Page 33 of No Strings Attached (Mated Fates #1)

Bahbi carried a deeply sleeping Vi through a significantly less active main level, the space station quiet and echoing in those indeterminate hours between the end of night cycle and the beginning of day cycle. She was covered in the cloak he had made for her, hood pulled up high and covering her face, which was pressed against his chest. Zalon strode before them, Mister Beastly—also cloaked, walked behind, as the group made their way to the ship.

In the ship, Bahbi placed Vi down on one of the large pillows in Qlu’s quarters, then made his way to Bralved, who he’d requested to prepare them a large meal that would keep until whenever they awoke. Zalon marched toward the bridge area to begin learning all of the ship’s capabilities, while Mister Beastly settled down at his translation station. But Bahbi knew Mister Beastly was there to watch over Vi; he was not ready to trust her safety to The Zig. Bahbi was happy about that, glad there were so many as dedicated as he was to keeping Vi safe, especially since she seemed driven to continuously put herself in harm’s way. All that mattered now was that Zalon and Mister Beastly both knew that he and Vi were not to be disturbed. Bahbi took the box of food from Bralved, with thanks, then went into the cabin and locked the door behind him.

He knelt before Vi, still deeply asleep, and gently pulled off her cloak, coverall, and pan-tees. He needed to feel every inch of her, even while they were sleeping. It had been more than a week since they had been able to join, which meant that they had had to be restrained in even how they touched each other for that whole time. Bahbi desperately missed the freedom of sliding his hand, mouth, or tongue across her delicious skin. He looked down at her and decided to risk a quick taste if he could do it without waking her up.

He ran his tongue across one nipple, then the other, and Vi let out a low moan of pleasure without stirring. He pulled one into his mouth and sucked, and she let out another moan and squeezed her thighs together. He thought about all the times they had both fallen asleep, still joined together, and that decided him. That’s how he wanted to sleep with her now, as totally connected and together as they could possibly be.

He moved down her body and gently pried her legs apart enough for him to swipe his tongue all the way through her folds. She was hot and wet for him already, and she let out another moan. Bahbi gently rolled her over onto her side, then placed himself behind her and pulled one of her legs backward over his thigh to align their sexes. He filled her, then carefully snaked his arm under her head and gently pulled her body back into his, so as much of her touched as much of him as possible.

She didn’t wake—she was still limp and breathing deeply—but she whispered his name out loud from the depths of unconsciousness and he felt her walls squeeze down on him hard. Suddenly, Bahbi was crazed with desire. This perfect, indominable female had chosen him, loved him, and wanted him so badly that she responded to his touch even from the blackest depths of utter exhaustion. He wanted to give her pleasure that reached her all the way down to where she was right now, then watch her wake with the afterglow of having her body worshipped while she slept.

He angled the arm under her head down until he could reach her nipple, brought his mouth forward so that he could slide his tongue up the side of her neck and behind her ear, and brought his other arm around to slip a hand into her folds. Her breathing increased and she began to make breathy utterances he couldn’t understand, while her hips started rocking backward into his.

It was so…just fucking arousing , hearing and feeling her respond to his touch from the darkest depths, that Bahbi felt his own climax starting to build quickly, then overtake him. He locked his body down hard, in place, to keep from jerking, or bucking, or squeezing the nipple he held in his right hand as it shot through him.

He allowed himself a few seconds of recovery, then turned his attention back to Vi. She was still slowly grinding her hips, and he realized she was trying to put more pressure on the hand that he had forgotten between her legs. He used his index and second fingers to slide up and down between entrance and button, taking a cue from how hard Vi was pressing against his fingers and increasing the force of his caress significantly more than usual. It only took three or four passes of his fingers pressing hard before Vi jerked and cried out, never once coming up to consciousness. Bahbi slid his fingers through a few more times, gently now, before pulling his hand back and wrapping her up tight against him. He let out a long, contented sigh, then fell into a deep sleep to join her, purring.

He awoke for the third time to see Vi’s green eyes a few inches from his. She was draped across the front of his body and running her hands through the fur on the side of his neck. She gave him a happy smile that lit up her face when she saw he was awake, then bent down and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place, then deepened the kiss.

