Moving Target
Here is the new chapter, subtitled "Tycho gets some". I'm still shy about posting smut; I hope it "works".
Disclaimers in Chapter 1.
Feedback welcomed by reviewing or by emailing the author at jennet_2@yahoo.com
Please be aware that the rating for this chapter is raised to an "R".
Moving Target
Chapter 11
The angry sound climbed from distant whine to ear-splitting scream with stunning speed. Anlia jerked awake as the starships shrieked overhead, but they were past before she had even rolled from the air mattress to the floor. The blast of sound left her gasping.
Above her, Senno let out a sleepy wail.
"It's all right. Shhh, it's safe, they're just noisy."
"Anlee?"
"I'm right here." It was a struggle to keep her voice calm while her heart was trying to batter its way out of her chest. She leaned up to rub the boy's back. "It's just those damned Imps trying to scare us."
The aftershocks had rumbled into silence, but Anlia felt a faint trembling beneath her knees. "Here they come back again. Be ready, Sen. The fools are trying to prove how bad they are."
The whine built rapidly. Anlia instinctively ducked over the bed, shielding Senno. "But we know they're just bullies," she said into his hair.
The shriek ripped apart the night once more, seizing Anlia's heart with primitive terror. Senno burrowed beneath the pillow.
"Yeah, bullies. They can't scare me. I'm brave."
A thump from the adjoining room jerked her attention from the boy. "That's right, you're brave," she said hurriedly, rising from the bedside. Another 'thud', closer and louder, carried through the wall. "You just tuck in all cozy, and every time they fly over, stick out your tongue and say 'Nyah!'" She tucked the coverlet around his shoulders. "I'm going to check on Selkin. Stay in bed, Sen."
His sleepy reply was muffled. Anlia slipped out and flew silently down the hall to her own bedroom door.
Selkin was pacing the floor with the agitation of a caged animal. He spun at the hiss of the door and flung himself forward.
Anlia barred the doorway. "Hush, don't draw my father! For pity's sake, calm down!"
He stepped back, and she hastily closed and locked the door. Selkin motioned violently over their heads.
"I know, it's an awful noise, but they aren't attacking. It's just a couple of TIE jocks from the base, reminding everyone they're here."
Beneath her bare feet, the floor began to tremble once more. Her stomach clenched and she reached for Selkin. "They buzz over to scare us and get everyone stirred up," she told him quickly, but her words were swallowed by the rising scream. Selkin swerved around her and threw himself at the door.
"Don't!" Her cry was lost in the din, but fortunately, so was the impact of his shoulder hitting the door panel. She dragged him away and tried to hold him as she would Senno. "Don't be scared. It's all right, I swear it. They just buzz the farms and villages, they don't actually strafe us. Don't be scared."
In the dim light, she saw him shake his head. He pulled free and strode across the room. At the window, he spun and pounded his fist against his breastbone and then stabbed his finger at the sky.
"There's nothing you can do. It's just the way things are here. Sometimes stock stampedes and gets hurt; sometimes the pilots fly low enough to damage crops or roofs. Once or twice they've fanned a brushburning into wildire." Anlia followed him and tried to catch his hands. "We pick up and go on and ignore them as best we can."
Selkin shook his head again. His mouth moved, forming silent words, and then he twisted aside and gestured again, fist to chest, then to sky.
"All right, I understand, you're not scared; but you think there's something you could do about them?"
He whirled on her, teeth bared. Frustration and fury blazed from him with such intensity, Anlia fell back a step.
"Something you should do?"
A tortured sound ripped from his throat, raw and desperate. Anlia's fingers flew to her own throat, burning in sympathy. Her eyes widened.
"Selkin, have you flown against TIEs before? Are you a fighter pilot?"
I don't know.
Even without audible words, she heard him clearly. He bowed his head and pressed knotted fists to his temples, grinding knuckles against skin and bone. He spun, slamming into the wall beside the window, and hammered it with a blow heavy enough to knock loose plastone dust. His head tipped back to loose a silent howl of impotence.
"Stop, stop! Selkin, stop!" Anlia flew to him. "My father... Selkin, please... " In desperation, she shoved between his body and the wall and seized his wrists.
He shook her off and pounded the wall again. He was wild, gone-- mired in some human-created hell of tangled memory and blank gaps.
His eyes were empty, his self lost to a torturer's tender mercies.
His agony was going to get him discovered.
Anlia rose up and wrapped her arms around his rigid neck. Pressing close to his lean body, ignoring his flailing arms, she covered his mouth with hers and kissed him with all the warmth she could summon.
It took a second for her action to penetrate; she was kissing a frozen shell. But then Selkin went very still, his clenched fists coming to rest on the wall. Anlia deepened the kiss, moving her mouth on his and nipping at his lower lip.
She felt his chest rise on a startled breath and loosened her stranglehold. It was still a one-way embrace, but at least she had his attention.
"Anlia?" The door panel blatted out an attempt to open while locked. "What in blazin' hells is goin' on?"
She wrenched her mouth free of Selkin's and flattened a hand on his chest. "N-nothing, Dad! Just a couple of flyboys going over."
Out in the hall, Glovan rapped irritably on her door.
"I know that. I mean the crashin' around in there."
Blast and damn! Anlia caught Selkin by one arm and slung him into the corner behind the wardrobe. Motioning sharply to stay out of the sight-line of the door, she went over and unlocked it.
"It was nothing, Dad. The noise scared me and I was still half-asleep when I jumped up. I knocked over my nightstand." The hall luma made her squint.
"Hurt yourself?" Her father's hair was flattened on one side, sticking straight up in the back, and although his face wore an angry glower, his voice was concerned.
"No, I'm fine. I just didn't know where I was for a second."
"I'm gonna go out and check the stock."
For the first time, Anlia noticed Glovan was half-dressed, workpants pulled over sleepshorts, an unfastened shirt hanging from his shoulders. "You want me to come?"
"Nah, but you should check on the boy-- and then get back to bed."
"Sure, Dad."
She slipped past him and went to stand in Senno's doorway. From within came deep, even breathing-- he'd fallen back to sleep as soon as the TIEs had taken themselves off to another district. Off in the distance, she heard the side door wheeze open, then shut.
For a long moment she stood in the hallway. The nighttime silence felt thick after the stomach-twisting noise of the fighters; she could hear the quiet hums and clicks of household systems, the thud of her own heartbeat.
No further noises came from her bedroom. Threat of discovery had quieted Selkin-- she could go back to the air mattress in Senno's room and he would go back to her bed, and maybe they'd even fall asleep again.
Yes, that would be best.
