by Annalise
“What are you going to do, tie me up?”
His expression was answer enough. She didn’t need to see the riot restraints in his hands as he straightened.
* * * * *
He was gone for hours. Time enough for her to become stiff and more furious with every minute.
The tender skin on her wrists and ankles soon hurt like hell. Her struggles to free herself hadn’t done her any good; these were the cuffs that ratcheted tighter with resistance.
And thoughts of mission failure ensured her brain hurt as well. She had to come up with a Plan B to rescue Angel now that working as an insider was no longer an option.
She’d managed to wriggle her way toward the foot of the bed. The comm unit was in plain sight across the room. It should respond to voice commands, but Link had been smart enough to set a password so she couldn’t activate it. The tether he’d fastened to her wrists and the headboard kept her on the bed.
By the time she heard the door swish open, she was sore and pissed and ready for a fight.
When he stepped into sight, he held a bag from the base clothing boutique as well as a bulging bag from her favorite bath and beauty shop. He hated shopping, loathed it. And he’d been at it a while.
His thoughtfulness wasn’t enough to deflate her anger. She hoped he’d thought of it simply to please her, but she suspected it was a calculated move.
“We’ll get you some more things in a few days.” He set the bags down by the closet. “Where I go, you go. I’ve arranged for larger quarters on Mars. It’s something I could have done long ago, when I took over command of the station, but there seemed no need. You’ll find the place rather comfortable.”
He removed her gag and tossed it through the doorway into the bathing chamber sink. “General Richter took the news that I’d acquired a servant rather well, under the circumstances.” Her wrist and ankle restraints followed. “You’ll have restrictions because of your criminal record, but I’m sure you’re used to that.”
She tried to swing at him but her stiff muscles wouldn’t obey her commands. She couldn’t clench her fingers into a fist. Her hand just flopped toward him in a pitiful motion. The pain of the circulation returning to her extremities made her cry out.
“You didn’t have to pull on them,” he said. “You of all people should know that just tightens their grip.”
Evans glared at him and kept her mouth shut. Anything she could say right now would only make her captivity worse.
Link flipped her onto her belly and straddled her. His big hands worked the cramps from her shoulders. His touch was gentle on her tender skin. She shivered and tried not to moan in delight. She failed and found herself mewing like a kitten. Stars and stripes, she didn’t want to respond like this. That she did just made her madder.
She’d given many massages in The Palace, but hadn’t had one like this in years. Ten years, to be exact. The man had talented hands, for sure. He hadn’t lost any of his technique in space.
“I have better news, too. There’s some holdup with the supplies for the transport, so departure has been set back two weeks.” He moved on to her upper arms, building heat as he went. “I don’t trust you here, so don’t bother to unpack. We’re going on a little trip.”
She barely heard his words. She was too engrossed in the feel of his fingers as he shifted his attention to her back, beginning below her shoulders and making his way down, loosening the tension as he went. Each push shifted her slightly on the textured spread, rasping her sensitive skin a little. Not enough to be painful, just enough to be enticing. Her mews turned to soft moans.
He spanned her waist with his hands, then kneaded the globes of her ass. By the time he reached her calves, there were no cramps and no tension left in her. She was almost purring between the moans.
Then he smacked her bottom and pulled away. “Get changed and we’ll be on our way.”
She sat up in the cold left by his retreat and tried to recapture her anger. “What?”
“Weren’t you listening? We’re going on a trip,” he said over his shoulder. She watched as he pulled a case out and began stuffing clothing into it. Casual clothing.
Saturn’s rings. Her oath to Secretary Martinez forbid her telling Link the truth. She had to stay right here. She had to get back into The Palace.
“Where to?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
“Some place far away, where I won’t have to watch you every minute. A place we can relax together.”
She climbed slowly from the bed. Despite the lingering discomfort in her shoulders, she smiled at his broad back. She knew where he was taking her. They’d been there before.
And when he was nice and relaxed, she’d steal his vehicle and head right back to New Virginia.
* * * * *
Link eased down on the controls and the rented PF swooped low over the pine forest. Off to their right, the sunlight glinted off the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. They passed over a number of homes, tucked into clearings or perched on the cliffs. Efficient domes, tiny cottages, sprawling mansions, representing every level of wealth and social status.
He watched Evans lean forward, pressing her forehead to the window. He knew she was trying to see everything. The Maine coast hadn’t been this developed ten years ago, when they’d had their last long weekend at the Taylor family cabin.
God, how many times had he’d dreamed about that weekend in the long nights since? More than he was comfortable admitting.
The old cabin looked the same as he lowered the PF to the landing pad. As the structure blocked the view of the sea, just before the wheels touched down, he heard Evans sigh.
He knew the feeling.
From the time he was a tiny child, this place had meant comfort and family. His grandmother always spent her summers here, welcoming her children and grandchildren. Over the intervening years, the family’s habits had altered with the change in climate. Now, he knew, the cabin sat abandoned all summer, when the UV risk was highest.
