“Maintenance checks.”
He waited a beat for her to say more, but she didn’t. She seemed to have no problem ignoring him. He spoke through clenched teeth. “I was visiting my aunt and uncle at their ranch.”
She made a small humming noise in her throat. “That sounds nice.”
Anger whipped through him. He couldn’t bear this distance between them. It was intolerable that she would pull away from him. It was irrational, this rage bubbling through him. Imperfect. But he couldn’t stop it. And that angered him still more. He had no control—her mere presence stripped it from him.
She seemed so unaffected by him now. It challenged him, made him want to bring her down to this raw, wild level where he’d found himself. He ran his hand over his hair, a slow smile tugging at his lips.
He stepped into the bathing chamber, picked up a tiny tray full of some kind of slippery substance, and dipped his fingers into it. “What is this?”
“Gel soap.” She flicked a dismissive glance at his hand.
His brows arched. “Gel soap?”
She sighed. “It’s similar to the cleansing sand some of the shops in Atlantis sell. Except it doesn’t start out rough and then lather. It’s slick. Gel.”
“Ah.” A wicked smile pulled at his lips as he set the tray on a small table near the door. “Interesting things can be done with slick substances.”
Her eyebrows lifted, and she finally looked at him, at the erection that curved his cock up to his navel, at the lust he knew was reflected in his eyes. She flushed under his gaze, and he saw her nipples bead tight against the thin fabric of her suit. She released a shaky breath. Relief filled him when he saw the heat and passion he was used to seeing stamped on her features. “We shouldn’t. You don’t really want this.”
“You don’t think so?” His hand dropped to stroke the soap over his cock, up and down until it was coated in the slippery gel.
She nodded, her gray gaze following every movement of his fingers as they played over his overheated flesh. “Here?”
“Oh, yes. Here.” His free hand shot out, and he keyed the panel to shut and lock the door. “Undress. Now.”
Her fingers slid down the seam of her suit. “For once, Ambassador, I’m overdressed for the occasion.”
His chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Come here.”
“I’ll come anywhere you want me to.” She wriggled her hips to ease the tight wet suit down her legs.
His gaze swept down her in an appreciative glance. She shivered in response. Her nipples tightened further.
He crooked a finger, and she stepped forward to press her breasts to his chest. She shifted her torso to drag the hard tips over his flesh. He groaned.
His mouth swooped down to kiss her, running his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened for him. He plunged into her mouth, making her moan when he scraped his teeth over her lower lip. He loved the sounds she made, loved to make her cry out with need for him.
His palm rose to cup her heavy breast. She whimpered when he flicked his nail over the nipple and then pinched it. Her thigh lifted to wrap around his hip. The satin feel of her skin on his, the friction as her soft belly rubbed over his cock, made him groan. He gripped her leg and pushed it down to the floor again.
She broke the kiss, panting. Her pupils were dilated with passion. “I thought I was supposed to come.”
“You will, fire fin. I promise.” He spun her around and pushed her forward over the table. He pulled her arms behind her back and gripped both her wrists in his hands. He’d explode if she touched him, and he wanted to savor her. Show her how much he craved her, even if he could never allow himself to claim her publicly. A hot band of emotion tightened around his chest.
Tossing her wet hair out of the way, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “What are you doing?”
“Turn around.” He slapped her ass. She jerked, her silver eyes widening. Oh, yes. He wanted to savor every moment with her. He slipped his fingers between her legs, dipping into the hot wetness there. She gasped, pushing herself into his touch. Neptune’s blood, she was so responsive. He loved that, but he wanted more from her. “Turn around, fire fin.”
He pulled his hand away until she obeyed. Her hips wriggled back, trying to get closer to him. “Please, Bretton.”
“I always give you pleasure, don’t I, fire fin?” His palm cracked across her backside again.
“Yes.”