So why did she find her feet moving down the hall to her own room? Her doorpad was under her fingertips, the button smooth and slightly concave as she keyed the door open. The air that washed over her was still faintly scented from the lotion spilled during the stormtroopers' visit.
"It's me."
Her eyes strained to adjust to the darkened bedroom. Selkin was nowhere in sight, but she could feel him, poised in the shadows.
The door closed with a soft 'snick' and she reached behind and activated the lock.
The quiet beep must have signalled safety-- Selkin rose from a crouch behind her bed.
"Are you all right?"
She couldn't see well enough to tell if he nodded or shook his head or just shrugged. She crossed to him and lifted his hands in hers. They were icy cold.
"Did you hurt your hands?"
This time she was able to see his headshake. As her eyes adjusted even more, she could see the bemused expression on his face.
He pulled one hand free and touched her lips, and then his own, and cocked his head.
You kissed me.
Her heart sped up. "I needed you to be quiet, fast. You were so upset... I just wanted to calm you down."
Very slowly, he shook his head. His index finger stroked down her cheek and curved beneath her chin, and quite suddenly, Anlia couldn't breathe. The slightest pressure under her chin-tip drew her face toward his.
Slowly. Lightly. Giving her every chance to pull back and break the contact.
Only she didn't want to. Stars above, she didn't want to be sensible, practical, careful!
His own mouth was hovering close, and she had a glimpse of his eyes, the emptiness chased away by tenderness. And then her eyes fell closed and Selkin's mouth was brushing across hers, oh-so-lightly.
And when he lifted his head and gazed at her, words weren't needed to hear the unspoken question.
Do you want this?
Oh, yes, this was exactly what she wanted.
She swayed forward and found his mouth again. Her stomach swooped dizzyingly as his arms came up and circled her.
He tasted warm and clean. His jaw scraped rough along hers when he tilted his head to bring their lips closer together. Anlia laid her hands on his neck-- the clipped-short hair on his nape felt just as velvety as she'd dreamed. When she threaded her fingers up into his hair, a shiver rattled hard across his shoulders and down his back and a gasp pulled his mouth from hers.
Eyes closed, breathing rapidly, Selkin rested his forehead against hers.
She let him remain there a moment, her fingers pressed lightly to his scalp. Then she started a slow massage across his head, around to his temples, behind his ears. Another shiver shook him.
The pulse in his throat was beating so hard she could see the flutter beneath his skin. Anlia drew one finger down and brushed the spot on his forehead where the strange indentation had been.
"Am I stirring up bad flashes?"
He blinked, and shook his head. Holding her gaze, he caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a warm kiss into her palm.
It tingled all the way up her arm. Anlia leaned forward, kissed that racing pulse in the hollow of Selkin's throat, and cradled his face in her hands.
The last time he was held here was with cold and inhuman hands.
She touched her mouth to his, once lightly, then firm and moist, her hands stroking up the sides of his face and into his hair again. Selkin sighed soundlessly and pulled her close. His chest was warm and bare, and under her thin sleepshirt, Anlia's breasts flattened against him.
He held her tight, his mouth urging her lips apart now, a sweet glide of his tongue against hers while her hands smoothed away the phantom imprints left by his interrogators. One hand glided down her spine to the small of her back, and it was Anlia's turn to shiver. Selkin's fingers bunched the thin cloth covering her hip and pulled her lower body to his.
Only two layers of old, soft cloth separated them. A lightning bolt of sensation blasted Anlia; she gasped harshly into Selkin's mouth. He pressed hard and ready into her belly and there was nothing tentative now about the way he molded their bodies together.
The bed was right there to her left. A hungry ache pulled low in her belly. Anlia broke the kiss and raised heavy-lidded eyes to the Rebel's face, waiting until his gaze focused.
He radiated intensity, as if he'd banished all distractions and nothing else existed outside the circle of their embrace. All that focused concentration sent a hot flush racing through Anlia's veins.
Then he shifted, side-to-side; he held her hips in a near-bruising grip, and their bodies rubbed, hard and urgent against melting soft. Anlia glanced involuntarily at the bed.
I want to. He obviously does, too.
He caught her chin and drew her attention back to his face before cutting his eyes to the door.
"Sen's asleep." Her voice came out a rusty whisper and she cleared her throat. "And Dad thinks I am."
Still holding her in his arms, Selkin took a step sideways. Their knees bumped the mattress.
For a split second, panic flooded Anlia. To seize this moment, without weighing every possible consequence, was something Josa would do, not she.
Selkin bent and took her mouth in a hot, deep kiss. The momentary panic burned away. She kissed him back, fervently-- she hadn't known just how hungry she'd been.
Hungry for something just for herself.
His hand slid up from her hip and covered her breast, and Anlia was lost. She arched into the caress, reveling in the feel of his hand weighing and cupping her breast, his thumb brushing the peak. Selkin buried his face against her neck, his lips sending delicious tremors across her skin.
When he began to ease up the hem of her nightshirt, she felt no apprehension, only relief. He moved slowly, again to give her time to still his hand if she chose. The cloth skimmed her sensitized skin from thigh to hip to waist. There he paused, for the briefest second, and Anlia gasped with anticipation.
She raised eyes made heavy from desire. "Please."
The quiet plea snapped some measure of restraint in the Rebel. He whipped the sleepshirt over her head; and then his hands, and mouth, were everywhere. Anlia let her head fall back as he kissed his way down her throat to her breasts. He made a rough, ragged sound as his lips closed hot and wet over one pebbled peak.
Pure bliss tugged a groan from her, made her sway drunkenly. Arched backward, she clung to his corded arms to keep from crumpling to the floor.
He moved to her other breast, sending the last of her reason spirelling off into the stars. His hands molded her bottom, tracing and squeezing the rounded curves, then pulling her tight to him so she felt his urgency.
Anlia snaked one hand between them and across the hard, flat plane of his belly. Another rasping sound burst from his paralyzed throat, a sound that deepened into a full groan when her fingers found the waistband of his pants. He jerked his mouth free of her breast and flung back his head.
A flick of her fingers opened the fastener. The loose trousers slid down his narrow hips, whisper-soft.
"Oh, gods above..."
She had tried valiently not to let her eyes wander when she'd washed him in the barn. This time she was free to look to her heart's content.
Her rescued Rebel was as beautiful naked as her stolen glimpses of him had suggested.
He was impatient, too-- eager for more than just admiring looks. He rocked his hips. Too appreciative to be shy, Anlia took him in hand and stroked him.
He shuddered deeply and seized her shoulders in a death-grip. When she moved her hand along his straining length again, he groaned aloud.
"You feel so nice."
