“The punishment goes against our War Code.” Michaelerus brushed his hands up and down her back. “It is also why the survivors didn’t enter the war.”
“Because an eye-for-an-eye does not exist in your culture.”
“It does not.” Though even he had been hot for blood after the destruction of Navora. Time had not eased his desire for revenge. The code stood between him and making Andromeda’s homeworld run red with blood.
Torn.
He’d been torn between his blood lust and a sacred vow he’d taken after traveling across the sand dune-riddled landscape of Lazarus 7. He’d pledged his life to the stars and to the peace his kind was supposed to keep. He’d promised he would never use the advanced technology he commanded against a weaker species.
What the hell am I going to do?
The somber notes of the sands influence sounded.
“I will advocate for Leanderus, but you must understand, Michaelerus, he did not only murder the crystal but also its sentient partner.” She sighed. “It is unlikely any request for leniency will be accepted, but I will try on the grounds the Navorains do not believe in the death penalty.” Her hand caressed a hot path down his naked stomach. “We will hope for the best, but I wouldn’t have you hold onto a pipe dream and wishful thinking.”
“Measuring your words with me?” He cocked his eyebrow at her. The mating tune’s longing strains grew in strength.
“I am aware that this could end our alliance before it ever has a chance to begin.” Her fingers curled around his cock. Zings of energy flowed from her. “That may sway the judiciary.”
She didn’t sound so sure about that. The sensations flowing through him told him it was time to move on. They needed to look to the future. The sand was pushing him to come to grips with the truth.
“I will try,” she whispered.
“Thank you.” He gripped her wrist. “Are you trying to divert my attention and change the subject?” She had a staunch ally in the sand.
“I am trying to remind you that I am living and have needs.”
“More so than my last tesra. Sex is your preferred foodstuff.” It didn’t make a difference. He could fuck this woman five times a day and never tire of her.
She blushed. “If you are not in the mood, I’ll go to Amanassa. He is my designated donor.”
Not any more. Michaelerus lifted her in his arms and lowered her on his cock. A low, keening moan rose from her. “You like this.”
By the Great Fathers of Lazarus, he did. He loved how her pussy hugged his cock. Every whimper of ecstasy, the tiny mewls she made, her arms clinging to him—they were his manna.
He set a slow pace. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. “Harder, Michaelerus. I want it harder.”
He accommodated her in spades. She arched her back. Her long hair shifted from side to side as he turned up the heat.
The darkness of Oblivion, the only place he could find his satisfaction, drifted around them. “Come into the darkness.” His balls tightened. Cum crept up his cock. “Don’t be afraid,” he rasped out.
They slid into Oblivion. His movements turned hard—rampant. Deep in the void, he took her for a wild ride.
“Ah!” The clenching of her feminine walls milked the cum right from his shaft. “Yes. Yes. Yes!” she screamed.
He didn’t stop moving her up and down, even after he’d found his own release. No. He kept on, pouring fifteen years of pain into her.
Finally, he crushed her to him. Tucking her head beneath his chin, he stared at the stars sweeping past the Vor Marran as it raced through hyperspace.
For the first time in a long time, he felt whole.
Chapter Five
Don’t fear the future.
Jada strode into Michaelerus’s open arms. He ripped the veil from her head and tossed it across the room.
“I am sorry,” she whispered. Her heart ached for the warrior holding her so close she could feel his heart beat somberly slow.
On one side, the Dareauxians had won. They’d renewed their pledge to not take advantage of a sexually immature race, which was a given. The Navorains and all their allies had stood against the New Chastity Party's outrageous plan. The proposition to change the rules was soundly defeated.
She sighed when Michaelerus laid a kiss to the top of her head. “I tried.”
“I know, and I thank you for the small consolation you were able to garner.”
There was really very little she could do to save Leanderus. “The Perseysian will be gentler with him than the executioner on Dareaux.” Which, when she considered who the Perseysians were, appeared to be a contradiction in terms. They were fear feeders from the far side of the universe and managed the largest penal planet in the Community. Still, considering the inexorably long time it took for the Dareauxian executioner to kill his client by slow electrocution, she’d take the small blessing.
“Shh. We aren’t talking about this anymore.”
If that didn’t sound like her life mate, she didn’t know what did. “I love you.”
“And I you.” Michaelerus had come to grips with the truth about their binding and then laid his past to rest. He’d removed his holographic program from the ship’s computer before she’d even woken the morning after he’d told her Leanderus had destroyed the crystal.
His intention was simple. They were starting fresh.
Slowly, over the course of the few days it had taken them to reach the Community’s Headquarters, she’d sensed a change in him. He was learning how to live again.
Granted, when he was on duty, he was all warrior, but at night or when he fed her, she noticed the void in his chest where happiness had once lived was beginning to fill with good memories.
Fardin frig, just last night he’d laughed at her when she’d inadvertently shocked him. The sound of his booming laughter was so pure it had enticed her to take control of their loveplay. He, of course, hadn’t allowed her to be the master for long. No. Within five minutes, he was ordering her about, and she was willingly following his directives.
“Where to next, tesra?”
She giggled. “To bed?”
“I like the way you think.” He hit the communicator imbedded beneath the tattoo gracing his biceps. “Captain Fis Lazure, set a course for Lazarus 7.”
She frowned.
“There I will make our mating official.”
“Oh,” she said because she couldn’t think of anything better to say. “How long will it take us to get there?”
“Long enough for me to get you naked and moaning.” He pulled her down the hall toward their quarters. “Does that sound good?’
Energy sizzled in the air. “Yummy.”
The End
Author Bio
In Belladonna’s formative years, she’d heard her mother tell her an imagination is a terrible thing to waste. That’s what happens when your mother is also an author. In adulthood, life took her in a different direction. She became a professional portrait photographer.
Her mother never gave up on her imaginative daughter and finally convinced her to try to write a story. Drawing inspiration from the candid moments that occur in her daytime job, she believes every human being has a story to tell. She writes multi-cultural contemporary romance with emphasis on real-life cultural divides, historical, fanta-historical, and science fiction.
When not working on her next story, she’s out with friends or kills time with her family, but her camera is never far from her side, and the next story never far from her thoughts.
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