Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
I can sense the relaxation emanating from her body. It’s like the tension, fear and anger have dissipated, leaving her loose for the very first time since I’ve known her. And it feels good to know that I gave that to her.
I’d pleasured her while she was bound, and that thought turns me on even more. My cock is like iron. I want nothing more than to bend her over the sleep disk and bury myself in her tight pussy—
My comm crackles. “Tarek, report to the bridge.”
Excrement.
I realize where I am and what I’ve done. Here we are on a rescue mission to save a human child, and I—the navigator in charge—took a break to veck a human.
I wince.
Of course, I have a backup in the bridge. And naturally they’d have called me in an emergency. But what the veck am I thinking, losing my mind and my control like this?
Even if I’ve brought her pleasure, there is no way I should have touched her at all! Veck. What a mess I’m making of things. Every being knows how sensitive and emotional humans can be, how easily they bond. I probably won’t see or have contact with the delectable human once we land on Zandia. We would have no reason to interact, and there’s no way King Zander will grant me—with my genetic defect—a valuable breeder as a mate. And yet I may have just forged an emotional attachment with her. On her part.
Not on mine. I can’t get attached.
I frown, not liking the way my chest tightens with these thoughts. I slide Zina from my lap and place her beside me. Her clothes are ripped—she’ll need them replaced.
I tap my comm. “Jass, bring another flight suit for human Zina. Place it in the passthrough.”
“Affirmative.” If Jass has any suspicion of why the current suit is presently unsuitable, he does not betray it in his tone. In a few seconds, the new garments appear.
I get up and shake out the folds. “Here.” My voice is gruff as I hand them to Zina. I adjust my cock, which is uncomfortably tight in my breeches. I did not get pleasure myself, and it’s not like I can go masturbate in the corner. Veck.
She raises her cuffed hands. “I can’t.”
I unlock the cuffs from each other, but leave them affixed to each wrist. “Don’t attack anyone else, or these will get activated again.” I know my tone is too harsh for what just happened. What shouldn’t have happened. I just couldn’t resist her.
“I should go back to Enya.”
Does she regret what we did, too? Worse, does she think it somehow means a promise of— fidelity? Mating? I don’t know how humans think. And even if I wanted her badly—still do—I can’t offer her anything.
“Right.” I clear my throat, reaching out to touch her arm. “I enjoyed what we did, Zina. Very much. But I won’t be your master or mate, so… it’s—it can’t happen again.”
Her brow furrows, but she shrugs. “Okay.”
I figure she’s just saying that to make the conversation go away. But that’s acceptable. Because I can never touch her that way again.
“It was—I wanted to—I just…” I don’t know what I want to say. “Make you feel good. But I didn’t want to give you expectations.”
“I did feel good.” Her voice holds a smile. But then it fades out on the next sentence. “But I don’t have expectations.” She pulls the flight pants closer and starts to put them on. She winces as her bad leg goes in.
“Are you in pain?” Despite the fact that I just promised myself I didn’t care about her, I immediately bend down to touch her leg, but stop when she pulls it away.
“I’m fine. It’s fine.” She quickly pulls up her pants. “Well, I have one expectation. Just one. That you Zandians let me keep taking care of Enya.” She fastens the pants at the waist. “I’m like... her mother, Tarek.” Her voice softens. “The only one she’s known. And you know what? That’s good enough for me. I’m happy taking care of her.” She touches my arm. “I want to keep doing that.”
A cold feeling starts to move through my chest. I already know that they’re planning to take Enya straight to med isolation and then to meet and bond with her biological mother. I don’t believe they’re keeping Zina with her during this. It kills me that I can’t tell her. “Well, I’m sure everything will be done to help you both recover,” I say, which is true.
My sensors catch a micro-expression, something of doubt, mistrust. The same face she made on the bridge when we didn’t answer her questions about why we were searching for Enya.
I speak quickly so she doesn’t ask me questions I can’t answer. “On Zandia, if you are granted asylum, you can… choose a mate. Have children of your own.” Why does that idea fill me with anger and sadness? I know I’m not able to mate. And I don’t even want the hassle of handling a human. I can barely handle my own blind idiot body. I know she can’t be mine, so why would I even care?