Out in the Black Ch. 01

This is a book-length work, so not every chapter will involve sex. If you're just looking for a quick wank, this probably isn't your story.

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I stopped in the airlock and sighed happily, closing my eyes and stretching my arms out to either side. It was good to be home. The hockey game had been diverting, but the noise and the smell and the crush of bodies in the crowd was more than I was used to. Despite having grown up on Earth, at some point over the last decacycle or so, I had become a spacer.

"Cap," a voice said, startling me. Blood rushed to my cheeks as if my observer somehow knew my thoughts. Standing at just under two meters tall with the broad, attractive features of a football player in the old Earth vids that were my secret guilty pleasure - not the handsome quarterback, though; more his less pretty, still stupidly hot best friend - Carter Rust was a spacer by birth. If he thought for an instant I considered myself any kind of spacer, I would never hear the end of it.

"Rusty," I said, keeping my voice casual.

"Welcome back." My engineer gave me a grin that set my pulse racing. I forced myself to meet his eyes and give him a nod; hiding the way my body reacted to him had become second nature in the half cycle since we'd launched the Marzipan Dream.

"We have company," I told him, jerking my thumb back over my shoulder. Rusty looked where I indicated and his eyes widened when he caught sight of the colorful group of terrans making their way toward the ship.

"Fucking hell, Cap." I gave a half shrug and an apologetic look as I continued into the ship. Appearances notwithstanding, I wasn't any happier about the visitors than he was. The entire Sol system believed I was the flighty social butterfly they saw on their entertainment feeds, and continuing to cultivate that image helped keep my crew and me in fuel and other essentials, but at that moment all I wanted was a hot shower and my bed. Instead, well...

"Marvelous! Simply marvelous, Carolinas!" The speaker swayed his hips in an exaggerated manner as he strode up the ramp to the open airlock, his wide skirts making a shushing noise that was accented with tinkling bells. Only Governor Philip DeBarge would have tiny bells sewn on an inner layer of his clothing so they would be heard but never seen. The head of the Pacifica government was possibly the most obnoxiously ostentatious person I'd ever met, and that was saying something since I regularly interacted with the richest people in the system.

Pasting a smile on my face, I turned and faced the small group that followed the governor. The three other men were attired in an eye-searing array of colors; one of the women wore intricately patterned black and white and the other was enviably comfortable in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I'd found my eye drawn to that one all evening, wondering how she fit with the group I had been forced to join when my attempt at attending the game incognito was foiled by the giant display screen zooming in on my face. I was still rather irritated about that, but no matter. "Welcome aboard the Marzipan Dream," I declaimed expansively, with a sweeping gesture. I caught a glimpse of Rusty's face out of the corner of my eye and bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a laugh. He knew I was overdoing it and I was pretty sure Ms. Green Eyes back there did as well, but the others preened, accepting my over-the-top attention as only their due.

"As you can see, this is where we store our cargo, which mainly consists of supplies such as extra fuel." I droned on about the magnets that held the crates in place and how weight affected our resource consumption as I tried to ignore the feel of Rusty's eyes on me. The first time I had met him, he had taken my breath away. Since that day, his pull on my attention had only become stronger.

"Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, I can't believe it!" Rusty's exclamation distracted me mid-word and my mouth still hung open a bit when I turned to see the cause. There was a feminine squeal as Ms. Green Eyes jogged away from the tail end of the group and jumped into his arms. A tendril of jealousy sprouted in my gut and I stomped viciously on it, grinding it under my metaphorical heel. Carter Rust was not mine to be jealous of.

"Looks like they know each other," I joked, keeping my voice light and my smile easy. Long practice ensured my face did not show any emotion I didn't want seen. The entire group had turned to watch as the two put their heads together, talking quietly enough I couldn't catch their words from where I was standing. As the conversation between my engineer and his acquaintance showed no sign of ending anytime soon, I decided to move on rather than allow the awkward silence among the rest of us to grow. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you through the fitness center, where the magic happens." I gestured ostentatiously toward my torso, the contours of my hard-earned muscles well displayed in the fitted shirt I was wearing. There was a smattering of laughter to which I feigned offense before grinning and continuing the tour of the ship.

