Page 13 of Star Cruise Captain's Story

“I’ll take a chance, soldier,” she said, head tilted and eyebrows raised. “My current dates are duds. Think you can do better?”

He led her onto the dance floor and they melded together into a sizzling dance suited to the fast tempo the bar’s AI was currently playing. Maeve leaned her head on his chest and allowed herself to go with the flow. This was nothing like their decorous dances at the human wedding a few years ago. This was all about pent-up longing and mutual need and desire. She ground her hips against his obvious arousal and Gil nuzzled her neck and kissed her. She swayed and spun through two songs following his lead as they stayed plastered together and then he grabbed her hand and said, “Come to my room with me?”

She surveyed him, taking note of his scruff, which she found sexy, and his general tough demeanor. “Oh seven hells yes, big boy. Let me say goodbye to my friends.”

Gil tugged her away, toward the rear of the bar. “They’ll figure it out, sweetheart. I don’t want to kill anyone tonight before I get you in my bed.”

With a giggle she waved in Jake and Red’s general direction, stumbling a little as if drunk. Gil caught her and put his arm around her waist again as he guided her out a back door and into a dark alley. He caught her in a huge hug and captured her lips for a brutal kiss which left her breathless. “Lords of Space, I’ve missed you,” he said, resting his forehead against hers. “I don’t know what the seven hells you’re doing her but I’m glad. I should be livid at the risk you’re taking but?—”

Maeve rubbed her hand over the fastening of his trousers, where his cock pressed urgently against the clothing. "Happy to see me is a good thing."

He didn’t say anything else but led her out of the alley and down the crowded street, ending up at a spacers’ hotel a few blocks away. “It’s not much but it’s fairly clean,” he said apologetically as they entered the lobby and headed for the stairs. “I’ve had a room here since we arrived.”

“I’m not picky, as long as I’m with you.”

They proceeded to the third floor and Gil took her to his room, which was at the far end of the corridor. He fumbled with the door for a moment and then drew her inside, flipping on the lights as he did so. They stared at each other and then Maeve took a step toward him and they were kissing again. Gil ran his hands over her backside, squeezing the red leather encased globes of her butt, and pressed her close to him. His erection pulsed and lengthened further against her body and her own panties grew damp. Gil picked her up so she locked her legs around his waist and continued feathering kisses along his chin as he carried her to the bed.

Leaning close as she toyed with the fastenings on his shirt, he said, “I’ve swept the room, no bugs, no ganglions, no vids. Are you on subaural com with Jake and Red?”

She nodded.

“Tell them to notice your absence, act pissed and leave the bar. The guys should return to their shuttle. I’ll get you there shortly and we can talk.” He kissed the tip of her nose and pulled back. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. I can’t tell you how much I needed this, needed you.”

Maeve gave him a mock slap on the bicep. “Same here. We got worried. I got worried.”

“Tell me you didn’t bring theNebula Zephyrwith you,” he said in a serious voice. “I’m gonna be seriously upset if she’s in orbit right now.”

Having sent the subaural message to her team, she grinned up at him. “Only invited a few people I trust. We have our own ship up in orbit. You’re not angry I hunted you down?”

“Are you doing okay?” Gil asked, scrutinizing her closely. “Your safety and well being is my top priority, which is why I wanted you to stay with theNebula Zephyrso I could concentrate on finding my brother andnotworry about you too. But I can’t deny I need help now and there’s no one I’d rather go into combat with than you.”

“I’ve been working on what the Mellureans taught me,” she said with confidence, vastly relieved he wasn’t upset at what she’d chosen to do by coming to find him. “I can hold this form.”

“Even if I make love to you? Because I’m not feeling gentle right now.”

