Love on the Rocks - 13. Chapter 13

Sasha was climbing on me the next morning before I felt his gentle kisses on my face. “Good morning, Marc”

“And good morning to you. Shall we order breakfast so you can get to work?” His lips touched mine and his tongue ran across my lower lip before he kissed me and pulled back.

“You want your usual.” I smiled.

“Yes, please.” He crawled off of me and padded over to the dining room, naked. I watched those cute buns as they moved. My body responded to the sight as it always did. He came back, and I held the blankets up for him to crawl back on top of me.

“15 minutes.” His hand reached down between us and wrapped around both of our dicks. Stroking us together. My hand moved and my fingers pushed through his hair.

“Later Sash. We have tonight.” He groaned as he pulled his hand back and dropped onto my chest again. I chuckled before I kissed the top of his head.

“Let’s get dressed so we don’t scare the staff.” He laughed and pulled away from me.

“They saw us last night.”

“I know, but they don’t need to see anymore of us.” I said as he helped me out of bed and we dressed.

“Do you have a lot of work to do today?” He asked as he headed for the dining room.

“I need to go onto the station to check out a few items. If it meets my needs, I may have you transport them down to Low Point Station for me.” He saddened a little.

“Is that why you are here?” I snorted.

“No. It was brought to my attention by one of my Captains when they found out I was coming.”

“Oh. Sorry Marc.” I looked at him directly in the eyes.

“Sash. I know sometimes you wish we were more than we are. I am sorry that it will not be. You are my boyfriend right now. I do and will love you. Even if it is not the love, you would wish it to be. I know you love me too. I don’t understand sometimes why you feel I don’t want to be with you. I have tried my best to make as much time as I can with you without losing focus or drive on what I am trying to build. I know that hurts you to hear that. I said it to your parents, and I said it to you. If I had known what problems, our relationship would have caused, I never would have let you stay the night. Unfortunately, I didn’t. Now I am helping you learn and you’ve come a long way, but I am not ready, and neither are you for that matter, to stop our dating and become just friends. You’ve seen the schedule I’ve sent. Our time together gets better. I had a few days to myself and I am spending them with you. Once I return to my life, I need to pickup the pieces I laid down to come here.” My finger flew up and waved side to side. “No Sasha. No crying. I love you and you need to remember that. And you are not holding me back. I stepped out of my comfort zone and I am trying very hard to make you happy. I can’t always be here with you, Sash. And for that, I am sorry. Sorrier than you probably understand.” He sat silent for a minute and then the steward entered the room. He poured our drinks, then set our plates down in front of us.

“Thank you Wesley. You may clear the table when Captain Alexander walks me to the Bridge for Duty.”

“Of course Sa Jasenka. Enjoy your breakfast, Sa’s,” He said before he exited the cabin.

Sasha just huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry Marc, if I sounded ungrateful that you came to see me and I feel so unwanted sometimes that I thought maybe you came to see me just because you needed some part or other from this station. I also know of all the things you are doing for me, for us. You are loved, and I know we will not be mates. I am sorry for all the problems I have caused you and I know I have. I am not sorry I love you though and I wish we could be more than boyfriends. I wish we could have children together, but I know we will not. I am sorry for all the problems I’ve caused. Even if you want to blame it on yourself. In the end, it was me. And you probably don’t understand how happy you make me when you sneak on to the Bridge and hold me. When you show up early or when not expected. I wish you could be my mate. But you’re right, we are not mates. We are boyfriends and I need to take more responsibility for my role in this relationship. I love you Marc. And I agree, I am not ready for us to separate. I now know that you care enough about me. You are not ready either. You say I don’t hold you back, but I am. I am taking up time you could have used for you and your little empire you are building.” I snorted, which caused him to smile. “Yes Marc. I am thankful you are part of my life. Now let’s eat so I can kiss you before you walk me to the Bridge.” He smiled at me as my smirk formed.

“Yes, dear.” He smiled wider.

