With a quick shake of my head, I banished the thought. My Seth was strong. He’d survived long before I arrived and didn’t need me, but that realization did not dampen my need to see him.
The lift was taking eons.
When it opened, I whipped down the corridor, not caring about the open-mouthed expressions I left in my wake. I turned toward the outer hull and continued until I saw Seth near the window, surrounded by flowers.
Worry fled my body and left me feeling as if the gravity controls had failed. He appeared perfectly fine, bored if anything. I wanted to drag him into my arms to assure myself he was safe. I controlled the sensation. Seth would not appreciate me hugging him until he squeaked, even though that’s precisely what I wanted.
“My Seth.”
He turned toward me.
I practically saw the waves of fear coming off of him, and I didn’t know what to think. I gave him a smile, taking care not to show my sharp teeth. “Would you like to go back to our quarters?”
“Yeah.”
I motioned him back the way I’d come. Seth fell in step next to me, and my tail automatically curled around his ankle. Once I realized what I’d done, I started to pull away, but Seth smiled, so I kept a hold of him.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“I got lost.”
“How did you get off on deck two?”
Seth peered around. “Is that where I am?”
I pressed the panel for the lift, and we stepped inside. “What happened?”
A long release of air came from Seth, which I found he did often. “Someone got on the elevator with me, and I didn’t tell NAID what floor I wanted.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I turned toward him, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t want to seem stupid. He asked if I was going to the same floor when I didn’t push one of the symbols, and I couldn’t get the words out to say I didn’t know,” Seth replied in a deeper tone, arms crossed.
From his clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows, he seemed angry. I stepped closer and angled my face toward his. For once, I was grateful I was the shortest of my brothers—I didn’t loom over Seth this way.
“I’m sorry.”
He lifted and lowered his shoulders.
I was a hand width away from him. “I can teach you if you want.”
“Okay,” he said, but he sounded a little breathless.
My eyes darted to his lips. I wanted to taste them, to find out if they were as soft as they looked. What would it feel like to kiss him? My cock twitched. I needed Seth. It was quite surprising how much I wanted him in such a short time. But then again, he was mine.
Rather unwillingly, I turned to the deck display. “It starts right to left, then top to bottom. So on the upper right corner is one, then two, then three.”
“I get it.” Seth pushed the symbol for deck three.
“I can teach you to read and write my language, but now, you won’t have to speak if you don’t want to.”
“Thanks.”
“I would do anything for you, my Seth.”
