CHAPTER FOURTEEN
He sat down on the couch, far enough away so that they wouldn't touch. His heavy weight made the small couch's cushions dip deeply.
"Give me your hand."
Startled, Claudia looked down at his outstretched hand. It was large, strong, tanned and rough-skinned. He didn't say anything else, just sat there calmly, large hand turned palm upward.
How long had it been since she'd felt a man's touch?
So long. So very long.
The last man's hand she'd held had been Roy.
Touching this man was crazy, but she suddenly craved his touch more than anything else in the world. Slowly, she reached a trembling hand out to him and laid it in his, tentatively, shaking inside. From cold. From exhaustion. From fear.
His grip was so warm it felt like a painless fires. The warmth made her cold hand tingled. She'd been so tense it had hurt to breathe though out the whole day but that tight steel band around her chest loosened slightly. And for the first time since waking up this morning, she took a deep shuddering breath, filling her lungs completely.
There was a tiny ball of warmth that was her hand encased in his.
It wasn't enough to dissipate the icy chill in her bones but it was enough to remind her system of the idea of warmth. Being frozen with shock—from burying Roy, Lisa, Rick—had numbed her feelings. But with his warm touch, the icy grip of shock loosened and with it her self-control. Despite her best efforts, a lone tear tracked down her cheek.
"Ah, shit," he said and reached over to pick her up. He didn't ask permission, and he didn't grab at her. He just lifted her up as if she was a child and a second later she was sitting on his lap, his arms around her.
"No, I can't—you.." She couldn't even get the words out; she was shaking so hard, trying to hold back the tears.
Crying wouldn't help.
Crying wouldn't bring Roy back.
Crying wouldn't get her life back.
Crying wouldn't help her figure out how to move on.
Claudia knew all that but being encased in Daniel Sinclair's warm, strong arms acted on her like a whiplash, and the tears were lying in wait, in a hot ball in her chest.
"Its okay, Claudia," he said and eased her head down on his shoulder with a gentle push and stroked her damp hair away from her face.
She shook her head sharply. No! No, it wasn't okay. Maybe it would never be okay again.
He smelled of rain, musk and man. Though his clothes were still slightly clammy from the unexpected rain that evening as they had gathered outside of the peace garden to say good-bye to Lisa and Skull Squadron, she could feel his body heat beneath the fabric. His skin warmed hers wherever they touched. Her forehead lay against his neck, right hand braced just above his heart. The beat was strong and slow.
She felt warm and safe for the first time in nearly eight years since that day.
He shifted her slightly to pull the warm blanket around her more tightly, and her hip came up against him. It took her a full minute to realize that it was his penis. His erect penis. Startled, Claudia lifted her head from his shoulder and met his eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted very slightly.
"It's okay," he repeated.
She held herself very still, barely able to move in the blanket encasing her like a cocoon. She shifted again, her hip rolling over him, and felt the ripple as his penis reacted to her touch.
A wave of pure heat rose from her in response.
The heat took her totally by surprise.
It had been so long since she'd felt anything like sexual heat, it took her a moment or two to even recognize it.
Looking into his dark eyes for what seemed like eternality, she finally understood. He wasn't going to make any demands on her.
And she wasn't going to, either.
The flash of heat was like a long-ago reminiscence of when she had been a normal woman. There wasn't anything remotely normal about her life now. She couldn't even remember how you were supposed to respond to something like this. Even if she wanted to do something, act on the unexpected, unwelcome heat, she couldn't.
Claudia Grant was beyond a normal life.
Beyond the healthy response of a woman to an attractive man. Dating, courtship, sex. All of that seemed like something people on another planet might do, not her.
Maybe on Earth, a man and a woman could meet and act on a strong tug, but not where she lived. Eight years ago, Claudia had moved to a planet of her own, spinning in deepest space. Pluto, maybe. Big and dark and silent and airless.
