Chapter 20

Jace is still sleeping,his body curled in toward mine. My cock valiantly tries to rise again, but I’m in control now. I doubt my heat is entirely over, but I climaxed enough times to keep it at bay, at least for a little while.

Vozu is frowning at us. He must’ve longed to join us in our passion. I hope he won’t regret leaving Lohnyal. He’s unlikely to find what he seeks.

“Are all humans like him?” he asks.

His voice sounds too loud in the small cabin. It’s been so long since any of us have really spoken that it’s jarring.

I chuff before I offer him a grim smile. “No. They’re not. There’s no one else like Jhevase.”

I understand the sadness in Vozu’s expression. I wouldn’t take that news well either.

“How long until your ship meets us?”

Honestly, I’m surprised the Queen hasn’t already intercepted our shuttle. “Soon,” I tell him. I’m not waking Jace to get the access code for his messaging device. If S’ahveki wants to talk, I’ll accept his request, but my mate needs his rest. My lips curl up in a satisfied smile. My mate.

Maybe our mating flight wasn’t as I’d imagined in my youth, but we completed enough of the ceremony that I consider us bonded. I’m not sad that this is likely to be my only heat cycle, but I’m glad if I had to experience it, it was with him. I trace the fading pattern of the vossan spiraling across his side with the back of my talons. I like seeing my color on his skin. I think I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

There aren’t any supplies aboard the shuttle except for a single pouch of water Vozu found fastened to the bulkhead near the pilot’s stool. I miss the comforts of our ship. I want to take Jace to my cabin and settle back into our regular life. I push aside the hair that falls across his forehead and close my eyes.

Beneath my eyelids, I see him standing beside the body of a sahvatsu over twice his size. I remember him calling my claim-name and demanding I follow him and his expression when he looked back at my fathers. I don’t believe it will always be easy for me to accept, but I won’t forget how strong he is again. As I told Illson, he’s always been the fiercest warrior of the two of us.

“Are you sure he’s well? He’s been sleeping a long time.”

I glance over at Vozu. “Our medic will check him when we’re aboard the Queen, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him. What about you? Is your heat growing stronger?”

Vozu shifts his hips on the stool. “It remains bearable.” The stains on the floor below him reveal he must have already given himself some relief during our journey.

Neither Vozu nor I are skilled conversationalists. We’re both on edge for different reasons, and although I would’ve liked for him to sleep longer, I can’t help but be glad when Jace wakes. He groans, frowning before his eyes open.

“Ugh, I feel awful. Even the sand pit was better than this,” he says as he slowly sits up. He rubs his face and blinks. “Where’s S’ahveki?”

I hand him his messaging device from where I set it on the floor.

He yawns before he grins at me. “Thanks.” Jace draws a finger from the base of my neck down to my stomach. Then he settles back against the bulkhead and starts putting his code into the device.

Almost immediately a familiar voice greets us. “We have you on our sensors. I’m pulling the Lohnya craft into our shuttle bay as soon as we’re close enough. Pavok’s on standby. S’ahveki, out.”

Jace just laughs and tosses the device in the air, catching it as it spins. “It feels like longer, doesn’t it?” he asks as he meets my eyes. “I’m glad he still sounds the same.”

“Me, too,” I tell him. “Me, too.”

He’s right.To our crewmates, we were only gone a few days while they took a short detour through a dull system, but to us, well, maybe it wasn’t life-changing, but our time on Lohnyal feels pivotal.

S’ahveki and Pavok meet us at the shuttle bay’s airlock doors. Our medic lifts both hands in the air and shakes his head. “Pants, Cesari. Is it so much to ask for?”

Jace laughs and walks right up to him, giving the other human a tight hug.

“Is the ink permanent?” Pavok asks with a frown.

“It shouldn’t be.” Jace lifts his forearm and turns it side to side. “It’s already fading. It’s just a type of body dye they use for their festival.”

