Close Enough Read online

  Xan was snickering. “This is funny.”

  She stepped into the spray and slowly made sure that the soap was off her breasts. His snickering stopped on a strangled groan. He had been good at getting at every inch of her skin, so she made sure she was just as thorough at rinsing herself off.

  When she was done, she got her hair wet and found the hair cleanser. She foamed it up and looked over at him with what had to be his uncomfortable erection and his rueful expression. Her hair was taken care of in a few minutes, and then, she scrubbed her face. Once that was done, she stepped aside. “Your turn.”

  He grumbled and then sighed. “Right. I did that to myself.”

  She leaned against the dry wall and watched him as he got himself ready for the day. It involved a bit of masturbation while staring at her, so she helped out by lifting her breasts up and slightly squeezing them together.

  He groaned, and his cock jerked in his hand. Spurts of thick cream jolted out of him, and Cyreen smiled. She stepped back into the spray and kissed him. “Good morning, Xan.”

  He was still blinking slowly and reached for her as she slipped out to find a towel. When she was covered from armpit to knees, she gave him a slight curtsy. He was leaning in the doorway to the shower, and he grinned. “You are quick.”

  She shrugged. “I am slow to wake up, but once I am up, I make up for it.”

  He chuckled. “Let me help with your hair.”

  She paused. “Nothing funny?”

  “Nothing funny. I just really enjoy the texture.”

  She nodded and stood still as he wrapped a towel around his hips, got the small stool from under the sink, and sat her down.

  Her hair was difficult when it was wet. He started at the bottom and eased the tangles away with the skill of a wizard. She closed her eyes and relaxed as he stroked the brush evenly through her hair. When he paused and put two small braids next to her face, she opened her eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “Just keeping your hair out of your face.” He took one of the clips off his own hair and put it on hers with a satisfied look.

  Hmm. She got the feeling it was more than just keeping hair out of her face.

  The chime for the hallway door sounded, and Xan walked out to answer it. Somehow, his hair was as neat as it had been the moment he woke up.

  She followed him at a safe distance as he answered the door and collected a bundle.

  He turned back and smiled. “It’s for you.”

  She frowned. “What is it?”

  He shrugged. “Open it.”

  She opened it, and there was a letter. She read it, and a smile crept over her lips.

  “He says there are three things for you and one for me. He will get me more later.”

  She put the parcel down on the bed and opened it. “What is this?”

  “At-home wear. It is comfortable and covers everything.” He bit his lips.

  She held up what appeared to be two panels of fabric attached under the armpit, hips, and thighs. The neckline would drape nearly halfway down her torso. “Uh-huh. This looks... comfortable?”

  “I did mention that comfortable was most important.” Xan smiled and removed his towel to start getting dressed.

  She put the other two lounge things aside and picked up the bodysuit that he had promised her. She snickered. He had continued the theme of draped fabric, and her bodysuit had panels in back and front that gave the utilitarian piece of fabric an undeniable style.

  She unattached the front panel at the shoulder and got into her suit, wiggling into the compression fabric until it was over her hips.

  Xan was buckling his uniform on and watching her with fascination. “That is quite the process.”

  She snorted and pulled the sleeves on. “Wait until you see the disappearing trick.” She hoisted the suit up to her shoulders and slowly activated the closure.

  Xan was grinning. “I had him build in some extra space. It can’t be fun to be smashed flat like that all the time. They need a little more room.”

  The suit closed, but her bust and cleavage were visible. She attached the fabric, and it just softened the look of the front of her suit.

  She was a full echo of his black and gold suit. Her bodysuit was black with gold accents. “He made me match.”

  “He did an excellent job. Does he have a mate?”

  She shook her head. “No, but he chooses to remain in the capital for when some of the military goes on pub visits. He finds most of his lovers that way, in the shadows.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “It is his personal kink. I don’t judge.” She grinned. “Workman is one step above labourer. The military don’t like to mingle with our class.”

  He leaned in to kiss her. “I like mingling with you every chance I get.”

  “Yeah, but you have been asleep for centuries. You aren’t exactly picky right now.”

  He tugged on one of the braids he had put in her hair. “I was always picky. I just never knew that Thiria was the wrong woman. Now, what do you like to eat for breakfast?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I can do that.”

  “No. You are my trauma-filled visitor. I will manage the food. Come on.”

  He led her down the hall and into his dining area. Cyreen blinked. It was weird. Having someone who wanted to serve her wasn’t something she was used to.

  He went to the screen, and she told him what she wanted. He scrolled through it and made his selection.

  He leaned against the wall and smiled. “It is nice that they have kept the familiar tech for me.”

  “This place was a well-tended museum.”

  “Did you really come here as a child?”

  She smiled. “A teen. We were also shown your stasis chamber. As soon as we got back to school, I designed one and tested it successfully on some farm animals that were doing poorly. When I put them in and out of stasis, we got them full veterinary treatment. They lived out their lives very happily.”