He dipped his fingers inside her again. She’d grown hotter, wetter. He grinned and pulled back to spank her harder. His palm heated with each smack, as did the soft cheek of her ass. Her hips danced with each strike until she screamed and wriggled against the hold he had on her wrists. “Oh, yes, Bretton. Please, please, please,” she chanted.
He scooped some of the gel soap into his hand and moved to stroke between the smooth globes of her ass. She froze, her breath shuddering out when he pressed the soap into her tight anus.
“I’m going to fuck you here, slide in deep, and you’ll still beg for more, won’t you?” He gritted his teeth over a groan. His cock throbbed painfully. He needed to be inside her. Now.
She nodded, sobbing in gulps of air. Her muscles shook beneath his hands. “Please, Bretton. I need more.”
Working the soap in deep, he made sure she was slick enough to take him easily. He had no desire to harm her. He rubbed the remaining soap up and down his hard cock before he stepped forward to push the head inside her ass. His jaw clenched at the hot feel of her closing around his flesh. He waited for a moment, letting her adjust. When her hips gave an impatient wiggle, he grinned and shoved deeper in small thrusts until he was embedded to the hilt in her backside. The muscles gripped his dick so tight he groaned at the ecstasy of it. Fire burned through his veins, robbing him of coherent thought. Only Sera had ever been able to do this to him. Strip him of control. He shuddered, fighting the need to come hot and hard inside her.
“Bretton. More,” she breathed.
“Yes.” Releasing her wrists, he placed her hands against the table and covered them with his. Pinned her in place. Perfect. Just where he wanted to be, over her, inside her, inseparable. It was so right and so wrong. He shoved away the thought and focused on her. He wanted her to scream for him.
Withdrawing, he slid back into her ass slowly. She whimpered and lifted her hips to meet him. The silk of her skin pressed to his chest, and he loved the feel of it as they moved together.
Her fingers laced with his, and she squeezed tight. “Harder. Faster. Now.”
His cock slammed forward inside her, the slickness of the gel making him slide smoothly in and out. The drag of flesh as her muscles gripped him made him groan low in his throat. He wanted to move slower, but his body demanded he listen to Sera. Harder. Faster. Heat spiraled tighter and tighter in his belly. His hips slapped against the curve of her backside, and their breathing panted out in harsh gasps. Sweat dampened their skin until their bodies sealed together. “We fit so perfectly, fire fin. I crave you.”
“Bretton.” Sera sobbed beneath him, twisting her body as they moved. Her muscles locked tight around him as she came. “I love you. Oh, God. I love you.”
“Sera,” he breathed. He kissed her shoulder. Sweet Neptune, how he treasured her. Her words sliced straight to his heart, clouding his mind. He had no choice, no control—his hips bucked as he buried himself inside her again and again until he froze, shuddering as orgasm dragged him under.
Perfect. Nothing had ever been this perfect. They lay there for long moments, nothing breaking the silence in the small room except their heaving breaths. The sweat dried on their skin, and he closed his eyes to hold on to this moment with her. She shifted beneath him, so he levered himself up and pulled his still semi-hard cock from her ass. They groaned together.
He lifted her up and swung her into the shower. Pressing the panel, he started the hot spray. She wriggled away from him to wash herself off. He watched her intently, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze, wouldn’t l
ook at him. Was this how it felt for her when he had sex with her and then walked away? It hit him like a fist to the gut. Guilt slid down his spine. Sweet Neptune, he’d hurt her. He’d just never understood how much.
He couldn’t stand the distance between them, but as painful as he found it, he knew he deserved it. She dressed in tense silence, neither of them willing to talk about what had happened between them. The unspoken arrangement that had carried them through the past Turn was broken, but he had no idea what they would become in the future. Nothing was the right answer, the one that ensured the life and career he’d always imagined for himself. Everything was the answer his soul demanded. He swallowed, dragged a hand through his hair, and tightened the thong that held it back.
