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“What did you do to yourself?” He put something on the marks left by the connections.

She smirked, despite her woozy feeling. “I got loose.”

“Yes. You did get loose. Now, I just need to make sure that you stop losing blood.”

She smiled. “Okay.”

“I have to ask; how did you get loose?”

“Went through the grill of the tank. It can’t take more than a small amount of impact, so I swam up as fast as I could and then
bam!
I was out.” She noted the frown on his lips.

“Why are you upset?”

“This mission is dangerous, and I am on communication silence. I can’t even tell them that I found you. So, let’s continue; how did you get from the tank to the ship?”

While he worked on her, she drunkenly told him of her journey. She started at pulling the connections and continued until she was creeping onto his ship and hiding in the storage locker.

When he angled her legs apart to fix the damage she had done there, she watched the sweat bead on his skin.

“Are you upset?”

He glanced up at her from the very intimate examination he was giving her while the small regeneration unit was working inside her.

“I am not as surprised as I should be. You really don’t like the tank.”

She wrinkled her nose. “No. I don’t. I hate being on display to anyone who walked into the room. I don’t know them, and they get to stare at me? Nope.”

He smiled at her as he slowly withdrew the probe. “That makes a certain amount of sense.”

“Thank you. So, can I get up now?”

He shook his head. “You lost close to ten percent of your blood volume. You will have to remain here. I will get you something to drink and eat.”

He paused before he turned to go to the galley. “Now, stay put.”

She nodded and lay back on the bed, shivering a little as the air circulator moved a breeze over her. Butt naked in this environment, she was completely comfortable, but let a stranger look at her and she was filled with rage.

It wasn’t something she had experienced before, but it seemed in keeping with all of her other mood changes. She was suddenly very particular about who saw her unclothed, and the one authorized person was currently getting her something to eat.

She was chuckling softly to herself when he returned with a tray.

“What has struck you as funny?”

She wrestled herself into a sitting position, and he set the tray on an extending arm that swung over her lap. He kept a hand on her back as she drank the tea, the water and the juice that he had brought her before she attacked the meal with good appetite.

Between bites, she muttered, “I think I understand the point of the Familiar assignment. It goes beyond just being protected. It is a type of conditioning.”

He moved his hand in a slow circle on her back. “It is. We were unsure as to how many of the Terrans would catch on to it though.”

She forked up a tangle of noodles and vegetable and sucked them in with a slurp. “We are far smarter than we look.”

He chuckled and kept rubbing her back. The slow motion made her sleepy, and before she knew it, she was nodding off against his shoulder. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

Cleo shifted, and the arm around her pulled her close against the large and very warm body. She wanted to make a sound, but at the same time, she treasured the silence.

Helbri grunted as her breathing changed. His whisper in her ear sent shivers through her.

“Good morning, Cleo.”

She swallowed. “Morning, Helbri. Is it morning?”

He shrugged, and she could feel his chest and abdomen move with the gesture. Her back could feel every sculpted inch of him.

“It is close enough.” He started to move his hands over her body with slow care.

The teasing of his rough fingertips across her nipples was distracting as hell.

“May I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why are you in bed with me?”

He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “You know there is only one bunk on this ship. You also know that my bot body is back on Lrrko. Where did you think I would sleep?”

She blinked. “I suppose I didn’t think about you sleeping at all. Sorry. I have been a little self-involved.”

He pressed another kiss to her shoulder before flicking his tongue against her.

The small pinpoint of wet heat caused another shiver that rippled through her. Her thighs were held tightly together by the tense muscles that didn’t want to relax and betray that her own moist heat was starting to make itself known.

Helbri rested his hand on her abdomen. “You seem tense.”

She snorted and put her hand over his. “I am tense. You are naked.”

He chuckled and kissed her shoulder again. “I am.”

“And I am naked.”

“You are.”

“And that isn’t one of the guns from your collection pressed against my butt.”

His teeth scraped her skin lightly as he chuckled. “It is not.”

“So, what do you plan on doing with it?”

“Now? Nothing. I was just enjoying a leisurely moment to touch you with my own hands. The senses of the bot didn’t do you justice.”

He stroked his fingers over her hip, down her thigh and across her belly again. Her hand went along for the ride.

Her emotions were skimming between nervous and aroused. She desperately tried to keep herself contained, but she needed something to do, so she squirmed around in his arms and found herself staring into his solid black eyes.

He smiled and brushed his lips against hers. The distinct flavour of cinnamon was on his breath, and she smiled when his stroking hand coasted over her back. She was able to touch his chest and drag her own fingers over his skin. His skin had a fine grain that sent trills of enjoyment through her.

Helbri was exceptionally warm, and she snuggled close to him when she realized that it was only his hand that covered her back.

She inched her fingers downward in her own exploration, unable to resist the urge to take in the circumference of his erection.

Her grip was careful and she smiled against his lips and her touch on his cock stilled his fervent kiss.

She murmured against his lips. “Nervous?”

He shuddered as she drew her thumb over the head.

She chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t pull the trigger. I don’t want you going off unexpectedly.”

He wrapped his hand over hers and moved her fingers against him. “I have utmost confidence in your attention to safety.”

To her surprise, his skin became slick under her touch, as if his body was producing its own lube.

“I may have missed that particular mention in the files, but is it supposed to do that?”

He chuckled and nipped at her lips. “It comes with the camouflage gene. It is part of the nature of being this kind of Lrrko.”

“There is no mention of different kinds.”

He whispered into her mouth, “You will just have to trust me on that.”

She welcomed his words and then the hot slide of his tongue. Her legs shifted restlessly as her heart picked up the beat. She took her hand off his cock and lifted her leg, settling her knee on his hip as she moved her hips toward him.

