Love at First Bight

Chapter Four

Caph and Ford had frantically struggled to tidy the common room.

It looked marginally better, but the sheer amount of stuff all over the place meant it was simply neater piles, not necessarily neat.

Both men looked up, anxious, when Emi followed Aaron into the room.

Aaron pointed at the table. “Let’s all sit down and talk,” he suggested.

“She’s staying?” the twins parroted. Aaron grimaced, and the men said, “Sorry, Cap.”

Emi laughed as she sat. “That’s funny.”

“Tell me that after twenty years,” Aaron said. “You might have a different opinion then.”

When they were seated, Aaron across the table from Emi, he took over. “Do you have questions for us?” She studied their faces. “Yeah. Do any of you snore?” All three men looked startled. Ford finally laughed. “Did she just ask what I think she asked?”

“Yeah, I asked it. Anyone going to answer?” Aaron, relaxed and smiling, leaned back in his chair. “Caph sometimes talks in his sleep. They don’t snore and haven’t complained about me snoring, so I guess that’s a no.”

“Good. Before we go too much further, I wanted to tell you all I already know I’m not picking the Kendall Kant. Since your sleeping arrangements¯albeit unusual¯don’t shock me, I’d like to spend some time with you guys and get to know you better.” She met and held Aaron’s gaze.

Ford and Caph looked at each other. “Cool!” Aaron rolled his eyes.

“But I’ve got a few things of my own to get out there. The Kendall Kant guys seem to think I needed some physical conditioning.”

All three men immediately glared.

“Those assholes called you fat?” Ford asked.

They were mad for her, she felt it, their protectiveness washing off them. That was a good sign. “They didn’t call me fat, they said I am attractive but indicated I’m not their idea of prime physical shape.”

“They’re blind assholes,” Caph said, glaring. “Remind me to fucking punch their goddamn lights out next time I see them.”

“You’re beautiful, Emi,” Ford said, reaching for her hand. “No shit, you are.”

Emi had never considered herself beautiful, even though she knew she wasn’t ugly or fat. She didn’t like to exercise, and was a little more rounded in her hips and thighs than she’d like. She usually kept her dark brown hair pulled up in a twist on the back of her head.

Otherwise it fell just below her shoulders. She’d inherited her mother’s grey eyes and fair skin, and her father’s long hands and graceful, elegant fingers.

“What would you expect from me as a crew member?” Caph and Ford deferred to Aaron. He shrugged. “You’ll have duties, be on watches, and you’re the medical officer. We share galley and maintenance duties. Can you run a weapons system?” She shook her head.

“No problem, we can teach you that.” He paused, realized what he was saying, and his face shifted into a hard mask again. “Look, don’t get our hopes up, please. If you’re just fucking with us¯”

“I’m not fucking with you. I thought we’d already settled this.” Ford still held her hand. She tightened her grip on him. “I have to ask these questions. For all of us. Can I promise you right now I’m going to pick you guys? No, I can’t. I can tell you I didn’t sit down and have this kind of conversation with the Braynow Gaston crew.” Aaron relaxed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have interrupted you.” She softened her voice. “You interrupted yourself, Aaron. You’d asked me if I could run a weapons system.” He smiled again. She loved it. She had a feeling he was a man who didn’t smile a lot. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Caph let out a relieved sigh. She focused on him just long enough to wink. He grinned.

She returned her gaze to Aaron. “Back to crew duties. I can’t run a weapons system. But if I can treat a cranial hematoma, how hard can it be?”

Ford snickered. “It’s not brain surgery.” He must be the quick wit of the crew. “Let’s not beat around the bush, gentlemen.” Emi looked at each man in turn, then back to Aaron. “I’m assuming from the sleeping arrangement and from our discussion that things are pretty open between the three of you, and I would fit into that dynamic.”

Ford and Caph looked slightly puzzled, but Aaron nodded, not blushing, not looking away, unapologetic. “Even if we could force you, we wouldn’t. It’s probably safe to say if you were in the mood, at least one of us would be too. On the off chance we weren’t, trust me, someone would volunteer to give you a hand, so to speak.” He leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table in front of him. “It won’t bother you if someone’s in the mood and you’re not, and they’re in bed with you having sex with each other?” She released Ford’s hand and mirrored Aaron’s pose. “Frankly, the idea of watching two¯or three¯hot guys together would probably get me in the mood if I wasn’t already.” Ford’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit!” he whispered.

“She called us hot!” Caph said, stunned.

“You guys have really taken a beating on the self-esteem here lately, haven’t you?” she asked.

“Well, between the geeks and the grunts,” Ford admitted, “it’s been rough.”

She remembered her irritation at how the first two ships talked about these guys. If the other crews were just as disrespectful, it was no wonder they were having a hard time finding someone to sign on with them.

Emi sat back in her chair. Time for honesty on her part. “Look, I’ve only ever been with two guys in my life, and not at the same time, either. I’m not exactly a wild child. I am open-minded, and I might be willing to experiment to a certain degree, but I can’t promise you I’ll ever be in the mood to get…crazy. That won’t bore you guys?”

All three men shook their heads, not daring to speak.

“I guess if I’d be sleeping with all three of you anyway, it doesn’t matter if it’s with one of you at a time all together or as a group, so that’s kind of moot. But what if there are times I want or need to be alone?”

The men exchanged glances, but Aaron spoke. “There’s a comfortable bunk in sick bay. If it’s going to be a deal-breaker though, I mean, I can talk to the retrofit crew and have them build out a cabin. There’s a large storage room next to the main cabin that could be converted. There’s plenty of time to have that done. You could tell them what you want.”

