Seven Days - A Space Romance (4 page)

Bingo. He slid another finger over it and parted them slightly, then rubbed her with both fingers, rolling the small bud of flesh between his fingers.

She groaned, her breaths turning to short pants of delight. Her eyes closed, her head tilting back as she rode his hand, jerking with every motion of his fingers, her need desperate. “Kaden,” she whimpered. “I need more—”

He shoved the collar of her suit aside, exposing more bronze skin, the serviceable bra that she wore. That plain white cotton holding such decadent skin drove him wild. Regulation cotton had never been so sexy before her. He pushed it aside as well, exposing her breast. Her arms wrapped around his neck, that leg curled around him for support, and he reached over and grazed her nipple with his thumb even as he increased the pressure of his fingers sliding against her hot, slick flesh.

Her breath hissed out of her lungs. “More.”

He grasped her nipple between thumb and forefinger and tugged, enjoying the way her breast bounced in response. Her nipples were dark brown, darker than her skin, but lovely. He’d never seen such a delicious body, and he intended on taking his fill of it the next few days. It wouldn’t be enough, but he’d take what he could get.

He pinched the nipple, hard. Her hips bucked in response, so he did it again, then rolled the now-sensitive tip against his thumb. As he did, he changed the stroke of his fingers against her clit, going from a slow up-and-down motion to a circling one.

She arched in his arms, her entire body tensing. “Kaden—”

Goddamn it, he needed more hands to put on her. He continued to rub at her clit, keeping his motions slow and steady because he knew that would drive her insane and abandoned her breast to tug her hips higher up the wall. Just a bit, and then her breast was in range of his mouth.

Zoey’s hand went to her breast, cupping it and offering it to him. “Taste me, Kaden.”

“Ah, fuck. You are amazing,” he said, even as he leaned in to take that sweet brown tip into his mouth. He lightly scored it with his teeth and then began to flick it with his tongue, the motions mimicking his hand in her panties, rubbing her clit.

She cried out, suddenly bearing down on his hand, her entire body clenching around him, the sound loud enough to rock the small cabin. She continued to drive her hips against his hand and he didn’t stop, still biting and nibbling at that breast, determined to make this orgasm last as long as it could. When she began to calm, sucking in huge breaths, he pulled his hand out of her panties and grasped her hips, dragging her the few feet to the bed and tossing her down on it. She looked up at him with glazed eyes, her hand reaching for his chest and wrapping in his undershirt. “Get rid of this.”

He ripped it off, tugging it over his head and tossing it to the ground. His skin bare, he watched her gaze roam over his chest, his hard pectorals, the tattoos of the different legions he’d served with, the scar from the blaster fight on Mars I. Just a typical meathead. Would she hate the way he looked?

“God, you are gorgeous,” she said breathlessly. “Take your pants off.”

Guess not. Good. He grinned and began to strip down, though it was harder to get out of uniform. He undressed as she tugged off her bra and slipped her arms out of her own uniform until it piled around her waist, her torso bare.

As he stepped out of his boxers, his cock sprang free, and he enjoyed her soft intake of breath. Like the rest of his body, his cock was thick, with a heavy crown.

“You on the pill?” he asked thickly, then almost felt stupid for doing so. Wouldn’t fucking matter in seven days, would it?

She raised her arm and showed him the small green marker underneath her elbow that told him she was on regulated birth control. “I’m good for another year,” she said, and her mouth twisted bitterly at the thought, as if realizing the irony of it. “Clean, too. But I guess you are as well, if you’re space-worthy. Lucky us.”

Enough of that. He tugged at her uniform, pulling it from her waist down her legs. Zoey wasn’t the tallest woman he’d been with, her small body curvy rather than long and willowy, but he liked that about her. She was sexy—everything about her was sexy.

