I set our shared bag down on the narrow bed. “This is smaller than I anticipated.”
“It’s fine,” Kim says in a sweet voice. “Kinda reminds me of a cruise cabin back on Earth.” She pokes her head into the bathroom and chuckles. “Right down to the teeny, tiny lavatory. No tub, though.”
“Shower?”
“Yup, a shower.” She turns around and her cheeks are flushed. I know what she is thinking. Showers are where we connect best. Showers have held some of our favorite moments together.
Perhaps we should shower again…
“Not a very large one, I’m afraid,” Kim adds. She sits down on the edge of the bed and looks at our bag. “So…what do we do now?”
I shrug, looking around for somewhere to sit. There is a compact chair near the door, but not big enough to fit a full-grown praxiian male. I move the bag off the bed and onto the floor, and sit down next to her. “Are you sure you do not wish me to have another cabin? If they can find space for Bethiah, surely they can find space for me.” I gesture at the ship. “I have been on a Class IV freighter before. They have multiple bays, and so this one should have more cabins, especially if they are down a crew member. Money is not an object.”
Kim shakes her head. “It feels very vulnerable to be out here. I feel safer on our farm. I’d like it if you stayed…unless you’re uncomfortable, of course.”
“I am not uncomfortable.” I take her small hand in mine and stroke her fingers. “And you are safe with me. This I promise you. I would not bring you if I thought you would be in danger. Bethiah will guard us.”
My mate gives me a look. “Bethiah was being tickled by one of the crew.”
I chuckle. “Very true. Do you think I would let you come to harm, though?”
“No,” she says, her voice so soft as she gazes up at me. “You always take care of me, don’t you?”
“You are my mate. You are my everything. Of course I take care of you.” I run my thumb over her fingers, stroking her skin. “Your happiness is the most important thing in the world to me.”
Kim looks up at me, her gaze flicking to my mouth. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything.”
“I don’t think I’m mad anymore.” She puts her other hand over mine and traces one of my fingers with her fingertip. “I realized that in port. I’m not mad, and I realized I trust you. I don’t think I’ve stopped trusting you. I think I was just…hurt.” She gazes down at our joined friends. “I don’t want to be an object. I want to be a partner. If someone needs killing…I want to be in on it.” She blows out a breath and crosses her eyes. “God, what am I even saying?”
“I understand,” I tell her. “It is not the killing. It is that you were left out. It is that I made decisions on your behalf instead of including you.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“No more,” I promise her. “I want you involved in everything. You are my mate. My partner. We are in this together.” When she gives me a small smile, I squeeze the hand over mine. “What would you like to do now?”
Kim snorts. “I’d kind of like to hide for a bit. I feel very…exposed leaving our homestead. And we have a whole week to get to know people, right?” She lifts one shoulder in a mild shrug. “Can we stay in and just like…hang out?”
Hang out. Kim has said this to me before, and I know from experience it means to spend time with one another. Usually we play cards or watch one of my vids, but there is not a lot of room in this cabin for us to spread out and give each other space. I do not see a vid player either, other than a rudimentary comm system. “I believe the vid-screen is in the common room. Did you just wish to talk?”
“Or read? Just something to relax. I feel very tense.”
An idea hits me. “You could read part of your book to me.”
“Um. I don’t know.” She looks worried.
“I would love to hear it. I want to know what you are sharing with others.”
Her face colors and she slips her hand out of mine. “You do realize it’s a romance, right? It might not be your kind of story.”
“Why would it not?” I pull out her datapad from its spot tucked into a side pocket of my bag and offer it to her. “You were working hard on this last night. Read me the scene you are working on.”
Kim’s face turns a shade of red I have never seen before. “Not that scene.”
“Why not?”
“It’s…” She clears her throat, and her voice is strangled. “It’s a love scene.”