Chapter 30
Sweet Nectar
“It’s a good thing you’re more man than metal, Dav,” Theos said as he finished packing up his med kit. “I can’t do much for busted augs, but flesh I can reason with to stitch itself back together. How’s it feel?”
Davik blinked a few times, happy to be free of the bandages that had been driving him insane for the last week of travel.
“Vision is still a little foggy on that side, but it feels a lot better.” He touched the fresh pink lines where Vek had struck him. “Do you think it makes me look strapping and dangerous?” he asked Theos, grinning widely.
The broad-shouldered medic chuckled gruffly, shaking his head.
“I refuse to answer that. I don’t want you to start collecting battle scars just to woo the ladies,” he said as he rose from his seat, giving Davik a pat on the shoulder.
“Glad it was just your mug that got scuffed up. If you had lost a hand before I had a chance to commission you for some more mock Fed-collars, I’d be upset. Wish TCIP had found you earlier.”
“I didn’t think my counterfeit Pactbind work was that impressive, but I’ll take the compliment.”
“It’s not just that. You’ve got a good head on those shoulders. I like your approach. You come at things from a unique angle.” Theos shrugged, shouldering his medic bag as he tidied up the workspace. “I need to grab some supplies while we’re docked. Need anything while I’m out?”
“Nah. Wait, actually,” Davik held up a finger as he fumbled with his other hand to pull up a quick view of the amenities at the station they were docked at.
“Can you— This is a weird request. But, uh … could you grab me a nice jacket or something? I don’t really have anything formal to wear to meet The Sovereign, and I’m going to be stuck prepping us for launch, and—”
“You want to make a good first impression.”
Davik nodded.
“Specifically, you want to make a good impression on someone who means quite a lot to her,” Theos continued, his brows waggling.
“I … yeah, I just don’t want to mess this up.”
“The fact that you are worried about it speaks volumes. But I’ll see if I can find something sharp for you. Ping me your measurements. And don’t worry about the price, I’ll take it out of your cut.”
Davik gave a snorted laugh, and they shared a parting fist-bump before the broad-shouldered and orange-smattered Icthian left for the station.
Now it’s just you, Carissa, and two unbound and pre-war Icthians on The Argent. If Drey were here, he’d shit a brick.
After he finished cleaning up in the mess hall, Davik made his way to the cargo bay to check on their restock of the basics.
This was the last stop before the last leg to the Sovereign, a week-long venture out into the fringes of the system.
One more week, and then they would have the funds to get Marius free.
Everything was finally coming together.
As he walked across the gantry that overlooked the cargo bay, he realized Fia and Vek were sparring.
They had laid out a circle in the bay using spare crate netting and were dancing about the space, silently exchanging quick bouts of strikes and holds until one side yielded.
He forgot he had come down there with an actual task in mind, fully engrossed in watching them stalk around instead.
The pair paused when Fia caught his movement, holding up a strange hand gesture to Vek. She rose from her defensive posture to smile at Davik, sheathing her weapon.
“Enjoying the show?” she called up to him.
“Oh, always. Heads up, we’re shipping out in an hour if there’s any last-minute supplies you need before our trek out.”
Vek nodded and slicked his tendrils back as he sheathed his weapon as well.
“I have arrangements to make before we depart. Though remember our score, Sentu. I’ll tip the odds next time.”
The phrase “his quarters” was a generous term. Vek had set up shop in the dinky shuttle Fia had been sleeping in before she moved her sparse belongings into Davik’s cabin.
It was a recent development in the last few days, cohabiting in the space.
One that made everything a bit cramped. And they had both been too busy, too injured, and too tired to go any further than they had before.
But every night they spent together was a bliss of tangled legs and warmth, where he fell asleep with an ease he had never known before.
He had absolutely no complaints.
“Don’t work yourself too hard. Your mom will be mad if we deliver you and you’re all in shambles!” Davik called out as the towering Icthian man stalked away.
They had developed a strange, banter-heavy rapport, but that comment was possibly a step too far. As he turned to face Davik, his eyes flared with that eerie purple glow. The same one he had seen before the commander nearly clawed his face off.
A surge of fear gripped his throat.
“I would worry more about yourself, human. You have the distinct pleasure of meeting the reverent Sovereign, and she will smell your obsession for her Sentu the moment you step into her chambers.”
