She shuddered beneath his touch, reaching back with her hand to cup his butt and holding him in place as she pressed closer still.
The need to caress her bare skin had him pulling up her gown until he could slip his hand beneath the cloth and caress the warmth of her skin. She shivered at his touch, but didn’t pull away. He let his hand travel upward, until he reached the gentle swell of her breast. Cupping the lush mound with his hand, he rubbed his thumb across her nipple, teasing it into a tight pebble.
A groan escaped from her throat as she pushed against his hand. Rolling her onto her back, he leaned over so he could capture her lips with his own, running his tongue along their seam, coaxing them open. When her lips finally opened, he rushed to take advantage, slipping his tongue inside to savor her taste and drink his fill of her.
Suddenly, the layer of clothing between them was too much. Nicoli rid them of the unwanted garments, doing so with just enough presence of mind to not rip them in the process.
Though he’d seen her naked before, he was not prepared for how the sight of her now would affect him. She was perfection. Even the scars on her body did not detract from her beauty.
Absorbed in his thoughts, he was surprised when he felt her hesitant touch as she sifted her fingers through the mat of hair on his chest. When she began placing light kisses along his pectoral line, he held his breath. When he could take no more, he gently eased her back.
"My turn," he told her, just before he pressed his lips to the base of her neck. She tasted warm and sweet. He flicked his tongue across skin and felt her shiver beneath him. It was all the encouragement he needed to trail warm kisses down the column of her throat until the path brought him to the tip of her breast. There, he sucked the taut nipple into his mouth and teased it with the tip of his tongue.
Beneath him, Kiera arched her back, offering herself to him. Her skin was hot to the touch, reminding Nicoli that she was still in danger. He would need to bring her to release soon before the concentration of toxins built too high. He only hoped he had the strength and willpower to do what must be done without getting her pregnant.
Running a hand along the length of her body, he felt that honor had never come at such a cost.
Reaching the apex of her thighs, he slid his finger easily between the folds of her cleft. Finding her moist and ready, he used her natural dew to massage her opening until her sharp gasp told him he’d found her most sensitive place.
Inserting his finger into her, he withdrew it slowly, stoking the fires of her passion. Over and over, until her nails bit into his back.
When her release finally came upon her, he covered her mouth with his to swallow her cries. Then he gathered her close until her shudders subsided.
The respite was short-lived and soon, Kiera was in need of further attention, which Nicoli provided. Each time he brought her to release, he resolutely ignored his own growing need.
When she finally fell asleep and lay peacefully within the circle of his arms, he knew the level of oxytocin in her system was finally high enough to counteract the deadly effects of the pheromones.
Nicoli made no effort to leave her side. He was glad he had not compromised her, but he was in serious pain. His state of sexual frustration was the worst he’d ever felt - meaning it was going to be a long, long night. There was little hope of his falling asleep but surprisingly, that didn't bother him. Holding her in his arms as he was, he found he was content to stay where he was.
Chapter 11
The dawn of the new day was heralded by a gentle light that slipped through the crack in the drawn curtains to shine in her face. For a moment, it was like she was back home, curled up in bed, safe and warm beneath the covers. Feeling lazy, she stretched - and discovered she wasn't alone in bed.
She should have felt alarmed, but for some reason she wasn't. Curious who would be with her, she gazed at the sleeping man with nearly black hair in disarray about his head and two days of stubble darkening his chiseled jaw and cheeks.
Nicoli.
She recognized him instantly and felt herself blush.
He'd saved her life last night. The images of exactly how he'd done it slowly played out in her mind: Nicoli, naked, his mouth and hands doing things she was too embarrassed to recall in any detail.
Even those thoughts were overshadowed by a dawning realization.
She remembered who she was.
Angel Torrence.
The relief and joy of having her memory back was quickly overshadowed by knowledge of how Nicoli would react when she told him. He would be livid to know that Michels, whom he’d been led to believe was a young man, was in fact the very female Angel, aka Kiera.
Behind her, the warmth of Nicoli’s body pressed against her. He moaned softly and she worried he might be waking. Instead, he reached out with his arm, draping it over her, his hand coming to rest on her breast. She dared not move, or even breathe because if he woke, then she'd have to face what they'd done the night before - and she wasn't ready for that. Somehow, “Hi, I’m Michels. I didn't go back to the ship. Sorry about that, but thanks for last night; the sex was great,” didn’t seem to adequately cover the situation.
“Kiera, I know you’re awake. Everything all right?”
The concern in his voice pulled at her heart. When he found out the truth, it was bound to change things between them. She was too much a realist to expect it to be for the better.
“Kiera?”
“Angel,” she corrected him, opting for a partial truth. “That’s my name.” Her voice broke and she took a deep breath, ignoring how the movement rubbed their bodies closer together. “My memory's back.”
She felt the marginal stiffening of his body.
“Good. That’s good.”
From his tone, she knew he was bracing for what could very well be a difficult and embarrassing conversation.
“Thank you,” she began, wanting to choose her words carefully, "for saving my life. I know it was an unexpected...complication."
When he didn't say anything, she grew more aware of their bodies pressed so close together and her embarrassment grew.
