Page 89 of Fighting Gravity
Who… the fuck… was I? Because I was not the same Quinn he plucked off that shuttle.
My heart skipped a beat or two the longer I stared at Rhone and I was afraid to admit what it meant. So afraid that the tears in my eyes ceased being from a lack of air and transformed into something much deeper. Something I didn’t want to say out loud.
And thank God Rhone didn’t ask. Instead, his hand came up to gently brush one fallen tear away with his thumb. His Thel was gentle and near undetectable, but somehow soothing. There was warmth in it and I let it consume me. I lethimconsume me.
36: Quinn
(Days later… or something)
I had never been a cuddler. I slept with a guy, physically or virtually, and I found myself in a hurry to get away afterward. I’d always felt unclean and eager to jump in a shower and forget the fleeting, shallow connections I had on Earth.
But then there was Rhone…
He was a mystery I was committed to solving because over the course of our time together he made me feel the deepest hate I’d ever felt. And then I ended up falling for him in a way I never expected—or wanted—to fall for anyone.
Love is a prison.
I told myself that once when I was young and on the verge of falling apart beyond repair. I still believed it as I pried my eyes open and found Rhone’s sleeping chamber around me. It was no bigger than the others. I learned that after days of wandering the Shadowbreaker unhindered. He didn’t need luxuries greater than his crew’s and I admired that. I found myself admiring a lot about him since that encounter on the bridge.
And since then, we’d fucked so many times I lost count. It was different now. It was unbelievably mutual and because of that, the pleasure was chaotic. Every time was different than the last and somehow kept bringing us closer. We did it in the showers. We did it on the floor in the observatory with the glittering expanse around us. We had a spontaneous moment in the mess hall while the others were in their sleep cycle. It was driving me insane because I still couldn’t understand how I’d unfolded so completely for a brute like him.
Laying on my back staring at the ceiling, I tried desperately to wake myself up. I stretched out my arm and found the hard barrier of Rhone’s shoulder beside me. In the movies, one partner always seems to be gone when the other wakes up, but not Rhone. No matter where I fell to sleep, he was there when I woke and that certainly wasn’t something I expected.
I lazily rolled over, draping my naked limbs over Rhone’s equally naked body. He stirred, groaning softly as he turned to rest his chin on the top of my head. He rasped a few gek words with an exhale, his arm coming up around my shoulders to pull me even closer.
It was the best damn feeling in the world.
When he did it, his thumb traced down the thin, raised scars on my back where he’d scored my skin with his talons. He never truly apologized for them. He hadn’t apologized for any of my scars, but somehow, I didn’t need him to. Each one reminded me where we started, which made where we were even more meaningful. That, and I was a fan of permanent markings. Like my tattoos, the scars were a piece of my journey. They were Rhone’s scars.
Iwas Rhone’s.
Not to mention he had his own scars to remind him of what we’d been through. The arena. The fight when I stabbed him in his shoulder with his own fancy dagger. I absently stroked over that particular scar with my fingers.
As I relaxed further into the side of Rhone’s body, I shifted my knee upward, dragging it over his groin. It was hard and thick and the friction drew a quiver out of him that I’d grown hopelessly addicted to.
He hummed his approval and ran his other hand over the smooth plane of my thigh.
“How is it that you never wake before me?” I asked.
His deep, quiet chuckle had become another comfort to me.
“I do,” he answered. “But then I return to your side. I enjoy you waking next to me too much to waste a single instance.”
“Those are awfully romantic words for a guy like you.”
“I don’t know romance. I am only being honest.”
“So, what do you do when you wake? Don’t tell me you watch me sleep.”
“No, I do other things.”
I dragged my knee over his cock again, relishing the way his muscles tensed beneath me. “Like what?”
“I’ll show you.” He grabbed my thigh, stopping me from rubbing him anymore. “But if you tempt me further, we’re not even leaving this bed today.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Quickly, he clutched my shoulder and rolled me onto my back, pressing himself between my legs. God, it turned me on and Rhone knew it. His lips feathered over mine, but he deprived me of a kiss.