When they exited the room and rounded a corner in the corridor, they ran into Oeric. Sera smiled at him, and ugly jealousy twisted through Bretton. He’d just had her in his arms, and bitter envy ate at him. Other than the slight arch of a brow, Oeric pretended not to notice their disheveled appearance, turned around to precede them, and started opening doors along the corridor back to the main dome. “We must be in the laboratory quadrant, Doctor. This one is an exact replica of your current quarters.”
They peeked around him to see he was correct. That meant Pacifica had a layout opposite of Atlantis, where the lab corridor was in the southern sector. Interesting.
The water had dropped to almost nothing, so it was easier to move as they went. Oeric opened another door and then slapped a hand to the holoscreen to shut it again. His face went ghostly pale.
“What’s wrong?” Sera surged ahead to look.
He shook his head, his big body blocking her when she tried to reach for the panel. She paused and tilted her head up at his. “They missed a body, huh?”
A sharp nod was her only answer.
“You look a little green around the gills, Oeric.” A sassy grin flashed across her face.
He rolled his eyes, his shoulders relaxing when he saw she wasn’t going to insist on looking, and kept going. By the time they reached the main dome, there was no water left, but the ceiling dripped in steady streams, and clumps of purple algae dropped onto their heads. They did their best to dodge it, but the stuff covered every surface, so there wasn’t much they could do to avoid it.
Bretton lagged behind to try to get a grip on himself. This was the first time Sera had turned away from him after sex. It had left him shaken. He’d never doubted she was his, and now his arrogance mocked him. She’d chosen him, but nothing said she couldn’t make a different choice. Hadn’t he done everything he could to break her of her need for him? Tried to convince her all he’d ever wanted from her was sex? Now he stopped to consider that perhaps she wasn’t the only one emotionally invested in their relationship. Not just as a friend or lover but as more. It wasn’t sex with a compatible personality. It was…more.
And where did that leave him with his career? Would she continue to accept that he couldn’t claim her publicly? He doubted it. Breaking her heart as often as he had just might have killed all that sweet love she’d once showered on him. And he’d been so unworthy of it. Of her.
She laughed when a large clump of algae splattered down Oeric’s face and chest. He swiped it away and flung it at her.
“Hey!” She ran for the main control center, narrowly missing his next throw. “You’re supposed to be respectful of your elders.”
He followed her in. “Have a care, or you’ll begin to sound like Counselor Hahn.”
“Ha. See? I’m not the only one who thinks he’s a moron.” Bretton rolled his eyes and fought a smile at the sentiment but froze outside the door at Oeric’s next words.
“Hardly. There’s a serious break between the old guard who run the Senate and the younger generation who want more independence and free thought.”
It was true, but how would Sera respond to such a bald statement? Bretton tried to balance himself between the two extremes. Unless he played by the current regime’s rules, he’d never get the power to make changes for the younger citizens of Aquatilis. It was only recently that he’d come to understand just how much that limited his ability to grow as a person. Even if he couldn’t gain perfection—as Sera claimed—he believed in the importance of constant self-improvement. And he was no longer certain he’d chosen the right path to better himself.
Sera’s voice dropped until he had to strain to hear her. “My coming along to question everything the Senate says didn’t help much, did it?”
Oeric grunted. “It depends entirely on which side of the argument you’re on.”
“Does Bretton know your political views?”
“I don’t hold them close, but I’m nowhere near the most vocal opponents of Hahn.”
“Cuthbert Hahn.”
“Perhaps. Thus far, the younger Hahn dances to the Senate’s tune.”
“Bretton is no one’s puppet.” Bretton had told Sera some rather biting things about the Senate when they were in private. If it wasn’t for him, the Senate would have vacillated with the perfect path to follow when Varad had shown up on his maiden trading voyage. Bretton’s actions made him the only choice for the new ambassadorial corps, even though he was significantly younger than anyone else allowed in a position of power.
Oeric continued on as if she hadn’t spoken. “We need to stop perfecting the old and start progressing toward the new. We’ve stagnated too long.”
