Close Enough Read online

  She squirmed and looked at him with her eyes wide. “They didn’t teach that in history class.”

  He smiled. “The winners write history. It was a twenty-year war with no true winners. When I got the armor, I was able to push the Mechal out of our world and back into theirs. The lock is something that only my father’s family or I can do. It is a gene lock. If it is failing now, it is because there is someone on the other side trying to open it.”

  She shivered. “You think that it’s bad?”

  “I think that I am going to be there when it opens, and then, I will find out.”

  Cyreen asked, “Will you fight your father’s people?”

  “I did it once; I can do it again.”

  Chapter Four

  The delivery of a rack of clothing was a strange break to their interlude. Cyreen sat up, and Xan was on his feet in a heartbeat, standing between her and the door.

  Darfan peeped around the rack. “Cyreen, you weren’t kidding. You are bare-ass naked.”

  She blushed and stood behind the granite-grey body of Xan. “Right. Give me the clothing.”

  He wheeled the rack forward, and Xan grabbed it. That was the moment when Darfan realized what he was looking at. “Oh, my gods. You are awake!”

  Cyreen grabbed a plain dress and pulled it over her head, fighting to get her arms in the sleeves while covering her front and backside.

  Once she was in the dress, she settled her breasts on top of the empire seam and evened her cleavage. When she looked up, Xan was watching avidly, and Darfan was peeping through the garments on the rack.

  “Hah! I knew it would fit.” Darfan grinned.

  She smoothed the dark blue dress down. “Thanks, Darfan.”

  “I made up a bunch of dresses in your size for display models. You have a delightfully curvy figure.”

  She nodded and sniffed. “What is that?”

  “Oh, this?” He held up a carry bag. “This is four orders of Kinoss’s noodles. I don’t suppose you are interested.”

  She lunged at the bag, and he moved it back, laughing. “Too slow, Cyreen.”

  Xan simply reached over his head and plucked the bag out of Darfan’s hand. “What is this? It smells good.”

  Cyreen smiled. “Noodles. The best noodles in the capital.”

  Xan nodded. “Good. I am rather hungry. It has been a while since my last meal.”

  Cyreen chuckled. “Right. Of course. Darfan, this is General Xan. Xan, this is one of my oldest friends from workman school, Darfan. He’s an excellent seamster and a very good delivery guy.”

  She moved the rack into the bedroom and exhaled. That was one point of vulnerability taken care of. She pulled her suit out of the cleaning unit in the corner and smiled when the green stains had come out.

  Darfan called out, “Come on, the noodles are getting cold!”

  Cyreen grabbed a hip wrap and tied it around Xan as she passed before removing the bag from his clutches. She opened the bag and separated the servings efficiently, putting the eating sticks out along with the matching spoons.

  She looked at her friend. “I am guessing that you brought enough for everyone?”

  He grinned and sat in the nearest chair. “Double orders and one extra. I was hoping I would be invited.”

  She looked to Xan and smiled. “Have a seat. These are best when hot, so they are in a thermally active container. Once you open it, you have to eat.”

  He frowned. “I would prefer that you sat next to me on the couch.”

  She sighed, moved her container, and sat on the couch with the table within reach. Xan sat next to her and pulled the table toward them slightly.

  She paused. “Can you use these?”

  “They are Mechal. I grew up using them.”

  She nodded and said, “Okay, go.”

  She opened her container and grabbed a good grip on the noodles. She slurped up the spicy-meaty-sweet-hot-starchy goodness and groaned.

  Darfan was slurping away; Xan had taken a surprised bite, and he was picking up speed. She was going to be left behind if she didn’t get to work.

  There was a lot of slurping, a lot of giggling, and a bit of elbowing as they fought their way down to the bottom of the containers.

  She was on the second to the last mouthful when Xan put his down. He was empty. She and Darfan groaned.

  Darfan pushed the extra box toward him. “There you go. You earned it.”

  Xan’s face lit up, and he attacked the second round of noodles almost as fast as the first. He did know how to use the sticks. He sucked the noodles down so fast, she winced at the heat that was hitting his stomach.

  She put her container down and stacked it with Xan’s first container and Darfan’s. Darfan looked at her, smiled, and shook his head. She shrugged. It was a habit.

  Xan slurped down the last mouthful and wiped his jaw. “That was good. Is that nearby?”

  Darfan nodded. “A block and a half westward.”

  Xan looked at Cyreen. “Do you know where it is?”

  “Sure. One of the guys we went to school with runs it. He makes the noodles.” Darfan chuckled. “We had quite the graduating class, but not all of us ended up as makers.”

  Xan frowned. “Makers?”

  Cyreen blushed and took the dregs of the meal to the recycler.

  Darfan explained. “Sure. A lot of the workmen are moving on to become freemen. All we need is enough money to buy our shops.”

  Xan asked him, “What is Cyreen doing to work herself to the status of freeman?”

  “Nothing. She is taking care of others. Repairing, patching, and pruning. She fixes problems, gets paid, and moves on.” Darfan murmured, “She could be so much more.”

