“He didn’t want me to worry you. Captain’s orders.”
“I’m going to put up an official crew medical decree that he can’t use that excuse anymore.”
“Did he tell you everything?”
“Yeah,” she quietly said. “Everything.”
They stood there for a moment in each other’s arms. “Are you mad at me?” he asked.
“Irritated.”
“Oh.”
“You ever withhold information like that from me again and I’ll set your chip so you can’t have any sex for a month.”
He laughed, squeezing her harder. “That would deny you too, babe.”
She evilly grinned. “I didn’t say I would stop you from being able to go down on me and the other guys, just you couldn’t get your rocks off.”
His grin slowly faded. “Um, you’re kidding, right?”
She turned away and picked up one of the baskets of veggies. “Maybe not.”
He grabbed the other two baskets. “I mean, you are kidding, aren’t you?”
“Who says?” She headed for the door.
“Babe, seriously, ha ha.”
“Fair warning, Ford.”
She fought hard to stifle her laughter at his softly muttered, “Oh, fuck,” as he followed her.
* * * *
Ford helped her throw together a large pot of soup that would be ready in a few hours. They left it to simmer on the galley stove and joined Aaron in their cabin.
Aaron awoke as they climbed into bed with him. “What time is it?”
“Not time for you to get up yet,” she said.
“Oh, good.” He cuddled an arm around her and reached for Ford. “I didn’t want to get up yet.”
“She threatened me, Cap,” Ford snarked.
Aaron arched an eyebrow at her. “What’d you do to make her threaten you?”
“I told him the truth, that the next time he withholds important information about other members of this crew, I’ll set his chip so he can’t have an orgasm.”
Aaron snorted. “Well, Ford, she is the medical officer—”
“Man, this is so unfair! I thought you’d at least back me up on this, Cap.”
He kissed Ford. “Well, I am the one who ordered you not to tell.”
“Yeah,” Emi said, reaching between Aaron’s legs and grabbing his package. “About that. We need to have a little talk, mister.” She squeezed, a little, enough to gain his firm interest.
“Oh, really?”
“No more holding stuff back and hiding behind ‘because I’m the Captain, that’s why’ bullshit.” She squeezed harder.
He flinched. “All right, uncle.”
She kissed him. “That’s better.”
“And we joked about Rob and his grunts being pussywhipped?” Ford snarked.
* * * *
When they returned to Mars and docked, this time at the Galileo base in Utopia Planitia, there were officials from both the ISNC and DSMC waiting to claim Eckhart’s body.
Including Admiral Bill Eckhart.
He looked on sadly as security guards removed the body case from the Tamora Bight’s cargo hull. “Captain Lucio, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am about all of this.” Emi felt a keen wave of grief and sadness wash from the older man. He truly had loved his nephew. “I thought once that bastard was dead and gone that maybe James would break the cycle. Make something of himself.”
Emi laid a gentle hand on the admiral’s arm. “You did all you could, Admiral. No one holds you accountable.”
The man’s eyes looked moist. “No, I am responsible for this. I should have paid attention. I’d signed off on him going on assignments before. I didn’t think anything of this. I should have looked into the details.” He shook his head. “To think of how many innocent people might have died…” His gaze dropped to the ground. “If you want to lodge a formal complaint against me, Captain, I won’t fight it.”
The twins stood behind Aaron, both of them remaining silent, their arms crossed. Emi felt their indecision. They would abide by whatever Aaron wanted to do.
Aaron looked at Emi and pulled her to him. “No, Admiral, it’s time this insanity finally dies for good. I’m sorry we couldn’t bring him back alive, but he attacked us. He nearly killed Dr. Hypatia. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s an empath, she might not have realized he was there with her.”
Admiral Eckhart nodded. “I understand.” He offered his hand to Aaron, who shook. “Again, I’m truly sorry for everything you and your crew had to endure.”
