Checkmate (3 page)

A gigantic stone bridge strung with ribbons and garlands of
tiny winking lights formed the backdrop for their first kiss.

He stopped her beside the entry to the span and pulled her
off the walkway into the shadow of the structure. It gave them some privacy,
but reflections of the lights still sparked off his face and glittered like
fireworks in his light eyes as he dragged her into his arms.

Not too far away, a band performing in one of the
restaurants played lively dance music.

Although he was several inches taller, she fit nicely
against him. The scent of the smoke in the bar earlier and the food from the
restaurant still clung to him, mixing with the remnants of an expensive,
designer fragrance embedded in his clothes and the essential male aroma of
Raje.

When his mouth came down on her, the world rocked. At least
if felt that way to her. The warmth of his lips seeped into hers and spread
along every inch of her skin. His lips teased hers, rousing a fountain of heat
deep in her gut. It pumped a lava flow of desire through her body. No man had
ever kissed her like that, or maybe she’d never felt so close and connected
already to the man kissing her. Whatever the reason, the experience was a
revelation.

He didn’t hold her for long, and she moaned lightly when he
pulled back and released her.

The lights danced in his eyes when he said, “I have a room
at a hotel a little ways down. But I plan to stop and kiss you at every bridge
between here and there. If you want.”

“Is that a promise?”

He studied her face for a moment and his grin broadened into
a smile. A great smile, with wicked grooves bracketing the sensual mouth. “Oh,
yeah,” he said.

The next bridge was only twenty feet away. The plain brick
arch had so many strings and bunches of lights draped over it, there were no
dark, shadowy places around it. Oblivious to any potential audience he stopped
near its edge and kissed her anyway. It was no safe peck either. He drew her to
him and rubbed his lips back and forth over her mouth, sucked her bottom one
between his and nibbled at it until she opened, inviting him farther in. Their
tongues touched and tangled. It felt as though a part of him flowed into her
through that contact and filled all the empty places in her heart and soul.

By the time he drew back she could barely stand. Her legs
had begun to wobble and the heat inside her became a fire, while her cunt
swelled and oozed moisture. It made walking a challenge.

Next to a fantasy concoction of dancing figures of light
that ran along the tops of the rails, he kissed his way across her cheek to her
ear, nibbled on a lobe and teased the tender skin beneath it.

The next span had a more gothic theme, since it led into a
mock horror house. They stood beneath eerily lit skeletons and dark ghoulish shapes.
He ran a finger around the joint of her shirt and trousers to release the tape
that fastened top and bottom together. The fabric parted at her waist, letting
him reach under her shirt and rest his hands on the bare skin of her sides.
Warmth and tingling shocks drove into her where he touched. She waited for him
to go higher. Her breasts ached for it, but instead he pulled back again.

“The hotel is right over there,” he said, pointing to a
five-story building looming on their right. “Just two more bridges before we
get to it. Or would you rather go back and circle around again?”

“No.” It came out as a breathy protest and he grinned at it.

“Good.”

At a span that looked like a series of puffs of cotton,
rising higher and higher until they peaked and sank again, he licked, kissed
and nipped at her throat. She couldn’t keep her hands off him this time and
managed to draw his shirt loose from the trousers. She worked her fingers up
his chest, almost melting with the feel of his warm, firm skin and the light
coating of hair.

Her breath heaved in and out in huge gulps by the time he
pulled away again.

“I don’t know if I can do one more without dragging you to
the ground and ripping your clothes off right here in public,” he admitted.

“Good. Forget another bridge. Let’s go.”

They joined hands and ran toward the hotel. As they sped up
toward it, he suggested, “You might want to straighten your uniform. This is a
respectable establishment.” His tone took on a bit of a mocking edge on the
last words.

“I’m very respectable,” she told him.

“Well damn that’s disappointing.”

“Depending on how you define the word.”

“Ah.” He restored his shirt to its neat tuck into his
trousers, and she followed suit.

If anyone paid attention to them Devonne wouldn’t have
noticed. All her concentration belonged to the man beside her and the effort to
get to his room before meltdown occurred. She was on fire, the mass of her body
under too much pressure and threatening to explode.

