“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Will be.” Her voice was broken and raspy. He helped her to her feet.
Armond secured the outer latch, and they moved into the interior of the ship and headed for the galley. Anger radiated off the man in waves.
“Marty!” Armond’s bellow scared the crap out of her as they entered the kitchen area along with the vidbot.
“Glad to see you made it back in one piece.” Marty sat on the counter, feet dangling and tapping a rapid beat. “What can I help you with?”
“What the hells was that about?” The stools around the island scattered in different directions, slamming against the first thing in their path. “You damn near got us killed, you spineless, fucktard, useless piece of AI garbage.”
A blast of Armond's psi ripped out, and the island did a weird crumpling thing and sagged along the middle, melting into composite metal. Every loose item on the counters rattled.
Anger had turned to pure rage.
“Armond! Stop!” Vin took his rogue energy and deflected it straight down to the planet below.
The silence was deafening as they faced each other.
He stepped closer, studying her. “What did you do?”
“I redirected. Sent everything you had down to the planet. Same thing I did out there.”
“That would explain the crater that formed approximately twenty-five meters into the planet’s surface,” Marty said. “Underwater. The force required for such an impact is most impressive.”
“Twenty-five meters?” Impressive wasn’t the word. This was a man, not a machine.
Armond remained frozen. It occurred to her that the man didn’t know how to feel. He’d shut it down years ago to protect others. Until now.
“No one has been able to contain that burst of energy. Ever.” His voice was low.
Everything snapped into place. “That’s how…those people.”
The damn vidbot was buzzing around.
Armond reached out his hand and the bot froze, captured by his psi. A moment later, sparks shot out of it as it shrank into a crumpled ball.
He nodded.
Vin stepped close to him and placed her palm over his heart. “That’s why you shut everything down. The reason you’re so damn cold.”
He lowered his hand over hers. There was longing in those pale eyes. And skepticism. Wonderment. And, best of all, hope.
“Let me help you, Armond. Let me teach you how to feel.”
His eyes closed.
“You want this, Armond. You deserve this.” She reached up with her free hand and cupped his cheek. “This burst of anger was a gift. You will not hurt me.”
He opened his eyes and tilted his head. There was a softening around the eyes and mouth. He wanted this as much as she did.
“I can redirect it.”
His expression slayed her. His whole life had been lived in fear of hurting others, so he’d withdrawn. So alone.
“Trust me.” She rose on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, his chin, inching closer she finally reached his lips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him tight. “Let me in.”
He did. Opening to her tongue. Afraid. Ravenous.
She felt the power surge coming, but she knew what to do with it. No resistance, a simple redirection down to the planet. After the initial pulse, it tempered off, leaving them blissfully alone. Together.
Kissing Vin was the manifestation of every suppressed desire he’d ever had rolled up with forbidden fantasy. A dream that was real.
Her curves beckoned to be explored without the damn clothes.
He pulled back with a groan. “You’re sure you’ll be all right?”
“I’ll be fine, but I could be better.” She smiled up at him, and his breath caught as she palmed his erection.
Never had he wanted anything this much, never allowed himself to entertain the possibility, but he had to ensure her safety. “You can handle any surges?”
“Like pouring water down a drain. I faltered a few times out there before I realized what was happening.” She nodded toward the airlock. “But I have it now. I can feel when it’s coming. There’s an energy signature.”
He didn’t need any more of an invitation. He’d keep his psi in check, but she was right. He deserved this.
They both did. And he would not overthink it. He placed his hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the bedroom.
“May I be of further assistance?” Marty chimed in. “A replacement vidbot has been dispatched. The media are asking for supplementation from your com units in the meantime. Everyone wants to know what you did to the island.”
“Fuck them,” Armond said.
Vin grinned, and picked up the pace next to him.
He closed the door behind them and checked his com to ensure there were no active sensors. He looked at Vin and held up one finger. “I’ll be right back.”
“Join me in the shower. Need to de-grunge.” Vin pulled her shirt over her head.
Gods, she was spectacular.
He spun and headed for the bridge. Reaching under the console, he got down on his back and popped off the casing to access the cabling and fuses. Marty crouched on the floor next to him. “Is there a problem I am unaware of?”
“I’d say you’re aware of it.” He found the circuits he needed, and pulled the plug on the AI system. “But not any more.” Should have done that a long time ago. He stood and made his way back to Vin.
Vin. He fought his instinct to analyze the situation. He was willing to take this for what it was. Whatever it turned out to be.
In the bedroom, he stripped off his wet clothes, tossing them on a pile with Vin’s. A moment later, he stepped into the shower behind her. This was something he'd never even imagined.
Vin stood with her eyes closed, rinsing her hair. The deep blue of her skin was beautiful. She finished, and smiled coyly over her shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”
“Just savoring the moment. I’ve never showered with a woman.” Never much of anything with a woman. Not since Dareena.
The look on her face showed just how much she’d got of that. “Come here.”
