Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

33. The Best Laid Plans

"I have to say... you are full of surprises, Pirate Queen," Nova whispered, as she leaned in and her breath tickled against his neck.

She didn't reply, but shifted in his arms and pressed her body closer against his with a sigh. He could feel her chest rise and fall at a ragged pace, like his own. Despite his exhaustion, he found his thoughts trail away as he pondered the numerous enjoyable things they could still do together.

"I never expected this from you, but... I could really get used to this," he said, and found himself grinning at the thoughts that crossed his mind now.

"Shh..." she hushed him, as she huddled closer into his embrace.

With their bodies so close and their limbs intertwined, he felt her every muscle as she moved. She was leaner than the type of woman he usually preferred, but she definitely had curves in all the right places. He hummed contently.

"Could you move your shoulder a bit – yeah, right there," she instructed him, and he obliged. He could feel her right hand brush against his hip and the side of his torso as she brought it up and behind his back. Her soft touch cast pleasant shivers on his body.

"Like that – yes, perfect," she mumbled.

He silently agreed, despite the fact that their position was not particularly comfortable for him, thanks to her pointy hip bone that sharply dug into his body now. He ignored the pain and held still, focusing on the soft parts of her body instead as she rested against him. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and just listened to her breath as it calmed down and became steadier again, faintly brushing across his cheek. His trailing thoughts calmed down too, and his exhaustion made him begin to feel drowsy. Suddenly, she moved again, her thigh ended up pressed against his crotch, and he was wide awake again.

"Wow. You really know what you want, Pirate Queen," he murmured in a husky voice. "I like that in a woman."

She leaned back a bit to look up at him. Her cheeks were still flushed with red and her hair was disheveled, a few strands of white hair mingling with the black on the other side of her head. She looked more beautiful than ever, even as she narrowed her eyes at him and cast him an irritated glance.

"Nova, shut up. Or I'll bash your teeth in," she hissed.

The irritation in her voice caused him to chuckle. He had always found her feistiness endearing.

"I don't think there's room for you to land a punch," he commented, grinning at the woman he held embraced, even as she rolled her eyes and averted her gaze again.

"I never said I'd use my fists," she mumbled as she leaned forward again. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

"You know, I just wondered what happened to the last guy who kissed you," he mused as he looked down at the top of her head.

"He died an agonizing, slow death from asphyxiation and heart failure," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Hm. Sounds like it's totally worth it."

She groaned and shifted her weight on top of him again.

"Will you shut up now, I'm trying to hack here."

"I'd help you but..." he raised his scarred hands just as much as the extremely small maintenance tunnel they were crammed into allowed him to. "...You know".

This wasn't exactly how he had expected events to unfold, but all things considered, he found was quite content with the situation. Surely, her plan had completely gone south, and now they were in mortal danger, on the run from a horde of angry hunters and scandroids. They had barely managed to shake them off – having combat augments had given them both a certain edge over them in terms of endurance - and fled by crawling through the maintenance tunnels until they had found a node that she could hack to create a distraction.