Rising Tides

by Rebecca Royce

  Amari swiped his hands down my back, stopping at my ass where he massaged the skin. “Love that I can touch you. I wake up hard and needing you. I feel like a teenager again. Constantly grumpy and nothing to do but know that I am missing the fuck out of my wife.”

  I kissed his chest. “You’re an ache. I never heard from you. I started to wonder if you vanished into space.”

  “I never wanted to risk you by communicating. Evander doesn’t have to know where my wife is.”

  I reached between us, finding his hard cock. I smiled at the feel of him even as he flared his nostrils at my touch.

  “You did miss me.”

  He nuzzled my neck. “So much. Don’t touch me too long or I’m going to come in your hand instead of inside your sweet pussy.”

  I loved when he used words like that. Amari was so controlled most of the time. With me, he swore. With me, he suddenly spoke language not fit for business meetings. There was nothing sexier than Amari losing his control.

  I let go of him but only so I could turn around. “Take me from behind.”

  “What?” I’d startled him. I wasn’t usually demanding when it came to things like this. For so long, it had meant nothing but pain. Now, I wanted pleasure. I wanted all of it. And I wanted him to take me that way.

  I looked over my shoulder. “Don’t want to?”

  “I want you however you want it. Scoot forward.” We splashed water everywhere. That was okay. I’d clean it up later. I grabbed the other side of the tub, noticing that my knuckles had swollen. That was also something I’d deal with later.

  For now, there was Amari and the sweet things he was doing to my back with his mouth. He kissed one shoulder blade and then the other. “You’re so beautiful, Amber. You never cease to take my breath away.”

  “Amari.” I choked on saying his name. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  He fit himself inside of me slowly. At this angle, he could go much deeper. I closed my eyes, a moan I’d never heard myself make before escaping from my lips.

  “Like that?” Oh, how I loved how he whispered. “I want to give you so much pleasure.”

  After that his words seemed to make less and less sense. He spoke to me almost the entire time that his body loved mine. He wanted me, he loved me. I ate all of it up even as my brain shut down to simply absorb nothing but pleasure.

  He found my clit and stroked it as he thrust inside of me. I leaned my head back, feeling the rub of his whiskers on my cheek, loving the bite of pain. I pressed my hips against him. In this position I couldn’t move much, but I could squeeze him the way I wanted to.

  Amari stopped talking, his words changing to sighs and moans. Soon, we were making them together. Every pass in and out of my body rubbed me in all the right spots. His hand moved, but only so he could squeeze my breasts. I held onto the side of the tub for dear life. I needed to come, wanted it.

  Finally, as I squeezed him inside of me, it happened. I lost myself in the pleasure. My body exploded and tears sprung from my eyes. I loved this man so much and it was still possible I could lose everything. Pleasure and sadness mixed together until I couldn’t differentiate one from the other. He followed me into my strange oblivion, and if he found anything odd about it, he didn’t indicate it. That was the thing about this man I adored, he understood big emotions and he never asked me to restrain them.

  I panted, still holding onto the side of the bathtub. Reality would come back any second, but for now I had Amari, and I wasn’t letting him go.

  6 The Last Battle

  Amari fell asleep as the ship flew through space, heading back home where he would leave me and go do whatever had to be done to end this war. I didn’t sleep. Knowing how little time we had together, I listened to him breathe. He slept deeply, his arms around me. It wasn’t going to take us very long to get back. In fact, I’d be arriving just in time to have my next treatment, assuming there weren’t emergencies happening that meant I couldn’t have a med machine.

  Amari said something unintelligible and shifted slightly. His dreams were not restful. I couldn’t blame him. There was nothing peaceful happening right now. Plus, despite what he’d said about not being upset, there had to be a part of him where the fact that I’d killed his mother didn’t sit well. I’d been okay with the idea that she had been gone. Mistrustful of it in some ways but comfortable with the fact that she’d vanished from my existence.

