I don’t see a bed or a place to put their prisoners.
He closes the door, and the city noises are gone. “The grand tour.” He holds out an arm. “This is the rec area. Meals and entertainment. The excrement station is behind this door. This pulls out into a bed.” He demonstrates, revealing a bed that is longer than I expected, but not as wide as what I’m used to.
“And what do you do with the bad guys you catch?”
He squats and flicks up a handle in the floor. When he lifts the plate, there is a small holding cell. And I do mean small.
“That looks unpleasant.”
“It’s meant to be. By the time we are sent out, they have committed multiple crimes and are wanted in several jurisdictions.”
“No presumption of innocence?”
“There is, but as we said, by the time they are on our list, there is a lot of evidence. We don’t chase fine or fare dodgers.” He re-seals the cell.
I’m glad there is no one in there at the moment. I’m not sure I’d be able to sleep if there was.
“Rest. I’ll go back and do the clean.”
I nod and take a seat on the bed. I don’t want to touch anything in case I make the ship visible, or turn it on or something. In the end, I lie down and stare at the ceiling while wondering how I ended up here.
I don’t expect to fall asleep, but I do. The ship opening jolts me awake, and for two heartbeats I’m confused about where I am because I don’t recognize the bed, only the man in the doorway—Doug.
But as soon as the door closes, his features shift to the now familiar glimmering gold and green. I exhale with relief as my mind recalls everything that has happened a few seconds too late to avoid the panic and startle.
“We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Waking up in strange places does that. What time is it?”
“Not yet noon.”
“What’s Shadow doing?”
“Running systems checks on the transport, dismantling the cages, so we can park the shuttles inside and checking on the women.”
“Is it not confusing to be doing two things at once?” Because while Shadow was doing that, Light was cleaning Doug’s apartment.
“No.” He sits on the end of the bed and tugs his boots off before glancing at me.
“Do you want to sleep? I can move.” I won’t be able to go back to sleep anyway. I should be at work. People are going to wonder where I am. How long until they search Doug’s apartment?
“We are hoping you’ll stay in bed with me.”
“Shadow won’t be jealous?” Can he be jealous of himself when they have the same mind but different bodies?
He smiles. “We would like to both be here. What one experiences, the other also feels. You worry about leaving one of my bodies out?”
“Yeah…I guess.” I’m still wrapping my head around it, but I need to get used to aliens and accept them without too much deliberation. What is normal for me is strange to them. I don’t think I’d have functioned as well on an alien world as Thistle has.
“That is very sweet. Most do not care. They prefer one over the other.” His hand traces over my blanket covered leg. Then he grabs my ankle and pulls me closer.
I gasp, but before I can say anything, he has covered my lips with his. It was Shadow who kissed me last time, where his lips were velvety soft, Light’s are rougher. The same with his skin. He isn’t as smooth and soft as a human. I cup his cheek and draw to me.
There is a blanket between us, but I can feel the hard length of his cock pressing into me.
“I thought you didn’t believe in kissing,” I whisper.
“We didn’t think it was necessary, but you like it and we do not mind it. We like your lips on us.” He smiles and I know he doesn’t mean on the mouth.
