“Still thinking it all through?”

“Still considering,” Jack replied.

Cal nodded slowly. “And this morning with the king?”

Jack frowned again as he thought about the way the king had greeted them—as if this was a done deal. Jack had gone along with it, all the while thinking it over. He hadn’t been able to say no, and now they were on board the ship, and...

He sighed before looking across the table at Cal. The light was hitting him in just the right way. He looked particularly beautiful in that moment and all over again Jack was grateful that he had been able to claim this male as his own. Did he really want to risk their relationship? Even for all that was on offer?

“This morning was...”

“It was a clash of two alphas,” Cal said with a grin. “Was from the moment we met him.” He paused. “Will you get jealous if I said that I fantasized last night about watching you fuck him?”

“Cal...”

“I did,” his lover said. “I was achingly hard when I finally fell asleep.”

“Why didn’t you get me to take care of it?”

“Because you were thinking. Because I wanted to give you some space.”

Jack sighed. “I don’t ever need space from you.”

And with those words, and because he couldn’t resist, Jack moved around the table, dropped to his knees, pulled Cal’s cock from his pants and suckled it into his mouth. His lover let out a moan, settled back in his chair and allowed Jack to throat fuck him. He came quickly, filling Jack’s mouth full of his creamy goodness.

Jack looked up, grinned, and palmed his own cock. It was nice and stiff.

“What are you thinking?” Cal asked.

Jack dipped his head and licked up a droplet of cum that had escaped his mouth. He would never get enough of Cal’s cum. He loved the taste of it on his tongue, loved the feel of it sliding down his throat.

“That you’re mine,” Jack said.

“Always,” Cal replied.

“And I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.”

“But you crave excitement,” Jack said. “You always have. It was why you went to work on Zero Five in the first place.”

“I loved my time there,” Cal said slowly.

“And I want you to love being here with me more,” Jack said. “And so we’re going to do this. We’re going to collect the king’s mate and we’re going to teach him how to fuck. More than that though,” he added. “I’m going to see if I can deal with you fucking someone else. If it is something that we could introduce into our relationship.”

Cal bent down and placed his palm against Jack’s cheek. “I don’t need anyone else.”

“Need and want are two different things,” Jack said, because it was working through in his mind now, and he realized that the words he was saying were absolutely right. Oh, he knew that Cal loved him, was happy with him, but if he wanted something a little extra in their relationship then why shouldn’t Jack try it on for size? If it didn’t work out. If he became too jealous, then that would be that. But if it did work out, if he was able to welcome another male and enjoy him, enjoy Cal fucking him—and here his cock stiffened further—then it was worth exploring.

It would mark a turning point in their relationship, Cal realized. More than that, it would mark a turning point in their life.

“We’re doing this,” he said.