“I’m actually glad Sid is making his trideo, which isn’t a sentiment I thought I’d ever express,” Emily said. “There needs to be a record of this, however it all turns out.”
“Some guy’s on a roll at the casino right now, been winning for two days straight at comets and stars poker. He’s been unbeatable at every variation of the game known to man, which has captured a lot of attention.”
“Did you make a bet?”
Jake frowned. “No, I’m not much for gambling. Goes against my training. Never rely on luck. I did check him out, and he’s legit—a passenger, not a card shark or a known cheat. Did you know there are a lot of unofficial betting pools about the outbreak? How many will die…” His voice trailed off.
“Humans will bet on anything, I guess.” Emily pushed her plate aside, appetite depressed by the idea of people taking odds on the mortality rate. “I’m ready for dessert.”
“All right, your wish is my command.” Jake moved the main course and set the cake between them. With a flourish, he handed her a fork.” You can have the first bite.”
Licking her lips, Emily sliced through the tip of the wedge and raised the laden tines in his direction. “I want you to have it.”
Obediently, he leaned toward her and opened his mouth to accept the generous morsel. Delicately, she fed him, watching with a delighted expression as he enjoyed the cake.
“My turn,” she said, resting her fork on the plate.
He got an equal amount of the rich chocolate onto his fork and shared the delicacy, a bit more awkwardly than she’d managed, but with a grin. She washed the bite down with a sip of wine and patted her lips with the napkin. “Good, but could be better.” Picking up her wine glass, she skirted the end of the table and seated herself on his lap, twining her free arm around his neck. “Kiss me,” she said, and although he was half afraid he might be dreaming, he was only too happy to oblige.
She tasted of the wine and the chocolate, and her mouth was a warm heaven. He adjusted his angle to deepen the kiss, and Emily set the glass down to hold him close with both arms, her breasts pressing against his chest. Instantly hard, Jake couldn’t stop himself from groaning. Emily broke off the kiss for a moment, and he released her, unsure what she wanted.
Rising from the chair, she grabbed the belt of her robe and undid the simple knot, all the while staring at him with a sultry smile. The plush fabric fell open, exposing her rosy-tipped breasts and the sweep of her beautiful curves, accented at the hip with a tiny tattoo. With a deep sigh, he allowed his gaze to travel down her body then return to her face. “Beautiful,” he said, his voice hoarse.
She came to straddle him on the chair as he held her close, wrapping one hand in her hair to hold her to him so they could kiss, the other hand busy exploring the soft weight of her breast, teasing the budded nipple, stroking her soft stomach. The robe cocooned them in warmth as she rocked on his crotch, where his erection stretched his trousers, desperate to plunge into her. Emily unfastened his shirt, running her hand over his chest in a sensuous circle, gliding past his nipples before trailing her fingers over his abdomen and beneath the waistband of his pants. He sucked in his gut to give her better access and then groaned again as she caged his aching length in her skillful fingers.
He broke off the kiss as she stroked him, her hand firm and possessive. “I won’t last if you do that.”
She nibbled his neck, moving up to nip at his earlobe. “I’m not on duty again until morning, unless there’s a new emergency or the doctors on duty fall ill. We have time to do whatever we want. More than once.”
He cupped her with his hand, finding her aroused and ready for him, which only heightened his own arousal. With determination, he lifted her off his lap. “I want to come inside you, with nothing between us.” He threw his head back against the chair. “I didn’t bring any protection.”
“I’m protected,” she said. “No worries. And we’ve both had the required physicals.”
Relieved by her answer, he stood up, fumbling with the fastening of his trousers. She pushed his fingers away. “Let me.”
