Stardust Dreams (34 page)

Surprised by her hostility,
he sat up and took hold of her shoulders. "Yes, I'm kidding. What's your
problem?"

She remained rigid for a
moment then relaxed. "Nothing. I just wanted to get dressed."

"Why? Are you afraid
I'm going to take the massage to its logical conclusion?"

She clucked her tongue. "Don't
be ridiculous. I'm not afraid of you."

"You're afraid of
something, Cherry, and you've got to tell me what it is. We're partners in a
very dangerous situation, and for our mutual safety, we should each know what
to expect from the other one."

Her eyes lit up. "We're
partners
?"

"Against my better
judgment, if you'll recall. Now I want to know what's going on in that head of
yours." His eyes narrowed. "Do you think I'm lying to you again? Is
that it?" Her hesitation annoyed him. "You promised to trust me. Remember?
And I promised to be honest with you. I took my promise seriously. What about
you?"

She sighed. "You are
very convincing as a barbaric sovereign."

"And you're very
convincing as a helpless, hysterical female. But I know better. Being
convincing is what makes you a successful actress and what keeps me alive. I
need to know you trust me enough to follow any order I give you while we're
here. Our survival could depend on your not doubting me."

She knew he was right and
her intuition also told her he had relayed all the facts he'd been given. "I
trust you. You're not dumb enough to think you could make war on a whole planet
of people like me."

With a silent laugh, he
hugged her close. "I'll be
drekhed
but I do love arguing with
you."

Her body tensed for a
heartbeat before she could prevent it.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He held her away from him
and studied her face. "Who's lying now?"

"Its personal."

"Personal?
From the woman
who won't permit me a single secret? As you have previously said to me, spit it
out, now."

"It's really no big
deal," she insisted with a shake of her head. "I have a little
problem with a certain word, and I… I'd rather you didn't use it."

He rubbed his chin as he
tried to recall exactly what he'd said. "I give up."

"I know you didn't
mean
to use that word—"

"
Cherry
…"

"Love. I'd rather you
didn't say you
loved
anything about me."

"I don't
understand."

"Of course, you don't.
How could you? You were raised by affectionate,
loving
parents. You
couldn't possibly know what it was like to be told you were being belt-whipped
because your parents
loved
you. My mother was a virtual slave to my
father because they
laved
each other so much." She took a deep
breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Wrong. You should
have said it sooner. Here I was worried about physically hurting you when all
the while one four-letter word could lay you low. My mother always said the
three most powerful words in any language are—"

Cherry pressed her fingers
to his lips. "Please. Leave it alone, okay?"

"Why? What do you
think would happen if I told you I love you?" She looked away from him. "Do
you think I'd put the collar back on you and throw away the key? Do you
honestly believe I'd treat you any differently than I have so far? What—"

"Stop!" Cherry
exclaimed, then grew alarmed thinking she may have been heard.

"Don't worry, anyone
who heard that will imagine that I'm forcing you to have sex with me."

"Fine. Then have sex
with me and forget this stupid conversation."

"No."

Cherry's eyes widened.
"No?"

"You heard me. I
didn't realize until now that you have never used the phrase 'make love.' You
always say 'have sex,' or 'couple,' or some other euphemism for the act. Well,
my dear, we are going to make love now. And I intend to prove that it won't
hurt a bit."

With his last words, he
pressed her back down to the furs.

"Gallant, you're
scaring me."

"Impossible," he
hissed into her ear and laid a trail of kisses down her neck. "You're not
afraid of me. Remember?" His kisses continued on down to her breast.

"That's right, I'm
not. But you're making me very uncomfortable." She moaned as he drew one
puckering nipple into his mouth then released it.

He raised his head to meet
her bewildered gaze. "And I absolutely guarantee that you'll be a lot more
uncomfortable before I'm finished with you."

"Is that a
threat?"

That earned her a sly grin.
"I believe
you
were the one who complained of a lack of foreplay
in our relationship. Just let me know when you've had enough." With a
restrained gentleness that he had never before shown her, his lips met hers and
coaxed a like response, "All you have to do to hurry things along is tell
me you love something about me."

"Hmmph. You'll die of
old age first."

"Well see." He
teased her eyes, nose, and ears with velvety caresses. He made slow love to her
mouth until she almost forgot why she was resisting. When her body moved
against his, he left her face to pay homage to her breasts.

As he worked his way
downward, she stroked his hair and ran her hands over his shoulders and arms,
telling him without words how good he made her feel. And when he went lower
still, her damp heat was as revealing as her hushed moan of pleasure.

He took her to the very
edge and kept her dangling there for endless minutes. Or was it hours?

"Enough," she
whispered, and he slid his body up along hers. She felt him, hard and pulsing,
yet barely touching that part of her that needed more attention.

"Say it," he
murmured against her lips. "Say the magic word."

"Please,"
she said,
rearranging her spread legs to entwine with his.

"Wrong word. Try
again." He returned to seducing her mouth as he rubbed the tip of his
shaft over her aroused flesh.

She sucked in her breath as
a spear of desire tore through her, but she couldn't say what he wanted. The
taste of herself on his tongue made her dizzy with the need for more. His kiss
intensified, promising a faster pace as he lured her deeper into the well of
passion. Yet when she was certain he would give in, he pulled away to renew his
exquisite torture of her body.

Her mind was too drugged to
understand why he was holding back, or even how he was accomplishing it. Was
this the same wild, impatient animal that had never been able to resist
entering her for more than a minute or two after kissing her?

