by Eve Kasey
He heard his sister’s door open and his dad shuffle in. “Remember, Elle is our secret,” he whispered. “Ngo oi nei.” I love you.
“Oi.”
His dad’s face reappeared on the screen.
“Thanks for the call, baba. I’ll be better about checking in.”
“Be a good boy, jai.”
To his father, being good meant doing right by the family. Chen was trying. He wanted to be a son of whom they could be proud. But he also wanted a life for himself. He needed to find a way to reconcile both.
29
Elle could hear Chen on the phone in the kitchen. God, his voice. She shivered. A man had never driven her so wild or dug down so deep in her psyche. Certainly not so quickly.
As she got closer to the kitchen, a man’s voice came through the phone. She peeked around the corner and saw Chen’s posture stiffen. He finished up his call and dropped the phone on the counter with a huff. He rose and went to the stove, stirring a pan of what smelled like chicken.
He’d given her an explosive, life-changing orgasm, then cooked for her. He’d opened wine, too. But it wasn’t what he gave her that touched her so deeply. Chen made life better by just being there. By being himself. There were no more barriers between them. He’d opened himself up to her all weekend through conversation and osmosis. They’d hardly parted company.
She joined him in the kitchen, sliding her hand over the soft undershirt that stretched across his muscular back. He gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and dropped a kiss on her forehead.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
But before she dug into the delicious-looking salad he’d made, she took out a package of the refrigerated udon noodles that he loved so much. His own fridge was full of them, so she’d started buying them, too. She made his noodles while he leaned his trim body against the counter, watching. She felt his eyes on her body like he was caressing her. She carried his dinner to the table and he carried hers, plus tortillas. He went back for her wine and grabbed a second glass for himself.
Chen was troubled. That was clear from his drawn brows and lack of conversation. And from the desire to drink when he so rarely joined her.
“How’s your sister?” Elle prompted after a bite of salad. Her knee rested against his under the table. He gave it a squeeze.
“Fine.”
“Your parents?”
“Same.”
Troubled and uninterested in talking, apparently. Elle gently took over the conversation by asking him to replay Stratos’ test flight, a subject guaranteed to cheer him up. After dinner and dishes, they snuggled together on the couch, where his rumbling voice against her back and free hand on her hip lit her up inch by inch.
Elle downed the rest of her wine and set the glass on the coffee table. She took his still-full glass out of his hand and did the same, turning in his arms so she faced him in his lap. His beautiful brown eyes felt as if they penetrated her soul. She ran her fingers down his square jaw, fingering the black scruff. She traced the full lips that awoke every nerve when they connected with any part of her. His warm breath brushed her fingers. She buried her hands in his thick, styled hair and met his soft mouth with her own.
Elle didn’t know what she loved more: his huge hands on her waist or his dancing tongue on hers. Luckily, she didn’t have to choose. She felt the bulge in his jeans and gave a measured roll of her own needy core.
“Come with me,” she whispered, dragging herself off his body.
“I’m going to,” he replied, that sex-soaked tone scraping like fingers across her sensitive parts.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom. He was naked and watching within seconds, his gaze stripping her as bare as her movements to remove her clothing. She needed him to fill her. Nothing else would bring relief to this ache.
She pushed him onto her bed and crawled after him as he settled onto her pillows.
“Oh, I like this.”
He was propped on his elbows and watching Elle’s slow ascent. She knew what he saw: her hair dragging across the comforter, large breasts waiting for his hands, full lips ready to work magic.
“You will,” she promised.
Elle spread his knees apart, gripped his rock-hard cock, and licked it from base to tip.
“I do,” he moaned.
Elle pleasured him, deep and commanding, with her hands and mouth. Chen gathered her endless sheet of hair in his fist so he could watch. His guttural groans throbbed through her, every sound making her tighter and slicker. He squeezed both breasts in his free hand, a move that incinerated her. Everything about Chen made her ache. Made her wet. Made her happy. Made her whole.
She let go of his cock and slid her wetness over his length in a few quick flicks of her hips. Growling, Chen gripped her hips, flipped her onto her back, and kneeled between her parted legs. His hands ran languidly up and down her legs. He kissed the inside of both knees, which sent shivers up Elle’s thighs. Without warning, his hot tongue swirled over her clit. She cried out, hands splayed on his muscled shoulders. Stars flickered behind her eyes as he licked her into oblivion. She moaned and begged and writhed under his power.
“What do you want, Elle?” he purred, that sexy voice against the sensitive skin of her thigh. His fingers found her aching clit and she whimpered. She couldn’t even answer.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“I want to come.” Her voice was hitched and high. “Make me come.”
Her knee pressed into her chest as Chen entered her. His deep, insistent strokes paired with the sexy sounds of his mixed-language mutterings brought her higher. But it was his eyes that set her spinning. They were brimming with lust, yet somehow filled with love. He fucked her faster, louder, and her walls tightened as her orgasm began to weave its way up her body. And when pleasure tore through the final piece her, Elle screamed his name. He followed seconds later. Groaning, he collapsed on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, otherwise utterly unable to move and entirely sure she wanted this forever.
