Xander

by Vivienne Savage

  Encouraged by his matching ardor, Thandie shifted her position until she straddled him.

  With the damned combat suit in her way, she couldn’t feel him swelling and hardening beneath her, but she could hear the low, primal groan of pleasure he made against her mouth. His hand closed over her ass and squeezed. For the first time, she became aware of the size of his hands and how it covered her entire cheek.

  As far as Thandie was concerned, Xander had a mouth made for kissing and abs worthy of worship. Her fingers crept over each plane and dip, learning his shape as her mouth committed his taste to memory.

  She swept her tongue past his lips again, and the return flick made her imagine how good it would feel lapping her clit. His head dipped down, then his lips traced an invisible pattern on her neck.

  “Thandie,” he moaned against her throat. “We shouldn’t.”

  “We should. Definitely should.”

  Archaic fraternization laws had been dissolved when United Command instituted two-year deployments in space, although it had been done at the behest of the Lexar government.

  They were sensible people. Logical. Rational. Except for their quickness to anger.

  The narcotics warred with the endorphins rushing through her body. Would she be brought up on assault charges if she ripped the suit off him plate by fucking plate until he was as bare as she needed him to be?

  It seemed worth the possible court-martial, though something told her that if Xander wasn’t amiable to her suggestion, nothing could make him.

  “Thandie, you need to rest.”

  “I’d rather be doing this.” To emphasize her point, she kissed him again.

  Quicker than she’d realized he could move, Xander flipped her beneath him on the mattress. As he kissed his way down her throat, his stubbled jaw abraded her sensitive skin. One flick of his fingers unfastened the snap to her fatigue bottoms, then the zipper descended and he worked them down her thighs with ease. Her boots wouldn’t allow them to go any lower than her mid-calf, not that it was necessary.

  Talented hands slid beneath her black panties and tugged, baring her. Naked skin against naked skin, his fingers stroked over her mons then lower.

  Only a week ago, on impulse, she’d made a spa appointment with one of their civilian ladies, the wife of one of the lieutenants on board the ship who happened to have an aesthetician license. Thandie hadn’t been waxed completely smooth, but it was close, sleek and softer than suede, with a narrow runway strip.

  Gazing down at her, he sat back on his heels and drank her in until she’d never felt sexier. A feral growl rumbled in his throat that didn’t sound human, so low and husky a tremble clenched through her core. Heat curled in her stomach, a low and dull throb that ached for any part of him inside her.

  A strong digit curled against her pussy and fulfilled her desire, gliding into her with ease. She shuddered and reached for one of his wrists, hoping to pull him down for a kiss.

  “Xander—”

  His thumb flicked her clit, and all that she’d wanted to tell him evaporated, her ability to form cohesive thoughts breaking apart like motes of dust on the wind. Her hips raised, following his fingers, straining to resume contact, then he sprawled between her spread thighs and pressed his mouth against her slit, tongue parting her with an eager stroke.

  Thandie jolted on the bed, startled by his enthusiasm. Then her back arched, and she spread her thighs wider, and moaned each time he traced a wet pattern with his tongue. Throughout it all, one of his fingers remained inside her, never ceasing its effortless in and out plunge. Another digit joined the first, ratcheting up the tension drawing tight inside her.

  “Xander, oh God, oh God, please—”

  His breath whispered against her dewy skin. “Please what?”

  “Please.” She repeated herself, groaning in frustration and raking both hands through her own hair, needing something she couldn’t voice. “I need… fuck, I need you inside me.”

  His tongue circled around her clit, touching everywhere but the delicate bundle itself until she cursed his name, and he laughed, the delicious sound of his amusement a caress around her heart.

  How could she love one man’s laugh so much?

  The sound of it, rich and warm and alive with sensuality caressed her with the same talent as his tongue. And when it finally curled around her clit, he sucked—a tiny fraction of suction all it took to thrust her into orgasm—and she came apart while crying his name, praying no one heard. She clenched on his fingers over and over, moaning into the pillow.

  Limp and floating in the stars, Thandie sprawled on the bed, unmoving at first, gathering her wits.

  He dressed her again with surprising tenderness for a man who had to be giving himself a set of blue balls. “Get some rest.”

  Her eyes opened. She reached for him, fingers harmlessly skimming past the fastening on the left hip of his combat suit. He removed her hand and set it aside.

  “But, we didn’t—”

  “You’ll pass out any moment, I’m sure. Would you respect me any if I had my wicked way with your unconscious body?” Damn him for his logic and that shot. “C’mon. Get some rest, Thandie. Our watch will come sooner than you think.”

  He had a point. They were technically relieved of their duty posts after working grueling hours with little rest and only a handful of comforts. But there was a time and a place. She’d hate to be caught with her pants down, literally, if returning pirates engaged their squad in battle.

  “You play dirty, Xander. Don’t think this is over.”

  His warm breath feathered across her brow, quickly followed by a gentle kiss. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Once the squad returned to the Jemison, Xander became inundated with work. He spent days performing tune-ups, repairs, and helping the other medical officers with the men and women injured on the ship during the space battle and emergency landing.