The stiff way he carried himself and a slight hitch in his breath
suggested he coped with the same problem.

When the lift doors opened, depositing them on the fourth
floor, he pointed left and they raced down the hall.

They made it into the room, ran across the floor, kicking
off boots and shedding clothes as they went and landed together on the bed. He
stretched out beside her. She had time for a quick glance at his form and liked
what she saw. Liked it a lot.

As she’d noted earlier, he was tall but on the slim side,
with no extra bulk. Broad shoulders topped a hard chest, then narrowed down to
a slim waist and hips. Lean muscle and smooth skin wrapped the strong bones
into one very appealing package. His cock stood at attention, nicely filled out
and eager for her.

His mouth found hers again, for a long, dazzling kiss that
made her blood fizz and her womb throb. His hands bracketed her face, then slid
down along her throat and chest to her breasts.

Electric sparks ignited everywhere he touched.

Devonne reached for him in turn, running her fingers into
the silk of his dark hair. He pressed against her. Rivers of heat streamed from
every place his flesh met hers. The hard length of his cock dug into her belly.
She moved to position it closer to where she wanted it.

He had other ideas and drew back a few inches. “Not yet,” he
said, between placing nipping kisses all along her throat. The delicious tingly
ache of those drew a sigh and then a moan from her.

“I don’t… I’m going to explode,” she warned him. “Soon!”

“Beautiful.” Lips nuzzled her breast. A raspy tongue circled
it just outside the areola, then spiraling inward until he brushed across her
nipple. The sharp pleasure drew a louder moan from her. “You’re so beautiful,”
he sighed as he moved from one breast to the other. “And so responsive.”

“You’re setting me on fire.”

She felt like a volcano with the magma building up inside,
threatening to erupt in heat and flames. Delight sparkled in his eyes as he
watched her reaction. When his gaze met hers, though, he stilled for a moment.
It felt as though their souls brushed together in that brief instant as they
looked at each other.

“Please…” she groaned as his clever mouth dipped again and
his tongue drew lightning bolts of sensation from her other breast. When he
sucked the nipple into his mouth and tongued it hard, she screamed.

A hand slid down her belly and delved into her hot, moist
cunt.

“You’re ready for me.” He withdrew the hand and held it up,
showing his fingertips gleaming with the evidence of her desire for him. One
finger went to her lips, letting her smell and taste the fruit of her longing.

She lifted her head to kiss his lips, cheeks, chin and
mouth. Fire burned sweetly into her, forever branding his shape, his taste, his
smell, the feel of him on her soul.

He shifted, lifting himself up and over her. When she parted
her legs further to make room for him, he pushed against her cunt, his cock
probing for her entrance.

It had been so long since she’d had a man, she’d almost
forgotten the vibrant sting of being stretched and filled. He took care as he
pressed himself into her, watching her face to be sure she could handle his
length.

Their harsh breaths mingled in a syncopated rhythm of
delight as he pulled back and them pushed hard into her again and yet again.
The volcano inside her shook and jolted, pulsing closer and closer to eruption.

Tension drew her body into hard knots. With her fingers on
his back, she felt the muscles of Raje’s body bunch and harden as he strained
toward completion. The rhythm of his plunges into her sped up. Each time he
slammed home, the fireball inside her swelled closer to release.

Devonne sobbed and clung to him until he drew back one last
time and paused for a moment. Then he plunged deep into her. It set off the
explosion. She screamed as it rumbled through her, wave on fiery wave of pure
pleasure. And as she bucked and jolted with the spasms, he roared, slammed into
her again and stiffened with his own orgasm.

Once the fierce jolts had subsided, she drew him down on top
of her, wrapping him tightly in her arms and holding him close. She’d had
orgasms before, but no man had ever brought her to this level of joy or reached
so deeply into her soul in the process. She’d worry about that later, but right
then it just felt intensely right to be joined with him in the most intimate
possible way.

“I knew it.” He spoke next to her ear and his breath
tickled. “I knew it would be like this when we talked in the bar.”

“Be like this?”

“Hot, hard, gut-wrenching. The best sex that’s ever happened
to me.”

It had been for her, too, but she didn’t dare admit it. “The
best sex you’ve ever had? Isn’t that always the sex you
just
had?”