Without Rusty's presence to distract me, I was reminded of why I usually went out of my way to avoid contact with people like Governor DeBarge: the man was a complete bore. He was one of those people who thought everything he said or did was fascinating and he insisted on relating anecdotes in minute detail. Naturally, each feature of the ship I pointed out spawned yet another association for him to tangent on about. By the time we reached the command deck, I was ready to space myself to avoid listening to him twist one more piece of information into a treatise on why Philip DeBarge was single-handedly responsible for all that was good in the system. Unfortunately, surrounded as we were by Earth's atmosphere, throwing myself out of an airlock wouldn't do much good.

The others weren't much better. Had DeBarge not been present, their sarcastic praise and backhanded compliments would have been intolerably rude. As it was, I mainly ignored the lot of them. Despite my abhorrence of guests of a certain sort on the Marzi, I had been roped into giving enough of these tours that my mind could wander while my mouth continued its spiel. Even the jokes had become part of the script, the responses predictable enough I could have planned those out as well. I really hate this part of the job, I thought to myself while smiling brightly around at the governor's party.

One wouldn't think it would be possible to be bored while sharing a bed with two people who could tick most of the boxes on a conventional attractiveness checklist. Regardless, I found my mind wandering later that night as the governor and his mistress used my body for their pleasure. After the tour, I'd been dragged to dinner. I managed to excuse myself from the subsequent clubbing, and I wasn't able to completely suppress my sigh when DeBarge and the woman in black and white - who turned out to be his consort, Lilium - followed me. The situation had not been unexpected, though I had allowed myself to harbor a slight hope they would prefer the company of their friends over an evening in my bed.

My body went through the motions, smiling and giggling and returning kisses and caresses, and neither of my partners knew or cared that there was no real desire behind my actions. As they undressed one another, I took the opportunity to inject one of the small stock of Aphroditis hypos I kept on hand for such occasions. I couldn't afford to offend a person with the governor's political clout, nor did I wish to suffer the consequences to my reputation should there be rumors about my ability - or inability, as it were - to perform. I'd been lectured repeatedly by both my XO and the ship's doctor on the potential side effects of overuse of the drug. I accepted the rebukes and promised I would be careful, keeping the fact that I used them to keep us all employed safely in my head.

By the time DeBarge and the woman were paying attention to me once again, my cock was fully erect and they took it as a sign of their own attractiveness, as was intended. The slight dilation of my pupils and faint blue tinge under my fingernails went as unnoticed as my lack of enthusiasm as we fell onto my bed in a tangle of limbs. Years of practice and the constant tide of gossip that washed through the upper levels of the system's social hierarchy allowed me to quickly slip into a role that my current partners would find most satisfactory. Thankfully, DeBarge liked to fancy himself in control and Lilium preferred to be on top, so I mainly had to allow myself to be maneuvered into position and then passively fucked. That was much easier than forcing myself into a dominant role.

When the pair finally left my bed, I curled up under the sheet and feigned sleep. "I think we wore him out," Lilium tittered, her giggle sounding like the noise a horse would make.

"Some of us have more stamina than others, I suppose," the governor replied. I could feel the waves of smug superiority radiating from him as he dressed, the bells in his skirt ringing incessantly. I focused on my breathing, keeping it deep and even, and pushed all my tension into my hands and legs so my facial muscles would stay slack. I didn't care if they thought less of me and I knew a man like DeBarge would believe my supposed exhaustion was a testament to his virility. I chanted "go away" in my head until they finally did, those cursed bells signaling their progress down the corridor.

As soon as the door hissed shut behind them, I leapt over to trigger the lock before falling to my knees and retching into the toilet. Times like these were when I regretted that dentites made tooth brushing obsolete; my mouth felt like it could use a vigorous scrubbing. Instead, I settled for rinsing repeatedly with water and then downing three shots of vodka in quick succession. Once I was sure they weren't coming back up, I pushed my erection against my stomach, wrapped a towel around my waist, and jogged down the hall to the head. There I turned the shower as hot as I could manage and scrubbed my entire body until my skin began to sting. Then I turned my attention to my groin, soaping and rinsing and repeating, trying to wash even the idea of what had just happened from my skin.

