She was alone.
Had it all been a vivid dream? Had she simply longed for Volcair so badly that her subconscious had taken over, making her mind and body believe everything she’d dreamt had been real?
No.
He’d been with her. He’d made love to her. She could still smell him around her, in the sheets, on her skin. He was everywhere. There was a heaviness in her core, and her thighs were sticky with his seed.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she smiled. They’d made love three times before finally succumbing to sleep in each other’s arms.
Though she longed to feel his warmth again, she shouldn’t have been surprised by his absence. He was the commander of this space station. He had duties to attend to. She couldn’t—and didn’t—expect him to abandon those duties now. She knew he was still nearby, waiting for her.
Gathering the bedding, she brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply, drawing in his crisp, spicy scent. She moaned. How could a man smell so good?
A metallic glitter caught her eye. She turned her head to the second pillow—the pillow he’d rested his head upon—to find her balus stone necklace resting atop it. Smile widening, she sat up and gathered the necklace, cradling it within her palm to trace its intricate pattern with her fingertip.
Something scratched at the door.
“Give me a few minutes, Cypher,” she called.
Kiara tossed the bedding aside and slipped out of bed. She paused, moaning at the sensation between her legs. She was a little sore, but the insistent, aching throb there spoke more of continued need than discomfort. She squeezed her thighs together; it didn’t ease her longing.
After setting her necklace on the desk, she hurried to the loo to pee before cleaning up in the bathroom. Once she’d washed, brushed her teeth, and tamed her frizzy curls, she strode back into the room and quickly dressed.
Cypher’s scratching had become impatient. He could reach the outside entry button, but it had been temporarily programmed to open only to her—once the inux left the room, he was stuck without her help.
Kiara pressed the interior button, and Cypher leapt inside as soon as the door was wide enough to fit through. He clicked excitedly as he stood on his hind legs and settled his paws on her thighs. He stared up at her with ears perked, teeth bared in a vulpine smile, and tail flicking rapidly behind him.
Grinning, Kiara ran her hand down the back of his neck. “Have you seen Volcair?”
Cypher nodded.
“By your mood, I take it you know everything is good between us?”
He leapt away from her and spun in a circle, grinning wider than ever.
“Could you take me to him?”
With an affirmative warble, he turned and walked through the open doorway.
Kiara followed him into the corridor, pausing briefly to close the door behind her. She’d only made it a few meters when Tekel and Mason turned the nearby corner. They were in the middle of a conversation, but the moment they saw her, they stopped and smiled.
“Hey,” Kiara said; her grin felt so big that she wondered if the corners of her mouth were touching her ears.
“I can’t believe Kiara—our Kiara—is only just getting out of bed,” Mason said, crossing his arms. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
Kiara cleared her throat, her cheeks warming. “Uh…no?”
Mason smirked. “You’ve never been one to sleep in. Ever.”
Tekel snorted, his tail lazily flicking from side to side. “You would know why she slept in, Captain, if your quarters were closer to hers. You would’ve heard why.”
Mason glanced at Tekel. “Huh?”
Kiara covered her face with a hand. “I can’t believe this.”
“Wait, you mean Kiara actually… That she? With who?” Mason looked back and forth between Kiara and Tekel, finally settling his gaze on the azhera. “You?”
“No!” Tekel and Kiara cried in unison.
Mason took a step back, holding his hands up, palms out. “Okay, damn. Don’t need to yell.” He grinned at Kiara. “So…who was it?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a bigger gossip than my grandmother.”
Tekel snickered.
“Come on, Kiara!” Mason said. “I’ve worked with you for years, and not once—not once—have I seen you take any interest in anyone.”
“It’s…the commander.”
Mason’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped. “Wait, what? You go from no one for years to sleeping with the commander of a space station the same day you met him? And here I thought I moved quick.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re the reason I added the no sleeping with coworkers clause to the employment contracts, Mason. But it’s…not that simple. Commander Volcair and I have a past. We’ve known each other since we were little kids.”
“Oh. Is that why you chose this route?”
Kiara shook her head. “No. I had no idea he was in charge here. We…lost touch for a long time in between. This was just chance.”
“Fate,” Tekel said.
Kiara smiled. “You could say that.”
Mason grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “So, was he any—”
“Mason, I am not going to discuss what I do in private. And as far as you are concerned, Volcair is mine.”
Mason laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll only look.”
Tekel folded his muscled arms over his wide chest. “Based on the screaming, I’d say he did very well.”
Heat flooded Kiara’s face, but she couldn’t deny it—Volcair had done very well.
“How’s the Starlight?” she asked, desperate for a change of subject even though she knew it wouldn’t last long.
“Peyton is working with the station’s mechanics to assess the damage,” Tekel said. “Seems minor, but there may have been a couple hull breaches that need to be repaired.”
Kiara nodded. “Good. Mason, I need you to get in touch with our brokers on Deduin, let them know we ran into an emergency and we’re delayed for at least a few days. We need to make sure our buyers are aware their cargo is safe.”
