She answered with passion as all-consuming as his. Nipping, sucking, licking, driving him wild. Never had he felt like this.So close to losing control and also filled to the brim with joy. Like he was right where he was supposed to be, happy beyond comprehension, to the point where his body could barely contain his spirit.

Vrixiel’s fingers tangled into her soft curls while his other hand kept her light body pressed against his chest. But he needed to position her better, for he intended to have a taste of much more than her lips. He wouldn't be satisfied until he had explored every inch of his exquisiteniela.

When they broke the kiss for air, he used the opportunity to lower her to the bed.

“Wait!”

He froze with her back barely touching the edge of the gel. Fear that he might have overstepped gripped him.

“Sorry, Vrixiel.” She smiled sheepishly. “I never go to bed without taking a shower first.”

“Ah.”Huh?

She covered her face with both hands. “I'm a horrible tease.” She peeked from between her fingers. “Shower now, jelly pudding after?”

Virixel took a deep breath. He had to rein in his desire, but it was hard. Very hard and throbbing. “Whatever mynielawishes.” He began to lower her feet to the ground. "The cleansing chamber is behind this wall.”

"Wait.” Her fingers curled into the fabric of his uniform.

He groaned inwardly. Did she have no mercy?

“You're supposed to keep me in your arms and not let go, remember?”

Goddess. Did hisnielamean...?

She bit her lip again.

Vrixiel rushed to the cleansing chamber. In his hurry to bathe with her, he almost crashed into the opening door.

A giggle burst from Trixie, and he laughed along with her.

CHAPTER5

Flushed

As Vrixiel entered the bathroom with her in his arms, Trixie took a deep breath. She had to calm down. She was turned-on, excited to the point of her heart trying to burst out of her chest, feeling bad for stopping sexy time, but also anxious. All those feelings were threatening to overwhelm her.

She had no trouble doing the deed with a hot stranger in the name of pleasure. She enjoyed those fast-burn novels where the fated mates didn’t waste time talking before tearing each other’s clothes off. But now that Trixie herself was in the middle of that trope, and the hot stranger was going to be her husband, she found herself worrying. Not only about the will-it-fit part but also about rushing things.

Did she really want to jump Vrixiel’s bones before getting to know him? Before building some connection beyond the physical? Otherwise, didn’t she risk disappointing him – and herself – on their very first night together?

That was the real reason why she had asked him to wait. She did always shower before going to bed, and she must have dirt on her from the landing bay’s floor, but the interruption was more about her need to take things slow. Or, as slow as her impatient and horny self was capable of handling. Now, she just had to communicate that to her hard-as-steel mate.

“Vrixiel, I need to tell you–what is that?!”

He froze two steps into the bathroom. “You mean the toilet? That’s… the toilet.”

Trixie stared at what looked like the pant legs of a statue cut vertically in half. Those things were sticking out of the floor to the right of the entrance. The glass dome to the left had to be the shower cubicle. The glass bowl suspended in thin air by the wall opposite the door must be the sink. But these black pant legs of what looked like rubber coming out of the floor? She couldn’t imagine how she would do her business with them. In them? On them? “Vrixiel… How?”

He chuckled, the sound deep and warm. “I must put you down to demonstrate. May I?”

“Demonstrate away.” He didn’t seem annoyed at yet another postponement of their intimacy, and Trixie could use the distraction to get her emotions in order. Also, she was dying to see how this tech worked.

Vrixiel lowered her to the floor in the middle of the bathroom as carefully as if she were made of porcelain. He then went to the rubber pants and turned to face her, wings lifted, leaving the so-called toilet against the back of his legs. The second his glutes came in contact with the toilet, it began to expand forward until Vrixiel had black pants on top of his red ones. His bulge at the front was still as clearly visible as before, thetoiletfitting him like a glove.

“How?” Trixie couldn’t wrap her mind around what she was seeing.

He gave her an amused smile. “These are nanoparticles that get activated by coming into contact with you. They morph to your body, creating a safe environment for your excreta.”