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Never in her life had she seen two people become so close so quickly without the mate bond activated. They were aware of each other in ways that was easy to miss if one didn’t know them well.
Adelina was used to the heat on Draga Terra, she nearly thrived on it. The cool temperature in the ship had her constantly dressed for winter in thick pants, warm boots, and long sleeves. Varan never let her get too cold. He’d make the entire ship suffer the heating system if he had to for her to be happy.
It eased something in Nadyah’s chest to see it. Part of her duties had been taken by him, but he did them so well, so masterfully she didn’t even mind. Varan truly loved Adelina in ways Nadyah knew he never would have been able to love her.
And Nadyah never could have loved him the way Adelina did either. The princess adored him. Nadyah suspected some of their connection had to do with the cycles they’d spent as friends, working together, but there was something else. They orbited each other.
Without even looking Adelina had taken the tea from Varan and she’d adjusted so he could sit closer to her without spilling the tea or blocking the view of the holo. And when he sat he was careful not to jostle her, but neither seemed overly aware of it. The small touches; his knee against hers, her hand on his arm…it was as though they were constantly grounding each other.
Nadyah smiled, relieved that Adelina had someone so close to a mate despite her refusal to reactivate the mate gene. It was her princess’s choice of course, but it had saddened Nadyah in a way she hadn’t anticipated. Now that sadness dissipated and she felt truly happy for the first time in a long while without the taint of disappointment or grief. Adelina deserved Varan.
Adelina wasn’t Nadyah’s mate for a reason, and as the pack around her princess started to form she could see why. Nadyah couldn’t do everything for her for the rest of her life even if she desperately wanted to. Adelina needed to grow and learn and fully take that final step. She’d been able to uncover the hidden gem within the princess and it would be Varan and possibly Nash who nurtured her to take her full power, not Nadyah.
She watched Varan down his tea and the pair stood in sync. Adelina kissed Nadyah’s cheek on her way out the door, but that was that.
The holo with the personnel files still hovered above the low table. There was no doubt in her mind the princess had done it intentionally. Those courtesan instincts of hers would help judge the other crew members, but it would be more difficult judging a file than someone in person.
“Shall we finish what we started in the lift?” Roxy asked rather nonchalantly. “It seems we have at least another three quarters of an hour before the pirate reconvenes with the princess.”
The straightforward manner in which Roxy spoke never ceased to shock Nadyah. “Now?” she asked, glancing back at the personnel files.
“Yes now.” Roxy set her tea down and threw an arm across the back of the plush couch. “Did you think I was playing?”
The sharp tone to Roxy’s voice sent a spark through Nadyah and she turned to face the gorgeous engineer fully. She used every ounce of her courtesan skill to sense and learn what she could.
Because of the rough start to her life Roxy didn’t like to be touched outside bed-play. It seemed whatever had happened before her life with Varan had pushed her to crave an intense level of control inside the bedroom and out. Roxy wanted to be the dominant – no, she required it. She would be a rough lover and a part of Nadyah needed that.
Adelina was so sweet, so tender, and so loving. This thing with Roxy would be fire rather than water. Her princess could quench her thirst where Nadyah had a feeling Roxy would set her alight and make her burn and burn.
The idea made her breathless and instantly wet with desire.
Nadyah finished her inspection of the engineer. Tying her up would be a likely request, and Roxy would take what she wanted with no quarter. As a dominant with the scent of winterflowers Nadyah would go a level lower – an orange blossom would be enough to satisfy Roxy without handing over complete submission to her.
Because Nadyah wasn’t ready for such a commitment.
The one and only time she’d offered such submission was when she’d first met Adelina. The princess had been such a rare, sweet jasmine – so submissive and shy. But something about her instincts had said Adelina needed to dominate. Her instincts were never wrong. The challenge had been dropping low enough down the spectrum to allow a jasmine to dominate.
No one else had received that gift from her – and Nadyah strongly suspected no one else would.
Nadyah knew what Roxy needed – she knew what she wanted. Without a word she set down her tea. “You may enter my room in five minutes.”
Roxy’s eyebrows rose in surprise at Nadyah’s tone, but she obeyed. There was a slight smile on her face that made Nadyah shiver in anticipation.
She closed her door behind her and rummaged through her trunk, picking out a selection and carefully laying it all out across the top of her dresser. Once she was satisfied Nadyah drank some water, and then knelt before the door and waited.
Right on time the door slid open to reveal Roxy. Her small smile seemed pleased when she saw Nadyah. It wasn’t difficult to keep her gaze down and still inspect the female. Cycles of training and honing her skills and instincts told her when to look up.
She glanced up and watched Roxy inspect the items on the dresser and then her room. By the time she looked at Nadyah again she was nothing more than a submissive awaiting her dominant’s orders.
“Put this on,” Roxy said, tossing a silky garment at Nadyah. “Once you’re done climb on the bed and get on your hands and knees.” There was no room to disobey in the female’s tone and Nadyah shivered at the deliciousness of it. Her words were stern, but her voice husky.
If Nadyah didn’t know what to look for she’d have a hard time seeing the satisfaction in Roxy when she obeyed without a word or a single sound and took up the garment. “Yes, Mistress.” It was easy enough to strip and then slip on the see-through black spidersilk nightgown.
Roxy watched with satisfaction as she stripped herself. She left her corset on, but everything else was bare, including her breasts. Nadyah kept her eyes down but she licked her lips as the anticipation built higher and the slickness on her thighs teased her.
Nadyah climbed up onto her bed on her hands and knees as she’d been instructed. She glanced back once to see Roxy grab the softest rope she owned and test it. Goddess, the female looked so sure and confident and radiant as she expertly ran her light fingers over the length of the rope, as if she were running those very fingers over Nadyah.
“Rise to your knees with a straight back,” Roxy said. Her hands were gentle despite the way her words cracked through the air like a whip. She was so careful as she tied the rope around Nadyah’s body under the silky gown. “I’m sure you know of a thousand different karadas, but I’m going to keep it rather simple for our first time. You know the drill. Tell me if anything is uncomfortable or hurts you. Would you like a safe word?” Roxy asked. She sounded almost bored, but Nadyah could detect the tight need under the nonchalance and she swallowed hard.
