Collateral Damage (5 page)

They made it back with only a handful of minutes to spare. By unspoken agreement, neither of them paused when they reached the safety of Meyal’s orbital. Once they were safe in a re-pressurised bay, they flung off their helmets and, at a run, headed for the Analysis Room.

“How much longer?” Waryd asked in a tight voice.

Meyal had routed the app to the main board and she glanced at it. “Four minutes, twelve seconds.”

“Maybe it’s a mistake,” Waryd murmured softly. “Maybe they’re just sending extra supplies.”

All Meyal could say was, “Three minutes.”

“How could they even
think
of doing something like this?” His voice strengthened with anger. “Murdering their own workers?”

“Who would know?” Meyal countered. “They could always say that the orbital was hit by a runaway asteroid or comet. A solar flare might have led to a cascade failure. Or you might have even gone crazy and decided to blow up the orbital yourself.”

He stared at her.

“Think about it, Waryd,” she said calmly. “Twelve months alone on a small space station? Tell me people don’t go insane from time to time.” She looked down at the timer. “Two minutes, twenty-five seconds.”

Suddenly, she felt older than her twenty-eight years. Without saying anything, Meyal slipped into her seat, but it was awkward and a bit uncomfortable with her suit still on.

With nothing left to say, they watched the displays.

Nothing happened at zero seconds, but it would have been foolish to expect anything else. The ExoSystems’ orbital, if it had been destroyed, was on the other side of the planet. The only indication of an explosion would be the existence of a radioactive field at a spot that the station wouldn’t reach for another eight hours.

“I’m going to get cleaned up,” she finally said, pushing herself off the chair. “Make yourself at home.”

Still stunned by the recent turn of events, Waryd acknowledged her statement with only a small wave, and continued to watch the boards.

Meyal peeled off the rest of her suit as she headed for the showers, disengaging the separate plumbing unit and gliding it into the equipment sanitation unit that was next to the common bathroom chamber.

It didn’t make sense, but she felt as if she’d been crawling through mud. Her skin stank of sweat, fear and stress and every muscle ached. She programmed the air-water mix for maximum liquid content and revelled in the hot drops that hit her. By the time she stepped out of her cubicle, two minutes later, she felt clean and back in control of her life. She knew that Waryd’s presence would lead to some major problems, but she’d just navigated hard vacuum and returned safely. She felt she deserved a respite before reality once more intruded.

Her rescuee was still in the Analysis Room when, on still damp feet, she padded her way down there.

“C’mon,” she told him gently. “Why don’t you hit the showers? It’ll be hours before we find out if a missile was actually sent to your orbital. Standing there, staring at the monitors isn’t going to make the time go any faster.”

Waryd sighed then turned to face her. “I…” he paused, as if unsure of what to say next. The smile that creased his face was wry. “You’re right. Would you believe, I’m hungry as well.”

“In that case,” she replied lightly, “I’ll meet you in the kitchenette when you’re done.”

She watched him as he strode away, and bit the inside of her lip. She was a mass of mixed emotions. Now that the adrenaline from her extra-orbital excursion had bled away, she had to acknowledge that Waryd Gosin in the flesh was a lot more attractive than in hologrammatic form, and she didn’t know if she could handle it. If Waryd decided to progress their chat-sex sessions to real-sex, did she have the power to resist?

Chat-sex was safe. Meyal could call a halt whenever she wanted, for whatever reason she wanted. But if the virile Waryd was physically around, bumping into her and seducing her with his warm touch and vibrant, male aroma, would she be able to call a halt then?

Her wariness had not disappeared by the time Waryd returned, and she made sure to keep the small counter between them when he approached. He took one of the plates of food she’d prepared, sat down at the small table, then watched her quizzically.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” he asked.

“I, er….” Her voice brightened. “Yes, yes of course.”

She grabbed the second plate of food and walked over to him, hoping he didn’t detect her reluctance.

“Thank you,” he said simply, when she sat down. “What you did was, incredibly brave.”

Meyal blushed under the tan of her skin. “It was nothing,” she said, looking away.

Nothing? Waryd Gosin knew what “nothing” was, and it didn’t encompass orbital-hopping tens of  thousands of kilometres to save someone she had never met in person. He watched her as they ate, and tried to keep the frown off his face. She was a strange mixture of bravado and vulnerability and he felt something kick in his chest when he looked at her downcast face, with its smooth skin, pert nose and kissable lips.

“My being here is going to cause problems, isn’t it?” Waryd commented, in between shovelling food into his mouth. He still couldn’t believe how hungry he was. It was probably an after-effect of finding out he was about to be killed.

“Eventually,” she admitted. Waryd noted she was moving her food more than eating it. “The orbital is stocked for four people, to cater for any visiting specialists, so I have a lot of everything to go around. But, once the quarterly inventory report reaches sector headquarters, I’m sure questions are going to be asked.”

There was a mystery here. The Meyal Lit that sat opposite him appeared to be a completely different person to the one that had stormed his orbital to rescue him. Waryd pushed his empty plate away and sat back.

“Why did you choose a contract out here in the back of beyond?” he asked. “I wouldn’t have thought a beautiful, young woman would have been content burying herself out here for a year.”

She blushed – actually blushed! – and met his gaze with a timidity he found both puzzling and engaging.

“There are not many money-making opportunities for newish graduates,” she conceded.

“That’s all that attracted you? The money?” He didn’t believe it.

Meyal shrugged. Rising, she took his plate and walked to the food counter.

“Money, benefits for the family, the usual.”

“No boyfriend?” he asked.

