Winter by Michelle Love (20)

“Good day,” I say as she ends the call.

Well, I’m not stopping there. I call her father to see what he knows about his daughter and her whereabouts and why she’s in court. “Ryker,” her father answers. “How’s it going, son?”

“Great here. How about with you, Johnny?”

“Fine, just fine. Did you get those soil samples back yet?” he asks me.

“Still waiting on them. I needed to make sure you emailed your banking information to payroll, so they can set up the direct deposit for you.”

“Yes, that was done already,” he says.

“How’s Gia?” pops out of my mouth.

“Good, I suppose. I haven’t talked to her since you guys left that day. I thought she was working with you, Ryker. You should know how she is.”

“I haven’t talked to her since that day, either. Do you know if they made it back to Russia?”

“Well, now that you’re saying something about it, no. You don’t think something’s happened, do you? A plane crash!” he says.

“No!” I stop his bad train of thought. “No, I talked to her assistant. She’s fine. Alive, no crashing. It’s just that I don’t know where she is.”

“Her assistant?” he asks. “Your company gave her one, or what?”

“Or what,” I tell him. “She must’ve gotten one on her own. I called to discuss some business with her and the lady who answered her phone said she was in court. And I suppose you don’t know anything about that, either.”

“No, not a thing.”

“Well, okay then. I guess I’ll have to call Damien. I need to set up the dates I’m going over there at the end of this month, anyway.”

“You do that. Let me know what’s going on with my baby girl. We’ve gotten used to not knowing anything or hearing from her for months at a time since she’s been with Damien. It sure was nice to get to see so much of her while she was in the U.S. this last month. Thanks for that, Ryker.”

“Yes, sir. You’re welcome. I’ll let you know what I find out. Bye.” I end the call and make the next one to Damien.

His cell rings and rings then goes to voicemail. So, I call his office phone. “Markov Global, Mr. Damien Markov’s office,” a secretary answers.

“Is Damien in?” I ask.

“Not today. He is out for the entire day. May I take a message?”

“Let him know, Ryker Crawford called to set up the dates for my visit at the end of the month.”

“You can give me that information,” she says.

Crap!

“I would but I needed to see what’s good for him,” I say, stalling to get to talk directly to him.

“All days are good for him,” she says. “So, give me your dates.”

Taking the calendar that’s in the top desk drawer, I pick the last three of the month and she sets me up but I still don’t know a thing about Gia. Hanging up the phone, I don’t have anything else I can do.

This is sure to drive me nuts!

GIA

My heels click along the marble floor as I make my way out of the court hearing. The sound of men’s shoes, coming up behind me, has me wanting to run but I maintain my steady gait.

“Gia, wait,” Damien says as he catches up to me. “You won the case against my company, and rightfully so but what does this mean for us?”

I stop and look at him with a stern expression. Then wait for my lawyer and the one for his company to pass us by before I say a word. “Tell me who, us, is?”

He points to me and then himself. “You and I.”

“Oh, I have to ask because you have two of us. Tell me what I mean to you, Damien.”

“You mean security to me the same way I mean that to you and your family.”

“I don’t mean the world to you, do I?” I ask as he looks at me with confusion riddling his handsome face.

“I don’t know what you mean. I need you and you need me.”

“Not anymore, I don’t. Not since I’ll be getting what’s fair for my invention that I sold much too cheaply to your company. I’m about to be a very wealthy woman, and I’ve done that entirely on my own. No help from a soul. So, please tell me what it is you and I have.”

“I need you,” he says then looks down. “It’s me who needs you to portray my girlfriend. You know that. So, I am asking you, will you still be doing that for me and.” He stops and looks around to make sure no one is around us. “My son, needs you too, Gia. Don’t forget about him. He needs this more than I do.”

“That’s supposed to pull at my heartstrings, isn’t it?” I ask him as I smile. “It’s not accomplishing what you intended it to. Sorry, Damien. That deal is off. No hard feelings, I hope. I’m sure you can find another woman to fill my role in what’s left of your life, here on Earth. Mars will mean different things for you. And I wish you and yours, the best. My assistant will be helping me pack my things later this evening. I will be staying until I’ve made arrangements back in the states. My assistant is also going to be staying too. I’ve made arrangements with your mother about that already.”

“And you think I’m going to allow that?” he asks me as he pulls himself to stand up straight and tall.

“I know you will, Damien.” I offer him another smile and walk away from him. “See you at dinner.”

He hurries to catch up to me. “And you told my mother what?”

“That you and I are parting on amicable terms.” I stop and face him. “She told me she was glad to hear that. Want to know why?”

He looks at me with his mouth hanging slightly open. “Why?”

“Because I looked sad all the time. She told me I looked happy for the first time in three years. What do you think about that?”

“Are you blaming me?” he asks as he looks a bit shocked.

“I could,” I say then smile at him. “But I’m not. I’m the one who lost her voice, her spirit, her pride. You didn’t take it, I misplaced it. But I’ve found it and I’m not about to let it get away from me again.”

I take off again and find him right next to me. “Gia, I don’t want us to end. I really don’t.”

“I’m sure you don’t. In my opinion, there is no, us. There never has been. You see, you both have to be invested to call yourselves something that contained. Us, means you think of yourselves as a whole being. You and I both know we’re not nearly that close.”

“You and Ryker are, though?” he asks. “That’s what you’re saying.”

I stop and see his eyes are narrow and he looks like he’s caught me cheating. “No, we are not an ‘us’, either. I don’t know if we ever will be. I love that man, though. I do. If it weren’t for him and his incessant pushing, I’d have left the real Gia Flynn right where she was shoved when I made plans with you and shoved her into a closet and locked her away. I almost forgot where I’d put her.”

“You will be with him, though. Won’t you?” he asks me and I can’t stand to leave him wondering.

But I have to. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. And I’m not sure you need to know anything else about me. Your world is elsewhere, leave me out of your head. It shouldn’t be very hard. You did it most of the time anyway.”

We both get into the company car and I take the place across from him. He looks me over and says, “Confidence is sexy on you, Gia. What do you say you let me come into your bedroom until you leave me?”

I lean forward, making sure my cleavage is revealed. “No.” Then I sit back and smile to myself about how good it feels to say what I mean and mean what I say.

RYKER

My eyes fly open as my cell makes a dinging noise that tells me I have a text message and I roll over to pick it up off my bedside table. I have to rub my eyes to get them to focus and see a text has come in from Gia.

I hurry to open it and read it.

-I know it’s late, so I didn’t want to call and wake you. Things are great with me. I will be seeing you the first week of next month. I’m making huge changes and I have you to thank for helping me find myself again. I love you to the moon and back!-

I call her since I know she’s available to talk and sigh as I hear her sweet voice say, “Ryker, I woke you up anyway, didn’t I? Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ve been wanting to hear your voice. So, you’re doing great?”

“Better than great. I’ve turned over a new leaf and no one will ever be taking advantage of me again. I’ll tell you all about it when I come for my monthly visit. I’ve added in a couple of more clients that I’ll be consulting for. Don’t worry, boss, they aren’t in the space industry. I won’t be sharing our secrets with them.”

“You’ve certainly been busy in the last two weeks, Gia,” I say as I am more than surprised.

“I really have. But not to worry. You’re my number one client.”

“Am I your number one guy?” I ask as I can hear the strength in her voice and I know that might mean she needs time away from men.

“If you want to be,” she says. “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I’ll be right there under your wing. I’m going to be doing what I need to do to fulfill myself. That means I’m jumping headlong into a career where I can use the information I’ve collected in my life to make a difference in this world and in your company’s case, other worlds too.”

“I want to be your number one guy and you can be my number one girl if you want to. Because I love the way you’re thinking, baby. Do you need any help? I mean, I know I told you to do it all on your own but if you need help, I am here for you.”

“That’s really nice of you to offer. I know I can count on you for anything. I’ve got it handled, though. I’ve gotten my shit together. With the help of a lawyer, I renegotiated the sale I made to Markov Global. Let’s just say, I’m catching up to you very quickly, financially.”

“Wow,” I say, more than a bit stunned. “I’m glad to hear you’ve righted that wrong. So, money isn’t a worry for you any longer?”

“No, it’s not. And I’ve moved the burden of my family off my shoulders as well. They all have ample opportunities with Apollo Engineering and it will be up to them to make that work for them or not. I’m not going to sell my soul for them any longer. If they realized I was giving up myself for their financial security, they’d tell me to stop, I’m sure.”

“I am too. They really do love you, baby. I can’t wait to see you again. I miss you in a way I didn’t know was possible. And I’m proud of you in a way I never knew was possible too.”

“Thank you. I’m pretty damn proud of myself too.”

Her voice is so confident and strong, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a couple of weeks that’s made such a change in her. “I’m going to get some rest now. I can finally sleep well, now that I know you are more than okay.”

“Ryker, I guess I could use your help,” she says.

“Anything.”

“Do you think you could find me a place to rent in Orlando? I’ll want a home there since I’ll be spending at least two weeks of each month there. I’ve already found a flat in London for the other two weeks I’ll need to be there every month.”

“Why rent when you can stay with me?” I ask her and kind of hate the laugh she gives me in return. “Is that a, no?”

“I’m not ready to move in with you. So, if you could send me some ideas about what’s available there, that would be great.”

“Price range?” I ask her.

“I want something upscale and cutting edge, price isn’t an issue,” she tells me and I am again surprised.

“Did you really gain that much wealth, Gia?”

“I did, Ryker. So, make sure you find something very nice. I’ll be having clients over at times. I want something that says I’m cutting edge and successful.”

“Can do, Gia. Anything else you might need?”

“I could hear you tell me that you still love me.”

“I love you, Gia.”

“I love you too, Ryker. See you in a couple of weeks. Bye.”

“Bye, baby.” I end the call and feel a million times better than I have since she left.

She sounds like an entirely different woman. I wonder if this means she might join me on Mars.

GIA

The funny thing is, I was more than a little worried about facing Ryker again after making my miraculous transformation. I came in from Russia and took a cab right over to Apollo Engineering with my assistant, Viola. She’s thirty, a perfectionist, and professional at all times. She’s also a lesbian who lives with her life partner in Vermont, when she’s not traveling with me, that is.

“After this initial meeting with the team I’m working with at Apollo, you can go back to Vermont for the remainder of this month. You can do everything I’ll need you to via the internet and phone,” I tell her as the cab stops at the front entrance to the massive building that is Apollo Engineering headquarters.

“Lois will be pleased to hear that,” Viola tells me with a stoic face. Her dirty blonde hair is pulled back into a very tight bun and her gray pantsuit is impeccably pressed. Her ever-present clipboard is in her hand as we slip out of the cab.

“I’m sure Mr. Crawford will allow you to take the company jet back home,” I tell her as we walk to the elevator bank in the main lobby.

“Baby!” I hear coming from the left of us. I turn to find Ryker with his arms outstretched and I find myself frozen.

“Oh, my God, he’s even more gorgeous than I recalled.” I move in slow motion as he hurries to me and find myself enveloped in his strong arms and warm embrace and I would love it if I never had to leave it. “Ryker, I’ve missed you.”

“You better have!” he says then he gives me only a quick kiss. He looks into my eyes and his twinkle with excitement. “I’ll give you a better kiss when we don’t have so many people staring at us.”

I cut my eyes to either side of us and see that we do, indeed, have many onlookers. “I’m going to hold you to that, Ryker.”

He smiles and lets go of only one side of me, keeping me locked tight to him with his right arm as we walk back to Viola who is busily ignoring us and tapping something into her cell. “And you must be Viola,” he says as he lets me go to shake her hand.

“I am, Mr. Crawford. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“And you as well. You are certainly extremely capable. I think Miss Flynn has made a wonderful choice in making you her right hand,” he says as he gestures to the elevator that’s just arrived. “Please step inside and I will take you where the others are waiting.”

He chats away with her, telling her all about the things he thinks I’ll do for his company and the venture to Mars. I can’t speak as I breathe him in and relish the citrusy, musky scent that’s coming off him. If we were alone in the elevator, I’d have myself wrapped around him right now.

My blood is boiling and I have no idea how long I can wait to really let myself go with the man. When we get off the elevator, he takes us to another area that I’ve never been too and we go into a lab to find my partners Sandra and Tabitha in lab coats and both are glad to see me.

“Gia, finally!” Sandra calls out as we come inside. “How we’ve needed more than your phone calls. I hope you’re ready to work your ass off for the next week.”

“I will leave you all to your work,” Ryker says then gives me a gentle squeeze before releasing me entirely. “And you and I will be eating lunch together. I’ll be back to get you at noon.”

I smile and nod then remember what I wanted to ask him. “Ryker, do you think you could have the company jet take Viola to Vermont? I’m releasing her for the remainder of this month, to work from home. I need her for only a couple of hours then she can go if you have the plane available.”

“I do and I’ll get that set up right away. I’ll come back in when I have it all set up and I’ll have one of our cars take her to the airport and see her to our jet.” He looks at me with a certain depth to his gaze. “It gives me another chance to stop in and look at you, anyway.” With a kiss to my cheek, he turns and leaves and I’m left breathless, with a foggy brain.

“I wonder just how long it will take,” Tabitha says.

I shake my head to rid the cobwebs that have taken it over. “How long what will take?”

“For you two to make it official,” she says then all of them giggle and I look at them with what is sure to be a dumbfounded expression.

