Page 43 of Sloane

"Wait." My brows furrow as I try to understand what he's saying. "So, these mean what?"

I need him to tell me they're mine forever, just like I'm theirs. I want him to tell me that it tells everyone who could see us that they're claimed males and that they want no one else because they have me. That's what I need to hear from him because if I don't hear it, I'm not going to believe it.

"It means that you're stuck with us forever," Jovi says, his arms squeezing me so tight the air is forced from my lungs before he releases me.

Alik gives him a disapproving look, but then he nods at what Jovi said. "It means we're bonded mates. We both wanted you before we knew, but this just solidifies that we were always meant to be with one another. You're ours now, and we're yours."

A smile breaks across my face, and tears prick at my lashes. They're not sad tears. No, they're the opposite of that. These are tears of the highest amount of happiness. Alik seems to realize this, brushing them away before taking my lips in his. It's a soft kiss, much more tender than all the others he's given me.

"Does this mean you want me to stay on as part of the crew?" I ask when he pulls away. He seems caught off guard by my question.

"You want to be human crew?" Jovi asks, noticing Alik's stunned silence.

"More than anything." I chew on my lips as I say it. "I've wanted it for a while now, but the marks mean it's a definite thing, right?"

Alik seems to recover from his surprise and lets another smile fall on his lips. "We'd love for you to be a part of the crew."

"Essa is going to lose her shit," Jovi laughs as he begins to move us into a sitting position. "I'm going to get Sloane cleaned up. You good with finishing up the scans?"

"Yeah," Alik says, casting a glance over at his comm that just pinged with a message. "The medical spray should seal her bite wounds, but cover them in some bandages just to make sure. See if you can find something for her to wear that covers the bites. I don't want to explain it to the rest of the crew before the mission is over."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Jovi asks, a twinkle in his eyes as he motions to the dark bands around his arms.

My eyes fall down his body as he stands from the bed. The bands continue on his legs as well. They circle his ankles and right above and below his knees.

My heart swells as I look at them, the depiction of their devotion to me, the way we're all tied to one another. Jovi grabs one of my hands and places it against his wrist so I can touch them. It might be my favorite thing to do now.

"Wear a shirt when you go out. Hopefully, they just don't notice your neck," Alik says, his eyes hyper-focused on where I'm stroking my fingers over Jovi's wrist. His eyes narrow again when he catches me watching him. "Do you dislike them?"

"What?" The word is more of a squawk as it comes out of my mouth. "No, I love them. It means you're mine."

Alik's smile is small when he turns back around to his comm tablet, but he looks over his shoulder once more as Jovi helps me to my feet. "All yours, mate, always yours."

"Shower and then food," Jovi says as he swats my ass and corrals me into the bathroom. "The smugglers will scan the ship soon, so you can't leave, but I'll grab you something good."

He starts the shower, keeping his hand under the spray until it's warmed. He helps me in and begins to clean my body for me as I relax in his hold. We're only in the shower for a few minutes when there's a loud pounding on the bathroom door.

Jovi's lips pull up in a snarl as he calls out. "What?"

"I forgot to get her DNA," Alik says on the other side. "If I come in there, I'm going to fuck her again, so just hurry."

I whine deep in my throat at the idea of Alik fucking me again. Jovi hears it and gives me a wicked smile from his knees. I'm like almost a hundred percent sure the rules aren't a thing anymore, but I'm down to break them if they are.

"You want that, Sloane?" Jovi soaps up his hands and continues cleaning down my legs like he was before Alik interrupted us. "You want your mates feral for you again and ready to fuck you every moment of every day?"

"Jovi?" Alik's voice sounds irritated on the other side.

He can't hear how Jovi's teasing me in here. How he's getting me all worked up and ready for Alik to take me hard like he stopped himself from doing when he was taking my ass.

"How many times do you think you could get fucked in a day?" Jovi asks, placing his lips against my thigh and trailing small kisses until he's spreading me open on his tongue. "Do you want to find out?"

The bathroom door slides open, the cold look in Alik's eyes sliding into place as soon as we make eye contact in the almost fogged-up mirror. He can make out the silhouette of Jovi kneeling between my legs, one of my hands wrapped in his hair as the other one helps me stay standing. There's a danger in Alik's eyes, but it isn't scary. No, it's thrilling in the most amazing ways.

"Has she come yet?" Alik asks, opening the shower door and forcing his body inside even though this shower was barely made for one person, let alone three.

"Not yet," Jovi says between soft, sweet licks against my clit. "Want her to?"

"Yeah." Alik shifts around again, pulling a single strand of my hair and wrapping it around his finger before cupping my face. "I think I want to see how many times a human female can come today."

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