Bretton doubted she could agree more, but she had to know they were on dangerous political ground, and for once she kept her mouth shut. The irony didn’t escape him that now that she wanted to put some distance between them, his cautionary message had sunk in. He heard her sigh. “Well, let’s do some final checks and go dance for the Senate.”
Oeric lapsed back into his customary silence. Bretton swept a last glance around the algae-encrusted main dome before he stepped around the corner to enter the control room. It would take a substantial amount of work to make Pacifica a viable settlement, but if Sera said it was possible, then it was. Now they just had to convince the Senate.
Bretton clenched his jaw when they entered the Senate chambers a few hours later. A flurry of whispers erupted throughout the room. Sera rounded the corner to come in behind Oeric and Bretton. She’d insisted they stop in their quarters to change into their best clothing for this meeting because she didn’t want something as foolish as their manner of dress to dissuade the Senate from listening to them.
His breath had seized and his heart had stopped when he’d seen her. She’d put on the gown he’d commissioned from the Mermaid’s Purse. He’d been right. She looked phenomenal. The dress cupped her soft curves with the kind of intimacy reserved for a lover. For him. It made the deep red of her hair gleam like the fire fin he called her. Her eyes glowed as if they’d been made of silver as she took the podium before the Senate. Her giant assistant stood just behind and to the right of her.
“Doctor Sera Gibbons,” the Senate secretary intoned. Every political official on the planet was in this room, from the chancellor of the Senate to Elia and his father. They all leaned forward to see what kind of commotion Sera would cause this time.
She took a deep breath that lifted her breasts. He suppressed a groan—she needed to stop doing that. “Counselors. Senators. Chancellor Pell. On a routine check of the rim ranches, Oeric Fane, Ambassador Bretton Hahn, and I decided to explore the lost city of Pacifica. We found it was not quite as lost as history claims. The city can be restored and house citizens of Aquatilis.”
A few murmurs went through the room, and Chancellor Pell raised her hand for silence. Senator Laddon broke in. “Who gave you permission to initiate such an exploration?”
Sera’s eyes flashed, and Bretton braced himself for the sarcasm that such a look usually preceded. It didn’t come. “No one, Senator. There are no restrictions on exploring any part of the planet. Nor is there a law that says I can’t use my skills as a mechanical engineer to restore any equipment that belongs to the citizens of
Aquatilis.” Her gaze swept the group of political officials, pinning each of them in place. “I realize you may be wary of such a change. Pacifica failed once, and people died, so many tests would need to be run before the city could be repopulated. However, even with the careful measures you’ve taken to control population size, the people of Aquatilis will someday overcrowd Atlantis. With any luck, the four planets will have recovered enough technology by the time Pacifica reaches capacity to be able to build new cities.”
The rumble of negative comments that erupted drowned out whatever Sera tried to say.
Bretton folded his hands behind his back and stepped forward to capture the room’s attention. “The point is we will need Pacifica. Perhaps not now, but in the future. While we have the expertise of Doctor Gibbons to recover the city, we should take advantage. She will not live forever, Senators. It is something to consider.”
“Thanks so much for the reminder,” Sera muttered as he passed her. She lifted a glass of water to her lips to cover her words.
He fought a grin. Neptune’s blood, the woman kept him on his toes. Someone needs to help them come to a decision before you expire of old age.
She choked on the sip of water she’d taken. Oeric reached over to pat her on the back. Jealousy whipped through Bretton that the other man was allowed to touch her so casually.
He turned back to the Senate, tamping down the envy. Chancellor Pell brushed her silver hair away from her cheek and spoke up. “I agree with you, Ambassador Hahn. My question is this: who will settle Pacifica? Many fear the stories about the lost city. I won’t force our citizens to relocate there.”
“There are those of us in the younger generation who might appreciate the hard work and adventure of a settler’s life.” Oeric’s deep voice filled the wide room, and every single person froze to stare at him.
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