6. CHAPTER SIX
Iwoke to two hearts that weren’t mine. With Zhari having a dual pulse, I’d forgotten that meant she had two hearts, which sounded so romantic when you set biology aside.
For a disoriented second, I thought my bed had learned percussion. Then memory settled back into place, and I realized the heartbeats were pressed against my spine.
Zhari’s arm was around my waist, her hand splayed across my belly. Her chest rose and fell against my back. We must have drifted together sometime during the night, the kind of slow migration born from muscle memory and want.
I shifted slightly—not away, just enough to remind myself I still could. Her arm tightened in response, pulling me closer with that lazy, unthinking strength I’d already started to crave.
“Good morning, my little noodle.” Zhari pressed herself closer to me.
“Morning,” I murmured.
“I hope you slept well,” she murmured against the back of my neck, her voice groggy.
“I did. For the first time in so long,” I whispered as I turned to face her.
She made a small, amused sound and cracked one eye open. The morning light from the window painted her in soft pink-gold.
“Question. Did we steal this bed from a minor god?” I snuggled happily into the mattress.
Zhari let out a quick laugh. “It sure feels that way, doesn’t it?” she said, stretching. Her T-shirt rode up just enough for me to see how bare she was beneath her see-through panties. “All the suites I stay in have these beds, so I’m pretty lucky.”
I let out a long sigh and looked away. “Well, I feel so refreshed I could run a marathon. Maybe two. So it deserves praise from me, at least.”
She laughed while still stretching and pushed herself upright.
Beyond the door, Sira’s voice echoed through the corridor.
Something about pulling her from the crowd, a promotional stunt, and the fact that I had a life to get back to—but the words faded as soon as Zhari looked at me instead.
Her glow had softened to a faint shimmer, her shoulders twitching beneath her shirt.
“We should shower first. Warm showers help with everything, even Sira.” Her eyes flicked to the bathroom, then back to me. “My shoulders ache. Will you join me?” She smiled.
I pictured her naked immediately. Water beading off her curves, her wet blue hair clinging to her skin as droplets ran down her shoulders. My thighs pressed together on the bed against the ache building low between them.
Vada, get up. She’s asking.
Years of sketching her face alone in my dark flat and eating vending-machine dinners by myself, and now she was here, offering.
This whole night felt surreal—soulmate talk and kisses that still burned on my lips. When would I get this chance again?
I stayed frozen on the bed for a moment longer, thoughts swirling. Zhari stood and walked toward the bathroom. She pulled her shirt over her head, the fabric sliding up and away to reveal the smooth pink expanse of her back and the tight line of her shoulders.
Her panties followed in one slow push down her hips, sliding over the full curve of her ass and thick thighs before pooling at her feet. She kicked them aside and stepped into the bathroom, completely bare, her body soft and generous beneath the dim light.
She turned on the water. The spray started with a hiss, then built into a steady roar as steam began curling out through the doorway.
“You coming?” she called, her voice carrying over the rushing water.
That yanked me to my feet. My heart slammed hard. I crossed the room on unsteady legs and pushed open the bathroom door. Thick steam rolled out, heavy and warm, wrapping around my skin.
My fingers found the hem of my shirt. I tugged it up and off, letting it fall to the tile. The humid air hit my bare chest immediately. Next came my underwear, the thin elastic whispering down my legs as I stepped out of it.
The air brushed over every inch of me, raising goosebumps and tightening my nipples into hard peaks.
Well, there was no turning back now.
I stepped into the shower stall. Hot water hit my shoulders first, then my face. I blinked through the streams.
There she was—water sheeting down her pink skin, tracing the full curve of her hips and breasts just as I’d imagined a thousand times. Her wet blue hair clung heavily to her shoulders as droplets ran slowly over the soft roundness of her chest and dripped from one nipple.
She turned around toward me, that crooked smile appearing.
She reached around my side and grabbed the shampoo bottle.
As she poured gel into her palm, she stepped closer.
Droplets hung between us, trembling in the spray.
My eyes trailed from her lips all the way down to her belly before landing on her pussy.
“Do you like what you see?” she teased with a laugh.
“Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to stare. I just wasn’t expecting you to look so much like me,” I mumbled.
“Were you expecting it to just be smooth skin and a pee hole?”
