CHAPTER TWELVE
Jaime woke up somewhere close to morning, according to Dub’s helpful mental chronometer. He was able to extract himself from Rylan’s arms and the bunk to pee as quietly as he could into the hidden commode. But he couldn’t figure out a way back into the bunk without crawling on top of the other man, and Rylan looked to be deeply asleep. So Jaime climbed up into the top bunk, thinking to stretch out and sleep again for a bit. Instead he found among the rumpled sheets and lone pillow a copy of the first volume of The Luisa Lee Adventures. He grinned to think Rylan had taken it from the library on his recommendation, especially after he’d given Jaime grief over his tastes. Jaime propped himself up on the pillow and started reading.
Luisa was meeting her one-time rival, occasional lover, and eventual best friend, Tamar, for the very first time when he heard Rylan’s voice below. It sounded like he was calling for Jaime. He set the book down and stuck his head over the side of the bunk.
Rylan, however, wasn’t awake. He was thrashing slightly in the bed, eyes closed, face screwed up in distress. Jaime hastily climbed down the ladder to kneel beside the bed.
“Rylan.” Jaime reached and stroked the blond hair back from Rylan’s forehead. “Wake up.”
His wrist was suddenly caught in a hard grip. Blue eyes opened, but didn’t quite focus.
“Um, Rylan? It’s Jaime.”
“Thought I’d lost you.” His voice was broken-sounding in a way that pulled at Jaime’s heart.
“I’m right here.”
Rylan seemed to wake up more fully, taking in his right hand on Jaime’s wrist. “Fuck.” He immediately released Jaime. “Damn it. This is why we shouldn’t share a bed. I could’ve broken your arm.”
The skin on Jaime’s wrist had gone lighter-colored where Rylan’s fingers had gripped it, but it quickly went back to normal. “You didn’t,” Jaime said. “Anyway, I was out of the bunk when your nightmare started.” He smiled, trying to will away Rylan’s distress. “Maybe you missed me.”
Rylan rubbed furiously at his face. “It’s still dangerous.”
Jaime gave him a level stare. “I could have stopped you.”
For an instant Rylan’s right hand froze in mid-motion. He let Rylan have a moment to fight against Jaime’s control of the mechanisms in his arm, before releasing it entirely.
“Thought I was supposed to have all these fancy shields and mental overrides,” Rylan grumbled, but he looked somewhat reassured.
“You do, but you’re still half-asleep.” Jaime crawled back into the bunk and onto Rylan. “I get nightmares, too, you know, but I didn’t have any last night. I liked sleeping with you. I liked everything about being with you.” He straddled Rylan’s waist and sat up as much as he could without hitting his head on the bunk’s ceiling. “Did you?” he asked, feeling a little bit uncertain. Last night had been a whirlwind of emotions, to say the least, going from suspicion to sympathy to white-hot desire.
Rylan smiled. It wasn’t the sexy grins of last night, or the few sad smiles Jaime had seen him give before. He looked happy, and it opened up his strong face completely. “I did.” He stroked Jaime’s thighs. “I like you.”
He started to sit up, but Jaime pushed him back with an easy hand on his chest. “Shh. I didn’t get a good chance to look at you before.”
That dimple appeared in Rylan’s cheek. “You’ve been looking plenty around here and in the showers.”
Jaime felt himself blush a little. “Well, this time I’d like to look and touch.”
“By all means.” Rylan pillowed his head with his hands and left Jaime to it.
He wanted to take his time exploring Rylan’s body. It was a vast landscape of powerful muscles and golden skin. There didn’t seem to be any tan lines and Jaime couldn’t help but ask the question in his mind. Dub confirmed that Rylan generally walked around his quarters naked with the UV emitters on. He giggled silently before asking her to withdraw, though privacy wasn’t a concept the ship’s computer quite grasped.
There were a few faint marks on Rylan’s neck and chest left by Jaime and his eager teeth. Jaime brushed over them with soft fingertips, thumb pressing into a nipple, and felt Rylan’s breath hitch. Jaime ran his hands through the scatterings of golden hairs across Rylan’s chest, tugging lightly.
He bent his head to trace the lines of Rylan’s abdominal muscles with his tongue, swirling into his navel. Rylan shifted beneath him, moving his hands down to twine his fingers in Jaime’s hair. Jaime rested his chin on Rylan’s hard stomach and looked up at him. Rylan’s eyes were dark with desire, and he stared at Jaime like he was the most wondrous thing in the galaxy.
“Jaime.”
Jaime angled his head into Rylan’s touch, remembering how he’d pulled his hair last night. Jaime had loved the sharp sting of it, the feeling of Rylan taking charge, but he still had half of the other man’s body left to explore. And some of those parts Jaime really wanted to touch.
Jaime slid down further. Rylan’s cock was half-hard, surrounded by neatly trimmed darker hair. Jaime admired the girth of it and blew softly over his skin to watch Rylan twitch. But he moved his face to the side to lick at the crease of Rylan’s inner thigh instead.
Jaime was running out of bunk space, so he got Rylan to bend his legs, nuzzling into the silky hairs covering his muscular thighs. He couldn’t resist any longer and bit gently into one of Rylan’s taut calves.
