Page 34 of Rogue: Planet Athion
There was a clatter from the room, and I rushed in to find Vex leaning into the spray, head bowed. His body was wreathed in mist from the spray. He staggered as if his knees were giving way, and I stepped into the cubicle with him, bracing him up as the water hit me full force. My hair was plastered to my scalp in seconds and my clothes soaked. He met my eyes with bleary ones of his own.
“I can manage,” he reiterated.
“No. No, you can’t.” I grabbed the bottle of wash and poured a bit into my hand, ignoring the icky feel of wet clothes stuck to my skin. Keeping him braced with one hand, I used the other to rub the wash over his chest and shoulders, and then down his abs. Fuck he felt good, hard and ridged and toned in all the right places. I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached around to massage his back so I was practically hugging him.
He braced his palms against the glass either side of me and dropped his head into the crook of my neck. I massaged the soap into his hair next, running my fingers through it; he moaned into my neck. Hair done, there was no avoiding the next bit; my hands ran over his ass and skimmed over his hips round to the front. I bit the insides of my cheeks to stem my gasp as I ran the wash over his manhood.
“Shit, Rogue.” His voice was a growl as he shoved me away. His hand was on my neck, holding me in the spray, and his eyes pinned me in a blaze of violet.
“You’re wet,” he said.
“Yeah, kinda standard if you get in a shower.”
He shook his head. “I mean, you’rewet.” His hand cupped me through my clothes, and my breath stalled.
Oh, fuck, there was nothing weak about this man anymore. It was as if my desire had given him a surge of energy. He reached for the hem of my top and peeled it up and off me. The water cascaded over my breasts and down my stomach, and he devoured me with his gaze. My body was aching, throbbing for him, but this wasn’t the unnatural heat, this was just me. This was my want and my need. My hand went to my waistband, but he stopped me and gathered me up so his chest was pressed to mine and our mouths were inches apart.
“I’m not myself,” he muttered against my lips. “Neither are you. Not after … After what you lost. But I … Fuck, Rogue, I want you so bad it hurts.” He pressed his groin against me. “But for now.” He kissed me hard, he kissed me like I was a fucking oasis, like I was the last slice of heaven in the burning pits of hell. He kissed me until my head swam and my limbs were liquid, and then he set me on my feet and raked my hair back off my face.
“Go dry off.” He gently shoved me out of the cubicle, and I went. Weak-kneed and dazed, I fucking went.
* * *
The fever hit him an hour later, and I lay with him, soothed his brow with cool water, and watched over him until it finally broke several hours later. As his temperature went down, Vex finally slipped into a restful sleep.
My legs ached from curling in a cramped position on the bed with him in my arms, so I gently extricated myself and stretched. The joggers and tee that the Athions had loaned me were far too big, and I was practically swimming in them, but it felt good and safe to be so thoroughly covered in clothes for once. I headed out of the cabin, needing to walk off the tightness in my limbs. The door swished open with the press of a button, and I bit back a yelp as a body blocked my path.
“It’s okay.” Xavier stepped out of the way to let me out. His silver hair was pulled back off his face in a knot at the top of his head, and without the flowing locks to soften them, his sharp, inquisitive features looked decidedly hawkish and predatory. He peered over my head. “How is he?”
The door closed behind me. “Better. His fever broke. I think we’re in the final stretch of his withdrawal now.”
Xavier sighed. “Thank god for Trad metabolism, eh?”
“I guess.”
He reached up to tuck a tendril of hair behind my ear. “You should get some sleep too.”
My eyes were level with his throat, and this close, I had to lift my chin to look into his face. “Too wired.”
He smiled, and his pale eyes slowly lit up. “I want to show you something.” He slipped his hand into mine, as if it was the most natural gesture, and led me away from the cabin, down the curving corridor, and up a short flight of steps. A door greeted us, but it swished open at his touch and then we were stepping into space swirling in a miasma of color. It was all around us, shooting past us in liquid globules. My breath caught, and my hand tightened around his as we stepped into the room that sat under a dome of glass.
“What is it?”
He chuckled. “Space. Or Space in hyperdrive.”
“It’s … beautiful.”
“I know. I come here sometimes to watch the stars. We call it the observatory. Space travel can feel claustrophobic, and most of our ships have rooms like this to allow the passengers to feel less constricted, to allow them to connect with the outside.”
I’d been taken from my planet, drugged, and transported across the expanse and held in cell after cell for months. To be standing here in the midst of such vastness loosened the knot that I hadn’t known was wound around my heart.
My eyes grew hot. “Thank you.”
He squeezed my hand. “You’re welcome.”
“I’m truly free?”
There was a slight hesitation before Xavier replied, but his answer was saturated with tender warmth. “Yes. And once we get to Athion, you can choose what you want to do. Go back to Earth or … or stay …”
