Close Encounter (6 page)

* * * * *

Eliza was perched on a stool at the counter with her data-pad when Sean entered the kitchen. She had a coffee cup and a full carafe on the counter in front of her. He watched her for a minute, taking in her relaxed posture and the way she’d curled her socked feet around the lower rungs of the stool. She had put her hair up in a bun with a pair of plastic chopsticks. One of the other scientists who rotated on Ganymede was from Japan, and as a result the kitchen on the station was equipped with a wok. Chopsticks could be found in most of the rooms of the station. Sean had spent the better part of a year gathering them up and dropping them in a drawer. He’d also fired off four different emails to Dr. Akira Ito on the perils of eating in the operations center. The man had sent him pictures of large gourmet meals in retaliation. He sort of hated the smug bastard.

She looked up from her work and met his gaze. “Hi.”

“Eggs and bacon?” Sean asked.

“Real eggs and bacon?” she asked suspiciously.

He laughed. “After a fashion. The bacon is real, and the eggs are…a mixture of real eggs and egg substitute. It holds up better for shipping. Teko Solutions has a larger central space station in orbit around Mars. They distribute supplies for the entire operation.”

“Samuel Tek offered me a job,” she said bluntly. “He also offered me a legal team separate from you if I want to annul our hasty little marriage and take my chances on my own. Apparently, your grandmother announced my return and our marriage in the same speech about fifteen hours ago, so no one has any hope of keeping my return a secret at this point.”

“Did he actually use the words
hasty little marriage
?” Sean asked with a laugh.

“Yes.” She scowled at him briefly before dropping her gaze to her tablet. “Also, I received an email from your mother welcoming me to her family, and she threatened my life.”

Sean turned to stare at her in shock. “Arti…why didn’t you tell me my mother sent Eliza an email?”

“You didn’t ask.”

That was so much bullshit that Sean didn’t even have a response, because he hadn’t asked. There were times when he really resented the fact that Arti didn’t have a face. He could never tell when he was being fucked with. Sean focused on his wife and found her grinning at him. “What exactly did my mother say?”

She flicked through a few screens on her pad and cleared her throat. “
Dear Eliza, welcome to the Cohen family. We are proud to have you be a part of our present and future as we endeavor to leave an honorable legacy for future generations. Sean is precious to me
,
and I hope you come to realize what a gift it is to know him. If you intentionally hurt him, they’ll never find all of your pieces. All the best, Dei
r
dre Cohen
.
”

Sean inhaled sharply and shook his head. “She’s Irish.”

Eliza grinned. “I’m completely charmed by her.”

“Are you going to take the job with Teko Solutions?”

“Well, I guess that depends on you,” Eliza said quietly. “I mean, your grandmother was serious about how difficult it will be to get a divorce.”

“I think Admiral McAlister was right.” Sean opened up a packet of eggs and poured the mixture into the skillet in front of him. “I think if you don’t have anyone connected to you legally that you’ll be railroaded once you get to Earth. They’ll either get you to parrot their agenda or they’ll blame you. Or worse, you could
tragically
die in transit back to Earth. The fact is that I don’t think you’re safe in the hands of anyone from Space Command at this point.”

“What would you have me do then?” Eliza asked, exasperated.

“Before or after we fuck?” Sean quirked one dark eyebrow at her.

“Both, whatever.”

“Transmit your mission report and the data proving your story to everyone in this fucking solar system, resign your commission, take the job Samuel Tek offered you, and we can spend the next year getting to know each other. Let Tek fight it out over you with Space Command. He’ll go to the wall and dick-punch half a dozen of those bastards without even breaking a sweat. I’ll sign up for another rotation on this station—we’ll work together, make love as often as possible, and see if we can make a life together. It’ll give everyone time to get used to you being around, and it’ll keep you isolated from the press until you’re in a better place emotionally.”

“And after the year?”

“We can go back to Earth and make babies.”

“Oh.” She flushed. “Well.”

“I’m just trying to say that I’m
all
in
.” Sean dropped a plate in front of her. “Even if you can’t cook.”