When he’d tugged her clothing off—panties and all, he stared down at her mouthwatering body. Her belly was slightly rounded, her hips moreso. The sight of those rounded hips in her tight regulation jumper had driven him insane for the past two months, her little bottom sashaying up and down the ship, framed by a loose-hanging utility belt that carried her gear. Fucking utility belts. Sexiest—and most frustrating—things he’d ever seen on a woman. Sexiest because they framed a woman’s ass just so, drawing a man’s attention there. Frustrating because if she was wearing one and he was too, that meant she was off limits.

He crawled over her and onto the bed, noticing with pleasure that her amber eyes followed his every movement. He grasped her thigh and raised her leg high in the air, baring her to him. Her other leg spread wide on the bed and she reached for him with her hands, inviting him down over her body. Needing him. He placed that one foot on his shoulder and grasped his cock, ready to feed it into her.

He’d tease her with it first, though. Kaden pushed the head into her hot, slick warmth. She was tight around him, gripping him, and he heard her moan of pleasure. Instead of pushing deeper, though, he pulled away and then pushed again, fucking her with only the tip.

Her hips rolled and she gasped, as if trying to take him deeper. “You tease.”

“Wanted to make sure that’s what you wanted, Zoey. Not too late to back out now.” And as if to make him a liar, he pushed the head of his cock against her entrance again, then pulled away. Then he slicked it up her sweet, wet folds, rubbing back and forth against the satiny flesh, pushing against her clit.

She writhed under him. “Please, I need you. Need this.”

He used her wetness to lubricate his cock head, enjoying the sight of her wet flesh spreading as he pushed through it, and rolled his cock down to her opening again, then pushed, just barely. “You need this?”

Her hips pushed against him, desperate. That leg on his shoulder was tight with need. “Yes,” she panted. When he didn’t move, her fingers clawed to his dog tags, trying to drag him down over her. “Want you in me, on top of me. Owning me.”

Ah fuck, he liked the sound of that. He gave her a few inches more, noting with pleasure when she sucked in a breath, her eyes closing, her face tight with ecstasy. “More?” he gritted. He was losing his cool as he pushed into her tight warmth. Her pussy clenched around him, an exquisite torture.

“More,” she breathed, so sweetly that he had no choice but to give her what she wanted. He rammed in deep, burying himself to the hilt.

She cried out, her eyelids fluttering. “Big...
really
big.”

“Flatterer,” he growled low, pulling back and thrusting again.

“But good,” she said softly, which made him thrust again as a reward. Her hips arched up to meet him, pushing him deep. When he rocked into her, her breasts bounced, and he was fascinated by that, so he spent the next several thrusts increasing their intensity, all for that lovely sight of her rounded flesh jouncing with every punishing slide of his cock into her body.

When he leaned down to take one of her nipples in his mouth as he thrust, she whimpered. Her hand stole to the other breast and flicked the nipple, as if impatient for pleasure. He bit down on the tip even as he drove into her, and she moaned loudly again, breathing his name. “Kaden.”

Fuck. His balls began to tighten, on the verge of coming. He thrust harder into her, licking that sweet little tip of a breast as he pumped into her body, loving her tiny cries of response with every hard thrust he gave her. He moved to her other breast, licking her nipple through her fingers, and she sucked in a breath at that, squeezing the tip so it would jut higher, just for him.

He bit down on it and she shuddered. He thrust harder, bit down again.

She came with a cry, her pussy clenching tight around his cock, milking it. He bit out a curse as he began to come as well, his seed spurting inside her. He continued to rock inside her, extending the white-hot orgasm for as long as possible until he collapsed on top of her, breathing hard. Her leg slid off his shoulder and fell to rest against his hip, her foot idly sliding over the back of his thigh in a caress.

And she sighed, the sound content. He still panted, his body slick with a low sheen of sweat. She felt amazing against him, her hands trailing over his shoulders idly, as if she didn’t want to stop touching him.

“As distractions go, that was a pretty good one,” Zoey said softly.

“Only pretty good?” Kaden mused. “I must be losing my touch.”

