The man I wanted to be fucking me, sliding his mouth up my body even as I continued to twitch in the last spasms of climax. The man I wanted to kiss me with the taste of me still on his tongue.
I couldn’t open my eyes. Couldn’t see Nigel, who wasn’t real. Without looking at him or speaking, I turned until I faced the sea.
The stone wall nudged my stomach and felt cold against my aroused heat. I spread my legs and leaned over the wall, offering myself to Declan’s cock.
He pushed into me, the thickness of him like a rod of iron after the soft flexibility of his tongue. I mouthed his name again, in a voiceless whisper this time.
He put his hands on my hips to steady his thrusts. He didn’t pound me, nor did he tease. He just fucked me, steady and slow, then faster. Just the way I wanted it. Needed it. Craved it.
My orgasm built again, though slower this time. I clutched the stone wall. Strands of my violet hair fell across my face and obscured my vision of the ocean. I tossed them away. I wanted to see my whimsy.
He put one hand on my shoulder and kept the other on my hip. His thrusting became a little ragged, a little sporadic. His breathing told me he was getting close. I wasn’t close enough.
“Stroke my clit.” I whispered the words, not ordered.
He took his hand from my hip and rested his fingers on my clitoris. I jumped at the contact. Just his direct touch on my sensitized flesh had me tumbling toward climax again.
He thrust and he stroked in perfect counterpoint. I bent low over the wall, my hair falling into empty space, my eyes wide.
He thrust again, one last time, and my orgasm burst through me. I said his name one last time. I came that way, calling his name and staring at the sea I’d created.
“Gemma, my office. Now.” Captain Rando didn’t bother with pleasantries even when she was in a good mood. Judging by the look on her face, today wasn’t one of those days.
Usually I left the stimroom with my body relaxed and my mind calm. Not this time. Though I’d experienced two explosive orgasms, my body still tingled with unsatisfied longings. Declan’s face in my head left me uncomfortable and jumpy.
Rando jerked her thumb at the silver-colored orb on her desk. “This was delivered here for you half an hour ago.”
I forced my fingers not to tremble as I lifted the lightweight plaz ball and pressed the button on its side. With a small whirring sound a tiny slit opened in the top. The next instant the image of twelve perfect red roses was projected from the orb. They looked real, even down to the drops of dew on the petals, and a second later, the delicious scent of roses wafted to my nose.
“Someone paid a lot of money for those.” Rando rocked back in her chair. “No card. Any idea who your secret admirer might be?”
I kept my face impassive as I shrugged, but my heart began to thud like an out-of-control Mohanian drum band. “No, sir, I don’t.”
Rando crossed her arms over her ample chest and frowned. “Boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “No, sir.”
“Gemma—” Rando sighed, and her fierce demeanor softened for a minute. “How long have you been with R.I.O.?”
I didn’t even have to think. “Six years, seven months, two weeks, three days.”
“I guess that proves your internal clock is set.” Rando gave me a penetrating look. “In all that time, I’ve never known you to take a lover.”
“No time for it, sir.” I pushed the flower orb’s button and the flowers disappeared.
“It’s not against department policy. As long as you keep it off-duty, you can date whoever you like. Even get married.” Rando lifted the square viewscreen so I could see my own name flashing there. “You’ve had an exemplary record, Gemma.”
“Thank you.” I knew what was coming next, and I braced myself for it.
“There’s been some reports of Ops making assignations during duty. Using the inspection stations for dates, that sort of