Damn, but he wanted her. From the moment he’d seen her in the donor room, he’d wanted her. Last night, it had nearly killed him to hold her in his arms as she writhed from the pleasure he'd given her. He'd refused to take advantage of her when she'd been drugged.
Now there was no such excuse.
Raising his hand to her cheek, he looked into her eyes and saw the uncertainty. And something else. Something more primitive.
Slowly, giving her every opportunity to back away, he lowered his head. When his lips touched hers, he meant it to be a tender promise of things to come. Instead, the taste of her lips lit an inferno of need inside him that was not easily doused with one kiss. So he took another, and this one was neither gentle nor brief.
“Send me away, Angel.” He whispered hoarsely, when they broke for air. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to leave on my own.”
“Stay.”
It took a moment for the word to register, but when it did, it was like the breaking of a dam. With a hungry growl, Nicoli dropped his clothes on the floor and gathered her to him. He ravaged her mouth, forcing her to open to his exploration. When her arms stole around his neck, he leaned down without breaking the contact of their mouths and lifted her by the legs until she could wrap them about his hips.
He throbbed with wanting her and thrust himself against the juncture of her legs, only the fabric of his towel separating their bodies. Even that proved to be too much.
Nicoli could easily have released the towel and taken her against the wall, but drawing control from an inner strength, he carried her to the bed and gently set her down. With the fearful wonder of the innocent, she watched as he deftly loosened the towel and let it fall to the floor. Though he knew she’d seen him nude before, she stared at him as if for the first time. Perhaps her experience with men was limited or perhaps it was the particulars of their association that made her seem nervous. Whatever the reason, he didn't want to frighten her.
Please, God, help me go slowly.
With his hands, he spread her knees where she sat on the side of the bed and knelt before her on the floor. Cupping her face with his hands, he brought her to him and captured her lips with his, demanding from her all that he gave. Undoing the last few buttons of her shirt, he slipped his hands beneath the material, wanting to feel the satiny smoothness of her skin against his palms. He cupped the gentle swelling of her breasts and squeezed. At her gasp, Nicoli broke away to trail tiny kisses down along her throat, but did not stop there. The curve of a breast rubbed against his cheek, igniting a fire where it touched. He rubbed against it, enjoying the warm feel of her soft plumpness. When he reached the cool tautness of her nipple, he turned to lave it with his tongue until it hardened into a dusky pink pebble that he took into his mouth to suckle.
Tiny moans escaped Angel’s throat as he split his attentions between her breasts. He let a hand trail along the curve of her waist, down the flare of her hip to rest briefly against her thigh before moving to the delicate flesh between her legs. Already warm and moist, he parted her feminine folds with his thumb, searching for and finding the sensitive nub, which he began to stroke with slow, purposeful movements.
“Please, Nicoli,” she gasped, squirming beneath his touch.
“Soon, I promise,” he whispered, taking her mouth again with his. He slid the shirt off completely, then eased her back across the bed. Stretched out above her, he used his arms to keep from crushing her beneath his weight. Parting her legs with his knees, he positioned himself, letting his erection tease the damp folds of her cleft until she was damp and slick with moisture.
Then he entered. Slowly at first, because she was warm and tight. So tight. He couldn’t go far and had to pull back. She was wet with her own desire and he used her juices to coat his member before entering her again. His muscles trembled with the effort to go slowly, not wanting to rush their first time but not sure he could avoid it.
Her warmth hugged him and he pushed himself deeper - and then froze.
“What’s wrong?” Angel’s voice was a breathy whisper.
“You’re a virgin!” His voice cracked under the stress of not moving.
She gazed up at him with what looked like embarrassment. “So?”
“It changes things.” It took all of his self-control not to ignore the barrier and pierce it in search of his own pleasure. He had no idea where he’d find the control to just walk away.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize my sexual status would be such a turn-off.”
“A turn-off?”
Was she crazy
? “It's just, well, I didn't expect you to be a virgin."
"It's not like I've had a lot of time for sex," she said, sounding defensive. "Do you think we could maybe ignore my virginal state and continue where we left off?"
"On my planet, only a woman’s husband is allowed the honor of taking her virginity.”
“But we’re not on your planet.”
“No, we’re not. But your first time should be with someone special.”
Softly her words came to him. “It is.”
Almost afraid to believe his ears, he studied her face. “Angel, are you sure? It’s not too late to stop,” he lied.
A more honorable man wouldn't have asked. He would have pulled out and walked away. Nicoli, though, couldn't be that man. Not now. Not with this woman.
"I'm sure," she said, leaning up to place a kiss against his throat. The gesture dissolved the last of his resolve.
“Do you give yourself to me freely?”
“Yes.”
He lowered himself, gathering her close so he could whisper in her ear. “You do me great honor in bestowing this gift and I offer you my life in exchange. We are bound, one to the other,
eternum
.” He would never utter the words to the ancient ritual again. “This may hurt, but I promise it'll get better.”
He surged forward, breaking through the barrier of her maidenhead and whispered.
Angel held her breath as pain shot through her, bringing her perceptions into sharp detail. Nicoli filled her so completely she wondered that her body was able to accommodate his size. Though he held himself still, she felt the throbbing of his engorged member pulsing inside her.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
“Yes.”
Was that it?
She'd thought there'd be more to it, especially after that nonsense he'd uttered about giving his life in exchange for her virginity. Maybe the night at the Rebirth Colony had been harder on him than she realized.
Nicoli’s breathing was more strained than before and Angel surmised that this act had taken much out of him.
