Page 44 of Bonded

“Need,” she said.

“What do you need?” Ruzan coaxed, a hand soothing her back.

“Tell us and we will provide for you?” I pressed.

With a huff, she turned in Ruzan’s arms. She moved his hand to cup her breast. “Ruzan?”

That was the only encouragement he needed. “I’m here, my Priya,” he said. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, and then worked his way down until he tasted her plush lips. “Let’s take this pesky coverall off you.”

Priya cupped his face, kissing him back. Ruzan unfastened the cloth, revealing tantalizing bits of her skin. He expertly tugged at her nano-skin, which retracted from her as well.

Soon, she was naked. She was beautiful, my adoring soul. I feasted my gaze upon her perfect, feminine curves. The expanse of her bronzed skin. The brown taut peaks of her breasts that begged to be sucked. And the tantalizing juncture of her thighs that I longed to explore.

As Ruzan basked in the glory of our soul, I stroked her hair back from her face. She writhed at my touch, sighing back into a graceful arch. Ruzan settled over her body, his face inches from her skin. “Do that again,” he said in a husky whisper.

Priya bit her limp and whimpered. She looked like she direly needed something. “Priya? Are you okay?”

She turned toward me and curled her arm around my neck.“Vryek?” She captured me in a graceful embrace, drawing me down for a kiss.

The link that rested in the base of my neck tingled and buzzed. The ship wished to speak. I pulled away from her and gazed down at my soul. She looked bereft, waiting for me expectantly. Grazing my thumb along her lush lower lip, I asked the ship a question. “What is wrong with Priya, Ship?”

Ruzan froze above Priya’s body. “Wrong?”

The ship answered through the pod’s interface. “Pilot-Priya’s vital signs are within normal range. Disorientation is a side effect when bonding starts. She is incorporating a heavy download of data, and the process might disrupt certain cognitive functions. Please be patient.”

“Do you mean she’s not conscious of her actions at this moment?” I asked.

Disappointment and resignation settled in Ruzan once more as he settled into a more chaste way to embrace Priya. She whimpered, clutching at his wrists. “I am sorry, my Priya,” he said. “I do not want to touch you until you’re fully awake.”

The ship buzzed against our shared link once more. “Pilot-Priya is awake and conscious. She is experiencing temporary aphasia. She has a desire for physical fulfillment, yet does not seem able to verbalize it. She also cannot seem to comprehend what you are saying.”

That made sense. “Has the procedure compromised her vision?”

“Perhaps. The area of her brain that partly controls her heat cycle turns off memory and vision. As if blacking out her mind during the event.”

This news didn’t sit well with me, nor with Ruzan, judging from the set of his jaw. “That’s part of the change you’re instituting, right, Ship? That you would pierce the haze that coincides with a human’s heat cycle?”

“Correct, Pilot-Vryek. Based on what I monitor of her thoughts, along with her bio scan, she wishes to be mated.”

“Repeat that please,” Ruzan said. “You say you know she wants to be mated?”

“Most ardently, Pilot-Ruzan,” came the ship’s pleasant voice.

As if on cue, Priya tugged on Ruzan’s hand again, whimpering his name. She dragged his face to her so she could flick her tongue against his lips.

He devoured her in return, allowing her to place his hands on her breasts.

“Ship, did you finish the compatibility test yet?” I asked quickly, opening the pod. Good timing, too, since Ruzan bucked upward, holding Priya close to his body so he could have her straddled atop his lap.

His horns would have torn through the metal and electronics, and I doubted he would have noticed.

“Nearly so. Pilot-Priya has proven to be compatible with the ship’s onboard systems, and the onboarding for her is nearly complete. Her physical compatibility with a Rakoth is nearly complete as well. Measurement tools are available in case you need them.”

Priya writhed against Ruzan, his hard cock pressed against her back. Her full breasts cupped in Ruzan’s hands. “I doubt we would need them, but thank you for the suggestion,” I said in automatic response.

I didn’t want to look away from the tableau before me and dare miss even one moment of my soul claiming her heart.

Priya

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