The buzz of Ilana’s drink hit her as she activated her suit’s open space features, leaving her helmet off for last. She could’ve taken an anti-intoxicant to sober up but she had nothing to lose at this point. Might as well try something she hadn’t tried before.
She stood with Gabriel next to the airlock at what she assumed was his lab. He held a pentagram-shaped object over his chest that unfolded and suited him up.
Ilana hadn’t expected to see Gabriel on this space station, although considering how much she’d thought of him over the last several weeks, she may have conjured him with her mind. Did people appear if you masturbated to the thought of them too much?
He smelled just as good as she remembered – crisp like a spring day after a storm. The sensual memory was almost overwhelming, her body responding viscerally to him. She’d grasped hard at the memories of the night they’d spent together, fearing she’d forget a single moment. Now the memories came flooding back to her in his presence, and she was hyper-aware of where he stood in relation to her at all times.
It took all of her willpower not to touch him. And occasionally, she would fail. They exchanged a cascade of small glancing touches here and there, all under the guise of utility. Nothing quite as naked as the way they’d held hands at the bar earlier. But the electricity between them had only multiplied. Each touch felt more substantial than the one before it.
“You never answered my question,” she said. “What makes you think you’re going to fix what a practical Viking couldn’t do?”
“You think you need to be fixed?” he asked instead of answering.
She didn’t hesitate. “On this point, yes.”
He hummed thoughtfully. She was about to badger him again when he continued. “I also had a hard time going out into space at first.”
Ilana blinked at him. “But I thought you said you were born out here.”
He glanced out the window. “I was. Even farther out than this.”
“But you… never went outside?”
“Not until I was eight. If you’d asked me, I would’ve been fine living that way forever. Except my parents knew that would hold me back.”
“How did you learn?”
He tilted his head towards the airlock. “Care to join me for a game?”
She quirked her brow at him. “What, like spaceball?”
From a nearby replicator, he printed an orb that expanded into approximately the size of a football. He lobed it to her and she caught it.
She wondered at the object. “It’s lighter than a sheet of paper.”
“Anything heavier gets dangerous out there.” He glanced down at her, bemused. “You’ve actually used paper?”
Ilana shrugged. “Yes. You haven’t?”
“Out here you try not to have too many frivolous objects to clutter up the place. You learn to make the most of your space and you minimize loose hazards.”
“It’s funny to think about running out of space in space,” she mused.
“I suppose you can use a vacuum vault for storage, but why collect a bunch of extra stuff in the first place?” He smiled warmly at her. “Do you know how to play spaceball?”
“Let me guess. Ball goes in net?”
“It’s a tale as old as time.”
Ilana chuckled, but her nerves had started buzzing. Every time she failed to take a step outside, that failure piled onto her shoulders with the rest. She wasn’t sure how much more failure she could take. Belatedly she realized she’d be failing in front of him, too.
“This part of the station has a force field around it, so you can’t actually float off.”
Ilana nodded. When she worked with Beckett, she was always tethered to her instructor. She’d never had a force field – but this time she wouldn’t get a tether. She and Gabriel currently faced the inner circle of the ring-shaped station. So even though they were out in open space, Ilana liked the grounding effect of seeing a structure even when she looked up.
“We’ll stay on the hull. The goal is to hit your opponent without them catching it.”
“Got it.” She activated her helmet and her suit confirmed its seal. She’d gotten used to this part of the process by now. They stepped into the airlock, where he sealed the doors behind them. A ten-second warning tone pulsed before the doors opened to the outside.
The weightlessness still felt unfamiliar to Ilana. Only in the absence of atmosphere did she realize the presence of air. Like a goldfish realizing the feel of water.
Gabriel took a step and offered Ilana his hand. “Ladies first.”
Ilana sighed as she took his hand and stepped forward. “How old-fashioned of you.”
But he was right there with her as they stepped out together over the edge. Once they were upright on the hull, he handed her the ball. It synced with her com and a menu popped up over the back of her hand, where she could call back the ball when it was her turn.
He turned his back to take several paces in the other direction.
