“Layla seemed really into it,” I say.
Zayd nods. “Ever since the failed bond, her anxiety over being cast aside has eased.”
“Having you all to herself helped, I’m sure,” I say.
“It gave me a chance to show her what she means to me,” Zayd says.
“You never fail to step up in my absence, Zayd. I can’t tell you how good it is to know I can trust you with her, completely.”
“It has been an honor to prove it to you, Sutton. I look forward to proving myself to you again. Soon.” Again, Zayd’s skin darkens, his innuendo not lost on me.
I offer him a wicked grin. “I’ll see what test I can come up with.”
“Soup’s on,” Layla shouts down the corridor from the galley, and we leave, side by side, to join her.
Chapter 36
Zayd
Ilearnedsomethingaboutmyselftoday. Something I do not know if my alpha brethren could ever come to accept or understand. I love another male.
At first, when all of this started back on Earth, I thought my desire to be with Sutton was merely a side effect of Layla’s scent on him. I could not help being aroused when he was near because Layla’s scent is meant to arouse me. I believed the same to be true for Sutton.
So, Layla’s suggestion that Sutton and I were meant to bond without her seemed preposterous.
But then, the bond with Layla did not work. And I enjoyed being intimate with Sutton.
I still do not believe Sutton and I are meant to be together without Layla, but I do believe it may be necessary to explore the possibility that Sutton and I are meant to bond. Physically.
The subject is not as sensitive as it once was, especially after our activities in the cockpit this morning, but I am still not sure the best way to broach the subject without triggering our omega’s abandonment issues.
Layla would tell me to just be honest and open. Sutton values bluntness, and the trust we have built, I believe, is more than strong enough to handle it, but I am not sure I am strong enough yet to shoulder another failed bond.
“It’s weird how space doesn’t really look any different here than it did from Earth. Still just a lot of blackness and stars,” Layla says, sitting next to me in the cockpit again, after lunch.
“What did you expect?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. Maybe things would be closer and bigger.”
“But if we get too close to a star, we die,” Sutton says, coming in and standing between us.
Sutton and I laugh as Layla shoves him playfully.
“So, what are we going to do to celebrate our last night in space?” Sutton asks.
“Probably shouldn’t party too hard. Need you in good condition for reentry,” Layla says, and my heart swells knowing I did not bore her to tears when I walked her through our reentry and disembarking procedure.
“How do you know that?” Sutton asks.
“Zayd told me.”
“Is there anything I need to know?” Sutton asks me.
“I did not intend to leave you out of the discussion. I simply walked Layla through the procedure because she wondered if landing would feel the same as taking off.”
“Relax, Zayd. I genuinely just wanted to know if there was anything I needed to know.”
“Are you okay?” Layla asks, placing a hand on my forearm.