Smooth and hard and heavy enough to fill her hand. He was almost satiny against her work-roughened palm and fingers. He rocked with her caress, forward and back, eyes closed and head tipped back. Anlia shifted closer to press her lips to the pounding pulse in his throat while he slid in her hand.
She tasted salt. His chest was damp where her breasts brushed. Selkin's fingers tightened convulsively on her shoulders and he spun her around and down. The bed caught her at knees and hips and shoulders, and she was sinking down, pulling him with her. He landed half-covering her, his hipbone sharp against the softer curve of hers.
His clean scent rose up from the pillow when she breathed in, making her dizzy with the desire to taste him, all of him, her Rebel... She wanted to devour him, and for him to devour her.
Their mouths met, and clung. His tongue was warm in her mouth as he shifted his lower body fully onto hers.
He felt right, a perfect fit. Anlia's legs fell apart so he could settle against her, their bodies lining up sweetly. For a moment, his hips were heavy on hers, and then he raised up on hands and knees, moving to find his way to her.
The chafe of his legs against her smoother ones nearly drove her mad-- she arched her lower body to his in a silent plea. A plea Selkin answered by plunging forward.
"Ah, stars!"
She nearly shattered right then, just from the deep, gratifying thrust of him. He bore down until he was buried fully, pressing until she gasped. He bent forward and kissed her quick and hard-- she read a sort of frantic reassurance on his face, a hint of apology... and then intense concentration washed over his features.
He was moving. Strong. Deep. A steady pace that built quickly to a hard, fast rocking. Anlia gave herself up to his rhythm, held tight to his bunched shoulders, and let him take her. His breath was hot and quick against her ear. His own arousal fed hers-- she could feel a stinging tension low, where her desire centered.
He bent and slanted a frenzied kiss onto her mouth, his moan vibrating in her chest. He rocked her so hard, so fast, she could barely keep up, could barely...
OH. There. NOW.
It snatched her away to a place where only searingly gratifying pleasure existed. She couldn't hear, think, reason-- she was pure sensation flying out, up, free.
Dimly she felt Selkin stifle her broken cries with a gentle hand laid over her lips. She managed to turn her head and bury her mouth against his braced forearm. The muscles quivered against her lips.
He drove hard, quickly, and just as quickly sucked in a huge breath. For one tenth of a second, Selkin froze-- and then his own passion broke in a wave of profound relief. Anlia reached up and pressed her fingers to his lips just as a hoarse cry burst free.
His throat worked, gasps hot against her palm. Shudders wracked down his back. Eyes clenched shut tightly, he twisted his hips sinuously against hers.
At long last, the sounds of bodies moving together against sheets died away. Anlia shifted beneath the slack weight covering her.
"Selkin? Are you all right?"
After a noticable delay he nodded; with visible effort he pried his eyelids open.
He looked as stunned as she felt. Anlia smiled shakily and managed to raise her head enough to kiss him softly. She ran her hand up the scarred arm still braced hard by her neck.
"Is your arm all right?"
He nodded again, but she could feel subtle tremors running along his forearm. He must have become aware of the shaking, because he shifted his weight to his left side. Anlia bit back a disappointed exclamation as he pulled free to lie alongside her.
Selkin drew in a shaky breath and propped himself on his elbow. He lifted Anlia's chin with one finger and cocked his head.
The concern in his eyes nearly undid her. She blinked away a sudden stinging.
"I'm fine. More than fine. That was lovely."
He slowly traced her face, her lips.
Lovely.
She felt the stinging intensify and whispered, "Please don't ask if I'm sorry, because I'm not."
Selkin smiled and slowly shook his head. He tapped his chest.
Neither am I.
He rolled to his back and drew her with him to lie cradled on his chest. His hand started a slow combing through her hair, pausing now and then to work loose a tangle.
It was amazingly tender and relaxing. Anlia's breathing steadied and slowed and she began to slip into a sated lethargy. Selkin's arm felt good wrapped around her-- she wished she could catch this moment and just hold it in her hand like a living thing, the way his heart beat strongly under her cheek.
~~~~~
"Anlee?"
Anlia stretched luxuriously, still caught in the sweet warmth of a delicious dream. Relaxed and sleepy, she started to sink back into its depths.
Strident banging scattered the remnants of drowsy pleasure. Someone shook her shoulder, hard, jarring her fully awake. Her eyes flew open in time to see the lean, muscled flanks of a naked man leaping from her bed.
'Thud-thud-thud.' "Anlee? You awake?"
"Blast!" she gasped, flinging back the coverlet. Selkin, still stark naked, flung her robe at her, and she struggled to jam her arms into the sleeves. She raised her voice. "Coming, Dad!"
Selkin had snatched up his pants and retreated to the corner where the wardrobe met the wall. Anlia wrapped her robe tightly around her bare body as she stumbled to the door.
"What is it?" she asked as it slid back.
Glovan stood without, fully dressed and wearing a puzzled expression. "You sick or somethin'?"
"Uhhh, no... Why? What's the matter?"
"It's way past 5. 'Less you're sick, you're usually up by now."
"Oh, stars, Dad, I'm sorry! I, uh, overslept." She ran a hand through her tumbled hair in a vain attempt to smooth it. Her mouth felt swollen from kisses and her cheeks burned, both from agitation and the scrape of Selkin's stubble. "Hang on, I'll get dressed and start breakfast."
"Nah, I made some bread and sausage to take with me." Glovan frowned. "Sure you're not sick? You look pretty flushed." He laid a callused hand on her forehead.
Stars, does it show what we did? Anlia blinked rapidly. "I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well after those TIE jocks acting stupid last night."
"Yeah, well, try not to let 'em get to you." Glovan turned away, to his daughter's relief. "Gonna be another scorcher today, so I'll be out on the west border cutting more hay."
"All right, Dad."
She stood in the doorway, listening to him clump away and out of the house. Long moments later, the mower's engine roared to life, and then faded as Glovan drove it off.
The touch of a hand on her back made her turn. Selkin, sleep-rumpled but alert, drew her back into the bedroom and keyed the door closed. As it slid shut, he pulled her close for a kiss.
She laughed shakily as their lips parted. "That was close, huh? I never heard the alarm go off."
He gave her a devilish grin and tilted his head at the bed, making her blush.
"Yes, I guess we were tired out, after. I'll thank you not to tease me about it."
All joking vanished from his expression. He straightened, took her hand, and raised it to his lips, pressing a warm kiss onto her knuckles.
I would never tease a lady.
Suddenly she felt like crying. Selkin was the kindest, most courteous man she had ever met; he was a tender, passionate lover, and it would be paradise to wake up to him each morning.
And he needed, desperately, to get off this planet and far away.
