Beyond the Stars: INEO (23 page)

“Are you listening to me? You look like you’re someplace else.” He brought his eyes to mine.

Gaelan realized I wasn’t fully present. I wanted to tell him where my mind had gone, that it felt completely real.

“I keep picturing Nia being aboard their ship. I hope she’s okay—” I was struggling to find my place in the conversation.

“I know,” he said, cutting me off, again. “We’re all so preoccupied with finding her … it’s hard to think of anything else.”

It seemed as though he was afraid of what I might say. I could tell by his stiffened body language that he really didn’t want to hear more. I decided not to tell him what had just happened. Maybe it was better to keep the truth to myself. I needed to learn how to deal with this on my own. Get a handle on it first.
I’m strong.
If the entity in the Katarian folklore was responsible for giving me these visions, then so be it. It would take more than a few scary daydreams to make me lose my mind. Nothing could destroy me without my permission.

“You probably long for your old life back instead of being entangled in this chaos with me.”

“Huh? No, I want to be here,” I said unconvincingly.

“Good. Because I’m glad you are. I would feel terrible if I found out that I was forcing this on you,” he said, stroking the back of my neck. It sent a thrill throughout my body.

“No, I feel lucky,” I tried to explain. “I mean, this life you’ve been living, it’s almost unfathomable. You trek across the galaxy like it’s no big deal. I never imagined I would
ever
do something as grand as this.”

“Well, I never thought I would find a woman like you. You are the first person that didn’t want to change me or tell me to settle down. Yet, I would do that in a heartbeat if you asked. I wake up each day eager to see you and hear your opinions. You enlighten me more than traveling ever has.”

“I’m not that—”

“Yes. You are,” he said, tapping my lips closed with his index finger. “When I look at you,” Gaelan paused to brush my hair behind my ear, “my entire body ignites. You’re intoxicating.”

I clung on to him tighter. “God, I love you.”

“I love you, too. So much that I can even promise you I’ll behave when we return to Earth.”

“Why?” I laughed. “Did you have an alternative in mind?” I asked with surprise.

Gaelan took a deep breath and licked his lips nervously. “Sami, I have something to confess. When I got hired by SIG, it wasn’t the first job I had on Earth. I lived there for almost two years when I was working for PlanaStar.”

My jaw fell open. “You worked at PlanaStar and never told me.”

PlanaStar was a private corporation, owned and operated by billionaire Richard Gordan. Its primary mission was to build Earth’s first intergalactic spaceship. It employed some of the brightest scientists and engineers on the planet. Although their research was still highly guarded, rumors of their current developments made heads turn in the world of physics when they claimed to be building the first Alcubierre Warp Drive. The Alcubierre drive was the work of the Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre where a spaceship is pushed through Space by manipulating space-time around the ship. In theory, the method he proposed allowed a vessel to travel to great distances by propelling it like a surfboard on a wave. It worked by contracting the fabric of Space ahead of the traveling ship, while it stretched or expanded the Space behind it.

“Yes and don’t get mad. The reason I didn’t tell you was because my mission failed miserably. I’m not proud of what I did. I couldn’t keep to our protocol of helping and not interfering. I found myself sabotaging some projects and advancing others. Finally, I realized the errors of my ways and left on my own. Unfortunately, I undoubtedly left behind a wake of damage.”

“How much damage?”

“Enough.”

He gave me look, making me think he was disappointed in himself.

“What
did you do?”

“I suggested ways to improve the efficiency of their primary power core. It probably saved them a decade, or two, or
fifty,
of research and testing. I know I was wrong to interfere.”

I searched for a reason and asked, “Why did you get so involved?”

“Boredom perhaps. I think I needed something to do, and it was so tempting to teach them what I knew.”

“Gaelan, how do you plan to stay on Earth with me? Living with me will only complicate your life. You are going to be tempted to intervene again. And daily life on Earth, it’s not exciting … like traveling across the galaxy.”

I couldn’t help worrying about him becoming restless in the future if he was stuck living in one place. What if he wanted to leave me because he missed trekking across the galaxy? What if the only way to stay with him was to travel as well? I wasn’t sure I could ever leave Earth again, especially after knowing how terribly I missed it. Yet I couldn’t imagine a day without him. He was part of my life now.

Gaelan exhaled strongly. “You’re wrong. This time will be different. This time I’ll have you,” he said seductively. “And thanks, by the way, for not getting mad or lecturing me on how I messed up.”

“We all make mistakes.”

Gaelan smiled, leaned down, and kissed me before the words could barely escape my lips. He hiked me up by the waist so I could wrap my legs around his body. Without delay, he whirled us around and carried me to the bedroom. He set me on my feet and sat down at the edge of the bed before he pulled me towards him. He held me between his legs and looked up at me seductively with his gorgeous blue eyes and long dark lashes.

“I was thinking about what I wanted to do to you all day,” Gaelan said, reaching up and brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

“Must you tease me? This is important stuff we need to talk about,” I said, trying to suppress my excitement. But it was too late. I was getting turned on. I loved how he took charge. Without hesitation, he lifted up the sides of my nightgown and slid his hands around my thighs and up my waist, instantly arousing me. I could melt with his touch. He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on my stomach before falling backwards onto the mattress, pulling me swiftly down on top of him.

