Imperfect Judgment

Note: This is a re-edited version of the original story by Cricket Starr, now published by Janet Miller

Diam isn't happy with his nomadic life on Gallia and wishes for better. When a new colony ship arrives from Earth he is at first intrigued by what the Newcomers have to offer, but when his sister becomes ill as a result of a virus in the soil disturbed by the new colonists, Diam learns why his people became nomads in the first place. A tarot reading by the village witch sends him to find a way to force the Newcomers to leave Gallia before anyone else gets sick.

Diam doesn't count on hurting himself or falling in love with Justina, the new colony’s doctor as a result. The passion they stir in each other reaches beyond the barriers of language and background to bring them together but even with their new love they can’t ignore their people’s fate.

The judgment card in Diam’s tarot reading promised success, but it is Diam and Justina’s judgment and skill that will be needed if all of the Gallians, new and old, are to have the life they deserve. 

He licked his lips and realized that Justina watched him do it and for a moment he wondered if she had the same thoughts he did. But what would a Newcomer woman want with someone like him?

Their gazes met and like a flame something passed between them. Suddenly Diam knew that in spite of their differences she had more than a little interest in him as a man. Justina’s eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Then she licked her lips in unconscious…or maybe conscious imitation of him.

Diam’s breath caught just as hers had and he knew if he could see his face his eyes would be as wide as hers. He sat up straighter and again wished his ankle was healed so he could rise and close the distance between them. Justina seemed to want him and he knew he wanted her. Under the blanket across his lap his cock rose hard and heavy.

As it turned out he didn’t need to move. Justina came to him. She sidled close to the bed and hovered over him. For a moment she stared into his face as if reading it. Then she took off the translation box she still had hung around her neck and put it on a nearby table before leaning in.

Her face was just a finger’s length from his and her breath hot and sweet against his face. She touched his beard with one finger, sliding her fingers along the strands. In the summer he had shaved it clean but it was fall and he let it fill in to keep his face warm during the winter to come. The men with her didn’t have beards and Diam wondered if she’d not seen a man with hair on his face before. Perhaps that was why she touched him?

But no, he didn’t think so. The speed of her breath closely matched his, her face flushed, eyes bright and cheeks pink. She held herself erect, breasts jutting proudly under the loose top she wore. Through the thin fabric of her blouse he saw her hardened nipples—Justina looked like a woman aroused. Her bright, grass-colored eyes watched him, fascinated and just a little wary. It looked like she wanted to kiss him but didn’t quite dare.

He dared. Diam leaned in to her and let his lips touch hers, not hard, just barely, as if he might possibly have done it by accident. It wasn’t an accident though and he and she both knew it when he leaned back.

Justina smiled at him. She moved this time and there was no accident at all when their lips met. It was a kiss, a serious kiss that got more serious with every moment. She sighed into his mouth, opening hers, and he let his tongue plunge briefly inside to sample her.

Justina tasted as sweet as he’d known she would, her taste like berries in the fall, ripe and rich. She smelled like berries too—and like a woman who wanted a man.

When she pulled back he saw the slight smile that tweaked her mouth and the light in her eyes and he knew positively that what he wanted, she wished for too. It didn’t matter Justina was a Newcomer and he wasn’t. She was a woman who wanted a man and that man was him.

Diam couldn’t have been more delighted to give her what she wanted.

Even so it was with tenuous arms he pulled her up next to him, still not quite believing she was as willing as she seemed. It heartened him that she made no protest, nor did she try and pull from his hands. Instead she allowed herself to be pulled onto the narrow bed next to him to sit on the edge.

The fabric of her shirt was silky but he doubted it was any softer than the skin underneath it. Pulling on the shirt he found that it lifted easily away from her pants, revealing the smooth skin of her waist. Diam slid his hands onto that bared area and felt her warm skin for the first time.

Yes she was soft, like the skin of the youngest lamb. He lifted her shirt higher and slid his hands underneath, seeking more of that softness, seeking the warm smoothness of her skin, stroking her as she slid onto the bed next to him. Diam caught her expression, a little wonder mixed with a knowing smile. Wonder that he’d dared to touch her perhaps, but knowing that he could no more resist it than she could resist touching him.

Her hands fell upon his shoulders and she seemed to measure their width. Her smile widened and he knew she liked what she felt.

Diam wished he had the words needed to speak with her. For once he was with someone he wanted to talk to in bed and he couldn’t speak enough of her language to do so. He bit back his frustration and let his hands speak for him, caressing her smooth torso until he found the bottom of her unbound breasts.

He stopped for a moment, waiting to see if she’d object to his touch, proceeding only when her smile broadened at him. Then he slid his hands upward across the soft mounds.

Justina’s eyelids lowered and she gave a small gasp as his fingers slid over her nipples. He stroked them again and her breathing picked up and she gasped as he leaned in to capture her mouth with his. This kiss went on longer than the ones before, her lips moving with his. Diam felt her surrender in a battle they weren’t really fighting.

There was nothing hesitant about him now as he pulled her shirt off over her head to bare the breasts he’d felt but not seen. First he feasted his eyes and then his mouth, latching onto first one nipple and then the other, licking and drawing them into his mouth. His hands caressed her breasts, lifting them and weighing each. She was finely made, as fine as any woman he’d ever known. Smaller than some, but he didn’t mind that.

There was nothing about what he felt for Justina that had anything to do with any woman in his past and all comparisons faded in the reality of this beautiful, sensual lady. 

4 Cups! - Coffee Time Romance ...Cricket Starr has written a great book about how people can bridge the differences between them selves to find a solution to a common goal. The characters are well written, and easily believable. I as the reader was pulled right into this story, and was sad when I reached the end. I really enjoyed reading this book, and if you like futuristic type stories you will as well - LeeAnn

Review for the erotic version:

5 Stars, 3 Flames - Just Erotic Romance Reviews  Imperfect Judgment was a wonderful short novel. Diam was a man who was very intelligent and I enjoyed reading about his work fixing the problems of his planet. Justina (or Justice in the cards) started by being very attracted and they had very hot sex. As their sexual experiences continued, they began to fall more in love. I loved all of the enthralling sex that various couples had and I was getting very aroused as I read. WOW, did they have wonderful sex! - Marcy Arbitman