This is a book-length work, so not every chapter will involve sex (though this chapter very much does). If you're just looking for a quick wank, this probably isn't your story.
Thanks for reading!
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My concern had just about reached the breaking point when he finally started moving again. I knew that what separated us from the merciless sucking maw of space wasn't all that much to begin with, but having a member of my crew working in a vac suit made me fidgety. The thought that there was just a thin layer of fabric between them and death kept my heart in my throat the entire time. Knowing I'd subjected my engineer to the risk for a non-critical repair put the taste of bile in the back of my mouth. It hadn't been intentional; that the crawl spaces were too narrow for Rusty had slipped my mind until I got the alert about the atmosphere being pulled from the cargo hold. My fingers twitched, wanting to open a comm link and call him back, but there was every chance he would ignore the order. Stubborn didn't begin to describe my engineer.
I forced myself to concentrate on other work, only letting my eyes turn back to his feed every few minutes. First he was working at a bolt, then he was setting the wall panel aside, then he was crouching half in the crawl space, working at removing the loose plating. That piece must have been especially rough going because he was still doing the same thing the next couple of times I checked. Then there was the cable patching, after which came the long period of stillness. Luckily nothing urgent required my attention during that stretch, because I don't know if I could have torn my eyes away. He finally began moving again when I was seconds from sounding an alarm; I hesitated only because I could see the suit readings indicating that his vitals were strong, despite the mysterious spike in his heart rate minutes before.
Ashamed of my unprofessional reaction, I refused to allow myself to check on him for nearly half an hour. When the ship told me atmo had been restored, I clicked over and found him by the lockers where we kept the vac suits, stowing his carefully. He had already peeled the top half of his jumpsuit down and I let myself admire the way the muscles in his arms and shoulders worked as he secured the equipment. Rusty walked out of view and I was suddenly standing, unsure of what had brought me to my feet. Something, some need to see him in the flesh, to reassure myself that he was whole, drove me down the ladder into my quarters.
On the rare occasions I'd worked in vacuum, I had found myself craving coffee and hot food as soon as I was out of the suit. Every spacer I'd met headed straight for the nearest shower. It was one of those little differences between those of us who had grown up on Earth versus the people raised in space. There was a whole collection of these quirks I'd noticed but never investigated in all the cycles I'd spent working off planet. Now I was just glad I knew where to look for my engineer. I wasted precious seconds debating whether to strip down or not; deciding my presence in the showers would be less suspicious if I was dressed the part - or undressed, as it were - I dropped my clothes in a heap and slung a towel around my hips.
"Cap," Rusty said with a nod, stepping aside to allow me to pass through the door into the head. I nodded back and only just kept myself from giving in to the impulse to glance back at him as he made his way to his quarters. My heart pounded with the realization that I had nearly missed him, which was followed immediately by belated recognition of how close we'd been as I passed: the damp heat from his naked torso had caressed the skin of my arm. Rubbing a hand over the spot, I proceeded to take the quickest shower known to mankind, reciting emergency protocols in my head to keep my anatomy under some semblance of control. I made a perfunctory pass with the towel and wrapped it around my lower body once again before padding barefoot into a hall that was, thankfully, empty.
Following an impulse I refused to consider too closely, I stopped outside the engineer's door. A fierce battle raged between my brain and body, my heartbeat a thundering drum. I watched my hand lift and come to rest on the cool metal even as I tried to tell my feet to get moving. This was such a bad idea, but I couldn't bring myself to let it go. Taking a deep breath, I tapped a finger lightly against the door. I wasn't sure he would even be able to hear that from inside. Honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted him to. "Rusty?" I said softly. Muscles bunching, I was moments from fleeing when the door hissed open.
Despite everything I'd said and done over the past couple of days, nothing had prepared me for the intense
want
that flooded every cell in my body when I saw those dark eyes staring down at me. It was suddenly too much and, if I hadn't been frozen to the spot, I would have given in to the urge to turn tail and run for my quarters. As it was, neither of us moved or spoke. We simply stared at one another. His face was impassive as usual and his eyes never gave anything away. Was I the only one in need of this connection? The thought scared the hell out of me. Then again, so did the possibility that I was not alone in this, that his unflappable exterior hid a storm like the one raging through me. I was completely terrified.
