Moonlight Mist: A Limited Edition Collection of Fantasy & Paranormal)

by Nicole Morgan

  “Piele it is just a little favor that I am asking of you and your bratha.” she wheedled giving him a pitiful look through her bright green eyes.

  “No Matra,” he stood firm on his decision. She wasn’t going to sucker them into another one of her favors. They never ended in their favor, something always went wrong. This was the first vacation the brathas enjoyed in a long time and they were going to get naked and partake in an orgy just as soon as Riodan finished up in the sonic shower.

  No way was he going to let his matra put a damper on their last night of planned fun. And any talk concerning younglings, even if they weren’t his, was a sure way to kill his libido.

  “Look I know Jusdisa, she will try to be brave and come up with a solution on her own. She won’t approach me for help. You and your bratha are in the vicinity and I want to be able to tell her to stop worrying about how the younglings will get them transported to Pyloto, that you and Riodan will handle it. It will be a surprise for her.”

  “Well if she doesn’t even know about it why don’t you just stay out of it?” It was logical to Piele to stay out of other being’s business.

  “Well aren’t you just an ungrateful brat.” she huffed. “Did I say no all those years ago when I paced the floor with you when you suffered from colic,” Piele knew a rhetorical question when he heard one. He needed to put a stop to this before his matra got on a roll and dragged up his past exploits.

  “Did I say no when you were caught joyriding in that dome transport?”

  “Matra.”

  “Did I say no when your Patras wanted to arrange a mating for you?”

  “Well, actually you did say no.”

  “Are you getting lippy with me boy?” Mya Pyloto demanded. Piele’s matra was a small female with bright green eyes and a ready smile. She fooled many beings into underestimating her deadly nature.

  A nature that she passed onto her male younglings. Piele knew his matra loved him, but she loved getting her own way even more and would stop at nothing until that happened

  “I was not about to let you or your bratha mate with that female. She only wanted you for your credits. I want both you and your bratha happily MATED, not just mated.”

  “No Matra,” Piele quickly answered. The last thing he needed was for her to get mad enough to call his Patras. It was embarrassing to get a lecture from them at his age. Sometimes he forgot that his bratha came about his quick temper honestly.

  “So, you’re going to do this?”

  “Yes, Matra.”

  “You’re damn right you are.” She gave an emphatic nod of her head, “Don’t forget that you have three Redemption Standard Weeks to get the younglings to Pyloto before the government closes the planet for the celebration minor Sun solar flares. You know they close the planet as a security precaution for several weeks and nobody will be allowed on or off the planet.” She reminded him before ending the comm call.

  Riodan exited the sonic shower dressed for their night on the town. His twin didn’t know it, but their lives just took a turn for the worse, again.

  Now he found himself in front of another female that was determined to give him a hard time. At least this time he got to pick the female if anyone was going to give him a hard time, Captain Sparks was who he picked. He wondered how hard it would be to convince her to go to bed with him instead of yelling.

  What God did I piss off? It must have been a bad one because this trip had turned from a fun vacation to a disaster.

  His attention turned back to Captain Sparks. What a name? He felt some sparks, that’s for sure. If he wasn't so caught up in trying to find passage home, he wouldn’t mind burning up the sheets with her.

  He wondered how she would feel if he asked her to participate in a threesome. She could be the meat in their male sandwich. Or they could give her some meat? Whichever she preferred. He barely stopped from licking his fangs in desire at the thought.

  “I’m sorry. My ship isn’t big enough to transport six extra passengers. Besides, we don’t have the accommodations to keep your...charges entertained, and I will be damned if I let them destroy my ship.” Her tone held no room for negotiation. Still, he had to try.

