The Tracker's Dilemma: (A Mandrake Company Science Fiction Romance) (29 page)

She grinned, sucking his earlobe again before saying, “The exam table. There’s a blanket in that cabinet.”

He’d left her and retrieved it before she finished pointing. He swooped her up off the deck, and she gripped his shoulders, feeling the need to hang on. They arranged themselves on the padded table, and she avoided thinking about various exams she had done there. His cabin might have been a better place for this, but now that they had started, she doubted he would want to wait long enough for a journey up the ladder and to the deck above.

He settled on his side, his leg possessively over hers as he laid her back and pulled the blanket over them. His hands roamed over her naked flesh as he gazed into her eyes. He looked like he wanted to kiss her, but he remembered her wishes and nuzzled her instead as his hand cupped her breast, arousing heat within her again. She was already wet, as she’d told him, but he did not push himself atop her right away. Instead, he kissed her breasts as one hand drifted lower, brushing her curls, teasing her with the promise of pleasure.

Her hands tightened on his shoulders again. She forgot her earlier thoughts about doing more for him and ended up simply hanging on as he licked and stroked, arousing fire everywhere he touched. Soon her body throbbed, aching for him.

“Heath,” she whispered. “I want you.”

“Me too.” His brow creased faintly as he seemed to consider if that was the right response, but he shook the thought away and eased atop her. She ran her hands down his back, finding what was becoming her favorite spot, cupping his taut cheeks.

He slid his finger between her lower lips, making her gasp and arch toward him. She almost reiterated that she was ready, that he could start anytime, but he was determined to make sure she was nearly trembling before he entered her. She spread herself, silently begging him to plunge into her, to satisfy the almost painful ache, the hungry throbbing between her legs.

Finally, the tip of his penis touched her. He watched her face as he nudged her open. Afraid she wasn’t ready? Hardly. She tightened her grip on his butt, pulling him close, groaning as his thick shaft rubbed into her.

His hesitancy faded, and he sank fully into her, letting out a groan of pure pleasure, pure satisfaction. And then he was thrusting in and out, his body taut and hard above her. The sensations of him shifting and rubbing her from within sent pulses of exquisite energy through her, and she rose to meet him, her body responding of its own accord, knowing what it was doing far more than her mind did. They found their rhythm, breaths growing fast as their pace quickened, their need built. She came first, rocked by a wave of pleasure just as intense as what he had given her earlier. A few more thrusts, and he roared her name with utter satisfaction. All of the tension evaporated from his muscles, and he came down on his elbows on either side of her, their slick bodies touching. She wrapped a leg around the back of his, deciding she liked the feel of him there, then linked her arms around his back too and pressed her lips to his neck.

“You’ve got the finest orifice this side of the Tolaris Rings,” he whispered, kissing the side of her face.

“I’m glad you think so.” She smirked. “Is that what they mean when they refer to sexy talk?”

“Not exactly, but we might want to wait until later to branch out into that.” He pushed himself higher on his elbows so he could look down into her eyes. “If you’re interested in a later. I know you don’t care for sex.” He quirked his eyebrows, probably hoping she would rescind the statement.

She still couldn’t imagine having sex with just anybody, but… “It was not unpleasant. I am a little concerned about how long it will take me to clean my lab.”

“It doesn’t look that dirty. I’ve done much worse all by myself.”

“
Heath.
Who knows what manner of unauthorized bacteria we’ve introduced to the surfaces in here?” She shuddered, still remembering the towel he had left in her lab on the shuttle. Towels were easy enough to clean, though, especially if they were kept in their assigned area. So many of her instruments were on that counter. Everything would need to be sterilized.

“I’ll help you clean, if you like,” he offered.

“Will you?” She lifted a hand and stroked the side of his face. “You’re a nice man.”

He smiled at her touch. “Does that mean you’re willing to do not unpleasant things with me again?”

She slid her heel along the back of his leg. “It’s definitely a possibility.”

“Excellent.”

Epilogue

“So the good bit is that Hoss’s protégé lit the forest on fire with his eyeglasses?” Lauren asked, her brow furrowing.

