Ancalagon - 84. Chapter 84

“He’s an assistant model. He can carry luggage in this form and travel a variety of terrain, or he can compact down and then work as a mech doing menial tasks like recording, errands, and act as a remote terminal when a comm isn’t good enough.” Ases walked over to the mech, and the guards tensed, but luckily for them they didn’t try to grab me again.

Tapping a sequence on the side, Ases reset the mode. The mech whirred and then compacted down. The central barrel slid downward, and the treads clanked as they folded in on each other as the arms retracted. A light flashed on the underside, and it stopped, a third of the size it had stood.

“It’s also voice activated. Follows me around like a loyal pet.” Ases patted it.

I ignored the murmuring behind me. “Your dad got that for you, did he?”

“He insisted, and I resisted at first, but it brought me around. You know how much I hate space and travel, but the mech is rated for planetary and space travel. It holds my luggage and operates as an assistant with limited AI capabilities.”

“How limited?” The gruff voice sent a chill down my spine, and I turned to see Garjah striding into the hold.

“Enough to follow directions, run errands, return to quarters to find me via a locator.” Ases held up a necklace. “This has expanding links, so it transforms with me.”

“We will check that.” Garjah barked out some orders into his comm, and a tech came in, the ridges on his head smaller than the ones the guards sported. He had an array of tools I couldn’t even begin to catalog.

“He won’t damage my mech, will he?” Ases’s hackles were literally rising. The color of his eyes shifted, and his shoulders stretched, twitching sideways as he tried to control it.

“No.” But then, because Garjah didn’t lie or fail to hide the truth, he said, “unless there is something you aren’t telling us about it.”

I leaned into Garjah who had stopped right behind me. “Of course there isn’t.”

The walk I wanted to take Ases on was delayed while we all waited for his mech to be cleared. The tech did his job carefully, casting several glances at Garjah who stood in his classic pose with legs spread, one pair of arms crossed. One of his arms was around my shoulders, and the other was petting Bouncer who had decided he was tired enough to lean on Garjah’s thick thigh and accept the stroking as his due.

“There was, ahem, a relay device to allow long-distance communication on the mech,” the tech reported. “But it was already disabled.”

“Can it be reestablished?”

“No,” said Ases. “I already told my father that I would go through official channels only, so when he included that feature, I removed it.” He flexed his fingers. “Manually.”

“Good. It seems Ellis’ trust in you was not misplaced. I am glad, but you understand my caution.”

“Building a new relationship takes trust, but that must also be built. I’ve shown my good intentions,” Ases said.

“Very true.” Garjah gestured to the tech and his guards. They all left the hold. “Thank you for your honesty. We have a few days of travel. Please feel free move about the ship. The crew has been made aware of your status, and you will be treated as a respected guest.”

I squeezed Garjah’s waist, then stepped away from him. “Great. Now, I know you still have work to do, but your men were nervous about the mech. I’m going to finish the tour I was taking Ases on, and you can meet me back in our quarters after your shift.”

He grabbed my hand and reeled me back in, our chests bumping together. “I won’t be that much longer. Don’t make it a long tour. You can show him around more after a rest period.” Claiming my lips, Garjah stroked his tongue between them until I opened my mouth and then he tasted inside, twining his tongue with mine.

Bouncer, ever jealous, broke us apart before the kiss could grow too heated and make walking difficult. Er… more difficult. My gaze was glued to Garjah’s rounded ass as he strode out of the hold until the door shut behind him.

“Stars… that was hot. You two are on fire.” Ases smirked when my face flared. He started laughing. “He makes you stupid, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he kinda does.” I’d made fun of Ases for losing his mind over a pair of Arkeshion twins not long after we met, and he’d literally walked into a doorway while watching them. He might as well not even have been a shifter—he’d lost all grace as soon as they around.

Of course the rumors of what they did in bed—and out of it—would have anyone they showed even the slightest bit of interest in lose their minds.

“You never did tell me if you bedded those twins,” I teased Ases as he powered down the mech.

“Nope, and I never will.” We strode out of the hold together, Bouncer leading the way. “Where to?”

“Well, we don’t have a lot of time. We can wander this level, or I can show you the lounge and quarters on our level.”

“Lounge and quarters, please. I’d rather be familiar with where I’m going to stay. Then you can share more about how all this happened! I’m still dying to know how you met this great red beast and your Garjah.”

“Well, they didn’t happen too far apart.”