Page 15

After reading through his comms, Andethor sighed and slipped back into bed. Julia was asleep, her hair tousled all over her pillow, curled up on her side.

Immensely cuddleable, when she looked like that…

He wrapped a hand around her waist, then couldn’t help cupping one of the large, soft breasts he’d worshiped the night before. He lazily teased her nipple with his thumb, earning a soft, sleepy whimper that had his cock coming to attention.

Too bad he didn’t have time for anything fun at the moment.

“Sorry to wake, you, sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing her shoulder.

She smelled like vanilla and something floral, a slight undertone of something purely Jules.

He’d pleasured her late into the night, made her body glimmer with a light sheen of perspiration.

He’d never get that sight out of his head: Julia, dazed, panting, sweating, with that grin curving her lips that let him know he’d more than satisfied her.

He forced the image away, since it was doing nothing for the state of his cock.

“But I just got word that our Paraxian friend checked out and left a little bit ago. I need to get back to fill my supervisor in,” he said softly, and she nodded.

He held her as she woke up, and as he did, he could feel her posture changing, from warm and relaxed to tense, almost rigid.

“Hey,” he said, moving aside so he could roll her onto her back. “What’s wrong? Your entire body tensed up.”

“I hate that you’re so damned perceptive,” she muttered, glancing away.

He gently turned her head, making her look up at him. “One of the things I’ll get to annoy you with fairly often, probably. Curse of being involved with a spy.”

“Are we?”

“Are we what?” he asked, furrowing his brow.

“Involved.”

She watched him as he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. “Yeah, that was presumptuous of me,” he finally said. “It feels like it both took forever to get to have a night like that with you, and also like it happened ridiculously fast.”

She nodded, and he took a breath, then patted her hip and sat up, then got out of bed and strode to where he’d set his bag so he could finish getting dressed.

“Still. It was a good night,” he said, trying to keep his tone light, even as he felt an empty pit in his stomach and a weird ache where his heart used to be.

He should have known better. He knew he wasn’t enough. Wasn’t around enough, wasn’t able to share everything about his life with her. He also know Julia. She was fine being alone. She had been the whole time he’d known her.

Presumptuous idiot, he thought as he pulled his shirt on, then shrugged into a jacket, checking his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed, aware of her moving around collecting her clothing before going into the bathroom.

He walked over to the dresser and finished packing up his bag. A fun side trip. A fling. That was all it was. He didn’t have to make more of this than it was.

Right.

When she was dressed and packed, they left, taking a transport to the docking bay, then getting back on his ship.

To say things were awkward between them was an understatement.

Or maybe that was just him. For her part, she sat in the navigator’s seat, reading something on her tablet, snacking on some chocolate cookies they’d bought from a vendor on their way to the docking bay.

“So you’re going to be away from Asterion Station for a bit, I’m guessing?” she finally said after a while, and he turned his head to look at her, meeting her gaze.

“Yeah. I’ll need to file my report and then keep an eye on the situation to make sure he does what he said he would. A follow-up report and debrief after once all of that is done.”

“Who knew spies had so much paperwork to deal with?” she asked with a soft chuckle, and he rolled his eyes.

“Let’s keep it our secret. I’ll lose all of my mystique if everyone knows that,” he said, and she laughed.

“But you’ll be back when you can, right?” she asked after a moment, and he turned to look at her again.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, hating himself for even feeling like he had to ask. Just let it go. Be laid-back about this. He couldn’t do it.

She gave him a look. “I should smack you right now.”

“For what?”

“Andethor. I just had the best night of my life and you’re honestly asking me if I want you to come back?”

“You want more?” he asked dumbly.

“Don’t you?” she shot back, and he hated the uncertainty he saw in her eyes. Uncertainty he put there, and he’d kick his own ass if he could.

“That’s all I’ve wanted since the second I laid eyes on you, Jules,” he answered, and the smile she gave him then made him feel like a god, like he’d won every prize, every award, every accolade it was possible to win, all at once.

He leaned toward her and tangled his fingers in her hair, dragging her in close for a deep kiss that left them both breathless.

“Then when you’re not doing super-secret spy stuff, I want you to come home to me,” she said softly, her gaze locked with his. “Okay?”

He felt like his face was going to split, he was smiling so much. “Okay, Jules. I’ll come home as often as I can,” he said, his stomach twisting a little as he hoped it would be enough.

“And I’ll love knowing you’re doing work you’re clearly good at, and then exhausting you when you come home to me,” she teased.

He kissed her again, hard, deep, hoping she could feel every ounce of his complete love and worship of her. When she pulled away, she grinned at him. “Maybe I’ll even dance for you,” she teased.

Asterion Station came into view. Home. As long as Jules was there, it was home, and he couldn’t think of anything better in the entire universe.

THE END