Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

VYA

After leaving the shower room, he led me to the space with the large bins he'd filled with gems. He went straight to one and started shuffling through the precious stones. I wasn't sure what he was doing until he found another one about the size of my red one and tried placing it in my belly button.

I didn't need any additional prompting. While he spent time doing whatever with the ship's computer, I dug through the gems for alternate belly button decor. I found some real beauties in there. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires were easy to identify, but many of the others were a mystery to me. There was a yellow one with flecks of gold in it that caught the light when I moved. A white one that was both see-through and iridescent, which reminded me of Khorahn and had me wishing for another co-ed shower.

My stomach was growling again by the time I had twelve unique gems set aside. And that was only the belly button pile. I had slightly smaller versions in sets that I hoped he'd let me keep for my ears. He had all that chain in the one room, after all. Maybe I could rig some kind of earrings.

I wasn't a diva by any means, but I didn't know any sane person who wouldn't jump at the chance to wear this much wealth on their person.

Khorahn's fingers slid along the cleft of my ass, startling me, but not in a bad way. I straightened from my bent-over position and showed him what I'd found.

"Can I keep all of them?"

His answer was to run his hands over both my arms and pick me up.

I made a sad face and looked down at the piles we were leaving behind. When I immediately leaned into him for comfort, he hugged me closer and said something.

"I really hope that was, ‘Yes, dear,' in your language."

He walked out of the room with a determined stride. His steps echoed down the stark metal hallway. I should have paid attention to where we were going. Instead, I played my fingers over his chest and tried not to think of how warm his hand was on my side. Or how much I wished he was touching me somewhere else.

A door opened, and he turned into the kitchen.

I smiled up at him.

"You really are good to me."

I drank down the water he offered and readily sat on his lap for my helping of oatmeal. The greyish paste was still good, but I was kind of getting sick of eating the same thing. Which was why I leaned back against Khorahn before I finished it all.

"I think I'm full," I said, reaching up and around him to loop my arms around his neck. I didn't know why I did it, only that I was feeling snuggly and affectionate toward him despite leaving my gems behind.

He stroked a hand down my side, over my hip, and around my inner thigh before retracing the path back up. I didn't say anything. Just closed my eyes and let him continue to touch me.

His touch never veered from the original path, but my chest started to ache, and my nipples tightened. And with the way my legs were still spread, my core started to throb too. But I didn't pull away or try to calm down all those misguided signals. I simply floated, enjoying his touch and getting more worked up by the second.

He said something to me. The words lacked their usual low and slow tone and carried a bit of growl to them. But the tone didn't worry me. It should have. I knew it should have. The concern just wouldn't emerge, no matter how much I focused on it. It almost felt like I was on my second beer. Not tipsy by any means but very relaxed and almost indifferent.

I released my hold on my wrist and ran my fingers over the back of his neck and through his hair.

He shifted his hold on me and stood abruptly, taking me with him. His long strides quickly carried us from the kitchen to the shower.

When he backed me toward the alien toilet, I felt the first stirring of worry. But even that didn't fully bloom as the metal end nudged between my legs. My face flushed hotter when it started its suction and gentle probing, but I didn't fight it. What was the point when it always got what it wanted? Plus, it wasn't like there were any other bathroom options. So, I didn't fight. I relaxed. And it was over in a second.

Khorahn ran his hands over me and tipped my chin up so he could study my face. Whatever he saw in my expression made him smile, to which I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I did a good job not freaking out over your toilet. That doesn't mean I like it, though."

He stepped away from me and got to the part I did like.

Once he coated my back, I threw him for a loop and turned so I could lean into him while he rubbed the not-cleanser into my shoulders and back. However, he turned me again and knelt down to do the backs of my legs.

He skipped my butt and distributed his sparkle magic to my front torso. Grinning to myself, I changed things up again and faced away from him so I could continue to lean against his chest as he coated my breasts.

Did I mention how much I loved him touching me?

I was damn near panting by the time he reached my hips. I knew he wasn't trying to turn me on.

Wait.

What if that was the point of this? What if making me shimmer was the alien version of sex? What if we'd been doing it since he brought me on board?

I laughed at the thought.

A low rumble echoed through his chest behind me.

He turned me around and attended to the front of my legs before carrying me over to the bench. The moment his ass was on the seat, I was on his lap, open wide and ready for washing.

"Please hit me like you did last time," I said, grabbing his shoulders.

He reached between us, and I shivered at the first release of his not-cleanser against me. I didn't care if he noticed my flush or erratic breathing. Or the way I ground down onto his palm when he finally started to rub in the stuff that would make my bits sparkle. All I cared about was feeling good. And he made me feel so good.

