Free The Space Colonel's Woman (Dragonus Chronicles Book 1) by Jay Shaw

clung to him, nails cutting sharp crescents in the muscles of his back, her thighs tight over the small of his back.  His face crushed to the soft mounds of her breasts as she cried out her pleasure.  Her name was the last thing she heard, a delicate whisper of heat against her ear as her lover followed her into bliss.
    Mark lay over her, his weight anchoring her beneath him while his fingers scribed gentle circles around each of her nipples.
    “Wow.” She whispered; no other word able to be conjured. “What came over you?”
    “You.”
    “Oh God.” Julia clapped a hand over her face and groaned. “That’s the worst joke.”
    “Ah yeah, I guess I should’ve warned you, but they’re a specialty of mine.” He pressed soft kisses along the stretch of her collarbone. “Not a deal-breaker, I hope?”
    “Don’t be daft.” She yanked on his mussed hair until he lifted his head and she could kiss him.
    Julia looked around the room for the first time since she’d stepped across the threshold, taking in the small details that spoke of the Mark Holden she was yet to know.  It was clear Phoenix Rising’s set designers had made this part up.  Aside from the style of the furniture and the floor-to-ceiling windows that spanned the width of two curved walls, there wasn’t a single thing replicated from life.  She liked that.  The conversation would come when they talked about how a woman from an alternate reality, knew so much about a military base in the Dragonus Galaxy, four million light years from an Earth different from her own.  But at least they would have the chance to learn about each other the way any normal couple would.
    She let her gaze drift over a red plaid shirt and the black leather jacket with the American flag and Phoenix shoulder patches, where they hung on the back of the desk chair.  Next to a white leather arm chair was a brass telescope on a tripod, aimed through a slit in the blue gauze curtains.  Dog-eared parchments, written in a language Julia didn’t recognize, were stacked on the nightstand along with issues of Flight , and Sports Illustrated , Brain-quest puzzle books, and what looked like a futuristic iPod with tangled earbuds. 
    Julia had just noticed the surfboard in the corner, next to an acoustic guitar on a custom stand, and the collection of model aircraft each on its own illuminated shelf jutting from the wall, when she sensed Mark’s eyes boring into her temple.  His fingertips stilled over the pulse point in her throat, body a rigid line against hers.
    “Make the right choice?”
    “I made that decision back in the cave.  The very first time you opened your eyes and looked straight into my heart.” She ruffled his hair in fond exasperation. “I was just looking to see what things are important to you.  To see where I fit.”
    “They’re just things.  And you fit…right…here.” He leaned close and kissed each word into her lips until she was kissing him back. 
    “Is there a shower in here?” The idea of soap suds and steaming hot water pouring over her skin was an alluring thought.  Clean clothes would be a bonus too.
    “Through that door.” Mark gestured to what appeared to be a closet on the same wall as the entrance.  “Good idea, I should have one before I report to the infirmary.”
    “We could shower together, save time and water.”
    His eyes crinkled at the corners, head tilting to look up at her from under a raised brow. “Or twice as long.”
    He got off the bed, pulling Julia up after him and led her to the bathroom door.  When it slid open it was to reveal a room in the same pristine white and silver décor as the rest of Phoenix; empty, save for the basin jutting from the wall beneath an inlaid mirror.  Mark stepped around her into the room, and hot steamy water immediately flowed from the ceiling as if it were raining.  Only this rain spiraled in delicate ropes of beaded crystal that tinked on a square of silver floor tiles, before