“Will do,” Mason said.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, there is someone I need to find.”
Mason affectionately patted her back as she and Cypher stepped past him. “Go find your man.”
Nope. I’ll never hear the end of it.
“See you both later,” Kiara called over her shoulder.
Cypher led her through the space station’s labyrinthine corridors. She understood all the signs—Volcair had taught her how to read Volturian when she was young, and that knowledge had come in handy in her adult life—but they provided little assistance in navigation; without Cypher, she would’ve been hopelessly lost after a few minutes.
Several of the uniformed Entris Dominion soldiers, all of whom were volturians descended of different qalarin, stared at her curiously as she passed, but she shrugged off their stares and offered friendly smiles in return. The Dominion was massive, and many volturians had never seen a human with their own eyes despite more than two decades of friendship between the UTF and the Dominion.
Finally, they entered a long hallway that was marked COMMAND in flowing Volturian letters at its entrance. Most of the soldiers’ uniforms here were a little different, a little more refined and elegant—just like Volcair’s. She assumed that meant most of them were officers.
No one questioned her as she followed Cypher to an open door at the end of the corridor. She stepped into a large office with bay windows along one wall that overlooked a massive hangar. There were several chairs and a wide, sleek desk arranged within; Volcair was seated at the desk with a female volturian officer standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at a projected screen.
Excitement and anxiousness swept through her as she looked upon Volcair. It was a strange but familiar feeling, one that she’d almost forgotten over the years. With his head bowed over his work, he reminded her of his younger self, bent over her
tablet in concentration as he drew something special just for her. In that instant, her mind fully bridged the boy she’d known to the man he’d become.
Cypher clicked, announcing their arrival.
Volcair lifted his head. His eyes met Kiara’s, and his lips curled into a smile. Though his face had matured and hardened, his smile was the same as it had always been—and she still couldn’t help but feel like his smile, this smile, was only for her.
“Sorry,” she said. “I can find your later if you’re busy.”
“No, it is fine,” he said. “I had planned to wake you soon. Some of your crew seemed mystified that you were still asleep.”
Kiara’s skin heated again, and she glanced at the female officer. “I don’t make a habit of sleeping in.”
Volcair’s cheeks darkened slightly—so slightly that she couldn’t be entirely sure it had happened—before he turned his head to the female officer. “Lieutenant Beltheri, this is my mate, Kiara Moore. The owner of the Starlight.”
Surprise flitted across Lieutenant Beltheri’s face.
Kiara was surprised herself—he hadn’t hesitated to introduce her as his mate. She could tell the woman had questions based on the way her eyes jumped between Kiara and Volcair, but Beltheri didn’t voice them.
Instead, the lieutenant offered Kiara a smile and bowed her head. “It is an honor to meet you, Kiara Moore.”
“And you, Lieutenant Beltheri,” Kiara said, returning the bow.
“Lieutenant, if you would give us a few minutes?” Volcair asked. “Kiara and I have a few matters to discuss.”
“Of course, Commander,” Beltheri said. She stepped away from the desk and approached the door, nodding to Kiara on her way out. She closed the door behind her.
Once they were alone, Kiara faced Volcair and smiled. “And just what matters would you like to discuss with me?”
He stood up, and with a few flicks of his fingers, expanded the display on the desk and spun it toward her. After walking around the desk, he opened two electronic documents on the holographic screen—the first written in Volturian and the other in English.
“One’s a matter of formality, and the other… Well, it’s perhaps a bit presumptuous on my part,” he said in English.
Kiara arched a brow and turned her attention to the documents, reading the one written in Volturian. When she was done, she furrowed her brow. “Volcair, are you serious? Resigning your post?”
“I am serious, Kiara,” he replied as he sat on the edge of his desk. “I’m nearing the end of my voluntary service term. I have two months to declare my intent to the Dominion—further military service, or official discharge with all afforded honors. Even before yesterday, I wasn’t sure what choice I’d make. My father has always wanted me to seek a governmental position, but…that was never my ambition.”
She’d known even when they were children that he never wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. “What is your ambition?”
“You.” His smile fell. “And I thought that was lost to me long ago.”
“It’s not lost anymore,” she said softly.
“No. So my choice became suddenly quite easy.”
Kiara clenched her hands at her sides to keep from reaching for him, forcing her attention to the English document. She smirked as she perused it. “Is this really what I think it is?”
Volcair dipped his chin in a small nod. “A proposed contract of employment.”
“You realize that, as owner of the company, it is typically up to me to offer employment, don’t you?”
He shrugged, and his smile returned. “I figured it was worth a shot. I’m going to be out of work in a few months’ time.”
“And what position are you seeking?”
“Hmm…how does Head of Security sound?”
Kiara stepped in front of him and slipped her arms around his neck. He settled his hands on her hips. She searched his face, her gaze tracing his qal, his lips, his cheekbones, until finally stopping on his eyes. Her heart quickened at the heat burning within their white-blue depths.
“I also have a no sleeping with coworkers clause in my standard employment contracts,” she said. “It wouldn’t look good for me to break my own rule.”
