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“After today’s…treatment”—she swallowed, and her eyes shifted toward the domed ceiling—“I’m going back to Geo and Makir’s to sew protective clothing for some enforcers.”
“You think that will be enough? You won’t need me after this?” Of course she wanted to leave. Even though she’d told me I was worthy, I knew it wasn’t true. Why would she want a male who couldn’t control his emotions and turned to her to satisfy the need running through him like a feral animal?
“I feel so good. I can only hope it’s been enough.” She fiddled with the laces on her tall boot.
“I will accompany you…”
“No way! Hill needs you. Did you see his face? Plus, Geo’s already offered to drop me off on the way, so we won’t waste resources. Now”—she leaned forward—“what are we going to name her? You can’t keep calling her dorat.”
“Why not?”
“How about Star, or Sparkly, or…wait a minute, I’ve got it. JayGlow? Get it? Because she glows when she’s around you.”
Those were all ridiculous names and absolutely not happening. I’d pick something fitting. “If you insist she needs a name, it will be Nebula.”
“Nebula.” She rolled the name around on her tongue. “Yes, that’s perfect! Here, little Neby, Neby, Neby.” She made a strange click with her tongue. “Don’t you want to spend some time with your Auntie Ginger?”
Auntie Ginger? Why were humans so weird when it came to pets?
Nebula’s eye opened a crack as if she had to look for herself at Ginger’s outrageous behavior. Not finding anything worth paying attention to, she rolled her body to stretch and then pranced off, blending once more with the volcano’s landscape. But my mind had quieted even with the few moments she’d spent with me.
Ginger’s shoulder slumped. “Well, fine then.” She stuck her tongue out at the spot where Nebula had disappeared. “So…” She lifted her wrist and glanced at the time. “Does now work for you?”
My forehead ridge dipped and I gulped.
“Can you fit in a treatment?” Her fingers tapped an erratic beat on her pants. “I want to head back to Geo and Makir’s at dawn.”
I coughed to clear my throat. “You don’t wish to choose another male?”
She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, what more do I have to say to convince you? I’m trying to speak your language here. I told you yesterday I didn’t see you as an unworthy male. And I wouldn’t believe a word of what that asshole said to convict you if he told me himself wearing a priest’s robes.”
Her forgiveness came too easily. I didn’t trust it. But I would be there for her until she no longer needed me. “I’m willing to continue your treatment.”
“Well, I think you had the right idea last time, keeping things a little more distant. Erm…but maybe if you didn’t leave so abruptly right after”—her voice rose and thinned—“it would be less weird for me.” She raised a pale finger and twirled it through the air. “So. We’ll just keep this professional. In, out and over.”
No blanting way. I’d never treat her that way again.
“We can leave our clothes on. Well, most of them, anyway. Do you need me to, you know…stimulate your penis to get…”
A stiff white collar peeked out beneath her dark-tailored jacket, like a uniform, with a matching tapered skirt. Vivid red paint slashed across her pursed lips, drawing my eye, but everything else about her clothes screamed, ‘Do not enter.’ I narrowed my gaze. Why wouldn’t she look at me? Under her armor, I suspected keeping things professional was as hard for her as it was for me.
I shook my head. “No.” All it took was her nearness, and I was ready. “I can perform.”
As she stepped between my legs, her small hand cupped my bulging coil—I presumed to test my readiness. My heart beat faster than when I hunted the elusive black jungle cats on Yagras.
“I guess no further stimulation is required. You seem…ready.” She gulped.
If she wanted detached, I would do my best. Keeping as much emotional distance between us as possible was in my best interest, too. I removed her hand from my coil and unlaced my pants. “So, you just want my coil and nothing else? You don’t want me to touch you in any other way?”
She nodded, but the way she sucked in her lips and her cheeks flushed red showed how thin the professional barrier was.
After last time, I wanted to avoid making any further mistakes. I’d do whatever she asked, even if it went against every one of my instincts. “Should I prepare you?”
Ginger slipped off her stiff jacket and smooth underclothing from beneath her skirt. From her jacket pocket, she retrieved a small bottle and rubbed the jellied contents between her legs. “This will make things easier for me. Can I put some on you?”
The petroleum scent played havoc on my nose, but it would take a male much stronger than me to refuse her hand on my coil.
“Whatever you need.” I held myself back from touching her as her loose grip greased my coil. With one hundred percent certainty, I preferred preparing her the other way.
