Future Prospect (19 page)

As deep his voice floated down and her heart turned over, Lia wished she could keep walking and stay away from him. But it was dark ahead of her, and the residence hall was behind her where Stev might be lurking in the lobby, so she stayed immobile. Colan triggered her fight-or-flight response, and she wasn’t sure which to choose.

“Clarkia? Cocker? You never did tell me what a woolie is. What sorts of names are these?” Lia muttered, glancing behind her, wondering if the restaurant might still be open. She wasn’t getting any closer to the forest and its strange inhabitants, that was certain.

“Good enough for Pearlites I suppose.”

“Oh, you’re still up there?”

“Where else would I be?”

Lia sighed, not willing to continue arguing with him. It was a truly pointless activity. “You’re exactly where you should be. I’m where I don’t belong.”

She turned and headed back to the main section of Pearl, deciding that facing down Stev again was better than standing in a gloomy and mucky alley, talking with an argumentative man swinging over her head. She heard the hammock squeak above her.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere else.”

“Wait. Liliane, please wait.” Colan didn’t sound grumpy now; he sounded quiet and, if she didn’t know better, almost pleading. She paused and glanced back over her shoulder even though she couldn’t see anything. The hammock swung empty, and she had no idea where he was.

“Were you going out in the forest tonight?” His voice came through the slats of the fence in front of her, and she took a step closer to it.

“No. I just needed to get away from the building. Too much on my mind,” Lia said to the synthboard in front of her. She had no idea where he was, and the board wasn’t going to talk back.

“Come in here then, away from the mud.” Part of the fence shifted and opened, and she saw a shadowy figure leaning out and looking around. Lia hesitated a moment, halfway convinced talking with Colan Nestor was going to make her even more stressed. But the deep shadows around her and the creaking noise of the clarkia, no matter how safe it might be, made her nervous. At the very least, if she came into the yard, she’d be able to head back to the street past some lights, instead of walking along the edge of the forest where she was now.

Trying to stride as if she had courage, which was difficult when the ground conspired to suck at her feet with every step, Lia entered the gate which he shut behind her and latched in several places. Right, the boys lived here too and security would be at a premium. Although, she had a feeling they could make their way past any latch or bolt if they were determined. There was Colan, standing a half a meter away in the shadows watching her. Some sort of sad and desperate emotion bubbled up in her, displacing the tiredness and confusion.

“Where have you been?”

“Out in the northern quadrant for someone,” he rumbled, staying still in the shadows. “And I didn’t think you wanted me bothering you.”

Right. She had been rather dismissive of him the last time she’d seen him. Not that he hadn’t been overbearing with her in turn. “Did you find who you were looking for?”

He nodded and took a half a step her way. She could see part of his face now, barely illuminated by the small light that gleamed above his doorway a few ladder steps above them. He was calm and not squinting with irritation, and Lia willed herself to relax.

“Who was it?”

“Nero Alt, a sheller who hadn’t been seen since the explosion. So we needed to have a talk with him.”

Ah, a suspect. Despite being injured in the blast, Lia found it hard to think about the investigation at the moment. Her blood felt funny in her veins, and for some reason her knees were too flexible. “What did Zashi think?”

“He decided Nero had nothing to do with it. I’m glad of that. Nero’s had enough trouble come his way. He stays out in the forest to avoid, ah, entanglements.”

She nodded once, not sure what to say about Nero, the long-lost sheller who hid away from the galaxy. After the last few days she’d had, she envied him the peace and quiet.

“Have you eaten?”

“What, you mean today?” Lia huffed out a laugh and shook her head. At this moment, she couldn’t remember if she had or not. And that wasn’t good. The last thing she needed was to undermine her health and not be able to work. Work was all she had. She could have Stev again, if she wanted him, but he wasn’t the man she’d been thinking about for the last few days.
That
man didn’t want her.

“I’ll make a huge deductive leap and assume that means you haven’t. Come on.”

She wanted to decline, to turn around and head back for the lights and big buildings of the admin complex, but somehow, the lure of climbing up into Colan’s small and cluttered tree house had more appeal. And the idea of some more homemade jam was enticing.

