been riled. If Lyle hadn’t
set him off, something else would have.

His skin prickled. He had a hard-on the size of Jupiter, and no matter had much he tried to repress the need, he was close
to losing control again.

“You think us being together’s a… good… idea?” Vivianne came up next to him. Her tone was soft and raw. She might as well
have caressed his flesh.

He gritted his teeth. “It’s… happening… again.”

“No. It is not.” Vivianne spoke as if she was in agony.

It took every ounce of his control not to rip off her clothing and take her there right in the hallway. He swallowed hard,
unable to keep the gruff need from his tone. “I’ll be in the captain’s quarters.”

And if she didn’t follow, he was going to die. Not in his entire life had lust ever pounded him like this. It was as if some
universal joker was playing cruel tricks. They were in danger. But it didn’t matter. They might die tomorrow. It didn’t matter.
The crew would know exactly what they were up to. It didn’t matter.

He had to have her now.

He heard her first hurried steps behind him. And he began to run.

Her matching sprint should have made him feel joyous. But he was in too much need for joy.

Breath coming harsh in his throat, he opened the cabin door and spun around, snaked out an arm to grab her, and dragged her
to him. She kicked the door shut behind her. He couldn’t wait one more second to kiss her. Thank the Universe, she lifted
her head, grabbed his hair, and yanked his head down.

Then he was tasting her. Holding her, crushing her against him.

He had to force himself to ease back so she could breathe. “I hope to hell you want me,” he growled.

“Like I have a choice.” She bit his neck.

“I’ll take that for a yes.” He scooped her up and was in the process of carrying her to the bed when the
Draco’
s artificial gravity failed.

They floated into midair. “Captain,” Gray said through the intercom. “We have a short. Sean says it’s going to take about
an hour to fix the gravity.”

He leaned over and hit the toggle. “Understood. Make certain the damn dog doesn’t break its neck.” He killed the intercom
and eyed Vivianne.

“Thanks for looking out for George.” She was already removing her jacket, blouse, and slacks, a task eased by the lack of
gravity. Spinning slowly, she was like a tempting piece of eye candy, all pink satiny skin and feminine curves.

Jordan knew how to make a woman feel good. He knew how to make a woman want him. He knew how to caress and stroke a woman’s
body. But last time, in his hurry to have her, he’d not taken the time to worship her as he should.

He’d taken her with a savage need. Luckily, her desire had matched his own. And once again, he was simply too charged up to
take this slow. Besides, she was fierce, pushing off a bulkhead to get to him, then ripping off his shirt, attacking his pants.
Eyes wild, breath panting, reddish-blond hair framing her face, she was like a hungry predator, wild and independent and so
fierce that he knew she was right there with him. Feeling what he felt. Wanting what he wanted.

“Hurry,” she demanded as she placed his hands over her breasts.

God, she was soft. He caressed her flesh. “Better?”

Her nipples tightened. “Much better.”

They floated in the cabin. He tried to fight the compulsion to hurry, but she wasn’t having anything to do with slow.

She yanked him to her, until they were face-to-face. “Fill me.”

He tried to stroke her with gentle caresses, but she writhed with impatience.

“Now. Damn you.” Parting her long legs, lifting her slender hips, she took him inside her.

Thrusting into her, then pulling back, had the blood rushing through his head and roaring through his ears. The ship could
have caught fire and he couldn’t have stopped. Pressure was building, growing in intensity, blinding him with need.

He pumped, his hips grinding. She matched him stroke for stroke.

He could feel the orgasm tensing in his balls, and from the top of his head to his toes, he craved release.

Vivianne slapped his ass. “Faster.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Harder.”

He grunted, his body slamming into hers as she pumped her hips to meet his. “I’m burning.”

“Yes.” He could feel the heat. Sweat broke out on his flesh, but he never stopped moving. He couldn’t stop moving. The need
was too primal.

She raked her fingernails across his back and drew him in tighter.

Too tight.

They were floating in midair. Gravity no longer dictated their moves.

“Unhook your legs,” he demanded.

“No.”

He stopped moving, gazed straight into her eyes. “Do it.”

“But—”

“Do it,” he urged. And this time she yielded. They floated prone, touching only where he was inside her. He spread his legs
wide until each foot braced against a corner alcove. Then he placed his hands on her shoulders for a moment and set her into
a spin.

“Oh… my. Ah.”

He’d never been so hard in his life. And she was spinning on him. Every time her face passed his, her breasts skimmed against
his chest. A riot of sensations swelled as he viewed her from a variety of angles. Her passion-filled face, her lovely breasts,
her toned legs, her tight ass.

And those sweet sounds that came out of her mouth were like music.

“Ah. Oh. Oh, oh, oh.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “Faster. Spin me…”

He slapped her ass and she moaned.

“More.”

He slapped her again and she spun so quickly he felt as if the top of his head was going to explode.

