Diva (Jit'Suku Chronicles) (7 page)

Maggie sighed in bliss as he came down next to her, the fluffy mattress dipping under his weight. Opening her eyes, she found him stretched out at her side, leaning sexily up on one elbow, just watching her with those beautiful laser blue eyes of his.

“What?” she asked, wondering at his mood.

“Are you sure about this?” His voice was pitched low, intimate, but strong. As if he would do anything she asked, even if it was to leave her.

His thoughtfulness touched her heart.

“Are you kidding?” Maggie sat up and tackled him, taking him down on the huge bed. He let her wrestle him flat, a broad grin on his chiseled face.

But his strong hands stayed her gently.

“I mean it, Maggie. I’m weak enough that I’ll take whatever you want to give me, but there are still reasons—important reasons—why we can’t take this much further than we already have. I’m a soldier. I have responsibilities, and there are things about me that I can’t reveal to you or anyone. Not to mention the fact that you’re a galactic star and all that entails.”

Maggie placed one finger gently over his lips.

“All that matters is right now, John. Tomorrow will take care of itself, and we’ll have to go back to being who we are, but for right now, it’s just you and me. Maggie and John. Not Diva and Captain Starbridge. We can go back to being them tomorrow.”

“If you’re sure…”

“The only thing I’m absolutely sure of is that I want you. Now, John. I want you now.”

Chapter Five

The very air sizzled where they touched. Clothes were removed, lost along the way somehow, until they were both skin to skin, as it should be. When John was with her, all felt right with her world. It was a rare feeling for a woman who lived so close to the edge, always on guard, always a moving target.

For this little space of time, she could forget all that and just be herself. A woman. A woman with a remarkable lover who felt the same. It was a novel experience for her.

She licked his chest, biting gently as he made a purring sound. She liked that, so she experimented further. She wound around him as she nibbled on his neck, pressing her teeth down on his earlobe, not to hurt, but to entice.

He moved his hands over her like a maestro, playing her sensitive spots before homing in on the places she wanted him most. He caressed her breast with one hand, squeezing the nipple just right, while his other hand moved lower. He touched her gently at first, then with more surety, plunging two fingers within her hot core, exciting her almost beyond bearing.

Maggie was panting with need as their bodies intertwined and he showed her levels of pleasure she’d only ever dreamed of before. He held her gaze as his fingers moved within her. When he withdrew them, she almost cried. Where was he going?

John answered her wordless question when he repositioned them, moving her limbs around just the way he wanted them. She’d never had a lover so sure of himself and what he wanted from her. She’d never allowed such liberties, but with John, it felt right. She had no other explanation for letting herself be moved around like a living doll.

John seemed to enjoy posing her just so. He paused every few moments to caress and excite wherever he felt the impulse, and soon, she was breathing hard again, wondering where he would touch her next. No spot on her body was off limits to John. He touched her everywhere.

Places she hadn’t thought could be the least bit erogenous were proven to be incredibly shocking to her senses. When he licked behind her knee, then breathed onto her wet skin, ripples of goose bumps rose along her thighs. When he pinched her bottom, then delved between her cheeks, one part of her wanted to squirm away, but another part of her wondered what he was going to show her next.

His fingers toyed with her back entrance, and rather than being repulsed, she found her breath hitching in her throat. What in the world? She hadn’t ever imagined letting a lover touch her there, much less liking it, but apparently with John, there were no boundaries. No limits. No right or wrong in pleasure. Just him and his knowing touch, and the insatiable need he inspired within her. She needed him so badly!

As if he’d heard her, John finally came down over her, positioning himself just inside her eager body and then… He waited. He met her gaze and smiled, waiting for…something.

“John?” she panted, unable to really catch her breath. She was on the precipice of something profound, and he’d just stopped. What was he waiting for?

His smile grew wider as he gazed into her eyes. “That’s what I wanted,” he whispered in a tone brimming with emotion. “I want to hear my name from your lips. I want you to know who’s making love to you and shout it to the rafters. I want my name to be on your lips when you come, Maggie mine.”

