Abiogenesis (22 page)

Any disputes arising from any other source, or for any other reason, would be settled however they wanted to settle them, outside, and never within view or hearing of the baby. For Claire, or any other children they were fortunate enough to have, they would present a unified, civil, reasonably content family unit.

The three of them would continue to have their own room. The baby would sleep in the room with whomever was supposed to keep her on any given night until she reached a stage in development where she could have her own room.

Sexual congress between Dalia and her two partners was to be as fair and even as she could make it so that neither of her partners felt as if they were favored above the other.

It sounded workable in theory. Dalia wasn’t at all sure it would, but they were about to find out. After the signing, they decided to dine out to celebrate. Claire enjoyed the first thirty minutes and began to fuss as soon as the food arrived. It was Dalia’s night to keep her, but, in the spirit of their new partnership, Pierce offered to hold her while Dalia ate.

When they returned home, Dalia looked at both her hopeful partners and smiled apologetically. "Tonight’s Claire’s night," she said, shrugging. Seeing that both of them were about to object, she added, "I’d rather not be interrupted and have to get up and walk the baby."

Pierce and Reuel exchanged a look. "Cards or chess?" Pierce asked.

Feeling far more hopeful that they might actually manage a comfortable relationship between the three of them, Dalia retreated to the room with the baby. Claire slept for the first time without waking once, but Dalia found she was having a good bit of trouble sleeping. The following day was to be Reuel’s day to keep Claire and she found she was both excited and nervous about spending her first night with Pierce.

She tried to dismiss it. It seemed absurd to feel so jittery when she’d always felt so comfortable around him, but it continued to plague her dreams even after she slept and, despite the fact that she was busy the following day, it only got worse as the day wore on.

She supposed, deep down, that she was worried that they might not click as well in bed as they did the rest of the time, and that Pierce would be disappointed in her. Or, perhaps worse, she would find that they weren’t sexually compatible and might have trouble convincing Pierce that she found him as desirable as she did Reuel.

Whatever the case, when she finally realized that she, Reuel and Pierce were all watching the clock that evening, she decided to go to her room and try to reach a state of calm. There was a great deal to be said for a hot soak over the perfectly balanced temp of a particle bath. Bathing in water had its own drawbacks, but the soothing power of water could not be underestimated.

She soaked until she heard Reuel leave the living area with the baby. She didn’t want her time with Pierce spoiled any more than vice versa and she thought the best way to avoid it was to make certain she didn’t run into Reuel on the way to Pierce’s room.

Hopefully, once she was with Pierce, she’d be able to focus on him and not think about the fact that Reuel was most likely in the other room gnashing his teeth.

She was so jittery, she dropped the gown she’d chosen twice before she managed to pull it over her head. All the sleeping gowns she’d bartered for since she’d arrived in Gallen were beautiful and alluring, to her mind at least, and all so sheer she felt the next thing to naked. She thought, perhaps, that something a little more conservative would make her feel less anxious, however, and chose the one that fell all the way to her ankles. Slipping her arms into the matching robe, she took several slow, deep breaths to calm her nerves and moved to the door.

She was more than a little disconcerted to discover the sitting room was empty and dark. Hesitant now, she stared at Pierce’s closed door, wondering if she should go to him or not and finally shook her doubts off and crossed the room, tapping lightly on his door.

He opened it almost at once. He was bare foot, and bare chested, as if he’d been on the point of undressing for bed. Dalia swallowed nervously, wondering if she’d never actually seen him half naked before or she just hadn’t noticed before how beautifully sculpted his body was. She felt her heart flutter nervously in her chest as his gaze slid slowly down her length and then up again. Without a word, he grasped her hand and pulled her into the room. They stood toe to toe, staring at one another for several moments. Finally, nerving herself, Dalia lifted a hand to his chest.

He jumped when she touched him. "Your hands are cold," he murmured, catching her hand between his and rubbing it.

Dalia bit her lip. Tugging her hand free, she dropped it to her side, gripping the folds of the gown. "I’m scar... nervous," she amended.

