by Ava York
“Makes for two of us.” Dragging her teeth across her bottom lip, she finally relaxed and started swaying her hips, our moves finally matching the ballad’s tempo perfectly.
A couple of seconds later, a few more couples started drifting towards the dance floor, and I breathed out with relief. I only knew the basics, and the last thing I wanted was to make a fool of myself in front of everyone.
“Thank you,” I said, the words escaping from my mouth before I could stop them.
“What for?”
“For staying,” I replied. “For giving us a chance. For trusting me and the crew. I’m grateful for it. And I’m grateful for having you in my life.” I sucked in a deep breath, and then just let it all out. “I don’t know how I ever got through anything without you. You’re the fire in my blood, Lila.”
She held her breath for a moment, her eyes brimming with emotion, and then she sneaked a glance at my tattoos. They were so white they were glowing.
Gently laying one hand on my chest, she smiled.
“What do you say we get out of here?”
“Right now?”
“You think anyone will miss us?”
I looked around, to see the dance floor completely packed. Some of my officers had remained by the tables, and they were busy stuffing their faces and trying to outdrink Derrix. In less than an hour, they’d all be too drunk to notice my absence.
“You’re right. Let’s go.” Taking her hand in mine, I cut a path through the crowd until we finally got to a deserted alleyway, the sounds of the party drifting after us.
“Where are we going?” she asked, finally realizing we weren’t heading back to the Calliope.
“I got us a place for tonight,” I replied, and then kept my mouth shut until we got there. One of the most expensive locations in Silva, though that wasn't saying much.
There were only two places of lodging in the outpost that weren't frequented by dockworkers. Once we stepped inside the room, Lila cocked one eyebrow and laughed.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” she said, then pushed aside the curtains leading to the wooden balcony. A warm, gentle breeze snuck into the room, and I joined Lila on the balcony, the maze of streets underneath us like a brightly lit cobweb. In the distance, the party carried on, the market square now so bright you’d believe there was a bonfire going on there.
“It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t?” I asked, even though I wasn’t really talking about Silva’s nightly brightness. I was talking about her. And to think that sooner or later we’d have to part ways. “Listen, Lila, as painful as it is, I know this is only temporary. I know that you want to go back home, and I’ll do whatever I can to make that—”
“I love you.” Turning on her heels, she placed one finger over my lips and hushed me. “I love you, Rekker, and that’s all that matters.”
“I love you, too,” I repeated, my heart beating so fast you’d think I was in the middle of a life-or-death situation. I had never felt anything quite like what I was feeling. “What about your family, Lila?”
“We can visit, right?” She bit her bottom lip.
I gave her a quick nod.
Of course we could visit them. Truth be told, I was eager to see where Lila had come from. “Then no more talking tonight,” she continued, and went on tiptoes and crushed her mouth against mine.
It was far too much for me to resist.
Resting both hands on her hips, I pushed her back until she was against the balcony railing. Slowly, I moved one hand underneath the hemline of her dress and only stopped when I felt the drenched fabric of her underwear against my fingertips.
“I want you,” I growled, hooking my fingers in her underwear’s elastic band and pulling the fabric against her outer thigh. There was a tearing sound, then I opened my hand and dropped her thong to the floor. Using nothing but one fingertip, I traced the outline of her wetness, taking my time as I went over her wet inner lips. “I need you.”
With that, I pressed down on the patch of skin right above her clit and started to massage. A series of moans tumbled out from between her parted lips, and I became so damn hard that I was surprised my cock hadn’t ripped its way out of my uniform.
Not that I needed to worry: Lila was more than happy to take care of it.
Still kissing me, she tore my uniform off my body, her hands moving in a frenzy as they worked on my clothing. By the time she had me naked, I reacted on instinct and pulled her dress over her head.
Naked, she was even more beautiful.
“Claim me, my mate,” she whispered softly, bringing both her hands up to caress her hard nipples. Grinning, I allowed lust and desire to take me and grabbed Lila’s delicate body. Turning her so her back was to me, I had her bend over and place her hands on the railing.
Closing the distance between us, I let Lila jut her ass and then grabbed my cock and angled it down. Its tip went down over the valley between her ass cheeks, and I only stopped when I felt her inner lips wrap around my hardness. I didn’t even bother with teasing—I just thrust and slid all my length deep inside her.
“You’re mine,” I whispered into her ear as I thrust, each time I rocked my hips forcing her to moan. She was doing it so loudly I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out everyone at the party could hear us. But so what? Let the entire universe hear us having the time of our lives.
Tangling my fingers in her hair, I yanked her head back and thrust one final time. I could feel her inner walls tightening around my hard thickness, and her moans were charged with electricity.
She was close.
Or, rather, we both were.
Gritting my teeth, I felt her inner walls spasm, and that was the deathblow for me. I exploded inside her with a deep groan, resting my forehead against her delicate shoulder as we came. In that moment, we were one.
We stayed like that for almost a minute, neither of us saying a word.
We were just enjoying the moment.
“You’re mine,” I repeated one final time, and her reply came a fraction of a second later.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I am.”