His urgent words rasped through her, and she wanted it too. She wanted nothing more than to be his in every conceivable way. She wanted his hands on her breasts, his hard cock warming her body from the inside out, his gaze locked with hers. She wanted to feel the pleasure his body promised hers, to know that he was finally with her in truth, and not just in dreams. She wanted it all. With John, and nobody else.

“I want that too.”

She shuddered against him as he began to take possession, sliding a fraction deeper with each short pulse, holding her gaze as she strained against him. He was large, but she could handle him. She felt as if, in that moment, she had been born just for this. For him. For what they could be together.

He took her inch by inch until he was finally seated within her. And then, all hell broke loose in the most pleasurable way imaginable.

He was wild. She was wilder. He pushed, and she followed his lead. He moved and she moved with him. He commanded, and she obeyed.

He was masterful, but oh-so-sensitive to her needs. Everything he did—every hard thrust, every tender retreat—seemed geared toward wringing every last facet of pleasure out of her. One of his hands held her in place while the other searched for and found the little button of her clit. He circled it once, twice, and on the third time, she exploded, crying out his name, just as they both wanted. It took only a second before he joined in the bliss that only he had ever created within her body, mind and soul.

When the storm broke, she felt completely at peace for the first time in her very complicated life. As if nothing could ever hurt her—as long as she was with him.

Her heart broke open wide, and he moved in, whether he was aware of it or not, it didn’t matter. After this night’s experiences, John Starbridge would always own a piece of her soul.

And she was okay with that. She liked having him there, in her heart and her mind—and especially in her body. Truth be told, he hadn’t strayed far from her thoughts since that first night she’d barged in on him to find him shirtless and listening to her music.

They made love long into the night, and in the morning, she woke to another round of tender pleasure. There was a poignancy to their joinings after that first time. A sense that this was all going to go away sooner rather than later, due to circumstances beyond their control.

There was a slight feeling of desperation, but that only made the loving all that more special. It was a stolen night, away from prying eyes or judging stares. They could be themselves in the little cocoon of privacy they’d managed to steal for the night.

Diva was somewhere else. As was the captain. Only Maggie and John remained, twined together, almost never apart throughout that long, wonderful night.

In the morning, reality intruded once again.

They showered together in the luxuriously appointed bath chamber stocked with high-end toiletries from exotic spots all over the galaxy. Only the best for Diva, of course.

She ordered breakfast to be brought up by a server bot, and they lazed in the suite, wearing robes provided by the hotel and feeding each other a gourmet selection of pastries and breakfast foods until they were both laughing and ready once more for more amorous pursuits.

She enjoyed her stolen time with him, knowing it was all coming to an end more quickly than either of them wished. As soon as she found a way to impart her information, he’d probably have to go, to act on her intel. She knew she was counting down to his departure, though he still thought he had a week’s leave coming.

She delayed until she knew she couldn’t any longer. As she was dressing to leave for a long-scheduled meeting later that afternoon, she broached the subject she knew would send him away much sooner than she wanted.

“John, I heard something I think you should know about,” Maggie said as John watched her put an earring on.

He liked watching her turn from Maggie the sex kitten he was just getting to know into the self-possessed galactic superstar known as Diva. The clothing went a long way toward making that change, but it was also the cosmetics and the accessories. Though she worked faster than any woman he’d ever known, she still took a while to transform from sweet Maggie to the fire-breather Diva. It was like watching a master magician work.

But her brittle tone and the worried look in her eyes made him stop and take note. She was serious about whatever it was she wanted to tell him.

“What’s wrong?” He immediately thought of ways to extend his leave so he could do whatever it was she wanted him to do.

Maggie laughed, but it sounded forced to him.

“It’s probably nothing, but I just can’t help but worry. My last show was out near Andrakian space, and we held a meet and greet after for the local dignitaries.” She wrung her hands together as she stood to pace.

