"Done?" I ask lightly, feeling awfully bare and incredibly frisky. Other than my dress, I'm not wearing a stitch, and it feels twice as exposed as it ever did.
"Just cleaning up a few things." He picks up a few bits of shredded wire, taps a button on the wall, and the panel pings open for trash disposal. He dumps the discards there and I notice his hands are covered in smears of grease and there's a swipe on his cheek, too. "We should be good to go, now," Adiron says. "We're sealed in here, the climate controls are purring, and the air filters won't have to work as hard since we're just focusing in on this small area."
"That's great," I say brightly, even though I'm a little disturbed by the whole “sealed in” comment. "So we just need to hang tight until your brothers return, right?"
He nods and then sniffs the air. "That dinner?"
"I made noodles. Hungry?"
"Famished." Adiron moves to my side instead of heading into the mess hall. He leans down, careful not to touch me with his dirty hands, and offers his face for a kiss. I lean in and peck him on the mouth, and his expression brightens a little. "Sorry if I've been a little mentally absent today. I'm not trying to neglect you."
"Don't apologize," I tell him. "I know you're not." I cup his face in my hands and press another kiss to his mouth, my lips lingering on his. "You're trying to keep us safe. I'm not going to complain."
"The good news is that it's all done, and we can spend the next month in bed." He gives me a teasing look. "Unless you want to kef up against a wall or something."
I roll my eyes and tap his cheek with my hand, pretending to be annoyed. "You always think about sex, don't you? Go and shower. I'll keep dinner warm for you."
Dinner…and I plan on having him for dessert.
54
ADIRON
I can't help but notice how keffing sexy Jade looks as we eat our noodles. She eats hers delicately, her full lips giving me all kinds of ideas. Her glorious cleavage practically spills out of her dress, taunting me. She's stunning…and all I can think about is that keffing gladiator in a pod far too close to here.
I can't stop thinking about how casually they talked about opening the pods and freeing others. How they might have innocently freed him, thinking they were doing the right thing. How when we boarded this ship, we might have found Crulden the Ruiner standing over the broken, destroyed bodies of the human females—
I squeeze my eyes shut and take a big mouthful of food, determined to get that image out of my head. Happy thoughts, I tell myself, and think about Jade's nipples instead. How they're this lovely, warm dark brown that just invites touching, and how they tighten into these tight little puckers with prominent tips the moment I brush her skin. I wonder if she's ever fallen out of that low-necked top of hers. If her nipples ever just “oops” busted out while she was eating.
Kinda wish that'd happen right now.
"Are you okay?" Jade asks, giving me a curious glance.
"Yeah. Why?" She doesn't need to know that I'm that worried about Crulden…or whatever else could be in the hold. For all I know, those pregnant females are pregnant with splices themselves, and then we're going to have a whole mess of them to deal with. For all I know, there's a hidden compartment somewhere on this ship with a few more splices tucked away…
Kef me. I didn't even look for hidden compartments.
Jade pokes me with her eating sticks. "Your expression keeps changing while you eat. I can't decide if you're upset about something or turned on. What's the deal?"
"Just, uh, thinking."
"About?"
"…stuff?"
She gives me an exasperated look, pushing her bowl aside. Jade leans forward on the table, her arms resting on the surface, and it plumps her gorgeous tits nicely, distracting me all over again. "Adiron, we've talked about what a terrible liar you are. I know you're lying. You're upset about that darn gladiator, aren't you?"
"I'm getting less upset with you sitting like that," I admit. "I do like looking at those tits of yours."
I expect her to get all shy—or to hit me with those eating sticks—but she just straightens a bit more, smiles, and her breasts give the most enticing little quiver. It's like they know it's about to be their turn. As soon as I'm done eating, I'm going to lay Jade on this table and feast on her. My sac tightens and I lift my bowl to my face, eating as fast as I can.
She's what I need to distract myself from the situation, I decide. A month of me and Jade, learning each other. Maybe by the time I empty myself inside her inviting body a dozen (or three dozen) times, I'll forget all about what's in the hold.