2. Chapter Two #3
Ursa scoffed, a look in his eyes that was almost condescending, like he thought I was an adorable little idiot.
4 It was clear he was far from convinced.
Oh, well. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and all that.
I would have to commit to showing him by example that civil discourse almost always trumped a show of brutal force.
Best to probably move on. I thought I’d planted that seed effectively enough for now. “Should we check out the washroom?” I turned away from Ursa so I could set my pack against the wall. “I think you’ll enjoy showers. Sort of like a waterfall, but warm. Always warm.”
When I turned back to face Ursa, I found him suddenly standing right before me, having soundlessly closed the distance between us. “Always warm.” He pulled me flush against him, holding me close with one hand as he guided me back toward the wall.
His other hand cushioned the blow as we collided up against the metal. His lips sought mine out eagerly, the full length of his body pressed up against mine. He stirred, pressing his hardening cock against my belly without reservation.
To my surprise, my own body awakened in response.
Heat coursed down low in my belly, and I instinctively pressed back against him.
Oh, bother. I thought we’d gotten this out of our systems back on Earth.
My plan had been to get a Pleasure Machine as soon as we were able.
Then I could teach him about the superiority of my Havenian civilized ways.
Instead I found myself whimpering as he parted my legs to insert his thigh between them, then eagerly bucking against him as he thrust into my softness and sent a wave of desire racing through my core.
“Ursa, wait,” I gasped when I managed to summon the willpower to pull my mouth away from his. “We mustn’t.”
It was the wrong word choice, I realized immediately.
Ursa just smirked at me. Dammit, I should have never explained the definition of that word in the way I had.
5 Still, there was no point in lying to Ursa about the way my body responded to his.
I could fool myself far more easily than I could him.
As he began caressing my backside, his lips finding the column of my throat, I tried my best to remain levelheaded. “Ursa. It’s going to be . . . oh. Much more complicated on a ship. Mmm. There are so many people, you see, and it isn’t the done thing to . . . ohhhh.”
That last word, which morphed into a drawn-out cry of pleasure, was much louder than I’d intended it to be. I immediately thought of the crewman who’d been eavesdropping at the door only moments before. “Ursa,” I tried again. “Someone might be listening.”
“No, I’m not!” came a muffled, indignant response from the other side of the wall.
My entire body stiffened with alarm. Ursa paused, pulling back to search my expression. Whatever he saw there made his own gaze darken thunderously. He raised a fist and banged it against the wall as a warning.
I’m afraid that wasn’t going to be enough to get me back into the mood. Even if Ursa managed to scare off the eavesdropper, the knowledge that anyone wandering by could just decide to stop and listen . . .
I pushed Ursa away. Reluctantly, he let me go.
Fixing my hair and making sure my blouse wasn’t too mussed, I stepped closer to the door. “Is someone still there?” After a moment’s hesitation, I pressed my ear up against the metal.
A knock from the other side, roughly right where my ear was positioned, made me shriek and reel back.
Ursa hurried toward me, instinctively placing himself as a physical barrier between me and the dangerous door-knocker.
I suppose for all he knew, knocking was a sign of aggression in the civilized world.
There was really so much I was going to have to teach him.
Reaching out, I placed a reassuring hand on his back, which I hoped translated to Everything’s all right. Out loud, I called, “Yes?”
The voice on the other end was belligerent, as if the speaker was irritated that I’d dared to call them out for spying. “Captain wants to see you.”
To my surprise and relief, the voice was distinctly female. Opening the door, I took in the woman standing before me.
I’d seen her in the group earlier, of course, but then there had been so many new details to absorb, I hadn’t observed her properly.
She was about my height, but very thin and muscular and compact.
Her hair was a bright, bubblegum pink. Hair dye, I suspected, not genetic modification.
She was not unattractive, but her features otherwise were too normal for her to be a mod; and though it wasn’t unheard of for parents with less money to pay to enhance just one feature of their future offspring if they couldn’t afford a whole package, something about the way the light caught the color of her hair—the streaky quality, and the dark sheen that shone through in some places—made me suspect the alteration had occurred after birth, likely even quite recently.
Another non-mod like me. I smiled at her, choosing to forget that I’d been calling her to task only moments before. We women in space must stick together, and all that. “Hello! I’m Mina.”
Belligerent. That was the only way to describe the woman’s expression. She looked me up and down, her face making it clear how unimpressed she was by what she saw. “Zenny.”
Well, perhaps she was only a bit shy. Still maintaining my overly cheerful smile, I motioned to Ursa behind me. “And this is Ursa.”
As Zenny lifted her gaze to meet Ursa’s, her disdainful expression instantly dissolved. Her posture shifted ever so subtly, so that she was leaning up against the doorframe, jutting her breasts forward. “Hi.”
My smile dissipated. I cleared my throat, loudly, so that she had no choice but to look back at me.
What a surprise, that sullen expression popped right back onto her face.
6 I smiled at her again, no longer friendly this time—more baring my teeth, like a chimpanzee giving warning.
“Tobago wants to see us?” I reminded her.
And yes, I used his first name intentionally, to remind her I was close and personal friends with the captain.
“Just you. Not him.” Zenny’s eyes flickered over the top of my head to Ursa, her mouth twisting up ever so slightly. “I could stay and keep you company if—”
“No,” I said briskly, stepping out into the hall and pulling the door shut behind me.
1. There was a brief time that this particular genetic modification was something of the rage on Haven 3, though, thankfully, it was not very long-lasting, as it proved to be rather impractical and was apparently quite irritable to the skin.
2. Pinus ponderosa
3. I’m afraid that in running for my life from Rawley, there hadn’t been the opportunity to do so properly since . . . yesterday . . . ?
4. Well, I never!
5. Want to. Shouldn’t.
6. The cheek!