  Refugees from Athena filled their aft cargo hold, and the three new mothers and the severely injured survivors occupied rooms in medical. As for the pirates, they had been detained until United Command’s prison ship, the HMS Bridewell, arrived to take them away.

  For lack of a better place to house the survivors, the Jemison flew for a week to reach the nearest major post equipped to handle a few hundred refugees.

  Fuck, Xander was glad to lose the additional medical responsibility. He may have enjoyed making a difference in those peoples’ lives, but babies were not his forte. Their fragile little bodies distressed him, as did the reminder that he had never had kids of his own. But it had also been nice to care for them during the short time, a double-edged sword that was both pleasure and pain.

  Being the ship’s only certified cyberware technician also meant he’d returned to an abundance of appointments, enough to spend almost four days making up for cancellations.

  A small part of him missed running into Thandie during the ship’s night hours. He even peeked into the lounge once or twice against his better judgment, but his sniper hadn’t been present.

  So he hit the gym for a couple hours, pumping iron so hard he impressed a pair of marines from the boarding team when he outlifted them, then retired to his bunk for a shower, where he stood under the steaming spray and ruminated over the recent events.

  The memory of her body writhing on the bed haunted him. And then there was the taste of Thandie in his mouth, her sensual scent everything he needed and wanted. He stroked himself, with both dicks pressed together in one hand, hot water pounding against his tired back, and replayed every perfect moment from the brief liaison. Each breathy moan and soft cry. He closed his eyes and imagined her mouth wrapped around one of his cocks, the fantasy taking on a life of its own.

  During his early life as an enlisted man sharing the communal shower, guys had joked about how lucky he was to have two penises. What they didn’t see were long and frustrating masturbation sessions, because he had to jerk both to climax at the same time i
f he wanted real relief.

  Hart impatiently hammered her fist on the door. “Wank on your own bloody time, you big twat!”

  “For Christ’s sake, I’m getting out now!” he bellowed. If he joked about her shower “massager”—that he could sometimes hear buzzing through the walls—she wouldn’t speak to him for a week.

  Xander turned the water off and stepped out of the stall, giving up the fruitless effort to blow his load with memories instead of female skin wrapped around him.

  The restroom lock clicked behind him once he was toweled off, dressed, and gone, followed by the noisy drum of the resuming shower head. He’d have been smarter to give Hart the first shower and wait his turn later.

  Before he could pick up where he’d left off, two knocks tapped against his door.

  “This better be an emergency,” he muttered under his breath. He slid the door open and peered into the hallway, expecting news from the medical bay. Instead, as if his thoughts had conjured her, Thandie stood in the hall.

  “Aren’t you a little far from your berthing?”

  “I suppose so. I…” Thandie’s gaze froze on his bare chest and she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Uncertainty briefly flickered across her features, then her posture straightened, and she clasped her hands loosely behind her back. “I wanted to come clear the air on something. Please.”

  “What is it?”

  “Oh, um…” Her glance darted down the passageway, then back to his face. “Not exactly a conversation for the public.”

  “Well, come on in. I have plenty of privacy.”

  “Thanks.” She stepped past him into the room.

  Xander stole a glance into the hallway in time to see his fellow commander attentively watching their exchange. Viljoen glowered at him before disappearing into his own room. Xander sighed.

  What the hell had that been about?

  “What’s on your mind, Thandie?”

  Thandie turned from her casual inspection of the space and tilted her head to look up at him. “I wanted to talk about what happened on Athena.”

  He hesitated to answer and erred on the side of caution. “What about it?”

  “Is there any chance of it going somewhere or was that a one-time deal?”

  A tense silence fell between them, and when she didn’t yield first, he bit his lip and played cautious. “What exactly did you want it to be?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Okay, before we get into answering questions with questions, let me just cut to the chase. I like you and I would be happy to take this further, but if you don’t wanna, I’ll step back now. I just don’t want to be played with, that’s all.”

  “I’m asking for a specific reason. Give me the benefit of the doubt, at least. Have I ever done or said anything to make you think I’m playing with you?”

  “No, you haven’t.”

  He drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs before he continued, “Then answer my question. What did you hope would happen when you came here?”

  “I hoped to find out that you felt the same way I do.” She took a step closer. “That you’d want to finish what we started.”

  Xander met her step with one of his own, moving in close enough for their bodies to touch, to breathe the same air. “I do, trust me. I can barely focus on anything else lately, but there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

  “Not for lack of trying. You’re awfully tight-lipped about yourself.”

  “For a good reason.” He spread his fingers over her hip and caressed through the layer of coveralls, wondering what, if anything, she’d worn beneath them for the impromptu visit. “You’ve been on my mind since the day you first came to my exam room. I can’t get you out of my head. When we’re on missions, I have to give myself a fucking pep talk just to keep focused on what’s going on around me.”

  She blinked but didn’t pull away. “That’s pretty damn flattering, but I’m not sure I understand.”

  Sharing anything about himself had become difficult over the years, the number of times it had gone wrong more numerous than he could count. Still, he nudged his hips forward, pressing pelvis to pelvis, then dipped his head down and claimed her mouth, kissing her with all the pent-up desire that had been building since Athena.