“I’m going to take at least a year to be myself,” I let them all know and find them laughing openly. “I am! Now, let’s get to work. My time is money, you know!”

We get down to business, the laughing done away with and the importance of the project taking our complete attention. Until he comes back in to get Viola.

“Hey,” he says with a deep, brusque voice that comes from near my ear. “You all were in such deep conversation, none of you seemed to have noticed that I came in.” His hand barely touches the small of my back and I find my body is going loose and my mind is too.

“Huh?” I ask as I turn to look at him. His hand trails over me as I move and he leaves it, resting on my hip.

His smile is cocky and he looks like a man who knows he has me right where he wants me. “I’m here to take Viola down to the car that’s waiting to take her to the jet. And then, in an hour, I’m coming back for you, Miss Flynn. So, get to a stopping point by then. K?”

“K,” I say and sigh. I didn’t mean to sigh, it just came out.

Giggles start up again but at least they’re quiet ones that Ryker doesn’t seem to notice. “K.” He turns away from me and gestures for my assistant to go with him. “This way, Viola.”

“Call or send me an email,” I tell her. “I want to know when you’ve made it home safe and sound.”

“Will do, ma’am,” she says and gives me a little salute.

“Viola, what have I told you about that?” I ask her.

“Sorry, ma’am,” she says and puts her hand down. “Left over from my military days. I’ll stop doing it someday.”

“I hope so,” I say and turn back to my work. “Bye now.”

“Goodbye,” she says and leaves the room with Ryker just behind her.

He turns back and I can feel his eyes on me and turn back to see he is looking at me. “One hour, Miss Flynn. Not one minute longer.”

I give him a nod. “I won’t keep you waiting.”

The women erupt into giggles again and I find my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Oh, you have it bad,” Sandra whispers, so Ryker doesn’t hear her.

I look up at her and ask, “Does it show that badly?”

They both nod and I know I’m going to have to fight myself where Ryker Crawford is concerned.

RYKER

Pushing open the lab room door, I announce, “Lunch!”

Gia spins around with a giant smile on her beautiful face and comes straight to me, ditching the lab coat along the way. “I’m starving.”

“Take a two-hour lunch, girls,” I tell the others and they nod at me.

I can’t help but run my arm around Gia’s waist as she gets to me. Taking in a deep breath, I inhale her essence. She smells like love and sunshine and I don’t know if I can ever get enough of that scent.

It feels as if I’m walking on air as I lead her back to my office. “Did you forget something?” she asks me as we head in the wrong direction from the exit.

“No, I made us a picnic,” I tell her and open my office door.

A red and white checkered blanket is lying on the floor. A wooden picnic basket is sitting on one corner. A bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses are next to it. I have soft music playing on a speaker that my cell phone is playing songs I picked just for this lunch.

I dim the lights a bit before I close and lock the door. Her eyes are wide as she looks at the pristine scene. “Ryker, this is lovely.”

I can’t wait any longer and push her long hair to one side and press my lips to the side of her neck as I run both arms around her and pull her back to me. “Nowhere nearly as lovely as you are, Gia. I have missed you more than I knew was humanly possible. It was made worse by knowing you were merely a few doors away from me but I had to give you time to work.”

I turn her around in my arms and look at her. Trailing my finger over her plump, pink lips, I sigh as I have missed seeing her face. “Ryker?” she asks as she draws my attention from those luscious lips to her sparkling eyes. “You do realize I have to be true to myself, don’t you?”

“Whatever that entails,” I say. “I have to tell you how much more I feel for you, now that you’ve made such huge strides. I’m not about to get in your way. I only wish to be at your side.”

She blinks a few times then says, “That’s beautiful.”

“You are,” I say then I can’t wait one more moment and I kiss her.

My mind goes to another place as her kiss takes me away. Her touch does something to me no one else has ever done before. She tastes like mint as we exchange hellos with our tongues.

And just as I’m about to do something vulgar, like grind my blossoming manhood into her, I stop my kiss and rest my forehead to hers. Our breaths mingle as the kiss went deeper than I believe either of us knew it would. “It’s been some time since I’ve felt this way,” she says, quietly. “You won’t make it easy for me to live life as a single woman, will you?”

“I don’t consider you a single woman, even now,” I say and pull her along with me to the little picnic. “I’m not trying to be a Neanderthal but I’d kill any man who even thinks about hitting on you. Just so you know.”

“Oh, thank you for letting me know that,” she says with a giggle. “And may I ask if you have been out with anyone since I’ve been gone?”

“I have not.” I help her to take a seat on the floor and join her on the blanket. “You see, you have stolen my heart. Taken my attention, completely. I see no reason to even look twice at anyone else. My heart is set on you, my one and only.”

“And my being in Orlando only two weeks out of each month isn’t a thing that detours your feelings?” she asks me.

“Why would it?” I ask her as it makes no difference.

“I won’t be at your side all the time,” she says.

I open the basket that I had a local restaurant deliver and find the cream cheese and salmon appetizers I ordered and place the small tray on the blanket. Taking one, I put it to her lips. “Gia, I don’t need you right at my side all the time. I do want you and I to have a serious relationship, though. I want us to be exclusive. But I also want you to use that brilliant mind you have. And I know you have to go to other places to do that.”

Her eyes go dark as she looks into mine and takes the bite of food I’ve offered her. She gazes at me as she chews then swallows. “I know you’re going to leave me to go to Mars.” I open my mouth to argue but she places her finger to my lips. “Ryker, it’s okay.” Her lips quirk into a crooked smile. “I want to be with you. I want to have you in my life while I can. And the fact you want me to use my mind just makes things even better.”

“You are surprising, Gia. I don’t know exactly what clicked in you but I’m damn glad it did. You radiate confidence and I can’t explain to you exactly how sexy I find you now. I also can’t stop myself from being forward with you. I want you. I want to make love to you. I want that so damn bad, it’s almost all I’ve thought of.”

“Honesty, huh?” she asks then leans in close. Her lips move softly over my neck all the way up to my ear. “I want that too.”

“Forget lunch,” I growl as I grab her and push her to lie back on the blanket.

Our mouths collide as I unbutton her clothes as she does mine. Our shirts are off and lying where ever they were thrown as our kiss grows more intense. I planned on taking my time but things are progressing all on their own. Our bodies are making the decisions and every single one of them are right.

My hands grab her tits as her chest heaves with each breath. I knew they’d feel perfect in my hands. Her hands fumble with the button on my pants until she frees me, sending them into my pants along my hips to get rid of them for me. I do the same for her with her pencil skirt. Her body arches up as I unzip the back of it and shimmy it off her.

I groan as one of her hands moves into my underwear and grasps my rock-hard cock. She moves it up and down the length and moans. Our mouths part as I have to rid us both of what’s left of our clothes.

Our eyes stay glued on the others. Our breathing is hard and our bodies shimmer with sweat. “I have a shower in the connecting bathroom. You don’t have to worry,” I tell her as I pull her panties off then kiss her in a way I’ve only dreamt of.

“Ryker!” she yelps then her hands move into my hair, tangling up in it as I kiss her, intimately.

Her hips gyrate, as I take her with my mouth. Her moans never stop, they only increase until she’s wrapping her legs around me as she can only groan with her release.

I can’t possibly wait another second and move my body up hers until I find myself buried in her hot, tight, wet tunnel. I groan with the first stroke, “Baby, my God! You feel like Heaven!”

Her arms wrap around me as she coos, “You feel like home.”

I’ve never experienced such intense emotions before and when a single tear falls from my eye and lands on her cheek, I know, without a single doubt, she is the one who was meant for me.

And I have no clue how I’ll be able to leave her when things are ready to go to Mars!

GIA

The wait was worth it!

I’ve never felt as much as I feel with Ryker. Our bodies seem to be going on their own. I move without thinking about it. Arching when he tries to leave me, he holds me down to make smooth and deft strokes that send me to new heights of pleasure.

Our eyes hold the others as we make love. It’s as if we’re speaking to one another, using no words. I don’t doubt that he cares for me. I also don’t doubt that I care more for him than I even realized. I’d kill for this man!

When the first quivers of pure bliss run through my body, I shudder as I don’t want this to end. But I can’t hold back the torrent of desire, lust, and love, that’s a tangle of emotion that’s just as tangled as our bodies are.

My release has him gasping for air as he tries hard to hold back, to make it last. He too loses his battle and we end up in a spent heap. Our breathing echoes off his office walls. Our combined sweat fills my nostrils, making me feel animal-like.

“I love you,” he whispers in my ear as he kisses down my neck. “I love you more than I knew I was capable of loving.”

My hands move over his back as I hold him tight. “Me too. I can’t even explain this. I think love is too subtle a word. I adore you.”

He pulls back to look at me as he brushes the hair off my face. “And I, you.” His lips barely touch mine, with the tiniest of pecks. “I’m so damn glad I found you. My missing half.”

I feel exactly the same way. How could I have thought I could wait years to feel this?

I was a fool. I have no idea where my head was for the last three years. I just know I want this man for as long as I’m allowed to have him. However long or short that is.

But I pray it’s a long time!

“Gia, I need you to make me one promise,” he says as he looks intensely into my eyes.

“Ryker, please don’t ask too much out of me. I’m really stretching myself as it is.”

His smile is sweet as he says, “I know that. I only want you to promise me that you’ll never lose yourself again.”

With a laugh, I say, “Not to worry. I will be holding on strong to the woman I’ve found again. And I think I love you even more for wanting me to stay strong and independent.”

“But always know, you can have your weak moments with me and I’ll never take advantage of you when they happen. We all have them, you know. It’s just making sure we’re not around the wrong people when it happens that’s the key.”

Moving my hand over his cheek, I find myself lost in his eyes. “Thank you, Ryker. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”

His lips touch mine and our bodies ignite all over again. I hope this is a sign of things to come. Things like lying in bed all day on the weekends, just enjoying being with one another. Not doing a damn thing but this.

I can see a happy future with this man. And I am happy, even though I know that one day it will end when he leaves me to go to Mars. But for now, he’s mine and he’s here with me. I can’t ask for any more than that.

RYKER

As the rain makes the tin roof of the shed we’re standing under sing, I hold Gia’s hand as the rocket lifts off the ground and heads up into the sky. It’s the third test of using the new rocket boosters with the weight the actual ship will weigh.

A year has flown by and we’re getting closer with each passing month. Gia and I, along with about a hundred others on my staff, turn to watch the large board with the statistics on it that’s telling us the speed and altitude of the weighted down rockets.

The first two attempts had the rockets giving out before leaving the Earth’s gravitational pull. With some major tweaking, we are hoping we’ve finally got it right.

Gia’s hand grips mine as the numbers climb to near where the first test ended when the rocket started to fall back to land in the Atlantic Ocean. She breathes a sigh of relief as it passes that mark and keeps going at full speed. “No loss of speed yet,” she says.

I give her a sideways glance to let her know not to say another word, lest she jinx it. I’m not normally a superstitious man but I’m on pins and needles here and grasping at anything. “Be careful, Gia.”

She nods, knowing how I feel about things and keeps her eyes on the board. The mark where the second test failed comes up and the thing is still moving on. Three minutes later it’s reached the outer atmosphere and the rockets go out as there’s no need for them any longer. Gravity is no longer pulling at the cylinder they took up.

Cheers ring out and Gia jumps into my arms. I feel the wetness of her tears as she cries with what I hope is joy at the fantastic step we’ve taken. When she pulls her head away from my neck, I see the tears streaming down her pink cheeks and kiss her. “It’s going to be okay, baby. We’re still a few years away from being ready to go.”

“I know, I do. It’s just that it brought it all home, that’s all. I’ll stop crying. I will.” She buries her face in my chest as her feet touch the ground.

Everyone’s so excited no one notices how she’s reacting to what all consider great news. I pull a handkerchief out of my pocket and give it to her. Discreetly, she wipes away her tears and blows her nose.

She’s yet to change her mind about going to Mars and I’ve yet to change mine. We both know this thing we have will only last so long but it doesn’t do a thing to help either of us deal well with that fact.

Once I’m sure she’s alright, I take her by the hand and lead her to the control tower to make the announcement to the waiting media about how well the test went. “You don’t have to say a word, Gia. Just stay by my side while I answer the reporter’s questions. Okay?”

“Okay,” she says. “I’m sorry for crying.”

“Don’t be.” I run my arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze. “It shows me just how much you love me.”

She nods and looks down. “It shows me that too.”

As soon as we enter the tower, the questions are fired at me. “Mr. Crawford, do you think with the success of this test that you’ve moved the send-off date any closer?” a small woman with black-rimmed glasses and a large microphone asks me.

“I have no idea about that yet,” I answer her, truthfully. I have no idea what other problems we will encounter after all.

“Aren’t you Gia Flynn?” one of the male reporters asks Gia as she holds tight to my hand.

She looks at me with surprise and I answer for her, “This is Gia Flynn. Do you have a question for her?”

“I do as a matter of fact,” he says then looks at her. “Miss Flynn, it’s been published recently that you have worked not only on the fuel for the missions but also supplements to sustain life in both the human travelers and the animals as well. My question to you is, how are they to maintain nourishment while on the planet? And will they be able to manufacture more of the supplements when they get to Mars?”

