Energy

Energy Kim Knox Book four in the Planetary Bodies series.

Callie Thiago lives for gossip. And her crew aboard the CMC Theseus provides her with enough lurid tales of sex to keep her lonely nights warm. It sates her curiosity. Mostly. She has no experience of her own to draw on as shyness plagues her…until sheen smashes into her ship. Now she‟s stuck on a small outpost with Aaron Blane, a man she‟s wanted for all her adult life. But she knows sheen can‟t work through her as it does others. She‟s different. And it‟s this difference that Blane is more than eager to explore.

Ellora‟s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Energy ISBN 9781419936937 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Energy Copyright 2011 Kim Knox Edited by Grace Bradley Cover design by Syneca Photography: Les Byerley Electronic book publication October 2011 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora‟s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora‟s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher‟s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author‟s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author‟s imagination and used fictitiously. The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book. The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.

ENERGY

Kim Knox

Kim Knox

Chapter One The stink of gases swept around Callie, twisting with white heat and pain. Her muscles screamed. Locked and contorted, her body lurched, smashing into the bulkhead of the Theseus as it shone, blurred and moved in a quick, sickening rush. What was happening? Had she inhaled a toxic stream that had her tripping out of her box? One moment she was overseeing the scoops that pulled in their payload of hydrogen deuteride and helium-3 from the roiling Uranian atmosphere…the next, she was on her ass, naked, in a cramped washroom. Callie caught her fingers in her hair and dropped her head between her knees. The room had to stop spinning at some point. Her stomach heaved and she held her breath, wanting to ignore the fact that her heart was a pained stone in her chest. Rumors hadn‟t said the ride was so rough. Rumors hadn‟t said there was a ride at all. She swore under her breath. “Sheen.” A long, slow groan escaped her. “Fucking sheen.” She pushed herself to her feet and clung to the small metal bowl of the sink. Stale air pulled in and out of her lungs. She winced. She had to be on one of the smaller moons, one that didn‟t have the big filtration units with the luxury of super-scrubbed air and the hint of earth-based scents. The press of her hand against the wall sent the dull vibration of the environmental systems through her flesh. Shan was the engineer. She‟d identify the feel and function— More cursing escaped her. The whole ship had been blasted by sheen. That meant every one of her crew had taken a hit. She closed her eyes and willed strength back into her legs. Sheen fucked a person over good. Now that it had blasted them once, it would hit with more and more frequency until she, until the rest of the crew, found a match that

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bound them. Bound them for life. It meant her crew was gone. They‟d want to fuck, but hell, her crew didn‟t do relationships. She should know. She‟d dragged enough gossip out of them. Lives littered with one-night stands and really shitty luck. Sheen would find them all again and again and the crew, the life and security she‟d known would be over. Gone. Her knuckles whitened against the sink and she welcomed the pain. Jannes had been so careful. He‟d been a planet-worshipper in his youth, all Uranian-born were and she‟d thought, maybe, he had an insider‟s knowledge. That he could protect his ship from the monumental fuck-up that was sheen. Callie pulled in a heavy breath and straightened. She pressed her ident-chip and the aural implant fizzed under her skin. “Put me through to Captain Frederick Jannes.” There was a long pause. “Jannes.” “We got hit by sheen.” Her throat ached. This was not happening. Not to her. “Callie?” “Has anyone else reported in? You‟ve always said sheen was an impossibility—” “Callie…” There was a long sigh and she thought she heard him rubbing his jaw. “You‟re safe. Sheen won‟t hit you in the same way.” “I‟m fucking naked in a stranger‟s bathroom!” She gripped the sink again, willing her anger under control. She could feel something churning through her blood, a rush that tightened her stomach and brought with it the fast prick of pins all over her skin. “I feel…strange.” “Trust me.” His low, familiar voice threaded through her and eased some of her growing panic. She did trust him. She always had. Jannes had employed her straight after she graduated. Taught her everything she knew about atmos.mining. Knew her. “Callie?”

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“Okay. All right.” She pushed herself back from the sink and caught her hands in her tangled hair, locking her fingers at the back of her neck. “How long before I can come back to the Theseus?” “We‟re on seventy-two hours downtime.” “Shit.” “You‟ll survive. Jannes out.” “Thanks for that.” Callie rolled her neck, fighting the ache in her muscles. “First order of business, find clothes and then find out where the hell I am.” She stood back against the chilled metal wall and palmed open the door. The frame blocked most of her nakedness from the room beyond. She risked a look and found a small living area with a basic kitchen, couches and a bed. It was disturbingly basic. She was on a very small moon. Beyond the dull, heavy vibrations of the environmental systems providing heat, light and air, there were no other sounds. The room was empty. Callie twisted her courage around her luck and darted across to the bed. A cupboard stretched up one metal wall. She tugged it open. Shirts, trousers, jackets, sweaters, neatly draped and arranged from hangars lined it. She pulled down a blue-green shirt and swung it around her shoulders. The cuffs flopped past her fingers and the tails dropped to mid thigh. She wasn‟t exactly small. She was certainly taller than their pilot Zev, who was tiny. The owner of the shirt had to be a gorilla…and she‟d never been that fond of massive apes. She laughed at herself. Jannes himself had said it. Sheen wouldn‟t work the same on her. Whatever it was, it wouldn‟t be a wild rush of lust and a desperate hunt for her perfect other half. She needed something to cover her bare backside but the trousers were ridiculously big. How this man moved around the standard kit-form station she didn‟t know. Drawers beneath the cupboard yielded more clothes, but nothing— “Fuck.” A shocked, male voice. 7

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Callie jerked upright, too aware that she was showing her ass. She tugged the shirt down hard. Heat flamed in her cheeks and she had to will herself to turn around. She blinked and for a long moment her mouth fell open. “Blane?” A crooked smile pulled at his lips and he waved his hand over the brown shirt that swam on her. Self-consciously, she tugged at the tails and the long cuffs of the sleeves. He tilted his head. “Semi-naked. Not the way I was expecting to meet you again, Callie.” She liked Blane. She couldn‟t tell him she‟d been blasted with sheen. If she had thought about anything…more with him, she didn‟t want it screwed over by insane energy. “You imagined us meeting again?” And now she sounded like an adolescent. She winced and tugged at her shirt again, wishing it covered her from head to toe. Sheen and Blane. It was a nightmare. “I did.” He rubbed his hands together, the dry sound cutting through the dull thunks of the filtration system. He wasn‟t laughing at her. “I‟m based on Cordelia Alpha Station. I needed a hobby.” Callie wanted to laugh. Would have if the conversation had taken place behind the safety of a light-screen. But Doctor Aaron Blane was a different man in the flesh. The scratchy transmission hadn‟t quite prepared her for him. Lean, handsome—not Darehpretty, or with Jannes‟ strange magnetism—but a rough beauty that seemed to catch her breath. She‟d known him years before, known the younger man. Now he seemed different. Sheen. Fuck. She rubbed her hands together and fought to remain calm. Sheen was different in her. Jannes had said. Callie was aware of Blane watching her, his dark eyes shrewd. He was jumping to exactly the right conclusion. “How are you here?” Still, she tried to lie. “Not exactly sure.”

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His mouth twitched. “Sheen?” The blush heated her face again. So much for lying. “Possibly.” “Underwear.” Callie stared at him, willing her brain to catch up. She laced her fingers over her mons, pressing the thick material of the shirt to her skin. Right. She had nothing else on. Her gaze flicked over him and she frowned. “Why are all your clothes big enough to wrap around this moon? Twice.” Blane waved her to the side and squatted down beside the bottom drawer beneath the cupboard. “Storage.” He pulled a loose pair of cotton shorts from the drawer. He held them up and his mouth quirked into another of his sharp smiles. “These aren‟t mine either.” “You fill your room with other people‟s clothes? Another Alpha Station hobby?” “It kills the hours of boredom.” Yes, when had she ever dragged a solid answer from Blane? He straightened and Callie tried not to see the stretch of his perfectly fitting t-shirt across his chest. Muscles bunched and her fingers itched to lift the material and trace the tautness of his skin. Callie stared at the carpet-tiled floor. Fucking sheen had her thoughts twisting. Blane would never think of her that way. She took the shorts from him and waved for him to turn around. Blane turned on his heel and presented her with his broad back. And her gaze did not slide down his torso to stare at the tight perfection of his ass. Callie pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead, wanting to blot out her insane thoughts. This wasn‟t her. All right, she‟d had the odd lurid thought about Blane, but then they had been skinny-dipping in their youth. She held back a snort and yanked on the shorts. No, she was twisting her own history. It had never been together. “Done?”

