Sleeping With the Enemy (14 page)

    Stepping out again when the cycle shut off, she shivered while she turned in the air dryer and then pulled a robe on. She’d just managed to rake the tangles from her hair when the buzzer sounded, alerting her to the delivery she’d been expecting. Tossing her comb down, she trudged to the door and opened it. When she had, she simply stared blankly in shock at the man-ril standing outside. It took longer for recognition to sink in than it should have. The instant it did, she poked her head into the corridor, looked both ways, and then grabbed Anka’s wrist and gave his arm a yank to get him inside before he was seen.

    He curled around her, backing her against the wall next to her door the instant he entered. Sybil’s heart was thundering in her ears so loudly she was deaf to all else. “What…?”

    She barely got even the one word out before his mouth settled over hers. Her mind was a morass of shocked confusion, but her body reacted instantly with a roiling cloud of pleasure the moment she felt his mouth on hers and sucked in a deep, satisfying, electrifying draft of his scent. The questions swarming through her mind abandoned her as her entire being focused at once on him, the pressure of his mouth, and his body against hers. She clutched at him blindly, trying to absorb him.

    He left her mouth after a few minutes, sucking in a harsh breath and diving for her throat. She was inclined to complain as much as she enjoyed the feel of his mouth on the tender skin since his focus on her throat left her no way to explore him except with her hands, but dismissed the impulse readily when she felt him tugging her robe off. She left off her own exploration eagerly then, searching his suit for the closure. Her mind had turned to mush. Even when she finally discovered the way inside, it took her trembling fingers far longer to unravel the mystery of the mechanics than she’d wanted to devote to it. Finally, she managed it, however. She pushed her hands inside immediately to feel his skin. He was hot to the touch, not merely warm, and a shiver of fresh excitement rushed through her. The muscles along her channel began to clench and unclench a little frantically in anticipation, directing her to her needs.

    Abandoning her exploration, she began tugging at the suit he was wearing. He released her long enough to shrug it from his shoulders and dove for her again, fitting his mouth to hers while he ran shaking hands over her. When she caught his buttocks in her hands and pulled his hips closer, arching against him, he switched his focus from her breasts to her buttocks, rhythmically pumping against her for several moments before he tired of the dubious pleasure of mock coupling and caught her buttocks, lifting her from the floor.

    Sybil instantly discarded her mental search for a horizontal surface to achieve penetration and focused on the delightful opportunity offered. Curling her arms and legs around him, she began rubbing her exposed clit up and down along his cock. He tightened his grip on her buttocks, guiding her along his shaft for a few moments and shifted his hold impatiently, holding her with one arm while he grasped his cock and guided it home.

    Sybil uttered a sound of want into his mouth as she felt the tug on her flesh, felt it slowly engulfing his-too slowly. Impatience fluttered through her. Despite the moisture her body had produced to welcome him, however, her body resisted yielding to him. Apparently, it was equally frustrating to him. He shifted his hold on her, braced her against the wall, and thrust again, slipping inside. Breaking from her lips, he gasped harshly, driving slowly but steadily until he’d conquered her channel.

    Sybil sucked a patch of flesh on his shoulder, squeezing her eyes tightly to focus on the exquisite sensation of his possession. It was the most wonderful feeling she’d ever felt and the pleasure increased by leaps and bounds as he began to move within her and she could feel the glide of his flesh in the most intimate of caresses.

    The abrupt, pounding knock on her door nearly gave her a heart attack. She jerked her head up, widening her eyes. It jolted Anka from the moment just as harshly. It took her a moment to recognize the suspicion in his eyes.

    “Who is it?” she asked in a quavering voice.

    “You wanted dine-in, Lieutenant?”

    Anka scanned her face searchingly.

    “Yes,” Sybil muttered reluctantly. “Could you… uh… leave the tray at the door? Uh… I’m not dressed.”

    There was silence indicating surprise. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll leave it by the door.”

    Damn it to hell!

    Anka studied her, but there was just no getting around the fact that the interruption had totally blown the mood. “I should get that. Someone will wonder why it’s outside.”

    With obvious reluctance, Anka withdrew and allowed her to settle to the floor. “Stay there,” she whispered, wrapping her robe around herself with shaky hands and tying the belt.

    She saw the man’s back as she opened her door and reached for the tray. He turned and threw a glance back at her. Forcing a smile, she waved, snatched the tray from the floor and went back inside.

    She could feel Anka’s watchful gaze as she crossed the room and settled the tray on the small table she usually used as a desk. Uncomfortable, she glanced around and discovered he’d straightened his clothing. Disappointment flickered through her, but she didn’t suppose there was any possibility of recapturing the moment. Damn it! Damn it! Shit! “Have you eaten?”

    He shrugged, but approached her. “Earlier.”

    How much earlier? “Would you like to share?”

    He shook his head, but she didn’t miss the interest in his eyes as he scanned the covered dishes. “I don’t really like eating alone and I’m not comfortable eating in front of anybody,” she said tentatively.

    He joined her at the table. “I only have one chair, but we could move the table to the bunk.”

    The moment she made the suggestion visions danced through her head of the two of them cozying up on the bed and feeding one another. Truthfully, she was far more interested in the cuddling and other things than she was the food. When he’d moved the table, though, she took a seat on the bunk and allowed him the chair. “I hadn’t realized that you were part of the Sumpturian enclave,” she said when he sat down. “I looked for you.”

    He sent her a sharp look and finally grimaced. “In all honesty I expected you to slam the door in my face.”

    She might have if he hadn’t caught her completely off guard. “But you came anyway.”

    A slow grin curled his lips. “I figured I was due a door in the face… and, of course, hopeful you’d invite me in.”