“I’m working with a team on that. You see, we will be sending drone-operated cargo ships to the planet at three-month intervals. More supplements will be sent with each shipment. I’m going to stay here, on Earth and continue to work on developing things to help the pioneers make a life on the planet. And all of our new inventions will be sent out to them.”

His eyes move to me and he asks, “Mr. Crawford, it’s long been known that you will be on the first mission to leave for Mars. It’s also been obvious that you and Miss Flynn have a strong relationship. Have you changed your mind about going to Mars with Miss Flynn staying here?”

I look at Gia and find her looking down with a sad expression on her pretty face. I hate to see it. “I’m still going to Mars.” And her expression only looks sadder. “Miss Flynn and I have discussed things. And we prefer to keep our personal lives out of the news.”

More questions come and I answer them as I notice Gia’s hand go loose in mine. She inches away from my side until suddenly, she’s no longer there and I’m looking around to see where she’s gone.

“Mr. Crawford, is it true that Markov Global is using these rocket boosters too?” a tall lady asks me.

“They are. We shared our technology with them so they would manufacture the rockets for free. I expect them to be near the same timeline as our company is. And that’s all the questions for today. The next thing we’re working on is the actual ship. A test will be done when that’s accomplished and then we’ll be getting ready for the actual trip to Mars. Thank you all for coming today.” I leave the tower and find Gia sitting on a bench, alone.

She’s soaking wet as she’s sitting in the pouring rain. I go to her and lift her up, then take her to the car and find she’s in the poorest of moods. “Baby, there are still years before I leave.”

“But you will leave,” she says as rain water drips off her and onto the leather seat. “I think I’ve been like an ostrich with its head in the sand this last year. I haven’t let myself think about you leaving at all. And now it’s obvious to me that you will leave me. You will leave me alone here and I don’t know how I’m going to take it. I’m taking the thought of it very badly.”

“You could always come too. There are others who can do what you do here on Earth. You could start training people to take over. You should do that. You should teach others, so you can come with me.”

When she looks up at me, I see how red-rimmed her eyes are and it physically hurts me. “I don’t want to go. I don’t have that pioneer spirit a person needs to do well there. I think I’d go insane in a place like that. I’m not exactly spoiled rotten to the basic things like running water and electricity, but I am spoiled to things like technologies and access to information. And I do know that I’d be more help from here.”

I know she’s right too. That’s what makes this so damn hard. She’s always on the internet, searching things. She has a mind that works almost constantly. And I know she will be more help here than there. We just have different paths and that’s hard to take.

“Can we put this conversation to rest?” I ask her as I take her hand away from smoothing out her soaking wet skirt and hold it. “It really isn’t a thing we should be talking about just yet. We still have years to go. And who knows what will happen in that amount of time?”

“Ryker, should we end this?” she asks as she looks at me with confusion riddling her pretty face.

“You know it’s going to hurt me to leave you behind too,” I tell her as the driver takes us back home to Sebastien. I just recently talked her into moving in with me and letting the rental in Orlando go. She’s only been living with me for the last two weeks and now she wants to end it!

“I know that. That’s why I think we both might be better off ending it now. Before we fall even more in love with each other.”

“I don’t want that. Why should we hurt ourselves like that?” I ask her as I take her face in my hands. “Anything can happen. Neither of us knows for certain what the future holds. I know this, though. I love you now and I always will. I don’t want to live my life without you, not ever. I’m positive about that, when the time comes, both of us will know without any uncertainty what the right thing to do will be. Please don’t talk about ending what we have, baby. That would kill me, I’m pretty sure.” I leave a kiss on her cheek and she finally smiles.

“Me too,” she says then wraps her arms around me. “I know it is years away. I’m being foolish. I’ll stop. We have each other now. That’s what really matters.”

“It is what matters.” My cell rings and we both look at it as I let her go to pull it out of my pocket. “Damien.”

She sighs and goes to look out the window. “Tell him I said hello.”

I chuckle at her sarcasm then answer his call. “I just heard the news,” he says before I can say a word.

“That traveled fast,” I say in surprise.

“I pay one of the reporters to send me information immediately. You will be sending a complete report to Markov Global, won’t you? It is part of our agreement.”

“I will. It could take a week or more to get all the data but you’ll get your report,” I tell him.

“I saw a picture of you and Gia during the press conference. She looked terrible. How’s she doing with this?” he asks and something inside of me spikes. I hate it when he asks about her!

“She’ll be fine. It just brought things home to her,” I say as I reach out for her and pull her to my side again.

“Being with you has done nothing more for her than when she was with me. She will lose you too. In the end,” he says and she overhears him as she’s so close to me and looks up at me.

“He’s wrong. Being with you has made my life into something I didn’t know it could be. I’m thankful for you, Ryker. I’m thankful for every moment I get to have with you. And I’m sorry for saying anything stupid about ending it before we have to. I love you.” She kisses my cheek and I know things will work, somehow. They have to!

“I’ll get that report to you as soon as I can, Damien,” I say then end the call, so I can pay attention to the most special person in the world to me. “I’m thankful for you too, baby.”

Her hands flow over my shoulders to hold me tightly. “Ryker, tell me one thing.”

“Anything,” I say as we look deep into each other’s eyes.

“Tell me that you’ll never forget me and what we shared while we had the chance.”

“How could I ever forget this?” I ask her then kiss the tip of her nose.

“I can see it happening. I can see you getting to Mars and being excited about that. I can see you finding a woman to be with and making a family with, there. I can see time going on and you moving on. I can see it all and it’s like a burr underneath my skin. It pricks at me at times like these. I just need to believe that you will always keep me with you in your heart. And in the end, when we both leave our worlds, maybe we can meet in the place all souls go to when our lives are over.”

Her words are making my heart ache. I can’t even think about making a family with anyone but her. Yet I know we’ll never have that. Not when I’m leaving. I’d never leave a family here. One of the reasons I find it so easy to say I’ll go to Mars is because I have no close family left in this world. But suddenly I’m seeing that I might.

Gia is as close as any family I’ve ever had. Falling in love with her just may have been a terrible mistake, taking me away from what has been my goal since I found out it might be possible to go to Mars during my lifetime.

“Gia, I don’t think it’s possible to forget a love this strong. And you’ve brought up some other things that don’t seem possible to me. Our relationship has spun things in a direction I didn’t see coming.”

“I know that. I can see it in your eyes. You will have trouble leaving me,” she says then looks down. “Like I said, if you think we should end this…”

I stop her with a kiss then end it and say, “I think we might think about ending what we currently have.”

Her body sags as she leans against me. “I thought as much.”

With a chuckle, I add, “Not in the way you’re thinking. In the way of making this more permanent. I want to start a training program for those going to Mars. Set up a desolate spot where we will have to learn how to adapt and live in an environment like the one on Mars. And you could be right there with me, learning how to acclimate yourself to it as well. I think if you knew more about what to expect, you’d find a sense of adventure and join me.”

Her head shakes but I see a little light in her eyes as she makes the gesture. “That’s crazy.”

“Is it?” I ask. “Or is it genius? I’m going with the latter. Come on, Gia! Think about it. We can set up something that will really be of help. And you’ve always said you want to help the people who go to Mars. Well, how can you really be all that much help if you lack the basic understanding of how life there will be? And your expertise in doing research will be invaluable to this project.”

Her eyes dart back and forth as her mind is sparked about what I’m saying. “I think there definitely needs to be a training program.”

“And I think you’d be perfect to help me and some others set it all up. And I think you just might find that you might like to go with me.” I hold her tight as I can see it there inside of her. She might find it not as bad as she thinks it will be.

“Sandra and Tabitha would love to help,” she says. “We could effectively test the supplements too. Even on the animals! Ryker, now you do have me excited. I don’t think it will make me want to go to Mars but I am excited about working on this project and experiencing it all. I’m in, baby!”

“Yes!” I say then kiss her again to seal our deal.

I just might make a Martian out of this woman yet!

Part 7 - The Liberation

GIA

Red-orange light filters into the dome, making a pretend Martian daytime for the test site. Ten acres have been stripped of anything but dirt. A dome made out of reddish polymers was constructed to cover the area. We arrived yesterday with nothing more than one backpack each, filled with essentials. And the other things that each pod can hold. Which isn’t a lot.

I watch Ryker, as he’s in his element. Sheer joy is the expression on his handsome face. The men are overseeing the building of the tent system. It’s large and each couple or individual has separated, private rooms. A huge tent with a bunch of smaller tents inside of it, essentially.

There are fifty people, all scientists or engineers, who signed up for the six-month test. I was a lead developer in the plans to make this test, we hope will be a success.

Six of the women are in charge of digging the two latrines. Three more are putting up the mechanism, which one of Apollo Engineering’s top engineers came up with, to pull water out of the air. Now, we know the conditions won’t be exactly the same but the idea should work on Mars. Maybe the quantity of water might not be the same but there should be water, an essential part of life anywhere.

I’m working in the group that’s making the garden. This will be our primary food supply. All of us went on vegan diets to ready our bodies for the change in the foods we eat. It was discussed at a world forum about how people should eat on Mars. The overwhelming decision was made that only plants such as herbs and spices, vegetables, and fruits are to be taken to the planet.

No meat will be eaten there. The protein the body needs will be provided by spinach and beans. Until our garden grows, we only have supplements to live on and freeze dried meals that have been specially prepared with the vegan diet in mind.

To be sure no one was sick or had any disease of any kind, everyone had to get a physical and undergo an extensive examination and testing. And, here’s the hard part, as there are no pharmacies on Mars and may never be, a new birth control concept had to be developed.

Each female was given a device she must urinate on, daily. It reads the hormone levels to determine if she’s in a fertile state or not. If she is, then she’s to refrain from sex, unless she and her partner want to have a child. There are three couples here who are pregnant right now. They’ll all be delivering within the six-month period, so we can see how all that goes.

The first woman is due in three months, two of the people who signed up for this test have been trained in basic medical services and have delivered babies at the local hospital to gain some experience with that task.

Cloth diapers and breastfeeding will have to be done by them all and all who go to Mars. Back to the old ways of doing things, a thing I’m not keen on but the pregnant couples are all looking forward to that, for some strange reason.

My eyes wander around, looking at all the people, working busily to get things set up. Last night we all slept on the ground and that was not comfortable at all. Ryker cradled me in his arms the whole night, keeping me mostly off the ground. I think he’s trying to show me just how much he’ll take care of me if I’ll go with him.

He gives me a smile and a wave as he catches me gazing at him. With no shirt on and the light glistening off his magnificent body, he’s something to look at. I blow him a kiss and he acts like he catches it, making me smile and my heart skip a beat. He’s just so damn cute!

Settling into a squat, I get back to planting the seeds for the lettuce down one long row. One of the women who are in charge of the cooking calls out, “Breakfast!”

Everyone stops what they’re doing and heads to the area where the make-shift dining area has been set up. Ryker meets me there and takes my hand, delivering a kiss to my cheek. “You look pretty today, Gia. I like what you’ve done with your hair.”

I giggle at him and pat the bun on top of my head. Most of the women opted for the bun style. A few got theirs cut really short, which I thought was kind of dumb. As it grows out, it’ll look pretty bad.

Ryker got his cut a bit but he’s going to let his hair and beard grow out, he says. I expect to have a caveman by my side in no time. I run my hand over his still short hair. “I like what you’ve done with yours too.” I kiss his cheek and love the way he’s smiling and smells kind of musky from all the sweat he’s built up while doing all that manual labor on the tents. “You love this, don’t you?”

He nods as he picks up a tin plate with some unappetizing white and gray food on it. Plus, the pill that will add some real nutrition to the meal. “Here you go, baby.” He hands me the plate and gets one for himself then we go to get our cups of water to drink with it.

“Thank you,” I say as I laugh. “And to think just yesterday, we were eating at a five-star restaurant and look at us now.”

We walk over to where everyone has sat down together, on the ground and take a seat, Indian style, to join them. Chatter is all I hear as everyone talks about the progress they’re making.

“The tent will be up before night falls. And the solar panels seem to be charging, even in the dimmer light. Have you checked yourself today?”

With raised eyebrows, I ask, “What do you mean, checked myself?”

He grins, sheepishly and whispers, “You know, with the stick? Have you checked your urine? Is tonight a go for us?”

“Oh, no I haven’t yet. I’m kind of waiting on the latrines to be built. Most of the females are waiting on that. We’re not like you guys who don’t seem to mind trotting over to the edge of the area to let it all go.”

He nods as he takes the pill first. “I get it. But you will make sure, right? I’m kind of red-hot for you, baby. Something about all this hard work and the idea of you and me working together on this has me kind of crazy for you.”

I’m not extremely happy that this is making him so hot for me. I can see it in his eyes, he thinks this might make me change my mind. I know it won’t.

“I’ll make sure I get that done before we retreat to our little cubby-hole in the tent.”

As he takes the last bite of the tasteless food on his plate, he leans in and whispers, “And cleaning up after our long day will probably have you aching for me too.”

I laugh a little as he’s just being so cute and adorable. “So, you think a little sponge bath from you is going to make me ravenous for you?”

With a low growl, he nips my neck. “I hope so.”

“Hey, Gia, do you think we’ll be able to send larger trees to Mars?” the cook, Jana, asks me.