And when she tensed and clutched him, stopping the spin, he poured into her, the orgasm so strong that he could have sworn
he saw starbursts of purple and sizzling gold.

When he opened his eyes, Vivianne floated above him, the fringe of her lashes casting shadows on her high cheekbones. She
was studying him, her face flushed, her lips bee-stung from his kisses, but her eyes were like a caged wild animal’s in full
panic.

When a single tear escaped from one of her eyes, he didn’t know what to say.

Life is a space wreck, but we must not forget to sing in the life pods.

—D
OMINUS ADMIRAL

V
i,” Jordan drawled. “Vi, come here.” She’d been through so much. All because of him. He wanted to take away her pain but he
wasn’t sure how. So he did what felt right. Reaching out, he gathered her against his chest. “It’s going to be all right.”

One moment he was holding her, the next, another of Vi’s memories hammered Jordan, dropping into his brain as if out of regenerated
air.

“Are we there yet?” Vivianne asked her parents. Belted into the back seat of their Prius, she sat behind her father. A cardboard
carton of cranberry juice with a straw sat on a tray next to a plate with sliced apples and carrots, and peanut butter for
dipping.

Headlights from the oncoming cars on the four-lane highway kept lighting up her dad’s face. “Do you need a bathroom, honey?”

“No. I just want to smell the leaves again.”

Her parents were taking her north to see the leaves change color. So far, the leaves had been orange and red, gold and brown.
And they smelled ripe, like Mom’s garden after a hard rain.

“Look out!” her mother screamed.

Her father slammed on the brakes. Tires squealed.

Vivianne’s drink flew off the tray. Her carrots and apples spilled. Then she was turning upside down, then back up. The seat
belt cut into her waist and shoulder. Metal crunched. Glass broke.

Mom screamed and screamed.

The screaming scared Vivianne. She would have screamed, too, but her throat froze.

Vivianne’s head hurt. Her chest ached. And she couldn’t seem to breathe. The car kept flipping. Over and over. The horn blared.
The air bags popped, and Vivianne choked on the powder.

Mom had stopped screaming, and that scared her even more.

Vivianne didn’t open her eyes until the car stopped skidding. “Mom? Dad?”

“Sweetie,” Mom said in a sob. She was crying. “Are you okay?”

“What happened?” Vivianne tried to unlock her seat belt, but her fingers didn’t seem to work right.

A car pulled up, and headlights shined through the broken windshield. Their car was tipped sideways in a ditch. “Mom, your
head. You’re bleeding.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Her mother kept saying that over and over.

Vivianne finally freed her seat belt. She put her hand on her father’s shoulder. “Dad. Mom’s hurt. She needs you.”

“Don’t look at Daddy, baby. Look at me.”

Vivianne didn’t understand. Dad always helped her mom. Why wasn’t he doing something?

“Mom?”

Her mother reached up to the necklace Vivianne had given her for her birthday three years ago. She jerked it, snapping the
chain. She loved that necklace. Wore it every day. Why would she break it?

“I’m sorry.” Mom pressed the necklace into Vivianne’s hand. “Keep this, and remember how much we loved each other.”

Her mother’s head slumped. Her eyes closed. With a horrible gurgle, a bubble of blood oozed from her mouth and her hand fell
away from Vivianne.

Vivianne clutched the necklace. She didn’t understand. She heard sirens. Saw blinking red lights. Strangers talking.

“We’ll have to cut the little girl out of the back seat.”

“The parents?”

“Dead.”

No. No. No. They couldn’t be dead.

Hands reached for Vivianne. She tried to fight, reached for her parents. “Mom. Dad. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me all alone.”

Jordan had to inhale a deep breath, tell himself that Vivianne had lost her parents a long time ago. But her pain… he didn’t
want to feel her pain. He didn’t want to feel sorry for her. And he most certainly couldn’t afford to give her his sympathy.
He couldn’t afford to form emotional attachments that clouded his judgment. He’d made that mistake once, befriending Trendonis,
a stranger whose betrayal had cost Jordan his world.

But how could he not feel more for her after living her pain?

At least he’d been an adult when his parents had died. She’d been only a child.

He had no idea how she’d grown into such a strong woman. But he wanted to know. Had relatives raised her? Had she gone to
a loving home?

And that’s when he realized there was a price to be paid for the lovemaking. Both times the Staff forced them together physically,
Jordan had received another of Vivianne’s memories.

Damn it. He couldn’t stay detached when he knew so much about her. He didn’t want to admire what she had made of her life.
He didn’t want to be involved. Apparently, the Staff was determined to show him all the little details that made Vivianne
so special.

But he couldn’t let it matter.

N
OTHING WAS GOING
to be all right again. Ever. As much as she told herself what they’d done was just sex, it didn’t feel like just sex. Not
when he invaded her thoughts at all the wrong times. Not when she found her gaze roaming the bridge to gauge his reactions.
Not when she took solace in his arms. Not with Jordan’s memories flooding Vivianne’s mind.