Chapter Five

Sean set aside the data-pad Eliza had given him and cleared his throat. She’d prepared a report, resigned her commission with Space Command, and signed a contract with Teko Solutions. Arti already had a copy of the information for a data-burst and was preparing the encrypted files.

“It’s pretty damaging. There are people who will lose their jobs once it gets out that declassified files on your mission were incomplete. The mere fact that you and some of your crew had functional, life-saving nano-tech in place is going to be political suicide for people like your friend McAlister. He knew about it, and he didn’t bring it up during the declassification process. And he likely noticed the crew count was wrong.”

“The two fictional crew members… If their names had been listed, it might have eventually come out what had happened.” Eliza shook her head. “No verifiable school records or service files. And the thirty-four people in Space Command who helped us prep for the mission saw those two men every day leading up to the mission. Every day for six months. Most of them are still alive, but only three are still in uniform.”

“McAlister, Cramer, and…”

“Admiral Maya Lively.”

“She was my last CO,” Sean said quietly. “She’s headed up research and development for the USC for nearly fifty years. She’s also a closet naturalist.”

“Naturalist?”

“Their motto is
Let Nature Take Its Course
,” Sean said dryly. “She’s the main reason I left Space Command. She kept rejecting my research proposals, and finally I just had enough of it. Even now she holds new technology up in testing for
years
to prevent them from being distributed. I’d say she was one of the driving forces in the suppression of nano-tech.”

“She’s a hundred and fifty years old,” Eliza groused. “She’s obviously had bio-mods.”

“She has no choice,” Sean reminded. “Not as long as she stays in uniform, but she does her part to keep new protocols and bio-mods out of the armed forces. She hated me.”

“Because your family is so influential in the tech field?” Eliza asked.

Sean grinned. “That, and I had an
illicit affair
with her son.”

“Her words?”

“Yeah.” Sean grinned. “He was a great fuck. It’s too bad his mother is insane. I had to break up with him just to get some peace.”

“Poor thing,” Eliza murmured. She raised an eyebrow. “Do you want an open marriage? I mean, I’m hetro, but if you like men…”

“I enjoy both men and women,” Sean admitted roughly. “But an open marriage—no. I wouldn’t want that.”

“A legal third?” Eliza asked.

“I’m not strictly opposed.”

She grinned. “Good.”

His gaze narrowed. “You just want to watch me fuck a man.”

“I’m not saying I’d decline an opportunity.”

“Well, there’s always virtual reality,” Sean said dryly as he stood, walked around the counter, and plucked her off the stool. “How about we get naked and see how
we
fit together before you go fantasizing about me with other men?”

“Oh, it’s really too late for that,” Eliza admitted. “That boat sailed three or four times already with a great deal of success.” She threw one arm around his shoulders and swung her feet as he took them down the hall and back into his quarters. “But in my defense, I haven’t gotten laid in over a hundred years.”

He tossed her on the bed and crawled on top of her while she laughed. Sean caught her wrists and pinned them above her head and settled his weight between her legs as she went quiet. “Let’s fix that, shall we?”

Sean brushed his lips against hers and groaned when she ran the tip of her tongue against his bottom lip. She was a bold, challenging kisser, taking as much as she gave; all the while her hands were working their way down the back of his trousers to cup his ass. He lifted his mouth from hers slightly and sucked on her bottom lip before letting it go with a little pop. Eliza’s body was strong and lithe beneath his—different than he was used to when he slept with women. He sat up and laughed when she pouted; her hands slid around his side as she had to relinquish her hold on his ass.

He hooked his fingers into the waistband of the boxers she was still wearing and smiled when she lifted her hips eagerly. “It’s been over a year for me, so this first time might not be…well.”

“Then you’d better eat me first,” Eliza instructed as the silk boxers slid down her legs. He tossed them aside. “Else I might develop a poor opinion of your abilities.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want that,” Sean said with a laugh as she pulled off the tank and threw it over the edge of the bed. “You’re gorgeous.” He trailed fingers over the firm, defined muscles of her stomach.

“Am I the only one getting naked here?”

