by Vi Voxley
Braen thought about those mysterious places often. Generally, Brions were very attached to their own system and Briolina in particular. The home world was their true mother much more so than the women who had given birth to them. It was nothing personal, Brions simply felt a deep connection to the beautiful, feral planet that shared their wild spirit.
He was different, though.
For a while now, Braen had considered asking the Elders for their approval to take his army and go explore beyond the Union's borders. After all, other species did it all the time, it was how the Union grew. Only his gaze was aimed even farther, leaving the troublesome borders behind and going to places no one even dreamed of.
As with everything, Naima put even that part of his life into new light.
Forever pushing boundaries, but now with a purpose.
The thought brought a smile to Braen's lips as he looked out of the view screen on the wall of the great flagship. Waiting for his gesha, the general felt truly excited for the first time in as long as he could remember. After he had killed the Fearless and made sure Naima was safe, he imagined they would fly away together and discover all that uncharted space had to offer.
Any uninhabited worlds belonged to their discoverer by galactic right. Of course, Brions would claim any new systems he discovered, but Braen would make sure he was given what he wanted. His own corner of the universe, for one.
As she entered the small hall where they met every morning, Braen was struck by just how gorgeous Naima was. Not only her body, which enticed him more and more every time he laid eyes on her, but her spirit, shining brighter than any of the stars.
Even dressed in a dark green gown that matched her eyes, with softly sparkling jewels in her red hair, the general still couldn't tear his eyes away from her smile. It was pure and warm and freely given.
"Good morning, General," Naima said, walking to his side.
It hurt to hear her call him that, but not as much as seeing her unhappy would have.
"Miss Jones," Braen replied, as she'd asked him. "How did you sleep? I hope the equipment I had installed in your quarters isn't disturbing you."
"Like a baby," Naima said cheerfully, looking rested and much happier for it. "I barely notice the sounds. Actually, I think they're kind of a lullaby, singing me to sleep."
Braen raised an eyebrow.
"They're there to protect you," he pointed out, "however I'm glad you are okay with the safety measures. Are you sure you won't permit guards in your rooms? I trust the sensors to pick up any sounds of distress, yet they're only machines. A living being is a different matter. They could distinguish between a gasp and a cry for help."
Naima smiled, beaming like a beacon, giving him a questioning look.
"I haven't been with you Brions for long," she began mischievously, "but I'm willing to bet a lot of money and all my pretty jewels here that you would not let any warrior anywhere near my room."
Braen snorted.
"A male warrior in my geshas quarters? Of course not," he said. "But I would gladly post a unit of my most accomplished female warriors."
"It's fine," Naima said hurriedly. "I trust the machines to pick up my calls for help the next time the Fearless tries to attack my mind. I would feel very uncomfortable with a bunch of amazons in the next room."
"Amazons?" Braen asked, frowning.
"They were female warriors on Terra, a very long time ago," Naima explained. "Pretty badass. Some say they cut off their own breasts to shoot their bows better."
The general considered that. Brions were proud of their own heritage, but he'd often said it only meant they took no interest in others.
"I admire their commitment," he concluded. "They should have developed fighting techniques that didn't demand such mutilation."
Naima stared at him, half-amused and half-annoyed.
"It's probably a myth," she said. "In any case, I'm fine. And there's always Kerven, posted at my door. He's so keen to follow your orders I basically had to escape from him to be here now."
A flash of irritation shot through Braen at once and Naima recoiled so fast she practically jumped.
"He didn't try to stop me or anything," she hastened to say, "just that he's very diligent. All good. Calm down, General. Jeez."
He looked at her, absolutely stunning in her nervousness. Her breasts rose and fell in tune with her breathing. The generous cleavage did nothing to suppress the burning desire Braen felt for his gesha to begin with.
Naima caught him looking, giving him a playful glare.
"Don't look at me like that," she chided. "Terrans have a saying about this. My eyes are up here."
"I know where your eyes are," Braen said, smirking, enjoying the easy banter that had developed as if overnight with her even if she insisted on denying him.
He didn’t want to question it, simply enjoy it. Perhaps his promise to not press her on the matter of their fated coupling had done more than he anticipated to ease her mind.
"They are very beautiful as well. That's why I gave you the jewels to match them."
There was the sweetest blush on Naima's cheeks before she shook her head and turned away from him. Her body spoke a different language, but as promised, Braen said nothing.
"Still," she said. "It makes me feel like a piece of meat."
Before Braen could say anything, she cut in more brazenly than anyone else would have dared to talk to him, like she was wont to.
"Yes. Do you Brions have no imagination at all? It means I get the feeling I'm a pretty body for you to look at."
"I told you I would give you everything," Braen said. "Not to look, that's impossible. You're radiant."
Naima didn't reply to that, changing the subject. The general had caught the small smile playing on her beautiful red lips. That, if not anything else, told him to bide his time and let his gesha get used to the life on the flagship.
She was spirited, true, but the feeling he got was that she was testing him. He had never shied back from a challenge.
