“Yes,” she moaned, her voice low and husky. “Oh, god, Aeon, yes…”
Her words spurred me on, and I thrust up into her harder and faster, my body responding to hers in a way that felt almost instinctual. Her moans grew louder, her body trembling as she neared her climax. “Harder,” she gasped, her voice breaking. “Faster…”
I obeyed, my hips slamming into hers with a force that made the bed creak. Her hands tightened on my shoulders, and her body arched as she cried out loudly. Her orgasm crashed over her in waves, and I felt her walls clenching around me. It was enough to push me over the edge. With a final, deep thrust, I let out a loud groan, clutching her hips tightly as I spilled myself inside her.
For a moment, we stayed like that, her body pressed tightly against mine, and our breaths mingled as we both came down from the high. She leaned forward, resting her forehead against mine.
“That was…” she began, her voice soft and shaky.
“Beyond incredible,” I finished for her, my voice just as unsteady. She smiled, and I could see the same awe and wonder in her eyes that I felt in my chest. At that moment, I knew I was completely in love with her, and there was no turning back.
NINETEEN
OLIVIA
I reluctantly untangled myself from Aeon’s lap. My legs still trembled as I slid onto the bed beside him. The sweet ache between my thighs reminded me of what we’d just done—what I had initiated.
His muscular arm reached out to pull me against his chest. The heat radiating from his skin was entirely human, nothing mechanical about it.
“Come here,” he whispered, tucking me securely against his side.
I nestled my head against his shoulder, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my palm. His fingers traced along my bare back, making me shiver.
The silence between us felt oddly comfortable. I should have been analyzing, questioning, and planning my next move. Instead, I found myself memorizing the pattern of scars across his chest, and the way his jaw clenched when he was thinking deeply.
“I never expected this,” Aeon finally said, his voice a low rumble I could feel through his chest. “When we brought you here, I thought only of the colony’s survival.”
“And now?”
His piercing eyes met mine, vulnerable in a way he rarely showed. “Now I think of you. Too much.”
My heart fluttered traitorously. I’d seen this man command a room and make life-or-death decisions without hesitation. Yet here, naked and holding me, he struggled with words that came from somewhere deeper than programming.
“I wish...” he started but then stopped himself. His brow furrowed, searching for the right expression. “I want there to be an us. Beyond this room. Beyond necessity.”
His confession hung for a long moment in the air. I remained silent. My feelings about the future were a tangled mess I wasn’t ready to unravel quite yet.
His arms tightened around me. “Whatever comes from Earth—ships, soldiers, negotiators, anything or anyone—I will keep you safe.” His voice took on that edge of certainty I’d come to recognize. “I made the decision to bring you here. Your safety is my responsibility.”
I traced the outline of a particularly jagged scar that ran across his ribs. “And the colony? The mothers?”
“They will always be my mission.” His hand slid up to cup my face, turning it toward him. “But you are becoming something else entirely.”
The intensity in his expression made my breath catch. This wasn’t the calculated gaze of a machine weighing variables. This was raw, human need—desire mixed with protection and something dangerously close to devotion.
“Earth is coming,” he whispered against my hair. “And I don’t know what that means for us, or for this place. But I know I will stand between you and any threat as long as I draw breath.”
His hand traced down my spine, settling on my lower back and pulling me closer until our bodies aligned perfectly—skin to skin, warmth to warmth.
“For tonight,” I whispered, allowing myself this stolen moment of honesty, “let’s just lie here and enjoy each other.”
He nodded, pressing his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes, letting the rhythm of his breathing lull me into a false sense of security. I knew that tomorrow would probably force us both to confront the impossible choices ahead.
I woke to the gentle purplish glow of Planet Alpha’s dawn filtering through the window. Aeon’s arm lay heavily across my waist, his chest rising and falling against my back in a steady rhythm. The memories of last night crashed over me—his hands on my skin and his mouth finding mine with desperate hunger. Heat bloomed in my cheeks.
What am I doing?
I stared at the alien constellations visible through the window. Earth was out there somewhere. My house. My career. My life. All of it waiting for me—if I could ever return.
