When Tala had all her patients in stable condition, including, thank God, Sage’s brother, she showered and had one of the ubiquitous Star Guardian steaks. If she ever came to work aboard this ship, she would insist on more creative menu options.

She smiled slightly at the idea of working there. Nobody had died on her operating table. She was sure the day would come when there would be somebody she couldn’t save, but the technology was fantastic, and it would be extremely difficult returning to an Earth hospital. If she could go home long enough to tell her mom that she was all right, and see to it that Mindy was taken care of, she could imagine a future here.

She ought to have found the battle and the craziness to be pure insanity, but she felt proud of herself for handling the stress and helping so many people. And they’d been fighting for a good reason. To protect humanity from aliens that wanted to eat them. And to get her people home. Even though this hadn’t technically been her battle, it had felt more meaningful than operating on people who were on her table simply because they’d made poor lifestyle choices for too many years.

Though she was tired, and probably could have slept, Tala was curious about what was going on—that last gate jump had left her on the deck. Several of the women had thrown up.

More than curiosity kept her up. She wanted to see Sage. It had been hours since that ship-wide announcement that they were going through a gate. She had no idea which gate they’d gone through or what their destination was now. Earth? Dethocoles to warn his people? Was the danger past? They hadn’t been fired on since the gate jump. She didn’t think. Admittedly, she’d been busy with her patients and might have missed major things happening.

Tala tried Sage’s cabin first, thinking he might be getting some rest if things had calmed down, but she wasn’t surprised when he wasn’t there. He would probably sleep in his chair on the bridge before leaving at a dubious time. Dedication to duty apparently ran in the family. She still couldn’t believe Orion had refused to be sedated while she operated. As if he could have grabbed his weapon and leaped off the table to fight further while his intestines were dangling to the deck.

She smiled at the memory, glad he’d finally allowed her to sedate him after he’d seen that Sage had arrived and could take care of things. Even though her focus had been on the operation, it had been nice hearing them banter with each other. Sage had spoken softly, gently, not in his usual cool, calculating, command tone. She imagined that not many people got to witness that side of him. Maybe not even Orion. They always seemed so stiff with each other.

The bridge doors opened, and Tala poked her head in.

Sage wasn’t in his seat. Neither was Zakota. A younger officer had replaced him at the helm. Korta was still at his station—did Alabasters not need sleep?—and Tala was on the verge of asking him where Sage was when she noticed the view screen.

They were flying toward a beautiful bluish-purple planet with dark green rings around it. The light of a sun gleamed orange behind one of its horizons, and another yellow sun burned in space farther away. Did that signify another solar system? Or were both of these suns in the same one? The view was amazing, but the pilot wore a grim expression as he eyed the screen.

Tala cleared her throat, and he looked over at her. Judging by his swollen cheek and a black eye, he had been in the battle in some capacity too. The whole crew seemed to be in need of her services, whether they had shown up in her sickbay or not.

“Is Captain Sage—Sagitta around?” she asked, thinking of that gash on the side of his face.

“In his ready room, ma’am.” He pointed toward the other door on the bridge, a single, unadorned one without a plaque or label of any sort.

Tala thought the young man might smirk knowingly, especially since rumors were going around now about her being the captain’s woman, but he only returned to contemplating the view. Well, she wasn’t exactly dressed like a woman arriving for a hot date. She had washed her clothes in the laundry while showering—that was another bit of technology she would miss, a machine that washed and dried clothes in three minutes—and she smelled clean, but her linen shirt and khaki pants weren’t exactly the things of men’s fantasies.

She paused in front of the door, not sure if it would be locked or if she should knock, but it slid open for her.

Sage sat at the head of a table that could seat eight, his chair spun toward a wall that held a porthole and a view screen, though he wasn’t looking at either of them. His elbow rested on the table, his hand framing his forehead and hiding his eyes.

Why didn’t anyone think that planet was amazingly beautiful and worth gazing upon? It was also visible through the porthole in here. The view screen held what appeared to be a diagram of the system, showing planets and the two suns. The system seemed huge and sprawling, at least compared to what Tala was used to from back home.

For a moment, Sage didn’t stir, and she thought he was dozing, but he lowered his hand and turned his chair to face her. He must have found something from a first-aid kit to squeeze on his gash because it was noticeably better than it had been a few hours earlier.