She blinked back tears and gently disentangled her hand. "Sen will be awake and pounding down the door any minute. I need to get dressed, Selkin."
I know. He nodded, dropped a soft kiss on her mouth, and let her go.
~~~~~
The day passed with strange languor. As Anlia went about the cycle of her chores, she felt as though she were enclosed in a clear bubble that kept her just barely removed from her surroundings. Senno's chatter seemed to come from a great distance; she answered his questions distractedly and only after a long delay.
We kissed. We touched.
Her hands moved automatically to pick vegetables, load storage trays, wash dishes. More than once she blinked to awareness to find herself staring over the horizon, fingers pressed to her lips, or throat, or breast.
We are lovers now.
"...Anlee, I wanna see my Rebel, now!"
She jerked back to the present and quickly gave the frantically bubbling stew a stir, then lowered the heat. "No, Sen, he's busy." She wiped spatters off the counter. "Please go pick up your blocks from the main room before Grandad gets back."
Selkin had gone out to tinker with the speeder after they'd finished the day's ousso rows. He'd keyed out that he wanted to be sure it could handle the coming journey, but they both knew it was safer if a little distance separated them.
Their hands kept drifting together whenever they shared the same space.
"Busy doin' what?"
"Helping in the barn. Please go pick up your toys."
The Rebel slipped in the house scant moments before the sound of Glovan's mower reached her ears. Anlia turned, her hands already lifting to touch him when a small body rocketed through the space between them.
"Selkin! You're back!"
He caught Senno before the boy plowed into his stomach and swung him up. Anlia froze and her eyes met Selkin's over the boy's touseled head.
I could lose myself in him...
Senno's kilometer-a-minute chatter broke the spell. Anlia jerked her head at the doorway and Selkin nodded and faded out of the kitchen with the boy on his hip.
Moments later, she heard the gush of water in the 'fresher, just as Glovan clomped up the porch steps. Anlia's head spun.
Keep Selkin out of Dad's sight. Keep Sen from blabbing to Dad. Keep Dad from getting suspicious.
Juggling those tasks while serving up the evening meal made her stomach curl with tension. She pushed at the chunks of vegetables in her bowl, nodded at her father's grumbles, and half-listened to Senno's dinner-table chatter.
And all she could think of was Selkin, stretched out on her bed, waiting.
She managed to swallow a spoonful of thick broth. She licked a stray drop off her bottom lip-- the skin felt chapped. Distracted, she ran her thumb over her mouth-- would her lips feel rough to Selkin's mouth, to his tongue? The image made heat rise in her face.
Pointed silence ripped her attention back to the table. Glovan was watching her oddly, a faint frown drawing his brows together. "Anlee?"
"What? Th-the stew-- it isn't too salty?" she stammered.
"It's fine. You gonna eat?"
She bent over her bowl, feeling her father's gaze linger on her as she forced the spoon back into the food.
~~~~~
Selkin was waiting for her when she brought his evening meal. He took the tray from her and set it aside, reaching for her with the same hunger he'd shown days earlier for the food. He reeled her in close.
"I-I should go back. Sen's with Dad... "
His mouth cut off her whisper. He was warm and smelled of prairie wind and sun. The hands Anlia raised in protest spread instead on his chest. Little boys, fathers, and stormtroopers went spinning off into the galaxy as she lost herself in Selkin's kiss.
His hand was heavy on her lower back, guiding her one step at a time across the floor. She barely noticed-- what her mouth was doing, where her hands were pressing were much more fascinating.
The world tilted on its axis. Startled, Anlia found herself sprawled on Selkin's bare chest while he lay back on the bed, pulling her with him. His eyes, no longer ice-cool, laughed up at her. Before she could offer a protest, he'd tangled his fingers in her hair and drawn her down.
The insistant ache low in her body was back. Anlia shifted, Selkin's lean, hard muscles cushioning her. Hip to hip, she pressed hard to him and a growl vibrated in his kiss.
Even as she rocked against him, he was dragging her tunic up with impatient fingers. Cool air brushed her back, followed by the hot trail of his hands. She shivered, mouth pulling moistly from his so she could sit up astride the Rebel, feel those sensitive hands on her breasts. He was hard and full beneath her-- a bolt of sheer lust shot through her and Anlia groaned.
The sound was stark in the hushed bedroom and it jerked Anlia back to herself. She gasped and her gaze swung wildly to the door.
"Stars! Selkin, I... I'm sorry, but my father, Senno... They're watching the vid, but... " Face burning, she climbed off him, off the bed, and pulled her tunic down.
Selkin swallowed hard. He scrubbed his hand down his face.
"I don't want them to come looking for me."
He nodded. Anlia fussed with her wisping braid and bit her lip.
"I'm sorry."
He waved off her apology and sat up. He drew a deep breath and rolled his neck, trying to bleed off tension.
"You'd better eat, your stew's getting cold."
Selkin stood and moved, a little unsteadily, to retrieve the tray. The datapad rested beside it on the desktop, and he tapped in a quick message.
Will you come to bed in here tonight?
Thrills ricocheted around her stomach and filled her throat. Wordlessly, Anlia nodded. Covering her reddened cheeks with her hands, she fled before she threw herself at him back onto the bed.
~~~~~
Night had stripped all color from the farmhouse's rooms. Anlia stepped lightly down the hall, shadow-quiet past doorways behind which her family slept. Her sleepshirt swirled pale and soft around her knees. The memory of it being drawn up and over her head shivered across her skin.
Selkin waited for her.
Her hand stretched out, barely visible in the darkness, fingertips settling on well-worn keys. The 'swoosh' of the door matched her stomach's anticipatory swoop.
"It's me."
A rustle of sheets answered her whisper. She barely had time to thumb on the lock before her feet carried her to the bed.
Selkin's hand found her thigh, swept warmly up her side, taking the sleepshirt with it. Anlia ducked her head through the garment, and he tossed it away into shadows.
He was already bare as she slipped between the cool sheets. She rolled into his arms, her breath catching at the contact of his long, warm length with her skin.
He nudged her chin up, found her mouth unerringly in the darkness. Selkin kissed her with all the heat of a sweet summer's day.
Hands traced hot skin; lips opened, tasted, pressed tight again.
He threw one hard-muscled leg over hers and cinched her tight to his body.
The sheets rustled; the dark shadows on the bed shifted position. There was a sharply-indrawn breath, followed by a soft moan of deep craving. Kisses. A low, near-inaudible hum of pleasure.
The subtle noises from the bed settled into a steady, unmistakable rhythm. Many long aching minutes passed before the night was riven by muffled cries, one high and clear, the other harsh, and choked, as if the voice were forced from a stifled throat.