Lila
“You’re certain you must leave now?” Coco smiled, but I saw genuine sorrow in her eyes.
It must’ve been lonely, being the only human on Silva. At least she had many friends on this planet, as well as a dedicated mate.
And they’d travel on soon enough.
“Rekker and his team are on a mission,” I explained. “We weren’t even supposed to come here in the first place, even though I’m glad they did. I know they’re eager to move forward. Once they complete this mission, they finally get a vacation.”
Coco nodded. “Oh, I see.”
“I still wish we could stay another day or two. There are some broken bones and stitched up lacerations I’d like to keep an eye on. It would be so fascinating to see the healing process for different races.”’
“It’s not as grand as you’re imagining,” Coco laughed. “Though they all look different on the outside, their inner workings are more or less the same when it comes to body repair.”
“The medical staff here will be able to handle everything, right? I can’t imagine they see mass injuries like this too often.”
“No, but they’ll be glad for the work. Will you visit?”
“Of course!” I grinned. “You’ll have to visit me, too, when I finally settle down somewhere permanent.”
“I’d love to.”
“How about you come visit my family’s farm next time I’m there?” I offered, assuming she’d jump at the chance to spend time back on Earth.
“That’d be perfect!” Her smile stretched from ear to ear.
“I’ll leave the farm’s information with you for now. If you send messages to me there, my family will be able to pass them on. I have no idea where I’m going or how long I’ll be there, but I’ll find a way to get in touch regularly once I know where I’m going to be.”
“It all sounds so excitin
g!” Coco gushed. “As much as I love hopping from planet to planet for the Council, I find myself longing for the simple, familiar life I lived back on Earth. I wouldn’t give this up, though, no matter how exhausting it gets.”
“Sounds like you need a vacation as well,” I chuckled.
“Indeed.”
Coco and I embraced. I gave her the information to reach my family’s farm. She escorted me to the dock where the Calliope was getting her final inspection by Kyre and Rekker.
“Everything looks good,” Rekker nodded.
“Adruf wasn’t pleased about doing this for free,” Kyre chuckled. “I don’t believe he would’ve done it had Binuf not volunteered him.”
“Why do you think I avoid dealing with him?” Rekker chuckled. “The work you do is just as good.”
“But Adruf has great materials at his disposal,” Kyre replied. “We won’t have to replace these panels for years.” He affectionately slapped the side of the ship.
“How’s everything looking?” I asked.
“We’re ready to depart,” Rekker replied.
“So, everything is shipshape?”
I received blank looks from Rekker and Kyre.
“Oh, for goodness sake.” I rolled my eyes and looked at Coco. “None of these fools appreciate my Earth humor.”
“I thought it was funny,” Coco laughed.
We embraced once more. She waited on the dock, waving until I disappeared inside the Calliope.
“I’m sorry you have to leave your friend,” Rekker said.
“It’s all right. We’re going to stay in touch. I know you’re anxious to complete your mission.”
“You have no idea. I’m meant to hear from my superiors soon. Hopefully, they’ll shed some light on what it is we’re actually doing.”
“Isn’t it a retrieval mission?”
“Yes, and that’s all I know about it. Never have I been part of an assignment with so little information available to me.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” I asked.
“Of course, it does. It’s completely impractical. I don’t know how to prepare, I don’t know what supplies I should have, and I have no way to keep my team abreast of the potential dangers.”
“Right,” I nodded. “But what I meant was, doesn’t it come off as suspicious?”
“Suspicious?” Rekker furrowed his brow. “How do you mean?”
“Usually information is withheld for a reason,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“The Suhlik have occasionally been able to tap into our networks. I can only assume my superiors are being so stingy with information because there is a security threat and they don’t want the Suhlik to know we know.”
“That makes sense.” I nodded, but something about this situation still felt off to me. I brushed the feeling away. What did I know about any of this? Still, I couldn’t fully shake the suspicious feeling in my gut.
“Come on.” Rekker looked down at me with a gentle smile. “Let’s prepare for departure.”
“I’ll make sure the med bay is in order.”
“I’m surprised that Javik is so willing to share the med bay with you. He can be rather territorial.”
I shrugged. “He’s been nothing but welcoming since he figured out I know my stuff.”
“Who has?” Kyre asked as he wiped down his stained hands with a dirty rag.
“Javik,” I said. “Go wash your hands properly. You’re only making them dirtier with that rag.”
“I’m just going to get them dirty again when I start working again,” Kyre said, and shrugged.
“Do you plan on touching anything between now at then?”
“I have to,” he laughed.
“Then go wash your damn hands,” I chuckled. “Honestly, how are you the more advanced species?”
“Because we can travel through space within a reasonable amount of time,” Rekker said.
“Because we can compile every useful human tool into one instrument,” Kyre added.
“Because we can eradicate most diseases with a simple pill,” Javik added.
“When did you get here?” I asked.
“I was standing over there the entire time,” he replied.
“I suppose Cedroc is lurking nearby, too.” I peered around looking for him but saw nothing.
