by Megan Hart
Linna looked at him with an inscrutable expression. "You're tired, too. It's big enough for both of us."
"Not when--" You're naked, he was about to say, but changed his answer.
"One of us has to keep watch."
Her brow furrowed and she looked around the small room. The quirk of her brow told him she wasn't fooled. "From what?"
"Oldcity is dangerous."
"We don't have anything to steal, Del. And between the two of us, I'm pretty sure we can take anyone who tries."
He couldn't deny she was right, but he still tried. "You sleep on the bed. I'll take the floor."
Linna wrinkled her nose. "On that floor? I don't think so. That's an infection waiting to happen."
Del looked at the sagging, lumpy bed and imagined the torture of lying next to her again. "I'll be okay."
She gave a loud, put-upon sigh. "Why do men always have to be so stubborn?"
He didn't like being lumped in with all the men she'd ever known. "Do you really want me to sleep next to you?"
Linna put her hands on her hips and met his eyes squarely. "I understand your reluctance. But this bed is the only one we have. It's only for a few hours. And, sad to say, it might be the most comfortable bed we have for who knows how long."
"Knowing what spacer berths are like, you're probably right."
She nodded. "You need a good sleep as much as I do. Maybe more. You need to get off that ankle for a while. And besides, Del, it was your protein bars that got us this room. You're the one who found us a way off this planet. If anyone deserves the bed, it's you."
He looked at the floor, which was pretty disgusting. "But you're not offering to sleep on the floor."
She grinned. "Hell, no."
He gnawed his lip for a moment, trying to think of a way to accept without sounding too eager. She didn't give him the chance. She just took his hand and shook it up and down a few times before letting it drop.
"We're both adults, Del. And...I know there could be awkwardness about this. So, I promise I won't touch you."
"Bed that small, you won't be able to keep a promise like that."
She looked over her shoulder at it. "I won't touch you with intent then. Is that better?"
It was a damn long way from better, but he nodded anyway. His palm tingled from her touch. He looked at the bed, then back at her, clad only in the skimpy towel.
"I guess I'll promise the same thing."
Her gaze flickered for a moment and her smile thinned before brightening again. "Then we have a deal."
"Yeah. Which side do you want?"
"I'll take the right. Let me just rinse out this thing," she indicated her soiled jumpsuit. "and hang it up to dry. Want me to take care of that stuff?"
He looked down at his own grubby shirt and pants. She wouldn't want to lie next to a man who smelled of sweat and grime. "I'll take care of it. I want to wash up anyway."
When she had finished in the bathroom, Del went in. He ran the water in the tub, glad it was hot, but thinking he'd be better off with cold. He got in, scrubbed his important parts and sat back. His legs were cramped, pushed up toward his chest, but the warm water felt so good he didn't want to get out.
And hell, who was he kidding? He was avoiding going back into the room with Linna. The deal they made...he shook his head. He must be out of his mind to agree to it.
There was only one way he'd be able to make it bearable and even that wasn't guaranteed. It was worth a shot if it kept him calm enough to keep control.
His cock was already half-erect from just being around her, but now it lengthened in his palm. He stroked it lightly, aware of his lack of real privacy. The artiwater, hot but not wet, splashed as he moved, and he slowed his movements.
Torture, but a sweet one. He thought of her nipples between his lips as he pumped his dick slowly, imagining Linna's hand, her mouth, her pussy, in place of his palm.
He bit back his guttural moan. Desire coiled in his belly and tightened his balls. He was going to come quickly. He only hoped it would be enough to slake the constant surges of lust he felt around her.
His climax exploded out of him and he rode it, eyes closed, Linna's face the only thing he could see.
The towel was useless and her jumpsuit wasn't dry, so Linna slid beneath the worn sheets naked. Not a good way to start their deal, but there was no hope for it. Besides, Del had already seen her without her clothes on, and she'd be an idiot to think that a thin layer of material would actually matter. No, when it came right down to it, only their minds could control this attraction that insisted on flaring up between them.
