"Risky?" I echo, treading closer until our reflections overlap in the barrier between us and annihilation. "Life is a series of calculated risks, Jules. But this," I tap the dome, "is reinforced with an alloy mesh, interwoven with energy fields strong enough to hold back the fury of a thousand suns. We’re safe inside.”
Worry etches her pretty face. "Still, it feels like being inside a giant's snow globe, with a raging firestorm instead of a flurry of snowflakes." Her voice lowers, a whisper meant only for me as she watches a volcano in the distance belch plumes of smoke and fire into the sky.
"Trust me," I say. "You're safe here with me." There's a certainty in my voice, a promise I should have already made.
"Safe," she repeats softly, a word filled with more hope than a question. “Safe is good, especially after all I’ve been through in the past few weeks.”
As I watch her silhouette framed against the backdrop of a world too harsh for the likes of someone as precious as her, I understand that safety isn't just about shielding ourselves from the elements, it's about finding shelter in each other.
My hideaway, a place of solace and strategy, now shelters more than just my solitary existence. The still air within the biodome is charged with her presence, each breath she takes seems to stir the very atmosphere.
“Any chance I can ditch this sheet for some real clothes before we go back to Pryt?” Jules turns to me and plucks at the thin fabric tucked across her breasts.
“Pryt?” The fierceness I always wear like armor melts away under her request. “You wish to return to Pryt? I... I thought you could stay," I confess, my voice barely above a whisper. "Here. With me." The admission feels like a surrender, but not of defeat, but acceptance.
"Stay?"
The word hangs between us as I hold my breath, watching a myriad of emotions play across her face — surprise, contemplation, uncertainty. My heart, a rogue comet, finds its orbit around her. In this moment of vulnerability, the Star Maverick, the lone space pirate who roams the galactic wilderness, finds a reason to yearn for companionship.
"Behtu," she starts, her voice steady yet filled with emotion, "I wasn’t sure you wanted me."
With my sivot slumbering, I can concentrate solely on my own feelings and not be plagued by primal instincts overriding my rational thoughts. "But you have awoken my sivot..." I trail off, unsure of how to put into words the powerful connection that has formed between us, unbidden but undeniable.
The air inside the biodome is still, but the space between Jules and me vibrates with unspoken words and untamed cravings. The heaviness of our shared experiences, the dangers we've faced and defeated, meld into an undeniable force.
"You’re mine, Jules," I murmur, my voice thick with the emotion I’ve held at bay for too long. "You belong to me. A mate I never knew I wanted but can’t live without.”
Her lips part slightly as she peers up at me, her smart eyes reflecting the lava's glow from outside our safe haven. “Should I be flattered?”
“I’m no good at this.” I gesture between us. “Relationships and words are not my strong suit. I just know something within me has shifted and the life I once led no longer holds the same appeal.”
"Behtu," she breathes out, and the way she says my name stirs something primitive within me.
I close the distance between us, my hand reaching out to gently caress her cheek. She leans into my touch, and the simple act sets my body ablaze with a hunger only she can satiate. Without another word, I pull her to me, and our lips meet in a kiss fueled by all the pent-up longing and fervent emotions that have simmered beneath the surface.
I deepen the kiss, tongues exploring and tasting as if we are two souls starved for the very essence of each other. Jules' hands tangle in my hair, pulling me closer, sealing the space between us until nothing else exists but the electric heat of our bodies pressed together.
Without hesitation, I lift her and carry her to the bed. There's an urgency in my movements, a frantic need to claim her as mine as I tear the sheet from her body and unfasten my pants to release my pulsating erection.
Knees bent, her legs fall open in welcome. Her sweet cunt glistening for my entrance. Her dark hair is a wild cascade around her shoulders, and I revel in the sight of her uninhibited passion as I press into her slippery embrace. The sensation of entering her tight sheath engulfs me in pure ecstasy. Her soft moans are like music to my ears, urging me on.
"Jules," I growl as I move within her. My weft erects, vibrating against her, eliciting cries of pleasure that drive me to the brink of madness. Our rhythm is frenzied, a dance of primal need and mutual desire.
This time, I don’t hold back and when my knot swells, locking us together, I know there's no going back. With a roar that echoes through the silent dome, I spill my mating seed, claiming her as my own.
"Mine," I growl the word, a sacred vow spoken amid the aftershocks of our union.
"Yours," she whispers back, clinging to me as if she never intends to let me go. Her hands smooth down my back, fingertips brushing over a small lump at the small of my back. "What's this?" she murmurs.
“Something I’m going to need your help with.”
JULES
Inside the medic bay on Behtu’s Lizordian freighter, a chill runs through me as I fixate on the sinister-looking device clinging to Behtu’s spine like some sort of parasitic leech. It's dark against his glossy blue skin, a stark contrast of malevolence that shouldn’t be there.
"Behtu," I begin, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to steady it. I smooth sweaty palms down the loose pants and top Behtu found for me to wear. "I may be an ER nurse, but I've never dealt with alien, er... Kaul anatomy. And that thing," I point shakily at the device, “looks like nothing I've ever seen."
"You're a smart female.” He turns to face me, his confidence undiminished by my apprehension. “I believe in you, Jules."
