Page 54 of Right on Time

“I snuck aboard, or have you forgotten?”

“I should have returned you to the station immediately after finding you here. To Commander Siriniel. That’s what an honorable male would have done.”

Loe narrowed her gaze at him. “Is that what you’ll do now? Once we get rescued? Forget what happened between us and take me to the Twirly Horn guy?”

Nitiel took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Fire ignited in Loe’s gaze, but he put a finger on her lips before she could say anything. “I’ll take you to him so I can tell him face to face… that you’re mine.”

Loe’s lips formed an O.

Yes, Nitiel was shocked at his decision himself. But there was no backing down now. “I’ll tell the Commander you’re my niela, by my own decision. Not some glitchy AI’s.”

Loe smiled then laughed, the sound full of joy that made both Nitiel’s hearts swell with happiness. “That’s right. And you’re my niel, I’ve decided. Fudge the ASI.”

He grinned. “Fudge it.”

She giggled, and he swallowed her bubbly laughter with a kiss.

CHAPTER 26

Oh My Lord

Chloe pulled away from Nitiel’s lips and ran her fingers along the suit over his chest. She still couldn’t believe he had kept the ship and himself in one piece.

While the jelly had protected her from a serious injury, the pilot seat he had remained in to save them had the looks of a deathtrap. Perhaps this Goddess the Gaenthians worshiped really had something to do with it. Or her male–niel was truly that good at his job.

“Why did you resist this thing between us for so long?” she asked. Lying beside her on his side, Nitiel looked disappointed at how she had interrupted their kissing session, but Chloe had to know. “I mean, it was only after we slept together that you declared me yours and the ASI’s choice of my fated mate, a mistake.” She raised a brow at him. “Is it because your first time was so… explosive that you want me as yours now?”

If he was just infatuated with her as a novelty, Chloe needed to know now, before he got her heart broken. Though, something told her it was a little too late for that: she was head over heels for him already.

When exactly that had happened, she couldn’t tell. Perhaps from the moment Nitiel had entered her apartment, when his strong presence had taken over her tiny home and his cobalt-blue gaze had met hers. Or after the limo had malfunctioned, sending them crashing into each other, when he had wrapped her in his wings for the first time.

Heck if she knew. Chloe couldn’t even tell how many days had passed since then, and not because distinguishing days was hard in space. So many things had happened that a year might as well have gone by. And for all those events he had been beside her, wiggling his way into her heart until she couldn’t imagine being without him.

But if he now said she was his, only to get tired of her after a few sweaty romps…

Nitiel caught her chin between his fingers to ensure she kept her eyes on his. “I gave it my all to resist you, Loe, from the very beginning. Because there is nothing more sacred to my kind than the link between fated mates. How could I take what the Goddess had chosen for another?... But my strength failed me when you came aboard, and now that we have joined our bodies into one and survived the impossible… I know in my bones and to the tips of my feathers that you’re mine, Loe. My hearts are yours, both the upper and the lower.”

“Awww…” Dang, he was going to make her cry.

“I cannot live without you, Loe. It would tear me apart.”

“Nitiel…” He had done it. There were tears running down her cheeks. “I feel the same.”

He didn’t reply, just smiled. Why was there sadness in his eyes, though? She was about to ask, but he spoke first. “Whatever happens, never doubt my hearts are yours, Loe.”

“Never.” She brushed a tear away, and he brushed another with his thumb.

“Now,” he cupped the nape of her neck, “I want another explosive time with you. My niela.”

“Heck yes.” No more crying, be it from mushy happiness or not. She pushed Nitiel on his back.

“Loe?”

She waited for his wings to settle into the jelly before she climbed on top, hands on his shoulders to avoid putting pressure on his bite wound. “I wanted to do this while you were keeping me warm on the way to the station. We wasted so much time.”

The blue of his eyes brightened with desire. “Ride me?”

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