“Yes.” Tick sat in a swinging bench with her in the grow room in the center of the ship, the scents of flowers and ripening fruit teasing the air. He had one arm around her shoulder as she snuggled into his chest, and the other held his tablet, which was open to the book he had finally had a chance to finish reading.

“That’s more appalling than good, don’t you think?”

“What? It’s hilarious. The kid wanted to show off that he knew plenty about survival, and he started a forest fire instead.”

“It wasn’t hilarious when I accidentally set that fire in my university lab. Chemical sprinklers went off over the whole class, and six fire-suppression robots streamed in. One knocked over our geriatric professor in its hurry to put out the flames.”

“Oh?” Tick wiggled his eyebrows at her. “You’re sure that wasn’t hilarious?”

“It was embarrassing, and I lost lab access for two weeks.”

“Well… if you don’t want me to share any more good bits, I suppose I can keep them to myself.” He lifted his hand to turn off the display, but she stopped him, resting her fingers on his forearm.

“You can keep sharing them. I don’t mind.”

“No? Good.” He kissed her on the temple.

“As long as you don’t mind me mocking them.”

“I don’t mock
your
good bits.” He waved to the tablet open in her lap as he gave a little kick to start the swing swaying again. Earlier, she’d read a passage to him from a research paper. “Of course, that may be because I don’t understand them well enough to mock them.”

She swatted him in the chest with the back of her hand, the playful gesture making his heart sing. Back when she had been calling him A27, he never would have believed they would end up as friends and lovers. He’d
hoped
it would happen, but belief had definitely been lacking.

“You usually get the gist,” Lauren said. “When you’re paying attention instead of looking at my breasts.”

“It’s true that I am easily distracted by having you close.” He grinned and leered at her breasts, pleased that she didn’t seem to mind. She even grinned back, her eyes twinkling. “I did get a non-fiction book so I can maybe learn a few things about your work and have a better chance of understanding.” He pulled it up on his tablet.

“
Microbiology for Dunderheads
?” she read.

“Yup, not only does it explain things in simple terms, but there are animated cartoon videos that pop up and tell you how to pronounce things, so you don’t look like an idiot when you try to talk about them. I’m learning about prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells now.”

Her earlier grin turned into a smile of… was that appreciation? She lifted her fingers to his jaw, tracing its line and making him swallow as his mind drifted to matters far more interesting than prokaryotes.

“I got you a book too,” he said after clearing his throat. “Just in case you want to learn about
my
field of study.”

“Tracking?”

“Yup.” He pressed a holo button and flicked the file to her tablet. “You might like it. There are similarities between our two fields.”

“Oh?”

“Look at chapter two.”

She gave him a suspicious squint, but opened the file. “
Tracking for Dunderheads
. Chapter two: Identifying Animal Scat and What It Can Tell Us.”

“We both study poop.” Tick grinned. He had been tickled when he realized they had this unlikely commonality.

An indignant expression crossed her face, and she looked like she would object, but instead she snorted softly and leaned back into him. “Yes, we do.”

Voices came from the doorway, and Tick grumbled to himself. Even though crew members visited the grow room regularly, either to snatch fresh fruits and vegetables or to enjoy the peacefulness of the foliage, he had hoped that he and Lauren would have the spot to themselves this evening for their first date. They’d had sex three wonderful times since the night in her lab, and perhaps in a backward order, they were now enjoying snuggling and reading in the aftermath of a tasty noodle dinner prepared by the ship’s cook.

“...saw them come in here,” a familiar voice said. Ankari.

“Maybe they wanted privacy,” Jamie replied.

“Oh, I think that’s a given. Did you see the way they rushed out of the mess hall together? And the way
Lauren
was the one holding
Tick’s
ass?”

“Heath’s ass,” Jamie said.

“What?”

“She calls him Heath.”

“I would too.”

“Your business partners are looking for you,” Tick murmured, hoping the women wouldn’t make it to this back corner. Numerous potted trees and racks of grow boxes sheltered them from casual observation.

“They’re
stalking
me,” Lauren replied quietly. Maybe she also hoped they would go away without finding what they sought. “They’re inordinately fascinated by the fact that I’m having a sexual relationship with you.”

