My tail lashes back and forth. “And I will send word that you wish to undergo the trials and become the second warlord to Edrobaz. No one will dare cross a mated pair of warlords.”
Her smile turns vicious, and I return it with pleasure before steering her to the door that leads to the bathing room.
Her eyes widen as she takes it in, a small sigh of happiness escaping her.
“I think I could get used to this,” she says, and my heart fills with joy at the words.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
NIKI
Everything about Edrobaz surprises me. The way the Suevans meld technology and nature is impressive and cohesive, the living trees that house them intimidating and beautiful. The ‘bathing room,’ as Draz called it, has running water, though I can’t figure out how they manage to pump it all the way up here, nor how seamless everything is, wooden and stone and a glass-like substrate that lets both fresh air and light through while still acting like solid matter.
I bet Carmen’s having a field day.
I towel off my hair, the cloth so unlike any fiber I’ve used before that if Draz hadn’t pointed it out to me, I wouldn’t have known that’s what it was for. It’s thin and stretchy, but manages to soak nearly all the excess water from me.
“Food is here, my heart,” Draz calls, and my stomach rumbles at the mere mention of it. My limbs are limp and wobbly with exhaustion, and all I want to do is stuff my face and curl up in a ball next to Draz and sleep off the remnants of my snail given weakness.
I roll my shoulders back. It’s out of the question. I need to eat and get dressed and find out who is missing from my crew as soon as possible, break the news that we can’t return to Earth, and try to convince my crew that we can make the best of this world.
That I love Draz.
That I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
I swallow hard. It’s not going to be an easy conversation, no matter how happy I am, because I know them. They’ll like having their choices and future taken away as little as I did, and I’ve come out on top, married to an alien I’ve managed to fall head over heels for.
“Draz,” I yell out, “can you bring me something to wear?”
He enters a moment later, something flimsy and teal in his hands. “I had this sent up, too. It’s Suevan style, but you can order whatever you like when you return.”
I take the garment from him, shaking it out.
It’s a dress. A barely-there dress, so at odds with the sports bra and cargo pants that I’ve been stuck in for the last week and a half that I hardly know what to do with it.
“Here,” he says, noticing my consternation and flashing a bit of fang in a smile. “I will help you.”
His hands skate over my shoulders, the mounds of my breasts, his finger running along the inside of the thin towel until it drops away, baring my body to him.
Anticipation immediately fills me, and I clench my thighs against the arousal building there.
“Ni-Kee,” he runs his thumbs over my nipples, and I let out a small gasp. “I cannot concentrate when your smell begs me to taste you.”
“The dress,” I manage, smooshing the diaphanous against my chest and pushing his wandering hands away. “Help me put it on. The sooner I can talk to my crew, the sooner you can have your way with me.”
“Have my way with you?” he all but purrs, his diamond-pupils growing, his cock bulging against his pants. “I do like the sound of that.”
His lips press against my forehead, and I lean into it, drawing comfort from him. I need all my strength for the conversation I’m about to have.
“Hold up your arms,” he says, and I comply, raising an eyebrow as he drapes the fabric across my body.
“This doesn’t cover very much,” I say, plucking at the sheer blue fabric barely containing my breasts. I bite my lip, his talons trailing over the sides of my waists, the flare of my hips.
“It is not supposed to.” His eyes are heated with desire, and moisture floods between my legs.
“Why not?” I say, my voice higher than usual. God, my crew is going to laugh their asses off when they see me in this. I run my hands over the front, trying to ignore the pulsing at the apex of my legs. Deliciously soft, the fabric is light and airy, and though I’m showing a lot of skin, all my important bits are covered.
“Because it is quite warm in the jungle. And because Suevans are proud of their bodies. As you should be, my perfect mate.”
“We’re on a mountain top. It’s not nearly as hot up here.”
“Ah, you think that because you have not been in the city. The atmospheric dome controls temperature and keeps it warmer for us, the way Suevans like it.”
“Atmospheric dome?” I scrunch my nose and peer out the window, perplexed. “You mean to tell me there is an atmospheric dome over us right now?”
“Yes. Do you not use them on your Earth?”
I shake my head, snorting. “No. We wouldn’t even know where to start with something like that.”
“You like it here, yes, my heart?” His face is etched with worry, and I smooth a finger over his cheek.
“I do. You’re here.”
His hands trace lightly over my exposed back, and I shiver as tingles of pleasure race over my skin. How have I become so quickly addicted to him, to his touch? To the way he acts like I hung the moon?
I roll my shoulders back, bracing my hands along his wrists. “I have to go talk to my crew. Have you heard anything about how they are getting along?”
His mouth scrunches to the side, and he shakes his head. “No one knows we are here yet except the staff that brought the food and your dress. Will you at least take some food with us to eat?”
“Us? Are you going to show me where they are?”
His eyes narrow, a grin tugging up the side of his mouth. “Do you know where they are and how to navigate Edrobaz?”
“No,” I admit, feeling stupid. “Of course not.”
His chest puffs out with pride. “Then yes, I am coming. And I will carry food and feed you carefully, so that you can take in the sights as we walk without ruining your new dress.”
“Draz, we’re not going to have time to sight see.”
His face falls. “I understand.”
“Not until after I talk to them,” I relent, poking his hard stomach. “Then you can show me around.”
“Are you sure you are strong enough?”
“For a warlord, you sure are an overbearing grandmother.”
“I am very confused about what humans must think an ancient woman with two generations of offspring do.”
I snort, unable to stay serious about that translation fail. “I promise that if I get too tired, I’ll let you carry me back here.”
“So that I may have my way with you,” he adds, a gleam in his eyes.
“Sure, yes,” I say, grinning. “Sounds like a plan.”
“It is a very good plan.”
“Well then, let’s get our food to-go and head out to my crew.”
I pluck at the sheer skirts again, sliding into some overlarge leathery sandals Draz plopped on the floor for me, and trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to deal with the fallout.
It’s time to be Captain Jacks again.
Only this edition is in love with an alien and wearing a barely-there gown.