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“Done.” “One-word answers from Callie Thiago. Has to be a record.” She glared at him and brushed the front of the long shirt over her stomach and thighs. She couldn‟t remember the last time anyone had seen her legs. He turned back to her and one of those brief smiles pulled at his mouth again. Her stomach did the tight little flip that she hated. Blane had always been able to do that, but now, with sheen in her blood, her reactions brought her close to panic. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing. “I need to get back to Miranda.” She stared at the closed panel of the only door out of the room. “You have regular cargo shuttles that cut between here and the CMC moons.” He gave an easy shrug. “You missed today‟s shuttle. It left about an hour ago.” “Shit.” Callie pressed her hand to her face. She wanted out. She wanted the dark peace of her tiny room. Just her. No one else. She rolled her neck. Her body was too hot and sticky, the material of the shirt and boxers scratching against sensitive skin. “I need to get off this pebble. Back to my room. I need—” “Callie…” Blane took her hand and her pulse soared. His hand was cool and dry and strong, enveloping hers. She wanted to move closer, press herself against his hard body, have him hold her, press his mouth to the hot, damp curve of her neck and tease light, little kisses— She jerked her hand free and stumbled back, hitting the metal wall beside the washroom. “You can‟t touch me.” “I can help you.” Her mind shot to a dark place filled with mouths and skin and touch. Callie stared at the floor, focusing on every breath. Fuck, she should‟ve sorted her “problem” long

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ago. She knew sheen would get her one day, but Jannes had been so confident about keeping his crew together when others were fractured and broken. And he‟d always said sheen would treat her differently. Only it hadn‟t. “Blane, I don‟t need to be helped. I just want to get home.” “You‟re here for a reason.” He closed the short distance between them and Callie had the insane thought that she might melt from the heat churning through her flesh. His scent wrapped around her. Warm male skin, soap and a hint of cologne she remembered from long ago. Breathing him in only seemed to tease the fire in her blood. “You‟re here for me.” Her lips tingled and she stared up at him. Shadows darkened his face and memory pushed back in time to the lake, the scent of fresh water and surrounding woods warmed by a hot day. Only it hadn‟t been her pressed against a tree with Blane so close she ached to taste him. No, that had been one of the third-year students, all tits and ass. His room was as much a fantasy as the lake. And she wouldn‟t make the mistake of thinking otherwise. Anything Blane said came straight from sheen. His words would be more twisted than ever. It was time she mortified herself and set him straight. “Whatever you think this is, it isn‟t.” She focused on his chest, watching the way it moved as he breathed. “Sheen fucks about with your head.” A laugh broke from her. Blane‟s job was to investigate and monitor sheen activity. He knew its properties better than anyone. “I‟m not here to…” Could she be more childlike? Even the word was beyond her. Gossip was one thing. Reality something much more difficult. She just had to admit it. “Sheen won‟t work the same for me because I‟m a virgin.” She‟d said it and now the nasty carpet-tile floor could swallow her whole. “I know.” Callie‟s head whipped back up to stare at him. “You know?”

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For a long moment, he was silent. There was a strange tension in his body she didn‟t understand. He let out a long breath and his voice became…stilted. “The sexual history of every atmos.miner is monitored. Miners have a…lascivious reputation and for research purposes we need to know the exact—or as near as possible—number of partners. Their kinks. Stamina—” “Enough.” And she thought she‟d been embarrassed before. Obviously the effect of sheen on him was intermittent. Her sex life—or lack of it—was a part of a scientific study. A part of his scientific study. The heat in her face deepened. Had her thirst for gossip aided him? It was all she did in life. That and securing the cargo. She‟d filled their vid time with endless gossip. But the gossip had to stop. She was keeping her big trap shut. “So it‟s understood that you‟re not „helping‟ me?” His head tilted and his expression changed. With the shadows, she couldn‟t read it. And his face was still oddly formal. “I want to run tests, Callie. We‟ve never had a subject fresh from a hit.” The floor really did need to swallow her. Right now. Completely. Of course Aaron Blane wasn‟t interested in her. He stood back and waved her toward the door. It opened to a dim corridor. “The lab‟s not far.” Callie pulled in the tattered remains of her dignity and padded toward the open frame. The metal of the walkway was smooth and cold under her bare feet. It did little to decrease the heat riding her. She absorbed information, loved rumor, but she‟d never heard of what happened to those who didn‟t give in to the power of sheen. “I have a proposition for you.” Briefly, Callie closed her eyes. Innuendo was fierce and the heat in her face could‟ve kept her warm for a week, exposed in the atmosphere. At least he couldn‟t see her, or know about the need she had to rub herself up against him like some sort of animal in heat. Was he aware of how he sounded? She wiped her mouth. “Proposition?”

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He took her arm, stopping her on the narrow corridor and a shiver ran through her. With an apologetic look, his fingers slipped away. “I‟ve never been this close to sheen.” You could be closer. Callie closed her eyes. She hadn‟t said the words out loud, but the reignited heat in her flesh had to be screaming it. “You haven‟t?” He palmed open another door and the bright, white light of a lab cut out into the corridor. “Those affected are often…distracted. And then the sheen dissipates. Transforms.” He left her standing in the corridor and she ate up his easy stride, his tight ass, the cling of the t-shirt to the muscles in his back. He was beautiful to watch. He always had been, but the extra fizz in her blood simply made him…gorgeous. She shook her head and followed him inside. The door slid shut behind them. Locks thunked into place. The sudden machine-silence of the room pricked at her. “But sheen only transforms after…” And there was her inability to say the word sex again. It was ironic. She badgered Dareh about the women that trailed after him like sheep. Knew intimate details of Shan‟s men. She‟d even pulled a past from the reclusive Jannes…but talking about herself and sex had her tongue-tied. “You know…” Blane called up a large light-screen. He didn‟t turn around. “After they‟ve—how would you put it? Banged like old doors in a high wind‟?” The hints of spice, of skin and his cologne warmed the air and punched her in the gut. Hard. Over a vid-connection she was crude and open, especially with others‟ sex lives. With Blane standing in front of her all tall and starkly handsome and with that scent… She was lost. “The banging thing? Not me.” He didn‟t look up from the light-screen. “Interesting.” “Not really. What now?” She was not going to ask him to probe her. She wasn‟t. And why had sheen changed her to an innuendo-filled adolescent? “Tests, tests and more tests?”

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She watched his fingers move, sure and flowing over the screen. He had beautiful hands. Since she‟d first met him, she‟d had the fantasy of them on her body. She pulled in a breath, but the flush of want couldn‟t be denied. It forced her away from the door. Callie moved across the small lab,

her

fingers skimming

over

blank

instrumentation, a metal table, while watching Blane. The lab was locked, just the two of them. A wall, a table, the floor. All convenient. She edged closer, aware of the outer screen to her right. The dark, barren landscape of tidal-locked Cordelia, cut by embedded lights curved beneath the blue-green bulk of Uranus. The mix of cloud, the flow of ice and methane was as mesmerizing as always. Smooth heat eased her movements. “What do you need, Blane?” He looked back from the light-screen, that touch of a smile making her fingertips itch. “Our goal here is to decide what sheen is. The energy has plagued the mission. Lord Thorne wants answers.” “And who are we to deny him?” She watched his smile deepen and it tightened her stomach. He was moving closer, away from the screen, and that was good. “So… Where do you want me?”

