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Is she? I turn my head slightly, mindful of my horns, and try to peer at the human clutching my waist. Dora’s breath fans against my back, and sure enough, her breathing seems even and relaxed. Unbothered. “She does sleep like the dead,” I admit, keeping my voice low so as not to wake her. “I could probably thrash her with my tail and she wouldn’t rouse.”
“She’s been worried.”
There’s affection in his voice, and I’m a little jealous it’s not for me alone. But he’s not wrong. Dora has been anxious. I keep thinking of the utter relief on her face when we agreed to this, and I knew in that moment she’d been worried that with Jamef in the picture, I’d send her away. That she wouldn’t be needed anymore.
My stupid heart squeezes painfully again. “Humans are fragile.”
“She’s got both of us looking out for her, though,” Jamef murmurs, misunderstanding me. “We can teach her how to defend herself. No need for prosthetics.”
It’s not a bad idea, though I’d still feel better if Dora had a nice hand-cannon instead of five wimpy fingers. “I’ll start showing her some basic moves tomorrow.”
“Be gentle with her.”
“I’m always gentle.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“I’m not getting out of this bed to murder you for not letting me sleep, am I? That’s pretty keffing gentle if you ask me.”
He doesn’t laugh. His finger pokes me in the base of my spine, though, right next to my tail, and I twitch despite myself. “You’re not murdering me because it’d upset Dora and you don’t like it when she cries.”
Damn it. He’s right, and I hate that he’s right. “Shut up.”
“I think you just hate that you’re no longer in control of the situation,” he muses. “Whether you like it or not, this sweet little human has us dancing to her tune. She’s the one in charge now and we’re just going to have to follow her lead.” His fingers skim over my flank, daringly near my tail. “You’re just fussy because you like it and you don’t want to like it.”
“I want a bigger bed is what I want,” I mutter. “So I don’t have to hear your nattering.”
He laughs, and then that bastard pinches my backside. If Dora weren’t sleeping so peacefully between the two of us, I’d let him have it. As it is, I just growl.
“Mmm,” Dora whimpers, and snuggles closer to me.
“Go back to sleep,” I tell her, patting her hand. “It’s just a bad dream, fluffit. We’re here.”
It’s quiet for a long moment, and then Dora’s breathing settles down. I hate that she still has nightmares. I know humans aren’t treated well, and I can only imagine what kinds of horrors are in a clone’s memories. Jamef’s right, though. This soft, ridiculous human has both of us wrapped around her finger.
“So what now?” I ask Jamef when I’m positive Dora is asleep again. I’m trying to ignore the hand on my flank again, because it both arouses and irritates me…kinda like Jamef himself.
“Now we sleep?”
“No, you bucket of bolts. What now that we’re a triad? What now that we’re no longer chasing each other across the galaxy?”
And what now that we can’t hide from our feelings anymore?
His laughter is soft, and his hand pets my hip. “First, I think we get a bigger bed. Maybe we get an add-on for the ship. Get her reworked and add a few chambers, since there’s three of us living here now. And then I suppose we go back to work.”
Hmm. Not the most romantic of lists. I don’t know that any of that helps our triad out in the emotions department. “Where are we getting a bed and ship enhancements? Station?”
“I know a male,” he says, his tone vague.
“My cousin can do it for us.”
“I know someone,” he says again. “He’s not far from our current location. Lives on a moon-base with his wives. He’ll do a good job and keep his mouth shut.”
“Great.” I consider this and then add, “And we should all three go on a date, too.”
“A date?”
“A date,” I repeat, smug at how rattled he sounds. “So we can work on the romance just like the ship.”
He shuts up after that, and I eventually drift off to sleep.
Thirty-Six
DORA
“A date?” I echo Jamef’s words the next morning in the mess hall. “Really?”
He nods. “Bethiah said we should have one.”
Bethiah did? I’m a little startled to hear that. It doesn’t sound like something that would come out of Bethiah’s mouth. She’s been a little snarly since we woke up, and I suspect it’s because she must have slept weird or something. We were kinda crammed in the bed. But…it was nice. I liked being squeezed between them. I liked that I could feel both of their bodies pressed up against mine. I slept really well, too.
