“You do not need to ask,” K’alvek said. “My crew also holds fond memories of the Carlogians. We do not wish to see them suffer. We will set a course for the planet now and gladly join you in battle.”
He swiveled and gave orders to the dark-haired female pilot behind him who waved cheerily from her seated console. I was reminded of their mixed crew of males and females, humans, Dothveks, Zevrians, and shape-shifters. Even with this knowledge, I was startled when a female appeared beside Corvak.
Although her hair was honey-brown and not gold, and it was pulled up into a high knot on her head, I could immediately discern the subtle similarities between Juliette and her sister. My stomach clenched as I recognized the plump lips they shared—the same lips I’d so eagerly kissed—and the shape of their eyes, even if Corvak’s mate’s eyes were not blue.
This was Sienna, the sister Juliette had told me about, and the mate that had provoked Corvak to fly with the bounty hunters instead of with my horde. As she peered at me through the screen, I could see the shrewdness that her sister did not possess. The thought of Juliette waiting for me in my quarters made me look away from Sienna.
I could tell Sienna that her sister was safe with me. But that would bring about a slew of questions I was not prepared to answer—how she got on board my ship, why I did not return her to her planet, why she remained in my quarters. No doubt, it would also prompt a request for Juliette to be reunited to Sienna. They were sisters, after all, and as Corvak had reminded me when he spoke of the Raas brothers, family could fight, but they were always family.
I was not prepared to release Juliette. Not yet. I thought about the sensation of being inside her and how enthusiastically she’d responded to me. How perfect she’d felt. How whole and undamaged she’d made me feel. Maybe not ever.
I cleared my throat and focused on the two males on the screen. “We look forward to joining you in battle.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Juliette
Furb scampered around the edge of the pool, dipping his nose in the water, yipping, and then scuttling away.
“I don’t get it, either.” I rested my arms on the stone ledge and my chin on top of my folded hands. The Raas had run off so quickly that I hadn’t been able to get a better explanation from him. If what we’d just done didn’t produce mating marks, what did?
I shivered as I tried to imagine what other things the alien might be able to do with his tail. As much as I’d liked everything he’d done to me, I couldn’t help the flush that warmed my cheeks. Even the whispers I’d heard about males back on my home world hadn’t covered anything like this.
The fluffy Gerwyn ran up again, rubbing against my face and emitting a strange rumbling sound that vibrated his body. I patted him lazily before he ran back out to the bedroom, no doubt to curl up on a pillow and doze off. Gerwyns did seem to sleep a lot.
I let my legs float up behind me, swishing them through the water. The stickiness was gone, but the ache between my legs remained. I squeezed them together. It wasn’t a bad ache, though, and I liked the memory it provoked—of Raas Vassim working himself thickly between my legs while his warm breath mingled with mine.
Despite my self-conscious blush, for the first time in my life I felt a rush of power. I’d been the one to make the Raas throw his head back and roar, the muscles on his neck strained as he’d quivered and finally sagged on top of me. I might not have known exactly what I was doing, but my body had instinctively taken over, and my moans and movements had been impossible to rein in, even if I’d wanted to.
“Snap out of it,” I scolded myself, using another of Sienna’s favorite phrases. “Like the Raas said, it was only fucking, and he’s done it with tons of females.”
That thought bothered me, although I was fully aware that the Vandar species didn’t have the same morality rules that I’d grown up with in Kimithion III. They viewed sex and nudity as something completely normal and natural, and nothing to be secretive about or feel shame for. The Vandar openly visited pleasure planets and enjoyed sex that they paid for, whereas that wasn’t even heard of on my home world. Again, thinking of Raas Vassim with a pleasurer made me frown, especially when I realized that they’d all been more experienced than me. But I could hardly get jealous over a Raas I had no intention of staying with, no matter how much I enjoyed the things he’d done to me. Besides, I thought, I did not want to get mating marks, so it was good that I couldn’t get them from being fucked by the Raas.
“Because I definitely want to do that again,” I whispered to myself, smiling at my own naughtiness. I might not be staying with the Raas, but there was nothing that said I couldn’t enjoy my time before the two moons aligned and he had to return me to Kimithion III.
Thinking of my home world wiped all the warm, steamy thoughts from my mind. Did I really want to go back home? What was waiting for me? My drunk father who might not even have noticed I was gone—that is, until he got hungry. My sister was gone and would probably never return, not that I blamed her. There was nothing left for Sienna there. Was there anything left for me?
I’d always expected to marry some man and have a family while continuing with my baking. It had never been a thrilling future, but
