“Tell me how it feels…back there.”
His lips froze in place, and then he laughed. “You want to broaden your horizons a little, honey?”
She tipped her head so she could see his eyes. “I think so, yes.” He blinked. “You’re serious? Really?’
“Yeah.”
A slow, surprised smile crept across his face. “That would be fun, getting to do that with you.”
“I’ve never done it before.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, wait…wow.” He laughed. “We get to pop your cherry!”
“I suppose. You didn’t answer my question.”
“I mean, it’s fun.”
“Aaron doesn’t think so, apparently.” Ford froze, tension filling him. She wished she hadn’t mentioned it. After a long, hesitant pause, he said, “It’s not that. Again, it’s not my story to tell, sweetie.”
“When do I get the crew story?”
His smile returned, but it was sad. “After the crew dinner we’ll all come back here for one last night away from the ship, and we’ll let Aaron decide how he wants to tell it.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“We will tell you, though. There’s parts of it that are his alone to tell…or not.”
“But it’s tied in, isn’t it? That whole thing?” His sad eyes glistened. “Yeah,” he whispered. “It’s all tied in.” She wished she could take the words back as soon as she said them. “It has to do with Kelsey, right?” They’d told her plenty of stories about their exploits, but she’d never heard her name mentioned before, or anything about their time on the Wayfarer Margo.
When Emi spoke her name, Ford’s body tightened. “How did you know about her?”
His reaction told her all she needed. “All I know is she died. I looked up the crew records. I don’t know anything beyond that. The records were sealed.”
Ford’s eyes looked past her, nearly twenty years distant. “Yeah.
She died.” He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling.
She wanted to pull him from his pain, wishing she’d never said anything. “Tell me how you three guys met, at least.” She rested her palm over his heart, trying to will him to calm down. “That’s not classified, is it?” she snarked.
It worked. He rested his hand over hers and smiled. “No, smarty.
That’s not. We were in training and just sort of…fell in with each other. We worked well together, and we requested assignment to the same vessel after we were certified. Me and Caph, we were fine following Aaron around. He didn’t have aspirations to make admiral or anything, he just had a good head on his shoulders and we wanted to follow him.” Ford laughed. “He saved our asses so many times. I’m surprised he didn’t get sick of us. We knew he’d keep us alive, and he knew we’d back him up. It just sort of worked out for the three of us.” She rolled over on top of him, enjoying the feel of his hands sliding down her back and resting on her ass. “Back to what we were talking about.” She wiggled her hips against him. “Taking care of broadening my horizons.”
He immediately pulled out of his funk. “There’s part of me that wants to tell you to bend over right now. However…” He kissed her.
“Something that special, as much as the selfish part of me wants to have you all to myself, I’d like that to be a group event, if you don’t mind.”
He was so sweet. “I don’t mind.” She kissed him. “Do you think it would bother the others if I asked you to be the first?” Emi would kill for the broad, happy smile he bestowed on her. “I doubt it would, but can I ask how I managed to be the lucky one?” She’d watched the men together many nights, how gentle Ford always was. Not that the others weren’t, but so many times she noticed Ford put everyone else before himself. This was something she wanted him to have first, something special between them that he could always remember. “Because I do. Maybe that’s something else we can do after our crew dinner.”
Her hips were in just the right position to feel him rubbing between her legs, against her slick cleft. He grew stiff again. “Wow.
A cherry for dessert. What a sweet treat.”
She raised herself up just enough to slide him inside her. He rolled her onto her back. “You want one more, sweetheart?” Emi wrapped her arms around him. “I think you’ve worn me out.
Why don’t you come for me, baby.”
He dropped his head to her shoulder, taking his time, varying his strokes. “I promise you’ll love it,” he whispered against her neck.
“We’ll make you come so hard you’ll think your head’s going to explode.”
“Someone’s head’ll explode, at least.” He chuckled. “Your first time. Damn, that’s a sexy thought. I can’t wait to do that for you.” His breath came in shorter gasps. She knew he was close.
“Maybe…” She felt safe voicing this fantasy with him. “Maybe two of you can have me at the same time¯”
“Fuck!” He came, hard, crying out, his eyes squeezed shut. She held him as he collapsed on her, wrapping her legs around his so he couldn’t get away.
After he caught his breath he laughed and lifted his head to look into her eyes. “You mean it?”
“No promises. We’ll see how it goes.” He shook his head, smiling in wonder. “You’re amazing. It’s no surprise why we love you so much.”
Emi awoke with dawn peeking through the window, one of the few things she missed about life outside the ship. The window sims they’d installed did an okay job, but just weren’t the same, didn’t give the same brilliance, cast warm light on the floor or catch dust motes dancing in sunbeams the way sunlight did.
Ford’s mouth was latched onto one of her breasts, gently teasing her awake. “There you are,” he murmured. “I thought you were going to sleep all morning.”
“When will Caph be here?”
“Three hours.” He kissed her. “Just enough time for us to take a long bubble bath and have breakfast.” The deep tub was perfect for romance. It was another of the things she would miss while living on the ship. With water a precious resource, water showers were a luxury they would rarely partake in, and they had no bathtub.
Ford made slow, sweet love to her again, leaving her breathless.
After she made him come, they cuddled in the warm water for several long minutes.
He sighed. “Ah, my dream is about to end.”
“Not exactly. Remember what you get to look forward to.”
“Oh!” He grinned. “Damn, you’re right! Can’t get here soon enough.” He nuzzled her neck. “Do me a favor, please, babe,” he said, his voice soft and serious. “Don’t mention anything to Caph or Aaron about Kels, okay?” He hesitated, and she sensed he was trying to find the words. “We all loved her, and it tore us all up to lose her. But you know how different people handle that differently. You’ll hear the story soon enough, okay?”
“I understand. I won’t.”
He kissed her. “Thanks. You’re the best.” He drained the water from the tub. “Well, let’s go eat.”
“Any hints what Caph has in store?”
“I’m sworn to secrecy.”
Ford laid her out an outfit¯jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers. She felt underdressed next to Ford in the hotel restaurant, but he assured her it was fine. “Nope, this is what you wear today.” Caph arrived soon after they finished eating. He kissed her, then Ford. “You didn’t wear her out, did you?” he teased. He was also dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and sneakers. Whatever they were doing, they matched.