by Alana Khan
I’m in space. It’s full of aliens. This isn’t an Earth male. He’s part canine. I appreciate everything about him that underscores our diversity.
I mingle, doing my best to be upbeat and happy, all the while keeping an eye on Bayne. As soon as his conversation with Stryker comes to an end, I’m going to approach him. Carpe Diem! I’m going to seize the day.
“Can you believe it’s only been a few lunars since we were in that cell on the slave ship together?” Ar’Tok asks. He was a quiet male when we met. Now he’s found love and come out of his shell. There’s a broad smile on his face—certainly something I never imagined that day we were in an epic space battle and ultimately rescued by the gladiators on this ship.
“I think we’ve all done a lot of growing since then,” I say with a smile. I’m so engrossed in our conversation as we recount all the changes we’ve experienced, that I take my eye off Bayne for a moment. When I glance toward the back of the room, I don’t see him. I hope he hasn't retreated to his cabin.
“Willa, would you like some punch?” It’s Bayne. He slipped up on me quietly and is at my elbow, offering me a glass.
“Yes. Thanks.” I believe these are the first words we’ve exchanged since I kicked him out of my cabin. My fingers actually tremble as I accept the glass. He’s bigger than I remember, or maybe it’s because he’s so close. Heat radiates off him. I feel pulled to him as if he’s a planet with his own gravity.
I take a sip and realize the fruity red punch packs a kick. Normally not a drinker, I decide tonight would be a good time to treat myself to a glass—or two.
My mind swirls with thoughts and questions. I want to say so many things. What I do, however, is bite my bottom lip with my teeth and feel excitement eddy through my body. Then we both talk at once. I didn’t hear what he said.
“Awkward,” I admit, then look into those golden eyes for the first time tonight. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think I understand every thought racing through his brain. No, that’s not right. But I think I know his feelings. The emotion pouring out of the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen is affection. He’s lobbing it at me, propelling at me all the caring and concern I can handle.
Our awkward conversation gets worse before it gets better. I ask him how he’s been and he tells me “fine.” He asks me what I’ve been doing and I have nothing to report. What is there to say? I’ve been helping the other women do the things they’re good at because I have no strengths of my own? Or should I admit I’ve spent a great deal of time regretting kicking him out of my cabin?
It doesn’t help that people are watching us. I’m sure we’ve been the talk of our little ship. He was my constant companion from the day we boarded the Fool’s Errand until the day he shifted. Thankfully someone turns on some music, but the awkwardness continues, only now it’s louder.
He grabs my hand in his huge, warm one. It’s like someone plugged me into an electrical current. Something sparks between us. Lust. My gaze flies to his and locks there. I couldn't pull away if I wanted to.
“Come with me?” It’s spoken as half request, half command.
I nod, still dumbstruck by the electricity of his touch. When he tugs me toward the exit, I almost pull back. Is he going to yank me toward his cabin with no more preliminaries than this? But I don’t resist. I follow.
Instead of heading to the dorm wing, though, I follow him to the end of a different hallway. Grace brought me here once. I loved it, but never took the time to return. She called it the solarium. It’s a bullet-shaped room with windows on all sides except the wall with the doorway from which we enter. Even the roof is clear and reminds us we’re floating among the stars themselves.
The apprehension I’d experienced when I thought he was dragging me to his room disappears. Every nervous cell in my body stands down. It’s silent in here, made even more so when he turns off all the lights. The room is only illuminated by the red of the running lights on the rear exterior of the ship.
We still haven’t spoken one substantive word in over a month. He leads me to a comfy couch at the back of the room. We sit side by side and gaze out at the stars.
“Beautiful,” I say on a sigh.
“I like it here,” he responds.
At times I feel his gaze on me, but mostly we just watch the black velvet canvas strewn with diamonds. That’s what it seems like to me. The stars twinkle like gemstones. There’s a blue and purple nebula off to our right reminding us just how vast the universe is.
Reaching over, he uses one finger to lift my chin and tip my head toward him. I don’t understand how, but in this dim light, his golden eyes swirl with an otherworldly glow.
“Are you still mad at me?” he asks, cocking his head in the manner I find so adorable.
“I never—” I protest, but cut myself off. I didn’t set honesty as my intention earlier, but I should have. “I know I acted mad, Bayne, but it was driven by shame.”
“I’ve spoken with several females on board. I never breathed a word you would consider private, but I asked about the situation in general. They all agreed it would be hard to tolerate. Maddie said it would be like having a suitor read your diary before a first date. I had no idea what a diary or a first date was but she said it would put the female at a distinct disadvantage. I apologize.”
“But you didn’t do anything wrong.” I cup his cheek with my palm as I inspect him. Prominent cheekbones, furred pelt, canines that peek out when he says certain letters, and those gorgeous eyes.
