Craving Captivity: Human Pets of Talin, Book 5 by RK Munin

Author:RK Munin [Munin, RK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Most passenger vessels had observation areas where passengers could gather to watch passing stars or planets. The Slow Star was no different, but as with everything else on the vessel, their observation area was showing signs of wear. Old seats had been patched and repatched. Some of the windows had been replaced by shutters with giant displays over them to give you the image of what you’d see if the window still existed.

One window even had a giant crack in it. When Lasha saw the prominent blemish, she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be here,” she murmured. “We should go.”

“But you were so excited,” Tamerin protested. “You said you’d never gotten to visit an observation area. This one is small and poorly equipped, I’ll admit. But it’s better than no view.”

Lasha pointed to the crack. “I’m not interested in dying for a view.”

Tamerin looked to where she indicated and then sounded the marbles-clicking rumble of amusement. “That’s not dangerous. If the viewing polymer becomes unstable, shutters will close and seal it before any atmosphere is lost. The shutters seal on all four edges and can’t be retracted. When that happens the whole unit has to be replaced.”

His explanation made her feel better. “Oh, then I guess that’s why they put a display up. Must have been cheaper than replacing that window. Still, it’s worrisome that they had one shutter deploy. What do you think happened?”

“Micro-meteor probably,” he answered. “If you’re in space long enough you’re going to get hit by one. It’s only a matter of time. That’s why all ships have resealing veins in their outside panels. I was on a ship that was hit by so many we looked as if we’d deliberately styled a dimpled exterior.”

Laughing, Lasha let him lead her to a heavily padded and battered bench. Sitting down, he started up a soft purr and drew her into his lap. She arranged herself sideways so she could lean against his chest and look out the observation window to his left and he could look out the ones straight ahead.

“There’s not much to see right now,” he warned her. “But in about four marks we’ll be passing by a gas giant that I believe you might find interesting. It glows a bright blue with a ring of orange across its equator.”

“You’re right, I want to see that,” she agreed.

They watched the stars in silence for a while before Lasha voiced the question that had been bouncing around in her brain since last night. “What happened to your arm and shoulder?”

She expected Tamerin to get tense and maybe even a little defensive, but her warrior surprised her. “I was waiting for you to ask me that,” he admitted calmly.

The smell of cardamom hit her nose before she felt his head move and his cheek brush against the top of her head. She waited until he’d finished before reaching up and running her fingers through her hair to better distribute his bonding-oil. She found she liked the smell best after it soaked into her scalp and skin.

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