Gaelan looked up at my face with an understanding stare. “Fine, you want to talk. But first let me remind you, I’m here for you. I’ll go and do whatever,
wherever
you want, as soon as we get Nia back. I know you miss your home. Liam told me it was unfair for you to be so far from home. He reminded me of how bad he would feel if he were trapped aboard a starship. You know my brother. He would never leave Kataria. He warned me, saying that my lifestyle could easily cross over from one of adventure to cruelty for you.”

“Trust me, the misery would show on my face if that were the case. Besides, I know we’ll find the Dreons soon,” I said with hope.

“Mm-hmm.” He blinked slowly as though he wasn’t sure.

I touched his chest with my hand and focused my attention on his incredibly distracting body. With a swoop, he rolled me off him, dove on top of me, and began kissing down my body as he supported his weight with his arms. I fought to focus on the ceiling because it felt almost too good. He had the ability to awaken me with feelings I never knew existed. I loved being with him, it felt utterly fantastic. He was the main reason I was coping so well. Nothing could describe the serenity I felt when he was near. When I was with him, I felt happy, confident, and safe.

“Do you have to go to work tomorrow morning? I don’t want to be alone. Can’t you call off?” I teased, regardless of knowing the answer.

“Call off?” Gaelan replied curiously and stopped kissing me to lean up on his hands.

I lifted my head to look at him. “Yes, you know, skip work and spend the day with me instead.”

He scooted up closer to my face with his arms.

“I can’t. I have responsibilities. Can you do that on Earth?”

“Yes, when you’re really sick.”

“So I have to be sick?”

“No, I was only kidding. I wanted you all to myself. Forget I asked. I always go to work, too. I haven’t called off a day of work in over fifteen years.”

Gaelan put his index finger under my jaw and inclined my face towards his. “Hey, am I missing something?”

“I’m sick of feeling on edge. I worry when I’m alone and would like to be able to think about something else.”

“I’m here for you, love, and I’ll see you at lunch and immediately after work.

He smiled a dimpled smile that drew me in before laying a few gentle kisses on my chest. Then he slid his hand under the right strap of my nightgown and brushed it off my shoulder to make it slip down my arm. He followed with the other strap and slid the gown down and off my legs.

“What are you doing?”

“First, I am going to undress you so I can feel your skin against mine. Did I ever tell you, you have the softest skin?” He ran his fingers lightly across my shoulder and guided me onto my stomach. “Then I’m going to rub and kiss every inch of you.” Gaelan gently swiped my hair to the side and kissed the nape of my neck as he stroked down my back. I exhaled with gratification. I savored the way he moved his lips and fingertips skillfully down my body, touching me in all the right places. It gave me chills. All I could think of was how deeply I wanted him. He made me feel so loved—and appreciated. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and rolled on my back so I could pull him on top of me. He let out a groan as I reached for him. His excitement only heightened my own. I clung to him tightly, as though we were one. Elation ran through me. He held me just right.
God,
he was persuasive when he wanted something.

CHAPTER 16

DISPUTE

I visited Gaelan on the command deck at lunchtime and walked directly into a heated discussion. Loic was the catalyst. He was arguing with Gaelan and Zaric. I was really starting to loathe him.

“When did you turn around?” Loic shouted at them. “These are not the coordinates I gave you. If you want me to track them for you, you have to listen to me.”

Zaric sighed. “We found nothing there. It’s a complete waste of time to continue on the same path. You sent us to a virtual dead zone.”

“Maybe you should have stopped in sector 87561 before heading back to where we started,” Loic offered.

“No,” Gaelan interjected. “That’s too far. We decided to accept the Farni’s invitation to help us.”

“How about sector 75012? They might have gone there,” Loic stated, sounding almost desperate, pointing to another far away location on the star map.

“Loic, this is our course,” Gaelan said adamantly. “It allows us to reach the Farni and will enable us to pick up a response to the communication we sent to Spaceport Five this morning.”

I knew Gaelan was close to losing his temper by the sharp tone of his voice.

“Phish,”
Loic grumbled. “That’s your plan? Wait for the peons at Spaceport to reply. It will take days before the message gets there and back. If you want to avoid backtracking, we shouldn’t pass over these regions.”

Loic pointed to the same distant point as he muttered something vulgar under his breath.

After hearing Loic’s pathetic directions, I couldn’t help but chime in. “I have an idea,” I interjected.

“Oh, good, the Earth girl is here. We’re saved,” Loic said sourly as he turned towards me to give me a mean glare. “
By all means,
enlighten us.”

“Maybe it’s time you listen to somebody else. Their plan sounds brilliant, unlike yours,” I insisted. “Is there even a method by which you are directing us? Do you even know what’s out there? Maybe you’d have better luck as a tracker if we blindfolded you and had you throw a dart at the map,” I suggested.

Gaelan gave me an incredulous look.

“Well, aren’t you the little expert?” Loic said. “You think you know everything, don’t you, Miss Space Savvy? Is she always this saucy? I bet she’s
a vixen
in the sack,” Loic said to Gaelan, raising his eyebrows.

I was able to ignore the comment. It would take a lot more than that for me to back down. “Ugh,” I scoffed.

Gaelan, however, couldn’t let it slide. His face reddened and lips pursed with the snide comment. He inhaled a controlled breath of air through his nose before exhaling loudly. “Say something like that again, Loic, and see what happens. I dare you.” Gaelan’s muscles tightened, straining the seams of his shirt. I thought he was going to hurl Loic across the room.