I don’t think I’d ever gone on a date where there wasn’t the unspoken expectation of sex afterwards. It almost felt kind of weird—in a good way, but still weird.
“Okay,” I finally managed to say. “That actually sounds amazing.”
I don’t know how many hours exactly I’d been awake, but it had at least been a full twenty-four hours. Light had passed during the Assembly and it was nearly halfway through Dark now. I didn’t seem to need as much sleep as I did when I was wholly human but I’d been busy these last few days and I was beyond exhausted.
Rathal pulled me to my feet with his hand at my elbow. We walked back to our room with our arms around each other and I didn’t pay enough attention to see if anyone gave us any looks. When we got to our room, Rathal helped me strip and removed all my jewelry to put it away. He had even gone the extra mile and got me a shower cap so my hair didn’t get wet and then we took a completely domestic shower, with no sexual touches but for some reason just washing next to him seemed the most sensual thing I’d ever done.
He then sat me down and did my entire nighttime hair routine by himself, tied my wrap on and carried me to bed. We cuddled. Just cuddled. No grab-assing or anything. I fell asleep smiling.
thirty-four
Callie
Agawasterrifiedofa three foot tall talking fox.
We’d eaten breakfast together, which seemed to be the start of a truce between Rathal and Aga because neither tried to set the other on fire with their eyes the whole time we were eating. Som’ae had come into the dining room to join us at the last minute and Aga had stuffed the last of his food in his mouth and beat feet out of there like his ass was on fire.
Rathal and Som’ae had a good long laugh about it once he was out of ear shot. Which I was grateful for because it ensured that the truce had continued through some eight hours of preparation that had so much information exchanging hands I don’t know how anyone kept track of it all, but somehow Som’ae acted like it was just another Tuesday.
I’d asked her finally, when we were entering into the main ship hangar where Erral Station’s only Cutter was docked, how she managed the entire station with what seemed like little orno help from anyone. She’d shrugged her narrow shoulders and wiggled her four tails at me.
“I have 63 children, Callie. This station? Much easier to deal with than that mess.”
I’d stared at her flabbergasted, but then Rathal had leaned over and whispered that the Voxias had litters of up to twenty at a time.
Compared to that, running the stationwasprobably pretty easy.
It was also why Aga seemed to avoid looking the little female in the eyes and all but jumped when she spoke to him. I’d teased him finally and the grumpy green croc had looked at me wide eyed and whispered, “Have you ever seen what Voxias can do to a person’s life if they are crossed? We are talking total destruction! Financial ruin! They can place a black mark on you so that no merchant will do business with you. The whole damn galaxy seems to shun whoever falls afoul of them. You wouldn’t even be able to buy a cup of your foul coffee. I’d rather take my chances with ten thousand Patty’s in a small room suped up on caffeine and rage than deal with Som’ae’s disapproval.”
Wow.
Som’ae had winked at me from all the way across the hangar when I’d looked in her direction. Those damn radar ears of hers could hear a cricket fart, I swear. It was loud as hell in the hangar with people shouting and machinery running back and forth loading crates, weapons, ammo, and rations onto the Cutter and the larger shuttles and she’d still heard him.
Finally, a raspy voice spoke over the PA.
“All hands to stations. Departure in ten minutes. All hands to stations. Departure in ten minutes.”
Most of the crew had already boarded the hulking patchwork of space garbage they called a warship, but this was the final callfor any stragglers or loading crew to get their ass where they needed to be and that included us.
Rathal’s hand touched my lower back to guide me over to the Cutter’s main ramp where Aga was already waiting. The big green idiot threw one final disgusted look at Rathal before turning on his heel and stomping into the depths of the ship.
I eyed Rathal sidelong. “Feeling petty today, are we?”
He’d worn a sheer pink crop top with a pink boa sewn into the neck and pants with pink and purple stripes with a wide orange scarf tied around his waist. There was a curved knife with an ornate gold handle tucked into the front of the scarf. He was decked out with all his jewelry and had even added a few more knives to really up the ante.
Rathal fluffed his pink feathers. “I don’t know what you mean. This is my normal attire.”
I bit my lip and shook my head. Yes, it was something he frequently would wear, but I’d seen what he wore when he was on a mission. Usually something tactical. This was purely to piss Aga off.
“Why? Do you not like it? Is it not to your taste?” he asked, stopping once we reached the top of the ramp and struck a pose, knowing damn well that it made his muscular thighs and tight ass stand out in his striped pirate pants and drew my eye to his cut adonis belt.
Rathal was sexy in whatever he wore, but I was becoming partial to his outlandish clothing. Especially when it exposed his killer abs like this little number did.
“Oh no, baby. I love it. Don’t change a thing,” I told him, running my palm up his ridged stomach and under his shirt to flick my fingers over his pierced nipple.
Rathal’s eyes narrowed and he brought a hand up to stop my machinations. “Careful, wife. I am not above a quickie before a war.”
I tiptoed to bite at the underside of his jaw. “Who said I wasn’t, husband?”