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Chapter Two “Callie.” He dropped his hands onto her shoulders and drew slow circles into her flesh. “I know that your blood is hot. Lava in your veins. But you have to hold it back.” He was supposed to be the expert on the subject. She couldn‟t ignore sheen, and in that moment, with him close and her body just a waiting ripple of smooth heat, she didn‟t want to. “A taste of you would help.” He sighed and his hand skimmed her neck to cup her jaw. She closed her eyes, pushing into his touch, wanting more of it. His mouth ghosted hers, his breath warm and sweet. “I shouldn‟t…” A smile touched her lips, coy, secretive. “I won‟t tell.” The tip of his tongue teased her upper lip, slow and sure, his hand on her shoulder slipping down her back in deliberate exploration. She took a step closer. Her hand pressed to his chest, and she cursed the material that separated her from the promised heat of his skin. She melted the first kiss against her lips, the slow fire in her blood needing more. He tasted…delicious. “What‟s the flavor of sheen?” He paused and the tip of his tongue touched his lips. “Air and water, moonlight. Temptation.” His low words warmed through her, teasing the desire in her flesh. She wanted him, hot and slow, stroking into her, skin against skin, holding her, kissing her, fucking her. She couldn‟t help the moan that escaped. Blane swallowed it in another searing kiss and her fingers fisted his shirt. She hated that she had to break to breathe. “And when you‟ve tested me? What then?” “Then I take care of it.”

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It. The fluid heat in her flesh dried and shriveled. It. Not her. Whatever sheen had done to her—and she‟d felt more creature than human in those hot few moments—he‟d broken it. The energy in her blood held his interest. Not her. Never her. Callie stiffened and pulled back. She wasn‟t a problem to be fixed. A lab rat. She clutched her hands before her, the pressure almost painful. It came with a hard tug in her chest. No, the sheen didn‟t want her stepping back from him, but she would not be an obligation. “I‟ll find someone else. Who do you have here?” His mouth thinned and his body tensed again. “Callie…” “I want to know.” His hand slashed across a thin, metal ledge and another light-screen rippled up to gleam against the wall. He tapped out a command. Five faces, including his own, appeared on the screen. Two men. Three women. “There‟s Heeks. Unless your flavor runs to women?” Heeks was a man in his late forties, thin, dark straight hair. Joyless eyes. Not him. Even with sheen, she wasn‟t giving her virginity to him. “You have emergency transport. I‟ll take that back to Miranda. I have money.” She held back a wince. She hated that she was so easily embarrassed. Her shyness crippled her life, always had. But sheen would take away her fear, her mortification. “I‟ll buy my way into Syato‟s homefrom-home, the Millicent.” “You don‟t have to do that.” He tried to close the distance again, but she backed away from him until her spine hit a table. Something behind her rattled. “No. I‟ve made it quite clear. Not you.” Blane frowned and she caught the flicker of anger in his eyes, before his gaze flattened. “Then I have another proposition for you. I want to extract the sheen.” Callie stared at him. “It‟s a chemical imbalance. It can‟t be pulled out.” “You‟re the expert?”

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An equally sarcastic reply burned on her tongue. This was not going well. Not that she‟d imagined what would happen if she met Blane again. She hadn‟t. Much. Just the occasional hot dream with him as the very firm, very naked focus. The kiss they shared would fuel that fantasy for a long time to come. She closed her eyes. “Test me.” Typical that she‟d even get sheen wrong. The rest of her crew would be humping like rabbits…and if they‟d found “the one”, then her gossip shrank to nil. Her vicarious thrill was gone. She glared at him. “Then yank it out.” There was that little twist of a smile again and Callie‟s fingers tightened around the sharp edge of the table. She‟d made her decision and it wasn‟t likely that Blane would push it. And she had to resist the temptation of throwing herself at him again. The pain biting into her fingers reminded her that she was simply a holder of sheen to him. Nothing more. “So what do I do?” “This.” Blane took her hand, tightening his grip as she tried to pull free. He frowned. “What? I‟ve held your hand before.” He lifted their joined hands, moving to lace his fingers through hers. Their palms touched. His fingertips pressed against the back of her hand, slow strokes of warmth pushing under her skin. “What…what are you doing?” His dark gaze held her, and her heart jumped. “The sheen has to rise to the surface.” His breath brushed warmth against her damp skin and it pulsed pleasure to her breasts and farther, igniting the heat deep in her belly. “Like so.” “This is not scientific.” Callie hated the panic in her voice. She‟d made her decision. Blane would not touch her…yet here he was holding, stroking her hand and forcing pleasure into her flesh. A pleasure that would make her feel stupid and guilty after…even as she ached for it. “It‟s not…” Her words dried. Admitting that it would never be what he wanted was too painful. “Sheen requires new thinking. New ways to study it.” He smiled against her fingers and the heat in his gaze turned her heart over. “New methods of collecting information.”

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She had to fight this. She wouldn‟t become the creature she‟d been before, all uncaring confidence and slick desire. Blane didn‟t want her. She closed her eyes. “None of this is real.” “It isn‟t?” His other hand slipped over her hip and drew her against him. He released her fingers with a parting kiss. “Listen.” The word brushed against her temple and she fought to hear anything over the wild rush of her blood, the thudding of her heart. There. The soft murmur of equipment, the thrum of sensors in the shielded room. All of it picking and pulling apart every bodily reaction. “It‟s real, Callie.” His lips touched her skin, a delicate kiss, almost nothing until another skimmed her cheek, her jaw and finally found her mouth. He stroked her neck, every sure touch a point of bliss. “Time to kiss you again.” He smiled against her lips. “And I won‟t tell either.” “That‟s not…” His kiss took the rest of her words and she didn‟t care. His tongue touched hers, slow and confident, tasting her, teasing and making her blood thrum. She didn‟t know what to do with her hands. She ached to release her renewed grip on the table, to sneak curious fingers under his shirt to trace over warm, hard flesh. But she couldn‟t. The creature the sheen brought out hadn‟t taken over her body yet, allowing her to be someone else, someone other than a shy virgin. “Callie, relax.” His low voice threaded through her, his scent, the warmth of his skin flowing around her. He flexed his fingers at her hip, easing under the thick flannel of her shirt to the thin cotton of her boxers. She sucked in a breath as his thumb drew circles against the dip of her pelvis. “How far will this testing go?” Blane drew a soft line of kisses along her jaw. “We could stop now?” He whispered the question against the shell of her ear and Callie almost moaned at the ripple of

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pleasure under her skin. “I‟d prefer a thorough investigation, but I‟m certain I can work with what I have.” Callie wanted to smack him. Or grab him and kiss him senseless. Maybe both. She closed her eyes and let the heat of the sheen take her. Fill her thoughts, transform her into someone equal to his games. Smooth surety wrapped around her and it eased her right hand from the table. Blane twitched as her fingers skirted his belt. Her touch inched upward, farther under his shirt to the hard heat of his stomach. She pressed her palm against his skin, feeling muscles contract under her touch. “I‟ve always been good at information gathering.” “You‟re a natural.” Blane pressed his lips under her ear and the flashed heat of it jerked her against him. His laughter brought a blush to her face, dissipating the sheen‟s confidence again. It was fickle. It didn‟t stick. She should take it as a sign not to open herself up to the inevitable hurt Blane would cause her. She curled her fingers against his stomach, trying not to feel the taut, hot skin over firm muscle, roughened by hair. A fantasy created seven years before was suddenly too real. “Maybe it is enough.” Blane hissed and caught her hand against his stomach. “Then we stop.” She stared at his hand. Was she going to be this much of a coward? What was she worried about? That the man who‟d been the main figure in her fantasy life wanted to touch her, kiss her as part of an experiment? And yes, that was weird, but she had to take what she could get. Sheen pulled him to her. Would it be so bad to let it use her, use him for a short time? Around her the hum of the equipment faded back to silence. Shit, she could bark orders on the Theseus, bully the hangar crews, but personal stuff, this, ripped away all of her backbone. She wanted the confidence sheen brought, but her nerves blocked it. She pressed her lips together, fear and want knotting her stomach. She had to ask him as herself. “We don‟t have to.” 19

