Star-Crossed
Author:© WebNovel
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
When Reth Reilly had enrolled in the
Betelgeuse Flight Academy, sixteen and fresh off his first
interstellar jaunt, he’d thought he had his life mapped out ahead
of him like all the stars on his navigational charts. Four years at
the Academy to graduate in the Class of 2396, then he’d sign on for
a stint with the Star Corps tracing out freight routes and narrowly
avoiding space pirates. The last thing he needed was to lose his
heart to some wild-haired flyboy with deep eyes and a sexy grin,
but that’s exactly what happened when he met Xan Anders.
They were both freshmen at the Academy when
Reth fell for Xan. The two of them had the usual prerequisite
courses together and, until the second semester their sophomore
year, Xan lived on the same dorm deck as Reth. With his untamable
hair and laughing eyes, Xan was everything Reth had never realized
he wanted in a man, but he was too painfully shy to approach the
guy. Xan ignited the air around him with his quick laugh; whenever
Reth heard it, he wanted to disappear. Like a black hole, Xan
sucked the life out of everything around him—everything that
wasn’thim—leaving Reth breathless and aching in his wake.
Whenever they passed in the hall, Reth had to look away or he’d
drown in those eyes—they were as deep as outer space, and just as
enigmatic.
Their paths split junior year when Reth went
into navigation and Xan chose artillery. He still heard of Xan, of
course—the guy was a deadeye in the turret and a crack-up in the
classroom. Xan made sure he stayed in the public eye as a big man
on campus, and it came as no surprise to anyone when he was awarded
top honors in their class at graduation. At the awards ceremony,
Xan vaulted onto the presenters’ table and raised his medal high as
he crowed, “Eat this, Diedermeyer!”
The graduates cheered, Reth among them,
shocked and more than a little pleased that someone had finally
stood up to the academy’s hard-nosed principal in so flamboyant a
manner. In that instant, Xan seemed invincible. As horrified
professors scrambled to get him down from the table and failed, a
silly grin split Reth’s face. He swore he’d find the courage to
speak to Xan—somehow, some time, tonight—before they went
their separate ways in the morning. He didn’t want the past four
years to slip away into eternity.
It turned out easier to get close than Reth
had thought it would be and, a few hours later, he found himself
cozying up to Xan outside the banquet hall. Both of them were more
than a little drunk on jojobu juice, the night, and each other. Xan
kept a strong arm around Reth’s waist. It’d settled there sometime
after Reth’s breathless hello and hadn’t moved since. Reth leaned
against Xan, marveling at the way the alcohol lit up his warm
chocolate eyes.
Xan had a narrow face, with a strong sloping
nose, wide eyes, and a wider mouth. Whenever he took a sip of his
drink, his lips turned a darker shade of red. His light hair was
streaked with bleached strands which gave his pale skin a dusky
look. That hair fell like a curtain, straight from the part down
his scalp to sweep across his eyes. He kept running a hand through
the length, pushing it back, usually when grinning at something
Reth had said.
Xan was intoxicating, a burning star once out
of reach that Reth now found clenched in his hand. Away from the
banquet, in a dark corner of the observation deck with the universe
stretched out above them, Reth discovered Xan’s wide, thin lips
tasted sweet against his own and the enclosures at the crotch of
their official Academy uniforms were damn near impossible to
unfasten. “You’re the navigator,” Xan teased as Reth rubbed at the
front of his pants.
Beneath the fabric, a stiff erection pressed
into Reth’s hand, eager for release if only he could figure out how
the outfit worked. Xan didn’t help one bit by leaning against his
neck, a breathy laugh tickling under Reth’s collar. “Need me to
draw you a map?” he purred against Reth’s heated skin. Damp lips
kissed behind his ear, and Reth found his hands trapped between
them as Xan thrust his hips against Reth’s. “X marks the spot.”
Fisting Xan’s sheathed dick, Reth sighed,
“Here?”
Xan moaned into his ear and leaned against
him. He pinned Reth into the corner where the balcony railing met
the thick plastic shield that held back empty space. Wrapped in
Xan’s strong embrace, Reth thought things between them were moving
along nicely—at a fast clip, sure, but one he easily matched. With
Xan rubbing against him, those lips on his ear, he gave up on the
pants and focused on the rest of the man instead. Burrowing his
face into Xan’s neck, Reth breathed deep his musky scent and
murmured, “How about we take this up to my room, crackshot? I’ll
get these pants off yet.”
The hands on his back froze, and the mouth
latched to his earlobe disengaged. Suddenly the night came crashing
down as sounds from the party invaded the intimate space between
them—the chink of glasses and plates, laughter stabbing the night,
raised voices calling to each other, the band playing over it all.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone