Page 24 of Mated on Live

She nodded, grateful for the change in subject. Being guaranteed a mate was cool and all, but not if they didn't actually mate.

Sophie didn't fully put the topic from her mind as they moved through the ship. She was imagining different ways that might trigger him – from grabbing his olules with both hands, to letting him stroke her hair with them, to seeing if touching them directly against her pussy would do it.

That last one might have been fueled by a desire for that anyway, but it was still a plan.

She plotted as he showed her his recreation room with its big holo-TV and its gaming rig and massage chairs. He took her to his little medical room with a simple scanner built into the wall. He showed her his landing pods and explained how, when he was chasing a story, he would use them to land pretty much anywhere. They were small, only big enough for one person, but that meant they could penetrate any environment. They also had an auto recall feature that would immediately navigate them back towards the ship since it didn't actually have a way for the occupant to drive it. He showed her the cockpit, which was a smaller donut room, the center of which was a huge, 3D star map.

“Where are we heading?” Sophie asked, staring at their spot on the map. Their dot – she assumed it was them – wasn’t moving, but the space around them was.

“An informant sent me some information that I’m following up on. We’re heading to Holivair for a royal party.”

Sophie started, surprised. “A royal party?”

He smirked. “Don’t be too impressed. Holivair is populated by the shinuk species. They’re a species with hundreds of kings and queens and even more princes and princesses. Being royal isn’t very exclusive, or impressive, to them. There are a few that are legitimately wealthy and powerful, but there are just as many that are poorer than dirt.”

“How does that work?”

He shrugged. “Their planet has a very unique topography. It creates natural pod-like areas that the shinuk live within. Each pod is owned by a single hive that will claim the land and any resources upon it. Those owners will be a king or queen. Non-royals can travel freely between pods as workers, but the royals maintain control over their pod and don’t leave it. The royal family of a pod is only as wealthy or powerful as their pod allows them to be.”

“Like little, individual countries,” Sophie said thoughtfully. “If their borders couldn’t change or expand in any way. Is that right?”

Serval made a noncommittal sound of agreement. “The information I have suggests that someone is involved in illegal, exotic animal trade in one of the wealthier pods. So, we’re going there to investigate. My informant is working on a way for me to get in unobtrusively. Which is a bit difficult considering my level of fame.”

“Oh? You’re famous?”

Serval started laughing. She grimaced, realizing how that sounded.

“I’m sorry, that was rude, wasn’t it?”

“No, you legitimately don’t know,” he chuckled, putting a hand to her lower back. “My news segments are part of a larger group of multiple journalists. I’m one of the most popular in the group. My stories are the best and people enjoy my style.”

“So, cool!” Sophie beamed. “And you’re interviewing me for your segment?”

“Nox, my boss, demands that I take a vacation by doing a softer piece. So, I thought you and our mating would be perfect since it involves True Match.”

“Oh. Okay,” Sophie said, keeping her smile fixed in place.

That actually kind of hurt. She thought he was really excited about mating her and so wanted to tell all his followers, like she had. But he was just required to do a puff piece and she was a convenient option.

Though, she had to be fair, she told herself. His style seemed a lot more formal than her channel. He probably wouldn’t have introduced her at all if it weren’t for the True Match thing. He did hard-hitting stories about things like illegal animal trading. She shouldn’t be hurt that he wouldn’t be showcasing her to all his followers like she did.

She made sure to ask him where she could find his videos though, so she could study up on her mate and what he did. She wanted to know everything.

Chapter 8

Serval

Sophie asked him to do an interview as well. She had posted a video of her room and her first day on his ship – ‘I’m calling these segments SophServe in Space!’ she told him with a bright smile – and it had already done incredibly well. People were asking for more information about him. So, just like he wanted to interview her, she wanted to interview him.

He thought that fair, so as their subspace swing continued, taking them to Holivair, he showed her his little fleet of combots that he used to record.

“They’re so cute!” Sophie declared, cupping one of the robots in her hands like it was a bird that had come to alight on her palms.

“They’re not alive,” Serval said, tapping commands into their case. “There’s twenty in total, and I use them to get multiple angles of my story. This one is usually with me.”

“He looks different from the others,” she said, notings its duller coloration and dented body.

“It’s been with me longer. They tend to break or get stolen easily, so I have to replace them a lot. Lucky has managed to survive for a long time.”

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