Again he brought her to the
brink of climax and stopped. This time she couldn't prevent a frustrated cry. And
again he returned to her mouth with his body stretched out over hers.

"You know what you
have to say to end it."

Instead, she used her
robotic arm to push him onto his back. "We'll see," she said,
repeating his warning to her. It was one thing for him to tease her and
restrain himself, but she was certain he wouldn't hold out under the same
treatment.

She used her teeth, tongue,
hands, and body to excite every nerve in his body, but each touch also aroused
her more than she already was. He couldn't hide the fact that he wanted her as
badly, yet he continued to control the urge to take what he needed.

When she crawled up his
body and attempted to straddle him, he sat up with her on his lap and grasped
her hips to keep her from lifting. "Say it." He growled and nipped
her neck.

She shook her head to
refuse, but he pulled her tightly against him, enticing her in the most
elemental way to give up the fight. "I…" Another ripple of pleasure
caused her to gasp before she could go on. "I love… um… your hair." She
tried to take him into her, but he held her still.

"You can do better
than that." A slight adjustment of both their hips encouraged her to
comply. Quickly.

"I love… your
body."

"More," he
ordered with another seductive stroke.

"I love solving
puzzles with you. I love sleeping next to you. I… I love how you make me feel
even when we're arguing. Okay?"

He raised her high enough
to bring them together, but prevented her from sliding down more than an inch. "Now,
say, I love you, Gallant."

Leaning back far enough to
glare at him, she muttered, "Don't press your luck, mister."

And with a low growl, he
accepted the slight advantage he had gained and ended the battle.

Some time later, she was
fully aware of the concessions he had won from her, but she was too sated to
resent it. "How is it that you could never do that before?"

His fingers made lazy
circles up her spine. "Do what?"

She gave his shoulder a
nudge. "You know very well what. You held out against some of my best
efforts."

"Perhaps," he
said slowly, skimming his hands over her bottom, "I didn't have a strong
enough motivation before. However, if I were you,
love,
I wouldn't
count on such restraint again for a while."

She muffled her laughter as
he rolled her onto her back and immediately proceeded to demonstrate his usual
lack of patience.

Aster braced herself in the
doorway of Rom's office. "I swear I'm going to hang that man by his ankles
and use a cat-o'-nine tails on him!"

Rom raised an eyebrow at
his normally nonviolent mate. "Anyone I know?"

"Cute. After what I
just learned, I should string you up next to him." She made her way over
to the straight-back armchair Rom had moved into his office for her use. "Would
you care to explain why I never received a copy of yesterday's report from
Outerworld Monitor Control?"

Rom flinched. "I don't
suppose denial would work." Instantly, he received a mental image of
himself hanging upside down, naked, from a high tree limb. "I see."
He pulled the report out of his desk drawer and set it in front of him. "Obviously,
my influence over at OMC is not what it used to be."

"Oh, you still have
influence. I just have more. Women on the verge of giving birth are very
sympathetic figures, you know. And the way I've expanded this last week,
everyone holds their breath when I walk into their office. I heard they're
running a pool on where I'll be when my water breaks!"

"You could relieve
everyone's minds by—"

"Don't you dare
suggest I stay home. All I would do is worry about Cherry. At least here, I can
get distracted for a few minutes at a time."

Rom shook his head as he
picked up the report and scanned the update. Whoever or whatever was behind the
supernatural sightings had escalated their efforts. Yesterday, a magnificent
display of thunder and lightning tied up rush-hour traffic on the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco. The light and sound show stopped as suddenly as it
started and was replaced by a heavenly rendition of "The Hallelujah
Chorus," sung by a choir of about a hundred white-robed specters standing
atop the arches of the bridge.

When the song ended, the
face of the alleged Supreme Being appeared in the sky. He announced that He was
on his way and would soon be making a personal appearance on the White House
lawn. Press was welcome.

Aster got tired of waiting
for him to speak. "Apparently, he's building momentum, although the
special effects would have been more appropriate in Hollywood."

"I know you want to
think the worst of him, but I can't believe Gallant Voyager has anything to do
with this. He's too intelligent to try to pull off such an elaborate hoax right
under our noses. I tend to think it's being done by someone who doesn't know of
our existence here. I also think it's important that there's never any mention
of when 'soon' is."

With a sigh, Aster
reluctantly agreed. "I know you're right about him. Not knowing if Cherry
is safe compounded with this blind waiting for the next event is driving me
over the edge. I understand we didn't have anyone near this sighting, but at
least we can be prepared for the one that's supposed to take place in
Washington."

"I've already assigned
a team of trackers, all of whom should be able to pick up any strong surge of
mental energy and follow it to its source."

"Have you contacted
Falcon?"

"Yes. By sheer
coincidence, he and Steve were out of the San Francisco area yesterday, or they
might have picked up the wave. They're standing ready if we want them to head
for Washington, but I don't see the point in pulling them away from home when
we have so many others in place."

"But none of them are
Falcon. Send him, Rom. He should be there, too."

Knowing how Aster felt
about their friend, Rom didn't bother to discuss it further. He would
recon-tact Falcon and have him head for Washington, D.C. He recalled a time
when Falcon had a problem dealing with the noise and emotional intensity of Outerworld.
The crowd that would undoubtedly be descending on the White House would be
worse than anything he had experienced before, but Rom knew Falcon was still
the best tracker they had, and if Aster wanted him there, that was reason
enough to send him.