The Mercenary's Dawn

by L P Peace

  Three missiles erupted from the side of the Cealin battlecruiser and hit Devorak’s ship, which bloomed with light and fire in the stillness of space. The shockwave rippled out. Flames rode with it. If they hit, the break to the energy wave would show up on Cealin sensors.

  ‘Dairon—’

  ‘On it.’ Dairon manoeuvred Invictus, turning the bow so they were riding in front of the shockwave, at the extent of the sub-light engine’s capabilities.

  Dairon flicked a switch and half the viewscreen changed to show their wake. The flames slowly died, and Dairon eased from the ship’s throttle, allowing the wave to swallow them.

  Two ships erupted out of lightspeed. Thanesh leaned forward and smiled. They looked like the Calaia, only with flourishes that Thanesh found garish.

  A moment later, a Seliika ship appeared.

  Like the Cealin, the Seliika lived on a cold planet, which showed through in their aesthetic. The ship looked like one arm of an ice fractal. The basic design was a W with two short outer arms. But the ship was covered in spikes so that it appeared to have developed out of ice. It was both beautiful and threatening.

  ‘They’re talking to the Cealin ship,’ Dairon said. He pushed a few buttons, and the viewscreen split to show a scarred Cealin with cold eyes talking to Naradai.

  ‘Our Prince went over to the Protectorate ship in good faith and they killed him.’ The general sneered.

  ‘Excellent performance, Damaron.’

  Thanesh looked at the Cealin.

  ‘Oh, Damaron’s the one who informed me of the assassination plot,’ the Prince said, leaving the chair and walking over to the screen. ‘They underestimated his loyalty to me and overestimated his loyalty to a corrupt empire.’

  The two males were arguing now. Naradai’s grey face was taking on a teal hue with his growing anger.

  ‘Open the comm.’ Thanesh nodded at Dairon who grinned back.

  They knew the ships had received the comm when both males went quiet.

  ‘Prince Devorak, did I kill you?’ Thanesh turned to face the Cealin Prince.

  ‘No,’ he answered with a smirk on his face. ‘As you can see. Of course, if you had wanted to, you wouldn’t have had the chance. My own people were firing on us as soon as I stepped foot on your ship.’ The humour had died from his eyes and he was glaring at the general.

  ‘Really?’ Naradai asked, looking at the general.

  ‘I’ve been aware of an assassination plot against me for some time,’ Devorak spat. ‘I never thought it would be my good friend Damaron.’

  ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Damaron feigned indignation.

  ‘As it is. I’ve requested asylum with the Protectorate.’

  Thanesh stepped forward. ‘If your ships would escort us to Teralis so that we can pick up the rest of our people, then I will gladly get the vrok out of Cealin space.’

  Naradai nodded. ‘The Ilan has sent several ships to the planet to aid in its evacuation. I doubt there will be much for you to do once we get there, but of course.’

  ‘If you leave, Prince, you’ll be renouncing your throne.’

  Devorak laughed. ‘Oh, I’ll be back for my throne, Damaron. Don’t you worry. I will remember you when that rote comes.’

  ‘There is a small fracture on your cheekbone.’ Dabin pursed his lips. ‘But it’s healing quickly.’ Dabin shook his head. He glanced into Alethia’s eyes. She could feel the guilt radiating from him.

  She reached out and pulled him into her arms. ‘You didn’t fail, Dabin. No one could have withstood that weapon.’

  Dabin moved out of her arms and grabbed a medspray. ‘This will speed healing.’

  He pressed the jet-injection to her arm. The medspray stung as it passed through her skin. She rubbed the area as he put it down.

  ‘Thank you.’ His eyes flickered to and away quickly as he nodded.

  Alethia suppressed a sigh. She wanted to comfort Dabin, but he was a slave for a long time before Alethia bought him, he was used to suppressing everything so as to not anger his old owner. He would have to process his own feelings on this before he would accept assurances that he was blameless. Despite wanting to press it, Alethia let it go.

  The door swished open and Dairon entered, crossing the room and wrapping his arms around her. He took a deep breath, as though he could only relax now that he had her in his arms.

