Angelica looked more relaxed than usual. The determination remained, but she seemed softer somehow. Less crisp than her usual uptight aura. She was likely overworked. Perhaps she was tired. Perhaps he was just as fatigued and seeing things that weren’t there. He should get some extra sleep while he was off duty.
He caught Angelica’s eye. “I have no doubt about your ability to handle anything, Lieutenant Brice. Carry on.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Gray exited the command deck and headed to his room. As he passed Penelope’s quarters, his heartbeat sped up. She intrigued him. He’d love to talk to her, but didn’t know if she was even awake.
Brushing his hand across the smooth surface of Penelope’s door, Gray resisted the urge to stop and knock. It wasn’t like they could have a simple chat. If he entered her room, he’d have to fuck her once before a coherent conversation could take place. Better to just call her from his quarters rather than initiate something she might not want. A wave of regret rode though him at any monster able to conceive of such a virus. Penelope’s condition was deplorable.
Sex or suffer was no way to live.
He shook his head and entered his quarters. After he responded to all of his messages, he stripped and fell face forward into his bunk. The sheets still carried Penelope’s scent. He inhaled deeply and drifted off with her on his mind.
Alarm set for four hours later, Gray woke with a start when the buzzer sounded and sat up in bed. He snapped the alarm off just in time to hear a nasty hollow grinding noise from somewhere towards the engine room. Then the lights went out. Again.
Shit.
He slipped out of bed and felt his way to the communication device on his desk in the pitch blackness of his room. After five seconds, which seemed like much longer, the lights flickered back on, and his communication screen flashed back to life in the form of the comforting cerulean blue backlight.
Gray slammed his palm on the “send” button and called the command deck. “Another blackout! Why does this keep happening?”
Angelica responded. “Unknown, sir.” To her credit, her voice never wavered or sounded uncertain when he was in a bad mood. Even as angry as he was now, Angelica never cowered from him. But it didn’t stop his rage or the tone in his command.
“Find out!”
“Yes, sir. I’ll check with Kerchner again.”
“Fine, but don’t let him slow us down. Make sure the ship speed goes back to where I had it once the engines reengage.”
“Yes, sir.”
A thud sounded from the wall connecting his room to Penelope’s. His gaze rose to the vent above his desk connecting the rooms. These blackouts were going to become a really ugly problem very fast for Penelope if they continued.
Gray pushed out a deep breath and signaled Angelica again. “I’ll be off line for the next half hour, I’ll call you for a status report on the blackout then.”
“Yes, sir. Brice out.”
Damn. He could fairly see his aroma floating to the air shaft and into Penelope’s room. This had to be excruciating for her. Unsure of how much time would elapse before she sought him out, he pondered his next move. Should he go to her room or wait for her to come to him?
He heard another indistinct scraping noise from her room. Better go to her.
Decision made, Gray slipped on a pair of pants and pulled a shirt over his head on his way out. Three steps down the hall and Penelope’s door slid wide open. She launched out into the corridor on a trajectory for his room. The lust-crazed shine in her eyes was back. Gray grabbed her up into his arms, carried her back into her room and shut the door behind him. Without speaking, she pulled off his shirt as he pushed his pants off his hips.
“Penelope?” He searched her eyes for some sort of recognition, but she stared right through him.
“You know what I want!” The low growl of her voice sounded pained as well as insistent. Her gaze pierced him to the marrow of his bones, but he got the distinct impression that she didn’t see him beyond a solution to her immediate problem. Poor Penelope. Unfortunately, he knew exactly what she wanted. The cure for this disease. Instead, for now she could only get fucked.
She’d apparently discarded her panties before he arrived. He didn’t even take time to carry her to bed. Instead, he turned and pushed her against the wall without a single protest from her lips. Already panting wildly, she widened her legs without his asking. Cock in hand, Gray pointed it between her legs and pushed his hips forward, feeling his way into her already slick pussy.
“Fuck me, damn it. Hurry up! I can’t wait.” She put her hand on his hip and pulled, which sent the head of his dick inside her pussy.
Gray thrust inside her body until his balls bounced against her. His cock was cocooned between her hot, slick walls. He pulled out and stroked in again deeply. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the physical aspects. She was so wet and hot it was a wonder he didn’t lose it faster, but the very nature of this fast fuck went against everything he’d explored in his adult life with regard to sex. He wanted her cured because no one should have to endure this sort of existence.
Penelope slung an arm around his neck and rocked her hips against his as if trying to speed the act up. Soon after she started whimpering, and he knew she must be in pain. He was taking too long. Gray closed his mind and let the physicality of the act come to its logical conclusion. The fast orgasm tightened his balls, gripped his dick, and he exploded inside her with a rush.
She released a deep sigh the second he released, and her movements slowed to a stop. Pinned to the wall by his body, Penelope soon slumped against him, her face rested against his chest. Two seconds later she started crying.
He couldn’t blame her. Not one bit.
Gray kissed her temple and removed his cock from between her legs. She started to slide to the floor still weeping, but he picked her up and carried her to the shower.
