Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

HALABY

R esigning my position as ship's doctor was something I felt I needed to do in person, so I arranged passage on a shuttle up to the ship for Tobias and me. Traveling by shuttle was nothing new for me, but watching Tobias experience it for the first time was enchanting.

"Are you seeing this?" he asked as we lifted off. "We're just going straight up!"

I chuckled and waited for him to notice when we lost gravity.

"Halaby!" He pointed at the strap of his bag that was now floating in the air, the rest of it secured in the seat opposite him.

I caught his hand and held it as I laughed again. "Easy. We'll regain gravity in a moment."

"A moment? But it always looks like it takes forever for shuttles to dock with things in the movies."

I kissed his knuckles. "They don't have our technology."

"Oh, wow. Norlons are amazing…" His blue eyes were huge, gaze flicking everywhere at once as we approached the Zaaqnall . "Look at this ship!"

I couldn't stop looking at him. Giving him this opportunity warmed my heart and made me want to do even more. Whatever he wanted. Perhaps we might travel to Nor the next time Ghosha made the trip. I could introduce Tobias to my hometown much the same as he was showing me Kleifar—except we would both be able to swim in the waters off the coast of Daemont. Yes, that sounded brilliant. I started mentally planning our visit as the shuttle settled in the landing bay.

Prince Consort Logan and Owen, the captain's mate, met us the moment we stepped out of the shuttle, and I made the introductions. The two of them had volunteered to give Tobias a tour while I spoke with their mates, the prince and the captain.

"It's so great to meet you both," Tobias said after shaking their hands. "And thank you for being willing to show me around."

"Of course!" the prince consort waved a porter over to take our bags from us. "We're thrilled to have a new member of the human mates club."

Tobias's cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink as he chuckled.

"They're waiting for you," Owen said to me, "in Py's office, but if you'd like to stop by your quarters first, I'm sure they can find something to talk about until you arrive."

"I'd like to go to them first." I looked to Tobias. "I'll find you for lunch, like we planned."

Tobias nodded, a grin on his face. "I'll try not to run around squealing like a little kid."

Chuckling, I gave him a quick kiss before we went in opposite directions. I didn't know what Logan and Owen had planned, but if they did nothing more than take Tobias to the observation deck to look out the windows down to Earth, I knew he would be happy.

Focusing on myself, I rehearsed my reasons for resigning all the way to the bridge. I hoped neither the captain nor the prince would push back against my decision, but they might be concerned about it. Hopefully, I could reassure them both and have their support.

Cleared to enter the bridge, I walked toward Captain Langarus standing in the door to his office with just a hint of a smile on his face. Prince Ye Lena stood when we walked in and also offered me a smile. Did they know already what this meeting was about? I got the feeling that I had no secrets with these two, even though I'd only asked to meet without ever saying why.

"I hear congratulations are in order," the prince said with his hand out to me.

I shook his hand. "Thank you, Your Highness."

The captain clapped me on the back and gestured to one of the chairs around the small table opposite his desk. After we'd sat down, Langarus said, "So, tell me why you want to resign as ship's doctor?"

"How do you know?" I asked, looking between them in bewilderment. "The only person I've told is Tobias."

"You asked one of your administrators to remove your access to patient records." One of his eyebrows hiked up as he stared at me. "That's one of the first things any of us would do before resigning our positions."

I blinked at him a few times. "Well, technically, yes, but I wasn't thinking about resigning then. Or…" Had I been considering it? I'd known I needed to stop obsessing over my patients, but resigning hadn't occurred to me until I'd talked to Tobias about our future together. I sighed. "Perhaps I had been thinking about it."

"As long as you're certain this is what you'd like to do," the prince said, "you can, of course, do it."

The captain spun his tablet toward me. "I've already had the documents created. We just need your signature, and then I'll put a call out for your replacement. I assume you're fine with Doctor Sitara acting as lead?"

Doing my best to shift from defense to acceptance, I sat up and cleared my throat. "Yes, Doctor Sitara will do well as lead. Give her a probationary period, if you want, but you may find that you don't need to bring someone out from Nor to replace me permanently. "

I glanced through the document stating my resignation and signed it. When I passed the tablet back to Captain Langarus, I expected to feel more than a strange sense of relief. Sadness maybe. Some regret? But no, all I felt was a desire to move on.

"You do know," the prince said, "that this only removes you from active duty on this ship, yes? You can still practice medicine anywhere else."

"Yes, I'm aware."