I was boarding the ship after 4 hours ashore and I was late for lunch. I did Link Sasha with a message that I would be late. He said to come to his parents if it was before 13:00 hours. I smiled as I looked at the time 12:25 hours I carded onto the ship. Heading straight for the Captain’s stateroom and lunch. I knocked three times before I entered and asked Sasha.

“Did the Bridge crew go to lunch without me there to signify it was lunch time?” His parents laughed as he said.

“Yes. They obviously have a back-up plan for when you are not around.” I smiled as I sat down and kissed his cheek as the steward brought my lunch. Sasha’s father had been working on his tablet and mentioned that my cargo was being loaded on now. I just nodded.

“Last minute decision to purchase them. I should be happy with the additional protection it provides my ships.” He nodded as he looked at the manifest.

“Military grade. Yes. That should provide a nice boost to the shields.”

“I am hoping it’s never needed.” What was left unsaid was it will most likely be used more often than it would have been if my ships were in High Sec. I turned to Sasha. “Join me for dinner aboard the Station this evening.” He smiled.

“Of course, Marc. Will you come up to get me?” I checked the time on my Link. Then thought for a minute.

“Yes. Then we could drop down to your quarters to change and then off we go.” His eyes twinkle with joy.

“That sounds like a plan. I should be finished at 17:00 hours.” I smiled as I bit into my sandwich. His hand stroked my thigh under the table. As always, his parents left a few minutes before he did to give us time alone. We hugged, kissing before I shrugged and walked him to the Bridge. He squeezed my hand, causing me to look towards him.

“What are you not doing to walk me to the Bridge?” He asked. I smiled.

“Probably a lot of things just so I can hold your hand for a few minutes.” His smile increased.

“I love you too Marc.”

“Yes. I know.” He stopped me to hold my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my lips. We continued walking to the lift and stepped in. He snuggled up against me as other people boarded with us and continued our trip to drop him off at his work. We entered the Bridge and side stepped for me to give him one last kiss before I headed back down to start my afternoon work.

I was taking Bear Claws out on to the training grounds with a few of my family’s corporation’s interceptors for some ship-to-ship combat training. My crew was a little skeptical about this. I, for one, was working on several assumptions that it could be done if needed and now with the help of my family I was going to test my theories against real pilots. I had dialed in all the drones to the settings I wanted and placed them in training mode. I had two interceptors helping. Both of different designs that would be found in pirate hands. I smiled as we scanned the area of space and were able to pick up the faint ghosts of their locations. Leslie and Charlie were with us, too. Only 4 of the trainees were involved. I set our course which I was flying as a Helmsman. Loving how Bear Claws handled with all her upgrades. She was more nimble, still a block of metal, but she could outrun any of the standard miners.

“She’s handling nice, Marc. Can she run at full speed and tank the same time?” Asked Charlie.

I smiled, “She can, and she does alright for an old girl. It will come as a surprise to anyone who decides to attack us.” He was enjoying his ride in the Captain’s chair as we zigged and zagged through the asteroids. Being we were empty also helped. I should have loaded her with ore. But that little fact will give me an excuse to do this again, I thought as Leslie called out our first bogey. I saw it too on my screen.

“Shield boosters when they fire.” I said, and I weaved us through some asteroids in proximity.

“They are trying to sneak in on us.” Leslie said. To which I responded.

“I didn’t tell them about any of the upgrades.” Which made Charlie laugh.

“They don’t know we have teeth.” Leslie said, nodding approvingly. I looked contemplative for a minute.

“I just didn’t think it was needed at the time. I think they will figure it out soon enough. Have we got a lock on them yet?” I asked. Rachel was working hard following our shadows.

“They are in range of our targeting, but not our surprise. It should only be a few more minutes. Or do you want me to lock them up and we go on the attack?” Rachel asked. My snicker was full of mischief.

“Let them get closer, Rachel. I want them to crap their flight suits when we turn on them.” Charlie and Leslie were almost red faced from laughing so hard. It didn’t take long before she locked up our first target. He was coming in fast for a close attack. I turned us right towards him.

“Launch drones and Web his ass with the interdiction system. Lock him up with the Electronic Warfare System.”

