Other Worlds Than These Box Set

Star-CrossedWhen Reth Reilly had enrolled in the Betelgeuse Flight Academy, sixteen and fresh off his first interstellar jaunt, he’d thought he had his life mapped out ahead of him like all the stars on his navigational charts. Four years at the Academy to graduate in the Class of 2396, then he’d sign on for a stint with the Star Corps tracing out freight routes and narrowly avoiding space pirates. The last thing he needed was to lose his heart to some wild-haired flyboy with deep eyes and a sexy grin, but that’s exactly what happened when he met Xan Anders. They were both freshmen at the Academy when Reth fell for Xan. The two of them had the usual prerequisite courses together and, until the second semester their sophomore year, Xan lived on the same dorm deck as Reth. With his untamable hair and laughing eyes, Xan was everything Reth had never realized he wanted in a man, but he was too painfully shy to approach the guy. Xan ignited the air around him with his quick laugh; whenever Reth heard it, he wanted to disappear. Like a black hole, Xan sucked the life out of everything around him—everything that wasn’t him—leaving Reth breathless and aching in his wake. Whenever they passed in the hall, Reth had to look away or he’d drown in those eyes—they were as deep as outer space, and just as enigmatic. Their paths split junior year when Reth went into navigation and Xan chose artillery. He still heard of Xan, of course—the guy was a deadeye in the turret and a crack-up in the classroom. Xan made sure he stayed in the public eye as a big man on campus, and it came as no surprise to anyone when he was awarded top honors in their class at graduation. At the awards ceremony, Xan vaulted onto the presenters’ table and raised his medal high as he crowed, “Eat this, Diedermeyer!” The graduates cheered, Reth among them, shocked and more than a little pleased that someone had finally stood up to the academy’s hard-nosed principal in so flamboyant a manner. In that instant, Xan seemed invincible. As horrified professors scrambled to get him down from the table and failed, a silly grin split Reth’s face. He swore he’d find the courage to speak to Xan—somehow, some time, tonight—before they went their separate ways in the morning. He didn’t want the past four years to slip away into eternity. It turned out easier to get close than Reth had thought it would be and, a few hours later, he found himself cozying up to Xan outside the banquet hall. Both of them were more than a little drunk on jojobu juice, the night, and each other. Xan kept a strong arm around Reth’s waist. It’d settled there sometime after Reth’s breathless hello and hadn’t moved since. Reth leaned against Xan, marveling at the way the alcohol lit up his warm chocolate eyes. Xan had a narrow face, with a strong sloping nose, wide eyes, and a wider mouth. Whenever he took a sip of his drink, his lips turned a darker shade of red. His light hair was streaked with bleached strands which gave his pale skin a dusky look. That hair fell like a curtain, straight from the part down his scalp to sweep across his eyes. He kept running a hand through the length, pushing it back, usually when grinning at something Reth had said. Xan was intoxicating, a burning star once out of reach that Reth now found clenched in his hand. Away from the banquet, in a dark corner of the observation deck with the universe stretched out above them, Reth discovered Xan’s wide, thin lips tasted sweet against his own and the enclosures at the crotch of their official Academy uniforms were damn near impossible to unfasten. “You’re the navigator,” Xan teased as Reth rubbed at the front of his pants. Beneath the fabric, a stiff erection pressed into Reth’s hand, eager for release if only he could figure out how the outfit worked. Xan didn’t help one bit by leaning against his neck, a breathy laugh tickling under Reth’s collar. “Need me to draw you a map?” he purred against Reth’s heated skin. Damp lips kissed behind his ear, and Reth found his hands trapped between them as Xan thrust his hips against Reth’s. “X marks the spot.” Fisting Xan’s sheathed d**k, Reth sighed, “Here?” Xan moaned into his ear and leaned against him. He pinned Reth into the corner where the balcony railing met the thick plastic shield that held back empty space. Wrapped in Xan’s strong embrace, Reth thought things between them were moving along nicely—at a fast clip, sure, but one he easily matched. With Xan rubbing against him, those lips on his ear, he gave up on the pants and focused on the rest of the man instead. Burrowing his face into Xan’s neck, Reth breathed deep his musky scent and murmured, “How about we take this up to my room, crackshot? I’ll get these pants off yet.” The hands on his back froze, and the mouth latched to his earlobe disengaged. Suddenly the night came crashing down as sounds from the party invaded the intimate space between them—the c***k of glasses and plates, laughter stabbing the night, raised voices calling to each other, the band playing over it all. Reth knew the moment was lost as Xan drew away, composing himself. His arms relaxed, then slipped from Reth’s waist. His eyes, so bright with lust just minutes before, were now dulled with drink and exhaustion. As he stood back, he ran a shaky hand through the sheet of his hair. The other hand reached down and caught Reth’s wrist. His eyes slipped shut when Reth’s fingers closed around his unseen length and, with one final gasp, he murmured Reth’s name. Then Reth was brushed aside. Xan stepped back, widening the gap between them. He ran his hand through his hair again, an obviously nervous habit. “I’ve got to…” He looked around, as if searching for something else to distract him. His gaze flickered over the balcony and into the night sky, but never settled on Reth. “I’ll be right back, okay?” “Xan?” Reth reached for him. What the hell had just happened? One