Change Horizons: Three Novellas (16 page)

“I want to stay with you no matter what ship we’re on.” EiLeen didn’t realize how tense Dana had become until air gushed from her lungs and she slumped against her. “We have so much to talk about that can’t wait. Or
I
can’t wait.”

“Agreed. I’m rather impatient myself.” Dana pushed herself up on her elbow. “Should I go first?”

“Sure.” Lifting her hands, EiLeen began to remove the pins from Dana’s hair. “Just let me do this.”

Dana’s eyes glimmered in the sultriest of ways as her hair slowly tumbled down around her shoulders. She cupped EiLeen’s cheek and then leaned in for a gentle kiss. “Just a recap first. I love you, EiLeen.”

Bolts of happiness chased through EiLeen’s chest and headed for her extremities. “And I love you.”

“I don’t want to be without you, even after this mission. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Somehow. Anyhow.”

“Oh, darling, I feel that way too.” Her insides molten with love and affection, EiLeen placed her hand against Dana’s, holding it closer to her cheek. “I’m not sure how we’ll make it happen, but we will. I—I need you. I adore the way you make me feel and I want to have you with me, to protect you, to hold you, to make love to you, and to have you do all those things for me.”

“So eloquent,” Dana murmured against her lips. “So very astute.”

“I’m always astute.”

“I won’t argue.” Parting her lips, Dana pressed them against EiLeen’s. “Mmm. Mine.”

And she was. No matter how independent, how ex-royal, and how famously infamous she was, she was Dana’s now, and Dana was hers. It really was that easy after all. Love existed in this universe, this galaxy. No matter how jaded she’d been about such things, she knew now that she’d been extremely misguided. All she had to do was dare to grab for her good fortune and hold on. Easier said than done, but the alternative, to never be with Dana, or hold her, or even talk to her about mundane things, was completely out of the question. The mere thought made her heart twitch in agony, as if the idea of a solitary life made her heart threaten to go into full coronary. “Yes. I’m yours. And vice versa.”

“Goes without saying.” Dana wrapped her arms around EiLeen and kissed her. Her tongue, slick and eager, parted her lips and requested entrance.

Immediately so turned on she lost her ability to speak, EiLeen met Dana’s tongue with hers. The kisses were so many and close together, it seemed like an eternal caress.

Dana rolled on top of EiLeen. “Are you sure you’re all right? No residual headache or anything?”

“None. I feel wonderful.” EiLeen’s smile widened. “And I think it’s only fair to warn you. I’ve become accustomed to getting what I want over the last decades.”

“Oh, yes?” Dana asked innocently. “Is that so?”

“It is. And now I want you.”

“Mmm. Sounds good to me.” She closed her eyes as EiLeen nipped at her collarbone through the uniform. “Mind if I lose some of these clothes?”

“It boggles the mind that you have to ask.” Glittering irises surrounded star-shaped pupils as EiLeen pushed into a half-sitting position. “Do carry on, Captain.”

Her jaw going slack for a second, Dana stared. “You’re expecting me to put on a performance, my Queen?”

Now looking positively feral, EiLeen shook her head. “Normally I’d even pay to watch you do just that, but I think I’d rather you hurry. No finesse expected. Yet.”

Dana chuckled, her nerves jumping at the last remark. Finesse. How could she possibly make love with any sort of skill when it had been so very long ago? Removing her clothes, she found herself hesitating, not because she was reluctant, but because her nerves were getting to her.

“Dana, look at me,” EiLeen said, her voice as demanding as ever.

When Dana looked up, her insides contracted because of the onset of nerves and the sight of the extraordinary woman who wanted her. To her surprise, EiLeen’s eyes had softened to a warm, loving glow.

“Yes?” Dana swallowed as she removed her shirt and stood there in just her camisole and briefs.

“You know I love you, right?” EiLeen’s voice was so soft, so honey-golden, it made Dana’s heart clench until she could hardly breathe.

“Yes.” Before she decided to act any more like a bashful youngster, Dana got rid of the last pieces of clothes. She stood there naked for a few moments, EiLeen’s eyes scorching her as they scanned her from her head to her feet.

“Come to bed. Come be with me, lindelei.” EiLeen extended her hand.

Taking it and climbing onto the bed, Dana pulled the covers back and began to unfasten the clasps that held EiLeen’s nightshirt together. “What does that mean? Lindelei?”

“It means ‘most beloved.’”

“Am I?”

“Yes.” EiLeen gasped softly and tugged her closer. Her nightshirt fell open as their bodies aligned.

“Lindelei. I like how it sounds and how it makes me feel.” Dana closed her eyes briefly and absorbed the feeling of EiLeen’s silky body. “And I
adore
how you feel.”

“Then touch me.”

“Yes.” Dana opened her eyes and let her gaze roam across EiLeen’s face and then down to her breasts. So beautiful, with puckered, rigid nipples. The sight of the naked expanse of skin made the area between her legs clench, a sensation that bordered on pain. “Stars and skies, EiLeen, it hurts.” Dana moaned and pressed her lips against the side of EiLeen’s neck. She licked a hot trail down to her left nipple and sucked it into her mouth.

