Pirate: Space Gypsy Chronicles, #1 (16 page)

It also possessed a giant bed adorned with fluffy pillows, lush carpeting for the feet, and, best of all, a bathing chamber, which, if used—especially the water portion—would cost him a fortune.

So worth it.

Much as it galled Rafe to admit, every so often he wanted a good cleansing. A real bath, where he could sink under the surface of the liquid and truly feel the dirt on his skin lift. He’d gotten used to daily water cleansing during his time on Earth. The luxury of regular hot showers had spoiled him.

“This is our room?” Emma gaped. “It’s so nice. Finally.”

“Finally? You could say thank you.”

She whirled to face him. “This one time. Thank you. This is awesome.”

Emma didn’t waste any more time. She kicked off her boots and stomped around on the carpet moaning. “It’s so soft. I’d forgotten what it feels like to walk around barefoot.”

“Enjoy it while you can. We’re only here for the night.”

“How can you tell it’s night?”

He tapped his head. “This knows.” Given each planet had its own system for time and it differed, most races had their own methods. But he had to admit, the Earth’s cycle very closely matched the ideal for his body’s needs. “You can have a bath over there.” He pointed to the open spot in the wall. “There will be soaps and lotions, as well as towels in there. Given we’re in the luxury suite, there’s also a spot you can toss your clothes in for a clean. Unless you’d like to keep wearing that pungent body odor cologne your amateur chef from the market left you with.”

“Do all aliens reek?” She held up a hand. “And before you tell me not to use that word, too bad. It’s just the two of us, and I don’t know what else to call them. I mean icky blob dude, raisin boob, and hairless yeti somehow seems ruder.”

“Raisin boob?” He snickered. “Do a search when you get a chance on the Gonnfl race.” Because they only looked shriveled until they got aroused. Then they inflated and became quite rotund. And bouncy. Having sex with one in a zero-gravity zone was considered quite the sport. Fortunes were won and lost on whether a male could pin an inflated Gonnfl female or whether her curves would fling him off.

“A search where? Your ship computer is woefully lacking.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that.”

“Or she’ll what? Zap the handrail when I use the stairs? Wobble the ship so I stumble and then claim an etheric wave made her do it?”

“I think my ship might need some maintenance.”

“Did you order some?” she asked, wandering into the large bathroom.

He couldn’t help but lean and peek inside to see what she’d do. Strip if he was lucky.

“Not here. AI systems and a ship computer in general should only be trusted to professionals who cannot be bribed.” Anybody else was asking for a virus that would turn the system against a captain and allow pirates to take over. He spoke from experience—as the pirate.

“So we get to travel a while longer with your PMSing ship. Awesome!”

That sounded a lot more enthusiastic than it should have. Probably because Emma had located the tub.

She wasted no time removing her clothes. Not the sexiest dishabille he’d ever seen, with the pants getting shoved down with little finesse, but hey, the wench was finally naked.

He ogled her body, even if he’d seen it before. Not his fault the onboard cameras caught her in the buff when she performed her cleansing ritual. A gentleman would look away. He kept an eye on her in case trouble attacked.

Snort. He purposely spied on her in those cameras, and he leered. It was expected.

Just like he leered now, his own frame completely naked as he strolled into the bathroom and tossed his clothes in the refreshing unit along with hers.

As he straightened, he caught the heated sting of her glare.

She pinned him with a gaze from where she sat in the tub. “Hold on there, pirate. Exactly what do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” He rolled his eyes with clear mockery. “I’m going to take a bath.”

“You are?” Emma made an exaggerated act of looking around and then fixed her gaze on him. “And just exactly where do you think you’re going to bathe? In case you hadn’t noticed, there is only one bathtub and I’m currently in it.”

“I know. My lucky day.”

“Turn right around and march out. I was here first.”

“Have you seen the size of the tub? There is definitely room for two.” A shame, a smaller tub would have put her in his lap much sooner. “Haven’t you heard the expression sharing is caring?”

“Can’t you just wait your turn?”

“Considering I’m the captain, and I’m the one paying for this, I should be going first. So let me ask you, would you prefer to share, or do you want to wait until I am done?”

