The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

Bad things usually happened when matter and anti-matter got together
.

“This is Captain Maverick,” he called the bridge. “Commander, send out a distress signal and call for everyone to abandon ship.”

“Aye-aye, Captain,” responded the ship’s Security Officer with as much calm as if she had just been asked to fetch him a cup of coffee … except that would have probably pissed her off. This kind of discipline and ability to deal with pressure was what made his crew as good as it was. He just hoped they would all live through this. As for himself, he had to get to Rita.
He would not lose her again!

“Attention all hands, prepare to abandon ship.”

Tiana and Derek listened to the shipwide announcement intently from within the suite that had been their home for the past two weeks.

“All passengers, please proceed immediately to the nearest escape pod and abandon ship. I repeat, the Captain has given the order to immediately abandon ship. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill.”

Tiana looked at her husband of less than an hour as he reached for her hand and gently guided her into the bedroom, where two chairs had already folded out of the wall.

“Derek, what about Rita? We can’t just leave her.”

“She’s probably in her own escape pod by now, and, if I read the Captain accurately, I have a feeling he’ll not leave her side.”

“I hope you’re right,” Tiana responded, sounding half convinced.

They both buckled themselves in as Derek instructed the computer.

“Computer, seal escape pod.”

Tiana watched as the doors to the bathroom and the great room were hermetically sealed.

Wait a minute! Didn’t the bathroom come with the escape pod?

“Computer, launch escape pod,” Derek said.

A feeling of nausea came over Tiana, then receded just as quickly as it came, as the escape pod separated from the doomed vessel. Through the pod’s single window they could see the starship, slowly being blown to smithereens as individual anti-matter receptacles were breached and instantly combusted as matter met anti-matter. Each time, flames would shoot out into the void of space until all the oxygen in the given compartment was consumed. Each time the brightness of the flames was quickly replaced by the ominous darkness of space, the spectacle made all the worse by the knowledge that as the flames were gone, so were the lives of any poor souls who might have been nearby.

Other escape pods, looking from the distance much like fireflies out on a summer night, moved away from the ship. Tiana hoped her best friend was in one of them. She silently said a prayer for Rita, Marcus and his twins and the rest of her Magellan team.

As their pod moved even further away, they watched the ship diminish in size until it vanished completely. They stared at the spot where the ship had been, trying to catch one last glimpse of it. Their patience was rewarded as they witnessed one last explosion that permanently sent the ship, and anyone left in it, into oblivion.

The pair continued to stare out into the vast nothingness of space, unable to move. How many of the twelve-hundred people they had been travelling with had just lost their lives? Would anyone ever know the answer? Derek slowly slipped his hand into Tiana’s, who held it and squeezed with desperation.

“Well, what now?” Tiana wondered out loud.

“If I understand things correctly, escape pods are programmed to automatically set their bearings based on their position relative to the stars and take us to the nearest registered spaceport. That would have to be one of the ones on Arcadia 10, since we were almost there when we abandoned ship.”

Tiana sighed. She wondered how many members of her team had survived. Her thoughts went not just to Rita, but to Marcus and his children as well as several others. As the Project Manager she would need to take roll of the survivors and notify the next of kin of those who were lost.

“Arcadia 10 is a port of call for ships that travel this sector of space. Once I gather my team, we should be able to obtain passage on another ship and continue on to the Magellan Outpost.”

Tiana didn’t like the expression on Derek’s handsome face as he said slowly, “Well, it depends on which of the planet’s spaceports the pod lands at. Until you decided to make an honest man out of me, I had been planning on making my escape when we reached Arcadia 10, so I did a little research over the galactic-net and found that the planet is not unified into any kind of centralized government. There is one continent called Arivet, which is relatively civilized. That’s where starships usually refuel and conduct business. But for the most part, the planet is either primitive or a haven for pirates and outlaws.”

“Let’s hope we land on Arivet. I’m quite accustomed to modern-day comforts, you know,” she replied trying to hang on to her courage through humor.

