End Game

  “My womanly ego is mollified now that I know I’m more exciting than gym equipment.”

  “A little.” His smile turned into a wolfish grin. “We could drug ourselves tomorrow,” he offered. “Might as well sample Yumi’s entire pharmacological cornucopia.”

  “I suppose that would be a possibility.” Alisa still had some of that qui-gorn. They could mask their thoughts. She felt bad about the idea of using something like that, of keeping things from her daughter, but was it wrong for her to have a private sex life? With someone she loved and who loved her back? Especially when they were going into what might be impossible odds, and there was no guarantee that either of them would live through this battle?

  “I want you, Alisa,” Leonidas said, shifting under her thighs, as if to make sure there was no doubt of that statement. “But I don’t want to do anything to harm your relationship with your daughter.”

  “I know you don’t. And I love you for that.”

  As she rubbed his chest, fingers growing bold with the need to touch all of him, she leaned closer and kissed him on the mouth, sensing that he wouldn’t be the one to initiate an encounter, even though he clearly desired it. This was her decision, her mistake to make, if it was one. As soon as their lips touched, she knew it wasn’t, or that if it was, she would rather deal with the consequences later and have him now.

  Leonidas did not hesitate to kiss her back. For the first time, he did not seem tense or worried that he might apply too much pressure. And he didn’t. Not that she had expected an overly aggressive cyborg tongue to send her flying, but he always seemed worried. He melded into her, awakening her entire body, making her ache with the need to be with him tonight. Forever.

  When she pulled back to make a suggestion, she was panting. “Engineering?” she managed to get out, though all she wanted was to return to kissing—and more.

  “What?” he asked, stroking her cheek with his hand, his thumb tracing the contours of her face, her lips.

  “We can shut the hatch, and nobody will hear us over the thrum of the engines unless we’re… very noisy.”

  For a moment, he kept touching her face, as if it were formed from some priceless metal instead of mundane skin and bone, and she almost asked him his thoughts. He wasn’t having doubts, was he? If so, perhaps another kiss would change his mind…

  She shifted in his lap, intentionally rubbing against him, and leaned toward his lips again. He growled like a panther and returned the kiss. Had he ever done that before? It sent a shiver down her spine.

  As he kissed her, he shifted his weight, wrapping his hands around her butt. Not letting go, he rose to his feet, keeping her pressed against him, and she gasped, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

  “I wouldn’t drop you,” he murmured against her lips, sounding dryly amused as he walked toward engineering.

  “No,” she said, wrapping her legs around him. “I know you wouldn’t, but a girl likes to hang on.”

  “Hang on all you like,” he said, a hint of that growl in his voice again.

  “I will.” She gripped his shoulders, running her hands over his hard muscles as she kissed him. She probably should have stopped so he could see where he was going, but this new closeness, their bodies locked together with no secrets between them, made it hard for her to contemplate stopping.

  Even without the ability to see through her head, he strode confidently past the hatch, pausing only to tug it shut with his foot. Inside, the lights were dimmed, but dozens of indicators spread their red, blue, and green glows into the machine-filled room. Alisa could just make out the strong features of Leonidas’s face, the way his hair was tousled—maybe she had done that with her hands. Grinning, she lowered her lips to the side of his neck, kissing and nibbling. She shifted her weight, flexing her legs around him, deciding their clothes were problematic.

  He groaned, her name slipping out.

  “You’re thinking of the clothing problem too?” she murmured against his skin, teasing him even as she enjoyed his warm taste. She nipped at the tendons in his neck, then lifted her mouth to his ear, rubbing her face in his hair as she nibbled here and there.

  His grip tightened, and he pulled her harder against him, his breaths coming more quickly in her ear. Maybe she should have been afraid of those powerful arms wrapped around her, that he would unintentionally hurt her, but she wasn’t. She trusted him, even if he didn’t trust himself.

  “If you want me,” she whispered into his ear, “take me.”

