“That’s odd,” she whispered, bending closer to one wheat stalk. She tipped it with her finger and drew away with a small insect perched on the tip.
Peering over her shoulder, he noted the frown bisecting her brow. “A ladybug?”
“This insect’s not scheduled for release. It shouldn’t be here.”
Colm shrugged. “Perhaps it stowed away with the seeds when they were shipped.”
Still staring at the tiny round bug, she shook her head. “Makes me wonder what else might have. I’ll have to report the sighting.” She tucked the insect deep into her pants pocket.
“Do you really think the company can control every element of this world?”
“They have to try,” she said softly. “There’s a fine balance here, between all elements of the environment.”
“Is there no room in these plans for surprises? For a natural progression?”
Her head canted as she studied his face. “You’re an odd man, Colm. Everyone knows the dangers imminent when things and people are given free will.”
Colm breathed deeply, pulling his gaze from her curious one. He knew she wondered about him, where his loyalties lay.
Phobos rose large on the horizon. She glanced toward it, shielding her eyes as the sun peeked around the edges of the asteroid. “That’s the last orbit for the day. We should head back before night falls.”
Colm’s body tightened. His own indoctrination had included training to please his new master. After all, farmers must be kept happy. He wondered if she would avail herself of his training tonight or would opt to get to know him better first.
He tamped down his excitement, but already blood surged southward, thickening his cock. A chance to lie with her, to lose himself in lust, was too tempting a thought. Could he tempt her to forget her natural reticence? “I’m trained, you know. I could give you a massage. Draw your bath…”
Her head swung his way, green eyes narrowed. “Let’s get this straight. I don’t need a servant or a sex worker. I need a partner. You aren’t obligated to pleasure me. So long as you pull your own weight, I’ll be satisfied.”
He suppressed a grin at her terse tone. “And what if I have needs, ma’am?”
Her jaw clenched. “You have a hand. Use it.”
She stomped away, but he couldn’t help smiling. He’d noted her heightened color. He’d shocked her. Now, she was thinking about the coming night and all the delightful possibilities.
*
Mary eyed Colm from beneath the sweep of her thick eyelashes as he bent over the bowl of stew she’d heated for their dinner. Ever since he’d offered to pleasure her, she hadn’t been able to get certain lusty images out of her head. Ages had passed since she’d taken a sexual partner.
And what if I have needs, ma’am? She wished she could look at him as though he was just another machine she’d been provided for convenience, because dammit she had needs, too. Yet, even though she understood the necessity of physical release, somehow the thought of using a prisoner in that way felt sordid.
He really didn’t have any choice in the matter. And even though he’d offered, he might have done so because of his conditioning, not because of any true attraction he might feel. How could she know for sure? Certainly, they were destined to mate, and they both had an obligation to reproduce. However, deep inside, she hoped they’d find some affection first. Some spark of attraction to make the act feel less like another of her daily mandated chores.
Sitting across from him, she freely admitted more than a spark existed on her side. Although his features were rugged, he was a handsome man. With a square jaw and sharp, blunt blade of a nose, his face was strong and masculine. His cheekbones were as chiseled as arrowheads. When he spoke, white even teeth flashed between firm lips. Already, her nipples tightened as she imagined those lips tugging at their tips.
His size alone fed a feminine hunger to feel his weight pressing on her body. Thick dark hair caused her fingers to curl against the need to comb through it. His watchful gaze inspired images of him rising up to look between their naked bodies as they came together.
He’d be attentive to her pleasure. His training ensured that, but would he really want her?
Mary pushed aside the foolish thought. His wants should be secondary to their mission. They were ordained to mate, to produce progeny and populate this planet, just as they were ordained to nurture the fields. “Would you like to join me on the porch?” she asked. “The fireworks should begin soon.”
“Fireworks?” A dark brow arched, seeming to mock her flight of fancy.
“Okay, so missiles, actually. Seeding the clouds. This will be the first time I’ve seen the seeding since leaving the dome. Would you like to watch?”
In answer, he gathered their dishes without being asked and took them to the sink. Then they both headed to the open door and the dark porch outside. She sat atop the steps, making room for him to join her then trained her gaze on the sky. “It’s supposed to look like the Fourth of July,” she whispered and angled her head to glance his way. “Where was your home, Colm?”
She was entitled to his answer, but wanted more. Not wanting to pry, she glanced away in case her question caused him pain, but also giving him the signal he could share if he wanted or not.
“Arizona,” came his gruff reply. “You?”
“Iowa.” She smiled. “My great-great grandparents were farmers. It’s partly why I decided to apply for the land grant.”
“Were there other reasons?”
She grimaced. “I wasn’t the best student. No aptitude for math or science. And since I didn’t want to be consigned to factory work, I volunteered for this.”
“Did you leave anyone behind?”
She shook her head. “My parents died several years ago. There wasn’t anyone.” Although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, she asked, “Did you leave someone behind?”
Colm drew a deep breath. Sorrow deepened the grooves beside his mouth. “My father. He was in enforcement. And my little brother. Also a cop.” His mouth tightened, and then he shot her a pointed glance. “You haven’t asked me the important question yet.”