“I think we should make a companion drone full of larger trees that can go with the first shuttle. The ones we brought won’t make fruit for at least a year. And that environment will be different. At least we can streamline the cross-pollination process with this test.”

“Great idea, babe!” Ryker holds up his hand for a high five and I laugh as I give him one. “You’re already learning from this experience and it’s only been a day. What else will your brilliant mind figure out? I can’t wait to find out.” He gives me a quick kiss then gets up and holds his hand out to help me up. “Back to work.”

I nod and go with him to put our plates and cups in the tub, so the kitchen staff can clean them up for lunch. We only have the exact number we need, nothing will be wasted. I get another quick kiss then Ryker heads out with the other men to finish up the tent and I head back to my garden work.

Looking around as everyone gets back to their specific tasks, I have to admire everyone here. They’re all so dedicated and excited. It’s rubbing off on me. But I still can’t think about leaving my family behind. It’s bad enough I have to stay away from them for six months.

Don’t even get me started on what would inevitably happen if I did go to Mars when I had to have a baby, sans pain meds and technology!

RYKER

Watching Gia, skipping with a couple of other young women, makes me smile and laugh. She’s so laid back, here in the dome. She thought not being able to have her computer would depress her. She’s anything but depressed!

The evening is setting in fast and dinner is being served. The other couples are taking theirs to their new bedrooms, to eat them alone. I pick up the vitamin supplements and put two servings of food on one plate, then pick up a cup of water and make my way to our finished personal chambers.

Catching Gia looking at me, I give her a nod. She picks up our ration of bathing water that was made fresh today and heads my way. I wait for her in the open living area of the giant tent and she steps in next to me as I show her to our new little home.

“At least our shelter is finished,” I say as I take her to the third personal tent, within the huge tent that is home for us all for the next six months.

With a gesture for her to step through the unzipped opening, she smiles and goes inside. “No way!”

“You like?” I place the plate on the small table and pull out the chair for her. “Our personal dining area.”

She takes the seat after placing the bottle of water on the bathing stand. Everything is small, lightweight, and portable, while being very efficient. And she seems to be amazed at all the things in our tent. “A chandelier, Ryker? How?”

“It’s collapsible. And it runs off the solar panels that cover the top of the main tent. So, we have electricity. Once you pour that water into the bathing station, we’ll have a type of running water.” I point at another zippered door. “And behind that door is our very own portable toilet. Now, it will have to be taken to the latrine and emptied every morning but we have one. I’ll handle that unpleasant task.”

She can’t stop smiling and that has my heart filling with hope. “I can’t believe this. It’s amazing.” She points at the door I’ve left open, by pulling back the two sides of the zippered door. “And what’s back there?”

I chuckle and take her hand. “Let me show you our bedroom for the next bit, baby.”

When we get to the opening and she can see inside, she gasps and I find my smile just won’t fade. “Ryker! How?”

“The mattress can be rolled into a tight cylinder. When unrolled, the material inside of it can be fluffed up, so you have yourself a very comfortable bed. Nice, huh?”

She nods and looks up. “And yet another chandelier. And you picked out my favorite shade of blue for the blankets and pillows too. Ryker, this isn’t what I pictured at all. I… I….” She turns to me and wraps her arms around me. “I love it!”

Rocking her in my arms, I whisper against her cheek, “I thought you would.”

“Let’s eat and then get down to washing this dirt off us,” she says as she pulls back to look at me. “I kinda have the hots for you right now, my caveman.”

Chuckling at her name for me, I take her hand and lead her back to the table to sit down. “And just what does that mean, Gia?”

“It means, you are much like a caveman, an extremely capable one. And all too soon, I know I’m going to lose sight of your handsome face as you grow out your beard. But I’m beginning to think I just might like that.”

“Are you also beginning to think you might just like to go to Mars too?” I cross my fingers and hope she is.

Her laugh is light and airy and even though she’s shaking her head, I know she’s thinking about it. She can’t fool me!

Taking our chairs, she taps the tabletop and asks, “And how about when children come along? What would you do to make this place bigger, to accommodate them too?”

“Excellent question and on that subject, are we good for tonight?”

She nods and sips her water. “For tonight we are. So, expansion, how would you do that?”

“I think it would be easy to make orders of more tents from Earth that could be brought in on the supply shuttles that will come. Why? You planning on coming with me and giving me a bunch of Martian babies?” I laugh but I hope she’ll think about doing just that.

“Martian babies!” She laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t know about that. Now, Earthlings, I can do.”

I stop and look at her to see if she’s serious. “You’d have my kids, Gia?”

Her eyes cut sideways as I think she didn’t mean to say that. “I would if you were going to be around to help me raise them. But you won’t, so I guess I shouldn’t have said such a thing. I’m sorry.”

Placing the nutrient pill on her tongue I hand her the glass of water. “Drink up your nourishment, baby. I have big plans for you.”

She takes the pill down then picks up mine and places it on my waiting tongue. “Your turn.” Our eyes hold while I swallow the pill then she leans in and kisses me. “I love you so much, Ryker. I don’t think you have a clue how much I do.”

All I can do is look at her. I want to tell her, for the thousandth time that we can be together forever if she’ll just come with me. But I know I’m beating a dead horse when I use my words to coax her. So, I decide to use a bit more than that.

I pull the band off the bun it’s holding her hair in and run my fingers through it to loosen and free the dark waves of silkiness. “No makeup, hair in a tasseled state, yet you’re still every bit as beautiful as you’ve ever been. How do you do it?”

Her smile devastates me. “Ryker, I know you’re full of crap but I do love the way you make me feel.”

“This stuff is going to taste the same whether it’s cold or warm,” I say as I stroke her cheek. “How about we forgo dinner for now and get cleaned up then I’m going to get you all dirty again.”

She nods and gives me a shy smile. “Let’s do that.”

Pulling her up as I get up, I take her to the middle of the room and unzip her blue jumpsuit. We all wear the same thing, a uniform made out of a dirt resistant material. Placing it in the cleaning closet, I turn to look at her as I take mine off too and place it next to hers.

Pressing the button, the vacuum system begins the process of pulling away the dirt and sweat off the uniforms to make them good as new for tomorrow. There are no night clothes. Our birthday suits will have to suffice for this test, anyway.

The washcloths have built in microbes that will clean our skin when mixed with a small amount of water. She takes her place on the bathing mat while I get the cloth ready with a bit of water. Starting at her toes, I move the cloth in a circular fashion, ridding her body of the dirt and perspiration after a day of hard labor.

I find her watching me as I take my time to make sure every part of her has been cleaned then she gets up and I take the place she left vacant. With a new cloth, she cleans me up and leaves me wanting her more than I knew possible.

Grabbing her wrist as she places the cloth on the edge of the wash basin, I get up and throw her over my shoulder, igniting laughter from her as I carry her to our new bedroom. “Caveman!”

“I’m about to show you how caveman I am, baby!”

Tossing her onto the bed, I gaze at how gorgeous she is then I dim the light and crawl over the bed to get to her. Again, I start with her little toes and kiss them, trailing kisses all the way up until I’m right where I want to be. Hovering over her and already feeling my breath going ragged with desire for her.

GIA

I can’t imagine why my body is reacting to Ryker’s so much more than it ever has, and it has reacted to him a lot!

His dark eyes hold mine as he moves his body over mine, only slightly allowing our bodies to graze against the other. “Tell me,” he whispers.

Reaching up to try to pull him down to me, to cover me with his body, I find him taking my wrists in one of his hands and holding them down, over my head. I suck in my breath as he looks at me with dominating eyes. “I love you,” I say in an attempt to soften him.

“Tell me who you belong to,” he says as he moves his hard cock over my sex, sending sparks all through me.

“You,” I breathe out as I arch up but find him staying just above me. I can feel the heat from his body and I’m dying to have him all over me. “Ryker, please.”

His mouth takes mine, but he still keeps his body just out of my reach. When I try to wrap my legs around his waist to pull him to me, he pulls his mouth from mine. “Stop.”

I do as he says and put my legs down on the bed. “Please, Ryker,” I moan.

He gives me an evil grin then kisses my neck, driving me even more insane with his little nips and sucks. I wiggle a little and find him giving me a hard bite. “Be still, Gia!”

With great frustration, I groan and give up, letting him toy with me until I’m quivering with need. When my body starts shaking, he stops his delightful torture and lets my wrists go, so he can pull my legs up to where he wants them. My feet on either side of his head, spreading me open for him.

He locks eyes with me as he pushes his large hard erection in. His eyes close as he relishes the sensation. With an easy movement, he slides back out of me, all the way then makes another easy stroke.

I moan as he’s still toying with me. I want him all, I want it fast and hard and he’s not about to give me what I want. He pulls all the way out with every slow stroke, making me miss him for a few seconds before he eases himself back into me. Over and over, he slowly tortures me until my body goes into an orgasm of unbelievable proportions.

Biting my lower lip to keep myself from screaming with the deep sensations that rage through my entire body, I find his body shaking as he’s held himself back for such a long time, too.

When he pulls all the way out of me, leaving me under the pressure of my climax and yearning to have him back inside me, I cry out, “No!”

He looks at me with wanting eyes and rolls to one side, looking at me as he uses his hand to hold himself up and strokes my stomach with the other. He just looks at me until the intense orgasm is over then he smiles at me and takes my breast in his mouth as he plays with the other one.

I struggle to catch my breath and feel as if I’m a mouse beneath the claws and mouth of a playful cat. His tongue moves in deft circles around my taut nipple. He pinches and pulls at the other nipple, making a mixture of pain and pleasure.

When his hand travels away from my breast, down my stomach, my breath hitches in my chest as he plunges two fingers into me, then slides them up to play with my clit.

The sucking and the rubbing have me going over the edge again. I buck as I climax again and groan with frustration. “Please, Ryker. Please!”

He eases his sucking and stops playing with my clit, allowing the orgasm to wane. Again, he watches me. When I reach out to take his face and pull him to kiss me, he leans back to avoid my hands.

“Naughty girl,” he says with a smile and rolls away from me, getting on his knees and tossing me over on my stomach. With a hard pull at my waist, he pulls me up on my knees and I’m on all fours, waiting for him to plunge into me, and gritting my teeth in anticipation.

Instead of that, I feel him moving around and the next thing I know, he’s underneath me, kissing me intimately and further arousing me. His hands grip my ass, pulling me down to him as he eats me like I’m the best tasting thing he’s ever had. His growls and moans let me know he’s in a sexual rage.

When I come for him, he goes even more ravenous, sending me into a frenzy of sensations. I gasp as he stops and find myself yanked back as he takes a chunk of my hair and thrusts himself into me with a loud grunt. “Baby, yes!”

I moan as he fills me and push my ass back to him. “Ryker!”

Savagely, he takes me, making me burn with passion. The raw emotion fills me and tears spring from my eyes as he makes hard and fast thrusts. One hand grips my waist, and I’m held still for him to take as he pleases.

I cry out with another orgasm and he rides me through it. His teeth are clenched as he says, “Come all over my cock, Gia.”

My body does as he commands then he pulls out and flips me onto my back and thrusts right back into me. A burst of air is knocked out of my lungs with the force and I find him looking wild. “Ryker!”

He buries himself inside me then makes little pumps, his cock is so deep inside and the small motion has his body moving in rapid pulses across my clit. Another orgasm takes me and he watches me. “You’re so fucking gorgeous when you come for me, Gia.”

I can hardly breathe as he continues his assault on my body. I place my hands on his broad shoulders and ride the wave of absolute pleasure until it ebbs. Trying to steady myself, I whisper, “I am yours.”

He slows his furious pace and kisses me. Deep, sensual, and sexy, his kiss goes on and on until he pulls his head back as he stiffens and spills himself into me. “Gia!”

“Ryker!”

I wrap my legs around him as my body milks his with another orgasm. Our bodies shake as do our lungs as they expel large amounts of hot breath.

Panting like animals, he lies on top of me until the last shudder is felt. His heartbeat slows and returns to normal before he kisses my cheek and rolls off me, leaving me missing his weight. He gently rolls me to the side, to face him and pushes his leg between mine as he wraps his arms around me, holding me tight.

“I can’t ever leave you,” he mumbles with sleepy words.

My eyes, which had closed, open as I can’t believe what he’s said. “What does that mean?”

I’m met with soft snores as he’s worn himself out, completely. I’ll get no answer tonight and maybe not even tomorrow as he seems kind of love drunk.

Surely, he didn’t mean he won’t be leaving me and the Earth behind him!

RYKER

Half way through the test and it’s going fantastic. The first birth has begun and soon we shall see how the mother handles that. The group is clustered around the outside area we’ve created, kind of like an outdoor bar. Sans the alcohol, which we don’t have any of.

“You know, the trip to Mars is only eight months long,” Allen, one of the engineers says. “I don’t see why shipments of good food and drinks couldn’t be sent to us. If we made more drones, do you think it would be possible to get more shipments?”

I play with Gia’s hair that I’ve let down as she sits on my lap. She surprises me as she speaks up, “The drones, like the shuttles, will be out of fuel when they get to us. I mean, to Mars. I don’t know how many we can get. Apollo Engineering will be building ships that never return and the people on Mars will have to figure out what to do with the massive vessels.”

“We could build homes, like apartments, out of them,” another woman offers.

