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She blushed and buried her face in the sweaty sheets. She was too tired to tremble. She sluggishly turned toward him, and he leaned over and kissed her. It was sweet and slow, and it turned her body into heated honey. She slumped bonelessly, and he withdrew from her, turning her to pull her onto his lap.
Nebel smiled. “I am so glad that I attacked your transport. I have gotten my consort after all, and I didn’t have to fight Heboren for it.”
“Are you calling me easy?” She was so satisfyingly tired.
“No, you are mine. I am just lucky that another one of my kind didn’t consider you close enough to snap you up.”
She chuckled as she pressed her head to his shoulder. “I was closer to the Hebor compatibility than I was to a Hmrain. I was supposed to be a household administrator for Heboren. A mate was optional.”
He kissed her forehead. “I am going to praise my timing once again.”
Lily sighed and felt her grip on the day fading. “You are feeling very smug.”
Nebel chuckled softly. “Hundreds of years of waiting and you fall into my lap because of a signal sent by your arms.” He stroked from her elbow to her fingertips. “How did you lose them?”
“I didn’t lose them. I know exactly where they are. Smashed flat in the front of a vehicle after they were sheared off half a kilometre from the launch point. There was a tornado; it lifted an abandoned shed and dropped it on the front of the truck I was driving. It cut them off and then smashed them.”
“You watched?”
“Had no choice. I was still buckled in and suddenly had no way to open the closures. It was the registration team for the extraction shuttle which came and cauterized my arms, getting me medical assistance before I bled out.” She chuckled. “All that work surviving, and I nearly die on my last day on Earth.”
Her breathing was slowing into a deep, even rhythm.
“You can sleep, Lily. You are safe.” He kissed her temple and held her securely.
She believed him. He hadn’t lied to her yet.
Lily sat up with a weird ache in her abdomen. It wasn’t pain, but it wasn’t comfortable. She rubbed below her navel and looked around. It was completely dark. “Lights?”
The lights flared on full. “Lights, fifty percent.”
The semi-dimness showed the room and the flat wardrobe that should hold her clothing. She opened it and blinked. That was more transparent than she was anticipating. She flicked through the next and the next, and they were the same. Different colours but all peekaboo outfits. Well, that went with the piercings. They were supposed to be seen.
Lily smiled and took two of the dresses down. She pulled the dresses on and overlapped them. Her grin was triumphant when she checked her reflection in a mirror. Her curves were still visible but now in the shadows.
She loosely braided her hair and flicked it over her shoulder. When she walked toward the door, a drone rose silently and hovered near her shoulder. The door opened, and the drone moved in front of her to lead her through the ship.
Lily looked around. The halls were wide, and the ship was empty.
She glanced down and winced. She had forgotten her shoes. It explained why her toes were cold.
She was led into a kitchen, and the drone hovered in front of a heater. The unit flared to life with a hum. When it chimed and opened, she saw a meal suitable for her species. “Wow. You guys are really on it.”
She took the tray to a table and sat down. The food was hot, tasty, and gone faster than she would care to admit. The disposal slot opened up, and she slid her tray into it.
The drone dropped to eye level and then chirped for her to follow it. She didn’t have anything else on her agenda, so she followed.
It was twenty more feet before they reached the chamber where Nebel was sitting at a desk and talking to a screen.
He smiled when he saw her. “Lily, you are awake.”
She looked at his admiring glance and then his wide grin. “You will have clothing that is not so inappropriate for your senses.”
She lifted a layer. “Playtime outfits for another partner?”
“Close. Common clothing in case I find a partner. It hadn’t happened yet.” He smiled. “Of course, your existence has proved that waiting pays off. My faith in the universe is restored.”
He sat straight and held his hand out to her. She took the hint and walked around the desk. He eased her onto his lap, and she jolted when she heard a new voice, “Very pretty.”
