“Captain,” Serlotminden said, which made me swallow a groan. Now they were ambushing me while I was on duty? That was too far. Though as I stood, I blinked. He wasn’t here about Vince and I.
“Serlotminden, what do you need?”
The image of a planet flitted through his thoughts as he asked, “Can I speak to you alone?”
I gestured to the door. My office was right down the hall. We stepped into the room, and I guessed, “You have a request.”
He grinned. “You always know what people want.”
Not always. Vince was hiding something, and I desperately wanted to know what. “You want something about a planet.”
“Yes. Inogga is near here, and it has beautiful hot springs. I want to take Bartholomew.” The image of Bartholomew naked in the pure blue water as they fucked raced through my little brother’s thoughts, making me wince. “Sorry,” he said when he caught my expression. Serlotminden tried to think about other things, but it always came back to Bartholomew and him smiling as they loved.
The absolute worst part of my gift, but it was hardly new.
“This is not a pleasure trip,” I said. Inogga was four days—one way—out of our way. While it was still in Coalition space, it was hardly on our route.
“I know, but the warm water might be nice for Caleb, and Bartholomew would love it.” When I stared at him, he grinned. “Vince would like it. He might even want to rent a private hot spring for the two of you.”
I frowned at his obvious ploy, but that didn’t stop his words from working. Thoughts of Vince resting against the rough rocks, blue water lapping around his narrow hips as he went on and on about the warmth and comfort. He would like it, whether we fucked or not.
It would be nice to simply hold him and talk about whatever he wished or to simply take him because it would bring him pleasure.
“I cannot go off route simply because you or maybe I wish to. This is a navy vessel, and I have to justify how and why I go where I do.” I might be the captain, but I didn’t own this ship—the Drakcol Empire did.
“You can’t find a reason?” he asked, eyes big as his tail flicked.
I fought a growl. My brothers knew I had a hard time saying no to them.
“Eight days travel and maybe a week there. It’s asmalldelay,” Speedy said.
My thoughts latched onto the word delay. We were over halfway home, which meant me and Vince were closer than ever to separating. If I could concoct a reason to take this trip, then it would stall our return, granting me more days with Vince, which I needed. More time to find my voice to tell him what I wanted and hope that he returned it.
I dried my hair, then lay down next to Vince on the bed. We hadn’t done much tonight. He’d spent time with Camden and Pierce—their support group, I believed Vince called it—before returning late. I’d practiced the harpsichord. I was struggling to gain any proficiency with the instrument and I kept breaking the delicate strings, but it would take time. More than that, I was determined.
Now we were going to bed. I had another early duty tomorrow. I’d spent a good portion of the day—once I’d reviewed the most urgent reports—searching for a reason to go to Inogga. The only one I found was that some sidlis researchers were requesting samples of the water and some of the plants. It was an academy level mission, which we would normally send some cadets to do, but I could justify traveling there, especially if Doctor Muznim wrote something about Caleb benefiting from the healing water.
Everyone catered to the humans because they spoke to the Crystal. If Seth merely said he wanted to travel there, the Ranks and the Cohort would order me to go. Though I doubted he wanted to. He wanted to go home to his unborn kit.
Vince kissed my chest, and I turned my thoughts to him. I gave him a smile, cupping the back of his head. He didn’t have any interest that I could hear in fucking, and I was tired, but I relished the feel of him next to me.
“What's going on, Sweetheart?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been distant all day.” A spike of worry shot through him.Is he mad at me? he wondered, and I kissed his forehead, instinct surging to the forefront. Drakcol cared for our mates, and I’d left mine worried.
“Serlotminden made a request, and I’ve been thinking about whether I can do it or not.”
Vince looked up at me, a cute wrinkle marring his forehead. I kissed him, unable to stop myself. He returned it with gentle pressure, and his fingers skated over my side, making my tail thrash. If he didn’t stop, I would become aroused, and I didn’t want to pressure him for anything.
Lying back, I continued, “He wants to visit a planet four days out of our way that has lovely hot springs.”
“He wants to fuck Teddy with pretty surroundings,” Vince surmised.
“Yes, and I have to justify going with my superiors.”
“Will you get in trouble?”