Linna had a lot of will power. Marriage to Daniel had meant there were many times she'd had to bite her tongue to keep the peace. Her life after becoming mecho had been a study in determination, first with the work needed to get used to her new body, and after, the patience needed to support herself with her new career.
Linna had will power and determination in abundance, but she wasn't stupid enough to think she'd be able to keep her part of the deal without a little preparation. Being close enough to smell him would drive her mad with wanting, unless she took the edge off first.
Her pussy was already moist with desire from his presence, her clit a hard nodule she found easily with the tip of one forefinger. She rolled her finger lightly on the stiffened flesh, then dipped between her folds to pull up some slickness to hasten her arousal. She was close already just from the thought of Del's mouth on her and the way he'd rocked her against his belt buckle in the dark, abandoned building. She had to smile at the realization she was going to come again, after so many months of frenzied copulation with no orgasms at all.
How things changed. Linna lifted her hips slightly, mindful that at any moment Del could come out of the bathroom and find her diddling her twat like a horny schoolgirl. The thought made her finger move faster, harder, not necessarily because she was really afraid of him catching her, but because the thought of him watching her stroke herself to climax was incredibly arousing.
Linna bit her lip to keep from groaning aloud. Her finger moved faster between her legs, while her other hand crept up to play with her nipples. They were hard, too, as hard as her clit. She remembered Del's mouth on them and her clit leaped beneath her hand.
Her pussy ached to be filled, and though they were a poor substitute for Del's prick, she slid two fingers deep inside herself. She clenched her inner muscles, imagining doing the same to Del's erection. Her clit buzzed and throbbed.
Her pleasure grew and grew and she gasped, trying her best to be quiet, but not quite able to keep the final groan from stuttering out of her throat when she came.
Heart pounding, she took a deep breath. Her clit pulsed in jerky spasms against her palm, and she held herself like that for a minute, wishing it could be Del's hand and angry with herself because she did.
Then the anger faded and passed as useless. There was no sense in beating herself up over things that couldn't change. She'd accepted a long time ago that she was going to live her life alone. That shouldn't have changed.
Unfortunately, it had.
The hostel owner's "boy" turned out to be an ancient, rusting servbot. The top half of its body was vaguely humanoid with a torso and three segmented arms, while the lower half was made up of two pieces of metal tread flexible enough to handle the rough Oldcity terrain. The bot clicked and whirred at them, its single ocular port glowing blue.
Linna laughed and bent to touch the bot's pocked metal head. "How cute."
The bot beeped at her. The hostel owner grinned. "He likes you. That's good. He won't take you to the wrong place."
Del lifted one brow and glared at the hostel owner. "Don't even think about sending us off on some wild chase, man. I'll come back here and--"
The hostel owner raised his hands and backed away. "No, no. My boy will take you where you need to go. The hangar. Ask for Captain Lunavoss. Tell the captain that Mickgilroy sent you. You'll get a berth."
Linna stood and
looked from Del to the hostel owner. "And what do we have to pay for it?"
Mickgilroy shrugged. "That be up to the captain to decide, right? Not me. I just run a hostel. I don't got nothing to do with the spacers and their ships."
Del touched her arm and showed her the bot, which had already started off across the buckled pavement. "We'll worry about paying when we get there."
She laughed. "Do we have another choice?"
Millions of stars sprinkled the sky again, though the moon had yet to rise. Del craned his head to look up at the blackness for a moment before focusing his attention back on the treacherous road. Light from several fires along the street gave them flickering but ample light to see, but it also created shadows that made missing the many pits and holes easy. His ankle still twinged with every step, though his body healed fast and the pain was much less than it had been earlier.
"How's the ankle?" Linna asked, making him marvel again at how in tune with his thoughts she seemed to be. She took his arm as they crossed a pretty bad patch. "Need a hand?"