Rusty tilted his head slightly and I found my paralysis broken. Lifting a foot, I wasn't sure which way it was going to go until I stepped forward into the room, my stomach doing a little flip when I heard him latch the door behind me. I turned to find the engineer appraising me and suddenly realized that I was not looking my best. My hair was still wet from the shower and slicked down against my scalp. I probably looked like some half-drowned rodent. Why had I thought this was a good idea? Oh right: I hadn't.
Water was dripping from the ends of my hair onto my shoulders and down my back. I shivered as one drop traveled the length of my spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. A shiver of an entirely different sort took hold when I realized the man in front of me had been observing the progress of another bead of moisture as it traveled south across my chest and stomach. He dropped his head and I looked down to find him curling his toes under. Something about that gesture nearly broke me; it displayed a vulnerability I had not been prepared to encounter in my burly engineer. Carter Rust was strength personified. Obviously I knew the man had layers, but cutting through to self-conscious uncertainty was an entirely different level of intimacy.
Aiming for more steady ground, I threw myself at him. I swear this made sense at the time. Naturally, he caught me, though for a few horrifying seconds of awkward liplock I wasn't sure at first if he wasn't responding because I had taken him off guard or because he just didn't want to kiss me back. Thankfully, he cleared that up with minimal hesitation and, before I knew it, he was on his knees and I was perilously close to exploding in his mouth. That would absolutely not do. I jerked away and forced myself back from the edge with an act of will that I'm not sure I would ever be able to parallel. Even without the oral stimulation, I almost lost it when I saw him kneeling on the floor, mouth open, looking up at me through his eyelashes - how had I never noticed how long they were? Rusty's erection bobbed between his legs. The head was shiny and there was actually a small puddle forming on the floor.
I closed my eyes and forced my mind onto my least favorite subject: lunar geography. Believe me, there is nothing interesting to be found on the landscape of Earth's moon. I had my hand wrapped around the base of my cock and squeezed to the point of pain and beyond. Somehow this was happening, but since it was almost certainly the only time it would, there was no fucking way I was finishing before we really got started.
Feeling like my orgasm had backed off far enough I could safely return to the present, I opened my eyes to find the bastard smirking at me. I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow, pointedly looking at his crotch. He followed my gaze, then looked back up and shrugged before getting smoothly to his feet. No words had yet been exchanged and Rusty continued the pattern, simply holding out a hand in invitation; one I accepted immediately. I let him take the lead and our tongues danced as he guided us toward the bed, sitting down on the edge and pulling me into his lap. He moaned softly into my mouth as we rubbed together. His hands caressed my back, my legs, my ass. I was constantly in motion, arching into his touch, pressing my body closer to his, always needing to feel more. His palms were not as rough as I had imagined they would be, but I could feel the calluses there when they scratched lightly against my skin, leaving fiery trails of desire in their wake.
For my part, I couldn't stop kissing him. Breaking only when necessary for breath, I kept my hands cupped against the sides of his jaw and held him to me, never letting more than a whisper of air between us. I wanted to stay like this forever, yet I needed more. The way his cock felt sliding against mine was pure delight but I craved the feeling of fullness I knew would come when he buried himself inside me. His name escaped my lips, half moan and half plea. Rusty pulled away from me and lay back across his bunk, his firm hands on my hips encouraging me up, up, until my knees touched the wall and I hovered over his face. He shifted and tugged my hips down and then his tongue was exploring skin that had been untouched by any other person for well over a cycle.
After searching in vain for something to grab onto, my hands clenched uselessly on my thighs. Thankfully, Rusty was able to support enough of my weight on his hands to keep me where he wanted me because I was of no help. As he fucked my ass with his tongue, I whimpered and ground against him, taking all the pleasure he could give and greedily demanding more. Never had I been more happy that the crew bunks on the Charisma ships were luxuriously large. There was an explosive gasp and I was moving again, left straddling his stomach as he wiped a forearm across his mouth and levered himself up onto his elbows.
"Cubby," he said breathlessly, and I leaned to fumble a bottle of lube out of the bedside cabinet that was recessed into the wall. Taking it from me, Rusty poured a dollop into his hand and reached around my hip to prepare himself. He groaned and his eyes fluttered shut as he stroked, coating his cock with the slippery liquid. Eyes still closed, his hand withdrew, then slipped between us. A small smile played across his lips as he slid first one, then two fingers inside of me, feeling how eagerly I welcomed them.
