“Want to know my lies?”
“You wouldn’t lie, would you?” I asked. “You’re so pure and good.”
She laughed, nuzzling the side of my neck. “Pure and good? Me?”
“Okay, tell me your truths,” I whispered.
“I came to you with science stuff because you’re so damn sexy that I wanted any excuse to look at you. I spent my evenings making myself come while thinking about your body. Thinking about how you would spank me and use me.” She hesitated, then blew out a breath. “And I think the jacket is cool.”
“I knew it! The jacket is so cool. And it makes you want to fuck me.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know if I’d go that far. Also, I came to your room the other night because I thought you’d want me to, and it just about killed me when you didn’t. Why didn’t you let me in?”
“Fuck. I’m sorry.” I blushed, then reached into my back pocket and showed her my journal. “It’s embarrassing,” I said. “And I didn’t want you to see it.”
She opened it, gasping at the sketches of her, her fingers roaming over the rough pencil marks. “It’s beautiful. You drew these?” She met my eyes, and I nodded. “You love me,” she whispered, smiling.
“I love you.”
“I’ve wanted to crawl into your bed and snuggle up close and tell you about my day every single day since we’ve been back,” she whispered. “I want you to hold me all night and chase the nightmares away.”
"I want that, too. I was just afraid.”
She smiled a little. “Big, tough Aidro, afraid?”
“You didn’t mark me. I figured it didn’t mean the same thing to you. I’ve heard that about humans.”
“It meant everything to me. And it wrecked me when you backed off.”Her voice cracked a little. “You can’t stop sleeping with me, Aidro. Okay? I like the way you hold me and whisper things to me if I get scared in the middle of the night. I like it when you promise to fight off all the bad things for me.”
“Okay. I promise I’ll fight off all the bad things,” I whispered. She cupped my face, smiling up at me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She traced her thumb over my lip. “Your past is what makes you who you are, okay? I love who you are. I love that you’re my fierce protector, and you’ll jump at monsters with your ridiculous axe if you think I’m in trouble.”
“Awesome axe,” I corrected, and she shook her head, still smiling. I didn’t think I’d ever stop smiling. Well, maybe for a minute, while I was fucking her senseless. Could a person maintain a ridiculous smile during sex?
Uli interrupted us before we got to the senseless fucking, banging in through the door with a huge smile on his face. He paused, looking pleased with the Himari in my lap outcome, then shook himself. “The hail that Vega tried to talk to you about was important. It was Omia.”
“What?” I’d heard his words, but they weren’t computing. Himari gave me a little hug, leaning against my shoulder as she looked back towards Uli.
“Omia his sister? I thought she died when you were young.”
Uli shrugged. “Yeah, so, apparently not. She’s a pirate and has her own ship, and she’s been searching for you. She doesn’t want to get too close to the planet, though.”
After years of imagining my sister dead,I was having a lot of trouble processing this news. Himari rubbed my back, holding me close, telling me it would be okay. “How could she be alive?”I asked.
“She didn’t give me the specifics, but they’ll be back in communication range in a few hours. I’m sure you can get it all.”
“You’re sure it was her?”
“It was her, Dro,” Uli said softly. “No question. She has your eyes. And she was wearing the same damn black jacket you have. She’s got a crew of big brutes with her, but she’s in a relationship with an old hacker friend of mine, too. A human named Ben. And she seems happy. She’s willing to help us with repairs as well, if we can get her crew down to the surface.”
I shook my head. “Not yet. We have to figure out how to eliminate these damn drones before we risk any more people.”
Uli nodded. “I told her that, but Trina is going to send her a list of supplies.” She also has some children with her who need refuge.”
“Okay. Give us a moment, then we’ll be there,” I said.
“No rush, she won’t be back in range for a bit,” Uli said, winking. Why was everyone always winking?
“You okay?” Himari asked as he closed the door behind him. Her eyes were wide, and she traced her fingers over my face, examining me.
“I’m reeling a little, honestly. You love me. My sister is alive and rescuing orphans who need refuge. What next?”
“Refuge,” Himari whispered as she snuggled close. “The place everyone in the galaxy is afraid of is our refuge.”
I frowned. “Do we have our own planet?”
“If we can get rid of those damn drones, we do,” she said, grinning.