York (The Vorge Crew Book 3) Read online

  “He could do that?” Anger deepened York’s voice. “I would never abandon a child.”

  She hesitated. “I wasn’t sure what my mom would do. He made good money and had a respectable job. She’d have had an easier life without me. Any child is a huge burden to a single parent, where I come from. Anyway, it scared me bad enough that I implied there were three more kids she’d hidden from him, my siblings, and that she was only dating him to fool him into marriage. He stopped seeing her right after.”

  She tensed, watching his expression, hoping he didn’t think she was a horrible person.

  He nodded. “That was smart.”

  The tension in her body eased slightly. “I felt bad. My mom was depending on him to make our lives easier. I was more afraid of losing her, though, to be honest. She was the only person I had to depend on and who loved me. I don’t think I’d have survived long on the streets on my own as a child. It was hard enough as an adult. We lived together until the day she died, sharing an apartment and bills. On Earth, most people need to team up with someone to have a decent home and three meals a day.”

  York leaned closer and held out his hand. “You will never be alone again, Sara. I’m here now.”

  Tears threatened to rise but she blinked them back, deeply touched. She took his hand. “Thank you.”

  “Bond mates are forever. I will spend the rest of our lives showing you how much you matter to me. You’ll never grow hungry or know struggle. I promise you that. Cathian said if he ever retires, the crew is welcome to make a home on his planet. I doubt he will, though, for a very long time. He’s the first Tryleskian to not step down from his ambassador duties after taking a mate. The Vorge is our home.” He motioning to the room. “If we are ever blessed with children, we’ll expand into other cabins near us for bedrooms. Cathian did that already, when he life-locked to Nara. They plan to have a litter when he goes into his next heat cycle.”

  “A litter? I think you mentioned that before, but I didn’t fully understand.”

  “Tryleskians usually have more than one infant at a time. I’ve only heard of a single birth happening once. That’s Raff, another crew member. He and Cathian are cousins. Cathian is from a litter of three. He has two brothers who were born with him.”

  It didn’t shock her that some aliens had multiple babies. Humans sometimes had twins or triplets. She’d just wondered how many made up a litter. “What about Parri?”

  “Single births. Two infants are rare for our kind.”

  She felt a bit of relief. To birth one of his babies would probably be difficult enough. “He’d let us expand our cabin if I ever get pregnant?”

  “Of course. Cathian has told all of us that if we decide to have children, we can expand, and that he hoped we’d stay on The Vorge. The crew is family. We stick together.”

  “That’s really great. Most bosses hate when a worker gets pregnant.”

  “Cathian is more than a boss. We’re a band of outcasts. Some emotionally and a few literally.”

  “Can you explain?”

  “My planet had to be evacuated because it was dying. The surface could no longer support life, so I have no home to return to. Dovis’s people were cruel to him, and he fled to live in space. He never wants to return. Midgel was seen only as a breeder by her people, to birth more of her race. She allowed it to happen twice but refuses to do it again. She just wants to live alone in peace. The Vorge allows her to do so. Marrow was born on a planet where the females are subservient to males. She fled to avoid an arranged marriage to a controlling shaft-head. Her words. On her planet, females aren’t allowed to work or given a say in what they do with their lives. Now she has freedom. And Raff grew up on a hostile planet he hated, abandoned by his Tryleskian father, and survived by having to kill or be killed. He was alone after his mother died, but now he has us.”

  “That’s so sad.” She felt bad for the crew members. It seemed like all of them had endured rough upbringings and circumstances that had led them to The Vorge.

  “Nara left Earth to be the captain of a shuttle for trade. She had reasons for leaving Earth, but I don’t know them. She doesn’t ever want to return there, now that she’s fallen in love with Cathian. Her place is by his side. And Mari was sold into slavery by her parents. She was raised working on a repair station, and this ship is her first and only true home. She wants to be with Dovis, and seems very happy now. Cathian himself left his home to avoid being forced into a loveless marriage to breed the next generation for his family. He would have hated that. Instead, he met Nara and fell in love. As for the Pods, they were sold by their own people as well, and they feel it would never be safe to return to their planet.

  “We’re all like you, Sara. The Vorge is our sanctuary. The crew is our family. It’s where we all belong and are happiest together. Did I explain that well?”

  “Yes, very well.”

  “And now you’re a part of this family.”

  The tears threatened to flow again, and she had to blink once more. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for offering to be my bond mate.”

  She grinned. “I’m much better than Nagway.”

  He chuckled. “In every way.”

  She made a decision in that very moment. York had offered her time to get to know him better before they became intimate…but why put it off? He was incredibly respectful, and she liked him. He was sexy—for a big blue guy with fangs—and she’d committed to him for life. There was no sense in waiting.

  She stood and locked her gaze with his.

  “York…I’m nervous about bonding, but…let’s get naked.” She smiled.

  His eyes widened and his mouth parted.

  It was clear that was the last thing he’d expected her to say.

  “We don’t have to rush things, Sara.”

  She hadn’t considered that he might not be ready to have sex yet. “Do you not want me?” She wasn’t overly tall at five foot seven, or blue like the Parri, and certainly less muscular than Nodo.

  Oh God. Maybe he thought humans were hideous, too.

  “Do you find me unattractive?”

  He stood and motioned to the front of his pants. “What do you think?”

  She glanced down and saw the tight uniform outlining a thick, large cock. He was definitely hard.

  The picture the Relon instructor had shown her on the pad flashed in her memory. It seemed to be accurate. York was much bigger than a human.

  “I am definitely attracted to you, and I find you beautiful, Sara. I just don’t want you to feel rushed or think you must quickly bond to me. Only the two of us will know if you need more time. And when the time comes, I want you to want me as much as I do you.”

  She tore her attention from the front of his pants and met his gaze. He had to be the only man she’d ever met who was that considerate. Most guys would have been all over her if she’d said “get naked” to anyone else. And York was worried about her feeling rushed into being with him.

  It only strengthened her resolve to get him into bed.

  “I want you, York. Am I still nervous? Yes. Of course. You’re bigger than me.” She glanced down at the front of his pants. “That’s a bit scary…but we’ll go slow.” It would be a problem if his cock was too large to fit inside her without pain. She backed up and smiled again. “We can at least fool around. You owe me a kiss, remember? I heard Parri like skin-to-skin contact.”

  He stepped around the table. “We need it,” he corrected, his voice turning huskier. “Will that bother you? I’ll want to hold you when we sleep, without anything between us.”

  She backed her way to the bed and began to strip. “I’ve always wanted a man who likes to cuddle.”

  “I’ll be that man.”

  She found that sexy. Everything about York was sexy. Her mind flashed to the few boyfriends she’d had. There hadn’t been many. Most men had been jerks to her, since she wasn’t exactly gorgeous. She’d also had to deal with a few bosses who’d implied she