Ghost in the Machine (Corwint Central Agent Files) Page 37

  In response, the connection between them flared and he felt something deep within his system change. An electrical fluctuation triggered and awakened a new synaptic pathway which caused him to thrust into her with a furious passion.

  She let loose a series of pleading whimpers as her fingers moved through his hair. She could feel the connection building and it begged for her hold on to it. The way he felt inside of her brought her to the edge of her control, past the Wraith’s abyss and into the churning inferno that was chained beneath it.

  She quaked and trembled in his arms as her orgasm grew until she could no longer contain the fire within her. Leaning away from him with her arms spread to the sides and her head tilted back in Rapture, she finally let it go in a visible torrent of empathy that filled the room.

  A loud cascading rumble of thunder echoed as the warm molten electricity of her aura surrounded him. It hit against the walls and rolled its way to the ceiling. The electronics in the room sparked around their joined forms as her cry of pure joy filled his ears. His entire body screamed for release and caused him let out a loud needful moan against her neck. He thrust into her once more and their connection ignited with a blinding white light.

  As he released into her, his eyes shot open wide and his arms gripped her tightly against his chest. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, and it was incredible.

  31 Rapture

  With a fading high-pitched tone ringing in his ears, the room slowly came back into focus as the surges from the connection between them ebbed. Ethan blinked his blue eyes slowly while his system tried to define the new synaptic pathway that had been generated. What the fuck had that been?

  Orynn’s heart was beating strongly inside of her chest with every labored breath. She had lost control of the deepest part of herself, and she did not care. Beyond the black abyss of the Wraith existed the burning fire of Rapture, and it could be exponentially more dangerous. Curling her fingers around the silver chain hanging from his neck, she knew that their love, and the Rapture it unleashed, could not be contained.

  It was too beautiful to be caged.

  She could feel a small apprehension from him through the connection, so she leaned back and searched his eyes. A fear gripped her heart that her Rapture may have hurt him. “Are you alright?”

  “I think so.” His face muscles tightened once more in a long blink. A sparking fizzle to his left signaled the dying protest of the bedside medical monitor. A small chuckle broke through his unease and the new pathway was forgotten. “I can’t say the same for the medical equipment.”

  She blushed and leaned back against his chest again. “Entirely your fault, Velstrae.”

  Running his fingers up the sides of her ribs brought forth the desired giggle as she squirmed. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to find someplace tech-free for our future sessions, because I plan on doing that again as often as possible.”

  “As long as I did not hurt you. I was afraid...”

  Running his hands through her hair and drawing her head away from his chest, he leaned down and kissed her nose. “No more of that, Velstrae. You could never hurt me.” He kissed her lips and felt himself growing hard again within her.

  I can’t get enough of her.

  Her fingers tightened their grip on the chain around his neck as her insides quivered against the swell. The coaxing of his tongue darting between her lips rose a needy moan from her throat. When his fingers dug hungrily into the skin of her thighs, she felt her control slipping again.

  Ethan let forth an angry growl and pulled away from the kiss as the com unit on the door beeped. They will go away.

  He dove back down on her again, but the beeping repeated. He nipped her bottom lip, then looked up in frustration. “Zera, who the fuck is at the door?”

  “Captain Eros is attempting to override the administration access lockout.”

  “Seriously?” Ethan rolled his eyes and looked back down at his wife, who was failing to contain her giggling. The sound of her light laughter only increased his desire for her. His hands tightened their grip on her hips and pulled her roughly down on him. “He’ll give up eventually.”

  The com beeped again and Orynn laughed. “No, he will not.”

  Ethan sighed and relented. “No, he won’t.” Kissing his wife one more time, he pulled out of her. The emptiness he felt as the connection broke was powerful, but it passed as she smiled lovingly at him. The beep sounded again and he shook his head in a quiet laugh.

  He better be on fire, or I’m going to kill him. “Zera, tell Hank to wait a damn minute.”

  “Command confirmed.”

  Standing on legs that felt like they needed some recalibration, he reached down and gave his wife a hand up. The search for their articles of clothing that had been strewn around the room took a bit longer than intended as he held her pants out of her reach while he reconsidered answering the door. The door beeped again as he finished zipping his fly and Orynn just shook her head in another giggle.

  Not taking the time to locate his shirt, he took several barefoot strides to the door. He paused a moment to watch over his shoulder as she finished pulling her shirt over her breasts.

  He better be on fire and bleeding.

  Leaning his hands on the doorframe, he took in a long breath to his cooling system before unlocking the door. Hank’s face appeared from the doorway as it opened, and he was neither on fire nor bleeding. Ethan towered over him and looked down between his disheveled bangs.

  “The next words out of your mouth had better be the most important words you have ever spoken.”

  Hank blinked up at Ethan’s bare chested frame as it blocked the doorway. Glancing under Ethan’s arm, he caught sight of Orynn blushing at him from her seat on the medical bed with her hand covering her smile. Her hair was just as tussled as Ethan’s and it became obvious what they had been up to. He grinned sheepishly and waved to Orynn.

  Orynn giggled and waved back. “Hello, Hank.”

