“Is this everyone’s bath?” She furrowed her brow, not finding other compartments or drawers.
“There are two baths on the ship. A simple bath in the labs and this one.” He untucked her blanket and untangled her from its protection. In quick succession, he hoisted her up onto his side and then down into the same tub as before. Her soap and a new towel were placed beside it. Water, steaming and fragrant, filled the space around her. She sat back, finding new patches of spongy moss appearing out of the slots at the side of the tub. When she looked up, Xexis was manually undoing his armor and setting it into a wash bin attached to the wall. The pieces were steamed as he put them into the bin.
Now that was handy.
When he was completely naked, she couldn’t help but study every inch of him as he moved. His legs were thick and strong.Plus, there was the massive fucking elephant trunk swinging between his legs.There was a part of her that was scientifically curious, but the other half of her was considering maybe that she was into size difference without knowing.Xexis took the tub sharing a side with hers. With an agile, cat-like leap, he dropped into the basin. Water filled his the second he sat down into it.Ah, more motion sensors.Aphrodite twisted in her tub so she could face him. She cocked her head. “Did you not want to share a bath?”
Each of these is the size of a jacuzzi, there is plenty of room.
A hungry expression crossed over his face, his pincers curling slowly. “My mate, you requested a bath. If I were to join you there, I would be inside you within moments. And that I know for sure will not aid you in being clean or resting from our mating hunt.”
Aphrodite flushed, gaze dropping to moss she was choking in her fist.Focus on bathing, horny woman.He’d fucked her nearly into a coma not but an hour or more ago and yet…she didn’t deny she would like to try it again. Aphrodite swam through her tub as it finished filling and took up her soap. The words were smudged on the label from the water, but she still smiled at the chicken scratch. She caught his movement and found him using the same mossy sponge to clean up the inside of his thighs. Her gaze landed on his hands and couldn’t help the warmth in her chest. Those hands had done more than pin her to the mud.Fuck, focus!She returned her attention to the jar.They’re not ashamed of their pleasure, why should I?She inhaled sharply through her nose, fighting internalized shame and the lid to her jar of soap. A large, wet hand appeared in her vision. She jerked back, finding Xexis smirking down at her. He chuckled, popping the lid off her jar.
“My mate is distracted.” He leaned over the wall of their split baths. Hungrily and as obvious as he could, his gaze ran down the watery reflection of her body then returned to her face. “We could get even dirtier before we get clean, if she wants.”
Aphrodite wheezed, snatching the jar from him. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
“Mating with you is always a good idea,” he countered with a snort.
She didn’t know why she was arguing with him.Just fuck your mate you—She couldn’t help the words that sprang from her mouth. Her voice was raspy, and it stung to even speak. Yet, she couldn’t stop. “You nearly knocked me unconscious back there and you know, I’m still healing, I really over did it out there, I should probably—”
“Aphrodite,” His voice calling her name ripped all the fight from her body. He grabbed one of the other jars he’d brought andopened it. He pulled a round, candy-looking object from the jar and handed it to her. “Put this in your mouth and stop fretting; we can rest.”
She took it and popped it into her mouth without question. Cool mint and something like honey but strangely berry flavored exploded in her mouth as the candy popped. She blinked rapidly. Xexis chuckled, “Blephiscra, healing goop for throat.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, finding her throat already calmed and eased.
“I will have some brought to our chambers, you will likely need them after every hunt.” He pushed off the ledge of the bath and settled back down into the warm water.
“But,” she trailed off, dipping her fingers into her soap. “Not every time we…copulate?”
His pincers stood up straight, a bemused expression filled his face and his eyes crinkled happily. “I don’t always require screaming, but my hunting mind desires it.”
He has the Xexis version of a screaming kink? Noted.She chuckled, taking a handful of soap before putting her jar aside. Running some of it through her hair and across her skin, she used the moss to lather up her body. As the time passed, the ache and exhaustion for their hunt began to settle in.Maybe it was best we didn’t fuck immediately after.Aphrodite glanced up at her mate, lounging, basically up to his forehead, in the bath. His eyes were closed, and tiny bubbles floated around him as he submerged.
Oh, right…hey…I can breathe underwater now, right?Immediately, as if she were a child, Aphrodite dunked under the water and sank as far down as she could force her buoyant body. Her breathers kicked in and whirled. Bubbles filled the water around her, andshe breathed in through her sides.A strange habit to get used to.A giddy, awe-struck grin was plastered to her face as she scrubbed her body under the water.Fuck lungs!She was too busy having a good time under the water to notice Xexis standing over the edge of their tubs. Then two large hands wrenched her from beneath the water. She yelped, choking on her own bath water.
Sputtering, she broke the surface of the tub. Aphrodite slapped at Xexis’ hands, trying to clear her lungs of the water. “What the fuck, Xexis?”
“Sorry to cut your fun short, my mate, but your data pad is currently—”
The telltale scream of an electronic device’s security system going off filled the bathroom. Aphrodite lurched from his hands and scrambled out of the bath. She snatched the device off the slab and found the red ring around her data pad again. Frustration kicked in first as she stabbed a finger at the alert to turn it off. The data pad hissed, and the screen wavered.
“Fuck.” She flipped it over. Dripping wet, soap still foaming around her body, she ripped the back off her data pad and disconnected the power source from the device. “I’m going to have to make a new one.”
But why? She’d disconnected it from the station…Her eyebrows furrowed as she tip-toed back to the bath. Xexis watched her, just as bewildered. She slipped under the water, swimming to his side Folding her arms over the ledge of the tub, she floated in the warmth. He stroked her bicep affectionately.
“My mate is thinking hard about something,” he teased, but it didn’t have the same strength as before. There was worry in his tone.
“I know you told me not to worry about it, but it just doesn’t make sense,” she sighed, laying her head against her arm. He mimicked her stance, studying her face. Aphrodite inhaled deeply through her nose this time, needing the oxygen directly to her brain. “There’s no reason for them to even have known I was missing yet. Our mission wasn’t due to report back for three years, and we weren’t due to call in for a few more weeks. We usually never called back until we’d cleared the quadrant. And the ship wouldn’t have sent out a distress signal, we weren’t on the ship when you hunted me. So how did they even know I was missing…unless.”
She frowned hard. Xexis continued to stroke up and down her bicep. It was soothing, easing the prickling feeling at the back of her skull. He waited for her to continue on her own. She huffed, “Danny must have sent in that report.”
“Report?” Xexis eyed her.
“When we saw the ship, Danny and I didn’t want to get on board. Danny suggested we send in a report of the vessel and not board. He must have sent the report in anyway. And I guess they saw what we saw and came to investigate. That’s the only way they would have gotten the surveillance photos and known I was missing.” She shook her head. “I still don’t get it though, why they would even care I was missing. I’m not important.”
Xexis snatched up her bicep and her attention went directly to his face. “You are the most important.”