“I hear you’re out of practice,” she teased, a grin lighting up her face. When his fingers slid between her legs again and began to rub at the sensitive, swollen flesh there, her eyes widened and then went soft with need, her gaze going to his mouth.

“Good thing we have all night to warm up,” he said huskily and rolled her clit between his fingers.

Her cry of delight echoed in the small room again.

#

Later that evening they lay in bed together, staring at the ceiling of her quarters. Now that the euphoria of sex had passed, Zoey was left with a mellow, almost melancholy feeling. She didn’t want to get up, though, so she laid her cheek on Kaden’s broad chest and sighed. “If you could go anywhere in the galaxy, where would you go?”

“Home,” he promptly replied, running his fingers through her tangled hair.

“No, I mean... if you could go anywhere. Do anything. Spend your last seven days anywhere but this tiny ship. Where would you go?”

He thought for a moment, and then she felt the deep sigh that rumbled through his chest. “I always wanted to go to Europa 13. I’ve never been to the ocean.”

“Never?”

“Never,” he agreed. “I heard it’s kinda nice.”

She smiled. “Nice is an understatement.”

He jostled her shoulder. “You? Where would you go?”

Zoey stared over his chest at the small quarters and tried not to think about this being her tomb in seven short days. Six, now, she supposed. “Europa 13 works for me too. After spending all this time in this tiny ship, a week on the beach sounds like Heaven.”

“Amen,” he said slowly. “We should go there together sometime.”

She chuckled, feeling that bittersweet ache in her chest, and pressed a kiss to his bare skin. “We should.”

Day 2

Zoey rolled out of bed the next morning, grateful that Kaden wasn’t there to make this awkward and slightly disappointed that he wasn’t. Coming together last night was probably a terrible idea, but at least she only had six more days in which to be embarrassed around him. That was good. Still, why did she feel weird about it? Because Kaden was gorgeous and totally off limits? Because it was desperation that pushed them together?

 Or because it felt a little like she was using him—just a little—to take the edge off her despair?

Last night had been sexy and intense, but it wouldn’t happen again. She’d used him to desperately forget their situation, and it wasn’t fair to him... or to her. She wanted to be in a good place when the end came.

The
end
.

Her throat suddenly felt hot and tight.

She needed a drink of water. Getting up from the bed, she tugged on a plain undershirt and dragged on a pair of pants, heading to the mess hall. It was empty. She peeked in the cockpit, also empty, though the system’s computers were humming, data zipping across the screens. How odd. Was Kaden running a program? She frowned at the monitors. She hadn’t expected to see every terminal lit up and in use. Perhaps it was the autopilot? Something Kaden was running to divert their course? Not that it mattered. The lifepod had been launched, all hope of rescue disappearing when Dr. Nevis had abandoned them. That asshole. She clenched her fists. Too bad this little science vessel didn’t come equipped with guns or she’d have sent a homing missile after his sorry ass.

Instead, it was just her and Kaden, waiting for certain death. Stranded in space. Alone.

An odd sense of anxiety swept over her and she suddenly paced down the hall, opening doors. She hadn’t seen him this morning... “Kaden?”

No response. Her heart pounded in her chest, seizing up with anxiety. “Kaden? Kaden!”

Had he abandoned her too? She couldn’t breathe.

A creak down the hall, then a muffled voice. “In the control room,” he called, and she heard the roll of something across the floor. She ran there, flung the door open, just as he was sitting up. A look of alarm crossed his face and he got off the mechanic’s creeper and came to her side. “You’re as white as a sheet. You okay?”

Zoey pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling stupid. “What... what are you doing down here?”

“Trying to fix the communications link,” he said with a grimace. “Figured if we could send a signal to dick over Nevis, that’d be the most fun we could have this week. Well, one of the most fun things,” he amended with a slow grin. When she didn’t smile, he studied her, grasping her shoulders. “You okay?”

