Page 28 of Right on Time

“That’s great, but will it be comfortable on the jelly? You said that’s for sleeping naked. Will the clothing get stuck or… ?”

“Jelly?”

“Um, the blue thingie on the bed.”

“The bed?” Now it was Nitiel’s turn to blink in confusion. “I won’t be sleeping there.”

She narrowed her green gaze at him. “Nitiel, where else would you sleep? The bench is toast!”

He cleared his throat: he did not need a reminder of the bench fiasco. He was currently wearing it, after all. “The chair.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nitiel. Come on.”

“Lady Loe–”

“Being unnecessarily formal won’t change my mind. You’re sleeping on the bed, my lord. It’s big enough for both of us.”

His hands on the bench tightened. “I cannot.”

“What you cannot do is have a proper sleep in a chair. I know you’ve probably slept in many weird places as a soldier, but now you don’t have to.”

“Loe–”

“Plus, you need to be rested. Otherwise, I will not feel safe from those munchjies knowing I’m accompanied by a sleepy protector.”

He opened his mouth but no words came out. He could not lie and say he would rest well in a chair, not with his old injury acting up as it was. Before he could think of something else to say, Loe stepped back into the cleansing chamber.

“Get dressed and go to bed, I’ll join you in a few.”

And with that order, she slid the door shut between them.

His fingers dug in the piece of bench, claws scraping the metal surface. What was he to do? There was only so much temptation he could resist!

But was anyone listening to his arguments? No. First Commander Siriniel had ignored Nitiel’s protest to Loe sleeping in his cabin: “The incidents on the ship and in her guest cabin might not be coincidences, Subcommander. If someone means this niela harm, I trust you and only you to protect her from the danger.” Then Loe had disregarded Nitiel’s attempt to stay at a safe distance from her.

Why wouldn’t they see? The danger to Loe currently came from Nitiel himself.

He had never feared the wild nature he had inherited from his father as much as he did now. For it had served Nitiel well in battle, but what if it made him break the code of honor when a female was concerned? When Loe was concerned? It could make him forsake all reason and tear that towel off her. Let her feel the bed’s surface against her naked back as he covered her front with himself. As he plunged inside her. As he claimed her as his and his alone–

“Nitiel, are you decent? I’m almost done in here.”

He threw the bench aside and flew to get his uniform. He dressed as fast as if there were an attack underway, eyeing the two-person bed as he did. There was actually one thing he could do in an attempt to keep the temptation at a manageable level.

Just as he was sealing his suit up, Loe called, “Ready or not, here I come!” Her tone was teasing.

He quickly sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m ready for you, my lady,” he teased back. He was calmer now that he had made certain modifications to the bed.

Then she stepped into the room, and Nitiel’s pulse sped up. Again.

Layers upon layers of blue flowing around her lower body, Loe looked like the Goddess of Creation herself emerging from the blue waves of Gaenthia’s ocean. The tiny stones sprinkled all over the bodice shone like the pearls of life the Goddess had seeded in the gigantic clamshells on the ocean floor. The long sleeves covered all but the tips of Loe’s fingers, and the floor-length skirts left only her tiny toes visible, but Nitiel still found the sight overly seductive. Just like Loe’s loose hair falling in untamed waves down her shoulders.

“Cinderella has arrived,” she said through a giggle. Then her laughter stopped abruptly.

He followed the direction of her gaze to his left.

“You’ve built a jelly wall? What the heck, Nitiel!”

A wave of nerves passed through his wings. He might have made the gel partition in the middle of the bed a bit too high, leaving barely any gel on his side of the bed. But he would be on the bed as she had demanded, so… “I want you to feel safe as you rest, my lady.”

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