He stepped into the hot steaming water. Vin lathered up a sponge and began to wash him. She caressed, stroked, petted, every inch.
Sensory overdose. He closed his eyes and reveled in more physical contact than he’d ever had. More than he’d ever expected. The impossibility of this reality making the moment dream-like and surreal.
“You are amazing.” Vin’s voice was heavy with lust. She knelt down and finished with his lower legs, his desire bobbing inches from her face. She dropped the sponge and wrapped her hand around his shaft. “Vin…” He slapped his palms against the wall and rode the exquisite sensation of her lips on him. She sucked and licked and scrapped her teeth along the ridge. She found her rhythm and cupped his balls, and he came hard and fast.
She continued sucking, milking him dry. His psi pinged erratically. Almost as if struggling. Everything about this experience both foreign and natural at the same time.
He grabbed her arms and lifted. It was probably best she’d taken the initial edge off.
He turned off the water. “Come. Time to return the favor.”
Thirty seconds later, Vin lay in the center of the bed on her back, one knee in the air and a sexy sweet smile on her face. “Don’t make me wait.”
Thoughts battled for attention, but he refused to think. This moment, this place in time, would not be defiled with guilt or doubt. She wanted this as much as he did, and he knew enough to satisfy.
She unabashedly drank him in from head to toe. The ladies that served him did so with, at most, his pants at his knees. Cold. Sterile. As instructed.
“What’s wrong?” she halted his mental downward spiral.
“Nothing. You’re stunning.” He extended his psi, coating her in his desire.
Her eyes widened, and her skin radiated a bioluminescent glow
.
Armond took his time, then lay next to her. There was never going to be another first. “You’re glowing.”
She rolled to her side, propped on one elbow, and began stroking him everywhere. Light teasing touches. “It’s a physiological reaction of my people when we’re…aroused.”
He leaned over and kissed his way from her jaw to her chest before taking an amble nipple into his mouth. Her moan of pleasure matched his own, and he massaged the other breast. This was a feast of the senses, and they were both devouring the experience.
He rolled on top of her, and switched to the enchantingly pink flesh of her other nipple.
“Don’t stop.” That stereophonic resonance of her voice played his insides.
He kept his psi in check. Locked. The sheer physicality of this time was almost too much. There were things he couldn’t think about. Not now.
She trailed her fingers across his lips, and he felt it in his groin, the touch of another being a nearly foreign experience.
She smiled up at him and moved her body in a way that beckoned. “You know what I need.”
He positioned himself at her entrance. He’d never thought he’d do this again. A wall of emotion and energy hit him and expanded outward, his psi enveloping her along with it.
Vin placed her hands on his face and kept her sexy smile. “See? We got this.”
The destructive surge poured away without a trace. In the next breath, Armond slid home.
Chapter 6
There were orgasms, and then there was this. The heat of Armond’s body was sublime against Vin’s skin as the pleasure rolled around her senses. She’d had her share of good-looking men before, but nothing like Armond Nolde. Not only was he sinfully gorgeous, he was pure muscle. She could spend days running her hands over that ass.
His look was intense as he gazed down at her.
“I’ve never seen you smile.” She wanted to see it.
“I’ve spent my life blocking emotion.”
The tragedy of those words nearly made her weep. “I want to change that.” She traced his lips with a finger. “Life should be lived with a smile on your face.”
Coming off the post-orgasm high, she realized that his psi was absent. Held in check. Which was a pity, considering the effect it had on her.
Staring into those pained blue eyes, she found that she wanted it. His psi, and so much more. But what about him? Could a man so damaged truly give himself to anyone? To her?
Yes. It was a gut-level response, but he was going to have to believe. Which meant she needed to convince him. She reached up and ran her fingers through his thick hair. “Sadly, I think it’s time we find out what’s next. ‘In, out, up, down.’ The cave was probably in. I suppose this last could be either up or down, depending on how you spin it.”
He tilted his hips, burrowing deeper inside her. “It is sad. All right, let’s do it.”
She smiled. “I hope you say that a lot.”
His eyes were smiling as he slid out of her.
After dressing, they returned to the galley. The island was a total loss. “You are extremely powerful,” Vin said. “I’m fairly certain I can help you control your anger. Avoid the outbursts all together.”
“Others have tried. All have failed.”
“Until now. No one knew how to redirect it before me.”
He gazed into her soul, a mixture of hope and disbelief playing across his features. And that play, that visible play of emotion, was something new for him. Joy didn’t begin to describe the thrill rushing through her.
“Armond, you can now experience the joys of our…physicality.” Vin traced his lips with her finger. She liked doing that. Thumbing his lower lip, she waited for the day he’d bite.
“Sex,” Armond said.
“Making love. Anger is a valid component of our lives, our being. You shouldn’t live in fear of that. I can help you control your psychic outbursts.”
“Sounds like I’d have to get angry a lot.”
“We’ll start the groundwork.” She turned back to the galley. “Marty, can we get the island fixed?”
“Marty can’t hear you.”