It took her a moment to undo his pants and push them to his ankles, freeing his caged penis, which surged to attention. He sighed in relief, toeing off his shoes with difficulty and stepping out of the clothes. Emily was kissing him again, yanking his shirt down his arms while she captured his mouth. He helped her as best he could while fighting to remove her robe, then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
Gently, he laid her on the bed, immediately lowering himself to cover her. His rock hard penis lay cradled in the vee of her legs, pushing insistently against the soft, slick opening. Jake knew he was perilously close to finishing, and he craved nothing more than to feel her wrapped around him as he came. He moved one hand to stroke her most intimate lips, penetrating easily with two fingers because she was so ready for him. As he rubbed the sensitive nub in small circles, Emily shifted under him, moaning and holding him closer. Their kisses grew more frantic, tongues tangling.
He guided himself into her channel, thrusting powerfully as her body accepted him, drawing him farther into her embrace. Hips driving, hands under her soft butt to hold her in place, he broke off the kiss, burying his face in the soft curve of her neck as he felt himself going over the edge of pleasure, unable to stop, unable to do anything but race into the sweet oblivion of an orgasm more powerful than any he’d ever experienced before. As he thrust, her tremors increased, clenching and milking his cock. He managed to hang on, to continue to pleasure her until she was screaming his name, climaxing in the throes of passion, his own release following within seconds.
He didn’t want to ever let her go, wanted to stay seated in her luscious body till the end of time, but eventually he felt compelled to roll to the side to avoid crushing her uncomfortably beneath him. He was a big man, and Emily was petite. Reluctantly, he moved but gathered her close again immediately. He stroked her hair off her face, planted little kisses on her lips and forehead. He was afraid to speak, afraid to ruin the moment with some clumsy remark. He didn’t want anything to spoil the bliss that was making love to Emily.
She snuggled close to him, throwing her leg over his, resting her head on his shoulder. Nothing had ever felt as right to him as holding her close at this moment did. Softly, she stroked his cock, cupping his balls for a moment before running one finger over the sensitive skin behind them. Unbelievably, his body already fought to prepare itself to make love to her again.
“You were amazing,” she whispered.
He laid one finger under her chin, raising her face so he could gaze into her eyes. “Only because I was with you, special lady. I never felt this way about anyone before. I-I don’t have the words, not enough words, not the right words to tell you—” He choked off his fumbling speech in frustration.
She put a hand on his lips. “I don’t need the words. I see the truth in your eyes. You told me with your touch, in the way you made love to me.”
“You were right, you know.” He let one hand slip to cup her breast, enjoying the silk of her skin and the perfect way she filled his palm.
“About?” She ran her hand over his thigh, fingers teasing at the edge of his crotch as she stroked his body, exploring the contours.
“About us, about waiting.” He rolled her onto her back and leaned on his elbow, staring into her face. “I don’t ever want you to doubt my feelings for you, the woman I’ve fallen for in the last few weeks. No one else, just Emily.”
He thought he glimpsed the glimmer of tears in her eyes, but she pulled his head down for a kiss, and next thing he knew his body was covering hers again and rising to the occasion.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Emily woke early, stretching judiciously so as not to wake Jake yet. Deep inside she felt a few twinges, as they’d played hard, all night, but the pleasure and closeness shared with Jake were worth a bit of discomfort after the fact. She was out of practice. Rolling onto her side, she surveyed him from head
to toe. He hadn’t said he loved her, in so many words. She hadn’t said she loved him. Her lips curved with happiness and satisfaction as a warm sensation of security swept through her. It was good to feel a close connection with another human being, with Jake, not have to touch him through a contamination suit and hope he wasn’t going to die.
Being reminded of her own healthy state and his was a tonic for her nerves, a safe harbor from the unceasing illness and death on Level C. She hoped the military injects continued to keep the disease at bay. She’d wanted to investigate that aspect of the outbreak more closely, but so far the military had stonewalled requests for data on the injects Emily, Jake and the other former soldiers received during their careers. “Classified” covered a lot of things for Sectors Command.
Emily wasn’t ready to let her mind jump onto the outbreak treadmill again just yet. She craved a few more moments of happiness first. Based on last night, there wasn’t any doubt in her heart about her feelings for Jake, but she liked the idea of taking this relationship in stages, working on getting to know each other. The words would come in due time, she was sure.