  He did not hesitate. He pushed her against the bulkhead, as she’d imagined so many times, and she gasped as her shirt came off far more quickly than it had gone on. His hands explored her body, sending tingles of heat through her wherever they touched, as he found her lips for a long, demanding kiss. She kissed him back while shoving at his shirt, wanting it off. He yanked it over his head, and somehow, the rest of the clothing followed, even though Alisa refused to fully let go of her grip on him.

  The cool metal of the bulkhead at her back contrasted with the heat of his body, and she reveled in being pinned there as he stroked her. She gripped the back of his head, whispering something inarticulate. She wasn’t even sure what. Just that she wanted him. Forever. He was hers, and she was keeping him. One way or another, they would both get through this, and they would spend the rest of their lives together. She vowed it as they came together, his touch an exquisite mingling of bold and gentle. This time, if he paused or held back, it was only to let the fire within her build, to tease her—she saw that in the pleased gleam in his eyes—to draw out her pleasure. And to enhance his. When he threw back his head, the tendons in his neck leaping out against his flesh, she knew he enjoyed his release with an intensity he must not have felt for a very long time. Seeing the raw ecstasy on his face brought her to her own climax, the satisfaction of experiencing his pleasure even better than her own.

  When they finally stopped moving together, sweat dripped down their bare bodies, and his hands cupped her butt again, holding her against the wall, holding her against him. And by all the gods in the universe, she liked them there. She liked him there, not a hint of air between them.

  “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you to ram me up against a wall and have your way with me,” she said, grinning.

  He dropped his face to her neck, nuzzling her but also catching his breath. She grew smug in knowing that, with all his enhancements and extra stamina, he had run out of breath having sex with her.

  “I’m glad,” he finally murmured, kissing her neck. “I was feeling guilty about not stopping to look for that cot I know Mica keeps in here.”

  Alisa lifted her hand to the side of his face, stroking him, tracing his ear, loving him. “She’d give us a hard time if we sweated all over her cot.”

  “But the bulkhead and the deck are allowed?” He lifted his head, his eyes warm as they held hers.

  “We probably shouldn’t mention those either.”

  Chapter 19

  Alisa woke in her cabin, curled on her side on her bunk, her blanket tugged up around her shoulders. A grin spread across her face as she remembered the night before, though she didn’t remember leaving engineering. Leonidas must have carried her up here after she dozed off. Either that, or she had dreamed everything. But she was naked under the blanket, and she didn’t usually shuck all her clothes in dreams. In the dim lighting, she could see them folded on the desk chair. Folding was something else she didn’t do in dreams. Or while awake.

  A soft knock sounded at the hatch, and her grin returned. Was this to be their ritual? He wouldn’t sleep with her after they had sex, but he would pad over barefoot and bare chested in the morning to slip into bed with her for cuddling? Or perhaps activities more vigorous than cuddling?

  “Come in,” she called softly, her grin broadening.

  As the hatch opened, the brighter light from the corridor slashing into the cabin, a thought occurred to her. What if it wasn’t Leonidas? What if it was Jelena, wanti
ng to know if she could have Beck’s bread pudding for breakfast? Would Alisa be able to hide her thoughts of the night before? She had some of that drug around, but there wasn’t time to dig it out.

  Fortunately, the tousled black hair and broad shoulders that leaned into view did not belong to anyone short or related to her.

  Leonidas slipped inside, closing the hatch behind him. He was fully dressed, which was lamentable, but he probably hadn’t wanted to risk running into Jelena while half nude. Alisa hated the idea of them sneaking around to avoid her daughter, but she couldn’t regret last night. Especially when it had been so… wonderful.

  The idea of crediting Yumi’s drug made her want to sneer, but Leonidas had definitely been relaxed. He hadn’t hesitated, and if he had worried at all about hurting her, he hadn’t shown it this time. It had been as though being together was the most natural thing in the universe.

  She couldn’t wipe her silly grin away as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She was sure he had no trouble seeing it because he smiled back, his own smile almost shy.

  “I didn’t know if I should come over,” Leonidas said. “But you’ve seemed sad in the past at the notion of waking up alone. And I was already up and heard you wake up.”

