Chapter 23

I woke up, back aching. When I stretched, a groan came from behind me, and I stilled. A steel-blue arm draped over my waist and drew me closer to a solid chest. My morning boner throbbed. Kal. I wanted to roll over, explore his body, and in turn, have his hot fingers glide over my skin. I forced my arousal away. Now was not the time.

Having told him everything was freeing. Nothing was left in the dark, and Kal hadn’t budged. Old fears and worries edged my mind as the worst-case scenarios circled: abuse, pain, and abandonment. I took a deep breath and pushed them aside. Kal had said I was safe with him, and I was going to believe him.

Like a bad smell, Urgg’s words came back. My memories would be taken if I said no, or if Kal’s father decided to send me back.

Stay, then, I told myself. I liked Kal, that much I could admit, but I didn’t know if I wanted to spend my entire life on a planet with a people so very different from my own.

Kal snuggled closer. “Good morning, my Mate.”

“Good morning.”

“Can I kiss you?”

I rolled over to press my lips against his. Kal shifted fully on top of me, and my legs hooked around his waist while my arms slid around his neck. His long hair hung around us and his earrings brushed my cheeks. He groaned, and I slipped my tongue into his mouth, gliding it over his scaled one. I ground against him. Maybe now was the perfect time.

A loud screech sounded before a metal bowl clanged.

“Really?” I asked, panting. Lucy released another squeaky cry, tail wiggling. She was cockblocking me. “She’s hungry.”

“We best feed her, then.”

For some reason, his tone and hungry expression set my face ablaze. Kal smiled, showing his gleaming canines, which made my cheeks heat even more. His thumb rubbed along my cheekbone. “I love it when you turn red.”

“That makes one of us.”

“It’s adorable.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I said.

“Did I upset you?”

“No. I think you”re cute too.”

Grinning, Kal kissed me again.

“NAID,” I called right after Kal left for a meeting about leaving the orbit of Petty-something.

“Seth.”

“Am I bothering you?” I asked. NAID wasn’t fully operational, and she controlled most of the ship’s functions plus any research or scans that people needed.

“No, you’re not. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing. I wanted to talk to you.”

She beamed, making her eyes disappear between the folds of her skin. “Dr. Qinlin told me you agreed to participate in studying my emergence.”

“I did. I don’t know what help I will be.”

“It should prove interesting.”

“I suppose.”

“So you and Prince Kalvoxrencol are getting along again?”

Crimson seeped into my cheeks. “We talked.”

“Communication is the cornerstone of any functioning relationship, or at least, Edith Smith says so. I personally have never been in a relationship, nor am I interested in entering one. Though I have observed many relationships via the data I’ve absorbed, and communication does seem integral.”

“It is, but it sucks. I hate talking.”

“The price of love,” she offered, which made me laugh. “You remain quite bruised.”

“It’ll take a few days for them to disappear.”

“Maybe you should see Dr. Qinlin again to make sure you’re healing correctly. I would hate for something to happen to you,” she said, gaze averted.

“I’m not going to yell at you.” Guilt returned in full force, regardless of the apology I’d given her.

NAID smiled at me, but it was wary. “You didn’t like it when Prince made you go.”

That was true. I hadn’t handled it well when Kal forced me to go, but that was different. “I like your concern. We’re friends.”

“We are. So you’ll go?”

“Sure,” I answered, trying and succeeding in smothering a scowl.

I patted Lucy before I headed to the medbay. The door swished open to the gray room. I didn’t immediately see Dr. Qinlin, so I turned to the office framed by windows. She sat behind the desk, bent over a tablet, claws clicking on the glass.

With a knock on the door jamb, I asked, “Dr. Qinlin?”

She frowned like she was trying to remember where she was. “Seth Harris, what do you need?”

“NAID wanted me to get checked because of my bruises,” I said, hands buried in my hoodie pockets. I really didn’t like being in the medbay, because I couldn’t help but think about when I first arrived.

Dr. Qinlin’s tail flicked. “She’s concerned about you.”

“We’re friends.”

“It will be fascinating to study the two of you.”

I swallowed, squeezing my touchstone.

Dr. Qinlin went to the main room in the medbay. She waved a long wand with a flat tip over me slowly, taking more time over my bruises. The monitor lit up in Drakconese.

Her tail waved peacefully, and her claws clicked on the monitor. “Everything seems to be fine as far as I can tell. I’m still finding myself quite inadequate in regards to your anatomy, but I am learning as fast as I can.”

“I’m sure you’re doing fine.”

“You are very kind, Seth Harris.”

She turned around, dismissing my existence, and I ducked out and scrambled to the elevator to go to Urgg’s bakery. I stayed away from the largest crowds, but the marketplace was emptier than usual because most people had gone to the planet”s surface.

When I stepped inside, the mouth-watering scent of fresh bread and spicy herbs filled my nostrils. Urgg stood behind the counter, kneading dough with their thick fingers. “Seth, Kalvoxrencol is letting you out of his sight? I’m shocked.”

“I’m my own person.”

“Certainly, but you’re injured and quite purple in places. Not to mention, you ran away.”

“I didn’t run away. I went to the surface to prove a point.”

“Which was?” they asked.

“That I’m not helpless.”

“And how did that work out for you?” Urgg placed the bread on a wooden paddle before depositing the jiggly dough into an old-school, fire oven.

“Well. Me and Kal actually talked.”

“Gorgg be praised. Never thought that would happen,” they said with a bleating chortle.

“We’re not the best at communicating, but we talked.”

Urgg began to measure out more ingredients. “Did you need advice on the conversation?”

“Not that. But a conversation Kal had with his father.”

Their eyebrows rose. “Kalvoxrencol let you speak with Emperor Kontolmakqilnen?”

