25. Sylas

TWENTY-FIVE

Showeredand back in my dress uniform, it felt like nothing had changed when I stepped foot back on the bridge a little over three hours later.

Except, in the span of less than twenty-four hours, everything had changed. There was no going back. I wasn't the same man that I'd been before we'd left.

"Captain." I received a few nods as I settled back into my chair. Aurelia's spot was still empty, which I hoped didn't mean something was wrong, and she was still in the MedBay.

I held my breath until the door opened once again, the rest of my officers sliding into their posts. Aurelia was the last to enter the room, her long, reddish-brown locks hanging damply over her purple dress uniform.

Stunning, even like this.

I inhaled a deep breath. We had to tell the rest of the crew what happened—minus our time in the cave. There would definitely be a few key details we'd leave out. Forbidden. I squeezed my eyes shut. Not for you. What would they think if they'd known we slept together?

Normally, everyone in the bridge would bustle about, focused on their own assignments and at their stations. Now, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

I cleared my throat. "Thank you all for gathering here. I know this was… unexpected."

"You mean you two absconding to another planet without so much as a peep?" Leo chimed in, giving me a smirk.

I ignored him. "Two nights ago, Lieutenant Callisto made a surprising discovery about an object on the surface of that planet." I waved my hand out the window. We were still close enough that it was in full view of the large glass windows.

"Why were none of the rest of us informed?" Kayle asked, swiveling in her chair to look at me.

"That's on me," Aurelia said, piping up.

"No." I crossed my arms, furrowing my brow. "You're my responsibility, so it's on me, Lieutenant." I turned back to my sister. "I made an executive decision as this ship's captain to investigate the lead. While it might not have been proper procedure, I did not expect the complications we faced after entering the planet's atmosphere." I quickly explained what happened, though I was light on the details, especially since my sister was glaring at me.

"Reckless," she muttered.

"It was," I agreed. "But had it not been for Lieutenant Callisto's discovery, the moon of planet XV30041 would have remained undiscovered." We probably needed to give it a name, but that wasn't in my purview. "And had we not gone down there, we never would have found that it's true beauty lies beyond the surface. In fact, my plan tomorrow is to send a crew of researchers down to study the animal life and bioluminescent crystals that we stumbled upon in the caverns." Finley's eyes lit up, and I gave her a confirming nod.

Aurelia was at the edge of her seat, her eyes searching mine. You're not going to tell them the real reason we went down there? She seemed to ask.

I gave her the slightest shake of my head. It wasn't my place. It was hers. But I also wouldn't punish her for trying to uncover answers about her father.

"There's something else," Aurelia added, her voice quiet. Like she was making herself small. "We found a piece of wreckage from the S.S. Departure."

"But that ship…" Leo started, scratching his head.

"Went missing thirteen years ago," I finished. "Yes."

"Wow. That's an insane find," Orion said, turning in his chair to look at my girl.

My pilot, I corrected myself. Because we might have been sleeping together, but was she really mine? Not yet. We hadn't had a chance to really talk.

"It was the ship my father was on when he went missing," Aurelia admitted.

"And? What did you find?"

"The piece of ship had settled inside the underground caves, though it's not clear how it got down there. But there was?—"

"Nothing." I hastily cut her off. "There was nothing on it."

That chip sat in Aurelia's pocket even now, but I knew the moment she admitted to having it, there was no chance of us discovering whatever information it possessed without everyone else getting involved. And I wanted her to have that opportunity to have closure. Even if it was just knowing what happened to the ship.

"Any other questions?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair. I was exhausted after spending the previous night sleeping on the floor, especially considering I'd spent the better half of the night awake, worried something might sneak up on Aurelia and I.

Plus, part of me hadn't been able to believe she was in my arms. That if I fell asleep, I'd realized it was all just a dream. But the way she'd climbed on my lap, how we'd connected… even now, the intimacy was startling. It had never been like that before. Not for me. I shook off the thought, crossing one leg over my knee.

After Aurelia and I answered everyone's questions—to the best of our ability—I announced my intentions to head to bed, lugging myself off the chair.