Langarus cocked his head at me. "Is that your plan? A private practice on Nor? Returning to one of the hospitals?"

"Oh, no, not at all." It was good to know they didn't know everything after all. "Actually, I'd simply like to continue acting as the medical lead for the delegation."

The prince huffed a laugh and pressed a hand to his chest. "Oh, good. And, yes, of course. That's excellent."

"Apologies, Your Highness. I hadn't meant to worry you."

He waved that away. "I'm just glad we don't have to convince someone else to do it."

I didn't say it aloud, but there was no way I would've let them place the delegation responsibilities on Sitara's shoulders as they had been on mine. It really was too much for one person.

Since things had gone so well, I continued with, "I'd like to do the work from the surface, if possible."

"From Kleifar, Svalnorland?" the captain asked.

I nodded. "I'd prefer to make a permanent residence there, but I understand that travel around Earth or to the ship could be required from time to time. I wouldn't need to modify anything else."

We spent the rest of our time together discussing the logistics of working from the surface as well as creating a larger home for me than the cottage so that it could include an office. Since I'd begun to think of the cottage as home and because there were others on my team who might want to work from Earth, too, we settled on constructing or purchasing an office building instead. It could act as a conference center with training facilities that would help the local economy every time we had guests in.

And I was excited to get started. If nothing else told me that I'd made the right decision, that did. I was absolutely ready to get back to work.

After thanking them both, I left in search of Tobias so that I could share the good news with him. According to Owen's reply, they were finding out if they could take a tour of the infirmary because Tobias wanted to see where I'd worked. Pleased by that, I hurried to join them.

Doctor Sitara was in the infirmary's lobby with the prince consort, Owen, and Tobias when I arrived. "How'd it go?" Tobias asked the moment he saw me.

"Very well." I looked to Sitara and decided I might as well be the one to tell the Lago what was coming. "I've resigned as ship's doctor in order to devote myself to leading the medical branch of the delegation from Earth."

She gasped and blinked rapidly at me for a moment. "But who?—"

"You. I've recommended to Captain Langarus that you take my place."

Sitara gripped my arm. "Thank you. Truly."

"No thanks needed. You've earned this."

Suddenly, a blue light came on above us. Sitara said nothing and reentered the infirmary at a run, and I nearly followed her. But I wasn't on call for an emergency and didn't want to be.

"Is something wrong?" Tobias asked.

I cleared my throat. "There's an emergency incoming."

"Should we leave?"

"They won't come through here."

"You could show him your office," Owen suggested. "You'll be out of the way and you'll want to clear it of personal items anyway, right?"

"Yes." I gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you. "

"And we'll return to causing chaos elsewhere," the prince consort said with a wink.

Tobias and I thanked the two of them and promised to find them again while we were on the ship. After they left, Tobias took my hand.

"I do want to see your office," he said, "but we don't have to do it now."

I kissed his knuckles. "It's okay. It startled me and I am concerned for whomever has been injured, but we don't have to go into the patient areas to get to my office." I gestured to an unmarked glass door off to the side of the main ones and led him over when he nodded.

My access still worked, so we were soon walking down a boring pale gray hallway that opened up into the administrative area of the infirmary. No blue lights and no one scrambling to anyone's aid. I felt the tension in my shoulders lessen as I led Tobias into my office.

"Well, this is it." I glanced at the gray metal desk, view screen acting as a window that showed Earth, a small table for meetings with two chairs, and four shelves with various awards and recognitions. It wasn't much, but then I hadn't spent a great deal of time there.

"What do you wear when you work? This?" Tobias touched a light gray tunic hanging on a peg beside the door.

"Yes. I would normally take my tunic off and put that one on. The material is specifically designed to resist staining and the color designates me as a doctor."

He took the tunic off the peg and held it up. "Would you mind wearing it now?"

"Not at all." I took off the golden orange top I'd worn and hung it up before accepting the other from him. I sealed it closed, smoothed it down, and then held my arms out slightly. "It's more protective than fashionable."

Tobias smirked at me before he pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and said, "Oh, Doctor, I'm not feeling so well. Is there anything you can do?"

I frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

To my amazement, he reached down and massaged his cock through his jeans. "I have an awful ache right here and my ass feels empty."

I snorted a laugh. "Yes, I think I know what the problem is."

"Do you? But you haven't even examined me yet."

Reaching over, I locked the door. "Then I suggest, Mister Ahlberg, that you remove your pants so that I might conduct a very thorough examination of your person."

