“I remember you accepting and General Aryk formally bonding us. It is true. It is real. The bond. Our pairing.”
Our gazes locked, and I felt a nearly irresistible urge to rip that uniform from his body and jump him. Before I could act on the impulse, we were surrounded.
“Alexius!”
“Is she the one?”
“A new Starfighter! Thank Vega!”
“One more bonded pair won’t be enough.”
“It will help.” That last came from a tall male in a Starfighter uniform.
The voices surrounded me and I processed the Velerion easily, but this time I realized the movements of their lips weren’t matching the sounds my brain was hearing. That was going to take some getting used to.
Alex raised one hand for silence as he wrapped his other around my waist. When they had quieted down, he spoke to the group, who looked like regular humans. They wore various uniforms, but thanks to the game, I knew exactly what each of their jobs were on this moon base. Alexius and I were wearing the black of the Elite Starfighter. There was a mechanic who worked on the Starfighter ships, two officers of the Velerion military who would be in charge of base operations and supplies, and two men who also wore Elite Starfighter uniforms with the swirled mark on their chests.
Were they bondmates?
Yes. It made sense, because in the game any player could choose any wingman. So, if I were attracted to women, I could have built a female copilot. I just hadn’t given it much thought after I’d created Alex.
But then, I hadn’t created him, had I? I’d chosen him from all the characteristics. My high school statistics teacher would have loved to figure out the probability of our pairing.
Alex. This alien man who was mine now. He’d been real the whole time.
He’d said he’d been watching me since I chose him. He’d chosen me as well. Had he gone through the same ceremony? Had he chosen the X button on his controller, too? He must have, for we’d been pair bonded. He’d come to Earth to bring me here. To fight together. To live together.
He led me to a section where others were eating at long tables. We sat side by side, and someone placed a tray of food before me, then Alexius. It smelled delicious even though I didn’t know what any of it was.
I dug in, eager to fill my belly. Besides knocking me out, the travel from Earth had made me ravenous. Only when I slowed did Alex stand.
“This is Jamie Miller of Earth, my bondmate and our newest Elite Starfighter.” Alex’s voice carried. Many in the large area stopped what they were doing and came toward us. Alex helped me to my feet. My introvert alarm bells were blaring like foghorns inside my head and my heart rate sped up to uncomfortable levels, but I plastered a smile on my face and stood there as they filed past us one by one, introduced themselves to me and took my hand. Their version of a handshake was to slide their palm along mine and curl their fingers. They clearly expected me to do the same, so I spent the next few minutes locking hands with every single Velerion who passed.
When the two male Elite Starfighters finally approached, everyone else had left. Thank God. I was toast from all the interaction.
“Welcome to the war, Jamie. We are glad to have you.” The taller of the two spoke. He had golden hair and skin the color of a mocha latte. His eyes were dark brown, and his chest was nearly the size of Alex’s. He was gorgeous and tall and totally in love with his copilot, if the look in his eyes was any indication.
I wanted Alex to look at me like that. While we were in bed. Naked.
“I’m Gustar and this is Ryzix.”
I locked fingers with the just-as-gorgeous second Elite Starfighter. Unlike blondie, his hair was the color of black coffee, his skin the color of melted milk chocolate, but his eyes were crayon blue. He looked human, mostly. But no human being I knew had eyes that color. Or were quite so… perfect. Alex was built like a G.I. Joe doll, his broad shoulders a touch too wide. His hips narrow. His thighs… thick. And then there was the other place I remembered where he was thick.
“We fly the Lanix.”
I blinked, getting my mind out of the gutter.
“The Lanix? I know you guys from the game… the training program.” I changed the word because yeah, not a game.
Ryzix smiled at me, a bright, welcoming smile. “Yes. We’ve been admiring your skill, and now you are here. Alexius take you to the Valor yet? It’s been sitting there, waiting for you for weeks.”
“It has?” My eyes widened at the admission. I looked at Alex, who shrugged.
“Once a Starfighter pilot nears completion of training, a ship is designated and named according to the pilot’s preference,” Gustar told me.
Alex leaned close enough that I thought he might kiss me again. His gaze even dropped to my lips. “Ready to see your ship?”
My. Ship. Mine. The Valor.