“That was, uh, nice.” She tried to sound enthusiastic, all the while thinking that she hadn't really missed much all these years of not having sex.
Some of her thoughts must have shown in her face, though, because Nicoli gave a most impolite snort, just before levering himself above her.
“Nice? I suggest you hang on.”
Before she had a chance to ask what he meant, he pulled back. With a sense of growing loss, she felt him sliding out. Then suddenly, he thrust forward and a rush of sensation shot through her. Before she had a chance to recover, he started to withdraw. With the next thrust, she felt the muscles of her abdomen tighten.
In. Out.
With each of his thrusts, the tingling between her thighs built.
In. Out.
Each time a little more forceful, a little faster so the building tension never had time to dissipate.
In. Out.
Sensations assaulted her body. The coolness of the sheets below her and the warmth of Nicoli’s body above her faded until all of her attention focused on where their two bodies joined.
In. Out.
She was wound so tight, surely her body could take no more.
In. Out.
Every nerve exploded. With stars bursting behind her closed lids, she gasped for breath and rode the wave of sensation, her consciousness seeming to transcend to another, ethereal plane of existence.
She was barely aware of Nicoli driving himself into her one last time before holding himself taut above her, a primal cry bursting from his throat.
Both remained still as the climax slowly burned itself out and a pleasant lassitude settled over them. Still joined, Nicoli rolled to the side, turning her so they faced one another. Pulling a sheet over them, he gathered her close and held her. Angel was glad for the anchor, because her thoughts were spiraling.
It had not been like anything she could have anticipated - and it broke her heart to think it would never happen again. She and this man had no future together. How could they?
A man who went around saving the universe didn’t have time for personal commitments. And if he ever did, Nicoli was the type to want a traditional marriage and a traditional woman.
Not someone who was a fugitive from their own planet and wanted by the law on several others.
Angel mentally shook herself. What was she even thinking? This was lust, not love. She would be smart to remember the difference between the two. Besides, as soon as they stopped on the space station, she was going her own way while Nicoli went on to Coronado.
The thought of leaving him depressed her and she allowed herself a moment of self-pity. Lying in his arms, she rested her head on his chest and enjoyed the feel of his arms about her, keeping her safe. She stayed that way until he fell asleep. Then, being careful not to disturb him, she climbed from the bed, showered and quickly dressed.
When he awoke alone, he would mistakenly think their lovemaking had meant nothing to her, as he was supposed to. Some lies were necessary, she thought as she walked out of the room and headed for the bridge. She only wished that after all these years, the lie-telling would come easier.
Chapter 14
Angel stepped onto the space station’s decking and looked around. The irony of her arrival here, at this point and time in her life, was not lost on her. The space station was still as dank and oppressive as she remembered, but it no longer frightened her as it had those many years ago when she’d first run away. After eight years of surviving on her own and piloting illegal goods, Delphi IV was just another independent station that attracted too much of the wrong element.
Right now, that suited her fine. She wasn’t planning to stick around long. She’d find out which ship was departing soon and be on it. It would have been easier to get the information she needed if Nicoli had allowed her to see to the repairs for the
Icarus
, but he’d insisted on doing that himself. Now she’d have to get the information some other way.
“There he is.” Yanur, standing beside her, pointed to the left where Nicoli could be seen walking toward them.
For a moment, Angel’s heart stood still. With or without clothes, he commanded attention. Head held high, he was a man used to being in charge. Even his stride exuded raw masculine strength.
“Shall we go eat?” He asked, coming to stand beside her. “It’ll take a couple of hours to repair the ship, so we have enough time to eat. There’s only one establishment open at this hour, a place called Flannigan’s. But I hear the food is good.”
“You two go ahead,” Yanur offered. “First, I want to see a man about some raw tyrillium for my medical equipment, and then maybe I’ll join you.”
The sound of crude laughter drew their attention to a nearby ship. The crew, appearing dirty and unshaven, disembarked and headed down the corridor.
“There’s a trustworthy looking bunch,” Yanur murmured. “On second thought, it might be good for someone to keep an eye on the ship. I think I’ll come back here when I finish.” He gestured to the comm-link pinned to the collar of his shirt. “I shouldn’t be gone long and I’ll buzz you if anything is amiss. You two have fun, but be careful.”
Angel and Nicoli watched the older man hobble along the corridor, then turned to go in the opposite direction, through halls dimly lit for the evening hour. The space station did not experience the rising and setting of the sun to mark its days, so the hall lights were adjusted instead. For Angel, the experience reminded her of walking through the back streets of Jupiter’s Zeta Colony. It was close to midnight and with the exception of the crewmen ahead of them, she and Nicoli seemed the sole occupants in the connecting hallways through which they passed. Only the subtle shifting of shadows suggested otherwise. Angel flexed her wrists, taking comfort in the familiar feel of her hand laser. In this remote part of space, there were no weapon prohibition laws.
Stepping inside Flannigan’s was like entering a
Wunderland
addict’s hallucinogenic trip through a virtual recreation of Earth’s Wild West era. A huge mirror covered the back wall and directly in front of it was a simulated wood bar, complete with bartender. Randomly distributed around the great room were small tables and chairs of the same simulated wood. But that’s where the Wild West resemblance ended. Neon blue, green, red and yellow veins of light formed intricate patterns in the floor, branching off to various sections of the room. Their reflections, projected back into the room by the mirrored wall, made the light patterns appear three-dimensional. At one time, the embedded light veins were used to guide the service 'bots. But modern technology had rendered the guidance veins of light obsolete. Still, they added atmosphere, giving the place a softer glow.