  ‘I’m going to hunt that fucker down and kill him,’ Dairon said, keeping a tight hold of her. ‘I’m pretty sure Thanesh will be right there with me.’

  ‘The Cealin have him now,’ Alethia whispered. ‘He was certain they’d punish him for his failures.’

  ‘That’s something at least.’

  Dairon stepped away. Alethia looked into the black eyes of her little brother.

  ‘We’ve arrived at Teralis. Thanesh has gone down to coordinate pulling the new Protectorate from the surface.’

  Alethia nodded. ‘When did he leave?’

  ‘A few minutes ago,’ Dairon said. ‘He wanted to come, but they have to get everyone off before the Cealin interfere.’

  ‘I understand,’ she assured him.

  ‘So, a Protectorate?’

  Alethia frowned, not knowing where to start.

  Dairon held up his hand. ‘I get it. I’ve spent a day with him. I like him. Mum and our dads would have approved.’ He nodded to some unspoken question in his head and held out a small data chip to her.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘The coordinates of Tessa.’

  Alethia took the chip and clutched it. ‘Could you get me some clothes?’

  Dairon nodded. ‘I put him in your room by the way,’ he smiled before he left.

  Alethia chuckled as she took a seat back on the bed behind her.

  Dairon helped Alethia return to her room and settle in. Now that all of the excitement was over, exhaustion had settled over her. He helped her get comfortable then left with promises to come back later.

  A few minutes after he left, Makios entered with food. She spent an hour consoling him and assuring him it was not his fault Kallis had taken her. When he left, Alethia could see that he would be blaming himself for some time to come.

  A steady stream of Makios’s crew arrived after that. First Deyuul, then Vella and finally Vanoor.

  ‘Alcohol,’ Vella said, holding up a bottle. ‘To celebrate your status as a newly freed female.’ She poured some drinks and the four of them held the drinks out in a toast. Vella’s face went suddenly solemn. ‘But just one. You’ve been through a lot, and you need to recover.’

  They talked until Dairon threw them all out on his return.

  ‘How are you doing?’ he asked, walking back from the door. Deyuul, Vella and Vanoor’s voices echoing down the corridor outside.

  ‘Tired.’

  ‘You look tired,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, thanks.’ She rolled her eyes.

  ‘I’ll go in a moment,’ he promised.

  ‘There was a half-Kuyon on Thanesh’s—’

  ‘Garen. I’m not going to be compatible with every Kuyon I meet, Alethia.’ He laughed.

  ‘I know,’ she sighed. ‘I just want you to be happy.’

  ‘I am,’ he said. Though a shadow of something clouded his face and was gone.

  ‘Right.’ Dairon stood and picked up her empty tray. ‘Get some sleep. I’ll send Thanesh right to you as soon as he arrives.’

  ‘Thanks.’ She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.

  She didn’t hear the door close when Dairon left.

  A shadow was standing in the middle of the room when she opened her eyes.

  ‘Oh, fuck.’ She scooted away from them.

  ‘Vrok. Light.’

  The lights came on and blinded her.

  ‘Alethia, you are safe. It is just me.’

  She heard the rich tones of Thanesh’s voice as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light. He was standing in the middle of the room, unmoved from where she had seen him.


  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. She moved towards him. ‘I saw a figure—’

  ‘I was watching you sleep,’ he admitted, a crooked smile on his face.

  Alethia smiled at him, embarrassed and pleased at once.

  Thanesh walked towards her, placed his palm on her cheek and bent to kiss her. His lips brushed hers gently. Slowly. He stroked his lips over hers, his tongue flickering at her lips and disappearing when she parted them to meet his tongue with her own. She moaned in growing desire and frustration as each stroke of his lips sent shudders across her body, awakening every nerve until they thrummed with impatience for his touch.

  A voice deep in her mind insisted there was something she wanted to give to Thanesh, but she dismissed the thought. All she could concentrate on was the movement of his lips against hers.

  He pulled away from her. ‘I will never let that happen again,’ he vowed.