EiLeen’s cry was a mix between pain and pleasure. “Yes! Yes…more…”

Eager to devour her lover, her beloved, Dana moved her mouth back and forth between the two nipples, charmed by the small freckles that described rings around them. Perhaps that was an Imidestrian trait or perhaps just EiLeen. “I need more of you.” Dana panted as she let go of a nipple.

“Anything, just don’t—don’t stop. Don’t. Please.” EiLeen whimpered and arched beneath Dana, who recognized she was much further along than she’d realized. Perhaps EiLeen was as hungry as she was?

“Open your legs for me, then. I need you just as much. I need you to be mine.” Dana cupped the swollen labia between EiLeen’s legs with as much care as possessiveness.

EiLeen arched her back further and reached for Dana as she complied. “I need to hold you. Dana. Dana.” She was undulating against Dana’s hand as she chanted her name. “Dana.”

“I’m here. I’m not letting go.” Dana caressed between the slick folds, searched for the opening, and hovered there, merely touching the entrance very lightly.

“Inside. Oh, please, please. Inside. Dana!”

As Dana pushed two fingers into EiLeen, she just knew this was right, this connection that stole her breath away and this urge to create pleasure for the wondrous woman in her arms; it was right. She curled her fingers, looked and hoped to find that special spot Earth women had but perhaps Imidestrian women didn’t. “Tell me. I want you to feel really, really good, darling.”

“I do. I do.” EiLeen’s hips had begun to jerk.

Then, Dana found a slightly rough patch that she carefully rubbed with her fingertips. EiLeen grew rigid and whimpered so loudly she almost howled. She clutched at Dana, held her tight against her, and the whole time she murmured under her breath, “Lindelei, lindelei…”

“Oh, stars, that’s…you’re beautiful, you’re amazing.” Her heart thundered and she knew without a doubt there could never be another like this woman. To have someone like EiLeen give herself so trustingly made her eyes glaze over with tears, and she crushed her lips to EiLeen’s once more. “I love you,” she said, murmuring the words as caresses in their own right against EiLeen’s lips.

“And I you.” EiLeen clung to her—husky, wild-eyed—and then she slumped back, melted, and flushed the most beautiful pink all the way down across her chest. Her hips rolled in long, slow waves, and inside, she squeezed Dana’s fingers in an exquisite grip.

Dana held EiLeen, her lover—her
lover
—closer and withdrew her fingers gently. Her own sex was throbbing with need, but she was still more interested in providing a truly pleasurable experience for EiLeen. As it turned out, her soft approach was thwarted because it took EiLeen only a short while to recuperate. One moment Dana was curled around EiLeen, caressing her back slowly, and the next, she was on her back with EiLeen gazing down at her with smoldering, all-pupil eyes.

“My turn to love you, don’t you agree, Captain?” EiLeen’s smile was part feral, part tenderness. “Do I assume you would enjoy something similar to what you bestowed upon me?”

“Mmm?” Dazed, she looked up at EiLeen, her eyes unfocused. “Sure?”

“You don’t sound sure. I might have to experiment.” Looking positively evil for a moment, EiLeen then smiled a very happy smile, her lips soft as she kissed Dana’s lips, down her neck, across her collarbones, and across her to her left nipple. There, sharp teeth nibbled, pulled, and then EiLeen’s tongue soothed ever so gently.

“Again?” Dana whispered. “Oh, again!”

“My pleasure.”

The caress kept going until both of Dana’s nipples were red, aching in the sweetest of ways and nearly too raw to touch. Too close to orgasm to stand the onslaught of sensual caresses any longer, Dana rubbed her sex against EiLeen’s thigh, her movements jerky and desperate.

“It’s that bad, is it, Dana?” EiLeen whispered hotly in her ear. “Then let me help you. Dana.” EiLeen’s hand was suddenly between her legs, her slender fingers sliding deep inside and filling her with the sweetest of needs.

Shaking uncontrollably and gasping for air so fast she felt her head spin, Dana clung to EiLeen, her only safe harbor right now. “Now. I’m so close. Oh, now, now.” Convulsing, she pressed her lips against the damp skin of EiLeen’s neck. Groaning deep in her chest, she bore down on EiLeen’s fingers, ground herself against her ever-caressing hand.

“So good, so good,” EiLeen murmured in her ear. “So beautiful to watch, so amazing to touch.”

“You…you’re incredible.” Dana curled up against EiLeen, who carefully pulled her fingers out. The river of moisture between her legs was close to embarrassing, but the memory of how wet EiLeen had been against her fingers made her shrug and choose to not let it faze her. Leaning her head on EiLeen’s shoulder, she drew a slightly unsteady pattern across her chest. “You sure we didn’t hurt your head?”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No?”

“I’m perfectly fine, lindelei.” EiLeen tugged her closer. “Don’t worry about me. I’m a tough old broad.”

Dana couldn’t help it. The comment was so haughtily expressed and so ridiculous, she burst out laughing. Giggling helplessly, she clung to her lover. “Old broad? Now,
that’s
funny.”

