Mission: Relaxation, Part I

May 11, 2009 on 12:01 am | In SS-Elise, Serial Story | No Comments

Cavanaugh James rubbed a hand over her face. She wanted some food and sleep. She knew herself well, though, and knew that she was too wound up to sleep just yet. With only twelve hours until her next shift, she didn’t want to waste any of it lying in her bunk counting Earther sheep. No, she needed relaxation – and she knew just how to get it. A tiny smile tilted the corners of her mouth in anticipation: some of the tension of the past twenty hours began to seep away.

Smooth ceraglass paved the level 28 main corridor, the pale gray of the walls nearly white against the shiny blackness. The low heels of her uniform boots made no sound on the hard surface thanks to the dampening material. At the delta intersect, Cav turned toward the port side exterior of the ship. The ship was designed for ease of movement. Each level had a main corridor loop. Off the main corridor the intersects ran the width of the ship. Crossing the intersects were offshoot corridors running lengthwise to the ship. Find an intersect and you ended up back at the main loop corridor.

Ignoring the interior offshoots, she strode easily to the end of the intersect at the terminal offshoot – and the door leading to the Relaxation Lounge. Just seeing the doors caused an expectant tingle in her nipples. She really did need this.

The sibilant hiss of the doors sliding open disappeared in the buzz of collected crew. Cav surveyed the social lounge, her gaze skipping over and cataloging faces. She smiled at acquaintances seated at the small round tables and at the bar, nodding to acknowledge greetings. She glanced at the door leading to the Intimacy Lounge, tempted to skip food and go straight to sex. Her stomach growled, warring with her still-tingling nipples. Her stomach won this round – if she had sex first she’d never make dinner.

Mentally laughing at herself, she headed for the bar. She grabbed the stool next to Dhaji Reese, the main propulsion engineer. His dark eyes seemed nearly black in the soft light of the lounge, fathomless and tempting. His eyes were his best feature, the rest of his face a mismatch of Earther cultures. The mix escaped homeliness by the grace of those eyes and a truly amazing smile. Despite his looks – or maybe because of them – Dhaji was one of the most talented bed partners she’d had the pleasure to enjoy. Though she enjoyed a number of occasional partners, she sought Dhaji regularly.

“Hey, Dhaji. How’s it going?” She put her food request into the station computer.

He turned toward her, flashing that stunning smile. “Cav. I’m good. How are you? Anything exciting up in Ops?”

“Nothing much.” She lied without qualm. Until Ellery cleared it, she couldn’t say anything about possible pirate attack. Hopefully good sex would distract her from that mess.

“Anything from the family? They must be excited over Kolkka’s promotion.”

“How’d you hear about that?” Cav quirked a brow at him. She’d found out about her older brother’s new command yesterday. Her mom had called from the Galactic Service Academy to tell her and she’d conferenced in Cav’s other brothers, Riy and Hathcock, letting them know that Kol would be taking command of a star runner.

“Oh, I have my own sources,” he told her cagily.

Cav’s lips twitched. “Dex.” Dex Hiroshitu oversaw the Weapons shop of Operations: same thing she did for Intel. He’d been on hand when she’d received the call from her mother, and he’d been at the Academy with Dhaji.

“Got it in one.”

“I’m smart like that.” The section of bar in front of her chimed softly, glowing. She touched the panel to approve the order before the converter delivered her meal.

Dhaji eyed the bowl of soup in front of her. “Did you miss dinner again?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed, spooning up the hearty broth. “We had a briefing.” An ugly briefing in which some very nasty little surprises had come to light. Shawn kept it under his hat for now because nothing could be done until the escort vessel arrived. Well, aside from convincing the Captain to hold off on engine upgrades. Having the weapons offline for those few hours might be catastrophic.

“You just here for food?” Dhaji’s question snapped her out of her musings.

She tilted him a look, noting how he pressed his too-thin lips together. “No. I’m too wound up to sleep right away.”

He rolled his glass between his hands. He did have nice hands. “Anything specific in mind?”

“Are you interested? I just need a couple of good orgasms to relax me into sleep.”

“I’m definitely interested. But if you think you’re going to pass out, we should pass on the lounge and go for personal quarters.”

“You’re right about that,” Cav agreed. Her spoon clattered in the empty bowl. “Your quarters are closer.”

Smiling, Dhaji pushed off his barstool. He held out a hand to her. The scrape of calloused skin over smooth shivered up her arm, peaking her nipples. Awareness shimmered between them as she walked with him out of the lounge.

Cav leaned her head on his shoulder once they were in the lift, not for any romantic reason, but for comfort. She liked Dhaji, enjoyed his company, enjoyed the sex, but no romance sparked between them.

Engineering quarters occupied level 35, a mix of junior officers quarters and crew quarters. Junior officer quarters were far from luxurious, but at least the Mercy provided individual quarters. Cav’s first posting after the academy had been a patrol scout with a crew of 15, and only the commander rated private quarters. The rest of them shared two eight-bunk cabins, officer and enlisted alike. No room for privacy or ego in such cramped conditions.

Holding her to his side, Dhaji pressed his palm to the identilock.