“Do you really believe that?” he asks, penetrating me with his gaze.
“Now I do. It took me a while.”
“I’ve learned a lot since we talked last.” He mirrors me, his calloused palm on my cheek. I hold his hand close to me so he can’t slip away.
“Like what”
“A little cooking, baking, and music-making. A moment of star-charting—I will not make a habit of that, I found it a terrible combination of difficult and boring. A lot of fighting. Weapons, shooting, and swordplay. When to attack, when to retreat. What arms work best for what type of adversary. Many other things. I had a lot to catch up on.”
“Yes, you did. Do you feel you’ve caught up?”
“No. Not nearly. But I’m certain I will. One thing I never learned the answer to, though.”
“What’s that?”
By the heated look on his face, I know this is going to be important. I also know I stepped into a trap.
“After how many hoaras is it not considered rude to ask a female to have sex?”
My gaze has never left his, but I try to pierce deeper, as if things are written there that hold all the answers.
That’s when he does it. He hits me with a thousand-watt smile. It gives me all the information I need. He was serious! But he’s tempered it with humor. He’s right, he has learned a lot in the last month.
“I’ll need a computer,” I tell him seriously, then give him my own megawatt smile. “There are some high-level calculations I’ll need to make. And,” I pet his cheek again, “I’d really have to like the guy.”
“So tell me, Willa. What would a guy have to do for you to really like him?”
“Well,” I tip my head and look up at the ceiling, “he’d have to take me to a solarium.”
“Yes?”
“And he’d have to look at me with affection.”
“Yes?”
“And he’d have to tell me about his life . . . over time of course, not all at once.”
“Yes?”
“And he’d dance with me.”
“So have I taken you to a solarium?”
“Yes.”
“And do I look at you with affection?”
“Oh yes. I see that now.” I lean a bit closer, part my lips, and silently will him to kiss me.
“And could I make a date with you to tell you about my life? There’s not much to tell, though. I remember almost nothing.” His gaze flashes to the floor for a moment.
“I’d like to
make a date with you,” I say, making sure I fan him with my breath, a gentle reminder that my lips are parted and I’m waiting for our first kiss.
“And can I ask you to dance, Willa?”
Perhaps I’ll have to make the first move for the kiss. I think I made the poor guy wary.
“I’d love to dance with you, Bayne.”
He stands with a powerful grace I’ve noticed many times from afar and he pulls me from my seat. I thought he’d escort me back to the dining room where there are other people, and, more importantly, music. But he pulls me close, tucks me against him, and hums.
It’s like no music I’ve ever heard. Perhaps it’s Skylosian. Maybe it’s something he just composed. It doesn’t matter. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t even have to be music. I’m in his arms!
One warm palm lodges at the small of my back, the other cups the nape of my neck. He tugs my pelvis next to his and leads me with the slightest pressure. All the skills I observed in the ludus—his ability to move with lightning speed, his agility, his grace—they’re just as at home on the dance floor as in the gym.
“You’re an amazing dancer.” I can’t help it. The words just popped out.
“Really?” But he’s not interested in words right now, and truth be told, neither am I. He dips his head and puts his mouth to my ear. “I missed you, Willa. I’d grown accustomed to your presence. We barely went an hoara without you touching me, petting me. WarDog liked that. I would too.”
Bayne
Was that too forward? It will take a while to get the hang of this humanoid form, these humanoid interactions. But my hands on her body don’t feel anger radiating off her. Leaning to look at her, I see the tiniest smile on her pink lips. Perhaps the time we spent apart was worth it.
My cock is hard, pulsing against her abdomen. She has to feel it. It’s not subtle. She doesn’t push me away, though, she presses me closer, her tiny hands on the bare skin at the small of my back.
The smell of the arousal she denies is perfuming the air, but I’m not stupid. I won’t mention it. WarDog wants to sniff, but I make him do it on soft breaths. It soothes him.
My lips are at her ear, humming softly. It’s a folk tune of my people. I don’t know why it came to mind just now. I hadn’t remembered it until it started to flow out of my mouth. Perhaps it was triggered by the thunderous cavalcade of memories I had in my room earlier. I push those away. They have no place with me here, now.
Although I need to wait to ask to share pleasure, I don’t think I’ll ask for the kiss. My hunch is it will be better if I just take it.
I quit humming and press my lips to the spot on her neck behind her ear.
“Mmm,” she responds.
That’s a clear message.
She likes us, WarDog whispers. Mate her.
Hopefully soon, I respond.
Gentle kisses follow and receive no rebuke, so my tongue cuts a swath along her hairline. She breathes in on a little gasp, so I forge ahead with kisses and nips punctuated by little tracings of my tongue. She likes those the best, so I dispense them sparingly.