They would be alone and undisturbed. If his grandmother had worked her magic the way she promised when he called her, they wouldn’t even have to go to town for supplies.
He’d have time to clear the air with his new servant. He hadn’t beggared himself for the pleasure of her services. He’d done it for her, to save her life.
Now, if he could just make her realize that. He had a week and a half.
No, they had a week and a half.
He powered the craft down and locked the controls with a password. The same one he’d used on the comm panel at the hotel.
Venus Rising.
She’d never guess it, and he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw the cabin.
“Oh, Link, I’d almost forgotten how beautiful it is up here.” Her voice caught in a sad little sound. “I thought I’d never see it again.”
Maybe a week and a half would be enough.
* * * * *
Link wandered to the edge of the deck and leaned against the railing. The sun had set over an hour before, but enough ambient light remained for him to see Evans clearly.
“Link?” She touched his back, then leaned as he did, clasping her hands together. “I guess I owe you an apology.”
“No. I owe you. I just couldn’t stomach you in that place. Being punished like that. How could I know you’d chosen to… ” He fell silent.
“Chosen that life deliberately?” She snorted. “Come on. No one chooses that life. I did the crime, so I had to do the time.”
He turned and leaned his rump on the deck railing. “Just what was your crime?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“The public records say embezzlement.”
“Then that’s it.”
“People don’t steal credits to hoard them. You wanted something. Tell me what.”
“I told you. A new dress.”
He frowned and shrugged. He didn’t believe her, but he’d let it go for the moment.
He took he
r into his arms. She was warm from her nap. “You smell like vanilla cookies.”
She tasted of them, too. Her tongue strolled across his lips and he opened his mouth to savor the full flavor of her. “Yum,” he whispered.
“I raided the freezer. Did your grandmother make the cookies?”
“Must have. Only a professional cook has the time anymore.”
“How is she?” Evans pulled out of his arms.
“Great for well over a hundred. And still in business, if you found cookies in the freezer.”
“Come to bed, Link.”
His heart began a slow dance in his chest. He rubbed the spot. “Now?”
“Well. Now would be nice.”
“Why not right here?” He swept his hand out to indicate the deck.
“A bit hard on the back and knees, don’t you think?”
Evans watched a slow smile make its way across Link’s face. He flipped open a storage box and pulled out a long, sectioned cushion meant for a hover bench. He dropped it at her feet.
A sudden thrill ran through her, leaving desire in its wake. Desire to feel a real breeze caress her skin, to feel as she had on their camping trips. There was something wanton and wonderful about nakedness in the open air.
She stripped for him, her eyes on his face. His eyes were on her hands, following her every move. From the unfastening of the center attachments to the slow peel of her skin suit.
“Fuck me, Link.”
He frowned. “Fuck?”
“What else did you have in mind?”
“Making love.”
She bit her lip. “I’m not in love.”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
She started when he reached out and skimmed his fingertips across her nipple. A shiver ran through her, from his touch as much as the knowledge that anyone might see them.
“Take off your clothes,” she said to him. “You can’t imagine what it feels like to be naked out here.”
She stretched, knowing it aroused him. His cock bulged against the fabric of his trousers. Her insides went wet with the memory of what he would feel like inside her.
Deep inside.
She took matters into her own hands, pushing his questing fingertips away and reaching for his shirt. To tantalize him, she took her time hanging the shirt over the back of a deck chair. She slid his trousers down, then his underwear off his hips, and finally, slowly, freed his penis.
Moisture gleamed on the tip. She folded his trousers neatly and then bent over to tongue the drop of moisture.
“Unimproved. Just like I want it,” she whispered against his warm skin.
“Evans,” he moaned, grasping her head and threading his fingers through her hair. “Wrap your lips around me.”
“Later.” She danced away and placed his trousers over the back of a second chair.
When she tried to turn around, he was behind her, hands on her hips. He pressed behind her, shifting his cock across her cheeks.
“Link. Be patient.”
“I can’t be. I want you. Now.”
He thrust his knee between her legs and within the space of a heartbeat, he was in her.
“Oh, Link,” she said, the air suddenly tight in her chest.
“You can talk to me here,” he said, his mouth by her ear. “You don’t have to wait until I tell you to.”
“W-what should I say?” The words barely made it past her lips as he cupped her breasts, gently rolling the nipples between his fingertips. His hips shifted, thrusting his penis a touch deeper.
She moaned.
“That’s not talking.” He pulled a few inches from her and then slid slowly back in. “Talk to me.”
“I can’t stand it. Move faster.”
“No.” Again, he drew out a scant few inches, then slid in slowly.
She leaned forward, gripping the back of the deck chair. The air was cold. Or her body was suddenly burning hot. “Please, Link. Now.”
“Now, what?”
He moved his hands to her hips and stroked up and down her sides.
“Now what?” he repeated.
“In… me. Deeper,” she said on a moan.
He slipped and slid his penis in and out with agonizing slowness. “Speak up, Evans. I can’t hear you.”