  Now, I’d ended her life.

  That was an entirely different thing. I touched my stomach. She’d carried my husbands like I now did these girls who I hoped I would actually get to meet. Her guards were loyal to her, all the way to their deaths. Brenden had fought for me. Yet, I didn’t want to understand her—there was no way to really forgive, at least for me, what she’d done.

  I hadn’t wanted to kill her. I was a doctor. I saved lives. Now, I’d taken one, and I wasn’t fooling myself, I’d woken up intending to do it.

  “Amber,” Amari spoke my name. I rolled slightly to look at him. He still slept. He’d warned me the first time we shared a bed to sleep that he was restless but then with me he’d been silent and still.

  I kissed his chest. “Rest, my love. You are safe. You are well.”

  He did seem to settle. We stayed like that until I felt the telltale feeling in my ears that said we were landing soon. The ship would slowly start to alter its gravity to meet Earth’s. It would be gentle unless we encountered some reason to descend faster.

  They were going to need Master Chen soon. I brushed his hair out of his face. “Amari.”

  He didn’t stir, so I did it again, kissing his cheek. “Amari, time to wake up.”

  His eyes opened this time. “Already?”

  “Yes. Unfortunately. I feel the descent.” I pointed to my ears. “I’m sensitive to it.”

  “You’re right, I feel it, too.” He stretched his arms over his head. “Did you sleep?”

  I shook my head. “Didn’t want to. I wanted every minute I could have to be awake ones.”

  His face fell. “You should have woken me. We could have talked.”

  “No.” I kissed his other cheek. “I was glad you were resting. You needed it, as brief a time as it was.”

  The engines rumbled, but neither of us moved to get up. He ran his fingers through my hair. “What should we do to celebrate when I get back?”

  “There isn’t going to be much room for celebrating. The house is gone.”

  He blinked. “It’s gone?”

  “Bombed. We’ll have to find homes for all of those people, start to fix things up. The water is still running. I check on it every day and…”

  Amari tugged me to him. “Thank you.”

  “No, it’s nothing. Two minutes a day.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t mean for the water although, yes, thank you for that. No, thank you for keeping our home safe. I know it’s you. Even if you don’t know it.”

  A ding sounded in the room, and a voice I didn’t know spoke. “Master Chen, sorry to disturb you, but we’re here.”

  “I’m up, Donald. We’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Yes, sir.” The ding repeated, indicating the person was gone from the speaker.

  Don’t go, Amari. That was on the tip of my tongue, but of course I didn’t say it. I could think it, though. I could be desperate and weak and sad in my thoughts. No one ever had to know them. I smiled at him instead. “Be as safe as you can and come back. I’m going to need your help in decorating a new house for us.”

  He snorted. “That is going to be all you.”

  Amari never had to know just how close I’d come to begging him to stay. He didn’t need to carry that into battle.

  Amari

  A group of fifteen Z Warriors waited as we exited the ship. It took me a second to realize they weren’t here to greet me. No, my wife’s guards swarmed her as she exited, each one of them bowing before they hugged her. They hugged her?

  This was a new
occurrence in the history of the Z and the Chen family. They didn’t hug us. Sometimes the chosen few laughed with us. Hugging? Brenden stood in the center, his head bowed, as she spoke to him, her hand on his shoulder.

  “No, you saved me. I was there. There is nothing to apologize for. Stop it. You didn’t fail.”

  I wanted her hand off of his arm. I stayed silent, stilling my body, breathing. I’d wanted her to bond to her Z. What was the conversation Hunter and I had about it? Was that a million years ago? No, maybe only months.

  She needed them to be safe, and traditionally, the Chen wife did get close to her guards. In my mother’s case, too close. We’d needed her to stop being afraid of them, and we’d gone out of our way to assign Brenden to lead the group because she’d like him.

  He’d picked the other fourteen.

  This was what we wanted.

