Chapter 14 #2
I caught Ysa by the waist, hauling her into my arms, bridal style.
Her hands stayed locked on her braid, and that braid stayed around my neck.
She even tightened the loop, like I had plans to escape and she wasn’t going to let me.
She had no idea how much that turned me on; she’d unleashed the beast now.
Stalking off the practice mat barefoot, I didn’t bother locating my boots.
I had only one goal in mind now: get to my bunk so I could claim her right back.
The ruckus the two combined crews were making faded into the background, then vanished as I broke into a jog and rapidly left the gym behind us.
We ducked into the nearest elevator. Ysa released her braid only long enough to slap the button to the officer’s deck, overriding the stop at the deck below it, where my quarters were located.
“Pretty sure we’re going to want some privacy, Thatch.
And that bunk of yours is pretty damn uncomfortable to boot. ”
I shrugged, because I did not care either way.
We’d have privacy wherever we went, because I’d make damn sure nobody would bother us.
If needed, Raukesh and the others could sleep in the cargo bay for all I cared.
Providing her with a comfortable bed did matter, though.
She did not need to give me directions; I knew the way to her private quarters by heart.
I suspected she did not know this, but I’d even stolen override codes so I could program my bio-signature to her door.
I had access, though I’d never needed to use it yet.
The hallway was deserted, though I knew it was home to several high-level officers, and the captain himself.
It did not look any different from the rest of the ship unless, of course, you had Dravion’s special visual implant update.
Names swirled in neat lines by each door, English to my eyes but probably in Ulinial script to Ysa.
Asmoded, the Sineater—each of the twins and Jaxin—had quarters here, as well as Flack, who was unmated, and Ysa.
I had never been inside her private space before, not even to test whether I had access when she wasn’t around.
My breath caught in my throat as I waited for her to open her door, my mind conflicted as I realized I should tell her I already had access.
Then again, I didn’t want to scare her off when she had gone to these lengths to claim the bond between us.
I needed her too much to walk away now; I wasn’t going to let her escape, either. Why muddy the already murky waters?
The space she revealed with a brush of her hand against the door’s sensor was exactly as I expected, but a little different all the same.
The tools and unfinished projects I knew she took home with her were there: a long workbench filling up much of her living room area, as well as shelves lined with parts, tools, and knickknacks.
She had a corner with a large vidscreen and pillows for relaxation, which I knew fit with a Ulinial’s often nomadic lifestyle.
Carpets, lush and rich in color, also covered the floor, while plants in woven metal planters hung from the ceiling or stood in strategic places along the floor.
That was Tass’s work, at her behest; he came in once a week to care for them, because Ysa had no green thumb to speak of.
I carried her through the living space straight to the bedroom, which I was most curious about, halting in my tracks when I discovered her bed was nothing less than something befitting a fairytale.
All manner of pretty, jewel-toned, translucent fabrics draped from spiraling, curved beams that surrounded her bed like a crown.
It was an alien’s version of a canopy bed: dainty, pretty, elegant.
I swore out loud because it was so the antithesis of everything I embodied, I struggled to picture myself sleeping in it.
Never mind that, I wasn’t here for sleeping anyway.
The sheets beneath that silky screen of color were all satiny black, and her nightstands were carved from dark wood in the shapes of skulls.
I realized these might be Ulinial skulls they’d been modeled after, but since their pointed ears were what truly marked them as different, they might as well have been human.
She had candles, black as well, lined on top of them, partially melted.
It was all very… gothic. So were the mostly black clothes and jumpsuits spilling from her open closet, and the elegant, curling golden details on the edges of her mirror.
It was a very real glimpse into the inner workings of her mind.
The only surprise was the colors surrounding her bed; everything else was exactly as I expected.
I should have known that my Ysa loved bright things as well as darkness.
She was a ray of sunshine that clomped through the ship in her thick-soled boots.
Always smiling, always happy to cheer someone up or create a little havoc just for fun.
That was what had drawn me to her from the start, her light to my darkness.
“You can put me down now, Thatch,” she murmured.
Her hands slowly loosened the loop of her braid from around my neck.
Her cheeks had turned from that lovely azure blue to something darker, almost purple, a blush.
She was having second thoughts, but now that we were here, I wasn’t going to let her back away.
Not on my life. I’d fought this tooth and nail from the start, but that was done now.
A losing battle. Especially when I knew she wanted me, too.
“No,” I told her. “Tell me what else is part of this Ulinial mating ritual. Tell me how to be your mate, Ysa.” I pierced her with a stare, trying to convey with just my eyes how much I wanted her, because words could never be enough.