He laughed but drew back so he could look her in the eye.
“Not necessarily. I’ve had crappy sex. The bang-bang-done-gone variety. Bodies
in heat.”

“That wasn’t what this was?”

“Hell, no. And the next time’s going to be even better.”

“The next time?”

“Starting in about…five minutes, I hope.”

“You’re in a hurry?”

His wicked grin worked its way into her like a treacherous
bolt of lightning. “Oh, no. Unless you really wanted to get some sleep
tonight?”

“Plenty of other time to sleep.”

He pulled out and rolled onto his side on the bed, facing
her. “Want to check out the bathing facilities here? They’re pretty
spectacular—one of the reasons I got the room.”

Chapter Three

“You planned to pick up a woman and bring her here all
along.” Devonne heard the note of accusation in her voice. “Sorry, I have no
right to—”

He stopped her with a finger across her lips. A wash of
color stained his cheeks. “I did plan to pick up a woman. Hell, it’s been weeks
since the last time. But, then, weren’t you at least halfway looking for the
same thing yourself?” He waited for her nod but stopped her when she began to
say something. “The thing is, I wasn’t looking for you. I’d about given up
hoping you were out there and I’d someday run into you.”

“Me? Have we ever—”

His smile was tender and a bit sad. “No. But you’re the one
I’ve been looking for. The woman who’s enough like me to stay with me and
unlike enough to challenge me. Pretty enough to be intriguing but not
hopelessly vapid. Has a sense of humor that understands mine. Smart enough and
bold enough to make life interesting.” He shook his head slowly. “There aren’t
many like you around. The only other one I’ve met was old enough to be my
grandmother.”

“Did you sleep with her anyway?”

His grin crooked into a more wry humor. “Yup. Game old girl.
We had a good time. I learned a lot from her.”

She looked into his eyes. Despite the self-deprecating
humor, he was serious. “You still see her?”

He shook his head. “She retired to her garden and her
great-grandchildren on Xanthee’s Stake a couple of years ago. I’ve been kind of
missing her. Until you.”

“You’re an unusual man, Raje Jernigan,” she told him.

“Yeah, a few others have said so, too. Sometimes they use
cruder language, though. ‘You’re a weird bastard, Jernigan’. Heard that a few
times. And ‘crazy son of a bitch’. Been called that more than once.”

He helped her up off the bed.

The facilities were every bit as impressive as promised. In
addition to the standard waste disposals and sonic array cleaner, there was an
old-fashioned, glass-enclosed shower with jets at three levels. Beside it sat a
whirlpool tub big enough to hold both of them easily. A dozen jets sprayed
water from its walls.

“Oh, wow! I’ve never been in a real whirlpool. Does it
actually have hot water?” She did some blushing herself when she realized how
naïve and unsophisticated that sounded.

“Real hot water.” He pressed a button and water hissed from
three of the jets. It started to pool on the bottom of the white composite tub.

“It’ll take a few minutes to fill. Want to give the shower a
try while it does?”

“Sure. Both of us?”

His grin broadened, grew purposely sensual. “We can wash
each other’s…hair.”

There wasn’t a lot of extra room in the shower with both of
them in it, but that didn’t mitigate the sensual delight of hot water running
down her body. She turned her back to the spray and had the added pleasure of
being able to look at Raje.

Even with the water plastering his dark hair to his head, he
was beautiful. Every inch of him, from the gorgeous face down to his long, bony
feet, appealed to her.

He reached up, made a selection from a panel showing soaps
and shampoos and pushed a button. Fragrant white lotion poured into his cupped
hand. “Turn around,” he said and proceeded to rub the shampoo into her hair,
massaging her head in the process.

She’d never guessed her scalp could be an erogenous zone,
but it felt so good it made her legs shaky, forcing her to lean back against
him.

After he’d thoroughly shampooed her hair and helped her
rinse it, he gathered a puddle of soap in his hands and began scrubbing her
shoulders. He moved down her chest and sides and finally to her breasts. His
big hands covered her mounds, his brown skin an interesting contrast with the
silvery foam bubbles and her paler flesh. It was the most erotic thing she
could ever remember seeing.