“I need to get up.” Her voice sounded a little desperate.
Before she could figure out how to retrieve her clothes without parading naked across the room, Nicoli threw back the covers and got out of the bed, taking his beautiful body and the warmth it provided, with him. She quickly averted her eyes, but not before getting visual verification that her memory of him had not been exaggerated.
"Here." He scooped their clothes off the floor and tossed her the gown. “As soon as you're dressed, we'll see if we can get out of here.”
She pulled the gown over her head while he was busy pulling on his clothes.
“About last night,” she said, scrambling out of bed. “I'm sorry if I didn't do...that is to say, I'm sorry if you found it..." She blew out a breath, not sure what the right word was for what she wanted to say. "Burdensome. It's just, I haven't had a lot of experience with...that sort of stuff.”
"I know."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, embarrassment turning to anger.
"Nothing. It's just, I could tell from the way you responded that you...” It was his turn to falter for words. "You responded like you haven't been with many men."
I haven't, she thought, but didn't say it out loud. Her lack of experience wasn't because of some archaic need to remain a virgin until she found "the one." Her life - her freedom - depended on staying one or two steps ahead of the men chasing her and that meant not staying in any one place long enough to form attachments. Earth had been her one exception.
"Look, you shouldn't be embarrassed by how you felt or reacted last night," Nicoli said, misinterpreting her silence. "It was the drugs they put into the wine. It wasn’t real. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Oh.”
It didn’t mean anything
. She knew he was right, but the words cut through her.
“Time to go,” he announced, ending further conversation by walking to the door.
He bent his head close, listening for sounds on the other side. Apparently not hearing any, he opened the door. Just a crack at first, and then all the way. When Angel followed Nicoli out of the room, she saw that the hallway was empty. With luck, everyone was still sleeping off the effects of the drugs.
Together they walked down the hall and into the main banquet room. The dishes had been cleared from the table and the room sat dark and empty. They crossed the room quickly to the exit and went outside.
There were a few people walking around the square, but no one even looked up when they stepped out of the main building. When Nicoli took her hand in his, she didn't try to pull free.
"As far as they know, we're two lovers out for a leisurely stroll," he told her as they headed off in the direction of the landing field. “With luck, we'll find a shuttle to take us back to the city.”
“Then what?”
“One thing at a time.”
They made their way to the landing field, but when they got there, they found the gates locked.
“How are we going to get in?” Angel asked, studying the height of the fence. It was too tall to jump and she wondered if they might be able to climb it.
Nicoli followed her gaze. “Let me try something first.” Raising his arm, he pressed the identification bracelet around his wrist against the scanner at the gate. They soon heard the satisfying click of the gates unlocking.
On the other side of the fence they found three shuttles waiting. Walking up to the first, they found the hatch already open, so they stepped inside.
Angel wanted to take the pilot’s seat, preferring her flying abilities to Nicoli’s, but she wasn't ready to admit to him that she knew how to fly. While she silently debated with herself on what to do, Nicoli sat down and took the controls. Reluctantly, she took the co-pilot’s chair and helped scan the console.
“I can’t tell if it’s another autopilot or not,” he said.
“Even if it is, any place is better than here, right?” Looking out the window, she saw someone in the distance running toward them. “Company coming. And from the way he’s waving and shouting, I’d say he doesn’t want us to leave.”
“Too bad.” He found the switch that shut and locked the hatch door. "Damn it."
“Problems?”
“The battery’s cold. It’ll take a while to warm up before the thrusters kick in."
"Stop!" The man shouted, coming up to the shuttle. He pounded on the hatch door. "You're not supposed to leave."
“If he gets the hatch open before we start moving, we won’t be going anywhere,” Nicoli muttered.
Angel’s thoughts raced. “We could cold-start the forward thrusters,” she suggested.
He looked at her as if she’d sprouted a second head.
“I’ve done it before,” she continued quickly, “but it requires by-passing the computer’s ignition sequence.”
He smiled. “I think I can help there. You won’t have long before the system detects an error in the program and shuts down.”
She nodded her understanding. “I'll work fast.”
Nicoli’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he entered commands into the computer. Angel, in the meantime, unscrewed a panel on the ship’s console, exposing several wires and microchips. Fortunately, though the cultures on the planets throughout the universe varied, the technology was fairly standard and she had yet to encounter a ship she couldn't figure out. Studying the chips inserted into the computer board, she was glad to see this one was no different.
Behind them came the sound of the hatch locks deactivating.
“On my mark,” Nicoli said. “Now.”
Angel pulled three chips from their spots and re-inserted one sideways, tossing the other two over her shoulder. As she did, she caught Nicoli's worried gaze.
"I know what I'm doing," she assured him, hoping she was right. "Try the engines now."
Nicoli pressed the starter button. The engine sputtered and then roared to life. As the shuttle rose, the hatch doors fell shut.
Soon, the Rebirth Colony was left far behind.
Angel knew she should take advantage of the two-hour flight to tell Nicoli that she was Michels, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Plus, it didn't hurt that Nicoli never asked her about how she came to be a donor. Instead, he focused all his attention on breaking into the ship's computer and Angel rationalized her silence as giving him the quiet he needed to work.