“Orion?” Sage asked, concern flashing in his eyes.

“He’s fine,” Tala hurried to say.

She’d sent a message earlier, to let him know she was fairly certain Orion would make it, barring complications from the reconstructive intestinal surgery the nanobots were doing. She’d closed him up and left them to do work that would have been impossible back home. Things could change, though, and she understood why Sage would be concerned.

“I came on pleasure, not business,” she added.

His forehead furrowed. Apparently, they didn’t have the expression.

“On pleasure, or for pleasure?” he asked.

“Well, you did promise me an apology.”

He smiled slightly, but his gaze slid toward the porthole, and she doubted sex was on his mind. She supposed she could wait. After all, he didn’t look like he’d showered. His gray-brown hair was tousled, a day’s worth of beard growth stubbled his chin, and his black fatigues were more rumpled than she’d seen them. He was more rumpled than she’d seen him, with an uncharacteristic slump to his shoulders. But as she considered him, she decided she found him attractive this way. Maybe more attractive than usual. He seemed more like a man than the intimidating captain. For the first time since she’d met him, he looked like someone who could use a hug. And he looked… huggable.

“I’m not sure I’d be able to give an adequate apology right now,” he murmured.

“Oh? Are you suffering from male problems? We call that erectile dysfunction and have pills for it.”

He made a choking sound as he looked incredulously at her.

“That was doctor humor,” Tala explained.

“It was abysmal.”

“Then I did it right.”

“I simply meant to say that I might not be good company right now. Though you did try to turn me into a woman earlier, so that may be to blame too.”

Tala snorted. “I’m sure that’s worn off.”

Despite his words about being bad company, Sage waved at the chair next to him in a vague invitation. “We came through a wormhole with a broken gate on this end. We can’t get back. And unless something is hidden extremely well, there aren’t any other gates leading out of the system.”

Tala considered the pretty ringed planet again, letting the words sink in as she walked over to join him. “So we’re trapped here?”

“Unless we can come up with something brilliant.”

“There’s no way to fix the gate?”

“No human ever has. The gates were here when we started exploring the galaxy. We’ve occasionally encountered ruins made from similar materials and with similar technology, left behind by the aliens who built the gates and left humans scattered on planets all over the galaxy—we call them the Wanderers. Everything they built is far beyond our level of understanding. To us, the gates might as well be magical.”

“I see.” Tala stopped beside him, but didn’t sit down. He was at the head of the table, and she didn’t want to take the position of one of his subordinates. Or maybe she just wanted to be closer to him than the next chair. She rested her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure you and your clever people will find a way home.”

“I hope you’re right.” He rubbed his temple. “My job is battling enemies, not empty solar systems or ancient alien tech. I’m not—this isn’t a science or exploratory vessel. We might have a fancy job title back home, but we’re essentially soldiers.” He looked up at her. “I’m sorry. I usually keep my doubts to myself, so as not to worry the crew. I guess I’m tired.”

Tala squeezed his shoulder, feeling the hard muscles through his uniform jacket and once again remembering him in a tank top.

“I kind of like you like this,” she said.

“Dejected?”

“Humble.”

“I didn’t realize I was usually cocky. When I was younger perhaps…”

“Not cocky, but self-confident to the point of being irritating. I’ve known surgeons like that. They’re amazingly good at what they do, and I’d want them operating on me, but I’d beat myself with a wet noodle if I had to spend time with them.”

“Are you one of those surgeons?”

“No, I’m cuddly and lovable.”

He snorted so loudly that Tala couldn’t keep from grinning.

“Maybe I’m somewhere in the middle,” she said.

His eyebrows rose.

“Leaning toward the irritatingly self-confident side.”

“Self-awareness is an admirable trait, they say.”

“I think, if I had a wet noodle, I’d beat you with it. Alas, noodles are in short supply on this ship.”

“If this is some Gaian custom, it sounds very strange.”

“We’re a strange people.”

She lifted her hand to tousle his hair fondly. It seemed like a good excuse to touch it. The last time she’d had the opportunity, when she’d been gripping his head and kissing him, she’d barely noticed if it was soft. It was. It felt good to push her fingers through it.