He didn't, not really, but having her hold his arm felt so good he didn't want to tell her no. "How does that thing manage on this stuff?"
Linna looked up to where the bot was waiting, impatiently beeping. "Those treads are metal. None of this can hurt him. I guess the worst that could happen is that he'd fall over and not be able to get back up, but I'm guessing he's got some sort of servo arm or something that would help him get up."
"Amazing tech," Del said. The bot ahead of them navigated a piece of pavement that had twisted and buckled into a small hill, overgrown with scorched and twisted plants that didn't look healthy even in the dim firelight.
"You don't have anything like this on your home world?"
"Nah. Xanderra is a jungle planet. There's metal, but it's mostly soft. Gold, silver. Pretty to look at, but not very useful. Anything other than that is imported. Very expensive and very small quantities."
Together they wove their way around a hole big enough to break a man's leg. A child ran toward them from one of the fire rings. Del couldn't tell if the kid was a boy or a girl, and the ragged clothes and long, unkempt hair didn't give a clue.
"Mister, Missus, you want candy? You want some?"
The kid's face was a mass of lumps and bumps. Sun damage. Despite the scars and scabs, the kid's smile was bright and cheerful. It held out a handful of small, wrapped squares.
Linna looked at Del. He could see the shock and concern in her eyes. Nobody in Newcity looked like that kid, but that was because the Dome protected them from the sun's punishing rays. What the Dome didn't take care of, science and cosmetic surgery did.
Linna paused and knelt to reach the kid's eye level. "Hi. What's your name?"
"Doola." The kid smiled again, eyes shining. "You're pretty."
Linna gave a short, self-conscious laugh. "Thanks. What kind of candy do you have?"
"Artilemon. Me mama makes it herself," the kid said proudly. "I help her."
"I don't have any money," Linna said with another look at Del. She patted her wrinkled jumpsuit pockets, then pulled something out. A square of fabric, artisilk by the look of it. "I have this, though."
The kid's eyes lit up like stars. "Wow! Oh, so pretty!"
It must be a girl, Del thought as he watched Linna tie the piece of fabric over the kid's hair. Linna smoothed the kid's hair away from her forehead and tucked the stray ends beneath the scarf.
"It looks very nice on you," she said. "Very pretty."
The kid danced with excitement. "Oh, thank you, missus!"
She tried to hand Linna the candy, but Linna shook her head. "You keep that, honey. I...I don't like candy."
The kid's face fell and she reached up to tug off the scarf. Linna stopped her with a gentle hand. "You keep that scarf, too. It looks prettier on you."
She's right, Del thought as he watched the kid crow with delight and touch the soft artisilk. Her face might be scarred and damaged, but the light in her eyes and smile were from pure, unabashed joy. Linna made a surprised noise as the kid launched herself into Linna's arms in an impulsive hug.
"Thank you, missus! Thank you!"
The kid ran off toward the fire ring, calling out, "Look what I got! Look!"
"Now we're going to be surrounded by kids wanting stuff," Del said as Linna straightened.
Her eyes glistened with tears. "Oh, Del, how do they live this way? I never saw anything like it."
He put his arm around her and drew her close while she sighed. "Newcity isn't the rest of the world, Linna. There're worse places and better places. This happens to be one of the worse ones."
She pulled away and swiped at her face. "I know that. But...so close! Why does Newcity have all the privileges? Surely they could send help out here. Do something. That girl's face--"
Del stroked her shoulder. "There's not enough room in Newcity for everyone. Not enough resources. And you know, the people out here don't have it so bad. They get married, they have kids, and they live their lives. They love each other."
The word love hung between them for a minute before she spoke. "You're right. But it's still hard to believe once this was all one big city, everyone together. It's hard to think I was a Newcitizen just because I was lucky enough to have ancestors who, a hundred years ago, happened to live in the section of the city that got put under the Dome."
"Hey, everything is about luck, pretty lady." Del grinned.
