Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

I kept my distance for the next two days, but on the third day of meetings, I discovered that the commander was going to be allowed to visit Glenn Research Center out near the airport and the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky. I didn't ask why I even needed to go since a few special agents and a whole lot of center employees would be there to observe him. If they wanted me to keep shadowing him, I'd shut my mouth and do my job.

But I wasn't happy about it.

It was pretty cool that all us humans got to ride in the Norlons' shuttle for the trip from downtown to the center, though. I could see the agents trying to act like they'd done this thousands of times before—not—but there was a lot of involuntary gasping going on. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time, even when I realized Commander Heremod was staring at me.

He hadn't smirked, winked, or spoken to me since that disaster in the park, and I couldn't figure out why I was so disappointed. I'd been starting to like him before he'd messed with my head and embarrassed me so much. He should be marching over here and apologizing to me. But he just sat there and stared at me. I couldn't even read his expression.

I had taken note of the fact that he wore another sleeveless tunic and that this one was turquoise. It hung well past his knees but slit up the front and back to his waist. If I'd taken the time to really look—which I had not—I might've seen the outline of his cock behind skintight black pants.

What I had noticed was that the cut of his tunic let out his poof-ball of a white bunny tail.

Literally, the teardrop-shaped fluffiness was right there just above his ass. I had to stare at the back of his head every time I walked behind him because I was terrified that I'd react to his stupid tail like I'd reacted to his damn hands.

I wasn't about to let all the Norlons know that Commander Bunny-Butt was turning me on again.

Honestly, I had no idea where we were in the test facility after a half-hour of being in the building. We'd started out on a nice little tour that the general public might also get, but the commander had interrupted by saying he knew all about our attempts at space travel so far. Things had quickly become very technical after that, as though our scientists had been trying to show off and prove themselves. I was impressed. The commander looked bored.

Suddenly, something overhead started spewing steam. Everyone scrambled to get out of the way or turn it off, their hollering overlapping. I stepped back and I think that was the only reason I was able to see Commander Heremod double-timing it down the hallway. Had he caused a distraction so he could escape?

I don't think so, Hop-Along .

I followed after him, figuring that he shouldn't be left alone. Maybe he was just curious, maybe he wanted more bits for his bag, or maybe he'd accidentally launch a rocket—I didn't know, but it struck me that he probably did need supervision.

Even if he thought our rockets were "cute."

He stopped at a door that I had to assume was locked based on the keypad beside it. Any second, we'd have to turn around and go back. But then— Oh, great . Using his tablet, the commander had somehow overridden the security on the door. It popped right open, and in he went. I ran over and grabbed the door before it closed, which had him turning to stare at me.

"Ellis," he said flatly.

"Yeah. You know I'm supposed to follow?—"

"I should've apologized sooner for the other day, but I was embarrassed by my behavior. I never should have been so forward or touched you without permission. Please forgive me."

"Oh. Uh…" I gulped and nodded because he looked so sincere and I hadn't been expecting that at all. I'd assumed he'd been screwing with me for the entertainment value or something. But embarrassed by his own behavior? That was new to me. "I forgive you."

He smiled, and then he raked his pink-eyed gaze over me from head to toe and back again.

"Hey," I grouched at him. "Don't start that again. This is all purely professional."

The commander turned away and continued down the hall. I, of course, followed him and did not look at his tail even once.

Seriously, I was too concerned about the fact that it looked like we were somewhere we shouldn't be. Like the underground tunnel beneath something dangerous, there were vents and wires and all kinds of tubes above us and along the walls. I kept flashing back to that scene in the original Jurassic Park movie when they were trying to get the power back on. Being in here with a Jurassic-sized rabbit was starting to feel problematic.

"Are you sure we're supposed to be here?"

"Yeah, sure. I have a pass."

"You do not." They hadn't even given us visitors' passes let alone something with access to places like this. I was sure of that.

He stopped and turned to me, twirling a finger around in front of his face. "I have a pass."

I snorted. "Please. You could be any Pip from anywhere. They don't know you."

He clicked his tongue at me. "Being a white Pip is rare. I'm literally the only one on the entire ship. It's not just a variation for us. It only happens through albinism."

"Oh." The reddish-pink color of his eyes made sense then. "So they might know you, but we could still be somewhere we shouldn't be."

He actually rolled his eyes before he started walking away again. "Then they should've put in more locked doors."

Well, they actually had because we came upon another one. It had a huge honest-to-god wheel on it like ships and submarines did in the movies. And it looked thick to me, like it was holding back flood waters or The Hulk. Suddenly, the fact that this was a testing facility started to creep me out a whole lot more.

As did the fact that he didn't immediately unlock the door. "What are you doing?" I asked as I peered at his tablet. None of it was in English, so I had no idea what I was looking at.

"Seeing what's on the other side."

Oh, well, at least he was cautious sometimes. "What's on the other side?"

"A—" He eyed me for a second. "A rocket engine."

I could've bitched about him using little words or something, but I just said a sincere, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Dumbing it down. I've barely understood a single thing you've said in those meetings." And, frankly, it was getting annoying that I didn't. I knew I wasn't on his level of things, but I would've hoped some of it made sense every now and then.

The commander grunted. " No one has understood a single thing I've said in those meetings." He looked up from his tablet to stare at the ceiling for a moment and sighed. "I miss my team on the ship. They understand me."

Poor little genius, all alone in a world full of idiots. But, seriously, we couldn't be that bad.

" None of the human scientists get what you're saying? Like, none of them?

He shrugged one shoulder. "Proctor and Caspari are close."

"Well, that's something I guess."

He grunted again and scrolled through a section of his tablet's screen.

