Lost Flyght – Chapter 10

A school of tropical fish swim by me as I make my way underwater towards the floating ring just a meter away. I love the peace that comes from swimming, but today, I’m not searching for peace. I’m searching for some fun. Spotting the ring, I get into position. I push off from the bottom and rocket to the surface with my hands up…

And tip Skylar straight into the water.

Laughter and clapping reach me across the calm waves from the shore. Gus gets to his feet, and Asteria pumps her arm.

“That’s right, Vivian! Show her who’s boss!”

They hoot and holler from their chairs in the cabana, but I don’t have time to laugh.

Skylar grabs me from below and pulls me under, and we wrestle for a moment before I wiggle away and get the floating ring for myself.

“Victorious,” I yell and then yelp as Skylar evicts me from it.

By the time I come to the surface again, she’s back in and splashing me with water.

“I win! It’s mine.” She kicks a massive amount of water my way, and I laugh and dodge.

Well, she was always a much better wrestler than I was when we were kids. Always more physical than me. I’m more devious, though.

“I know where you sleep,” I say, pointing at her and treading water.

“Same,” she counters and sticks her tongue out at me.

With a chuckle, I relax and let my body float up to rest on my back. I forgot how much I love to swim, at least when no sentient super squid are looking to drag me to my death. The oceans of Laguna are, thankfully, very tame and shallow. And with only one, small tidal-locked moon, the waves are calm at all times. I lie back and stare up at the blue sky, grateful my head is no longer pounding, and I feel better after a real breakfast.

“Hey, Sky.” I swim over to her and hang off the side of her ring.

“Yeah?”

I rest my head on my arms. “Do you think we did the right thing by not rescuing all those boys from Gai Reis?”

She lifts her head to look at me. “Yeah, Viv. We did the right thing. It’s other people who did the wrong things. There was really nothing we could’ve done.”

I hum as I swish my legs through the water. “I think about them all the time. In my prescient dream visions, I saw a young boy on his knees.”

“Did you recognize him from Gai Reis’s place?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know him. But I feel… obligated to help him, you know?”

Skylar thinks for a long moment, dipping her toes in and out of the water.

“He could be anybody. Maybe a future son or someone you’ll see randomly. We don’t know that he’s one of the Vir boys meant for the Lyceum.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.” She is right. I saw nothing else but the boy.

We’re quiet for a little bit, and I let my eyes rest on the floating dock about five meters away with its water slide, a diving board, and other floats piled on the deck. We’re the only ones out here today, though much farther down the beach is a party with music and dancing.

“So, are you up for having dinner at the resort tonight? Or can you go into town?” Skylar asks, bringing my thoughts back to our little slice of paradise.

“Sure. My headache is much better.”

“Good.” Her smile is too wide to be good for us. “My AI dealer wants to meet us all for dinner. I told him what we want and that we have the scratch for it.”

I roll my eyes. I doubt 20,000 credits or more is considered ‘scratch.’

“He’s got some new programmers on staff. Everything is certified now too. No more barely legal AIs.” She rubs her hands together. “He owes me big time for Ai, so I plan to put him through the wringer.”

“Sky!”

“That and I used to fuck him for fun, so I thought I might get some while we’re here.”

I let out a bark of a laugh. “Sure. Fine. Why not?”

We laugh and laugh, and then Skylar’s hand finds mine.

“I want to see you smile and be happy more. You’ve been a wreck since the fire on the Amagi.”

I smooth my free hand over my hair. “Longer. I’ve always been an anxious person, you know that.” She nods. “But it’s like someone has turned it up two hundred percent. I’m even anxious in my dreams. And now that I have Ken back and I told Jinzo I love him —”

She gasps. “You did?”

“Yeah. Was that a mistake?”

“No, of course not.” Her smile is warm. “I can tell you do.”

I sigh as I let go of her hand and pull my legs up under her in the water. “Yeah, but now I have so much more to lose.”

She shrugs. “That’s the nature of love. High stakes at all times. But totally worth it.”

She’s right, of course. She always is.

“I’m going to head in. You can let your AI guy know we’ll have dinner with him. Have Asteria set it up.”

“Will do.” She lays her head back on the float, and I turn for shore.

The swim to shore is leisurely, and the water is shallow enough for me to walk most of the way. Gus spots me and gets up from his chair with a fresh towel in hand.

“I swear you almost had her there. One more dunk and the float would’ve been yours.” He watches with great interest as I wrap the towel around me and the black bikini I wore today. I figure Gus has seen me naked, so I have little to hide.

“I let her win.” I wink at him. “She pilots my ship. I don’t want any funny business.”

“True that.”

I take the lounge chair next to Asteria. She’s in a black one-piece suit today.

“Skylar wants to have dinner someplace nice tonight. Her AI dealer wants to join us.”