A slow smile curled his lips. Lifting a shaking hand, he slipped it along her shoulder, curling his fingers around her neck and tugging her toward him as he leaned down. "Never be afraid of me, Dally," he murmured, plucking almost playfully at her lips with his own.

Mesmerized, Dalia went perfectly still, holding her breath as warmth flowed through her veins. His ragged breath, sawing in and out of his mouth, brushed hers, mingled, flooded through her as she sucked in her breath sharply.

He lifted his head, slipped his hands along her shoulders and down to her waist. Pulling the belt free, he pushed the robe from her shoulders. It fell to the floor with the faintest whisper of sound. He looked the gown over, skated his hands over her breasts, cupping them, and finally hooked his fingers in the thin fabric at the neck of the gown and pushed it from her shoulders, as well. It slithered down her body, caught briefly on her distended nipples and then slipped free, settling around her hips.

He swallowed audibly as stared at her, finally lifting his hands and tracing the slope of her breasts with the lightest of touches, almost as if he was afraid to touch her, or feared she would vanish at his touch. "You’re so beautiful, Dally," he whispered hoarsely.

Something warm and poignant traveled through her, not so much at his words but the way that he said them, that brought a hard knot of pain into her chest. To her horror, she felt tears well in her eyes. She blinked them rapidly, trying to dispel them, but he saw.

His face twisted. "We don’t have to do this, Dally."

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak, and surged toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, rocking her slightly.

"It’s all right, baby. Shhh."

"It’s not all right," she managed.

He pulled a little away from her and scooped her into his arms. Carrying her to the bed, he sat down on the edge with her on his lap and caught her chin, forcing her to look at him. "No tears, Dally," he ordered, giving her a mock serious frown.

She sniffed, tried to smile and managed something more like a grimace.

He chuckled. "Was that supposed to be a smile?"

She chuckled, then sniffed again. "I don’t suppose I could convince you to lay with me and cuddle?"

Grimacing, he released her and very carefully adjusted her gown, then took a deep, shuddering breath as if he were about to dive under water. "Anything for my Dally," he said. Turning, he dropped her onto the bed and then lay down beside her on his back. Tucking his hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling as she scooted close against his side and laid her cheek on his chest.

"I’m sorry," she murmured, stroking the little patch of dark blond hair that grew in the center of his chest.

He caught her fingers, holding her hand still. She could feel his heart beneath her fingertips, pounding hard and fast. He was holding his breath, struggling to regulate his rapid heartbeat. "I know. You always were too kindhearted for your own good, Dalia."

She thought it over and chuckled. "I’m a rogue hunter, Pierce. No one’s ever accused me of being softhearted."

He threw her a feigned frown and then smote his head. "No wait! You’re right! That was another female." Grinning, he rolled over onto his side, facing her. "You’re the one that used to look so smug every time you beat the shit out of me in training."

"I never did!" Dalia said indignantly.

He laughed. "Ah ha! So you to admit you never beat me!"

The comment surprised a chuckle out of her. They’d only been paired off twice and she’d beaten him both times. "I was never smug about it. I knew I beat you because you couldn’t get your mind off of my breasts." Smiling, she reached up and traced his laugh lines, wondering why it was that it had taken her so long to realize she loved him.

Shifting up on one arm, she pushed him onto his back once more and flicked the tip of her tongue back and forth across one male nipple a couple of times. Pierce sucked in his breath harshly, his fingers clenching in her hair. "Don’t."

She lifted her head to look up at him.

He swallowed with an effort. "I don’t have that much self-control, Dally."

Holding his gaze, she dipped her head once more and flicked her tongue across his other nipple.

He rolled, pushing her to her back, and lay half on top of her. There was no longer even a trace of amusement on his features. Dalia slipped her hands down to cup his buttocks and arched upward, grinding her mound against the hard ridge of flesh that lay across his belly. His face twisted with painful pleasure. "Dally!" he said breathlessly.

"I love you, Pierce," she murmured throatily, arching against him again. "Make love to me."

He stared down at her, obviously torn. "Don’t ask me to stop again, Dally. I don’t think I can," he ground out between clenched teeth.

