Page 53 of Tempting Jupiter
It had been the first glorious time he’d felt like he was giving Jupiter his orgasm. He owed Feeona for allowing him that. He needed to get up and clean them up, but after that he would sleep well tonight. They all would.
Chapter Twenty-One
TheHawley
EarthAllianceBetaSector
2210.156
After five nights with Jupiter and Seneca, Feeona should have been sleeping, but that feeling of waiting for the other boot to drop plagued her the moment the ship got quiet. She was awake when the alert-tone whistled softly through her quarters. Jupiter’s ears twitched and his eyes opened. She smiled to put him at ease.
“Alfred’s letting me know it’s time to go attend to navigation.” She propped up on one elbow and leaned over to plant a kiss on his broad nose. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a little while.”
His nose scrunched and he chuffed in the back of his throat. A second chuff softly echoed from the other side of him. Seneca lifted his head and acknowledged her with a lazy blink of his eyes. The light was on dim, but that just added sexy shadows to the sleek masculine skin on display. They generated too much body heat to need covers, so nothing blocked her view of the curve of Jupiter’s shoulder and hip as he lay on his side. Or the rippled muscles of Seneca’s abdomen and the tempting vee that drew her eyes down to his soft masculine flesh.
Feeona looked away before she risked shrugging off what needed to be done in favor of another round. She wasn’t sure she was ready for more just yet. With nothing to do until they reached Petro-5 sex had become one of their favorite ways to pass the time. It left her body achy and sore, but in a good way.
The more time she spent with them the more strongly she believed that Jupiter and Seneca loved each other, but neither would act on those feelings. Was she making the situation better or worse?
She stepped over the clothes they’d thrown on the floor and snagged her robe on the way to the door. She didn’t allow herself to look back as she pulled on the soft material that covered her down to her thighs.
When she made it to the pilot’s station, she checked the navigation controls and made the necessary adjustments. They’d come out of skipspace and transitioned to standard propulsion without so much as a bump.
“Alfred, please verify that our guests are still in my quarters and alert me if that changes.”
“Verified. Instructions understood.” Alfred’s reply came without delay. “It’s not polite to spy on others, Feeona.”
She couldn’t complain at the admonition. She’d been the one to teach it to him. “That’s right, Alfred. But every rule has its exception.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Close the door to the pilot’s station, please.”
The door slid shut. It was unnecessary. The doors to her quarters were already shut. There was no way Jupiter or Seneca could hear her, but caution was a habit that had served her well.
“Alfred, display any incoming coms.” A list of respondents filled the main screen. She’d gotten a message from each of the contacts she’d broadcast to before their last jump. “This is good. Let’s hope someone can come through for us. Display full messages in sequence please, Alfred.”
The first came up on screen. “Would you like me to read the replies to you, Captain?”
“If they’re all this brief it’ll be quicker to do it myself.” The first message read simply,Not Interested. –DQ.
The next six were equally succinct. Then the no’s got longer. Damn it! It didn’t surprise her, she was offering a high-risk deal, but that didn’t make her any less frustrated. The best response she’d gotten was a request for direct contact from one of Roland’s oldest friends. She wanted to be optimistic, but after so many blunt refusals it wasn’t easy.
“Alfred, attempt a direct contact with Gulliver. He says he’s in the area.” She stretched to open her personal storage compartment and pulled out Jacky the Unicorn. She adjusted her robe and hugged the soft stuffed toy to her middle, ready to settle in for the wait.
“Connection ready, Captain.”
“That was fast.” He must have been waiting. She shoved Jacky behind her, twisted her hair back in a knot and straightened her shoulders. “On screen one.”
Gulliver’s rugged face flicked onto the screen in front of her. His hair and beard were still salt and pepper, but the lines in his face had deepened further than last she’d seen him.
“Are you alright, bonnie-girl?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Do you have to assume I’m in trouble?”
“Hell, yes.” His eyebrows lifted so high they disappeared into his still full hair line. “When you reach out to half the sector, offering up theHawleyfor funds, yes.”
“You’re exaggerating. It wasn’t that many.” She should have known Roland’s friends would spread the news to Gulliver. “And I’m not selling the ship, just putting her up as collateral for a loan.”
