Wendy snorted and followed Azan as she gave Terri a wink.
“Code name can be Dark Crocodile,” she suggested with a playful gesture to Veral’s scales.
Azan laughed and pulled the female into several of her arms as they continued to the docking bay where a shuttle from the pirate ship awaited them.
Veral’s frown didn’t let up until he saw the shuttle depart the vicinity of their ship with his own two eyes. A smile curved his lips as the tension rolled off his body like drops of water sliding off his scales. Eyes brightening, he turned a heated gaze to Terri.
“Now that they are gone, I have a gift to show you. And then we will mate while Harahna sleeps.”
Terri chuckled as she leaned in and kissed her mate, nipping at his bottom lip.
“Depends on how much I like the gift… and whether Krono and Taka wake her up in the middle of things,” she replied.
Veral sighed deeply and muttered something uncomplimentary about the level of the noise of the dorashnal as he led her through their starship into a back display room where they kept mementos. The lights flicked on as they entered and Terri stared at the Argurma skull displayed in the center of the room, gold gilding the places where the skull took damage from their fight.
Her mate’s head dropped, his lips caressing her neck, making Terri shiver against him.
“Are you pleased, anastha?”
“Oh, yes,” she whispered. “A true love gift from my mate: my enemy vanquished.”
A low growl vibrated against her neck as he pulled her hips back so that her bottom rested against the bulge of his civix.
“And that is how it will always be,” he hissed into her ear. “I will never tire of you, never cease loving you, and never will I balk from destroying any who try to harm you. You are mine, Terri.”
“And thank fuck for that,” she whispered as she turned in his arms and embraced him.
No matter where they went and what adventures they had, Terri knew that he would be the one constant. For the rest of their very long lives.