Together
He yanked at her clothes. He was rough and hurt her a little. Bernadette exulted in it as he stripped her. It took only seconds, but it felt like an eternity before her skin was flush to his and his naked bulk was warm against her. She wasn’t sure when or how he’d gotten his shorts off, but he was abruptly impaling her on his twin shafts. He took her in a single thrust that drove the breath from her lungs.
Everything froze as they stared at each other, their gasps mingling.
“Bernadette.”
“Doljen.”
At last.
His next kiss was gentler; a soft caress of lips on lips, of delicate licks, and sinuous movement. As if for the first time. As if for the final time. For all time.
They lay that way as the minutes slipped past, him within her, on top of her, kissing and caressing. In that precious instant, there was nothing else and no reason to do anything beyond be together. The years of searching, of losing hope and grimly forging on, had been worth it.
Doljen began to move minutely, carefully, as if afraid to break the spell. His shafts eased through her, escaping until only the tips remained within, then creeped in again to fill her with himself. So cautiously, as if taking her virginity as he had years ago. Her fingertips traced the strong outlines of his features and the few new creases bracketing the corners of his lips and eyes. That he’d found reason to frown them into existence spoke to her heart, and she pulled his face close to kiss the evidence of his hurt.
He rocked within her. She moved to meet him. Neither was in any hurry to grasp the fire of culmination. Indeed, had Bernadette been told there would be no climax, only this quiet joining for all eternity, she would have wept in gratitude. She required nothing more than to be with Doljen as they were. Life owed her no other debt.
Even her usual demanding inclinations for exhibitionism, bondage, and a little hurt were unneeded. In his arms, she was where she wanted to be. He made love to her with perfection; leisurely thrusting, his hands wandering all over to rediscover her, lengthy gazes punctuated with the sweetest kisses.
The sunlight from the vid-simulating windows grew stronger as the morning stretched toward afternoon, and still they lay on Doljen’s sleeping mat, making love in slow motion. When climax arrived, almost simultaneously for them both, they announced it with sighs and whispery moans.
They held each other until desire rose again. Doljen rolled onto his back, allowing Bernadette to crouch over him, to love him as their breathing quickened. Lust was less gentle the second time around, with her rising and falling and aware of his gaze on the breasts he rubbed, the nipples he pinched, the clit he fondled, their sexes meeting again and again. She was reminded of his strength when he grasped her hips and yanked her up and down, forcing her to ride him hard until she shouted her pleasure and he filled her with his.
She searched for the man she couldn’t forget and found a shattered clan she couldn’t resist.
Captain Bernadette Miller was a nun on the moon Europa, hiding from a painful past. Now she hunts the galaxy for the Kalquorian who made her stop running from herself. When she gets a lead on his clanmates, she thinks her search is finally over. What she finds, however, is a clan devastated by broken promises.
Nobek Halmiko was once a star kurble player. Now he wanders space aimlessly, picking up jobs where he can find them, trying to forget the clanmates he let down. When Bernadette shows up asking questions about his missing Imdiko, he has nothing to say. But some women get in a man’s head. Some women don’t take no for an answer.
Dramok Tumsa had it all: a career he loved, the perfect clan, a troubled but talented brother he’d do anything for. Tragedy on the kurble field destroyed it all. Now his estranged Nobek is back, with a beautiful, hardnosed Earther captain who offers him an opportunity to make amends. Can he piece his clan together again? Does he deserve the chance?
Imdiko Doljen is wracked by guilt. He’s hidden from those he let down…including a woman he couldn’t keep. When she shows up in the company of his clanmates, old hurts ignite anew. It doesn’t matter what he wants; he can’t fix the mistakes he made.
The only path to regaining the love Bernadette lost means healing this shattered clan. Is she ready to commit to three men instead of the one she came for? When disaster strikes, she has to call on all the strength she possesses to stop them from falling apart for good.
Releasing tomorrow! Pre-order at Amazon, Amazon UK, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords. Purchase now in print.
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