I heard him quietly giggle as he immediately dropped his pants and kicked his shoes off. Without missing a beat, he walked over to my desk in nothing but his sweater and socks. "Like this, Doctor?" he asked as he bent over my desk, his bare ass presented beautifully.

That was when it occurred to me that we didn't have any lubricant. Obviously, there was quite a lot that we could do without it, but it was suddenly an imperative that I fuck him over my desk.

"Oh, wait," he said and dashed back to snatch up his jeans. From a back pocket, he pulled out a small pump bottle and handed it to me before dropping his jeans and resuming his bent over position.

Well, he'd come prepared. "Did you bring this from home?"

"Yeah, why?"

I just smiled and walked over to set tiny bottle beside his waist on the desk. Standing behind him, I admired the view of his pale, plump ass while I unsealed my tunic and pushed my pants down. Thinking to do this right, I withdrew a pair of thin-skin gloves that I always used during examinations. They allowed me to be protected without diminishing sensation, and Tobias grinned over his shoulder at me when I showed him my gray hands. He spread his legs wider and tipped his ass up .

"Now then," I said as I lubed both hands. "You say your cock aches?"

"Yes, Doctor. It's throbbing ."

"Hmm…" I crouched down behind him. "Ah, yes, I can see that it's quite inflamed." I grasped his cock and stroked him, smiling when he moaned. "Very stiff as well and appears to be leaking. This is not good, Mister Ahlberg."

"What's wrong with me, Doctor?"

"You have an erection." I kept stroking him, slicking his cock with the lube and his own precome.

"Oh— Oh, no. Ugh," he moaned. "Is there…a treatment?"

"In fact, there is. Let me just see here…" I fondled his sac and watched him shiver. "Yes, as I suspected, we need to empty these as soon as possible."

"And will that—" He gasped as I went back to stroking his cock. "W-will that cure me?"

"I fear it's only a short-term solution. You'll need several treatments." I stopped stroking him to spread his cheeks apart for a look at his tight, pink hole. "But you mentioned there's also an issue with your ass?"

"Oh, um, yes. It's empty."

I worked my thumb against his rim and smiled when he moaned into the desktop. I inserted my thumb and pumped in and out, delighted when he started thrusting with me. His cock swayed back and forth, and he gasped when the head of it grazed the cold metal side of the desk.

"Yes, your ass is empty," I said as I removed my thumb. "It appears to have been empty for far too long as well."

"What does that mean for my treatment?" he asked as he looked back at me, his lovely face flushed.

I stood and stroked myself, spreading the lubricant over my length, and couldn't speak for a moment. Tobias smirked at me, waiting .

"It means," I said as I snapped off the gloves, "that we need to take immediate and aggressive measures."

"Oh, yes, Doctor. Please do whatever's necessary."

I fitted my cockhead to his hole and said, "Don't worry, Mister Ahlberg. I'll take excellent care of you."

Tobias giggled briefly before I eased inside him, watching my cock disappear into his hot, tight body. I could see his rim spring back as the larger of my cock's ridges passed into him, and he gasped and moaned for each one. I loved that my body could pleasure his so easily simply by joining us together.

I leaned over his back once my cock was buried to the hilt inside him. We were both panting a little, and he had his head resting on the desk, his eyes closed. I nuzzled his cheek.

"How do you feel, Mister Ahlberg?"

His bit his bottom lip for a second. "Full. Mmm, Doctor, I'm so full."

"And your cock? Does it still ache?"

"Oh, yes. So much."

"Well, then. Let us continue."

He grinned before I began thrusting and his mouth went slack as he moaned. I held onto his shoulders and set a fast and hard pace, pinning him in place and pounding him. He was up on his toes and rocking with me, the sounds out of him high and desperate. I felt a wicked smile spread across my face as I took and took and took him.

"Hal," he grunted. "Hal!"

I heard his come splashing onto the side of the desk as his shoulders tensed under my hands and his ass squeezed my cock. I sucked in a deep breath of the scent of him and rammed deep inside him, coming with a long, rolling moan and shivery release. Goddess, I adored this man. We were perfect together.

"D-doctor," he said, "I think that worked."

I chuckled and rested on top of him. "No more aching cock? "

"No, and my ass is definitely full." He flexed on my cock just enough to make me moan.

"Well, after several thousand more treatments, I think you'll be cured."

Tobias snorted a laugh. "Only several thousand?"

"It's an experimental treatment. We could end up needing millions."

"Thank you for your dedication, Doctor."

I kissed his cheek. "It's my pleasure, Mister Ahlberg."