  Only, I didn’t get to stay here with them right now. I didn’t get to have her hugs and her touches and her warmth. I had to only remember it to keep me warm in the upcoming days.

  I was selfish, always had been. I cared about my people, but the truth was when it came to Amber, I only wanted to share her with my brothers.

  “Amber.” I put out my hand, and to my relief she turned instantly to my voice. Her hand came down in mine. “I want to get you settled before I have to go.”

  She kissed my arm. That was better. Her snuggles were for me. She didn’t treat the Z like that. There was a different warmth for me than she had for them. She was mine.

  “Thank you for taking care of her, gentlemen. Brenden, you get a special commendation. You’re moving up in rank.”

  He shook his head before bowing it. “I cannot accept that, Master Chen. To care for the Chen wife is my honor.”

  That was the right answer. I did like the kid. I just wanted to kill him for having some of my wife’s constant attention when I got to have so little of it. “Regardless, the rank up is yours. For all of you, actually.”

  She squeezed my arm as we walked together. “That is so nice of you. They’re really wonderful men.”

  “Amber, do me a favor.” I stopped walking and took her soft cheeks in my hands. “Until I am back with you where I can let my gaze travel over you several times a day and feel your curves against me at night, your lips on mine, don’t hug them.”

  Her breath quickened. “Amari… you can’t possibly think that…”

  I stopped her with a shake of my head. “No, I don’t. But we had two years apart and now this time, and I am crazed. I’ll admit it. One time with you in a matter of hours is not going to sate my need for you. I don’t think I will emerge from your sweetness for years. I know that’s not realistic, but I think you should expect to suddenly find me near you all the time when I get back to the point that you’ll wonder if I’ve attached myself to your leg.”

  Her smile was huge. “Promise?”

  I groaned. “Woman, you should tell me to back off.”

  “That isn’t what I want.” She sighed. “I have to go to the med machine. I hate it but that’s where I have to go.”

  I touched her stomach. There were two lives in there. As soon as this time was over, she was going to sit with her feet up. She could direct people from the ease of her chair.

  The central location of the empire had been decimated. I wouldn’t have recognized it if I’d stumbled upon it unknowingly. Sometime in the not too distant future, I would get to mourn what had happened here. I would dwell on the lives lost. I would think about all that Evander destroyed, and I would let myself, in privacy, weep for it all. I wouldn’t even mind if Amber saw. She’d almost caught me tear up over the babies the day before in the med bay.

  I didn’t think she’d think less of me for it.

  The med bay was busy, filled with people waiting to be seen. Some of them doubled over in pain. Amber stiffened before she jumped into action.

  “Dr. Chen,” a woman I’d known since birth called out to her, extending her arms. She was covered in blood. For years, she’d worked in the main house, cleaning the public wings. What happened to her?

  Amber was by her side. “Mary, what happened?”

  “Oh, Amber, it was awful. The oven blew up.”

  My wife’s eyes widened. “It blew up? Let’s look at you.”

  Two things struck me at once. One, my people were comfortable enough with my wife that they called her by her first name. Well, she’d called her Dr. Chen first but they came to informality rather quickly. And Amber knew this woman instantly.

  A lot had changed in my months away. There was a time the people rejected Amber, thanks to my mother. Everything altered in such a short period of time.

  My wife helped Mary to her feet and brought her to the med machine.

  Ari spun around from where he operated on a patient’s arm outside of the machine. “That one is for you, Amber. We saved it for you. You need the treatment.” He pointed to it. “Don’t put Mary in that.”

  Amber shot bullets at Ari from her gaze. “I can’t take other people’s spots.”

  “You’re not being a prima donna, Amber. You have two people inside of you who need you to do just that. So don’t complain. Mary is not at death’s door. I’ll get to her in a second.”

  “Ari, the only reason I’ve been able to do the treatments was we were relatively clear in here.”

  He pointed at the machine. “Don’t argue with me. Get in. I uploaded your tablet. You should be able to read things while you’re in there since you have to stay awake.”

