Beyond the Stars: INEO (33 page)

“No,” I said, searching for an answer. “It’s because you’re a slut and have a tendency to use women,” I shot back. “And I’m not trying to insult you as a person. Of course you’re good enough. Why would you think otherwise?”

Noah sighed and bit his lip for a moment. “Sami, I’m an orphan.”

“So,” I said with a shrug.

“There’s a certain social stigma associated with that on Kataria.”

“You’re parents’ death wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, but I’m damaged goods and have no family,” he murmured, as he lowered his eyes to the floor.

“No, you’re not. You are a good man and you have a family—mine. Noah, you’re the brother I never had. Can you tell me of one family function you have missed in the last twenty years since I’ve known you?”

“None,” he confirmed.

“I only hope you will treat Nia right. Urit will murder you if you take advantage of her,” I warned.
And quite literally,
I wanted to add.

“It’s not like that. She may be the first girl I haven’t even thought about seeing naked.”

“Except me.”

He didn’t answer.

“Please don’t tell me you think about that,” I said, smacking his arm.

“Too late, we’re
well
past that.”

My mouth dropped open. “What do you mean,
too late?”

“Ah, don’t go bonkers, but do you remember how you got really sick on the way to Kataria?”

I nodded nervously.

“Well, I helped Urit to take care of you on the first day you were down. I didn’t want him to be alone with you. And since I knew you the best …. Besides, we all thought you were going to die anyways. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid it would make you uncomfortable.”

“Uh, yeah,” I huffed. “Is there anyone who hasn’t seen every part of me?” I smacked him again in the chest with the back of my hand. “God, there must be nothing you don’t know about me.”

“No, not really,” he replied sheepishly. “Hey, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. You have a phenomenal body and—”

“Don’t
explain.” I held up my hand to make him stop. “I want you to forget everything you saw.”

“Ah, sure,” he said with a smile. “But you know I have a photographic memory.”

I sighed. “You’re evil.”

I sucked it up as another blow to my ego. Modesty aside, this trip had uncovered all of my possible vulnerabilities. I was stripped of my family, my home and possessions, my career, and my pride. At least Noah was complimentary about his memory of me. Coming from him, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit flattered after my initial embarrassment started to fade.

He unbuckled his pants and started to undo the fly. “Hey, I’ll take off my clothes right now if it would make you feel better. Then we can call it even.”

“Ah,
no, stop it. That isn’t necessary,” I pleaded, turning away and closing my eyes.

Noah nudged me on the arm. “Sami, go on. Look at me,” he urged.

I opened my eyes, and peeked at him, only to find him still completely clothed.

“Got yeah,” he said with a dimpled smile.

I shook my head.
Child.

CHAPTER 23

SPACEPORT FIVE

We would reach Spaceport Five today. I couldn’t wait. This was our last scheduled stop before heading home. I promised Urit I would help him in the lab before we arrived. When I got there, I was relieved to find out that Nia had been discharged from the patient cubicle. Urit said that she was on the mend and had already gone to her own room late last night. He told me that she even planned on doing some work with Noah in engineering today, despite him telling her she should rest.
Like father, like daughter.

Urit looked renewed himself. He was hard at work on a new project. He was rolling out what looked like a six foot sheet of clear wax across the floor with a thick round pipe acting as a rolling pin. He wanted to revisit his earlier creation of an elemental barrier. It was an oxygen producing, carbon dioxide eliminating membrane that could be used in the place of spacesuits and helmets for short expeditions in uninhabitable climates. He was trying to improve the substance’s longevity; it started to breakdown after only five hours.

Neither of us brought up the Dreons. I still wondered if they had found the exscrapulator and released the lethal virus. I wanted to ask Urit how long it would take to kill them … if it would be painful, but decided it was better to pretend it never happened. I was trying to avoid thinking about them altogether. I didn’t want to use the power of Ineo to visit their ship. I knew I could go there if I wanted too. I was getting better at bringing on my visions since I’d practiced them with Tyden, though I couldn’t bear to see Ellison sick and dying. I wanted to leave it all behind. She wasn’t human, I reminded myself repeatedly.

After spending the morning working in the lab with Urit, I went back to our room and was surprised to find Gaelan. “I didn’t expect to see you,” I said, holding my chest after being startled by his presence. Knowing our arrival of Spaceport Five was imminent, I didn’t know why he was sitting at his desk.

“Hey, Sami,” Gaelan replied nonchalantly as he briefly looked up. He appeared to be enthralled by a piece of black cardboard in his right hand. “How was your morning?”

“Good. Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Yes, except there isn’t much to do right now. We have some time before we reach Spaceport. I decided to take a break and do a little painting while Tyden brings us in.” He held the painting at an angle to tilt it towards his face as he worked.

I came closer, and watched him from the opposite side of the desk. He made a few small strokes against the canvas with a light touch. “Your brush is so thin.”

He gazed up at me and smiled. “I’m adding in the details.”

I turned to leave. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to distract you. I can come back later.” I felt terrible for intruding on his privacy. I understood how annoying it could be when someone interrupted my work or private time.

“Sami,” he called out.
“Where
are you going? I don’t want you to leave. Please stay. Distract me,” he ordered.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to drop everything for me.”