He surprised her by closing his eyes and leaning toward her. She turned so he could rest his head against her chest, and she continued to slip her fingers through his hair before switching to kneading his scalp. He let out a contented sigh and relaxed against her. Even though his head was the only thing touching her, a warm tingle went through her, and she started imagining him in his tank top again. And then wondered about what he would look like in even less. Did he have scars elsewhere to match the ones on his face?

“I haven’t gone over all the reports yet,” Sage said, “but I heard you were extremely helpful with the Zi’i. And I already know you were helpful in the nebula.”

The simple acknowledgment that she’d been useful sent another warm tingle through her. Or maybe that was from the way his head was touching her breasts through her shirt, making her aware of them. And of him.

“When I wasn’t drugging you?” she teased.

“Yes. I remember when you first came on board.” He lifted an arm and slipped it around to her back. He rubbed her through her shirt, his fingers strong as he probed muscles that were tired and sore from leaning over to work on people. “I seem to recall that Orion, or maybe it was Treyjon, didn’t think you’d be that helpful as a doctor since you came from a primitive planet.”

“I’ve had to learn a lot quickly.” Tala kept stroking his head, but she shifted closer to his chair, to him. She lamented that her shirt wasn’t unbuttoned the way it had been the last time they were close, because she wouldn’t have minded feeling his beard stubble against her bare flesh.

Sage leaned his head back to look into her eyes. “I’m pleased that you wanted to do so.”

There was that warm tingle again. Who would have thought his approval could mean so much? Or maybe she was tingling because of the way he was rubbing her back. Her lightweight shirt shifted with the movements, and his fingers occasionally brushed bare skin. She wouldn’t have minded if the shirt came off altogether. Oh, she might have felt self-conscious in front of the unflappable, confident Captain Sage, but this was rumpled, tousled, humble Sage. She couldn’t imagine him judging her.

“Sit with me?” he asked.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t a command. Yes, she liked this Sage.

She started toward the chair she had rejected earlier, but he swiveled his seat away from the table, caught her at the waist with both hands, and pulled her into his lap. Where she found that he was also having warm tingly feelings, among other things.

“I thought you weren’t in the mood for an active evening,” she said, wriggling to find a comfortable spot in his lap—and maybe to tease him a little.

“I wasn’t, but then you played with my hair.”

“I had no idea my touch was so arousing.” She gave a pointed look to his lap, though of course she couldn’t see anything since she was sitting on him.

“Mm.” His eyelids drooped partway shut. “As you can now tell, I don’t have any male problems.”

“I’m very relieved. I admit, I wondered, since your brother and your crew seem fairly certain that you don’t have any interest in relationships, male, female, or otherwise.” Though that one odd crewman had referred to her as the captain’s woman….

“Is that the gossip?”

“Is it wrong?” Happy to sit with him—on him—Tala looped one arm around his shoulders and touched his face with her free hand. The wound was healing, but it would leave a scar if he didn’t come to sickbay for laser smoothing. “I can fix that later, if you want.”

Sage lifted his hand to capture hers, his touch gentle. “I suppose it’s not wrong—the gossip. But it’s not the interest that’s lacking. It’s the time to search that’s the problem. And then what if you find someone? They’re at home on some planet, and you’re always gone. Eventually, they get tired of missing you, and time passes, and you become strangers, and they find someone else.”

He winced, and Tala had a feeling that hadn’t been a hypothetical scenario. How often, she wondered, had it happened to him?

“I understand,” she said. “Though I will be the first to tell you that it can happen when home is in the same town as work, and you’re only twenty minutes away. When your work takes up all your time…” She lifted her shoulder.

“It seems we have similar problems.”

He brushed his thumb over her knuckles, and she shivered a little. She found herself looking at his mouth as he spoke. Remembering the way he’d kissed her in the office.

“Would it help if two people were on the same ship?” he asked. “And had to speak to each other on a daily basis because one was a tyrant who demanded frequent section reports?”

One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, his hand still rubbing her lower back. His other hand left hers and came to rest on her thigh, and she forgot to answer for a moment, as she grew intensely aware of it. The heat of his palm warmed her skin through her khakis. Then that hand, too, started massaging her, fingers brushing her inner thigh now and then.

Another memory rushed to mind, the way he’d slid his hand into her panties, touching her most intimate places, her most exquisitely sensitive places. She wanted that again.

