6. CHAPTER SIX #2
Zhari’s hand moved down my stomach and between my legs. Her fingers brushed gently over my swollen lips. She stroked up and down slowly, teasing me. I was already soaked, and the hot water made everything slippery.
A low moan slipped out of me.
She broke the kiss and moved her mouth down to my chest. She sucked my nipple hard into her mouth, her tongue flicking over it while her fingers found my clit and started rubbing firm, slow circles.
“Oh, yes,” I moaned, my voice shaky. “Right there… just like that.”
She kept rubbing my clit back and forth, the pressure perfect and relentless. My knees weakened from the sharp pleasure.
“Uh—” I breathed.
Then she pushed three fingers inside me. I was so tight that the stretch made me moan loudly, my nails digging into her back as my pussy clenched around her thick fingers.
Zhari kissed me again, deep and rough, while she started fingering me faster and harder. Her fingers thrust in and out, curling just right. The wet slapping sounds echoed through the shower.
I could feel how soaked I was, coating her hand completely.
My hips started bucking on their own, thrusting my pussy against her hand and fucking her fingers desperately. The pressure built quickly, intense and overwhelming.
With a sharp cry against her mouth, I came hard. My pussy pulsed and squeezed around her three fingers in strong waves, my hips jerking wildly as I rode her hand through every intense throb.
My thighs shook, and I kept grinding until the orgasm finally faded, leaving me panting and clinging to her beneath the hot water.
A broken moan slipped out of me, echoing off the tiles.
“Fuck…” I breathed, my forehead dropping to her shoulder.
Zhari slowed her hand, easing her fingers out of me with a final, gentle stroke that made my whole body shiver.
She kissed me softly, nothing like the hungry heat from before—just slow, careful presses of her mouth against mine, as if she were trying to bring me back down to Earth one kiss at a time.
For a moment, all I could do was lean against her, my chest heaving as the water pounded over us. The euphoric, floaty feeling started to thin, and a sharp flicker of panic cut through it.
“The bond,” I gasped, pulling back just enough to search her face. “Did we—did that…?”
She smiled, her thumb brushing a stray droplet from my cheek.
“No, my little noodle,” she murmured. “We didn’t. For it to seal, we both have to reach the peak together. Our auras must sync at the same moment, remember? This was only yours.”
“Yeah, right. Okay. Sorry,” I whispered, still breathless.
“Was it okay for you? I love pleasuring you, and pleasuring you was incredible.”
A weak laugh escaped me.
“Yes, it was.”
She pressed one more soft kiss to my lips, then stepped back beneath the spray.
“I am going to order room service,” she said, her voice still a little rough. “Get cleaned up. Take your time.”
She twisted off the water, grabbed a towel from the rack, and wrapped it around herself in one smooth motion. Droplets clung to her skin, catching the light as she padded out of the bathroom. The door hissed softly shut behind her.
I stayed where I was for a few seconds, my palms flat against the cool tile and my lungs dragging in shaky breaths. My legs were still unsteady. The ghost of her touch pulsed between my thighs, a slow afterglow that made me bite my lip and close my eyes.
Eventually, I reached for the towel, wrapping it tightly beneath my arms and blotting the water from my skin. Then I twisted a second towel around my hair.
I dug through my suitcase and pulled out fresh panties, my butterfly socks, soft pants, and a cute tank top, tugging each layer on with hands that still trembled a little.
At the sink, I squeezed bubblegum toothpaste onto the hotel toothbrush and scrubbed my teeth, watching myself in the mirror while the foam filled my mouth.
I’d gone so long without being touched like that that I’d almost forgotten how it felt to be wanted—to be handled like I was something precious instead of convenient.
With Zhari, it hadn’t felt like a quick rush or a one-night blur. It sat deeper, like something beneath my ribs had shifted and clicked into place.
Dressed now, I wiped a clear patch on the foggy mirror and met my own gaze. I didn’t look different. It was the same face, the same tired eyes, and the same faint remnants of star gems where they hadn’t fully washed away.
But my body felt rewired, every inch of skin awake.
I pressed my fingertips to my lips, remembering the way she’d touched me and how my whole chest had answered as if it had been waiting for that exact frequency.
The word mate echoed in my head, bright and terrifying.
Zhari wanted me because the bond said so, because some cosmic system had lit me up in her aura. But beneath the warm, floating feeling, doubt coiled tightly.
People like her didn’t end up with girls like me. I couldn’t quite believe that want and fate and something like love could ever land on someone like me and stay.