“What? Do you wish me to be self-absorbed and dull? Don’t you realize, you are the best part of my day,” he exclaimed with sincerity. “Now come and take a look at this,” he said, gesturing for me to come closer.

I walked around his desk and gazed over his shoulder. He had painted a picture of my face using only white paint. It appeared three-dimensional against the black paper. His artistic abilities never ceased to amaze me.

“Wow. You’re really good.”

“Thanks. I think it’s done.”

He laid down his painting and brush on the upper left corner of the desk and pulled me in between his legs. I stood in front of him and leaned my back up against the desk. He picked up a clean paint brush and stroked it down my forehead, nose, and cheek before stopping to swirl it softly at the base of my throat. Then he traced over my collar bone while bringing the bristles playfully under the edge of my shirt.

He smiled as his eyes traveled across my body. “Now, to paint
you.
What color do you want?”

“Stop it. We don’t have time.”

With his brush in hand, he reached for his paint. He snatched a jar of purple paint, flipped the lid, and dipped the tip of his brush in it, and brought it back towards me. I laughed and pushed his hand away. It splattered a few drops into the air, hitting my arm and his shirt.

“What? Is the brush too ticklish for you?” He set the brush down on the desk and grinned. “I could use my fingers.” He dipped his left index finger in the paint and held it in front of me like he was eyeing up his target. “This isn’t going to be enough … maybe I should use my whole hand.” He licked his lips.

“No. You can’t slather me in purple paint,” I protested and blocked his hand, even though I secretly wanted him to. Just the thought of him gliding his hands over my body with the help of the smooth paint gave me a thrill. I could only imagine what he would do to me, if I let him.

“You’re right. It’s not your color …” he said with a subtle smile, like his mind was picturing something erotic. “Actually, forget about my fantasy for now. I want to hear more about how you being here will distract me,” he said in a seductively deep voice.

“Hmm, let me think. That depends on what you prefer. Would you like an obvious distraction or one that takes you by surprise?” I asked, looking into his irresistibly blue eyes.

“I’m kind of a direct person. So I’d rather get to the point.”

He wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted me onto the desk, before parting my legs in order to slide in his chair so he could bring his body in closer. I leaned down and clasped my hands behind his neck and pulled his face to mine and kissed him. He pressed his soft lips forcefully into mine. I started to lean back, to not get carried away. He stood and lunged forward, bringing me right back to his lips by sliding his hand through the back of my hair while he twisted it around his fingers.

“Remind me to bother you when you’re painting more often,” I said, breaking from his lips, slightly out of breath.

He gave me a sly smile and slid his hands slowly down my sides and curved them around my thighs. “Mmm-hmm,” he moaned. His hands traveled up and down my legs, moving up over my hips and under my shirt. I was instantly turned on by his touch. I wrapped my legs around his back to encircle him against me.

Being caught in the moment, I jumped when his ship’s communicator buzzed. Gaelan hesitantly looked down at the device strapped to his wrist.

“Ugh, it’s Tyden calling,” he said with a frown. “He promised to call me as soon as we arrived.”

“Don’t answer it,” I muttered, as I savored his body touching mine.

“Let me get this,” he held up a finger to signal me to wait a minute and answered the communicator on the third beep.

“Gaelan,” Tyden said, looking and sounding unusually chipper. “The landing control tower just cleared us. Our docking will commence in thirty minutes,” Tyden stated happily. “Commander Baykova will be waiting for you when we arrive …”

I covered my mouth to hold in a laugh as Tyden talked.

“What?” Gaelan mouthed to me with a curious expression.

“You have paint on the side of your nose,” I whispered, as I pointed to the same area on my own face.

Gaelan reached up with his right arm and wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve.

Tyden coughed as though he had overheard me. “I’ll let you take care of it then,” he said in summary.

“Yes, no problem. I’ll be right there,” Gaelan promised in a professional voice.

“Fantastic,” Tyden replied before the line went dead.

Gaelan smacked his lips together. “That was probably one of the most incriminating video calls I’ve ever made.”

“Oops.” I chuckled. I couldn’t tell if Gaelan was upset or not. If I didn’t know better, he might have been embarrassed. Perhaps it was because he was struggling to reign in his excitement when he took the call. I, however, found myself oddly aroused by it. It was as though we were caught being naughty. “Tyden sounds excited,” I said to ease his conscience and break his sudden silence.

“You’re right about that. He’s been in an exuberant mood all day. He can’t wait to get Loic off the ship,” Gaelan explained. “Would you like to help me dispose of him?”

“With pleasure,” I accepted.

I was ready to jump to my feet, but Gaelan blocked me with his thigh. I knew he was anticipating more.

“Where are you going? Don’t go,” he said adamantly. “We still have thirty minutes. Come here.” He pulled me in tightly by the waist, slid me back across the desk with him, and lowered me on my back so he could hover above me. “I’ve been looking for another use for my office,” he said with a smile. Then he started kissing down my neck and chest while he stretched out his arm to clear everything around us to the floor in a one giant swoop.

“Your painting. You probably ruined it,” I exclaimed after I heard the crash.

“Don’t care,” he whispered against my skin, before pausing to look at my face. “I have the
real
muse right here.” He glided his hands up the back of my legs, and then wrapped them around him. “You feel amazing,” he said, leaning down to give me a long kiss.