“Ready?” she called out.
He turned around just in time for her throw to hit and bounce away off his head. As he opened his palm to call back the ball, he gave Ilana a look that promised she’d pay for that. Something about it stirred a thrum of excitement through her core.
She liked poking him, prodding him, pushing him. Just ruffling him up a little bit.
As the ball returned to his hand, his voice came through her helmet. “You know you’re going to have to move to dodge, right?”
“So you’ve said.”
He smirked. This was a new dynamic between them, electric and wild.
Then the ball flew at Ilana. But instead of dodging, she froze again, crouching and shielding her face with her arms. The ball bounced lightly off her arm.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
She was grateful he didn’t say anything – her body’s response was embarrassing enough as is. She raised her hand and twitched her fingers. Within a second, the ball returned to her grip. As she straightened, she lifted her foot with some effort to wind up another throw. A light volley, which he easily caught.
He was up 2-1.
This time as he wound up, Ilana shut her eyes tight, bent her knees, and dove towards the hull. For a second she lost all sense of orientation and she rolled forward and bounced off her shoulder. But as she righted, enough muscle memory kicked in that she dug down her heels until they stuck to the nearest gravitational object.
Suddenly she was upright again, her torso wiggling back and forth.
She called for the ball again, this time throwing quickly to catch him off guard. But her aim was off. She wobbled but stayed upright.
His next shot hit her flank. And then it was on.
It was a messy game, with Ilana barely keeping it together. Balancing outside was so different without any drag. Gabriel beat Ilana by several points but she still suspected he held back. Still, she managed to get in a few legitimate shots there.
Most importantly, she wasn’t wrecked by her guts.
She was riding a rush of triumph as they re-entered the airlock.
“I demand a rematch,” she declared breathlessly as the doors sealed and they deactivated their helmets.
He chuckled, his lashes lowering as he gazed at her. “That depends. Are you going to cheat the whole time again?”
“I just cheated that one time in the beginning.”
They stood just a breath apart. Ilana practically vibrated with the urge to close the distance between them. But then he turned away to recycle the ball back into the replicator.
She hesitated. She’d asked him for space. He’d given her what she’d wanted.
Except she wanted him.
She stepped towards him right as he turned back around, resulting in her smashing her nose into his chest. She cradled her nose and dropped her forehead on his chest. “Ow.”
His hands rose to her shoulders, hesitating. “Are you okay?”
She realized there was no guarantee that he was even interested in her the same way anymore. Maybe he’d moved on.
“I was just thinking…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “How I’d like to kiss you.”
A breath trembled through his body. Was he bracing to let her down?
She looked up to meet his gaze, soft but intent.
“I would like that too,” he said after what felt like an eternity.
Ilana braced her hands on his chest and rose onto her tiptoes. She allowed herself to dip into the dark well of sensation behind her eyelids as she met his lips with hers.
There was something new in their joining now, the frustrated weight of time with all its dreams and fears and expectations swirling in with desire. At first, they both held back, testing the waters. She knew his taste and yet he was still unfamiliar. Changed, a bit – with an edge to his restraint. She surrendered herself to his current, her body relaxing into his warm arms.
Gabriel leaned back into her until her hips bumped back up against a tall lab table. He ran his hands down her arms, gripped her ass, and lifted her to perch on the counter.
Ilana’s new vantage point gave her a delicious new angle as she tilted her head down to deepen the stroke of her tongue in his mouth. That’s when he caught her tongue with the suction of his lips, keeping her in his grasp.
Ilana gasped. The effect was instant, shooting through her nerves and escalating the thrumming need between her thighs. She gripped his shoulders even as he released her to catch her breath. They went under again together, their bodies communicating beyond words.
She scooted to the edge of the counter and opened her legs to pull him hard against her aching core. He obliged, grinding into her in a delectable rhythm. For a minute they had a battle of wills, pulling and tearing and biting each other, tongues clashing, breaths mixing. The intensity of his desire fueled her frenzy. Had he yearned for her as she had for him? Had he also suffered long nights staring at the ceiling, scrolling social, aching and unfulfilled?