Gia looks at me over her shoulder and I kiss the tip of her cute little nose as I totally caught her Freudian slip about her being on Mars someday. She smiles at me and runs her hand over my bearded face. “I think it should be of the utmost importance to see just what burns on that planet. So, we can make fuel of our own there,” she says, further insinuating herself as a future Martian.

“And just how will revenue be created to make all these ships?” Gary, from logistics, asks.

“I have that under control,” I say. “Not to worry, tons of money has already been invested to make sure Apollo Engineering stays not only afloat but prosperous. The last thing we want is for the company to go under while we’re trapped on another planet. Plus, I’ve added on affiliate partners to make sure there’s plenty of money.”

Gia looks at me with a smile and mouths, ‘Thank you.’

I added her family farm on as an affiliate partner. That way her family can sell their uniquely modified corn to us and after it’s processed in the plant we built to do that, they are the ones who can sell that fuel under the wing of Apollo Engineering, making money for them and us. A few more affiliates like that and the company will be set.

With a laugh, Gia, says, “Hell, we may even be able to use all the extra hair you men seem to be growing to burn and make fuel from too.”

I watch Donny, a certified genius, get a bright look on his face. “Hey, why didn’t I think of that?”

“I don’t really think you guys can make enough hair to have enough fuel for even one trip from Mars to Earth, Donny,” Gia says with a laugh.

“No, not just hair,” he says with a smile. “Our excrements too.”

“Yuk!” we all shout as his idea just sounds nasty.

“No, not yuk,” he says. “You’ll see. I’m about to make an experiment.” He looks at the other two men who have IQ’s near his. “To the latrine!” They all get up and run toward the bathrooms as the rest of us shudder at the thought.

“You can leave me out of that experiment,” Gia mumbles.

Everyone nods in agreement as I twirl a lock of her hair and leave a kiss on her cheek. “Do you want to go and see how Pam’s doing? Maybe give her a pat on the back or whatever one does to help a laboring mother.”

She nods and we get up to go see how things are progressing with the first birth in the dome. Holding hands, I swing them between us. “Things are so simple and yet so complicated, aren’t they?” she asks me.

I nod. “Life is life, no matter where or when. Nothing is easy. And nothing worth having is ever easy, anyway.”

A special tent was set up with laboring mothers in mind. Soothing sounds come from an audio box with a prerecorded track. A small blow up swimming pool was brought, just in case any of the women wanted to float in the water. Some say it helps ease the contractions or something like that.

I stop as we unzip the tent’s door and find Pam in the water, naked as the day she was born. “Perhaps, I shouldn’t be here?” I say, kind of shocked.

“Nonsense,” her husband, Peter, says. “We’re all going to be pretty damn close and things like vanity and being shy about one’s body shouldn’t be a thing we need to take with us to Mars. Please stay, Ryker.”

Gia looks at me with a smile. “We can sit back there, if you’re more comfortable with that. Then you’ll only see her back.”

Pam breathes in and out with slow breaths. “Yes, you’re going to want to learn from this process, so you’ll know how to handle it when you two have your babies.”

Gia gives my hand a squeeze and then a smile moves over her sweet lips. “See, this is a teachable moment.”

I take a seat and pull her to sit back on my lap, so her body covers some of what lies in front of us. “Okay, let’s learn.” I lean up and whisper in her ear, “But I thought you wouldn’t be going to Mars.”

She looks at me and runs her hands over my beard. “I’m up in the air about that, at this time.”

My eyebrows go up high, as she’s not said a word about even contemplating it. But I have been trying my best to show her how great it’ll be. Leaning in close, I whisper, “You should come to Mars, baby. I’d love to see how sex feels with you there. As opposed to how it would feel with someone else.”

She pulls back and narrows her eyes at me. “Ryker,” she hiss-whispers at me. “Don’t you dare speak about you and another woman.”

Jealousy!

So, I rub it in a bit more. “Well, if you won’t come, what else will I be forced to do?”

Her body tenses in an instant then I rub her shoulders. “Let’s never discuss that, please.”

I shrug and continue to rub her shoulders and move my hands down her back, feeling the tension, slowly leave her body. As I half-watch Pam and Peter work together to help her ease her discomfort, I think about what I want.

Venturing further, I whisper to Gia, “I’d like to have the first baby born on Mars.”

She looks at me as if I’m crazy. “The first one? And how would you even accomplish that? Tell the rest of the people to hold off while you impregnated your woman?”

“No, no one would listen to me, anyway. I’ve never thought about how I’d do it. I just want it, that’s all. It would be nice, is what I’m saying. You know it takes eight months to get to Mars and if you were, say a month pregnant or a little less, then you could have the baby on Mars. Then, we’d most likely have the first baby.”

She clicks her tongue at me. “You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?”

I nod and run my hand over the back of her neck and pull her in for a brief kiss. “Extensively.”

“But what about the fact, I haven’t signed on for that yet? Also, let’s just say I do sign up for it, am I to wait until we can go to Mars, to have a baby?”

I ponder her question. Getting to Mars is about five years away. That does seem like an awfully long time to wait. But then again, why would we have to. There’re no rules saying kids can’t go to Mars too.

“We could take whatever kids we already had,” I say, earning a frown from her.

“And subject them to that kind of rough life?” She shakes her head and I try another direction.

“You’d be bringing a new baby into that too. But I don’t think life will be rough at all. The first few days, while we set everything up, we’d live on the shuttle, just the way we’d have to as it takes us there. There’d never be any real hardship, like we had the first night here, in the dome.”

She nods and looks like she’s thinking about things. “You’re most likely right. I didn’t think about that.”

Pam makes a little scream and Peter looks at the woman who’s been trained to deliver babies, “What’s that mean?”

“It means she felt a little bit more than she was feeling. Let me give her a check.”

I close my eyes and bury my face in Gia’s back as the woman puts her hands in a place on Pam, I’d rather not think about. “Tell me when this part is over.”

“Will do,” Gia says. Her hand moves over my back as she watches the process.

“You’ve effaced and are now at ten centimeters. When you get the urge to push, you can.”

I open my eyes and feel a rush of adrenaline. “Is she about to have the baby?”

Margie, the midwife, looks at me with a smile. “She is. You two should come up here, so you can see this better. It’s not nearly as bad as your imagination makes it.”

With a tug at my hand, I find Gia has me in tow and off we go to get a better view of something I never imagined wanting even a bad view of. But here I am, watching a woman give birth in a blow-up swimming pool.

“Do you have to give birth in the water?” Gia asks.

The midwife shakes her head. “You can do it however you want. Some squat, some like to lie on the bed. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with.”

She nods and asks, “The baby can’t take in a breath if it’s under the water. Won’t that be bad for it to come out like that?”

“They generally don’t try to take in a breath until the air hits them,” the midwife says.

Gia nods again. “I think I’d like to have our kids the traditional way. In a bed. Preferably, in a hospital with an epidural. Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

When a horrible shriek comes out of Pam, Gia turns and buries her face in my chest. “Oh, my!”

I close my eyes as a streak of red has shot out into the pool. “Oh, my!”

“It burns!” Pam shouts. “Why does it burn so damn bad?”

“You’re probably stretching very fast as the baby’s head crowns. If you rip at all, I have the things I’ll need to stitch you back up,” Margie says.

“Do you have something to numb her if you have to do that?” Gia asks but doesn’t pull her head out of my chest. Her arms are wrapped around me, holding me for dear life.

“I do. Not to worry,” Margie says.

I open one eye and see her getting on her knees on the floor with a small blanket in her hands. “Do you see the head?” Peter asks as Pam grunts and pushes.

“Not yet. Patience, Peter.”

My eye catches how red Pam’s face has gotten and I stare in disbelief that anyone can go that shade without something terrible happening. “Is she going to be alright?”

“She is,” Margie says as Pam grunts again with a massive push. “Oh, yes! Here we go. We’re about to meet your baby, Pam, and Peter!”

With an odd sucking sound, a little mass comes out into the water and Margie picks it up and wraps it in the blanket. “Here you go, Daddy. Take your son, so I can get the scissors to cut the cord.”

Gia turns around, taking her head out of my chest and opens her eyes. “He’s not crying. Shouldn’t he be crying?”

“He will, just watch,” Margie says. “Ryker, will you do me a favor and hold the baby while Peter cuts the cord? I want to take a picture of this.” She pulls out an old-fashioned camera and I move to take the baby from Peter.

“Man, he’s really red and puffy, isn’t he?” I ask as I take him and Peter nods.

“I suppose that goes away,” he says.

“It will,” Margie lets him know then hands him the scissors and snaps a few pictures as he cuts the cord that she’s already placed a clamp on to stop us from being squirted with blood.

When my eyes leave the baby, I see Gia’s moved to kneel behind Pam and is massaging her shoulders. “He’s gorgeous, Pam.

No longer red in the face, Pam is beaming. “I can’t wait to see him.”

As I jostle him back into Peter’s arms, he makes his first sound. A loud cry that tells us he’s breathing. I follow him to take the baby to show Pam and find Gia with tears in her eyes as she looks at the little baby that’s wailing away now.

She gets up and comes to me, wrapping her arms around me and wailing like the baby is. “Oh, Ryker!”

I hold her and hug her and take her out of the tent, so the new little family can have some time alone. “Baby, it’s okay. Why in the world are you crying?”

We stop and I take her by the chin to make her look at me. “I want that! I want you and me to have a family!”

“Then let’s do that,” I say then pull her back into my arms. “Marry me. And tell me you’ll come with me to Mars.”

“I can’t,” she says then cries some more.

“You can,” I tell her as I move us to a more remote area, so no one can hear us. “What if I make it possible to travel back to Earth too?”

With a sudden jolt, her head shoots up. “Could you?”

I really don’t know if I can do that but here it goes, “I might be able to.”

“If you could make that happen then maybe, just maybe, I could do that!” She jumps up and down and claps and now I feel bad.

Trying to slow her enthusiasm, I take hold of her narrow shoulders and look her in the eyes. “The important thing is me and you, being together. Can you agree about that?”

She looks at me for a long time, so long I think she might be about to tell me something I don’t want to hear. Her lips part and she says, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Pulling her in for a tight hug, I kiss the top of her head. “Me neither. Now that we’re in agreeance on that, let’s get some more things straight.”

“Like?” she asks as she pulls back to look at me.

“Like, I want you to marry me when we get out of here. I want it official. And where I go, you go. Along with whoever we create along the way. I know you have your family here but I promise, I’ll do everything possible to make sure you get to see them again. I swear to you, I will try. That’s going to be my number one priority.”

“You really want to marry me?” she asks with a sideways smile.

“This isn’t how I planned on proposing to you, at all. But yes, I want to make you my wife. Change your last name. Put my ring on that finger. And every other cliché that goes with that.” I laugh and she does too, making my heart pitter and patter.

Her sweet smile fades away and she looks off to the side. “On Mars, Damien will be there.”

“Not in our settlement, he won’t. And what the hell does that matter? I don’t care. He’s not going to be able to come between us.”

She pulls out of my arms and starts walking toward the tent, pulling me along with her. “It’s just that I really didn’t ever want to live in any kind of close vicinity to him.”

“We can’t let anyone stop progress, Gia.” I pick her up as we get to our tent and carry her inside.

She giggles as I do and asks, “What’s this for?”

“You and I are going to get married,” I say then take her straight to our bedroom. “We have to celebrate that.”

As I lay her down on the soft bed, she looks up at me with doe-like eyes. “Ryker, are we really going to do this?”

I nod as I unzip her jumpsuit and take it off her body that’s just begging me to kiss it all over. “We’re going to do this. We’re going to do all of this and we’re going to do it together. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that you were the one for me.”

She laughs as I pull my jumpsuit off. “No, you didn’t. You just lusted after me.”

“Well, maybe a little.”

“A lot,” she says as she runs her fingers over her nipple, making it hard.

I watch her do that to herself and get an immediate boner. “A lot. Yes, I lusted after you a lot and I still do.” Moving onto the bed, I take over what she’s doing. “Here, let me help you with that.”

She moans as I take over, placing my mouth on her pert nipple, giving it a hard suck. I wonder if she’ll let me tell everyone we’re engaged!

GIA

As I step out of our tent, I can hear the sound of a crying baby. It’s a different kind of sound that’s been added to life, here in the dome. Ryker comes out right behind me. With his hand on the small of my back, we make our way to the dining area to eat breakfast.

I stop and look back at him as he clears his throat, making everyone stop their chattering and look at him too. “Good morning, all. I’d like to make an announcement.”

“Ryker,” I whisper but he stops me as he runs his arm around me. My cheeks are already heating with embarrassment for some reason.

“Gia and I will be getting married when this test is over and we leave here. I want you all to know you’ll be invited to our wedding. It will be a lavish affair with tons of great food, dancing, and drinking.”

Cheers rings out and people come up to us, congratulating us and giving us hugs. I find it a little overwhelming, as I’m not used to being the center of attention.

The little trio of people who’ve made a make-shift band come up to us after we take our seats. Their leader, Dylan, smiles at us as he tells us, “We’d love to play at your wedding, guys. Let us know what songs you’d like us to play and we’ll start practicing them right away.”

“How sweet,” I say as I take Ryker’s hand and hold it tight. “We’ll discuss that and get back to you very soon.”

With a nod, they leave us and Ryker pulls our clasped hands to give mine a kiss. “I caught you off guard, didn’t I?”