Following him up the ladder, she shucked her muddy boots at the door and entered his home to find most of his lights were off. She wasn’t sure where to step and wondered if she’d interrupted his efforts to fall asleep for the night. It was late, and he blinked sleepily. She stumbled over something on the floor and swayed right into Colan’s chest. His arms swung around her, and she twisted, trying to see what was hidden in shadows at her feet as well as not press too much of herself against the man holding her upright.

One of his big hands pressed against her shoulder and the other gripped her waist. And for a spilt second of weakness, she relaxed in his grasp, not wanting to hold herself together any more, not wanting to strive and produce and make things work, but to instead be held and supported. An anguished sigh escaped her, and she let her head fall against his shoulder, only until she breathed back in and gained some oxygen. But when she had her feet firmly planted and had taken that restorative breath, she didn’t move—couldn’t move away—because he was still holding her tight, his cheek close to hers. She could feel the heat of his skin and the tight muscles of his body, and another fluttery twinge cascaded through her.

“Lia.” He whispered her name so quietly in her ear she almost distrusted her hearing. But what else could he have said?

“Please, Colan.” She didn’t know what she was asking him. He’d say no to whatever it was; his contrary nature would assert—

His mouth found hers in a bumping search and burned away her thoughts. Lia convulsed at the touch. Soft and slow he pressed close to her, his lips shifting and molding against hers in a tender and inexorable caress she couldn’t keep from responding to. As she sank his way, he cupped one hand around her cheek and pulled back. His chest pressed to hers as he took a breath, and then he returned to her mouth, more intently this time, nudging her lips apart, tasting her as she opened to him. A blaze of heat throbbed between her legs, and she moaned with the ache of it.

Just kissing, leisurely movements, touching tongues, gasping breaths. His taste echoed somewhere in her. She remembered it, or recognized him, in some elemental way she didn’t want to understand. Lia lost her footing again and grasped at his shoulders, her legs shivering up into her hips. He held her up and shifted his own stance, drawing her closer, pulling her belly tight to him. He was aroused, and the feel of it hard against her made the ache between her legs grow to a wet throb. All the pent up longing and desperation she’d ignored through everything, all the trauma and pain since that first kiss, twisted out of her chest in a groaning growl of need.

Panting, she drew back, trying to see his face in the darkened room, trying to gauge his mood. It was impossible, it was too hard to see, and he was too opaque a person to understand.

“Stop?” he questioned her, and she shook her head rapidly, cheek brushing against the hand he still cupped around it.

“Please, Colan.” She repeated, the only words she could make with a mouth too drugged by his taste to move unless he touched her. “Help me.”

Somehow through her agitated state, she noticed the hand he’d had on her hip had slid forward. His thumb was lying along the crease between her leg and belly, his fingers curling around her upper thigh. She tilted herself against his hand, wordlessly asking him to move closer.

“This?” he rumbled as he slid his thumb so close to her sex she started to shake with need.

Nodding again, she lifted her arms and grasped his shoulders, trying to reach his mouth as he shifted those last few centimeters, and then he was touching her there, just a gentle press against her mound. He had to feel how hot she was, sense how she quivered. It felt as if she was as taut and strained as a fusion engine close to collapse. He didn’t kiss her; he drew back and watched as he began to stroke. One small beam of light caught the planes of his face as she arched against him, moving her hips in counterpoint as the tension bloomed and burned. He stared, held, and touched until Lia couldn’t stand it anymore. She closed her eyes with a groan and let her head loll against his hard shoulder as everything in her body torqued into blissful tension.

He shifted his hands then, both of them busy at her waist as he opened her trousers, and she sucked in breath after breath. He made a low sound in his throat as his fingers slid against her skin and then made their gentle way into her wet folds. Circling an arm around her back to support her, he worked two fingers against her, somehow finding the right spot and the best rhythm within a couple of shaky strokes. All Lia could do was react as her muscles contracted and heat followed cold in waves across her skin. A blissful surge coursed from where he touched her, and Lia moaned loudly into his shoulder, her arms and legs shaking with the force of it.