30
The weight of the looming conversation Chen needed to have with Tate about more permanent options for staying followed him through every meeting and report the next day. He needed Harvey to repeat nearly everything he said. Hell, even thinking about his wake-up next to a still-naked Elle after scorching hot sex hadn’t lessened the knot in his stomach.
Yeah, weeks into this relationship was probably too soon to feel as deeply as he did, but there was no fighting Elle’s pull. He needed her. And since his family needed him, he had to figure out a way to get them all in one place.
At lunch he headed to Tate’s first-floor office. He was on the phone at his desk but waved Chen in.
He took a seat on the edge of a rolling chair and tried to be patient, but he couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing. Tate’s cell phone vibrated almost as much as Chen did. Tate didn’t even glance at it. The man had a million things going at all times, but seemed to have no problem giving his attention to one task at a time. Calmly.
Tate wrapped up his call and instead of checking his cell phone, turned his clear gaze on Chen.
“How’s Rosie?” Chen blurted out.
Tate paused for only a second. “I checked in with her yesterday. She swears she’s fine, but I’m worried about her.” He frowned. “I’m going to see if she’ll come out this weekend. I think wandering around the villa might cheer her up.”
Chen couldn’t help the smirk that formed.
Tate shot him a look. “The house was nominated for a World Architecture prize. My family has never appreciated the place like we should. I think Rosie would, and I think she deserves a do-over weekend away.”
Chen agreed. “Somewhere safe with someone she trusts.”
Tate heaved a sigh. “What’s on your mind, Chen?”
Chen’s sigh matched Tate’s. “My family. I’ve never really understood why this job was temporary. I’d like to make my role permanent, with your
blessing. I want to become a resident here. My sister, too. Can we make that happen?”
Tate’s wince had Chen bracing himself for an answer he wouldn’t like.
“What is it?” The anxiety was killing him.
Tate shook his head, looking defeated. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Chen, but your time in the Chinese military is a red flag to the U.S. government. That’s why your position here is temporary. I’m afraid naturalization will be really hard to obtain for you.”
His stomach hit the floor. “Really? No chance?”
“We had to fight like hell just for your temporary visa. We may be able to get an extension, but citizenship will be harder, or even impossible.”
Chen struggled to form words. He thought there was some chance he could stay at OrbitAll. With Elle. Tate was making it sound like there was no chance at all, news Chen refused to accept.
Elle wanted love and sex? So did he, and so much more. He’d found all of that with her. He didn’t need years together to know that. Elle was his. Or she had been, until Tate started talking. Chen’s breathing had slowed, freezing along with the rest of his body.
“However.”
Chen grabbed the word like a lifeline.
“How serious are you and Elle?”
Suspicion dawned. There was only one reason Tate would ask that. Chen ground his teeth together before replying. “Pretty serious. Why?”
Tate leaned back in his chair. “Legal permanent residency can still be achieved through marriage. We call it a green card marriage. Is that an option for you two?”
“No.” He and Elle were happy. Compatible. Beyond attracted. But they were brand new; weightless, floating in space. Citizenship, guardianship of his sister, and a timeline were all crushing weights that would bring their budding relationship crashing to the ground. “Not an option,” he repeated.
Tate’s expression was grave. “Okay. Would you like me to retain an immigration attorney for you?”
What was the point? He wouldn’t ask Elle to marry him, not under conditions like these. And he couldn’t ask her to come with him to China. She had a life here, a good one. And what about his parents? He had to take care of them. Chen had lost sight of reality. That was the hazard of a temporary life in a place where not even the sky was a boundary.
He did not have a future in the States, or with Elle. This rightness he felt with Elle was made wrong by his place of birth. He shouldn’t have forgotten that.
Chen left work early and went to his own apartment that night. He had to get his mind right before he held her again. His life would forever be dictated by circumstances outside of his control.
She showed up at his place only an hour after he did. He opened the door to her soft knock, his entire body exhaling as her loving brown eyes met his. She was still in work clothes: navy slacks, a cream silk blouse, and red pumps. She was gorgeous. She already looked like home.
Elle held up a bag from the taco shop she loved. “We’ll eat first, then we’ll talk.”
Chen scrubbed a hand over his face as she walked in. He was exhausted. “Talk?”
She turned toward him at the counter, head cocked to the side and a tiny smile on her lips. “Something’s up with you, Chen.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Well, you left the hangar without me, first of all.”
“Oh, shit.” Chen pulled her against him. He’d totally forgotten they’d driven in together again. “Elle, I’m so sorry. Fuck. Want me to admit I’m the worst? I’ll actually say it this time.”
She chuckled against his chest. “No. You can make it up to me in other ways. Naughty ones.”
His heart squeezed at the same time his cock swelled. He’d left her at work and she wasn’t even mad. What had he done to deserve her? What could he do to keep her? “Tacos, talk, and my tongue. How’s that, xīngguāng?”
She tipped her head up to claim his mouth. Her lips tasted of lemon. Her tongue was warm and electric. “Sounds like heaven. Are you ready to tell me what that means?”
“Nope.”
“Are you ready to tell me what’s bothering you?”
What he had to say would shatter this moment, and all the perfect moments to come. Instead, he kissed her again. “Thought you wanted to eat first.”
