Page 20 of Adrift! (Cosmic Connections Cruise #2)

Remy waved her bandaged hand while above them the resonark pulsed and swirled with prismatic passion. Wrapped behind him, her other hand spasmed around his waist.

On that note… As he guided them out into the much quieter hall, he felt more than heard her trembling exhalation. How much had she been holding in, all this time?

And now that it was done, what would be left?

He kept his support light and restrained, careful not to pressure her in body or intent.

But when they reached the stateroom corridor—at least the lights were back to full power; Suvan was obviously restoring systems as quickly as possible—she was still leaning into him, so he swept her up into his arms.

When she snuggled against him, this time her sigh was deep and calm. “Good show,” she murmured.

He squeezed her. “You were incredible.”

“We,” she reminded him, tightening her arm around his neck. “We’re a great duo.”

Did she mean just musically, or…?

But they were already at her door, and he carried her right to the bathing chamber.

Settling her on the counter, he checked his wrist datpad.

“Systemwide power isn’t back to baseline—Chief fusses over his engines almost as much as his bitey little goblhob—but there should be as much hot water as you need. ”

“Ikaryo…”

When she hesitated, he cupped her cheek, his fingers spanning her freckles as he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Relax. After everything you gave out there, I’ll make you something to eat.”

She watched him go, her green eyes hooded. “Something light, please.”

But in the cabin’s kitchenette, his heart thudded heavy, imagining the next verse of this duet. So many possibilities…

While he would’ve concocted a feast for her, he kept it light as she’d asked, with a soothing, restorative tonic on the side.

Which he swigged right from the bottle as he wiped off a streak of her blood from his nape where she’d grabbed him to kiss him after the end of the song. Before he could drink it all, she padded out of the bath, her hair up in a twist, clad in the same robe he’d removed from her last night.

The supposedly soothing tonic burned in his belly.

Or maybe that was his craving for a different encore.

She sauntered to him, lifting her hands. “The sealant came off, and look.” She wriggled her fingers. “Blisters are already gone.”

He put the mug of tonic in her hand. “This will help your throat too.”

Half turning away to sip, she kept her gaze on his as she let her other fingertips drift down to rest on his chest. Did she feel the reverberations there?

Why couldn’t he find the words to ask?

“How did it feel?” The huskiness in her voice now didn’t sound like the strain of the song. It thrummed a little deeper, echoing the throb behind his breastbone.

He swallowed, tasting the faint bitterness of the tonic, just enough bite to revitalize. “Feel?”

“Singing. With me.”

He hesitated because how could he say it? “Beyond incredible.”

“Would you want to play again?”

The answer burst out of him. “Any time.”

She smiled, a teasing, sexy smile with a wicked glint in her eyes. “Like, right now?”

“Remy…”

“Just the two of us. Private show.”

As he hauled her up against him, the twist of her hair unraveled, and then the cold, hard knot in him was unraveling too.

“Any time,” he repeated. “Any place. Anything, as long as it’s with you.”

With one hand, she tugged open the front of his uniform…then winced.

He caught her hand. “Still tender?”

She nodded, a hint of blush rising on her cheeks. “Other places too. It had been a while for…everything.” She flattened her palm on his bare chest. “But I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to feel it all, and if it hurts sometimes, I’ll make it a song.”

“I’ll sing it with you,” he promised. “And make it all right.”

When he was naked, they tumbled together, and the bed no longer felt too big to him. Considering the anything and everything he wanted to experience with her, it was probably just enough.

She rolled to put herself on top, then sat back, straddling his hips. “Relax,” she purred. “Captain’s orders.”

With a smirk, he put his hands behind his head. “If you want to feel it all…”

She spread her hands across his pectorals. “Maybe someday you’ll tell me about these, about your journey.” Her fingertips tickled him as she traced the inscriptions across his skin, making the muscles dance. “Bedtime stories, maybe.”

“I have a lot,” he pointed out. Because each mark was a star he’d passed, a ship he’d left behind, a home he’d never found.

“One a night?” She skimmed her hands down his flanks. “Out here in the Zarnax Zone, there’s a lot of night.”

“Some of it was bittersweet,” he warned.

She leaned down to press her lips to a constellation etched over his heart. “Every scar, every enhancement,” she whispered against him, “every choice that made you who you are—it all brought you here, to me.”

“Remy.” Unable to hold back, he skimmed one hand into her hair, fingers tightening, as she continued her exploration with her tongue.

Over the vulnerable joins where augments met skin, down his body, across all those lightyears… Her mouth on his intimate flesh set fire to that lonely past, like a flaming cocktail released hidden aromatics and burned the sugars to a darker sweetness.

Before he lost control, he surged up to meet her, kneeling thigh to thigh, arms entwined, a kiss that tasted of tonic and desire and the hope they’d never relinquished.

He tipped her over backward and she fell with joyful laughter, grabbing at him to take him with her. But as he settled between her thighs, poised at her entrance, they both stilled.

“We saved the ship,” she said. “This song is for us.”