When the four of them were alone again in the cargo bay, Emi, followed by Ford and Caph, put her arms around Aaron. “That was a good thing, Aar,” she said.
She felt him relax as they all held him. “I meant it. It’s time this is behind us for good.” He kissed the top of her head. “It doesn’t change the past, but I want to live for our future together and quit letting ghosts ruin my life.”
Chapter Eighteen
They were on Mars for three days before Emi found time to get away from the Tamora Bight. She knew her men would be busy with maintenance, cargo, and official duties that afternoon. She told Aaron she was going shopping and kissed them good-bye. Before she left, she stopped by the galley, found the thermal bag, carafe, and brewed a batch of mint tea.
It wasn’t hard to find her way back to the memorial dome. She found Kelsey’s name on the list and took a beacon from the front information booth. Emi easily made her way to the marker. The park setting hadn’t changed much since their last visit. As she approached, the crystal geode glowed as it had before.
Sitting next to it, she pulled out the carafe of mint tea and two cups she’d brought. She poured tea into both, set one on the ground next to the geode, and hoisted the other one.
“I worried for a little while there, Kels,” Emi said aloud. No one around to hear her, she might as well say it. “I was afraid I would lose him.” She studied the crystal marker. All that physically remained of a vibrant, loving woman who’d left a lifelong impression on her men. The only reason Emi was with them now, when she thought about it and condensed the history to its starting point, lay squarely in the lap of a vengeful, vindictive man who fathered an equally vengeful and vindictive son.
“I know you died loving them. You died because you loved them, but it wasn’t their fault or yours, and I know you knew that.”
Emi sipped her tea. “They still love you. I’ll never replace you in their hearts, and I know that, too. There will always be part of them that loves you. I’m okay with that. Because I’ll be honest with you, I feel guilty. I feel guilty that I get to love them and you only had a couple of years with—”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty.”
Emi nearly screamed at the sound of the woman’s voice. She turned and saw Delaney standing there. Emi laughed as her racing heart slowed to a more normal pace. “Jesus, you scared me!”
Delaney smiled and stepped forward. “Sorry about that. Mind if I join you?”
Emi scooted over a little. Delaney gave her a quick hug before settling on the ground next to her. After thinking about it, Emi handed the other cup to her.
“The boys do this. I thought I’d come by myself. A little decompression.”
Delaney smiled as she took a sip of the tea. “Ford would turn himself inside out trying to make sure he got her mint tea for her on every resupply stop. She loved it.”
“I believe it. He’s good like that.”
“I meant it. You shouldn’t feel guilty. You’re a doctor, you should know that.”
Emi took another sip of tea. “Physician, heal thyself. I can talk the talk, but walking the walk is a little different. Textbooks are fine, but they don’t really prepare you for stuff like this.”
“You’ve healed them more than you can ever imagine. I know you didn’t get to meet them in real life before your sim session. Trust me when I say Aaron carried around a thick black cloud before he met you. I don’t know how you felt when you met
him in the sim, but the twins will tell you. He rarely smiled, even then only a little, just for show. He rarely laughed. Never the deep, rolling laugh we heard that night you had dinner with us.”
The older woman nudged Emi. “You guys weren’t going to leave Mars without dropping by and having dinner, were you?” she teased.
“No, Mom. Of course not. Aaron said he would call you tonight.”
“Good.” They sat there in silence for a while. “How bad was it? The mission. I heard some of the basics on the news.”
“Bad.”
Delaney studied her. “They’ve healed you a lot too, haven’t they? I know it had to be hard thinking you were alone in the world, especially at such a young age and still in school.”
“I was alone in the world.”
“No, you just hadn’t met your new family yet.” She looked up at the dome’s ceiling. “I never thought I would lose her so young. I wasn’t even ready to be a grandmother yet, much less bury my only child. I didn’t want to let go of the boys. They were all I had left of her. Thank the gods they’ve humored me all these years.”
“They love you and Dad. You’re their family. You’re all they have left of her. You all need each other.”