Eventually, she pulled back, breathless, and said, “It seems like I missed some fun last night.” Her eyes sparkled and she slid her body softly against his.

Bahbi gave her a crooked smile and said, “I just wanted to sleep joined with you. But…you responded to me, even in your sleep, and it kind of got away from me. All three times.”

Vi laughed and rolled on her back to stretch, “Well, I woke up feeling good. I mean, really good . So, you have my permission to do that to me pretty much any time you want. I mean, combining sleep and mind-blowing sex into one? You’re like the genius that thought up combining caramel and chocolate.” She propped herself up on an elbow and asked, “Why are we in the ship?”

He rolled over to her and pushed her back down into the soft, body-sized pillow, grinning. “Because we needed to do that…and we need to do it many, many more times. And you needed a break from the crazy. Also, the suite’s pretty full right now. I didn’t think we’d enjoy sleeping on a bunk in a room with Caussus, Friend, Mister Beastly, and Valis. What’s caramel or chocolate?”

“You’re going to make me cry with that question. Speaking of food, is that what I smell in that box?”

Bahbi grinned again, nodded, and sat up, pulling the box to them. Vi was as ravenous as he was, and they quickly got everything open and started to eat, washing the food down with bottles of a sweet, yellow liquid that Vi said tasted like oh-jay. They talked and laughed, and playfully fought over the last of each type of food in each container or smeared juice of different foods on each other’s bodies.

Eventually, stuffed to the gills and covered in food and sex, they went into the shower and took their time washing every inch of each other. Vi made a particular point of washing every bit of his tail while he purred and purred; he was sure she was doing it for that reason until she pressed up against his backside and straddled it, wrapping her arms around the front of him. Realizing where the base of his tail was hitting her, he pressed back, and she moaned.

Bahbi pressed back again a few times, grinding against her button with his tail, then swung around and lifted her against him, holding on to her thighs as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He braced her against the shower wall as he entered her, then pulled her back into him and carried her out to the pile of pillows.

He lowered her and settled over her in one motion, but she tightened her legs around him and raised her hands from his neck, holding on to both sides of his head and keeping his eyes locked on hers.

She whispered, “I love you, Bahbi. And I couldn’t do any of this without you. Whatever we achieve on this crazy mission, whatever I’m able to do, I’ll only be able to do it because you’re with me. And if I had to stop to keep you with me, I would. Nothing else matters without you with me.”

Bahbi’s throat worked, but nothing came out, so he just nodded. On a certain level, he had known she loved him, but hearing her say it and tell him how important he was to her was different… more . Vi seemed to recognize the emotion he was struggling with, and she pulled his face down to hers for a long, tender kiss.

When he could finally speak, he gazed down into her lovely green eyes and said, “Violet, you freed me, chose me, and gave me the whole universe. ‘Love’ isn’t a big enough word to tell you how I feel about you, and I’ll go anywhere and do anything with you. You’ll never have to choose.”

They sat still like that for several moments, looking into each other’s eyes, then began a slow rocking movement together that eventually carried them both away, still wrapped up in each other’s arms.

As Vi slept, Bahbi carefully finished her last toe, then sat back to admire his handiwork. She curled her toes in her sleep, then rubbed the bottom of one foot over the top of the other, as if to scratch an itch or stop a tickle. She blinked her way up to consciousness and reached a hand up to rub her eyes, then pulled it back in shock. She sat up, looking at one hand, then the other, in surprise. Then she straightened her legs and looked at her toes. Then she blinked at Bahbi, the confusion in her face comical enough that he had to suppress a laugh.

He let her confusion span another couple of seconds, then said, “I tied strings on you.” He had, all 10 fingers and all 10 toes, using strings he had carefully extracted from the tassels surrounding one of Qlu’s pillows. He grinned broadly, “Now you’re mine forever.”

Vi blinked at him one more time in surprise, then burst out laughing and fell backwards into the pillow, saying, “Yep, you win. There’s no getting rid of me now.” She sat back up and gave him a wicked look, “Now, let me see you strut.”