  Thandie melted in his embrace, curving her arms around him, and it felt only natural to heft her up in his arms. Strong legs wrapped around his waist and her fingers curled into the corded muscles of his shoulders.

  “That’s not an answer,” she said, punctuating the words with a playful nibble.

  “It is for now.” He bumped into the end table beside the couch, and settled on the cushions, with her nestled on his lap.

  The moment her lips parted to speak, he smothered her words, his mouth as demanding as she was curious. Both hands curved over her ass and yanked her in until his pajamas and her suit became their only barrier, a few scant layers of cotton between her heat and his rousing cocks.

  “Fuck it feels amazing to kiss you again.”

  “I sense an unspoken but.”

  “But I need to come clean. About a lot. And it’s the kind of stuff I don’t tell just anyone, even gorgeous anyones, because it’s also the kind of thing that can fuck with my reputation here.” His pulse thundered in his veins.

  “Gorgeous, huh? Are you fishin’ for a return compliment?”

  “I wouldn’t say no to a few kind words.”

  Her smile widened and she dipped forward, laying a path of soft kisses and nibbles up his jaw. “You are, without a doubt, the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. But there’s more to you than that.”

  Her lips reached his ear and a pleasurable tremble made its way down his spine. Thandie traced the curve with her tongue and skated her teeth against sensitive spots he hadn’t even realized he possessed.

  “Yeah, like what? Thought you just said I was tight-lipped about myself.”

  “Stuff anyone can see. You’re smart. Kind. Hell, you’re even sorta bossy and I actually like it. But I’m willing to take things slower, if that’s what you want.”

  Slower was the last thing he wanted, rather, the last thing his Lexar DNA wanted. His bottom cock twitched, hardening slower than the one on top. He made a noncommittal grunt instead of answering.

  “How about a massage?”

  Xander rolled his left shoulder. He’d still be in the shower under the hot water if not for Hart. “Sure you aren’t a mind-reader?”

  Thandie slid from his lap. Once she settled behind him, her hands smoothed across the breadth of his muscular shoulders, somehow finding the aches and discomfort from his overenthusiastic exercise routine. “Positive. I just have good eyes, and you looked awfully tense. Have you been working nonstop since Athena?”

  “Aside from a brief visit to the gym today, I haven’t had much leisure time since we returned to the ship. Hell, I logged on Spellbound last night for about an hour and got chewed out by half my friend list. I don’t make it known that I’m military, and when I miss our scheduled raids, they think I’m skiving off.”

  “Been there. Done that. I don’t really game enough to have a regular group, though I’ve found a couple good ones to team up with sometimes. They were probably just worried about you is all. Friends do that.”

  “Yeah, they do. I’d log on tonight if the day hadn’t caught up to me. Guess I’m getting old.”

  She scoffed. “You’re far from old. You’re just overworked and stiff.”

  “Almost forty, hon. I only look good. Too bad I don’t feel it, too.”

  “Like I said, overworked.” She applied even pressure despite her cybernetic hand, working out a knot with competence.

  “Where’d you learn to do this? You’re better than some of the people I’ve paid for a backrub.”

  “Long story short, I enrolled in a masseuse class during my implant adjustment leave. After I got the new arm I had trouble with managing the strength. The occupational therapist had me try everything from pottery to model ships,
but I sucked.”

  “So, you thought people were a better medium?” He glanced over his shoulder and cocked a brow. “Maybe I need to rethink this.”

  “I’m not going to pulverize you. Geez. Anyway, my little sister suggested it and offered to be my practice dummy. Not hurting her was a strong motivator.”

  Silence fell between them as she worked on his knotted muscles and soothed the low burn lingering from the gym. The placid notes of classical music began, woodwinds and cello spilling from the room’s audio aperture.

  Thandie’s amusement was equally musical to his ears. “Jem must like you. Is this helping any?”

  “It feels great, but…” He reached up and took hold of her right hand, then traced his fingertips over her skin. Warm, alive, and sensitive to his touch. “Do you trust me?”

  “I do.”

  Xander pressed gently with his thumb above her wrist where veins belonged on a flesh and blood limb. “You loosened a nerve connection again. Probably during a fight. How’s that?”

  Thandie flexed her fingers. “I barely even noticed. How did you…?”

  “I’ll spare you the medical jargon and say that my job is to notice when things are not as they should be.” He laid a kiss inside her palm before releasing her.

  “I’m impressed. Thank you.”

  Her praise sent warmth coursing through him. Then his eager upper cock jumped again, the bottom almost as firm. Unable to help himself, he rubbed one palm over the prominent bulge tenting out his pajama bottoms.

  Done with his shoulders, Thandie moved in close behind him and slid her hands down his arms then up again. The next pass moved down his chest, then below his midsection, a stroke of her fingers tightening his abs with anticipation. He closed his eyes and reveled in her touch.

  She was bound to find out eventually.

  And there was no time like the present.

  Thandie followed the dark trail of hair below his navel, even as Xander’s abdomen tensed. His breath quickened, desire thick in the air, a palpable feeling her fledgling empathy picked up the moment her fingertips breached the elastic band of his pajamas.