They sat in companionable silence for a while. “Please don’t ever let them go,” Delaney softly said. “I don’t think they can lose twice like that in one life and survive it. Maybe Ford. Caph would want to die, and Aaron would blame himself.” She looked at Emi. “And I don’t want to lose another daughter.”
Emi hugged her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
* * * *
The next evening, Emi and her men had dinner with Delaney and Markkus. The night after that, Emi and Donna abducted Sophie for a girls’ night out with Delaney.
“You know,” Sophie said with a grin, “I never thought I would have found a guy to make me want to stay in space. I thought I was ready to settle down and start a practice or at least get a job on a planet or space station somewhere. Who knew it would take three guys to make me want to stay a nomad?”
Emi laughed. “So, you lucky bitch, you escape the torture of the sim pairing.”
She nodded, her eyes wide. “I told Graymard after what I heard from you two and my guys that there was no frakking way he was getting my ass inside a sim unit.” She shuddered, then glanced at Emi and Donna. “Besides, I told him he definitely didn’t want me hitting him. I’ve had a lot of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat training. He’s liable to lose his head when I come out of that tube.”
Donna laughed. “So he’s willing to save his balls and take a chance on you guys being okay together.”
She shrugged. “Well, I’ve been in space before, seen a lot already. And if I wasn’t ready to kill those men of mine after four weeks cooped up with them in the BG, then I think it’s safe to say five years will be a cakewalk.” She grinned as she took a sip of her wine. “Maybe longer than that if I’m lucky.”
Delaney smiled. “So when do we plan your wedding?”
She held up her hands. “Not that fast. I did let them talk me into bonded crew status. I told them I’m in no hurry for a ring. Did that once, wasn’t worth the aggravation.”
The women looked at Donna.
“What?”
“We still need to have a proper wedding reception for you, girlfriend,” Emi said.
Donna grinned. “My mom is still pretty torqued she missed out on my wedding. I had an earful of messages waiting for me when we emerged from the jump.”
“How’s she feel about you having three husbands?” Sophie asked.
She shrugged. “She actually took that pretty well. Her rationale is she’s just tripled her chances to get grandkids.”
The women ate and talked and drank until the wee hours of the morning. Delaney remained sober and took them all home with her. In the morning, she had three heavily hungover doctors groaning over coffee at her kitchen table.
“Why did I drink that third margarita?” Emi groaned.
“Because you couldn’t finish the fourth and fifth ones until you did,” Donna snarked. “I want to know why the hell I thought it was a good idea to try to drink a bushel of appletinis.”
“Beats me,” Sophie muttered. “I never thought I would think chasing mojitos with beer was a great idea.”
When the front door chime sounded, the three women groaned. Delaney smiled. “Well, that’s someone to take you home.”
She returned with Ford a moment later. He wore an evil, beaming grin. “Good morning, ladies!” he brightly—and loudly—greeted them.
He received another round of groans in reply.
He kissed Emi on the top of the head. “Evening catch up with you, babe?”
“Uh huh.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Graymard says he wants us all in hearings this afternoon over the Aroykin incident.”
The three women groaned.
“Fucker tries to put me in a sim, I’ll kill him,” Sophie dangerously grumbled. “So help me, I fucking will.”
“I’ll make sure I warn him,” Ford snarked.
Chapter Nineteen
The hearings took two days. After that, the crews were released for some well-deserved R&R while their ships received maintenance, repairs, and retrofits. Donna got her shared cabin. Sophie liked the idea so much she pushed for one, too.
Emi made her men promise not to bust the other guys’ balls about it.
As the three crews took over suites at a luxury Martian resort dome near the Galileo base, Emi felt her stress finally melt away. They had a large joint crew dinner for all of them to celebrate before retiring to their separate rooms.
Emi eyed the luxurious and deep spa bathtub, large enough for the four of them. “You thinking what I’m thinking, babe?” Ford asked as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
“If it involves memories of that night when you popped my cherry, hell yes.”