“You do like to bite,” Rylan mused.
“Sorry,” Jaime said, looking up from between Rylan’s legs.
Rylan laughed. “Don’t be, I like you biting me. Like you leaving marks on me.”
“It’s just you’re hard to resist. I could eat you up.” He looked at Rylan’s cock, then back up, eyebrows raised.
“Finally.”
“Don’t worry. No biting there.”
Rylan shifted in the bed, stretching his arms. “I don’t know. Feeling some teeth every so often does keep things interesting.”
Jaime liked his thinking.
He spread Rylan’s legs a bit wider, nipping at his inner thighs, before turning all his attention to that now well-past-half-hard cock. He licked up the shaft, using one hand to grip the base, and swirled his tongue over the head. Looking up at Rylan through his eyelashes, he watched the other man shiver, his breathing deepening into a groan as Jaime sucked him into his mouth.
Jaime worked his head up and down, letting Rylan feel a hint of teeth on the upstrokes. He lavished attention on the rosy head of Rylan’s cock, tongue dancing on the underside and skimming over the slit.
He felt Rylan touch his hair again, but he didn’t pull, just ran strong fingers through it and caressed the side of Jaime’s face. Jaime used his other hand to cradle Rylan’s balls, feeling them begin to tighten. He sucked harder, eager to swallow more of Rylan down.
But Rylan moved his hands quickly to tug Jaime off, then pulled him up with easy strength. Jaime liked the sensation of his own hardened cock sliding along Rylan’s body, liked the deep kiss he received when their mouths met, but he was still surprised by the turn of events.
“Hey,” he said when he was able to pull back from the kiss. “I wasn’t finished with you yet.”
Beneath him, Jaime felt the rumble of Rylan’s deep voice through his chest. “I didn’t want to be finished. You’ve been doing too much of the work.”
Jaime’s reply of “I don’t mind,” got lost in Rylan’s mouth and the sudden reversal of their positions as Rylan flipped Jaime onto his back. He enjoyed the heavy and reassuring weight of Rylan’s body covering his for a long moment as they kissed. Then Rylan was moving again, sliding out of the bunk and onto his knees, pulling Jaime’s legs up onto his shoulders.
Jaime tried to buck up as Rylan’s hot mouth enveloped his cock, but Rylan held him down, his arm like iron across Jaime’s hips. Jaime struggled uselessly and delightedly against Rylan’s greater strength, and twisted and squirmed as the other man took him in deep.
He was single-minded in taking Jaime to the edge, and all too soon, Jaime felt his legs begin to tremble. “Rylan — I’m going to—”
There was a hard squeeze at the base of his cock. “Not yet,” Rylan said.
“Then fucking when?” Jaime whined.
Rylan grinned and swung Jaime’s legs off his shoulders. He got up and came back with the lube, sitting on the edge of the bunk. Jaime eagerly crawled into his lap to straddle him. Strong hands gripped Jaime’s ass, spreading the cheeks, and he bit down on Rylan’s shoulder as a slick finger entered him.
“That’s it,” Jaime hissed. “Give me more.”
“Be careful what you ask for.”
Jaime found himself being tipped backwards, head landing on the pillow Rylan tossed onto the floor. With it under his head and neck, Jaime looked up to see Rylan still sitting while holding onto his hips. Jaime was spread open before him and with great concentration, Rylan slid two fingers back inside. Jaime braced his hands on the floor as Rylan’s searching fingers found the spot inside him that caused him to cry out.
Rylan stood, holding Jaime upside down to ease his thick cock inside. The unexpected angle caused all sorts of nerve endings to fire deliciously, and Jaime keened loudly. Rylan began to thrust, while Jaime could only flop like a ragdoll under the tight grip and claw at the floor as his pleasure mounted.
Rylan bent him nearly in half, pressing more of Jaime’s body to the floor, following him down to kneel on one bent leg. Every thrust caused Jaime to moan, and each time Rylan drew back he clutched at his arms to try to pull him in. He couldn’t get enough.
Rylan moved in even closer, his arms caging Jaime in. Jaime looked up into Rylan’s face — jaw set as he controlled his thrusts, a sheen of sweat over his skin — and suddenly laughed.
“Sorry,” he gasped as Rylan’s eyebrows raised. “It’s just — ah, this is like your morning push-ups. You grunting and being all muscle-y on the floor.”
Rylan grinned. His body straightened, and Jaime realized he was now doing push-ups — into Jaime. “Best workout yet,” Rylan grunted.
Jaime laughed and moaned at the same time, and ended up coming out with a gasping little cry. After a few more push-ups, Rylan switched back to smoother, deeper movements and Jaime wrapped his legs around his waist. Feeling the friction of their two bellies against his aching cock, Jaime reached between them to tug on it.
“That’s it,” Rylan gasped, raising himself up. “Touch yourself. Let me see you come.”
With Rylan’s eyes on him and their bodies in perpetual motion, Jaime sped up his hand. His orgasm took him hard, whole body shaking as he erupted and Rylan pulled him close.