She pressed her hand between her thighs, against her clitoris. He reached forward and pulled her hand away, trapping it against her back.
“No playing with yourself. If you want touching, say so.”
She wriggled back, pressing her buttocks against him.
“Okay, Link,” she whispered. “Rub my clit.”
“Please?”
“Please, damn it.”
His fingertips found her. He was practiced, skilled, sliding his penis in and out, in rhythm to his stroking hand. “What now?” he asked.
“Down. Down.”
“Down? Go down on you? Is that what you want?”
“No. NO. Lay me down. But don’t… uh. Uh.”
“Don’t what?” He licked her shoulder, then feathered a kiss where her skin was scarred from the sun.
“Don’t stop.”
She felt his grin, but couldn’t wipe it off his face. She was too close to nirvana to care if he smiled or not. He lowered her skillfully to her knees, his cock still buried deep, his fingertips never breaking their rhythm.
“Spread your legs.”
And she obeyed him, sliding her knees out. He kept his hand on her clit, his other on her hip. He moved more quickly. She felt his testicles slap against her and moaned.
“Link. I’m going to come. I don’t want to come.”
“Okay.” He jerked out of her and stood up.
For a moment, she remained on her knees, frozen in place, unable to believe he was gone, the freshening breeze whipping through her legs, bathing her wet crotch. She shivered and groaned.
“Link, you bastard.” She rolled over to her back.
“I said talk to me, not order me around. I don’t want fuck talk. I want to know what’s going through that criminal mind of yours.”
His cock was as stiff as the fireplace poker inside with the rest of the tools.
He wrapped his hand around it. “I can jerk off and get the same result as fucking you. A quick orgasm. I want something else. The mind fuck.”
“Women want the mind fuck, Link, not men.” She raised her knees and squeezed them together. “Men only want the orgasm. Fast and however it happens. They don’t really care. If a hotel maid offered to suck your dick, it would probably be just fine with you.”
“I’ve never gotten head from a maid. What I do have is you. And you used to mind fuck me all the time. I used to come in my uniform just by listening to you whisper in my ear.”
She dropped her knees to the side and wrapped her arms around her waist. The sky was almost purple. A star stood off the horizon. The scent of pine filled the air. Real pine, from real trees.
Quietly, without thought, she said, “I love the scent of you, Link. I used to close my eyes those first few months you were gone and it was your scent I conjured up. The way your hair smells.”
“Shampoo.”
“And the way your neck smells when I lick it. And the spot behind your balls.”
“Shit.” He stretched out, face to face with her. He slid the hair behind her ear. “What does a man smell like behind his balls? Do I want to know?”
“Warm.” She drew her thumb along his cheek. “Warm and aroused. It made me feel all frantic and slick inside to think about what I was doing to you to know what you smell like there.”
“More.” He kissed her mouth.
“And if I was really lonely,” suddenly her eyes burned with tears, “if I was really lonely, I’d close my eyes and touch myself.”
He put his fingertips between her thighs and she squeezed against his hand. “I’d think of the touch of your tongue on my clit. The feel of your fingers inside me. I’d imagine touching you here.” She ran the ball of her thumb over the head of
his penis and it came away wet. “I’d do this in my mind.” She sucked the end of her thumb. He moaned. “I’d remember the taste of your semen. The slick, thickness as you came in my mouth.”
He rolled her over and entered her in one motion, driving deep. He locked his mouth on hers and groaned through his climax.
She came a moment later, a quick, sharp, frantic pulse of sensation. Not a full, grinding, need-to-scream-out-loud climax, but another kind.
The small kind, one that she knew would be followed really soon by something more shattering if he kept making love even after every drop of his come was spent.
He laced his finger in hers. He licked her nipples, her throat, across her lips.
“I loved you, Evans. I fucking loved you. Shit,” he whispered by her ear. “I think I still love you.”
He kissed down the middle of her body and then parted her nether lips. His tongue was agile, his breath warm. She planted her feet on his shoulders and braced herself for the second shock wave, the one that would come in a few moments. He pushed two fingers inside her and she rode the motion of his hand.
Her cries echoed through the pine trees. She wanted to shriek again, but he covered her mouth with his and drank in her sounds. She pushed against his hand as he encouraged her to another orgasm.
She came three times with him. The little one. Then two stronger ones. Her insides burned and her clit was numb when he was done.
“I’ll need a deep soak to recover from that.” She pulled out of his arms and stood up, stretching and indulging in the freedom of standing in the open air, now in the dark night, where no one could see her.
“That’s it? I tell you I think I love you, and all you can say is you’ll need a soak in my bathtub.”
“What else were you looking for? You wanted your mind fucked. I guess I did a good job. It’s what I do.”
He jerked as if she’d slapped him. She saw the confusion flit across his face, then wipe away as if he’d passed a hand over his face. His face went stone cold and expressionless.
“There’s a whirlpool tub in the big bedroom. But you know where it is, don’t you?”
He stood up and approached the deck door. It slid open silently to admit him. In moments, he’d disappeared into the dark recesses of the house.
