The First Starfighter

time they flew a mission. The technology we would interact with in the starfighter ship would cement the bond, strengthen it every time we flew. I had witnessed this with my brother and his pair bond. They had been deeply in love as well as vicious, effective fighters.
Mine and Jamie’s desire for one another would only grow. Our need to be together, to touch one another. I admired Jamie, desired her. But to her, my offer had been imaginary. Her answer? She’d been playing pretend like a small child would. There was no way to avoid this false belief in the trainees. Velerion programmers couldn’t tell the training applicants outright the purpose of the simulation. Most, like Jamie, would not believe the truth even if we offered it. The planets we had sent the simulations to were not aware of the true nature of the universe. All of them were primitive, believing they were alone in the galaxy, floating on their small planets around their even smaller stars.
But now, with Jamie being doubtful, it seemed there was some work that must be done between bonded pairs prior to returning to Velerion.
I had no doubt that stripping her naked and fucking her into understanding the depth of my need and desire would be effective, but I would not have the intimacy between us held in her mind as the only measure of our match.
“Alex, I… I want this to be real, but it’s just insane. I’m insane if I agree to go with you.”
“You are not.”
“Say I go with you. What if I hate it? Will you bring me back?”
I’d never even imagined the concept. I was at a loss. Would I return my paired bondmate to her home planet? The idea was as insane to me as going to Velerion seemed to be to her. “If you are not happy, I will return you to Earth.”
I would ensure she was happy and well satisfied and never wished to return. It was my job to ensure that my bonded mate had no desire to leave me or her new home.
“Okay.”
It was my turn to blink. “You accept?”
“Ask me again.”
I held her gaze as I repeated the vow she’d been asked to take so she would know exactly how serious I was. “We have been paired through the Starfighter Velerion training program. We have spent many hours training together. Fighting together. Do you accept the Starfighter crest as a sign of our permanent bond? Will you stay with me, Starfighter? Will you remain at my side and fight with me to the end of our days?”
She laughed, wriggled again in my lap. “I’m insane. I should call Mia and Lily. Talk to them about this. But they’d tell me to go. So… okay. I will go with you to Velerion and save the planet from Queen Raya and the Dark Fleet.”
Satisfaction coursed through me. “You accept the bond between us? Agree to be my bonded mated?”
She looked at me now differently, her gaze dropping to my lips. I saw her heated look. “Paired with you? Fight with you? Yes.”
I didn’t need anything more than that. With the crest still in my palm, I reached around and cupped the back of her neck, lowered my head, and kissed her.
She gasped and I took advantage, my tongue gaining entrance to her mouth, finding hers. Then she moaned, melted into my hold. It was then I pressed the crest against her skin. The sharp prick of the device would fill her body with a sedative and other nutrients designed to make her trip to Velerion less stressful. Velerions had been jumping through space-time for eons. Humans were smaller, not adapted to such travel.
She slumped into my arms, unconscious, and I held her for long minutes as the nutrients and nanoparticles made their way into her body. I needed to be sure both the medical treatment and the cipher implant had time to take full effect.
But that was a lie.
I watched the dark trail of the Starfighter emblem take shape as the microscopic nanites moved and spread beneath her skin at the back of her neck. Like a human’s tattoo, the swirl marking would be forever embedded beneath her flesh. We were truly bonded now, in life and in battle. The symbol on our necks, on every Elite Starfighter’s neck, was a mark of honor and rank. Everywhere Jamie went, people would offer her respect and awe.
And they would know she was bonded. Paired.
Mine.
I had no regrets.
I wanted this human. My bonded mate. But that was for later. If I thought too much of our future pleasure, I would never get my Jamie off this tiny, primitive planet.
I stood carefully, Jamie in my arms. I would settle her first before making an additional trip to gather some of her things. With a gentleness I’d never felt before, I carried her from her apartment and to her new life with me on Velerion.

4
Jamie, Moon Base Arturri, Vega System
Foggy didn’t begin to describe the pounding confusion inside my mind as I struggled to wake up. Warm sheets and a soft pillow threatened to pull me back under, but I had that weird feeling that I’d been out for too long already. Like when I used to wake up three hours late for work because the cold medicine I took the night before made me sleep through my alarm.
It wasn’t just the cozy bedding that had me snuggling deeper. It was the hard body against my back and thighs, the solid arm slung over my waist. The big hand cupping my breast. The thick length prodding my spine.
A man. A big, strong, warm, cuddly…
Every muscle in my body went tight as a bowstring. Panic. That’s what made my heart pound and the fog begin to clear. I forced my eyes open and blinked several times before I dared move.
Once I found the courage, I tried to turn, but the arm around me