“Okay.” She swallowed hard. “What crime did you commit?”
His smile was bittersweet, a thin twisting of his firm lips. “My crime was daring to question.”
Shock rattled through her, but she held his gaze. “You were a rebel?”
“Imagine that,” he said, his tone filled with bitter sarcasm. “They sent one of me here.”
She shook her head. “Were you one of those doing the bombings?”
“No.” He gave a swift shake of his head. “I chose civil disobedience. I never wanted to harm anyone.”
His glance fell away, and she noted the tightness of his jaw. “But you did?”
He stared at his hands, which gripped his knees. “I broke into a comm facility. It was supposed to be fully automated, but they’d posted human guards…” His jaw tightened. “I was the one with the skills to get us inside. We intended to divert the feed and post our own transmissions. Free radio. Tell the truth about what the governments were up to.”
“Up to?” She snorted. Seemed everyone had had a conspiracy theory or two.
His gaze swung her way, his eyes cold as a Martian glacier. “You don’t get it. Whole regions of the Earth were dying. Our only hope was population reduction and plantation projects. Plans were already in motion, plans every single government in the seven sectors supported.”
Ah, she’d heard of this. She shook her head. “A grand conspiracy?”
His eyes narrowed. “How about extermination? World extermination.”
Mary studied his face. Colm believed what he said. How the hell had he gotten past the psych evals? “That’s ridiculous. They’re already practicing population control.”
“The plan wasn’t working fast enough.”
“How do you know?’
“I was military, ma’am,” he bit out. “Part of the group responsi
ble for security around the S-17 summits. I heard everything. That’s why I’m here and not in some hellhole prison camp on Earth. They didn’t want word getting out before the program began. While I slept in stasis aboard the prison ship traveling here, it happened. It’s done.”
Cold, like ice water spilling down her spine, shivered through her. “But news feeds…there’s been no mention. Something that big—”
“The feeds are fiction,” he ground out. “To keep you happy. To keep you working and productive. The next waves of colonists are already in transit, just as dumb and oblivious. Years will pass before you all learn the truth.”
Mary grew still. Everything he said made sense. “Extermination…” She raised her gaze to the sky, searching for the small speck of unblinking light that was the Earth. “I don’t know why that’s so shocking. It’s what the doomsayers have been talking about for years. The end of the world.”
“No. New life. That’s the name of the initiative. Their comforting spin for those who were allowed to live.”
Mary sat silent for a long moment, then dragged in a deep breath. “Do I want to know how they did it?”
“I was captured before that part was discussed. But the method had to be fast, targeted.”
Flares lit the sky above them, and then explosions sounded as the missiles blew apart, delivering their payload. “The fireworks,” she whispered, trying not to imagine how the governments had cleansed the Earth.
Moving slowly, Colm placed his arm around her back.
Mary sat, stiff, unyielding, worried he might reach for the chip. She kept her hand on her thigh, ready. But when he simply held her, she felt the tension in her body slowly leak away. She leaned close to his side, accepting his comfort. Offering hers.
She’d heard pain in his rough voice. Maybe his crime had been misinformation. Maybe he was a con man. However, deep inside, she knew he’d spoken the truth. “So, your father and brother?”
“Dead. They wouldn’t have been deemed important enough to save.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered over a sudden lump in her throat.
His chin scratched the top of her head as he folded her closer. “As awful as it is, I won’t let bitterness touch you,” he said, his voice filled with gravel. “My promise. What you have here, what you might share with me, is something…hopeful. I get that.”
She tilted back her head. “This isn’t an easy life, Colm. And for most of the time, we’ll be alone out here. I’d like for us to be friends.”
One corner of his mouth curled up, and his gaze narrowed. “Could that be friends who sleep together?”
Relieved he seemed ready to change the painful subject, she arched a brow. “Are you afraid of sleeping on that little cot?” she teased, surprised she knew how.
“Terrified.” A hand cupped the back of her head.
Giving him the weight of it, she relaxed, surrendering as bright starbursts of light filled the sky beyond him, and he kissed her.
*
They undressed in silence. Mary was glad he didn’t feel the need to talk. Her mouth was dry, her tongue thick. If she tried to enter into any bedroom talk, she thought she’d probably only manage a croak.
However, the moment he shoved down his trousers, her mouth moistened.
His cock sprang free, tilting toward the ceiling, and all she could think was how relieved she was that there was visible proof of that elusive spark she’d hoped for.
He climbed onto her larger bed and lay on his side, a curled hand supporting his head, and patted the mattress. A faint smile curved his lips as his gaze swept her trim body. She noted his pause when his gaze touched on her breasts, on the chip, then slid away again when it dipped to the apex of her thighs.
Making a quick decision, Mary turned and slipped the chain over her head then hid the chip in the clothing sitting in a neat pile on her dresser. When she swung back, his gaze was warm.
His cock jerked. His legs shifted, opening as he bent one to make room for his burgeoning erection and hardening balls.
Without hesitating, she lay beside him, rolling to her side to face him.
He cupped her chin and rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. “Are you sure you want to settle for friends?” he asked softly.
