Part 27 (2/2)

There was an odd buzzing in Kinley's ears. The noise unsettled her. For a split second she wanted to slam her hand down on the snooze b.u.t.ton, but when her palm hit something smooth, solid and cool, it dawned on her she didn't have an alarm clock on Paradise.

The odd realization snapped through her sleep, prodding her awake.

Opening her eyes, she blinked at the dryness that made her eyelids stick. She blinked several more times, trying to orient her thoughts. Suddenly her eyes opened and a room rolled into focus.

A warm fuzzy sensation she really liked melted through her and she remembered how happy everyone had been when they'd boarded the newly constructed s.p.a.cecraft. They'd checked and rechecked everything with the computers. The life support systems, thrusters, computers, replicators and stasis pods. Everything had worked to perfection. They had agreed to pick straws as to who would be allowed to awaken first once they entered their solar system and, to her excitement, she'd picked the shortest straw.

And so here she was. Waking first.

But boy, her limbs were a bit rusty as she slowly moved her arms and legs. Being asleep for a year does that.

She wished she could move faster because she really wanted to see Blackie again, but the first few minutes after awakening were the toughest. It was crucial she move slowly in order to allow her body to adjust, so she exercised her arms and legs while staring up at the ceiling through the plastic encasing of the sleep pod.

She reached for the b.u.t.ton that would allow her to get out, but something seemed terribly wrong.

She was not in the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p they'd re-created. She was back in the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p she and Kayla and Piper had arrived on Paradise in. Correct that. She was in the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p they had crashed into the Fever Swamps. And the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p looked totally intact. As if nothing had ever happened. As if they had never crashed.

What the frig?

Unease rumbled through her like a rolling earthquake and she hesitated, pressing the open b.u.t.ton for the pod. What was going on here?

Cripes!

In her groggy state of reawakening, she hadn't realized the buzzing alarm had stopped or what it had meant. Her heart started pounding way too fast and waves of lightheadedness made her surroundings swirl.

Okay don't panic, girl. Something isn't right here.

Suddenly she got the sense she'd been through this scenario before. Not just once, but many times. Awakening to an alarm. Smoke. And right on cue she saw a thin spiral of gray smoke that would signify the s.h.i.+p's systems were failing. The computer started wailing warnings. Her gut reaction was to get them all out of their sleep pods. But she hesitated. This time she wouldn't panic. How could she? She knew exactly what was supposed to happen next.

Taking a deep breath, she moved her finger off the escape b.u.t.ton. Instead, she pressed another b.u.t.ton. A tiny screen slid along the top of the pod right over her head, about two feet from her face. It flickered on. She tensed at the sight.

Floating in s.p.a.ce were several other s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps. There were no stars normally a.s.sociated with s.p.a.ce travel. Only total blackness, except for eight other s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps that seemed to glow golden-white from some unseen light source. Her tummy hollowed out. She knew what was happening.

Kinley swore violently and closed her eyes as understanding sliced through her. Somehow during their sleep stasis, their s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had been tugged or somehow wandered into one of the many wormholes that littered this quadrant of the galaxy.

When they had all entered the rebuilt s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, they'd gone to sleep wearing sleep clothing. She was naked. Just as she had been before the crash. This wasn't the re-created s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. This was the original one she'd arrived in.

If she didn't push the ”open” b.u.t.ton and get out of this pod, then the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p may not crash. Her sisters wouldn't meet their hunky guys. She wouldn't find her brothers.

s.h.i.+t!

If she was right, then she could break this cycle of whatever the h.e.l.l was causing them to repeat time over and over again. Who knew how long they'd been stuck in this vortex-if that's what it was. They could have been stranded here for years for all she knew. Her gut clenched with anguish.

What was she supposed to do?

Chapter Fifteen.

Something was wrong. Blackie knew it the instant he opened his eyes. He'd been trying to awaken for quite some time, but he kept wanting to drift back to sleep. Back to dreamland. Back to her.

Oh man, such hot, f.u.c.king, s.e.x dreams he'd had. Dreams of f.u.c.king Kinley over and over again. Of having his c.o.c.k plunging in and out of her succulent mouth. Her silky, plump lips melting over his hard length, her mouth wrapped tightly around his c.o.c.k. The things she did to his c.o.c.k and b.a.l.l.s with that lethally beautiful tongue of hers. She made him so hard he could come over and over again. Could f.u.c.k her like this forever.

Yeah, forever...

An odd buzzing snapped through his fantasy.

s.h.i.+t! He'd somehow drifted off again. This time he forced himself to open his eyes and keep them open. His stomach rolled into a sickening knot. Something was wrong. He wasn't in the sleep pod they'd put him in. The metal on the beams holding the plastic wasn't the same color. The lighting in here was different. From what he could see, the rest of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p looked altered.

And he wasn't some s.e.x slave who'd been pleasuring women for years. His name was Josh Black. Captain Josh Black of the United States s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Raider. His crew called him Blackie for short.

His heart began hammering at the conflicting thoughts. Why did he think he was a s.e.x slave? He was a captain of a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, for crying out loud. They'd been sent to an unexplored part of the Section Four Quadrant when something had happened. He searched his memory, struggling for something he should know, but came up empty. His mind whirled and he bit back the swirl of panic.

Okay. Stay cool, Blackie. Stay cool.

He forced himself to take several deep, steadying breaths and his thoughts began to gather.

Kinley. Had she been a figment of his imagination? He swallowed back another round of panic. Was he in love with a woman who didn't exist? Holy h.e.l.l, if she wasn't real then he'd rather sink back into Paradise and let himself believe she was real.

Closing his eyes, he fought back an overwhelming loss. It lodged thick in his chest. Could he survive this devastation? The odd buzzing that had awakened him from sleep stasis was the intruder alert alarm. He peered at the mini-com support screen that gave him a quick view of all life support and defense systems on the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. He sharply inhaled. Someone had breached security and boarded his s.h.i.+p. Yet everyone on board was helpless as they lay sleeping in their pods.

He tensed as a shadow appeared just outside his pod. Held his breath. The silhouette looked familiar.

”Kinley?” he whispered.

He blinked as a hand reached out of the shadows of the darkness and a feminine palm pressed against the plastic enclosure just above his face. He recognized the bracelet with her name on it. His heart soared.

A moment later when she came into view, her sweet face looked down at him with the most awesome smile. He couldn't help but laugh in relief. He didn't know what the h.e.l.l was going on, but as long as Kinley was here, alive and healthy, he really didn't care.

Behind her, shadows moved. Lights flickered on and suddenly the enclosure of his pod slid open. Her sweet, s.e.xy scent attacked him and he sat up. Her arms swept around him and she hugged him so tight his ribs ached.

”Ben thinks everything we experienced was a dream. Just a dream,” she whispered against his ear.

A dream? What the h.e.l.l?

”It appears as if we all got pulled into some sort of a wormhole,” Ben Hero said from somewhere behind Kinley. ”See the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps out there? Sensors show all the occupants of the s.h.i.+ps are in sleep stasis. From what we can deduce, the wormhole screws with the dream centers of our brains.”

Okay, so maybe he was dreaming now? How could he tell what was real and what was fantasy?

”After your crew gives us the information on their fantasies, I'm sure it will confirm what Ben suspects. Then we can talk privately,” Kinley said as she pulled away from him and stood. She was grinning at him like a Ches.h.i.+re cat who'd just caught the canary.

”Maybe you'd better get dressed. I know how much you love to sleep in the nude.”

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