He still looked worried, so she pulled his head down and kissed him. She had intended it as a brief reassurance, but as soon as their mouths touched, passion flared between them. His big hand covered her breast, plucking gently at an already swollen nipple. She gasped in his mouth and he raised his head with a satisfied smile.
"You are so responsive."
"I just never realized that a yeti was my type," she laughed, arching into his touch.
"A yeti?"
"A kind of mythical creature that exists on my planet."
His eyes widened. "There are Hothians on your planet?"
"No," she said hastily. "But there are rumors of creatures who resemble your people. No one has ever actually seen one."
He still looked shocked, so she put her hand over his and started sliding it down her body toward the damp heat between her legs. The distraction worked and his eyes glowed with blue fire as he parted her folds.
"Your skin is flushed as if the sun has touched it here."
He stroked softly from her clit to her entrance, arousing a needy ache, but even that delicate touch made her aware of the lingering soreness from last night. When he probed gently at her entrance, she couldn't stop herself from wincing. He stopped immediately, his withdrawal both a relief and a disappointment.
"This is not an indication of your desire, is it? Even though you are slick for me."
"I'm just a little tender this morning. Assuming it is morning." Time on a spaceship was difficult to measure, but after their initial coming together, Baralt had taken her twice more before they had both succumbed to exhaustion and fallen asleep.
"Please forgive me. I did not take into account how fragile you are."
"I'm not that fragile," she reassured him. Life hadn't allowed her that luxury. He still looked worried, so she reached up and combed her fingers through the longer hair of his mane. "Last night was wonderful and I have every intention of repeating it again. Assuming you want to, of course?"
Since she could feel the heated length of his cock against her thigh, she wasn't concerned about his lack of desire. He met her expectations by responding with a kiss that left her breathless, weak-kneed, and glowing.
“There are other ways that I could pleasure you,” he murmured, dropping his head to nibble at a spot on her neck that made her shiver with pleasure.
“As tempting as that sounds, maybe it would be better to wait.” She suspected that if he put his mouth on her, she would end up wanting more. Much more. Instead, she let her fingers trail along his cock. “But I could pleasure you…”
He groaned, then moved her hand away. “If you must wait, then so will I.”
When he stood he also winced, then scowled and rubbed his knee.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, but I can feel the aftereffects of the fight. I believe that a hot shower would help. For both of us.” He flashed her his fierce grin, then, over her objections, lifted her into his arms and carried her into the miniscule bathroom.
The shower was too small to permit more than basic washing, but she enjoyed it anyway. Their bodies pressed together intimately; his hands gentle as he tended to her as carefully as a parent would attend to a child.
A child… A chill skated up her spine.
“We didn’t discuss birth control last night.” Her voice sounded stiff in her own ears. “I take a pill to prevent pregnancy, but it only lasts a month, and I’m not really sure how long it’s been…” Please God, that it had still been in effect when she was on the ship.
“You do not wish for a child?”
“No,” she said quickly and felt him still.
But when she looked up at him, he only smiled reassuringly. “I have an implant. It can be renewed yearly. You do not need to worry.”
She sagged against him as relief filled her. But as he resumed his attentions, his hands still careful, a tiny pang of regret flitted through her mind before she resolutely dismissed it.
When they emerged from the bathroom, she realized that all she had to wear was her golden dress.
“I suppose it’s better than being naked,” she muttered as she pulled it on.
“I wish we could have brought your clothing,” Baralt said apologetically.
“Getting away from there was a lot more important than clothes—” Her words came to a halt as she remembered their hurried escape. “But what about you? Didn’t you have anything you wanted to bring with you?”
“Only you.”
She had a sudden urge to cry at the tenderness in his voice, but she forced a smile and quickly changed the subject, not ready to examine her own feelings too closely.
“Let’s see if we can find some food.”
He nodded and led the way back down the stairs and deeper into the ship. When he opened the door to the galley, she had to stop and blink. The small space was blindingly white—white walls, white floors, white cabinets—and every inch of it was spotlessly clean. After the squalor of the slave ship and the arena cells, the contrast shocked her. Baralt’s quarters had been clean but they were far from sterile. This room looked like you could perform surgery.
“It’s very… white.”
He nodded abstractedly, but he was already reviewing the food options. “They have some of those noodles you like.”
“That’s fine.”
A few minutes later, he dished them up as she checked carefully to make sure they hadn’t left any trace of food behind.
“Let’s take these into the lounge,” he suggested.
To her relief, the lounge area, while just as clean, was far more welcoming with soft furniture in shades of faded blue. Just as they were finishing their meal, Captain Glasach entered, accompanied by a tall, thin female with skin patterned in shades of blue and white. If she hadn’t been dressed in a flowing pale green tunic and pants, she