I already knew it would take me a long time to get to sleep that night.

Less than half an hour afterI returned to my room, a beep sounded—alerting me to someone at the door. Instantly, my heart sped up at the thought that it was Aurelia. Had she come to see me, knowing that I was thinking about her? Wondering how things would go now?

She'd taken off her dress uniform, pulling on a pair of pants and a loose t-shirt, and in her hands was—"Aurelia." I froze, staring at the creature in her arms. "What's that?"

"Don't be mad." She bit her lip.

Looking around the hallway, I urged her into my room, hoping no one had seen her.

All I could do was gape at her. "Please explain to me why, exactly, you brought an alien life-form—one who may or may not be dangerous—onto my ship?"

"Oh, relax, Captain Grumpy." Aurelia scratched the top of the little beast's head. "You know as well as I do that she's perfectly friendly. And it wasn't exactly intentional." I raised an eyebrow, and she continued. "She must have followed us onto the ship as we were leaving. I didn't even realize she'd smuggled on board until I got back to my room. I opened my pack, and she'd curled up inside of it."

The little beast leaped up onto Aurelia's shoulders, curling around her neck like a scarf.

"She'd eaten the rest of my meal bars, too." She let out a laugh. "I guess my telling her to go back to her family didn't work."

"No." I reached out, scratching underneath its chin. The little thing had probably been abandoned by her family, just like I was. I had a soft spot for that. "We should probably tell the crew, though."

"Do we have to?" Aurelia pouted, her hand resting over the creature's head. "I don't want to freak her out with so many humans around."

"I won't let them take her from you," I said, smoothing a hand down her arm. "But they should know that you have a… pet inside your cabin, Rae. You can't exactly keep her hidden forever."

Fuck, this was so against federal regulations. Keeping a wild alien animal as a pet would be highly frowned upon, but I was right before. The animal had bonded with Aurelia. Clearly, there was no keeping them apart.

"Oh. You're right." Her face morphed into a beaming smile. "She needs a name, don't you think? That way, we don't have to keep calling her it."

"Mmm." I couldn't disagree—the creature needed a name. But what…

"Her eyes are like aquamarines. And we found her in the water…" Aurelia clicked her tongue. "Maybe Aqua?"

I shook my head. A unique creature like this deserved a beautiful name. "She's like your little protector," I mused, watching them. "You helped her, and now she wants to take care of you, too."

Aurelia gave her some head scratches, smiling as she deliberated over name options.

Something clicked in my head. "What about Brina?"

"What does that mean?"

"Defender." I grinned, sticking a hand out towards Aurelia and getting a low hum of disapproval from the creature. I switched my hand to pet her instead, and she let out a satisfied chirp in response. "See? She barely even wants me to touch you."

Though that wouldn't stop me. Not when I craved the woman in front of me like I'd craved no one before.

She was mine. Even if she didn't know it yet.

"Brina it is," she said with a smile. "What do you think, little Brina?"

The animal chirped again, a low, almost-purr rumbling through its chest.

"She likes it," I confirmed.

"It's weird to think that we stumbled upon a completely new species of animals. They don't even have a name."

"That we know of," I said, watching as she sat on my bed. Brina curled up next to her, wrapping her tail up and setting her nose on top of it.

"Canis lutra."

"Huh?"

"Animals all have scientific names, right? Canis lupus familiaris—that's what we call a domesticated dog. And lontra canadensis is a river otter. So… Canis lutra." Maybe it was dumb, but that was the first thing that had popped into my mind.

"Dog otter?"

"Do you have a better idea?" I asked, quirking a brow.

"No." She huffed out the word. "How do you even know all that, anyway?"

"I have my ways." I didn't want to admit that I'd been looking up their scientific names earlier, because I couldn't get the little beasts out of my mind. Lutra meant otter, and Canis belonged to the genus family that dogs were in. It just… fit.

"We should probably just leave the naming to the science division, anyway." The words were muttered under my breath.