He washed down her belly and along her legs. His hands moved
up the insides of her thighs to just below her slit, where he stopped.

When she sighed he reminded her, “We’re taking it slow this
time.”

She nodded. “Your turn, then.” She spun him around and
gathered up a handful of shampoo before she realized his greater height might
be a problem. “Do you think you could kneel?”

“For you, love, anything.” His tone made it only half
joking, and he did sink to his knees, facing away from her.

She had a great view of his very nice ass as she bent over
him to massage the suds into his hair. When she finished with that and rinsed
it, she washed him as he’d done her. Gobs of soap smoothed the way, letting her
hands glide sweetly over his chest. She circled around the hard pectoral
muscles before stroking down to his flat abdomen.

Moving around to his back, she soaped his shoulders and ran
her hands over his taut, firm butt. The feel and smell of him set her blood
frothing almost as briskly as the shampoo. To reach his legs, she had to ask
him to stand again and turn. When she bent down, she found herself confronted
with his lovely, firm cock, standing at glorious attention.

How could she resist an invitation like that? Devonne
wrapped her hand around his hard shaft and began to test its firmness and
texture with her fingertips. He drew in a sharp breath and then panted as she
explored even lower, testing the delicate firmness of his balls. No man had
ever allowed her to play with his body in this way.

He tolerated her exploration for a while, but then carefully
removed her hand. “If you continue like this ten seconds more, I’m going to
explode in your palm,” he warned. “It might be interesting, but there are other
even more fascinating things to do. I expect the tub is full enough by now.”

She had to force herself to release him and to get out of
the wonderful, sensual warmth of the shower. The whirlpool tub provided its own
reward for the sacrifice, however. Following his lead, she climbed into the tub
and sat, immersing herself up to her neck in the heated water.

“Merciful stars! I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

“Good isn’t it?” Raje stretched out so that his legs were on
either side of her and he leaned back against the side of the tub, arms
outstretched along the top of it. “One of the few things I miss when I’m aboard
ship.”

They spent some time just relaxing in the warm water. After
a few minutes, his foot shifted just enough that he could caress her hip and
backside with it. Since her legs were inside his, she found his balls with her
toes and began her own exploration.

He tolerated it for a while then he reached over and dragged
her toward him, sliding her up along his legs until she straddled his upper
thighs. His full, hard cock probed at her abdomen. Her breasts pressed against
his chest, nipples gently abraded by the coarse hair there.

His kisses were slower and sweeter, less harsh and demanding
now that the most urgent needs had been met. They still went to her head as
fast and hard as the gin had earlier.

She leaned into him, reveling in the feel of his skin on
hers and the sweet fire he roused in her blood. They teased each other’s lips,
earlobes and nipples.

A quick lift and adjustment of her position brought her down
on his cock, with it sinking deep into her cunt. A gasp escaped from her as he
filled her solidly, the tip connecting with the uniquely sensitive place deep
inside that made her senses jangle.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Stars around us, if I get any better, I’ll melt and you’ll
need a shovel to get me out of here.”

He had to help lift her up and down but started at a slow,
easy pace that let her savor the feel of him. It felt good in ways she’d never
guessed anything could.

* * * * *

She woke with the first rays of the sun beginning to
penetrate around the barrier at the window. Her ship should be ready to go
shortly. If they hurried they could grab breakfast together, or…

Raje still slept, but the rhythm of his breathing changed as
she stirred. He’d kicked off the sheet during the night. She couldn’t help but
admire his marvelous body. The brown skin was smooth and unblemished but for
the sprinkling of dark hair over it and a few small scars.

She levered herself up cautiously, then leaned over him.
Taking care to touch with nothing more than her tongue, she licked delicately
at his hip, thigh and then his cock, which hung limp between his legs. His skin
still tasted faintly of last night’s soap combined with a more masculine
essence.

He jerked awake sharply as she tongued her way up his cock
to the tip. The hard shaft of it began to fill and rise. “You—what are you
doing?” The words were thick with the remains of sleep.

“Way I figure it, we’ve got time for one more before I have
to go. I’ve always wanted to do this.”

He sighed and leaned back, spreading his legs to give her
easy access to all of him. “Feel free.”