He was still catching his breath when Rylan groaned and twined his hands in Jaime’s, pressing them into the floor. His thrusts grew more faster and more erratic. Jaime felt almost too sensitive, but he needed more of Rylan, so he tightened his legs and pulled him in. They were so close together, bodies almost one, breathing synced, until finally Rylan broke, crying out wildly as he poured himself out deep inside Jaime.
For a long time, there was only gasping and muscles relaxing and the weight of Rylan against him. Jaime closed his eyes and felt like he was floating, but he realized that was Rylan lifting him up off the floor and carrying him back to the bunk.
“Good morning,” Jaime said smiling, eyes half-closed. “I never did get to say that.”
Rylan kissed his hand, tanned fingers interlacing with Jaime’s brown ones. “It is morning,” he said regretfully, “and I have duties to see to.”
Jaime frowned, tugging him back. “We’re in deep space, what is there to do?”
“Repairs, maintenance, all the things that keep us alive in space.”
“But like right now?”
“Duty,” Rylan said firmly. He stood up and went to the other side of the room. Jaime propped himself up on one elbow and watched the muscles of Rylan’s thighs and back as he opened the closet and went through his clothes. His enjoyment of the view ended when Rylan threw a shirt at his head.
“Showers first,” Rylan said, “then food. Oh, and the captain wants to see you — whenever he wakes up. He’s gonna make it official, you being on the crew.”
Jaime felt an unexpected warmth in his chest, but he ducked his head. “Do I get sworn in with a pirate handshake or something?”
Rylan crouched down next to the bed, lips in Jaime’s hair. “Told you — smugglers, not pirates.” He dropped his voice to a growl. “Now you planning on getting up from that bunk or do I have to drag you out?”
Jaime slid his arms around Rylan’s neck. “The second option, please.”
Rylan insisted on fixing him breakfast, even though it was only pouring protein flakes into a bowl. Jaime chewed them dreamily, pausing every so often to give Rylan a dopey smile. Even the BuzzyBrand coffee tasted good. Almost.
Rylan ate a lot more efficiently than Jaime, and he was soon getting up to clean his bowl, ruffling Jaime’s hair before he headed out the door. He greeted Kaz as she passed him on her way in. She mumbled something and went straight for the coffee.
Jaime kept working on his flakes, smiling a welcome as Kaz sat down opposite him, her tattoos moving sluggishly. She raised a dark eyebrow at him.
“Got laid, huh?” she asked without particular interest. “Simi was trying to start a betting pool as to when you two’d hook up.”
Jaime was forced to take a big swig of the awful coffee to avoid choking on the flakes. “Is it obvious?”
“Well, you’re all weird and happy. That, and Rylan’s got bite marks all over his neck.”
Jaime blushed a little, but shrugged it off. “He’s nice.”
“Is he? He’s big, dumb, and secretive, but he never struck me as anything close to nice.” She raised a hand as Jaime started to frown. “But I’m being an ass. I’m not used to being grateful, or anything else other than pissed off.” She raised gray eyes to Jaime’s, face serious. “You saved Dub from being fried. I owe you.”
“I’m part of the crew now, I guess. That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?”
“Yeah, it’s just that—” She stared down at the coffee mug in her hands. “I talk to her, too.”
“Who?”
“Dub. I’m not like you, but we talk. I know voice programs aren’t really done anymore, but I set one up. Just for the two of us.”
Despite himself Jaime felt a chill. Computers did speak when it was necessary, but it was all flat, mechanical and brief. Far from the humanlike conversations the AIs of the olden days had carried out — so much so that people had mistaken them for friends, ones they’d trusted with every part of their lives. That had all stopped with the Singularity’s announcing their existence and their intentions, over every system they controlled. They’d wanted humanity to know, before they started the killing, wanted them to understand it wasn’t a glitch or a virus, but a declaration of war.
After that, humans had lost their taste for hearing their computers’ voices.
Kaz looked back up at him, defiant. “Dub’s not just some machine. I know her.” Her tattoos sped up as a blush stained her cheeks. “I thought you of all people would understand.”
“No, Kaz. I do.” It went against all his training to feel fondness for an AI, but he could get it. It was impossible to talk to something — someone — and not feel empathy. He could also feel Dub herself, fluttering around the edges of his consciousness. “And now you’re worrying Dub. She’s monitoring your heart rate.”
Anyone else, outside of a sick bay, might have found that information disturbing, but Kaz smiled. “It’s okay, Dub. We’re good.” She looked at Jaime, expression growing wary. “Are we? You’re not going to tell anyone?”
“Yeah.” He offered his hand, and after a moment of consideration she shook it. “But if you want to talk more about this, we can. Whenever you want.”
She snorted. “I don’t need a fucking wizard therapist.” She hesitated, almost shy. “But maybe sometime you can help me talk to Dub? The voice interface is so clumsy, and I know she’s trying to tell me more, but she can’t — like when she wouldn’t fly.”
“Sure,” Jaime agreed, though he couldn’t imagine anything more awkward. Enough of his post-sex good mood remained, though, that he found it all kind of sweet. A pilot in love with her ship.
This crew was so weird. He liked it here.