“I don’t know. ” Tala leaned against his chest and touched her lips to his, but decided she should finish discussing the issue before losing herself in kissing him. “Would being on the same ship mean this tyrant would barge rudely in on this woman during private moments?”

“Barge? People who want privacy should lock their doors.”

Their eyes were almost level, so she had no trouble seeing the flare of indignation that burned in his. She’d seen that expression before, the will to argue, a will to goad her into arguing.

She quirked an eyebrow. “People with decency should back out of the room when they stumble upon someone… enjoying themselves.”

He opened his mouth, looking like he had a comeback ready to go, but some of the indignation faded. “That’s probably true. If it had been someone else, I would have. Rushed out of the room, most likely. But by then, I’d been fantasizing about you. And seeing you like that—it definitely fueled those fantasies.”

The naked admission stole any more incentive she might have drummed up to argue with him. Besides, she didn’t want to argue with him. She just wanted to kiss him.

He read her thoughts and kissed her first. Not a light, preliminary teasing as her kiss had been. No, his was hard and eager, as if to let her know just how much he’d been fantasizing about her.

She returned his kiss just as eagerly, twisting to wrap both arms around him, her hands roaming, feeling his hard body beneath his clothes. Just as she felt his hard cock pressing into the bottom of her thigh.

It only took seconds of exploration before she decided she wanted him out of his jacket. She found his buttons as their tongues touched and tasted, and their lips sucked and nibbled. He also found her buttons, and somehow, her shirt ended up being pushed back to her shoulders first.

“I believe I owe you an apology,” he said between kisses, the fingers of one of his hands dancing over the bare skin of her stomach. His other hand slipped around to her back, unhooked her bra, and trailed down her spine. Those fingers left heat everywhere they touched, heat that arrowed straight down to her groin, filling her with scorching need. “But I have a confession to make first.”

“Yes?” Tala fiddled with his lowermost buttons, though she had a hard time not stopping and thrusting her hand through the jacket to rub his chest and explore the muscles outlined underneath his tank top.

“I like arguing with you. Nobody else argues with me except the old, white-haired admirals at High Command. And they’re not at all sexy. I like it that you stand up to me and argue back.”

“I know.” Hah, she finally had his buttons undone. She shoved his jacket back as far as she could and ran her hands over his bare shoulders and chest. He still had the tank top on, but she could feel a lot more through it than she had through the jacket.

“You do?”

“I figured that out a while ago. I thought you were just being an ass. It took me longer to realize that it got you aroused.” She smirked and wiggled her bottom against his erection.

He sucked in a startled breath, one of his hands clamping around her waist, clamping her to him. “That doesn’t mean I wasn’t being an ass.”

“Oh, no disagreement here.”

He laughed shortly, then brought his lips back to hers.

She tugged his tank top out of his trousers and pushed her hands up under it, finally getting to feel him without the clothing, relishing the way her fingers bumped over the ridges of his abdomen. She wanted to lower her mouth to his chest, to run her tongue along those ridges, but she would have had to be a pretzel to get into that position while she sat in his lap. Besides, she also would have had to stop kissing him, and she had a hard time imagining doing that.

“I have a confession for you too,” she murmured against his lips.

“Yes?”

As they broke lip contact for a few seconds to speak, he pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it onto the table. Her bra followed before she knew it, and he slipped his hands under her butt, shifting and lifting her onto the table.

“Back in my office,” she started, but cut off with a gasp as he bent his head, his mouth finding her nipple. His hands slid up and down her sides, brushing the curves of her breasts.

“Yes?” he murmured again, tongue circling her, teasing her.

She gripped the back of his head with both hands, pushing herself toward him, forgetting her words as his tongue sent sharp sensations of pleasure dancing along her nerves and down to the hot core between her legs. His hand had returned to her thigh, and now it traveled north, this thumb rubbing her through her pants. She spread her legs without conscious thought, knowing only that she didn’t want to impede that touch.

“Sage,” she whispered, almost panted.

“Tell me,” he said in his command voice.

“What?”

“Your confession,” he growled, swirling his tongue around her other breast, then flicking it over her nipple.

The sensation was wickedly intense, contrasting with the teasingly light touch of his beard stubble scraping against her skin. She pushed herself toward the edge of the table, wanting to be closer to him, wanting more of him from every angle.