“Do they not know that we both study poop, so it was inevitable that we would end up together?”

She swatted him on the chest again as Ankari and Jamie found the path that led back to the swing.

“We’re going to pretend we didn’t hear that question,” Ankari said, taking the lead. She carried a plate in her hands. “Because it would demand an explanation, and I fear it would be a weird explanation.”

“What?” Tick asked. “You and the captain never discuss fecal matter?”

“Rarely. And never while snuggling.” Ankari waved toward their position on the swing, Tick with his arm still around Lauren’s shoulders and her leaning against him. He refused to contemplate moving, and it pleased him that Lauren didn’t seem interested in pulling away because of witnesses.

“That’s odd,” Tick said. “Don’t you find that odd, Lauren?”

“Extremely so.”

Jamie wasn’t saying much, just grinning as she looked at the two of them. Tick supposed it was better that Lauren’s friends approved of this relationship rather than being against it. He could handle some good-natured female snooping—or stalking.

Ankari lifted the plate she’d brought. “Since you two rushed out so quickly, you missed dessert. Double-chocolate-chunk bars. They’re very tasty and full of sugar. We thought you might need some extra calories tonight.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” Tick murmured.

“When Heath and I have vigorous and extended coitus where he stimulates me in such a manner that I have multiple orgasms over many hours, it’s usually electrolytes that I crave more than carbohydrates,” Lauren announced. “Do you not find this to be the case with your sexual partners?”

She sounded so clinical—so analytical—that Tick almost laughed. Ankari’s and Jamie’s eyebrows shot up. Whatever they had expected Lauren to say, that apparently wasn’t it.

“Uhm,” Ankari said. “Yes.”

Jamie nodded, then shook her head, then hesitated and nodded again. “Maybe we should go.”

“Leave the chocolate bars,” Tick called after them.

Wordlessly, Ankari set the plate on the rim of a banana tree pot before she and Jamie turned out of sight.

“Did I say something socially inappropriate?” Lauren asked.

“Not at all, but I’m too busy thinking of vigorous and extended coitus to judge.” Tick slid her over into his lap, pleased when she did not object.

• • • • •

Lauren stepped out of the way to let the stream of mercenaries leaving the ship pass. The captain had granted some of them a couple of days of shore leave at Far Edge 6, a station on the outskirts where they were not likely to run into military patrols. If any of the mercenaries were worried about potentially being targets for irritated soldiers, they did not show it as they trotted to the disreputable-looking kiosks, pubs, brothels, and casinos lining the concourse right inside the docks. They laughed and joked, not able to spend their money quickly enough. They were big enough and brawny enough that the sleazy men in trench coats full of odd bulges did not confront them openly, but Lauren saw a few figures pointing at the men and strolling after them to present some scam or another.

“You’re sure you want to leave the ship here?” Lauren asked her sister, who was eyeing the grimy shops and pubs as they walked toward a transportation station. “I suppose it’s a good place to assume a new identity, but I don’t know how you’ll find a suitable lab for research purposes. This entire place looks...” She touched the nearest wall and drew her hand back to check it. A greasy smear darkened her finger pad. “Grimy.”

“It will do for a starting point,” Hailey said. “Besides, your captain didn’t seem interested in having me continue on as a passenger. As soon as he had his money, he promptly asked where he could let me off.”

“I could have had Ankari talk to him.”

“This place will do for now. I assure you I don’t intend to stay. I doubt there are many Grenavinians lurking in the treeless alleys here.”

“You still intend to hunt down Grenavinians?”

“I do. I have more reason to do so than ever now that I have the means to isolate your strain of bacteria.”

Lauren frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“I always knew it would be unlikely that you would share your work with me.” Hailey withdrew an opaque vial from her purse. “I paid one of your subjects a small amount to provide me with a sample.”

“They wouldn’t have a sample of—oh.” As she stared at the vial, Lauren realized her sister meant to do exactly what she and Ankari had done with the fossilized alien feces, albeit with a less fossilized version. She did not know if Hailey had the knowledge to isolate the bacteria, but supposed she could find someone who did. She scowled at the idea of her work being set free into the system as a whole without her permission.