Moongazer

by Mari Mancusi

  And I mean it, too, I realize, as the words spill from my mouth. I've lost my chance to go back to Earth. To be safe and sound with the man I love. But for some reason I don't feel the least bit of regret. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I do know, like it or not, this is now my fight. And I plan to give it my all.

  As I'm standing here now, my old life, the one on Earth, seems nothing more than a very long dream, a halfhearted excuse of an existence where I never accomplished anything meaningful. Who cares about a video game, about fame and fortune and all the rest? It's all empty and useless when standing beside the opportunity to save a world. Today I'm alive as I've never been. I have a reason to live. To fight. I have a cause and a people who need me. And I alone have the power to help them.

  I gotta say, in a weird way, I love playing Mariah.

  "She's right," Ruth says in an effort to stop Dawn's continued protest. "It's a good plan. The best chance we've got right now. And Mariah's the only one who can really carry it out."

  "We'll put a tracker on her," suggests Kayce. "So we'll know where she is at all times. If she gets in trouble, she can just hit the panic button and we can figure out a way to storm the house."

  "And Brother Thom's a great swordsman," Hiro adds. "I trained him myself. He can always break cover and help her, if need be. It's not like there'll be much point of cover if we all die."

  Dawn slumps his shoulders. He can't argue with everyone. "Fine," he says. "I can see you're not going to be dissuaded. I don't like it, but I understand why you think it has to be done." He throws me a sad smile. "You're very brave, sweetie. I'll give you that."

  "I have to be," I say simply, getting a warm tickle from his term of endearment. "There's no other choice."

  "I still think you're crazy," Dawn says as we walk through the door and into my apartment. He heads over to the couch and sits down, scrubbing his face with his hands. "It's so dangerous. What if Duske isn't fooled? What if he kills you?" He looks up at me, his eyes hollow and shadowed. "I can't bear the idea of something bad happening to you."

  "I know," I say, taking a seat beside him. I wrap my arms around him and cuddle my head to his shoulder. He body feels warm and taut against mine. Solid, strong. Only the smallest tremble gives away his fear. "I'm scared, too, believe me. But it's a good plan. It can work. And once we get the high-security clearance thumb mold made, we can not only stop the poison, but maybe we can figure out some other government tricks. Imagine what secrets are being held in that building."

  "You're right, I know," Dawn relents. He turns his head to kiss me on the forehead. "It is a good plan. And you're extremely brave to volunteer." He shakes his head. "Enough talk now. I have one night with you and I don't plan to waste it by worrying about the future."

  He rises to his feet and leans down to scoop me up as if I'm a baby. I start to laugh, but he silences me with a kiss and makes his way to my bedroom, cradling me in his arms. He lays me gently on the bed and then crawls on top of me, parting my thighs with his knee and finding my mouth. His lips brush against mine. Soft. Reverent. And I realize something's changed between us. Some barrier that prevented us from becoming close has now melted away. Perhaps it's due to me giving up my life on Earth, giving up all the baggage I've been carrying around and accepting my role on Terra. Whatever the reason, there's no longer anything standing in our way. Tonight we will experience each other fully, accept the bond between us, and finally join as one.

  I can't wait.

  Dawn's hands reach up to stroke my hair, my face. He caresses my cheeks softly with the back of his palm, then lowers his mouth to my neck, kissing a path of heat. I arch my neck as his mouth nibbles my sensitive skin. "You smell so sweet," he murmurs. "So .. " His words trail off. He must realize there's no need to speak. His touch is a thousand words, telling me everything he feels.

  "Make love to me, Dawn," I say, unable to hold back. After all, this may be our only chance. Our last night to admit and express the feelings that have grown between us. Tomorrow I go into the lion's den. Tonight I want to be loved by the lamb.

  "I will," he mouths against my skin. He looks up for a moment, catching my eyes in his own glowing blue ones. "I most definitely will."

  He goes back to work, pulling up my shirt, revealing my bare stomach. He trails kisses along my belly as his hands reach up to cradle my breasts. He grazes the tips with his thumb, coaxing them into his power. I squirm under his touch, multiple sensations torpedoing through my insides. His kisses lower and my stomach burns. 1 claw at the sheets, struggling to retain control.

