Out of Bight, Out of Mind

Chapter Five

She silently followed Aaron to their room, where he used the key card to let them in. Once the door closed behind them, he pulled her in for a hug and she avoided looking up into his eyes.

“Babe, you have to believe that if there was any way I could—”

“Stop, Aaron. Apparently you can’t. So just leave it.”

She felt badly about being a bitch, but another memory had popped into her mind. In the initial pairing sim, she’d gone to a bar with the twins. Before a bar fight had broken out, she’d nearly been raped by two men from an unchipped crew. The chips did more than allow emergency crew location and prevent unwanted pregnancies—they ensured rape or infidelity could not occur.

The nasty feeling in her gut when she met the F’ahrkay reminded her of that same feeling, simulated or not, that she’d experienced that night in the bar. Someone wanting to do something to her against her will.

Aaron kissed the top of her head before releasing her. He walked over to a console and pulled up a menu. “The resort map and shopping directory are here. There’s also the dining and spa service directory. Go shopping, enjoy yourself—”

“I’m not a child, Aaron. Buying me things isn’t going to make me change how I feel.”

A wave of irritation washed toward her from him. She felt him immediately trying to reel it in. “Em, babe, I love you. I know you feel something. I can’t fix that, and believe me, I wish like hell I could make it better for you. All I can do is try to help distract you. I’m sorry.”

When the door closed behind him, she felt like shit. He did feel bad that he couldn’t fix this for her. And he felt bad that she felt bad.

And she felt bad that, deep in her soul, she knew she was right about this and couldn’t just blithely go along with it.

She also hated feeling like a childish, spoiled brat.

Collapsing on the bed, she tried using mental and intellectual exercises she’d learned during her empath training to get past this huge mental block.

It didn’t work.

Maybe there is something wrong with me. After she pulled herself together she got up and went over to the console at the desk. From there, she grabbed a secure connection to her computer on the Bight.

The F’ahrkay’s file was already there, uploaded for her convenience.

Correction, Kayehalau. I suppose I should at least address him by name and not just “Hey, you, asshole.”

There was nothing in the F’ahrkay’s file to show him to be anything other than a dedicated scientist and excellent crew member with an enviable record. Any captain would be happy to have him on their ship.

And oh, crap, I have to examine him because he’s a new crew member.

The trained doctor and scientist in her warred with the trained empath. If it wasn’t for the feelings she’d got when she met the F’ahrkay, she would have welcomed the chance to have him on board their ship temporarily. It would be a great learning experience for her.

The empath in her shuddered at the thought.

After several minutes she logged off from the ship’s computer and explored the resort’s directory.

Maybe I should do a little retail therapy to get my mind off this. She realized what she just thought. I’m sure Aaron will laugh his ass off.

An hour later, she ended up in the resort’s spa, receiving the best massage of her life that wouldn’t end with a happy finish from a chatty woman originally from Mars. Emi didn’t mind the woman’s nonstop banter, because her wonderfully warm, friendly aura helped Emi forget about the gross, dark energy clinging to her memory of her first meeting with Kayehalau.

She was lounging by the pool in her new bathing suit and sipping a Martian Muumuu when Caph found her an hour later.

He plopped down onto the lounge next to her with a playful smile. “Lady, we have to quit meeting next to pools like this. People will talk.”

Emi giggled, more from the effects of her third M-squared, as they called them. “Maybe I like people talking about me.” She ran her tongue over the tip of her straw in what she hoped appeared to be a seductive and not inebriated way.

He reached over and took the glass from her and took a sip, nearly choking as he got a taste of the frozen concoction. “Holy crap, babe. How many of these have you had?” He handed back the purple, slushy drink.

She stuck her tongue between her teeth and looked up at the ceiling, which was a huge sky sim. “Umm…” She took another sip and held up two fingers.

“That’s your second?”

“No. I already had two.”

“That’s your third?”

“Unless I’ve forgotten one.”

He closed his eyes as he tried to hold back his raucous laugh. “You’re drunk, Doctor.”