Looking down at my drug-induced erection, I felt a wave of revulsion. A sob tore its way out of my throat and I dropped my face into my hands to muffle the noises as I cried. I wasn't naive - I knew this was part of the deal. I'd been fucking people I didn't want for my entire adult life. It was that I'd imagined having my own ship, running my own crew, would make things different somehow. The last half cycle had disabused me of that notion. As much as I had resented the production companies that had farmed me out to celebs for access to exclusives, I had to admit having the freedom to select my own buyers didn't make the situation any more palatable. "I fucking hate this job," I muttered, taking control of myself once more.

My shorts tented obscenely as I crawled into bed. I flicked my erection with my finger, heaving a sigh of resignation. The first few times I'd had to rely on Aphroditis, I masturbated in the hopes that an orgasm would relieve my condition. All that did was add sore balls to the situation. Smoothing my hands down the fresh sheets, I methodically relaxed my muscle groups from head to toe. By the time I woke in the morning, the drug should have worked its way out of my system and my parts would be back in working order. I just had to find a way to get to sleep. And the habit my thoughts had developed of turning to Rusty was not helping.

~*~

"Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, I can't believe it!" When I finally pulled my eyes off the captain and took in the rest of the group he had dragged in with him, my jaw dropped. Auburn hair, green eyes of a shade not found in nature, her body a landscape of luscious curves: Kelly Fucking Buchanan was on my ship.

"Rusty?" Her eyes - those gorgeous, gem-toned, emerald eyes that I still saw in certain dreams - went wide. She took a couple steps toward me and then literally jumped into my arms. I caught her, of course, and hugged her tight, swinging her around in a circle before putting her down.

"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since - "

"Since Ganymede! I know!" Amusement sparkled in her eyes. "My goofy brother is obsessed with your boss." She tilted her head slightly, indicating the group she had abandoned. "He's dating the governor's personal assistant and managed to score me an extra ticket to the game. When we ran into Carolinas, I think Colin soiled his pants. Then he offered us a tour of his boat and I about did the same. I've never actually been on a Charisma class cruiser before, so you know I jumped at the chance."

"You're going to love my girl. Marzi's a beaut." Looking up, I realized we were alone in the cargo hold. "Shit, I think you got left behind."

"That's okay. I'd much rather knock around under the hood, if you don't mind." Kells gave me her trademark adorably sexy smirk and it was like the intervening cycles never happened.

"Fuck yeah. Let's go!" I led the way to the ladder and slid down a deck, pointing out my workshop on the way to the engine room. Just over three cycles before, I had recognized a fellow reactor junkie in this woman. I knew what she wanted to see. As expected, Kells was immediately enamored with the heart of my ship. She clambered around the cylindrical housing that dominated the large space, opening panels and poking at dials, asking detailed questions and consistently seeming impressed by the answers. I was justifiably proud of my baby and didn't bother to hide it.

"I gotta admit, Rusty," she said, wiping her hands on a rag she'd pulled from the back pocket of her jeans, "this is quite possibly the sexiest engine I've ever seen." Kells looked at me through her eyelashes and the temperature between us shot up a good ten degrees. Then I had her up against the bulkhead and was kissing her hard. She was a damn fine looking woman, no doubt about that, but her hands-on engineering chops made her irresistible for a grease monkey like me.

My undershirt was gone and I'd just peeled her top off over her head when she put a hand on my chest. "Wait. Hang on a second," she gasped. "Aren't these Charisma boats all wired up? Cameras and such?"

Shit. Right. I'd just gotten used to it over the last half cycle. "Damn. Yeah - sorry. Totally forgot. Um," I looked around and tilted my head toward the nearest lens while trying to shield her nakedness with my body. "There's one. I actually only have three in here, which makes this one of the less visible parts of the ship, but there still ain't much for privacy."

Kells considered for a moment before shrugging. "Fuck it. Hope whoever is watching enjoys the show." Her lips met mine again and knocked all thoughts of cameras and peeping crewmates from my head.