He pulled away from their increasingly frantic kiss. “I believe you are issuing an invitation.”

She squirmed against him, carefully gripping his cock before lodging it in her entrance. He slipped inward, and she heard Helbri groan.

She hissed and moved her hips again. “Shall I make it clearer?”

He gripped the back of her thigh and pulled her toward him, rocking against her and going deeper than she was ready for.

She inhaled and tensed. The sensations under her skin were electric and fascinating, but the ache of fullness was a little too intense.

“Does it hurt?”

She shook her head and said in a strangle tone, “It’s tight.”

He grunted and pressed his forehead to hers as his hips jerked, embedding him even deeper. “Oh, yes.”

She scrambled for leverage and held onto his arm. He thrust, and she rocked into him. It wasn’t graceful, but the bunk wasn’t built for both of them.

Once he was inside her completely, she circled her hips against him and hooked her leg around him to pull him in as close as she could.

His thrusts went from slow and careful to frenzied as she matched him motion for motion. The grinding and slapping of their bodies echoed in the room. He murmured encouragements, and she mewled as she started to shake.

She inhaled sharply and held it while her body shook violently in spasmodic jerks that were shadowed echoes of the burning pleasure rolling through her nervous system.

Helbri thrust in hard, and he held himself inside her as his cock pulsed within. The tight fit meant she could feel every throb. She shivered, and another wave of twitching ran through her.

She buried her head in the crook of his shoulder, and she sighed. The air around them was thick with musk. She could pick out her own scent in the mix.

Helbri shifted his hips and slid out of her. She made a small sound at the loss of all that heat.

He rubbed his cheek against hers. “I was not intending to do that.”

She returned the small caress. “I was. I didn’t intend for it to be so soon, but I decided not to let the opportunity pass me by.”

“Well, it was certainly a wonderful start to the day, but now, you need to shower and change. I will start breakfast and then take my turn.”

She sighed. “Back to the schedule.”

“Of course. This is no time and place to relax. I am on a mission, and there is death waiting at the end of it for someone. It is no time to have a vacation. We can do that on the way back to Lrrko.” He winked and patted her butt.

She groaned and rolled off the bed, dropping to her hands and knees before slowly standing.

“Now, that is a position I would like to have you in on the way home.” Helbri winked and sat up.

She stared. There was muscle stacked on muscle all over his abs and chest. “I could wash clothes on those abs.”

It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. With a hot blush, she turned and left the room, heading for the lav and the solar shower. The trail of cum running down her inner thigh was proof that she needed to clean up quickly.

The flash was quick and helped her sore muscles. When she wobbled into the common area, one of her suits was draped over a chair. She was lucky that the ship hadn’t been unpacked or whatever they did to it. At least she had something to wear.

She could smell breakfast, so she wandered over to the galley. Helbri kissed her quickly and left her alone.

Cleo drank her tea and sat with her plate in front of her. She was just lifting her fork when Helbri returned, dressed in all black and looking like a moving shadow. Only the sparkle in the solid black of his eyes and the crinkling of skin near his temples gave away his amusement.

He retrieved his meal from the heater and sat across from her. “So, what am I going to do with you now that you are here?”

She shrugged and focused on her food. “Not a clue. If they hadn’t put me in the tank, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

“They wanted to keep you safe.”

“Putting me behind glass will never keep me safe. I will go nuts and break out as soon as I can.”

“Why do you have such an aversion to tanks?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like being naked in front of strangers.”

She gave him a glance, and he was looking at her with a shocked expression.

“That is it?”

“Yeah. Clothing isn’t an option, and technicians and medics come in any time and look at you. I don’t like it.”

She quickly finished her breakfast.

He was still stuck in his astonished pose.

“Helbri, your food is getting cold.”

He shook his head and ate.

She took her plate and implements to the recycler and cleanser before returning to sip tea while he scarfed down his meal.

When he was done, he poured himself a cup of tea and sat with her. “Pardon my surprise, but you seem completely at ease when you are unclothed with me.”

She blushed slightly. “Well, that is different. You are not looking at me with any kind of frustration or contempt. The medics on the moon base were not really impressed with me, and their expressions showed it.”

To her surprise, Helbri nodded. “They were not happy that you were not a volunteer. It appears that they thought you were shaming your people by refusing to sacrifice yourself.”

She blinked. “My parents asked me not to participate in the Volunteer Project. They wanted me at home, so I went to the recruitment centre to let Recruiter Norz know in person that I wasn’t going to be able to go, and the next thing I know, I was in the tank and you were there.”

“Why didn’t your parents want you to leave?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I have begun to suspect that there is something in my genes that wouldn’t reflect well on them.”

“Right. Well, as the other Brides were happy to leave, you have set yourself apart in the eyes of the regulatory bodies that arranged your arrival.”

“Wonderful.” She sat back and finished her tea.

“I am going to continue to check my weaponry for my assignment. If you want to come with me and keep me company, you are welcome to do so.”

She followed him out of the galley with a fresh cup of tea. While he laid out the long-range weapons, she simply watched to figure out what he was doing and why.

When he had checked out all of the rifles and pistols of the energy variety, he sat back on his heels. “Well, we have three hours until we land. Would you care to rest?”

She jerked upright, unaware that she had been slumping over.

“Um, rest? I think I would like to learn about where we are going.”

He chuckled. “Fine. Meet me on the command deck.”

He stood gracefully and headed down the hall. With a groan, Cleo got to her feet and rubbed her butt. The rush of pain prickles to her backside woke her up for the moment.

She hobbled to the command deck and curled up in the navigator seat. He pulled a small crystal out of the console, and he inserted it into a tablet.