Chapter 35

When she was finally able to tear herself away from her family – the thought still caused her eyes to tear up – she made her way back to the Roci to let her friends know what was going on and that they didn't have to take her to Ganymede anymore. She also needed to gather her few belongings to move to her new room on the station.

On board, she found Naomi in the galley.

"Oye," she greeted as she stepped into the space.

"Hey," Naomi smiled. "How's your family?"

Of course, she already knew they were on the station, Nik thought. "They're great. Already settled in." She told Naomi the news about Lucky's apprenticeship and Maggie's job.

"That's good. Now you just need to find something, and you'll be all set."

"Think you can put in a good word for me?" she asked.

"Already have," Naomi cocked her head. "I'm surprised you haven't heard anything yet."

"We've only been here three weeks and I haven't been staying at the same place every night. Maybe hard for them to find me."

"Maybe. I noticed you haven't been staying on the Roci," Naomi said. "It seems like you've been avoiding us. Want to tell me why?"

Nik looked down at the table, not meeting the other woman's eyes. "I thought you guys might have had enough of me already," she lied.

"Nik…," Naomi began.

"And I didn't want to make saying goodbye any harder than it's already going to be," she blurted the truth. Again, with the damn tears, she thought as she swiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Naomi reached across the table and covered her hands; her long fingers cool against Nik's skin.

"I understand, I do, but pushing us away will only make it worse. And it's not like you'll never see us again. We're going to be docking here on a regular basis," she released Nik and leaned back. "Who knows? You might be doing repairs on the Roci the next time we dock."

Both women smiled at the thought.

"Taki, sésata," Nik told her. "For everything."

"Beltas have to stick together."

Letting Naomi know where she would be living, she went to pack up her stuff in her quarters. Everything she owned fit into a small bag and only took a few minutes to gather. Standing in the middle of the small space, she smiled sadly at the thought of leaving. Despite the SSAS, the bots, and the Martians, she had felt at home on the ship. Naomi, Holden, Alex, and even Amos had made her feel like one of them. Like she mattered. It was a strange feeling coming from a group of people she barely knew.

Slowly closing the wardrobe that had been her bed for a while, she turned to leave, only to come up short. Leaning against the door was Amos.

"Joining your family?" he nodded at the bag that she clutched to her body as if it were a shield.

"Ya, they have rooms with actual beds."

"Good."

"I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have kicked you."

"It didn't hurt."

"It doesn't matter. I don't know why I got so mad at you. You've been nothing but nice to me and I repay you by being a jerk and kicking you. I'm so stupid," she was babbling, but once she started, she couldn't stop. "I'm sorry. I mean…,"

She stopped talking abruptly when Amos crossed the room, lifted her up and against him and brought his lips down on hers in a hard kiss.

Nothing in all her years as a station rat had prepared her for this. She had instinctively wrapped her legs around his torso and grabbed his shoulders and now her body was pressed tightly against his enabling her to feel every muscle through their clothing. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of his lips against hers making a mockery of every fumbling kiss she had shared as a teenager. He kissed and sucked at each of her lips in turn, sending thrills of pleasure down her body.

The sudden coolness of the metal wall on her back was a stark contrast to the heat of his body where it touched hers. Pressing her against it, he released his grip on her waist with one hand, threading his fingers through her hair and using it as leverage to angle her head for better access to her mouth. It was a good thing Nik was hanging on tightly to his broad shoulders when he coaxed her lips apart and tasted the inside of her mouth because her legs turned to water at the sensation.

She had read romance stories that described the taste of a kiss as spicy or sweet and everything in between. Amos didn't taste like any of those; he tasted, well, like he was supposed to taste. Like how he smelled under the layer of grease and hot metal that she had come to associate with him, but better somehow. When she tentatively returned one of his caresses with her tongue, he tightened his grip on her hair almost to the point of pain and deepened the kiss.

All the unfamiliar sensations bombarding her were overwhelming and when he broke the kiss and drew back slightly, she was panting and couldn't open her eyes to meet his.

"Hey," he asked, concern in his voice, "are you okay?"

Forcing her eyes open, she met his clear blue eyes and nodded slightly.

"Ya, I just wasn't expecting that," she breathed with a shaky voice.

Amos frowned. "Want me to put you down?"

In response, Nik pulled him back to her and pressed her own kiss against his lips.

"No," she whispered against them.

Waking up a short time later, Nik was disappointed, but not surprised, to find she was in it alone. Rolling over, she saw Amos hadn't abandoned her, but was sitting at the table, still unclothed, the expression on his face impossible for her to read.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have...," she paused. What they did wasn't making love, but fucking seemed too crass to say out loud. "Would you have done that if I had?"

He snorted, "no."

Which was exactly why she hadn't told him she was a virgin.

"It's not my fault you just assumed I wasn't, so don't be pissed at me."

"How the hell was I supposed to know? You're twenty-four."

"Who was I supposed to fuck?" Now she was angry. Flinging the blanket back, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, ignoring her state of undress. "Two twelve year-old boys?"

"There were others on the station."

"Ya, and they all thought I was a kid. Do you know what kind of man wants to have sex with a kid?" She stood up and stalked over to glare down at him, "oh, wait, you do know. You saved me from two of them once."

He stood up to tower over her. "You should have told me," he said in an even voice.

"You know something? Fuck you!" she spat. "I should be laying there enjoying the aftermath of fantastic sex, but you just want to pick a fight. Get out!"

He just looked at her calmly, "does this mean you don't want to fuck again?"

That stopped her anger instantly as she realized that he wasn't angry. He asked her the question the same way he would ask her if she wanted to help him work on the rail gun or if she wanted a bowl of kibble. Unsure how to answer, she didn't answer immediately.

He nodded, "okay," and turned to leave.

"No, wait," she grabbed his arm to stop him. Taking a breath, she made up her mind quickly.

"Ya, I do. Do you?"

He turned back to her and smiled, "yeah."

Soaking up the heat coming from the man under her, Nik luxuriated in the afterglow of the incredible sex. On the verge of dozing off, she felt him shift.

"I'm starving. Want to get something to eat?"

"Huh?"

Amos turned slightly and lifted her off him and resettled her on the mattress beside him.

"Want to get something to eat?"

"No," she mumbled, "I'm going to stay here a little longer."

"Suit yourself," he shrugged as he rose and looked around for his clothes.

From between heavy eyelids, Nik watched him as he dressed and put his shoes back on. When he went to the door, he turned back to look at her laying in the bunk.

"See you later."

With those three words, he exited her room. When the door slid shut behind him, Nik's heart throbbed painfully in her chest and a tear slipped from her eye. Fortunately, she slipped into sleep before she could examine the aching emptiness too closely.

A/N: Finally! I've been waiting for this for ages! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. For those of you that want more, I wrote a stand-alone with more content and more hot and steamy sex. You can find it at the following link: s/13822660/1/No-Regrets-Sex-Scene-for-Calling-Calling-Home

Enjoy!