"Okay," she panted later, "that was actually as good as I remembered." I had to agree, though I didn't have enough breath to do it verbally yet. A lot of the time, fucking was just scratching an itch for me. My body had an urge, I fulfilled it. But that time on Jupiter's moon with Kells had been something more, something memorable. I was glad she felt the same. It would have been quite the blow to my ego if she hadn't.

"I meant here on Earth," I said later still. We lay on the floor, our discarded clothing providing only the thinnest cushion under our bodies. It was a habit I had, going back to earlier conversations as if there hadn't been any interruption. Maybe it was a mechanic thing or maybe Kells just got me, but she didn't ask me to explain.

"They got me doing the enviro refit on Luna," she said, stretching her arms above her head. "Figured I'd come Earth-side for a family visit, catch a game or two, before the project gets underway." She rolled onto her side to face me where I lay on my back, hands under my head. "What about you? Last I knew you were on that merc ship. The one with the weird name - "

"Angry, Angry Parakeets," I supplied.

"Yeah, that one."

"After the shitshow on Mars, the captain was done. XO had been one of the casualties and nobody else was interested in taking over, so the captain sold it to some scav company. Gave us all the option to stay on as crew, but I didn't fancy digging through scavenge sites out in the black for the next however many cycles, so I took off. Guy I knew from way back had heard Cap was setting out on his own, needed an engine jockey, and here I am."

"And your whole hands-off policy with crew?"

"Yeah, I still ain't recharging in the company port." Kells's laugh made me smile. It was from her gut; the girl went full-out with her emotions, just like everything else she did. It was a thing I sometimes envied about the people from Earth - growing up under an endless expanse of open sky made for bigger personalities. The captain was another example.

"Interesting." There was something in her voice that made me worry I'd spoken my thoughts out loud. Waxing poetic wasn't exactly the image I cultivated. The tips of my ears were burning when I turned to find her looking at me curiously.

"What?"

"More than half the folks in this system would probably give their left gonad to get close to Matthison Carolinas and here you are, on his ship, with no interest at all."

I lifted an eyebrow. "You one of those folks?"

"Hell yes. Have you seen him? Plus I'm not using that old thing anyway." I snorted a laugh. Terran or not, Kells definitely shared the spacer ambivalence about breeding.

"It's his job to be beautiful," I said. "It's my job to keep this boat flying. We're barely the same species."

"So you are interested then?" Kells leaned forward with a secretive grin. I rolled my eyes and turned my face back to the ceiling.

"Nope. Just saying that, like you said, he's got plenty of options so it don't matter that this broken-down old grease monkey ain't going for it."

"Whatever." She leaned over me and looked down, trying to capture my gaze. Her hair, loose from the tight braid she'd had it in before, tickled the skin of my chest. "I don't buy your false modesty for one minute. You know you're a mouth-watering specimen, Carter Rust." Her eyes traveled down my body and back up again. "Speaking of which..."

When she took me in her mouth, well, I might have mentioned that she puts her all into everything she does, right? Earlier I'd felt safe ignoring the cameras, assuming the captain was still busy with the rest of his guests and knowing that other than him and the XO, nobody had access to most of the footage. Even as late as it had gotten, Cap was sure to be out with the governor, each showing the other off for the benefit of public recognition. Still, despite the expert attention my nether parts were getting, I found myself staring at that lens through heavy-lidded eyes.

My hand wandered down my body, imagining unseen eyes following its progress. I buried my fingers in auburn curls, letting my hand rise and fall with the movement of Kells's head. I bit my lip and wondered if he would be hard. I hadn't missed the way the captain looked at me. It also had not escaped my notice that I enjoyed it. Over the last quarter especially, I had become aware that I moved differently, stood differently, hell, even talked differently, when he was around. I liked feeling his eyes on me while I worked so I found little ways to draw his attention and hold it. I took the opportunity to talk to him when I could, even if it was just to say hi. His face showed more than he thought it did and I had to be real careful to make sure mine didn't do the same when those blue eyes met my gaze and my whole body said "want."