Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KHORAHN

I swore. The anonymous report had kept me off of the fey radar, but the void station had likely flagged all ships that had left between showing their human prize and, likely, the resulting Helix-ordered raid.

"Command Khorahn, list the next three options in the resupply calculations."

"A void station four jumps from current location has the resources necessary to recharge the jump cells and stock the grow bay with two of the ten requested veg. Cautionary note. Current registration has been blacklisted due to suspicion of Helix association.

"Helix station seven, one jump from current location, has the resources necessary to recharge the jump cells. It does not have any of the ten requested veg."

"A void station?—"

"Command Khorahn, run jump calculations for Navar Seven," I said with increasing frustration.

"Core-on?"

Lifting my gaze from the datapad, I swallowed the rest of my angry growl and swept my hand over Vya's arm to reassure her that all was well. She watched me closely, a faint line creasing her brow.

"All is well, my pretty female. Come. I will show you the nav center."

I held out my hand, and her fingers slid over my palm. Then she released me and moved closer, placing my hand on her back, the signal I'd been using to indicate I wanted to carry her.

"You are a clever one," I said, easily conceding to her wish.

However, her immediate request to carry her did cause me a bit of concern. I adored her growing trust and dependency but worried she might still suffer separation discomfort once I left her side.

It would take time to lure a Wernius to the surface. And more still for it to consume and digest the concentrated mineral waste. However, the most laborious part of the endeavor would be in the killing of the creature and harvesting the cleansed terra from its third stomach. How much fear would she still feel despite the three scent-markings I'd already given her?

Another marking this flare followed by one just prior to debarking should help. I hoped.

The nav center was my backup plan. If the scent-markings alone weren't enough to keep her calm, hopefully, seeing me would ease her mind.

I lengthened my stride to get to the nav center. Once we finished there, I planned to take her to the galley for another round of hydration and nutritional paste and then the cleansing unit. She would likely need to use the waste removal system by then regardless.

No doubt that would test her limits again, but her vow to hold her waste until she died wasn't an option.

When we reached the nav center, I sat in the only chair and tapped her knee. She narrowed her eyes at me, turned around, and willfully sat on my lap sideways. I chuckled and repositioned her but didn't force her legs apart. Again, I tapped her knee.

She heaved a sigh and hooked both her legs outside of mine. I grinned at the back of her head and spread my knees, and hers, wide.

Comfortable, I leaned forward and started showing her how to use the panel to call up the different cameras on the ship. While my left hand played with the datapad, my right slid from hip to knee and back again.

"Watch." I tapped the screen. "Cargo bay. See the waste crystals?" I zoomed in on them.

"Now watch again." I pointed to the Med bay symbol on the screen and selected it, bringing up the image of the room we were just in. "Med bay."

Then I went back to the cargo bay symbol and tapped that, repeating the process again and again until she reached out and switched between the two herself.

I let her have her fun and leaned back to run my hands along her legs and admire her flank. Hers was the roundest, softest backside ever to grace my lap. She gave a restless wiggle, and I almost groaned as my ambal filled to the point that the swell burned.

She turned suddenly and looked back at me while pointing to the symbol for the main nav view.

"Core-on?"

I nodded. "You can touch that one too."

Reaching out, I held her finger and pressed it to the datapad. The image of the space around our ship filled the display. She gasped and settled back heavily on my ambal.

Whatever she saw had her grabbing one of my arms and hugging it to her chest mounds. Unable to help myself, I offered my other arm as well and held her close while her smooth back trembled against my bare chest.

Eventually, she reached forward again and switched the view back to the Cargo bay.

"We will practice again before I leave," I said, smoothing my palm down her arm. "Then you can watch me and know you are not alone."

She made a small huffing noise when I stood with her in my arms and left the nav center.

"I have two legs, you know."

"If you truly wished to use them, why do you press your face to my skin, my sweet female? Why do your little fingers hungrily explore my flesh? You don't wish to walk. You wish to be near me. And that is a very good thing. Look at how little fear you show now.

"Soon your life will change further, and you'll need to make choices that won't be pleasant. However, even when you feel lost and afraid, you will know that I am here to protect you. You will not doubt that. You will see."

"I don't know what you're saying, but I think it's something along the lines of, ‘I'm sorry for spreading your bits and invading your privacy, Vya.' Isn't that right?"

She smoothed her hand over my chest then surprised me by brushing her pink little lips against the same spot. She jerked back and looked up at me with wide eyes.