  He reaches down to remove my pants, then pulls aside my lacy panties, exposing me to his mouth. His tongue begins to explore, velvet softness against my sensitive flesh. I arch my back and squeeze my eyes shut as he delves in for a deeper exploration, tasting, sucking, lapping. All the while his fingers toy with my breasts. So gentle, so sweet, yet so powerful and wild.

  It's all too much and it takes no time at all for a tidal wave of ecstasy to wash over me. I cry out as I allow the sensations to consume me, surrendering the charade of control. There's no need for it. I trust him, I realize, to take the steering wheel. To bring me where I've never been before. I know he'll keep me safe. And whether I'll return unscathed or changed forever, it doesn't matter.

  He lifts his head, smiling a shy smile, looking pleased to have brought me so effortlessly to such heights. And this time there's no regret lingering in his eyes. No hesitation. He trusts me, too. He loves me. And suddenly I want to give him as much as he's already given me. More, if I'm able..

  I sit up in bed and motion for him to flip over on his back. He blushes but obeys. I crawl on top of him, straddling him with my thighs, unbuckling his utility belt, pulling it through the loops of his pants, then tossing it aside. I help him out of his jacket and pull his shirt over his head, exposing his strong, muscular chest. I run my fingers over the six-pack abs, exploring each muscle individually. He jerks as my fingers trail lower, his face taut and pale as he searches for control.

  I smile. Nice try. But you won't keep that up for long. Not if I have anything to say about it.

  I go down on my knees at the side of the bed, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants, pulling them down, releasing him from his cloth restraints. I smile up at him. He's hard. Ready. Clearly wanting me as badly as I want him. I take his swollen cock in my hands and run my fingers down its length. He winces a bit, so I pause.

  "Sorry," he apologizes, his face reddening. "It's ... been a while. I hope I can-"

  I shake my head, then press a finger to my lips. There's no need to talk. No need for excuses.

  He chuckles and reaches down to stroke my hair. "Okay, okay," he relents. I nod approvingly, then go back to work, bringing his shaft to my mouth, while still stroking his length with my hands, guiding him in and out, in and out. He groans and digs his hands deeper into my hair, his nails biting at my scalp. But I don't stop. He begins to thrust, matching my rhythm with his hips, rocking against my mouth. I can feel his whole body tremble as I engulf him over and over.

  "Enough!" he cries suddenly, jerking himself away. He rakes a hand through his tousled hair, his face flushed and sweat dripping from his forehead. "God, woman! Are you trying to render me completely useless?"

  "May-be," I say with a small grin. "Perhaps I like you as putty in my hands."

  "I see," he says. "But now it's your turn." He hooks his hands under my arms and yanks me to my feet. He rises, too, spinning me around, kissing me once, then pushing me backward so I fall onto the bed. The gentleness is gone. Now his face is a mask of desire, of raw want that refuses to be gentled. He kicks off his pants and nudges my legs apart, running his hands down my inner thighs, then settles between them, his cock a divining rod easily finding my slick wet core and hovering just above it, teasing my swollen mound. I bite down on my lower lip hard enough to draw blood. It's all I can do not to tilt my pelvis upward, to swallow him inside me, take him as my own. But I wait. Breathless and ready
, I wait. The next move is clearly his. And I'm not about to spoil his fun.

  He pauses for a moment, his face a mask of concentration, then thrusts forward, sheathing his full length in me. I cry out, no longer able to hold back. The wash of pleasure at our joining, the divine moment when we first become one flesh-it's almost too much to take. He feels so good, as if his body were built to enter only mine. At that moment, I want to keep him inside me forever.

  He leans forward and kisses me hard on the mouth, crushing me with almost primal passion. He slips out of me, then in, then out again. His thrusts-slow at first-gradually increase in velocity. I find his rhythm and make it my own, our stomachs slapping against one another, sweaty and slick, as our bodies move in a dance as old as time. Through it all, he kisses me, his tongue intertwining with mine. Worshiping my mouth. Making me really feel like the goddess all the people of Terra think I am.

  He stops for a moment, capturing my face in his hands, sliding his callused palms up my cheeks, finding my eyes with his own. His gaze makes my breath hitch in my throat. He smiles at me. A completely unguarded, vulnerable smile. His face is so beautiful I want to cry and laugh all at the same time. Instead, I smile back, hoping he sees the expression for what it is: an offering of everything that I am. I want to give him all of it.

