Page 23

I have a proposition.

I lay in the bed, staring at Don. It had been almost a week and half since the whole bashing-my-reflection-in incident, but whatever.

It was fine. I was fine. The stupid glove-plaster things were gone, but Klars still hounded me about talking to someone, which I didn’t need, and my weight loss, though that had slowed.

What I needed was for everyone to leave me alone. Well, everyone except Don.

We’d spent every day together, and I loved it.

It was easy to leave my room when Don was outside.

He never pestered me or gave me searching looks like Teddy.

I didn’t have to pretend like when I was with Seth.

Don was there, beside me, simply letting me decide what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it.

Don let out the smallest snore, and I grinned.

He’d fallen asleep before I did. I’d asked him to come and help me sleep once again, and he’d started to and fell asleep almost instantly before his inner fire could lull me to sleep.

His hand was on my cheek while his hair hung around his face.

He released a breath, stirring the long purple strands.

Unable to resist, I slid my fingers through the silky strands, marveling at how soft they were.

I scooted closer and made sure to keep his hand on my cheek.

While he wasn’t using his gift, his touch alone reassured me.

Don’s lips parted in his sleep. An urge to press my mouth against his flooded me.

Were his lips soft? Warm? How would they feel molded against mine?

I had to know. His gentle scent filled my nostrils.

I wanted to roll around in it. Cover myself with it.

I was halfway toward kissing him when I finally jerked to a stop.

What the hell was I doing? He was asleep.

This was not Sleeping Beauty. Besides, touching him in an intimate way like that should freak me the hell out.

Shouldn’t it? Though I’d touched him before and liked it.

Thoughts of me holding his hand in the cafeteria, pressing my forehead against his in my living room, and rubbing my cheek on his uniform in the medbay flooded my mind.

I gaped at Don, clutching his hand to my cheek. My heart thundered in my ears, drowning out any sound, and sweat dripped down my spine.

Fuck my life. I was attracted to Don, but it was more than that.

I liked him. His humor. His kindness. His sense of duty.

The way his lips quirked in amusement, giving me that perfect crooked smile.

He’d been willing to help a complete stranger, an alien, because I needed it.

He lost sleep to help me. Who did that? Don did.

This was a mess. When he found out, it was going to be embarrassing.

Seth still held my heart, but Don had definitely wheedled inside the walls and set up camp.

He’d done it so subtly that I hadn’t noticed his claws digging into me, laying claim.

It wasn’t a huge deal. I’d liked a lot of people, but this was Don.

He would know, and my feelings would make it awkward.

Or , my mind unhelpfully supplied, and I told it to shut the fuck up—it wouldn’t.

Maybe he wouldn’t care. Maybe he would be interested too.

Interested in maybe helping me in a different way.

I trusted him. I didn’t want to, but I did.

Don would be the perfect person to work out some issues with.

I nodded, coming to a fast decision. I just needed to be fucked and move past the trauma.

That would fix everything. I was sure of it.

He wouldn’t have to like me back. Actually, it would be easier if he didn’t.

No commitment. No promises. No nothing. Just how I liked it.

Besides, I still wanted to go to Earth—whenever that was, because no one had supplied a timeframe—but if I could work through some of my physical issues beforehand, maybe the transition back home would be easier.

I’d be back to normal. Confident and comfortable with whatever the hell I wanted.

Some doubt wiggled and nagged at me, but I pushed it away. This would work. I’d be cured and all it would take was some dick. Easy peasy.

I smiled at Don’s sleeping face. He’d be the best person to do this with. He wouldn’t hurt me. He would know when something was bothering me, so there would be no hiding. If, for some reason, Don turned on me, I could think of the worst things that had happened to me and perhaps force him away.

But he wouldn’t hurt me. I knew that.

Sliding closer, I breathed in his vanilla scent and snuggled against him, burying my face against his neck.

I changed out of my uniform into a pair of soft trousers and a loose shirt.

My wings slid out as I stretched. Stars, it had been a long day.

We were nearing a space station, and Serlotminden had asked to stop because he wanted to show Bartholomew around.

Stopping wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, but it did complicate matters.

I’d had to notify my parents and superiors as well as contact the station manager.

No one had been against us stopping, as I could pick up a few passengers who wanted to go to Tamkolvanloknol, and ask around about humans being sold.

Naldixwuv Station was on the border of Coalition space and was a travel hub.

My inner fire was helpful in this particular situation. I could find somewhere to sit and simply listen. Uncomfortable for me but helpful for my superiors.

I couldn’t wait until I returned to my usual work, overseeing some of the most important Drakcon science experiments. It was far more restful for my soul. Except going back would mean not seeing Vince.

Vince.

He was another reason my day had been long.

I hadn’t seen him since we woke up. Once again, he’d slept near me, his face tucked into the crook of my neck.

His lips had been exceedingly close to my scales, and I’d longed to taste them with my own.

Only knowing that I didn’t have his permission, and that he would dislike it, had stopped me.

I’d laid there as still as possible, watching Vince sleep and listening to the general buzz of his thoughts and the quick flitting of his dreams. When he finally woke up, embarrassment had rolled through him before he had focused oddly hard on breakfast.

Maybe he’d been particularly hungry, which was good because he needed to eat more.