John knew the Andrakian region of the Milky Way galaxy was out near the rim. The Andrakians were humanoids who claimed their ancestry was from ancient Earth, but human scientists had long disputed their claims. Andrakians were a strange people that weren’t widely trusted by the military. Command never seemed to know whether the andraks were for or against jit’suku colonization of the outer rim. It was something humanity fought against, but every once in a while, some politician raised the issue of negotiating peace with the jits by giving them a foothold in the Milky Way galaxy.

That would happen over John’s dead body.

“What happened?”

Maggie’s pacing stopped. She halted before the vid unit and turned to face him. John didn’t like the look in her eyes. He read fear in every muscle of her body, and he didn’t like that at all.

“The Andrakian ambassador said some things that really disturbed me. Oh, they weren’t bad on the surface, but when taken together with some things I saw on their orbital station, it really had me worried.”

John stood, taking her hands in his own. He felt the slight tremble in her fingers as he closed his own over them.

“Tell me what you saw and what the ambassador said.”

He guided her over to the couch, and they sat, but he didn’t release her hands. She looked truly worried, and he wanted to offer what comfort he could.

“When we first docked, there was a lot of hassle. Usually we’re given priority berthing because they’re expecting us. You know how it went when you traveled with the tour.” John nodded, well aware of the VIP treatment Diva’s ship was given. “They wouldn’t let us off the ship for hours, and then only through specially marked corridors. Everyone was given perimeter passes that would alert station personnel if we strayed off the marked pathways. It was like being in prison.”

“Go on.” John didn’t like the sound of this at all. He squeezed her fingers gently, offering silent support.

Maggie breathed deeply. “I…well, I strayed. I ditched the perimeter pass and went off to see what they were hiding. I figured I could get away with it, being Diva and all. Most people don’t expect me to have much of a brain in my head, and it suited me this time to let them believe it.”

John frowned. “You took a big chance, Diva or not. Please Maggie, don’t tell me they caught you snooping.”

“Actually,” she looked momentarily smug, “they didn’t. I got around their security pretty easily and saw a bit of what they didn’t want us to see. It was an army, John. They were preparing an invasion force of some kind, working hard to ready hundreds of small fighter ships and the troops were crowded three and four into a cubicle, sleeping in shifts. It was pretty scary.”

“Andrakians keep a standing army, Maggie. Maybe that’s what you saw.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. This was more than a regular army. This was way bigger. And the ambassador confirmed it with his cryptic words after the show.”

“Okay, so what did the ambassador say that makes you so suspicious?”

“He said he looked forward to my return visit. When I told him we had no plans to return, and that no Andrakian station or colony was on our tour itinerary, he got downright scary. He said to expect a change in itinerary soon, and it wasn’t said in a friendly way. It sounded more like a threat, John, as if he expected big changes in the coming weeks.” Maggie gripped his forearm, pressing home her sense of urgency. “Then, he said something about new alliances and reunification. John, I’ve heard about the Andrakian reunification movement. I think the government—or at least the ambassador—is involved.”

John started. This was bad news. Very bad news. If it was true.

There were rumors about a group of important Andrakians who believed they descended from the jit’suku. They believed Andrakia and all its colonies were merely intergalactic settlements by pioneering jits.

And they wanted to rejoin their brethren. Or more accurately, they wanted the jits to come join them in the Milky Way. But jits weren’t welcome in the Milky Way, and the human government that owned eighty-five percent of the galaxy wouldn’t allow jit’suku incursion anywhere within the spiral arms of the home galaxy.

It sounded like the Andrakians were preparing for war. War with humanity over jit’suku incursion.

John’s worst nightmare.

“There was something else.” Maggie’s hesitant words recaptured his attention. She stood and retrieved something small from a table on the other side of the room. John couldn’t help but admire the sway of her hips as she walked back toward him. Distracted, he almost didn’t notice the micro data disc she held out to him. “I found this waiting for me back aboard my ship. It was from someone named Dalen, and it was addressed to you.”