It had to be earlier than my duty shift, because NAID hadn’t issued my wake up alarm. It wouldn’t matter where I was on the ship, as the computer would track me through my touchstone’s location. Nevertheless, the hour had to be late enough that I needed to get up and ready, as much as I loathed it.
I brushed my finger down the center of Monqilcolnen’s face, kissed his temple, then wiggled out of his grasp. Before I could escape, the arms surrounding me yanked me close. A startled squeak ripped out of me, and my soul raced.
Monqilcolnen asked, his voice thick with sleep, “And where do you think you’re going, Peace?”
My soul burst inside my chest, fragmenting into thousands of stars. He’d given me an endearment. I leaned into him, and he nipped my neck, sending a pleasant thrum to my cock. As muchas I would enjoy fucking this morning, we didn’t have time—I was sure of it.
“I was going to get cleaned up,” I answered.
He rested his chin on my shoulder, pushing his face into my neck to kiss the scent gland there. My stomach curled, and my breath picked up. I fisted his hair, holding him against me. My scent needed to coat him. Everyone had to know he belonged to me, and I wasn’t going to share him, not at all, so they had better all leave Monqilcolnen alone and cast their hopes for him aside. If they didn’t… I was more than willing to fight to defend my claim.
Monqilcolnen didn’t fight my hold and continued to trail kisses over me, paying particular attention to my scent gland, licking it slowly. It didn’t take long for my cock to fill from the attention.
“We don’t have time,” I whined, though I tilted my head to the side to give him more room.
“Don’t we?”
“No,” I panted.
Undeterred, he continued to nibble and kiss me until I was groaning for him and grinding my hips against him, my shaft dragging most magnificently over his scales. Monqilcolnen pushed me flat on the bed and hovered over me. I brushed my fingers over his face before threading them through his hair.
“I like waking up to you in my bed,” he commented, mask firmly in place. He clearly cared about this, but didn’t want me to know that.
I traced his lips. “I like being here.”
“Will you stay?”
My fingers lingered on the side of his mouth that every so often quirked up in humor. “Some of the time.”
He kissed the pad of my finger. “I would like that.”
“Then we’ll add it to our permissions. I will stay overnight… once a week.”
“Twice a week,” he countered, and I laughed. Monqilcolnen pressed kisses against me, and I kept chuckling as his lips tickled me.
Permissions weren’t necessarily a negotiation, but rather, the one person telling you what they were and were not comfortable with. With us, there was a bit more compromise involved. If Monqilcolnen had his way, I would be here every night, and if I was my usual self, I would never be here. Though, if I was honest with myself, I didn’t feel like I usually did. I wanted to be here far more than I could’ve anticipated.
“Let’s start with one and build up to two,” I whispered, resting my fingers on his lips.
With a kiss to my fingertip, he replied, “Fine.”
I pulled him down and kissed him, our lips meeting in a slow, sensuous kiss. This could go nowhere this morning, and, strangely enough, I didn’t want it to. I wanted to kiss Monqilcolnen simply to kiss him, to feel him beside me, to exist in this moment with him. I flicked my tongue out, and he opened for me, deepening the kiss.
We remained like that, kissing and touching one another, simply basking in the other’s presence, until NAID issued my wake up alarm.
With a growl from us both, we separated and got in the shower before starting our days.
Chapter 31
Is long distance even possible?
“I got it?” I asked for the third time, staring at my orders while warmth filled my veins.
Qinlin growled, tail flicking. “Yes, you received the position on the Vvekian ship. Now leave me alone before I inject you with something unpleasant that will render you senseless for hours so I don’t have to deal with your idiotic repeating of questions.”
Knowing she wasn’t lying, I darted out of the medbay as quickly as possible. My soul thrummed, and energy filled every cell as I practically bounced down the corridor. I’d never expected to get the position, but I’d applied anyway. At first it had been to get away from Monqilcolnen…
I came to an abrupt halt, making the morlash, who was right behind me, smack into me. The crash sent them to the floor and bruising pain down my spine. Wincing, I turned around to assist them. The morlash was on their rounded back, stuck, their frantic rocking made the artificial light wink off their shiny gray exoskeleton.