I wag my finger at him. “You could’ve told me you were going to do that.”

“I did tell you that last night, didn’t I?” he asks me with a sheepish grin.

Leaning in close, I whisper, “You know damn well I’d have a hard time recalling anything that was said last night. You wore me out, completely.”

He makes a low growl, igniting heat inside of me. “And more’s to come later on.”

“Ryker! You’re insatiable.”

“I am. And you’re all I crave. Damn, who knew becoming engaged would make one so horny?”

Shaking my head, I say, “You’re silly.”

“Over you, I am.” He pecks my cheek and we find Sabrina bringing our plates to us.

“For the happy couple, I’ve spritzed up your breakfast this morning for this special occasion. I do hope you think about letting us cater the reception and the rehearsal dinners.”

I find a few leaves of spinach on top of the freeze-dried, scrambled, fake eggs and give her a smile. “Thank you for the lovely breakfast, Sabrina. Of course, we’ll consider you and your team. With some real food, you could do wonders.”

Enthusiasm is bubbling in her eyes. “We’ll have to get together sometime soon to make the menus.”

“Yes, we will,” Ryker says. “I’m setting the wedding date for 31 days after we leave the dome. We’ll go get our marriage license and marry the day after the 30-day waiting period. I don’t want to waste a minute.”

Sabrina smiles. “How sweet. I’ll catch up with you guys later. After you’ve had time to make your decisions. Just so you know, I make excellent chicken and beef recipes.”

“Noted,” I say and get to eating the tasteless food. “I wanted to talk to you about breakfast too. Do, you have a second?”

“I do.”

“I think we should get away from the freeze-dried breakfast foods. The garden has come in well. Do you think you could come up with some vegetable based breakfasts, so we can get away from this other food? You know, something we don’t think of as breakfast food? Maybe, roasted eggplant with a tomato and basil puree. Or yellow squash with pearl onions made soup style. We need to make up menus only using what we grow.”

“I got you. Because we’ll use up all the freeze-dried food on the trip out, anyway.” She nods in agreement.

“Yes, and my team has been working on plans to grow the plants as we travel, so that when we get there we can transplant them. That’ll help us to set up much more quickly than we did here. If I’m going to Mars, I’m going to be sure we can set up quickly and efficiently.”

Ryker sighs. “You have no idea how great it feels to hear you say that.”

“What? That I’m going to figure things out?”

“No,” he says then kisses my cheek. “That you’re going.”

Sabrina gives us a nod. “I gotta get to work. See you guys later.”

Ryker gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “You’re making me happier than I’ve ever been and I wasn’t a real sad individual.”

Stroking his long beard, I feel lighthearted and happier than I’ve ever felt too. “I suppose we’ll get even happier than this. The day we get married.”

“The night after the wedding,” he says with a little grin and a wiggle of his brow.

I blush as heat fills me. “And when we have our babies.”

“And when we have our first one on Mars,” he says then leans in and gives me a longer kiss.

Applause fills the air and I feel my blush deepen but he won’t let me go. He won’t end the kiss and the clapping just keeps on going. And I’m finding an odd feeling inside of me.

Pride at being who this man has chosen to live his life with!

RYKER

It’s the last night in the dome, the lights have been dimmed. Gia and I have cleaned up after a long day, and she’s looking like a goddess as she lies on the bed. I move in next to her and kiss the warm spot right behind her left ear. “Tomorrow, we’ll get up and leave this place behind. First thing is to go home and change clothes, go to the courthouse and apply for that marriage license, then go buy you a fat engagement ring and our wedding bands.”

She sighs, making her breasts heave. “Ryker, this is unreal.”

“It’s very real, baby.” I take her mouth with a sweet kiss.

Her arms run around me, taking me close to her. Our bodies start to heat as they touch. Her breasts feel squishy as they press against my chest. The sweet kiss grows into something a bit more sinister. A bit more heated.

I move my tongue in a stroking motion and she ends the kiss with small pecks. “Get on your back.”

Knowing what kind of Heaven she’s about to take me to, I roll over and let her have her way with me. Her soft lips move over my stomach, inching down to where I’m ready and waiting for her.

She makes a brief pause to tickle my belly button with her tongue, making me giggle a bit, which I hate to do in the heat of the moment. “Gia!”

With a giggle, she stops and proceeds to the promised land. “Party pooper.”

She’s in a playful mood, which can be worrisome at times. When her hands move around to grip my ass, I feel her pinky sliding toward a place I’ve told her to stay the hell away from, so I change things around.

Sitting up, I grab her around the waist and flip her over my shoulder, making her land on her back. She’s lying face up, so I move back until her face is level with my straining appendage. “Feeling playful, baby?”

She bites her lip as I dangle myself just over her mouth. Her arms are pinned under my legs and she’s at my mercy. She gives me a wink. “I was, but I think I’m done with that.”

“Good,” I say as I run my finger over her lips then push it inside. She sucks it as she looks at me and I find an evil smile moving over my lips. “So, you want it like this?”

She nods and I pull my finger out and move my cock into her open mouth. From this position, watching her take me in, I’m hot as hell for her right now.

I pump myself in a rhythmic motion, finding her mouth warm and the small amount of sucking she’s doing feels better than it does the other way. Leaning over to hold my body up with my hands, I go at her a little faster, making her moan.

Her arms are freed as I move my legs. She moves her hands to my ass, squeezing it. After a few minutes, the sensations are getting to me and I’m about to explode, so I start to pull away from her but she holds me tight. “Baby, I’m about to lose it.”

She sucks hard, letting me know she wants that. So, I get back to what I was doing and keep up the short strokes. Fucking her like this has me hotter than usual. “You like that? You like when I skull fuck you, Gia?”

Her moan vibrates me just right. One of her hands move to mess with my balls and I can’t take it any longer. My orgasm rips through me and she groans as it all shoots down her throat. My groan matches hers as I feel it all come out.

Moving back, I pull my cock out of her mouth. She runs the back of her hand across her mouth. “My turn.”

“Yes, it is.”

GIA

His hot, wet tongue glides down my body. The way he handles me has me shaking with passion. His forcefulness is something that drives me wild. With the tip of his tongue, he taps at my clit that’s pulsing and throbbing. “Yes,” I moan as he changes the tap into an intimate kiss.

His dark hair has grown long and when I move my hands into it, they get lost in the thick depth. One of his fingers dallies around the edge of my vagina, teasing it into a frenzy. Pushing in two fingers, he pumps them as he licks my folds all the way up my clit, over and over until I’m begging him to fuck me. “Ryker! Please, put your dick in me. I need it!”

He chuckles as he moves up my body and slams his hard cock into me. “Is that what you want?”

I arch up to meet his hard thrusts. “Yes! Harder!”

Pounding me with his body, I feel the orgasm he started, taking off even more. “Shit, you’re so fucking tight and rippling all over me, baby!”

Grabbing his huge biceps, I try to steady myself as my body is on sensory overload. “It just won’t stop!”

He grinds into me with a deep groan. “Baby, I don’t want it to stop.”

I’m quivering, my head is spinning. I might pass out!

Has anyone ever passed out from an orgasm that’s went on for a long time?

“Ryker!” I scream as somehow, he makes a deeper plunge, hitting a spot that sends my body into a different level of pleasure. It’s so intense, I grind my teeth as my head falls back and I writhe underneath him.

“Oh, baby! Oh, baby!” The hot wet feeling, as his dick jerks inside of me, has me screaming with him. Our bodies are soaked in sweat as he’s finally given in to me.

Ragged breaths, pounding hearts, and a slight sloshing sound is all I can hear as he keeps moving a bit as his cock shoots the last remnants of cum into me.

He stays inside of me as he kisses my neck and holds his body up. I pull him to lean on me. I love the way it feels when his heart is pounding. I can feel it through my chest. I marvel at the way our hearts beat at different times and speeds.

“Ryker, that was off the charts.”

A gentle bite on my earlobe makes me moan. “You liked that, did you? My naughty girl.”

My moan answers him. “You fuck like a pro.”

“So do you,” he whispers. “And I’m about to make you mine in name too. Mrs. Crawford. Mrs. Ryker Crawford.”

My breathing starts to calm as does my heart and the sound him saying the words I never dreamt I’d hear have tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “I’m going to be your wife. I’m going to go to Mars as your wife. It’s not a thing I thought I’d ever decide to do. Not in a million years.”

Soft kisses are trailed down my neck then over my cheek. His dark eyes catch mine. “Just because you don’t imagine something, doesn’t mean it can’t happen. You’re about to be my wife. The mother of my children. The first lady of Mars.”

I have to laugh at his over the top way of thinking. “You know, Ryker, things will be very different there. There will be no one to enforce anything. That’s scary.”

He moves off to the side of me then moves his hand to rest on my stomach. “I’m not worried about that at all.”

“Honestly, you don’t seem to be worried about anything that has to do with leaving this world to go to another one.”

“Because I’m not worried about anything. I’m excited and quite frankly, now that I’ll have you with me, I can’t wait to go.”

Closing my eyes, I have to take a few deep breaths before I go on, “Ryker, I’m scared about so many things. The weather, for one.”

“It’s colder there. Okay, we know that. And there are people working on making clothing that’s not so bulky. They’re coming up with materials and they’re testing them in the Antarctic. Don’t worry about that at all.”

“We have no idea if our temporary facilitates will hold up if a wind storm pops up,” I say as I pull the blanket up to cover me as a shiver has run through me with all of my fears.

“Our ship will be there to shield us from any bad storms.”

“And what about breathing? What if the air is too thin for us to get adequate oxygen?”

He leans up on his elbow to look down at me. “We will acclimate to the air, the same way we’ve done here, on Earth. You know the air is thinner at higher altitudes and people have adapted.”

With a huff, I say, “Is there no worry I have that you don’t have an answer for?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“At least you’re honest.” I have to laugh as he looks at me through his massive beard. “That hair is getting cut tomorrow too. Right along with that beard.”

His brows raise then he rubs his thick beard over my cheek, making me laugh as it tickles. “You don’t want to marry a caveman, Gia?”

I laugh as I push him back. “Stop! That tickles. And no, I don’t want to marry a caveman!”

He stops rubbing his beard on my face and kisses the tip of my nose. “Okay, I’ll get all prettied up for you, baby. Anything you want, you got it.”

“Anything?” I ask as my mind starts working.

“Anything,” he tells me then his lips touch mine and I melt with his light kiss. “I’ll do anything for you, Gia.”

“I’ll have to think on what else I want you to do for me,” I say as I snuggle into his wide chest.

He lies down and cradles me in his arms. “Would you do anything for me?”

“Like what?”

“Like anything.”

“Um, I’m not as free-spirited as you are. So, if it’s within reason then I will do most anything for you.”

“Would you walk through fire for me?” he asks.

“If there’s a fire and you’re on the opposite side of it…”

He places his finger on my lip. “You know what I mean. I need to know before we do all this. Would you kill for me? Would you die for me? Would you do all you had to for me? Because I would for you.”

Blinking back tears, I find my heart swelling. “I would. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. And I would do all those things for you. You don’t have to worry about my commitment to you. I already am committed, now all we need is the paper to prove it. I wouldn’t go to Mars for anyone else. That’s the truth.”

His eyes go a little glassy as he leans over and kisses me. “I know you wouldn’t. I love you. We’re going to make big changes, you and I.”

“We are, aren’t we?”

With one more kiss, he makes the fear in me subside. How does he do it?

Part 8 - The Redemption

GIA

Lilacs and Gardenias tied into small bouquets, make a scent that has me feeling calm. “You look amazing,” my sister, Fancy, tells me as she comes into the dressing room.

“I feel amazing. I can’t believe this is happening. It seems fast and insanely slow at the same time. Such an odd feeling.” I look at my reflection in the long mirror that’s surrounded with lights.

Handing me a glass of white wine, my sister, Nancy, looks in the mirror too, adjusting the blue ribbon in her dark hair. “It got messed up when I walked to the car to get the wine. The wind’s terrible today.”

“At least this is inside,” Fancy says as she pours herself a glass. “A toast, ladies.”

I take my glass, as does Nancy, to meet our sister in the middle of the dressing room. “Don’t make me cry, Fancy,” I warn her.

Her smile does nothing to convey to me that she’ll keep her sentiment short and sweet, instead of long and sappy. “Not to worry, baby sister. Now, let’s raise our glasses to adding another member to our ever-growing family.” She pats Nancy’s bulging tummy. “Along with the newest baby to enter our family, Ryker Crawford will be joining us. Thanks to you, Gia, finding that man has meant great things for us all. I want to wish you many years of happiness with the man who has brought you back to us. You had been gone for a while and we love having the old you back.”

Nancy takes over, as often happens when the twins have something to say, “To you, Gia. The savior of the family!” She taps her glass to mine then so does Fancy.

I find myself near tears and the things they said weren’t even remotely sad. “Why do I feel like crying? Did you two feel this way?”

They laugh and hug me, then Nancy hands me a handkerchief. “It’s nerves, honey. You’re completely normal in that aspect.”

I dab at my tears, so they don’t go cascading down my cheeks, ruining my make-up. “I’ve felt so calm up until now.”

Fancy hugs me then hands me over to Nancy who takes over the hug. The door opens and Mom comes in, taking me next. “Oh, my baby girl.”

“Mom, please don’t say anything to make me cry anymore.” I sniffle.