Meyal laughed as she stacked their crockery and utensils in the sanitation unit, but it sounded false to his ears. “Boyfriend? Why does there have to be a boyfriend? Honestly, everybody makes such a big deal out of relationships.” She pulled her lips down. “‘There’s more to life than work, Meyal’, ‘Go out and have some fun, Meyal’.” She met his gaze briefly, defiantly, then looked down again. “As if you can have any kind of fun on a grad’s starting pay.”

“So, when this job came up, you jumped at it and applied?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She tried making it sound casual, but the hesitation in her voice was clear. “It’s easily five times what I could have earned at an Earth-side job, and that’s not counting the bonuses. Plus accommodation and medical expenses for my parents and brother. I mean, it would have been crazy turning a package like that down.”

Waryd continued to watch her as she moved about the small kitchenette. She wasn’t telling him the full story, he knew that much, but what was she leaving out?

“And nobody tried to talk you out of it?” he asked. “Told you that the trip itself was dangerous? Or that systems on the orbital could break down? That something unpredictable might occur, like a rogue asteroid slamming through the system and colliding with your station?”

Meyal walked back to the table and sat down, her hazel eyes defiant. “Who are you, my parents?”

He shrugged. “I just thought someone might have mentioned those things to you before you left Earth?” Watching her closely, he saw a bright sheen form across her eyes.

“You were running away from someone, weren’t you?” he asked, gently. “What did he do? Tell you you weren’t good enough for him? He was wrong, Meyal, very wrong.”

She dashed the tears from her eyes with a quick, angry movement of her hand.

“He told me I was a coward, because I didn’t want to settle on Mars with him. Then when I tried to get a job….” She looked up at him. “Exo-geology wasn’t my major,” she said, spitting out the words as if he’d forced them out of her. “I originally started an Engineering course, but I just couldn’t get my head around it. He said it was just as well I kept failing, because if I got a job and followed him, I’d be too scared to do anything and he’d never make anything of himself.”

As she spoke, her words gathered force and volume.

“So I told myself, I’ll show him. I’ll apply for the most dangerous position I can get, out at the very edge of the galaxy, if need be!”

There it was again, that spiky defiance that tickled at him and, from the feel of it, was arousing more than just his mind.

“But you’re still a shy young woman on the inside, aren’t you?” he suggested, letting a hint of a smile play on his lips.

Meyal’s eyes flashed. “I am not!”

“Oh yes you are,” he contradicted. “Content to do nothing more than have chat-sex with a stranger.” His smile widened when he saw her blush again. “Playing it safe. Happy to sit in your office and rack up the credits while the object of your passion spends night after night in unbelievable frustration.”

He lifted an eyebrow when he saw her look of incredulity. “Oh yes,” he breathed. “However much you’re willing to admit you want me, I want you more. But here’s the problem.

“Do you know what I saw, back on my orbital?” he asked, rising to his feet, and walking to the counter. He turned and crossed his arms, leaning back against the prefab ledge. “I must have been mistaken, or hallucinating, because the woman who battered her way into my station doesn’t appear to be the same one I’m looking at now.”

She frowned. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I recall a very brave woman. Someone who would have told that sly arsehole of an ex-boyfriend exactly where to get off. She was attractive, you know, ready to
do
something.” He measured his next words. “I liked that about her.”

Meyal’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “When you say she was ‘ready to do something’, ready to do what?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He stared up at the ceiling. “Grab what she wanted. Give in to her desires.”

“I
have
given in to my desires,” she argued hotly. “We’ve both been doing that for the past month and a half. Or,” she added, “hadn’t you noticed?”

“Sex via hologram is one thing, sweet Meyal. Sex via touch and smell is something else again.”

“You’re making it appear as if I’m some kind of virgin.” Her voice was high with disbelief. “Well, I’m not. I can reach out and take whatever I damn well please, whenever I damn well want to.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She stared at him. “Really.”

“Then prove it.” He crooked one finger and beckoned to her. “Come over here. And kiss me. For real.”

“I…” she faltered, then swallowed. “Of course I could. If I wanted to.”

He laughed softly. “You don’t want to?”

“I, of course I do. I just….”

He said nothing, but opened his arms, a gesture that was as much a challenge as an invitation.

“Men,” she muttered, after a long pause, and stalked over to where he stood. Grabbing his face in her hands, she planted a feverish kiss on his lips.

“Oh no,” he murmured, when she moved to step back, “we’ve only just started, I think.”

He watched her face and saw the emotions dart across her expressive features – surprise, a touch of fear, then a kind of breathlessness. When she snaked her arms around his neck, Waryd couldn’t hold himself back for a moment longer. He tightened his embrace and felt her skin, smooth, cool and still a little damp, against his. How had he thought he could have gone twelve months without touching someone? Touching Meyal?

Waryd bent his head and tasted her lips, plucking at each with gentle teeth. She moaned at his tease and pulled his head closer so their mouths and tongues met. Her taut breasts pressed against his body, soft and inviting, in contrast to the hard nubs at their centres. Not able to resist, Waryd stroked upwards, under the hem of Meyal’s short tunic. His hands rode the curve of her back, then he held her while one hand moved to the front, rubbing her erect nipple with his palm before pinching it hard. She gasped against his mouth and his cock kicked hard in response. With a groan, he rubbed against her, pushing his groin against the swell of her abdomen.

He knew he should wait. Carry her to her quarters. Undress her slowly.

He couldn’t.

The only thought, only desire in his head, was to rip the clothes from the lithe body beneath his hands and plant his cock deep inside her.

With a low growl, he skimmed both hands down, pushing against her pants until they bunched at her thighs, then doing the same to his own. When he rubbed his cock against her again, it was against naked, feminine flesh, slick with the fat drops of lubricant that seeped from his dick.