~~~to be continued...
On to Chapter 12
Disclaimers in Chapter 1.
Feedback welcomed by reviewing or by emailing the author at jennet_2@yahoo.com
Please be aware that the rating for this chapter is raised to an "R".
Moving Target
Chapter 11
The angry sound climbed from distant whine to ear-splitting scream with stunning speed. Anlia jerked awake as the starships shrieked overhead, but they were past before she had even rolled from the air mattress to the floor. The blast of sound left her gasping.
Above her, Senno let out a sleepy wail.
"It's all right. Shhh, it's safe, they're just noisy."
"Anlee?"
"I'm right here." It was a struggle to keep her voice calm while her heart was trying to batter its way out of her chest. She leaned up to rub the boy's back. "It's just those damned Imps trying to scare us."
The aftershocks had rumbled into silence, but Anlia felt a faint trembling beneath her knees. "Here they come back again. Be ready, Sen. The fools are trying to prove how bad they are."
The whine built rapidly. Anlia instinctively ducked over the bed, shielding Senno. "But we know they're just bullies," she said into his hair.
The shriek ripped apart the night once more, seizing Anlia's heart with primitive terror. Senno burrowed beneath the pillow.
"Yeah, bullies. They can't scare me. I'm brave."
A thump from the adjoining room jerked her attention from the boy. "That's right, you're brave," she said hurriedly, rising from the bedside. Another 'thud', closer and louder, carried through the wall. "You just tuck in all cozy, and every time they fly over, stick out your tongue and say 'Nyah!'" She tucked the coverlet around his shoulders. "I'm going to check on Selkin. Stay in bed, Sen."
His sleepy reply was muffled. Anlia slipped out and flew silently down the hall to her own bedroom door.
Selkin was pacing the floor with the agitation of a caged animal. He spun at the hiss of the door and flung himself forward.
Anlia barred the doorway. "Hush, don't draw my father! For pity's sake, calm down!"
He stepped back, and she hastily closed and locked the door. Selkin motioned violently over their heads.
"I know, it's an awful noise, but they aren't attacking. It's just a couple of TIE jocks from the base, reminding everyone they're here."
Beneath her bare feet, the floor began to tremble once more. Her stomach clenched and she reached for Selkin. "They buzz over to scare us and get everyone stirred up," she told him quickly, but her words were swallowed by the rising scream. Selkin swerved around her and threw himself at the door.
"Don't!" Her cry was lost in the din, but fortunately, so was the impact of his shoulder hitting the door panel. She dragged him away and tried to hold him as she would Senno. "Don't be scared. It's all right, I swear it. They just buzz the farms and villages, they don't actually strafe us. Don't be scared."
In the dim light, she saw him shake his head. He pulled free and strode across the room. At the window, he spun and pounded his fist against his breastbone and then stabbed his finger at the sky.
"There's nothing you can do. It's just the way things are here. Sometimes stock stampedes and gets hurt; sometimes the pilots fly low enough to damage crops or roofs. Once or twice they've fanned a brushburning into wildire." Anlia followed him and tried to catch his hands. "We pick up and go on and ignore them as best we can."
Selkin shook his head again. His mouth moved, forming silent words, and then he twisted aside and gestured again, fist to chest, then to sky.
"All right, I understand, you're not scared; but you think there's something you could do about them?"
He whirled on her, teeth bared. Frustration and fury blazed from him with such intensity, Anlia fell back a step.
"Something you should do?"
A tortured sound ripped from his throat, raw and desperate. Anlia's fingers flew to her own throat, burning in sympathy. Her eyes widened.
"Selkin, have you flown against TIEs before? Are you a fighter pilot?"
I don't know.
Even without audible words, she heard him clearly. He bowed his head and pressed knotted fists to his temples, grinding knuckles against skin and bone. He spun, slamming into the wall beside the window, and hammered it with a blow heavy enough to knock loose plastone dust. His head tipped back to loose a silent howl of impotence.
"Stop, stop! Selkin, stop!" Anlia flew to him. "My father... Selkin, please... " In desperation, she shoved between his body and the wall and seized his wrists.
He shook her off and pounded the wall again. He was wild, gone-- mired in some human-created hell of tangled memory and blank gaps.
His eyes were empty, his self lost to a torturer's tender mercies.
His agony was going to get him discovered.
Anlia rose up and wrapped her arms around his rigid neck. Pressing close to his lean body, ignoring his flailing arms, she covered his mouth with hers and kissed him with all the warmth she could summon.
It took a second for her action to penetrate; she was kissing a frozen shell. But then Selkin went very still, his clenched fists coming to rest on the wall. Anlia deepened the kiss, moving her mouth on his and nipping at his lower lip.
She felt his chest rise on a startled breath and loosened her stranglehold. It was still a one-way embrace, but at least she had his attention.
"Anlia?" The door panel blatted out an attempt to open while locked. "What in blazin' hells is goin' on?"
She wrenched her mouth free of Selkin's and flattened a hand on his chest. "N-nothing, Dad! Just a couple of flyboys going over."
Out in the hall, Glovan rapped irritably on her door.
"I know that. I mean the crashin' around in there."
Blast and damn! Anlia caught Selkin by one arm and slung him into the corner behind the wardrobe. Motioning sharply to stay out of the sight-line of the door, she went over and unlocked it.
"It was nothing, Dad. The noise scared me and I was still half-asleep when I jumped up. I knocked over my nightstand." The hall luma made her squint.
"Hurt yourself?" Her father's hair was flattened on one side, sticking straight up in the back, and although his face wore an angry glower, his voice was concerned.
"No, I'm fine. I just didn't know where I was for a second."
"I'm gonna go out and check the stock."
For the first time, Anlia noticed Glovan was half-dressed, workpants pulled over sleepshorts, an unfastened shirt hanging from his shoulders. "You want me to come?"
"Nah, but you should check on the boy-- and then get back to bed."
"Sure, Dad."
She slipped past him and went to stand in Senno's doorway. From within came deep, even breathing-- he'd fallen back to sleep as soon as the TIEs had taken themselves off to another district. Off in the distance, she heard the side door wheeze open, then shut.
For a long moment she stood in the hallway. The nighttime silence felt thick after the stomach-twisting noise of the fighters; she could hear the quiet hums and clicks of household systems, the thud of her own heartbeat.
No further noises came from her bedroom. Threat of discovery had quieted Selkin-- she could go back to the air mattress in Senno's room and he would go back to her bed, and maybe they'd even fall asleep again.
Yes, that would be best.
So why did she find her feet moving down the hall to her own room? Her doorpad was under her fingertips, the button smooth and slightly concave as she keyed the door open. The air that washed over her was still faintly scented from the lotion spilled during the stormtroopers' visit.
