Page 96 of Border Control

She bucks into my face and I let her. Quickly I find her secret bud, pointing my tongue so with each of her movements she strokes herself on me, pushing herself to higher heights.

I can see her through her own eyes. She's not broadcasting but gently pressing the image against me, tantalizing me with it. She's beautiful, luscious, the golden aura filling her skin. It spills around us in a sun as she tries to keep it contained.

But I want her to be free.

‘Let go. I’ll catch you.’I push the thought down the connection we share before I can stop it.

‘Yes,’she whispers back. Gold suffuses the air in a mist, her aura wrapping around me along with her fingers locking my head to her pussy. I’m all too eager to comply, suckling to bring her to her peak.

She shatters into an orgasm, gold shooting out in every direction. I help her navigate through it, holding her together, watching her through her own eyes.

Law-rah is beautiful like this, lax and loose with satisfaction, her mental walls lowered. The honor of being the one she can be herself with warms my chest like her orgasm, my sight blurring with grateful tears.

Her hands stroke my hair and shoulders. “Very, very good. Thank you, Dom.”

I press my head to her stomach, wishing I could somehow imprint this memory. “Thank you, Law-rah. For everything.”

She sighs, the sound rich with longing. Gold weaves around us, getting fainter, glittering in the corner of my eyes. Should I mention how skilled her mental voice was during this scene? I hesitate, torn between bringing it to her attention and bringing up her weak point.

“Uh…” Law-rah points over my shoulder at the table.

Shade shivers on the table, fronds flickering in the air as it feeds from the storm of feeling in the room. It lurches from side to side as it crawls across the top.

“Ah. Nevare mentioned that Shade was with us.”

“Did it sneak onboard?”

I frown. Nevare didn’t mention whether he had brought Shade on board on purpose, or whether he had given them to Law-rah.

Law-rah smiles. “Is it drunk?”

“Perhaps they’re intoxicated, yes.” I've never seen the plant do this.

“There must be a lot of heavy feelings around here.” Law-rah disentangles from me, stands and gathers her clothing. Shade continues to feast, tendrils reaching out, one for Law-rah, the other for me.

Yes. Lots of heavy feelings. “Law-rah, just then, your mind was?—”

“Let’s get some food.” Law-rah turns her back on me, cupping Shade in her hands.

Dutifully, I nod. “Sit, and I will serve you.”

Because serving her is quickly becoming the sole purpose of my life.

What remains of it.

TWENTY-FOUR

LAURA

The red planetthat started as a blister in the window quickly turns into a big throbbing boil. It’s as red as Mars, with ochre and gray pockets across the surface.

It seems very quiet. Peaceful. Except for how close Dom stands to me, his scales alternately hardening with little clicks and then easing up. It’s a stress response.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

No. I shake my head. Traveling through space with Dom has been nice, including a few days for shark week where we didn’t have sex and he took my period pain from me again. Definitely an upside to this connection, but not enough to counterbalance the disastrous downsides.

The planet gets bigger quickly. Soon we're skirting the edge of the atmosphere, the thick glass of the cockpit dimming slightly to stop us from getting blinded. Still, I put my hand over Shade to give him a bit of shelter.