Gasping for breath, she collapsed against him as he held her up. Everything felt wonderfully good. A few moments later, she noticed Colan pressing little kisses to her neck and cheek, and she decided to enjoy that as well. With a sigh, she put her feet firmly on the floor and eased her weight back from him. Her legs didn’t buckle, so she released her tight grip on his shoulders and wondered what she should say to him. Thank goodness the room was so dim he couldn’t see the flush she was sure glowed on her face. And other body parts. Stars, that had been entirely unexpected.

Colan kept hold of her but loosened his grip so she could balance on her own, her trousers hanging loose around her hips. Now he would step back and act as if this had never happened. Or maybe she was supposed to do that.

“Colan, I—”

He stopped her at the right point, because she genuinely had no idea what to say. He silenced her with another kiss. Soft and warm lips dragged across hers, enticing her to lean back toward him and ask for more. Right, maybe he had enjoyed that after all.

There was a knock at the door and a muffled voice asking for him. Lia drew back with a start.

Everything was a warm fizz in Colan’s brain as he kissed Lia again. She was so warm and wet. He was mesmerized and desperately wanted to make her orgasm again. She’d responded to his touches as if she knew one beat ahead what he was going to do, and the idea of repeating that experience consumed him. So he kissed her, to keep her from thinking about her datpad and her responsibilities and to give him a moment to try and remember what debris might be in the path to the bedroom. Lia’s tongue, touching his and retreating, broke his train of thought, and he spent a little time coaxing her to return to that particular technique. Falling over a stray pair of boots or pack would kill the mood and potentially damage one of them. Lia seemed to have her feet under her now, but it might be better to just pick her up and carry her—

A pounding on his door and a shout interrupted his strategizing, and Lia pulled away, breathing shallowly and looking over his shoulder at the door behind him.

“Who?”

“Stay here,” he ordered and hoped for a second she wouldn’t take offense. But he needed her to stay with every nerve ending in his body, and the idea that she’d walk out the door made his chest ache. Another part of his body ached along with it.

He marched to the door, impeded by the mess on his floor and his erection, and opened the door to find Zashi standing under the light, eyes narrowed. He wore armor of flattened scales which seemed to absorb the darkness around them. If Colan hadn’t known him he would have been primed for a fight, the other man’s demeanor was so aggressive. A thought raced through his mind that perhaps Lia and Zashi were involved, and the security officer had somehow realized what Colan had just done with her. Colan doubted he’d survive the beating which would follow.

“I need your help.”

Right, so the security chief wasn’t here to retrieve Lia and administer a brutal pounding to Colan. But it also meant the likelihood of giving Lia a leisurely tour of his small bedroom had just gone out the hatch. Unless Zashi just needed some help with directions, and then he would be on his way.

“Riva Estep has barricaded herself in the science station and is refusing to negotiate unless you are there.”

“Me? Why?”

“Unknown. Oh, good evening, Lia.” Zashi glanced around, and Colan turned to find Lia had emerged onto the deck at his side, her trousers properly fastened, but her too-pink lips and too-bright eyes were unlikely to escape the security officer’s notice.

“Hello, Zash. What’s going on?” Lia sounded professional and cool. Colan couldn’t believe she’d just had an orgasm and was out here as if nothing had happened between them. He still fumbled with reality and all he’d done was touch a few square centimeters of her luscious skin.

“Citizen Estep is holed up in her office and claims to have another bomb she’ll set off if she can’t talk with Colan.”

“Another bomb?”

“Right. She’s made a tacit admission she set the last two. She must have been paying attention when the Healy boys bragged about their success.”

Colan’s skin cooled as he absorbed the information. Riva set the bombs and planned the sabotage in an effort to drive away the settlers and save her purported integrated planetary intelligence. He had no clue her mania had escalated so badly. Zashi took a step back and gestured toward the ladder, apparently wanting to get back to the science station as quickly as possible.