“You really never struck me as the giggly type.” EiLeen shook her head but smiled indulgently. “Actually, it’s rather refreshing.”

Dana closed her eyes and let the happiness simmer just beneath her skin. She couldn’t believe how safe and how gloriously wonderful it was to be in EiLeen’s arms. Running her hands through the short, silky gray hair, she inhaled the special fragrance that was EiLeen. It was tinged with the scent of their lovemaking, which made it even more alluring.

“Will you stay with me in my quarters for the remainder of this journey?” Dana’s heart painfully beat double-time at the thought of what lay ahead once they reached Revos Prime. Afraid to ask, but with careful optimism, she waited for EiLeen’s answer.

“Yes, lindelei, yes.”

Admiral Jacelon. It’s been too long. How’s Dahlia?” EiLeen stood just inside the door of the main ballroom aboard the
Koenigin
.

“She’s visiting our daughter and her family on Gantharat. Do call me Ewan, like you used to.” The distinguished admiral bent over EiLeen’s hand and kissed it gallantly. “She hates being separated for more than a couple of months.”

“Of course. I’ve followed your daughter’s success. Being an admiral as well as a protector of the realm is quite the undertaking.”

“Not to mention mothering the young prince.”

“Yes, that too.” EiLeen turned and motioned toward the woman to her right. “May I introduce Captain Dana Rhoridan, Ewan? I believe you know her by reputation.”

“I sure do,” the admiral said, and smiled benevolently at the ramrod-straight woman next to EiLeen. “At ease, Captain.”

“Thank you. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“Likewise, Captain. As we’re in a civilian setting, how about if you allow me to call you Dana? I’m Ewan.”

“Thank you.” Dana glanced over at EiLeen, her eyes softening and her stance changing from a military at-ease to a comfortable pose. “May I bring you something to drink from the bar, EiLeen? Ewan?”

“I think we should have some Imidestrian sparkling wine, darling.” EiLeen smiled inwardly at how the woman she loved winced at the term of endearment. Dana still wasn’t used to them being a couple in public. Four months of bliss in private, officially a couple for two weeks after returning from Revos Prime.

“Certainly. Excuse me.” Dana escaped after a quick, wide-eyed glance at EiLeen.

“Do tell me to shut up if I’m meddling. Did I just hear you call the captain of the
Koenigin
‘darling’?” Ewan stroked his becoming white beard.

“You did. I’m a very fortunate woman. She’s quite the catch.”

The look of consternation on the admiral’s face was hilarious, but also something of a concern. “I seem to recall that Captain Rhoridan applied to be reassigned to active overt duty.”

“She did after my cover as ex-royal playgirl fell through. Now that I’m planning to assume a more behind-the-scenes role for SC intelligence, I’ll be able to work from a multitude of locations. We’re hoping she’ll be placed fairly close to Earth, or at least one of SC’s sub-headquarters.”

“I know Captain Rhoridan would balk at any special favors, but after what the two of you went through to reach Revos Prime, I think you deserve a break.” Ewan’s pale-blue eyes glittered. “Also, I’ve learned from my female family members how women can move mountains when teamed up with the one they care about. It’s unfortunately a little too exciting for an old man.”

“Old man? Hardly.” EiLeen tilted her head. “Thank you, Ewan. Let’s not tell Dana about any special favors, though. She’d be very embarrassed.”

“What favors?” Ewan winked before focusing on something behind her. “Ah, here’s Dana now with our drinks. Perfect timing.”

As they sipped their sparkling wine, Ewan excused himself and began to mingle with other SC leaders.

“So, he’s going to help us, is he?” Dana asked casually.

“What?” EiLeen felt the wine enter her nose from her throat. Coughing and sneezing discreetly, she glared at Dana. “Are you trying to drown me, lindelei?”

“No, no.” Dana’s laughter was mirrored in her glittering eyes. “Not even in a glass of sparkling wine. Imidestrian or not. I still think I’m right, and judging from your not-so-controlled reaction, I’d say I hit on the head.”

“Hit what on the head?” Dabbing her nose delicately, EiLeen frowned.

“The nail.”

“A nail? I have no clue what you’re talking about. Then again, you don’t always make sense, but I love you anyway.”

“Ouch.” Dana grinned. “And you’re stalling, my Queen.”

EiLeen breathed out in a huff. “Very well. Yes. Ewan Jacelon is going to help us. Pull some strings, and before you get all I-don’t-need-any-favors on me, Captain, be assured, he’s not only doing it out of the goodness of his heart. They’ll be able to pair us up and use us, one way or the other. Just so you know.”

Dana seemed to ponder this remark for a moment. “Then that’s all I need to know. In fact, it sounds pretty damn good to me.”

“I agree.”

Pulling EiLeen with her in behind a lush Cormanian palm tree, Dana kissed her thoroughly. “I love you. And this way I get to keep an eye on you so you don’t disappear on me.”

EiLeen blinked a few times. “Disappear? Never. Never, never, never.” She rested her head on Dana’s shoulder. Whether aboard the
Koenigin
or any other ship, a space station, or planetside somewhere, this woman was her home. Dana was where she belonged.