Wordlessly, I move to the panel and type in the commands to check for incoming messages. "Nothing."
Sophie lets out a little sigh. "I guess that's to be expected, right?" She gets up from the seat and offers me a small smile. "Did you have a good shower?"
I don't care about my shower. All I care about is that this female should be mine…and I'm going to have to let her go. More hot, possessive words bubble up in my throat. I want to tell her that she's mine, that she belongs with me, that no one else can love her nearly as much as I do. That no one else would take such good care of her or hold her when she's scared. But I can't say any of those things, because they're far too close to ownership.
If I tell Sophie that she's mine, I worry I'm going to lose her forever. She's been owned once before.
So I say nothing at all. I put a hand to her waist and pull her against me. She looks up at me with dark eyes, her body trembling against mine. "Can I touch you tonight?" I rasp.
She gives me a little nod. "Please."
I pick her up and lift her onto the comm station's countertop. The bed's too far away and I need to touch her right now, or I might lose my mind. Her eyes widen in surprise and her arms go around my neck, even as she tilts her face up for a kiss.
"I need you," I tell her. I lean down and press a light kiss to her parted lips. "Need you."
"I'm here," she whispers. "I'm not going anywhere."
But she is. That's the problem. With a low growl, I grab at the collar of her work jumper and touch the auto-fastener, undoing the clasp. It slithers down her front, the fabric gaping open and revealing her lovely body to my hungry gaze. "Can I touch you all over?"
"Yes."
"Kiss you all over?" I move forward, putting my hand between her soft thighs. "Kiss you here?"
She lets out a little hitched breath of surprise and then nods. "Please."
Mine, I think furiously as I drop to my knees in front of her. All mine, and I'm going to show her.54SOPHIEJerrok's been a little hard to read today. He's pleasant and sweet to me, but his mood seems to be…short. Distracted. I suspect it has something to do with his cousin. I can't blame him. Bethiah is a lot for anyone to absorb, and for my introverted Jerrok, I imagine she wore her welcome out about an hour after she arrived and now he's just in endurance mode.
I can relate. I'm pretty ready for her to leave, myself.
So I stay out of the way, busying myself with scrapping. I tackle the parts I can recognize—I might not know how to chart a proper star course in a navigation system, but I know how to pry apart a matter engine and extract the expensive components that can be re-sold. I've watched Jerrok do it, and when he comes over to check my work and gives me an approving nod, I feel like I've won an award.
"Best Sidekick in the Galaxy," maybe.
Throughout dinner, Jerrok's bad mood remains and it's leaking over to Sleipnir, who seems fussy. I make sure to feed the carinoux extra and give him more attention, because I don't want him getting frustrated and taking a bite out of Bethiah. I decide to set him up in my old bed and give him the metal husk of the engine I was working on all day, and Sleipnir makes happy little crooning noises in his throat, his feet pitter-pattering on the floor in anticipation as I carry it to my bedroom. When I'm sure he's settled and happy, I return to Jerrok's chambers…and wonder if I should check for messages from the Little Sister.
I'm chagrined that I haven't thought about them at all in the past few days. I guess I really should.
It's just…I love being with Jerrok. I'm dizzy with infatuation, and I enjoy being on the station. I'm happy here. Content (well, until Bethiah dominates the conversation). I'm loving my life in the little bubble of safety I have here on the station and in Jerrok's arms. I don't want any of that to change. Ever.
When Jerrok comes out of the shower and finds me at the comm unit, though, he doesn't look thrilled. He checks for messages and I hold my breath, releasing it only when there's nothing there. No message from the va Sithai. No one's coming for me, yet.
I never thought I'd be so glad to be forgotten.
But then Jerrok sets me atop the counter, my back pressing against the comm unit, and the look in his eyes is the most intense I've ever seen it. "I need you," he growls. "Need you."