“Justown it,AJ,” said Toni. “There’s no way you two could play like that otherwise.”
“I told you how we trained together,” said AJ, aghast. “Is it really so inconceivable that I might just be good?”
“Yes,” said Toni flatly. “According to Ian—”
“Ian doesn’t knowshit,” AJ exploded. “About me, or Noah, or, frankly, Em. Honestly, if you want to talk about fucking for favors, T, you might have aimeda bithigher.”
The words were out before AJ could stop them. Toni’s eyes welled, then they sparked at something over AJ’s shoulder. “What, like you?”
Noah had risen to his feet. He was tracking them, his expression lethal in the firelight.
AJ turned back to Toni, nodding to her room. “Can we finish this inside?”
There was nothing of her friend in Toni’s face as she said, “I think we’re already finished.”
For a moment, the words swizzled through the air; then they razed AJ like a stalk of wheat.
This time, when Toni reached for her door, AJ didn’t try to stop her.
Todd’s Coverage, Episode 11:“Hot Water”
Gilamede is harpooned by Nero Paul, an infamous bounty hunter in search of Rho. When Paul overpowers the crew, Ana is forced to save them by using her telepathy, which leaves her in mortal peril.
AJ had never beenmore relieved to be in character. As the crew rushed around the galley, orienting themselves in the wake of Nero Paul’s harpoon attack, AJ hid inside Ana’s dismay.
After her blowout with Toni, she’d gone to her room and cried until she passed out. She’d awoken ravenous at twoa.m.to find a paper bag outside her door. In it, she found a family-size box of Reese’s Puffs cereal.
Noah must have gone out for it. To cheer her up.
Now, as the group scrambled into battle stations, he approached her, searching.
For a beat, they stood together in the chaos. Then AJ took his hand.
The glowing set throbbed red with Gilamede’s pain. As Dave and Anjalee dashed past, AJ and Noah flattened themselves against a wall, his hand reflexively covering her lower back. He didn’t remove it until they reached the ladder descending into the crew’s quarters.
Sounds exploded throughout the set as AJ led Noah into Ana’s room. Her dressing nook was the obvious hiding place. It was so small AJ wasn’t even sure they’d be able to fit. But then Noah lightly placed ahand on her hip, moving her directly in front of a camera. Gently, he pulled her down onto her knees, guiding her between his legs as he knelt behind her.
AJ raised her chin. Her lips were six inches from the lens. She heard the faint whir of the focus adjusting and pictured Ian and Em staring back from the control room. Noah’s palm was still on her hip. She could feel his breath on her neck, warm, controlled, and a wave of heat surged through her.They’re watching,she thought. Gradually, Noah lowered his hand.
They stayed like that, her body sheathed in his, for an indeterminate length of time. AJ kept her eyes trained on a nonexistent spot beyond the camera, reminding herself with every breath that they weren’t as alone as this felt.
She absolutely could not think about last night, not the way he kissed her, nor the way her body had responded, nor the way she’d dreamed about him after.
But even with the considerable amount of cold air pumping across the set, the space was small and smelled more like Noah with each passing minute. Just as AJ regained control of herself, another wave of lust would course through her like a sickness.
After what felt like hours, Noah’s hands moved to her hips again, lightly holding her in place. As he lowered one knee and lifted the other, AJ felt his lips an inch from her shoulder and was suddenly overtaken by the urge to arch her back against him, to reach around and grab his thigh, to know what it would really feel like to touch his—
We all know you’re crazy for Noah’s dick.
AJ swallowed hard. She was trash. She was actual trash. She’d just broken up with her friend, and all she could think about was the feel of Noah’s hands through her robes.
As he finished adjusting his position, AJ stayed stiff as a board. Ana and Rho werein danger,for fuck’s sake. All of this was being recorded. Ian and Em wereright there.Once again, she felt his hands drop.
Her new mission was to not move. If she didn’t move, she wouldn’t be able to feel the heat emanating from his chest, or the way his thighwas straining against his pants, or the fact that if she so chose, she could have run her hand down the bow of his calf…
AJ was concentrating so intently on not moving that when the bounty hunter’s footsteps clanked into Ana’s bedroom, she jumped, gently bumping back against Noah and—
Holy shit,he was hard.