Asteria pulls her sunglasses down her nose. “I only know one AI dealer here in Paloma, and if it’s who I’m thinking of, then we should have him out here to the resort where they can cut him off if he tries to drown us in expenses.”

Oh boy. I can only imagine what this guy is like.

“Okay by me.”

Asteria rises from her chair. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better, Vivian.” She ties a sarong around her waist and grabs a hat. “I’ll go for a walk and set up dinner. My flight out of here is just before midnight, so I’m sure we have enough time for a good feast.”

Gus and I watch her walk off down the beach. She seems happy and at peace, the ease of her steps reminding me of how I used to walk on my own property.

I need to get back to that.

Gus holds out his hand to me. “Would you like that massage now? I found the private massage room in the house.”

“There’s a private massage room?” I catch myself. “Of course, there is.”

He shrugs. “I figured there would be. This way, the masseuse can come to you, and you don’t have to go anywhere.”

My stomach stirs with lust. His hands on my bare skin? Yes. My chest heaves as my libido runs away with my thoughts. Jinzo told me to give Gus a chance. Ken would approve. Does Gus want to join us in my network?

I slip my hand into his. “Let’s go.”

—-

I decide right off on the walk back to the villa that I won’t play hard to get. If Gus wants me, then I’ll put it right out there.

Sure enough, the villa has a private massage room at the rear of the house. The room is quiet and dark, with black wood shelves in the corners holding about a dozen candles.

“See? Just what we need.”

Gus shifts past me into the room and lights the candles. Perfect.

I close the door behind him and remove my bikini top.

“Now, I’ll leave so you can get undressed…”

He turns around and sees me naked from the waist up. I hook my thumbs into the bikini bottoms and pull them down too. With a flick of my wrist, the bottoms end up in the corner. His eyes are steady on mine. I can practically hear his thoughts saying, “Don’t look at her. Don’t look at her.”

“No need,” I say, making my way to the table. I sit on the edge, bring my legs up, and roll over onto my front. Sighing, I moan just a bit at the end. It’s almost mean, and it’s certainly devious, but I’m determined to kiss him by the end of this.

His return sigh has a weary note to it, and I have to school my face to keep it straight. Smiling would be a giveaway.

The soft fabric of a towel slides over my butt, and Gus’s hands gently take each of my hands and bring them to my sides.

He clears his throat. “I think you’re trying to seduce me.”

“You don’t say.” I hold back a giggle, but my chest shakes.

He sighs again. “You’re making it really hard to be a professional about this.”

My eyes are closed, but I can hear him opening a bottle of massage oil and rubbing some between his hands. “I hope I’m making other things hard as well.”

He chuckles. “I knew you were trouble the day I caught you destroying your brother’s apartment.”

“Skylar’s trouble. I’m the responsible one.”

His hands start on my upper back, getting right into the knots I develop under my shoulder blades from sleeping scrunched up into a ball. I groan from the pain of releasing those knots. It’s both pain and pleasure at the same time, something I only allow in a massage. I’m not into that kind of kink.

“Where does it hurt the most?” he asks.

“Everywhere. Sorry. That’s not helpful.” My face slackens, and I let my lips relax. My face is being shmooshed into the headrest donut, and I usually hate that, but I give into it. “When did you learn massage therapy, anyway?”

“One of the many things I thought I’d do before nursing.” Gus switches to a Swedish approach, longer massage strokes that aren’t as painful as deep tissue. I’m already in heaven. If he left the room right now, I’d pass out on the table. So much for my seduction. “But my parents thought it was unseemly.”

“Unseemly? How?”

He’s quiet for a moment, working his magic on my back. “They think it’s what prostitutes do.”

I know where this conversation is going. “So, they’re traditionalists? Not as bad as ‘put the woman back in the kitchen’ but…”

“Yeah. I mean, Mom is the leader of the family. And they love the relationship network system like it’s a religion, but when it comes to occupations, it’s the military, or it’s surefire hell and damnation.”

“Ah.”

“This is why my two younger brothers live on Sonoma and don’t do much with their lives.”

I wince and hiss as Gus works on a hefty knot in my left shoulder. “Mother of Christ, that hurts.”

He pauses and lays his full palm gently on that spot, giving it a short rest. “Sorry. You are all knots. How do you live like this?”

The pain in my voice is switched to the highest setting. “I skate from one situation to the next without actually living. It sucks.”

“Sounds like it.” He picks up the massage again, working to my neck.

When I can get my voice back, I ask, “What about your older brother and sister?”

“Tiffani is the one getting married, and she’s in the military. Intelligence. Speaks like six languages.”

Super smart, then. Not surprising.

“And my older brother, Roberto, is also in the military, but he’s more of an academic. He teaches at the Rio Military Academy. Earth history. He served for five years after going to the Academy himself.”

“So, you’re the first to break with tradition?”

“You could say that.”

