Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Warmth surrounded her like a cocoon. Emma drifted in that hazy place between sleep and waking, her body loose and comfortable, her mind pleasantly blank.
She was aware of the steady hum of the ship’s systems, the soft recycled air moving across her skin, and the solid heat of Doren’s body pressed against her back.
His arm was draped over her waist, heavy and possessive even in sleep. His breath stirred the hair at the nape of her neck in slow, rhythmic puffs. She could feel his heartbeat against her spine—slower than a human’s, deeper, a bass drum keeping time with the universe.
She smiled without opening her eyes.
Three days in hyperspace had passed like a dream.
Good food, better company, and the quiet intimacy of learning each other’s rhythms. She knew now that Doren preferred his not-coffee strong enough to strip paint, that he hummed off-key while running diagnostics, and that he talked to the ship like she was a person.
She knew the particular way his tail curled when he was concentrating, and the flash of vulnerability in his eyes when he thought no one was watching.
She also knew exactly how to make him come apart.
That thought sent a pleasant shiver through her, and she shifted slightly, pressing back against him. The movement must have roused him because his arm tightened, pulling her closer.
“Awake?” His voice was rough with sleep, a low rumble that vibrated through her.
“Mmm. Maybe.”
“That’s not an answer.” His hand slid up from her waist, fingers trailing along her ribs with deliberate slowness. “Let me help you decide.”
Emma’s breath caught as his touch grazed the underside of her breast. “That’s... one way to wake up.”
“The best way.” His lips found the curve of her neck, pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin there. “Although I’m open to suggestions.”
She turned in his arms, facing him in the dim light of the captain’s cabin. His blue eyes were heavy-lidded but alert, watching her with an intensity that made her pulse quicken. Even rumpled from sleep, his golden fur mussed and his mane sticking up at odd angles, he was devastatingly handsome.
Unfair, she thought. Completely unfair.
“Good morning,” she said.
“It is now.” He leaned in, capturing her lips in a kiss that started soft and quickly deepened. His hand slid down her back, cupping her rear and pulling her flush against him. The evidence of his arousal pressed against her belly, hard and insistent.
Emma moaned into his mouth, her fingers threading through his hair. She would never get tired of this—the way he kissed her like she was something precious, the way his body responded to her touch, the way he made her feel desired and cherished and wanted in a way she’d never experienced before.
“We should check on Ari,” she managed between kisses.
“She’s fine. I can hear her.” His enhanced hearing was occasionally inconvenient, but right now Emma was grateful for it. “Still sleeping.”
“And your route check?”
“Can wait.” His mouth moved down her jaw, her throat, the hollow of her collarbone. “This can’t.”
She laughed, the sound turning into a gasp as his hand slipped between her thighs. “Someone’s impatient this morning.”
“I’ve been impatient since the moment I met you.” He lifted his head, meeting her eyes with that burning intensity. “Every day I want you more. Every night I think it can’t get better. And then it does.”
The sincerity in his voice made her heart clench. This man—this impossible, infuriating, wonderful man—had somehow become the center of her world. She’d known him for barely two weeks, and yet she couldn’t imagine her life without him.
“Show me,” she whispered. “Show me how much you want me.”
His answering growl vibrated through her as he shifted, rolling her onto her back and settling between her legs.
The warm weight of him pressed her into the mattress, his fur a soft caress against her sensitive skin.
His tail curled around her thigh, the tip flicking teasingly against her inner knee.
“Your wish,” he murmured against her lips, “is my command.”
Then he was kissing her again, his mouth hungry and demanding, his hands mapping her body with familiar confidence. She arched into his touch, her own hands exploring the defined muscles of his back and shoulders, feeling the power coiled beneath the soft fur.
When his mouth closed over her breast, she gasped, her fingers tightening in his mane. He teased her nipple with his tongue, then his teeth, the slight edge of pain intensifying the pleasure. Her hips rose instinctively, seeking more contact, and he obliged, grinding his cock against her entrance.
“Doren,” she panted. “I need—”
“I know what you need.” He kissed his way down her body, nipping at her stomach. “I always know.”
His tail moved higher, slipping between her legs to stroke her clit with the same rhythm as his tongue. She cried out, her body clenching around nothing, desperate for the fullness only he could provide.
“Please,” she begged, not caring how desperate she sounded.
He looked up the length of her body, his eyes glowing with satisfaction. “As you wish.”
He flipped her over on her hands and knees fast enough to make her dizzy, then positioned himself at her entrance.
The broad head of his cock pressed against her, and she held her breath, waiting for the delicious stretch.
He entered her with exquisite slowness, giving her body time to adjust to his size, until he was fully seated within her.
They stayed like that for a moment, joined, as he stroked her hand down her back and over the soft curves of her add.
Then he began to move, his strokes long and deep, each one sending waves of pleasure through her.
His tail continued its teasing at her clit, and the dual sensations quickly drove her higher and higher.
She pushed back against him, meeting his thrusts, her whole body focused on the pleasure building at her core.
When the first barb extended from the base of his cock, it sent a spark of sensation through her, pushing her closer to the edge. He groaned, his fingers gripping her hips as he increased his pace.
“Fuck, Emma,” he growled, the sound more animal than man. “You’re so perfect.”
The second barb extended, and she cried out, her climax rushing towards her like a tidal wave.
His thrusts became harder, more urgent, as the last barbs locked them together.
The sensation of being filled so completely, of being held in place as he came with a roar that echoed through the cabin, sent her flying over the edge.
