by Roxie Ray
I opened my eyes to see Kali shaking her head over me.
“I’ve already said too much,” Kali said.
I disagreed.
I was feeling pretty blindsided by all of this. If anything, she hadn’t said nearly enough.
“What about your parents?” Kali asked. She seemed eager to change the subject. I couldn’t blame her for that. “Your father seems like a bastard.”
“He is one.” Now that I wasn’t on Earth anymore, there was no point in denying that. “You heard that on the phone, I suppose.”
“What about your mother?”
“Dead.” I closed my eyes again. Talking about my mother never left me in a good mood. When she’d been alive, she’d been miserable. In death, I supposed at least she might have found peace. “She miscarried in her eighth month. My father was furious at her for it. Like it was somehow her fault.”
“That’s terrible.” Kali massaged my temples with her thumbs. “I’m sorry. I hope you have an easier time.”
“Me too.” The thought had crossed my mind. I’d be expected to give birth to the future king of Lunaria someday. Probably someday soon. My mother’s first two pregnancies had gone smoothly, but my father had been especially cruel to her during the third. All I could hope was that my husband-to-be would let me get through my pregnancies stress-free.
And if I failed to produce an heir for the king, there was no telling what he or my father might do.
“You should just—oh.” Kali dropped her hands away from my hair suddenly as I heard the doors slide open. “Orion!”
“Kali! I was hoping that snooty human had finally gone to bed so—” I opened my eyes to see a green-haired male standing in the doorway. He had paler skin than Kali’s, like a really good tan on a human, but the same purple eyes—and claws, as well. When our eyes met, he flushed pink. “Oh, shit.”
“Oh, shit indeed.” I glanced up at Kali. “Is he the reason Ronan had to track you down earlier?”
“Don’t be mad?” Kali looked down at me with a nervous smile. “I know I’m supposed to be saving myself for…well, for your new husband, but…”
“I’m not mad,” I assured her. “But we’re in the middle of something here—Orion, is it?”
“Er…that’s my name, yes.” Orion stared up at the ceiling, doing his best not to stare at me. I appreciated that. I might have been prepared for being naked in front of Lunarians, but I hadn’t exactly prepped to be naked in front of unexpected Lunarian men. “Sorry about calling you snooty, by the way. I just, um…”
“It’s all right,” I told him genuinely. “Did you need Kali for something?”
“Oh. Er…” Orion rubbed the back of his neck and laughed uncomfortably. “I was, um. Hoping she could come, ah…help me with some, uh…overheating pipes in the engine room?”
Kali and I exchanged a glance. We both laughed.
“It sounds very dangerous, Kali,” I told her very seriously. “You should probably go deal with that right away.”
“You mean it?” Kali looked elated.
“For a situation so dire? Of course I mean it.”
“And you, um, you won’t tell?”
“Your secret is safe with me.” I winked, and Kali raced toward Orion. Hand in hand, they left my room together, giggling like teenagers—which, I supposed they were.
Unfortunately, they left me in the tub with my hair full of shampoo. I supposed I could take care of that myself—just because I wasn’t supposed to wash myself didn’t mean I was helpless…
But even more unfortunately, they left my door open. It was late on the ship, so I could be mostly certain that no random Lunarians would be wandering by…but still.
This too was probably just something I needed to get used to. No privacy. No control. If I wanted a door closed, I’d either have to remind Kali next time…or I’d just have to do it myself.
Not exactly the easiest thing, considering I was still naked, covered in shampoo and in the bath.
I hoped that the protocols for this kind of thing might be a little more reasonable, but then again, after everything that Kali had said, I had no idea what to expect at the palace now.
My briefings hadn’t been as thorough as I’d hoped—or as honest.
Now, I had to admit I had no real idea of what to expect for my new life on Lunaria at all.
I closed my eyes and relaxed down into the tub. I’d deal with my hair in a moment. For now…
I had a lot to process. More than a lot, actually.
The truth of the matter was I didn’t really know what kind of man—Lunarian—I’d be marrying. My understanding of my new culture wasn’t nearly as complete as I’d hoped and my understanding of the monarchy I was marrying into was, unfortunately, likely based largely on lies.
“Oh. You’re back already.” I didn’t know how long I had my eyes closed for. The warm water was relaxing, and my body was tired. I was lucky I hadn’t slipped down into the tub and drowned. “That was pretty quick.”
“Was it?”
My eyes shot open. The voice that spoke was definitely not Kali’s. It was male—and familiar.
“Ronan?”
Ronan’s face shifted into view as he leaned over me. His fingers massaged my scalp, firmer and far more practiced than Kali’s had been.
“The door was open,” he explained. “When I walked by you were in here alone. Half asleep in the tub. It struck me as…unsafe.”
“It probably is.” I gave a little laugh. I knew I should have been uncomfortable. Ronan was…handsome. Strong. Charming.
Off-limits.
And I was… naked.
Completely, one-hundred-percent naked. Right in front of him. With only the water between my body and his gaze.
“If this is a problem, I can go find Kali,” Ronan offered.
I knew what I was supposed to say. Yes, go find Kali. How dare you even be here right now! This is no way to treat your future queen!