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“Callie…” His thumb rubbed her hand through the smooth cotton of his shirt. “I can work with what I have.” She willed her other hand free of the metal table. Her fingers slid up over his chest, finding muscle and heat and drawing another hiss from him as her thumb grazed his nipple. And there was the sheen again. Confidence, warmth threading through her flesh. She looked up at him, letting a smile play across her mouth, being the woman she wanted to be. “Do you think Lord Thorne will be satisfied?” Blane‟s lips twitched, but his humor was flat. “I think Lord Thorne‟s satisfaction has little to do with me.” Callie ignored the edge to his voice. “Good. I shouldn‟t be too ambitious.” He lifted an eyebrow. “How much gossip is in your head, Callie?” His mouth touched hers and she briefly caught his bottom lip between her teeth. “Anything else stick?” He pressed his lips together, denying a smile. “Besides you, me and Thorne in a hot and dirty threesome?” The idea almost, almost cracked the coating of sheen that made her brave. But she was aware of it slipping and the fast, increasing whirr of the instrumentation caught her and matched the quick thuds of her heart. They kept her focused and her nerve didn‟t fail her. “Are you that tight with the Director?” Blane smirked at her. “You have no idea.” Callie closed her eyes, letting the flush of desire hold her. Then she focused on him. “What else?” He held her to him, his hand firm on her hip. His fingers brushed back the loose strands of hair from her face. The gleam was back in his eyes and around her the hard thrum of the monitors burned in her blood. His breath warmed her lips. “All right, let me think. What gossip did you share with me?”

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She stared at him. Was she really doing this? She‟d babbled on at Blane over the vid-connection, sharing everything, simply wanting to keep him on the line. To hear him laugh or declare a particular act physically impossible. She never thought to have the insanity repeated back at her, with the possibility of acting it out. Yet…the curl of desire that flickered in her belly wanted it. Because it was him. “Public sex.” That was his first choice? Her blood pounded. “Here?” “We have a window. I‟m sure that counts.” He kissed her neck and the jolt of electricity under her skin broke a gasp from her. His hands gripped her. “Sensitive skin, Callie?” “Very.” “And what have you done before now?” Callie clung to sheen‟s slick heat in her flesh, letting the very real fact that Blane kissed her, wanted her, bolster her courage. “I have…toys.” His hand slipped down to flick open the buttons on her shirt and a groan escaped her as his fingers brushed the curve of her breast. “How many real people?” He teased his thumb around her hardening nipple and the pulsing heat between her thighs made finding a reply almost impossible. More buttons slipped and exposed her to him. He had records. He had to know already. “I—” Blane stroked his fingers along the band of her shorts. While his mouth did insane things to her throat, her shoulder. His breath on damp skin ran a shiver through her. “Say it‟s just me.” Callie arched into his touch, an involuntary cry breaking from her. He couldn‟t say things like that to her. “It‟s just you.” She felt his smile. “Saying anything to make me do this?” His fingers breached the tight band of her shorts, stroking down to draw patterns against her mons. “And this.”

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His finger dipped to find her clit and Callie yelped, her hands grabbing at his shoulders. Her own nervous fingers and various powered devices had never, never felt like that. Her flesh was on fire, heat and want and sheen a fierce mixture, so fierce she pushed into his hand, needing more. “What else?” Blane grinned against her neck, before nibbling her ear. His finger slipped farther. “You really want to play this game?” The words burned against the shell of her ear and his finger eased back, the friction catching Callie‟s breath. His tongue tasted her. “Really?” “I thought.” Her teeth bit at her bottom lip. His fingers had found a rhythm and the tip of his thumb circled her clit, firing pleasure with its touch. “I thought we were…public.” Did that even make sense? Her brain was fast shutting down. All that existed were his clever fingers and his hot, steady breath against her ear. Her body ached, the smooth heat of sheen licking her into a frenzy. Soon, soon she‟d come so hard from his brief touch. Aaron Blane, kissing her, his fingers, strong, hot and relentless… Callie fisted his shirt and her mouth found his collarbone, tasting material with the tantalizing hint of the warm skin beneath. “Is that what you want instead, Callie?” His question came out sharp and quick. “For everyone to see you with me?” Callie swallowed, her throat tight. She didn‟t care. She blamed sheen. “Yes.” “Naked?” “Where?” She needed to know where he‟d take her, where he‟d make her come so hard she screamed. This wasn‟t her, she knew that. It was all sheen, but in that moment, the thought of no longer being the mortified virgin, so unsure of her own body, so easily embarrassed, was delicious. “Tell me.” “You want to put on a show?” His voice was fire and only the table at her spine and his hard hand at her waist kept her upright. Her body was all aching heat and little else. “All right, the Umbriel Arena.” 22

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A curse broke from her and she was close, so close to coming she could taste it. The Arena? Row after row of a wild crowd, watching, seeing her, seeing him… Blane‟s fingers stroked faster, matching the quick pants that escaped her. His mouth found hers and she lost herself in a desperate kiss, her hips meeting his fingers as she clung to him, wanting the wildness of sheen to finally take her over the edge and make her come. And there. Just…there. The sudden surge in tension, the heat and power of it, pushing up through her flesh, wild and unstoppable. Her mouth broke from his and she cried out as the glory of it swept hot and fierce over her mind. Blane held her to him. His fingers eased into a slow, incredibly delicious tease through her sex, playing with the echo of her release. Callie tried to remember how to breathe, to stand, to think. Her body still shook and she gave a soft moan of regret when he slipped his fingers free of her body. “You‟re beautiful when you come.” His fingers slid out of her shorts, drawing wetness over the heat of her belly and she blushed as he sucked his glistening fingers into his mouth. His eyes closed before his fingers eased free. “And you taste…” He sighed. “So sweet.” Callie let her forehead rest against his chest. The drum of her own heart eased and the languid warmth of her release ebbed away. “Was that enough?” Even as she said it, she wanted to take it back. She didn‟t want her time with him to be over. Not yet. He stroked her tangled hair away from her ear. “Listen.” The lab still wasn‟t silent. The whirr of the monitoring equipment was faster, thicker than before. A soft laugh escaped her. “The sheen‟s increasing.” “It wants more, Callie.” The need in his voice fisted her hands in his shirt again. She breathed him in, his scent overlaid with her arousal. He wanted more. She closed her eyes, trying to work out what insane universe she‟d fallen into. This didn‟t happen to her. She never got the man she wanted.

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It wasn‟t really him. It was the effect of the sheen on his mind and body. Guilt stirred in her. She would be using him. Her friend. It wasn‟t mutual. After him sheen would hit again and she would seek out someone else. But…he could be her first. The man she‟d wanted since she‟d first seen him. Her other option was to have the sheen extracted. “Blane, are you sure?” He cupped her cheek, tilted her face up to his. “Are you?”