When I came out, Zhari was standing by the window in a loose robe, looking out over the city as if she were trying to memorize it. On the table, two steaming mugs sat beside two unopened Starlust bottles. Between them was a shallow bowl piled with what looked like folded, iridescent ribbons.
“Oh, what’s this?” I walked over to the table.
“Food and distraction,” she said, settling on the rug and picking up the serving tongs. “This is Velexa—thin, fried sheets of grain and sweet root layered with spice dust and glow-salt. We can’t start our day without food, of course.”
She transferred a few pieces into my bowl. They crackled softly when they landed.
I sat across from her and picked one up. The surface was warm and faintly sticky at the edges.
“We have something kind of like this on Earth.” I took a bite and swallowed, surprised by the soft middle and crisp outer layer. “Not as pretty and definitely not glowing, but… sweet, fried, and bad for you. Classic breakfast comfort.”
Her mouth curved.
“Then you understand its purpose.”
“So, what did you mean? A distraction from what?”
She inhaled, then let the breath out slowly.
“From the part where I ask you to pause your life.”
My grip on the mug tightened.
“That is… vague.” I let out a nervous laugh.
She met my eyes.
“The tour ship leaves Lumara tonight. The next stops are D'yuti on Orin and Minia on Tessara. Just about a week plus travel time. So not too long.” She paused. “I would really like it if you could join me.”
“I saw the schedule,” I said, because of course I had. I memorized it as soon as it was advertised. “It looks like a great tour.”
She huffed a tiny laugh that died quickly.
“After last night, Sira and the label wanted to do some damage control. They wanted to pay for a hotel at the other end of the city, refund your ticket, and make sure there wasn’t a crazy tabloid story.
She doesn’t want me to be distracted or have a mob of fans freaking out over me having a girlfriend.
She just wants to get ahead of everything. ”
Zhari’s glow sharpened.
“But I have told her we are meant for one another biologically, so she has no say.”
“Wow,” I muttered. “Girlfriend?”
I slurped back a long noodle.
Zhari blushed, her cheeks flushing a darker pink.
“Well, you know what I mean—”
“It’s okay. I do,” I laughed.
I couldn’t believe she wanted me to stay for two weeks. Like a frigging roadie?
“Oh, please, Vada. This will be so fun. We could spend all the free time I have together. Get to know one another. See where things go.” She flashed a giant grin and batted her eyes.
“With you how?” I asked. “Because I’m still catching up on the cosmic-bond syllabus, and I need to know if I’m being invited as your… I don’t know. Thing. Fan. PR inconvenience. Roadie. Mate or pet. Which box am I supposed to tick here?”
I reached for the Nebs and took a slurp of broth.
She flinched slightly, like I’d poked something raw.
“Officially,” she said carefully, “you would be on the manifest as a cultural guest from Terra. Security likes tidy labels. It gives Sira something to say when the board asks questions.”
“And unofficially?” I pressed.
Her glow deepened, that soft radiance gathering around her like a blush made of light.
“Unofficially,” she said, “I want you there because you make me feel… normal. Because I have this immense feeling inside my chest when I am near you. When I listen to you talk or when I kiss you.”
Here came those butterflies again.
“That’s…” I swallowed. “That’s a lot, and super sweet of you to say.”
“I know,” she said quickly. “And I know this is not how humans choose partners. You have rituals. Coffee, shared media, and awkward dinners with parents. But it’s the only thing we know biologically. It’s like having a terrible itch on your back for hours and not being able to scratch it.”
“The parents come later, usually,” I muttered. “Also, if you have a scratch that lasts that long, I’d probably be concerned. But yes, I see your point. I normally would be all over this. But you make me nervous. I don’t want to mess this up, despite us being meant for one another.”
I gestured between us.
“I’m not asking you for all of that,” she said.
“Not now. I’m not asking you to marry me, although Velans do marry one another a few months after their auras connect.
I’m asking you to get on one more shuttle and have a longer sleepover.
Come with us. See what this is when it is not just one night. ”
She fished around in her Nebs and slurped back a long noodle, broth dripping from her bottom lip.
My brain tried to save me, flinging up everything at once—my spreadsheet job, my sad little flat, my overdraft, the plant I’d already killed, and my mum, always my mum, hovering at the edge of every choice like a siren.
“I have a life,” I said slowly. “A boring one, sure, but it exists. A job. I have a mother who panics if I cross two time zones. I can’t just—”
I mimed dropping everything off a cliff.