King of Stars (Arcana Book 4) Read online

  But that’s about all she got to see before Julian blocked her view. He sat on the edge of the very large bed and began tugging at the closures of her pressure suit. Once she realized what he was trying to do, she tried to help him remove the bulky suit. She would rest a lot easier without it on, and she had the usual soft, thin fabric of a shipsuit under it.

  Together—but mostly due to Julian’s efforts—they removed the outer pressure suit. Star didn’t really see where it ended up, but she had the vague impression that he flung it over his shoulder to land somewhere on the floor behind him. That wasn’t the best treatment for a costly pressure suit, but she was still a little too foggy to say anything.

  When the pressure suit was gone, he paused, taking her into his arms. It suddenly got through to her that he was shaking. Tentatively, she put her arms around his neck and looked into his blue, blue eyes.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered, searching his gaze.

  His gaze met hers and though he said nothing, she read a world of emotion in his eyes. He’d been frightened for her, and something told her that this was a man who didn’t frighten easily.

  Slowly, his head lowered, his lips drawing close to hers. He gave her time to evade, if she chose, but in that moment, she wanted nothing more than his kiss. A reassurance of life. A reassurance of existence itself.

  Julian’s lips claimed hers softly at first…and then all hell broke loose. His kiss turned molten as his tongue sought and gained entrance to her willing mouth. His arms closed around her possessively as he taught her things she had never known in a kiss.

  The euphoria of the space walk and oxygen deprivation was nothing compared to the passion-inspired euphoria brought on by Julian. He was potent. And all he’d done was kiss her. But then his hands began to move urgently over her body. Before she knew it, her shipsuit was open and sliding down her arms and legs. She wore nothing beneath it. The tight fit of the pressure suit didn’t allow for lots of under-layers.

  It struck her for a moment that she was naked, in Julian’s bed. But then the moment of clarity passed as his mouth made a trail down her body, pausing at places that sent her senses into orbit around a distant star, her mind unable to form coherent thought.

  He settled between her legs and continued his journey down her body, kissing his way into regions that made her light up with desire. She ran her fingers into his hair, enjoying the silky feel of his short locks under her hands as he kissed his way from her sensitive breasts down to the juncture of her thighs.

  His tongue laved one of her breasts while his hand toyed expertly with the other, touching the peak, retreating to stroke all around, then returning, the pressure increasing each time until he took her fully into his mouth and sucked. Oh, yeah. That felt just about perfect to Star. It had been too long since she’d engaged in intimate activities. Even longer since her body had been played by such a skilled lover.

  He spent a long time at her breasts, but then moved on, zeroing in eventually on the juncture of her thighs. A tiny niggle of doubt entered her mind, but he didn’t allow time or room for doubt. He played her body as if he owned it, and truth to tell, she was his willing slave in those moments. She would let him do anything he wanted if he just kept her feeling such amazing things.

  Electric bolts of shivery pleasure raced up and down her spine as he spread her wide, touching his tongue to the little nub that created so very much excitement in her body. Expertly, he moved closer and closer, using more of his tongue, his hot breath washing over the most sensitive skin on her body.

  His hands weren’t still either. He put one below her butt, using it to move her gently around to his exact specifications. The other played in the curls around her core, dipping into the wet readiness and then sliding deep, plunging gently…repeatedly… in time with his tongue.

  She cried out then, a climax creeping up on her unaware. She felt his smile of satisfaction against her clit as he continued to hold her through the shuddering ecstasy of her orgasm.

  When she stopped shivering, he finally let her go, lifting up and stalking his way over her body until he was over her, his body a taut bow of muscle and desire. He took her lips again and she could taste herself on his mouth.

  At length he pulled back and stared down into her eyes.

