Ancalagon - 82. Chapter 82

The release of tension from getting out of the atmosphere and not being intercepted by anyone else, again, sent a wave of exhaustion through me. I’d been planning on stripping in the confined space, straddling Garjah, and teasing him until all four hands were stroking my aching skin.

Instead, the pulled me onto the bed and curled around me. Yes, he was touching me, but instead of revving me up and sending us over the edge into a streak of orgasms that would sate my need for him, he took it in another direction. The rumble in his chest vibrated against my back, his lower arms anchored us together, and his upper arms rubbed my shoulders until I was limp.

All over. Even the body parts that would normally be ready and willing were melted into the narrow, hard mattress. It wasn’t something I’d have been proud of if he’d given any sign he was looking for more. But all Garjah whispered was, “Sleep.”

Apparently future included sleep, because I couldn’t resist that softly rumbled order and closed by eyes on the view of vast solar system we were passing through to get back to the ship.

I swallowed, standing on the bridge of the ship and watching as they opened a single bay door and literally swallowed the oval Fertet ship carrying Ases. He’d never be able to keep up. Even his ship had lagged well behind ours, so I had time to shower, change, and feed Bouncer. It was a surprise how comforting the stronger gravity had felt as soon as we stepped back aboard, like an anchor tethering me to the floor instead of feeling like I was about to float away.

“They got it? It’s not damaged?” I asked Garjah nervously, twisting our fingers together. I was lucky he’d let me keep one of his hands trapped with mine. He was working at the security station, and all three of his other hands were sweeping across the console, flicking and touching the buttons and menus in sequences I couldn’t begin to keep up with.

The navigator, Marvud, glared at me but switched the screen to show the ship almost directly in the center of the holding bay; it was upright and the I could see the hatch at a reasonable distance from the floor. The doors were slowly irising shut behind it.

“I’m going to meet Ases.” I let go of Garjah’s hand.

“Alone?” He started to shake his head, placing one hand around my upper arm in a gentle grip to hold me in place.

“I’ll take Bouncer. And one of your security guys inside the bay.” There were four in the corridor outside the bay just standing around anyway. What else were the younglings going to do? “Ases was a friend. I trust him as much as I trust anyone.”

Which meant I knew he’d have orders above and beyond being an ambassador and bringing a treaty to get it signed by the Kardoval. Learning about Garjah’s people might also seem like a diplomatic mission, but if my mother got her claws into him, she’d treat this like one of her friend or foe first contact scenarios too. I wanted to try and figure out just what Ases had been up to, and how much of his disregard for the rules and hatred of form over the function of government held up to working in it. He wouldn’t have been the first youthful rebel determined to change how things were done to be be seduced into accepting how things were or convinced to lose their ideals altogether.

“Trust him as much as I would trust him,” Garjah said.

“Fine. I’m sure Bouncer will do that for both of us.”

Except, when Ases came out of his rounded little tube and dropped to his hands and knees on the ground, Bouncer was jumping right over to him and then jumping on him.

“Bouncer!” I shouted. He sprang off, then jumped completely over Ases sprawled from that had hit the cargo bay deck, chuffing his amusement. To my surprise, Ases rolled onto his back and laughed too, stretching his arms out.

“I can see your pet and I are going to have some tussles in the future,” he said. He didn’t even get up, just tilted his head back to stare up at me from his place on the ground. Bouncer was walking around him now, sniffing every inch of him from the shoulders down his side to his hip, leg, feet—he reared back there and coughed—then back up the other side.

“Don’t expect to win them,” I answered drily. I’d seen Ases’ shifted form before, and it was middling range. Large enough on almost every developed world to be safe, but small enough he’d be prey for something or another on wilder planets. His thicker lower legs and tail did help him climb very well though, so I thought he’d enjoy Garjah’s atrium. The sun’s beams in the central garden space would also warm his pale skin nicely, keeping him from going catatonic.

“How are you? I know how much you hate space travel.”

As sinuous as ever, Ases turned and flexed his arms a bare inch, pushing his whole body off the ground so he could get his large feet back under him. As a bipedal, he wasn’t that remarkable, but some traits of his shifted form stayed with him.

“I haven’t looked out a single window, I can’t tell how high we are.”

I snorted. “It’s space, Ases. Gravity doesn’t work that way in a vacuum.”

“It’s not natural, now is it? If ships or stations can be sucked out of space to fall onto planets, there’s a down. And we’re up.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Whatever you say, my friend.” I was not going to get into that conversation again. Not even to add days we no longer had on a task we no longer needed to do.