16. Sylas

SIXTEEN

I groaned,thinking about taking her mouth with mine. How good it felt. How she'd buried her fingers in my hair and kissed me back just as passionately.

We both wanted it, and fuck, if that wasn't enough to have me half-hard.

Sylas. I imagined her moaning my name, and I couldn't resist wrapping my fist around my dick as the warm water sprayed over me. How it would feel, having her underneath me. Burying myself in between her thighs, making her come with my tongue, my fingers, my cock.

Getting myself off to thoughts of her should feel wrong. Because it was wrong. She was off limits. Forbidden.

Don't tell me this is a mistake, she'd all but begged. Even though we both knew it would have been.

But I couldn't help myself. Not anymore. Not after knowing what her mouth tasted like, knowing what her little mewls of pleasure sounded like. I wanted more. Wanted to acquaint myself with every inch of her body.

Captain. In my imagination, she batted her eyelashes as she took me into her hand, swirling her tongue over the tip. Those eyes never left mine as she licked and sucked and squeezed.

"Fuuuckk," I grunted, the vision too good to hold back. All it took was imagining burying my cock in her tight, wet heat, and I was coming, ropes of thick cum splashing on the tile wall of my large, walk-in shower.

My fist pounded against the tile wall. What the fuck was wrong with me? Jerking off to thoughts of my pilot? I grit my teeth, trying to hold my thoughts back.

If the federation got wind of anything happening between us, I'd be fired. There was no way they'd want to keep a captain on who had slept with one of his officers. It violated our contract, the code of ethics we'd agreed to when we'd sworn into the federation at graduation.

But was that what this was? Or was it something deeper, unexplainable?

What if? I wondered.

What if we gave into the temptation?

What if she wanted me the way I wanted her? I was pretty sure she did. The way she ground her pussy over my aching cock, her little gasp—she would have let me fuck her right there on that deck.

And it would have been a mistake.

Because that wasn't what she deserved.

No. I watched my release circle down the drain, letting my hand rest over my heart. It wouldn't be some cheap hookup, a mindless fling. Not with her.

And maybe that was what had me taking a pause. Because it was obvious that whoever Aurelia Callisto ended up with was one lucky son-of-a-bitch.

Even more so, because I knew it wouldn't be me.

Whoever she chose would put a ring on that finger and seal the deal before she could flutter away. Give her everything she ever wanted, and more.

A house, a life. Kids, if she wanted that.

And from me… I shook my head. I couldn't give her any of that.

All that was in my future was loneliness, and I'd have to learn to be okay with it.

A knock soundedon the door, and I looked up from where I sat in my small recliner chair, a pair of reading glasses on my face as I thumbed through one of my favorite novels.

Not that it could keep my attention. I'd been distracted all day with thoughts of her. And we still hadn't even talked about our kiss.

That kiss. Fuck. It had left me undone.

Leaving the book and glasses on the side table, I padded over to the doorway, pressing onto the pad to slide the automatic door open.

It was like I'd summoned her. Lovely. She hadn't been on the bridge earlier, which, at the time, I'd been grateful for. I still felt guilty after my… activities this morning in the shower. But it wasn't like I could apologize for it, could I?

I said nothing. Because I couldn't stop myself from staring at the beauty at the entrance to my room. Finally, I cleared my throat, but she beat me to it.

"Captain." Aurelia's voice was low as she brushed past me, coming into my room. "My lead from yesterday, well… There's something else."

Her scent filled my lungs as she brushed past me. A combination of something sweet and… violets? That must have been her body wash, or her perfume. Whatever it was, it was intoxicating. The smell that lingered with me, even long after she was gone each day.

Clearly, we weren't going to talk about the kiss. Fine by me. If we did, I wouldn't be able to think about anything but doing it again.

I shoved my hands into my pants pockets to avoid touching her. "There is?" Blinking, our conversation from yesterday came back to me. Right.

She nodded, plugging her tablet into my display, letting something load onto the large screen.

"You know, I've been working on tracking for any sign of my dad's ship. And I found something on this planet. Well, two things, really." She got all the words out in a rush, like she couldn't even pause for breath.

"Slow down." I sat on the couch, looking with rapt interest. "What did you find?"

"Look," Aurelia said, pointing at the thermal imaging scans of the moon of a large gas planet. "There's something down there."

I squinted, watching the little shapes move. Damn, she was right. "Aurelia—" I said, hesitating. This was an incredible discovery, but… "You don't know what that is."

"But it's something. We should go check it out." She crossed her arms over her chest, a stubborn pout on her face.

"Or it could be dangerous, and I could be sending you down to a suicide mission."

"But—"

I stood my ground. She might hate me for this, but I'd never forgive myself if something happened to her. "We should send the team. Finley and the researchers have been training their whole life for this."

"But…" she repeated, her mouth formed into a solid frown now. "It's down there. The tracking signal. That's the other thing. If I could just go down and find it?—"

I fixed a glare on her. "No. Absolutely not. It's not safe," I repeated, pointing at the moving things. Some sort of alien creature, I assumed, though I had no idea of what variety.

"Dangerous? Look at them. How big do you think they are? It's not like they're lion sized or something crazy."

We had no reports of this planet. Surely, at the edge of explored space, someone had found these before. If her dad's ship had flown this path, why hadn't they found something? Though, maybe our scanners had advanced that much more in the last dozen years. Either way… I rubbed at my beard. "Something's strange here."

"See!" Aurelia exclaimed, a proud nod. "That's what I think, too."

"But… I still think we should wait. We'll be close enough to it we can send them down tomorrow, and then?—"

"This is my only opportunity. And you want me to give up on it so you can send a team down first?"

I winced at her tone. Had I given her so little reason to trust me? "You're not giving up on it. I'm just asking you to give me an extra day or two." Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowled at her. "It's proper protocol. You know, those procedures you love so much? I'm trying to follow those."

Damn, I was a hard-ass. But couldn't she see it was for her safety? She was impulsive, stubborn, and had a personal stake in this. If this was a federal investigation, she'd be taken off of the case entirely for being emotionally involved.

"They'll find it, and whatever is on there, I won't even have a chance." She sounded defeated.

I stepped up behind her, wanting to wrap my arms around her and comfort her, but how could I? All I needed her to do was to see reason. "I won't let them do that. Not to you."

She whirled on me. There was anger in her eyes, but it burned out quickly. "I let you in," she whispered, her eyes full of hurt.

"Aurelia—" I said, not knowing what to say.

"I didn't ask for your help. You volunteered. You…" A choked sob slipped from her lips. "I can't do this. I can't be here. I have to go."

Don't go was what I wanted to say. What I should have said. Instead, I just reached for her hand. But she slipped from my grasp, heading out into the hallway alone.

And I let her go.

Even though I had a damn good idea exactly where she was heading.