I considered that, needing to figure out how to explain it to myself, before I could explain it to him. “It was the first time I actually had to disobey one of your orders to protect you. And you didn’t get the slightest bit angry about it. I suppose I thought it was worth the risk to do the things you wanted me to do, even if my training said I shouldn’t. I finally realised that your opinion was more important than the Eumadians’.”
“But you’re still ultimately doing it because that’s what I want?”
“Yes,” I replied, very confident about that part. My master’s pleasure was all that mattered.
He sighed, and I knew this was going to be an ongoing issue for him. He wanted me to be an entirely autonomous person. And that was the one thing I could never truly give him. He groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “So after all of this, you’re really okay with being stuck here with me? You wouldn’t have wanted the court case to end differently?”
I frowned at him. “Did you miss the part where I said I loved you?”
He scowled. “Yeah, but you were programmed to.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
He stared up at me, taking the time to consider my words. He’d done that a few times over the past few weeks, and the usual result had been thathe’d finally allowed what I was telling him to replace his own assumptions about me.
In this case, however, I wanted to make sure he really got the message. I stepped closer to him, then slowly leaned down, straddling his lap as I lowered myself onto the sofa. I toyed with the collar of his shirt. “Do you love me?” I asked him, a thoroughly daring question that a well-trained dimari should never consider asking.
“Of course. Yes. You’re amazing, Kade.”
“And do you want me to be happy?”
“Yes,” he repeated emphatically. “More than anything.”
I smirked. Then I very slowly undid the top button on his shirt, my fingertip just grazing the warm skin inside. “Then why can’t that apply to me as well? I love you, therefore I want you to be happy.”
His hands settled on my hips, then slid around to cup my ass. A smile tugged at his lips. “I thought dimari were trained not to ask for sex,” he said, as I deliberately rocked my groin against his.
“I’m not asking,” I said, looping my arms around his neck. “I’m merely suggesting.”
“Then here’s a suggestion,” he said, sliding a hand around to cup my groin. “Go into the bedroom and take your clothes off.” As he said it, his hand squeezed my developing erection. I leaned into the touch… before realising that he’d just told me to leave the room. Taking my clothes off would be heavenly, but that would mean leaving his side…
It had been a suggestion, I realised a moment later. Not an order. Fair enough. I could have some fun with that. I stood up and shrugged off my jacket, laying it neatly on the arm of the sofa. Then I undid my shirt, taking my time over each and every button. “How about I do it in the reverse order?” I asked Aiden, seeing that his eyes were riveted on my skin. I relaxed my scales and my colouring reverted to blue – I’d forgotten to do that when we’d come in the door. He sat up a little at the change, and I noticed the slowly growing bulge in his pants.
I slid the shirt off, laying it carefully over the top of the jacket. Then I undid my belt, undid the button and zipper on my pants… and then turned and started walking away. “I think I’ll do this part in the bedroom,” I said, then, on impulse, I reached around and squeezed my own ass cheek as I walked away from him. I sashayed out of the room, feeling his eyes on me the entire time.
It took only a few seconds for him to join me in the bedroom.
◊◊◊
Four Weeks Later
Aiden was beaming as he stepped inside his cosy villa. I followed him through the door and closed it gently. “Congratulations,” I said again, though I’d said it a dozen times in the last week alone.
“I still can’t really believe it,” he said, smoothing his hand over the rank badge on his shoulder – now sporting an extra stripe as compared to this morning.
“Commander Hill,” I said, pride heavy in my voice. “I like how that sounds.”
He snorted and tossed his hat onto the sofa. “You’d like anything that had my name in it.”
“Not true,” I corrected him. “Aiden Hill arrested on drugs charges?No, I wouldn’t like that at all.”
“You know what I mean,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me lightly. “You’re my one man cheerleading squad. Not that I’m complaining,” he added, as he stepped back and stripped off his jacket. For all that he was proud of his achievement, we’d spent long enough in uniform today. “I like having a regular boost to my ego.”
“I aim to please,” I said, managing to make it sound flippant. My beautiful master was still slightly uncomfortable with excessive displays of devotion from me.
“Oh, there is some more news, though,” he said, as he headed for the bedroom. I followed him, hoping that he might be inclined to spend a little time in bed. “Henderson told me that the Culrads have officially begun negotiations with the Alliance Parliament on an agreement to join the Alliance.”
“That’s awesome,” I said, genuinely pleased. After a thorough investigation, it had been revealed that everything the Culrads had told us about the Nwandu was true. And everyone in the Alliance seemed to be breathing a collective sigh of relief that we’d avoided an all out war fighting against the Nwandu’s mind control techniques.
