Page 215 of Commander’s Mate

As I lay limp and sated afterward, he kissed my lips and caressed my face, whispering love words. I did the same to him. Then, after a little breather, he was on me and in me, delectably so. In those moments, it was as if he were the universe and the universe was all mine as we journeyed to ecstasy together.

His velvet cock filled me, hitting all the pleasure spots as he thrust it to the hilt. He thrust fast and hard until I was close to orgasm, then stopped. I knew if I squirmed and arched against him, I could come, but I didn’t. I had learned to let him draw out our pleasure, stoked by pheromones and hormones. It was so much more satisfying when we came together. The way he pulsed inside me was exquisitely pleasurable. All I could do was groan and pant as I shuddered with each contraction of my inner walls around him.

“I am yours and you are mine as long as I draw breath,” Zared vowed, holding my gaze steadily.

I said it back to him, still staring into his eyes. “I am yours and you are mine as long as I draw breath.”

Afterward, I lay with my cheek over his heart and listened to it slow.

“As long as I draw breath,” I whispered again.

His hand moved through my hair. “As long as I draw breath.”

I had expected the words to feel like losing the last door back to Earth.

They did not.

Earth was still mine.

So was this.

Two truths could live in the same body.

I lifted my head. “You know this does not cancel the rules.”

His mouth curved. “I suspected.”

“And you still tell me if you learn anything about Earth.”

“Yes.”

“And I still work.”

“Yes.”

“And you do not assign a guard every time I cross a corridor.”

His smile disappeared.

“Zared.”

“I said the vow. I did not become reasonable.”

I laughed against his chest.

It felt very much like beginning.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Zared

Being bonded to Harper did not make me less protective.

It made the problem worse.

The difference was that now I knew protection was not the same as command.

This lesson proved difficult while she worked in the registry center with doors open to a public corridor.