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Chapter Three The white light of the lab cut across his face and the need, the want in his expression made her heart hurt. He didn‟t truly want her. She had to grab what she wanted and the smooth confidence of sheen pushed down through her flesh. She turned her face to kiss his palm. “Where do you want me?” She caught his low groan before his mouth found hers again. For a long moment, she lost herself in his kiss, but she had to pull back. More. She wanted more. Blane wiped moisture from her lips with this thumb. Callie tasted a lingering hint of herself. “Not here,” he murmured. “I want you on a bed.” “But…the monitors.” “Easy enough to reroute.” He linked his fingers through hers and turned back to the light screen. Swift touches moved and changed the swarm of flickering information. Callie only caught snatches of it. Blane was too quick. He slashed through the screen with his whole hand and the screen folded and vanished. “Done.” He lifted her fingers and pressed his lips to them in a delicate kiss. “Ready?” Probably not. But sheen stopped her from admitting that nervousness. She gave him a cool smile and waved him toward the door. “After you.” Blane‟s mouth quirked upward and he pulled her after him, turning to stride up the corridor. Callie stared behind her to the room she‟d first appeared in. “I thought…” “I told you. Storage.” He hurried her along the dimly lit corridor and she grabbed at the flapping material of her shirt, covering her bared body. She wanted to laugh at herself. It was all fantasy. The gossip from which she got her illicit thrills could never be a part of her life. Fantasy and reality didn‟t mix. And Blane, overtaken with her hit of sheen, was a total fantasy. She couldn‟t forget that. 25

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Blane palmed open the door and she followed him into the darkened interior of another room similar to the first. He released her hand and turned to the door panel. He brought up the lights, just enough to form shadows, and the door thunked into its frame and locked. But he did more, his fingers gliding over the sleek surface. What she couldn‟t see. She assumed he was realigning the monitors for his room. There was a silence, a stillness the storage room didn‟t have and she found it more unnerving. “Where are we?” Callie pulled the loose shirt together, tight across her breasts. Still she was reluctant to button it up again. She wanted the fantasy to continue. Blane didn‟t reply, his attention focused on the panel. Taking an easing breath of clean air, Callie stared around the small room. It was almost identical to the rooms in which she‟d first appeared. There was more personality to it, more of Blane on the shelves, with the wooden chest in the corner, dishes stacked on the little kitchen bench. A light image stretched down one wall beside the bed, showing a cool, dark forest. The silver gleam of moonlight reflected off black water and brought a glow to the shadowed room. The scene looked familiar. She frowned, trying to place it, until a cloud eased farther across the face of the moon and the synthetic light touched the ancient stone tower on the Tor. “Glastonbury Water.” “You remember?” “I was based in Warminster for two years.” She curled her fingers into the warmth of her shirt, fighting not to let her fantasy overtake her. Already the fresh scent of the night water and the hint of woodlands drew her back. Her stomach knotted. That night at the lake still cut. Still hurt, but that hadn‟t been anything to do with Blane. Not really. She carried on with their innocuous conversation. “And you were there, what, four years?” “Three.” He pulled her to him and the unreality of what they were about to do warmed through her. She pushed her fingers under his shirt, rediscovering the muscled 26

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perfection of his stomach. “None of them while I was there. Well, apart from a couple of weeks.” The confidence of the sheen threaded through her and she welcomed it. She pushed herself up onto her toes and kissed his mouth. “A missed opportunity.” “Close your eyes.” “Why?” “I have something better than gossip.” The pain in her belly changed, twisted more into nervous excitement. “What?” Blane eased the shirt from her shoulders and she enjoyed the slide of the warm material down her arms. It dropped away and his thumbs hooked into her shorts. Callie caught her breath, clinging to her confidence. Blane was the man she‟d always wanted. Nerves would not fuck this up. She yelped when he kissed her shoulder and his soft laughter wove around her. “I need you naked, Callie. Agreed?” She opened her eyes. She had to. The false moonlight gilded his face and his rough beauty held her. The heat of sheen rose in her blood again. She needed him, even if it was for just this short time. “Then it has to be mutual.” His dark twitch of a smile turned her heart over. “Deal.” He stripped, with such efficiency that Callie had to blink and stare. Not that she‟d seen a man strip, except in Len‟s porn progs…but those men looked too much like Dareh. So she couldn‟t ogle with comfort. A laugh broke from her and she rubbed at her hot face. “This is just…” Blane‟s hands on her hips faded her words. “No thinking.” His fingers teased into her shorts again and slowly, slowly pushed the material away from her hips. “Now, you‟re going to get naked and lie on my bed.” “I am?” Her shorts hit the floor and she stepped out of them. Blane took her hand. “I plan to taste every inch of you.”

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Callie stumbled after him and dropped to the bed. The deep mattress dipped and she stared up at him. The moonlight touched him, caressed him and he was beautiful, as beautiful as when she‟d seen him with Amanda and imagined herself. Only her reality was better. No scratchy forest floor, no biting insects, no prying eyes. Perfect. Idyllic. Her fantasy made flesh. “Move onto the bed, Callie.” She scrambled back, the slickness of sheen offering no help in making her sensuous and seductive, but she put that worry from her mind as Blane crawled over her body. The heat of his skin against hers caught her breath. Light touched his face, drawing the stark beauty of his features. “I start here.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, something brief and quick before he moved on to draw a slow, wet line down her throat. Callie mewled, his tongue, his teeth, his lips finding sensitive points. The scent of the water, the forest and him wove warmth and want through her. He kissed his way to her breast. His tongue circled her nipple and she pushed into his tormenting touch, the joy and knowledge that this would be her only time with him twisting, tightening the need deep into her flesh. She wanted the sheen to take her, to wipe away her thoughts and let her body sink into simply enjoying him. Licks of fire chased under her skin with his every soft kiss. “Is this what you want, Blane?” Callie shut her eyes. Where had that question come from? Idiot. Blane paused, his breath hot over her navel. He looked up and moonlight caught in his gaze. “I want you. I want this.” “For your experiments.” “Callie, why are you talking when I could be doing this? He licked a line down over the curve of her belly to her mons and a gasp broke from her. His mouth hovered over her aching flesh. “Now, I can carry on our discussion, or I can use my tongue for something else.” His fingers stroked over her thighs and the long muscles twitched 28

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under his light touch. Breathing was suddenly difficult. “From our conversations, you were…curious about this.” Callie grabbed at the sheen-heat threading through her body to keep the nerves from her voice. She would not fuck up her chance with this man any more. “I‟m curious about a lot of things.” “Good.” And he lapped her, a broad sweep with the flat of his tongue. She jerked off the bed, only his strong hands on her thighs controlled her, kept her pinned to the mattress. He did it again and curses burst from her. “You‟re evil!” His laughter ran warmth over his damp flesh. “You talked sex at me for a month, Callie. Time for a little revenge.” His tongue teased through her folds, the tip flicking against her clit. Shocked pleasure shot through her and her fingers fisted the thin sheets, twisting them up as she fought to maintain some control. She had to beg him to stop. She had to. But she couldn‟t. Blane was relentless, licking, teasing, touching…and humming. Her release slammed into her, fierce and unexpected, the fire of it sweeping over her thoughts. She screamed his name, her whole self lost to ecstasy. “So much better than gossip,” she murmured, flopping back onto the mattress. She stretched her fingers and pushed feeling back into them. Her flesh still pulsed, the dying warmth of it delicious and simply…wonderful. Callie opened her eyes and found Blane staring at her. She was glad the shadows hid her stupid blushing. He said nothing, only crawled back up her body and held her against him, her head tucked under his chin. She swallowed, her emotions swamping her. She couldn‟t remember when anyone, let alone a man, had last held her. It was bliss. The solid strength of him, his arms tight around her. But she was being selfish. The hard push of his erection into her belly reminded her he still hadn‟t found his own release.