  “You are trouble with a capital T, woman.” His tone was gruff, but his expression was admiring. “I didn’t want you on this ship and for the record, I don’t like being blackmailed, but there’s something about you…” He trailed off as he tangled one hand in her hair, running a curl around and around his finger as if it fascinated him. “I’m very attracted to you,” he said finally, then grinned a bit self-consciously. “I guess you figured that out already.”

  “Yeah,” she answered a bit breathlessly, her body languid but still aroused under his. “And I guess you figured out that the feeling is mutual.” She felt the heat flood her cheeks at her brave admission.

  His expression changed slightly and she thought she read relief in his gorgeous blue eyes. “You scared the hell out of me with your little stunt out there, Star. What happened?”

  He wanted to debrief her about the EVA now? She wanted to growl in annoyance, but let it slide. She knew he was still a bit worried about her mental stability. Either that, or her skills. Or at worst, both. She had to set him straight.

  “I got rid of the tracker and then I took the opportunity to seek a vision. I went deep and it was really enlightening, but I guess it ran a little long. That can happen sometimes. Rarely, but it does happen occasionally.” She felt kind of stupid now, after the close call, but it had all seemed reasonable at the time.

  “Why couldn’t you do your vision thing on board, where it’s safe?” He seemed both interested and exasperated.

  “I usually use a specially prepared meditation chamber. Out there was as close as I could come to the peace of my normal surroundings. Actually, out there was even better than any meditation chamber I’ve ever used,” she mused, thinking of the amazing peace of the stars and the utter blackness of space.

  “Please don’t ever do that again. Not that I’ll let you out on any EVAs any time in the foreseeable future.” He ruined his grumpy mumble by bending to kiss the side of her mouth, nibbling his way along her lips until he settled in to claim another of those long, slow, amazing kisses he seemed to have invented and mastered.

  She loved the way he kissed her. When he finally let her up for air again, she smiled softly at him, reaching up to stroke his slightly stubbled cheek.

  “I really didn’t mean to put myself in danger. I had no idea my gift would respond so strongly out there. I’ve learned my lesson, and I promise not to take any more risks like that in the future.” She reached up to kiss him gently, the first time she had initiated one of their kisses. When she pulled away again, she looked deep into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Julian.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment and she got the impression that he took her apology to heart. Good. That’s all she could hope for right now. They had to build the trust between them slowly, and each moment they spent together added another little layer to what she hoped would become a solid foundation between them.

  “Just don’t do it again,” he groused with a definite note of playfulness in his tone.

  She realized at that point that she was still naked under his clothed body, in his bed. Her passion had only been temporarily sated. She wanted more of Julian…but how to go about it?

  Star wasn’t by nature a forward sort of woman. Her relationships had been very traditional for the most part, with the male pursuing her until she went out with him a few times. After a proscribed period, if they were compatible and she was interested in sex with the guy, she simply gave in to his advances. She’d never had to do any of the work in figuring out how to move them to the next level.

  And now, here she was, in a totally new and unfamiliar situation. She felt like a trapeze artist working without a net.

  Considering her options,
she decided to be forward for once in her life. They may not have much time left, if things went wrong. She didn’t want to pass from this life without having explored this thing—this amazing attraction—she had with Julian.

  She lifted her hands to slide around his neck, tangling her fingers in the short hairs at his nape. She smiled in what she hoped was an inviting way.

  “You have too many clothes on, Captain,” she breathed, unsure of what kind of response her boldness would bring out.

  His smile turned into a frown of concern. “Are you sure?”

  Taking a deep breath for courage, she nodded. And then she put action to her bold words, by reaching down for the openings on his shirt. She carefully opened each one, uncovering hard, lean muscles that literally made her mouth water.

  Julian was no civilian man, soft and weak. No, he was soldier stock—the biggest and best mankind had to offer. And he kept up with his physical training, she noted with some satisfaction. He was buff and his skin was hot beneath her fingertips.

