Chapter 15 #3
I ran my hand slowly up and down his sternum. “And what was your decision?”
“I haven’t made one yet.”
I nodded. “Why don’t you want to take it?”
Kex sighed and seemed to deflate further.
“The war was hard. Bloody and horrific. Terrestrial war is . . . difficult. And when we were finally done with it, we had to fight through the politics—lawmakers who wanted us to just leave and abandon the species whose world was thrown into anarchy, others who wanted us to stay because their world has resources that could be acquired if we provided aid. After all that, I just want peace.”
I turned until I straddled Kex. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest. His arms came up, and he held me. “And why do you want to take it?” I asked, because it was obvious a part of him did, or he wouldn’t be so troubled.
“Because my grandfather was a great man and he taught me that one’s responsibility to the greater good was more important than oneself.
Because this planet’s politics are fucked, and if it goes to a vote, the seat will likely pass to an ormonai, whose motivations would hurt the universe.
The ormonai seat is powerful within the senate, it carries significant weight. ”
“What’s ormonai?” I asked, pronouncing it badly. Kex chuckled. “I am ormonai, it’s my race. What are you?”
“Human,” I said. And he repeated it. The pattern took me back to the forest. The struggle of surviving with nothing. To me, it was stressful, the line between life and death very fine and easy to trip over. But to Kex, it was peace.
“What race is Rainair?”
“Braxx.”
“Hmmm. He reminds me of a cat.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a small, fluffy domesticated animal humans like to keep as pets. They are soft and purr when they are content.”
Kex snorted. “Please tell him that tomorrow.”
I grinned. “I used to have a pet cat. Now I guess my roommate will take care of him.” I swallowed hard, not wanting to cry and ruin the moment.
I’d known I probably wouldn’t make it back to Earth, but having it confirmed hurt.
Never seeing Bennet again hurt. “There’s no going back to my planet, is there? ”
Kex held me tighter. “No. It’s illegal. Now that you have an understanding of the wider universe, if you returned, you would be considered disrupting the sanctity of a preflight planet.” He went quiet for a long moment. “If you could, would you want to?”
A sudden spike of possessiveness tore through me, and I turned my head into him and bit his pec through his shirt. “No, but I’m sure some of the other women will ask.” I sighed and rested my head back down. “If there was a chance to return just to get my cat, I would.”
“What about your family?”
“They died. I never knew my father, but my mom passed away a few years ago. Her parents were old and died when I was young. I have a brother, but we haven’t spoken in a few years.” He squeezed me. “What about your parents? The seat didn’t pass to one of them?”
“No, they are also gone. My mother when I was young, and my father a few years ago in the war. His transport was shot down.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I have cousins. An aunt and three uncles. You might like my cousin Banni. She’s a sharpshooter but tells pretty good jokes.”
“I’ve always wanted a bigger family.”
“And now you have one. And a title you might not want.”
I snorted. I definitely did not want. I wasn’t really into the whole fancy image thing. “Does this mean I need to learn manners and proper protocols for different events?”
“I don’t care how you act, as long as you stay with me. Fuck protocol.”
“Okay, that’s easy to say, but not acting the right way at the right time can make life harder. I’d rather know the rules so I know when I want to break them.”
“That’s fair. I’ll ask Banni to visit. She’ll make the lessons more enjoyable, and she’s excellent at breaking the rules.”
We fell into silence for a long moment, then I sighed. “What do we need to do before tomorrow?”
“A lot,” Kex said with a growl, but this one wasn’t one of his sexy growls.
I sat up. “Well, how about we get started? The sooner we start, the sooner we can have sex in a proper bed, right?”
This time his growl was sexy and he sat up and kissed me. “In a bed, on this couch, in the bath, against a wall, on the table, in the garden, up a tree, in a closet, and anywhere else I can think of.”
I blinked at him. “You have a bath?”
“Is that all you heard?”
“It was the most important part. Well, the wall part also sounded interesting.”
He leaned up and kissed me, but I pushed him back before it got too intense. “Work first, right? How can I help? Is there literally anything I can do to make this easier?”
“My Emily, your very presence makes this easier.”
“Blow jobs then. You do all the work, and I’ll provide the blow jobs.”
He frowned. “What’s a blow job?”
I smiled. “It’s when I suck on your dick.”
He groaned. “Yes, I think that will be quite adequate assistance. But right now if you could cease being so tempting, I need to call my steward and would prefer it if my cock didn’t join the conversation.”
“Do you think if I keep talking about him, he will bust out of your pants like he did your little leaf diaper?”
He leaned forward and nibbled on my ear. “You’ll be the death of me, I just know it.”
“I sure hope not.”