  He’d heard her wake up? She hadn’t even made any noise. A rustle of a blanket, maybe.

  “I do hate waking up alone,” she said, lifting a hand and sliding it along his forearm. She gripped him, pulled herself into a sitting position, and wrapped him in a hug. “I hope you enjoyed yourself last night.”

  “I enjoyed myself immensely,” he said, sliding an arm around her waist. “I hope you did too. You seemed… more vocal this time.”

  She blushed, remembering crying out more than once as he’d pinned her against the bulkhead. She was relieved they had thought to close the hatch to engineering—and hoped that nobody else on the ship had cyborg hearing.

  “Because you were wonderful,” she said, kissing his neck. “I couldn’t contain myself.”

  He made a noise, sort of a pleased smug grunt. But his tone was dry when he said, “All it took was Yumi’s drug.”

  “I think it just made you relax and stop worrying.”

  “Oh, I’ll agree to that. I do think… now that I know you can survive my more vigorous… vigors… that I don’t have to be quite so careful, and I’ll be able to…”

  “Push me up against a bulkhead and have your way with me more often?” She pulled back slightly so he could see the silly grin that she couldn’t contain. She wanted him to know how much she had enjoyed his vigors.

  “Perhaps so. It didn’t take much force for me to, uhm, thoroughly enjoy myself. Especially when you were so enthusiastic. That made it…” A silly grin to match hers was sprawling across his face. “Well, it wasn’t so awkward this time, was it?”

  “I should say not. We should do it again and see if we can replicate it.” She leaned in and kissed him, fully willing to replicate it again right there, but after a few enjoyable moments, he leaned back and stroked the side of her head.

  “Jelena and Beck are playing games in the rec room. I’m not sure how long that will entertain them. Her. Beck is feeding her that cake he made last night. He claims it’s a balanced breakfast because it has bread and bananas in it.”

  “And a pound of sugar.” Alisa caught his hand and clasped it between hers. “We should probably not do this again until… for a while, but no matter what happens, I don’t regret last night, all right?”

  “I don’t either,” he said. “You were much more entertaining than my hover pads.”

  “It’s a gift.”

  The comm beeped. “You awake, Captain?” Mica asked.

  “Of course,” Alisa said, glancing at the clock. “It’s two hours into the day cycle. Why wouldn’t I be awake?” She flushed, not having realized she had snoozed that late.

  “Because you and your cyborg were doing untoward things in my engineering room last night.”

  Leonidas’s eyebrows rose.

  “How did she know?” Alisa mouthed. Despite thinking about it, they hadn’t stopped to hunt for Mica’s cot.

  “You think I can’t tell when my engine room smells like cyborg sweat and sex in the morning?” Mica asked. “One of you better be down there with a sponge and disinfectant later to clean up the deck and bulkheads and whatever else you were pressing your bare sweaty butts against.”

  Alisa rubbed her hand over her face. She had been worried about being heard. Who knew her engineer had some kind of mutant nostrils?

  “As important as that is,” Mica said, “it’s not the reason I commed.”

  “Is something wrong?” Alisa asked, relieved to change the topic.

  “You might want to come take a look at what’s on the forward cameras.”

  Alisa groaned. “Be right there.” She closed the comm. “I guess cuddling will have to wait for another time.”

  “Cuddling wasn’t what I had in mind,” he said dryly.

  “Haven’t taken any of Yumi’s drugs this morning, eh?”

  “That, and you’re sitting there naked with your blanket down around your waist.” He wiggled his eyebrows as he eyed her bare chest.

  “Ah, I was too busy being mortified to be aware of my nudity.”

  “I wasn’t.” He looked like he wouldn’t mind ogling her some more, but instead, he kissed her and stood up. “I’ll meet you in NavCom.”

  Apparently, he wouldn’t have trouble looking Mica in the eyes after that conversation. Maybe he’d even have that pleased smug look.

  Alisa grabbed her clothes, promising herself a sanibox visit later. So long as they weren’t heading into the maw of a dragon. Or an armada of mafia ships.

