by Jill Myles
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.
She liked that about him—that he was just happy to have her there at his side. He remained cheerful throughout the work, unlike Dr. Nevis, who would grow increasingly sour the longer he worked with her, as if her presence bothered him.
Now they were just waiting to find out if the replacement would be enough. Kaden had set up a diagnostic to cross-check all possible scenarios and was letting the computer run it.
There was nothing to do but wait. Kaden mopped his sweating brow. It had been cramped, the air stagnant, under that massive circuit board, and Kaden’s shirt was soaked with sweat.
Not that Zoey minded looking at him all sweaty. It just made her think of... other things.
“I should clean off,” he said, raising his shirt and wiping his brow. It exposed his hard, rippling abdomen and made her own stomach flutter in response. “Shame all we have is the dry shower, or I’d invite you in with me.”
Suddenly she regretted that too. “I took a bath earlier,” she blurted, then blushed at his appraising look. “Totally broke the rules. I know. I don’t care. But I saved the water. Had it cleansed and recycled.” She was babbling. God, she sounded stupid, too. “Just in case, you know, you wanted to bathe.”
That slow, curving smile touched Kaden’s mouth. “I figured that out when you came in here and your hair was all wet. Just trying to figure out what your bathwater has to do with me.”
Oh. She felt immediately stupid. Why was it so hard to proposition a man? “I was just saying, in case you wanted to take a bath yourself.”
“No,” he said slowly, reaching over and tugging at the belt of her suit, pulling her forward until she pressed up against that hot, sweaty body. “What I’m saying is, why did you bring it up now? Unless you had an idea...?”
His mouth was so close to hers. Gorgeous, perfect, hard mouth. He had stubble on his cheeks, too. He’d skipped shaving today, something that a mech never did. For some reason, she liked the sight of that. Her XO was bending the rules too. What did the rules matter anymore? They had six days left, and they were going to do as they pleased.
She pressed a finger to a bead of sweat on his temple, fascinated by him. “I just thought, maybe... you’d want to share it. Maybe.”
“Maybe?” he said huskily, and hauled her up by the waist, picking her up in the air as if she were a child, and starting to head to the gym. She laughed at the absurdity of
it, wrapping her arms and legs around him, and let him carry her in.
#
He’d insisted on showering to clean off his sweat before jumping into the tub with her. Zoey waited in her clothes, drumming her fingers as the sprayers activated and she heard them hiss and hum all over his body. He stepped out of the showers a few minutes later, shaking powder out of his hair and grinning, not wearing a stitch of clothing.
A hot blush colored her face at the sight, and she quickly pinned her gaze to his neck, since any higher would show his smug, amused grin, and any lower would be, well, obvious.
But her embarrassment was quickly pushed aside as he strode forward, all taut muscles and lean body, and pulled her back into his arms. His mouth swooped over her own, sucking gently at her lower lip and encouraging her mouth to part for him. She didn’t need much encouragement for that—when she parted her lips his tongue slipped between, giving her a delicious stroke that was pure Kaden and pure pleasure. And oh my, she liked the taste of him.
His hand tangled in her hair, fingers knotting in the loose locks. She hadn’t worn it in her characteristic ponytail, hadn’t felt the need. She was glad it was loose now, for him. Kaden fisted a handful, groaning. “You’re beautiful.”
She laughed, but it carried a note of sad desperation even to her own ears, and so she placed a hand on his ass and squeezed. “I thought we came in here for the bathtub?”
“We did,” he agreed. “I didn’t realize you were in such a hurry to get wet and naked with me.”
His easy grin made a blush rise to her cheeks, and she laid a hand on his pectoral, swiping at a bit of leftover powder. The ship showers were a necessity, but the grit was almost impossible to get completely rid of, most times. “You’re already naked.”
Kaden’s hand moved to her ass, cupping it and digging his fingers into the flesh. “And you’re not.” His eyes grew hooded as he looked down at her, and he leaned in and nipped at her lower lip again. “Something we should fix.”
Her fingers went to the fastening at the collar of her bodysuit and she pulled it free. She ran a finger down the seal that functioned as a zipper and it parted beneath her fingers, the fabric gaping and exposing her bra underneath. She did find herself wishing that she’d brought something sexy to wear, so the gaze of appreciation he was giving her would be worthwhile.
Not that she minded the look he was giving her, of course. That hot, devouring look that told her he was imagining all the different ways to fuck her—she didn’t mind that in the slightest. Zoey shrugged out of the sleeves of the jumpsuit and let it fall to her waist, her torso covered by nothing but her bra. When his arms went around her and moved to the clasp in the back of the garment, she put her arms around his neck and leaned in, reaching for his mouth, feeling vulnerable.
The look Kaden gave her was openly appreciative, his large hand quickly undoing the clasp of her bra and then smoothing along her back, stroking her skin. She inhaled sharply at the sensation, her forehead pressing to his, needing to be in his space, to be completely enveloped by him.
He tilted his mouth forward, just enough to brush his tongue over her lips, and she gasped at the fleeting, slick caress, wanting more.
“Take this off,” he murmured, and tugged at one of the straps over her shoulders. “I want to see your breasts.”
Zoey did as he’d requested, shrugging off the garment and letting it slip to the ground. She shimmied out of her panties next, kicking the clothes aside. His mouth moved to hers in another light, caressing kiss. Kaden’s hand moved to her breast, brushing his knuckles over her nipple.
“Shall we get in the water?” she asked, playfully biting at his lip.
He grinned at her. “You sure do love that water.”
