Page 236 of Commander’s Mate

Nora smiled into her cup.

“You like him,” I said.

“I tolerate his face.”

“His very handsome face,” Zoe added.

Scarlet pointed at both of us. “I will abandon you on the next slave planet.”

The joke went quiet as soon as it left her mouth.

Then Scarlet exhaled. “Sorry.”

“No,” I said. “We get to make bad jokes again. I think that’s part of being free.”

For a moment none of us spoke.

Then Nora said, “In that case, your taste in men is terrible.”

Scarlet threw a ration wrapper at her.

We laughed.

Across the mess hall, Zared looked up from an officer’s table and found me with his eyes, connecting without words.

I smiled and went back to my friends.

By the time we finished eating, the officer’s table had thinned out. Zared was still there with Degatu, a half-finished cup in front of him and a slate open beneath one hand.

I said good night to Scarlet, Zoe, and Nora and crossed the mess hall.

Zared looked up before I reached him. Of course he did.

“Finished?” he asked.

“I am.”

His gaze warmed. “Would you like me to walk with you?”

“Actually,” I said, holding out my hand, “I came to collect you.”

“You’ve spent a lot of time teaching yourself not to take charge of me.”

“I am trying.”

“Good. Tonight I’m taking charge of you.”

The night before, I had been exhausted from training, and sex with Zared had felt like another full-body workout.

“I know you’re tired,” he said. “Just lie back and let me pleasure you.” Zared leaned over me, and we kissed while he stroked my mound. Then he moved from my lips to my neck, kissing and caressing. The moans that escaped my lips were pure bliss.

He kissed his way across my chest and paused briefly to smile at me, then continued where he had left off. I was content to caress his head and shoulders while he had his way with me, the sensations from his sucking and gently biting my nipple going straight to my core. My whole body started to quiver as he seemed bent on kissing and tasting me everywhere.

When he reached the top of my mound, his fingers parted the curls and the outer lips. He paused for a few seconds just to look before he kissed the flower of my sex. I gasped and clawed at the bed with my fingers as he settled his lips over it and tongued my clit.

The sensation was so exquisite that all I could do was whimper, moan, and pant. As he nearly drove me mad with pleasure, he slid a finger or two inside me and sucked gently on my clit.

I let out a scream and came so hard I almost pushed him off the bed. Oh my God! The things that man did with his tongue. I learned the meaning of ecstasy firsthand.