The crexing thing was harder than the axe at my back. I yearned to thrust it inside her.Patience.The pod was not the place for such ravishments as I had in mind. No, I needed several rotations and space to properly learn all that would bring my pajuara pleasure. With a grip in her hair, once more I tugged her head to the side with the intent to cease our game. But with her neck exposed I could not resist running my tongue along the sensitive skin. She whimpered at the touch.
“I can’t.” She moaned, her hips rocking against me. “I don’t understand this.”
A sharp sensation tugged at my chest, willing me to give name to my suspicions. Although the doubt gripped me, I was not foolish enough to deny the obvious signs of the fates. “I believe I do, my lovely Terran.”
Her movements stilled. “You do?”
“Yes.” I sucked my back teeth. Lending voice to my thoughts would change my life for all time—granting me rapture, or destroying my soul.Celestia give me strength.“First,” I grasped her hips and held her tight. “Would you tell me your name?”
I braced for the impact of it.
“My name?” She squeaked and let her leg drop from where it had snaked around my thigh. “Oh hell in the stars, I never even told you!” Her palms pressed against my chest pushing slightly as if to put space between us. “I can’t believe I’m making out with you, and you don’t even know my name.”
“To be fair, I was too…” I drew her back to me, searching for the right word to convey the chaos swirling inside me. “Cowardly to ask.”
“You were afraid to ask me?” Her head tilted to the side. “Why?”
Do not be craven. Tell her.My internal voice sounded too much like my friend and commanding officer, Hakon, for my liking. His pride rivaled my own, but his bravery? It surpassed mine. I would not shame him. “My Rhonar brathers have found your kind before, and we are compatible.”
“Compatible?” Her voice rose on the question.
“Yes, well, more than that…” I told her of the murder of our females, the doomed fate of our males, and the need for mates to save us from our biological curse and return our emotions. She listened kindly, taking it all in better than I would have hoped.
“So, when your,” she spun her hand in the air, “brathers, is that it?”
I smiled. “Yes.”
“When they heard the name of their mates, they had their emotions returned?”
“They did.” I held still, not daring to even breath.
“And you think I might be your mate?” She searched my gaze for signs of deception. I knew the look well. But she would find no untruths in me.
“The mate bond is strong, it asserts itself before our rational minds accept it.” I motioned to our bodies that strained toward each other, even with the seriousness of our conversation.
“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Interlocking our fingers, she shot me a grin, and then said, “I’m—”
4
Elena
I didn’t knowif I bought Daegan’s story, but he believed it, so I supposed it cost me nothing to indulge him. Besides, if Iwashis mate as he seemed to think, he seriously had to use my name. Pajuara was a cool nickname and all, and I kind of liked being seen as some fierce panther-alien creature. At least I imagined it was an animal like that. But I didn’t want to make out with—let alone grind on—someone that didn’t even know my real name. An alien’s fated mate or no, that was a new low for me. Albeit, if the hormones still raging through my body were any indication, my horny ass didnotcare. Still…
“I’m—”
“Crex!” he shouted before I’d answered. The pod flipped and spun, a series of dives that made me glad I’d passed on that second piece of kelpan pie Jadara had sneaked from the kitchens. Clutching me to his chest with one arm, Daegan used his free hand to reach toward the control panel. His fingers flew over the glaring symbols, but it had little effect on our trajectory. He wrapped both arms around me tight. “Hold fast.”
I did as he said, clinging to him with a desperation that struck a chord in my heart. My thoughts turned toward my home and family. I had tried to shift away from thinking of them once I’d been accepted to the crew of DS1. Going into space held enough unknowns, but a deep space mission to establish a new colony? We all knew it was likely a one way trip. But as the pod continued to twist and turn, I couldn’t help but think how much my family would have liked Daegan. My abuela would want stories of his home world, and my cousin Suzela would want more intimate details. Papa might have challenged him to a strategy game on the holo-pads. And mama…Stars, mama.
I blinked several times and bit my cheek. This line of thinking was not helping our situation, and if the Grim Reaper knocked at the door, well, I wasn’t going to answer. And the truth of it was, I didn’t know Daegan, not really. What business did my heart have constricting at the thought of him? And meeting my family? Had I lost my mind? I knew a handful of facts about him and that was all, if he were even telling the truth. So why did I feel this unyielding need to be with him?Maybe it’s the mate bond like he said.I internally rolled my eyes at the likelihood of that.Or perhaps it’s the whole plunging to your death thing.Stars, my inner voice was a finicky witch. Although, she did have a point.
“Why does it feel like we’re falling?” I focused on the present to distract myself, which considering the circumstances was not the wisest plan. But I’d never been accused of being a genius. And I’d rather know the truth, then pretend. So, I concentrated on the dips and rolls of the vessel. I wasn’t a pilot, but I had taken the basics of space flight. The Unicus group, the mega corporation that funded our trip to the stars, had insisted on all personnel taking the course. I wasn’t sure if I was happy to have the knowledge—or sorry for it.
His hold on me reached the point of pain, and I yelped. “Sorry.” He loosened his grip a fraction. “The pod found a planet.”
“That’s good news.” I strained my neck to try to catch his eyes. Being pressed against him so firmly made it a strain. “So, why the loop-de-loop?”
“The loo-loo? That doesn’t translate.” His jaw clenched hard as the pod’s nose banked.
