Diva (Jit'Suku Chronicles) Page 9

  “Mm. Tasty,” she said when she let his fingers go. She chewed the small portion of toast with topping and swallowed as he did.

  “That’s good, I’ll grant you, but this…” He leaned forward and kissed her breast, licking around her taut peak once before looking up at her face. “This is much better.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for that,” she told him, grinning even as her blood heated to near the boiling point. She wanted him inside her. Now.

  His hands left her waist as he seemed to test the table. She saw a glint of deviltry in his eye as he looked at her, and she knew she was in for a treat. Creative lover that he was, he was considering something. At least, she hoped he was. She’d follow the good captain anywhere he led.

  “I wonder if this table is strong enough?” he mused aloud, his eyes daring hers to follow his lead.

  “Strong enough for what?”

  He stood and cupped her ass in both hands, drawing her right to the edge of the table as he stepped between her legs. His clothing was gone, though she’d lost track of when he’d disrobed. All she knew was that she was grateful there were no barriers between them. Especially not when he fit his hard cock to her slick entrance and pushed home in one long, smooth thrust.

  “For this,” he said, almost unnecessarily. She moaned as he made a few tentative motions, but the small table wobbled, and he quickly halted. “Hmm. No. Not this way.”

  He withdrew, and she wanted to whimper, but he lifted her off the table and turned her around, stretching her out over the small table’s surface on her tummy, her feet on the floor, her ass exposed. Oh, yeah, she liked this idea.

  “Hold on to the edge,” he told her as he guided her hands up over her head to grab the opposite side of the small table. A moment later, he slid inside her again, this time from behind.

  She couldn’t contain her groan as he filled her to capacity. The feel of him from this angle was different. Tighter. Hotter, for some reason.

  He grabbed her ass as he again tested the position by thrusting a few times. This time, the table was much more sturdy. She didn’t ask how. All she wanted was more of that pulsing rod up her pussy, until he made her come.

  John complied with her unspoken wish, beginning a steady rhythm that made her just about lose her ever loving mind. And when he placed a wet pinky finger at her back entrance and pushed just a little way inside, she couldn’t contain the scream of pleasure as a massive orgasm rocked her body.

  She must’ve blacked out for a little while because the next thing she knew, she was in the bed, in John’s arms. He must’ve carried her, but she had no real recollection of how she’d gotten from her last position, bent over the little table, to the soft bed. All she knew was that she was in John’s arms, exactly where she wanted to be.

  He made sweet love to her all through that night, taking her to the stars again and again without ever leaving the room. Only he had ever been able to make her head spin and her senses whirl like this. Only he had ever claimed her heart and soul in a way that left her in little doubt of the return of her feelings.

  She reveled in the joy of knowing that the man she loved, loved her in return. He was a man like no other, and she very much feared that it would be hard to live without him when they had to part… Which would be all too soon.

  Screaming his name in ecstasy as he took her for the third time, she clung to him, her hands in the short hair at the nape of his strong neck. She kissed him a thousand times over as he claimed her body with patient sureness. His strokes lifted her off the bed a little as he neared his own pinnacle, and she went with him, over the precipice, falling into the bliss she found only with him.

  They lay twined together in the aftermath as their breathing slowly returned to more normal rhythms, content for the moment. Though they both knew the end of this idyllic time was near. She didn’t really want to talk about it, but she also wanted to know exactly where she stood. She needed to know how much more time they would have together, so she could store up every moment in her memory and not be unpleasantly surprised when time ran out.

  “I heard you got orders.” She introduced the topic.

  He sighed, and his jaw firmed. Apparently, he wasn’t happy with the topic either, but his gaze was strong when he met her eyes.

  “I need to report to the dock at fourteen-hundred,” he said quietly, resignation in his tone.

  Maggie looked at the chronometer. “That doesn’t give us much time.”

  “No, it doesn’t,” he agreed softly. “I’m sorry, Maggie. When I’m with you, I wish I owned my own future, but I don’t. I made the choice to give my life to the service long before we ever met, and I never regretted it…until now.”

  “I know, John.” She placed her hand over his heart, feeling the strong beat. “I love the man you are, and that includes the choices you’ve made. I wish we could run away somewhere and just be together, but we both have lives and commitments that we need to honor.”

  “And the fact that you understand that…” he leaned in and kissed her, “…means more to me than you realize. We’re made for each other in a lot of ways, though our careers are pretty much designed to keep us apart.” He chuckled, softening his words.

  They rang with truth, nonetheless.

  *

  At fourteen hundred, John joined his unit in the docking bay. He noticed a sleek little civ transport parked off to one side, and then, he saw Maggie standing by the ramp, watching him.

  He couldn’t wave. Military discipline had to be maintained in the presence of others. He couldn’t acknowledge her in any real way, though his gaze remained on her for as long as he could possibly keep her in sight. She held his gaze, and he knew she was having as hard a time parting as he was, but they’d said all there was to say during the long night just passed.