  He lowers his hands to my hips, locking me against him. I wrap my legs around his back, clenching my inner muscles tight around him. He shudders for a moment, then finds his rhythm again, his strokes gaining momentum; harder, faster, deeper. The pressure builds as we grind against one another. Soon, almost too

  soon, the crescendo rises within me again. The heat scorches from his body bucking against mine. I'm over the edge, out of control, surrendering to him and the burning, bone-melting heat. I cry out as the sensations consume me too hard and too fast to catalog individually. At that moment, there is no Earth. No Terra. No Mariah. There's only two people, destined to have been brought together like this, to be consumed by a holy, unquenchable fire.

  He gasps, joining me in ecstasy, finding his own release, biting down on my shoulder as he succumbs to the pleasure and spills himself deep inside me. His body convulses before collapsing atop me, heavy and solid, his breath coming in uneven gasps, his heart beating erratically against my sweat-soaked breasts.

  "That was. .. ," he murmurs against my shoulder. He lifts his head. Finds me. Captures me with an earnest gaze that makes me want to weep. "That was. . "

  I reach up to kiss him on the nose, feeling warm and safe and desired and oh so happy. I can't remember a time on Earth when I felt this way-as if I'd just shared a divine, spiritual experience. An encounter destined to change my life forever. How could 1 ever just have sex again, knowing now all that it can be with the right person? All it can be with him.

  "That was," I agree, giving him a shy smile of my own. And it will be again if you want it to."

  "Oh, I want. I most definitely want." He laughs. We kiss again, our mouths explaining what neither of us can find the words to say.

  15

  I lift my hand to grab the brass knocker affixed to the mammoth door in front of me. My knees are knocking together so hard I'm half convinced they'll buck out from under me, giving way completely and reducing me to a quivering pile of nerves on Duske's front steps. That wouldn't be the ideal way to make my entrance, to say the least.

  More than a small part of me wants to play the coward, to turn and flee and never look back. Hit Moongazer Palace running, return to Earth, and live out my life in peace, never giving any of this nightmare another thought.

  But then I remember Dawn's face. The love shining from his glowing eyes this morning as he kissed me good-bye and sent me on my impossible mission. The pride in his voice as he praised my courage and told me that, Mariah or Skye, now I really would be the savior of the people. The one they would sing about for generations to come.

  How could I possibly deny my new destiny?

  I draw in a breath, trying to quell my nervous energy as I wrap my hands around the knocker and rap it against the door three times. Here goes nothing.

  I wait for a moment, and then the door swings inward. The butler, Thom, secret operative of the Eclipsers, greets me from the foyer with a nearly imperceptible nod. At least I'm not entirely alone, even though I know he won't break his cover unless the situation gets dire.

  "Sister Mariah," he cries, keeping in character. "We have been looking everywhere for you. Let me tell the master you are here. Please step inside."

  Thom moves to allow me entrance. Swallowing hard, I cross the threshold and the door swings silently shut behind me. I'm now at the point of no return. Inside the belly of the beast. Let's hope he's hungry.

  Thom leaves me, heads up the sweeping staircase, and disappears down a hallway. I shuffle from foot to foot, my heart pounding with fear. Was I crazy to think this plan would work? What will Duske do when he sees me? What if he decides I'm worth more dead than alive? Will he simply kill me on sight, never giving me a chance to accomplish my mission?

  "Well, well, well." A booming voice above interrupts my racing thoughts. I look up. Duske's standing at the top of the stairs, dressed in an old-fashioned black suit. His hair is slicked back and his face is cold and unreadable. "It appears the prodigal sister has returned."

  Time to earn that Academy Award.

  "Brother Duske!" I cry, rushing up the stairs. Before he can react, I throw my arms around him, squeezing him in the most enthusiastic hug I can muster. I press my whole body against him, hoping to spark some heat in his cold, unyielding frame. "Thank God you're here!"

  The government official lets me hold him for a moment, then steps back out of the embrace. He looks me over, eyebrow raised in skepticism.

  "You seem ... happy to see me," he observes.

