Orion's Belt - A Dark Sci-Fi Western Romance

“You didn’t panic. You did what you had to do. Quickly. You saved me. And you wanted to give me an out.” She nudges me with her elbow. “We’re going to do this, Orion, you and me.”

I thought I knew the toughest people on this planet already. But I guess I only thought that because I hadn’t met Josie yet. She’s so small, and aside from the way she handles a gun, doesn’t have a hope in hell of defending herself against the men who put themselves in between her and the life she wants to lead, but she persists anyway.

I’m aware that this new plan is just as much of a long shot as the last one. Maybe more. Atticus is not alone. He has allies on and off planet with powers greater than anyone might imagine. But we’re gonna damn well try anyway. The second I get the ownership papers to the ranch, I become a landholder, and landholders operate under a different set of rules. That’s the Imperium’s way of rewarding those who work hard, or maybe it’s just their way of keeping people who can be taxed alive long enough to get their money.

“We goin’?” Josie makes an impatient gesture at me.

I’ve got some making up to do when it comes to Josie. Some showing her I haven’t lost my nerve, or my touch when it comes to her.

“Before we go,” I say. “There’s something else I got to do.”

“What’s that?”

I grab her by the collar and pull her in for a long, rough kiss. “This.”

Josie

Oh hell yes.

I melt against him, my lips parting to allow his tongue to command my mouth, sinking against his long, hard body, feeling the strength of his muscular form all around me. We’ve only made love twice before, but I’m sensing we’re about to do it again, and this time, he’s not going to hold back.

“Give me everything,” I whisper against his lips.

“You reckon you can take everything I got?” There’s a slight smirk on his mouth, and a challenging lift to his dark brow.

“Everything you’ve got and more,” I promise him. He has to know I’m not a scared little virgin anymore. He’s transformed me. Made me so much more than that. I’m ready to claim my womanhood, and my man, and my land, dammit.

“Get them clothes off, girl.”

Orion

I start to strip her, pulling those britches and that shirt off her body. It is a travesty to have her perfect form covered with those filthy rags. When this is over, I’m getting her the kind of clothing she deserves. Whatever she wants. She can have a house full of fine dresses, and silky undergarments and… oh yes. Her beautiful body comes into view, pale curves and pink nipples, full hips and round cheeks. She has no idea how perfect she is, and no concept how hard it is for me to control myself around her.

I don’t want to hold back anymore. I want to show her exactly who I am before this all ends. She needs to know precisely who and what I am, and what I’m truly like as a lover.

She lets out a soft moan as I reach for her and draw her close. My belt is coming off, but not because I intend to punish her. This leather has more than one use when it comes to the woman I love.

Josie

“What did I…” I don’t get to finish the question before Orion’s big hands take that thick, merciless belt and pull it around my neck. He loops it around and slips the tail of it into the buckle, sliding it down so I feel the leather clasp around me like a collar. In an instant, I am both captured and held. Before I can complain or panic, or respond in any way, he has his hand between my legs, his fingers sliding between my captive lower lips.

“Yer mine,” he rumbles, his voice gruff with intense possession. “And yer not going anywhere.”

“What do you mean?” I ask the question breathlessly. The belt is not tight enough to restrain me.

“I mean I ain’t letting you go,” he says, those words sparking excitement and fear inside me at the same time.

“But we had a deal…”

“I reckon we both know that was never going to happen. Yer not going off planet. Yer stayin’ with me. As my woman.”

My pussy clenches around his fingers, my inner walls gripping him just like his belt grips my throat.

“You’re a bad man, Orion.”

“Mhm. Damn straight.”

His fingers are plunging into the wet channel between my thighs, stirring my sex into greater and greater arousal, and I know I should be rebelling against what he’s saying, but all along there’s been a part of me that wants him to keep me.

I’m torn. I want to go. I can’t stand this planet. Everything here reminds me of pain. But I love belonging to Orion. I love the way his scent covers me when we are done making love, how his seed drips from me for hours after the act. He mates me, takes me, and gives me a home that doesn’t depend on any specific location.