She gave a shaky nod.

“What is it?”

She shook her head, not wanting to vocalize it. “I just thought...”

When her words trailed off and her gaze shunted away, he tilted his head, trying to keep eye contact. “You thought when you woke up and didn’t see me that I’d abandoned you too?”

“Silly, huh?” Her voice wavered.

Kaden’s expression was immediately contrite. He tugged her forward, enfolding her in his arms. She let him pull her in close, and nearly sighed with relief when he rested his chin atop her head. “Not silly at all,” he said softly. “Given our shitty week, you’re handling it really well. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it’d freak you out.”

“It’s okay,” she said, hooking her hands in his utility belt, since they just slid uselessly down the slick fabric of his uniform. “I’m just really glad to see you.”

He patted her back, and then to her surprise, his hand slid down to her backside and squeezed.

She yelped in surprise and backed away.

Kaden gave her a boyish grin when she scowled in his direction. “Bet you’re not thinking of that asshole now.”

She wasn’t. Kaden was infuriating... and charming, she decided grudgingly when he winked at her.

He sat back down on the rolling bench and gestured at the panel. Several wires hung out of the underside. “I’m going to be here a bit longer. You want to stick around?”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head to emphasize it. She’d just feel stupid, hovering and fluttering in the room like some damsel in distress, just because she’d had a moment of panic. “I think I’ll go shower.”

His eyes flashed with pleasure and he lay back down on the bench, but not before adjusting his erection rather obviously. “Wish I could join you. Next time, tell me before I start a project.”

“Who says you were invited?” she asked in a silky, teasing voice.

“Maybe I invited myself,” he replied. “Of course, this comm unit kind of disinvited me,” he said, sliding the bench back under the mess of wires. “Just don’t take all the hot water,” he joked.

She rolled her eyes and sauntered out of the room. Like the shower was even hot water. It was an old earth expression, she thought with amusement as she entered the small bathroom facility, pulling her toiletries from her locker and heading to the shower. The showers on board the small science vessel were nothing more than spray showers. When she stood under the pipes and pushed a button, she’d be quickly sprayed with a blast of dry soap, followed by a heated blast of air that would scrape it off her body. Quick and painless, and all she’d have to do is shake the excess powder from her hair before going on with her day. The only tub in this place was in the athletic room, and it was used for immersion and muscle soaks. You had to have a special dispensation from a medic to waste that much water on board such a tiny ship...

She paused, thinking, then headed for the gym.

It took several minutes for the tub to fill, and each minute, the computer continually chirped a warning. As a reminder, if she did not have authorization to utilize the bathing facilities or a note from her doctor, this would be marked on her record as a wasteful proclivity. Was she sure she wished to continue?

Zoey was sure. She didn’t care how wasteful her record was. Let it show that she used all of the ship’s potable water. It wouldn’t matter in a few days. She wanted a hot bath, damn it, not just blasted clean with powder.

When the tub filled with several inches of steaming water, she stripped and sat on the edge of the tub, sinking her feet into the water. A full-on water bath was a luxury, and though the tub was small, she planned on taking advantage of it. She slid into the tub and moaned at the sensation of the hot water licking against her skin. Oh, that was decadent. Absolutely sinful. She luxuriated in the tub for a long time, and when the water began to grow cold, she had the computer turn on the heaters and warm the water all over again, just so she could stay in a bit longer. When her fingers were wrinkled, she reluctantly stepped out of the water and tugged on her robe. “Computer, recycle the water,” she instructed. “I’m taking another bath tomorrow.”

“As a reminder,” the computer gently said, “Your use of an increased amount of potable water diminishes the water supply available on
Alcestis
to 198 days—”

She left the room.

Padding down the hall, she ran a hand through her wet hair, letting it slap against her shoulders. Her stomach growled. She’d eat after she got dressed. Then she paused, thinking.

