Chapter 1

Sixty feet of coastal water separated the surface of the ocean from Tage's kitchen window. Sunlight fanned down through the water in shimmering sparkles to illuminate the meadow of sea grass blanketing the ocean bottom like dancing carpet. Within the swaying plants, bright yellow and iridescent white stripes flashed as a school of butterfly fish chased one another. Tage retracted the knife he had been using to slice fruit and sighed as he admired the colors and depth of the underwater landscape.

Lolly brushed his hand as she reached around him to grab a slice of star fruit. He turned to her, another pleasing sight. Fluffy curls stood out in a longish afro around her head, framing a round dark honey toned face. Two kinky strands of hair fell artfully over one of her kohl outlined eyes. She brushed them aside to study him. "You really do love it down here."

He met her gaze, avoiding the sight of her soft, ample cleavage boosted up by the bodice-like top of her white cotton dress. "I prefer it, yes."

A stir of interest warmed his belly. He squelched it. Though pleasant, it was puzzling. His sexual function was designed to be an emotionless series of manual actions. These spontaneous responses should not have been possible. Tage began a systems check.

"Leave it to you to see luxury in what everyone else considers a hovel." Lolly shook her head, then looked up to the glass dome acting as ceiling and walls for the small living module. "It is beautiful, but a bit oppressive."

He followed her gaze. A coral garden in infinite colors of teal, yellow, and purple stretched up jaggedly some distance from the front of the dome. Beyond was endless blue. "I have lived here since the overcrowding laws required me to leave topside. Three years, and I am not tired of the view."

She shuddered. "So much water. And the damn seals always leaking. I worry that I'll see a newsflash on the vid: Hydro Terrace apartment building implodes under weight of a napping jellyfish." She waved her hands in front of her face in mock terror.

Tage laughed, pleased that humor was within his parameters. She was so vibrant and gregarious that it would be difficult to relate to her otherwise. He enjoyed their interactions. He gave into an impulse to touch her and playfully flicked her earlobe. "It is not as fragile as that. Anyway droids cannot drown, remember?"

She pursed full, shapely lips colored with a rich cinnamon gloss. He stared a moment, wondering if she would taste like cinnamon if he kissed her.

Her eyes twinkled as she gave him a slow inviting smile. Did she know what he was thinking? His heartbeat quickened and his control over his body functions slipped enough that his shaft thickened. He turned back to the fruit on the cutting board and ran a hand through his tousled brown hair. He avoided her gaze as he tipped the cut fruit into a serving bowl.

Lolly, incurable flirt that she was, would perhaps let him satisfy his curiosity, but he had good reason to hesitate. That reason pinged the door hatch as Tage struggled to calm his erection.

Lolly skipped the three steps to the hatch and flung it open. Ian gave her a grin that accentuated the perfection of his face. A gently squared jaw and high cheekbones gave him a rugged look, while wide sky-blue eyes under shaggy chocolate eyebrows expressed sensitivity.

Tage's throat tightened, accompanied by a pleasant lightness in his chest, at the sight of him. Ian had always been beautiful to him, but lately, as with Lolly, his body's reactions were intense and off program.

"You're late." Lolly frowned, hands on hips. She then contradicted this tart welcome with a searing kiss. Tage watched with interest as she tangled her fingers in Ian's auburn locks and rose on tiptoe to suck his lower lip into her mouth.

Ian moaned as he pulled her closer, one hand running over her short white dress and tight, round ass. "I love your way of being upset with me." He gave Tage a teasing grin over her head. "And you mate? You upset too?"

Tage tilted his head as he attempted to decipher his friend's meaning. Though sure Ian was making a joke rather than an invitation, Tage imagined walking over, squashing Lolly between them, and sliding his tongue between Ian's lips. As the image burned in his mind, desire flared in his belly.