"It's me."
Her eyes strained to adjust to the darkened bedroom. Selkin was nowhere in sight, but she could feel him, poised in the shadows.
The door closed with a soft 'snick' and she reached behind and activated the lock.
The quiet beep must have signalled safety-- Selkin rose from a crouch behind her bed.
"Are you all right?"
She couldn't see well enough to tell if he nodded or shook his head or just shrugged. She crossed to him and lifted his hands in hers. They were icy cold.
"Did you hurt your hands?"
This time she was able to see his headshake. As her eyes adjusted even more, she could see the bemused expression on his face.
He pulled one hand free and touched her lips, and then his own, and cocked his head.
You kissed me.
Her heart sped up. "I needed you to be quiet, fast. You were so upset... I just wanted to calm you down."
Very slowly, he shook his head. His index finger stroked down her cheek and curved beneath her chin, and quite suddenly, Anlia couldn't breathe. The slightest pressure under her chin-tip drew her face toward his.
Slowly. Lightly. Giving her every chance to pull back and break the contact.
Only she didn't want to. Stars above, she didn't want to be sensible, practical, careful!
His own mouth was hovering close, and she had a glimpse of his eyes, the emptiness chased away by tenderness. And then her eyes fell closed and Selkin's mouth was brushing across hers, oh-so-lightly.
And when he lifted his head and gazed at her, words weren't needed to hear the unspoken question.
Do you want this?
Oh, yes, this was exactly what she wanted.
She swayed forward and found his mouth again. Her stomach swooped dizzyingly as his arms came up and circled her.
He tasted warm and clean. His jaw scraped rough along hers when he tilted his head to bring their lips closer together. Anlia laid her hands on his neck-- the clipped-short hair on his nape felt just as velvety as she'd dreamed. When she threaded her fingers up into his hair, a shiver rattled hard across his shoulders and down his back and a gasp pulled his mouth from hers.
Eyes closed, breathing rapidly, Selkin rested his forehead against hers.
She let him remain there a moment, her fingers pressed lightly to his scalp. Then she started a slow massage across his head, around to his temples, behind his ears. Another shiver shook him.
The pulse in his throat was beating so hard she could see the flutter beneath his skin. Anlia drew one finger down and brushed the spot on his forehead where the strange indentation had been.
"Am I stirring up bad flashes?"
He blinked, and shook his head. Holding her gaze, he caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a warm kiss into her palm.
It tingled all the way up her arm. Anlia leaned forward, kissed that racing pulse in the hollow of Selkin's throat, and cradled his face in her hands.
The last time he was held here was with cold and inhuman hands.
She touched her mouth to his, once lightly, then firm and moist, her hands stroking up the sides of his face and into his hair again. Selkin sighed soundlessly and pulled her close. His chest was warm and bare, and under her thin sleepshirt, Anlia's breasts flattened against him.
He held her tight, his mouth urging her lips apart now, a sweet glide of his tongue against hers while her hands smoothed away the phantom imprints left by his interrogators. One hand glided down her spine to the small of her back, and it was Anlia's turn to shiver. Selkin's fingers bunched the thin cloth covering her hip and pulled her lower body to his.
Only two layers of old, soft cloth separated them. A lightning bolt of sensation blasted Anlia; she gasped harshly into Selkin's mouth. He pressed hard and ready into her belly and there was nothing tentative now about the way he molded their bodies together.
The bed was right there to her left. A hungry ache pulled low in her belly. Anlia broke the kiss and raised heavy-lidded eyes to the Rebel's face, waiting until his gaze focused.
He radiated intensity, as if he'd banished all distractions and nothing else existed outside the circle of their embrace. All that focused concentration sent a hot flush racing through Anlia's veins.
Then he shifted, side-to-side; he held her hips in a near-bruising grip, and their bodies rubbed, hard and urgent against melting soft. Anlia glanced involuntarily at the bed.
I want to. He obviously does, too.
He caught her chin and drew her attention back to his face before cutting his eyes to the door.
"Sen's asleep." Her voice came out a rusty whisper and she cleared her throat. "And Dad thinks I am."
Still holding her in his arms, Selkin took a step sideways. Their knees bumped the mattress.
For a split second, panic flooded Anlia. To seize this moment, without weighing every possible consequence, was something Josa would do, not she.
Selkin bent and took her mouth in a hot, deep kiss. The momentary panic burned away. She kissed him back, fervently-- she hadn't known just how hungry she'd been.
Hungry for something just for herself.
His hand slid up from her hip and covered her breast, and Anlia was lost. She arched into the caress, reveling in the feel of his hand weighing and cupping her breast, his thumb brushing the peak. Selkin buried his face against her neck, his lips sending delicious tremors across her skin.
When he began to ease up the hem of her nightshirt, she felt no apprehension, only relief. He moved slowly, again to give her time to still his hand if she chose. The cloth skimmed her sensitized skin from thigh to hip to waist. There he paused, for the briefest second, and Anlia gasped with anticipation.
She raised eyes made heavy from desire. "Please."
The quiet plea snapped some measure of restraint in the Rebel. He whipped the sleepshirt over her head; and then his hands, and mouth, were everywhere. Anlia let her head fall back as he kissed his way down her throat to her breasts. He made a rough, ragged sound as his lips closed hot and wet over one pebbled peak.
Pure bliss tugged a groan from her, made her sway drunkenly. Arched backward, she clung to his corded arms to keep from crumpling to the floor.
He moved to her other breast, sending the last of her reason spirelling off into the stars. His hands molded her bottom, tracing and squeezing the rounded curves, then pulling her tight to him so she felt his urgency.
Anlia snaked one hand between them and across the hard, flat plane of his belly. Another rasping sound burst from his paralyzed throat, a sound that deepened into a full groan when her fingers found the waistband of his pants. He jerked his mouth free of her breast and flung back his head.
A flick of her fingers opened the fastener. The loose trousers slid down his narrow hips, whisper-soft.
"Oh, gods above..."
She had tried valiently not to let her eyes wander when she'd washed him in the barn. This time she was free to look to her heart's content.
Her rescued Rebel was as beautiful naked as her stolen glimpses of him had suggested.
He was impatient, too-- eager for more than just admiring looks. He rocked his hips. Too appreciative to be shy, Anlia took him in hand and stroked him.
He shuddered deeply and seized her shoulders in a death-grip. When she moved her hand along his straining length again, he groaned aloud.
"You feel so nice."