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“Blane…” She was certain sheen still worked through her. She still wanted him, the fire of it making her tease and roll her hips against the hard length of his cock. It was not something that her old, non-sheen self would do. “Do you need more?” His fingers dug into her hip and for a long moment he was still. He didn‟t speak. “For your experiment.” “For that. Yes.” He let out a long breath. “I need more.” Her lips moved over his skin. “It‟s your turn.” She kissed his collarbone, enjoying her first taste of his skin. His agreement practically said that her sheen was still in effect so she had a while longer before it wore off and he came to his senses. Callie closed her eyes. She couldn‟t let him go. Not now. She had to risk exposing her heart, even if it was only to have the same deal as Syato had with her freighter captain. Friends with benefits. Fuck buddies. She wet her lips. “I imagined you like this.” “Callie…” She ignored him and pushed him onto his back. With a grin that felt a little too forced, she straddled him. His cock teased her and she fought to focus. Blane was the important one now. She licked and kissed his chest, mirroring the way he had explored her, her fingers running over the smooth definition of the muscles in his arms, the dusting of dark chest hair tickling her lips. “I imagined you just like this. In a shadowed land, with the moonlight and water.” She smiled against his ribs. “Not a bed, but moss and leaf litter.” She raked her nails down over his hip, loving the low groan it drew from him and how he turned into her touch. “I like the mattress better.” Callie breathed in the scent of his skin, mixed so strongly with her own arousal. The strength sheen gave her laced her words. “I saw you. Seven years ago. With Amanda.” “Shit, Callie…”

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She hushed him. “Like everyone else, I wanted you.” She nibbled his waist, her breast brushing against his cock and dragging another moan from him. He threaded his fingers through her loose hair, a caress that tightened her heart. “Unlike them, unlike her, I have you.” For a moment, she looked up. He was spread out before her, naked and hers for the taking. Excitement bubbled through her. Hers. She wet her lips and enjoyed his sudden intake of breath. Her head dipped and she licked the head of his cock. Blane swore. “You don‟t—” Callie stopped his words with her mouth, taking him as deep as she could, the taste of his skin, the feel of it and the salt-sweet taste of pre-come new on her tongue. One hand supported her, the other drew lines against his thigh, enjoyed the strangeness of hair and hard muscle compared to her own smooth legs. She teased her fingertips along the crease of his leg, drawing slow patterns so close to his balls that he thrust up into her mouth. The taste of him slicked her tongue. It was time to return the favor he‟d given her…and she began to hum. “No!” Blane pulled her away and rolled her beneath him. He kissed her, hard, fast, the taste of herself mixing with him in a heady rush. Callie wrapped herself around him, her thighs tangled with his and his cock, fuck, teased her, promised to sink so deep… She was already too eager. She pushed against him and he slid along her slick folds. Not enough. Not nearly enough. “I was so fucking careful.” Blane growled the words against her mouth as his hand pushed between them and he gripped his cock. “It has to be,” the head of his cock stretched her, pushing at the fierce tightness of her body, “just right.” Pain flared and Callie wanted to shrink from him, protect herself, stop the hot ache that ripped up through her pelvis. She wanted this, wanted him, but not even the power of sheen could hold back her nerves. She hadn‟t lied to him about the toys, but

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she‟d never pushed anything inside her body before. She pressed her lips together. Until that moment, she was almost certain she was still…intact. “Blane. Shit.” “Shh.” He kissed her, soft and quick, his body straining over hers. He smiled against her lips. “Breathe, Callie.” She closed her eyes, embarrassment thick in her blood. No, sheen wasn‟t saving her. “Look at me.” His soft, deep voice warmed her. “Callie.” He rolled his hips and the sudden hot, aching sensation forced her eyes open. He smirked at her. “Better.” He was arched over her, his face in shadow, and she wished she could see his eyes to know what he felt. The knowledge of what was forming in her, what had always been there made her eyes burn. She couldn‟t read anything more into what was happening than sheen-inspired sex. However much she wanted to. “We can stop.” A shaky laugh escaped her and he echoed it. “Really?” As if she would give up him buried so hard and deep inside her, the promise of a man who‟d been part of her daydreams for nearly all of her adult life. “You‟ve had enough?” Blane did…something, a turn, a push of his hips and Callie gasped at the quick, unexpected bolt of pleasure that shot through her body. “All right. I‟m done.” He began to pull back. “What?” She grabbed his arms, her fingers biting into hard muscle. “What are you talking about? How can that be it? I haven‟t… You didn‟t…” Blane smirked at her and she slapped his shoulder. “Bastard.” “Then don‟t ask stupid questions.” Callie glared at him and rocked her hips against his, the fullness of him inside her flashing fire under her skin. He groaned. Yes, two could play his game. “Stupid?”

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Blane drew back again, the friction catching her breath. “As I said, we can talk.” He stroked into her and the low moan that escaped her didn‟t sound human. “Or I can fuck you until you scream.” “That.” The word came out on a rush of air. He rolled his hips, stretching her, spiraling fresh need and desire. “Yes, definitely that.” “You wanted me?” The slow, regular rhythm of his hips, the brush of his skin against her, the darkness, his low question, all of it wound over and through her. Memory of the night at the lake mixed with it, spinning her thoughts. “I saw you in the water.” She threaded her fingers through his hair and brushed a kiss across his mouth. Because she could. He was hers. “Apart from the others. So beautiful.” Something flickered in his gaze. “Callie…” “Let me have the fantasy.” She pressed her lips together. She hadn‟t meant to say it out loud, but the censure in his voice had pulled it from her…and she wasn‟t above begging. “Please.” He kissed her, something thorough and delicious, his tongue mirroring the slow, slow strokes of his cock. The tension in her flesh tightened, the heat, the flutters in her belly deepening, forcing moans and sending her mind into a whirl. It was more than her imagination, aided by progs and gossip, could invent. So much more. His pace increased and it kicked her need up, the fire in her veins, the lack of air from the fury of his kiss. Sheen held her. It pushed wildness through her thoughts and flesh. She wanted, needed for him to make her scream, for one blissful moment to have him all to herself. “Callie.” Blane groaned her name, his breath hot over her ear. He clung to her, driving into her with fierce, hard strokes. She met every one, wanting the pleasure that edged on pain. Needing him and the tension that coiled tighter and tighter into her belly, promising to burn up through her flesh and drive every worry from her mind. 33

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“I can‟t…” Blane groaned, his words hot and savage, pushing the first ripples of her release up through her flesh. “I need you to come. Right now.” His teeth took her earlobe and the cut of pain pulled a cry from her, her spine arching…and the wild rush of her release smashed over her. Her body shook, and she clung to Blane, her mind lost in a bewildering wave of joy. She was only vaguely aware of him finding his own release, his long, low groan and his burying his face in her neck pushing through her own haze. Callie let out a slow breath, her fingers running over the strong muscles in his back. His hot skin, the smooth, satin feel of it, the way his muscles moved under her light touch was still so new. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, enjoying the taste of his heated skin after sex. Her eyes closed. Shit. No tears, not while she was holding him. Later, when all the sheen influence had left him and he avoided her, then she could cry. Not before. Blane‟s arms tightened around her and he rolled onto his side, holding her to his chest. He kissed her hair and buried his face there. She didn‟t want to break the moment, pull away and ask again if that was enough. Because it wasn‟t. Sheen was a terrible thing. It had given her a glimpse of what she wanted, but when it was gone…she‟d have nothing.

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Chapter Four Blane cursed against her hair and the sudden vibrating of his aural implant ran through her own body. He released her and rubbed his hands over his face. Cool air washed over her damp body and she struggled to cover herself as he activated the implant below his ear. “Doctor Aaron Blane.” A smile tugged at her mouth. Could he sound more pissed off? His mouth thinned, a sudden anger tightening the muscles at the corner of his eyes. His fingers flexed. “Don‟t quote Richard III at me. Sir.” Callie frowned. Blane had few superiors. Did that mean he was speaking to Lord Thorne? And he‟d bitten out that “Sir”. She also had to wonder what he had against Richard III. She stared at the low metal ceiling for a moment. Her curiosity itched like crazy. No, she couldn‟t ignore it. She propped herself up on her hand and watched him. He didn‟t look at her, his profile gilded by moonlight, his anger spreading into a stillness in his whole body. “Not here.” He bit out the words and without turning to her, muted his implant and threw on his clothes. His spine straightened and he lifted his shoulders. She could almost feel him taking a steady breath. He turned back to her and dipped his head to hers. “I‟ll be back.” He kissed her, a soft, delicious pull that flickered fresh heat down through her body. He sighed against her mouth. “Soon.” The door hissed and clunked behind him. Callie tasted her lips, tasted him and let herself flop back into a soft pillow. Her gaze was drawn to the image of the lake and her conscience tugged at her. She could