She tugged on the buttons of his shirt and didn’t reply.
“Really? Even with tacos right here?” he chided.
She pursed her lips in annoyance. Chen snickered even as his heart expanded. He would never—never— tire of teasing her. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll eat, you talk. We both win.”
“How am I winning? I have to talk and I don’t even get tacos now?”
Elle growled as Chen cackled. He pulled her in tighter. “I love you,” he said against the top of her head. His heart dropped as the words spilled out. He hadn’t meant to say them. He almost regretted the slip. Almost. Admitting he loved her would make what he had to tell her that much harder. But, fuck, why stop now? “You’re crazy and stunning and talented and sexy as fuck. I love everything about you. I don’t know how I’ve done life without you.”
She made a strange choking noise and moved out of his grip. A tear tracked down her cheek. “I love you, too, you maddening, beautiful man. God. You drive me insane and I couldn’t be happier.”
Chen didn’t want to move or breathe. He wanted to lose himself in her eyes that held no horizon. Instead, he leaned down, lips brushing the shell of her ear. “Elle?”
“Chen,” she breathed.
“I know about the beanie babies. All four hundred of them. I love you anyway.”
She pinched his bicep before pushing him away with a frustrated groan. “Who’s the traitor? Rosie or Betti?”
“I’ll never tell.” He shook his head as he stared at her beautiful, glaring form. He couldn’t be happier, either. Unless he could fucking keep her.
Hand on her hip, she tapped a red nail on her waist, her lips pursed and pouting. “It’s hardly fair that all the traitors are on my side of the equation. How am I ever going to uncover your weird little secrets?”
“I don’t have any. I’m…what did you call it? Sparkling clean?”
She chuckled. “Squeaky.”
His nerves returned. He might not have weird little secrets, but he had a single weighty one. And the impact of this conversation ran deeper now that love swirled around them both like stardust.
“Sit.” He gestured at the table. “I’ll bring you tacos.”
He busied himself with plating. He didn’t have wine so he made tea instead. Too soon, he was sitting across from her. Elle fingered the rim of her teacup, her gaze on his. Chen didn’t eat. He didn’t open his mouth, either. Eventually, she reached across the table and wove their fingers together. The gentlest brush of her lips on his knuckles sent the strongest clenching through his gut. Chen moved his eyes from their tangled fingers to her face. “Fuck, I love you so much.”
“But?”
“No but.” He frowned. That statement wasn’t entirely true. “I don’t know how much you know about my status here, but with the way you were mentally stripping me naked the first time we met, I assume you asked Tate everything about me.”
Her lip twitched. “Which status is that? Your designation as the cockiest pilot ever to have lived?”
“See? Even during a serious conversation you’re referencing my cock.”
She dug her nails into his hand. “Don’t be a dick.”
Fighting a smirk, Chen continued. “My residency status. I don’t live here. I just found out I can’t live here. You and I are on a ticking clock.”
The light faded in her eyes and his stomach sank right along with it.
“How long can you stay?”
“Two years from the day I signed my contract. That was six weeks ago. I should have told you sooner, but I didn’t think we’d end up here.” He gestured between them.
“What about your sister?”
He shook his head. That he’d fai
led Xiaoming were words he couldn’t say aloud.
Elle’s shoulders slumped. “Really? There’s nothing we can do to keep you here? Get her here? What does Tate say? He and his people must have a way to fix this residency issue. He needs you.”
Chen sighed. “He’s tried. His solution was a green card marriage.”
Elle’s groomed eyebrows shot up.
“I would never,” he assured her, leaning forward. “Marriage should be based on love and hope, not contracts and caveats. I don’t want a marriage of convenience.”
Tears shined in her eyes, and he didn’t know which part had upset her most. He kissed her fingers one by one as she processed his unwelcome information.
“I’m so sorry, Chen. For both of you.”
He smiled despite himself. “It’s okay. We’ll figure out a plan, me and Xiaoming.” They would, but he wished they didn’t have to.
She let out a sigh. “Even with all you’re doing for the space program in terms of safety and innovation? Really? The government won’t let you stay?” Anger showed in the set of her mouth.
“Your government doesn’t care about that. They don’t trust my time in the military, apparently. I get it. And I’m not doing much here, honestly.” Chen’s downplay was part truth and part self-preservation. With the timeline firm, he had realized he wouldn’t even be there for the first commercial flight. Test flights only. “I can barely call myself an astronaut.”
“Is that really how you feel?” she asked, frowning.
He shrugged. “This job is still fucking awesome. Aside from being up there more, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.” He kissed her hand again. “Nowhere I’d rather be.”
Elle tugged her hand out of his grasp and set it in her lap. She sniffed and straightened her spine. “So, we’ve got almost two years together. I can work with that timeline. It’ll still be my longest relationship ever.”
“That’s my girl.” Chen smiled, relieved that she wasn’t ready to give up on them yet. “Come on, tacos are probably cold.”
Later, as she let herself out, part of him went with her. But Chen knew he had to look at what he gained by being with Elle, not what he’d eventually lose. He planned to treasure every moment they had. Starting now.
