I eased back into my seat. There was no talking to her sometimes. She was going to help me whether I needed it or not.
She opened the kit and immediately froze. “What is this?”
“Emergency medicine supplies,” I said.
She raised the electronic equipment and held it upside down. “Where are the gels and creams and bandages?”
“Bandages? What is this? The Middle Ages? This is modern medicine and if you don’t know how to use it, you might end up doing more harm than good.”
Alice raised her hands in surrender, shut the box, and put it to one side. “Then how can I help?”
“Give me the credits,” I said.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Again?”
She gave me the bag so I could count them again.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Alice said.
“Doing what?”
“Counting them. You think I’m going to rob you?”
“Sorry. Force of habit.”
I had to keep a close eye on every credit I earned on the ship. Just because I was the highest-ranking member of the crew didn’t mean the others wouldn’t rob me blind if they had half a chance.
After purchasing the shuttlecraft, we still had a good stash of credits left over.
“Are you sure you don’t want your share?” I said.
“You keep hold of it for me,” Alice said. “Buy a pig to raise on your farm and name it after me.”
“Are you sure? You could probably buy a lot on Earth with it.”
Alice shrugged. “You can bring it to me later if I need it.”
The subject of our relationship after I returned her to Earth was one we hadn’t discussed yet. I was certain I loved her. Seeing her wearing armor was more than enough to convince me of that. But what was I meant to do on a planet like Earth? And would she be interested in living on Arcturon Prime with me? Would she even be willing to wait for me to save up the credits I needed?
It was all academic anyway. She was never going to stay with me. Not after she learned I’d lied to her…
“We don’t need to get your ship,” Alice said. “You could drop me off in this shuttlecraft.”
“Sure… so long as you don’t mind drawing your pension when we arrive.”
“What do you mean?”
“This craft is good enough for short journies but at top speed, it’ll take about forty years to get you home.”
“Oh. Forget that idea then.”
She sat next to me and lay her head on my shoulder. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do after you get your ship back?”
“After taking you home?” I said. “Head out and do more smuggling, I guess.”
“You’re still going to do that?”
“It’s the only way I can earn enough to retire,” I said.
She ran a hand over my chest. “I was thinking…”
Here comes trouble…
“Maybe you could come visit me sometimes—when you’re not busy on your farm, I mean,” she said.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”
She won’t want anything to do with you once she learns the truth, asshole.
Then why not tell her the truth about her friends now?
It was the right thing to do. But it was almost the most difficult. And with her pressed against me, feeling so good, I didn’t want to spoil the final few hours we had together. I didn’t know when I would get to feel this way again.
I kissed her on the top of her head. Her hair smelled bad but I didn’t care.
Alice slipped her hand inside my vest and ran her fingers gently over my skin. It gave me goosebumps and made my cock rock hard.
She always had that effect on me.
Without saying a word, she stood up and pulled the vest off over my head. Then my pants. They were tattered and torn by the Rat King’s razor-sharp claws. Then she drew my underwear down and appeared unsurprised I was standing proud.
“Always ready for action, huh?” she said.
“Best to be ready for any eventuality,” I said.
She chuckled, kissed her fingers, and pressed it to my throbbing cock. She took me in her hand and gently stroked me.
“In my language, we don’t use the word ‘bond’ much,” she said. “We have other words. For example…” She looked me dead in the eye. “I want you to fuck me.”
I quivered in her hand, and it wasn’t only because she started stroking me harder.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly very dry. “That’s… uh… a very coarse way to put it, right?”
“Sometimes coarse is what we want,” she said, her eyes still pressing hard into me. “I want you to fuck me as hard as you can.”
I leaned forward to kiss her, but she pulled back.
Tease.
Hand still on my shaft, she led me into the tiny bathroom. She turned on the showerhead and a spray of warm water rained down. She gently placed me inside it.
She stripped off her clothes and joined me. The water washed away our blood, sweat, and tears. The steam billowed and we found each other’s arms. We kissed. I grew even harder and pressed against her.
Nothing could stop me from wanting this woman. When she looked at my forearm where the Rat King had torn into me, the injury was already beginning to close up.
“Titan healing, remember?” I said.
“I thought that was just something you said to impress the girls,” she said.
“I’ll show you how I impress the girls…”
She pressed a finger to my lips. “Nuh-uh. Not girls, plural.”
“I’ll show you how I impress this girl,” I said.
“Better.”
I pressed her against the wall. She groaned with pleasure as I tickled her pussy with my cock.
“You’re such a tease,” she said.
“We’ve got four hours before we reach Rogiz 4,” I said. “What else am I going to do?”
I slipped inside her tight folds, making her gasp. She held my face in her hands and kissed me. She looked at me meaningfully.
“I love you,” she said.
She peered into my eyes, into my soul. A deep shiver shook me to the very