But his fingers against my scalp felt so good and the way my body relaxed when his was near was so irresistible…
“No,” I said with a smile. A real one. Yes, this was wrong—and I didn’t care. “This is fine.”
4
Ronan
Her hair was thick enough to lose a hand in, the color of fresh blood. So long that I could almost understand how Kali had managed to get distracted while trying to wash it. As I pulled it through my fists, wringing out water and shampoo, I was reminded of coiling rope.
“Are you sure this is okay, Ronan?”
“I am sure.” I smiled softly. Only a few moments ago, she had sounded so certain. It amused me how quickly she became unsure of herself. “For as long as you are comfortable with me, I do not mind.”
“But…even though I’m naked?”
I glanced down her body as she called attention to it. It was impossible not to. The water refracted the low, golden light of the room, preventing me from seeing her fully or correctly…but the gist of it was still there.
Her breasts were firm and full. They were peaked with nipples such a soft pink that it was difficult to determine exactly where the color blended into pale of her skin. Her stomach was flat, narrow at the waist then flaring down to broad hips. A cloud of bubbles from the shampoo obscured her sex from me, but I thought I caught a glimpse of red beneath it, the same color as her hair. A natural red. Her legs were longer than I had expected, slender but well-muscled. Even her feet were beautiful, delicate and perfectly shaped, as they rested on the edge of the tub.
“Would you be more comfortable if I was undressed as well?” I glanced down at my jacket, rumpled next to me where I knelt on the floor. I would not mind adding more of my clothing to that pile.
“That’s okay,” she assured me. “But…maybe you should roll up your sleeves. Your shirt’s going to get wet otherwise.”
I took a towel from beneath the tub and dried my hands off. Then, as she had bid, I tugged the laces at my shirt’s cuffs free and rolled my sleeve
s up to my elbows on each of my four arms.
“There. Now, tilt your head back.” I took the base of Alora’s skull in two of my hands and lowered her down in the water, then used my two remaining hands to rinse the rest of the shampoo out.
“That feels amazing. I’d say you’ve done this before, but…” Alora laughed, a gentle sound full of warmth.
“What is so amusing?”
“You’re a soldier, Ronan. A warrior, I think you call them. I don’t imagine that gives you a lot of experience washing women’s hair.”
“As a soldier? No.” I moved her head back up, then poured warm oil down her hair. Her hairline descended to a point at its center, which made me smile. The humans, I knew, called it a widow’s peak. On Lunaria, it was known as a queen’s crest. Appropriate for her. “But my mothers—”
“You have more than one?”
“Three elderly women who cared for me at the temple after my mother’s murder,” I explained. “They were among the oldest living Lunarians when I was a child. Now…they may be the oldest of our entire species. I used to wash their hair like this too. They said it calmed them.”
“I can see why.” Alora’s green eyes flicked up toward me. “I’m finding it pretty relaxing too.”
We stayed silent as I worked the oil into her hair. It was a natural Lunarian conditioner made from the sap of gilly-fruit trees. On Lunaria, it represented femininity and fertility. When her hair dried, it would shimmer and shine like a red sun.
“Ronan,” Alora said as I rubbed the oil into the ends of her hair over the edge of the tub. “About earlier…”
“The kiss, you mean.”
“The…almost-kiss,” she corrected me. “But…yes.”
“What about it?”
“You said you were…caught in the moment, I think you called it.”
“You have a good memory, Your Highness.” I was glad she remembered it. Whether we had kissed or not, I relished every moment I lingered in her mind.
“Did you mean it?”
I considered it. Of course, being caught up in the moment was not entirely accurate. It was Alora I’d been caught up in. The sweetness of her scent, the warmth of her skin.
But it was so much beyond just wanting her, too—though, I did.
How could I possibly explain to her the pull to her I felt? Not just lust, or longing, but the promise of a fulfilled destiny?
“What do you think of fate, my queen?”
“Fate?” Alora shrugged. “I don’t think of it much at all, if I’m being honest.”
“You do not think that fate brought you here on this ship? That it is bringing you to Lunaria, where you will become queen of an entire people you did not even know existed when you were a cub?”
“I…I think that things line up in certain ways for certain people, yes. But would I call that fate? I’m not sure.”
“Why not?”
“It’s easy to think that you’re fated for things when you’re born into a life like mine. My father thinks he was fated to become president of the sectors because of who his father was. I’m sure my brother feels the same way. But…” Alora sighed. “Are the political prisoners and the poor my father keeps in work camps in Sector Five fated be there? To die there? Are the gray-classes fated to live lives stuck in poverty? I think no.”
“Maybe fate will guide them to better lives.”
“Maybe some. But for most…no.” Alora shook her head slightly. “Action changes lives. Fate is just whatever happens if those with power refuse to act.”
I leaned back on my heels for a moment, surprised. Impressed.
Fate had been weighing on my mind heavily ever since Edon. But if what Alora believed was true…it wasn’t fate at all that controlled me. Not really.
I could not simply wait and hope that the crown of Lunaria would fall into my lap.
Someday—someday soon—I would have to act.