  They’d spent every moment since the concert together and had spoken of many things. His duty. Her career. His probable assignment—though he couldn’t go into specifics—and her planned itinerary.

  He was going back to the front. She was going back on tour. She’d be safely on the other side of the galaxy for months to come while he helped the mop-up operation on Andrak. From the latest bulletins, it sounded like the worst of the fighting had ended. Now, they’d be peacekeeping while the diplomats worked with the new government.

  It was still a hot zone and would be for some time, but the initial bloodshed had ended. In a way, John was glad. He didn’t enjoy killing, though he was good at it. He liked flying better, all alone in his cockpit except for the voice of his lover over the sound system when he wasn’t engaged in active operations.

  His unit was a multi-specialty group. All of them were exceptional pilots, and they flew in formations that few could match. They also were used in ground assaults when necessary, as they had been on Andrak. He wasn’t sure what they’d be asked to do next, but he was up for anything.

  Now that he’d seen Maggie and knew that she loved him, he was up for any challenge. Any challenge at all.

  He held her gaze as long as he could while his unit was loaded onto a troop transport. They’d go back out to meet their equipment, which was waiting where they’d left it. John knew it would be good to get back in his fighter again, but leaving Maggie behind was hard.

  He saw the glimmer of tears on her cheeks, though she didn’t say a word. She just stood, almost at attention, near the bottom of the ramp to her ship, a support strut behind her. She was so still she drew little notice from anyone else, but John would always be able to spot her, no matter what.

  It was as if there was a little string leading from her heart to his now. A delicate string that would bend and stretch, but never break. He could almost see it, joining his soul to hers. Forever.

  At the last possible moment before he lost sight of her, he saw her raise her fingers to her lips, then send him a kiss on the recycled wind of the docking bay. He left her with a very non-regulation smile of reassurance. They would meet again. Fate would not
be that cruel to either of them.

  Would it?

  *

  Diva returned to her tour schedule a few days later. Maggie took weeks to regain her equilibrium after, first, the fear that John would not recover, then the joy of being with him, followed by the pain of parting. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster, but she hid it from her fans and settled down to touring once more with as much aplomb as she could muster.

  She’d lost track of John. Her last messages to him had been returned, which wasn’t all that unusual. She’d received a few back in the past when he’d been changing assignments. While he was in transit, the courier services really had no way to find him, they’d explained on more than one occasion. Though, when he settled into his new duty station, his status cleared, and she was able to send things to him again.

  Only, this time, more than one or two messages had been returned. She tried not to worry. Maybe he was still in transit to some far-flung corner of the galaxy. She did her best to keep busy, performing at her booked shows and doing all the things Diva was expected to do, though she kept searching for information on John’s whereabouts both herself and through her trusted friends.

  Beauticians fussed over Maggie backstage as she prepared for yet another concert when Binki walked in. He didn’t usually see her until just before she went on stage, because until that point, he was kept busy overseeing the preparations. His presence backstage at this point was somewhat worrying.

  “Binki. What’s up?” Maggie’s smile faded as she saw the look in her friend’s eyes. Whatever he had to tell her, it couldn’t be good.

  “Nothing you want to hear, believe me, doll.”

  The man flopped down onto one end of the sofa, making a motion with his hands for everyone else to leave. The hair and makeup people scurried out of the room, the door closing firmly behind the last one.

  Binki was her childhood friend and tour manager. He was good with numbers and fantastic with the press, but his real value was in turning a blind eye to her doings with the military, and one Spec Ops officer in particular.

  Truth be told, Binki had as much to do with the covert work of Dalen as Maggie did herself. Binki—born Theodore Binderkrais—was the son of an Enhanced SF soldier and a common whore. Paired together by the military general to whom both of them answered, Binki and Diva played parts that helped them help their people.

  He took out a small device and switched it on between them before proceeding. Maggie knew it would shield their conversation from any eavesdroppers. Such devices were effective, but they also left telltales. The absence of any sound was a good indicator that such a device was being used, and it would give away the fact that they had something to hide if anyone cared enough to try to listen in, which is why they used such things only in emergency situations. If Binki was using such a device in the open, the news had to be dire indeed.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m sorry. There’s no other way to say this than flat out.” He took her hands in his and squeezed. “John Starbridge was captured by the jit’suku and taken to Solaris Prime for questioning.”

  Maggie felt her heart drop into her stomach as her insides went numb.

  “Why? Why would they take him all the way there?”

  “Intel wasn’t sure, but they suggested they might be subjecting John to some kind of testing. Mags, they think the emperor is trying to learn more about human Enhancement. John isn’t the first Enhanced soldier to be transported directly to the emperor’s seat of power.”

  The implications were not good. While many were aware of the practice of voluntarily Enhancing soldiers who worked on the front line, there were precious few who knew which soldiers were Enhanced or what the process entailed. Fewer still had access to such men after they’d been Enhanced. They were treated at special medical facilities by a small cadre of specially cleared doctors. Humanity did all they could to keep the full abilities of the Enhanced soldiers a secret—especially from the enemy.