Derek gave Tiana a reassuring smile. “And I, your humble husband, will do my best to make sure you have them.”

Husband. Your … husband. HER husband!
Her husband. She liked the way that sounded. There was comfort in those two words — for the next two years, of course.

“Are we supposed to stay buckled to our seats the whole time we’re in here?”

“I suppose. What else would we do?”

“Well, umm,” she began, nervously licking her lips.

* * * *

Tiana’s face went through a metamorphosis right before Derek’s eyes. Her mouth took on an impish smirk and he could have sworn he saw little flames inside those emerald-green eyes he had lost himself in so many times.

“We haven’t exactly consummated our marriage yet,” she finished.

What? Sex? Now? As we propel to goodness knows where in this tin can? I’m okay with that.

Derek let his actions answer her unverbalized question. He unbuckled his seat belt and allowed his body to float weightlessly off the chair. Tiana followed his lead as they floated into each other’s embrace.

“Husband, I want you naked, and I want you naked now.”

“Do your damage,” he replied as he floated vertically before her, hands by his sides, not moving a muscle. He’d let her remove his clothes any way she wanted and in any order she wanted. He was HER husband. To enjoy, play with, take pleasure in and give pleasure to, in any way she saw fit.

* * * *

First, she crawled down his body and removed both his shoes and socks. Tiana gently rubbed his feet and planted a feather-light kiss on top of each one. Allowing herself to float up along his body she stopped as she reached his eye level. The passion she saw in his eyes, the scorching heat she found in them, seared right through her and down to her passion spot. Maybe a couple of rolls while suspended in mid-air with Derek would get him out of her system.

Her hands trembled as they unfastened the first button on his shirt, exposing the very top of his chest. Why were her hands trembling? She had unbuttoned other men’s shirts before. Spreading the shirt collar, she gently blew across the light hairs upon his magnificent chest.
One down, however many more to go
. Undoing the next button in the same fashion, she lowered her mouth and planted little butterfly kisses all over the exposed portion of his chest. Goodness gracious. She hoped the trip to Arcadia 10 would be a long one.

Undoing button number three brought her gaze to the center of his muscular belly. The top of his ‘six-pack,’ as they called it. Why, she did not know. She wasn’t aware of anything in the galaxy that was bundled in packages of six.
Oh, well, who cares?
Lightly, she ran her index finger down his stomach muscles, watching each one tighten as it was individually touched. What a sight! And she was only just getting started. He had given her complete power over his body; his hard, solid, muscular body. Why? Why was he putting her pleasure first?

As the next button was unfastened she was greeted by Derek’s navel. Smothering it with soft, gentle little kisses, she ran her tongue around and in it. She could see his muscles doing funny things under her incessant siege as he strained for control.

One button left. Tiana started to undo it, but her trembling hands would not let her complete the job.
Oh hell!
Without giving it another thought she tugged at both sides of his shirt, ripping the button off and sending it tumbling through the air past her. Without undoing the buttons on his cuffs, she then, in one quick move, drew Derek’s shirt down past his shoulders and his muscle-sculpted arms to his wrists, where it kept his arms firmly in place behind his back. Entranced, she watched his stomach muscles contract and the bulge in his pants throb at her as the result of her action.

Tiana didn’t waste the moment. Releasing her grasp on the shirt, she quickly found his waist and allowed her hands to explore. As she moved her fingers up over the rippling muscles of his torso, her touch became more urgent. She not so gently scratched his chest as she tantalizingly brought her tongue down upon one nipple and then the other. Derek let out a deep moan, confirming how deeply under her spell he was.

“But there’s more,” she whispered.

Derek’s manhood was fighting and straining to break out of the confining pants. Noticing, she lowered her mouth to it, and without granting it the freedom it so desperately craved, she gently but firmly ran her teeth the full length of it.

“Tiana, you are driving me to the very edge of insanity. Please let me out.”

“How bad do you want me to let you out?”

“Real bad! Please!”

