Inherited War 3: Retaliation by Eric McMeins Page B

She swung her legs off the edge of the bed, stood, and stretched her arms above her head. She slowly pivoted on the balls of her feet to face Cole. Her body was lithe and well-muscled. A flat stomach, and medium sized breasts still firm with youth and regular exercise. She smiled at him and released her stretch. She walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and placed her head against his chest. She looked up into his still stunned face and raised herself up onto her toes. The sensation of her body slowly gliding up his finally woke him to action, but not before she snuck a kiss.
    Cole placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently away. She went willingly.
    “Stop, no, I can’t,” he started. A smile flickered on her lips.
    “Your mouth says no,” a slight pause and a wandering finger tip pressed against his flesh, “other parts say yes.
    He smacked her hand away. “I said no, damn it. What we did…what we did last night was wrong. It never should have happened. I am sorry.” He hurriedly brushed past her and activated his second skin. Entirely too slow for Cole, the skin covered his body. He turned to face Anastacia and expected the worst. She was covering a laugh, which was doing interesting things to her body. He shoved that thought out of his head.
    “Ha, ha,” she laughed. “Don’t worry.” She stepped into her own suit and activated it. “I just wanted to know what it was like. You showed me last night, a few times. I am not a stupid love struck girl, but I am here if you ever need to relieve some stress again.” Cole’s mouth was actually hanging open. “And don’t worry, I will not tell Sky…if we ever see her again.” She blew him a kiss and walked out the door.
    Cole stood rooted to the floor, his head spinning. “Shit,” he said again and walked out the door to find out what the hell was going on.
     
    “Then you said, and I quote, ‘I’ll find a damn planet for us then. Load an explorer and let’s get going.’ You were pretty drunk at the time, but so were we. Thank God for the AI or we probably would have warped into the nearest star.” West finished telling Cole the story behind why he was on a ship, light years from Home.
    Cole was sitting in the captain’s chair with his head in his hands. He felt sick, not from the drink but from the events West had just described. He looked at Liam, the only other person on the ship besides Anastacia. Liam had a big grin on his face.
    “Of course I will be paying for this the rest of my life,” West was prattling on. “Seeing as how I just got married and my wife is due any day now. This will not be a fun homecoming for me, no sir.” West was playing the part perfectly as far as he was concerned. Jess knew the plan and was more than willing to let her new husband go off so soon after their nuptials. All knew how important Cole was to their survival, and she was willing to make the sacrifice. Though not for too long, she did have twin girls on the way.
    “Enough,” Cole said. “You,” he pointed at West, “are behind this somehow. And you,” he pointed at Liam, “need a new friend. He will get you killed one day.” Cole leaned back in his chair. “Shit,” he said, he had been saying it a lot lately. He closed his eyes and thought. His mind was clear and he had been wrong. Whatever was going on in his head seemed to be gone for the moment. He was actually enjoying the clarity of the situation he was in.
    “I feel better than I have in a while, we continue on with the mission,” Cole said.
    “Okay, but what is the plan?” Liam asked. “All I remember is a lot of saying we would find it, not how or how long. Like West said, the lady folk are going to start popping soon. We shouldn’t be gone too long, and we don’t want to leave Mr. I Was A Senator alone there too long, he might get delusions of grandeur.”
    “Plus we have to be at Nixa in six days,” West added.
    “What, why?” Cole started to ask,