“Not yet. Getting there.”

He lay back and rolled onto his side to look at her. “You okay?”

She nearly hiccupped into tears, but managed to swallow them down. “Yeah. Don’t harsh my buzz.”

He reached across to her lounger and stroked her arm. “It’s okay, babe. Stick with me. I’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks, big guy.”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.” He smiled, his green eyes playfully shining. “Well, that and to fuck your brains out. Ford threw rock to my paper or he’d be here. You’d think he’d learn.”

“You’d think. What’s he doing?”

“He’s helping Aaron handle stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “Aaron told me what happened, hon. Let’s just say they’re handling stuff. All right?”

She let out a sniff. “Is that guy going to be roaming our ship while we’re here?”

“You really want to talk about this?” When she didn’t respond, he let out a sigh. “Naw. They’re just loading his equipment right now, that’s all. His cabin pod will be loaded before we ship out.”

She nodded. “Good.”

“Can I say something serious, and then I promise not to mention it again?”

“Okay.” She sipped her drink and prayed her eyes didn’t start watering. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. Although she suspected she was far drunker than she’d let on. She wasn’t sure she could even walk at that point.

He lowered his voice. “If you think something’s wrong, I believe you. Yeah, on paper he looks great. I met him and he seems like a nice enough guy. But you’re my wife and I will always have your back.”

That finished her. She felt him take the chilled glass from her hand as tears filled her eyes. He shifted her over so he could lie on her lounger with her, holding her against his chest as she quietly wept. “I don’t know why I feel like this,” she whispered. “I don’t want to feel like this.”

He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Because you’re drunk.”

“No. Not that.” She sniffled again. “I know I’m being irrational about this guy. And I hate that I can’t be objective. I should be better than this.”

“Hey, you’re a trained empath. No telling what it is you sensed. I trust you. I know you, and you’re an intelligent woman. If you think something’s wrong, it’s wrong. Look how it saved your life against Eckhart.”

She snuggled up against his chest. “Yeah.”

“I wish I could fix this for you, but Cap’s right. It’s a direct order from higher up, and unless the guy does something to allow us cause, we can’t boot him or refuse the temp assignment.” He gently tipped her chin up so she had to look him in the eye. “We’re not choosing him over you. I just want to make sure you understand that. The three of us feel like crap that we can’t refuse the order and make him go away.”

“I know. I hate I’m feeling like this. It’s so childish.”

“No, don’t hate it. It’s part of what makes you so beautiful, inside and out, babe.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Look how you healed Aaron. All of us. It was that special part of you, the empath part of you, that made you perfect for us.” He nuzzled her nose with his. “And if it means there are times you have conflicts with others because of it, I’m okay with that. I’ll always trust your instincts over anything else.”

She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out again. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He kissed her forehead. “I love you. You don’t need to thank me.”

“Okay.” She listened to his heartbeat rumbling in her ear through his shirt. “Caph?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Can I have my drink back now?”

“I’m not sure. You feeling okay?”

She started to say yes when she broke down crying again. He cradled her against his large, comforting body. Maybe I am drunk.

No, she knew it was a mix of the inevitable, along with hating herself for feeling like this.

Okay, maybe a little of the M-squareds.

After a few minutes, she sniffled and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She sniffled again as she looked at his attire while he untangled himself from her and stood. Still in his casual crew uniform, he didn’t exactly fit in with the other resort patrons surrounding the pool. “Did you bring a bathing suit?”

“Yep. I brought yours, too, but looks like you beat me to it.”

“Aww. You packed for me?”

“No, Ford did.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll go change and be back in a little while. Don’t go anywhere.” He started to turn to leave, but he reached over, picked up her drink, and handed it to her. “And don’t get too shitfaced, sweetie.”

“I’ll be waiting right here.” While he was gone, she hurriedly finished that one and ordered herself another drink. She might regret it the next day, but it was rare she could totally slough off her duties and just be a normal human.

And she needed that now more than ever. Especially since she knew what was coming after her three-day mini-vacation ended.

