Crossways (44 page)

“You're no fun, Benjamin.”

“I am. Really, truly, a lot of fun.”

She pulled on her buddysuit trousers and then flung herself straight at Ben, plastering herself to his front so hard that their suit bottoms rubbed together like rhinoceros hide and her breasts were squashed against his chest armor. She pulled his head down to meet hers and liplocked so fiercely that she felt his utter surprise and then delight as he gave back in good measure.

“Unhhh,” Ben surfaced. “I've got this, Nine, if you've got all the bloodwork you need.”

There was a gap where Nine had been.

“Are we alone?” Cara asked.

“Oh, yes, just us and a ton of nurses and doctors, not to mention patients just the other side of that glass. Here, put this on.”

She shrugged into the buddysuit top but didn't stop to anchor it to the trousers or to fasten it, but wore it like a loose jacket. “Back to the
Solar Wind
, right?”

“With you in this mood? No way. There's a hotel around the corner.”

The hotel was literally around the corner from Dockside Medical. Cara let Ben sign in with a wave of his handpad and clung to his side like a limpet. It was a lot like being drunk, something Cara experienced only rarely because alcohol messed up her Telepathy in the worst way. They rode up the antigrav tube together and Ben grabbed the rail and exited at the correct floor. By that time she didn't know whether she was on her head or her heels. Normal weight returned as they hit the hallway ceramic and the second door down on the right opened at the wave of Ben's handpad.

All she focused on was the bed, huge and soft with fluffy pillows and an airquilt that rippled with their entrance.

“Oh, yes, perfect.” She flung herself on top of the quilt and bounced.

“Come on, let's get your clothes off.” Ben held her jacket while she shrugged out of it.

“Yours, too.” She yanked at the touch-and-close fastening around his suit neck. “Ooh, Ben Benjamin, you don't know how much I've missed you.” She ran her hands across his chest, over his singlet, and around the side of his well-muscled ribs. “How long has it been?”

“Too long.” His voice was husky.

She tugged at the fastenings on her own trousers and his. It was complete and utter magic how two people could shed clothes so quickly and completely when the need was so urgent.

“Oh, yeah. It's long, but it's not too long.” She slid her hand between them and heard him gasp. “I can take that.”

He groaned as she pulled him onto the bed and he cradled her with his right arm while his left stroked her breasts and down her ribs to her belly. She writhed against him.

“Thing about euphoria . . .” he said.

“Hmmm?”

“Is that it's great while it lasts . . .”

“Oh, yeah.”

“But when you crash . . .”

“Not gonna . . .”

“You crash . . .”

“. . . completely.”

Ben felt all the tension melt out of Cara as she flopped against him, utterly relaxed, half-asleep already. He reached for the airquilt and pulled it over both of them, willing his hard-on to subside. He'd known she wouldn't go the distance, but his body had betrayed him anyway.

“Hmmm.” She made a comfortable sound and curled against him.

He stroked her flank gently as if she were some favorite pet.

“I'll give you just four hours to stop doing that,” she murmured.

He kissed the top of her head, her cropped hair little more than fluff. “Go to sleep. You're safe.”

“My white knight.”

“You've saved me more times . . .”

“Who's counting?”

“No one. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Her voice trailed off as sleep overcame her.

He'd not planned to sleep as well, but he did.

“What time is it?” Cara's voice was thick and low.

“I don't know. Lights.”

The lights came up in a soft glow.

“Enough!” Cara screwed up her eyes to look at her handpad. “It's four in the morning, station time. What's that Chenon-time?”

He could probably work it out, though Arkhad time was two hours adrift from Norro time.

“Does it matter?”

“No.” She wriggled around to face him and stroked his naked chest with one hand. “I believe I might be embarrassed if I could remember much. Did we . . . ?”

“No.”

“Ah, pity.”

“Pity?”

“Yes, well, it would have eased us past that awkward moment when we both remembered that this is our first time since I slept with Ari van Blaiden. Willingly if I remember rightly, though I'm not sure I do. It was all a little confusing.”

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“About Ari van Blaiden.”

“Yes, Boss.”

He drew her to him and cupped her cheek and neck, feeling her pulse jump under his touch, kissed her on the mouth, chin, throat, shoulder, breast.

She hissed as he found the hardness of her nipple with his tongue and caressed the length of his leg with the sole of one foot. She pulled him between her thighs and worked a minor miracle with her fingers.