  “Binki, send a message. We’re finally going to take the jit emperor up on his invitation.”

  *

  A few weeks later, Diva and her entourage arrived on Solaris Prime to somewhat subdued fanfare. The emperor’s guard met them and checked over all personnel and equipment in fine detail. The inter-galactic trip was accomplished relatively quickly with the use of established jumpsites. Diva’s ship had been cleared on both sides for safe passage, which was something usually only given to diplomats on state business.

  Maggie had only her wits and her native skills on this mission—and Binki, of course. He didn’t look it, but he came in very handy in a fight, thanks to his Enhanced genetics. He was even faster and deadlier than Maggie herself, which was saying something.

  She was nervous. She’d been out of communications contact with her usual sources while in transit through the jit’suku galaxy and didn’t know exactly what she was walking into. Things could have changed drastically since she started out on her rescue mission. John might even be dead by now, though she didn’t think so. She felt like…somehow…she would know if he was gone.

  She clung to the hope that he’d be there, waiting for her to come, though he had no idea she was heading his way. If only she could confirm John’s location, she would do all in her power to free him. She’d even trade her life for his, though she didn’t think the emperor would go for it. He could just as easily decide to keep them both—or kill them both.

  The jit emperor wasn’t a known quantity. Try as they might, information about the leader of their greatest enemy wasn’t all that forthcoming.

  That was about to change, though, now that she was here. Maggie would be watching everything, making mental notes for a formal report she was going to file at the highest levels of human military intelligence when, and if, she returned to the Milky Way.

  Every part of her ship, its personnel, all their luggage, and her person was scanned and searched thoroughly before she was escorted—alone—before the jit emperor. The palace itself was magnificent. More austere than ornate, it was a very masculine structure with hard angles and soaring towers.

  She liked it, which surprised her. She’d been fully prepared to pretend to admire everything in sight if it would get her the information she needed about John, but she found she didn’t have to fake interest in her surroundings. She let her natural curiosity show as she was led through the halls toward what had to be a grand audience chamber.

  There were surprisingly few people in sight. The halls were mostly empty except for a man in a robe that she took for a priest of some kind and a scattering of servants. The audience chamber was also sparsely populated, with only a few guards standing around the perimeter and a handsome man in good quality but simply cut clothing standing near a table with a one-way view screen facing toward him.

  He looked up when the doors opened and stepped away from the screen, walking toward her. His expression was cautious but friendly as they met near the center of the big room.

  “Diva, I’m so glad you finally accepted my invitation to perform. I trust your trip here was comfortable?”

  The emperor was much younger than she’d thought he’d be. In fact, he was much more handsome than she’d thought as well. The holos didn’t do him justice at all. And his voice was rich and warm, deep with a resonance that she admired.

  He stood well over six feet, with strong features, flashing dark eyes, and long deep brown hair that just begged for a woman’s fingers to comb through it. His eyes lit as he noted her perusal, and he moved closer.

  “Your Highness.” Maggie sank into the required deep curtsey as the emperor moved to stand only inches from her—too close. Her head was on level with his crotch, and what she saw, lightly outlined beneath his expensive clothes, was impressive indeed.

  The Emperor Tren reached out with one hand to raise her, and his eyes dared hers as he looked down from his superior height. Caught, she could do nothing when his head lowered, but accept his kiss.

  His mo
uth was hot and hard, but also somehow sweet and gentle as well. The paradox spoke much of the man himself. Who was this emperor? Was he truly the enemy she’d been raised to fear and even hate? Somehow, she didn’t think the answer was quite so simple anymore.

  Tren drew back from the kiss, disappointed. Diva was beautiful and desirable, but she was not the one he’d been seeking. He’d been so sure when he first saw her holo and heard her melodious voice, but the truth was standing before him. The truth was in her kiss.

  This was not his woman, though she was as close as close could be.

  “Forgive me.” Tren didn’t release her hand, but stepped back. “You do not know our ways, and I’ve subjected you to the nij’ta without your knowledge.” Honor demanded he explain just a bit of his actions. He led her by the hand toward a grouping of chairs on the far side of the large room, nodding to his guards to withdraw. He knew they wouldn’t go far. They’d keep him in their sight at all times, but they’d be a bit less obvious about it.

  “What is a nij’ta?” Her melodic voice danced along his nerve endings. She really was the most lovely creature, but alas, not the one for him.

  “It is an ancient trial. For each jit’suku male, there is one perfect woman. We spend most of our lives searching for her. When we meet a woman we think might be the one we seek, we subject her to the nij’ta—the ritual kiss. If she is ours, we know immediately. If not, well, who does not enjoy kissing a desirable woman?”

  Her laugh tinkled over his spine like bubbles of wine. She really was an amazing creature, but sadly, not his.

  “So Your Majesty thought I might be...”