He was here now, even better than in her memory. Now he had satisfying weight, his own gravitational pull she couldn’t resist, a tangible energy between them that multiplied until she felt giddy, riding the edge of self-control.
“Fuck,” he murmured. “I missed this.”
One word removed from a much more intimate admission. I missed you.
“I missed this, too,” she confessed between breaths.
His breath hitched, his firm grip tightening around her upper arms. She squirmed, grasping him wherever she could reach with her arms pinned to her sides.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
She nodded, her eyelids falling as her head tilted back. “I like your touch.”
He hummed thoughtfully and bore down harder until she gasped.
He paused. “Too much?”
Despite riding the edge of pain, she felt safe. And despite the discomfort, his secure hold… felt good. “On a scale of one to five, that was a… four.”
He tilted his head to study her. “Will you tell me if I hit a five?”
She considered this. “How about I say ‘yellow’ if you’re getting close to my limit and ‘red’ if I need you to stop?”
“Simple enough,” he murmured, his voice dropping as his gaze traveled down her body. “And if your mouth is too busy, you can always tap three times to tap out.”
Fuck. Ilana bit her lip and nearly moaned out loud, her inner muscles clenching at his words, inspiring a cascade of crude mental imagery. He leaned down and took her bottom lip from between her lips into his, tugging softly but insistently. Ilana’s eyes drifted shut as she opened her lips and surrendered to the soft depths of his mouth.
They peeled off each other’s jackets and shirts until they were skin to skin, his warmth pressed all along her front. As she began to undo the waist of his pants, he tugged impatiently at her bottoms. She lifted herself up on her hands to allow for easier removal of the offending garment. He pulled and she shimmed, and when her naked ass was finally free, she couldn’t resist twisting around, pushing back her hips, and nestling his hard cock between her cheeks.
He sucked in a breath, grabbed her hips, then lifted her up to bend over the counter, her ass in the air. He groaned and let out a ragged curse. “How I’ve dreamed of this sight.”
He burrowed his cock between her thighs so it rubbed up against her clit. She fidgeted, her legs confined by her pants at her knees. “You going to do something about it or what?”
He smacked her ass and she moaned. Loud.
“Have you waited long enough?” He rubbed her stinging skin with his palm and she practically purred. She was painfully wet, her pussy aching for him. “You don’t sound like you want it that bad. Maybe I’ll make you wait a little longer. Savor it a little more.”
She let out an impatient breath and groaned, arching her back, practically begging him to fuck her. “Fuck you,” she said with an exasperated laugh. “But also, fuck me already.”
He laughed but didn’t move. She wondered if he was really going to make her beg. But then he entered her, so slowly that she strained to take him in faster, harder – except he gripped her hips still so she had to take him at his leisure. It was only when he was fully buried in her that she realized his breath was just as ragged as hers.
She rocked her hips and he followed through on the motion, stroking her deep at her core. She lifted herself up on her hands and straightened her back to bring her body closer to his. He ran one hand up her front to cup her breast, circling and tugging at her nipple. The other ran up her scalp to grasp her hair, holding her firmly to take his thrusts.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Just like that.”
“As you wish,” he murmured, setting an insistent rhythm that had her riding a steep wave of pleasure towards an explosive crest. Ilana lost herself in the sensation, her body quivering on the edge of release when he slowed. “Someone’s coming.”
His words didn’t quite register through her haze of arousal. What did she care about someone hearing her, anyway? Except she wasn’t at an anonymous automated motel, she realized. She was technically at… his workplace. In the time it took for his words to fully register, his hand let go of her hair and sealed over her mouth.
That registered in her brain immediately. First, with a pinch of fear. Followed by a swell of indignance – how dare he. No one had forcibly silenced her before. She pushed back against him and he shushed her, low by her ear, his cock buried deep inside of her.
Then something strange happened. Her body relaxed – or rather, melted with a deep sense of… relief. Her pussy nearly gushed, she was so turned on.
“Oh, stars,” he muttered, feeling her reaction for himself.
So close to the edge. She just needed a little push.