“Launching,” came from our drone tech as Rachel spoke.

“Got’em. He’s not going anywhere and blinded.” The shields flashed with hits from his weapons as I brought us into an orbit around them. Our drones had him cold. And the Webbifier scrambled his Mains and Thrusters that kept him from getting away as we scrambled the onboard electronics with an Electronic Warfare Module. We were getting 1 out of 4 hits onto our shields and they just shrugged it off.

“Micah, how goes the power?”

“She’s holding right where we thought she would. As long as we don’t try to Jump we could sit like this for days.” I passed the helm to my helmsperson in the first seat as I stepped over to the Mining Controls. I looked at some scans and targeted a local rock. I tapped Jollie on the shoulder.

“Warm up one of the Strippers on that.” He looked at me, astonished.

“Really?” I shrugged.

“Might as well.”

“OK.” Jollie tapped a few keys and power fluctuated through the Crystals on number 1 Ore Stripper as the beam shot out to the small asteroid that was in range.

“Micah, what does it look like now?”

“Once past the initial surge, she leveled right off. Still at around 80 percent.” I looked over at my shields indicator. The smiled that was forming was ferocious.

“Jollie, nudge us up to 80 percent.”

“Nudging up to 80.” I watched as the capacitors dropped to level off at 67 percent and we kept on holding shields.

“Now that’s got to be humiliating.” I said to the Bridge at large. Everybody was laughing. We had fun testing out the systems. As we could only grab one ship at a time. They almost got us when we tried both at once, but we only had 5 drones. Then the thought occurred that since we had them trapped in the Webbifier, we could use a heavier armed, but slower drones, than the light ones we used, if we could operate them. That was a question for another day.

* * *

I was just stepping off the shuttle as my Link chimed. I checked. Grandma Alexander asking if I had time when I get to Seventy-Seven for lunch. Also that Aunt Gloria and Uncle Fran were on station and said I could ride down to Low Point Station with them if I wanted instead of using the shuttle. I smiled as I figured there was a reason for that. I stepped lively to baggage claim and felt arms wrap around me as I claimed my gear.

“Guess who.” I smiled at the sound of Sasha’s voice. I made a humming sound, then said.

“My luggage handler?” He snorted.

“Yes, I’ll do that too if you wish.” He said as I turned in his arms and kissed him.

“Hello love. This is a nice surprise.”

“I did say that I needed to do more in this relationship.” I smiled down into his eyes.

“You did indeed. Thank you, Sasha, for coming to meet me.” He smiled.

“Yes. I love you too Marc. And I am very happy to see you again.” I smiled as he took one of my hands in his and my gravtrunk in the other before he led me away to the ship. It was rather interesting to see us walking down the wide passageways of the station, navigating our way to his ship and watching the looks of the people we passed. I got several appreciative nods as people looked us over as a couple. Sasha had noticed too and stood a little straighter as we walked. We made small talk as we twisted and turned our way through the station. He stopped us once to kiss me, then continued on while telling me about the plans he made for tonight. I smiled at my Sasha for stepping up to the task of showing me he cares about me. Not just telling me. He’s taken another step to help himself. We entered the VIP Cabin and Wesley had just set lunch on the table as we walked in.

“Thank you, Wesley. We should be fine until the Captain takes me to the Bridge.” Said Sasha.

“Aye Sa.” Sasha pointed to the chair as he took my gravtrunk to the bedroom and locked it down. I waited by my chair, and he returned to move his plate and silverware to a spot next to me and pulled a chair around. He kissed me lightly on the lips before he spoke.

“Sit, baby, and eat. I have to get to work.” I smiled at his use of baby and sat. We talked quietly, and he fed me part of his brownie before we took the time for some hugging and heavy kissing. He finally separated with a sigh.

“I guess you better take me to the Bridge. I need to get to work. Will you be staying on Seventy-Seven?” I shook my head no.