  She loved the feel of his skin, even the rough patches where scars from old wounds puckered the surface of his otherwise perfect body. They merely proved he was a warrior, not just a pretty showpiece. No, Julian had lived hard and fought well. She knew from his file that he was much more than simply an ace pilot. He had been a ground trooper as well and had deadly fighting skills.

  She helped him shrug out of his shirt and let her hands enjoy tracing the contours of his chest and abdomen while he went to work on his pants. She heard two soft thuds that indicated he had kicked off his shoes and then his pants started a downward trek over his ass. Her fingers helped, pausing as they discovered more interesting territory. His muscles moved and flexed under her hands, almost making her salivate at how impossibly sexy he was.

  “You keep touching me like that and this is going to be over before it starts,” Julian whispered in her ear as he returned to his dominant position over her prone body. She liked the playfulness in his voice despite the passion that was riding them both.

  “Less talk, more action,” she replied, daring him with a smile.

  She was more than ready to know what it felt like to have him inside her. He had already primed her, so to speak, and she was getting impatient to take this little interlude to the next level.

  “Isn’t it kinda fast?” he asked, even as his body aligned with hers in the most delicious way.

  “Not fast enough.” She panted as she wrapped her legs around him, urging him closer.

  And then he was sliding inside, exactly where she wanted him. His possession was hard and fast, yet gentle. He watched her expression his gaze locked with hers as he joined their bodies. The care he demonstrated for her comfort touched her deeply, but she was too hot for being careful. She needed action.

  Wrestling with him until he got the idea and rolled them over, she took control, setting her own pace as she rode him. She liked his smile and the wicked gleam in his eye as she took over, showing him without words what she wanted. They were communicating on a more basic level. An unspoken level of touch and excitement.

  It wasn’t long before her passion rose high enough to shatter into a million pieces while her body shook on his, drawing the same response. He groaned as she clenched her teeth in completion, enjoying every moment of the best climax she’d ever had.

  There was something about this man—something more than the obvious—that spoke to her on every level. Their bodies understood each other in a primal way and his movements drove her wild. It appeared the opposite was also true as she clenched her inner muscles slightly, drawing a last groan of pleasure from him.

  She collapsed on top of him, enjoying the feel of his big, hard-muscled body beneath her. Even in repose, he was formidable, and utterly, supremely sexy.

  She felt the almost absent-minded way he stroked her hair as they both recovered from the intense pleasure. She liked the way he petted her. It was unexpected and sort of…tender.

  After a while, when their breathing had returned to something near normal, he spoke.

  “So do you want to tell me what was so interesting in your vision that you almost ran out of air?”

  Feeling a little more magnanimous toward him now that she’d had such a lovely orgasm, she propped her chin on her hands, which rested on his chest, and mat his gaze.

  “I was thinking about the woman from the surveillance feed,” she admitted. “She looked somehow familiar to me when I saw her image, but I wasn’t sure how or why. But I had a feeling I needed to look into her further.”

  “And did you find anything interesting?”

  She could tell he wasn’t entirely convinced of her gift yet, even with all they’d already been through, but he was humoring her. That was okay. He’d soon discover the truth. Hopefully not at an inconvenient moment.

  “Well…” She freed one of her hands to gently walk her fingers along his chest. She hadn’t been this close to a man in too long. She was going to enjoy the moment as best she could, even if he insisted on debriefing her while they were already…debriefed. She smiled at her own joke.

  “What?” he asked, smiling along.

  She made herself be a little more serious. The future she had seen was fraught with serious implications. Only, she had a hard time focusing when so much of her skin was touching so much of his. She needed to move away a bit, if she was going to keep her train of thought on the tracks.

  “I saw quite a bit. That woman is human. A pilot. Part of a team that does special missions for the human government. I think they were sent to stop me.” She went over the obvious things that had probably already crossed his mind based on the footage they’d seen. Then she decided to go a little further. “But most of that was pretty obvious,” she allowed, watching him nod. Now she moved into the area where her gift proved its worth. “That woman will give birth to the next jit’suku empress.”

