Page 45 of Golden Darkness

He looked at her and burst out in laughter loud enough to make the whole dining area freeze in astonishment.

She sighed. “Didn’t fall for it?”

He stroked her lips with his fingertip. “No, but it was a valiant effort.”

“I will claw up your back for you.”

His eyes flickered gold. “Thatwill get me to agree to forgo the collar until you do something unauthorized again.” He kissed her softly. “We both know that time will come sooner rather than later.”

She grimaced. “Don’t be sweet.”

He nuzzled her ear. “I want to be sweet.”

She could see some of the command crew lining up around them. Kethen was still cuddling, and he wouldn’t be rushed. She blushed and held both of her hands in the air as Kethen continued gnawing and licking at her skin.

Neebath chuckled. “Overlord, the station is requesting your authorization for us to move into the docking position.”

Kethen nodded and kept his lips moving along her skin. When she was tense and quivering under his ministrations, he got to his feet with her in his arms. He walked out of the dining hall with her furious blushing giving him endless amusement.

When they walked to the command deck with the others and he opened the visuals, there was a huge cheer from the Kethic on the other side of the call.

They were excited by his return. Janessa could get that much. The ship was given access to the station, and clearance was granted to one of the planetary shuttles. Any spacecraft found dropping without authorization would be blasted by seventeen satellites out of the huge belt of watchful devices around the planet.

Kethen carried her back to the room where the crew was packing their possessions. He took a bag and started to empty the walls. She watched as jewel cases were tucked into the bag, and her astonishment at how many of the small cubbies were invisible in the wall was genuine.

“Why didn’t the Vel-ech get those out?”

He laughed. “This wall is keyed to my bio-signs. My energy opens the wall. Try it.”

She blinked and then ran her hand over the wall, shocked when a panel sprang open. “That is sort of cool.”

He nodded. “Open the rest.”

She ran her hands along the walls until things stopped opening, then started hopping up and slapping the wall, and sure enough, there were more.

“I would say you need to grow taller, but I like you tiny.”

“I am not tiny.”

He laughed. “If you say so, Pet.”

He wrapped an arm around her, and she slapped her way across the upper part of the wall, opening the drawers and doors.

He finished unpacking, and the bag hardened into a case. He lifted it and offered his hand. “Shall we go?”

She swallowed. “What if they don’t like me?” It was not exactly the bold statement she had hoped to make.

“Then, I will burn them all to the ground and start with a new species who likes you.”

She blinked. “Oh. Well, the crew seems nice.”

He chuckled. “No one will insult you, Pet. You will hear several globes heave a sigh of relief when they see me.”

“Well, you have put on a bit of mass, Kethen.”

“And I got all of that directly from you.”

She blushed. “Right.”

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