He nibbled on the nape of her neck. “Oooh, yes. Looking for a redo?”
She turned in his arms and kissed him. “Maybe. Think I can pull off pretending you’ve never fucked me in the ass before?”
“Heh. That might be a bit of a stretch.” He winced as she giggled. “Sorry, bad pun.”
They turned at the sound of a soft moan from the bedroom. Aaron lay face down on the king-sized bed, naked to the waist, with Caph kneeling over him. Caph’s large hands slowly kneaded his muscles. “Right there?”
Aaron’s muffled moan in reply sounded affirmative.
He’d pulled his back the day before while working in engineering. “I thought you said it felt better today?” Emi chastised as she broke free from Ford and walked to the bed.
“It does,” Aaron mumbled against the mattress. “But it still hurts. Oooh.” Caph must have hit another sore spot.
She walked over to her suitcase and rummaged through it until she found her medical kit. “Lucky for you, I planned ahead.” She set up a hypo. “Pull his pants down, Caph.”
He grinned. “Oh, hell yeah. Doctor’s orders.”
Aaron laughed as he raised his hips enough Caph could reach under him, unfasten, and pull down his trousers. Once enough rear real estate had been exposed, she injected Aaron in the left ass cheek.
“Ow. What was that?”
She sat next to him on the bed. “Mild muscle relaxer, Captain. Sorry, but doctor’s orders.”
He groaned. “That means I’m gonna be sleepy…”
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Sorry, Cap.”
He was softly snoring before she even sat up again. Caph shook his head. “Damn. There goes my plans.”
“Hey, you can still help me get him naked.”
“Cool.”
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Ford snarked from the doorway.
“No,” Caph said. “But I was hoping that now we’re all together and relaxed and have a few days off we could make the most of that time together before they send us out again.”
/> Ford unbuttoned his shirt. “You’re as greedy as she is,” he said with a playful smile.
“Duh. Like you’re complaining.” He helped Emi finish removing Aaron’s trousers. They rolled him onto his side and pulled the covers up to his waist. “How long will he be out, babe?”
“It was a mild one, but as worn out as he is, it doesn’t surprise me he zonked like that.” She kissed Caph. “Sorry I ruined your plans, buddy.”
“Ah, it’s okay. I’ll improvise.” He tugged on her shirt. “Why’s this still on?”
Ford stepped behind her and grabbed the hem of her shirt. He pulled it up and over her head and then tossed it to the floor. “That’s much better.”
Caph unhooked her front bra clasp and peeled the straps down and off her shoulders. The lacy black item joined her shirt on the floor. “No, that’s much better,” he said as the fabric parted, and her nipples immediately hardened in the cool room.
The larger man stepped forward, pressing her into Ford. “I say we all retire to the bathroom.” She felt both of their cocks, already stiff, through the fabric of their trousers.
“Excellent idea, big guy,” Ford said. He reached around Emi and unfastened her pants. Caph helped Ford slide them and her panties down her legs, leaving her naked between them.
“Mmm. Beautiful,” Caph said. He bent his head and kissed her. She tasted mocha on his breath, from the dessert coffee he’d had after dinner. It didn’t matter how many times they kissed her or loved her, she still felt almost dizzy from his hot and steamy embrace.
Ford’s lips brushed the back of her neck, below her hairline. With every breath against her flesh, she felt her body respond, her clit throbbing, her juices flowing the way they always did when her men took her.
Caph lightly stroked one finger between her legs. She closed her eyes and softly moaned, leaning back against Ford for support.
“Oh, man, she’s wet.” Caph’s finger rubbed back and forth, grazing her clit with each teasing stroke before he slipped it inside her as deep as he could.
“Oh!” Her eyes opened as she looked into his eyes. Playful buddy or not, when he felt passionate and in charge, she never could say no to Caph. Not that she wanted to in the first place.