  Piele groaned as he saw his opportunity to get off this station slipping away. His matra was expecting them to deliver the younglings to her friend Jusdisa in a less than a Redemption Standard Week. They have already lost two weeks with all of the mishaps. They had never missed a deadline before and just because they were doing a favor for his matra he wasn’t going to let this be his first time. He quickly followed her as she marched towards the doors of Bleu Hell. So far she wasn’t motivated by the unlimited offer of credits. What type of transporter wasn’t interested in unlimited credits? Maybe she didn’t believe he could afford her price.

  They had already encountered the disaster that traveling with four younglings could cause. Throw in the fact that they were healthy females in a galaxy were females could fetch a large number of credits in some of the more lawless areas was ulcer-inducing. He couldn’t trust a male captain not to kill him and his bratha, abuse the female and then sell them into a life of slavery. Captain’s Spark’s reputation as being anti-sex-trafficking was well known around GTR.

  He watched his last chance of getting off GTR stomp away.

  Zayda bumped into a Tiagerian crew member in her haste to get away from Piele.

  “Excuse me,” She apologized briskly to the Tiagerian crew member she bumped into. She was focused on getting far away Piele and his disaster magnets as she exited Bleu Hell. Hopefully, distance between them would cause the fire that continued to build in her to extinguish.

  “Well, well, well,” The large male with orange and black striped fur purred as he eyed Zayda up and down. She inherited her height from her Xirin patra. Despite standing taller than an average terran, the Tiagerian male towered over her.

  Zayda breathed deeply.

  I will not kill anyone.

  I will not kill anyone.

  She mentally chanted breathing out slowly calming her temper. She repeated herself. A sure sign of how discombobulated the whole situation made her.

  “Excuse me,” she stepped to the side to go around the Tiagerian. She curtailed her instinct to throat punch him. Just one hard jab would make this problem go away. Bad Zayda. Your matra worked really hard to instill manners in you. This would be a perfect opportunity to put them to some good use. She breathed in slowly, attempting to find her inner Zen. Slowly releasing it.

  “I don’t think so pretty female,” the Tiagerian responded, “you are the best-looking thing in here. Sit down. Have a drink with me and my crew.”

  Many beings thought the fur covered Tiagerians were attractive. Their black and orange fur covered huge muscles. It helped that they moved like dancers, with a feline grace. Zayda was never interested in getting mixed up with one. The anal side of her brain would spend the whole time wondering if they shed.

  If it wasn’t the fur that stopped her interest, then the claws did. They made her pause. She was all for a little scratching and biting during ferocious sex but being punctured through a vital organ was not on her list of foreplay experiences to enjoy.

  She was aware that Piele stood by watching the shipwreck in progress. Hopefully, he wasn’t one of those stupid Pyloto males that thought that females needed a male to rescue them. Like some damn damsel in distress. Nothing pissed her off more than a male thinking she needed him to defend her. Actually, nothing pissed her off more than a male who refused to accept her attempt at using her manners and getting the fuck out of her way.

  Zayda reached across the table next to her, picking up a bottle of blue liquid. She kicked the Tiagerian in his knee causing him to bend over bringing his head within range before smashing the bottle across the Tiagerian’s head.

  “Share this with your crew asshole,” she snarled before turning to handle his crewmates.

  Someone might as well have set off an explosion in Bleu Hell it would have had the
same effect as Zayda’s actions. Chaos reigned in the bar. Barely held civility disappeared at the first sign of an altercation. Piele leaned out of the way of a fist aimed at his head by a stranger only to find himself tackled and carried to the other side of the bar.

  He caught a glimpse of Zayda’s black hair as she weaved in and out of the combatants throwing punches and kicks as if she was the star of a ballet. Her graceful movements underlined her skill at hand to hand combat.

  Piele found himself up against the bar dodging fists from unknown assailants anger shimmering in their eyes. The only good thing about the bar fight that was taking place before his eyes is that Zayda no longer seemed determined to escape his presence. As a matter of fact, the loud yell of “Weeeeee” came from across Bleu Hell was a good indication she was enjoying herself a lot more now than when he had entered the establishment an hour ago.