"Speaking of… I don't want them to poke and prod at her. Sure, they'll study them on the surface, but…"

"I know." Clasping my hand over Aurelia's, I threaded my fingers through hers as she relaxed. "She'll be safe here." I'd make sure of it.

"Thank you." Aurelia wrapped her other arm around my waist, hugging me tight without dropping our connected hands. "For everything."

She didn't let go, so I didn't either, simply swaying us back and forth. It almost felt like we were dancing. I leaned my head down, pressing my cheek to the top of her head and inhaling her scent. Violets. She always smelled so sweet, and I thought I could get hooked on it.

"Of course, little star." I kissed her forehead. "Anything for you." I didn't bother telling her she didn't have to thank me again. That she never needed to apologize. Though both were true.

"I better get to bed," she murmured, glancing at Brina, who was sound asleep on my comforter. "Probably should be responsible, since I'm basically a mom now." She winked, stepping back to scoop up the pup.

My mouth went dry, and my heart beat a strange tempo in my chest. Why was that so alluring? Thinking about Aurelia with a child?

Our child. The thought was there and gone in an instant. It wasn't like that between us. We might have been sleeping together, but that was all it was. She'd given me no sign that she wanted anything else from me besides sex. I knew that, and yet I couldn't help but wonder.

She stood on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I muttered back, feeling frustrated at the sudden urge of possessiveness that was pulsing through my veins.

I didn't want her to leave. I wanted to ask her to stay here. To sleep in my bed. To curl up beside me. To let me hold her, like I had last night. But I couldn't.

I was frozen in place, watching her leave, taking that sweet scent and her little creature with her. Leaving me all alone once again.

Anything for you. That was the thought that remained in my mind, long after Aurelia and Brina had left for the night. That I'd do anything for her.

I'd do anything to keep her.

Fuck, I was down bad for this girl. The one girl I never should have wanted. And yet, how could I not?

"Captain."

I rubbed my eyes.

Aurelia was standing in front of me, wearing a tiny black nightgown, her tattooed constellation on her shoulder on full display.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?" Her voice was low as she glanced around the hallway.

It was well after 0200, so the likelihood of someone being up on my floor and catching us was slim, but we couldn't be too cautious. Not when the chances of being caught were so high.

"Of course." I let her slip in past me and closed the door, latching it shut. My door required my ID card to open it, but the extra layer of security made me feel better. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was what now? Where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, holding my breath.

The words she said earlier echoed in my mind.

I don't want to go back to the way things were before between us.

I don't want this to end.

All night, I'd been tossing and turning, the same thought flicking through my mind since she'd left me. I couldn't bear to part with her either. Not when I knew what it felt like to be inside of her. When I was so desperate to have her again.

I wanted everything with her. And I was going to take it, if she offered.

"We shouldn't be together," she mumbled the words.

"Probably not," I agreed, stepping closer to brush a strand of hair off her forehead. "I'm your captain."

"You're my captain," she repeated. "Being in a relationship with your superior officer is forbidden."

"But."

"But…"

I threaded my fingers through her hair, letting my palm rest against her cheek. She closed her eyes, like she was absorbing my touch for a moment.

"But I can't ignore this thing between us, either."

"So what are we doing, little star? I'm at your mercy here. Whatever you want, I'm yours."

Aurelia reached for my free hand, interlacing our fingers. "I want you."

"Thank fuck," I muttered, cupping the back of her neck to bring her mouth to mine.

My kiss wasn't soft. It was hard—demanding. Taking. Swiping at her lower lip, I coaxed her mouth open with my tongue, kissing her deeply. It was everything. It wasn't enough.

"Where's Brina?" I asked, my eyes flicking down the length of her body.

"Asleep on my bed," she whispered. "I don't think she'll do much harm."

"If she does, it's okay."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm." I nuzzled my face against her neck. "Because you can just stay here."

"Oh, I can?"

"Yes," I said, lifting her up into my arms. "My bed. My room. My woman."

Aurelia wrapped her legs around my waist. "Yes," she agreed. "I am. I'm yours."

"Good." I dropped her on the bed, loving the way her hair spread out around her like a halo. An angel in the heavens.

My star in every galaxy.