He was grateful for the experiences of his brother generals who had Terran brides too. Although the details of the sacred bond were not shared, rumors and details emerged, helping guide Braen through these… difficult times.
Terran females fought in a different way. In a strange way, they had more fire and will than Brions and their ultimately submission to the bond wasn't certain. Braen found himself liking even that about his fated. For such a fight, the bond between them would be all the stronger for it and he wouldn't have been a general if he hadn't enjoyed a battle where his victory wasn't a given.
"You seemed very thoughtful when I arrived, General," Naima said, clearly wanting to change the topic. "Will we meet with the Chali soon?"
"Yes," he admitted, a hint of irritation edging into his voice at the mention of the traders. "I was thinking of the future."
"Oh," was all Naima said, avoiding his gaze.
"I was thinking of all the unknown worlds out there," Braen went on, seeing that it piqued her curiosity despite herself. "When all this is over, I want you to come with me. I think you'd like it beyond the Union's borders. The Benevolent can fly anywhere and face any challenge. What kind of worlds would you like to see?"
He paused, studying Naima curiously. There was a slight hitch in her breath, her pupils dilating.
"I'm quite fine with the ones we have, thank you," Naima said, grinning as they started walking in the long hall, the stars to their right. "I couldn't visit all the worlds that are in the Union already if I had ten lifetimes."
"I don't believe you," the general said honestly. "Your eyes went wide when I spoke of space beyond the one we know. Your breathing got a little bit faster. These are signs of interest, excitement."
"I asked you not to do that, General," Naima pointed out although she didn't seem mad. "Alright, then. Say that I would like to see one of these magical worlds. Which one would you take me to?"
That was a test, clear and simple. Nothing abo
ut Braen betrayed his understanding. The general kept walking, noticing that for all her words, Naima stayed closer to him than was absolutely necessary. Her hand brushed against his every once in a while, bittersweet and maddening.
The emotions that rushed through Braen were entirely alien to him. He understood his body's call to take her, to bury his cock deep into Naima's wet pussy again. Lust was simple. Only there was something else, something wholly new.
Whenever she moved closer to him, the smallest touches sent shocks of electricity through his body. More even than to fuck her, Braen wanted to hold her, to touch her gently, just for a moment.
They were stolen touches, forbidden and sweeter than sin. More intimate than lust, they were everything the fated desired, something to last rather than be spent. A fire to simmer throughout all eternity. The bond between them was calling them together, giving them glimpses of what could be if they just... just what?
If he'd known how to make Naima his, Braen would have done it without a second's hesitation. For the moment, everything was fine. Better than that, even. To walk with her like that, smell the fresh, clean scent of her hair – it was enough.
"A warm one," he said.
Naima chuckled a little, nodding her head.
"That's good, if not expected," she said.
"I would take you there to wipe all memories of the Fearless away," Braen went on. "We could stay there as long as you want. Walk and discover the world until you've forgotten what it's like to be cold. Until you can't remember darkness or what it feels like to fear. It could have an ocean, but one you can see through."
They kept walking side by side. Minutes passed and Naima still hadn't said anything. The general didn't offer anything else either, waiting for her judgment.
Then she slipped a hand around his and it felt better than any victory ever had. Even vanquishing the Fearless all those years ago seemed rather bland in comparison.
"You keep doing that," Naima said quietly, still not looking at him.
Braen missed the burning gaze of those greens, but he felt like he'd accomplished something much greater.
"You keep saying things like this," she continued, "and I'm left feeling bad because I won't give this is a chance."
"And you don't like this why?" Braen asked, amused.
Naima wasn't finished.
"Because words are easy. Your entire species collects these ideas and feelings for the moment when you find your fated. And then you just dump it all on them."
"If it's actions you want, I am a Brion," the general replied seriously. "It's what we do best."
A sense of levity had gone out of the moment that had been there seconds before. His gesha smiled sadly, shaking her head.
"That's not the point," she said. "Every story has two sides and there’s rarely a victory with two equal victors. Someone has to lose for the other to win. Let's talk about something else. We should focus all our actions to the Fearless. And maybe to the fact I still can't properly operate my room. The darkness here is driving me up the walls."
Braen stopped. He turned to his gesha, seeing her big green eyes flash, daring him to pick up the subject again, but the general had no intention of making his way to her heart by arguing. She was right about a few things, however.
Words were easy. And they were in a perfect place for pushing someone against the wall just like that.
Naima let out a whimper of surprise when the general pulled her into his strong embrace and her back hit the wall between the view screens. The hallway was dimly lit on his command – bright for Brions, but allowing them to be hidden from the sight of anyone foolish enough to walk down that way at the moment.
Naima's hands rested on his chest plate and Braen would have given everything he had to feel their soft touch on his skin again. Instead, he waited for the push. No matter what, she was his gesha and he had no intention of doing anything against her will.
When the shove never came, he did, however, push back against her stubbornness.