  Piele took up a spot out of the way of the fighting to the side of the bar. He dodged a piece of flying glassware barely missing his head. The last remnants of drink in the glass showering over him.

  He watched as Zayda reeducated the Tiagerian crew member about manners and how it wasn’t nice to hit a female. Watching her he realized that she wasn’t like the nice quiet Pylotorian females that his matra kept throwing at his bratha and him in hopes that they would find a mate. There was no way that she would be content to stay home and take care of hearth and younglings.

  For some reason that didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would have. His body sang with desire at her every move, her body weaving and ducking. He could only imagine how flexible she would be. His idea of a quiet home life was quickly going away with every punch that Zayda was throwing. Quiet was overrated. He found he liked sparks.

  He snagged the bartender attention. If he was going to have more dealings with Captain Zayda Sparks, then he needed some liquid courage. Her sass and attitude set his body on fire.

  “Give me whatever the strongest thing you have.” Slapping down a generic credit chip on the bar.

  “Sure thing,” a glass of something green was slid in front of him. He ignored the froth that rolled from the top of the drink as he tilted it down his throat. The burn of the carbonated soda was exactly what he needed. The bartender was excellent. He knew alcohol had no effect on Pylotorians whereas carbonated drink got them drunk. Fast.

  He watched his mate wiggle and jiggle her luscious ass around Bleu Hell, putting one male after another on the ground.

  He caught a glimpse of the blue security lights behind the bar flashing indicating that station security was fast approaching. Piele looked in regret in the direction of Zayda. She was on the other side of the bar enjoying herself. He wished he was close enough to scoop her up and get her out before security arrived but that was impossible.

  He set his glass down on the bar, grabbed his credit chip and quietly exited out the concealed side door that the helpful bartender pointed out.

  He needed to find himself a quiet spot and regroup. The success of his mission depended on him being aboard Sparks Fly.

  Chapter Three

  “Sparks. You got a visitor,” Zayda’s head whipped up as the guard spoke to her through the buzz of the laser cell door.

  Yes, she was sitting in the pokey, holding a cold pack on her swollen eye. Was this her lowest point? No, she had had worse. Still, she needed at least one good eye to determine her next course of action.

  This was the price she paid for starting the epic brawl at Bleu Hell. She grinned in satisfaction. It was worth it. She managed to work out her frustration at Mr. Hot Body on the Tiagerians. No matter how hot a man was, it was never worth transporting hellions on her precious ship. Plus, she also had the additional frustration to work off over her coming mating situation which got worse the longer she spent time in Mr. Hot Body’s presence.

  Fun though it was, she had pressing problems to address. Like getting the hell out of jail before her matra discovered her. How she could continue to ignore the mating fire burning inside of her. She firmly believed that denial was the best course of action until it wasn’t. She already used her one comm call to contact Maud, her X-MONT III sentient computer friend. Now she was just waiting on the credits to be transferred for her bail. It was a race to see who got to her first. Her matra or Maud?

  This wasn’t her first visitor, but at least the first one made sense. The magistrate, she showed up to threaten her with further jail time for the damage she caused in Bleu Hell.

  How was she to know Bleu Hell was the magistrate’s favorite place to unwind. She hadn’t intended it, but the brawl had destroyed the bar. It was closed for the foreseeable future for renovation.

  Her curiosity piqued, she followed the guard to the visitor area. She hoped her visitor wasn't her matra. The last thing she needed was her matra to bail her out of jail. Hell, she didn’t even want her matra to know that she was on the Gateway to Redemption.

  Zoya Sparks had no problem keeping under lock and key forcing her to endure unending primping until it was time for the Celestial Ball. Just the thought of being forced to wear some hideous dress to the event was her more than enough punishment for being arrested. But two weeks of bonding with Zoya Sparks was cruelty.

  Please don’t let this be my matra.

  Please don’t let this be my matra.

  By the grace of the Purple One if it is anyone other than my matra I will attend service on a regular basis from this day forward.

