by Lucy Kelly
“You know I’m a Seer, Highness?” she asked.
“Yes—and please call me Ben,” he said, looking at this young girl who held such power; power which came at a heavy price.
“I know you have a decision to make. I just wanted to tell you the mate proposed for you may be your perfect love, just as you may be hers. Your road will be rocky and hard at the beginning; she has been deeply hurt. Be patient and see her not only as a mate, but as a true partner and queen. If you are to have love, you must first give trust and earn trust,” she said.
“Thank you, Cassandra. I will consider all you have said in making my decision,” he said, before turning to enter the shuttle bay and return to KowLer.
Cassandra had a smile, which was returned by her guards when she left the king. “Okay, let’s head over to the docking station and give the warriors waiting to see the queen the bad news and the good news,” she said.
“Bad news—do we need to prepare for another emergency?” asked Jarmin, sharing a word with his brother Jenner. It was their shift guarding Cassandra, the new aide to the queen.
She laughed. “No, the bad news is their visitation with the queen will be postponed. The good news is we’ll get to take them to eat in the new meal chamber set up by Jennifer Sharp.”
Both men looked pleased at this. Jennifer had transformed one of the larger conference chambers into what she called a restaurant. It became a favorite place for many of the crew and especially the women on board. Replicated food just didn’t have the same flavor as freshly made.
****
Glynnis walked in to see her granddaughter staring, looking at nothing as she scratched the head of one of her dogs. The fact she was throwing off golden sparks meant she’d been using her powers again.
“Addie, do you know you’ve hurt Rune’s feelings? I want to know what you’re going to do about it. If you’re getting a swelled head about being queen, you’re not too old for me to scold,” said Glynnis.
Her reverie broken, Addie looked at her grandmother, the woman who’d raised her and Grace when their parents had been killed by a drunk driver. Instead of embracing her golden years and finally traveling to all the places she’d dreamed of, she’d taken on two traumatized girls. Pushing down her own grief of losing her child, she and her husband went back to the farm and made a home, started raising a family all over again.
“Granny?” she asked, looking over at her. “Where’s everyone else? We have plans to make.”
Looking at her granddaughter, she saw the tremendous pressure Addie carried on her shoulders. Pressure she would carry all her life. It was all there in her eyes, the care, the worry, and the love—for her family and her people.
“I just wanted a minute with you. How are you holding up, honey?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine, just really tired of this chair. I don’t even want to think about how fat my ass is going to look when I finally get out of it and have these babies,” she said.
“You’ll be fine. I wanted to let you know I think Rune’s feelings were hurt. You need to fix that,” she said.
“Really, I never intended that. Send him in, and then give us five minutes. Okay?”
“Of course―just remember, you don’t have to do anything alone. We’re all here for you.”
“That’s good, Granny, because I’ve made a decision and I’ve got a job for you and your Ankida to do. We’ll get into that later, though. For now, please get Rune for me,” she said.
Glynnis was torn. She wanted to know Addie’s plan but she also wanted Addie to make up with Rune. Finally, she threw up her hands and went to get Rune. Moments later, he entered the room.
“You wanted to speak with me, my queen?” he asked.
Oh, yeah, he was hurt, and pissed, too, Addie thought.
“I can see you’re hurt and angry. But if I try to get out of this chair so I can come to you, you’ll just get even angrier. So I have to ask you to come over here so I can apologize for hurting you. It wasn’t my intention.”
She waited for him to come over to the gel chair. With a little encouragement, he lay down next to her.
“Let me see if I can explain to you how I feel. Arjun―well, he’s a natural leader. He’s my head and the first one I’d call on to deal with a situation which depends on diplomacy and a cool head. Kylan―I think of him as my gut. His instinctual reactions are quick and precise. I can count on him for the right action in a volatile situation.” She turned her head to look him in the eyes.
