And I hated every time I noticed the collar around her neck. It made her “less” in their eyes, which is ironic, because Ruth is anything but “less” in my eyes.
She's everything.
My body prickles with awareness of her as we board the ship and head toward my rooms. She immediately hands me the bags (and I take them) and tosses me a flirty look over her shoulder. "You do know I eat things other than sweets, right?"
"I do, but after noodles for so long, I thought you might appreciate a treat."
"Just as long as you appreciate the size my ass will get if you keep feeding me like this."
"I will," I tell her fervently. I can't imagine ever finding her less than flawless.
She rubs her arms, her new clothing rustling. "I feel grimy after being on station. Are they all like that?"
"Depends on what you mean by 'like that.'"
She shrugs as we enter my room. "Dirty. Drippy. Crowded. Muggy. Dangerous."
"Ah." I think for a moment. "All of the ones we frequent are, yes. There are cleaner ones, but they also tend to be more stringent on law enforcement and heavily patrolled. I wouldn't be welcome there."
She turns to look at me. "And let me guess, neither would I?" I nod, and she makes a face. "Your universe sucks." She pauses and then looks over at me. "Actually, most of it sucks. There are one or two things I like in it."
My face heats, and I think about her mouth, how she looked up at me from between my thighs while she licked my cock. Kef me. I'm utterly lost to her. I want nothing more than to rip my trou down again and have her put her mouth on me once more, but that seems greedy. More than that, I want to please her. I want to make her happy, like she made me.
So once we get safely inside my apartments, I gesture at my tub. "If you feel grimy, take a bath and relax?"
Ruth lifts her chin, a playful look on her face. "Are you going to watch?"
There's nothing I would like more, but I should check on the crew and our requests for resupplying and fuel. The time we spent on station, while welcome, is already eating into my schedule. "I have some things I need to check on first, and you probably need time away from me to relax. I'll be back later."
"Then I'll take a short bath and eat a few bonbons as I do." Her hand flutters to her neck, an uncertain look crossing her face despite her confident words. "Can we….do we…"
I nod. "We can take it off."
Her sigh of relief is palpable, and when I move over to her, I let my fingers brush over her skin in a comforting touch before I remove the hated collar. "I'm sorry you had to wear that."
"Me too, but it's done now." Ruth turns to look at me, her expression thoughtful as she tilts her head up. "What we did earlier, I hope you don't feel like I was manipulating you."
I shake my head, not trusting words.
Her smile of relief is a pleasure to see. "Good. Because I wouldn't. Not now." She moves forward and touches the front of my tunic, her hands moving down the fasteners. "You should know that I enjoyed it very much and I want to do it again."
The knot in my throat is huge. So is my cock, suddenly. "You…right now?"
Ruth chuckles. "Well, not right now if you have a lot to do. But later, yeah. I wouldn't mind touching you again." Her fingers skim my belt, a promise as much as anything. "It was the first time I liked touching anyone in a really long time. I hope you didn't think I was too bossy."
"I liked you bossy," I rasp, the words difficult to admit without feeling foolish. "I did not…disappoint you, then?"
She shakes her head. "If you're new to this sort of thing, it takes time to get past the hair trigger. I figured we could practice." Her lips curve in a sultry smile. "If you're up for it."
"Parts of me are already up and aching."
"Well then." Ruth grins. "Tell those parts of you they're going to have to wait until later. Someone's busy."
I nod. I wish it wasn't me, but it is. I'm going to have to hurry through everything to ensure the Eye is ready to launch again in the morning and then race my way back to my quarters, just so Ruth can touch me again.
Maybe this time, I'll touch her first. I like that idea.
56
STRAIK
Unfortunately for me, it's late by the time I make it back to my quarters. It was Erzah's turn to be in charge of resupplying and he's not a good haggler. He's like me and shows flares of temper when he shouldn't, and I end up having to bail him out of the station's holding after an unfortunate fight with a noodle vendor over the price of jirri. One of the crew ends up getting drunk at the cantina and tries to take a slave girl home with him, and then I have to bail him out, too.