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hack it. His personal information was locked into the screen. She‟d done similar things before. Callie pressed the heel of her hands against her eyes and groaned. Damn it, it was too tempting. And really what harm could it do? She‟d find out who he was speaking to and what Shakespeare had to do with anything. Then she‟d break the link. Decision made. She pushed down her guilt and tapped on the image, pulling up info-screens. She had another twinge of guilt that she‟d copied his bio-data—it was a bad habit she had with everyone she met—and broke into his audio stream. “Doctor Aaron Blane.” His voice filled the room and quick fingers brought it down to a few marks above a whisper. “All scans are saying it‟s done.” Lord Thorne‟s deep, smooth tones followed Blane‟s. Callie‟s hairs lifted on her arms, a shiver pushing down her spine. His voice…disturbed her. “I have to say it. „And I will love there and prefer thee for it‟.” “Don‟t quote Richard III at me. Sir.” “I imagine it was a less…onerous task than Tyrrel killing Richard‟s enemies.” Callie‟s fingers paused over scrubbing away her eavesdropping. A stone sat in her stomach. The transmission continued without her interference. “You‟ve waited a year.” It was Thorne‟s voice again. “I would at least hope it was pleasant.” Blane‟s bitten out, “Not here” followed. Callie had to stop it then. Her hand shook. A sick feeling filled her stomach. She couldn‟t be certain, but was Thorne talking about her, about what she‟d just done with Blane? She blushed. The Director of Operations had been monitoring their…activity. “At least I can‟t be a mortified virgin anymore.” She ran her fingers through her messy hair. “Just mortified.” She shouldn‟t eavesdrop. That had to be the lesson she took away with her. She winced. She doubted it was one she would learn.

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She tapped her fingers against the screen to close it and Blane‟s angry voice burst out. “Don‟t you think I fucking know that?” Callie curled her fingers into a ball. No, she hadn‟t learned her lesson. “Sorry.” Blane again, his voice softer, contrite. “I understand this has been a difficult time. From the readings, the sheen has transformed. Is this correct?” Blane sighed. “Yes.” “And the restrictions have been met—” “Don‟t worry, I was your performing monkey.” “Doctor.” The sudden hard edge to Thorne‟s voice made her twitch. “You gain as much from this as all of us.” “We should‟ve been honest.” “Reactions have to be natural. Or as natural as they can be with alien intervention.” “My reaction wasn‟t natural.” Blane‟s words chilled her and she wrapped her arms around herself, wanting warmth, wanting comfort. Had sleeping with her been that bad? “Go back to bed, Blane.” The hard edge was back. “We‟ll speak again when Jannes is done.” Blane paused and his answer came out with a sigh. “Yes.” “It‟s almost over. Bosun Thiago brought it all together. Fused it. Don‟t forget that.” His voice softened. “This has been a difficult time for all of us. I won‟t forget your patience or what you had to endure. It‟s worth it, Blane.” His soft laughter rang hollow to Callie. “Yes, it is.” “I have to go.” Blane‟s laughter deepened. “I‟m sure you do.”

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Thorne‟s voice was tight in reply. “Finally, I have to say, congratulations on a job well done.” The low buzz of his cut connection followed. “Sarcastic bastard.” And Blane‟s connection ended. Callie swiped her hand over the screen and the image of the lake taunted her. Cool air brushed her face and she blinked. More tears fell to wet her skin. She‟d been some sort of deal? Between Thorne, Blane and Jannes. Jannes? A man she‟d trusted like a brother. Her heart twisted. And Blane. Fuck. She‟d fooled herself into thinking she could simply propose a fuck-buddies arrangement, one that would keep him in her life through her bed. It was more than that. Their screen time, where she‟d chatter inanely and he‟d say something sharp and witty and then lean back and smile at her… She‟d fallen in love with him and he‟d been…what? Playing her? Enduring her? She pressed a hand to her mouth, but the broken sob still escaped. They‟d wanted to use the sheen in her for their own ends. Bastards. The lot of them. She had to get away. In quick movements, she dragged on the shorts and shirt, hasty fingers finding the buttons. She‟d hunt out the transport and get back to Miranda. Her time aboard the CMC Theseus was done. But they would compensate her. She‟d fucking see to it. The door opened and Blane stood there. He frowned. “Callie?” She swung a punch at him. His fast reflexes caught her closed fist, her flailing other arm and he shoved her back against the metal wall, pinning her with the length of his body. “What the hell are you doing?” “Was I a pleasant fuck?” She twisted against him, hating his strength and the fact that she could still taste him on her tongue, feel the ghost of him on and in her body. “Did you enjoy the fact that I knew nothing about sex? That I slavered over you. How shitty was it for you? Really?”

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“What are you talking about?” “I heard you.” He frowned. “Heard me?” His hands tightened at her wrists and he held them to the wall. The action pushed her chest into his, her body reacting to him against her will. “Heard what, exactly?” “That you „endured‟ me. That I‟m a „job well done‟.” Anger took her again and she struggled, fighting his tight grip. “Let me go, Blane.” “No.” “You‟ve had your fun. You fucked me. Whatever deal you have with Thorne and Jannes is complete.” “Are you going to listen to me?” Callie glared at him. She still wanted him and she hated that. Hated that she still cared for him. Why did she ever think that a man like Blane would want her? She cursed against her self-pity. No, she deserved better. Someone who would— “I love you.” She froze, all thought, emotion, reaction caught in disbelief. Her mouth moved but no words came out. Blane gave a sour laugh. “This is not the way I wanted to tell you. Fighting and with you pinned to the wall.” He eased his fingers from her wrists and stepped back. He scrubbed his hand over his face, his gaze never leaving her. “I can explain.” “You love me?” “Yes.” “Why?” Laughter broke from him and he shook his head. “Because.” Callie frowned. “Because?” Her whole world had just slid sideways. Aaron Blane loved her. Her. Doubt tightened her stomach and a sour thought came with it. She

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fought to ask the question, because he could quite easily break her. “Is this more of your games?” “No.” He reached out to touch her cheek, but her own unexpected flinch stopped him. “I didn‟t want any of this to happen. Not this way.” “You love me.” She had to say it again. She couldn‟t help herself. “Absolutely.” Her legs gave out and she sank to the floor in an ungraceful heap. Blane crouched down beside her. He stroked his fingers through her hair, pushing strands back from her temple. His light touch was bliss. “I saw you in the water that night.” His gaze was distant. “After everyone else had gone back. I hadn‟t seen you before.” “Amanda warned me off.” She pressed her lips together. “She pointed out I could look, but you were…beyond me.” “I wasn‟t. I‟m not.” “Then why did you do no more than look?” He blew out air. “Because I was leaving for Lunar Station in a few days. Because you were eighteen.” He gave her a wry smile. “I couldn‟t do it. Limit you like that.” Regret and anger twisted hot in her belly. It was all honorable bullshit. She could‟ve had years of memories of him, of them. “You were twenty-four.” “A third of your age older.” Maybe a little of the sheen was still with her because a sly smile pulled at her mouth. “I like older men.” “Callie…” His tone dragged away the sheen-confidence and she had to come back to reality. “What was your deal?” He shifted his feet and dropped down beside her. He took her hand. “I had to wait for you. Wait until the time was right.” His thumb teased slow circles over her palm

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and her heartbeat jumped. Such a simple touch shouldn‟t have her body tight with need. “Until you were ready.” “Ready?” “Jannes has done a deal, to keep his ship, his crew. You were pivotal.” “None of this makes sense.” She snorted. “Maybe being hit by sheen will do that.” “Yes.” She frowned. The way he‟d agreed pushed at her. “What else aren‟t you telling me?” “I was the one affected by sheen. Not you.” “You? How?” A laugh escaped her. “And I thought it had all slid sideways when you said you…” She was suddenly shy of saying it. She had to hear him use the words again. Just to prove it was all real and not some twisted dream. “Love you.” “Yes, that.” He pressed her hand to his mouth, his lips warm against her palm. “There‟s only me here for a reason. The wave that caught the Theseus surged here too.” “To get you.” “To get me.” She fought the sly touch of his mouth. She was still mad at him. Telling her that he loved her didn‟t get him free of his crime. “Jannes got his ship. His crew.” Was that somehow his deal with sheen? And how did he even begin to bargain something like that? However he‟d pulled it off, she couldn‟t imagine their dour captain pairing up with anyone. Maybe his adoration of the Theseus would cover it? “And Thorne gets…?” “You‟ll have to wait and see.” He knew how nosy she was, it was there in the gleam of his eye. “Tell me.” “No.”