second they were this close, and now fear shone in Xan’s face, fear Reth had put there. “Was it something I said? Listen, we can stay here if you want…” Catching Reth’s hand again, Xan brought it to his lips. He kissed the fingertips, his gaze focusing on Reth one last time. “I’ll be back, I promise. Wait for me?” Reth nodded, hesitant. With a wink and his usual sexy grin, Xan swore, “Be right back.” Then he stepped into the light that fell from the banquet hall and slipped away into the crowd of graduates and family and friends. Reth leaned against the railing, staring out into the stars, replaying the evening in his drink-clouded mind. Was it the invite to his room that had frightened Xan away? Or was it all just too much too fast? Maybe the few stolen moments they’d shared meant nothing. But he said he was coming back… Why didn’t Reth believe him? * * * * Seven months later, Reth was still waiting. Not on that balcony, no—he’d given Xan a generous ten minutes to return but the flyboy never did. Reth, more than a little hurt but not the least bit surprised, had finished his jojobu juice and headed back to his room alone. In the morning, he packed his things and boarded a transport with the other grads joining Star Corps. Xan was not among them. When Reth moved into his quarters at Corps Central, he tried to put that interrupted tryst behind him. He thought he’d succeeded. He’d had his share of lovers—nothing to write home about, but guys he liked, guys he slept with, guys who all seemed to have Xan’s carefree hair or cavalier grin. But when the USS Appomattox signed on for the Kressl ore run and Reth stood on the receiving deck beside the ship’s captain to welcome the new crew of gunners, only his Academy training kept his back stiff and his arm angled in a salute when he saw Xan among them. Time seemed to fold in on itself, everything between then and now canceling out. Reth’s heart stopped in his chest at Xan’s bright laugh. When Xan looked at him, looked through him, Reth almost passed out like a lovesick schoolboy. He thought he’d moved on? Who was he trying to kid? The flicker of recognition in Xan’s eyes ignited Reth’s blood, but there were too many people around and he had his reputation to think of, so Reth stayed at the captain’s side. He smiled on cue, and laughed when prompted. But as they mingled in the ship’s large ballroom, part of him kept tabs on Xan the whole evening. At all times, he knew where Xan stood in relation to himself. Each time Xan touched anyone, Reth felt that hand on his own body. Each laugh pierced him like a lepidopterist’s pin. And whenever he looked around, he found Xan staring back. Reth suspected the USS Appomattox was not going to be large enough for the both of them. Just being in the same room with Xan made Reth’s skin warm and his mind whirl. His baggy flight suit threatened to tent over a slight erection that made standing uncomfortable and sitting unbearable. Any closer to Xan and Reth thought he might go nova. When the captain announced the new gunners, raucous shouts and wolf whistles filled the air. They were a rowdy bunch—gunners usually were—but Reth could hear Xan’s voice rise above the others. With a glance at the new crewmembers as he sipped his cocktail, Reth tried to infuse enough alcohol into his system to justify speaking with Xan or slinking off to bed, one of the two. As the crowd applauded, he wandered over to the food table to pick at a display of chilled fruit. He couldn’t close the distance between himself and Xan—after seven months, a galaxy kept them apart. But he had to say something, didn’t he? Make it look like he’d moved on, even if he hadn’t? Show he was above— A breathy voice sighed into his ear, startling him. “Hey, sexy.” Reth jumped and took a step back, only to find himself in Xan’s quick embrace. For one delicious moment, he savored the strong arms around his waist again, the warm chin resting on his shoulder. Then he turned and bumped into the food table in his haste to get away. “Xan. Hey.” “You remember my name.” Xan ran a self-conscious hand through his thick hair as he grinned. “And here I thought you might’ve forgotten me.” How could I? Reth wanted to know. Those dark eyes still shone in the same infuriating manner, as if lit from within. Those lips still smiled as wide, Xan’s heady scent still aroused him like an aphrodisiac, and God, that hair! Still long, still tousled, still streaked with an impossible shade of blond. Xan stepped closer, as if the gulf between them meant nothing. His voice lowered to an intimate level that Reth still heard in dreams. “Miss me?” Reth turned to frown over the food, preoccupied. “Well, you know,” he started, then because he didn’t know what to add to that, he popped a frozen strawberry into his mouth and concentrated on the icy chill that made his teeth ache. With a shrug he hoped looked nonchalant, he added, “I thought you said you were coming right back.” “I did come for you,” Xan teased, emphasizing the word come. When Reth didn’t respond, Xan covered the hand reaching for another strawberry with his own. His smile slipped a notch. “I’m here, right?” Reth sighed. He picked at the berries and refused to meet Xan’s unnerving gaze. Wasn’t he supposed to be over this guy already? “I meant—” “What?” Xan asked. “You have someplace more private in mind?” Leaning closer, his breath tickling along Reth’s cheek where faint stubble darkened his skin, Xan lowered his voice to whisper, “Ask me again, Reth. I’m ready to come anywhere you want me to.” He was tempted, God knew, and the fact that he wanted to hold this man in his arms again despite the way things had ended between them the last time made his heart ache. But he couldn’t blue-ball himself. He needed a man, yes. He wanted one, this one, but he wasn’t so desperate that he’d let Xan walk out on him again. He wasn’t the same starry-eyed cadet he had been that night all those months ago.