Linna smiled back and looked over to where the kid was still showing off her scarf to the group of people gathered around the fire ring. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
The bot ahead of them whistled impatiently, trying to get their attention. Del lifted his chin toward it. "We'd better get going or it'll leave us behind."
They ran few steps to catch up with the bot, which took them down a dark side street. It whistled and burbled at them, chattering in its own language neither of them could understand. A spotlight extended from the front of the bot and lit their path, but Del still kept his eyes searching the alley's sides. He didn't like this route.
"You got so tense," Linna whispered, her hand on his forearm. "What's wrong?"
"I'm thinking we might get jumped," Del replied, not wanting to scare her, but wanting to prepare her. "This is Oldcity, remember?"
Linna cleared her throat, head swiveling to look around them. "We don't have anything to steal."
"They don't know that," Del said with a quick glance down at her. "And besides, they'd probably be happy to take the jumpsuit. My clothes, too. And what they might want with you, I don't want to even think about."
He felt her tense beside him. "Let 'em try. I'll kick their asses from here to New Bermuda."
She sounded so serious he had to shake his head. "You are one no-nonsense woman."
Linna stepped over another piece of buckled pavement that could have tripped her up. "I won't let anyone put their hands on me to hurt me, ever again, Del. If anyone tries, they'd better kill me first because, if they don't, I double-damn guarantee I'll rip them apart."
He didn't doubt she could do it, too. Her fingers as she spoke had clenched down harder and tighter on his forearm. "Darlin', you're hurting me."
She loosened her grip and sounded chagrined. "Sorry!"
He chuckled, still not letting up on his constant surveillance of the scene. "That's all right. I can handle it."
She smoothed the place she'd just pinched. "I get a little agitated when I think about someone trying to hurt me."
"I don't blame you." Her husband had beat her up unmercifully and pushed her down the stairs after all. Hell, he'd murdered her. Del would be pretty pissed about that, too, if it had been him. "Just keep an eye out. No telling how much farther it is until we get to the hangar."
"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," Linna murmured as she moved closer to him.
He didn't understand the reference. "What?"
She laughed. "It's from an old viddy I saw once. It's about this girl, D
orothy, and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman. They're on a quest and they're in the woods, and they're afraid--" Before she could finish, the bot's spotlight highlighted a trio of dark figures that slipped out of the shadows in front of them. They circled the bot and came between it and Linna and Del. Clothed entirely in black, with black hoods over their faces, the trio looked like shadows come to life.
Del, his senses already heightened in anticipation, stopped dead. Linna froze beside him. She moved into a ready stance, close to him but no longer touching. He could sense her tension like a humming from her muscles, and recognized the same in his own body.
Ready for a fight.
It had been a long time since he'd faced an opponent. Living in Newcity he'd kept his head down, figuratively, not wanting to risk the status of his Offworld visa by getting into a fight with anyone. He'd spent some time at the workout clubs, sparring with human and hologram partners, but those fights were more like a series of choreographed moves, practice in a style of fighting, rather than the all-out, balls-up battling he'd grown up with on Xanderra.
He didn't get the feeling these guys were interested in practicing their Quon Dai or their Krav Maga fighting. Knives glittered in all their hands. That would make things interesting. Not impossible. He'd fought bare handed against weapons plenty of times. His injured ankle and the woman at his side would make the fight challenging. Del loved a challenge.
"We don't have anything you want," he told the trio. Even on Xanderra, it was thought best to disarm your assailant with words before fists.
"Yeh, yew do," spoke the tallest figure. "Dat lady."
"Fuck you," Linna said, loud and clear.
"Exactly," said the next figure, and the trio laughed.
Fury ignited in Del and coursed through his veins. He rolled his neck on his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. Ready. More than ready. Eager.
"Find someone else to bother." His mild tone of voice was completely at odds with the revved up way his heart had begun to pound. He grinned. From the corner of his eye, he saw Linna raise her fists.
"You know what you're doing?" he asked her from the corner of his mouth.