Why
should
she have to get dressed? Who was here but Kaden? With a naughty smile, she turned and headed for the mess hall, whistling, her robe loose, the belt swinging from her waist.

She ordered the food processor to make her a cherry strudel, a muffin, and two orders of bacon. She also ordered an enormous coffee, loaded with sugar and cream. Who cared about the calories? Not her. As she ate, she licked her fingers and flipped through a magazine that had been left in the mess hall. A popular entertainment magazine, dated two months past. She knew it must have been either Kaden’s or Garcia’s, since Dr. Nevis would have been horrified at the thought of reading anything that didn’t serve a higher purpose. He definitely hadn’t made the last two months fun. She almost burned with regret that she’d wasted two months of her life here in this ship, working round the clock to prepare for the dig. Not that there’d be a dig now. All those hours practicing in Zero-G, building up her muscles and fine-tuning her movements to be able to expertly use her heavy-motor-skills equipment in deep space, wasted.

A quick knock came at the door. Kaden entered, smiling at the sight of her in her robe, her feet propped up on the counter, his magazine in her lap. “Hello, pretty.”

She felt her cheeks heat at his greeting. “Kaden.”

“So formal,” he grinned, undeterred. “It sounded less stiff when you were screaming it last night—”

“Thank you,” she said primly, interrupting him. She swung her feet back down to the floor, trying to ignore the hot blush on her face. “Are you trying to embarrass me?”

“Absolutely not,” he said, coming in and thumping down on the other side of the table. He rubbed his head, and she noticed his hair was clinging to his scalp with sweat. “Just wanted to remind you we’ve moved past being strangers, is all. Thought we were closer than that.”

She set down her coffee mug and gave him a faint smile. Why was she being so awkward about this? “We are.”

He winked at her and grabbed her coffee cup, swigging the remains, then grimaced at the taste. “Did you leave any sweetener in the processor?”

She shrugged. “Won’t do anyone any good in six days.”

He grinned. “Might as well enjoy ourselves while we can. Live like hedonists until the last moment.”

It should have been a grim statement, but the way he was looking at her made her pulse flutter, hard. As if it were an invitation to sin... with him.

She reached over and brushed a damp lock of hair off his forehead. Zoey noticed him watching her with intense, hot eyes.

“So how are the repairs coming?” she asked to distract him.

“Slow,” he said, and she half expected him to grab her hand, but he didn’t touch her. That was disappointing. “Lots of cables to rejigger, and it’s pretty time consuming when I have to wait for the computer to run a diagnostic on each one. I can’t repair them and read the schematic at the same time, so it’s slow going.”

She nodded. “I should probably prepare our records just in case, ready the upload.”

He leaned in. “Why don’t you come with me? You can read the schematics while I work. Keep me company.”

Zoey’s face flushed. How stupid of her. Of course she could help him. They both needed the comm unit back up, and here she was, off bathing and frolicking and eating breakfast while he worked. It was odd to think of her helping out with the ship. She wasn’t a mech. That wasn’t what science officers did when repairs were to be done—they laid around and waited. But it didn’t seem right, when it was just her and him. So she nodded. “I’d love to help.” At his beaming grin, she added, “But I need to get dressed first.”

“You don’t
need
to get dressed.”

She rolled up the magazine and thwacked him with it, lightly, playfully. “Yes, I do.”

“I don’t know, nude repairs definitely fall into the hedonism category,” he said, eyeing her as she stood and belted her robe tighter.

“Until you need a pocket,” she told him.

His laughter rang through the small ship, following her even as she went back to her quarters, smiling.

#

It took several hours of schematic-reading and wire-maneuvering until everything was back in place. There had been one wire so badly stripped that even Kaden’s talented hands had been unable to salvage it, so they’d repaired it as best they could. Despite the delicacy of the work, they’d chatted and the time had passed companionably. She’d enjoyed helping him, and he hadn’t been short or frustrated with her when she took a little longer to read a blueprint.