“Now, why would I do such a thing?” she asks me then lets me go. “Your father is talking to your young man right now. Giving him the speech he gave your brothers-in-law on their wedding days.”

“Oh, Lord,” I say as I go and take a seat. “Why, Mom?”

“It’s his way of making sure the men who marry his daughters know what he expects out of them. I think it bonds them all. Ryker will be a part of the pack now.”

Nancy’s beams as she adds, “My hubby likes him a lot. They had a lot of fun at the bachelor party.”

“That’s what my husband said too,” Fancy says as she puts a necklace around our mother’s neck. “Gia bought these for us, so we’ll all match.”

Mom’s hand goes to the pendant that’s dangling from the platinum chain. “Are these real diamonds and sapphires?”

“They are.” I gesture to the earrings in the box on the vanity. “And don’t forget to put the matching earrings on too. Those are to be kept forever and handed down, you guys. I don’t like to talk about price but those cost me a pretty penny. I expect you all to do the right thing with them. I’d like to see my nieces wearing them on their special occasions.”

“How can you do that?” Nancy asks me with a frown. “You’re going with him to Mars.”

“He’s working on figuring out how we can make trips back and forth. Who knows? Maybe one day you all will decide to make a visit to us.”

Mom laughs as she shakes her head. “Not me! Not ever! I’m afraid of heights. I don’t know how I’d feel about looking out a window and seeing nothing but space.”

“Nonsense, Mom. You ride in the jet. You’d do just fine.” I get up and stand next to her and look at all of us in the mirror. “We all clean up, nicely, don’t we?”

With a sigh, Mom says, “You three are my pride and joy. Gia, you have to start your family soon. I want to get to see those grandkids for a while before you take them away from us.”

My heart aches with her words. “It’s not a thing I really want to do. I wish like hell there was an easier way to do something like start life on a new planet while still being able to see the ones you love.”

“Don’t go,” Mom says as she takes my hand. “Talk Ryker into staying here. You can do that. He loves you like crazy. He’ll do it for you.”

“Mom, he’s so committed to going. You have no idea. He was so lit up the entire six months we were in the dome. He was born to do this. I swear he was. It wouldn’t be fair to marry him then peck at him about not going. I know it’ll be hard but I have to go with him.”

Mom nods and looks sad, making me feel sad too. “I know.”

Fancy hands Mom a glass of wine too. “Drink this and let’s not talk about things that are in the future. By the way, Doug and I have talked about going too.”

Mom’s eyes nearly pop out of her head and she chokes on the wine she was taking a sip of. I pat her on the back as Nancy takes the glass before she spills it. “No! No, Fancy! I take care of your kids. I love them like they’re my very own.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t go until the youngest is out of college, Mom. Not to worry about that,” Fancy assures her.

Mom doesn’t look reassured. “What if you two change your mind and do take off before that?”

“We won’t,” she says with a shake of her head. “Neither of us feel that it’s right to take a child to another world. They should be allowed to make their own decision about that.”

I sit back down, in silence. That must mean she thinks Ryker and I are bad people for taking our kids to Mars!

Nancy catches my expression. “Gia, you are your own person. You and Ryker are allowed to make your own parenting decisions. I can see it written all over your face. You think we’ll judge you. We won’t.”

“We won’t,” Fancy echoes.

“Speak for yourselves,” Mom says then takes a big drink of her wine.

“Mom!” the twins shout at her.

Nancy runs her arm around me. “Don’t worry about her, Gia. We’ve got your back.”

A knock comes at the door. “You ladies decent?” my father’s voice comes from the other side of the door.

“Yes, Daddy,” Fancy answers him.

He opens the door and comes in with a twinkle in his eye. “How’s my baby girl doing?”

With a wobble of my hand, I say, “So-so.”

“Mom’s giving her the guilt treatment over going away to Mars with any grandkids she might have. Help her out, Dad,” Nancy tells him.

“I will. It’s time for you three to skedaddle, anyway. Ryker and his best man are already standing in their places, waiting on this pretty young lady.”

Heat flushes my body and I find my breath ceasing. “Already?”

Mom kisses my cheek. “It’s going to be fine. He is the right man for you, sweetie. I’m sorry for being so selfish. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

With a wave from my sisters, they all leave me alone with my father. I get up and he pulls the veil over my face. “You ready, baby girl?”

I nod and feel a lump in my throat. “Did my sisters cry when it came to this part too?”

“Like babies,” he assures me as he takes my hand and places it in the crook of his arm. “And here’s what I told them to be sure I left a smiling bride for my new sons-in-law.”

We start our walk to my future as I swallow the lump. “Okay, Dad. Get rid of these tears and the freaking lump in my throat, please.”

“A long time ago, I met a woman who I loved more than life itself. She could kiss like an angel and cook like a master chef. But my goodness that woman couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. And Lord have mercy did she love to sing. And not quietly, either. No, she sang loud and proud, as if her singing was any good at all. I swear the cats scattered when she’d start up.”

I smile as I know what he’s talking about. “Mom does do that.”

“And that’s what love does to you. It helps you keep on loving someone, even through their faults. If I never got to hear her caterwauling again, it would devastate me. Crazy, huh?”

We get to the back of the large main church and I find a smile is covering my face. The lump is gone and I can see Ryker from here. “Oh, God, he’s one handsome man, isn’t he, Dad?”

“I’d say so. And he’s getting himself a gorgeous bride.”

“You might be biased, Dad.”

“Not me,” he says with a chuckle.

The wedding march starts up, filling me with chills. “I’m really doing this, aren’t I?”

“You really are. I’m going to miss this. You’re my last kid I get to walk down the aisle. The end of an era.”

“You’re making me mist up, Dad.”

“Oh, hell. Sorry baby girl,” he whispers as we go down the aisle, one slow step at a time. “Just remember these words. Marriage is a compromise. Laughter cures most things. Men can be bigger babies than actual babies. Especially after they get married. Don’t ask me why. It just happens that way.”

My smile has returned and we’re at the place where my father kisses my cheek and passes me off to my soon to be husband. “Take good care of her, Ryker,” Dad says then looks at me. “I love you, Gia.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

When Ryker takes my hand, the calmness fills me again. I have no worries where he’s concerned. And I doubt I ever will.

RYKER

Falling onto my back, I try to catch my breath. “I’ve never danced so much.”

Gia falls sideways onto the bed, just like I have. “Me, neither.”

Our hands meet between us, our fingers lace and my eyes close. “What do you say to a little nap?”

She giggles. “I’m almost there. I never knew how exhausting weddings and the receptions that follow were.”

Even though I am thoroughly exhausted, I feel compelled to do the husbandly thing and make sure my wife is comfortable. Lifting my body off the bed, I pull my tux off and take her hands, pulling her up too. “I need to get this off you.”

“But I’m tired,” she mumbles.

Standing her up, I turn her around, so I can unlace the back of the blue dress she put on for the reception. “You’ll be comfier with this off.”

When I push the dress off her shoulders, it falls in a puddle at her feet. Turning her around, she finally opens her eyes when I pull her bra off. “Hey, you don’t have any clothes on.”

With a laugh, I say, “What did you think I was doing when I got off the bed?”

“I think I was asleep.” Her eyes roam up and down my body. “But I’m kind of getting hot for you. You’re my husband now, Ryker. Mine. All mine!”

Taking her by the waist, I pull her closer and wrap my arms around her. “I’m kind of getting hot for you too, Mrs. Crawford.”

“Show me.”

The exhausted feelings begin to fade into the background as our bodies touch and adrenaline starts pumping. Lying her on the bed, I rip her panties off, making her smile.

“I’m not about to let our first night as man and wife be sex-free.”

“Good.” She licks her lips as I move my body over hers. Her legs spread apart as I settle between them. I watch her beautiful face as I push my cock into her. Her heated depths caress me as I move, stroking her.

“We’re married, Gia.”

Her eyes sparkle as she looks into mine. “We are.”

Grinding into her, I watch her eyes close as she moans. “I’m going to make you so happy, you won’t believe it.”

Her eyes open. “You already are.”

“Even more.” I kiss her, twirling my tongue around her mouth. My wife’s mouth!

When our mouths part, I look back into her eyes as I continue my slow movements. “For better or worse.”

She smiles. “For richer or poorer.”

“As long as I have you, I will never feel poor.”

She runs one foot up the side of my leg, making me go deeper into her. “Through sickness and in health.”

“Until death do us part,” I finish the vows we recited to one another hours ago. “I hope you meant all that.”

“Of course, I did,” she says with a frown. “Why would you say something like that?”

Moving a little faster, I realize I said something very stupid. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m kind of loopy, I guess. Ignore me. Let’s not talk.”

“Divorce isn’t even in my vocabulary, Ryker.” Her hands move to my shoulders as her eyes narrow at me.

“I said I was sorry. Come on, no more talking.” I kiss her to try to end the stupid conversation I started.

Moving faster and harder, I keep going until she’s breathing hard. Then I move my mouth to suck on her neck. She loves when I do that. “No marks, Ryker. Tomorrow we’re going to Bali. I want to wear a bathing suit all the time. Without your marks all over me.”

Easing the sucking, I kiss and nip her neck, gently. “Sorry, boss.”

Hooking my hands under her knees, I pull them up high, so I can go deeper. The sound she makes lets me know she’s through thinking at all. Plunging into her with hard thrusts, I pull her hair. “Ryker! Yes!”

“You’re mine now, Gia. No one can ever take you away from me!” I pound into her, cementing our union.

“Nor you from me,” she says as her eyes open. “We are one.”

My heart pounds as we look at one another. It’s as if our souls are actually connecting. The words we said were a start but this act is the real glue. My body goes into hers, making a connection that was intended to make two people into one magnificent creature.

“My God, you’re gorgeous.”

Her hand moves over my cheek. “I get to look at this handsome face from now on. I get to kiss this face whenever I want to.”

With a smile, I make a very hard thrust, knocking the air from her. “Whenever I want, I can make you scream my name.”

“Make me scream it now.”

“You asked for it.” I pull out and flip her over, pulling her back to me and ram into her from behind as I hold her waist.

She moans but doesn’t scream. I push her shoulders to the bed, making her ass lift higher into the air. When I make harder thrusts, I can feel her getting wetter. Her moans continue as I pump away. When her walls start contracting, her moans get louder and when I don’t stop as she climaxes, she screams, “Yes! God, yes! Ryker! Ryker!”

“Damn you sound sexy as hell when you scream my name, baby. You like it when I fuck you, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Her body quivers as I don’t relent. I watch her hands fist the sheets as she bears down with the orgasm. “Fuck!”

She’s shaking like crazy now and I decide it’s time to finish her, so we can get some rest. I pull out and flip her onto her back. Getting off the bed, I yank her until her ass is at the end of the bed, then I thrust into her again.

“I love to watch you cum.”

She moans as I look at her. She’s glowing with perspiration and passion. Her orgasm is waning, I can feel it. So, I give my finger a lick and run it over her swollen clit.

Her eyes spring open and she pants like an animal. “Ryker!”

“I want you to give me one more before I end this. Tell me you’ll give it to me, Gia.” I run my hand over my cock when I pull it nearly all the way out, wetting it and using our combined juices to lubricate my fingers that I use on her clit.

“I’ll come all over your cock, baby. Keep fucking me hard and I’ll come all over you.”

I watch my finger as it moves in circles over her sex. My cock moves in and out of her, making me very close to meeting my end. With a glance at her, I see she’s watching me touch her too. Her legs begin to quiver as they’re hung over the end of the bed. “Ohhh!”

The contractions of another orgasm, ripple all over my cock and I can’t take it any longer. I blow my wad as she screams my name. My head goes light with the action and I have to lean over to steady myself. My face is lying on her stomach as I jerk all I have into her.

Her hands move through my hair. “I love you,” I mumble then press my lips to her flat belly. “I really do love you, Gia.”

“I know you do. I love you too. Can we sleep now that we’ve consummated this marriage?”

With a silent nod, I pull my body off hers and we both climb under the blankets and cuddle up together. “Sweet dreams,” I tell her as I’m nearly asleep already.

I’m met with her soft snore and can fall asleep, knowing I’ve got my wife by my side.

Gia is my wife!

GIA

A shaft of bright light hits me directly in my right eye. Rolling over to avoid it, I find the bed empty in the hotel room Ryker and I spent our first night as a married couple in. “Baby,” I mutter.

No answer comes and I have to actually raise my head to see where my brand new hubby is. I see no one around. With a huff, I move my, still tired body, out of the bed, the soft, comfy, cozy bed, to get up and find my missing half.

As I get up on my feet, I realize that was a mistake. The night of dancing more than I’ve ever done in my entire life combined, has left my legs in a noodle-like state. When the door opens, I shriek as I see a maid coming in and I’m naked, “No!”

“Oh, sorry, ma’am. I thought the room was empty. The register says it is.”

Blinking at her, I find it odd she hasn’t left the room yet. I am sitting here naked after all!

“Well, I didn’t break in here! Do you mind?”

“I have to report this.” She picks up a walkie talkie and I climb back under the blankets.

“Report away!”

“There’s someone in the bridal suite.”

“Excuse me.” I hear Ryker say from the hallway. “May I help you?”

“That room is supposed to be empty,” the voice on the walkie talkie tells her.

“It is not,” Ryker corrects the voice.

