I'm now a dick junkie. It's official. I'm going to need a hit of that at least once a day, maybe twice.
"What are you thinking about?" Kas asks, toying with a piece of my hair.
Dick junkies? Somehow I think I should keep that to myself. "Nothing. You?"
"Just wondering if I scared you off with all that talk about dismembering people for looking in your direction."
Actually I kinda liked it. "If I recall correctly, it was something about plucking people's eyes out, but I might have been distracted."
He chuckles, the sound heavy and oh-so-sated. I know just how he feels. "I just don't want you to panic on me. I know this thing between us isn't…ah, gonna work out."
Oh. Does he have to bring that up now? The happiness I'm feeling bursts like a bubble. "It's just sex talk," I say casually. "People say a lot of shit in bed. It's no big deal."
"I just want you to know I'm not going to hold you back. You get to decide where you go from here." He taps the end of my nose with a finger. "I'll support you a thousand percent."
Super. Don't really feel like talking about this right now, but it seems rude to tell him to shut up when he's trying to be supportive. It's just…I don't want to think about the future. Thinking about it always fills me with anxiety, because I can't envision it in the slightest. Does it involve years on end trapped inside a spaceship? Does it involve more enslavement? Or exile on a farm planet, while my carefree lover gallivants around the universe risking his neck for his next thrill?
It feels like there's no way I'm going to “win” in any of those scenarios. So I'm going to focus on the here and now.
I roll onto my side and give him a cocky smile, hiding my true feelings. "Let's just focus on one thing at a time, Kas. Right now, that means this planet. And this ship. Is the toilet working, by the way?"
"Nope." He gives me the laziest, most sated grin and my heart skips a beat at how attractive he is. "I'll work on that and the water filters first. Might have to improvise for a while."
Joy. "And the food?"
"All of it still in its storage compartment, packed up in its original packaging. Probably all stale, and I wouldn't recommend any of the meat-based kits, but I saw several packs of dry noodles."
My stomach growls at the thought. "Noodles. I never thought I'd get excited over noodles, but my mouth is watering."
He tugs on a piece of my hair again. "We're gonna be safe up here, Sunshine. We'll set up house, I'll figure out how to hunt some of the wildlife, and we'll get things working. We'll be able to wait things out."
I lean in and rest my hand on his shoulder, putting my chin atop it. Our faces are now mere inches apart and I gaze down at this pretty, reckless alien man who makes me crazy and makes me want more than I should, all at the same time. "I'm not worried. I spent the last three years stranded on a ship. What's another week or two?"
"Absolutely nothing in the scheme of things."
"Exactly."
"Though we might get bored." He studies me thoughtfully. "Seems kinda pointless to shine my boots when it's going to rain every day."
"Definitely pointless."
"Guess we'll have to find another way to pass the time." The look he gives me through his lashes is fake-sleepy and ten-thousand-percent naughty. "Any ideas?"
"A few." All of them involving body parts and licking and quite a few X-rated scenarios. I've got him for another week. Maybe two. I'm going to take advantage of this time. "Hey Kas?"
"Yes, Sunshine?"
"I need three things."
"What's that?"
I hold up a finger. "One. I need a toilet. Two. I need breakfast. And then three, I need you to climb back into this bed with me and do that thing with your mouth again."
My pretty blue man grins at me. "I think I can manage that."
50
Two Months Later
ALICE
I'm busy sewing, curled up in one of the seats in the main area of the ship when Sterre saunters in and drops a dead bird at my feet. I set down my knot work—since I don't have a needle or thread, all of my sewing comes from cutting strips and knotting them closely together—and smile at the carinoux. "Are you feeding me again, baby girl?"
Sterre hops up onto the seat with me, flings her head into my lap, and starts to rub against my stomach, begging for pets.
Laughing, I scratch at her glimmering hide, telling her what a good girl she is and how proud I am of her. I do this all in a baby voice that Sterre loves, rolling onto her belly and pushing me backward until I'm about to fall out of the seat. Giggling, I wrap my arms around the oversized carinoux and tickle her sides. "You're the best kitty cat! Yes you are! You're so smart! And such a good hunter!" I make kissy noises at her, because Sterre responds to them with little growly sounds of her own. "Who's the best hunter on this planet?"