By the time Caph returned, she’d lowered the level of her fresh drink to match the one he’d last seen her with. He sat on the lounger next to hers.

Resplendent in swim trunks and nothing else, his abs rippled, a blond dusting of curls scattered across his chest while a treasure trail headed south from his navel, disappearing under his waistband and leading to what she knew to be a large, delicious cock.

He smirked. “You sure you’re okay, babe?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why don’t I believe you? You look a little out of it.”

She settled back onto her lounger and lowered her sunglasses over her eyes. She felt around for the sunlamp button on the lounger’s arm. Above her, a directed beam of UV light soaked her skin at nearly Earth levels. “Just enjoying myself.”

He signaled a waiter. “Bring me one of those,” he said, pointing to Emi’s glass. The man nodded and hurried off. Caph settled back in his lounger and activated his sunlamp button. “Well, don’t enjoy yourself too much. I have plans for you later.”

They spent another two hours there before Caph convinced Emi it was time to return to their room. When she wobbled upon standing, he laughed and slipped an arm around her waist.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, but the room’s moving awfully fast.”

Caph kept a supportive arm around her waist during their slow trip back to the room. “Why won’t the corridors hold still? What’s wrong with this place?”

He laughed. “They’re holding still for me, babe.”

“Ppphhppt.”

He didn’t let go of her as he fumbled for his room key with his free hand. When the door opened, he ushered her through and closed it behind them. “I think we need to get you into the shower and then into bed.”

She stepped away from him. “You always want to get me into bed. You know that?”

“And what’s wrong with that?” He turned away from her to put his pass and key on the dresser. Suddenly, as she took a step toward the bed, the floor swooped up to meet her.

“You okay?”

She held up a hand to ward him off. “I’m fine.” She settled in against the carpet, rubbing her cheek against it. It felt soft, soothing.

“Then why did you trip?”

“I didn’t trip,” she mumbled against the plush carpet. Damn, the carpet smelled as wonderful as it felt. Like jasmine. She deeply inhaled the sweet aroma.

Caph walked over to her. She didn’t look up. His bare toes were inches from her mouth. She tried sticking out her tongue to lick them, but he stood too far away for her to reach.

“Then what happened if you didn’t trip?”

Emi thought about it for a moment. “The floor attacked me. Very rudely. We should complain.” She deeply inhaled again.

He grabbed her under the arms and lifted her from the floor. “Uh-huh. I’ll get right on that.” He easily shifted her so she lay in his arms. She fumbled for and found his neck, draping her arms around him as he carried her over to the bed. “I think maybe you need the bed before the shower after all.”

“Do you think they’ll believe me?” She struggled to focus on him.

“About what?”

“That the floor attacked me. They really should warn people.”

“Oh, sure.” He gently put her down onto the bed, which was even softer than the carpet. “I bet they get reports about the floor attacking guests all the time.”

“Then they should do something about that.”

“I’ll make sure they do.” Even in her blurry-eyed state, she caught his playful smile.

She stuck out her bottom lip. “I’m not drunk.”

“No, babe, you’re not drunk. I’m an expert in drunk. You left drunk back in the dust about three hours ago. You’re far closer to the ‘apocalyptically toasted’ than the ‘drunk’ end of the inebriation scale. I’ll make sure Ford brings the bar fight kit with him.”

“I wasn’t in a fight. Well, except with the floor. And it cheated. Otherwise, I would have kicked its ass.”

“I’m sure it did, and I’m sure you would have. We keep the hangover supplies in the bar fight kit. You’re going to need them.”

He disappeared into the bathroom, where she heard water run. He returned a moment later and scooped her up off the bed. “Come on. Into the tub with you.” He’d not only started filling the large, sunken tub, but he also added bubble bath to it.

“Oooh, pretty.” She giggled as he set her into the tub, bathing suit and all. He dropped his swim trunks and climbed in with her, peeling her suit off her and dropping it to the bathroom floor with a splat.

Emi draped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. She bounced up and down on his lap. “I wanna pony ride!”

