My heart flutters, and I don't know whether to laugh or hug him. "No, no, it doesn't go on the cock. A wedding ring is between two people that want to get married. Declare that they don't want anyone else for the rest of their lives. It's a symbol of commitment. Do you guys not have weddings? Marriages?"
He gazes down at me with dark, intense eyes. "Do you need that? To get married?"
"Are you asking?"
"Do you want me to?"
I grit my teeth, biting back a flare of annoyance. I keep running my thumb over the head of his cock, brushing against the piercings over and over again. Is my touch too distracting? "Why won't you just answer me?"
Straik tips my chin up again, and the small touch would be condescending on anyone other than him. With him, I know he's gazing into my eyes because he's trying to figure me out. It's written all over his flushed face. "I already know how I feel about you. I am trying not to trample on how you feel. I want you to remember you are in control. That I will abide by all your wishes."
"What if I want you to touch me?"
"I would love that."
"What if I want to get married?"
"I would love that even more," he murmurs, his breath hitching ever so slightly. "But…you said it is a permanent commitment, yes? Are you sure you want that? With me?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you are going back to your friends and I would not trap you at my side." Straik licks his lips, gazing down at me intently. "No matter how much I might want it."
This big, perplexing dummy. God, he makes me happy. I even love his awkwardness. I give his cock a delicate squeeze, loving that his breath stutters again. "What, you think I'm going to fool around with you and just walk away as if there's nothing going on between us?"
"I don't know. I'm not good at reading people."
"Do you love me?" I ask.
"Is that part important?"
"To me it is. Just like you answering a question when I ask it. That's important, too," I say tartly, and lower my hand, squeezing his shaft and gently stroking it.
His gaze tracks my face with hungry intensity, but he doesn't move a muscle. It's like he's frozen in my grip. "I got my cock pierced, didn't I?"
"Is that a yes, you love me? Why is that so hard to say?"
"Because when I love, they don't love back," he whispers. "Because it's a weapon that can be used against me."
68
RUTH
He makes me ache, this man. There's so much hunger and yearning on his face as he gazes down at me. I think I see hope there, too. Hope that I want him back?
But I need the words. I need the words because it's not just committing my body to his. It's attaching my future to his. This is the guy that abandoned my friends to die. What happens if we go back to rescue the others and they want to kill him? What happens if I find out he's done worse things? Terrible things? What happens if he decides to sell off all the humans?
It's dangerous for me to throw my lot in with him. We're still learning about each other. This world—his world—isn't safe for me. Heck, it's not even safe for him. He's being hunted by dozens of bounty hunters hired by his own damn mom.
As I look up at him, though, at the vulnerable, hopeful look on his handsome face, none of that matters. Some things are worth taking a risk for. He's been trying to show me how he cares about me, how he hasn't wanted anyone before me. That's why the piercing, I suspect. That's why he got it now.
"I need to know a few things," I murmur, stroking his cock as we stand in the waves. I give his shaft a squeeze and then twist my wrist just a little as I reach the tip. I avoid his piercings, because I don't know how sensitive they might still be.
"Ask anything," he rasps, leaning into me. "Just keep touching me."
As if I'd ever stop. I stroke his length again. "What's your plan for the future?"
"Immediate future?" His big hand goes to my shoulder as if to steady himself, and he squeezes me when I squeeze him. "Flush out bounties. Get back to the Star. Rescue your friends. Offload the humans somewhere safe."
"And after that?"
Straik groans, eyes fluttering closed as I touch him. "How…do you feel about a life of piracy?"
"Mmm." It's not something I considered before meeting him. I've been musing about where I belong in the universe, though. It's certainly not at Prefalon Station. And this place is nice, but it's not nice enough that I can enjoy myself without Straik's company. The farm planet we tried to go to originally? Kinda sounds like hell. I'm most definitely not a farm girl. "Can we free any slaves we find?"