AslansDesire-ARE-epub by JenniferKacey

 

Chapter One
     
    Zeke’s voice shook her out of her internal monologue. “Okay. Out with it.”
    Blinking rapidly didn’t help her replay the tape of what they’d been talking about before she zoned out. Again. “Out with what?”
    “Something is bothering you. A lot. And don’t try to deny it again. You’re distracted, anxious, lost in thought. Often. I thought maybe you were just stressed about the new ship we’re about to launch but now I really think it’s something else.” Holding a spreadsheet they had been discussing, he took a step closer to where she stood beside her desk.
    Work. He had to be talking about some work thing. Maybe.
    Racking her brain wasn’t getting her very far on the recall of what they’d been going over. She needed to say something. Anything
    He beat her to it and his deep voice grew quiet and serious. “Which, of course, makes me think our little trip to the pitstop a couple weeks ago may not have been a good idea.”
    “This has nothing to do with the pitstop.” Mostly .
    Her husband crossed his arms over his chest, pulling the dress shirt he wore tighter across his biceps. His large biceps.
    Staring at them made her slowly rub her thighs together.
    Hands down, he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. By far. As in far far. He was hot and smart and gentle and sincere and… Glancing up at his eyes, she sucked in a quick breath. Intense. Very, very intense.
    “Would you like to try that again?” The muscles in his jaw tensed and she almost wanted to poke him to take action instead of talking. His hand on the curve of her rear, his tight grip on her waist as he took her. Aggressively. That’s what she craved. Talking about what was on her mind wasn’t what she wanted.
    But pushing him into something he didn’t really understand the importance of seemed under-handed and wrong. Almost like a lie. Very much like a lie.
    That wasn’t how they played. Ever.
    And it sure wasn’t what she wanted their tentative kink dynamic to morph into. She needed to be brave, but she just wasn’t certain if she was ready to own her next fantasy yet.
    Or her biggest fear.
    When she took a tiny step closer, she could feel the warmth coming off him as her breasts almost brushed against his forearms. Keeping a tiny bit of space between them seemed like a good move to make since they always tried to be professional at work.
    “It’s not about the pitstop.”
    One of his eyebrows lifted and she had to smile because he knew her so well.
    “Okay, it’s not really about the pitstop.”
    “But it does have something to do with our newfound…agreement?”
    Nodding seemed less scary. More safe. But she didn’t want to be a chickenshit about this. “It’s actually about my next fantasy.” Watching his lips as she spoke instead of his eyes made it easier to be honest. “I know what I want.” She swallowed, hard, and her words came out a mere whisper. “But I’m just not certain how to explain it to you yet. It’s been…” Glancing up to his eyes, she was snared by their intensity and focus. “A long time coming,” filtered past her lips with more movement than actual sound.
    The fortuitousness of her low tone proved quite helpful when one of the engineers, Jake, knocked on her door two seconds later without either her or Zeke knowing he was there. With Zeke’s back to the door, he stiffened when the other man spoke.
    “Hey, glad I caught both of you in the same place. My team has a few questions on the schematics of the lighting in the main pool on the Galileo deck. Do you have a minute to go over them?”
    Aslan opened her mouth to respond but Zeke beat her to it.
    “We’ll be up there in just a minute. We need to finish something else first.”
    “Awesome. We’ll meet you there in five.”
    Jake wandered away and Zeke’s eyes never left hers. “Saved by the bell,” he whispered and then relaxed his arms.
    She shivered again as he brushed the backs of his knuckles over the