  She silently prayed as she followed the waddling ass of the prison guard. It's not that she didn’t love her matra. When she was not determined to get Zayda mated they had a great relationship.

  They have spent the last few years in a friendly competition to see who could drive the other one crazy first. At this point, Zoya Sparks was ahead, but Zayda was too competitive to leave it that way for long. She breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sight of Mr. Hot Body Piele in all his gray gorgeousness.

  She sat down across from him. The security field buzzing gently ensuring no escape.

  He looked as good this time as he had at the bar, maybe better. Sometime before coming to the jail he changed from his boring space jumper to a pair of tight Owlin leather pants that hugged an ass that Zayda would love to take a bite out of. It was the pants that convinced her that Piele could afford the outrageous fee he offered her.

  Owlin leather was a synthetic material that repelled laser fire. It was produced by the Steele Corporation. They specialized in weapons and protective gear. Their clientele list was very selective. The Steele Corporation picked and choose who they sold their products to. No matter how hard she tried, Zayda hadn’t been able to get onto their client list. Zayda not only coveted the ass encased in the leather, but she wanted the long black duster, decorated in silver buckles, that flowed from his broad shoulders down his body to brush around his ankles.

  Jealousy. Pure jealousy at both his clothing and his body.

  Her nipples were hardening into painful nubs at the sight of him. She appreciated a good looking male as much as the next female.

  Moisture pooled at the juncture of her thighs.

  She was the victim of good old-fashioned lust, not mating fire.

  Deny.

  Deny.

  Deny.

  Nothing to be concerned about. Lusting after him didn’t mean she was going to transport him and his hellions.

  She squeezed her thighs tightly together. Her pussy producing a copious amount of fluid. Encouraging her to change her mind about having some naked fun time with Piele.

  She really needed to reconsider the whole no underwear thing. She was going to start leaving an embarrassing wet stain if she spent too much time in his presence. It was a good thing she had already decided that transporting him would be bad. She sighed in delight at the sight of him.

  Pyloto that little planet sure could produce some fabulous specimens of maleness. She might need to seriously reconsider moving her base of operations.

  One of the reasons he
drew her gaze, was his size. It wasn’t often that she came across a male that made her feel small and dainty like he did.

  His big broad shoulders.

  His sculpted muscles.

  She fantasized about his large hands on her body.

  Teasing her.

  Tantalizing her. Pleasuring her into a world of carnal bliss.

  She gently fanned herself. Was it hot in here?

  She shook herself out of her sexual fantasy. Instead, she focused on Piele sitting across from her.

  “Are you ready to reconsider my offer?” Just a hint of impudence. At this point, he had nothing to lose.

  “Hell no.” she stiffened at the question offended. As if being stuck in jail would make her desperate.

  “You would rather sit here in jail than to make a quick trip to Pyloto and earn some credits?”

  “When it involves younglings that have already been kicked off of a luxury liner, yes.”

  “Two,” he muttered glancing away from her.

  “Two what?”

  “We have been kicked off of two luxury liners.”

  The loud cackling laugh that escaped her made her look like a loon especially with the ice pack held to her swollen eye. One of those damn males got in a good hit before she took him down.

  “You want me to subject my poor ship to four female younglings that have already been kicked off two luxury liners. Damn, I must have been hit harder than I thought because I think I have lost my hearing.”

  Being raised by a deadly female taught her how to take a punch early in life. “Don’t let gender cause you to underestimate a being.” Lesson number one taught by her matra.

  Zayda's was raised in matriarchal society. Females were the head of their family lines, the protector of their lineage. Treasured for their ability to nurture life. Males for their protective nature. Their fighting spirits. Each had their role in Redemption society. The protective nature of a female with youngling was never discounted as being less than that of a patra. Matras were known to go to the extreme to protect their genetic legacy. Her matra always told her and her sistahs that if they were going to hit a male then you better be prepared to be hit by one.