Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

KHORAHN

My founder waited for us by the far door, watching Vya, who was oblivious to his presence, walk beside me.

"How often do you go after bounties, then?" she asked.

"Often," I said. "I had little else to do before I found you."

"Does that mean you want to quit bounty hunting now that I'm here?" she asked.

"If it offends you, yes. There are other ways I can earn chit so you can live comfortably."

She fingered the stone she'd stuck in her belly button.

"I think I like the way you live now. Bounty hunting brought you to me. Maybe there's someone else out there who needs to be found too."

"You wish for me to find another female?" I asked in concern as I picked up a small cube of supplies.

"If any person needs a rescue, yes, I want you to rescue them. I'm hoping that you don't want to keep them, though. I'd like to think I'm special that way."

I could smell her humor but wasn't sure what part of what she said she found entertaining.

"I want no other female, Vya. Only you."

She smiled at me and turned toward the door. Surprise sweetened her scent when she saw him. She hesitated for only a moment then walked to him and held out her hand.

He glanced from her face to her hand then to me. I shrugged.

"It's an Earth greeting," she said, seeing his confusion. "Here. Take my hand like this." She guided his hand to hers, showed him how to hold it, then smiled at him.

"My name is Vya. Thank you for raising an amazing person like Khorahn." She released his hand and gestured for him to walk with her.

"Khorahn explained he's a clone of you. The seventh version. I can't imagine the life you've led and hope you'll tell me about it."

A hint of jealousy and worry filled me. I knew my founder scented it when he glanced over her shoulder at me.

"It has been a long and lonely life," he admitted.

"Even with Khorahn Junior?" she asked.

"I only stayed with each of my clones a few years during their acceleration. Once they reached self-sufficiency, I entered stasis. I only wake when a clone is threatened or dies."

"Oh. That does sound lonely. Are you going to return to stasis then?"

He looked down at her. "I would like to live on the ship with you if you're willing."

Vya looked at me, a question in her gaze.

"The choice is yours," I said.

"I think it would be nice to have your dad around."

My founder's scent ignited with shock, and I chuckled, knowing it wouldn't be the last time Vya surprised him.

She asked him questions that I, too, was curious about while I stocked the food processor with the new supplements and uploaded new recipes. Before I finished, she began stretching her mouth in a way that indicated her need for rest.

"Come, my Vya," I said, holding out my hand. "I will take you to the sleep bay."

She nodded and quickly came to my side, weaving her small fingers between mine in the way she enjoyed.

"It was nice meeting you," she said, looking at my founder.

He nodded and watched us leave.

When Vya and I reached the sleep bay, she turned her back to me. "Help me out of this dress?"

I carefully removed the chains, letting my fingers trail over her skin.

"How soundproof are these rooms?" she asked.

"Nothing can be heard with the door closed," I said.

She smiled and bent forward to place her hands on the bed. Arching her back, she looked over her shoulder at me.

"Good. How do you feel about another round?"

My breeding shaft bucked painfully again.

"Are you certain?"

"Do you want me to beg? I will."

I removed my coverings in a prexel and repositioned myself. She frowned, looking down at my breeding shaft.

"That doesn't look like it feels good."

"It will feel much better once it's inside of you again."

She giggled, the joyful sound wrapping around me as I eased into her slick sheath with a sigh. Her opening barely resisted my knot this time. Moving carefully, I stimulated her sheath and enjoyed the way it clenched around me as her pleasure grew. The sensation was almost as enticing as the sounds she made each time I thrust forward.

The scent of her arousal increased to where I could taste it with each inhale, increasing the ache in my breeding shaft.

Needing her to feel the same madness, I reached around her to stroke her chest mounds and the little bump at the top of her breeding sheath. She cried out and clenched around my shaft violently, milking my first release from me. I groaned in relief but continued to move even as her arms gave out and she fell forward onto the sleep disc. The angle squeezed my shaft, and I released again.

She spasmed around me. I released again.

For almost an arc, we continued like that. By the time I'd emptied myself inside of her, we were lying on our sides. With my arms wrapped around her, I kissed her neck and shoulder.

She made a soft, satisfied sound; then her breathing evened out.

Content, I slept as well.

When I woke, my knot had shrunk enough that I slid free easily. I stared at the wet trail I left on her thighs and felt an ache in my chest. What were the chances she would consent to carry my young? Closing my eyes, I swallowed hard then picked up my shirt from the floor to gently clean away what spend I could. Then, I left her to rest.

After cleansing myself, I went in search of my founder and discovered him in the nav center. He was watching a recording of my most recent mating with Vya.

"Humans are different from most species," I said. "They consider mating private. Vya will not like knowing that you've watched us."

My founder immediately closed the vid. "Thank you for telling me."

His gaze swept over me, noting I hadn't tried repositioning my breeding shaft.