What a name. How the hell was I supposed to remember it? “Sort of. I overheard him saying something to Kal I didn’t like, so I kind of yelled at the emperor.”

“Truly?” they asked, freezing halfway through pouring flour into a bowl. “And you question your warrior soul? Only a warrior would be that stupid.”

It had been pure instinct. I couldn’t let Kal be hurt.

When Urgg shook their head and did not speak, I continued, “Do you know why Kal and his dad seemed tense? More so Kal than his dad.”

“That’s something you should ask Kalvoxrencol.”

“So does that mean you don’t know, or you know, but you’re not going to tell me?” I asked, resting my elbows on the counter.

Their lips flattened into a line before words spilled out at an alarmingly fast pace. “I suspect it has to do with his past. He is the sole creator soul in the royal family. I believe it’s made him overcompensate. He was constantly causing trouble, getting into fights, issuing unnecessary challenges, and the royal family forced him into the military when he was fifteen. He helped colonize Takzil and establish the base on its moon, but it didn’t help calm him. There have been many, many reports of his brawls on multiple planets.

“If the reports are to be believed, the royal family, including his older brothers, have had to clean up his mistakes. But over two years ago, he disappeared from the reports,” Urgg finished, taking a heaving breath.

“Why did he change?”

“I honestly don’t know. You need to talk to him.”

“Easier said than done.”

I hung out with Urgg for a few more minutes, chatting. They invited me to take blaster training with them, and I agreed to think about it. Urgg figured if I was going to get into fights, I should be able to defend myself.

I decided to visit the garden—the one place to get fresh air on the ship, though there were plenty of plants everywhere. Reverent stillness wrapped around me, and the floral scents tickled my nose, soothing my tension. Finally, I released the stranglehold on my touchstone.

I wandered among the plants, and the few people here ignored me as I ignored them. I followed the winding paths, not paying much attention to where I was going. Vines heavy with flowers hung from the trees and brushed me, releasing more light scents.

I came to a sudden stop. A hatch hung open in the ceiling. A metal ladder on the wall, mostly obscured by plants, was beneath it. Lips pursed, I looked one way, then the next. No one was near this corner on the third-floor terrace. Without thinking, I climbed the ladder.

The hatch opened into a cramped space. On one wall was a round window, currently showing the watery planet below. On the other was a closed door requiring access to open, which probably went to a crawl space to work on ship systems.

I sat against the window, knees to my chest. It was peaceful with the blue light from the panel illuminating the room. No noise. No people. Just the universe in front of me.

Time passed as I simply enjoyed the silence, thoughts roaming where they will. Nothing important, mainly about how Kal and I would beat the next mission in our game, the way Kal had felt in my arms this morning, working with Dr. Qinlin on NAID’s independence to name a few.

A warmth in my pocket started the moment Kal’s voice sounded in my ear. “Seth Harris.”

Scrambling, I grabbed my touchstone. “Kal.”

“My Mate, where are you?”

“Hiding.”

“From me?”

I heard the worry in his voice. “No,” I said quickly. “I found a comfortable hideaway.”

“Did you want to play our next level in the experience?”

“I was just thinking about it. I’ll meet you there.” Climbing down the ladder, I left the garden and headed to the experience suite.

We stepped into our quarters, and I snagged Seth about the waist, tail curling around his leg. “That failure was your fault.”

“That was your fault, completely. You distracted me.”

“I held your hand.”

“And kissed my palm,” he barked with no bite. “I accidentally pulled the trigger, which may or may not have awakened a horde of muk, who killed us.”

“It was your fault.”

Seth frowned.

“Can I kiss you?” Seth hadn’t given me his permissions yet, so I wanted to respect his boundaries, though it was hard. I wanted to touch him all the time.

He didn’t answer, and, instead, kissed me. He pressed against me, shoving me into the wall. I groaned, and his tongue slipped into my mouth. I gripped the front of his shirt, holding on. After a few moments, I drew back, biting his bottom lip.

“I have a question,” Seth said, breathless.

“Go ahead.”

“I-I,” Seth started, then stopped.

“Whatever it is, it’s fine.”

With a deep breath, he continued, “I asked Urgg about your past.”

My first instinct was to snap, but I contained it. Of course he’d asked. If the situation had been reversed, I would have as well. “It’s not too pleasant.”

“You were a troublemaker.”

“Yes.”

“Then you changed suddenly. Why?”

“You, Seth. You were the reason. After a particularly horrible interplanetary incident, I went home. I felt alone and that no one would actually love me. My eldest brother, Hallonnixmin, mentioned the Crystal, and my childhood dream reignited. It’s all I wanted. I begged my parents until I was allowed to appeal for my soulmate, and it revealed you. I mean I didn’t know who you were yet, but I was thrilled. I went to my father to demand a ship, and he refused. My mother promised me the use of the Admiral Ven, but it was two cycles from completion.

“I wanted you sooner. My father would not rush, because he said I wasn’t mature enough for a mate. So I planned to prove him wrong. Also, I wanted to be worthy of you, which I certainly wasn’t. My mother and brothers fought for me. They saw how serious I was, and that deep down, I wasn’t the person I pretended to be.”

“That’s what your father meant when he said when you didn’t have to pretend.”

“Not exactly.”

After a few breaths of silence, Seth rested his head on my shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me, but I’m here when you want to.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Thank you.”

“I have another question.”

I loved how he announced it every time. “Go ahead.”

“Can you fly with me?”

“With my wings?”

“Yeah. It would be fun, I think.”

“You trust me that much?” I asked.

“You won’t drop me?”

“Never.”

“Then yeah. It’d be cool.”

I didn’t understand how the temperature mattered. “I’ll take you on the next planet we land on.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” I pressed a firm kiss to his lips.