Page 23 of Golden Darkness

He chuckled and got to his feet with her in his arms. “Of course, you can, pet. You are not recovered yet. Sleeping is where your body gets to do most of the work, and with lunch easing you onto solids, you need to let your body get used to them again. Allow yourself the changes your body wishes to make.”

She snorted. “Right. Can’t expect your cum to do it all.”

He nuzzled her ear. “Ah, but it and the nanites want to try. They have been building up in my bloodstream, and they want to tighten the bonds between us.”

Janessa looked at him in alarm. “Now?”

“No, pet. Not now. I still have to deal with the Vel-ech, and you need to get some rest. Are we clear?”

“I hate wasting time.”

“I will hook up a learning unit, and you can select anything you like. Languages, skills, if it can stick in your brain, you can have it.”

“That is going to keep me in bed for quite some time.”

“The better for me.” He chuckled.

He teased her until they were in his quarters. He settled her on the bed, removed her shoes, and slid a wall panel back to pull out a headset and selection tablet. He got her set up and handed her the tablet. “Choose what you like. I will add suggestions from the companion tablet if I think you need to learn about something.”

She focused on the tablet and had a dozen things she wanted to learn before he finished speaking.

He cupped her jaw and lifted her head. She lowered her gaze to the tablet. He laughed, kissed her, and went on his way. “Food will be delivered if I am going to be late.”

She nodded absently. “Got it.”

He snorted. “But I am not going to be late.”

She settled back on the pillows, and the first tutorial started.Operating spacecraft, a basics guide.

She nodded off as the first tutorial began, and she learned what it took to keep a spacecraft moving. After that, she learned to navigate. Languages, food, it all began to settle into her mind, and when she was done with the first playlist, she did it again and then one more time until she could think about a subject and her mind knew the answers.

When she went through the attached proficiency courses, she was satisfied with her scores. Janessa queued up a second courseload and left it waiting.

Kethen spoke, and she shrieked and saw him sitting in a shadowed corner. “You don’t learn easily, pet.”

She swallowed and pressed a hand to her chest. “Uh, no. I never did. That is why I was labour classed. I tried to explain the situation, but there were so many of us in the first collection that they didn’t have time to let someone like me sit with a learning unit for hours. So, for this alone, you have my loyalty and service. Not to mention you saving my life.”

He frowned. “They really denied you additional learning?”

“Yeah. I am having so much fun now. I know what I was eating earlier. I know some of the stars we were looking at in the observation deck.”

He chuckled. “You know how to disable a vessel. You haven’t gone for piloting yet?”

“No sense getting piloting if I don’t know where I am going. That will be the last that I get. Next is the gunner station, then piloting.”

He grinned. “Next is dinner. Give your brain a chance to absorb and sort what you have learned.”

She nodded and removed the unit, setting it carefully on a small table with the tablet. She swung her legs out of bed, got up, staggered, and righted herself. He chuckled and pulled soft boots onto her feet.

She wriggled her toes in delight.

“Now, if you were wearing the strapped shoes, I could see your little toes wiggling.”

“If I was wearing those shoes, my toes would not be wiggling.”

“Fair point. Ready to go to dinner?”

She nodded. “Lead the way.”