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They made out in the back of Mikhail’s rented SUV, a far cry from the times Sasha could barely stretch his pinky to meet Sergey’s in the presidential limo. When they arrived, Mikhail had to clear his throat three times before they finally stumbled out and Yuri escorted them to Sasha’s door.
Inside, there was slow stripping, suits falling away, hands tracing skin, lips caressing every joint and curve of each other’s bodies.
Sasha took his time, making love to Sergey as if he could roll up every night he’d been away for the past two years into one, give Sergey enough love to last for his entire lunar mission and more.
Hours later, Sergey trembled beneath him, his body quivering, sweat drenching their skin and the bed. Sergey smiled up at him, caressing his cheeks. “I love you,zvezda moya. Forever.”
Sasha smiled and kissed him slowly, rocking his hips against Sergey’s as he felt himself stir once more.
* * *
9
Texas
Late the next morning,bleary-eyed, Sasha drove Sergey and Mikhail out to Mark and Lindsey’s lake house, deep in the Texas Hill Country. Yuri tagged behind in a separate car, keeping them in a tight caravan. Mark had invited the entire graduating class and all his astronaut friends for a weekend getaway. Some had rented cabins nearby, and others were camping on the property. Mikhail and Yuri had rented a cabin just up the road. Sergey and Sasha were staying with Mark and Lindsey.
Sergey was beside himself with Sasha’s truck, and he whipped out Sasha’s cowboy hat from his luggage and placed it on Sasha’s head for the drive. Sasha thought his bones would melt, his skin crisp to ash, at the force of his sudden mortification. There was still a come stain on the brim of the hat. He hoped Mikhail couldn’t see it.
Sergey slept through the last two hours of the drive, and Sasha held his hand across the center console, forgoing the rest of his coffee so he could drive one-handed. On the open stretches of road, his gaze drifted, landing on Sergey snoring away with his head against the window, his lips parted and his closed eyes hidden behind sunglasses. They’d both dressed down in jeans and short-sleeved button-downs, the most casual a Russian man could get outside abanyaor gym. Already, just from the day before, a sunburned flush spread across Sergey’s nose and cheeks.
They arrived as the burgers and hot dogs were going on the grill and everyone was about to splash in the lake. Mark showed Sasha and Sergey their room, upstairs and down the hall from his and Lindsey’s. “Change and relax, you two. Come on down when you’re in your swimsuits!” Mark was already in board shorts and an old NASA shirt from one of his lunar-orbit missions.
They slipped into bathing trunks and tank tops—Mikhail refused—and headed back down. Lindsey met them on the porch, smiling as she passed them each a beer. “It’s nice to get a chance to meet you, Sergey,” she said. “Mark has told me so much about Sasha. I don’t think he’s been this proud of a trainee in over a decade. You must be bursting with pride yourself.”
Sasha saw Sergey puff up, his chest inflate. He threaded his fingers through Sasha’s. “Sasha has done the incredible. He’s the first Russian astronaut in our country’s new program.”
“I was telling Mark, you guys must have a strong relationship to endure two years of separation—and all of Sasha’s missions to come. You don’t get much time in Moscow either, right? Since you work with the Kremlin, Sasha?”
Sasha clamped down on Sergey’s hand. His voice cracked as he spoke. “Yes. I represent Roscosmos at the Kremlin.”Don’t say Sergey’s name. Don’t say it.
“And you have to keep quiet about your relationship in Russia.” She shook her head and gave Mark a beer and a kiss as he headed for the grill. “I’m glad you both are comfortable here.”
“Thank you,” Sergey said, covering for Sasha’s tongue-tied silence. “President Puchkov is working to change things. Thingsaregetting better.”
“That’s good to hear, but until you’re able to live openly, it’s not good enough, is it?”
Sasha’s stomach twisted. His palm slicked with cold sweat, slipping against Sergey’s hold.
Sergey tightened his grasp. “We just have to keep working on it. One challenge, then the next. One thing at a time.”
“Well, it’s obvious how deeply in love you are.” She smiled warmly. “Being an astronaut’s partner is no easy thing, but you two sailed through the hard parts. I remember when Mark was in training.” She shook her head. “And then the work leading up to his first mission nearly drove me ’round the bend. I was almost thankful when launch day came, because the stress and the anxiety of it all were darn near killing me.” She shook her head, chuckling. “Mark waited for you Sasha, you know. Waited until you graduated to finalize his mission roster. He told me you were the only pilot he wanted to fly with. Chris had been trying to get him to finalize his crew selection for three months, but he said you were worth waiting for.”
Sasha hissed. Sergey’s arm went around his waist and squeezed. Chris was Chris Slattery, Mark’s boss.
Lindsey shifted to Sergey. “We’re going to have to trade numbers. The next eighteen months are going to be wild, getting ready for this mission. I know you’ll be in Russia, but let’s keep in touch. You’re going to need to talk to someone when it really starts to get to you, trust me.”
“Thank you. I would love that.”
“And when you come out for their launch, I’ll help you with all the arrangements. I know I could barely string a sentence together the month before Mark’s first mission. We’ll get you out here for a good-luck kiss and then to Kennedy for the launch. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“Thank you, Ms. Keating.” She waved away Sergey’s thanks and sipped her beer. “I will say, it has been a learning curve for me. I think I read just as many NASA manuals as he did, trying to understand it all.”
“I went through those handbooks and tech manuals like there was a map to buried treasure in those pages. I kept thinking I’d find my husband’s rationality in there somewhere. How did we fall in love with these rocket jockeys, Sergey? What were we thinking signing up for this life?”
“It’s worth it,” Sergey demurred. “I wouldn’t have him any other way.”
“I’ll remind you you said that when we’re in the thirty-second launch window before they’re about to blast off into space and you just want to scream and scream until you black out, ’cause you can’t take the tension anymore.” She squeezed Sergey’s arm, laughing. “I wouldn’t change a thing, either. But, man, do these boys put our hearts through the wringer!”