    She decided not to tell him she’d been far more worried about him being seen outside her door than anything else at that moment. “You haven’t worn out your welcome… yet.”

    He sent a quizzical look. “No?”

    She met his gaze. “I guess I’m a sucker for a pretty face.”

    He chuckled at that. She liked his laugh, but she was more charmed by the warm color that tinted his cheeks.

    “You
do
blush!” she exclaimed, laughing.

    He sent her a mock stern look as she removed the covers and began to divide the food, giving him the largest portion. “Certainly not. Don’t give me all of your food.”

    “I’m actually not that hungry.” Not for food anyway.

    Almost as if he could read her mind, Anka sent her a smoldering look.

    “I see your ankle is better.”

    “Thankfully. I’ll have to remember not to use it the next time I need to knock somebody out, though. They’re always weak after a sprain. I was thinking about putting in for a discharge anyway when my tour’s up.”

    He sent her a speculative look. “Any particular reason… aside from the injury?”

    “The injury had nothing to do with it. I was thinking about colonizing before that. It’s the reason I volunteered for the Mars project to start with. I’ve been ready for a change for a while. Not that I haven’t enjoyed the career, mind you, but I think, maybe, I’ve outgrown it.”

    “So… you’re planning to move to Mars?”

    She shrugged. “We’ll see.” She hesitated. “Command didn’t consider that I comported myself with the dignity they expect of an officer in what they refer to as the Venus ‘fiasco’. If I hadn’t already been considering moving on, that would’ve changed things, anyway. Now it’s just one more reason for a career change. It isn’t likely that I could look forward to any more promotions-certainly not any time soon.”

    He frowned. “Because of what happened on Venus? I’m sorry.”

    “I’m sorry that you’re sorry. I’m not.”

    Something flickered in his eyes. “In that case,” he murmured, smiling faintly, “I don’t regret it either.”

    “No? I got the impression you did.”

    He studied her a long moment and got up, moving around the table. When he settled beside her, he drew her down on the bunk with him. “It’s far more complicated than you seem to think,” he murmured. Reaching for her belt, he untied it and pushed the robe open, stroking his fingers lazily over her. He left a path of pebbling skin in the wake of his touch. A shiver of delight traveled through her. She watched his expression, studying the details that had faded in her mind in the weeks since she’d seen him.

    He looked thinner, she thought abruptly, wondering if he’d been ill. His color seemed healthy, though. Stress? Very likely, she decided, although it would’ve been nice to think he’d been pinning for her. He had a heavy load on his broad shoulders.

    The thought brought her gaze to them and she lifted her hands to rub them along his shoulders. “You’re overdressed,” she murmured a little hoarsely.

    “You’re impatient.”

    “I am.”

    He lifted his brows at her, but sat up and removed his boots. “You aren’t expecting any other callers?” he asked wryly as he reached for the closure of his suit.

    Sybil chuckled. Sitting up, she pulled her robe off and tossed it aside. “I’d forgotten that one,” she said. “I had other things on my mind.”

    When he settled beside her once more, they lay on their sides, face to face, simply staring at one another. “What’s going through your mind, I wonder?” he murmured.

    “Not much. I was just enjoying the view.”

    He studied her curiously. “You’re serious?”

    She smiled. “Why would you think otherwise?”

    He shook his head at her. “You should have your eyesight checked. You do realize you have an alien in your bed?”

    “A ril-yes. You may have noticed I hadn’t met a man that appealed to me enough to take him to my bed.”

    He shifted closer, stroking a hand slowly down her arm, almost thoughtfully. “So you’re saying rils appeal to you more?”

    “You know that isn’t what I’m suggesting.”

    He grinned knowingly as he lowered his head to brush his cheek along hers. “Just checking,” he murmured against her ear.

    Sybil sighed with a mixture of pleasure and disappointment. She’d hoped he would give her something, but she wasn’t really surprised that he hadn’t. She might very well not see him again. Tonight was an unexpected gift of fate, though, and she didn’t want to spoil a moment of it.

    She didn’t truly know why he seemed drawn to her anymore than he understood why and how she could find him attractive, she supposed, when he was so different from her and anything she’d ever known. For her, it was a matter of her senses-pure and simple. He excited them. As much as she appreciated his intelligence and his sense of humor and the other qualities she saw in him, he made her hot and that was why she wanted him.

    She couldn’t tell him why. She didn’t know why. She just knew he did, couldn’t deny it.

    He seemed to think she had other motives. It was so typical of the male of her own species she wondered just how different he actually was.

    Of course it had occurred to her to wonder why he found her attractive and if he actually did or he had some other reason for seducing her. She would’ve liked for him to dispel her fears, but could he truly do that with words even if he’d tried? Wouldn’t doubts linger in her mind because she knew she couldn’t possibly be his concept of beauty?

    She dismissed her doubts after a moment, determined to focus on the sheer delight of his attentiveness as he explored her slowly with his hands and his gaze until she’d become impatient for more and finally settled to exploring her with his mouth.

    She felt no discomfort or wariness when he shifted lower to caress her breasts as she had the first time, only eagerness to feel what she had before. He kneaded them gently with his hands until they were flushed with her pulse, lowering his head to pluck at the tips with his lips only after they’d become so distended his touch was almost as painful as it was delightful. The muscles low her belly clenched spasmodically when he took the first into his mouth and curled his tongue around it.

    Heat poured through her. She settled her hands on his head, stroking his hair and then his shoulders and back. Through slitted eyes, she watched his face, studied his mouth as he suckled, feeling the heat climb until she felt like she would go up in flames. By the time he’d decided he’d teased it enough, she felt fevered. She tilted her head back and gasped when he caught her other nipple in his mouth and sucked it, feeling the world go briefly black.