“He’s in the cockpit, preparing the ship as we all should be doing.”
“Where’s Derrix?” Kyre asked.
“I’m in the training room,” his voice came through everyone’s radio.
“How did you know we were talking about you?” Kyre asked.
“I’m willing to bet Cedroc is pressing the comms button down so he can eavesdrop,” Javik said.
“You’re right,” came Cedroc’s voice.
“You’re ridiculous. All of you,” I laughed.
“Why is my trident powered off? You know it takes at least an hour to generate its current,” Derrix said.
“I turned it off,” Rekker said. “I was teaching Lila how to wield it. I didn’t want her to kill herself, or me.”
“Smart,” Derrix nodded. “Humans are pretty terrible with weapons.”
“I can hear you, you know?” I said.
“Oh,” he said, surprised. “Well, I stand by my opinion. Besides, we all know not a lot of training happened that day. At least, not with weapons.”
The other team members chuckled.
I looked at Rekker, a blush burning my cheeks.
Rekker looked like he was about to reprimand his team, but I had a better idea. I moved closer to Rekker to make sure I spoke directly into the radio.
“You’re all just jealous because none of you are getting any.”
Rekker tipped his head back and let out that full, rumbling belly laugh I loved.
“Rekker, you’ve got yourself one hell of a mate,” Derrix said through his laughter.
“Don’t I know it,” Rekker replied. “Now get to work, assholes. Cedroc, can you tell me how long it’ll take to get to Gravum IV?”
“How much effort do you want me to put in?”
“All of it.”
“We can get there within thirty hours.”
“Perfect. Set your course. Depart at your leisure.”
“Are you sure about that, Cap?”
Rekker rolled his eyes. “Depart within the next thirty minutes or I’ll shoot you out of the airlock.”
“Yes, Captain.” Cedroc chuckled as he clicked off his radio.
“It’s amazing how much you let him get away with,” I said.
“Maybe, but it’s damn entertaining. There’s not much to do for fun when we’re drifting through the black.”
“Fair enough,” I laughed. “Javik, shall we go to the med bay?”
“Indeed.” He nodded and walked briskly away.
“I’ll see you later,” I winked at Rekker and hurried after Javik.
“How much of the supplies did we go through?” I asked.
“Nearly everything we purchased on Silva plus some from our regular stock,” he informed me. “Don’t worry. I restocked while Kyre checked over the repairs.”
“Good.” I sighed. “You should’ve told me you were going. I would’ve gone with you.”
“You appeared to be bonding with the other human female,” Javik said.
“Coco,” I said, and smiled. “Yeah, she’s really nice. She might visit soon.”
“You’ve only just met her, yet you’ve formed a pack bond with her?” Javik asked.
“Humans call it friendship, but yes,” I chuckled.
“Humans form friendships easily, don’t they?”
“I suppose so. Though it varies from human to human. It didn’t take long for us to become friends, did it?”
“No, it didn’t.” Javik offered me a rare smile. “What an extraordinary ability to have.”
“Do Mahdfel not make friends easily?”
“It depends on the mother’s base species,” Javik explained. “We’re half Vaz
nik, a warrior race.”
“Warriors can’t have friends?” I joked.
“We’re bred for other purposes.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. It was so easy to forget that most of the Mahdfel race had been designed and bred for a purpose, not born from love.
“You might’ve been bred for one reason, but that doesn’t mean that’s all you’re allowed to do with your life.”
Javik slowly turned to me.
“What?” I asked.
“I just,” he appeared to struggle for the right words, “I just hadn’t considered it that way before.”
I grinned. “Now you can.”
He smiled back. “Are you excited to see another planet?”
“Absolutely! I hope the next one will be as beautiful as Silva. Rekker said Gravum IV was unpopulated, is that true?”
“I believe so. We have little information on it.”
“How exciting!”
“You appear to have warmed up to the idea of space travel.”
“I have,” I smiled. “I suppose I just never considered how big and beautiful the universe is. Now, I want to see all of it!
Rekker
“Captain,” Cedroc’s voice came through my radio earpiece.
“I’m at dinner,” I said quickly.
My nightly dinners with Lila weren’t something I liked to have interrupted.
“Commander Strygan wants to speak with you.”
“I can speak to him in the morning.”
“Sir.” Cedroc sounded tired. Just about everyone sounded tired after talking to Strygan.
“All right,” I sighed. “Tell him I’ll reach out to him via holoconference in ten minutes.”
“Thank you, sir.” Cedroc sighed with relief. I didn’t blame him. I’d been on the receiving end of many of Strygan’s disappointed rants.
“Duty calls?” Lila smiled at me from across the table. She didn’t look angry, or even annoyed. Instead, she started gathering our plates. “Go ahead. I’ll start cleaning up.”
“You cooked,” I argued. “I promised I’d clean.”
“You have important captain business to attend to.” She smiled understandingly. “Cook and clean tomorrow.”
“All right,” I agreed reluctantly. Lila must’ve heard the hesitation in my voice, for she set our plates down and moved to my side.