She glared at him. “I really don’t like you.”

“I know. I’m okay with that.” Because he didn’t want to like her either. He figured, if he could just have sex with her, then maybe, just maybe, he’d manage to better control this crazy interest he had in Emma. Buying her clothes. Agreeing to share the first bath.

No more. He was captain. A fierce pirate…

“At the most, I’d say you’re a clever smuggler.”

He blinked at her. Dammit. He’d spoken aloud, and she’d replied. “A smuggler. I’ll take it. Now move over unless you’re planning to sit in my lap, which I’m going to put out there is totally fine with me.”

One last dark look—with a hint of heat—and Emma scooted across the built-in bench to the far side of the rather large tub.

He slipped into the tub and intentionally splashed her.

“Blurg!”

He laughed as he flipped his head back and sent droplets of water flying. “So, wench—Glarg.” He sputtered as Emma sloshed him. His turn to glare at her through a squinted eye. “That wasn’t very nice,” he said.

“I know.” Smirk. “Poor pirate, did you get water in your mouth? I don’t know how that happened.” She adopted an innocent look that failed considering the wicked glint in her eye.

Such a wicked girl. And such a tease.

She was sunk low enough that only the swath of skin just under her neck showed. Her beautiful breasts were hidden under the water, which given it wasn’t 100 percent water, meant it was opaque. Everything under the surface was blocked from view. A shame. He would have liked to ogle those perfect handfuls.

A lazy finger dragged through the water. Emma pretended great interest in watching the little wave current she created. “How come the water’s not clear? And it’s got a smell to it, a nice one, but still, are you sure this will get me clean? I’m not going to come out of it looking blue, am I?”

“Your skin coloring is safe. While the water appears tinted, it’s not the kind that acts like a dye. This is most likely meteor ice, melted for use on the station with a good number of additives. In space, there is only one thing more deadly than a hole in your ship or a dead power core—bacteria. The most benign microorganism can have devastating effects.”

“It’s happened before?” she asked.

“Numerous times. Especially in the less-charted reaches, where one never knows what he might encounter.”

“Doesn’t the ship decontaminate you and like check you over for any bugs?”

“Most of the time. However, some microbes can’t be picked up by our computers or diagnostic systems. So a blanket decontamination is performed, especially on things like water, which is in high demand and, thus, being recycled constantly.

A grimace pulled her lips as she lifted the water and let it run through her fingers. “Mentioning the fact that this water is
used
is not exactly reassuring. But it sure does feel good.”

She ducked under the surface and stayed under a few moments. When she emerged, her hair was slicked back from her head, and she shook it out, her eyes shut.

Rafe took a moment to just admire the sleekness of her beauty. The water pearled on her skin, leaving it looking moist. Tempting.

He had an urge to lick the hollow at the base of her throat. To suck the moisture from that delicate spot. Even better, he’d like to have her sit with her legs around his shoulders so he could lap the moisture from another place.

That would please him most.

Probably sensing his stare, she opened her eyes, the wet lashes clinging together in a dark mesh. She smiled at him, a radiant smile that hit him with its beauty. “This is amazing. I haven’t felt this clean in…” She hesitated then laughed. “I guess since we left Earth.
Earth.
” She scrunched her nose. “It’s weird. Once upon a time, saying or referring to my old life as ‘when I was on Earth’ would’ve seemed so strange. Now”—she waved her hand and gestured to the room—“here I am, on a space station having a meteor bath, and it seems so real, while my life back on Earth seems so far away. Almost like a mirage.”

“It’s best that you forget it. That life is forbidden to you. From now on, you’ll be a roamer like me and the rest of the Rhomanii.” What he didn’t remind her of was the fact that very few planets took settlers. Most of them had existing populations strictly governed by the laws put into place. Outsiders, alien entities that weren’t born on the planet or that couldn’t provide something salient, weren’t welcome. Breeding females were the only exception.

Everyone likes a woman with good hips and strong genes.

However, certain expectations were placed on breeding females. Virginity being the first one, and he highly doubted, no matter how much she turned him down, that Emma was a virgin.