“Dinner here with you tonight. I am having lunch with my grandparents, aunt and uncle tomorrow. Dinner with you. Then I can stay the night with you and head down with my aunt and uncle the following morning.” His face lit up as he just realized that we had another night together after I had to change my plans from one night here because I couldn’t get a flight.

“You shifted more around for me again.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes and no. I couldn’t get a flight down the day after tomorrow or the next day. So I only had tomorrow’s flight available. Then I found out my Aunt and Uncle were at Seventy-Seven and invited me to fly down with them. That means I can stay the extra night and I have time to talk with them on the way down. It works out very nice all around.”

“Yes it does. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night too?” I leaned down and kissed him before saying.

“Yes Sasha. You can take me out tomorrow night, too.” His smile lit the room again as he pulled out of my arms and took my hand.

“If you could escort me to the Bridge, please my dear boyfriend. I would be very grateful.”

“So would I, my Sasha.” His smile lasted until I left him on the Bridge.

“How was your time with Sasha and the Jasenka’s?” Asked my Aunt Gloria.

“It was very nice. Sasha has finally taken steps to show me, not just tell me he loves me now. One step closer to my final goal of friendship.” She eyed me carefully.

“Not thinking of asking him to be your Bonded Mate.” The sly smile almost made me laugh.

“No. It hasn’t crossed my mind. I know, and he does too actually, that we aren’t life mates. We love each other, just not that way.” She nodded, then changed the subject.

“We were thinking and had some new ideas for you to try out when you get a chance. I’ll send over the files for you to read but in a nutshell it’s…” We spent a few hours after Uncle Fran had joined us talking about the project. The Battleship was making good time heading down the Pipe. Not as fast as the shuttle would have been, but fast for a ship as large as this. I had a lot to think about as I laid down for a catnap after dinner. We would arrive around 00:30 hours and I needed to be on Bear Claws by 05:00. Short night for me before three days of mining. Rock Hound was almost finished, and I needed to send Micah back up to High Sec to get ready for the acceptance trials of Arctic Bear Claws. Luckily, I have several engineers now and Tom that knows what we are doing with the modifications. I shouldn’t have any trouble pulling the new ships in for modifications and getting them out mining ores. The crew was ready for Rock Hound and I’ll have a crew ready for Rock Hound II in about two months. I already talked to Jay about taking the second ship early. He had no problems with that and said I could exercise my options for the two other ships early if I wanted. And I might, if I can come up with enough Captains.

I was standing in the viewing gallery as Sara Maru was just pulling alongside the dock. I made it a point to change the view port settings to watch the Bridge. Sasha sat in the seat with the Captain standing next to him. I smiled as she waved and I waved back to signify I had the Bridge view on. She leaned in and told Sasha, who was too busy to notice. His face lit up as his eyes locked on mine, when he blew me a kiss. I tapped out a quick message to Charlie as they prepared to depart. They would be moving directly past Sara Maru. Then I tapped out another message to Sasha. I saw him check his Link and tell his Mother who issued commands and then when they had the Docking Clamps attached as well as the Lock they shifted to the Starboard Wing. Bear Claws had changed their altitude, so they were at the height of the wing as they went past. This would allow the Jasenka’s the opportunity to see one of my ships up close. Once they were secured, I headed down to join them. I did our usual routine of me going to the Bridge to see him before walking down to lunch in his parents’ cabin. Where I got hugs from everyone and a kiss from Sasha. Our lunch was filled with questions, answers and congratulations on finishing my upgrades of my first Mauler Mining Vessel. They also listened to how I was working out my training program while giving me a few more ideas to add to my training. Sasha was proud of me, as I was proud of him. He was really stepping up now and truly acting like a boyfriend should towards our relationship. His mother even told me the same thing when Sasha had to go to the head. They were proud of him too, as well as thankful to me for being so good to him.

It was a very nice two days with Sasha and his family at the Station. I even took Sasha around to see Rock Hound II in the hanger as she was on down time availability. In other words, she was in for modifications and replacements. He understood now why I said he wouldn’t enjoy coming out with me. Our spaces were small and cramped due to all the holds and equipment need to perform our job.

