Page 16 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

“Yes. It was incredible, don’t get me wrong!

I’ve never seen anything like it. Or Hir-Fallow, for that matter.

” She beamed, sitting back, hands in her lap, cheeks blushing so prettily.

“But the ships I took were commercial and, well… It wouldn’t really be fair to call them boring, but I guess I expected more space in my spaceships. ”

Sway chuckled. “I know what you mean.”

“You do?”

“Sure. I was raised on a station. The Humility is the first ship I ever remember walking on. It’s certainly the first time I could appreciate the trip.

I admit, I was a little disappointed when I saw the bridge had no real windows, only display screens.

I understand now, though, of course. There’s really no purpose for windows on intergalactic ships.

And, for most, space travel is an ordinary thing anyway.

There’s only so long staring out at nothing can be interesting.

So, the commercial transporters don’t really care about letting you enjoy the ride itself. ”

“Right!” She nodded along eagerly, eyes sparkling. So excited that he understood where she was coming from. “They had games and entertainment and everything on board, so it’s not accurate to call the trips boring, but it just…”

“Wasn’t what you were thinking of?”

“Exactly!”

Sway leaned in closer over the desk just a bit further.

Prompting her to do the same. “The captain shut the hatch since he considers the room private and he doesn’t want the repair crews touching it, but our ship technically has a third command center.

We have an upper bridge, and it does have windows. ”

Grace was staring at him, smiling through an open mouth.

The upper bridge wasn’t a secret. Anyone looking at the ship from the outside could see it, and the hatch leading into it was right there on the primary bridge.

But it was also Captain Tanin’s space. While none of them were forbidden to go up there, they didn’t tend to loiter in the area unless they had a reason to enter.

But Tanin wasn’t using it right now, and it was nice, private…

Grace was giving him such an expectant look. Like she was just waiting for him to invite her up for the evening.

And he was going to. He was tempted beyond control.

If he had her there, he could show her the view through the upper bridge windows.

Which, currently, included a view of the station.

He was sure she would have seen it already, but the view wasn’t really what she was after.

She wanted to feel close to space. He could certainly provide that.

And if she was going to the upper bridge, she’d have to pass through the bridge. Just as Tanin claimed the upper bridge, Sway had claimed the primary bridge. That was his domain.

Even better than the mental image of Grace tied down, vulnerable and open to him, was the image of her bound to one of the chairs on the bridge. Legs spread, body nude, eyes covered, unsure when he would stop working to instead tease and torment her.

That idea was as thrilling as it was shocking. It threw him back to reality and he remembered why it was a bad idea to indulge those fantasies.

Sitting back, he cleared his throat before getting quickly to his feet. “I should, er, stop bothering you and get back to the ship.”

It was an abrupt ending to their conversation, but he had to get away before he let that pretty smile tempt him into doing something stupid.

“Oh,” Grace was already on her feet before he had a chance to escape. A sad frown pulling at her brow in a way that struck in his chest. He wanted her crying and begging, not sad. “You’re going?”

“Yes, I really should.”

“I guess…” She bit her bottom lip.

“Thank you for-”

“Do you want to have dinner together tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

They both stilled, staring at each other like they were equally surprised the other had spoken. Grace’s face started to burn bright red as his mouth went dry. She’d asked so quickly, he responded without even thinking.

And before he could take it back, she was smiling. “Great! I’ll message you.”

She was glowing with happiness again. Even the shadow of the frown was gone from her face. He couldn’t deny her now. He couldn’t reject her and steal that smile.

“I should get back to work,” Grace said, pushing her hair over her shoulder again.

“Yes, of course.” And he needed to go beat himself over the head for giving in immediately without even a hint of resistance.

But if she was asking to spend time with him, she couldn’t have a mate. Right?

That hopeful realization was somehow more powerful than the bad thoughts, driving them away as he was instead focused only on her joy and the breath of relieved delight that swept past her pink lips.

Filled with a strange sense of elation and regret, he left the office. Trying not to look as rushed as he felt. He wanted, more than anything, to go eat with her. But he needed to get a grip on these new desires plaguing him so violently before he saw her again.

He was trying to be a better person. A proper farasie. His kind wouldn’t think like this. A farasie male shouldn’t be like this.

She deserved that much. She deserved much more.