  “Say what now?”

  Julian’s reaction was everything she could have hoped for. She’d shocked the heck out of him.

  “I know. It kind of shocked me too when I saw that. The woman is one of the good guys. I know they’re trying to stop me, but they’re just following orders. And if you’re the pilot I think you are, they won’t succeed, right?” She offered him a crooked smile as he rose up to sit on the edge of the bed.

  “Leaving the fantasy aside,” he began, running a hand through his hair. “Why is there a team on your trail? Who sent them and what do they know about your plans?”

  She sat up, a pang of regret in her heart that their interlude was apparently over. She reached for her shipsuit, which was on the floor at the side of the bed, and began tugging it on.

  “It’s fairly easy to guess. General Winters has more than just me in his stable of clairvoyants. I might be one of the most talented at targeted viewing, but I’m sure by now the others have some idea of what I’m up to. If I were in Winters’ shoes, I’d have sent a team after me too. I’m sure he doesn’t want a valuable intel asset like me venturing into enemy territory. He knew I had personal business on the Rim and that I was intending to meet up with you, but I didn’t tell him I was going to Solaris Prime. The others who work for him might’ve foreseen our destination by now though.” She tugged the soft suit up over her shoulders, glad the fabric was made to absorb bodily fluids for the comfort of the wearer. She would clean up later, but for now, she was good to go.

  “So you think they know where we’re headed?” He didn’t look happy.

  She shrugged. “Probably. Hell Julian, I’ve been seeing your intentions for weeks. It was only a matter of time before the others caught on.”

  “The other clairvoyants?” He practically sneered the word. “I still don’t really believe in all that you know.”

  “Yeah, I’d figured that out,” she answered sarcastically. “But no matter how much you want to be in denial, them’s the facts. I saw your mission as it first took root in your untrusting brain. Now that the plans are firmer and we’re actual
ly on our way, the possible futures are coalescing to the point where others can see them. Others have seen. And Winters is reacting to his intel, just as he always does. He sent a Spec Ops team after me. Now it’s your job to outrun them.”

  “What will they do if they catch you?”

  She didn’t like the calculating look on his face.

  “Oh, no. Don’t you even think it, flyboy. If you plan to stash me on some Goddess forsaken planet or back-of-beyond station, you can just think again. I’ll blow your op sky high and you’ll never even get into jit space, much less out of the Milky Way. And don’t you dare think I can’t do it, buster.”

  “I’m impressed.” He walked right up to her, still naked, his eyes half-lidded, his mood unreadable. “You threw a flyboy and a buster at me all in the space of one little tirade. You’re good, lady.”

  “Does that mean you won’t dump me off at the nearest port of call?” she challenged, walking right up to him and crossing her arms as she held his gaze.

  His head tilted to one side as he seemed to consider his options. She waited as the seconds ticked by.

  “Okay. Consider yourself still a guest of the good ship, Matilda. We’re on a non-stop ride to Solaris Prime and Goddess help us when we get there.”

  She smiled a little in response to his return of humor, even if it was gallows humor.

  After that little confrontation, things ran a bit smoother on the ship. Their relationship had changed, but they never talked about it. It was as if they were both aware that they, and everything around them, were in a state of intense flux. Everything could change at any given moment.

  She had left him standing there, returning to her own cabin to clean up and change clothes. She also had to make notes about her vision while it was still fresh in her mind. Heavily encrypted and in her own sort of short-hand code, her prophecies were always recorded—if only for her own record.

  When they pertained to things that the military needed to know about, she would file a report for Winters’ eyes only. Visions of a more personal nature were recorded and shared where appropriate, at her sole discretion. Such was the deal she’d struck with General Winters when she had first agreed to work for him. Her gift was more predictable than most, but occasionally she still had uncontrolled moments where she saw things that were of a more personal nature. Things that the military did not need to know about. It was up to Star to make those determinations.