Ninety-Two
Gods! Both of V’s hands had tightened into fists as he fought with himself—fought to keep from cupping her full, naked breasts in his hands and sucking her ripe pink nipples as he so often had in the past solar month.
She’s not yours anymore—she doesn’t need you to do that anymore, whispered a stern voice in his head. And if you start, do you think you’ll be able to stop with just sucking her breasts?
V knew he wouldn’t. He wanted her too badly—wanted to bond her to him too desperately. But he had to remember that he had Foresworn her—had to remember that any attempt to bond her to him would only result in agonizing pain for the woman he still desperately loved.
And so he turned away, forcing himself not to look at her luscious curves, put on display just for him. Forcing himself to forget the many times he had sucked her ripe nipples and drained the sweet nectar—the many times he had spread her full thighs and lapped up her pussy honey as well…
He felt her confusion and hurt as she stood there but he couldn’t make himself look, couldn’t make himself explain. After a moment, Penelope covered herself once more and left.
It was then that V really began to wonder what he could do with the curvy little female. He couldn’t bond her to him and he wanted her so badly that being near her like this—breathing in her fresh, feminine fragrance and seeing her lush curves—was pure torture.
If he was going to keep his vow to Foreswear her, it was time they parted ways.
Ninety-Three
Penny got dressed quickly, cursing herself for a desperate fool the entire time.
He doesn’t want you anymore. That’s why he broke up with you, she scolded herself. Don’t forget there’s no Spice in the air here to make him think you’re some gorgeous supermodel instead of a plus-sized girl who could stand to lose some weight!
But if he didn’t want her, why had he asked about her breasts in the first place? Why would he bring up the need to drain them of nectar if he didn’t want to suck them?
He was just being nice, that’s all, Penny told herself savagely. He didn’t want you to be in pain so he was offering to help until you could find some other solution. And when he realized he didn’t need to help you anymore, he was probably relieved…He—wait…what am I wearing?
Penny looked down at herself and frowned. She’d grabbed the first garment on the bed and put it on blindly, just wanting to cover herself and forget the embarrassing incident she’d just caused. But now, as she took time to examine it, she realized it looked exactly like the warm-skin suit that Kat had made her to wear on Yown Beta. It was tight and black and it hugged her curves every bit as provocatively as the suit she had lost to the NeverBreeders.
Crap! The last thing she wanted to do was put her body on display, especially when V’rex was so clearly no longer interested. But the other items of clothing he had made for her were all the same kind of body suit—just in different colors.
Giving up on finding something different, Penny simply went back to the bathroom and got another long, silky towel to wrap around herself as a kind of sweater. She would ask V’rex to make her something else to wear soon…
If she could ever bear to face him again, that was.
Ninety-Four
“You need to tell me where to take you,” V made himself say when they finally sat down to Last Meal together.
“Take me?” Penelope looked up from her steaming bowl of licklack stew which she had barely been picking at and frowned. “Why would you take me somewhere?”
“Because we are Foresworn,” V said patiently. “Which means we have to part ways. As much as I wish you could, you can’t stay here aboard my ship forever.”
“Who says I want to?” Penelope shot back, lifting her chin. “I mean, while I appreciate your hospitality, it’s really not necessary. We’re docked at Hell’s Gate, right? So I’ll just leave the ship and go back to the Lucky Lounge where…where I first saw you.” She cleared her throat. “And that’s that—we never have to see each other again.”
“You want me to just leave you here? In the most corrupt and dangerous station in the whole sector?” V growled. “I don’t think so. And why would you want to go back to the Lucky Lounge?”
“To make a long-distance call, of course,” Penelope said, frowning. “To let the Kindred of the Mother Ship know I’m stranded because my ship-mates got stuck and frozen in a slow time-suck.”
“You can’t fold space in the Yown System,” V pointed out. “It’ll take them at least a solar week if not more to come to you once they get the call.”
“I know that.” Her chin went even higher and he felt the stubbornness coming from her. “It doesn’t matter—I’ll just wait for them in Hell’s Gate. I’ll be fine.”
“The hell you will,” V growled. “If you really think I’ll let you walk out of here and hang around unprotected while you wait for help that might or might not come—”
“They’ll come!” Penelope flashed and he felt her anger. “Captain Sylvan is an honorable male. He won’t just leave me here.”
“Well, I won’t either,” V snapped. “Even if I’m not as honorable as your precious Commander Sylvan.”
He knew the leader of the Kindred Mother Ship by reputation, though he didn’t know any personal details about him.
