“Ridiculous,” another warrior, a darker-skinned shady, grumpy-looking Mahdfel snaps. “Spitfire II works fine.”
“It’s not very personal to us, though, is it?” I say, folding my arms. “We’re travelling around, going from place to place and sucking up to people.”
“We’ll have to take other jobs to afford fuel,” another says, folding his burly arms. “We won’t return to Paxia; we’ll have no home. Drifter?”
“Something almost misleading,” Vyken argues. “The Drifter is a vessel that gets boarded on a whim. We need something that inspires awe; the kind of vessel tales are told about.”
“The Marauder,” I suggest. “No FMS -- no Firosan military connotations. We’ll be staying under everyone’s radar, taking on odd jobs as he said. We have one of the most powerful spacecrafts currently active in the universe. Nothing fancy. Just Marauder.”
“The Firosan Marauders,” Vyken repeats. Nobody argues, which I take as a win, but they look at each other and then to their captain for a final verdict. “Let’s waste no time. Say goodbye to your loved ones, men.”
That appears to be that on the name, then. I’m sure I could have come up with something better if I knew that was going to be the end of it, but I’m pretty excited I got to name a spaceship.
“We have no loved ones,” the Mahdfel laugh. “And we never will. We are giving up our chances for happiness to this cause.”
“Are you happy about that?” Wrax interrupts, walking back over from the ship. The Mahdfel who spoke jumps at being addressed by his king, and swivels around.
“Well … I was looking forward to meeting my bride, of course, my king, but--”
“Then it’s settled. We will have our engineers install a teleportation pod on board the ship.”
“Wrax, but--”
The king silences him with a look. “I will not deny my men the chance to mate. That is not the kind of king I am. This mission is the longest thing you will ever do, but it is not the most perilous. The craft has room on board for twenty families, let alone seven. I won’t have my men go mad with boredom, with loneliness, or with resentment. It was a plan I had from the beginning, but I was unsure until now. Of course you are entitled to your mates.”
The Mahdfel all blink over at him after that speech, and I look at Vyken quizzically. When the king excuses himself with a nod, they all begin to speak rapidly and excitedly.
“Well,” Vyken says, interrupting, and they all cease to turn to look at him. It makes me feel proud, to feel all the respect present in this gigantic hangar. “Make sure you all sign up for the Lottery, men. It looks like the Marauder just became a family vessel.” He beams over at me and I feel my chest flutter and my head feel light.
It’s been doing that a lot lately.
“We’ll leave first thing tomorrow.” He dismisses his crew and we walk back to the hovercab together. I should be nervous but I’m not -- I just really can’t wait to leave and get started on saving his planet and teaching his enemies a lesson. They are also the aliens who tried to destroy Earth, ruining plenty of lives in the meantime.
“Having a mate by their side will only make them stronger,” he says to me thoughtfully as we get back to his apartment. I kiss him on the back of his hand and smile up at him, grateful for the sweet compliment but also knowing he believes that with all his heart.
“You think I make you stronger?” I ask, teasingly.
“Without a doubt.”
I look him in the eye and pull off my shirt.
“I … um … w--”
With a laugh I step to him and press my palm against the already growing bulge, and I reach up to kiss him. Hungrily, passionately, he kisses me back. “In general, I meant,” he says softly.
“Mm,” I agree, pulling at his clothes. “I just wanted an excuse to turn you on.”
“You don’t need a reason,” he says, and with a tug my bra is off and then so is everything else, and we’re on the couch with my legs wrapped around his waist. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I say, and groan as his cock presses against me and his lips touch my neck. “I’m so happy.” And I mean it with all my heart.
I know that if I had a choice, I wouldn’t have my life any other way.
Vyken: (Warriors of Firosa Book 3) Page 10