And remembering and reminding himself that she wasn’t a virgin once again made him wonder why the hell she kept rejecting him. It just didn’t make any sense.

Being a stubborn man, and a horny one, he just couldn’t let it sit. “So here we are. Clean. Alive. And in possession of a bed. If you ask me, the universe is telling us something.”

“You’re right; it is.” Spoken in a husky murmur. She leaned forward. Her lips parted. Her gaze remained intent on his. “It’s telling us we should get a good night’s sleep.” She leaned back, a pleased smile on her face.

How he tired of her teasing him. Especially since he knew she wanted him.

So why am I waiting? I am a pirate. And what I want, I take.

Decision made, it took him not even a breath to launch himself across that giant tub. Emma didn’t have time to react, nor did she have time to slip away. She could attempt only a sound of feeble protest that he swallowed as his lips captured hers in a torrid kiss.

It wasn’t their first kiss, although it had been a while since the last one. He might as well have never touched her before because the simple touch of her flesh to his proved just as fiery as the first time. An intense hunger consumed him. He wanted to devour her, to inhale her sweet exhalations, breathe into her, to sink himself in her silky heat. He didn’t hide this hunger in his kiss, and he half expected her to push him away, perhaps curse him out, maybe even bite him again.

What he didn’t expect was for her arms to wrap around his neck. For her to draw him close. To accept him with a soft sigh.

What happened? Why the change of mind? Was it the bath? The real food, the clothes? Did he care?

Despite her many protests, at least she succumbed to the natural need for intimacy, the closeness achieved only with another person. Skin to naked skin, lip to lip, they couldn’t get any closer than this. Their every inhalation and exhalation was a mixture of them both. He couldn’t have said where one started and one ended.

She was the one to let her hands roam first, letting go of his hair that she might trail her fingers down the back of his neck before spreading them across his shoulders. Her lips parted, and the tip of her tongue teased, coaxing its way into his mouth. This kind of intimate kissing wasn’t something often done outside of mated pairings. But how he enjoyed it, the sensual slide of tongue on tongue.

Her hands strayed from his shoulders and stroked down his biceps. He gave them an extra flex, and she rewarded him with squeeze. While she sat on the bench, he was braced in front of her, hands framing her and gripping the edge of the tub. The lower half of his body free floated in the buoyant liquid.

Her stroking reached his wrists and briefly left his skin, only to resume their tracing along his rib cage.

Rafe sucked in a breath. Would she really keep exploring lower? When he’d dived across the pool, he’d not expected things to go further than a kiss to regain his manhood. Now he found himself captivated, wondering just how far she would go.

All the way, wench. Let this be the day I finally get you out of my system.

He wouldn’t hold his breath, though. At any moment, he expected her to flee from him protesting. At any moment, he expected interruption. It was what had always happened before.

Before. Not this time.

Emma didn’t push him away. He wasn’t entirely sure if he would’ve gone if she had. He doubted he could walk away and not go insane.

Her kisses were like drugs, bringing a sexual languor to his limbs and heat to his blood. He couldn’t help but want more. And by more he didn’t just mean tasting her lips.

Given the wanton wandering of her hands, he thought it past time his own began an exploration. He kept one hand on the side of the tub to brace himself, but the other one he had plans for.

With just the tip of his finger, he traced the line of her cheek. Her skin felt soft, so very soft and silky. Not chopped by the winds. Not dry from a lack of moisture often seen by those residing on the arid planets. Fresh. Smooth. Silky. Those qualities were what made her valuable. It wasn’t something he could hide. Everyone saw it when they looked at her.

Saw a shapely woman with skin unmarked by the hardships of living in space. It wasn’t to say the Rhomanii were all leathery husks. On the contrary, the females of his kind cared for themselves. However, he’d never truly touched a female like himself. Women were chaste and protected. There was no sex before marriage. Virginity was highly prized. In his culture, chaperoning went great lengths to ensure women remained pure until joined to a man.

Those kinds of women didn’t exist for Rafe. He was a bastard. An outcast. No proper Rhomanii girl would have him.