He brushed a wet tendril of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I was wrong. You’re not apocalyptically toasted. You’re supernova-shitfaced.”

She wasn’t, however, too drunk to reach down and find his cock. She stroked his shaft, letting out a happy sigh as it grew in her hand. His eyes dropped closed while she continued the hand job, his hips bumping in time with her motions. She was about to mount him when he reached over to the faucet and shut it off.

He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up effortlessly. She tried to complain, but he cut her off with a smile. “Stop. Just hold on.” He slid a little lower in the water, positioning himself on the built-in ledge before lowering her down onto his cock.

She wiggled, impaling her pussy as deeply as she could and enjoying the way his girth comfortably stretched her. His hands drifted up to her breasts. He cupped them in his hands, her nipples growing hard and pebbling against the flesh of his palm.

“There you go. Better?”

She nodded and braced herself against his shoulders.

“Now you ride all you want.”

She closed her eyes and threw her head back as she struggled to find that perfect sweet spot, where Caph’s cock could hit all the right places and trigger her orgasm without any other assistance needed.

She perceived her men’s emotions in different ways. Caph, like this, calm and sexy and enjoying himself, came across as a verdant green nearly the color of his eyes. When she felt this from him, she knew he was completely centered in the moment, enjoying himself one hundred percent, his love for her or the other two men at the front of his mind and heart.

This was the major upside of her empath training. And the longer she spent with her men, the stronger her skills grew in this way.

Emi leaned forward, still seeking the holy grail of fucking with Caph. Then a small burst of heat went off inside her and she knew she’d found it.

Caph sensed it, too, she felt. He didn’t talk, barely moving for fear of ruining her rhythm. He gently kneaded her breasts, rolling her nipples in his fingers and making her cunt clench even more tightly around his cock. Each stroke of his cock inside her hit that sweet spot perfectly, stoking her need and driving her closer to orgasm.

The weight of her body on top of him buried his cock deep in her cunt. She forced herself to focus on his green gaze, to not close her eyes or close herself off from him. The world disappeared around them, time slowing as her pleasure built and his cock grew even harder inside her.

One more slight shift in angle, and her swollen clit also received a little more attention. It sparked her tumble over the cliff. As she dug her fingers into Caph’s shoulders, she let out a cry of relief and love and passion. His hands dropped to her waist as he pounded his cock into her, hard, slamming deep and intensifying her release.

Her body went limp, and as she started to collapse against him, she realized he hadn’t come yet. She made no protest as he picked her up and turned her around, leaning her over the edge of the tub. He fisted his cock, lined it up with her swollen pussy lips, and shoved it in hard and deep and drawing another cry of pleasure from her.

He grabbed one of her shoulders, the other arm going around her waist as his fingers found her clit. “Give me another one,” he ordered as he started fucking her, hard and fast.

Emi’s eyes dropped closed as his fingers pinched and rolled her clit. The pleasurable pain in her sensitive nub made her cunt once again clench around his cock. She grabbed hold of the tub’s edge, helpless to do anything but hold on as he fucked her into another orgasm that left her limp against the cool tile.

Apparently satisfied that she’d finished, both his hands dropped to her hips and he slammed into her, his thighs slapping against hers. “Yes!” he gasped. He fell still, buried deep inside her, his fingers digging into her flesh as his cock emptied his cum inside her.

Emi wanted to do nothing but fall asleep in his arms. The sound of his ragged breath filled the room. When he pulled her up into a standing position, she assumed bed was their next stop, but Caph wasn’t about to waste their time alone together. He sat her on the edge of the tub and forced her legs apart with his body. Sinking to his knees in the tub, he draped her legs over his shoulders and buried his face in her pussy.

“Sweetie, I’m too…” Emi’s protests stopped as his tongue plowed her well-fucked cunt. Nothing tender or gentle about it, he devoured her, grabbing her clit with his lips and flicking it with his tongue. She let her eyes drop closed again and buried her hands in his shaggy hair. She dug her fingers in, enjoying the sound of his pleased grunt when she wasn’t gentle either. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and held on tightly, refusing to let her go or escape his oral onslaught. And when he grazed her clit with his teeth and another orgasm hit her, he sucked on it, long and hard, making her scream with pleasure.

