Page 68 of Essa

"Neither of us knows how," I tell Seth, keeping an eye on Essa to make sure she doesn't mind us doing this without her.

It's not like we can dance together very well. At least not in a way that would be appropriate for the event. I wouldn't mind squishing Essa between our bodies while we grind against her. Fuck I wouldn't mind if it was Seth between Essa and me. I make a mental note to talk to them about it.

Already planning on it.Seth says, telling me I'm too open with all my thoughts. I've become lazy in locking my thoughts away, especially the ones pertaining to him and Essa.

"You don't need to know how," Essa tells us, stepping back once, twice.

She looks over her shoulder to where our seats are. The table is mostly empty now, and the crew is dancing with their partners or off doing something else.

She turns back to face us, her fangs digging into her lower lip before she speaks again. "You are granted more liberties when entertaining me." She pauses to let her eyes flick down our bodies to the pristine paint across our chests and slightly smudged on our arms. All the way down to where I'm fully hard and tenting these too thin pants. "So, entertain me."

My lip twitches at the command. I tug Seth into my body in one swift motion, bringing our lips together. He startles at first before allowing his body to melt into mine. The paint on our chests smears together, blurring the perfect lines Essa spent so long drawing on us earlier.

When Seth tries to pull away, I let him but keep an arm banded around his lower back, keeping our bodies close. The music isn't anything that could warrant the type of dancing we're doing, but we find our rhythm anyway. Our lips find one another as our bodies grind together.

The rest of the reception fades away until it's just Seth and me, body against body, achy cock against stupid loose fabric, and a smile on my lips, no matter how much I try to fight it. We don't even stop when the music ends. Instead, we attempt to go for more until a sparkling gold hand wraps around Seth's leash and tugs his attention away from me.

I should be angry, should gnash my teeth at her, but I don't. No, I smile like an idiot as Essa tugs Seth out of my grasp and wraps him up in hers.

I step away, wiping my bottom lip. I can't help but stand there and watch them move together. Essa isn't as blatant in her grinding as Seth and I were, but I'm assuming there are still standards she has to follow. She accepts Seth leaning against her in that needy way he does when he's ready to move things to a bed or table or floor. Essa loves it as much as I do.

The ability to comfort and soothe, to have someone purposely rely on you that much. It's a wonderful gift that Seth gives us both.

Her golden fingers disappear in his curls as she leans down and runs her fangs along the slope of his neck. Our eyes lock for a brief moment, and I offer her a slight nod, letting her know this is right. It might not be conventional by human standards or her own culture, but it's ours and perfect for us.

Her eyes crinkle in the corners. I assume because of Seth's whimpering like a wounded animal. He needs it bad right now.

Instead of interrupting them and convincing Essa that now we should get back to the ship, I make my way back to the table, allowing her as much time as she needs to get Seth as sensitive and worked up as she wants.

The table is empty when I sit down, and I spend a few minutes watching Essa and Seth in the crowd. They're too far in for me to see much of what they're doing, but I have a good imagination, and Essa isn't about to do more than Seth and I did out there, even if the two of them are feeding off each other's neediness.

My sweet, beautiful seclusion is interrupted way too soon by Alik leaning a little too close to where I'm sitting. I pretend not to notice him, but that only leads to him clearing his throat. On the third throat clear, I finally turn to look at him, realize my eye line is level with his groin, and narrow my eyes as I tilt my head back.

"Yes?" I ask, curious about what could be so important that he felt the need to speak to me when neither of my buffers is here.

When he speaks, I expect irritation in his voice, but he keeps his tone level when he asks, "Are you staying on the ship?"

"That was the plan."

There was never a question in my mind once I decided Seth and I were staying with Essa. We go wherever she goes. At first, that meant Haven III, but then it meant back onto the ship. Now, I'm not quite sure that we're welcome.

Okay, Seth's probably welcome with open arms. It's me that's going to be given a cold reception if I'm given one at all.

My hands start to shake, so I clasp them to the armrest so tight I'm sure my knuckles are pale. My heart is racing, and I need Seth here. I'm about to lose my shit if Alik tells me I'm not welcome on the ship. I can't be separated from them. I won't be separated from them.

A hand lands on my shoulder. One much stronger than Seth's and much bigger than Essa's. My vision is blurred, the telltale buzz under my skin that I'm about to go batshit on someone if I'm not calmed down soon.

"It's okay."

Alik's kneeling in front of me. He must've pushed my chair away from the table so he had the space. I can't read his expression. Really, he's just a fuzzy purple blob, but he's too close.

The wood arms creak under the pressure I'm putting on them. Where the fuck is Seth? He should be reading my emotions and know I'm about to lose it.

I'm right here.His voice sounds distant, like an echo in my mind, but it's real, and it's there, and I cling to it.If you swing on him now, I think it might be the only time he lets you get away with it. He thinks it's his fault you're spiraling.

The laugh that escapes my lips is more of a bark, but it does break through the anger surging through me—the need to fight someone, anyone, to get this feeling out of me. Alik leans back onhis heels, his face less blurry as the anger dissipates. I slump in the chair, my breath coming out in ragged heaves as I try to calm myself all the way back down.

"Where are they?" I ask. My tone is too harsh, but Alik doesn't seem to take offense.

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