Rational thought left him.

Cara had never felt more comfortable than here in this strange room in Ben Benjamin's arms.

“Are we good?” he'd whispered after their second bout of lovemaking.

“Better than good, we're fucking fantastic.” She'd laughed out loud. “Though I may not be able to walk straight in the morning.”

They'd dozed together until nearly eight and then she'd slipped out of bed for a pee and a shower. He joined her as she stepped into the steaming jets of water and they soaped each other all over. He kissed her as he soaped her breasts
and down her belly and slipped his hand between her legs. One thing led to another and they made love again, pressed against the massage wall of the shower unit, the vibrations at her back chiming with the waves washing through her.

Ben could have stayed in the hotel room for the rest of the day, possibly for the rest of his life, but sex made him hungry.

“Eat here or—”

“Blue Mountain,” Cara said as they dressed. “I need good coffee.”

After breakfast, during which they put away a large stack of pancakes between them, Ben took Cara's hand and they walked into Blue Seven, past the new facade and into the central atrium.

“Good morning.” Jussaro passed them heading in the opposite direction. “I gather everything went well and now I presume you've slept off your euphoria, had coffee, and are ready to greet the day.”

“Something like that.” Cara tried not to smile and failed.

“Good, then the three of us should get together sometime soon with Civility Jamieson.”

“Not more bloodwork,” Cara said.

“Not at all. We need to talk about the future. Do you realize what a remarkable breakthrough this is for psionics?” He tapped his head. “Some people I used to work with will be very interested, but I won't talk to them until we've agreed a strategy.”

“Strategy?” Ben said as Jussaro exited Blue Seven whistling happily. “That's something I don't really have. I seem to lurch from one near-disaster to another, getting no closer to finding these missing settlers while life catches up with me. We've got enough criminal warrants to send us all to the toughest prison planet for three lifetimes; mounting debts until Olyanda starts to produce; a potential fortune in platinum, but only if we can hold on to it; the Free Company; finding Lorient's settlers; and now I have the problem of what to do with my displaced family.”

He didn't say,
and I've lost my nerve and can't fly the Folds anymore.
Cara had been in no state to notice that it was Gen who'd brought them home safely.

“Your displaced family probably has to decide for itself.”

He shrugged. “Yes, but Rion won't want what Ricky wants, Kai will have his own ideas, Nan will try to find a compromise, and when that doesn't happen she'll lay down the law. Have you ever heard one of Nan's this-is-how-it's-going-to-be speeches?”

Cara shook her head.

“Trust me, you don't want to.” He'd been much younger the last time he'd heard one of those.

“So we need to make plans . . .”

“We do. We need to be ahead of the game, not half a step behind. The Trust—”

“Not just the Trust, Alphacorp as well,” Cara said. “Crowder claimed he didn't send the Alphabet gang. I didn't entirely believe him, but while I was inside his head I found that Akiko Yamada and Ari were lovers.”

“We need to check with Mother Ramona to see what they've extracted from Ari's files.” Ben frowned. “Crowder's gone, but the Trust won't let up, and now Alphacorp is out to get us as well. Cut off one head and another two grow in its place. I'm not stupid enough to think we can take down two of the biggest megacorporations that have ever existed, but we can seriously inconvenience them and maybe teach them to leave us alone. Let's go see Mother Ramona now. There's something I have to show you.”

“Dad, you're just not being fair!” Ricky jumped to his feet and balled his fists, aware that his voice had squeaked. At home he would have run to his room and slammed the door, or gone out into the yard and saddled up for a long ride, but here in the
Solar Wind
's mess, there was nowhere to run to except to Uncle Ben's quarters, and that wasn't fair either.

“Sit down, Ricky. Sit down, Rion. Kai, pour the tea. Let's start over.” Nan had abandoned the antigrav leggings and was pacing the room, round and round the long refectory table, somewhat slowly for her, and with frequent rest stops. She lowered herself onto a chair at one end and leaned on her elbows, breathing heavily.

“Are you all right, Nan?” Kai asked.

“I will be,” she said. “Thanks to Ben and his friends. We
all will be.” She turned to Rion. “Admit it. Your brother just saved your intransigent ass. Sure, he didn't do it politely. Was there any way he could have talked you into leaving the farm voluntarily?”