He said something, and I pressed a finger over his lips.

"Shh. Less talking. More rubbing. Oh, there," I said with a low moan when his fingers bumped over my clit. "Right there."

He rubbed and rubbed and rubbed. Low and slow. Just the way I liked it.

Small sounds escaped me as I drew closer and closer to the place I wanted to be. When he brought me there, I tipped my head back and rode out my orgasm on his palm.

The ship's tinny voice pulled me from a steamy sex dream. Some hot bodybuilder had just gotten me off in the shower and had been playing with my nipple. I opened my eyes and frowned.

It'd been Khorahn, and while the ship had truly interrupted my dream about him, I knew the dream hadn't only been a dream. It had actually happened.

"What the fuck, Vya?" I said, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes.

While the orgasm had been nice—who was I kidding, I'd passed out because of it—I had no intention of jumping into bed with him. And, thanks to how I'd acted, he probably thought the good times were really going to start rolling now.

How could I have been so stupid?

The computer's tinny voice rang out again, interrupting my self-recrimination.

I got out of bed, wondering why it was talking when Khorahn wasn't here, and the light in the room brightened considerably. It glinted off my skin like I had microscopic diamonds all over me.

The door opened when I was mid-twist to admire the backs of my legs, and Khorahn entered. I wished I could read him better. Was he thinking about how I'd behaved in the shower? Was he going to try something?

I pasted on my best smile and turned my arm under the light as if nothing was wrong.

"I'm trying not to overthink the process that made me this way. The result is really incredible."

He ran his hands over my arms then set a palm on my back.

"I'm pretty confident I know my way around the ship now. Don't suppose you'd consider letting me walk, would you?"

His gaze flicked over my face, and for a brief moment, I thought he might understand. Then he picked me up and started out the door.

"Right. You're my mobility assistant. Got it."

He went straight to the shower room, and I cringed.

"Do we really need to do this first thing?"

He called the toilet out from the wall and petted my arms as I allowed its molestation. It was over in seconds.

"How about we skip the rest?" I asked hopefully, not trusting myself.

He started stripping.

Sighing, I turned my back to him. It wasn't as if I was living my worst life, having frequent rubdowns and skin that literally shined with health. My worst life had been with those other aliens. So why was I being so reluctant?

Because I was starting to like this alien, and I didn't know what I was going to do about those feelings once I went back home. Earth had a strict no aliens on the surface rule. That meant any alien-human couples were in space only. And the view I'd seen the prior day had almost made me panic. But weirdly not.

His hands slid between my cheeks. I widened my stance and shivered at the feel of his fingers gliding over that sensitive space. My core clenched again. How did he make everything feel so good?

Thankfully, he didn't feel the need to wash it a second time and turned me around to coat my front. My nipples pebbled under his touch again, but he didn't roll them between his fingers. And instead of skipping my folds and addressing them when I was straddling his lap, he added a dollop to his palm and rubbed it into my folds while I stood.

He didn't rush. But he wasn't taking his time either.

Frowning down at his head while he worked the cream into my shins, I wondered what was going on. A horrible thought struck me, and my stomach twisted. What if he'd been put off by my behavior?

I had no idea what this washing process meant. Was this some kind of ritual and I'd ruined it? I had no clue.

No clue about anything.

"I really, really wish we could talk."

He looked up at me, tilting his head and frowning slightly.

"I have no idea if you're mad at me. Happy? Annoyed? Maybe you're stuck with me and trying to make the best of your circumstances, and every time I don't fall in line, you think I'm being ungrateful. I hate not knowing what you're thinking and what's happening or why it's happening. I also hate knowing that I should be upset by so much but I'm acting like it's all no big deal. Just another day in the office."

He stood, drew me into his arms, and carried me over to the bench to sit with me crossways on his lap. While I relaxed against him, I trailed my fingers over his abs, playing with the ridges, and noted he didn't have a belly button either.

He closed his hand over mine and stopped my exploration.

I was being so stupid, I realized. I knew from the Earth news that outer space had more types of aliens out there than our leaders wanted to acknowledge. I also knew the majority of those species were struggling to thrive. Some due to hostile planet conditions. Some due to low female birth rates. That was why the leaders of Earth had agreed to the Lottery Treaty. We needed protection against the aliens that would seek to steal our resources.

My abduction and abuse had opened my eyes to what being alone in space meant. I needed protection from the kinds of aliens who wanted to hurt me. I'd never stopped to think how taking me in might have impacted Khorahn's life.

I'd been solely focused on how it had impacted mine.