“I suppose I could found my own company and work for you as a contractor so you don’t have to break your rule.”
Her smile softened. “Are we moving too fast, Volcair?”
“I think we can move at whatever speed feels right,” he replied. “Besides, I have to stay here for a couple more months to complete my obligations, and you have a business to keep in operation. We can’t move particularly fast, given that.”
The reminder that she would have to leave soon while he remained here was like a blade plunging into her heart. They’d only just found one another again; did their time together really have to end so soon? What if something happened before they were reunited? What if she lost him again?
Volcair lifted one of his hands and settled his palm over her cheek, brushing the pad of his thumb across her cheekbone. “I will not allow anything to keep us apart again, Kiara. Not even me.”
Kiara covered his hand with her own and closed her eyes. “We’ve been apart for almost twenty years, yet a few more months feels unbearable.”
“I can’t keep you in the officers’ quarters for months, Kiara. My superiors would deem it inappropriate, an abuse of my command…but there are civilian lodgings on the station. You can stay there during my remaining service, if you wish to.”
Kiara opened her eyes and looked at Volcair. As much as she wanted to say yes, she couldn’t. After what her crew had gone through, she needed to be there for them, needed to know they were safe. “I can’t.”
He frowned and nodded, and his voice was soft when he said, “I understand.”
Kiara reached out and cupped his face. “I want to stay, Volcair, I want to stay so badly, but I—
“You have a duty to fulfill to your crew. I do understand, Kiara. And I love you even more for it.”
Tears blurred her vision. “You really want me to be your mate?”
“You always were.”
She laughed. “I mean, officially, before my people and yours.”
“Yes. I want to be your”—he averted his gaze and pressed his lips together for a moment—“your husband. That’s the word, isn’t it?”
Kiara nodded, twining her fingers in his hair. “And I want to be your wife.”
Volcair grinned and slid his hands down and to cup her ass, pulling her against him. “We have many years to make up for.”
Kiara brushed her lips over his. “Many, many years.”
Cypher clicked loudly, startling them. Kiara looked at the inux, who appeared to be a bit put off that they’d forgotten he was in the room.
“Sorry, Cypher,” she said, laughing softly.
He made a whirring sound and thumped his tail on the floor.
“You have had her to yourself all this time,” Volcair said. “Now you have to share.”
Cypher snorted, turned away from them, and strutted to the door. He rose on his hind legs and raised one of his front paws. His scales rippled as he extended his leg to press the button on the wall. The door slid open. Once his paw reverted to its previous shape, he dropped down on all fours, gave Kiara and Volcair one last parting look with snout upturned, and stepped out.
“I guess he doesn’t want to share,” Volcair said with a chuckle, turning his attention back to Kiara. “We have at least a few more days together here. There’s a small military convoy that’ll be stopping at the station in a few days, and their commander has agreed to allow any civilian vessels that intend to continue into Dominion space to accompany his ships for protection. I ask that you wait for them, so I know you’re protected until you’re in safer territory. I can’t lose you again.”
“We’ll wait for them. I can’t imagine Vrykhan will be happy once he discovers his unique merchandise escaped.”
Volcair’s finger
s flexed, and he pulled her even closer. “As much as it pains me to empathize with scum like that…I understand the sense of loss.”
Kiara drew back one of her hands and traced her fingers along the markings on the side of his face. They glowed beneath her touch. “When your service is over, I’ll be waiting for you, and we’ll make it official. Then you’ll never be rid of me.”
He turned his face to kiss her palm. “It’s you who’ll never be rid of me, Kiara. You’ve had me wrapped around your finger since we were children, and I’m wound far too tight to ever go anywhere.”
Ten
London, Capital of the United Terran Federation, Earth
Three Months Later
The automated taxi’s door opened, immediately filling the cab with the scent and sound of nighttime rain. After months spent in space, breathing in dry, filtered air, that smell was a welcome change. It was an assurance that she was finally home—but there was still one thing missing.
Kiara grabbed her bag off the seat beside her and slipped out of the taxi. Cypher jumped out onto the sidewalk beside her. The rain was cold, but she stood in the lamplight for few moments, in no hurry to reach her front door. There was so many things that could be taken for granted, and this was one of them.
She loved the rain. As a child, she’d played in the rain every chance she got—to her parents’ displeasure—stomping in every puddle, spinning and dancing in the downpour with her tongue stuck out to catch as many drops as she could. Kiara remembered the first time she’d dragged Volcair out into it when they were young.
Their fathers had been in the bollocks room, chatting about some negotiation over drinks, when the rain started. Kiara had snuck Volcair out right past Isaiah and Vantricar—through the front door, totally unnoticed. Volcair had been startled at first, and his entire body had shivered with the chill, yet his eyes had lit up in delight when he’d held his hand out to watch the droplets splash on his palm. She understood even then that he’d missed out on so many childhood experiences that seemed completely natural to her. They’d both been soaked to the bone by the time their fathers had discovered them and demanded they come inside.
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