“I hate that this keeps happening,” she stuttered out between sobs. “I can’t even say, ‘Hello. How are you?’ before I rip your clothes off and force you to have sex with me.” Another bout of weeping came next.
“Shh. Please don’t cry. It breaks my heart. I’m so sorry you have to endure this agony.” Gray turned the water on and once it warmed up he led her, without any resistance, into the shower stall.
She didn’t once protest or stop him as he carefully and methodically washed her from head to feet. He soaped up and scrubbed himself quickly as she watched without seeming to really see him. A little worried about her, Gray decided not to press any further sexual attention.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked folding his arms together and leaning against the wall of the shower.
Penelope looked up as if suddenly surprised to see him in there with her. “I’m not sure. I have to tell you that this…condition is really wearing on me.”
“I understand completely.” He turned and shut the water off. “Let me tuck you into bed, and I’ll get out of here.”
Her hand shot out and grabbed his forearm. “Please don’t leave me. Not yet.”
The look in her eyes said she was desperate. “Please. Just for a few minutes.”
He nodded. “I can stay for an hour or so. Then I’ll have to go on duty.”
She visibly relaxed and uttered a quiet, “Thank you.”
Gray dried her off and carried her to bed. She didn’t stop him, but hugged his neck and wouldn’t let him get too far away once he settled them beneath the sheets.
He kissed her forehead tenderly. “You need to rest, Penelope.”
In a tone bordering on watery, she whispered, “I just woke up from a ten hour sleep. The lights went out five minutes after I sat up in bed.”
“I’m sorry the ship had another blackout. I’ll find out why. Plus, I’ll have Angelica work on fixing the room so it doesn’t go back.” Her eyes went wide, but he quickly assured her. “I won’t tell her the real reason. I promise. I’ll just tell her that your lung condition bothers you af
ter each blackout when my room is connected to yours. It’s the truth anyway.”
“Right.” Nodding, she slid deeper beneath the sheets. “Thanks for rushing to me this time. At least I didn’t have to run through the ship’s halls searching for you.”
“That actually brings up a point I’d like to discuss with you. I don’t want my current crew to know anything about your…condition. Most of them are temporary and I don’t trust their permanent discretion like with my regular crew.”
Penelope hugged up closer to him beneath the sheets and slung a leg over his hips. “Okay. I understand. Thanks for letting me know.”
Gray slid his hand to her leg and did his best to relax in her arms. He had one thousand other things he should be doing with his ship, but knew she needed some comfort, and he was the only one aboard able to deliver it.
He brushed a strand of hair off her face and said, “How much do you remember about what happened after you are…temporarily treated.”
“All of it, but it comes through my recollection like I watched instead of participating.” She placed her face against his shoulder and snuggled closer still.
“Is there anything else you can do to prevent the attack?”
Shaking her head, a resigned sigh escaped. “I guess I could wear a filtration mask every hour of every day, but there is a limited supply of them on your ship. We still have eight days to go until we reach the Parsec Colony, right?”
“Yes. Best time is about a week.” Secretly, he hoped his ship would hold together if he pushed the limits of his engine much longer. He tilted his head. “What about a temporary medical treatment?”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s too bad you can’t disable your sense of smell. Maybe catch a cold or something. Then you wouldn’t be able to smell me.” Chuckling, he was surprised when she lifted her head as if pondering his suggestion to get sick.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Penelope stared at him for a long second. Her gaze shifted to an invisible spot over his shoulder before she finally whispered, “I wish I had access to my lab.”
“Why? Do you often catch colds in your lab?” he asked in an effort to cheer her.
“No,” the dreamy tone of her response combined with the sudden narrowing of her brows likely signaled her mind in serious think mode. Penelope was beautiful, but most especially as she contemplated a problem. Eventually, she directed her gaze back to his eyes. “I could simply study the virus if I had access to my lab. Work on a cure, perhaps. You know, a focused task to concentrate on and possibly give my self esteem just a ray of hope and sunshine for an eventual end to this abominable torture.”
Gray nodded but looked away first. He didn’t want her to see the pity in his eyes and didn’t think he could hide it. He silently agonized over her situation. Penelope, unfortunately, attached a different meaning to his response.
“I’m so sorry, Gray. I don’t mean to say that being with you is torture. You’ve been so sweet to me. I’m sorry to be so mean.”
He swept her into his arms, clenching her tight to his chest. The pervasive scent of her freshly showered skin stabbed into his lungs causing lust to coat his insides. “You aren’t mean and trust me when I tell you that you never have to apologize to me, Penelope. Not ever. This virus you have is appalling.” Next time he wouldn’t care if she saw pity in his unguarded expression.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me.” She pressed her soft sweet lips to his throat.
“I know you appreciate me. Besides, it’s not exactly a hardship, Penelope. I promise.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you’d like, I’ll take you down to the med lab on board the Dalton. The medical technician is a robotic unit with limited medically related artificial intelligence capabilities, so you should be okay while working there. Just use a mask to and from the lab. There is a small conference room off of the main med lab with a computer station. The room seals off from the rest of the med lab. You can experiment to your heart’s content.”
