Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

EURI

"She thinks you have pretty eyes," I lied to the clerk at the resort gift shop.

Why did I lie, you ask? Because Frank was standing atop a display case, holding the clerk's face in her paws and staring into his eyes, trying to figure out if she could turn his brain "full" instead of "empty" by bonding with him through eye contact. According to Ronnie, Frank classified people like me and the Sloan twins as "full-brains" and average humans as "empty-brains."

I was 90% convinced that Frank's antics were conspired by Ronnie. The clerk handed me my bag of travel-sized lube tubes, and I told him, "Her name is Frank," as we left the store. He erupted into laughter, and Frank thwacked me on the back of the head with her tail, mentally, not in real life.

We were on Trinilux, the premiere vacation sphere of Andromeda, which was half-way between Shurwinn and the Trauton system. Trauton was seventeen hours by starliner from Shurwinn, and when the Sloan sibs found out I'd never been to a beach, they'd decided we had to take a four-day vacation stop on our way across the galaxy.

I'd been snorkeling in the bays of Shurwinn, of course, but we didn't have beaches back home. We had sea cliffs lined with raging unnavigable seas and small bays where the water was just calm enough to not kill swimmers.

Trinilux promoted itself as the best place to vacation in the galaxy. Did you like mountain retreats? They had the best snow skiing. Did you like beaches? They had the widest, longest beaches with the best resorts. Did your kids like water slides? They had the biggest water parks. Did you like privacy? You could get a reservation at their private beaches or private mountain retreats or private water parks, and so on.

Whatever you were looking for that was family-friendly, you could find it on Trinilux. So, we'd made a reservation for three nights at a beach resort, and the first thing Portia had done upon arriving was head to the gift shop to see the displays of her new products, Slingin' Edibles and Pearl: Unscented.

The store clerk had done an excellent job fielding her questions, and I'd bought a bag of lube tubes to thank him. And to be a good person.

Because when I'd been researching bonding hormones, I'd read a stream article titled, "If You Suck At Being A Person, Read This," which was really funny and poignant at the same time. I wasn't sure if I sucked at being a person, but after I'd read the article, I thought that I might.

So, I vowed to do at least one of the recommended "How To Not Suck Tips: Be generous to people who do jobs you don't want to do."

I bought the lube tubes from the shop clerk because I didn't want to do his job, and he'd been nice to Frank. And I planned to leave a tip for the cleaning staff when we checked out of the resort: I'd leave the lube tubes as gifts next to some cash.

Maybe that would send a confusing message, cash and lube, and maybe that would mean I still sucked as a person, but I was at least trying to be generous.

We had a gorgeous suite at a perfect resort on the largest, longest beach in Andromeda galaxy, and I got to walk in sand that wasn't a desert for the first time in my life. It was magic. The water lapping at our ankles as we took long, long walks. The seafood which was kind of meat, but didn't upset my stomach. Spicy grilled fish and creamy pasta with lobster. Salads with shrimp and glasses of white wine. Cheesecake and apple strudel. Snorkeling in Trinilux's premier coral reef and the longest zip line in the galaxy.

Our last day, we soared for two miles over tree tops, lakes, canyons, cityscapes, and then landed in a grassy field amongst hot air balloons at sunset. If you're thinking that two miles in a zip line harness would ruin male fertility, you'd be right, but Trinilux took customer satisfaction seriously, and the zip line was in comfy chair-like seats.

Amazing is what it was. From start to finish, Trinilux did a bang-up job of showing me how fabulous it was to be a sphere-hopping story chaser.

None of us worked while we were on Trinilux, so after dinner at night we'd pile up on the sofa watching Ronnie and Portia's childhood favorite stream show: Lindy's Left Arm. It was a dramedy not really made for kids, but it made sense why they liked it.

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I got to know them just by watching the show with them. Lindy was a nanny who traveled around the sphere of Usual looking after kids who had illnesses that medica couldn't fix.

Sometimes the kids died from cancer. Sometimes they got well on their own with time. Sometimes they stayed sick, but their lives got happier because Lindy helped them find ways to be happy that worked for them and their families. We finished the last episode of season two at 10:45 PM our last night of the trip.

"I'm beat," I said as Ronnie took the sleeping Frank to his room.

"Yeah," Portia yawned. "I'm tempted to stay in Trinilux, but I suppose we should keep going on to Trauton as planned. Plus, eventually, I need to get back to writing."

