“Um… yeah, about that. The things I said…”
Standing this close, the difference in our sizes was significant. She barely came to my shoulder, and her gaze was on my chest. The pink in her cheeks indicated that she was embarrassed at what she’d said about me to her training team. I grinned, remembering. I’d gotten instantly hard at the way she’d shared how “hot” she thought I was. I’d had to work on my Earth slang through my cipher implant to understand she was attracted to me. And when I’d computed that, there had been no going back. Skilled and sexy in one sassy, beautiful, fearless female.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d rubbed my cock to less-than-satisfactory completion thinking of her image on the replays. Her voice. Everything about her.
Reality was even more acceptable than the screen. I could smell her, a hint of something sweet. I could feel her. Warm and soft. Pliant yet sturdy. I could see the nuance of her emotions, not only hear it in her voice.
She was multidimensional now, as I was to her. It was hard to take in, and I could understand how the leap for her to this new version of reality might be intense.
Reaching up, I gave myself over to stroking her hair, the silky tresses catching between my fingers. I wanted to grab hold and tug, tipping her head up for my kiss.
I groaned and that had her looking up at me, heat and surprise flaring in her eyes because I did nothing to hide how I felt about her. The need, the eagerness to make her mine in all ways. To return her to Velerion to begin our life together. To see her flying prowess for real. To revel in the knowledge that one so brilliant and capable was mine.
“Alex,” she breathed. It was the first time she’d said my name with this breathy voice. She was the only one to shorten it, but I loved it this way. Only when she said it. If the others back home tried, I’d knock them flat.
“As your fighting partners told you, say yes.” I ran a knuckle down her soft cheek, and her eyes fell closed.
“I can’t just leave my life here.”
“Your life is on Velerion. You proved that when you completed the training.”
“But—”
“Stop thinking,” I said, cutting her off because I didn’t have all that much patience after all. “Feel. Just like when we flew the missions together.”
“It was just a game!”
I shook my head. “No. It was a training simulation, one at which you excelled. You’re ready now for your life as an Elite Starfighter. Your life with me. Velerion needs you and so do I.”
“I must be crazy because I want to go… I mean, the game is all I am really interested in here on Earth. My job is just a paycheck, and I’m a total hermit when I’m not at work.”
“You have no family?” It was not something that had been considered as part of the training program, or something I’d wondered about. I’d only thought about Jamie.
She shook her head and gave a sad little laugh. “My mother’s a drunk. She chose the bottle over me, and I haven’t talked to her in years. My father left us when I was little. It’s just me.”
I did not like the idea of her being alone. Of her mother being… less than maternal. But I was grateful she did not mention a male in her life. She did not mention a lover. But she had me now, and I would give her anything she needed, in bed and out. I would not let her down.
I set my hands on her shoulders, turned both of us, dropped into her chair, and pulled her onto my lap. She gasped, then wiggled.
“Jamie,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “My desire for you is obvious. Are you trying to torment me?”
She stilled then. “You… you want me?”
My hand was on her hip, and I gave it a gentle squeeze. It seemed my rock-hard cock wasn’t enough proof to convince her. “I was with you through your entire training. We sat side by side. We spoke. We fought. We failed. We won. You chose me from a statistically large number of Velerions. I desire you. My hard cock is an obvious indication. I crave your physical form. Your spirit. Your mind.”
She stiffened. “You’re not going to let me say no?”
“You already said yes,” I countered.
“But that wasn’t real!”
It was clear now that there was a flaw in the training program. The training simulation provided an intense and realistic fighting experience. I had no doubt Jamie could take control of her ship and succeed in battle. But at the end of the simulation, when the vow and acceptance of a pair bond occurred, humans might not feel obligated to uphold the oath between a bonded pair.
When I’d accepted Jamie as mine, I knew the consequences, exactly what was involved. A lifetime of fighting and living together, closer than any other lovers on Velerion. The bond between Elite Starfighters was unique and strong, made stronger each time they flew a mission. The technology we would interact with in the starfighter ship would cement the bond, strengthen it every time we flew. I had witnessed this with my brother and his pair bond. They had been deeply in love as well as vicious, effective fighters.
Mine and Jamie’s desire for one another would only grow. Our need to be together, to touch one another. I admired Jamie, desired her. But to her, my offer had been imaginary. Her answer? She’d been playing pretend like a small child would. There was no way to avoid this false belief in the trainees. Velerion programmers couldn’t tell the training applicants outright the purpose of the simulation. Most, like Jamie, would not believe the truth even if we offered it. The planets we had sent the simulations to were not aware of the true nature of the universe. All of them were primitive, believing they were alone in the galaxy, floating on their small planets around their even smaller stars.
But now, with Jamie being doubtful, it seemed there was some work that must be done between bonded pairs prior to returning to Velerion.
I had no doubt that stripping her naked and fucking her into understanding the depth of my need and desire would be effective, but I would not have the intimacy between us held in her mind as the only measure of our match.
“Alex, I… I want this to be real, but it’s just insane. I’m insane if I agree to go with you.”
“You are not.”
“Say I go with you. What if I hate it? Will you bring me back?”
I’d never even imagined the concept. I was at a loss. Would I return my paired bondmate to her home planet? The idea was as insane to me as going to Velerion seemed to be to her. “If you are not happy, I will return you to Earth.”
I would ensure she was happy and well satisfied and never wished to return. It was my job to ensure that my bonded mate had no desire to leave me or her new home.
“Okay.”
It was my turn to blink. “You accept?”
“Ask me again.”
I held her gaze as I repeated the vow she’d been asked to take so she would know exactly how serious I was. “We have been paired through the Starfighter Velerion training program. We have spent many hours training together. Fighting together. Do you accept the Starfighter crest as a sign of our permanent bond? Will you stay with me, Starfighter? Will you remain at my side and fight with me to the end of our days?”
She laughed, wriggled again in my lap. “I’m insane. I should call Mia and Lily. Talk to them about this. But they’d tell me to go. So… okay. I will go with you to Velerion and save the planet from Queen Raya and the Dark Fleet.”