Penelope sat up, clutching the sheets to her chin. He found it endearing given all they’d done together. “You’d let me play around in your medical lab?”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
The smile she graced him with was more beautiful than the most colorful sunset on Bravura. She cupped his face with her soft palm. “Thank you, Gray. I’d be so grateful for an opportunity to accomplish something instead of waiting around to succumb to this virus like a powerless victim.”
“Good. I’ll set it up once I get back to my room.” Gray kissed her lips and wondered if she wanted anything else. He’d be delighted to make love to her, but didn’t want to make suggestions or bring up the sensitive subject of sex.
“I hate to ask for anything else…” She sent her gaze to a point across the room.
“Ask. You know I’d do anything if it’s within my power.”
“Okay. The memory of the incident we just shared against the door was very arousing upon reconsideration.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes.”
“And I wondered if you’d like to recreate it or perhaps even expand upon it.”
“I’d love to. I even have an opening ice breaker that I’d like to try, if you’ll let me.”
“I’m yours any way you want me.”
“Good, and for the record, I want you anyway I can get you.”
Gray slid down her body, dropping kisses along the way. He stopped briefly at her breasts to suckle first one nipple and then the other, before continuing on his way to his ultimate goal. He wanted to try something just a little different and proceeded to lick his way lower and lower down her body.
Circling her belly button, Gray traced the tip of his tongue straight south across her mound and over the thin hooded flesh protecting her clitoris. He pulled his mouth away and pushed her legs apart. Gray lowered his mouth and licked her from between her musky wet lower lips to the tip of her clit in one long tongue stroke. She was delicious.
“Oh my.” Penelope tightened her legs around his head, but unclenched when he pressed her legs open with his hands again.
He gave her one more long lick before fastening his lips around her clit to suck. She writhed and moaned with each pull of his mouth. Gray slid two fingers inside her body which quickly coated with her musky juices. The tensile strength of his cock was equal to that of reinforced steel as she arched her back and screamed.
While her pussy still squeezed a rhythm on his fingers, Gray shifted to his knees. He lifted her hips and pushed his cock deeply inside her body on the heels of her orgasm. Pumping inside deeply, Gray felt her vaginal walls constrict and release a few more times.
She rested on her shoulder blades watching him fuck her. He gripped her hips with stable fingers and thrust inside surely as deep as he’d ever been before. He wanted to come after about three strokes, but held back. He didn’t want to get in the perpetual habit of shooting his load like a teenager with his first girl.
He wanted it to last and last. He wanted to make her squeal with climax just once more.
“Touch yourself,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Put your finger on your clit and rub.”
“I…what?”
He stopped pumping long enough to grab her hand gently and place it on her mound. “Go on. Finger your clit. I like to watch, and I’d love for you to come once more and squeeze my cock. Your orgasm registers an incredible feeling on my dick when you come, didn’t you know that?”
She shook her head and the glazed-over stare never left his eyes. Tentatively, she stroked her finger over her clitoris as if the experience was brand new. Gray resumed his thrusts, slow and deep as she rubbed her middle finger over her sensitive hot spot. Panting in less than a minute, he timed his strokes to match her massaging finger, all the while watching her face.
She was a sight to behold. Golden
strands of hair were strewn wildly over her pillow and a dazed lust shown in her eyes. She had the feral look of a woman being pleasured to the limit of her capacity.
Gray lowered his lids, trying to keep from releasing. She was so damn sexy he decided he’d be able to watch her all night long. He wished his time weren’t measured in between his arduous shifts to keep the ship on course and in time to save the very woman his sweat slicked body was attached to.
Penelope sucked in a sudden breath as if shocked by something. In the next beat of time, her orgasm clamped his dick in rhythmic pressure signaling her release. It felt like nirvana wrapped in hot wet heat. Shuddering, and in a spasm of exquisite release, Gray shot his semen deeply into her body as the bone melting orgasm sent waves of pleasure up his spine.
Not only was she amazing in the sack, with or without the virus driving her, the connection with her brother and the Governor would make his life exponentially better.
The satisfaction of the sexual encounter was almost second to the idea of what meeting her brother’s boss would do for him in the business world. Not that he did poorly, he didn’t.
However, a singular private meeting with the trade governor and the accompanying accolades from Dr. Drake and her brother were like credits he could already count.
Gray almost felt guilty about how much he enjoyed the surprise sex with Penelope. That information alone might have made the trip worthwhile, had he known before securing this trip, but as an added benefit, he knew in his heart he would never regret it.
Part of him had begun to think of Penelope as a permanent fixture in his life. She was fast becoming someone he didn’t want to end his acquaintance with.
* * * *
Penelope adjusted the temporary filter mask on her face for the tenth time since entering the Dalton’s medical lab. Knowing that this small very annoying attachment was the only thing keeping her from having sex with whatever male wandered nearby or into the medical lab didn’t make her like the clinging device any more. In fact, it made her inherently nervous.
Sex or Suffer [Dark Colony 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 11
