Page 377 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Akri

Jenny didn’t like staying here. I couldn’t blame her; with the glass walls, it felt exposed, but at the same time, confining.

I knew that we could walk away from here at any moment.

I’d rescheduled all the guards in such a way that our path was clear and nobody would check up on us.

While they had revoked all our access rights to their system, I’d left my standard little Trojan horse behind, which had restored mine.

No door in here would be locked for me, including the doors of the cells we were in.

That wasn’t the case for Jenny, since I hadn’t had time to adapt my little bit of code to include her.

We barely fit on the bunk together, but I had managed to convince her to lie down with me.

I wanted her as close as she would let me; I wanted to cover myself in her scent.

I knew that in a couple of hours, I’d have to go back down to that lab when the Scientist, Lekri, had me fetched.

I’d played it down to her, but it had been a very painful experience, and I wasn’t keen on going through more of it.

My injuries were already healing, and the rest I could manage by regulating and properly allocating the nutrients I had available.

It was a good thing that Jenny had been carrying a big stash of ration bars in her backpack; I’d gone through almost half of them to replenish myself.

I hadn’t minded how it made Jenny fuss over me.

I’d especially liked it when she’d had me take off my shirt so she could inspect each bump and bruise I’d gained, touching me with her soft fingers.

I’d slept a while after that, too exhausted to be capable of much movement.

I was mostly healed, and my brain had recovered from the exertion of doing Lekri’s tests while searching for his files and anything else of interest. I felt almost like myself again, ready for another round.

I didn’t look forward to it, but the sooner I got it done, the quicker we could get out of there.

My right tentacle had also recovered, or rather, as I’d learned, my Liades, as the Akilad called the two appendages sprouting from their heads. I was thrilled that I finally had a more appropriate word to call them, that I’d taken the first step in learning about what I was.

Jenny was curled up on my chest, her expression peaceful as she slept.

I expected her to be as exhausted as I’d felt earlier, to have all this action weigh on her.

But her face was relaxed. There were no signs of fatigue, and she even had a healthy glow to her cheeks.

Maybe it really was true, she did thrive under change.

I wished I could be a little more like that, but changing from machine to man had been extremely difficult for me.

When my arms were filled with a warm, sleepy female, it was not hard to think that it was all worth it. Now, I just needed to figure out how I could keep hold of this, of her. Was it possible that I could have a mate once I had all my answers? I was so close to it that I dared to hope it was true.

“Hey there,” Jenny murmured sleepily. “Are you feeling better?” I nodded, my eyes roving over the fifty-six freckles that dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

Her silky brown hair was draped over my arm, having come undone from her ponytail.

She was so pretty, especially the hazel of her eyes.

It was such a unique color that I loved to keep staring at it.

“Much better,” I assured her, concentrating on the curve of her cheek so that I could stroke it with my left Liades.

She smiled at me, turning her head into the touch.

Then her hand was on the back of my neck, pulling my head down to hers, and I happily leaned in to kiss her.

It had quickly become one of my favorite things to do; I adored kissing her.

“Good, then you can tell me what you meant when you told that asshole scientist that I was your mate. Am I, Akri—your mate?” she asked, pulling away, her eyes piercing me with a serious look.

A shiver went up my spine in response, and something in my belly felt like it had dropped—a strange sensation, as I was completely stationary.

“It was the best way to convince them I would be motivated by your safety,” I said truthfully.

Was she upset that I said that? Or would she be upset if I denied her as my female?

I felt like, whatever I said, it might just be the wrong thing.

I had just allowed myself to dream of a future with her as my mate; was it about to slip from my fingers already?

She made a soft, sort of growling noise in the back of her throat. I was very unsure as to what that meant, good or bad? “I see, because here’s what I think, Akri. I don’t think your head tentacles are malfunctioning at all.”

“Liades,” I mumbled, correcting her on what they were called. I was too pleased to have the word not to educate her on it. Her lips thinned slightly as she pressed them together at my interruption. “They are called Liades,” I added. “Please continue.”