“What do you think, though?” Alora asked. She turned in the tub and rested her arms on its edges. I tried—and failed—not to look at her round, firm ass. I only hoped that she could not see the way my cock throbbed beneath my pants at the sight. “You brought it up.”
I swallowed then nodded as I tried to compose myself. Naked as she was, and with nothing to occupy my hands now, it was more difficult than it should have been.
“I think…there must be some driving force in the universe, yes. More than just action, but what calls us to act as well.” My dreams had not come from nowhere. Hand in hand with my belief in fate was my own faith. “Perhaps how that force pushes us to act and how we respond to it is our destiny. Beyond that, I do not know.” I laughed, a little more harshly than I should have. “Sometimes I feel as though that force and I are working against each other more than we are working together.”
“Everyone faces challenges.” Alora smiled—a different smile than I normally saw from her. Even when I suspected she must be faking it, her grin was sunshine in even the darkest of rooms. This one was softer, though. A little sadder. Like the crescent curve of a waning moon. “I don’t think it matters so much what we’re destined to do in the end. If choice is part of destiny, then all we can do is try to make good ones.”
“That is…not always the easiest of things.”
For instance: did I throw my entire planet into civil war so I could take the crown from a tyrant, or did I allow that tyrant to continue to abuse his power, my people?
Did I break my vow of protection over Alora by pulling her out of that tub and breeding there on the bed, or did I break it by handing her over to a false king I knew would only ever cause her harm?
“And that’s why we have morals.” Alora said it like it was so simple. “So we know that the choices we make are the right ones, even when they cause us to suffer. Even when they feel like they’re wrong.”
I opened my mouth to argue with her. If we were debating morality, then we could not simply be speaking in terms of right and wrong. But that seemed like a conversation too complex and potentially heated for tonight. Perhaps, for any night.
“Your hair is washed, my queen.” I wiped the oil from my hands onto a towel and rose to leave. “Perhaps you should get some sleep.”
“You’re not going to wash the rest of me?”
I stopped mid-step towards the door and blinked. My mouth was open in a way that I was sure looked perfectly idiotic, but no sound came from between my lips.
After a moment, a look of surprise crossed Alora’s face as well. It was as if she hadn’t fully considered the weight of what she had just asked.
“Um. I mean…oh, gosh. That was…that was stupid. Of course, you aren’t here to wash me.”
Her cheeks burned nearly as red as her hair as she curled up in the tub. She hugged her knees to her chest like she was trying to make herself as small as possible.
“I’m sorry, Ronan,” she went on. “I just…ugh. I’m an idiot. I mean, you’re you, and I’m me, and of course you aren’t going to wash me—I just. Um. Well, you have to understand, in my briefings, and Kali, she said that a queen doesn’t wash herself in your culture—”
She was babbling now. It was hard not to smile at the way her words were spilling from her lips, but I was trying my best.
“And, you know, I am going to be queen, after all, aren’t I? And if, I guess…well, in your culture, if I’m not supposed to wash myself, then…” She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she seemed to have composed herself. Somewhat. “It would only make sense that you would do it for me. Since you’re here.”
Finally, my smile broke. I simply could not hold it in any longer.
“Your king might not enjoy the idea of another male washing your body for you,” I pointed out.
“Yes. I have…considered that.” From the look on her face, she was only really considering it just now. “But how do you feel about the king, Ronan? You know him, surely, if he sent you here to guard me.”
“You are his most treasured possession,�
�� I told her. “Of course I know him. He would not have entrusted you to me otherwise.”
“Do you like him? Respect him?”
I tilted my head to the side, considering. To say that I did not like King Brixta would be an understatement. I hated him, almost more deeply than I had hated the last one.
But to say that out loud would be treason at best.
Even worse to say it in front of his bride-to-be.
“I do not like him.” I damned the words as they came off my tongue, but not as much as I should have. I could not lie to Alora. How could I damn that which was true? “I do not respect him, either. Nor will you when you meet him, I think.”
“Then…” Alora furrowed her brow. “I am not his bride yet, Ronan. Not his possession, either.”
“You have promised yourself to him,” I reminded her. To her, it must have seemed as though I was arguing in his favor, but I was not. I was arguing in hers. “That is a type of possession, no?”
“This arrangement is political. Until I say my vows, my body is my own.” Alora’s eyes narrowed with a fierce stubbornness I had not seen in them before. “And if your king is as cruel as I have heard he is—”
“Not my king.” My eyes narrowed as well. Apparently, I was not the only one who had been honest with Alora about my opinions on her future husband. Kali must have let something slip as well.
“—then this might be the last chance I have to be touched by a man whose hands aren’t dirty with the blood of his people.”
“My hands are not clean either, Your Highness.” I held all four of them out, palms facing up. “I am a warrior. A soldier, as you have said. A killer in my own right. You must remember that, my queen. My hands have known blood as well.”
“Better the hands of a soldier than the hands of a despot.” The water spilled away from her body as she clutched the edge of the tub and pressed herself up. Now, her breasts were in full view. The steam of the water rose all around her like spirits clinging to their mistress. In the cooler air outside of the water, her pale nipples hardened beneath my gaze. “You call me your queen, Ronan. Yours.”