As soon as Candace stepped into the transport pod, Jared cornered her towards the oval command chair.
"Hahaha Jared." She laughed nervously. "Only one person can fit on this chair."
He gave a lascivious grin and pulled her down on top of him.
With a tap of the console, the harness went around both of them and held them down together.
"Ahh!" Candace gasped. What in the world was he doing?
Without warning, Jared reached out with his large hand and turned her face towards him. Dropping his head, he drank in her lips with wide open mouth, gulping and devouring like a starving thirsty crazed man.
"Mmmhhh. You taste like cotton candy." He licked her lips and nuzzled her face. "Why do you taste so sweet? Has Lucas fed you nothing but sugarcane on that deserted island of his?"
Candace laughed. "Silly man. Why are you not sitting in your own command chair?"
"Why?" He bit her chin. "You're so tiny, this thing can easily fit the both of us."
"But—can you breathe with me pressed up against you like this?"
In response, he began panting into her ear.
"Heh, heh, heh, oh baby…heh, heh, heh…"
"Oh stop that!" Candace laughed and slapped his arm.
Jared's body shook with mirth. He hadn't seen her in two weeks and had missed her bright laughter so much.
They had barely settled onto the chair and he was getting all tingly and aroused by this woman. She was so small, her curves fit perfectly into his large frame, like nesting measuring spoons.
"Don't you love this hug-chair?"
"Hug-chair?"
In response, Jared wrapped his arms around her body and leaned his head onto her shoulder. He inhaled deeply her freesia and honeysuckle scent and felt his own body rise to the occasion.
"Yes. Perfect for hugging my wife just like this."
"Hmmm. I don't think I've ever sat in one of these command chairs with anyone before."
That wasn't quite true. Candace bit her lip as she remembered sitting on Slate's lap in his medical chair as they rendezvoused with the hospital ship.
"Oh…you've never made love in a hug-chair before, huh?" Jared's eyes were mischievous. "We need to put that on our bucket list of experiences to try."
"We have a bucket list?"
"Not yet, but this will be the first line item. Making love in a Hug Chair!" Jared laughed.
"What—what do you mean?"
"Darling, the oval command pods are perfect love chairs. Want to try it?"
"Ummm. No." She protested, but before she even had a chance to do anything, Jared had pushed another button.
Candace's eyes widened as suddenly, the sides and edges of the oval command chair began closing in on themselves until a perfectly clear dome covered over them, turning the oval chair into a perfect egg-shaped sphere.
"See this?" He reached out and tapped on the clear glass enclosing around them. "I can make this opaque so nobody out there can see in."
The glass began to turn thick and dark, letting in no light from the transport pod.
"Except we don't really need to do this since there's nobody in the transport pod to see us do any hanky-panky." He whispered into her ear.
"Hanky-panky?" Candace laughed.
"But it's nice and cozy, just the two of us inside this little egg…we can do so many things together…"
He began licking her ear.
Candace grimaced. "Jared. It's too dark in here."
Jared waved a finger, his tongue still drawing doodles on her ear. From within the pod, tiny lights came on, along with the whoosh of fresh cool air.
"Jared. Jared stop. You're tickling me." Candace laughed, trying to move her head away from his tongue. He was like a large hound with a tongue that liked to lick everywhere.
Jared stuck his tongue back into his mouth with a pout.
"You're not letting me do anything because it's not my week with you yet, huh?"
Candace grinned, trying not to laugh out loud. How could she keep a straight face when Jared was such a clown?
"Show me how to use this chair." She tried to change the subject.
Of course this did not escape Jared who could barely keep a straight face. She was so cute he could hardly stand it.
"See this word?" He pointed to a squiggle that looked like ocean waves dancing around.
"That's a word?"
Jared laughed. "Yes, you illiterate woman. I thought you could read Erenveil script."
"I can, but it has to be really ancient. This—this is too modern."
Jared chuckled and pressed a hard kiss onto her soft cheek.
Another bucket list to-do: Teach the illiterate wife how to read basic Erenveilian script.
He cleared his throat as his face turned into what he thought a serious professor would look like.
"Ahem. This was designed to be an escape chair. In the event any transport pod runs into trouble, get yourself into one of these chairs and press that button. It will enclose around you and take you to safety."
Candace nodded. That would be great except right now, the danger was inside the pod, sitting behind her.
"How do we escape from this egg once we've landed safely?"
Jared pointed to the button next to it with a circular pattern that looked like a bulls eye.
"This one will open the Hug Chair and let you out."
"Hmmm." She poked at the bulls eye button. Immediately, the opaque glass cleared and retracted.
Jared grinned and released the harness.
"The seat belt light is off. You may now move freely around the cabin." He monotoned.
Candace jumped up and pretended interest in the rapidly approaching warship.
"Which one is this?" She pointed to the large interstellar ship.
"This one is the Raptor 650. It's one of the newest models of Slate's ship, with the latest gizmos installed all over the ship."
"Wow…I can hardly wait to see it!"
"Then I cannot wait to show it to you!" Jared smiled.
In no time flat, they had landed within the Raptor 650 and Jared ran around like an excited puppy, showing her all the various new toys and widgets that had been installed in the new ship.
"See these bay windows?" Jared pointed. "They are like little garages. Each of them hold a single transport pod."
Candace scanned the hallway. There must have been at least several dozen bay windows.
"Do we need that many transport pods?"
Jared shrugged. "The more the merrier. Many are collectors' items and some are just an extension of male macho muscles."
They barely made their way into the pod when an automated machine rolled up to them to offer tea and coffee service.
Candace's eyes grew big. "Wow. I never saw any of these on Slate's warships before."
Jared laughed. "Warships don't have all the luxuries of a cruise ship. This one has everything to be able to travel the galaxy in style. The ultimate in glamping."
"Glamping, huh…" Candace laughed. Jared always did have a way with words.
"Absolutely. Where else would you find touches like these?" He indicated the luxurious detailed fleur-de-lis cream and white wall paper and the deep ivory marbled floors.
It didn't feel as if they were on a warship. It felt as if they were in a royal palace!
"I didn't know he had a ship like this!" Candace's mouth opened in an excited O.
She knew Slate's tastes. Everything white and clean and no frills. He surrounded himself with white things. This was very far out of his normal taste range.
"He didn't. This is brand new. It was especially created for his mother, the Lady Gwen. We're just delivering it to her."
"Oh." Candace nodded and looked away, disappointed.
Jared gave a peculiar smile as he saw the forlorn downcast look she tried to hide.
"Come. Let's go meet up with everyone." He grabbed her by the neck with the crook of his elbow and dropped a kiss on top of her head.
"Jason has been upset that he didn't get a chance to pick you up, but he got tied up with something important. He will be happy to see you." Jared chattered as they rode the elevator to the main deck.
"Welcome to the Raptor 650," Jason heralded with cheer as he led her out onto the Main Deck of the ship.