It was warm on her planet now, thought. In her dry clothes, inside the blanket, surrounded by a warm man, she could feel muscles relaxing that had been tense for so long. Claudia shifted until she was turned more fully into his arms, laid her had down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
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"Ten years…" Claudia said out loud as she pulled her coat tighter around herself and walked a little faster. "Let him go. It's time to move on…"
She'd known it would be cold tonight but she hadn't anticipated the cold winter wind. As she began to pick up her pace, street lights began to turn on, illuminating the almost empty sidewalk and casting a dream-like glow to the whole area. But it went unappreciated by her for her thoughts are of yesterdays and the people whom she hadn't been able to leave behind.
"Claudia!" A voice called from behind her and she stopped. When she turned to look back, her breath hitched and a small smile came into her face as he stepped into the light.
"Daniel! What are you doing here? We didn't expect you until tomorrow evening. When did you get in? And why didn't I know about it?"
"I wanted to surprise you," he said and smiled his dazzling smile when he reached her. "You look, well…"
"Thanks. I think," she said affectionately. "Well" is not exactly what a girl wants to hear about herself but I guess it's better than…"
"You haven't been taking care of yourself," Sinclair cuts in and lifted her face up to him for inspection. He studied her features, though he didn't really need to. By now her face was hardwired into his brain, he'd thought and dreamed of her so much.
Most women had physical flaws; they were only human, after all. Makeup and hair covered a lot of defects. In his life, he'd woken up many a time next to a woman who'd seemed like a looker in the darkness of a bar simply because she'd acted like one, only to find out in the morning that the looks were tricks of light and makeup and behavior.
Lisa Hayes was the only woman he'd known, loved but never been with who was truly beautiful to him, inside and out. Her beauty was all hers: fine features, good bones, perfect skin. Nothing short of death could wipe it out. And now, Claudia Grant.
"I see bags and dark shadows under your eyes. You're tired, exhausted and a good wind would knocked you down. You haven't been eating, I can tell…"
"Okay, mommy. Your point taken," Claudia teased and elbowed him but he didn't seem to notice her interruption.
"…but other then that, you're beautiful, Claudia. I've missed you," Sinclair finished and lifted her hands, turned them upward and raised them to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss in each palm.
Two years ago, at the lowest point in her life, she'd fallen asleep in his arms so he knew her body trusted him but her head didn't though, not yet. Eventually it would. He'll make sure of it. For too long now, he'd let life pass him by. Watched as others lived the life he'd dreamed about but no more.
The gesture was tender and unnerving. He kept his lips against her right palm, his gaze calm and direct.
She couldn't lie to him. She had missed him, missed him more than she'd wanted. "I'm glad you're here, Daniel," she said and pulled him into her. She held onto him with all her strength.
When she did let him go and finally looked up into his eyes, she saw heat and love in his gaze. She knew what was coming and held her breath.
He moved his head the few inches necessary to cover her mouth with his, lips settling gently over hers. He didn't fumble, angling for the right fit. He found it fight away, tongue slowly entering her mouth in a kiss so warm and coaxing that all the thoughts that had been circling around and round her head, in an endless loop of worry, guilty and loneliness disappeared.
"You're not alone," he whispered, the words a hot breath against her neck.
This was too much. The tenderness, the patience, the soft caress against her hands, the gentle grip—it was too much. All the fear and loneliness and despair of her past rose up and seized her by the throat. A single tear slipped out of her eye and slid down her cheek.
"I … I have missed you," she whispered.
She smelled so wonderful. It wasn't perfume; it was more subtle than that. Some mixture of soap and shampoo and warm woman, blending into an unmistakable mix. The smell of Claudia.
"Let's get you home," he said and took her hand in his.
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"You're kidding, right?" Roy asked and looked at Lisa in disbelief. "I mean, this is a joke?"
"No. This is not a joke, Commander Fokker…"
"But--- how?"
"Maybe I can answer that Commander Hayes," Breetai replied before Lisa could answered and step forward to address the group.
"As you know, your ship's main power core was damaged during the last attacked just before we spacefold. To compensate, I had to use my ship's jump drive to pull both of the ships into the spacefold. We are where we're supposed to be…"
"But fifteen years late!" Someone yelled from the back.