She rocked herself back and forth on his cock until the spasms began to roil her body. His hand muffled the sounds she was trying to keep in so she could quiet the worrying part of her brain and just surrender to the all-consuming pleasure. She heard him bite back the effort of staying quiet as his hips responded to her rhythm and he came, erupting in hot pulses that sent her into another spiraling cascade of pleasure. As they undulated together he gently but firmly bit down on the curve of her neck, his lips sealing with wet heat over her skin.
He released her mouth as their muffled cries waned. They stood clutching at each other, their breaths gradually slowing. Ilana heard the people in the hall now, their footsteps receding.
“I apologize,” he said hastily as he pulled out of her, leaving her disappointingly empty in his wake. “I should not have taken the liberty to cover your mouth like that. Are you okay?”
Ilana chuckled at his ornate choice of words, even as she floated in the afterglow. “It’s okay.” She turned to face him and leaned back against the counter, deliciously sore between her legs. She certainly had feelings about what had just happened but she’d enjoyed herself and her wits were too scrambled to translate into anything coherent. She raised her hands to cup his face down to hers, speaking softly before kissing him. “I’m okay.”
He steadied her in his arms, his brow knotted in concern as he pulled back. Across the room, the lab door chimed and opened. The lights turned on as someone stepped into the room. Ilana shielded her eyes against Gabriel’s chest as he turned his body to block her from view.
“Gabe!” Maisha called out, her footsteps nearing. “Are you in here?”
Ilana knew the jig was up – there wasn’t anywhere for them to hide. “Is it just her?” she asked. Because this was going to be a very different conversation if the Admiral was there too.
Gabriel pulled up his pants. “It’s just Maisha.”
Ilana allowed her sex-addled brain to relax as she attempted to right her clothes. She didn’t know Maisha that well but the woman had already seen everything there was to see. And Ilana couldn’t imagine she was the first person Gabriel had brought around the lab.
But Maisha looked genuinely shocked when she appeared in Ilana’s field of view, her mouth agape, hands on her hips. She quickly recovered.
“You know I ship this–” she pointed in their general direction, addressing Gabriel– “but I can’t believe I’m the one who has to remind you that there’s a time and a place.”
“Can you give us a minute?” Although his words were polite, they were sharpened to a cool edge. Maisha took a long look at them, shook her head, and threw up her hands as she turned on her heel and left, her bracelets jangling.
The room fell silent as the door closed behind her.
They were still naked from the waist up. Gabriel stood apart as if afraid to approach her – or was he giving her space as if she might be afraid of him?
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.
She reached out her hand and he took it like a benediction. She pulled him closer until they were once again skin to skin. She’d come down a bit, enough to form coherent thoughts, at least. “Normally, I’d prefer to talk out something like that before doing it.”
“Absolutely,” he stressed, gripping her hand. “I totally agree.”
“But… you tried to stop and I wasn’t helping. In that moment, you made a choice that I can understand.” The next words were the hardest for Ilana to say. She couldn’t quite look him in the eye as she did, her face heating up. “I appreciate you checking in about it. To be honest… I kind of liked it. I mean, you felt how much I liked it.”
When she glanced back up, he was watching her with a strange look. She’d been getting that type of look a lot recently, come to think of it – most spacers observed her with bemused curiosity as she might examine a boot that washes up on a beach. But this was different, like the look of finding a saltwater pearl peeking out of the sand, the thrill and wonder of discovery and desire. Her heart fluttered at the thought of being seen by him in such a way, when she was at her most raw, no less, confessing to a twist she’d only just learned about herself. She rose to kiss him again and he met her halfway, holding her hard and fast as their mouths crashed into one another, consuming each other in an escalating frenzy.
Maisha cleared her throat loudly from the doorway.
Ilana and Gabriel jumped apart, panting.
“Again,” she called out, “I just want to say that I am all for this. But I need to fucking talk to you, Gabe – I mean, not like that, Ilana, you have absolutely nothing to worry about on that front. You know what? Fuck this. You had your warning. I’m coming in.”
Previous Part | | To be continued…
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