“Rune, you’re my heart. You always see through to the emotion guiding other’s actions and the insights you give me are invaluable to making the right decisions in any situation. Never believe I don’t need your counsel and comfort. The only reason I needed to speak to the king alone is because the conversation had to do strictly with him. The privacy was for his comfort, not mine. I needed to sway him to make the decision I wanted him to make and knew I would have a better chance if we were alone. So, are we good now?” she asked.
“I’m ashamed for my jealousy,” he said.
“Do you doubt I love you?”
Shocked, he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. He had hurt her with his lack of trust, he saw now.
“Never―not for one moment,” he answered. “If there was a lack, it was in me. You are my world, Aditya Marie Perez Azazyel. I will love you until I die and beyond,” he said emphatically.
She smiled at him and stretched forward to give him a kiss. It soon heated into a more passionate embrace.
“It’s been so long since we’ve made love. I need to have you take me―hard and fast, to feel you inside me. I need that connection again, with you, Arjun and Kylan, too,” she said to him.
“Later, we’ll work something out,” he said, making her a promise. A few kisses more and he got up to let in the others. Arjun and Kylan came in and seeing Addie’s swollen lips, both took a moment to kiss her too, before they all took a seat.
Rune came back in the room with a tray of food, followed by Recca and Rufan, two of Glynnis’s Ankida. They helped by carrying trays and beverages. At first, they all ate their food. Addie cracked jokes about no longer needing a tray, her belly being large enough to hold her plate.
Addie finished first―she couldn’t eat too much at one time and tended to eat smaller meals throughout the day.
“Go ahead and eat your food. I’ll explain my plan as you finish. Then I’d like to hear your comments and suggestions. Step one: I’ve decided we’ve spent too much time running around to Malpha’s timetable. While we do need to get to HeVan as quickly as possible, I don’t want to wait until then to meet Malpha. By now, she obviously knows you’re bringing home a queen—or at least has a strong suspicion.
“I don’t want to give her more time to plot and I’m not comfortable meeting her for the first time on her home turf. So I’ve decided we should stay here until I deliver our daughters. I want Granny Mac,” she said, calling her grandmother by the name she’d used growing up, “to take a shuttle with her Ankida and go to HeVan immediately. She will take over as Regent, stopping Malpha from any additional plotting. She can then transmit memory savers of me and all the other women on a worldwide transmission. I understand there is a global alert system―we’ll use that. Our people will then have hope and will be prepared for our arrival.
“As part of the transmission, I will tell the people I need to consult with Malpha on all that has happened during her reign. Since she has been relieved of her burden because Glynnis is there to take up the reins and lead during this transitory period, she is free―by my order―to come and meet with me here. Granny, you send Malpha back here the next day on the same shuttle you arrived in with the same crew; we don’t want her to have time to act against us. I’ll be sending her a separate, private message I believe will convince her to cooperate. Any questions?” she asked.
Everyone in the room gave her varying looks of shock and amazement. Finally, it was Kylan who broke the silence. “Your plan h
as merit. I believe it will succeed well. In fact, it’s an ingenious idea.”
Next, Arjun spoke, “Malpha won’t have time to put any other plan in place. Glynnis can stop any move she makes. Having Malpha leave right away will also prevent her from putting any schemes in motion. I would suggest sending Cassandra and her parents along with Glynnis. Cassandra may be able to pick up on something we should know about,” he mused.
Rune, after hearing his brother’s views, gave Addie a smile before giving his own. “She will be angry at first, but in the end, I think this will be better for her. I assume your message to the people of HeVan, in part, will be the events which occurred around Tamiel’s and her mother’s deaths? By coming here, she will avoid the immediate backlash against her House and her Regency. While we haven’t always agreed with her decisions, it must be noted she has kept our people together for hundreds of years. Many will hold her responsible for actions taken before her birth. She does not deserve their scorn.”
Addie shared a look with him and knew he understood her words even more clearly now.