“You have a dedicated sick bay?” She’d never even thought to ask the other crews that.

“Sure. Want to see it?”

“Yeah.”

She followed the men down another corridor and was amazed at the set-up. Top-quality, state of the art machines, well-stocked drug synthesizer, a full inventory of instruments and supplies, even for extreme surgical cases.

“This is great!” she said.

The men, even Aaron, looked pleased at her response. “We can get anything else you think we’ll need,” Aaron said. “DSMC doesn’t pinch pennies when it comes to safety.” She tried to hide her smile. He was slipping from his original distrust into hoping she’d made up her mind to join them.

“I think what I’d like to see next is the kitchen.” Caph groaned. “The galley’s a mess. Inventory, I mean, not like pig sty mess. We won’t make you cook all the meals, we take turns.” He had a thought. “Were those grunt assholes going to make you cook all the time?”

It was getting harder to hide her amusement. “No. Is that how you got all those demerits? Getting into it with the military guys?” The twins blushed.

The galley was disorganized, but from the lack of dirty dishes or caked-on food anywhere, it was obviously more inventory mess. Then she spotted it.

The coffee machine.

“You have a Java Max Excel 10k?” Her jaw dropped. If she had one passion in her life, it was coffee. This machine did it all and did it all well. Espresso? Cappuccino? No matter what your poison, it could make it.

Ford grinned. “Like it? That baby really took some wheeling and dealing to get. It’s fantastic¯”

She turned and grabbed him, kissing him, taking him by surprise, but it didn’t take him long to get into it. When she stepped back he wobbled on his feet, a silly grin splashed across his face.

Aaron smiled, but Caph’s jaw gaped. Not wanting to leave him out, she grabbed the large man. His stunned surprise soon changed to passion as he returned her kiss.

Then Emi turned back to the Java Max. She’d kiss it too, if she didn’t think they’d think she was weird.

Aaron laughed and looked at his stunned crew. “Well, guys? Do you want to ask her, or should I?”

The twins were apparently shocked into silence, staring at Emi as if she was a goddess. She suspected if she asked, the twins would drop to their knees and bow before her.

I could get used to this.

Aaron stepped over to her. “I know you said you can’t give us an answer yet, and that’s fair. I would, however, like to extend the offer to join our crew. Right, guys?”

The twins nodded, speechless.

“How about we start with dinner and see where things go from there?” She turned to him. “You’re right that I can’t promise this minute that I’ll join you, but I would like to spend at least the next day or so with you guys and get to know you better. I’m not in any rush to leave.”

“Day?”

Her gaze never wavered from his. “And night.” Aaron smiled.

The three men cooked her dinner. Not a pre-made, reconstituted, out of the box crap dinner, either. Home-cooked with fresh vegetables and meat.

“We can’t eat like this all the time, obviously,” Aaron said, not letting her help. “We like to cook. Whenever we can use fresh ingredients, we do.”

She stole a raw carrot off his cutting board and didn’t miss the smile he tried to hide from her. “What else do you guys like to do in your spare time, besides each other?” The men froze, then laughed. Ford shook his head in disbelief.

“Please don’t wake me up if I’m dreaming, guys.” Caph carefully nudged past her, potholders on his hands and carrying a freshly roasted chicken in a pan right from the convection oven. “Poker.”

“Is that a joke?” she asked.

He looked startled, caught her playful smile, and laughed. “Oh my gods, you are too much, girl. The card game.”

“I’ve never played. You guys going to teach me?”

“It’s sort of a requirement to be on this crew,” Caph said.

“You don’t play for money.”

The men exchanged a glance. “No,” Caph said. “Chips.

Sometimes other things.” Caph focused his green eyes on hers and she felt that sensual tingle again.

“What other things?”

Ford had slipped behind her. His lips lightly brushed the back of her neck, making her shiver. Hades, was she that sensitive back there?

She never knew.

“Sometimes strip poker. Sometimes more than that,” he murmured in her ear.

Her mouth went dry. “More?”

Aaron looked at her. “Yeah. More.”

Well, this could be a good way to get better acquainted with the guys. “I’m game.”

Ford pressed close behind her, his body hot against hers through her clothes. His stiff erection rubbed against her linen slacks. He felt huge even through his jeans.

“It’s not nice to tease,” he whispered in her ear.

She wiggled her hips against him, drawing a heated, husky moan from the man. “Then I suggest you put your money where your mouth is, Ford.”

“Goddamn,” he softly grunted, thrusting back, his cock even harder now.

“All right, Ford,” Aaron said. “That’s enough. Dinner first, then we can play a game of poker and see how anxious Emi here is to get to know us better.”

Ford looked up then reluctantly stepped away.

Emi had to admit as crazy as this whole situation was, her nipples were pebbled, uncomfortably rubbing against her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, usually didn’t unless she was exercising or something because she wasn’t overly endowed in that department. Something else, she was extremely wet between her legs, a dull, constant throbbing exacerbated by Ford’s seductive bump and grind. She started to reply to Aaron when her hand-held console vibrated on the counter where she’d left it.

It was also glowing. She picked it up.

A message from Graymard.

Everything okay? Haven’t heard from you.

She replied.

Everything’s fine. Spending more time with Tamora Bight crew.

At the top of my list.

Before she had time to set the console down, it vibrated again.

Really? The Tamora Bight crew?

If Graymard was there, she would jam the fucking console down his throat.

Yes, the Tamora Bight crew. You have a problem with that?

Apparently not, because he didn’t reply.