  Cyreen washed her hands in the small sink next to the unit, and she returned to the living area to hear Darfan murmuring about Cyreen’s love life.

  She stopped. “What are you talking about?”

  Darfan coloured slightly, his brown skin darkening. “He was just asking if you had any men in your life. I told him about Tremon.”

  She swayed in shock, straightened, and walked past them into the bedroom, closing the door with a solid click.

  * * * *

  Xan watched her leave with her back straight and her body stiff.

  Darfan shook his head. “It never fails to surprise me that young men have no empathy for what the young women are going through.”

  Xan frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Tremon. He used Cyreen’s insecurities against her. Wooed her and got her to help him through his final exams while sleeping with her, then he posted images of her around campus, mocking her height and her sex drive.”

  “How?” He was going to look into this man.

  Darfan smiled slightly. “As you may have experienced, once Cyreen decides to protect or care for someone, she will do it to the full detriment to herself. She would literally give you the shirt off her back to help you. That is how she purchases affection.”

  Xan began to understand. “She purchased his affection with her assistance.”

  “Correct. She worked like hell to get him through his classes, and he provided her with the intimate physical contact that she has always needed. I would have tried to help her out, but she wasn’t my type.”

  “She has physical needs?”

  “She squashes them now, but when she was a teen, it was maddening. Anyway, once he had what he wanted, he posted the mockery and rebuffed her to her face. She was devastated, but she acted out the same sequence over and over in the following years.” Darfan shrugged. “The men were different, but they all wanted something from her and discarded her as soon as that goal was achieved.”

  Xan nodded. “Right. That makes a certain amount of sense. She does not trust my reaction to her body.”

  Darfan blinked. “Probably not. She would have no reason to. I have heard about the Thiria search. Her resemblance is similar, but her scale is all wrong.”

  Xan bristled. “Her scale is perf
ect. Do you know anything about her father?”

  “No. He was gone when she was old enough to notice such things.”

  Xan nodded. “Of course. She has mentioned that he and her mother did not get along.”

  Darfan snorted. “Her mother is a piece of work. Not a good piece. She spreads her legs for anyone that passes and is constantly after Cyreen for growing too tall with all that comes with it. Her mother is built like a knotty plank.”

  Xan looked toward the bedroom door. “So, nothing kind or warm in her life.”

  “She has friends. Genuine friends. We don’t want anything from her but will occasionally agree to let her help if she offers.”

  Xan smiled. “Like what?”

  “She has fixed all of my sewing machines, and sped up and put safety guards on the machines that make the noodles for Kinoss. Hell, she might have designed the machines. Neither of them ever said.”

  Xan nodded. “Right. Thank you. I hope to see you again.”

  “If you ever want anything special for Cyreen, let me know. I had my mannequins based on her figure. It looks amazing from any distance.”

  Xan leaned forward and gave Darfan several specific requests. Darfan’s cheeks coloured again. “You want that, for her?”

  “Yes. And as many of her daily outfits as you can manage. Comfort is key.” Xan smiled. “She was most confident in her work suit, so that is what she shall have.”

  “I can get you the first in a few hours. The work suits will take a few days.”

  Xan got to his feet. “Please. Send me the bill.”

  Darfan looked past him to the bedroom door. “If you can make her happy, you can have it for free.”

  Xan inclined his head. “I will try. Now, please, don’t mention my waking quite yet. I believe it will help you keep your liberty.”

  He nodded, and Darfan clasped his hand before leaving.

  Xan looked toward the door and tried to plan his attack. He settled for simply going in as if he hadn’t learned anything. He would just have to act as if he simply wanted her for her wit and her body. Not a difficult task when it was the truth.

  Chapter Five

  Cyreen was mortified, but she pretended like nothing was going on when Xan returned to his bedroom.

  “Are you all right in there?” His voice was concerned.

  She mumbled. “I am fine. Why do you ask?”

  “Do you normally nap with a pillow over your head?”

  “I have been known to.”

  “Ah, in that case, I was going to ask you if you would like a shower, but I will take one, and you can shower at your leisure.”

  She made a fist in the pillow. “I am fine. Thank you.”

  He didn’t say anything else but rather walked into the lav, and she heard the actual water shower start up.

  Cyreen really wanted to be with him in the huge shower stall, scrubbing his back. But, if Darfan had spilled all of the details of her romantic life, the offer was probably pity.

  She could wait until he was asleep and then go for her own shower.

  Cyreen listened to the sound and imagined his hands running down his belly, leaving trails of soap, and then, his turning to let the spray pound at his back and shoulders.

  She turned her face into the pillow and screamed. This was going to be a very long night.

  Xan was asleep next to her, or at least he wasn’t moving much. Cyreen got up and left the bed, tiptoeing into the bathroom and looking longingly at the shower. She remembered how easily she had heard the sound and settled for scrubbing herself off in the sink. She felt damp but clean when she was done. She would have to take an actual shower in the morning, but that was a few hours away.

  She wove her hair into a loose braid and tiptoed back to bed.

  She had just settled in when Xan’s arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her against him.

  “Why didn’t you take a shower? The water felt great.”

