Page 33 of Crush
He took her to the edge, and she felt as if she were peering into an abyss from which there would be no return. She would remember this always, want him always.
She’d take that risk.
The orgasm seized her from within, belling outward in a rapturous rush. When Teq cried out, the sound was nothing the alien device in her head could translate—and everything her body knew by heart.
Closing her eyes, she clasped her two arms tight around him, feeling the rush of their release echoing in the infinitesimal space between them.
When she left, it would become lightyears. It would be forever.
He held her even closer but rolled to his side so they were equals, even if his big body dented the cushions a little more than hers. The brush of his fingers over her hair was achingly gentle, and yet that touch somehow wrung another tear past her quivering lashes.
His lips pressed against her crown in place of his hand, and she felt the gust of his exhalation.
“Mag told me he’ll summon an IDA transport for you during the next work cycle,” he said, his tone matter-of-fact, as if they weren’t still lying naked together. But maybe she understood the need to shore up some defenses. “Kinsley will be going with you.”
Letting out a sigh of her own, she finally opened her eyes. “Did she decide to leave, or is he kicking her out?”
“Per the IDA contract, this was a chance to get to know each other. But that meant there was also a chance it wouldn’t work out for some.”
For her, not a chance, but a choice. But what else could she do?
She started to sit up, and Teq helped her straighten. He only needed one of his arms to lift her from the bed.
They dressed in silence. Easier for him, both the dressing and the silence. She was the one who’d come all this way, into space and to his bed.
When she cleared her throat, before she could speak, he said, “I’ll walk you back to your quarters.”
As if she’d get lost on the way?
At her own door, they stood awkwardly. Was it too much to hope for a catastrophic hull breach to suck her out into oblivion?
“Teq,” she murmured.
The door to her quarters opened. “Mommy?”
She gulped back whatever she was going to say—and it wasn’t going to be any more useful than the silence of a vacuum—and turned to see Oliver gazing up at her miserably.
“Hey, owlet,” she said softly. “You’re supposed to be in bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep until…until you came back.” He rushed to her, throwing his arms around her hips.
Such small arms and yet they broke her. There might be pain in the love, but he had always been her choice.
Refusing to let tears fall again, she glanced over at June. “Thanks for watching him. You’ve been a good friend.” One she might never see again.
June gave her a sideways hug as she squeezed by. “Any time. You know that.” She grinned up at Teq. “Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the space bugs bite.” She flitted down the corridor to her own quarters.
Adeline would’ve taken Ollie back inside, but he was clinging like the tightest space bug ever.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled into her belly. “I didn’t mean…mean to be bad.”
“Oh, owlet.” She stroked his mussed hair. “I don’t think you’re bad. You were mad and scared. I was mad and scared too, which is why we ran away from Earth. But the IDA ship is coming to take us home.”
“Butthisis home now.” He peered up at her then past her. “Right, Teq?”
Teq was still standing there, even though he’d had time to run away from all this messy feeling. “Home…” He sank to one knee and then a little lower yet, almost on a level with Ollie. “Home is wherever you are with the people who care about you.”
“Amma says I’m smart and kind,” Ollie said. “And June watches over me. And Sil let me play his Quantumstrum 2000X even though it’s really valuable. They care about me. And…and you care about me too, right?”