“Addie, I’m very curious to know what the meeting with King KowLer was about?” asked Glynnis.
Addie looked at her grandmother―no more white hair, and only a little gray. She would have her for many years to come and was so happy about that. Right now, she was bouncing in her seat like a little girl, wanting to be let in on a secret.
“I don’t believe Malpha should return to HeVan,” said Addie.
Many in the room gasped.
“You’re not going to do anything…” Glynnis’s words trailed off. No one believed Addie could be so ruthless as to take Malpha’s life.
Addie laughed, “How bloodthirsty you are! No, Arjun gave me the idea when he told me about BianCa and Lord Thors. Malpha’s wish is to be queen and the king is in need of one,” she said simply.
She said no more as they all worked out her plan in their own minds. All at once, all of the men began to laugh. It wasn’t long before they were practically rolling on the floor with hilarity.
“This is why I didn’t want them in the room when I put the idea to the king,” explained Addie to her grandmother in a dry voice. Glynnis nodded and they both looked on fondly while their Ankida regained their senses.
An hour later, Glynnis and her Ankida left to pack.
Addie turned to her men. “Okay, guys—tell the guards on duty I’m going to be napping for the next two hours and we’re not to be disturbed for any reason.”
Rune immediately went to her side and searched her face. “Are you feeling unwell? Do you need me to carry you to bed?”
“Yes, I need you to carry me to bed. But I have no intention of sleeping and every intention of making love to my Ankida. I’m going to let you do most of the work, but we are going to do this. As I said earlier, I need you. I need to reconnect your bodies with my body.”
Remembering what he had promised her earlier, heat entered his eyes. He stepped over to the chair and picked her up. Kylan led the way into the bedroom and Arjun went down the hall to speak to the warriors.
Rune set her down beside the bed. Addie reached forward, her hands up on his shoulders and brought him down to kiss his mouth. Beside them, Kylan watched them kiss and his own arousal grew. Addie pulled back and turned to Kylan, just as Arjun entered the room. Rune began removing his clothing as Kylan and Addie were kissing. Arjun closed the hatch to the bedroom and secured it. As Addie had requested, they didn’t wish to be disturbed.
Arjun and his brothers had spent time giving Addie her woman’s pleasure, and received their own just by watching her. Now Addie was insisting they participate fully again for the first time since she’d been put on bed rest. The medicals hadn’t actually forbidden having sex but when Addie had been put on bed rest, Arjun and his brothers had bid that part of their lives goodbye until well after their daughters were born. They were too concerned with possibly causing her harm or having her go into premature labor.
“Addie, are you sure this is safe for you and the babies?” Arjun had to ask.
“Don’t worry, Arjun, sex can’t hurt me or the babies. We just need to be careful about straining my muscles. So you guys are going to support me and the babies and we’re going to make love.”
By this time, Rune was undressed so he helped Addie remove her dress and her bra as Kylan held her steady, rubbing her shoulders and back.
Addie crawled up on the bed, balancing her weight on her hands and knees. Rune was naked, leaning against the headboard, waiting to see what she wanted. What she wanted was him, and her other Ankida.
She made her way over to him, up between his legs and she began to kiss his chest, paying specific attention to his nipples. He reached up and ran his hands over her shoulders. “Your skin has always been soft but now it’s even softer. It has a glow to it. Don’t you agree, Arjun?”
“Yes, she’s grown more and more beautiful,” said Arjun, as he came up behind her on the bed. He ran his hands up the inside of her thighs, lightly over her mound and over her ass. Kylan came up beside her and fondled her breasts as they hung down. They had grown as her pregnancy had progressed.
Addie moved down and took Rune into her mouth. She was fully aroused and her secondary breathing passage had opened, allowing her to keep breathing, even as she took Rune’s cock and swallowed it deep into her throat.
