I bit my lip and tried not to smile. I was shocked and very, very happy to find out I liked Amanda very much. I would have a friend here. Trist and the commander had been serving together for over ten years, or so Trist had said. I missed Natalie and was relieved to find a woman from Earth all the way out here in space. We weren’t from the same hometown, hadn’t gone to the same high school, but being in Sector 17 of space, even knowing she was an Earth girl made her feel like my new best friend.
At least she would know the difference between Thor and Spiderman and be able to talk chocolate with me. Trist nudged me. “What?”
“The commander asked you a question, mate.” He grinned down at me, so I knew I wasn’t in too much trouble, perhaps because he could feel my happiness at finding a friend bubbling through my veins like fizzy water.
Question? Crap. I could not remember what he had asked me. I hadn’t even heard it I’d been so lost in my thoughts.
Amanda patted Grigg’s arm again and took pity on me and answered. “The collars. We were saying, mate, in slang, that many women back on Earth would be willing to kill to get their hands on Prillon mating collars.”
One of the officers I hadn’t noticed before leaned back in his seat and caught my eye as he spoke for the first time. “Give me the coordinates, Commander, and I shall set course for Earth at once. We wouldn’t want any females to suffer when we have an abundance of males willing to collar and claim them rather than waiting for their brides.”
The commander now understood I was joking, but obviously the officer hadn’t. Commander Zakar shook his head and frowned at his mate. “You’re starting trouble on purpose.”
She winked at me, so I knew not to worry.
“Don’t worry, Grigg, you can spank me later for misbehaving.”
Her words shocked me and made me hot. She wanted a spanking from her mate. Wanted to be dominated by him. I squeezed my thighs together, felt them slick with my arousal and Trist’s seed.
Grigg’s eyes darkened at once as he buried his hand in her hair and gently tilted her head up to his, the officer forgotten. “Don’t think I won’t, female.”
She laughed and tilted her head into his touch. “Promises, promises.”
He growled and I averted my gaze as—well—I didn’t really need to notice the bulge forming in his pants. And the idea of that spanking? Not Grigg giving me one, but Trist, his big hand on my upturned ass. Maybe I was on all fours, maybe I was bent over his knees. A desk, or even standing with my hands against a wall. God. So damn hot.
And in that moment, the collar worked against me. Or for me. I hadn’t decided yet when Trist leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I can feel how the idea excites you, mate. A desire I shall explore later.” His hand came down, cupped my ass and gave it a quick squeeze.
“Commander, we have a problem.”
The swift and efficient voice broke the playful mood in the room and Commander Zakar walked to the officer who had called him. Soon he was bent over a screen in deep discussion with the two officers closest to him.
Amanda gave me a quick hug. “I’m out. I have a ton of work to do, but I can’t even tell you how excited I am to have a friend from home here now.”
I smiled. “Me, too.”
“We’ll catch up soon, okay?”
I nodded and she called out her farewells and left the deck. Trist pulled me toward an out of the way corner as the business of running a command ship resumed around us. Despite the serious atmosphere—I was standing on the deck of a battleship in outer space—my breath caught in my throat as he squeezed my hip, sliding his palm just a bit lower to cover my ass where no one could see.
“Trist,” I breathed, wiggling my hips.
He set his forearm on the wall by my head and leaned down so we were eye to eye. “Careful, mate, or we’ll have a challenge right here on the command deck.”
That startled me out of my lusty stupor. Trist was dangerous… in a very good way. All he had to do was pet me and I froze. More like melted. He was too safe. I didn’t keep my guard up, didn’t hold my emotions back. I didn’t feel like I had to worry about him leaving me, and so I didn’t try to be something I wasn’t. Didn’t try to hide how I felt, as if that were even possible with him. I was lonely. Or had been. And lusty. I still was. And happy to belong to someone for the first time in my life. “I’m not doing anything.”
He chuckled and his lips grazed my ear. “Look around, mate. Every unmated male on this command deck has their eyes on you. The poor ensign there is going to lose his if he doesn’t remove them from your breasts.”
I gasped, my gaze flying back to the young male who’d spoken to me moments ago only to discover that my mate spoke the truth. The Prillon was staring. At me. And when I looked at him, he didn’t look away. No, he met my gaze and held it, hiding nothing of his desire. His free hand drifted down to his cock and he rotated his stance to give me a full-frontal view of everything he had to offer beneath his uniform. “Oh. I don’t...” Shit.
I turned to Trist and used his large body to hide the bright red blush I could feel creeping over my face. “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t mean to do that, I mean, I’m with you and I would never—” I didn’t want to offend him or have him think I was trying to pick up other guys. I’d done nothing and these fighters were bold. Was this normal behavior on a battleship? In a war zone? Good Lord.
“He wants you,” Trist stated plainly.
Well, that was obvious. “But, I don’t understand. Are they behaving that way to disrespect you? It’s kind of an asshole thing to do.”
“Word has spread that I was matched. It’s not a common occurrence. Neither is a Prillon not having a second. They want the job. They want to be your second.”
My eyes widened. “I thought you would choose your second. That once I wore your collar, no one would bother me.”