She finally managed to gather her thoughts enough to answer his demand. “I was thinking of you. In my office. When you walked in.”

“I know,” he said in that same growly voice.

It sent shivers through her. A part of her thought she should tell him off, let him know how cocky he was to assume she would be thinking of him, but he shifted out of the chair and rose to his feet, standing between her legs. He kissed her passionately, his tongue demanding more of her, as if her confession had made him harder, hungrier. He unbuttoned her khakis, and she wanted to protest that all she’d managed to do was to open his jacket, that he still wore his full uniform.

But she didn’t want to stop this, to delay anything. She grabbed her loosened waistband and shifted on the table so she could push her clothes down, issuing a distressed laugh when everything got hung up on her shoes. Why had she forgotten shoes?

Sage dropped to one knee to fix the tangle, and that brought his head between her legs, his stubbled cheek brushing the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh. She heard her shoes clunk to the deck, but she was more focused on the fact that his face was very close to her. Would he apologize… with his tongue? It was hard to imagine the mighty captain deigning to offer oral sex from his knees, but he was down there.

His calloused hand slid up her bare calf, making her glad she’d figured out how to use the depilation cream that came out of the funky shower tiles.

“I’ve never had a naked woman on my briefing room table,” he murmured, eyes glinting as he looked up at her, past her bared breasts to her face.

“Never?” She tried to think of a witty retort, but it was hard when he was stroking her legs, his face only a few inches from her most intimate spots. “It doesn’t sound like you’re putting your command prerogative to good use.”

“I try not to do things I wouldn’t let my men do.” His fingers trailed higher up her leg, from her calf, to her knee and beyond.

“I don’t think any of them would dare bring a naked woman to your briefing room table.”

“Let’s hope not,” he said, his fingers stroking her inner thigh, sliding ever closer to the spot that had started throbbing in sync with his hand’s movements. “I don’t sanitize it as often as I should.”

“Sage, while I enjoy trading jokes with you, what I’d really like now is your apology.”

“Yes, I see that.” His eyes glinted again, and she feared he would do nothing but tease her, but then his thumb eased through her wiry hair, and he rose up enough to kiss her again.

Kissing was good. She cheerfully returned it, even if she hoped he might use his mouth elsewhere eventually. His fingers were exploring that area now, slipping into her, stroking her, and she kissed him harder as her need grew. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders, wanting to feel more of his bare skin under her fingers. He obliged by removing it, impressively without stopping his tantalizing touches between her legs.

Finally, she had him in just the tank top, and, as their kisses grew more heated, she pushed that up too. But he didn’t take the cue this time and remove it. Instead, he broke their kiss to shift lower, to take her breast in his mouth again. His tongue traced a circle around her nipple, and then he sucked gently at it. Hot sparks shot through her body and between her legs, to where he rubbed her clitoris just enough to create sparks down there too.

She pushed her fingers through his hair as she arched her back toward him, wanting more of everything, but not having the words to articulate her desires. Cool air teased her damp nipple as his mouth moved away. She might have protested, but he wasn’t slacking off. His tongue slid down the valley between her breasts and past her abdomen as he kissed and licked his way between her legs.

A rush of heat went through her, and she realized he was going to do just what she’d hoped, what she’d dared not ask for.

She leaned back on the table, supporting herself with her elbows, and giving more of herself to him, giving him access to all of her. His hands slid under her ass as his mouth took the place of his fingers. He parted her with his tongue, and she couldn’t keep from gasping and straining toward him. His fingers had been wonderful, but this was explosive.

When his tongue found her clitoris, circling it languidly, she couldn’t keep from crying an enthusiastic, “Yes, there!” as she clenched the edge of the table with her fingers.

That was the point it occurred to her that the door wasn’t locked, that the young officer knew she was in here, and that she had no idea how soundproof the walls were. Dear Lord, what if the officer walked in to make some report, and she was sprawled out naked on the table, writhing and begging for more?

“Should we be doing this in here?” she blurted.

He lifted his mouth and arched his eyebrows. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No!” She rolled her eyes. Or maybe they rolled back in her head of their own accord. “Yes. No, I just—” She glanced toward the door, the door that had cheerfully opened when all she’d done was walk up. What if the alien strolled past, accidentally causing it to open, and the navigation officer saw everything?