  As Hank continued waving at her, a low growl came from Ethan’s throat. Hank took a step back but couldn’t remove the grin from his face as he looked up at his friend. “Well...”

  “The. Most. Important. Words.” Ethan reminded him.

  “Well I did knock.”

  Ethan threw his hands up as he walked away from the door. “You really are a limik!”

  Hank laughed at the whole situation and followed Ethan inside a few steps. “Sorry, really. I just got woken up by a sensory alarm from the medical bay. Something about a possible electrical fire.” His eyes looked around at the equipment, some of which was still smoldering or fizzling. “Should I ask what happened?”

  “Don’t.” Ethan turned and shot Hank a warning stare.

  Orynn cleared her throat and tried to swallow some of her embarrassment. “It was my fault. I will make the needed repairs or replacements from my own fund at Central.”

  Ethan looked over to her and smirked. “I thought you said it was my fault.”

  Her blush returned. “Well, you were certainly the root cause.”

  “Okay then!” Hank started backing his way out of the room. “Just come see me whenever you get a chance. We’ll finally be arriving at the outskirts of Ruisk space in about three more hours.”

  As soon as the door closed over Hank’s stupid grin, Ethan strode over to Orynn and pinned her back against the medical bed. “Where were we?”

  “Well I was about to have some tea...”

  He gave a side glance to her tea that was still sitting on the utility tray. Part of its contents had sloshed over the sides of the mug. “I think it’s gone cold.”

  “That would be your fault, too.”

  Turning his eyes back to her, he leaned down until the disc hanging from his neck sat between her breasts. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll make you a new cup of tea if you get naked again.”

  The door to the medical bay slid open as Tara and Brom walked in. They stopped their conversation and froze. Tara blinke
d and Brom blushed as he ran a hand over his scalp.

  “Uhm, excuse us.”

  “Forgot to relock the door?” Orynn raised an eyebrow at Ethan as his head lowered in defeat.

  “Yes.” He looked up and scowled at her as she laughed at him. They both turned their heads and looked over at Brom and Tara. Ethan smirked at the looks on their faces. “Well, I guess now everyone knows.”

  Tara snickered a small snort. “I take it Hank came to check on the fire alert too?”

  Ethan looked back at Orynn. “Remind me to thank Zera for her proactive alarms later with a systems overhaul.”

  Brom cleared his throat and started pulling Tara back out of the room by her elbow as she continued half-heartedly to cover her snickering. “I’ll have breakfast ready in about half an hour, if you’re interested.”

  The door closed again and Ethan gave his wife a mischievous smile. “Thirty minutes?”

  “Zera, lock the door.” Orynn pulled him down by the chain around his neck and kissed him hungrily.

  “Command confirmed.”

  32 Rule Six

  It felt like nothing could ever remove the smile from his lips as he sat in the chair with his Velstrae curled against his chest. The half hour for breakfast had come and gone, and he was glad she had been content to just stay in his arms with her legs tucked into his lap. He felt her fingers as they continued to fiddle with the disc hanging from the chain around his neck, and he could feel the rest of her through the connection that remained open between them. It all still seemed so illogical to him, but here she was, and he now understood how overrated logic was.

  A week ago, he had been sure that dreaming was for breathers and that he would always be set apart from them. He had been certain that no woman would ever want to be with him when they were sober and it would be impossible for one to look at him with anything more than a passing curiosity. Now he had this beautiful woman in his arms, and she not only wanted to be with him, she loved him. It was so strange and he admitted that his mind was having trouble correctly processing the thought. That’s how love was supposed to be, he believed, and Hank had been right.

  Love wasn’t logical. Love wasn’t something you could concretely define. Love was different for every person. Love really was like a damn wormhole.

  For him, love was the woman sitting in his lap who was so accepting of everything that he was and the rough trip through the wormhole to get to this point in time had been well worth the ride. He had learned a great deal about himself, and for that he knew he would be forever grateful to her. She had shown him that he was so much more than the sum of his parts. He was not just a machine. He was her Velstrae, and he loved her.

  Kissing the top of her head, his arms tightened their hold on her and the connection brimmed with the warmth of her happiness. He would be enough for her, and he would never let anything or anyone take this dream away from him.

  “The man who sent the T’jaros, the man who has been hunting you, is Jarren, isn’t it?”

  Orynn drew in a slow breath at Ethan’s whispered question. She had been dreading the subject, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before he would piece everything together from the memories that she had shared with him. Her fingers clasped around the disc as she nodded against his chest. “Yes.”

  “Does Jehdra know?”

  “No.”

  “Does Jarren know Hank is on this ship?”

  “I do not think so, but I would not put it past him.” She sighed. “I honestly do not think it would matter if he did. His desire to capture me and make me pay for what I did to his father knows no bounds.”

  He felt the fear building inside of her and she trembled slightly in his arms. “I won’t let him catch you, Orynn. I know he is Hank’s family, but I will not let him come between us.”

  “I must face him, Ethan. I must confront him and take responsibility for what I have done.”

  “Why?”