She did. She ran her hands over his thighs and balls, riding
the flesh between his legs back along the ridge to his anus, then sliding back
over the surprisingly delicate male sac. Exploring his cock with fingers and
tongue, she learned every graceful inch of him. “It’s really not fair,” she
told him. “Even your penis is beautiful.”

“Too bad there’s not a contest for prettiest penis. I might
even be able to retire on my—ooph!” He started and groaned when she took the
entire tip of it into her mouth and began to suck gently. His breath caught on
a hitch as she massaged his balls at the same time. He moved her so he could
get his hands around her breasts while she took him as deep into her throat as
she could manage.

“If they…had a contest…for cleverest use of a mouth…” He had
to stop and pant for a moment. “You’d win easily.”

She was getting turned on herself just listening to his
moans and cries, feeling him swell and throb under her attention. The pulsing
in his cock changed and he pumped more quickly, pushing deeper into her throat.
When she gagged, though, he withdrew.

Instead he flipped her over and moved on top. He tested her
readiness with a finger, found plenty of moisture and plunged in. Their bodies
knew each other at some visceral level. They moved together in a dance that
needed no words, only a small nudge or a gleaming look for a cue.

A knot formed inside her, growing bigger and more complex
with each stroke of his cock inside her. She dug her fingers into his back,
clung to him as it tightened until she could barely stand it.

Their pace grew frantic as he pistoned in and out of her,
driving her into a frenzied, groaning tension. She couldn’t stand it for long.
After a few more thrusts, the knot inside her burst. Spasms of release surged
through her, making her buck and pant. At the top of a thrust he paused then
rammed himself home and came as well.

When it was over, they lay together, holding onto each
other, loath to move. They’d both have to get on with their lives soon, but for
just a few moments they had peace and complete contentment in each other’s
arms.

She wanted to keep him with her forever. It couldn’t
happen—they each had obligations and separate lives—but she indulged a pleasant
dream of building something lasting between them.

His thoughts ran along similar lines. “It doesn’t end here,”
he said.

“No?”

“No.” He said it firmly. “This is too special, too
impossible to let go. We can arrange meetings, coordinate maintenance schedules
and rest stops. Devonne?”

He rolled off her and lay at her side, waiting. She looked
into his odd, light eyes. She still wanted him more than any man she’d ever
met, but was it a good idea to try to continue what they’d had that night? They
knew little about each other, aside from the fact that their bodies seemed in
tune. Their minds and instincts were, too, on some level, since they’d worked
together well during the fight in the bar. Did she dare try to build some
future with him on the strength of that?

“Yes,” she answered.

* * * * *

Over the next year, they actually did manage to meet about
once a month. Several times they coordinated their ships’ maintenance times to
bring them together. They also worked their schedules to bring them close
enough periodically to let them shuttle to some nearby world for shared leave
time. Some spectacular vacations together ensued, and sometimes they did even
go check out the local scenery. Climbing mountains, paddling rivers in long
canoes and watching blazingly colored lava explosions from a fancy restaurant
deepened their understanding of each other beyond the sexual needs. On a world
called Blaise’s Keep, they joined some traditional dance group to learn a set
of intricate steps for something called rondels. They ended up dancing the
entire night.

She had to tell her crew what was going on. They ribbed her
about it, of course, but they also supported her completely and went out of
their way to make sure she could make rendezvous with him.

At the end of the year, though, her relationship with Raje
changed some more. When the hail came, she and her crew were just finishing up
the successful delivery of a cargo of smuggled Asgenish brandy to Latrovsky’s
Pier. A city full of connoisseurs of fine liquor there had been denied their
enjoyment of it by a nobility that decreed some things were intended only for
the upper classes. Devonne’s arrival with half a hold full of the beverage had
caused rejoicing and brought her crew a nice reward.

Raje asked for a meeting and she agreed. They met on the
closest planet with shuttle docking facilities and made love, of course, but he
had more than that on his mind.

“I’ve gotten word of a shipment of arms from Duneen to New
Yorkland. I know the route they’ll have to take. I’ve figured out a way to stop
them and reduce their cargo problems. The thing is…it will take two ships to
pull it off.”

“You have a buyer for the shipment?” she asked.