Sage followed her gaze, then said, “Eridanus, lock that, will you?”

“Certainly, Captain.”

“I’m either delighted by the convenience of your technology or horrified that your ship is watching us.”

“He doesn’t have eyes. Or an interest in sex.”

“So it’s like observing specimens in a science experiment?”

“Do you always talk this much during apologies?” Sage gave her butt a playful swat, then returned his mouth to her, his tongue renewing its acquaintance with her clitoris, sliding over the tip and ensuring her answer came out in an inarticulate groan.

She throbbed for him, fingers clenching and unclenching on the table as her need built and built. He circled her, licking and nibbling ever so lightly, and she writhed in his hands. Sweat gleamed on her skin, as if she were running a marathon instead of simply letting him—

“Sage,” she moaned, trembling as he brought her closer and closer to the edge.

“Yes?” he murmured, his lips only intensifying the sensation as they moved against her. Finally, he took her in his mouth, sucking that bundle of nerves so that electricity coursed through her entire body until she couldn’t bear it anymore. She exploded like one of those mines in the nebula, not able to keep from crying out.

Soundproofing. She would definitely hope these walls had soundproofing.

With that thought, she slumped back against the table, Sage’s hands still cupping her ass. He withdrew his mouth from her, but left his cheek by her thigh and nuzzled her as he gazed up at her, his eyes lingering on her bare breasts. He still wore everything save for his jacket, but she had no doubt there were parts of him that very much wanted to be free.

“That was a good apology,” she said.

“I’m glad,” he said, his voice husky as he gazed upon her. “Do you want to go to my cabin?”

“Worried about sanitizing your table?”

“You don’t look that comfortable.”

“No?” Even if going to his cabin wouldn’t have meant walking past the officers on the bridge, she wouldn’t have wanted to leave, not when he was looking at her that way, his eyes hungry with need, and her own body primed and ready for more. Ready for him. She lifted her hand as she watched his face, cupping her own breast and fondling it. “It’s probably because you’re entirely too far away from me.”

He watched her touching herself, as he’d watched her the other day in the office, and she imagined his hard cock straining to do some touching of its own.

“I can remedy that,” he whispered.

“Come to me, Captain.”

Sage peeled off his shirt and tossed it onto the table with the rest of their clothes. He was tempted to yank off his trousers and boots as quickly as possible to fling himself atop Tala—she’d ordered him to come to her, and he hated to make a woman wait—but he liked the way she was watching his every move and touching herself as she did.

He made a show of undressing, flexing his muscles and turning just so in order to give her an appealing view. After removing his tank top, he lifted a boot to the table, undoing the fasteners slowly before moving on to the other boot. His cock strained against his trousers, the bulge obvious with one foot propped against the table.

She licked her lips, rubbing her breast, her nipple growing hard again as she watched. Excited by her brazen interest, Sage once again had to stifle the urge to tear off everything and throw himself at her. Her interest was so compelling, as was she with her rich brown skin gleaming over her luscious curves. Oh, how she’d wiggled and writhed for him, gripping his hair as she’d panted and gasped.

It amazed him anew that she didn’t care anything about his reputation, about how many medals he’d won, or that he commanded an elite Star Guardian ship. She wanted to be with him solely based on the man she’d come to know in the last few weeks, even if he was an asshole. Amazing.

He unfastened his belt and pulled his trousers off his hips, finally freeing his aching cock. It sprang upright, standing at attention for her.

He smirked, glad to see nothing had been affected by her womanizing potion.

“And here I thought you were small compared to the rest of your men,” she said, matching his smirk.

“I’m actually above average for a Dethocolean.” It wasn’t his fault humans from some planets were freakishly oversized.

“So I see.”

He’d thought himself far too old to care about his penis size, but it seemed to throb and expand under her approving perusal. Maybe some things never changed.

Tala licked her full lips again, her pink tongue sliding along them as her gaze took in his cock. Her hand drifted from her breast to her pussy, and she rubbed herself, all of her on display for him, all of her ready for him. God, if he got any harder, he would break the table if he swung around too quickly.

Fully naked, he leaned forward, planting his hands on either side of her. “Do you want me on the table instead of you?”