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She growled at him and he simply laughed at her, which only strengthened her need to know. And the tight knot of frustration in her stomach. “Blane…” She blinked. “One of the crew?” She paired them up in her head, judging and discarding. None seemed to fit with the image she had of Lord Thorne. “You‟re not saying it‟s Thorne and Jannes?” Blane almost choked laughing. “No. Not even sheen would put those two together.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “You‟ll find out soon enough.” “But I want to know now.” “I know.” He smirked at her. “The frustration of it. It‟s eating you alive.” He caught her hand as she tried to stop him. “I like you frustrated.” She rubbed her hand over her face, her brain finally processing what he‟d told her. She hadn‟t been affected by sheen. She closed her eyes. Was how she felt even real? “Everything I did, how I acted was all you.” “No.” His fingers slipped through the buttons of her shirt. “That‟s a myth. You have free will. Sheen is a catalyst. Sets you up to grab opportunity.” He teased her skin with his light touch. “It‟s how, if you‟re not bonded, the sheen works its way out of your body through any sexual act. Leaving you open to another surge.” The shirt dropped to the floor and Callie blinked. She‟d hardly been aware of him moving, pushing the fabric from her skin. Her mind was a haze. She had acted that way. Taunted him. Teased him. Hunted and took him. “Yes. All you.” “Sheen gave you telepathy too?” “I know you, Callie.” He pressed kisses to her neck and drew her into his arms, holding her while he nuzzled her skin. It was again…bliss. “And I‟ve wanted you for a long time.” Callie let the air slide in and out of her lungs, focusing only on the moment, on the solid strength of Blane surrounding her. No one had held her in so long. And never like

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this, never loving her. The pressure in her chest was a sweet pain and she pressed her lips together to stop the tears that wanted to fall. He hugged her and she planned to cry all over him. Very mature. Blane stroked a soothing hand down her back. “I was assigned to Alpha Station a year ago, I started to review subjects and your data turned up. Jannes intercepted my attempt to contact you. He took his time ensuring I was…worthy.” Callie let out a half-laughing snort. “Worthy?” “I was vetted for months about my intentions. Jannes is very protective of his crew. You especially.” She closed her eyes. She‟d looked up to Jannes, liked him, even if he was a miserable bastard most of the time, but keeping this from her, using her had twisted and fractured their relationship. “Because of this deal?” “No.” He kissed her ear, her jaw, finding his way to her mouth. His lips were warm against hers. “You‟re family to him.” “And he couldn‟t tell me he was setting me up?” His hands curved around her backside and pressed her to him. “I wanted to. He wanted to. We weren‟t allowed.” He teased a kiss from her. “It was hard.” His teeth caught her bottom lip and the quick sting of pain made her gasp. “But you, this, is worth it.” She wanted him, but her curiosity was still a sharp stab to her thoughts. “Thorne?” Blane stilled. “What about him?” “He placed the restrictions?” His fingers teased across her ass, pulled at the hem of her shorts and played with the exposed skin. Callie almost didn‟t care what the hell his answer was. Almost. His lips found hers, light and sure. “No. Lord Thorne is a controlling bastard.” His tongue licked her, easing across her upper lip. “But it was the planet. Jannes communed. You

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would seal everything, in the same way as an initiate is brought into the fold.” He smiled and drew in a breath. “Curiosity satisfied?” “Maybe?” She teased her fingers under his shirt, enjoying his quick hiss and the contraction of muscles under her light touch. “I think I‟ll have to interrogate you a little more.” “Really?” Callie backed him toward the bed. Her heart beat hard. This wasn‟t her and she didn‟t have the false security of thinking sheen was making her say and act in a way she would never dare. Sheen offered opportunity. As Blane had said, now was her time to grab it. “You know how I like my gossip.” “I do.” Moonlight touched his face and the knowledge that he was hers, that she was his, pulsed an aching warmth through her. Still, she wanted to tease, to play with him. It was a part of how they loved each other. And it was only fair that she tell him. Blane had been open. More open than she‟d ever known him. Callie pressed her hand to his jaw, her thumb pushing across his bottom lip, a lip she wanted to kiss and bite. She focused on it, on the slow movement of her thumb. “I love you, too, you know. You were a fantasy for years, but this past month…” She found her courage and met his dark gaze. “I think I fell for you somewhere around our discussion of fumbling zero-g sex.” Blane‟s full grin turned her heart over. “Is there any sexual position or act we didn‟t discuss?” He kissed the tip of her thumb. “And have you any idea how hard that was?” She smirked at him. “Literally?” His eyes narrowed. “Yes.” Callie pushed his t-shirt up over his chest, Blane lifting his arms to help her remove it. “So, gossip.” She pressed her mouth to his chest, her tongue teasing his nipple. She grinned as his fingers laced through her hair and he groaned. “Who gets who?”

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“Callie…” She pushed and he dropped to the bed. She stepped between his legs and tilted his head up. This sexually confident woman had only been her fantasy…but then so had any sort of relationship with Blane. Both were becoming deliciously real. She smiled at him. He swallowed and his eyes darkened. “You owe me information.” Blane wet his lips. “Really?” “I‟ve always been curious about interrogation sex. I don‟t know, something about me having a terrible need for rumor and truth.” Her heartbeat jumped as his fingers slipped across her hip to squeeze her ass. The tension in his arm, his body, caught her breath for a moment. He was interested too. “And acting out my curiosity is so much more fun.” Blane‟s tight breath brushed over the curve of her breast. “Do your worst.” Callie closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his hair. Hers. He was hers. It still felt…unreal. “I promise.” A smile curved her mouth and she pulled up the confident creature who‟d hunted this man, a part of her she‟d hardly known existed. “Now, Doctor Blane.” She threaded her fingers through his hair and eased his head back. His dark eyes gleamed, with love, affection and a fair dose of lust. Her mouth thinned. “You owe me answers.” “Maybe…” Callie grazed her teeth over his full bottom lip, savoring the taste and the simple fact that it was now allowed. Her fingers stroked over his neck, his shoulder, the heat, the texture of his skin a joy to skim. She waited to taste him again. Lick him, kiss him. Because she could. Because he wanted it as much as she did. She smirked against his mouth. “I‟m going to enjoy getting a straight answer out of you.” Perhaps she wouldn‟t disown Jannes after all.

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About the Author Kim lives on an ancient boundary line, once marked by a Neolithic burial tomb. The tomb‟s now a standing stone circle—thank the Georgians for that one—and stirs her mind with thoughts of history and ancient myths. She mixes the essence of the past into fantasy, along with the essential mix of magic and sex. She also writes science fiction romance, pushing out into the far future with effortlessly sexy men and the women who can‟t resist them. Kim is multi-published. You can contact her on her website or come and chat at her blog: www.darknessandromance.wordpress.com

Kim welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Also by Kim Knox Chosen One Consort Demonic Attraction Flesh and Shadows Her Dark Soul Hunting Evander Painted Promise Perfecting Naia Planetary Bodies 1: Magnetism Planetary Bodies 2: Friction Planetary Bodies 3: Current Ruthless Beauty Skin Magic Warflesh

Print books by Kim Knox Creamy anthology Succulent anthology

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