Page 67 of Tempting Cargo

I floated, nothing but sensation as Shohari took her pleasure, lax and sated as she finally clenched around my dick, flooding our joined bodies with her cum as her clit ground and bucked against me. Her sharp keening rang out in the room, as if our souls had left our bodies and returned, forever changed.

She released my arms and clung to me, resting her full weight on my chest. Her curl released slowly, as if it, too, didn’t want our bodies to be apart.

We didn’t speak, not even when she began to howl softly.

I just stroked her, my eyes filling with tears for both of us.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

My resolve is the wisdom of my ancestors

Shohari

THE OBNOXIOUSLY orangegas giant taunted me through the holo-enhanced bridge window. Even at this distance, its distinctive yellow stripe curved like a smile. How dare it smirk at me? How dare it look proud to hold that green-blue moon in its orbit? Vadias would soon take my alien away from me.

My throat convulsed in a thick swallow. He would have a home, and he would be safe. He would be able to make a life for himself. Those were the things he needed, the things he deserved.

Bitterness stabbed through me. I enjoyed having Garrison in my bed too much. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d woken up with a liaison partner, but two mornings now, I’d woken to his warm presence, and it felt a little too comfortable.

It was selfish not to want him to go—and dangerous. I didn’t know what the beginnings of a soulbond felt like, but I could imagine they started like this. The tingles in the spines. The strength in my bones when he was near.

Unlikely though it was that a bond could form with a human, the risk was too great. The threat of being mated to Rokharu was all too real. To be mated to one and soulbound to another? If the pain didn’t kill me, it would drive me to madness.

I sucked in a shuddering breath. It was for the best he was leaving. I couldn’t afford to entertain any other possibility.

Like keeping him.

I was doing the right thing, so why did my bones feel like they were being crushed?

My fingers flicked the control panel, shooing the enhanced image away, and the planet returned to a glowing orange orb in the dark sky.

“Paiata, anything to report?” I needed something, anything, to distract myself.

“I’d have told you earlier, Cap, but you were busy. News from Kimivah.”

My family’s steward had been more like a father to me than both my parents combined. I dug my claws into my palms. “Useful? Summarise.”

“Both madames are caught up in their feud. He suggests your mother is ‘consumed with a specific undertaking to which she diverts significant funds’… Your father may be neglecting your brother—his valet says his health is getting worse.”

My gut clenched.

“The rivalry is getting out of hand. ‘Each of them have received citations for conduct unbecoming of a Madame of Status, for which they both blame the other.’ Your name gets mentioned a notable amount, and he worries what it might mean.”

I flexed my fingers and bent them again, watching my knuckle spines pale. “I trust Kimivah. Is there anything else?”

Paiata grunted, whether in agreement or not I couldn’t tell.

“There’s got to be something we can do. Some information we can use.” I thumped my fist on the console, rattling the collection of empty mugs. “I can’t let Airida suffer more than he already is.”

It was one thing bearing my own burden, but knowing even with the credits I sent back he wasn’t being properly cared for?

“Cap, sometimes I think it’ll never be enough for you.”

I growled, headspines quivering. “What do you mean?”

Paiata spoke in a careful, measured tone. “Just that you seem to want a plan to be perfect. It willneverbe perfect. From what you’ve said, you’ve saved more than enough credits to hire some mercenaries. We can break him out of there.”

Another growl reverberated in my chest. “I get one chance at this. If I try and fail, I’ll be mated off to old Rokharu and lose theDorimisa. I’ll never get another chance.”