"No, not late," Breetai answered and continued. "We are exactly where we're supposed to be. But something happened during the fold, what, we don't know."
"So we jumped fifteen years into the future!" Another yelled out again from the back.
"In a way, yes." Exedore answered. "But, no. It's like this, time continued without us during the fold…"
Swearing and loud angry voices irrupted as frustration and fear permeated the room. Lisa knew she was going to have a riot on her hand if she didn't do something quick.
The door to the conference room suddenly opened and someone yelled out attention on deck. Everyone in the room automatic went into attention and silence reign.
Surrounded by twelve heavily armed guards, Gloval walked into the room and returned their salute but said nothing for a long time. He just stared at each of them, his gaze lingeringly on Lisa and then moving to Breetai and Exedore.
"Permission to speak, Sir," Lisa said but was ignored by Gloval.
"We have listed each of you as MIA and after seven years were declared dead. As you have arrived in a Zentraedi battlecruiser and accompany by them you can understand our hesitation in accepting you as humans or your claims to who you are. Also I would like to point out that both of your cruisers are being surrounded by our fighters as we speak. No one is going anywhere or speaking to anyone until your identities are confirmed."
"Any test you need to perform to confirm our identities, Sir, you may start with me," Lisa said and stepped out from the line.
"Li--" Rick protested but he was quickly silenced by Roy.
"Are you expecting torture and mayhem, Commander?" Gloval asked and hid an amused smiled behind his mustache. "A simple blood test is sufficient."
With nod of his head, two medical officers came into the room and Lisa rolled up her sleeve.
"Since our last battle with the Zentraedi we have learned a few facts," Gloval said. "Their DNA is slightly different then humans for they were genetically enhanced and created," he continued and stared at Breetai and Exedore as if challenging them to contradict him.
After a while, he turned to Lisa. "Your DNA will be matched with that of the person you claimed to be. We will know in minutes if you're not Commander Lisa Hayes. If this is some kind of a trick, pray to whatever gods you believe in because I will personally make sure you meet them with haste. "
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"Are you ready to listen to me?"
She nodded and lifted herself up on her elbow. If he wanted to talk to her, he deserved to see her face.
"First off, I love you, Claudia. I think that needs to be said up front. I don't imagine that would be a huge surprise to you."
It wasn't surprise. It was recognition. The huge jolt your system gives when you life moves on to another track and you've just noticed.
"I love you too, Daniel." She didn't even have to think of it. The words came welling up from deep inside her, and it was the truest thing she'd ever said in a long time.
He nodded again, his hard mouth lifted in a half smile.
"Figured that might be the case. It makes what comes next a whole lot easier to say. I can never be Fokker and I don't plan to. I think we both know that I don't need to. Claudia, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We've wasted a lot of our lives already waiting for others. It's our time now and we'll do it together."
Her heart simply melted.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Hey," Daniel said, alarmed. "What's the matter? I thought--"
She shut him up by leaning forward and kissing him, a soft brushing of lips, lifting away before he took control of it and they ended up rolling around in the sheets again. Sex with Daniel was wonderful, but there were things she needed to say.
"I'd love to spend the rest of my life with you too, Daniel."
"Yeah." He didn't even try to hide his relief. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. So I guess that leaves just one more thing to wrap up?"
"Mm?"
He fumbled for her hand. To Claudia's surprise his hand trembled. That steady hand that had always been there for her in the last seven years actually shook. Amazing.
He took in a deep breath. "Claudia Grant, will you marry me?"
Her mouth dropped open, and her mind went blank.
Oh God, oh God.
They stared at each other. A bead of sweat formed on Daniel's temple and slowly rolled down his face.
Marriage. A lifetime with this man. This wonderful man who'd brought her back to life again.
Marriage. Children.
Marriage…
Yes! A thousand times yes.
The word couldn't make it past the boulder in her chest, so she nodded, the tears falling again, harder and faster than before.
She breathed in sharply and the word made it through her tight throat. "Yes, oh yes!"
She threw herself at him.
He caught her.