  ‘It’s Kallis’s fault, no one else’s. Everyone needs to stop blaming themselves.’

  He sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. ‘You do not understand, Alethia. For a moment, for one moment, I thought I lost you. That will never happen again. From now on, you have the best of my brothers as your private guard. You go nowhere without them with you.’ He swallowed. ‘I have to keep you safe.’

  Alethia grimaced. ‘I can see we have a long road of negotiation in front of us,’ she said. ‘Let’s forget that all right now.’ She kissed him. ‘Just for tonight.’

  ‘Alethia,’ he whispered. He bent his head to meet her lips.

  All at once, the gentle strokes of his lips were gone. Instead, he kissed her with urgency. He pushed his tongue against her lips, and she parted them eagerly, her tongue meeting his stroke for stroke. She was pulled higher until she was standing on the bed. Thanesh’s hands roamed her body and where he touched her, her clothing seemed to evaporate. She didn’t remember them parting so that he could pull her dress over her head. Perhaps he had ripped it off her; at this moment, she didn’t care.

  She pulled at his clothing, and Thanesh’s hands left her to aid her in freeing him from them.

  She vaguely recognised the dull thuds of his armoured clothes hitting the floor. He pulled her back into his arms, his warm flesh meeting her warm flesh.

  He groaned as his lips left hers and trailed butterfly kisses across her face, down her neck and chest until he captured one nipple in his mouth, laving his tongue over it. The groan that left his mouth this time was obscene. It shot to her core, sending a thrill of hot wet sensation to her pussy, and Alethia moaned.

  There was a movement, and Alethia found herself on her back. Thanesh’s lips were suddenly where she needed them most. She cried out, her hips grinding against him as he delved inside and stroked from cunt to clit. She pulled in a rushed breath as the hot sensation built. His tongue had found its target and was relentless in its goal. Her first orgasm bucked her body so hard Thanesh was forced to hold her down as she screamed.

  He climbed up the bed as she crashed back down and thrust inside her. She cried out again and looked up into his pale amber eyes. He stopped, staring down at her.

  ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

  Alethia cupped his face and smiled.

  ‘I love you too.’

  He withdrew from her until she was almost entirely empty, then thrust inside her again. Alethia gasped as tendrils of pleasure uncurled from where they were connected and with each hard thrust lapped them like waves crawling up a beach, spreading through her pussy, her abdomen, her hips until she was a writhing, feverish mess.

  ‘Thanesh, please.’

  He quickened his strokes, building her slowly towards her peak. She crossed her legs around him, her arms wrapped around his neck. She moaned with need a voice she barely recognised, undulating against him as he built up the rhythm. Another orgasm seized her. Thanesh increased his pace in response and when she had crested and was falling, he bit her.

  The breath left her. Her body arched, pressing into Thanesh. She lost all sense as her body ignited in waves of pleasure. When she finally opened her eyes, she wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

  Alethia screamed her pleasure with abandon. It was the middle of the night, and Thanesh didn’t care if they woke up the whole ship, though he was glad Dairon had assigned himself midnight bridge duty.

  She whimpered and moaned, her body spasming in an orgasm that lasted far longer than any he’d ever had the pleasure of witnessing before.

  For a moment, he thought of Calaia. He had considered her his greatest love for a long time. She would always be his first love, but what he felt for Alethia was worlds away. All of his previous lovers paled in comparison to her, fading to shades of dull grey from the moment he set eyes on her.

  She blazed like the sun. She was his and while Kallis’s interference had been unwelcome, it had given him a lifetime with Alethia. One he knew he would never have had without the Cealin.

  Just for that, he might grant him a quick death some rote.

  Alethia opened her now pale blue eyes. He wondered if she knew the darker blue of her eyes had bled away in the facility. He would mention it to her tomorrow. There was a tomorrow and a rote after and hundreds, thousands and more after that.

  She took a deep breath and smiled. It was shy, and it pulled on his heart; he would lose more and more of it to her every rote, he realised. The thought was immensely satisfying.

  ‘Did you?’

  Thanesh shook his head. It had been hard. She had been spasming around his cock for several minutes, but he had wanted to witness it. Whenever he came with Alethia, it was too intense. All he could do was give in to it.

