Sudden Storm [Tales of the Cidatel 21] by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

the evenings here. I pulled it to form the tree.”
    She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you. It is the first present I have ever gotten aside from my uniforms.”
    He chuckled and kissed her again. The heat sparked between them, and it had nothing to do with their talents.
    She opened the seal of his suit and peeled it back. Out of impulse, she traced the pattern of the swirls with her tongue.
    He shivered in her embrace, and his hands contracted on her waist.
    When his hands found the closure, she paused and kissed him again. It was her version of agreement, and he was astute enough to take her hint.
    The feel of his hands on her bare skin sent her head spinning, and she removed his uniform while he removed hers.
    They explored, teased, touched and tasted each other, and when he eased her to his bunk and moved over her, she stopped calculating her reactions and just felt the strange ease of mingling her body with a lover. The feel of being intimate with someone she trusted was completely new, and she enjoyed every second of it.
    When they were lying side by side, he stroked his hand down her ribs, over her hip and thigh and back again. “The people who designed you didn’t know what they were letting loose on the worlds. You are completely perfect.”
    She blushed. “You are quite exotic yourself.”
    He grinned. “I am going to ask you something very serious now.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “Will you share quarters with me?” He kissed her. “We can tell everyone we are conserving heat.”
    She laughed. “We both generate more heat than all the units in this expedition combined.”
    “So, why should we waste it?” He nibbled his way down her jaw and neck.
    “Why indeed?” She tilted her head to one side and let him work on convincing her.
     
    The next morning, she crept into her dome and tugged on a fresh suit after a flash shower. Her body was sensitive, and her heart was humming a cheerful tune that she had never felt before.
    She met Burn in the dining hall, and they sat next to each other while Storic took records of their progress as she shivered in her insulated robes.
    Under the table, their hands were woven together and their thighs touched. It was a comforting closeness that Vexa wanted to have again and again.
    Storic was saying, “So, tomorrow, we have a new assignment. Weeker needs help with a glacier. They need some time before their ice age takes over the continent and they need you two to help.”
    Vexa winced. “The professor won’t like that.”
    Burn grinned. “He will just have to go about his job like other archaeologists, and we will get to go play with a glacier.”
    Storic shuddered. “More ice. Wonderful.”
    Burn laughed. “We will take care of it. You can stay warm and toasty in the shuttle.”
    She smiled ruefully. “Fine. I will prep the shuttle for dawn take-off. I will leave you to inform the professor.”
    Vexa laughed. “Coward.”
    “Yup. You are the Specialists, I am merely a novice. Deal with it.” Storic ate her breakfast with a smug grin.
    Vexa ate her grain mash and kept the small smile on her lips.
     
    The smile stayed on her face all day no matter what the frantic professor asked her to do. Burn remained near her at all times, powering her efforts to open the city hall records of the frozen world so that current generations could find out what their social structure had been like.
    Her day passed quickly, and when she was done for the day and her dinner was gone, she and Burn paused in her quarters to gather her things before they retired to his dome for the night.
    They kept each other warm in the frozen darkness, and when dawn arrived, they were respectably dressed, a little flushed and ready to leave for Weeker.
    Storic was ready for the flight and eager to leave the site. She took off, and they were soon skimming through the blackness on their way to a jump site.
    Vexa got a little nervous, but Burn unbuckled her harness and pulled her