  The dispenser chimed, and he grabbed their meals.

  She thanked him and tucked into the standard, industrial-grade meal.

  He gave her a look under his lashes. “When does the noodle place open up?”

  She snorted. “In six hours.”

  He sighed and kept eating. “Is there anything that can be done to improve on the meal quality?”

  She perked up. “Can I?”

  He blinked. “I don’t know. Can you?”

  She giggled and swallowed her tea. “Gimme a minute.”

  She opened the terminal, reached down onto the thigh of her suit, and smiled when she found a tool pack. She pulled out a small screwdriver, triggered the link to the database that the manufacturer still had, and she uploaded all of the new recipes, verified the nutrients that were stored elsewhere and supplied the building. Then, she closed the unit and sat back down.

  “Give it ten minutes, and I can show you some of the newer recipes that weren’t around in your time.” She smiled brightly and sipped her tea.

  “So, what was your speciality? As a workman?” He sipped his own tea then got up and took away their trays.

  “Mechanical assembly. I can take most things apart and put them together.”

  He sat next to her and took her left hand, turning it over in his. “It is definitely a hand that can work competently.”

  She was going to respond to that with something snarky, but the main door opened, and the general was bellowing for Xan. He kissed her palm and got up. She followed behind. It was time for him to do what he did. He had to be General Xan.

  Chapter Six

  Poille was staring at Xan, and he said, “We have to go for the briefing now.”

  General Xan held out his arm, and Cyreen walked up to him, taking his hand.

  “Fine. Let’s go.” General Xan nodded to Poille.

  “She isn’t cleared for this briefing.”

  Xan shrugged. “She is now. She is my companion during this, and that means she will be a
t my side during every meeting before the actual confrontation with the portal.”

  Poille looked her up and down and looked like he wanted to say something about her clothing, but there was nothing that could attract his ire, even though he was really looking.

  General Xan looked at him. “Well, is the briefing in the same place it used to be held?”

  General Poille huffed and led the way out the door and into the embrace of eight guards who flanked them. Xan kept hold of her hand, and she had to admit that it kept her from defaulting into aggressive snark.

  They went down two levels, and that is when she realized that Xan had most of the upper floor of the building. She hadn’t ever put together the museum space with the physical footprint. It was funny that architecture was her big blind spot.

  She walked with Xan, and one of the guards grabbed a spare chair and put it next to the one that was meant for Xan.

  He held her chair for her, and she sat down. Xan sat next to her, and men wearing a lot of metal on their chests sat around the table.

  She listened to the situation, the numbers of defensive troops that were being put into position, and the frequency of the portal. They droned on, and she started to look at the amount of lenses that were in the room, the audio buds that lined the walls, and she froze. She had forgotten to look for audio tracers in Xan’s apartment. They would have created an earful of recordings last night.

  She inhaled and exhaled slowly as the meeting wound down with Xan stating that he would gauge the progress of the portal in person.

  Cyreen looked at him and frowned but remained silent. The meeting adjourned, and there was a rush of men who wanted to come up and shake Xan’s hand. They were on him like worshipping fans.

  Poille grabbed her by the arm and pulled her aside while Xan was distracted. “What do you think you are doing?”

  Cyreen cocked her head. “I am following the directive and being Xan’s companion.”

  “You are supposed to fuck him, not influence his decisions.” His hand squeezed her bicep. Hard.

  She grimaced. “We don’t talk about policy, but I will put it on the agenda.”

  Xan glanced back at her, and he frowned. He walked over to them and grabbed Poille’s arm, squeezing subtly. Cyreen’s arm was released, and Poille was up on his toes.

  “Do not touch her. Ever.” Xan held him for a moment with a polite expression on his face, and then, he let go.

  Poille staggered back.

  Xan offered his hand to her. “Come on. We have some travelling to do.”

  She put her hand in his, and they left the room with their guard suspiciously missing.

  “Where is our escort?”

  “It isn’t necessary. They have confirmed that I am still myself, and I have reminded them that I outrank all of them.”

  She nodded.

  “Weren’t you paying attention?”

  “Nope.”

  He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “Good. It was boring.”

  She grinned. “So, where are we going?”

  “To my quarters for the armor and then to my glider.”

  She perked up. “Glider?”

  “Yes, a small, standing hovercraft.”

  She wanted to rub her hands together, but her hand was occupied.

  The lift back to his quarters was a short ride, and when they were inside his apartment again, he grabbed her waist and kissed her while pressing her against the wall. The heat from his mouth consumed her, and she wrapped her legs around him as he pressed rhythmically against her.

  She moved with him, sighing and twisting, and then, he stopped. He leaned back and grinned. “Just making sure that you were still with me.”

  Cyreen was slightly dazed as he helped her unlock her ankles and slide to the floor. “What the hell?”

  He smiled and went to the gallery where the armor was set on a stand in the center. He touched the field that surrounded it, and then, he reached out and lifted the suspension rig out before he walked past her and back to the bedroom.

