Spears of Uu'kata

Chapter 45 - Rotational Force

***Note: This chapter includes scenes of sexual content.***

Vasquez awoke to the sound of a soft snore and he opened his eyes to see Emiko in his arms, fast asleep. He stared at her, at the black lashes fanning over the tops of her cheeks and the straight black hair tangled across his pillow.

The LED's on the wall display were dim, but enough to illuminate her strong, Japanese features.

God but she was beautiful.

He inhaled, breathing her in, and resisted the urge to brush her hair behind her ear.

I'm in trouble, he thought as his heart tried to do something in his chest that he couldn't allow it to do.

He still couldn't believe she'd agreed to pretend to be his girl. He couldn't believe she'd agreed to sleep with him. And the fact that it was pretend was beginning to chafe.

Emiko was nothing like any woman he'd ever had in his life. She was incredibly intelligent, quick-witted, amazing in bed, beautiful, and... she was his friend. Over the last few weeks, they'd developed the kind of friendship he hadn't believed existed, especially between men and women.

She wasn't this type. Not even a little. He liked tall, blonde-haired, light-eyed women and Emiko was exactly the opposite. And yet when he looked at her, his belly filled with butterflies. When he wasn't with her, he was hypnotized by her scent, clinging to his clothes and sheets. His head was full of her face, her smile, her dark, almond-shaped eyes.

Yeah, he was in trouble. He didn't want to stop pretending.

Waking up next to Emiko somehow felt like home, though he couldn't explain why and it made him uncomfortable.

Checking his terminal he saw that drill with the new recruits was in an hour. He could lay next to Emiko for a little longer, or he could make her some coffee. She liked coffee. Three cubes of sweetener and four scoops of white powder that claimed to be creamer.

Glancing at Emiko again, he told himself the clenching in his chest was just heartburn, and unclasped his bed restraints. He got out of bed and clasped them again around Emiko before heading into his kitchen nook.

Rather than prepare a cup for her, he simply poured one, then put the creamer and sweater on a tray beside it.  He had a nagging feeling that if he started to show her how much attention to detail he paid her, she would call off their pretend relationship and he wasn't ready to be dumped.

When he walked back into the room, she was sitting up, the sheet bunched in her lap, lovely, small breasts bare and perky in the cool air.

"I smell coffee," she said with a yawn.

"I made coffee, " he said, grinning and setting the tray down on a little end table that folded out from the wall.

He picked up his own cup and took a sip. She wrinkled her nose at him and his choice to drink his coffee black so he wrinkled his nose and made a little puking sound as she dumped creamer into her cup. She flipped him off and he almost dropped the L-word on her.

That was followed by a moment of panic, causing him to inhale his coffee, which sent him into a violent coughing fit.

Looking at Emiko, he found her almond eyes on him, a vulpine grin on her face.

Clearing his throat, Vasquez said, "So, uh, we didn't do much talking last night. I don't mind or anything but I have a feeling you got some news that isn't so good."

The smile dropped from Emiko's lips and he instantly regretted opening his fat mouth.

She heaved a sigh and looked into her cup. "Yeah," she said. "I'm not going to be able to drag out my tests for much longer. Dr. Death is breathing down my neck and he put in a request to have my study dismissed."