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When I didn’t move, she huffed and rolled her eyes in that way she often did back at the camp, grumbled something about my being annoying, then turned her back firmly to me and started working. She got to work and the lights to the shuttle turnedoff completely, and the place was lit only by the light on her forehead. I watched her intently. She made the cutest little faces when she concentrated, and she talked to herself the more she got into the task.
She’d never done that before at the camp, and I realized with a pang it must have been because she was always on guard when I was around. Did that mean she was more relaxed around me now? Or had she forgotten that I was here? I was very good at being quiet and stealthy.
Then, as if to underline that I was not nearly as stealthy as I thought, my chest started rumbling. I waited for her to tell me to leave, but she didn’t. She just kept right on working.
A little while later, Pip was in the shuttle. The lights turned on.
“We’re in business!” The triumphant grin on her face was contagious. She turned to me, beaming, and I couldn’t help but wrap her in my arms. I’d been stopping myself from touching her all day, and now that she was in my arms, any self-control I had was gone. The soft rumbling exploded in the shuttle as my mouth crashed down on hers, and we celebrated her success with a very human-style kiss.
I was immediately lost in the sea of her again. How had I ever thought I could stay away? Maybe it was too late, and we were already mates. Was it possible I’d missed the moment because I’d been holding her all night? Could that even happen? Could the moment of the mate bond forming be so brief that the couple did not notice it happening? I had never heard of that before.
A strange mechanical sound had us pulling apart.
“Pip, your cameras don’t even have shutters.” Sam’s lips were still swollen from my kisses.
“Neither do Earth cameras, and they make that sound. Anyway, I like it, so there.”
“You’re back! How do you feel, Pip?” I asked. He certainly sounded normal enough. “Do you sense anything wrong with the shuttle?”
“It’s not in great shape, but it flies, and it’s a lot better than that laptop was.”
“I mean, you don’t feel like you might…” I struggled to find the right words. “Whatever happened to the other computer.”
“No, I don’t think so. This shuttle feels great. It’s newer than my old one and is in better condition.”
I frowned. “Are you sure? The outside of the shuttle looks pretty worn.”
“Pip wouldn’t be able to feel or see any scratches on the outside.” Sam started a diagnostic, and the familiar bars showed up on the screen. “Nope, all the issues with this shuttle aside from the computer are purely cosmetic.”
“Did you just call me ugly?”
Sam laughed, the sound of it filling the shuttle and my heart with delight and reminding me of the connection we’d had back in our fortress of blankets.
“It’s nothing we can’t buff out.” She gave the console a reassuring pat.
“Oooh, are you going to buff me? Oh yeah, baby, buff me good.”
“You make that sound dirty. And while we’re on the subject, Pip, you can’t just take photos of us like that.”
“You’re going to want the memory of your first kiss when you are old and happily mated. You’ll thank me later.”
“Except that was not our first kiss,” I said.
Pip gasped and Sam covered her face with her hands.
“You’ve done it now,” she grumbled.
“Get out of town!”
“Done what? And we are notina town.”
Pip ignored my correction. “What else happened? Are you mates now? Tell me everything.”
“No, we’re not,” Sam answered before I could speak. “But back to the matter at hand: Kan’n has a point. If you feel the slightest bit weird, let us know right away.”
“Yes indeed, it is imperative we keep you safe,” I agreed.
“Kan’n, I didn’t know you cared!” A bunch of little hearts showed up on the screen.
