Page 81 of Rescued

“Then what do you want to do?” Nate asked, mystified. He couldn’t think of any other way to keep his emotions from affecting her negatively.

“We must turn negative emotions into positive ones,” Lan’ara said firmly.

“Um, I’ll try,” Nate told her, but he didn’t have high hopes. Every time he tried to concentrate on something positive, his thoughts kept turning back to the fact that he couldn’t be with Lan’ara because he hurt her. It was like his mind was stuck in a rut and every thought he had turned back to their breakup and the reason for it.

But Lan’ara seemed to have an idea. She rose from the pilot’s chair and looked at Nate with clear eyes.

“How do you feel about being restrained?” she asked.

“About what?” Nate frowned. “You mean…you want to tie me up? But why?”

“I need to bring out your positive emotions,” she told him. “I need to be able to touch you without you touching me. Can you let me do that, Nate? Do you trust me enough?”

Nate nodded.

“Of course I trust you, baby. I’m just not sure how this will help.”

“When we touch, the emotions I feel from you become even stronger,” she told him. “I need to be in control—to say when we’ll make physical contact. If I can touch you when you’re having intensely positive emotions, it will fill up my inner reservoir rather than depleting it.”

Nate didn’t really understand her, but he did understand that this was something Lan’ara needed to do. And he was willing to let her do it, he realized—no matter what it was. Even if it involved some discomfort or pain, he wanted her health and happiness more than he wanted his own pleasure and comfort.

“All right, let’s do it.” He rose from his seat. “Where are we going?”

“To the sleeping compartment,” Lan’ara told him. “Come this way.”

She turned and led him to the back of the ship, through the living area and food prep area and into a back room.

Nate followed her and, when she opened the door, he saw a large bed which took up most of the available space. There was no headboard but there were plenty of thick pillows and cushions and a hook on the wall above the bed which might be meant for hanging clothing or a robe, he supposed.

Lan’ara was already busy, arranging some of the cushions against the wall at the head of the bed.

“Please, come have a seat and lean against these,” she said to Nate, when she had them how she liked them.

Nate did as she asked, going to sit on the bed and lean back against the cushions. It was pretty comfortable, but her next idea wasn’t.

She was pulling something that looked like a long silk scarf out of a drawer and came to where Nate was seated.

“I need to tie your hands above your head so you can’t touch me,” she said. “Will you let me?”

Wordlessly, Nate held out his hands, wrists together.

A look of gratitude filled her lovely purple eyes.

“Thank you, Nate,” she said softly. Then she looped the red silk scarf around his wrists several times and pulled his arms over his head. She tied the scarf to the hook on the wall that he had noticed earlier. “Are you comfortable?” she asked, looking down at him.

He nodded.

“I’m fine, sweetheart. Though I still don’t understand what you’re going to do to me.”

“You’ll see. I’m going to attempt to bring out your positive emotions,” Lan’ara told him. “Just wait a moment and things will become clear.”

She slipped into a small door that must be either a bathroom or a closet, Nate thought. For a moment, he had nothing to do but sit there with his hands tied over his head and wonder what the hell was going on. He wouldn’t have trusted anyone else in the world to tie him up like this and leave him helpless and vulnerable. But he knew Lan’ara had good intentions—he just had no idea what they might be.

At least the bindings he was in weren’t uncomfortable. The silk scarf was just tight enough to hold him without cutting off circulation. He did feel vulnerable—he was still bare-chested and wearing only the loose white trousers he’d had on during his stay on Lan’ara’s home world. Something had happened to the clothing he’d been wearing when she brought him in, so the trousers were his only option, though she had promised he would get new clothes once they reached the Mother Ship. He—

His thoughts cut off abruptly when the small door opened again and Lan’ara emerged.

Nate’s jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing. Previously she’d had on a kind of military uniform consisting of black boots, tight black trousers, and a long-sleeved, conservative, button-down blouse. Nothing could be further from the outfit she had on now.

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