  The bots must have done the housekeeping because the room was pristine, and the sheets were a different colour.

  He dropped the armor on the bed and went to the closet to remove a bodysuit.

  “So, what is that for?”

  “The armor fits like a second skin, so I just need a layer to keep the sweat down.”

  She cocked her head. “Do you need help?”

  He paused and then nodded. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

  She looked at the suit. “Put on the boots.”

  He stripped and then put on the bodysuit, adjusting his erection before he sealed the suit. He pulled on the boots, and they started to hum slightly.

  “Oh, heat-generated energy. Nice.”

  She picked up the thigh segment for his left leg and sealed the front to the back with a click. She followed suit with the right leg, and soon, she was working her way over his hips and then his chest. He had to help with that one.

  She continued setting the pieces on his arms and, finally, handed him his helmet. “I always thought this should be shiny and gold, but the matte grey looks better.”

  He flexed his hands and took the helmet. “Thank you. It is a pain to put that on by myself.”

  She grinned. “I just wanted to see how it worked.”

  He sighed. “Now, for the annoying part. Time to fly.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “I can fly if you like.”

  “Do you know where the portal is?”

  “Of course. We had a field trip there before we came here.”

  “Fine. If you are comfortable launching off the roof, you are welcome to be my personal driver.”

  She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I prefer charioteer.”

  He grinned and moved past her to the study, accessing a private walkway that led up to the roof.

  “How are you so sure that everything has been kept in operating condition?”

  He chuckled. “My stasis pod had a records connection that let me keep up on advancing society and kept me apprised of the maintenance logs and video records. For the last five years, I have been watching and waiting.”

  She shrugged and followed him up and out through the door that he opened with the touch of his hand, and the rush of wind and light made her smile.

  The world was exposed beneath them, and Cyreen lifted her chin to the suns.

  Xan walked over to a small hangar and opened the door. She pattered after him and fell in love when she saw the perfectly preserved antique glider.

  She walked up to it and ran her hands over the exterior before stepping into the platform and checking the controls. Xan stepped into place behind her, and he whispered, “Do I have a rival for your attention?”

  Cyreen grinned, and she activated the engines, lifting them off the ground. “Don’t worry. Next to the glider, you are a pale shadow.”

  He growled but hung on as she throttled the glider forward and off the twenty-storey building. She hit the jets as they cleared the roof, and they shot straight over the city before beginning a slow arc to the standard flight level of one hundred feet above the farms and roads.

  She flew the glider as if she had done it a thousand times. When Xan left her, she was going to ask for it as compensation.

  Chapter Seven

  Xan spoke in her ear. “How are you getting this kind of speed out of it?”

  “I changed the oxygen flow to the processor.” She spoke with her head turned slightly to the side.

  “How do you know how to do that?”

  “I have been working on engines most of my life. The system on this glider is complicated, but it still operates on basic principles.”

  He was silent, so she asked him, “What did you want to do before you were called up?”

  He sighed. “You will laugh.”

  “I might. What was it?”

  “I wanted to be a baker. I used to bake at the embassy.”


  “Oh. Well, there is still time. Do you miss anything from your first time around?”

  He chuckled. “No. This time around is far more interesting.”

  Cyreen blushed and was glad that his armor was a heavy separation between them at the moment. The metal was pressing at her back, and it was strangely hot.

  The portal site was surrounded by turrets aimed at the gateway. She settled the glider behind one of the units, and Xan hopped off, walking toward the command unit. He simply pressed his hand against the metal, and all of the guns sagged on their mounts.

  “General Xan, what is going on?” Cyreen hesitated to step out of the glider.

  “Stay where you are, Cyreen. This isn’t safe.”

  She paused and remained in the glider.

  Xan walked up to the portal, and he touched the glowing energy shield that covered it.

  Cyreen wanted to call out a warning, but she didn’t. She stared and watched as Xan reached out his arms and touched either side of the portal. There was a spark, a flare, and Xan stepped back.

  Cyreen wasn’t expecting the army that cascaded through. Some of the armored men were on some kind of flying cycle, but most of them were on foot and running faster than anything she had seen before.

  Larger vehicles came through the portal, and they were filled with troops.

  Cyreen didn’t have a chance to fly off. Four of the men surged toward her and surrounded her. There was a cold pressure at the back of her neck, and she passed out.

  * * * *

  Xan watched his people rushing through the gateway, looking for the one who had been communicating with him. When his father stepped through, Xan bowed. “Welcome home, Father.”

  The hug was genuine. “You look well, Xan. Your mother will be pleased.”

  Xan smiled, and the small woman walked out of the portal with a grin. “My baby, all grown.”

  “I have missed you, mother.”

  There was a shout, and Xan turned, seeing Cyreen being held up by a few warriors.

  He flashed to her side, and he said, “Hand her over, or I will make you wish you had never stepped through.”