  As she turned at the intersection, she heard the sound of Beck saying something and Jelena laughing. Well, he had promised he was good with kids. Having a knack for baking sweets couldn’t hurt. Alisa was glad there were adults around that Jelena felt comfortable with—she just hoped that one day she would include Leonidas on her list.

  “What interesting things are happening?” Alisa asked, stepping into NavCom.

  Mica was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. Leonidas stood with his back to the bulkhead, his arms folded over his chest, as he looked at the view screen. At least they weren’t discussing engine room sanitation.

  Neither dragons nor mafia ships were on the screen. Some kind of beacon or warning buoy floated in space ahead of them. It wasn’t until Mica gave her a significant look that the ramifications sank in. Oh. She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known which way their most recent course change had turned them.

  “You didn’t mention that we were heading back into our favorite zone of space,” Mica said, her tone ensuring everyone knew that she wasn’t pleased.

  “What’s the matter? You didn’t want to get irradiated again?”

  “Sure, you can make jokes. You have mutant genes and probably won’t die going back in there.” Mica frowned at Leonidas. “I hope you enjoyed your sex. It may be the last sex you ever have.”

  “Isn’t it early in the morning for such pessimism?” Alisa asked.

  “Only for people who slept two hours into the day cycle. I’ve been up for hours. I’ve had plenty of time to work up a good head of pessimism.”

  Alisa sighed as the Nomad sailed past the warning buoy. Mica flicked on the comm to receive the message it was transmitting. Since Alisa had heard it before, the last time they’d come out to this quarantined space and eventually found Alcyone Station, she didn’t need to hear it again. The warning to stay away—or else—had not changed. She’d half expected the Alliance to blow up the station after they finished researching it or to find some way to close that dimensional rift, but maybe the majority of their forces had been sent to chase after the staff.

  “We’re not going all the way back in there, are we?” Mica asked. “We don’t have special radiation shielding any more than we did last time, and just because you’ve purchased some combat
armor doesn’t mean the rest of us have anything.”

  Alisa pulled down the seat at the sensor station and checked to see if any ships were around. Maybe Tymoteusz had chosen the quarantined area as an ideal meeting spot, figuring the space would be devoid of random travelers.

  “The mafia ships won’t likely have anything for dealing with excessive radiation either,” Leonidas said.

  “Unless they were warned in advanced to bring suits,” Mica said.

  Alisa eyed the sensor readout. The warning buoy and Bravo Six’s shuttle were the only things within range. No sign of the Alliance. No sign of Tymoteusz. “Are we still the same distance away from Henneberry’s ship?” she asked, turning toward the holodisplay showing the tracking blips.

  “About,” Mica said. “They’ve slowed down, which is the only reason we’ve been able to stay in range.”

  “No way to guess why they slowed down?”

  “Maybe they’re meeting someone who also travels slowly. Or who isn’t at the designated spot yet.”

  Alisa tapped the comm. “Bravo Six, how are you doing over there?”

  “I have few projects to occupy my cerebral processor, Lady Captain,” came the android’s monotone voice. “Do you require assistance with anything?”

  “In about ten minutes, I’d like you to comm Alejandro and offer him assistance on refining his drug treatment for radiation poisoning. He’ll fill you in on the details.”

  “Yes, Lady Captain. I listened to the warning of the buoy, but it said very little of use. I will monitor outside radiation as we continue into the off-limits area.”

  “Thank you.” Alisa closed the comm. “I like that he doesn’t argue with me. He just cheerfully goes where I ask him to go.”

  “Because he’s immune to radiation,” Mica said. “And probably doesn’t care if he dies anyway. I care. I’m fond of living. I find it very exciting. You two should too.” She scowled back and forth from Alisa to Leonidas.

  He merely gazed back, his arms still over his chest, his expression thoughtful.

  “Mica?” Alisa asked. “Will you go down to sickbay and tell Alejandro the news? So he’s ready when Bravo Six comms him?”