“I shall feed them to her every second of every solar,” I vow.
He laughs. “I’ve only made twelve. I didn’t want to make too many in case they weren’t to her liking. The little alien has different tastes than we do. I wanted to be sure.”
His pride in helping make my mate happy warms me. I owe him for this. “Thank you, Galen. I’ll take the rest as a gift for her. I will make sure she knows of the hard work you put into them for her, and the nutritional value.”
With a bounce in his step, he flits around his laboratory collecting things. He’s made a soft leathery pouch that’s adorned with a black braided drawstring woven into the top. The strands of silver tell me the braid came from his own nog. What a thoughtful gift.
I graciously accept the offering of goldenroot candies and give him a nod before heading out. Hadrian makes a loud racket in the nutrition bay as he works to prepare a meal for Aria and me. All of my morts have their various tasks, and I am grateful. My next step is to visit Calix.
I find him in his lab scratching at the back of his nog as he stares at what he’s working on. My chest squeezes as I enter. “Is that it?” I ask in astonishment.
He turns to me, his eyes in offensive slits for a moment before they return to normal. I can see that he is on edge, and I feel guilty for tasking him with something so difficult.
“It’s not right, I don’t think,” he complains.
I walk up to it and run my fingers over the material. “It’s almost as though she’s standing right before me,” I marvel. “The shape of her breasts…” I trail off when a low growl rumbles through me. “How do you know the shape of them?”
His ears flatten against his skull and his eyes return to slits. “I did not touch your mate.”
“You just stared at her long enough to memorize her shape?” I hiss.
“I do not want your mate,” he snarls back. It’s almost as though he has more to say. He refrains though. “There is another in the cryochamber who is about her size and shape. I took the measurements from the records there.” He turns back to the outfit he has sewn together. “Perhaps I will make more for when the others wake.”
It does not bother me that he measured the other aliens.
It would bother me if he touched my alien.
“I hope she will love it,” I say, my voice calm again.
“It’s the same material as our minnasuits. The things she runs around in each solar are not conducive to warding off unwanted bacteria. With this new suit, I will feel safer that she’s not a walking, talking, disease-carrying female.”
I snort in amusement as he carefully unbuttons the back. Once he’s removed the suit from its hanger, he hands it to me. I’m pleased that it will allow me to see the outline of her curves at any time during a solar. The others will see her curves too but that is something I must live with. They know it is forbidden to even think about touching what’s mine.
Once I bid him goodbye, I make my way down to Oz’s, where I know she’ll be working. I find her inside but instead of working, she’s showing him more of her “dancing”, as she calls it. Oz is a quick learner and a patient teacher. I’m grateful for him.
“Madam Commander,” I tease, making my presence known.
Her brown eyes lift to mine and the smile on her pretty face falls. It is not from sadness, though. Longing glimmers in her gaze. She missed me. I sure as rekk missed her too.
“Time to eat?” she asks as she walks over to me.
I gather her tiny body into my arms and press my lips to hers. Sometimes she prefers her kisses with no tongue. At first, I was adamant we keep the tongue as part of our routine, but then I learned that she likes to do the no-tongue kisses when she is being playful or feels content. Often, the kisses with tongue lead to her bare and spread before me.
I most certainly prefer the tongue kisses.
“What’s this?” she asks.
Grinning, I pull away from her to hand her the new suit. “I had a suit made for you. This solar, I am giving you a date.”
She blinks at me and then her eyes become glossy with tears.
At first, I am worried she loathes the idea and maybe I misunderstood everything she spoke of. I glance at Oz and he seems equally upset. We’ve all worked so hard.
But then she throws herself at me and kisses me with her sweet, delicious tongue. I’m growling and ripping holes in her useless clothing with my claws when she pulls away.