"Me too."

"I know you want to talk about it, Euri."

I smiled into her hair. We were cuddled on the couch in the living room of the suite. "So, are we gonna talk about it, Shah? Or are we gonna go to bed?"

She sat up and looked at me, then her eyes darted to the door of Ronnie's room. She straddled me. The lights were on. She looked into my eyes and held the eye contact. It felt uncomfortable. She kept looking at me, then she started to smile.

It does feel really good, she whispered into my mind. I smiled back.

You feel really good, Shay. Your eyes are so pretty. Wanna kiss me?

She grinned and leaned down and flicked her tongue over my top lip.

Mmmmm, I said with my eyes open, looking into her blue eyes. Her lips worked over mind, caressing, sucking. Her lips. Not Psy Ling's. Not Rilla Sandewen's. Portia Sloan's.

We hadn't had sex since the night on Shurwinn 8 days prior when I'd gone down on her in the middle of the night. We'd been hanging out with Ronnie and Frank watching shows at night instead.

When we'd gotten to Trinilux, Shah had relaxed and said, "Let's try the eye contact thing before we go to sleep for as long as I can stand it. And maybe in the morning too when we wake up."

So, we'd done that every night and every morning, working on bonding as Portia and Euri. Getting our neurotransmitters working for us and cuddling to sleep, holding each other. She stayed Portia every time.

She'd taken off work for the vacation, and that meant she wasn't Psy Ling or Rilla Sandewen. She was practicing being with me as Portia Sloan.

Does this count as talking, Euri? she asked, stroking her tongue against mine.

I don't think I care, Shay.

Our kisses got deeper and deeper and deeper. Chests heaved. Bodies tensed. Portia's mind stuttered.

Let's go to sleep, Shay, I suggested.

She relaxed. I love you, Euri. I want to get good at this.

You're awesome at it, Shay. So good. I love you. Portia didn't mention the next chapter she wanted to write, and I didn't talk about my next episode. We stayed ourselves and researched for our characters at the same time.

Somehow, some way, we were going to figure out how to do life as Euri and Portia and write great stories. We went to bed spooning, and I think I drifted off, but I came alert when Portia wiggled against me.

Euri?

Hmmm?

Can we? I can't ignore it anymore. I'm never gonna sleep like this.

Yeah, my cock was hard pushed into her back, and she was on fire. My hand traveled down her belly and under her shorts. Oh, thank the clouds, Euri. Please, oh dear gods, please touch me.

Shhh, Shay. I'm gonna take care of you. You feel so good. I reached over for the travel lube tube then slid slick fingers over Portia's folds as she whimpered and pushed against me. It felt so good. Her body felt so good, so soft, so slick, and she pushed against me, sighing, whimpering.

I need to come, Euri, please.

You will, baby. I know how to take care of you. Your body is singing for me right now, and I know everything you need.

Please, Euri, please. I slid her shorts off and then mine.

Touch your nipples for me, Shah. That's a good girl. Umm, so good. Your body feels so good right now. Do you know how good that is for me? The way you go all tight and then loose and then rub against me? So good, baby. Umm. I feel you getting wetter. So wet inside. Feel how ready you are for me, baby? Umm. This is gonna be so good. You're so ready for me.

Euri! Euri, please! I lifted her right leg and sank into her slowly. She groaned as I rubbed her clit and pushed into her in the rhythm her body needed.

Ungh, Shay. So good, baby. You feel so good. I got lost. I had no more words. She was so on fire about to come, and I wanted to hold it so we could do it twice, but I couldn't.

She clamped her muscles around me and pulled me harder into her, and we both broke, screaming in our brains as our bodies and hearts ripped in two.

Everything was brighter orange than the sea anemones we'd seen snorkeling. It was endless bright orange. I felt Portia panting in my arms. She was okay, not feeling like running away, and she was herself.

She was happy. Elated. She'd done it. Relieved. I held her back against my chest and wrapped all my love around her, telling her with my body and heart that she was precious and loved and cared for. The orange glow in our minds faded and our breaths stilled.

Euri, that was amazing.

I smiled against her neck. You're amazing, Portia. It's so good when we're together. You and me. Thank you, thank you for being yourself.

I love you, Euri.

I love you too. We drifted off to sleep, me wrapped around her body and heart.

Trinilux: best vacation sphere in Andromeda.