I just did, and something tells me I’ve struck a nerve.

“I’m not going to work too hard on your neck, or you’ll be in pain for days. As it is, I’ll give you pain killers and a lot of water after this.”

He picks up my arm, and pinning it to his side, he gets more oil and works on my biceps, triceps, and shoulder.

Jesus. My seduction plans are fading fast as my body lets go of all the worry I’ve carried for the last few weeks. And I know I’ll be in pain later after this too. There’s just no getting away from it.

“You should get massages regularly, especially with the stress you’ve been under. It would help keep you in shape.”

“Gus? Tell me more about your family.”

He’s quiet for a moment before he starts up with the descriptions and histories of all his brothers and his one sister. Gus is closer to his younger two brothers, Idris and Kade. They all formed a bond when the rest of the family went military. There’s a dividing line in his family, and it starts with him. When he graduated with his nursing degree, his family was just happy he had found something to do. But inheritances are only for the kids who went into the military, and his family trust funds will run out soon.

“I was able to stem the tide of income loss for a while with the hospital job, but… Well, you know. I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

I’m now a puddle of melted flesh as Gus works on my feet.

“What would have happened if you hadn’t joined up with me? If we hadn’t met?”

He sets my foot down gently on the table. “I don’t know. I probably would’ve worked for a few more years and burned out. Then maybe I would’ve moved on to something different. I still may do that.” He lays a towel over my back. “Here. Let’s do your front.”

“No. I think I’m done for now.” I roll over and hold the towel to my chest as I sit up. My head swims, but I concentrate on looking into Gus’s eyes. I reach out and take his strong hand in mine. “You’re not going to move onto something else because you’re going to stay with me.”

I drop the towel, pull him towards me, and reach up to his neck to bring his face to mine for a kiss. He’s kept his distance, and I should have asked for permission, but I know I’ve made the right choice when his lips meet mine. I’ve never kissed a guy with a beard before, but his lips and hair are soft on mine before he reacts and deepens the kiss. He’s hungry for me, grabbing at my waist and tugging me against him. His hands slip down my backside and cup my ass as he slides his tongue along mine.

Yes. This is everything I’ve imagined for the last few weeks. His lips. The way he smells. Everything.

Using the leverage in my arms, I raise my body up against his, pressing my naked skin against him. Oh yes, he’s rock hard. All he has to do is get rid of those clothes, and we can make the first step in our relationship happen.

Right here. Right now.

He inhales sharply and stumbles backwards, putting distance between us. My lips try to follow him, and I almost topple off the massage table before catching myself.

I know how I look right now. I can’t catch my breath, my lips are swollen, and my nipples are erect. He must be made of steel to deny his attraction for me. And he is attracted. It’s plain across his face and body.

“Vivian, we can’t… This will not end well if we keep going on this path.”

I just stare at him. My body and libido are overblown, and I can’t speak.

He takes a deep breath, and even though his eyes linger on my chest, he takes a step closer and keeps his hands to himself.

“You’re not the first woman to proposition me, but I learned a good lesson with her. When my family froze her out, she dropped me for someone easier. And my family will not be happy with anyone who isn’t military. Just because I didn’t join doesn’t mean I can’t marry or contract with someone who is. It’s what they want, and they’ve been trying to match me with someone for years.”

I finally find my voice. “Is that what you want?”

His eyes darken. “I know exactly what I want. I want to bend you over this table and fuck you until you see stars.”

Oh, God. All the blood in my body sinks to my lower half, and I’m now desperate for an orgasm.

“I want to fly the Duo Systems with you and Jinzo and Ken, and I want to see this farm you’re so desperate to save.” He reaches out to push my hair behind my ears. “I want to make love to you and hold you in my arms night after night.”

“I want that too.” It’s hard to say it when I know what’s coming next.

“But it doesn’t matter what I want. I would rather be here with you platonically than not at all. I meant it when I said I’d always be here for you. But you can’t afford another scandal, and I can’t afford to give up my family.”

Nope. No way am I settling for that excuse. Honestly, what’s one more scandal now?

I grab the towel off the massage table and slide to my shaky legs, pulling the soft cloth around me.

“I’m going to prove you wrong, Gus.”

He steps to the side as I bend over to grab my bathing suit from the floor.

“What are you going to do?” he asks.

I look him dead in the eyes. “I’m going to my room to masturbate and think of you.”

He deflates like I’ve just taken away his favorite toy.

“And then I’m going to buy a beautiful dress, go to your sister’s wedding with you on my arm, and negotiate my way to a better deal.”

I grasp the door handle.

“Vivian, I don’t think you can negotiate with my parents. It’s… It’s not the way things are done in my family.”

“Just you watch me.”

I head up to my room, lock the door, drop my towel, and navigate straight to the bathroom and the detachable showerhead. That’ll do the trick nicely.