"I don’t want you to stop. I want to feel this inside of me," she murmured, slipping her hand between them and delving beneath his trousers to curl her fingers around his hardened flesh.

He groaned. Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his. The moment he did, she thrust her tongue into his mouth. He made a muffled sound from deep in his chest and sucked it, sending a dizzying tide of heat through her. Massaging his phallus, she coaxed his tongue into her mouth and sucked it.

Shuddering, he broke the kiss and leaned slightly away from her, studying her face. She opened her eyes with an effort and looked up at him.

Rolling off of her, he pushed his trousers down his hips and nudged them off, then turned to her and stripped her gown off. Tossing it aside, he ran a shaking hand over her almost reverently from her shoulder to her hip and then up again, cupping one breast. Dalia moaned in pleasure as he kneaded it in his hand and finally leaned down and covered the tip with his mouth, teasing the sensitive bud of tight flesh until she was breathless before moving to its mate and teasing that nipple with equal thoroughness.

Moving restlessly beneath him she caressed his arm, his shoulders, his back, every part of him that she could reach. Closing her eyes tightly, she felt the smoothness of his flesh beneath her palm and fingertips, the hard ridges of muscle. The muscles in her passage quivered, tensed, clenching and unclenching as if reaching for him. "Now, Pierce."

He lifted his head and looked at her, and then followed her gaze downward. Watching her hand as she parted her thighs wide and slipped it between her legs, parting the flesh for his gaze. He shifted down the bed. Sitting back on his heels, he caught her knees and pushed them upward, watching the movements of her fingers. After a moment, he grasped his sex and pushed the tip slowly inside of her, watching as her flesh parted for him, absorbed him. Leaning over her, he scooped an arm beneath her hips and pressed slowly inside her and then, just as slowly, withdrew.

Dalia leaned up to watch the joining of their flesh as well, felt her entire body tighten with desire as he continued to move slowly in and out, tantalizing her with the skate of his hard flesh inside of her. Groaning, she fell back, arched her head into the pillow. He released a harsh breath and drove deeply, grinding his hips against her, sending shards of exquisite pleasure through her as he rubbed against her clit. "Oh," Dalia moaned. "Like that, Pierce." She licked her lips, digging her fingers into his arms.

His arms began to shake with effort as he continued thrusting into her, pushing deeply and grinding his hips against her clit and then retreating. She caught his hips, urging him to move faster, to delve deeper as she hovered, suspended in a poignant torment of pleasure. A little cry escaped her as the first ripples of release shuddered through her. As if he’d been holding himself only for that, he settled his weight on top of her, opening his mouth over hers and absorbing her cries of delight as he pumped inside of her in short, hard thrusts.

Her release seemed to go on endlessly, the convulsions of her body so hard she felt blackness edge in on her. A thin sheen of sweat beaded his back when he shuddered once last time and fell still, lying heavily against her. She stroked his hair and back lovingly in appreciation, enjoying the feel of his weight.

Dragging in a final deep breath, he slid his arms around her and rolled over until she was lying on top of him. He stroked her back, her buttocks.

A shiver skated over her as her body cooled.

"Cold?"

"Only my back. My front’s warmth," she murmured, smiling against his shoulder, feeling far too lazy to move.

Chuckling, he dumped her onto the bed and dragged the covers down, pushing and pulling at her until he had her arranged beneath the covers. When he was finally situated to his satisfaction, he gathered her against his side once more. "Better?"

"Mmmm," she said, almost purring.

He stroked her shoulder and back, slowly, mesmerizingly.

"Dally?"

"Mmm?"

He was silent for several moments. "Why did you cry? Because it ... because it felt wrong?"

Sighing, she lifted her head to look at him, shaking her head slowly. "Because I spent most of the night last night, and all day worrying about what you’d said, wondering if I really did love you ... that way, or only as the dearest of friends. And then, when you kissed me, it felt so very, very right, that I knew you were wrong and I’d been worrying about nothing." She skated a hand down his stomach and ran it over his flaccid member. "I love you just exactly that way," she said, smiling in satisfaction as she felt his cock grow beneath her palm.