Sean leaned down and pressed a kiss against the inside of her knee before sitting up and pulling his own T-shirt off. “Anything off the table?”

“Kink negotiation already?” She grinned and sat up. Eliza trailed her fingers down his chest and hooked them into the front of his trousers. She wet her bottom lip and lifted her gaze to meet his. “Your pants are obstructing my view, Dr. Cohen.”

Sean cupped the back of her head with careful fingers and kissed her. His fingers tightened in her hair as she opened for him. Her mouth was sweet and soft against his. He lifted her gently, cupping her ass with his hands, and she gasped against his mouth as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her hardened nipples dragged over his skin as he pulled her close. He’d been denying himself for longer than he’d cared to admit, maybe since the failure of his relationship with Jessica. He’d put a lot of himself into that relationship, stupidly, he’d admit now.

Eliza’s legs tightened around him, and the warm, wet flesh of her cunt against his stomach startled a low groan out of him. She hummed against his mouth and lifted her head away. “I’m pretty much game for the regular sex stuff. You get the urge to tie me up or spank me, we’ll have a serious talk first.”

“Duly noted,” Sean murmured as he lowered her to the mattress. He made quick, graceless work of his trousers and boxers, then tossed them off the side of the bed, ignoring her little laugh as he did so. “Are you laughing at your husband?”

“He’s pretty amusing,” Eliza admitted softly as he pulled her into his arms.

Sean’s hand clenched on her hip briefly as the heat of her body settled against his. “Fuck.”

“Too much?” she asked with a smirk. She pushed one hand between them and wrapped it around his dick, her thumb rubbing slowly over the head. “Do you always get so wet, or is it just because it’s been a while?”

Sean sucked on his bottom lip and closed his eyes as her grip tightened. “Pretty much always, actually.”

“That’s hot,” Eliza murmured. She released him and brought her thumb up to her mouth. Their eyes met as she flicked her tongue out for a taste. “Can I suck you?”

He gave an abrupt nod even as she was sliding down his body and out of his grasp. Eliza slid between his legs like a woman who knew exactly what she was doing and wrapped those amazing lips around the head of his cock without a moment’s hesitation. Her tongue swirled around his slit, gathering pre-cum, as she sucked him in and let his cock slide all the way in. Sean threw one hand up and wrapped it around the bar that secured the bedframe to the wall as she pulled him in deeper, and the head of his cock tucked briefly against the back of her throat.

“Fuck.”

Slim, knowing fingers glanced over his balls as she worked his dick in and out of her mouth easily before tucking in behind them and pressing firmly against his perineum. The pressure combined with soft, wet heat had him spreading his legs farther and lifting his hips. He was going to come embarrassingly fast, but he knew getting hard for her again wouldn’t be a problem.

Sean slid his fingers through her hair, helplessly turned on, and lifted his hips just twice before she used one hand to clamp down on his thigh and hold him in place. The grip wasn’t forceful but instead just a gentle reminder to be still. “I’m going to come.”

Her cheeks hollowed out, and she sucked him in deeper, and that was all it took. His back arched involuntarily as he spilled into her mouth, jerking through the most intense orgasm he’d had in months. Sean shuddered and relaxed on the bed as she released his softening cock from her mouth and met his gaze with dark eyes. Eliza’s cheeks were flushed and her mouth wet, puffy. She licked her lips, and he exhaled sharply in response.

“Come here,” he ordered and grinned when she raised one eyebrow at him before complying.

He cupped the back of her head and pulled her close, immediately seeking her mouth. His cock gave a hopeful twitch at the taste of himself on her lips and tongue as he pushed her onto her back and arranged her long, lean body to suit his plans. Sean sat back and ran his hands along her rib cage, brushing over her smallish breasts in the process. He liked that she hadn’t gotten a breast enhancement. They never felt quite right. Leaning down, he sucked one rigid nipple into his mouth as he trailed fingers down the plane of her stomach and over the bare mound of her cunt. It had been years since he’d seen a woman without pubic hair as it was now out of fashion to remove it all.

