Finally, soaking wet and exhausted, the huge Denzogal on the Rogue Wave team faced the last challenge. Beside him, the tiny Derelian seemed to be arguing with him. Behind them, the other team were closing fast, and if they didn’t do something quickly, they were going to lose. Eventually reaching an agreement, we both watched in astonishment as the Denzogal picked up the Derelian and simply hurled him with all his might across the final obstacle. The Derelian sailed straight up to the flag, fluttering weakly on a pole at the end of the obstacle, grabbed onto it like his life depended on it… and kept right on going, plunging headfirst into a pool of murky brown water.
I leapt off the sofa, cheering as the on-site audience went wild. Kade was still sitting down, staring at the screen in bafflement. “Did he win?” he asked, once I’d calmed down. “But he ended up in the mud. You said they’re not supposed to go in the mud.”
I flopped back onto the sofa and shrugged. “He got the flag. At the final challenge, that’s all that matters. Once he’s got the flag, his team have won, so it doesn’t matter if he ends up in the mud after that.”
“This is a very strange game,” Kade said, still frowning. “Fun,” he added, “but as you said, rather chaotic. And there are more different styles of this game?”
“In winter, there’s the Ice Relay. The Ropes Relay runs in spring, which is done in the jungle, and the whole thing is about using ropes to get through the challenges. And they’re trying to design a Wind Relay as well, but the difficulty there is it can only be played when there’s strong enough wind, which makes it a bit hard to organise. That might end up being more like a novelty event rather than a whole season.”
Kade had a sly smirk on his lips, and I quirked an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“You’re so enthusiastic about this,” he said, with a note of wonder in his voice. “I could just see you out there, climbing ladders, swimming throughwhirlpools. I think you’d do well.” He stroked a finger down my cheek, snuggling into my side again.
“Unfortunately, no one in the military is allowed to compete. Part of my contract. I don’t know if they think we’ll get distracted from work, or if they’re worried we’ll end up getting injured. And there are plenty of injuries, by the way.”
“Hm. That’s a shame. I suppose I’ll just have to settle for watching you kick ass in the jungle, instead.”
I blinked, my brain finally catching up with what was going on. Kade was… flirting with me? Good god, it had been a hell of a long time since anyone had done that. But was he just teasing, or did that mean he wanted…?
I wasn’t very good at flirting. I turned to face him, trying to think up something witty to say, and found that suddenly, his face was right in front of mine. I looked up into his ice-blue eyes, thinking it would be so easy to drown in them. I leaned forward slowly, wondering what he would do. Would he wait for me to close the distance? Or meet me halfway? A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Our mouths were only an inch apart now, and I leaned in… only to find that Kade had leaned back, maintaining the distance between us exactly. I pulled back, trying to look annoyed, and knowing I was failing. I leaned in again… and he once again leaned back.
“Hm. You said the other day that you liked taking risks. If you keep playing hard to get, you take the risk that I’ll just…” I looked pointedly down at his groin, where his erection was beginning to tent his pants. “…find something else to do.”
“Surely not,” Kade purred. But the warning must have hit a nerve, because in the next instant, he’d leaned in and plastered his lips to mine, opening his mouth eagerly when I sought entry with my tongue.
I tugged him up into my lap and he straddled me, balancing his weight on his knees, rather than on my legs. We kissed for long minutes, slowly shedding our clothes, and I revelled in the feel of his smooth scales against my skin. He kissed my neck and I stroked his hair, and then discovered that he was delightfully sensitive behind his ears. He retaliated by licking my nipples, then peeling my pants slowly down my legs, deliberately bypassing my groin. He made a display of stroking himself until I cursed at him and tugged him back onto my lap. And it was only then that I realised I’d forgotten the lube, until Kade leaned over to snag his pants from the end of the sofa and pulled a tube out of his pocket.
“Oh, thank god for that,” I said, as he flipped the cap open. But then I was groaning and biting my lip as he slicked up his own fingers and reached around to prep himself. Fuck, he must have had some practice at doing that, because he managed to maintain eye contact, stroke my cock and finish lubing himself all at the same time.
I cursed as he settled down into my lap again, lining my cock up with his entrance. He pressed down slowly, and I gave a strangled moan as his impossibly tight passage gripped me. He kept going until he’d sunk all the way onto me, his breathing erratic and an odd little ripple of colour pulsing across his collarbones. It was kind of like he was trembling, but with his scales, instead of his muscles.
He rode me with the grace of a ballet dancer, hips gyrating, lithe waist writhing in my grip. His head was thrown back, his eyes closed, and his cock bobbed in time with his movements, hard and weeping, and bright blue as he came all over my chest. It was impossible not to believe that he had enjoyed it, in that moment, chest heaving, legs shaking, as he gripped my shoulders with deliciously strong hands. He realised a moment later that I hadn’t finished yet, and muttered a breathy, “Oh, sorry,” before starting to move again.
I was entranced. I could have stayed like this forever, lost in his ice-blue eyes, poised on the brink of ecstasy. But I was genuinely concerned about making him sore, given how tight he was around me, so I dived willingly over the edge and climaxed inside him, holding his body close to me, never wanting to let him go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Aiden
“It’s an absolute mess, and the Parliament is having kittens,” Colonel Henderson said, as he was once more pacing his office. I was seated in front of his desk, debating whether I should stand up or not. Just as I was thinking maybe I should, Henderson went and sat down again, aborting my half-completed movement. “The Nwandu got their ship repaired,” he went on, and I wracked my brain for who the heck we were talking about again? Oh, that’s right. The Nwandu were considering joining the Alliance, but their ship had been shot down, delaying their intended visit to Rendol 4. “But now they’ve got a mountain of concerns about the security of our wormholes, so they’ve gone to the Drazig system to meet with the Alliance Parliament.”
That made me sit up and take notice. “The Alliance Parliament? Not the Rendol Parliament?”
“Exactly,” Henderson said. “They want a full review of wormhole security across the region. So what I need you to do is compile a report on every instance of unauthorised access to the Rendol wormhole over the past six months.”
“Yes, sir,” I said. But then I couldn’t help adding, “But isn’t that part of the whole reason we’re interested in them signing up? Because we need their defensive technology?”
“Yes, but there’s necessarily got to be some give and take. They won’t want to join us if they think we’re just going to expect them to bail us out every time someone attacks us. We have to bring something useful to the table as well. So they’re now apparently worried about exactly where the balance is, on that one.”
“Oh, fuck. Fair enough.” I got to my feet. “I’ll get right on it. Do you need it today, or have I got a bit of time?”
“They want it to be thorough, rather than fast. If it takes you a few days to go through all the information, then so be it.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, then headed straight for the large office space, where I claimed a table and got to work.
Kade, thankfully, was busy doing a number of assessments on his combat skills and completing some procedural training, given that his application to enlist had been approved in the week we’d been away. It was a huge relief, because I honestly didn’t know what I would have done with him if the military had turned him down. His training was going to take about three days, which, given the frequency with which rogue ships jumped through our wormhole, should be just about long enough for me to compile my report.
Fortunately, the fact that both of us were working on the base at the moment meant that we could go home in the evening, rather than having to sleep in the barracks. I helped Kade cook meals, but let him clean the kitchen afterwards, and we both enjoyed sleeping in our own bed together, rather than on the hard mattresses at the base.