She missed his warmth already, even remaining this close to him in the bed. Emily murmured, “Now, how might a big tough security officer like to be awakened in the morning?” She reached out with one hand and lightly caressed his cock.
Jake’s eyes flickered open, and he tensed. “You’ve definitely identified one method. Beats the alarm clock. I can make other, extremely explicit suggestions if you’d like.” He gathered her close. “Do we have time before the morning staff meeting?”
“No, probably not.” She kissed him. “We both need quick showers.”
“And breakfast.” He tapped her on the nose. “You have to keep your strength up. Meg’s told me how you forget to eat anything all day long. I wish I could be there at lunchtime to ensure you sit down and take in some nutrition.”
Laughing, Emily said, “Such a worrier. Who knew?”
“I like taking care of you.” A devilish gleam came into his eyes, and he ground his hips against hers. “I think I’m pretty damn good at it. You seemed to agree last night, more than once, as I recall.”
“No argument there. But we do have to make it to my staff meeting on time. There’s probably enough gossip about us already. A betting pool, maybe.” She found the idea amusing now, where in the past it would have annoyed her immensely. Emily kissed him and rolled away, rising from the warm bed with a shiver. She reached over to smack his ass lightly. “You can take your shower with me, if that’s any consolation.”
“Now you’re talking, Doc.” Jake was all enthusiasm as he chased her into the bathroom.
Miracle of miracles, Emily thought, they did arrive at the meeting a few minutes early and didn’t have to do the walk of shame into the room in front of the rest of the staff. She had launched into the first item on the agenda when Mrs. Fenn knocked and peeked into the small conference room.
“I’d like to invite myself to the morning meeting,” she said, her face set in unusually serious lines. “I have something to report from the initial data analysis.”
Emily waved her inside. “Good news, I hope?”
“Interesting.” The elderly woman shrugged as she sat down in the chair Jake brought her and placed her knitting bag on the deck. “Might help keep panic down on board.”
Trying not to get her hopes up, Emily fiddled with her stylus. “By all means, share. We could all use something positive.”
“People with blood Type O aren’t coming down with this disease. You have no patients with Type O blood who exhibited stage-one symptoms or were given Galamialate.”
“So maybe the ones who are healthy now will stay symptom-free?” Meg asked. She looked at the medical personnel seated with her. “Am I understanding this news correctly?”
“Can we use Type O blood as a treatment for those who are sick? O is the universal donor, right?” Jake said.
“Correct.” Emily fought to keep her excitement under control. “Maeve, do we have Type O available?”
“Yes, Doctor, we have a small supply.”
“I bet if we asked for volunteers, we could get a lot more. I’d volunteer. I’m O,” Meg said.
“I think we need to run a small experiment first, see if the blood helps the victims at all. There may be other factors at play here that we don’t understand.” Emily hated to quell the rising enthusiasm in the room. Her staff needed all the hope Mrs. Fenn or anyone else could generate for them over this news, but it was too soon to declare any kind of victory. “Maeve, I need to speak to Mr. Enzell. His wife and son were the first to arrive at sickbay with stage two and remain the most critically ill of the surviving, so I’d like to test our theory with them. If the O blood gives any kind of advantage at all, the Enzells need it the most. I’ll require his permission to proceed with the experiment.”
“One isolated piece of data may not be significant,” Mrs. Fenn warned. “But I deemed it worthy of reporting.”
“Thank you so much for tackling the analysis,” Emily said. “I’ll pass the news on to Captain Fleming. Maybe the Sectors authorities will rethink their orders about marooning us in a deserted star system. Of course he’d have to drop out of hyperspace again to transmit.”
“I wouldn’t be too hopeful,” Jake said. “An awful lot of people are the other blood types, not to mention all the nonhuman-descent residents of Sector Hub. No one knows if any of them are susceptible to Groskin’s. Until we know the cause of the outbreak—if we ever do—I think we’re still in a lot of trouble out here.”