She collapsed forward, and he followed her down, careful not to crush her as he buried his face against her neck.
They lay locked together, both breathing heavily, as the aftershocks rippled through her and he gently stoked her back again, up and down, in a soothing repetition that made her want to purr.
“You’re good at that,” she murmured.
“At what? The sex or the back-rubbing?”
“Both. All of it.” She propped her chin on his chest, looking up at him. “Although I was specifically referring to the way you make me feel like the most desirable woman in the galaxy.”
“That’s because you are.” He said it matter-of-factly, like he was stating an obvious truth. “Have you seen yourself? Soft and warm and responsive. You make the most incredible sounds when I touch you just right.” His lips curved. “Like that little gasp you made when I—”
“Okay, okay.” Heat rushed to her cheeks. “I don’t need a play-by-play.”
“Are you sure? I was quite thorough. I could narrate.”
“I was there. I remember.” She swatted his chest lightly. “Smug bastard.”
“Guilty as charged.” But his smile softened, his hand coming up to cup her face. “You’re beautiful, Emma. Inside and out. Never doubt that.”
The tenderness in his voice made her throat tight. She turned her head, pressing a kiss to his palm.
“I should check our route,” he said reluctantly. “We’re due to drop out of hyperspace in a few hours.”
“I know.” She rolled off him, stretching luxuriously. “Go. Be captain-y. I’ll look after Ari.”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and she took a moment to appreciate the view—all lean muscle and golden fur and that tail swishing behind him. He caught her looking and raised an eyebrow.
“Keep staring at me like that and we’ll never leave this cabin.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Terrible. We’d starve.” He pulled on his trousers, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”
She watched him go, a smile playing on her lips. Then she lay back against the pillows and let herself simply... be.
The cabin had changed over the past three days. Her clothes hung next to his in the small closet. A stack of data pads sat on the bedside table, filled with Galactic Standard lessons she’d been studying. A mobile Doren was making for Ari was half-assembled on the desk.
Home, she thought. This is starting to feel like home.
It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did.
She’d spent her whole life craving stability and a place to put down roots.
Her father’s constant wandering had left her desperate for the opposite—a cottage with a garden, a job she loved, and a community where people knew her name.
She’d built that life for herself on Earth, carefully and deliberately, brick by brick.
And then aliens had snatched her away, and everything she’d built had crumbled to dust.
But here, on this ship with its recycled air and humming engines and battered hull, she was finding something she hadn’t expected.
Not the life she’d planned, but a life nonetheless.
A family cobbled together from circumstance and choice.
A purpose that mattered—protecting Ari, supporting Doren, and discovering the secrets of an ancient civilization.
Maybe home isn’t a place, she thought. Maybe it’s the people you’re with.
The thought was both comforting and terrifying. Because people could leave. People could disappoint you. People could chase their obsessions into the darkness and forget to come back.
But Doren had come back for her. Again and again, he’d chosen her. And maybe that was enough to build a foundation on.
A soft chirp from the crib in the connecting room interrupted her musings. Ari was waking up, her small fists waving in the air as she announced her presence to the world.
“Good morning, little one.” She rose and went to the crib, lifting the baby into her arms. Ari’s dark eyes fixed on her face, and her tiny mouth curved into what she had decided was definitely a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
A burble that might have been agreement.
“That’s good. Because we have a big day ahead. We’re going to find another one of those Keys today. Maybe someone else like you.” She bounced Ari gently. “Wouldn’t that be nice? A friend for you to play with?”
Ari grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged.
“Okay, okay. Food first, then philosophy.” She carried her to the common area, where the replicator hummed to life at her approach. “Let’s see what we can make for breakfast.”
The common area of the Vagabond was her favorite space on the ship, eclectic and cluttered and thoroughly charming.
She settled Ari into the cushioned seat Doren had rigged up for her—another makeshift solution that worked surprisingly well—and programmed the replicator for Ari’s formula and her own breakfast. The machine hummed, lights flickering as it assembled molecules into food.
While she waited, she picked up one of her data pads. Galactic Standard lessons, courtesy of the ship’s educational database. She’d started studying on their first day in hyperspace, determined to understand the world she now inhabited.
The written language was nothing like English.
It used symbols instead of letters, and meaning was conveyed through arrangement and context rather than phonetics.
But she was making progress—slowly, painstakingly, the way she’d learned to read as a child.
Sound out the symbols, figure out the pattern, and commit it to memory.
The replicator chimed, and she retrieved their food—a bottle for Ari, toast and something that looked like eggs for herself. She’d learned not to ask exactly what the replicator used as base material. Some questions were better left unasked.
“Alright, little miss.” She lifted Ari and settled into the cushioned bench, positioning the baby for feeding. “Let’s see how hungry you are.”
Very hungry, as it turned out. Ari attacked the bottle with enthusiasm, her silver cheeks working as she sucked down the formula. Her dark eyes never left Emma’s face, watching with that uncanny intelligence that was both endearing and slightly unnerving.
“You’re going to be brilliant, you know that?” she murmured. “I can tell. All those little wheels turning in your head.”
Ari released the bottle long enough to chirp, then went back to eating.
“I’ll take that as agreement.”
She was halfway through her own breakfast when Doren’s voice came over the ship’s intercom.
“Emma? Can you come to the cockpit when you’re finished?”
His tone was casual enough, but something underneath it made her pulse quicken.
“We’ll be right there.”