Page 42 of A Mate For Matrix
“I’ll make it work,” Matrix promised, pulling at her clothing as she worked on his.
The transport’s engines hummed to life around them, a soft, steady vibration that seemed to echo the pounding of his heart. Outside, the sky began to fade from late afternoon blue to the velvet promise of stars.
But inside the ship, time stilled—reduced to breath, skin, and the ache of knowing this was only the beginning.
Their beginning.
“Oh, yes!” Jana’s husky cry echoed as Earth fell away. He captured her lips to smother his own shout.
Chapter Seventeen
Matrix adjusted the settings on the navigation console, his fingers dancing across the glowing surface with practiced ease. Outside the forward view screen, the stars glimmered like distant, frozen sparks—silent, beautiful, and utterly unaware of the chaos currently unfolding aboard The Nebulosity.
A screech echoed down the corridor.
Matrix didn’t flinch. He barely blinked.
Another yowl followed, accompanied by the sharp clink of something valuable—or fragile—hitting the floor.
Then came K-Nine’s low, mechanical snarl:
“I warned you about that box, Biscuit. That has my limited-edition paw pads from the Interstellar Trade Embassy in it. They are not toys, they are highly prized paw mittens!”
Matrix chuckled under his breath and shook his head. Life aboard The Nebulosity had… changed.
Radically.
In the span of a few weeks, the sleek, silent warship that had once felt more like a tomb than a home had transformed into something alive. Noisy. Slightly chaotic. Warm.
Now, it smelled of fresh bread and roasted meat instead of sterile air. His galley, once home to nutrient packs and the occasional scorched ration cube, now produced meals so mouthwatering he’d seriously considered putting Jana in for a culinary commendation. If such a thing existed. One should be created just to reward Jana with it.
She had claimed the galley. She had claimed his cabin. And, perhaps most disturbingly, she had claimed his heart.
He glanced at the empty co-pilot seat beside him and smiled. Just the thought of her—barefoot, humming while cooking, wearing one of his shirts and not much else—was enough to heat his circuits. Every time he walked into their cabin, he found himself hoping she’d be there.
Behind him, a crash rattled the ventilation grates, followed by an outraged mechanical bark.
“Biscuit, Butter—contain yourselves! I am not a climbing post!”
Matrix twisted in his chair just as K-Nine stormed onto the bridge, his furred chassis ruffled and one glowing eye flickering in exasperation.
Matrix arched an eyebrow. “Everything alright?”
K-Nine’s eyes narrowed. “They’ve breached the barrier around my command charging station. Again. I found Honey asleep on my power core.”
Matrix smothered a grin. “She’s clever. It’s warm there.”
“You’re going to feel warm when you’re the one getting chewed on while trying to regenerate,” K-Nine grumbled. Then he added, almost as an afterthought: “You’ll understand once Jana is breeding.”
Matrix blinked. “I’m sorry. What?”
K-Nine huffed, shaking out his mechanical fur. “Puppies, kittens, infants—it’s all the same. They swarm. Climb. Drool. You’ll see once she’s carrying.”
Matrix froze. “Carrying…?”
“Offspring. Your spawn. A miniature combination of your DNA and hers, likely with impressive lungs and zero boundaries.”
Matrix’s face went slack. His internal diagnostics spiked.