Taking him so deep was a glorious feeling for her. His member rubbed against the sexual organ deep at the back of her throat. Addie could feel the sensation spear throughout her body. This is what she wanted to get back—this total connection to her mates. She wiggled her rear, telling Arjun silently what she wanted.
Kylan continued to pay homage to her breasts and supported her torso. Arjun slowly entered her from behind.
Addie relaxed her body and put herself in the control of her mates. She let herself float away on the sensations they were creating together. The rhythm of Arjun’s thrusts set the pace for their lovemaking. Addie felt her orgasm approaching and fought it. She didn’t want to stop. But she couldn’t stop it and it rolled through her. The convulsions of her peak clenched down and squeezed both Arjun and Rune.
Rune groaned at the sensation. “Oh, I don’t think I can hold on. It’s too much.”
Addie swallowed again, squeezing Rune deep in her throat until she felt him lose control. He started coming and she kept swallowing, drinking down his essence.
Rune helped her up, pulling out of her mouth, holding her steady against his chest as Arjun continued to move inside her. Kylan came up on his knees beside her, still supporting her torso with one arm as he ran his other hand over neck and back.
Arjun held onto her hips as he continued to move in and out.
“Faster, harder, I need more,” she said against Rune’s chest.
Kylan ran his hand down her back and between the globes of her ass. She was leaking more of her juices there and Kylan pressed in with first one finger and then two in counterpoint to Arjun’s thrusts.
Rune took over holding her up, bringing her arms over his shoulders. She rested her head on his chest as she pushed back in a rhythm as old as time. When a second orgasm rolled over her, it pulled Arjun along with it. Arjun shouted out his release as Addie screamed out her own and went limp. Only her Ankida’s arms kept her from collapsing on the bed. They lowered her onto her side, panting as she got her breath back.
Rune closely examined her, checking to see if she were okay. “How do you feel?”
“I feel wonderful. I’m a little sticky, though; I could use a bath,” she said.
“You heard our mate; she would like to be cleansed,” said Kylan.
“Kylan, you didn’t get to make love with me.”
“Never worry, my love, I participated enough,” he said. “Besides, there is always tonight,” he added with a smile and getting a grin in return.
“That’s a promise,” Addie told him.
She felt the bond between them strongly. All was right in her worl
d.
Chapter Eleven
Malpha, Regent of HeVan, strode down the corridor of her home. When the two warriors standing at the doors saw her approach, they snapped to attention. One opened the door so she would not have to pause in her stride to enter her office. He shut the doors behind her and let out the breath he was holding.
The regent’s mood had deteriorated each day the Venger was late in returning to HeVan. Like most, he prayed the journey proved successful. They didn’t believe the brothers from the House of HeVanth had found the long lost queen. They believed the brothers were delaying the trip home because they knew they would have to join with Malpha, uniting their Houses, when they returned.
The warrior didn’t feel much sympathy for them. Even though it would be a political joining, it was needed for the good of their people. The majority of the warriors would have to wait much longer before they saw a woman, let alone join with one.
It was the only hope of most of the citizens of HeVan the Goddess would once again bless their planet after the two Houses were joined. This was the belief of the warrior on duty, as well. He barely gave a passing thought to what Malpha was doing; he did his duty.
Malpha ignored her desk and went straight to the bar hidden behind two doors built into the wall. She had spent most of the day refereeing a border dispute between two Houses. One had twenty-five women of child-bearing years; three of them were not yet joined. The House which bordered them had none. They had attempted to take the women when the first House would not trade them for goods. It was ridiculous. In their culture, the men always joined the House where the woman they joined with lived. It was unheard of for a woman to leave her home and follow her mate to another House. It had not been easy getting them to see reason.
She poured herself a glass of Seraphian brandy. She was down to five cases and the House of Seraph had stopped exporting it. To make matters worse, she was under tremendous pressure to increase the maximum number of genetically bound mates from four to six. This would mean a woman would have to have a different husband in her bed each day for up to six days before she was given any rest.