  Alethia bit her bottom lip. An uncertain look filled her face.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I want to try something.’ The uncertainty turned to mischief. ‘I need you to lie down.’

  Thanesh smiled and, being careful of his mate, he spun them until she was on top of him, her cunt still wrapped around his cock.

  ‘Smooth,’ Alethia said through her laughter. Thanesh grinned up at her. He reached up and tucked some strands of hair behind her ear. Her face softened, her smile became gentle and she pressed her body to his, kissing him once more. She moved her hips in sure strokes up and down his cock, sending shocks dripping through his body and pooling at the base of his cock. Thanesh closed his eyes as they built and crept across him until his balls were tightening in anticipation.

  When she raised her hips, he slipped out of her. He watched his cock bobbing angrily as it hovered above his abdomen.

  Thanesh opened his eyes and watched as she slowly peppered kisses down his body. As she reached his groin, she looked up at him, nerves in her eyes.

  ‘I’ve never done this before.’

  ‘Done what?’

  Alethia took hold of his cock, running her hand up and down the length of him gently. The sensations were a tease of what was to come if she closed her fist slightly tighter. Thanesh hissed in a deep breath, his eyes closing of their own accord. After a few moments, she stopped. Thanesh opened his eyes and raised himself on his elbows.

  She was watching him closely, a small smile playing on her lips.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked, seeing a mischievous glint in her eye.

  Alethia grinned wickedly, then sucked the tip of his cock into her mouth.

  Thanesh hissed again, this time in surprise and fought his body's attempt to buck in reaction.

  Alethia looked up at him, watching his face. Thanesh swallowed when she forced herself down his full length. Her lips stretched across his girth. When she could get no farther, she stayed there for a handful of moments, the back of her throat flexing around him. Thanesh lost the strength to keep himself up; as he fell, his fingers entwined in her hair. She withdrew from him, centimetre by glorious centimetre, her mouth creating a vacuum as shocks of sensation shot through him and Thanesh’s hips thrust forward.

  Alethia released him from her mouth with a pop. She sat gigg
ling, her shoulders shaking.

  ‘What was that?’ His voice was thready.

  ‘It’s called a blow job.’

  Despite the momentary panic, Thanesh kept his head. ‘I trust that is just a name?’

  Alethia’s giggling increased. ‘Yes,’ she confirmed.

  Her hand resumed its gentle stroking and she looked up at him. ‘Please don’t thrust.’

  Thanesh nodded in agreement then groaned when she took him back inside her mouth.

  His fingers threaded through her hair lightly. Her hot, wet mouth surrounding him added to the way she stroked her tongue up and down his cock. The vacuum pulled and pooled sensation across his whole abdomen, the light graze of her teeth causing a rain of pleasure down his full length.

  Thanesh’s hips fell and rose to meet her in rhythm.

  Her hair fell, blocking his view. He reached out, sweeping it aside and into one hand, holding it away from her so he could see her mouth stretching, moving, slicking over his cock.

  He concentrated on his fingers in her hair, keeping his touch light, and on resisting the urge to thrust. A part of him wanted to throw Alethia down on the bed, bury himself deep inside her and drive hard into her until they both came. The rest of him wanted to become lost in this sensation, he clung on to reason so he wouldn’t hurt her. All at once, the pooling pleasures across his abdomen and groin merged and intensified.

  ‘Alethia…’ he tried to warn. Letting go of her hair, he grabbed the bedding with both hands as he spasmed inside her mouth. She took him mid-length, and he felt her swallowing around him, which only intensified his pleasure farther.

  He shouted her name again as he climaxed. His groan was long and rough, deep in his throat.

  He felt Alethia’s lips leave his cock, and she crawled up the bed to lie in his arms. He opened his eyes as she settled in beside him. Her hair was stuck to the side of her face with sweat. He carefully moved it, tucking it behind her ear, touched her face and kissed her deeply.

  After a few moments, she broke the kiss. She searched his eyes. ‘I have something for you,’ she whispered.