The First Starfighter

“How many Velerions are in the training system?”
“Tens of thousands.”
“And I chose you.”
His smile made my heart hurt. “And I chose you in return. I have been watching you, Jamie Miller. Hoping. Waiting.”
I had no idea why that sounded sexual instead of stalkerish. I liked it.
He’d been watching me. All this time I’d lusted after him, he’d been—maybe?—lusting after me too?
“So that crest that you gave me in the game and showed me in my apartment?”
“Ah, yes.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled it out. “May I?” he asked, looking to me and waiting for approval.
I reached my hand up to the back of my neck, remembering the prick, then nothing. I took a small step back. “You’re not going to jab it into me again, are you?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “No. This one is for your uniform. In your apartment I needed to mark you as a Starfighter in a bonded pair as well as inject the cipher nanoparticles so you would understand what was being said to you once we arrived.”
Nanoparticles. That was all over my head, but they seemed to be working since I understood him. “Wait a minute. I didn’t have this when you showed up. How did I understand you?”
“I learned enough of your language to communicate my message.”
“And then you kissed me so I wouldn’t see the really big needle? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I kissed you because I could not resist a moment longer. But it’s not exactly a needle. The injection of the implant and nanites that mark you can be painful.”
I froze, blinked. “Mark me?”
He turned his head so I could see what looked like a tattoo identical to the crest on the side of his neck. “The dark swirl alerts everyone who sees us that we are part of a bonded, Elite Starfighter pair. The nanoparticles that bond to our neurons will allow us to access and control our ship. The two of us and no one else.”
“I’m marked like that?” I raised my fingers to my neck but felt nothing.
He nodded, his gaze dropping to the spot. “As we’ve never had a human Starfighter before, I was not sure how your body would react. I wanted to kiss you because I could not hold off a second longer, but I also wanted to cause you no discomfort. Your body handled both very well. Even the soreness from the injection process should fade quickly.”
That was a relief. I wasn’t thrilled about what he’d said, but the kiss had definitely distracted me. He’d been thoughtful in that. And that had been one hell of a kiss. It had literally knocked me out.
I sighed because… that kiss.
He stepped close, raised his empty hand, and stroked my cheek. It was a gesture he couldn’t seem to resist. His dark gaze roved over my face as if learning it again. “I would never hurt you, bondmate. Ever. I protect you with my life.”
The deep tone of his voice indicated he meant every word. His words were just like the vow he’d given me in the game, but these were not scripted.
“We’re bondmates,” I said. “A bonded pair.”
“Yes.”
“It’s real.”
“If you’ll allow me to put this emblem upon your uniform before we leave our quarters, I will be pleased to introduce you to the entire base.”
I nodded. He came close, affixed the emblem to my uniform shirt over my left breast. Through the uniform, his knuckles brushed my nipple and it hardened. When his eyes lifted to meet mine, I knew he felt that physical reaction to him. He brushed the hard tip again, and I swore I heard a growl or some other possessive sound come from him.
His green eyes flared with heat, and I licked my lips. I remembered our kiss, wanted more. “Do not look at me like that,” he said, his voice deep with a hint of warning.
I frowned, then whispered, “How am I looking at you?”
“As I am looking at you,” he replied. “Like I want to kiss you. Take you back to the bed and strip you bare. Make you my bondmate in all ways.”
“I want… I want you to kiss me,” I breathed.
His eyes flared, and he leaned down. Brushed his lips to mine. Barely. Quickly. He lifted his head, and our eyes met. Held.
OMG. I knew my cheeks were flushed, my nipples hard. He could see what his words did to my body. He didn’t know my body was wet and eager for him. If he got my clothes off as he wanted, he’d find out soon enough.
My stomach growled.
The corner of his mouth tipped up, and he stepped back. “Sustenance first.”
“Then?”
“Then,” he replied, as if that explained everything.
He took my hand and led me from our quarters into a long corridor. I tried not to stare at the bizarre designs etched into the walls. They were clearly alien and exactly like what I’d seen in the video game. I recognized it from the game’s graphics, this moon base. Everything was smooth and sealed, with no visible bolts or joints in the walls that I could see. The corridor that led away from our quarters was maybe two hundred paces from a vast open space that made me stop dead in my tracks.
The ceiling was so high the beams supporting the structure looked like thread woven into a spider’s web far overheard. The structure was a series of connected hexagonal domes, each glowing a different color. The effect was stunning as the common area before us looked like it was flooded by bright sunlight. The space was so large that dozens of corridors opened into it, the archway we stood beneath one of the smallest. There were others large enough to drive multiple semitrucks through, side by side. And one wall was windows or plexiglass or screens. I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a real view or a simulated one. Either way, it was stunning. The planet below looked just like