Chapter 19

My mate was tormentingme on purpose.

The new structure required significant focus to setup the build instructions and monitor the machinery. This wasn't as simple as the honeymoon dome suites. I had to be on site, monitoring the intricate construction.

There were internal monitoring cameras in the common area of the honeymoon dome, but not in the private sections, so every so often I checked in on my mate when she was in the common area to see what she was doing. She had been talking in that animated exaggerated way to her wristband and then using some of the apps that had been ported over from her previous device.

From what I had gathered, this had something to do with her work.

That behavior wasn't what tormented me.

I'd avoided going back into the honeymoon suite, only checking in on her to make sure she was doing well. Two of her human sleep cycles passed and the new build was almost complete. I had put in an urgent request with the Norratar doctor for particular scenery needs, and they had sent in the parts I needed that were too complex for my construction equipment to manufacture. The last part of the build was underway, the connection between the honeymoon suites and one of the external airlocks. This brought me physically closer to the dome of the common room; I was in sight of it.

I couldn't see it, of course.

The translucent capabilities of the windows were perfect for looking out, but I wasn't going to leave my mate exposed to long range photography from human satellites, so the translucent setting was only one way.

I'd been outside the dome for some time before I thought to check the common room cameras.

That was where my torment began.

My mate had taken off all of her coverings.

She was wearing two small pieces of fabric. The top one had two tiny red triangles that barely covered the tips of her mounds as they bulged out from underneath the scant protection. The other covering was a string that circled her hips that held an equally tiny red patch of fabric directly over the gentle mound between her legs.

She had nothing else on.

She was lounging, draped across one of the human chairs I had provided, her back arched as she lazily traced one finger down the center of her breastbone. From where she was positioned, I could guess that she was looking at me through the window, watching me.

I turned to face her, seeing only my own reflection on the outside.

I glanced at the camera, to see her sitting up, spreading her legs wide as she scooted forward on the chair. She began running her hands along her inner thighs and she bit one of her perfect lips with her teeth. She traced the edge of the lower covering with one finger.

She was taunting me, that I was certain.

I had read up on human behavior, and staring at another person while touching oneself in an intimate manner was a direct attempt to engage in sexual interaction. It was an invitation, if not to join immediately then to begin the conversation that would lead to joining.

I had left my mate wanting.

I had promised her and taken it away.

My mating organs pressed against the edges of their confinement, but there was no way to let them out and stroke them to demonstrate my readiness to please. I was out on the surface of a moon without an atmosphere. My species was hardy to an extreme. We didn't need external suits to handle various atmospheric and pressure situations. I could operate for several hours at a time without needing to take a breath if I needed to, and I could retreat to my ship for those moments. Out here on the moon, all I had to do was shut my protective membrane over my eyes and nose and keep all my bits tucked away.

So all I could do was watch, and be tormented.

Well, there was something else I could do.

I could go back inside.

But that would defeat the entire purpose of this plan. I needed to be there for her, to help her in the way that she needed, and if I went back in there in that space that by now would be utterly filled with the intoxicating scent of her, then I would be lost. The only way to resist her call to mate was to not be anywhere near her.

I put my hand on the outside of the glass, close to where she was, and let out a sigh.

I closed down the video feed so I couldn't see her anymore.

Then I moved away.

I had to finish this.

Then, only then, could I give my mate what she was asking for.