  “They’re girls.” I suspected he knew that and just hadn’t told Amber yet.

  He grinned at her. “I see Woody let you know. Yes, they’re girls. And they’re going to have a shot at life. This is the Chen Empire. You’re Amber Chen. Everyone here wants those babies.”

  “You’re pregnant,” Mary gasped. “Get in the machine.”

  I walked over to her. “I’ll sit with you, Mary, until it’s your turn.”

  She gasped. “Master Chen, I didn’t see you there.”

  “Come on.” I winked at Amber.

  We both knew I wouldn’t see her again on this trip. I’d have to go while she was still inside the machine. But I would see her soon. That much I’d promised not just to her, but to me.

  I was coming home. We were going to fucking rebuild.

  Amber, my brothers, those baby girls. They were all going to have a future. The whole Chen Empire would rise again. I’d carry them all on my shoulders if need be.

  Amber

  I read through the letters Hunter had written me and tried not to focus on the fact Amari must have left. I wiped away a tear. Being in the med machine was truly terrible awake. I hated it asleep, but if I suffered from any kind of claustrophobia, this would have been unbearable.

  Finally, I got to Hunter’s last message, which was problematic as I was about to lose the one thing I’d done to distract myself since getting inside of this thing.

  I had to stop whining. I was having babies. I had to keep them safe inside of me. The people around me moved mountains for me even in the midst of this war to keep me safe. This was officially the last time I would think about how uncomfortable I was.

  There. Done.

  I opened Hunter’s last letter.

  Amber,

  I was getting worried I hadn’t heard from you so I reached out to Ari. He let me know what happened, and I am so glad my brother arrived right on time. I keep not being there for you. I’ll make it up with a lifetime of being right under your nose to help with anything you ever need. Anyway, I sat up obsessing over the fact that you got taken and hurt by Mother. Please don’t worry about how that ended up. Ari told me the whole story.

  She wasn’t okay. If it was her versus you… In the end, you’re here and I couldn’t be more relieved and happy about that. Please see below what I did. It’s a design I came up with at three am. Maybe it’ll help with the babies.

  I love you,

  H

  I stared at th
e design he’d made. It was some kind of machine, and the best I could understand it, he’d designed it to be strapped to my abdomen. It would perform the procedure constantly. Would that work?

  I banged on the top of the machine, and Ari came over to stare down at me.

  I held up my tablet and then sent the design to his. He stared at it and then at me. Ari held up one finger. Okay. He’d be back.

  I started typing, which was awkward, but I did it.

  Hunter,

  Sorry it’s been so long. Between the concussion and the abduction I couldn’t communicate this way. I love you. Thank you for the design. Ari is looking into it now. I think. I’m not really sure what he’s doing. I’m in the med machine right now.

  I wish I had more to share with you, but I kind of think some experiences are better off keeping to myself. You guys seem to feel that way, too. Like things we’re doing here during this time are only for this time and when we talk or are together, we don’t dwell on it a lot. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it seems to be what we’re doing.

  The house is gone. I don’t mean the summer house. I mean the main house. Evander bombed it. So we’ll need a new house. Don’t stay up all night dwelling, but if you have any free time and want to design… maybe start with that? Then our summer home. I’m not demanding or anything, right?

  The babies are girls.

  I love you.

  A

  I didn’t know if the tablet would call from inside the machine but I hit the button anyway and a second later Shane appeared. He grinned at me.

  “You look funny, Amber. I heard what happened from Hunter. He sent me a note. You okay?” His smile faded as he talked. “I can’t talk long. But you okay?”

  “I’m okay.” I just wanted to hear his voice. “They’re girls, Shane. You gave me two baby girls to carry. Thank you for that.”

  His mouth dropped open. “Girls. I… Shit, I have to go. Take care of yourself and those girls. I’ll be back to take care of all of you soon. I love you.”