Her muscles are looser than when we started. She’s enjoying this. I’ll take it as tacit permission until she rescinds it. Nibbling along her jawline with my blunt front teeth, I decide to take a chance.
I nip her with the sharp tips of my canine teeth. Maybe it’s fully my decision, or maybe the canine inside me incited me to do it. He really wants me to bite her, to mark her as ours. Down boy, I command with a warning to my voice. We can’t rush her.
She gasps. It’s a soft, quiet sound, but I pull back. The last thing I want to do is hear the word ‘no’ escape her lips.
I don’t, though. Instead, she tips her head, exposing the vulnerable column of her neck to me, a silent request for more.
My cock kicks in excitement and my fingers curl more tightly into her flesh. I scrape a line with one sharp fang along the gentle curve of her jaw. Her eyelids flutter closed and her breathing comes in little pants. The scent of her arousal teases my nose.
I consider asking for a proper kiss, then dismiss the thought and take it. My lips land softly at first, then when I hear no protests, I slant my lips against hers and take what I want, like a marauding army. WarDog thumps his tail in approval as he scoots closer.
Chapter Six
Willa
I’ve imagined this for so long. First with the nameless huntsman in my dreams, and later with Bayne. He’s kissing me. I’m so excited it feels like too much work to drag air into my lungs. I just want to kiss and be kissed until the end of time.
He’s stroking my tongue with his. I opened to him the moment his lips claimed mine. I don’t want him to wonder, even for a second if he has an invitation. To underscore my welcome, I pull away just long enough to whisper his name. “Bayne.”
He pauses for a moment. When I open my eyes to see what the problem is, I see his questing eyes. He’s making sure my saying his name was a request and not a rebuke.
“More kisses,” I urge as I allow my lids to flutter closed and give over all control to him. Much to my enjoyment, he seizes the control I ceded and penetrates deeper into the hidden cavern of my mouth.
His tongue is slightly sweet and very hot. It tickles and burns and sets my world on fire. I can’t think of anything except the word ‘more’. My hands are firmly lodged on his neck, under his long hair, enjoying the feel of the fur pelt covering his shoulders. My fingers burrow down to the hot skin underneath—it’s warm and soft.
My nipples prick beneath the fabric of my dress as they drag against his bare chest. I want him. I’ve never been so comfortable with a male before, and certainly never wanted one with the powerful desperation I do now.
Our kisses aren’t quiet. They’re punctuated with wet smacks and deep sighs of pleasure. His taste is an interesting combination of sweet and spicy. I feel compelled to inform him of this.
“You taste so good,” I tell him eloquently.
He doesn’t answer, simply strokes my tongue and lodges his hands at my waist.
“I’ve wanted to do this since that day I shifted on Aeon II,” he says.
“I was so embarrassed.”
“That’s over now, but if we stay here any longer, I think I’ll make you unhappy again.” He pulls away, panting, his eyes roaming my face as if he can’t believe we’re here in this intimate embrace.
“No. Nothing you’re doing is making me unhappy,” I tell him, trying to hide the whine from my voice. I want to keep kissing.
“Our first coupling should be perfect, and if we don’t leave, it will be here. We should join the others. Dancing should be accompanied by music, don’t you think?”
He’s right. This isn’t the right time or place.
He grabs my hand and pulls me to the doorway.
“You look beautiful tonight, Willa. Like a picture.”
The way he’s looking at me, I wish I could capture it for eternity. The golden swirls in his eyes, the affection, the . . . lust. I should bottle this moment.
He grabs my hand and stalks to the doorway like a male on a mission. I scurry to keep up with his long strides and follow toward the dining room where lively music is playing.
These people have become my friends—both of our friends. Every eye in the room is trained on us upon our return. They’ve been secretly and not so secretly hoping Bayne and I would patch up our relationship after our quarrel. Looking at my small hand clutched in his big one, I guess it’s no secret that things have changed between us.
Aerie gives me a close-lipped smile, and I see Stryker nod approvingly at Bayne. I love being on this ship. It’s like the best and worst of a large family. Some of them can be intrusive, maybe even bossy, but you know every single one of them has your best interests at heart.
Aerie and her mate Beast are here for the dance from the Devil’s Playground. Wow, Beast’s dancing is erotic as sin. Aerie is totally enraptured. Huh...never would have guessed the big guy had it in him.
At first, I’m shy and just sway my hips in time with the music. Bayne doesn’t judge, he just keeps dancing, allowing the music to carry him away. I catch my reflection in the metal wall and notice the juxtaposition of our images.
His wild gyrations pulse with immediacy. At times he throws his head back in the sheer exuberance of the moment. My staid little two-step doesn’t do him justice.