  She leaned away from his chest and caressed his cheek. “Because you and I both know that running away has never solved anything. In order to move forward, I must put this behind me. I also think we should be honest with Hank.”

  Ethan started to protest, but he finally relented and gave a nod. “You’re right. I don’t want to lie to him, and I don’t want him to find out from anyone but us. After we complete this mission, we’ll all sit down together and have a talk.”

  “He may hate me for it, but I do not want to lie to him anymore.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Hank doesn’t hate anyone. I’m sure he’ll be angry or upset for a while, but he knows how important you are to me.”

  She leaned her head back down on his chest and the fear returned. “If Jarren finds that out, he will come after you to get to me.”

  “I hope so.”

  “You do not know what he is like, Ethan. You do not know the monster he has become; the monster I have created. That beautiful little boy from my memories is gone. The Xen’dari have ripped out any piece of his heart that remained in their attempts to cure his Reux’gatxs. The technology has left him twisted and bitter. He will use you and anyone else he believes that I care about. If he discovers that I have found any small sliver of happiness, he will do whatever he must to take it from me and destroy it.”

  He closed his eyes and rested his chin against the top of her head. His hands rubbed her arms as she shivered against him, and he could feel how truly afraid of this man she was. “No matter what he has become, we will deal with it together, Velstrae.”

  “Together.” That simple word gave so much strength to her heart, but the fear would not leave her completely. Now that she had found friendship and love again, she could not stop the fear that it would be taken from her. If Jarren discovered these connections, he would do everything he could to ensure that no one remembered her. He wanted to strip her of everything while he made her watch, and then once she had become less than a whisper of existence, he would kill her. It was not the thought of death that made her shiver.

  I am so afraid of being forgotten.

  Ethan’s eyes opened as the distant whisper of her thought echoed through the connection. He knew she had not intended for him to hear it, and he was reluctant to respond. Her body shifted against his and she left his arms. The connection between them faded, and as he watched her bring her hand to her face, he understood why. She didn’t want him to feel her cry.

  She took in a deep breath to gather herself and push away the fear. “I wish I could stay here with you forever like this, Velstrae.” She turned and smiled. “But we have a mission to finish.”

  He debated on pushing the subject further, but he simply nodded and stood. “You should go and get something to eat. I bet anything Brom set a plate aside for you, unless of course Hank ate it.”

  She gave a small giggle as she finished dressing. “I will.” She looked down at her attire. “After I change back into my own clothes.”

  He pulled her against his chest again. “I’ll meet you on the bridge later?”

  She leaned back and smiled up at him. “Alright.”

  As he bent down and kissed her, the words of her unspoken fear echoed in his mind. She was afraid of being forgotten. His own fear surfaced, and he knew he was just as afraid of somehow forgetting her. His jaw set with his determination and a decision to never let that happen.

  Those thoughts consumed him as he watched her turn toward her room and he turned the other way to head to the bridge. Hank, Brom and Tara all gave him small grins as he walked onto the bridge, but none of them seemed sure of what to say. He just smirked at them as he headed to his station.

  As expected, before he could even sit down, Hank walked in behind him as the designated spokesperson for the trio on the bridge. Ethan just gave a small chuckle and reached for the systems relay and charge adaptor connected to the console at his left as the door closed behind Hank. Plugging the adaptor into the jack behind his left ear, he blinked a few times out of habit as his system c
onnected with Zera’s mainframe. Once the connection finalized, he glanced up at Hank who seemed hesitant to voice his curiosity about earlier. “Okay, I’ll admit that you were right. This time.”

  Hank’s grin widened with pride. “Wormhole?”

  “Big one.”

  “And was it worth it?”

  Ethan smiled as he thought back over the entire series of events. There were things he wished he could have done differently, but he realized that even the mistakes he had made were necessary to the whole process of getting to the other side. “All of it.”

  Hank’s grin melted into a genuine smile of happiness for his friend. “I’m really happy for you, Ethan. I’m guessing it’s pretty serious?”

  “Well…” Ethan felt the flush of embarrassment come over his system. It was definitely serious, and it happened so fast that he was still having trouble putting it all into a believable context. “We’re sort of married.”

  “What?!” Hank stammered and damn near fell over. Walking to the side of Ethan’s chair, he looked the Mecha in the eyes to try and determine if it was a joke. Though there was a small hint of embarrassment on Ethan’s face, the look in his eyes was dead serious. “Holy shit, you’re not kidding. How? I didn’t even get a wedding invitation, which is actually kind of rude.”

  Ethan chuckled. “They don’t do weddings on Vesparia apparently.” He laughter trailed off as he thought more into it. “They actually forbid it. It’s a long story and I’d like to explain it all to you eventually. For right now, I’ll just say that due to population concerns, their “Sisterhood” has created a rule against declaring Velstrae.”

  “Velwha?”

  “Velstrae. It’s a Vesparian word. Basically, Orynn and I have declared Velstrae, despite the damn rules, and in doing so we have declared ourselves bonded for life.”

  “For life?” Hank let out a slow exhale as he took it all in. “That’s a bit sudden. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you know I’m all for you moving forward like this, and I really like Orynn. It’s just... You’re really sure about this?”