"If you wish to use your pretty little mouth on me, female, I won't deny you. However, you may want to wait until we can understand each other." I smoothed my fingers over her skin as I spoke.

A shaky exhale escaped her. "That wasn't an invitation."

"Not yet," I agreed. "But soon."

The door to the fitness center opened at my approach. The familiar space wasn't one I'd visited since bringing Vya on board, and I knew I couldn't continue to neglect my training. The bounties the Helix offered were never for the soft, pampered types. They gave us hunters the hardened criminals they didn't want to track down themselves. Or the tubers too good at evading arrest.

Setting my female on the bench near the entrance, I moved to the center of the space to warm up. It never took long to work through my routine and use the machines my predecessor had used to train me. No more than an arc or two passed. Yet, my female's stomach began to make sounds of demand before I finished.

She didn't complain, though. She watched me avidly as I moved from one machine to another. A few times, I caught her moving restlessly on the bench and wondered if I should pause to take her to the waste removal. But every time she noticed my regard, she calmed. Likely so I wouldn't notice her discomfort. Clever female.

Sweat coated my skin when I finished, but she didn't seem to mind. She readily accepted my embrace as I lifted her from the bench.

"Come, my pretty one. I will feed you."

The galley door opened, and she turned to focus on that instead of me. I gazed at the curve of her tiny, flat ear. Its cuteness rivaled that of her little feet. In reality, I found everything about her adorable.

My infatuation with her grew with each passing arc. I marked her to keep her safe so she would be free to choose. But for me, there was little choice. I wanted this female. Every sweet concession she made brought me pleasure. Each one was a sign of acceptance and trust. I hoped both would eventually lead to her surrender.

Patience was the key.

I set her down near the hydration processor and started her drink.

Without any prompting from me, she hoisted herself up on the counter and waited. The way she braced her hands on the edge created a slight forward lean that freed the weight of her breasts, which meant they swayed gently when she playfully swung her legs.

I hoped she ate quickly.

The need to mark her again increased the ache in my swollen ambal.

When I approached with her drink, she opened her legs. I didn't let any dribble over the sides this time as she consumed the liquid. I was too busy watching the way her throat worked.

Systems, I wanted to run my hands over every bit of her.

I helped her down after she finished, and she wandered over to the table while I prepared her food.

As much as my thoughts wanted to stay centered on the exotic beauty, I forced myself to think of the list of tasks that still needed my attention before we arrived at Divos One. My suit and the mineral waste were ready. The safety protocols had been set and would activate in the event I was injured in some way.

"Command Khorahn, was there any information regarding human food varieties?"

"Basic nutritional requirements were provided in nutrient, mineral, caloric, and fat contents. Non-toxic sweeteners were also noted as having a positive effect on mood enhancement."

"Search for non-toxic sweeteners and any known foods in the systems that will meet the basic human nutritional requirements. Eliminate options by cross-referencing any foods with known toxicities or irritants to humans."

An arm reached around me and stole the bowl that the processor had spit out while I was giving the ship directions.

I turned and caught my female by the wrist.

"What? If you want to keep talking to your ship, I can feed myself."

Plucking the bowl and spoon from her grasp, I nodded toward the table.

She exhaled heavily and led the way to the chair. She waited for me to sit then immediately straddled my legs.

"I should pee on you," she mumbled as I slid the bowl toward her and spread my knees, thereby spreading her.

I almost smiled at her grumble and hoped the ship would find sweeteners suitable for human consumption.

After waiting a few moments for her to settle into the routine, I placed my palms on those teasing little limbs that liked to kick and bounce her breasts. She didn't even pause in her eating. Encouraged, I ran my palms over her skin from knee to hip. Again, no fear or hesitation.

"You please me, female," I said gently. "Soon, we will work on expanding your trust."

I ran my fingers through her soft hair, and she leaned into the touch.

"So responsive."

She turned to look at me, patted my chest, then resumed her meal.

My ambal leaked my secretion fluid all the way to the cleansing unit, unable to hold a drop more. Her head rested against my shoulder until the door to the cleansing unit opened. Her head jerked up, and I saw in her eyes that she wasn't going to make this easy on either of us.

"Waste removal unit. Human setting," I said.

She clutched at my shoulders and shook her head.

"No alien toilets. Do you hear me, Khorahn? Absolutely not."

"All is well, little one. I will care for you."

I had her on the unit before it finished fully extending.

"Rush removal," I said, issuing the same command as this morning.