The maid looks at him with a frown. “Who are you?”

“Ryker Crawford. The man who rented this room for the night.”

“You checked out,” she tells him.

“No. As you can see, I’m right here and my wife is inside. Pretty pissed I bet.”

“She does look unhappy,” she says. “But you did check out.”

“Let me leave these things with my wife and I will be happy to go down to the front desk and fix this.” She steps aside and he comes in. A bag from my favorite café is in his hand. “Bagels with cream cheese from your favorite breakfast spot, my esteemed wife.”

My mouth begins to water, instantly. “My hero!” I hold out my arms to take the delicious breakfast he’s provided for me. “Could I get any luckier?”

“No,” he says with a grin. “Eat this.” He pulls the pink tissue paper wrapped goodie out of the bag, along with a tall coffee cup. “I’ll be right back. Once I clear this up.”

After a chaste kiss on top of my head, he and the maid leave the room. And I find my cell ringing. I look across the large room. The phone is on the dresser. The walk seems so far and my hot coffee and warm bagel are looking at me with soulful eyes, begging me to ignore the call and devour them.

My curiosity gets the best of me and I drag my body out of the bed and go to get the phone. I stop as my eyes catch the name on my screen. Damien Markov!

Taking the phone with me, I don’t answer it. I let it go to voicemail and slip back under the blankets. He can suck it!

Curiosity gets the best of me, yet again, as the phone dings telling me he’s left a message. I tap the screen to listen as his voice comes over my phone for the first time in over a year, “Gia, I know you weren’t expecting this call from me. I wanted you to be the first to know this. We’ve planned our first mission to Mars. It will be in three months. I will be gone from here in three months and I wanted to let you know that Ryker will too. He and I talked and he said he wasn’t going to tell you. I thought you should know.”

I sit in complete silence and feel kind of numb. Why would Ryker not tell me this?

Will this not be public information? Is there some reason he doesn’t want me to know? And what is this shit that he’s going too? Is it on the Russian mission?

The door opens and Ryker comes in. “It was a weird mistake. Someone actually called in and said he was me. He told them I forgot to stop by the front desk and check out but that you and I had left. Crazy, huh?”

“Yep.” That’s all I can say. I’m stunned.

“Hey, I expected that bagel to be crumbs by now. What’s up?” He runs his finger over the bagel that I’m not hungry for at all anymore.

“I feel sick.”

“Hung over?” He grins.

“More like, run over.” I give him a blatant stare.

He walks away from me, looking pretty guilty. “You seem kind of mad.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

Sitting at the table, I notice he’s staying away from me. “What would you call it?”

I toss my cell at him. Well, toss is an understatement. I throw it directly at his head.

“What the…” He catches the phone. “Gia, what the hell are you doing?”

“Press the voicemail.”

He does and he hears the call I just got. I watch him go a bit pale. “That bastard!”

“What the hell happened? Why the hell didn’t you want to tell me?” I pull the blanket up, even more, to cover myself, feeling naked and even violated for some damn reason.

“Gia, I wanted to. I was going to do it in my own time. And he knew that.”

“Ryker, what’s going on? Are you not going to take me?”

When he shakes his head, I pull the pillow over my face, so he doesn’t see me crying. I feel lied to! I feel betrayed! I feel stupid!

His hands run up my arms, then he pulls the pillow away. “Baby, the World Space Exploration Center has made a mandatory decision. A group made up of only six men will be the first mission to Mars. Upon our arrival, if we can make a go of things, then others can come.”

“No,” I say with a soft voice. “You can’t go.”

“The men were hand-picked.”

“Ryker, you can say, no.”

“I don’t want to.”

I can only stare at him. My heart has stopped. “I’m asking you not to go.”

“Don’t.”

“Damn it, Ryker! You’ll be gone for eight months, just on travel time if everything goes right! Then you’ll have a tiny team to get things going. No! No, you can’t go! You can’t!”

“It may take a year or more to make sure it’s safe there. You see, a research craft came back with evidence of water. It also came back with evidence of what might be life. There may be life forms there. Hiding beneath the surface.”

“And what would you do about that?” I ask as more tears are threatening me but I keep them at bay. “Ryker, if there are people or other creatures hiding under the surface, they may see your team as a threat and kill you all.”

He nods and I can’t hold the tears back any longer. “No! A thousand times, no!”

“I was born to do this.”

“I was born to tell you not to.” I hold his dark eyes with my stony glare. “You are my husband!”

“You are my wife. You will stand by me as I do what I feel is my duty to do. This isn’t about you or me. This is about the expansion of our race. The human race. Women and children have no place in a frontier that may have inhabitants that could kill them all. It’s our duty, not only as men, but men who know a thing or two about the planet and how to make a life on it. Only men, who’ve been at the forefront of this mission to get to Mars, have been chosen. It’s an honor and a privilege, Gia.”

“And I may lose my husband to it!”

I watch his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. I watch his eyes open wide. I watch him turn into a man I’ve never seen before. “You may.”

“So, now you’re a soldier, Ryker? I didn’t marry a soldier. I married a very intelligent man. Not a mindless robot for the powers that be, to control. I want to be with you when you first step foot on that planet. I want to be with you when you take your first breath of Martian air. I want to be with you when you first lay eyes on the planet. You’re stealing my dreams if you go without me.”

“You’re stealing mine, if you don’t allow me to go, with your blessing, Gia.”

I don’t know what to think. All of what I thought has been turned upside down. My one, true love, my husband wants to go. Leave me. Maybe forever.

“I’m afraid.” I bat back the tears, I’ve managed to reign in.

His arms close me in a circle and I feel the warmth of his body and wonder how I can possibly live without him for that length of time. Or maybe even forever. “So am I. But fears must be faced or nothing would ever happen.”

“I hate your bravery.” I run my hands up and down his muscled back. “I hate your need to conquer new worlds.”

“But you knew I had those things when you married me,” he says with a chuckle that pisses me off.

“Yesterday.” I let him go and glare at him. “Yesterday, I married you. Yesterday, the plans were still the same. I would go with you on the first mission! And now look what’s happened!”

“Would you not have married me if this would’ve come up one day sooner?”

I lie back on the bed and put my hands behind my head, which feels as if it might explode. Would I have married him? Would I have put myself in this boat? Would a day earlier of knowing this make a difference?

“Ryker, what if I get pregnant? Will you still leave?”

He and I both know I’m in a fertile state. He and I planned it that way. Our plan was to get pregnant right away. And now he wants to leave.

“I trust you to take excellent care of our child until you can come to me.”

“And if that time never comes? What happens if you’re killed by whatever is there, hiding under the ground?”

He stops, looking as if that’s not occurred to him. “I suppose they’ll give us weapons.”

“Are you going to kill them all?”

He looks a bit unsure and sits on the bed. “Gia, help me. Help us to figure things out. I need your help, baby. I need it. You’re brilliant. You think of things others don’t. Help us all.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “What if I don’t want to help you go to a dangerous situation?”

“What if I need you too?”

I stare at him and wonder what the hell he’s gotten us into. “I’m pissed right now.”

“I know.”

“Fuck! Ryker! Fuck! Everything has changed! God, damn it all to hell!”

“Gia, please don’t say that.” He takes me in his arms and holds me tightly against his chest. “Baby, I need you in my corner. Like never before, I need you. You said it before. You might be more help from Earth. I need you to be my help from here. Tell me you’ll do it for me. For us all.”

I have no idea of what I should say or do. I could get an annulment. I could move on with my life. I could try my best to forget Ryker Crawford. All of these options are mine.

“For better or worse,” he murmurs as he kisses the place he loves to kiss, just behind my left ear.

“Till death do us part.”

RYKER

The first meeting of the team going to Mars is over. The plans are set and the information NASA retrieved has been given to us. Damien and I walk out of the conference room together. “She’s taking it badly, isn’t she?” he asks me.

I shove my hands in my pockets with a huff. “Badly isn’t even strong enough for what she is. Gia is a mixture of disappointed, pissed, and scared to death. It makes for a shaky, cranky, erratic woman who cries, throws things, and screams like a banshee over things that don’t amount to a hill of beans.”

“Svetlana is unhappy as well. To make matters worse, I’ve had to issue her funds through a bank account my family knows nothing about. If she blows through the money, I don’t know what she’ll do.” He looks worried and I feel bad for him for some damn reason.

“Thank God Gia can take care of herself. Now can you see how important it is to let your woman have her independence?”

“Do you think she’d look out for Svetlana and my son for me, while I’m gone?”

I stop walking and stare at the man. “Are you kidding?”

“So, you think there’s no way she’d help them out if they find themselves running out of money?”

Taking off again, I shake my head. “I don’t know what she’d do. That’s your deal to take care of, Damien. Gia is in no mood to be asked such a thing. She’d likely bite your head off if you did ask.”

The glass doors slide open and we walk out into the bright sunshine. Both of us pull out sunglasses and put them on as we go to our cars. “Maybe I can find someone else to watch over them.” Damien looks away as he heads toward his rental car. “You want to grab some lunch?”

“I’ve got to get back to my office. Gia asked me to meet her there after the meeting. She wants to know every little detail.”

He stops and pulls his glasses down to look at me. “Except the one we were told not to disclose.”

“Of course. I think she’d hog tie me and hide me away if she knew about that.” Getting to my car I give him a wave and get in.

The secret we have to keep will be hard to do. Gia can be tenacious. But she can’t know about this. No one can!

GIA

The three months have passed far too quickly. In five days, the mission to Mars will leave, taking my husband away for God only knows how long. I lay on our bed, watching Ryker as he comes out of the bathroom, rubbing his head with a towel to dry his dark hair. “You look cozy.” He tosses the towel away and it lands on the floor.

“Don’t just leave that there,” I snap at him.

I’ve been snapping at him a lot since he told me he was leaving. I feel a tiny bit of guilt as he goes to pick up the towel and places it on the back of a chair. “Sorry.”

I hate how sad he’s looked lately. But I also hate how sad I’ve been feeling. “When are you going to talk to me, Ryker?”

“I do talk to you, Gia.” He climbs into the bed, pulling the blanket up then fluffing his pillows before he lies back on them.

“No, you don’t.” I huff then turn over on my side.

The fact is, I have something to tell him but I can’t seem to make myself say it. It wouldn’t change a thing if he knew it, anyway. I’m just so mad at him for going on this damn mission that it consumes me.

I feel his hand running over my shoulder. “Can’t we get along these last few days, Gia? Can you pretend I’m not leaving?”

Flipping over, I look at him as tears trickle down my cheeks. “No, I can’t pretend that. This is hard enough as it is, without adding in denial to this recipe for disaster. You’ve been dreaming lately. Talking in your sleep.”

He wipes my tears away. “I have?”

“You have. You’re hiding something from me. I deserve to know. I should know.”

He looks at me for a while then says, “I am hiding something. And I’m not at liberty to discuss it with anyone, other than my team and our supervisors. If I could tell you about it, I would.”

“It’s dangerous. More dangerous than most people are aware of. And you want to walk right into it. Why?”

“Someone has to do it, Gia.”

“They’re training you all for battle. A battle cannot be won by six men. So, tell me why you’d go on a suicide mission. I don’t understand.”

“It’s not a suicide mission. We’re all being trained and given what we need to win the battle. If there is one. No one knows for certain if there will be one.”

Sitting up in the bed, I cross my arms over my chest. “If there is one, how will you be able to retreat if necessary? No one has made any plan for that.”

“Because you know there’s no retreating. I wish you wouldn’t worry. We do have plans in place and some things no one knows about. I feel confident in our training and our gear. Can’t that be enough for you?”

“No.”

My stomach growls and he looks at it. “Hungry? Did you eat anything at all today?”

I shake my head. “Food isn’t sitting right with me, lately. I do take the capsules, though. I’m being nourished. As if you care.” I huff and lay back down, pulling the blanket up.

“I do care, Gia.” His hand moves through my hair. “I’m not going because I don’t care about you. You know that.”

“I don’t know anything except you’re leaving me and I may never see you again. That’s all I know for sure.” The urge to spit out what I should tell him fills my head as he runs his hands through my hair.

“I’m not really leaving you. You don’t know you’ll never see me again. For all you know, you may be following me sometime next year.”

“I may be following you before that,” I let him know. “You see, I’ve signed up for a mission too. I’m in the second group.”

When his hand freezes, I know I’ve surprised him and he’s not pleasantly surprised, either. “The second group? I wasn’t aware there was going to be one. And how long have you been keeping this from me?”

“A week. I was approached a week ago. And you’re not aware of it because a private company is funding the project. There will be twenty of us.”

“You can’t go, Gia. That private company isn’t privy to the information we have from NASA. You can’t go.” He pulls me over, so I have to look at him. “There’s more to Mars than others are aware of.”

“I am going. If you’re going, then I’m going too. I’ll be right behind you, baby.”

“I have to make a call,” he says then gets out of bed. “No missions, other than ours can be sent.”

“There is no governmental control over this, Ryker.” I sit back up and watch him as he takes his cell and leaves the room.

I suppose he can’t talk in front of me. I suppose there’s a huge cover-up or secret about Mars that only a select few can know. And that tells me more about the danger that’s lurking there.

My stomach goes tense and I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom. My nerves have gotten the best of me, lately. I’ve thrown up so many times in the last week, it seems at times like I have a virus.