Page 67 of The Red Woman on Mars

“Good.” After wiping the blood off her hands, she took gauze and wrapped it clumsily around his torso. “There!” she said with some satisfaction. “How are you feeling?”

Xavier reached a hand up to touch her face. “Fine. You’re a good doctor. There’s no pain right now.” He lifted his head until their faces were close together. “Will you let me show you my appreciation?”

Vivian shivered. “Yes.”

He kissed her. This kiss was nothing like the brief one on the train car. He kissed her now with a bold intensity. One hand cupped her face while the other tangled in her hair. She let herself get lost in the kiss. After the terror and blood of the last hours, it felt so very good to remember she was alive.

He broke off to press his forehead against hers. “May I take off your shirt?”

Vivian froze. “I’m not—you know—I don’t have one of those contraceptive implants.” She thought, for the first time that day, of her mother’s warning.

Xavier kissed her neck, just below her jaw. “I’m aware. I will do nothing tonight that could result in a pregnancy. Do you trust me?”

The answer came easily. “I trust you.” She felt no fear or anxiety—only anticipation for what would happen next. Without any further hesitation, she tugged at the hem of the borrowed shirt and pulled it over her head.

His mouth moved over her skin. She came alive under his touch, her body responding in a way she had never experienced with another person before. She carefully returned his caresses, mindful of his injuries. Xavier didn’t seem to care about his bandages, pain, or fatigue.

He was completely focused on her.

When she was fully naked, he spread her clothing on the dirty floor and murmured, “Lie down.”

Vivian barely noticed the cold, hard floor. Xavier hovered over her, his beautiful face wreathed in a smile. When he lowered to kiss her mouth, the bandages scraped the skin of her breasts. She felt his arousal through his trousers and jerked her hips up involuntarily.

“Mm.” He moved his mouth to one breast and swirled his tongue around her nipple. “Not tonight. I’m afraid I would not be at my best. Tonight is for you.” He moved his lips slowly and deliberately lower and lower until she was shaking with pleasure and anticipation.

“Please,” she whispered, and felt him smile against her inner thigh.

The time to focus on her pleasure was a gift. So unlike her usual scramble, taking advantage of a brief moment of privacy to force a quick moment of self-release. Now, she surrendered to the touch of Xavier’s mouth, tongue, and fingers. She allowed her pleasure to build and build, until, finally, she broke in a delicious wave. She hadn’t known a climax could be so long and so satisfying.

She hadn’t known that allowing another person to give her pleasure would feel so terrifyingly intimate. The ultimate form of trust and surrender.

Afterwards, he lay on her stomach. Her fingers made circles in his coarse hair.

“Was that—” She faltered. “Was that enough for you?”

He looked up at her face with his rich brown eyes. “Oh, yes,” he murmured. The satisfaction in his low voice made Vivian shiver. “A welcome distraction from my own ailments. I believe I thought only of you.”

She swallowed. “I’m not used to being the center of attention.”

“You deserve to have someone focus on your happiness.”

At Sumter, she could never have trusted a man enough to be alone and naked. Yet, even now, Xavier had kept his trousers on and hadn’t crossed over the boundary they’d established.

Xavier’s eyes drooped shut, and his breathing evened. Despite the uncomfortable floor and their precarious situation, a warm sense of safety enveloped Vivian.

She could trust this man.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

2 Sols to Presentation Day

Crash!

Vivian bolted upright. Her pounding heart threatened to burst out of her chest. She was still on the cold, dusty floor. Naked, dirty, and thirsty. She brought her thin legs into her torso and hugged her knees.

Sprawled on the ground at her side, Xavier squinted open his eyes. “My word, man, you took long enough.” He pulled himself to his feet with a groan.

Xavier’s cousin August filled the doorway, nearly unrecognizable in a long black leather jacket and dark-washed jeans with a sword on each hip. “One of these days, cousin, I’m not going to be around to rescue you.” He took one quick glance at Vivian as she scrambled for yesterday’s clothes, her knees drawn up to cover her breasts, and averted his gaze. “I brought you both some necessities.” He removed the pack slung over his back and perched it on a rickety table. From it, he withdrew two sets of black clothing, a package of cleansing cloths, water bottles, and ration bars. He detached one of the swords and belt from his waist and placed it next to the clothes.