"Bruised it the first time you forced it down, didn't you?"

I grinned. "She wouldn't have liked it if I hadn't. A little pain for her pleasure is worth it."

My founder nodded and stood.

"I never thought I'd live to see one of my clones bonded with a female."

The ache in my chest returned. "By the Oebri's own words, the bond isn't complete."

"She returned with you to the ship despite meeting with an Oebri in person, did she not?"

"She did," I said.

"Then there's a chance. I saw the terra you have in the grow bay and checked with some contacts about obtaining clean veg. There's a void station a few jumps from here that you should consider."

"She was forcibly removed from her planet and still wishes to return."

"Of course she does. But I believe she will find it difficult to leave you. Making the ship more habitable will encourage her to stay."

"Perhaps," I said, his words giving me hope. "But not with plants she's unfamiliar with. Those from her planet would be better."

My founder nodded and moved to leave the nav center. "I'll leave it to you. Do you mind if I claim a sleep bay near yours?"

"Take whichever one you wish."

I watched him leave and thought of how he and the clones before me had worked to acquire a ship of this size, large enough to support a female and several younglings. My founder had dreamed of his line continuing, and now he hoped to see it happen through me with Vya. Would she agree, though?

After checking the comm logs and the plants he recommended, I went to the grow bay and looked at the beds and the veg I'd acquired. I'd read that Vya's planet was rich with clean terra and veg. If I'd been born in such a place, I would yearn to return too.

Perhaps my founder was right. Vya had spent arcs lying under the warming lights but hadn't paid much attention to the plants after my initial explanation. So if I wanted her to stay, I needed the grow bay to seem more Earth-like.

"Command Khorahn. What veg is available on the Senwar trade station?"

"No data found. Sending a comm to inquire."

I left the grow bay and went to check on Vya. She woke at the sound of the door opening and smiled sleepily at me.

"Any chance you want to carry me to the shower? I know what will happen when I stand."

I picked her up and held her close, nuzzling the top of her head and breathing in the scent of her contentment.

"How many days will it take to reach Earth?" she asked as we entered the cleansing bay.

"Seven flares. We could reduce the length of time, but it would require another stop at a void station."

"And you don't want to stop at a void station?" she asked.

The void station didn't worry me. Going there to speed up our journey did.

"If you're hesitating, then we shouldn't stop." She stretched up to press her lips to mine and grinned when I set her down. The feel of her fingers wrapping around my breeding shaft almost brought me to my knees.

"Give me a minute, and we'll see if we can do something about this."

She backed up to the extraction unit but held onto me as it suctioned to her. The way her lips parted and her breath quickened told me we would not be leaving the cleansing bay for a while.

We washed, and we mated, and we washed again once my knot eased and she roused.

"I keep leaking," she said when she stood from my lap. "Considering how many times you come, I'm not surprised. I really miss underwear though. Anything to catch this so I'm not leaving a trail would be good."

She turned to face me as I stood, and her gaze dipped to my shaft.

"How are you still hard?"

"Do you doubt how appealing I find you? My shaft will remain in breeding position until I force it to dormancy."

"Force? That doesn't sound fun."

"It isn't."

"Okay. No forcing then. Is there anything I can do to help calm it down?"

I chuckled and pulled her into my arms.

"This wasn't what I meant, but I'm not opposed to you rocking my world. Sex with you is off the charts."

I wasn't sure what she was saying until she gripped my breeding shaft again.

We didn't leave the cleansing bay.

Vya leaned forward on my lap, unaware of how her rounded backside teased my barely dormant breeding shaft.

"That's the trade station?" she asked. "It looks like a polished, white version of the Death Star."

"What is a Death Star?" I asked, trailing my fingers down her spine.

She twisted to look back at me. "If you keep doing that, we're going to be meeting people with me still impaled on you. Hands to yourself."

I sighed and let my gaze graze where my fingers could not. Her position on my lap, along with the scent of her excitement, would be enough to send me into a space fever.

"The Death Star is a fictional space station in a movie I watched a long time ago," she explained. "It was a good movie. Nothing like the real thing though. How long until we land?"

"Dock," my founder said, correcting her.

She sighed but repeated her question using the correct term. She'd asked him to teach her, mostly to distract us both from mating so frequently. It hadn't worked. She'd spent more time sleeping tied to me, waiting for my knot to shrink, than she had learning.

"Less than an arc," I said. My hand wandered to her rounded flank.

She batted it away, but I could smell the increase in her arousal. A by-product of our frequent matings was the accidental scent-markings where my ambal rested on her cleft.

Her increased arousal made it more difficult to resist her. I leaned forward, letting my chest brush her back and my ambal press into that tempting cleft.

"I can ease your arousal without mating," I said against her neck.

She shivered and made a sound that could either be her acceptance or denial.