I'd heard a few whispers that we were a decade or so behind the Norlons, but I had a feeling we were something more like a century behind them. Our space travel had gotten pretty cool, but we weren't even close to sending ships to Mars, let alone a whole other solar system. It had to feel a little like he was talking to children sometimes.

I almost felt a little sorry for him.

But then he used his tablet to unlock the damn door. I heard it thunk, and then he had to use both hands and put his back into it to rotate the wheel. The door protested like it had never been opened since it was made, and in walked Commander Heremod.

"Seriously," I said as I followed him, "I don't think we're supposed to be in here. Not with a door like that. Oh, fuck."

We were inside one of the testing rooms. Had to be. There was a very obvious-looking engine that was as big as a VW Beetle suspended in front of a tunnel that I bet was meant to have fire shooting down it when they turned the thing on. And the commander was practically bouncing as he walked around it, touching everything. If he started taking it apart, I was going to have to call someone. I got my phone out only to discover I had no signal, not even SOS.

Oh, this was bad.

All of a sudden, he sprang up and landed on top of the engine. There was a clang as I gasped in horror while the whole thing swayed. This was so, so wrong.

"Oh, my god! You can't just jump on this stuff," I stage-whispered up at him as I looked to the window high up on the wall where I figured observers stood to watch the tests. Was anyone up there now?

"Sure, I can."

"Commander, you?—"

"Seiwa."

"—can't walk around in your dirty boots on this equipment. I'm sure you can't. This is probably one of those clean rooms I've heard about. We should be in full body suits or something." Especially since he was literally covered in fur.

I could see his bunny ass wiggle around for a moment before he dropped his black boots down to land beside me. I actually stomped my own foot as I hollered, "That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

He chuckled.

Son of a bitch, he was bouncing all over the engine in his bare feet. Not that I didn't wonder for a moment if large toe beans could be as adorable as tiny ones, but he was standing on the fucking experimental engine .

"Get down from there! What if the oils from your skin heat up when they test this thing and cause a fire?"

It was quiet for a moment, and then he peered over the side down at me, his lip curled up so that I could see his front teeth. "What?"

"Come down!"

"No, what do you think the oils?—"

"Commander, I swear to god?—"

"Seiwa."

"—you had better get down here right now, or I'm going to go find security."

He smirked at me. "And what do you think they'll do?"

"Drag you out of here."

The commander raised both arms and held onto the engine's braces. I could've sworn he flexed. "I don't think so," he said very smugly.

Okay, yes, he and his muscles had a point. "Fine, then they'll tase you."

"What's that?"

"They'll shoot probes at you that will then deliver a massive electrical charge."

He flinched back and his pink eyes widened. "That's barbaric."

"Well, it's what us dumb apes have at our disposal to get giant rab— Pips down off of expensive and sensitive equipment when they refuse to listen to reason."

I had time to gasp as he stepped off the engine before he landed beside me. Really close beside me. For the first time, I could smell him . And he smelled like sugar cookies fresh from the oven. How was that even possible? I found myself closing my eyes and pulling in a deep breath of his scent because I needed it inside me.

"Goddess, Ellis…"

I blinked up at him, discovering he was leaning down, inches from my face. I licked my lips and stared at his. Arousal was kicking my heart rate up and, yeah, I watched his pink nose twitch as he inhaled the scent of me. When he licked his lips, mine parted.

He made a growling noise. "Tell me I can kiss you."

A shiver went through me. Not one bit of him touched me at all, and yet I could feel him everywhere. I didn't want to deny that I was so attracted to him that I felt like I could combust from it. And I didn't want to admit it, but there was something about being asked that really got me.

"You can k?—"

His lips claimed mine as he molded his body down the front of me. I moaned into the kiss because he was solid muscle everywhere, the fur of his shoulders was baby bunny soft, and that wasn't a lead pipe in his pocket pressing into my abs. Our teeth bumped, his tongue teased, and I suddenly found my hands held over my head. He had me pressed back against the damn engine, standing up on my toes, with my wrists grasped in one of his big hands.

Panting in my face, he said in a rumbling voice, "Tell me I can touch more of you."

Okay, I was developing a kink for consent. Not that I didn't need it all the time by default, but him asking, giving me the power to deny him, was pushing all kinds of new buttons. And I just knew that if I did say no, he'd back off. That was exactly what he'd done the other day on the picnic table when he'd realized he hadn't asked permission to touch me.

And of course I wanted to tell him to take me in every filthy way he could think of, but not in a room deep inside the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in fricking Sandusky.

"Not here. We shouldn't…shouldn't do anything here."

He nodded, biting his bottom lip for a second. "But somewhere else?"

"Um. Maybe. Yeah." Unless my brain started ignoring my dick or something.

"Then we should leave."

He let me go and turned away to put his boots back on. I literally stumbled after him before my pride caught up and had me straightening my back and fixing my suit like a goddamned adult. I might be hard as a rock at the moment, but that didn't mean I couldn't walk out of here like a grown man with my head held high.

Of course, my current state of ramrod arousal meant I was probably filling the room with fuck-me pheromones or whatever let him and the rest of the Norlons know I was up for it.

"Why aren't you coming?" he asked from the doorway.

I snorted a laugh at his unintentional double entendre and rubbed at my eyes. "I just need a minute."

He was quiet for a moment before he said, "I'm the only Norlon here."

"So?"

"No one else will be able to scent your arousal."

I groaned. He was right that I'd been worried about that, but still. "Shut up."

"All my guards are outside."

"Seriously, just give me?—"

"Let's go. You have until we rejoin them to calm yourself."

Bossy. Fucker.

And yet I still followed him when he walked out. It wasn't that I was, like, obeying orders or anything; I just didn't want to be in the testing room alone. I followed him out of the room and down the hall because it was the logical thing to do.

I probably should've walked in front of him so I couldn't see his tail.