Smooth and hard and heavy enough to fill her hand. He was almost satiny against her work-roughened palm and fingers. He rocked with her caress, forward and back, eyes closed and head tipped back. Anlia shifted closer to press her lips to the pounding pulse in his throat while he slid in her hand.
She tasted salt. His chest was damp where her breasts brushed. Selkin's fingers tightened convulsively on her shoulders and he spun her around and down. The bed caught her at knees and hips and shoulders, and she was sinking down, pulling him with her. He landed half-covering her, his hipbone sharp against the softer curve of hers.
His clean scent rose up from the pillow when she breathed in, making her dizzy with the desire to taste him, all of him, her Rebel... She wanted to devour him, and for him to devour her.
Their mouths met, and clung. His tongue was warm in her mouth as he shifted his lower body fully onto hers.
He felt right, a perfect fit. Anlia's legs fell apart so he could settle against her, their bodies lining up sweetly. For a moment, his hips were heavy on hers, and then he raised up on hands and knees, moving to find his way to her.
The chafe of his legs against her smoother ones nearly drove her mad-- she arched her lower body to his in a silent plea. A plea Selkin answered by plunging forward.
"Ah, stars!"
She nearly shattered right then, just from the deep, gratifying thrust of him. He bore down until he was buried fully, pressing until she gasped. He bent forward and kissed her quick and hard-- she read a sort of frantic reassurance on his face, a hint of apology... and then intense concentration washed over his features.
He was moving. Strong. Deep. A steady pace that built quickly to a hard, fast rocking. Anlia gave herself up to his rhythm, held tight to his bunched shoulders, and let him take her. His breath was hot and quick against her ear. His own arousal fed hers-- she could feel a stinging tension low, where her desire centered.
He bent and slanted a frenzied kiss onto her mouth, his moan vibrating in her chest. He rocked her so hard, so fast, she could barely keep up, could barely...
OH. There. NOW.
It snatched her away to a place where only searingly gratifying pleasure existed. She couldn't hear, think, reason-- she was pure sensation flying out, up, free.
Dimly she felt Selkin stifle her broken cries with a gentle hand laid over her lips. She managed to turn her head and bury her mouth against his braced forearm. The muscles quivered against her lips.
He drove hard, quickly, and just as quickly sucked in a huge breath. For one tenth of a second, Selkin froze-- and then his own passion broke in a wave of profound relief. Anlia reached up and pressed her fingers to his lips just as a hoarse cry burst free.
His throat worked, gasps hot against her palm. Shudders wracked down his back. Eyes clenched shut tightly, he twisted his hips sinuously against hers.
At long last, the sounds of bodies moving together against sheets died away. Anlia shifted beneath the slack weight covering her.
"Selkin? Are you all right?"
After a noticable delay he nodded; with visible effort he pried his eyelids open.
He looked as stunned as she felt. Anlia smiled shakily and managed to raise her head enough to kiss him softly. She ran her hand up the scarred arm still braced hard by her neck.
"Is your arm all right?"
He nodded again, but she could feel subtle tremors running along his forearm. He must have become aware of the shaking, because he shifted his weight to his left side. Anlia bit back a disappointed exclamation as he pulled free to lie alongside her.
Selkin drew in a shaky breath and propped himself on his elbow. He lifted Anlia's chin with one finger and cocked his head.
The concern in his eyes nearly undid her. She blinked away a sudden stinging.
"I'm fine. More than fine. That was lovely."
He slowly traced her face, her lips.
Lovely.
She felt the stinging intensify and whispered, "Please don't ask if I'm sorry, because I'm not."
Selkin smiled and slowly shook his head. He tapped his chest.
Neither am I.
He rolled to his back and drew her with him to lie cradled on his chest. His hand started a slow combing through her hair, pausing now and then to work loose a tangle.
It was amazingly tender and relaxing. Anlia's breathing steadied and slowed and she began to slip into a sated lethargy. Selkin's arm felt good wrapped around her-- she wished she could catch this moment and just hold it in her hand like a living thing, the way his heart beat strongly under her cheek.
~~~~~
"Anlee?"
Anlia stretched luxuriously, still caught in the sweet warmth of a delicious dream. Relaxed and sleepy, she started to sink back into its depths.
Strident banging scattered the remnants of drowsy pleasure. Someone shook her shoulder, hard, jarring her fully awake. Her eyes flew open in time to see the lean, muscled flanks of a naked man leaping from her bed.
'Thud-thud-thud.' "Anlee? You awake?"
"Blast!" she gasped, flinging back the coverlet. Selkin, still stark naked, flung her robe at her, and she struggled to jam her arms into the sleeves. She raised her voice. "Coming, Dad!"
Selkin had snatched up his pants and retreated to the corner where the wardrobe met the wall. Anlia wrapped her robe tightly around her bare body as she stumbled to the door.
"What is it?" she asked as it slid back.
Glovan stood without, fully dressed and wearing a puzzled expression. "You sick or somethin'?"
"Uhhh, no... Why? What's the matter?"
"It's way past 5. 'Less you're sick, you're usually up by now."
"Oh, stars, Dad, I'm sorry! I, uh, overslept." She ran a hand through her tumbled hair in a vain attempt to smooth it. Her mouth felt swollen from kisses and her cheeks burned, both from agitation and the scrape of Selkin's stubble. "Hang on, I'll get dressed and start breakfast."
"Nah, I made some bread and sausage to take with me." Glovan frowned. "Sure you're not sick? You look pretty flushed." He laid a callused hand on her forehead.
Stars, does it show what we did? Anlia blinked rapidly. "I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well after those TIE jocks acting stupid last night."
"Yeah, well, try not to let 'em get to you." Glovan turned away, to his daughter's relief. "Gonna be another scorcher today, so I'll be out on the west border cutting more hay."
"All right, Dad."
She stood in the doorway, listening to him clump away and out of the house. Long moments later, the mower's engine roared to life, and then faded as Glovan drove it off.
The touch of a hand on her back made her turn. Selkin, sleep-rumpled but alert, drew her back into the bedroom and keyed the door closed. As it slid shut, he pulled her close for a kiss.
She laughed shakily as their lips parted. "That was close, huh? I never heard the alarm go off."
He gave her a devilish grin and tilted his head at the bed, making her blush.
"Yes, I guess we were tired out, after. I'll thank you not to tease me about it."
All joking vanished from his expression. He straightened, took her hand, and raised it to his lips, pressing a warm kiss onto her knuckles.
I would never tease a lady.
Suddenly she felt like crying. Selkin was the kindest, most courteous man she had ever met; he was a tender, passionate lover, and it would be paradise to wake up to him each morning.
And he needed, desperately, to get off this planet and far away.
She blinked back tears and gently disentangled her hand. "Sen will be awake and pounding down the door any minute. I need to get dressed, Selkin."