Vince had spurned the nutritional supplements, and when he ate with me, he pushed most of his food around without consuming it.

His lack of appetite was a worry that was constantly scratching at the back of my thoughts.

Forcing Vince out of my mind, which was quickly becoming a habit, I grabbed my screen and flicked through my most recent notes from Hallonnixmin, Monqilcolnen, and my parents before turning to the reports about my normal work.

I’d just started reading a recent report about a slipstream portal opening near the Immortal Planet when the door rang.

“Come,” I said, trying to keep the exhaustion from my voice. No matter how long I had worked, I was always on duty. But the familiar rush of thoughts made me groan. Vince .

He stepped into the room, fingers playing with his shirt. His pale stomach was showing because of the short black shirt that hung around his small frame, and his tight, stiff black trousers clung to his thin legs.

I swallowed as my tail flicked. He looked good. Vince always did. My arousal faded with the wave of anxiety and nerves coming off him. His thoughts raced so fast, I was having trouble catching more than that he had something he wanted to ask me, and it scared him.

“Vince, are you alright?” I stood, ready to help him if he needed it. He was shaking. What could be bothering him so much? “Vince?”

“I want to ask you something,” he said in a rush.

“Alright.”

He didn’t speak, but an image of him sitting splayed on my lap and snuggled against me flitted through my mind. Embarrassment and longing immediately followed. “Shit,” he swore.

What defecation had to do with this was a mystery.

“Shit,” Vince repeated, bright red. “Never mind. This was a bad idea.” He rushed toward the door before I even had a chance of processing what was going on.

I followed him, soul racing. “Vince, wait. Please.”

He didn’t stop, but I kept chasing him, listening to the raging embarrassment of me seeing his thoughts. He wasn’t mad at me, nor did he blame me—rather, he blamed himself.

When he reached his quarters, he didn’t close the door behind him, and I took that as an invitation.

Vince stopped in front of his couch, face bright red. Embarrassment, panic, and fear coiled in his gut like a spring. His muscles were tense. He was ready for me to reject him and his request. I didn’t even know what he wanted, besides sitting on my lap. I wasn’t, in any way, opposed to that idea.

Hands folded behind my back, I crept closer. “I don’t know what you want. I need you to think clearly about it or speak to me, Little Warrior.”

Hugging himself, he said in a barely audible voice, “I want to touch you.”

My soul throbbed.

“I'm a very physically affectionate person, but after everything…” He lifted and lowered his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t touch people right now, at least not easily, but I thought you could help me work through some of those issues.”

Once again, the thought of him straddling my lap reappeared, but it had changed.

Instead, he was thinking about me stroking his back as we kissed.

My tail flicked. I had to actively keep myself from leaping onto him.

My instincts screamed to claim him before someone else could.

I fisted my hands and took a deep breath.

The red flush returned, only stronger this time. “I’m not ready for that, but I want to… eventually.”

A worry burrowed in my brain, and it wouldn’t let go. “Are you doing this so Kalvoxrencol can fuck you?” I would not be alright with that. It would break me if that was what he wanted.

His forehead crinkled as disgust rolled through him like a wave. “God, no. Why would you think that? Kal? That fucker?”

“You thought about it during combat class.”

“Oh my god, was that why that person kicked you?” he asked.

I didn’t respond, looking away.

Vince laughed, and suddenly, he was right in front of me, looking up at me. “No. It was a random thought. One, I’m definitely not going through with, even if Seth and Kal were interested, which I doubt they are. I want you, Don. I trust you.”

His words and the truth of his thoughts washed through me. My breath turned harsh. “I want you as well.”

“Good.”

“But we need to discuss our permissions first.”

“Permissions?”

“Boundaries,” I reiterated. “Things you and I are comfortable with and what kind of relationship this will be. It’s something that drakcol discuss with every relationship, whether romantic or platonic.”

“Makes sense.”

“Did you want to do that now?” I asked carefully. I hoped he did, because I wanted to hold him. No, I needed to hold him like I needed my next breath.

I didn’t know if I’d ever wanted someone as much as I wanted him.

I hadn’t had too many partners in my past. My inner fire made people wary of me.

The few people I had fucked hadn’t been the best experiences for me, which wasn’t their fault.

Sometimes they thought something off-putting during sex, or afterward, they’d compare me to past experiences or lovers.

Then there were the partners who smiled afterward, but were less than pleased with my performance.

Yes, I could hear people’s thoughts, but I wasn’t omniscient.

I didn’t know everything they desired, which upset some of my past partners.

They’d expected me to be the best experience they’d ever had, but I wasn’t.

With each one, my confidence flagged until it was a rare experience for me to ask or accept a request to fuck.

Vince was different. His mind was so close to my own, and he didn’t care about my inner fire. If I did something he didn’t want, he would tell me.

Also, I wanted him. Stars above, I wanted him.

I desired him so much, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a bad idea.

Vince was leaving. My fucking him wouldn’t change that.

But it could be the start of me falling in love and considering him my mate.

That was a path to disaster. Mating was permanent.

Once the bond formed, I was stuck. If that happened and he left, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t survive his absence.

His smile brought me back to the present. “Yeah. I want to talk now.”

It might be the death of me, but I wanted Vince and I was unwilling to let this opportunity pass me by.