He couldn’t imagine it would feel good, having him pound into her with hard wood at her back.

“I just want you, Sage,” she said, her dark eyes intense with desire. “I don’t care how.”

She scooted herself to the edge of the table, her knees coming up. He looked down at her lush pink flesh, and thoughts of gentlemanly behavior were trampled by his lust and forgotten. He gripped one of her legs, propping it over his shoulder as he leaned down to kiss her. And more.

She gripped his head with both hands, and he didn’t think anyone had ever kissed him back so passionately, so demandingly. Sensing her desire and her readiness, he didn’t hold back. He kissed her hard and gripped the smooth skin of her leg, easing her open. She spread eagerly, arching off the table toward him.

He pressed his cock against her, parting her lower lips, and finding her tight, hot opening. She groaned an approval into his mouth, and he couldn’t hold back. He thrust into her, and she came up enough to grip his shoulders, her kiss turning into a hard nip at his lip. Her nails dug into his skin, and it felt so good, so hot. He loved that his controlled, logical doctor had a wild side.

He gripped her ass with both hands and rocked into her as she clung to him. He closed his eyes, sheer bliss coming over him as he pounded toward his release, as she so eagerly matched his every movement. He’d wanted this since he first saw her, even though he’d known he shouldn’t. But somehow, he’d sensed they were a match before they’d even spoken.

Feeling her urgency as he neared his crest, he slid one hand down to her clit again, thumbing her as he dove in and out, rubbing her to bring her to the edge at the same time as he. And it worked. She cried his name, despite her earlier concerns about people on the bridge just outside, and he grinned with self-satisfaction. And he grinned because he knew she was his, at least for now. It was amazing. So was she.

With one final thrust, he poured himself into her, throwing his head back at how damn good that felt. He roared like a svenkar. Let the bridge crew make of that what they would.

Tala lowered her leg from his shoulder. He let her, but he found himself unwilling to let her go far. He scooted both of them onto the table, having a small lament that they hadn’t gone to find a bed.

“Mm,” she murmured, and locked her legs around him.

Sage pushed himself up to his elbows, not wanting to crush her with his weight, then kissed her. This was nice, for the moment, but he wanted to take her to his cabin for further rounds. And he vowed that there would be further rounds. Many of them.

He just wished he’d had time to get her violin made and that it would be sitting in his cabin when they arrived. He didn’t know what the instrument sounded like, but he would love to see her play. And he would love to give her the ability to do so again, here in this alien place. Well, he supposed there would be time for all that. The ship wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’d like to stay,” Tala said, reaching up to stroke his hair, not seeming to mind that it was sweaty after all the vigorous activity.

“In my ready room? There’s not even a pillow. Or a blanket.”

“On your ship.”

He froze, looking down at her, trying to read her eyes. Had she meant…

“As my doctor?” he whispered.

“If we can make it work somehow. And if I have the power to relieve you of command whenever you’re being a dumbass.”

“I’d never be on the bridge if we allowed that.”

“You spend too much time on the bridge as it is. You should be down in sickbay more often, apologizing to me.”

He gave her a wolfish grin. “I can do both. I don’t sleep that much.”

“Your stamina is remarkable.”

That, and the fact that she didn’t add “for a man your age,” prompted him to want to kiss her again, and he did. It was some time before he eased off her and off the table. Not wanting to truly be apart, he pulled her into his arms right away. They could dress soon, but he selfishly wanted to revel in her naked splendor for a few minutes more.

“It’s quite a pretty planet,” Tala remarked as they stood, arms wrapped around each other, and looking out the porthole. “I was admiring it on my way in.”

“It’s full of toxic gases and has a surface temperature that would freeze us in seconds.”

“Pretty from a distance, you say?”

“Indeed.”

“Are there any planets that are habitable?”

“I’ll have to check with Korta, but he didn’t mention it. This may not be the best place to plan a retirement home.”

“Then I’m glad you and your clever Star Guardians will find a way out of here.”

He kissed the side of her face instead of contradicting her. It seemed far easier, and far more likely to lead to more rounds of sex in his cabin that night.

“We’ll see what we can do,” he murmured.

She shifted toward him, her breasts pressing against his chest, and kissed him. Maybe they wouldn’t make it to his cabin, after all.