“Especially if you do.” The heat and desire at her core were overwhelming. There was no way she was going to leave this room to rendezvous with Jake and Red before she was satisfied. The men could wait. Maeve unfastened Gil’s pants and released his engorged shaft, which jutted toward her. Stroking it fromroot to tip with a firm grip, she licked the drop of precum and then ran her tongue along the big vein on the underside, making him groan and hold her tight.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Gil said, even as he was unfastening her tight red dress. “We should reunite with the guys and then get all of you off the planet as fast as possible.” He helped her remove the dress, which she threw on the floor and then eyed her delicate lace lingerie with appreciation, fingering the edge of her black thong and swallowing hard.

Maeve placed her hands on either side of his face, her gaze locked onto his eyes. “I was so worried about you and I missed you, Gil Fleming. We’re going to have this private reunion and then we can revert to being efficient planners of rescues and other operations. I need this with you right now.”

He groaned. “I have so much to tell you but I only have one thing on my mind—you in person take away my ability to put any other thoughts together in a logical sequence. I love you, Maeve, and I’ve been going crazy without you all this time.”

“We’re here together now,” she said impatiently. “And wasting precious time.”

He kissed her again, his tongue exploring her mouth and taking possession, even while he unfastened the bra and tore the thong away from her body. Maeve broke off the kiss to strip him out of his clothing and they tumbled onto the mattress locked in a skin-to-skin embrace. She burned with desire for him and wasn’t in the mood for lengthy foreplay. Not tonight. He said he couldn’t do gentle right now? Well neither could she. It had been far too long since she last saw him and literally years since they’d been able to share a bed and quench their mutual passion. Dreams were better than nothing but having the actual man in her arms lit a fire within her core.

The head of his cock pushed against her folds and Maeve shifted her position to invite him inside.

Gil thrust hard, penetrating her fully, shaft stretching her in the best ways, almost to the point of pain but providing sensation of the best kind. Even though this was only her second time in bed with Gil, she trusted her instincts and the body she’d been given, and clenched her inner muscles to put pressure on him as he moved, drawing an exclamation of tortured delight from her lover. She relished being joined as one with the man she loved and wished she had all night to play and tease but the stakes were too high right now. Part of her consciousness focused on keeping her in the corporeal form despite the intense sensations Gil was causing as he drove in and out, but the rest of her mind was fully engaged in making love to her man and being loved in return. Nothing else she’d ever experienced in the human form surpassed the joy of having Gil in her arms. She could tell her climax was coming hard and fast and she whispered his name as the waves of pleasure overtook her. He plunged himself deep into her core, holding her so tightly it was hard to breathe, not that she cared, and said her name over and over, like an incantation inviting ecstasy. Body rigid, face set in an expression of pure carnal satisfaction, Gil found his release as well and she clung to him while he was locked in the throes of a powerful climax.

As she rubbed her hand over his back in small circles, enjoying the feel of his muscles under her hand, Maeve wondered idly if the Mellureans had made it possible for her to become pregnant. She and Gil hadn’t used any protection tonight and she was glad. If there was any chance of having a child with him, she wanted that future. Something else to discuss with Lady V’terre next time she communicated. She supposed she’d have to stay in the corporeal form for the entire nine months but to have Gil’s child, she’d gladly force herself to remain embodied. One thing she was finding the more time she spent as a human and with humans was that there was alwaysa new goal, a new horizon, something else to strive for. Maeve found it refreshing after the limits of being an AI confined to one ship, even one as big and complex as theNebule Zephyr.

“We’d better get back to business,” Gil said reluctantly, rising and going to the tiny bathroom. He brought her a warm cloth to freshen up with, and began dressing as she did a quick cleanse. He handed her the red dress. “I like this by the way. Probably every guy in the damn bar liked this.”

“I chose it to create an effect,” she said, pleased at his reaction. “Jake and Red are at the shuttle. Are we joining them?”

“I think it would be easier to plan if we were all together but the Jlonngi run this town and the spaceport and the gang has surveillance vids everywhere.” He sat on the bed to don his boots and rubbed his chin while he considered the next move.

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