Pavok grunts before he turns to Vozu and narrows his eyes. “You, come with me,” he says to the other Lohnya.

S’ahveki’s watching me closely. “I’ll expect a full debriefing afterwards, but first, the rest of the crew has a welcome back party planned in the lounge if you’re up for it.” He grabs Jace’s arm and frowns as he starts walking. “So, how bad is the damage? Don’t shield me—will Lohnyal ever again approve an entrance request from a visiting human?”

Jace makes a clicking noise with his tongue and sucks in air through his teeth. “Short answer? No, probably not. There was a bomb threat, a harpoon, and I stole their shuttle, so it was pretty bad, but in my defense, they kidnapped Sohven. I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”

S’ahveki lets him go but gives Jace a hard pat on the back. “Sounds about right. We’ll talk about it later. We’re all eager to see you both.”

When we step into the lounge, I don’t fully understand what I’m seeing. The happy chatter is interrupted when Jace comes to a stop and points at the large white decoration on the food counter.

“Is that a wedding cake?” he asks.

“Dan picked it up at one of the smaller stations during a resupply run once we knew you guys were going through with the mating ceremony. There was a human bakery, and this is what they suggested. I’m glad to learn they got it right,” says Vanna. Her scaled tail flicks behind her, revealing her excitement over the odd looking food item.

I don’t comment. If it pleases Jace, I’m glad we have it.

“This is great. Thanks, everyone. Dan—can you and Haruk pour us all a drink? There’s another human tradition I’d like to lead before we cut the cake,” says Jace.

S’ahveki raises a single eyebrow and straightens the high collar on his shirt as he takes his customary seat, setting his back to the game wall. He likes to look out at the rest of us, not be distracted by what he calls “loud, obnoxious colors and lights.”

Pavok steers Vozu towards one of the couches and runs one of his devices over the forehead and beneath the arms of my old friend’s nestmate. I wonder if Holan is still alive to be found. He was so lost in grief at the time of his exile that he turned me away when I tracked him down the first time. I saw him once after that, and he wasn’t well then either.

The crew starts passing out the delicate glass vessels that S’ahveki prefers to use for celebrations. The alcohol in the cups is a translucent, deep red. When I watch Vozu struggle to balance the small glass with his long fingers, I lower my horns, remembering feeling similarly clumsy and awkward the first time I held one of S’ahveki’s cups. He will encounter many of the same challenges. It would’ve been good to have had someone to confide in who understood. I may not be able to help him find Holan, but perhaps I could be a nestmate to him in his stead—if he stays.

“Alright, everyone—raise your glasses,” calls Jace. “First, a toast to my friend Vozu. Welcome to space and welcome to the Queen!”

All of us take small sips except for Vozu who downs the glass in one swallow. When everyone’s watching him again, Jace lifts his glass a second time, but he gives me a long look before he speaks.

“To my husband, my mate. May we survive everything life throws at us—together.” Jace holds his glass towards me before he drinks. I do the same, and I don’t look away until I swallow the last of the bittersweet spirit.

They talk for a long time, my friends, but I don’t. I’m content to watch. I take one bite of the human cake, but I don’t care for another. When I can’t be away from him any longer, I get up and walk to Jace. I raise a talon to his face and scrape away the small amount of white residue left at the corner of his mouth from when he ate the cake. He gives me one of his slow smiles, the kind that make my wings lift up above my shoulders and my cock take notice. I pull him into my arms and kiss him as our crewmates voice their approval.

Jace lifts a hand up to stroke the length of one of my horns. The smile he flashes me now is a little bit crooked, a little bit trouble. “You ready for the honeymoon, big guy? I heard you had a cabin on this rust-bucket.”

Ah, Jhevase.He makes me grin despite myself. I take his hand, and I let him lead, but when we step into the corridor, I’m the one who runs first. I’ll always follow him, but for the first time since Sannaveh, it finally feels like we’re back on this journey together.