He pushed her back onto the floor and climbed out of the tub. With her legs over his shoulders, he drove his cock, which had grown hard again, into her pussy.

She felt something in him she wasn’t used to—possession, need, desire.

And wanting to show her how much he loved her.

He felt guilty he couldn’t fix the situation for her, so he was determined to distract her.

He laced his fingers through hers and pinned her hands above her head. And like that, sprawled on the plush bath mat, he fucked her hard and fast, holding her immobile in his grasp.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The corners of his eyes crinkled. “I love you, too, babe. And I’m going to fuck the stuffing out of you while we’re here.” He pressed his weight on top of her as he crushed her lips with his. Every thrust shoved them a little farther across the floor until he let out a cry of his own and his body went rigid and still.

Pinned beneath him, she couldn’t move until he did. After a moment he took a deep breath and eased her legs down before rolling onto his side with her in his arms.

Content and sated, she draped herself across his broad chest. “Better?” she whispered.

He chuckled. “You have no idea. How about you?”

“I think we just taught the floor who’s boss.”

He picked her up and carried her in to the bed, where he crawled in with her. She snuggled up to him again as he found the remote control and switched on the vid screen. “Do you mind if I take a nap?” she asked. She wanted to bask in her buzz and the pleasant ache in her well-fucked pussy, as well as the feelings of love and satisfaction flowing from Caph.

He kissed the top of her head. “Not at all, babe.”

Caph held her in his arms and watched as she crashed into a drunken sleep he knew she needed for more than one reason. It ate him up that he couldn’t fix this for her. Whether or not she really sensed something bad from their new crew member was irrelevant to him.

The fact was, Emi believed it, so deeply that he didn’t have to be an empath to see how badly it was tearing her up inside.

And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

He hated feeling helpless. He hadn’t felt this helpless in decades. Since…

No. I won’t think about that.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He didn’t want to think about losing Kels, about trying to nurse Aaron back to health.

Caph didn’t look up when he heard the door open. Ford started to speak, then obviously caught sight of them on the bed. He walked around to the far side, a sad look on his face. “How is she?” he whispered.

Caph shrugged.

Ford silently undressed and slipped into bed on the other side of her. He reached across her and laid a hand on Caph’s arm. “How are you doing?”

Caph shrugged again.

“Some things you just cannot fix, big guy.”

“I know.” He kissed her forehead again, closing his eyes so Ford wouldn’t see how close to tears he was. “I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t say you’re stupid, Caph.”

“I hate seeing her like this. So upset. She’s going to have one hell of a hangover when she wakes up.”

“Wow. Really?”

“Yeah.”

He finally opened his eyes and looked across at Ford. Ford’s blue gaze pierced through him. “What do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“You met the guy. What do you think?”

“He’s not human. I can’t gauge myself by my first impression. Why?”

“It’s just I’ve never seen her act like this before, either. Part of me wants to judge the situation by my experience and common sense and say she’s being overly sensitive.”

“And the other part?”

Ford focused on Emi’s peaceful face. “The other part of me wants to disable the jump engine so we’re stuck in drydock for a few months and they assign the guy to another boat.”

“Wouldn’t take much,” Caph offered, feeling relief that he wasn’t alone in his feelings of uneasiness.

“Yeah, but we have a job to do.”

“We have a wife to support.”

“Someone who’s been through a lot in a short amount of time. Someone who doesn’t have the experience we do. And no matter how much I love her and want to fully take her side in this, there’s still that part of me saying maybe…”

When he didn’t go on, Caph prompted him. “Maybe what?”

Caph heard Ford’s sad sigh. “Maybe,” he whispered, even lower than before, “just maybe Cap’s right and it is all in her mind.”

Caph rested his cheek against the top of her head. “What if it’s not all in her mind?”

Ford didn’t respond.