“What’d you do?”
“I unplugged him.” Armond wore the faintest hint of a smile.
“Ha. And there it is. Our anger management object. Better fire him up.”
“Let’s open the box first. He’ll already know what’s in it by the time he’s back online.”
She scanned the counter. “Going to have to find it.” They eventually located the box, wedged between the oven and a storage unit on the floor.
It had a crack that crossed the top, and one corner was smashed.
“Pity. It’s still pretty, though. Let’s hope the parchment isn’t damaged.”
Flipping the release, she opened the lid. Inside lay another stone. A radiant red gem.
“Beautiful,” Vin said.
“We should turn it into a necklace for you.”
It would make a lovely piece. She removed the scroll and smoothed it out on the counter. “Looks like we’re headed for a planet called Setara Blue.” She let go and it rolled back into a tube. Removing her com, she projected a star map and did a search. “That figures. It’s in outlander territory.”
“Outlanders?” Armond asked.
She sensed his confusion. “Yeah, they’re lawless. Generally troublemakers. Not good. Why?”
“And they have a presence here?” He ignored her question.
“They patrol and protect the sector just outside the boundaries of the Central Alliance. Why? Have you heard of them?”
“Seems unlikely they’d be here and in my own galaxy. Any identifying characteristics?”
“A tattoo. It’s the constellation of their territory.” She felt his familiarity with them. “How is that possible?”
“I have no idea, but I suspect we’re going to find out. I’ll get Marty back online and we’ll head out.”
Armond lay on the floor and reconnected Marty’s power before taking his seat.
Vin slipped in next to him at the navigation console.
“What’s our status, Marty?” Armond pulled up the ships sensor display.
Silence.
“Marty, are you there?” Vin asked.
A prolonged burst of static blasted through the speakers with enough volume to vibrate the seat.
“Ow, stop that!” Vin slapped her hands over her ears until it stopped. “Don’t ever do that again.”
The silence was deafening.
“Come on, Marty,” Vin coaxed. “Armond didn’t mean anything by disconnecting you.”
“It was rude,” the AI finally replied.
“I was angry because you were being a…dick,” Armond said.
Vin sensed that the vocabulary was outside of his norm. What must it be like to allow emotional expression for the first time in decades? “You did nearly get us killed,” she chided.
“Nearly being the operative word.” Marty snapped. He materialized with arms crossed, and pouted like a child.
“Truce, boys. We have a mission to finish.” Vin pulled up the nav display. “We’ll be there in about seven hours. Marty, please alert us to any nearby ships.”
“Perhaps.”
“I suggest we eat and get some sleep,” Vin said. “It’s been a long day.” Not that “day” meant anything in space. One world’s cycle around the local star was meaningless.
And sleep meant bed. She glanced at Armond, who was already looking at her lips.
She wanted to kiss him. Now.
“Biometric readings on both of you are elevated. It suggests arousal. Am I to understand you have consummated your relationship? Is that why you disengaged me? Our sponsors would be very interested in that development.”
“That’s none of your business,” Armond said.
“Of course it’s my business. If you will refer to the contract, section two, paragraph—”
“You want me to disengage you again?” His ang
er pinged, and Vin’s soothed him with a calming effect. His psi was still absent. “Come on. Let’s eat.”
Armond followed her into the galley. “We can’t ensure our privacy unless we disconnect Marty.”
A buzz crackled from the speakers.
“It’s the way the game is played, Armond.” Vin placed various ingredients on the counter, missing the workspace the island had provided.
“Can I help?” Armond leaned against the replicator, arms crossed.
“No. Just the company is good.”
“Cooking relaxes you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” As did his presence, but without the connection they shared via his psi, it was an oddly empty experience. “You said you didn’t know your parents. How is that?”
“I was placed in an orphanage on Sandaria shortly after my birth. I don’t know anything about my origins.”
“Any interest in trying to find out?”
Armond picked up a succulent dark purple pixberry and bit into it. “When I was young, I felt betrayed. I didn’t want to know parents that hadn’t wanted me. I simply didn’t think about it.”
“Foster parents?”
“I wasn’t an open or loving child. The orphanage suited me.”
“But you weren’t completely detached. That girl…”
Armond’s shoulders lowered a fraction. “Her name was Dareena. She was my first. And aside from oral satisfaction from professionals, my last since you.”
“You’ve only—”
“Had intercourse twice? Yes.”
All the thoughts in her mind piled up in a tangled, derailed, mess.
“I was seventeen at the time. I’d begun having power surges a few months earlier, but didn’t know what they were. The anomaly of her death and its circumstances brought me to the attention of the Portal Masters. Celibacy is a requirement of the order, which suited me fine after what had happened.
“The guild recognized my power and took me in. Trained me. It was during my initiation that I killed the three Portal Masters. Having seen it first hand, they understood the nature of the force. I was never again allowed into the inner sanctum and would never be a portal master, but they were good to me. They taught me how to contain my psi by living a life without emotion. They provided an education and military training.
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