Sean lifted his head and moved down so he could watch his fingers as he explored the soft lips of her sex. She was very wet—ready for whatever he had in mind and all with little stimulation from him. “Did sucking me turn you on?”

“Yes.”

He grinned at her quick, simple answer. No excuses or hesitation. He’d always preferred women who knew exactly what they wanted and weren’t afraid to ask for it. Sean shifted so he could kneel between her legs and placed a kiss just above her mound before he hooked one of her legs over his shoulder and slipped his tongue between those soft, damp lips. He licked her from hole to clit several times, ignoring the way her fingers had already found their way into his hair. Her hand fisted as he sucked and licked her clit.

Eliza shuddered against his mouth and cried out, her voice broken and needy with pleasure. “Sean!”

He released her clit and speared the tip of his tongue into her hole, fucking into her as she came. Sean lifted his head as her cries turned into a whimper and sat back on his heels. She had one arm thrown over her face, while the other hand was rubbing her stomach in a self-soothing gesture he figured she’d had all of her life. He wrapped a hand around his half-hard dick and jacked himself leisurely as she settled down and relaxed on the bed.

Eliza exhaled deeply and lifted her arm away from her face so she could look at him. A slow smile crossed her mouth as she watched him. “This image is not going to dissuade my perverted fantasies about you.”

“I’d sincerely hope not,” Sean said with a smirk. “You ready for more?”

“Hmm, absolutely.”

“Like this or did you want to be on top?”

“Like this.” Eliza held out her hands and made a grabby motion that made him laugh.

Sean moved forward, settled between her legs with ease, and positioned the head of his cock before slowly pressing in without another word. Their gazes connected, and he watched her—taking in the minute changes in her expression as he penetrated her. Fucking was primitive, really, and no amount of technology would make it less so. Maybe even the exact opposite. The more advanced they were as a species, the more desperate they became for physical contact. Technological isolation, virtual reality, and the next extinction of their species had made them all a little skin hungry.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he leaned down to kiss her. Eliza groaned against the press of his mouth and eagerly opened for him. Sean rolled his hips and started to thrust in and out of her with deep, measured strokes. Her hands clenched on his back, nails bit into his skin as she strained and moved against him. The scrape of her nipples against his chest made him wish he could suck on them, but he contented himself with burying his face against the side of her neck and abusing the flesh there with his mouth.

“Fuck, Sean. Harder.”

He lifted his head and pressed a laughing kiss against her mouth before he braced himself by wrapping one hand around the headboard. He fucked into her at the same pace but harder and deeper until she was surging under him violently. Her second orgasm punched through them both, and Sean stilled briefly as her pussy clenched down on his cock.

“Hell, yeah,” he whispered fiercely as he shifted to his knees.

He hitched her legs over his arms, braced himself on the mattress, and fucked into her short, hard strokes. He’d rarely been the kind of man that considered coming in his partner a huge turn on, but he was overwhelmed with the desire to come in her pussy the way he had her mouth—to mark her his in the most base way possible.

Sean watched her intently, enjoying the arch of her body and the way her hands automatically drifted to her own breasts. She pinched and pulled at her nipples far more viciously than he would have dared, boldly pleasuring herself while he fucked her. It was too much, and his balls tightened as he started to come. He kept moving, fucking her until his dick was spent and his breathing went labored and harsh.

Eliza pulled his shaking body down into her embrace and held him there until he got a hold of himself. Sean turned his head and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth before pulling his cock from her body and rolling onto his side next to her.

“That was fantastic. I could spend a few hundred years doing that.”

She laughed but grew serious. “Do you think they’ll let me stay with you? Or will they force me back to Earth for a debrief?”

“I don’t know how much Dr. Tek will be able to control,” Sean said. “I know he’ll do his best to alienate and piss off anyone who disagrees with his plans. You agreed to work for him, and he is very loyal to his employees.”

“What if they don’t accept my resignation?”

“As I said earlier, they can’t keep you in the service against your will. Your contract expired, technically, about fifty years ago.” Sean pulled her close and spooned their bodies together. “It’ll be fine, and if they insist that you have to return to Earth, then I’ll go with you. They won’t be able to deny me that.”