I know. He nodded, dropped a soft kiss on her mouth, and let her go.
~~~~~
The day passed with strange languor. As Anlia went about the cycle of her chores, she felt as though she were enclosed in a clear bubble that kept her just barely removed from her surroundings. Senno's chatter seemed to come from a great distance; she answered his questions distractedly and only after a long delay.
We kissed. We touched.
Her hands moved automatically to pick vegetables, load storage trays, wash dishes. More than once she blinked to awareness to find herself staring over the horizon, fingers pressed to her lips, or throat, or breast.
We are lovers now.
"...Anlee, I wanna see my Rebel, now!"
She jerked back to the present and quickly gave the frantically bubbling stew a stir, then lowered the heat. "No, Sen, he's busy." She wiped spatters off the counter. "Please go pick up your blocks from the main room before Grandad gets back."
Selkin had gone out to tinker with the speeder after they'd finished the day's ousso rows. He'd keyed out that he wanted to be sure it could handle the coming journey, but they both knew it was safer if a little distance separated them.
Their hands kept drifting together whenever they shared the same space.
"Busy doin' what?"
"Helping in the barn. Please go pick up your toys."
The Rebel slipped in the house scant moments before the sound of Glovan's mower reached her ears. Anlia turned, her hands already lifting to touch him when a small body rocketed through the space between them.
"Selkin! You're back!"
He caught Senno before the boy plowed into his stomach and swung him up. Anlia froze and her eyes met Selkin's over the boy's touseled head.
I could lose myself in him...
Senno's kilometer-a-minute chatter broke the spell. Anlia jerked her head at the doorway and Selkin nodded and faded out of the kitchen with the boy on his hip.
Moments later, she heard the gush of water in the 'fresher, just as Glovan clomped up the porch steps. Anlia's head spun.
Keep Selkin out of Dad's sight. Keep Sen from blabbing to Dad. Keep Dad from getting suspicious.
Juggling those tasks while serving up the evening meal made her stomach curl with tension. She pushed at the chunks of vegetables in her bowl, nodded at her father's grumbles, and half-listened to Senno's dinner-table chatter.
And all she could think of was Selkin, stretched out on her bed, waiting.
She managed to swallow a spoonful of thick broth. She licked a stray drop off her bottom lip-- the skin felt chapped. Distracted, she ran her thumb over her mouth-- would her lips feel rough to Selkin's mouth, to his tongue? The image made heat rise in her face.
Pointed silence ripped her attention back to the table. Glovan was watching her oddly, a faint frown drawing his brows together. "Anlee?"
"What? Th-the stew-- it isn't too salty?" she stammered.
"It's fine. You gonna eat?"
She bent over her bowl, feeling her father's gaze linger on her as she forced the spoon back into the food.
~~~~~
Selkin was waiting for her when she brought his evening meal. He took the tray from her and set it aside, reaching for her with the same hunger he'd shown days earlier for the food. He reeled her in close.
"I-I should go back. Sen's with Dad... "
His mouth cut off her whisper. He was warm and smelled of prairie wind and sun. The hands Anlia raised in protest spread instead on his chest. Little boys, fathers, and stormtroopers went spinning off into the galaxy as she lost herself in Selkin's kiss.
His hand was heavy on her lower back, guiding her one step at a time across the floor. She barely noticed-- what her mouth was doing, where her hands were pressing were much more fascinating.
The world tilted on its axis. Startled, Anlia found herself sprawled on Selkin's bare chest while he lay back on the bed, pulling her with him. His eyes, no longer ice-cool, laughed up at her. Before she could offer a protest, he'd tangled his fingers in her hair and drawn her down.
The insistant ache low in her body was back. Anlia shifted, Selkin's lean, hard muscles cushioning her. Hip to hip, she pressed hard to him and a growl vibrated in his kiss.
Even as she rocked against him, he was dragging her tunic up with impatient fingers. Cool air brushed her back, followed by the hot trail of his hands. She shivered, mouth pulling moistly from his so she could sit up astride the Rebel, feel those sensitive hands on her breasts. He was hard and full beneath her-- a bolt of sheer lust shot through her and Anlia groaned.
The sound was stark in the hushed bedroom and it jerked Anlia back to herself. She gasped and her gaze swung wildly to the door.
"Stars! Selkin, I... I'm sorry, but my father, Senno... They're watching the vid, but... " Face burning, she climbed off him, off the bed, and pulled her tunic down.
Selkin swallowed hard. He scrubbed his hand down his face.
"I don't want them to come looking for me."
He nodded. Anlia fussed with her wisping braid and bit her lip.
"I'm sorry."
He waved off her apology and sat up. He drew a deep breath and rolled his neck, trying to bleed off tension.
"You'd better eat, your stew's getting cold."
Selkin stood and moved, a little unsteadily, to retrieve the tray. The datapad rested beside it on the desktop, and he tapped in a quick message.
Will you come to bed in here tonight?
Thrills ricocheted around her stomach and filled her throat. Wordlessly, Anlia nodded. Covering her reddened cheeks with her hands, she fled before she threw herself at him back onto the bed.
~~~~~
Night had stripped all color from the farmhouse's rooms. Anlia stepped lightly down the hall, shadow-quiet past doorways behind which her family slept. Her sleepshirt swirled pale and soft around her knees. The memory of it being drawn up and over her head shivered across her skin.
Selkin waited for her.
Her hand stretched out, barely visible in the darkness, fingertips settling on well-worn keys. The 'swoosh' of the door matched her stomach's anticipatory swoop.
"It's me."
A rustle of sheets answered her whisper. She barely had time to thumb on the lock before her feet carried her to the bed.
Selkin's hand found her thigh, swept warmly up her side, taking the sleepshirt with it. Anlia ducked her head through the garment, and he tossed it away into shadows.
He was already bare as she slipped between the cool sheets. She rolled into his arms, her breath catching at the contact of his long, warm length with her skin.
He nudged her chin up, found her mouth unerringly in the darkness. Selkin kissed her with all the heat of a sweet summer's day.
Hands traced hot skin; lips opened, tasted, pressed tight again.
He threw one hard-muscled leg over hers and cinched her tight to his body.
The sheets rustled; the dark shadows on the bed shifted position. There was a sharply-indrawn breath, followed by a soft moan of deep craving. Kisses. A low, near-inaudible hum of pleasure.
The subtle noises from the bed settled into a steady, unmistakable rhythm. Many long aching minutes passed before the night was riven by muffled cries, one high and clear, the other harsh, and choked, as if the voice were forced from a stifled throat.
~~~to be continued...
On to Chapter 12