Page 37 of Touch the Stars
She had spoken in Undetan.Her brain was now processing his language with the aid of her translator.Soon they would be able to converse together without needing such devices.It might be possible to do so now at a rudimentary level.
He rose to his knees, and she slid off his lap to kneel in front of him.He unfastened her hood and eased it over her head.Wisps of her golden hair, the ones too short to be captured in her warrior’s knot, drifted free before settling to frame her face.He placed her hood on the floor, then removed his and set it next to hers.
If he were not already on his knees, the absolute trust in her gaze would have brought him there.He cradled her face between his palms.
“You are the empress.”My empress.
“Not yet, I’m not.”She ran her pink tongue over her lips.“Right now, I’m just Kaitlyn.And don’t say anything about getting me pregnant.I’m on birth control.”
“As am I.”
Surprise flashed in her dark eyes, and was gone as quickly.“Then no one will know, except us.”
Chlara, Baatar.The words were from her heart, and she had protected herself.Why was he fighting this?
He touched his lips to her forehead.
“Bi inih, nixKaatlyn.”I am yours, my Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn.
Warmth expanded in her heart at his words.The heat in his eyes was like sunshine glittering on the bluest ocean.He was hers, and she was his, even if just for the time they were on this ship.He lowered his head, hunching to compensate for their height difference.The first touch of his lips on hers was gentle, but gentle was not her game plan.She was going all in and no holds barred.
“Bi inih, Baatar, and don’t you dare hold back.”She grasped the front of his environmental suit, the thin material bunching in her fists as she pulled him closer to claim his full lips.
She pushed her tongue forward until he opened his mouth and drew her in.His taste was all male spice.A deep growl resonated from his chest as he shifted to hold her more tightly, pulling her close and leaning her back in one move.Possessive and controlling.
Oh, yeah.Game on.She sucked his lower lip, caught it between her teeth to nibble.His whole body trembled and he drew back panting, ceding his dominating strategy.This would be a partnership of equals.
She reached for his belt, unhooked it, then let it drop to the floor.“We’re overdressed for the occasion.”
“Yea.”He flicked the catch on her belt, and it slid down her legs to join his.
“It’s ‘yes’, not yea.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck yes?”He looked so pleased with himself, how could she correct him?
“Right.Fuck yes.”She’d fully explain the nuances of word usage later.
He worked the clasps of his environmental suit.“Take care not to rip your suit in case you need it again.”
Party pooper.
She stripped off the suit, then grasped the hem of her white shirt.
“Not yet, little empress.”Baatar closed his hands around her waist, hoisted her up and…draped her over his shoulder.
“Eep!”What the hell was this caveman shit?“You know, therearemore romantic ways to carry a woman.”
“You did not ask for romantic.”
Well, yeah, that was true.But with how fast he was zooming through the corridor, it’d be a waste of time to ask him to stop just to rearrange her in his arms like Romeo and Juliet—not that those two had ever gotten this far.Besides, this whole sack-over-the-shoulder thing added to his alien barbarian charm.
“Neltai.”He carried her through the wavey wall-doorway into her room, then stopped.