She liked that he didn’t ask her about the chip. Removing it made sense. They both knew that if he touched it, pain would rack his body. He might be able to destroy it before he was brought to his knees, but why risk it? “I hope for more than being friends,” she said, keeping her gaze steady so he’d know she spoke the truth. “I do. But for now…”
Again, his thumb rasped her lips. “Yes?”
It had been so long since she’d felt another’s touch. She rubbed her cheek against his large palm. “For now, I’d settle for sex.” A smile tugged at her mouth. “Straight up, sweaty sex.”
His lips stretched. “Yes, ma’am.”
Their second kiss wasn’t the sweet, chaste thing they’d shared on the porch. The moment his lips touched hers, his hand smoothed down to cup her bottom and pull her closer. His cock dug into her bare belly, and her body reacted, her sex swelling, excitement seeping from inside her as her hips flexed to bring their bodies closer still.
His mouth pressed against hers. His tongue darted out to push against closed lips, until she opened, then swept inside to tangle with her own. Again, she sighed, this time into his mouth, and he rumbled back.
With a quick breathless movement, he rolled atop her body, nudging with his knees to open her. When the long, thick ridge glided between her folds, she bent her knees and curled her hips, forming a cradle for him to rock against. Her arms encircled his strong back, and she sought handholds, squeezing his shoulders, running her fingers down the deep indention of his spine, raking her nails across his buttocks to encourage him.
When he finally rose, braced on both arms, his mouth was tight, tilted on one corner. “I could slow down…”
“I want you inside me. Don’t make me wait.” She narrowed her eyes and pretended to touch the chip.
The growl he gave made her giggle, but she forced her mouth into a frown until he shifted, raising his hips then dipping to spear her sex with the blunt round tip of his cock. Her vagina contracted, holding him there. He stretched her opening, circling gently, screwing into her until her pussy relaxed.
Her breaths deepened; endorphins released. Her lids drifted down as the pleasure prickled her skin and liquid flowed to ease his entry.
Colm dropped to his elbows. His body blanketed hers, warming her inside and out. His movements were small, subtle pulses, enough to keep them both excited, but not so much they rocketed toward orgasm.
“You’re stronger than you look,” he murmured.
His sleepy gaze said how much her sexy inner clasps pleased him. She gave him another squeeze, then undulated her hips. “I’m not delicate, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
“Are you impatient?”
She shook her head, but then wrinkled her nose. “Getting there. I think.” And she was. Moisture built and friction burned inside her. Her nipples were tight needy beads that couldn’t be satisfied with the gentle chafes from the curly hair on his chest. “Colm, please,” she whispered.
“Please? You have only to command me.”
“Not here. Not now.” Her fingernails dug into his ass. “I need you to take me. Move now. Please, Colm.”
He lowered himself further, sliding his hands beneath her body to cup her ass, then began to hump her, driving deeper and deeper, while the slippery-wet sounds of their joining amplified, echoing against the hard concrete walls.
She moaned in his ear, then sucked the lobe between her lips and bit him. “More,” she whispered, her breath flowing in a whoosh.
Colm withdrew abruptly, kneeling over her. Rough hands turned her and pulled up her hips. She got her knees beneath her a moment before he cupped her sex, set his thick cockhead against her plump folds and plunged inside.
Mary howled. Not
from pain, but from joy. Pushing up on her arms, she rocked backward to meet his thrusts, reveling in the sensations his motions produced. Fierce heat burned inside her; her bottom warmed as his pelvis slammed against it. His fingers curved around the corners of her hips, holding her still then jostling her forward and back so they slammed together, slick slaps that added to the percussive gusts of their expelled breaths. Her body stiffened, her back arching, ass tilting higher to allow him as deep as he could sink.
Just as her pleasure reached its zenith, he slid two fingers into the top of her folds and swirled on her tiny, rigid clit. She exploded, emitting a warbling wail as her orgasm cascaded over her, quivering along her skin, rippling deep inside her channel.
His muffled shout followed, but he continued to rock against her. When he slowed, he bent his body to blanket her back. His arms encircled her in a crushing hug.
She didn’t mind. Inside his strong embrace, she felt a sense of welcoming, of peace, of pleasure shared.
They fell to the bed, bodies still connected. Within his embrace, she snuggled her bottom into the cradle of his thighs and slept.
*
Rain pattered on the metal roof, a soothing sound that had Mary nestling deeper against Colm’s chest. With a thigh trapped between his and an arm around his waist, she seemed every bit as content as he felt.
For the first time since he’d awoken aboard his transport ship after the liquids had cleared from his lungs in the stasis cell, he didn’t awaken with his chest tight with sorrow. The woman nestled so closely against him was an innocent, as much a pawn in this grand scheme as he was. There was no war to fight. No cause to herald.
All that was left was surrender.
As he lay there with his mistress wrapped around him, his body began to shake. Tears eased from his eyes and seeped into the pillow beneath his head. He closed his eyes and willed himself to lie still so as not to wake her.
“What’s wrong?”
He couldn’t answer for the lump lodged at the back of his throat.
Ultra Strokes Page 9
