If she offered him tea one more time, he didn’t care how beautiful she was, he was going to kill her.
Here he was. A master con artist, thief, and pride of the Valentine family. He was pretending to be a Wayist Acolyte when he was really a spy for the FTA. On the biggest, most beautiful warship he had ever seen. His job was simple. Spy on the fake he was with pretending to be Serenity Singh Khalsa. Find out who’s working for the Restors pretending to be Wayists, and use them to catch the big honcho at the top of the food chain Restor contact list. If need be, use the Andromeda and her access codes as bait.
There were only two problems with the plan. One was that Rocket was now the newest first officer on the Andromeda. A Valentine does not fuck over relatives. Why? Because ultimately in this universe, it is your family that protects you. It doesn’t matter if you are related by blood or marriage or whatever. Your family is your lifeline, your food, your hope. So never, ever fuck over your family. That was Ignatius’ legacy right there.
The other problem kept offering him tea. And after three weeks of fucking Trance when he was hiding out on the Maru, substituting for a vacationing Harper, Trance Gemini should know how much he hated tea. And yet, she was acting as if those three weeks never happened.
Although a hug and a kiss would have been nice instead of an offer for cinnamon peppermint chamomile ginseng tea.
Not that she should have run up to him, pinned him to the wall and had her way with him on sight. Believe it or not where sex was concerned Rafe was a lot more discreet. Unless there was a scam involved, that is. Trance was the same way in that department.
Maybe this was Trance’s way of coming to terms with Rafe’s new status as an Acolyte. If the tables were turned and one of his former lovers had become a priestess, he’d be weirded out by it. Not that either of them should ever be ashamed of what went on between them during those three weeks. Rafe sure as hell wasn’t, but he got the impression Trance was afraid Rocket would kill him if she knew. She was right; Rocket probably would try to kill them both if she did.
Then again, Trance was the type of woman who was discreet about everything. Which would make finding out how the Maru crew wound up as the Andromeda’s crew that much harder to get than Rafe would have liked.
It would have been easier on his job if Trance wasn’t so beautiful, though.
God, did Rafe hate drinking tea. But if he was going to
pull this off, he had to play the monk around everyone. Even Trance. So
every time she offered a steaming cup of Divine knows what simmering in
hot water, he took it with a smile and a blessing in her
direction.
At least now that he was in the privacy of his own quarters, Rafe could take off the Wayist robe and be himself once he set privacy mode. He did remove the robe, and the black sleeveless shirt underneath, leaving only his leather pants. “Man, it is great to be who you are again.”
Rafe let himself fall back on his bed with a sigh and began to nod off. He was almost asleep when he heard a knock coming from the door. Rafe grabbed his robe and quickly put it back on before opening the door.
And there stood Trance, in her multicolored skin tight clothes and pigtails. In her hands was a tray of freshly grown vegetables, some of which he’d never seen, and you guessed it: orange cranberry mint tea. Every flavor he couldn’t stand all simmering in one cup with a teaspoon of honey imported from Meridian. Rafe visibly twitched but managed to keep that smile on his face. “Yes Trance, how can I help you?”
“Hi Rafe.” Trance beamed. “I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, talk over old times. I brought you some tea.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Rafe stepped aside to let Trance in.
Trance put the tray down and looked at Rafe. “You seem a little… upset.”
Rafe closed the door and reinitiated privacy mode. “Trance, how long have you and I known each other?”
Trance wrinkled her nose. For a split second, he could see the innocent little girl that Harper and Beka saw. It made the relationship he had with her a year before suddenly feel a little dirty. “Counting the time you were away? A year.”
“Then you’ve known me long enough to know I hate tea.”
“But Wayists are only allowed organically grown…”
Rafe moved so he could be close enough to inhale the grassy smell he always associated with Trance. “I know what we’re allowed. But I still can’t stand tea.”
“Oh. Do you want me to get you some juice then?” Trance turned and headed for the door with a frown. Rafe grabbed her arm to stop her.
“No, I want you to stay. Just please, no more tea, okay?” Rafe pulled her into a hug, resting his head on top of hers. When he felt her settle into the hug, he smiled. “I missed you by the way.”
“Not enough. You never sent us any messages. We had no idea what happened to you after you left.”
“I know. I did a lot of thinking about what I should be doing after I did. And… I met someone.” Rafe expected Trance to push away and leave, stiffen up and close herself off from him. In her shoes he probably would have done it. Instead Trance looked up at him with her big brown eyes and nodded.
“What happened?” Trance pulled back, looking concerned. Not angry, just concerned.
Wow.
Rafe hated to have to lie to Trance, but he needed to keep his cover. He settled on a half truth instead. “Well, she uh… she died and for a long while, I was a mess. But then I met up with Serenity and my life changed.”
“Rafe...” Trance buried her face into Rafe’s chest and sighed. He felt her hands move down his chest slowly to the tie on his robe. He wanted to see where she was going with this, needed to have Trance touch him all of a sudden, but instead he reached out and stopped her. Damn undercover work.
“Trance, we can’t…”
“Yes, we can. I know you’re not really an Acolyte. I can feel the leather pants under the robe. Besides, you left your shirt on the bed.” Trance pointed to the bed and sure enough, there was his black sleeveless shirt. His cover was blown. “And that is not Wayist issue, is it?” Trance stared back up at him.
“Trance, what makes you think that -” Rafe felt Trance’s fingers on his lips, silencing him.
“Please, don’t try to con a thief, okay? I just want to know, is the Andromeda in any danger here?”