  She blinked. “I didn’t want to wake you. It isn’t quiet.”

  He pressed his erection against her back and cupped her breasts. “I don’t mind a little noise.”

  She squeaked as he rolled her to her back and moved between her thighs. When he shifted downward until his lips were against her folds, she fought waves of embarrassment.

  Xan licked her with long strokes of his tongue, and she squeaked when he burrowed his tongue into her. The wet slide seemed to be just what she wanted, and she reached down to hold his hair and his head against her.

  She gasped, she moaned, and when he withdrew his tongue and substituted two fingers while his lips closed over her clit, she shrieked.

  Her hips jerked against him, and he continued until she tensed, and her inner muscles clasped him in a hard, slow pulse.

  He went up on his elbows and moved along her body. When his erection was nudging her slick folds, she looked up toward the light halo of his pale hair. When he slid into her, she wrapped her right leg around his thighs, opening and urging him deeper.

  He worked himself inside her and then slowly, deliberately rocked against her. His slide and retreat were a short pathway, but on the inward stroke, she arched and twisted at the sensation.

  She braced her feet on the mattress, and she pushed back as he slid deep. That was it. That was how she wanted him.

  He leaned down to her and kissed her, his tongue teasing her as they worked together with the same goal.

  Their kiss got more frantic as they approached orgasm, and when they came, they exchanged groans and moans while their bodies shook.

  Xan snaked an arm under her and rolled to his back. He was still inside her, but now, she was using him as a mattress. He sighed happily. “Now, we will both need a shower in the morning.”

  “What is going to happen tomorrow?”

  He unwove her braid with his fingers and played with her hair. “The military will want to meet with me, I will see scans from the portal, and then, we will make plans to move out for an in-person assessment.”

  “Where do I go?”

  He continued to toy with her hair. “You will come with me. I am very serious about that. If the portal opens and you are nearby, you will be taken to safety while I deal with it.”

  She could feel him getting hard inside her again, but he didn’t seem inclined to do anything about it. “How long was there a Mechal Embassy?”

  He frowned. “About fifteen years. It was an experiment. People from here went there; people from there came here. I don’t know what went wrong aside from my birth and have no idea why there was over a decade between my mother’s death, and the army surging through the gateway.”

  “How many died?”

  “Fifteen hundred Morcud defenders died. There were no Mechal casualties that I was aware of. I simply pushed them back.”

  “How?”

  He wrinkled his nose. “The armor acts as an amplifier. It lets me find the Mechal genetic markers and push them back through the gateway. Then, I can lock it again.”

  “Why does it have to be locked?”

  “For the safety of Morcud, or that is what they believe. I think it is stupid and that because of one idiot who deprived me of my family, this world lost a chance at an amazing ally.”

  “You think the Mechal are amazing?”

  He chuckled. “We are much taller, so that is a definite bonus. Are all the men here so diminutive?”

  “Most of them are shorter. The women are six inches smaller than that.”

  “I am very glad that you are the height you are. Any shorter and I wouldn’t have been able to kiss you while I was inside you. My back would have snapped.” He smiled and ran a hand down her back.

  She arched her back at his touch and felt him move inside her. The movement of her hips was reflexive. She groaned.

  Xan laughed. “If you are tired, that is fine.”

  She grumbled and braced her hands on his chest, pushing herself upright and driving him deep. “I can sleep after this.”

  He g
rinned, and she was amazed at how much she could see in the darkness. It was like his body glowed because her eyes had no trouble making out the grey of his flesh.

  She moved awkwardly until she got into a rhythm. He cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples. She whimpered and kept driving harder, pausing in surprise as her world came apart in sharp, electric pleasure.

  He took hold of her hips, and three fast pumps ended in his body shaking violently under her while his eyes went blind for a moment.

  She waited until the chest she was leaning on wasn’t heaving like a bellows. When he was calmer, she slowly eased off him, wincing a little at the soreness. “Back in a minute.”

  He rolled to his side and pushed her back to the bed. “My job, stay here.”

  She blinked and lay back as he went to the bathroom, prepared a washcloth and then returned to her to wipe her skin clear of sweat and fluids.

  It was strange when he left her again for a moment and then he returned to the bed. This time, he spooned her, and she could feel the smug satisfaction radiating off him. It kept her warm all night.

  She felt the world tilt under her, but the light was still dim outside the windows. “Where are we going?”

  “Poille will be here in an hour. I thought it would be a good idea for us both to be cleaned, dressed, and ready.”

  She blinked and nodded. “Sound thinking.”

  Xan chuckled. “You don’t wake up easy, do you?”

  She shook her head. “Nope.”

  He let her legs slide down his body, and he guided her hands against the tile wall. “You lean, I will take care of everything else.”

  She nodded and pressed her palms to the tile, not quite awake yet. Gentle passes of warm water hit her back and hips as he moved around in the cubicle.

  Warm, slick hands moved over her back, hips, buttocks, and between them. She shivered but held still.

  He soaped up every inch of her from the neck down, and then, he stepped aside to let the harder spray remove the foam. She slowly stood and turned in the spray, yawning, and getting a mouthful of water.