"Take it off," I commanded. My voice was trembling, but not with fear.
"Ladies first," he countered, stepping closer.
He reached out and pulled the pin from my hair. My bun unraveled, the dark curtain falling around my shoulders. He buried his hands in my hair, gripping my scalp, tilting my head back.
"You have no idea," he whispered against my throat, "how much I missed this neck."
He bit me.
Right on the pulse point.
"Ah!"
My knees gave out. I would have fallen if he hadn't caught me. He swept me up into his arms, carrying me toward the bed like I weighed nothing.
He threw me down on the mattress. The springs groaned in protest.
He loomed over me, a shadow of pure masculinity. He looked at me with a hunger that could swallow a star.
"Tell me to stop," he challenged, his hand hovering over his belt buckle. "Tell me you have paperwork, Vice. Tell me we need to file a report."
I reached up. I grabbed the front of my uniform.
Buttons flew across the room, bouncing off the metal walls like hail. I tore my tunic open, exposing my black lace bra, exposing the heaving rise and fall of my chest.
"Report this," I panted.
Ragia roared.
It was a primal sound. He shoved his pants down, kicking them away.
And there it was.
The Inquor's pride.
It was fully erect. Thick, heavy, and twitching with anticipation. It looked angry. It looked beautiful. It looked like the only weapon I ever wanted to be shot with.
He didn't wait for foreplay. He didn't wait for me to get ready. He knew. He could smell it on me. He knew I had been wet since the moment he walked through the airlock.
He climbed over me, spreading my legs with his knees.
"My turn to drive," he grunted.
He lined himself up.
"Ragia..." I gasped, my hands finding purchase on his shoulders. "Please..."
He thrust.
"Oh God!"
He buried himself to the hilt in one fluid motion.
It was like being impaled by lightning. He filled me. He stretched me. He erased every second of the last month with a single stroke.
"Mine," he growled, grabbing my hips. "You are mine, Iya."
"Yes!" I screamed. "Yes!"
He began to move. It wasn't the slow, gentle rhythm he had used when he was a woman. This was the Gatling Rose of sex. Fast. Brutal. Relentless.
My bed hit the wall. The sound synced with the thrumming of the Xeca's engines that Navi had warmed up for us. The whole ship was vibrating, and I was vibrating with it.
"Look at me," he commanded.
I opened my eyes.
He was sweating. Beads of perspiration rolled down his forehead, dripping onto my chest. His jaw was clenched. His eyes were burning gold.
"I'm back," he said, driving into me so deep I saw stars. "I am right here."
"Deeper!" I begged, wrapping my legs around his waist, pulling him closer. "Don't you dare leave again! Don't you dare turn into a Queen!"
"Never," he promised.
He shifted his grip, sliding one hand down to find my clit. He rubbed it hard, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.
My Melios flared.
Time seemed to stutter. My Tickling Clock ability was leaking out, making every sensation last for an eternity. A single second of friction felt like an hour of pleasure.
"Ragia! My Melios! It's triggering!"
"Let it!" he shouted. "Freeze this moment, Iya! Make it last forever!"
I threw my head back, arching my spine off the mattress.
The pressure built. It wasn't just physical. It was emotional overload. It was the fear of losing him, the joy of finding him, the rage at the Council, all boiled down into this single, explosive point of contact.
"I'm close!" I wailed. "Ragia! I need it! I need the fuel!"
"Take it!" he roared.
He picked up the pace. He was a blur of motion. A piston of flesh and blood.
"Cum for me, Vice! That's an order!"
"Aye, Captain!"
I shattered.
My orgasm ripped through me like a supernova. I screamed his name, my voice cracking, my body convulsing so hard I thought I would break his ribs with my thighs.
And then, he followed.
He stiffened. He groaned, a sound torn from the depths of his soul.
"Iya!"
He slammed into me one last time and held it there.
I felt it.
The flood.
Hot, thick, endless. He poured himself into me. It wasn't just fluid. It was energy. It was life. It was the antidote to the emptiness. I felt my reserves filling up, my Melios recharging, my soul knitting itself back together.
We stayed like that for a long time.
Him collapsed on top of me, his heavy breathing tickling my ear. Me, clutching his sweaty back, tears streaming silently down my face into the pillow.
The ankle monitor on his leg blinked red in the darkness.
I looked at it.
I smiled.
Let them track us. Let them restrict us. Let them try to ground the Xeca.
They can put a shackle on his leg, but they can't put a shackle on this.
Ragia lifted his head. He looked like a wreck. A beautiful, sweaty, exhausted wreck. He kissed my nose.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hey," I whispered back.
"Did I mention I missed you?"
"Shut up," I said softly. "You talk too much."
He laughed. He rolled off me, flopping onto his back, pulling me into his side.
I rested my head on his chest. I listened to his heart.
Strong. Steady. Human.
I looked at you one last time.
Are you satisfied? Did you get what you came for?
Good.
Now, do me a favor.
Close the book. Turn off the light.
My Captain is home. And I have a lot of lost time to make up for.
"Navi," I whispered into the comms link I hadn't turned off. "Keep the engines running."
"Aye, Vice," Navi's voice crackled back, sounding suspiciously breathless. "Engines are hot. We aren't going anywhere."
I closed my eyes.
We are Explorer 7. We are grounded. We are watched. We are probably in deep trouble.
But we are alive.
And tonight?
Tonight, the stars can wait.