It figured. Trance pegged him the night she met him almost as quickly as he pegged her, and she pegged him now. That was what Rafe found so attractive about Trance: the fact that she could spot a con a mile off and yet no one other than him could spot hers that he could see. It should scare him that he didn’t know what her real motives were. But instead, Rafe found it intoxicating.
Just imagine what kind of a team the two of them could make. The very idea alone got him hot.
He shook his head. “Probably not. I should be able to do what I need to without anyone getting hurt.”
“And you’re not trying to swindle the Wayists, right?” Trance was studying his face intently, probably to see what his intentions were like. She mumbled something once about the importance of intentions in the afterglow of sex. Rafe had to admit, he was only half listening to her that day.
“No. This has to do with something I need to do to clear my slate with the FTA.” It was the only answer he could give her, but at least it was the truth. “Are you going to tell Dylan or Rocket?”
Trance shook her head. “I probably won’t need to. Dylan and Beka can both read people incredibly well.”
“I know Rocket already suspects. You think Dylan suspects too?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. But he won’t do anything about it unless the Andromeda herself is in trouble.” Trance closed her eyes briefly before that childish grin of hers returned. “Okay, I trust you.”
Rafe started to play with one of Trance’s pigtails. He didn’t like the way they looked on her in the least. “So, now what?”
Trance gave Rafe a grin that reminded him of Rocket at the age of five in a candy store and started undoing the tie of his robe again. “Let’s catch up?”
Rafe hesitated. “Won’t the ship see?”
“Not in privacy mode. In fact, we can be as loud as we want to.” Trance let the tie to Rafe’s robe drop to the floor and started to pull the robe up his body. Rafe helped and as he was pulling the robe over his head, he felt Trance’s hands pulling down the zipper of his pants. He could feel her tugging his pants down as his robe hit the floor and he pulled her into a long, deep kiss.
It had been months since he first became an Acolyte, and longer since he kissed anyone. It felt great.
Trance broke the kiss and dropped to her knees and began licking at Rafe’s belly button. Rafe took the elastics out of Trance’s hair, letting it fall around her face as he played with the blonde, pink, and purple strands.
“When did you decide to put streaks… Oh, God.” Rafe bit his lip and looked down. Trance was looking right back up at him as she took his cock into her mouth. He suddenly felt weak in the knees. Reaching behind him, he felt the table Trance set the tray on and leaned against it so he wouldn’t fall over.
Trance let out a series of high pitched sounds as her head began to bob. The sound vibrated around him as she moved, sliding her tongue up against the underside of his cock as she did so. Rafe could have sworn he could feel it as far down as his knees.
He couldn’t think after her fingers cupped his balls, nor could he control himself as he began to thrust in her mouth. He was so close he could feel it.
Trance pulled back and stood up. Turning her back, she let Rafe pull down the zipper to her jumpsuit while she kicked off her boots. There wasn’t any underwear to remove. Turning to kiss him, she led him to the bed. And then she climbed in, she got onto her hand and knees and looked at him.
Rafe didn’t need any more encouragement. He slid in from behind her, kissing and nipping at her back and shoulders. Trance began to thrust backwards, setting up a quick, hard rhythm that matched the frequency of the sounds she was making. Neither of them lasted long. Rafe came hard, pulling the both of them down onto their sides as he felt Trance following him.
The last thing he remembered before blacking out was Trance
cradling him on the bed…
--------------------------------------------------------
Rafe opened his eyes to find himself in his bed. He looked around to find Trance sitting next to him, back in her jumpsuit with a cup of tea in her hands. She was grinning at him.
“Hi. I was getting worried.”
Rafe smiled. “That was amazing.”
Trance’s cheeks turned a plum color as she blushed in response. “I hope you don’t mind, but you did say you don’t like tea, so I thought I’d drink it.”
Rafe leaned over and kissed Trance. Her lips tasted of orange, cranberry and mint. Normally he hated the combination, especially if he had to drink it as part of a tea. But on Trance, it may as well have been the Triangulum Galaxy’s best chocolate he was sampling. “How long was I out?”
“Five, maybe ten minutes.” Trance took another sip and put the cup of tea on the table.
Rafe stood up to get dressed. “I need to get back to Serenity.”
Trance frowned. “I know. Will we see you again after this?”
“Sooner or later. But I probably won’t be going by Rafe anymore once I’m done with my job for the FTA. I hope… I hope Rocket will understand.”
“I’ll do what I can do make her understand.” Trance stood and put her arms around Rafe, hugging him from behind.
He knew Trance would understand, at least.
Rafe wanted to stay when he was done, but he couldn’t even if it were offered. Problem was, his little job for the FTA would only clear his record with the FTA. He was wanted elsewhere. Turning around he kissed Trance. “We should be getting back before they wonder what in the galaxy you could be confessing.”
Trance grinned, and let him out his quarters. Once outside she decided to steal one final kiss…
“Trance?”
Rafe broke the kiss, looking up. It was the weapons officer, Tyr. Uh oh.
Trance beamed and gave him a child like expression. “Oh, hi Tyr. I just wanted to say goodbye to Brother Rafe. He’s leaving with his Serenity soon and who knows how long it will be before we get to see him again.”
Tyr raised an eyebrow and looked between Rafe and Trance. “You never kiss any of us like that when we go on vacation.”
Trance blinked innocently. “Uh… do you want me to?” Trance wrapped her arms around Tyr and gave him a chaste kiss. “Better now?”
Rafe bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud at Tyr’s
expression. He grabbed Trance’s hand for her safety. “I think the Nietzschean
just means that your display of affection was merely unusual. Come, let
us go check on Serenity.”
-- End --