“Right, your Liades aren’t malfunctioning. They don’t try to grab anyone but me, do they?” I nodded; that was very true. I had never had any issues controlling them until I met Jenny. It was only her they wanted to hold, and with increasing urgency each time, too.

“On Earth, humans date, they marry, they get divorced. Sometimes it lasts, sometimes it doesn’t.

” Jenny paused, her thoughts turning inward, and they weren’t happy thoughts.

I didn’t know where she was going with this tangent, but I was a ball of nerves, my entire body tense as I waited to find out what she was about to say.

“I’ve learned that many alien species mate for life, a kind of fated mate thing, even.

Maybe your species is one of them, and that’s how you know,” she finished.

Her eyes were back on mine, and I realized she was nervous too.

Her words filled me with hope again. If she was right, that explained so many of the behaviors I’d encountered since we met: the changes in my body, the way it responded to her. I fervently wanted it to be true.

“Okay,” I said to her, “that sounds plausible. I will test your hypothesis at my next meeting with Scientist Lekri.” She laughed out loud, shaking her head with a smile.

The tension-fraught moment seemed to have passed, and now my body suddenly became achingly aware of our closeness.

Each point of contact seared my skin. I could feel the soft curve of her breast pressing into my rib cage, the luscious heat of her thigh where she had it thrown over my hip.

“Of course you will. All I’m saying is that maybe there’s a reason we both want to stick together as much as we do.

Maybe we’re feeling that mating urge… And honestly, I’m glad, Akri.

I really like you.” Her words warmed me.

I felt all the same things for her, and knowing that those feelings were mirrored in her made them feel real and normal—like that part of me wasn’t a problem.

It was alright to accept the feelings—maybe even embrace them.

“Good, so you’ll join me on the Vagabond after this?

” I asked, wanting to be sure. When she nodded, relief flooded my body, and that relief quickly turned into heat.

“Will you share sex with me? The real sex? Not just the sex without sex?” I was still stuck on that, what we’d shared hiding on the supply ship had been amazing, but I wanted to experience all of it with her.

She laughed and said, “Yeah, I’ll have sex with you, Akri.”

*

Jenny

While not the sexiest request for sex I’d ever received, it was so typically Akri that I loved it anyway.

He was blunt and direct; he didn’t know how to phrase things any differently, which was so refreshing.

I was sure he’d figure it out eventually, but right now?

He didn’t need to. He could talk like that all he wanted; it was cute, and he was sexy, so he turned me on.

My words were all the invitation he needed.

He rolled us until he was on top of me, his body caging me against the cot, his mouth on mine in an eager kiss.

He slicked his tongue between my lips, stroking along the roof of my mouth and teeth, tasting every inch of me and letting me taste him in turn.

One tentacle—no, sorry, Liades—had curled around the top of my head; the other stroked along my throat while he used one hand to balance himself and the other to tunnel beneath my sweater.

Once Akri had the go-ahead, he was not hesitant at all; he knew what he wanted.

I moaned as his thumb brushed over my turgid nipple, and heat shot like an arrow through my belly.

He groaned in response, and his hips pressed down, his hard cock pressing into my stomach.

I felt a brief spike of worry that he wouldn’t fit, considering his size, but that was all swept away by a tide of passion.

Clothes were shed, my sweater landing somewhere in a heap, my bra disappearing so swiftly I couldn’t keep track.

Then Akri sat upright, staring at my chest while his eyes grew heated, the little fireflies in his eyes glowing orange before shifting to red.

It seemed impossible that they could move, but it was like a dance of lights on the velvet of his eyes, hypnotic.

“I didn’t realize how beautiful these could be,” Akri moaned, both hands reaching for my breasts so he could massage them. Gently, he squished them together and let them settle again, his eyes avidly focused on the way my breasts jiggled when he did that. “Fascinating.”

I wondered if he was going to continue making these kinds of observations throughout; it was so nerdy and so cute. The thought was immediately followed by his quiet observation: “A hundred and seventy-five freckles along your chest.”