Slowly she undid the button at the waist of his pants. She wasn’t going to be rushed. Taking her fingers, she slid them over the top of his pants and beneath his underwear, caressing her way around his waist. She cupped Derek’s bottom, then raked her nails across his cheeks as she pulled her still trembling hands out.

Derek tried to free himself from his shirt but Tiana immediately stopped what she was doing and locked eyes with him.

“You may not touch me until I give you permission. If you free your hands I will stop what I’m doing and leave you high and dry.”

“You wouldn’t … ”

“I don’t suggest you try me.”

Tiana returned her attention to Derek’s pants or, more accurately, to what was straining to get out from them.

Carefully unzipping his pants to avoid damaging the goods, Tiana lowered Derek’s pants and underwear and hurled them past his legs.
Zero gravity was definitely underrated!
Once relieved of its covering, Derek’s cock sprang out, taking advantage of the freedom it had been granted. Tiana stared, fascinated with her new toy.

Pushing back a bit, she floated in front of Derek and reviewed her work thus far.

“Much better,” she commented as her eyes washed over Derek’s nude body.

Now it was her turn and she would make Derek watch and suffer as she stripped.

First thing to go were her shoes. Derek hungrily watched as Tiana, suspended before him, slipped off her sexy little sandals. Not that they had hidden much of her pretty little feet with her dainty little toes polished red, mind you. Stretching out, she rubbed Derek’s chest with one foot while she crooked her other leg behind his neck. Slowly she worked her way down to his cock, which looked like it had grown another inch, and then gently stroked it and caressed it with her talented toes.

Derek moaned in ecstasy as she tormented him in his defenseless state. He was allowing her control. Was he that aware of her needs? Did he realize that doing so was a critical step in gaining her trust?

Looking down her body, she realized the lack of gravity had allowed her short dress to hike up and over her waist, leaving her thong exposed to Derek’s gaze. It was beyond damp. She wanted this man so bad it hurt but she would be patient and make the most of their first time together as husband and wife.

“Derek, you made me soak my panties. What do you think I ought to do?”

“Take them off,” was the quick and succinct answer. “I want to see you. I want to see all of you.”

Floating before Derek, Tiana brought her knees up to her chest and managed to roll her overheated body onto her back, placing her womanhood at her husband’s eye level. She then slowly slipped her panties off, giving him an unobstructed view of how wet she was for him. Taking advantage of her weightless state, she then straightened her legs, while still bent at the knees, leaving her feet curled up underneath her bottom and spread her legs for her new husband’s benefit.

Derek’s lustful eyes were riveted to the apex of her body. Was he wondering what her next move would be? He looked entranced. Entranced by her. She could see the carnal desire written all over his face. Carnal desire for her and only her.

Tiana continued to relish the complete control she had over her new husband. His desire for her seemed to render him as putty in her hands. A small part of her wondered when he would wrest control from her and take his own pleasure.

Still holding the same position, she unzipped her skirt and removed it. Lastly, she removed the blouse, confirming Derek’s suspicion that she had not been wearing a bra.

Floating perpendicular to Derek, Tiana stretched out her legs, wrapping her feet and ankles around the back of Derek’s head, slowly pulling herself closer to him. It was time for him to service her.

Tiana felt a surge of anticipation as her sopping wet pussy achingly slowly approached its destination. Derek seemed to immediately understand what she wanted, no, what she demanded from him. As Tiana approached his mouth she could feel his hot breath on her wetness. For the first time in forever Tiana felt all woman and all feminine as raw sexuality took her over.

When her slick and swollen folds reached their destination, Tiana let out a loud gasp. She felt so beautiful and so incredibly sexy. Derek reached out with his tongue, finding her opening and took a taste.

Tiana arched her back and took in another gasp of air as his tongue expertly explored her body’s most private of places. She felt his tongue mimicking the motions of lovemaking that would soon bind them together. Taking his time, Derek savored her, exploring and sucking her nether folds with delight. The bittersweet sensations caused by her husband becoming intimately acquainted with her love canal, along with his purposeful avoidance of her clitoris, caused in Tiana a deep desperate ache for release. An ache that felt better than any pleasure she had ever had.