Page 20 of Right on Time
“Dang.” Chloe had not expected that. Trixie seemed so confident and ready to take on the world in stride. “Were the four horns too much?”
Trixie giggled. “Horns, wings, greenness – I just couldn’t handle Vrixiel’s hotness level. With all the alien romance novels and fan fiction involving Gaenthians I had read, I thought myself ready, but fuck was I wrong.”
“Yeah, they can be… a lot.” Chloe could not but remember how she had reacted to Nitiel’s impressive form and cobalt-blue gaze the first time. The handful of contemporary romance stories on her bookshelf could never have prepared her for that encounter.
“Right? I have to confess I also felt shocked at how big he was. As my niel, he was sure to want me, pocket-size babe and all. But how would it work between us? I’m a fan of the ‘would it fit’ trope in romance, but what if in my case it did not fit? What if the ASI had not taken that into its calculations?”
Chloe squeezed her legs together. She did not find the idea of being split in half sexy. “Things did work out in the end, I take it?”
“They did, honey, they did. Oh, how they did…” Trixie fanned herself. “When I came about, I was in Vrixiel’s arms, being flown to the medical bay. How wicked is that? I told him I was fine and we should head straight for the altar. He politely asked if I could wait a few hours, since the wedding altar was being used by another couple. I said I could wait, provided I didn’t have to leave his arms. You know what he said?”
Chloe shook her head, too engrossed in the story to form words.
“I don’t intend to ever let you go, my special bean,” Trixie said, imitating Vrixiel’s guttural voice impressively well. “A bean! How cute a nickname is that? That’s me – bite-size and delicious! Beans are Vrixiel’s favorite human food, by the way; there are lots of dishes from Earth delivered to the station.
“So, he took us to our home, a suite with several rooms that mated Gaenthians on the station get upon being matched. I asked for a shower, since my little tumble in the landing bay had gotten dirt in my hair, dyed pink at the time. He started to put me down but I stopped him, reminding him I was supposed to remain in his arms. It took him several seconds to get my meaning; the poor thing was not used to such a direct approach from a lady.”
Trixie winked, eyes sparkling at the memory. “When he finally got it, he all but crashed in the bathroom door in his hurry to get me naked and wet. What he didn’t know at the time was…”
“Yes?”
“… he had already made me wet!”
Chloe burst out laughing. She had not seen that coming. Trixie was a born storyteller.
“And the rest is history. Now,” Trixie patted the bench to lower it, “we better get some food in you and get you ready for when the Subcommander shows up. I can babble about my boo bear all day if you let me.”
Chloe’s heart made a little summersault. “Subcommander Nitiel?”
“Yes, honey.” Trixie got up quickly. “Come on, go freshen up. I’ll order a tray of my fave Gaenthian delicacies delivered to us and take your dress out of the wardrobe. It’s behind a wall panel to the left of the bed.”
Chloe got up hesitantly. “But the Subcommander... Do you think he will be the one to escort me to the Commander?”
“Well, I can only hope.” Trixie gave her an intrigued look. “Why? Excited at seeing that stud muffin again?”
Chloe chuckled nervously. “No, just wondering. He was in such a hurry to leave me in the landing bay. He also said he would be leaving for Earth very soon.”
“I see… Well, whoever comes to pick you up, you should get changed. This black dress is super cute and would scandalize the locals wonderfully, but it also stinks. Sorry.”
Chloe laughed. “No need to apologize. My dress went through a lot even before it left Earth’s orbit. Just show me how to access the bathroom and flush, I’ll be fine from there.”
Trixie smiled broadly and rubbed her hands together. “Girl, you’re going to love the flush system…”
CHAPTER 12
Licked, Multiple Times
“Preposterous,” Nitiel muttered as he flew toward his cabin. He couldn’t help himself, and that was saying something.
He was not the kind to talk to himself in public. He was not the kind to use swear words even in his own head, because that was a feather away from slipping up in front of others, and swearing was against the code. Yet, now he felt like muttering a curse. He was that angry, both at himself and Commander Siriniel.
Indeed, Nitiel should not have left Loe’s side until he had united her with her niel, as per protocol. His shock at the Commander’s non-appearance in the landing bay should not have gotten the better of him. He was guilty of what Commander Siriniel had chastised him for mere minutes ago.
But that was not why Nitiel was angry at the Commander. How dare he be free of urgent tasks and in perfect shape and not want to see Loe immediately? How dare he postpone meeting his niela, who had flown across the system to see him, because he needed “more time to compose myself and prepare the right speech for the unique circumstances”?
Commander Siriniel was a war-time hero; he had faced scum of various races across the galaxy without hesitation. He needed time to get a grip now? And how much more time could a male need when he had had his entire adult life to prepare for this very moment? Even Nitiel, whose clan-less status meant he was not entitled to the ASI’s assistance and thus stood a miniscule chance of ever finding his niela, had thought about the first thing he would say to her. It wouldn’t be a speech, that was for sure. After years of waiting for this moment, who had patience for a speech anyway?
There was only one word in the Commander’s excuse that Nitiel agreed with: the circumstances were truly unique. Because a niel refused to see his niela for the time being.