Vek flashed a devious grin, and Davik felt a surge of an entirely different fear.
Oh, fuck. The Sovereign is like her … queen god-boss. And you have to meet her in a week.
Before he could piece together a decent retort, Vek had vanished. Fia snuck up behind him and rested her face in the crook of his neck, and Davik sank back into her arms with a happy sigh.
“Your Sovereign can smell my obsession, huh? Should I prepare to be castigated, or subjugated, or other words that end in ‘ed’?”
“I believe he is teasing,” she said, dragging her lips along his ear as she spoke.
“Despite the dispute with Sol, the Sovereign is fond of humans. Or was, in my time. She is likely to be delighted in seeing the way your heart thunders when I do this.” She stroked her claws through his hair, making his toes curl from the touch.
“Okay, okay. But I’m still going in blind here. I haven’t met a supreme leader of any sort, just people with egos so big you’d think otherwise.”
“Hmm. Well, if it is any comfort, while she is the highest authority, she is not the ultimate one. She serves an important purpose, but it is … complicated.”
She pulled her hands away, much to his chagrin, to make a triangular shape with her fingers.
“If you imagine the Fleet as a hierarchy, she sits at the top. However, the Council can overrule her. Arguably, the Council has more authority. Though that would require them to agree to go against her. A rarity, at least back in my time.”
“I see bureaucratic nonsense isn’t just a human flaw. Kind of comforting to know it’s a shared pain in the ass.”
“Speaking of pain, I see you are healing well. No more bandages needed?” she asked, her eyes lingering on the still-fresh scar on his cheek.
“No more bandages, thank God,” he chuckled.
“Oh, so you can join me in the showers now?” she murmured, her lids low and her grin wide.
He barely bit back a groan as he felt her hand pressing softly against his groin, and he felt an immediate throb of need. He stiffened from her touch and the thought of her, naked and wet, splayed before him.
“God, yes. Absolutely. Meet me there as soon as we take off? I’ve gotta get our disembark going, but—”
Fia pulled away from him and shot him a wink.
“I will be waiting.”
The locker room door chimed as Davik locked it behind him. He was intent on not letting anything come between him and the gorgeous, tall, deliciously curved figure that was currently wearing nothing but a scant pair of panties.
“So glad you could join me,” Fia murmured as she sat back on the changing bench, beckoning him closer.
He obliged with speed fueled by greed, already shrugging off his jumpsuit behind him in two quick steps as he closed the distance to her.
The way her eyes drank him in made him ache. He inhaled the sight of her with just as much desire and dropped to his knees. It was beyond want, he needed to touch her. He placed his hands on her waist, pressing a kiss against her neck and eliciting a happy sigh from her lips.
“You have not been with an Icthian before, no…?” she asked, her hands guiding him back to face her.
“No, but,” he swept his eyes down her form, letting out a low moan as he watched her plush thighs press together. “I had a plan to put my tongue anywhere I could fit it until you told me otherwise. Good plan?”
“An excellent plan. Start with your lips, here,” she murmured as she held her palm towards him.
As slowly and dutifully as he could, he followed her direction to trace kisses in a path up her arm, stealing another press of his lips against the delicate frill of gills on her neck when he reached them. She whispered a contented noise of pleasure, and his hips bucked at the sound.
Under her painfully slow guidance, his path of kisses traced lower, sinking down the slope of her throat to the soft skin of her chest, dotting the touch of his lips along her stomach.
He brushed his tongue across the hem of her panties, breathing in her scent.
Heat and need ached in his untouched cock as it strained against the thin fabric of his own underwear, which he foolishly hadn’t flung off before he kneeled.
“Fuck, Fia,” he breathed, feeling a throb as he spoke her name. “Please let me— I want to know every inch of you…”
With a delighted little noise, she arched into the touch, and her legs spread before him. Another throb wracked through his cock, and he reveled in the rare sight of the soft, pale scales of her inner thighs.
His eyes flitted down the elegant slope of her stomach, following down to the cleft of plump flesh that clung to the fabric hiding her. The shape was not wildly dissimilar to the human equivalent, but he wasn’t satisfied with just guessing.
With a slow stroke along her thighs, he brought his fingertips to slide under the hem of her panties, following the motion with his lips along the newly exposed skin. The touch made her gasp again, and a carnal urge to pull more of those sounds from her roared in his chest.