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CHAPTER ONE

I miss the smell of burning logs on the fire. I need a glass of Riesling in one hand, and a good book in the other as I curl up beneath the blankets and lose myself in a fantasy world.

I mourn the comfort—the luxury.

More than the home comforts, I miss the feel of firm ground beneath my feet, dewy grass tickling between my toes and birdsong filling the air. I miss lazy morning snuggles with my fluff-ball cat, and most of all, I miss sleeping in my own bed.

I don’t miss waking up alone.

The station's air recyclers hum loudly as sunlight pours through the Window to the World – Cupola mod ule’s panoramic viewing platform. I watch as the Sun blankets the Earth far below, chasing away the night.

“Where are you, Fiore ?” Luca’s honeyed whisper tickles against my ear, pulling me from my thoughts. “Come back to me.”

I draw my attention back to him, a lock of soft blonde hair is plastered to his cheek whilst the rest of it floats straight up. He nuzzles the back of my neck, inhaling deeply as he pulls me into him, rubbing himself against me.

Now, this. I will miss this.

“You smell so good.” He heaves a satisfied sigh into my hair, hot breath tickling me, and causing a giggle to escape.

Luca brings out my playful side, one of the reasons I reluctantly indulged in his offer of no-strings-attached fun these past few months – the other reason being to chase the cobwebs away.

“I can think of better ways you could have woken me up.”

His eyes widen, a mischievous glint alighting his strong features. “I’m sure we can arrange something.”

I giggle as strong hands clasp beneath me, pulling my hips up level with his head. Our sleeping bags are forgotten, discarded as he presses his face against my plain cotton regulation knickers – not the sort to inspire sexy thoughts – and inhales deeply.

“You’re such a deviant.” I gasp as his mouth sucks on me through the thin fabric .

“Shh, let me enjoy my breakfast,” he says, attempting to silence me with his fingers against my lips. Sucking on them, I pull them deeper into my mouth. His eyes blaze. “ Mio Fiore , you are an angelo .”

My communications device chirps.

Luca groans.

“Peake, you with us?” Clayton barks, his voice tinny through the speaker.

“Until tonight, Fiore ,” Luca whispers against my lips before he steals a quick kiss.

I groan aloud before reaching for my comms.

“Not for long,” I call back.

There's a deep rumble of laughter down the comms, “Not long now, and y’all can take a nice ol’ vacation,” the southern drawl of Clayton’s voice echoes around us.

Someone snorts in the background, likely Chelenko, who meets anyone’s enthusiasm for home with derision. I think the stubborn Russian would live up here permanently if they let him. He’s practically furniture at this point.

He’s been on the station every time I’ve been here. Likely every time in between as well. Should ring up the Guinness World Record people for the longest stint in space, or the biggest arsehole. He is the dictionary definition of anal-retentive, complete with stick up butt .

That said, he is one mean engineer. What he can’t fix is probably not worth fixing, and even then, he could break it down for parts.

“I have a visual on the shuttle. Soyuz, check in,” Aiko’s delicate voice rings out through the station, polite and formal as ever.

“Soyuz here. We are on final approach,” a soft French accent responds, static swallowing the last syllable.

“Konnichiwa, Soyuz.” Aiko greets them, her speech still heavily accented despite the past few years spent over at NASA. “Autonomous docking procedures taking over.”

“Alright, I’m heading up. Peake out.” I click my comms mic off, wriggling my flight suit the rest of the way up. Luca coasts his eyes over my sleep-mussed form one final time.

“Tonight, Fiore .” He adjusts himself through the fabric of his joggers. His darkened stare hints at the obscene scenes he has playing out in his mind, before he pushes through the open hatch.