She was covered by a sheet and I gently tugged it away to inspect the rest of her. Her naked body was lush and curved, her breasts large with enticing dusky rose nipples. Any hair she may have had on her body had been removed, as was our custom, leaving her flesh bare and smooth.
My cock stirred to life, rising in greeting and ready to claim what was mine. She was so small, so tiny in comparison to me and my second. This was not right! The Interstellar Bride Program must have made a mistake.
I swallowed down a surge of disappointment at her size. I would need to be careful with her. Gentle. As commander, I was in charge of this battleship and a whole fleet of others. I had power and control that I wielded with firm command. I wanted to be free to wield that same intensity of power over her body. Looking at her, I realized for the first time that I needed that release and more from my new mate. But she was not from Prillon, and was so small that I imagined my full pleasure would surely hurt her.
So I would be careful. Tender. Remaining constantly aware of her size and small body.
I draped the sheet back over her. I wanted her, but I would not take her like this. I wanted to watch as her eyes widened when my cock filled her the first time, to hear her moans of pleasure as I made her come. I could control my dominant urges and still fuck her. I would seek pleasure from her body—often—and she would know that my second and I were the ones to give it to her.
Leaning over her, I tucked the sheet around her shoulders. Glancing up, I discovered a pair of eyes gazing at me, the irises a deep brown so dark they were nearly indistinguishable from the center.
My heart skipped a beat. A fierce warrior, I shouldn’t have such a visceral response to a small female. I froze, not wanting to scare her. I didn’t know how men on Earth were sized, but I was of great size for a Prillon warrior. Awake, she seemed even smaller and more fragile, striking, and extraordinary.
“Where am I?” She stared at me but didn’t panic or attempt to run. Her voice was melodic and beautiful, and it did not waver or shake with fear. Very reassuring.
“You are on board a Prillon battleship, in the medical station.”
That made her eyes go wide and she struggled to sit up until her back rested against the wall, clutching the sheet to her chest. “Medical station? I’m on a spaceship? You’re a doctor? Oh, my God. Is he here?”
“Who?” I sat down on the edge of her bed and was thrilled when she didn’t move away. I wanted to touch her. Everywhere. Now that she was awake, I wanted to explore her, discover if her body was as soft as it looked. I wondered how she tasted, if her nipples would harden beneath my Prillon tongue, if her pussy tasted as sweet as I hoped.
“My match? Warden Egara said my mate was one of the fiercest warriors of Prillon Prime.” Her gaze locked with mine and her eyes widened.
“He is.” My chest swelled with pride. So, my battle prowess had reached ears as far away as the new planet under coalition protection, Earth.
“Is he… big like you?” She licked her lips and I stifled a groan. I knew she wasn’t referring to my cock, but that was the direction of my thoughts. My cock was… big, as she would soon discover.
My eyes wandered over her face, down the long line of her pale neck. “Yes. He looks like me. Do you find me offensive to the eye?”
I waited patiently as she inspected the hard angles of my face and jaw. I wasn’t blue or green, as were some males from the other coalition planets, but perhaps different from men on her world.
“May I see your hands?” she asked.
Curious, I held my hands in front of her and watched her face turn from pale to pink. She reached toward me tentatively, but drew back before making contact. My hands were easily twice the size of hers, but I craved to feel her hesitant touch.
An odd pink coloration of her skin rushed from her shoulders up her neck to her cheeks.
“Why does looking at my hands make your skin change color?”
“What?” She startled and tore her gaze from my hands to look up at me. “It’s nothing. Just—I was remembering something.” She held the sheet in place under her arms and lifted her fingertips to explore the sides of her head where I noticed thin scars rested on both temples.
“Are you in pain? Are the neural implants causing you discomfort?”
If my bride was hurting, I’d have the doctor back in here immediately. I took care of what was mine, and I discovered an unexpected but instinctive need to protect and care for the small human female before me. I would need to protect her, even from myself.
“No. Not really. It feels like a quiet buzzing in my head.” She frowned and pressed her fingertips to her skin, tracing the edges of the thin implants permanently embedded in her skull. “But I understand you, so I guess they’re working.”
Every member of the Interstellar Coalition’s military had the implants. They were programmed for language and assisted the brain with advanced computations. The implants were vital to our fleet and allowed for ease of communication and understanding between the over two hundred member planets of the coalition.
She dropped her hands to the bed beside her and looked up at me. “When will I meet him?”
“Very soon. Are you afraid?”
She bit her lip. “A little.” Her gaze wandered over my face, lingering on my eyes and the sharp lines of my cheekbones.
“Do I look so different from Earth men?” I wondered.
She sighed. “No. Not really. You’re much bigger and your face has harsher angles.” She lifted a hand toward me, as if to explore the shape of my face, but dropped it to her lap before making contact. Why was she so fearful of touching me? Ah yes, she didn’t know I was her mate.