The ping of an incoming message dragged Emily from a deep sleep in the early hours of her fifteenth day onboard the ship. “What is it?”
“Sorry to disturb you, Doctor.” Bevar’s deep bass voice vibrated through the comlink. “We have two new cases of stage-one Groskin’s.”
“What?” Wide awake now, she sat bolt upright in bed. “Give me all the details—wait, where are the patients?”
“In sickbay. I’m up here at the moment too. I think you’d better come.”
“New cases.” Her heart sank. The two things giving anyone hope at the moment were the lack of fresh victims and the Type O protection Mrs. Fenn had just identified the day before. “Blood type?”
“We’re okay there. Neither patient is Type O.” Bevar sounded as relieved as she felt. “Nothing to call into question Mrs. Fenn’s analysis. All our Type O passengers are safe as far as we know.”
Jake was awake now as well, bringing the lights up and pulling on clothes.
Distractedly, Emily got dressed in the uniform he handed her, firing questions at her PA. “Who are these people?”
“Newlyweds, actually. Been in their cabin for the entire cruise up till two days ago.” Bevar’s voice sounded as if he was highly amused, despite the gravity of the situation. “Then they ventured out and enjoyed some of the ship’s advertised luxury features.”
“And now both husband and wife are sick?” Emily tsked in dismay. “We’re going to need a complete list of where this couple went, what they did.” She flicked the symbol allowing her to talk to the Ship. “Maeve, can you check your files on this couple as well, in case their account omits something? People who are ill might not have the most perfect recall of details.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
With Jake at her side, Emily made her way through the relatively deserted corridors and reached sickbay in record time. Bevar met her in the lobby. “Mr. and Mrs. Tetler are in room two, terrified out of their minds despite my best attempt to be reassuring. Apparently, the couple didn’t listen to any of the ship messages or broadcasts, so when they got sick and came to see us, the news of what’s going on was a rude shock.”
“No matter how thorough communication is, someone misses getting the word.” Emily walked into the exam room to meet her latest patients, Jake remaining in the lobby.
“Are we going to die?” was the first thing out of the man’s mouth. He was trembling an
d pasty white with a green tinge, probably from nausea.
“Not all those who are infected progress to stage two of Groskin’s,” Emily said in her most reassuring voice. She raised an eyebrow at Bevar. “Did you administer Galamialate yet?”
“Yes, Doctor. There were no contraindications.”
“Will the inject keep us from getting worse?” Mrs. Tetler asked, rubbing her husband’s arm.
“We don’t know much about the course of Groskin’s yet. I’m unable to give assurances about stage two, but the nausea and related symptoms of stage one will definitely pass. I need to ask you what you did after you left your cabin…two days ago, was it?” She tried to belatedly apply a little bedside manner. “Congratulations on your marriage, by the way.”
“I wanted to take our honeymoon on Harilon, at the five-star resort in the tropics,” Mr. Tetler said, giving his wife an angry glare and moving an inch or two away from her. “But nooo, you wanted to be on the same ship with the famous trideo stars. Who we haven’t seen.”
“The cruise isn’t over yet,” she said, pointing her chin in the air and sniffing. “Besides, everyone we know has gone to that resort on their honeymoon. We’re the first in our crowd to do a romantic star cruise.”
“Yeah, and see how your choice is turning out. We might be dying!” He wrapped his arms across his stomach and cringed as a fresh wave of nausea and cramps swept over him.
Not enjoying being present at their newlywed quarrel, Emily said, “I can probably get you an autograph from Liora and Sid. Possibly a meeting later in the cruise, but no promises there. It’ll depend on their availability.” Who am I kidding? Sid will probably love the newlywed angle to add interest to his documentary. As the bride bestowed a beaming smile and rushed to give effusive thanks, Emily went on. “Now if you can please tell me what activities you did after you decided to leave your suite a few days ago?”
“Breakfast in the Level A dining room, a day at the beach—”
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