  "Of course!" I say, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. "You're the first friendly face I've laid eyes on in days. You have no idea what I've been through. This gang of rebels-I think they're called Eclipsers or something-kidnapped me from your house and dragged me underground. It was horrible."

  "Kidnapped, huh?" Duske repeats slowly "And here I was sure you'd left of your own free will."

  "Are you kidding me?" I give him a disgusted look. "Leave all this? Abandon my chance to get back to Earth where I belong? Do you know where they took me? Some horrible underground ghetto with these crazy mutant freaks. They kept insisting I was that girl named Mariah, their rebel leader or whatever. And they wanted to use me somehow to unite the people against the government." I shake my head, as if reliving the horror. "Of course, I'm, like, `Dudes, I'm so not Mariah. I'm Skye, and I'm from Earth and I need to get back.' But did they believe me? No! They locked me up and only took me out when they wanted to show me off like some kind of animal." I allow my voice to crack. "Oh God, Duske, I thought I was going to die down there. It was horrible. Thank God I finally escaped and got back here." I throw my arms around him again, sobbing into his shoulder.

  Duske stands still for a moment, then awkwardly pats me on the back a few times. I try to gauge his re-

  action. Does he believe me? Even a little? I step back from the embrace and study his face. It's hard to tell.

  "An interesting story," he says slowly.

  "Interesting?" I screw up my face in disgust. "Horrible is more like. All I want to do is get back to Earth. To my real life. Please. You've got to help me."

  "How did you escape?" he asks, ignoring my request.

  "There's something going on down there," I explain, glad Dawn and I had role-played this encounter last night so I knew exactly what to say. "Some kind of weird thing in the air. And so they're all weak and stuff. I saw my opportunity, and when they were transporting me, I acted. I killed two guards and went up one of the hatches. You can go look, if you don't believe me. Their bodies are still there, right under the rabbit hole by Moongazer Station."

  This was a small insurance the Eclipsers had arranged to make my story more believable. The bodies in qu
estion were two asthmatic Dark Siders who had succumbed to the poisoned air a day before. Hiro and Kayce had worked on the two already dead bodies and laid them by the exit to provide legitimacy to my tale.

  Duske claps his hands, and two silver-suited soldiers appear at the bottom of the stairs. "Go down to Luna Park," he says. "Go down the rabbit hole by Moongazer Station. See if there are bodies there."

  The guards bow low, then exit the building to carry out their orders. Duske turns back to me. "I'm sorry not to take your story at face value," he says. "But these days we cannot be too careful." He claps his hands again and two more guards show up. He gestures to me and instructs them to pat me down. Luckily, we'd envisioned this kind of scenario and so I'd come without weapons.

  "Right. I understand," I say as the guards search me. "So, soon you'll believe me and we can move on. Did I miss your Moongazing seminar? I'll still do it if you want. I'll do whatever it takes. I just want to get back to Earth-like you promised." I'm crying now. Easy to fake tears when I'm this terrified. "I'm so sick of this creepy place. All I want to do is go home. To see my family. My friends."

  Duske's face softens. He reaches out to stroke my hair. "Shh," he says. "Don't cry. It'll be okay. The nightmare is over. You're safe with me."

  I breathe a sigh of relief. He's buying it. He's actually buying it.

  "So, can I go to my room?" I ask. "I'm dying for a bath. And then maybe we could go to dinner tonight? I loved that place you took me originally. What was it called again? The Park Terrace? Those ravioli are divine."

  Duske scratches his chin, studying me with his piercing eyes. "All in due time," he says. "But first we must take a little trip." He turns to walk down the hall, beckoning me to follow

  I cock my head. A trip? What kind of trip? Does he believe me or not?

  "Come along," he says and I realize I have no choice but to follow him,

  We walk down the hall until we come to an elevator. He presses his thumb to call it, and a moment later the doors slide open. We step inside and Duske uses his thumb to select a bottom floor. The doors close and the elevator shoots downward. We travel for what feels like a long time. I wonder how deep we're going. My heart pounds in my chest, so hard and fast I worry it'll burst. I steal a glance at Duske, trying to read his expression. He simply stares at the descending numbers flickering above the doors, his face inscrutable. Finally, the elevator shudders to a stop and the doors slide open.