“It’s no luxury liner, that’s for sure. But it is you.” I smiled and kissed him. He was a spacer like me, not a land rat. He could understand a person’s love for their ships. I am sure in a few years he’ll sit in the Captain’s seat on Sara Maru and his parents will buy another Jump Freighter. I smiled at that thought. He is already learning how to do that very well. Sasha and I talked again, as this was another long stretch apart. Almost three weeks. Then I will meet him at Vandermain Station. It’s only one night, but again there were problems with the flights. I would then head over to Seventy-Seven to board yet another shuttle to Lima Sector with my people and Ernesto to pick up Arctic Bear Claws. I was getting excited as I started packing my gear for another trip out on Bear Claws for three days before I headed up the Pipe again. My family is getting upset that I use the Shuttle Corporation so much to get around, but I had to explain to them I needed the speed it provides. Taking trips with multiple stops doesn’t work good for my schedule, which is too tight already.

I was moving fast when we returned to the Station after this trip. My training crew was performing as expected and we had made a good haul. Several of them had taken quarters already to prepare for boarding Rock Hound II when she comes into service when I return from High Sec next week. Our funds are coming in from the two ships in operation and the third coming online will increase my credit flow. I was back in my quarters repacking for my trip up the Pipe to Vandermain Station. Just as excited as I was horny. To the point I needed my Sasha as much as he needed me. I stopped at that thought. Then shook it off. We would continue our relationship for another few months before we separated. I was finally packed and hit the fresher before changing. Once dressed, me and my gravtrunk were on the move again. I was first class again this time, just because I had to switch flights at Weissman Station to get to Vandermain Station. I was in business class from Vandermain Station to Seventy-Seven.

When I finally arrived at Vandermain Station, Sasha was there to greet me in baggage before rushing me off to lunch with his parents. Then we went to my cabin for after lunch fun. I took him out to dinner before we returned to my cabin.

“I need to be on the Bridge by 07:00 hours.” Sasha said.

“And I need to be on that shuttle by 06:45. Can you walk me to the shuttle lounge?” He rolled over and kissed me.

“Of course, Marc. I’ll see you in 5 days over in Westport.”

“Yes. Then you should pull into Seventy-Seven when I come back from our first 3-day mining test. I’ll be able to stay both nights before I have to head back down.” He smiled.

“And then I’ll be down about a week later. Two days?” He was looking into my eyes as he asked.

“I might be able to make that more?” Those dark eyebrows headed to that dark curly hair I liked so much.

“How? We are only there for two days.”

“I am working on something. You are still stopping at Bergheim Station on the way down?”

“Yeah. But you can’t be there and mining at the same time.”

“But your parents said they would allow your shuttle flight down to me as long as I am there to collect you.” I almost couldn’t breathe as he hugged me so tight.

“So, you like that idea? I can tell your parents that I will arrange the flight.”

“Yes Marc. I like that idea. What made you change your mind?”

“Because it’s time Sash. I have more time and now I want you to come to me sometimes. I talked to your mother, and she’s OK with it when we are close together. The flight is only 7 hours. I’m putting you in business class. You can work and study on the flight down. You’ll arrive around 13:00 hours. That gives us until 12:00 hours the next day alone before we eat lunch with your parents, and you go to work. Dinner with my parents. Back to work at 08:00 hours. Rinse and repeat until you leave. I’ll be working on training my crews and rebuilding in between.” I saw tears beginning to form.

“Marc? What is happening to our relationship? Are you changing your mind about us splitting up?” I kissed the tip of his nose.

“No Sash. I am showing you I do love you. I am pulling you closer. But we are drifting apart too. Neither of us is ready to split apart yet. I also want you to see what I am doing down there. I don’t have a lot of friends, just like you don’t.” He let out a deep breath.

“You’re right Marc. I’m not ready to let you go.” He snuggled in more. “I still want to keep you forever, even though I feel you are not the one either.”

“I know baby. I am sorry I don’t love you that way. But I love you.” I said.

“And I know you love me, Marc.” I smiled as I kissed the top of his head. “OK. Set it up Marc.”