Page 58 of Tempting Cargo

“They are. Skyk.” Her chest rumbled in the beginnings of a growl. “I hate it when you’re the sensible one.”

She put her sleepwear on, a bright pink tank top that stretched obscenely over her breasts and a matching pair of shorts as small as the wrestling ones I’d borrowed.

“Hush. You love it when I look after you.” I enfolded her in my arms, and the comforting weight of her head rested on my shoulder.

“Garrison. If I can’t skyk you, can I snuggle you?”

Holy shit, low inhibitions Shohari is a snuggler. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

“Yes. Don’t you dare tell Paiata. He’ll never let me live it down.” She glared at me, and I just wanted to kiss her.

“Stop being adorable, Sho. It’s very bad for my heart.”

“I am not adorable. I am fearsome. And grumpy.”

“Okay. But this proves we definitely can’t fuck right now. Daytime Sho would be horrified at talk of snuggling.”

Her voice softened into something quiet and raw. “No she wouldn’t. She likes it. She just can’t say it.”

Please stop making me love you already. The thought rose up, unbidden, and I shoved it away.

“Please, Garrison. I mean it. Stay with me tonight. If we only have a short amount of time, I want to spend as much of it as I can with you.”

She kissed me, and it was lazy, like we had all the time in the world. None of the teeth clashing desperation of this afternoon, just soft lips and tongues and heat—that is, until she got too handsy, and I separated us with a groan.

“Fine,” I said. “We can snuggle.”

Even across light years, it meant the same. Shohari pushed me onto the bed so hard I bounced, rolled me over, then cosied up to me, her breasts settling at my back, her legs interleaved with mine. One hand played idly with my chest hair, and I rocked my hips gently, barely realising I was doing it.

“This is another way we can fuck,” I said, looking at the wall, but every nerve focused on the searing press of her body behind me. I was supposed to be the sensible one, but how could I help it?

“Silly human. This can’t work. Your cock’s pointing away from me.”

My laugh echoed too loud in the small room, and her hand crept over my hip. “Not exactly like this. I would be behind you.” I gripped her wrist. “Roll over.”

She did.Hmm, drunk Sho is obedient Sho.

I fitted my body to hers, mindful of the spines on her shoulders. She muttered something about having to be the sensible one, so I shut her up by grinding against her beautifully curved arse.

My cock was like a steel bar between her cheeks. “I’ll slide my dick in between your legs here.” My breath caressed her neck,and I slipped my fingers between the tops of her thighs. “Get you nice and wet so I can use these beautiful legs. And then, when you’re begging for it, I’ll fuck you.”

She groaned, arching into me. “I want that.”

When she started rolling her hips with too much enthusiasm, I remembered why this was a bad idea. “Me too, but we have to stop.”

“Skyk.” She went still, but clenched my arms tight around her, as if by stopping I’d also be letting her go.

I barely heard her next words, coming out as not a whisper, scarcely even a breath. “Stay with me, Garrison. Don’t leave.”

I couldn’t breathe. I needed her to mean them. I needed more time, needed more of her. If I stayed, I could help her defeat her awful parents and save her brother. Not that I was any kind of hero—and even if I was, Shohari wasn’t a maiden who needed saving. No, she was kick-ass, and I wanted to be there when she realised it and support her through it.

“I want to,” I murmured. “I will, but you have to ask me in the morning, Shohari. I need to hear it from daytime Sho, too.”

She answered with a sigh, bringing my hand to her lips, kissing each fingertip in turn. “I want you so much.”

I swallowed and kept my voice light. “Tough.”

I couldn’t admit the same, or I’d break. I was a hairsbreadth away from pinning her beneath me and showing her just how hard I could fuck her.