Captain's Caress: Unexpected Shower

Kaela was having trouble falling asleep. It had been a long day, and she was physically tired, but her mind was racing at the speed of light. She also couldn’t seem to get comfortable in the unfamiliar bed. She had always had that problem with adapting to changes, even as a little girl.

The pipes that ran along the wall next to her bed kept creaking and groaning. She recognized them for what they were—part of the heating system—but she had no idea why they were making so much noise.

On some galactic cruisers, like this one, water was circulated throughout the ship through several long, thin pipes. At first it was super-heated by the hyperdrive’s core, which was housed in the galley area, and then it cooled as it made its rounds and eventually returned there to help cool the core down and got heated up again. The heated water warmed their rooms as it traveled through the cabins and cooled down once it reached the cargo bay, which was situated at the bottom of the ship. A very good system, all in all.

Except when it made creaking noises.

Kaela glared up at the pipes more than once as she laid there in her bed, trying to sleep. Her thoughts continued to race and she wondered fleetingly if this was just the after effects of so many years of hypersleep. After all, she hadn’t even dreamed while she was under—at least no dreams she could remember. It was also her first night in a new place, and she always found it difficult to sleep in such circumstances. Whatever the cause, she certainly couldn’t find a cure.

Creak. I wonder what my parents are doing.

Gurgle. I wonder what it’s like on Tedrona.

Clank. I wish I’d woken up where I should have been and I was home right now. I may not have been sleeping there either, but at least I wouldn’t put my parents through hell wondering if I was okay.

Clank thump! Those pipes sound awfully loud.

Suddenly one of the pipes burst and doused Kaela with hot water. She screamed and sprang from the bed. Zach was there in a heartbeat.

Seeing what the problem was, he ran out of the room and came back with a strip of metal to fix the leak with. It wrapped automatically around the pipe and adhered to it, and the leak was gone.

Kaela stood shivering in nothing but his shirt. It was soaked all the way through and clung to her in just the right places to leave little to the imagination. Realizing this, she wrapped her arms around her chest in a bid to hide some of the more important bits.

Zach looked just as wet as she did after he’d gotten under the spray in order to stop it. His dark blond hair was slicked back except for a few strands that were set in the middle of his forehead. Even those were so wet they were dripping water in to his eyes.

Taking the spare blanket from beside the bed, Zach slowly wrapped Kaela in it and pulled her close. Then he kissed her forehead tenderly.

“Maybe you’d better go to sleep on the couch until your bed dries out,” he suggested in a husky tone. “No sense trying to sleep in here now.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, still not moving.

Kaela started trembling, and it had nothing to do with being cold and everything to do with how close Zach was to her. Her heart thrummed in her chest as they stood there, and she wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her on something a bit lower than her forehead.

“I’d better get you some dry clothes,” he whispered, then turned and walked resolutely back to his own room.

Kaela wrapped the blanket more snugly around her body and waited for him to return.

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Robin Joy Wirth
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More sci-fi books:

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