He leaned down, capturing her lips in a gentle, teasing kiss. The general's arms closed around her perfect body, savoring the moment when Naima relaxed into the motion, letting him pull her up to kiss her better, deeper. Their tongues brushed against each other, more passionate with every moment. Small moans escaped his gesha's lips as she gave in, inch by inch to the desire that Braen knew was making her blood burn in her veins.
He ached to take it further, to take Naima right there against the wall with only stars as their witness, but it would have been a short-term victory and Braen was after the grand prize. He wanted all of her, no hesitation, no doubt, no holding back. He wanted both of them to win. Equally.
In that moment, it was enough to know that her body at least was his and his alone, responding to him easily. Now he could start making his way to her heart.
The general pulled back, releasing his gesha who stared at him with that lovely temper, ready to call him out. He cut in before she could do so.
"I will teach you all the controls of your room tomorrow. And I will show you soon that sometimes, there can be equal victories. In the meanwhile, I think we should adjust the course. Are you ready for that?"
Naima smoothed down her gown, biting her lip. It was the single sexiest thing Braen had ever seen, his gesha being completely unrattled by him. He resisted acting on it – at the cost of his own sanity, it seemed.
"Yes," Naima said, a little out of breath. "Yes, I think it should be fine. Can you give me Audrey's report about the Fearless afterward? I should read it while I have time."
"Of course."
They turned in the direction of the bridge, leaving the stars behind. The next time Naima brushed her hand against his, it definitely wasn't an accident.
13
Naima
It was amazing what a few short weeks could do to a woman’s life.
Before signing on for the expedition to search for the lifestone, Naima would have said that the weirdest thing to ever happen to her was the time she fell out of a third floor window when she was seven years old. She'd walked away from that happy accident completely unharmed, hadn't even broken any bones.
It seemed obvious to Naima that life had taken that simple incident as a challenge to heap everything it could think of on her, adding a few impossibilities along the way just for fun. Maybe it was trying to finally get a few broken bones out of her, she couldn’t be sure.
Yeah, she thought, waking up in her quarters aboard the Brion warship. My sense of the uncanny has been stretched pretty thin recently. I don't think anything could surprise me anymore.
She got up, distantly remembering that they were going to rendezvous with the Chali trader ship that day, hoping to receive the first good news of their mission. Considering Braen's reaction to the offer of help, Naima doubted it would be a very fruitful meeting, but at least the general hadn't completely refused.
It was interesting for Naima. She’d rarely had a chance to meet the trader race and whenever she had in the past, it had been an event to remember. Now, considering the circumstances, she couldn’t help but expect fireworks.
He had asked Sinetha – the woman who had contacted them – to impress him. That was very unlikely, given how little the general was prepared to change his opinion of the traders.
Naima could understand his unease, but it didn't change the fact that the Fearless was growing faster than anything either of them could have anticipated, considering the amount of work it took for Naima to keep the beast out of her mind even with the Palian devices aiding her. Any help they could get would be good. At the very least, the Chali would be another distraction.
All of it was almost enough to make her forget the rest of her ridiculously complicated life. As if being some sort of a conduit for an ancient evil and a lifestone that seemed more and more sentient to her wasn't enough on her plate, Naima still couldn't entirely wrap her head around the concept that she was also a Brion general's gesha.
After he
r initial surprise, rejection and the following denial, Naima had read up on the sacred bond as much as she could. Apparently one of the phases of acceptance, at least for her, was finding out as much as she could about it. Her father would have been proud.
Her mother would have sighed and told her to trust her heart. Then, her father would launch into an argument about not trusting one’s emotions when something could be studied instead.
Luckily, Brions had tons of material about it, since it was the most pivotal part of their lives. And like every other Terran, Naima had naturally heard of the other human geshas, all brides of the powerful generals. Isolde Fenner, the first of them, had called it an amusing trend, but Naima wasn't sure she was ready to joke about it.
To her it was a bit too mystical, especially considering the other factors that were trying to rip every bit of control out of Naima's hands. It was like the universe had decided to turn on her once more and bring all her worst fears to life. Not only was she holding the balance of the universe in her palms, but she was faced with an individual that her wrong choices could obliterate on more than the cellular level as well.
It was all further complicated by her body's clear desire to give in to the general right away. In various positions and degrees of clothing, she might have added. Though she would have been a liar had she tried to claim that her attraction towards the man was purely physical.
Searching for her clothes, she stumbled on a low couch right in front of her bed. A small scream escaped her lips as pain shot through her, radiating from her toe.
It's true what they say. Bullet wounds are nothing compared to paper cuts and stubbing your toes. Damn Brions and their darkness!
A second after Naima had let out the scream, a voice sounded, seemingly coming from the walls:
"Are you alright, Miss Jones?"
What in the name of gods? Are the walls made out of paper here?
"Who is asking?" Naima shot back. "Show yourself. I've had way too many visions and voices in my head to want the walls to start talking to me. If you have a body, appear!"