“I do,” she said with a grin, her hand sliding between them to brush over his sac, and then moving to grasp the thick length of his cock. “I like the thought of this all wet and sliding against my skin.”
His eyes became slits of desire. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said, sliding out of her arms and moving quickly to the side of the tub. He slid one strong, tanned leg in—and she noticed a long scar bisecting his calf. Kaden hissed in pleasure at the sensation of the warm water and then sank in up to his chin, his eyes closing with bliss.
She laughed at the sight. “You like?”
His eyes still closed, Kaden grinned. “I haven’t been in one of these since Mars I when I nearly lost my leg. This kind of thing’s a luxury for us meatheads.”
“Oh? Well, since I’m the ranking science officer on this ship, I suppose that I’m allowed to give you the order of a bath a day, soldier.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said in a low, sensual voice. “But only if you join me.”
“I think that can be managed.” Zoey slid in after him, on the opposite side of the narrow tub. It was no more than three feet square, deep enough that she could soak, up to her neck, if she chose. It was intended as more muscle therapy and immersion, and nothing like her small apartment back home, with her sunken marble tub overlooking her tiny garden.
The thought of her apartment and the home she’d never see again made her breath catch in her throat, her eyes glazing with sadness.
“None of that,” Kaden said, and his large hand landed on the small of her back, tugging her forward until she bounced up against him in the water. Her wet breasts pressed against his chest, and his erect cock stabbed into her stomach. His eyes slid open to regard her, and he tugged her up in the water, settling her over him to where she straddled his cock, her thighs riding him high, her breasts pressing up against his face. “Now this? This is perfect.”
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to one erect nipple. At her soft moan of pleasure, he leaned over and kissed the other, then rolled it gently against his tongue.
“Pretty sure that’s against regulations,” she gasped, even as her fingers clenched against his scalp and she pushed it back into his mouth. His hands grasped the tops of her thighs, his thumbs perilously close to the vee of her pussy, and she felt the hot brand of his cock underneath her, the length of it insistent against her own slick skin.
“Pretty sure that I don’t care,” he growled in a low voice, then bit gently. A wave of pleasure shot through her, and she rocked in his lap, earning her another growl. “I want to sink deep inside you, Zoey.”
“I want that too,” she moaned, her breath coming in short, sharp pants of desire. When his mouth nuzzled at the slope of her breast, she whimpered. “Please, Kaden.”
“Next time, we do this nice and slow,” he told her, even as he adjusted her in his lap, the water splashing around them. She felt the head of his cock press up against her core and anticipation clenched her muscles.
“Nice and slow,” Zoey repeated quickly, then leaned in to give him a hard, fierce kiss, her fingers splaying on his stubbled cheek. “Next time.”
He groaned into her mouth at the same moment that his cock sank deep inside her.
Bliss shuddered through her body and Zoey stiffened at the intensity of sensation, her back arching. She heard Kaden’s hiss of pleasure, and she rocked her hips against him slowly, dragging them upward in response to his next shallow thrust.
“So good, beautiful,” he said, lifting a hand from one of her thighs to clench in her hair. “So damn good.”
The computer chimed over the intercom. “Diagnostic surveys are now complete.”
Zoey glanced up at the ceiling. “What? What diagnostic surveys?”
Kaden’s face lit up. He leaned in, gave her a hard, fierce kiss and then tugged her off his lap. Before she could protest, he was out of the tub and racing out of the gym, stark naked and skidding on the now-wet floors.
Zoey stared after his bare ass in shock. He’d been seated deep inside her and he’d suddenly... lost interest? What the hell?
She got out of the tub, commanded the computer to recycle the water, and wrapped a towel around her body. Then she followed the trail of water to find Kaden.
/> #
The trajectory of the puddles led through the small ship, straight up to the cockpit of the Alcestis. Surprised, Zoey wrapped her robe tightly around her body, her heart beginning to hammer in her breast in a way that had nothing to do with sex. Was... something wrong? She didn’t think she could handle more going wrong. Not now. Not when she still felt so fragile about the time they had left.
She pushed her thumb to the biometric pad for the bridge, and the door slid open, revealing Kaden’s naked, tight ass as he bent over one of the panels, furiously typing.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or panic. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He raked a hand through his hair and straightened, a hint of a grin on his face. “Huh? Oh, nothing’s wrong,” he said, distracted as another diagnostic popped up on screen, and his attention immediately went back to it. “Nothing,” he repeated, distracted.
Zoey moved to his side, frowning. Up on the display screen, she saw what looked like a analytic report—life support systems, an inventory of the readiness of each of the crucial working parts. Some had been flagged in red by the computer. “What is this? Did Dr. Nevis do more damage than we thought?”
“Nope,” Kaden said, rushing past her to another terminal. She watched him, growing amused as the smile grew wider on his face. With rapid fingers, he typed on the new terminal and another schematic came up. At the sight of it, he punched his hand on the panel in excitement. “Yes!”
“Yes what?” She moved forward, trying to see what he saw.
Kaden turned to her and before she could protest, put his hands on the sides of her face and brought her in for a quick, fierce kiss. “It’s there.”
“What’s there?” She shook her head, bewildered at his excitement. “Kaden, what are you talking about?”
“The dark matter compressor.” And he grinned wildly, wickedly, pulling her into his arms and giving her another hard kiss. Then he laughed, spinning her around. “It’s fucking there!”
His excitement was infectious, and she found herself smiling in response, though she had nothing on his boyish delight. “What do you mean? What dark matter compressor? For the sprint drive? Ours is powering down. We can’t use it.”