“Oh my, no. I, um…”
“Vada, I’m teasing.” She laughed again. “Believe it or not, lots of species look surprisingly human. I have everything you do down there.”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“Come here. Tilt your head back,” she murmured.
I tilted my head back. Hot water streamed down my face and neck as her fingers slid into my hair, her nails grazing my scalp in slow circles. Her thumbs pressed and circled at my temples, working thick suds through my hair while water continued to cascade over us both.
A deep sigh left me. I crossed my arms over my ribs, trying to hold in the feeling as warmth spread through my body, mixing with the constant rush of water.
Her aquamarine eyes dropped to my lips and stayed there, then flicked back up to meet mine, dark with want.
“Does it feel good?” she whispered over the roar of the water. One hand slid down my neck and cupped my shoulder, her thumb stroking slowly along my collarbone.
“Yes. So good,” I said, my breath catching.
Her touch sent a sensation through me, tightening everything between my thighs as water sluiced down my stomach and between my legs. I leaned closer into her hands without thinking, letting the water pound against my back.
She made a soft, pleased sound and rinsed me with cupped palms, warm water flowing gently yet insistently over my skin and washing the suds away in rivulets. Then she grabbed the bottle and handed it to me.
“Your turn now.”
Her blue hair spilled down her shoulders, water streaming from the ends in steady flows.
I took the gel bottle, poured it into my palm, and worked it through her hair slowly. My fingers combed through the tangles, massaging deeper into her scalp as the water poured over us in a warm curtain, turning her glow soft and hazy.
She didn’t turn away from me. She stepped closer instead, tipping her head just enough for me to reach. Our bodies lined up chest to chest. Her breasts brushed against mine every time I shifted my hands, a slick slide of skin that sent a sharp jolt through me.
Her blue eyes went half-lidded as I dug my fingers into her scalp, her lashes clumping together in the steam. I watched a bead of water run from her temple down to her mouth, hanging for a moment on her bottom lip before falling away.
My gaze stayed there, watching her lips part as she breathed.
“Mmh, yes… that feels so good,” she moaned.
When I pushed the last of the lather toward the crown of her head, she tipped her face back up into the water. The movement brought her even closer; her breasts grazed mine again, sending another little shock through me.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“Don’t be,” I whispered.
Before I could overthink it, my hands slid down from her hair to her shoulders, then lower.
My fingers brushed the narrowest part of her waist and kept going, curling lightly around her hips.
Her skin was hot beneath the water, the curve of her bone fitting perfectly under my palms as if it had been waiting for my hands to find it.
“Vada,” she breathed.
She turned more fully into the spray, closing the last sliver of space between us. Her own hands found my waist, fingers splaying across my hips, her nails grazing my bare skin. She pulled me flush against her.
Water rushed hot and forcefully between our bodies, streaming down over our joined skin.
Her gaze locked on mine again, then dropped to my mouth, lingering before rising back to my eyes.
“I want to touch you,” she murmured, her fingers flexing on my hips, “but only if you want me to.”
A quiet, desperate sound slipped out of me.
“Yes,” I whimpered. “Yes, I do.”
Everything inside me tightened, want flooding hot and slick between my legs. My thumbs stroked slowly along the lines of her hips as my fingers traced up her arm, sliding over wet skin and feeling the warmth beneath the water.
I reached behind her neck, threading my fingers into the soaked strands at her nape, and gently pulled her closer. Our foreheads touched first in the steam, a brief, shaky pause, and then our lips met beneath the pouring water.
The kiss started soft, then deepened as hot streams cascaded over our faces and mouths, running down our chins and between our pressed bodies. Her full lips felt slick and warm against mine, water streaming between us as we kissed.
We broke apart just enough to breathe.
“I want you so badly,” I whispered, my voice shaky against the spray. “I’m just not ready for the forever part yet.”
She stilled, her aquamarine eyes searching mine up close, water dripping from her lashes.
“I know, my little noodle,” she whispered.
Zhari pressed closer, our chests flush and water running in hot sheets between us. She cupped the side of my face and kissed me deeply and hungrily, her lips sliding against mine as her other hand skimmed down my ribs and up my stomach, closing firmly over one of my breasts.
She squeezed and tugged at my nipple, rolling it between her fingers until it was rock-hard.
I gasped into her mouth and kissed her harder, grabbing the back of her neck to keep her right there as our tongues slid together, wet and urgent beneath the spray.