Page 22 of Abducting Sarah

“Of course.” He moved off the bed and stumbled toward part of the wall. “Allegiant, towels.”

The nearest bit of wall slid open, and steam poured out, but when it cleared, there was a stack of emerald green cloths inside. He delivered one to me and used another to clean his cum from my stomach.

“What’s this one for?” I asked, trying to ignore the soft brush of his fingers against my skin and how much I liked it.

He smiled, but his brows thickened in confusion. “For yourself. You make a lot of moisture.”

I blushed and swabbed between my legs and he wasn’t wrong. All his foreplay, along with those orgasms, had made me extremely wet and slick. More so than I’d ever been. “That was thoughtful. Thank you. What do I do when I’m done with the towel?”

“Say, ‘Allegiant, laundry,’ and the floor will open for you to drop it there, wherever you are in the room.”

I didn’t know why I doubted him—maybe because it sounded too easy, and yes, very futuristic. But I smiled dubiously and said, “Allegiant, laundry.”

Sure enough, a whooshing sound happened next to the bed. I peeked over the edge and a square of the floor had slid open. I dropped the used towel there, and the floor closed. “Huh.”

Deacon returned to the bed with glasses of a clear red liquid. “I’m sure you are thirsty. Drink this.”

“Punch?” I guessed.

He frowned profoundly. “Why would I hit you?”

I closed my eyes and sighed. Our communications were sketchy, but I knew we could work on that. Then, I looked up into his surprisingly handsome face and tried to explain. “No, it’s a drink humans have sometimes. Fruity, sweet. What is this?”

“Water with herbs. It prevents hunger.”

“Oh.”Strange post-coital custom, but sure.

The red water tasted like every citrus fruit I had ever tried all at once, with a fennel finish. Sweet, sour, and sweet again. It was peculiar, but delicious, and made me think of a fennel and citrus salad I had in Italy on my first vacation with Ryan.

“That’s wonderful,” I said, not realizing just how parched I’d truly been.

“I am glad you like it. That will give you the strength and energy you need for the pomp.”

The pomp?What the hell was the pomp?

He took the glass from my hand, set it aside, then said, “Allegiant, let them in.”

Startled and still naked beneath the fur, I jerked the covers up to my neck and blurted out, “Let who in?”

CHAPTER 8

Jacaranda

Those earthly butterflies gnawed at my gut after they had fluttered in it for an hour.I do not want to participate in the pomp. I want nothing to do with this.But it was expected of me and the Ladrang family was nothing, if not traditional. If I wanted to remain a faithful employee, then I would participate.

More importantly, as Deacon’s best friend, it would insult him if I did not join in.

As I stood in the hallway waiting for the door to his quarters to open, Kapok, Tiger, and Drift walked toward me.

Shit. Drift was the smallest of us—even shorter than me. But he wasn’t muscled like I was—his was the runt of his family. They had sent him to the academy when he was barely a child, and from what I had heard, the Skir clan had hoped the academy would kill him. But he had thrived instead, becoming the youngest pilot in the academy’s history. On a day like today,none of that mattered. It was impossible to view any of the others with more than mild disdain.

I frowned and said, “Tiger, I thought you weren’t going to be in on this.”

“Kapok says I should learn about the pomp, so I’m here to observe.”

I grimaced at Kapok. “Really?”

“He’s got to learn some time, doesn’t he? We’re all under Deacon’s employment. He would be mad if we weren’t all here to make the union official, so—”

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