by Maia Starr
“I am glad this makes you happy. I love seeing a smile on those full, delicious lips of yours,” he said.
“Yes, it does make me happy. I am very happy. I have everything. I have you, a child on the way, the most beautiful place in the galaxy as a home. If I only had…”
“Your best friend back?” he asked.
“Yes,” I frowned. “She told me she petitioned the king to go back to Earth. I want her to be happy, but the idea of never seeing her again makes me very sad.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. It has only been granted one time, very long ago.”
“What?”
“A human female being granted to go back to Earth.”
“Really? It’s actually been granted?”
“Yes, but it was under very special circumstances.”
“But it has been done,” I sighed.
“Maybe Camilla will come around sometime soon,” he said.
“I hope so,” I said.
“Maybe sometime soon, in the next five minutes,” he said looking past me. I turned to see Camilla walking toward us. I gasped.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
“I will leave you two. I’m going to go catch dinner anyway,” Ineq said as he kissed me on the cheek. Then he ran toward the water like he was going to dive into the waves, but instead he took flight. I watched him fly over the ocean.
“I’ll never get used to that,” I said watching.
“Yeah, me either,” she said, sitting in the sand next to me. I felt a load lift off my shoulders as she sat down. This was a good sign.
“What are you doing?” she said, pointing at the notebook.
“Continuing my marine biology work. Might as well. I don’t want my degree to go to waste, and I have an entire alien planet full of life to study. It’s really exciting,” I said.
“Yes, that is very cool. This place is perfect for you. It’s like the Mexican Riviera on the entire planet.”
I laughed, “Mexico. Do you think whoever we stole that boat from ever found it?”
Camilla burst into laughter. “Oh my god! That seems like so long ago! Can you imagine the look on his face when he got to the dock the next morning? ‘Where’s my boat?’”
I laughed so hard I rolled onto my side. It felt good to laugh with her again and be silly. It felt really good.
“Well we asked for a getaway and boy did we get a getaway! We were taken into space. It’s insane!” she said.
“Yes. It is. I can barely believe it. Sometimes when I first wake up, I think I have dreamt all of it.”
“Even being pregnant?” she said.
I stopped laughing and sat up right. I looked at her shocked. “How do you know that?”
“Ineq told me,” she said.
“Oh, he didn’t tell me he told you.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes,” I said. “I am very scared. But also very happy… but also very scared,” I laughed.
“I am happy for you. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. I’m mostly scared to go through it alone.”
“You won’t. You have me,” she said grabbing my hand.
“I do?” I asked feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time.
“Yes. I forgive you, Alexandra,” she said.
“Camilla. I’m so relieved to hear you say that. I miss you so much. I don’t want to be here without you,” I said, hugging her as tears began to pour down my cheeks.
“Aww, I know. I miss you too. Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry,” she said.
“I can’t stop. It’s all part of being pregnant. I’m always on the verge of tears. It’s crazy,” I said laughing.
“I have an idea. What do you say we go back to my hut place and have a girls’ night? Just like old times of being roomies?”
“Yes! Absolutely!” I said excitedly.
“Come on. I’ll help you up, old pregnant lady,” she said standing up and giving me her hand.
A couple of hours later we were sitting on her bed in her little hut deep in conversation about college life. We were having a great time, and at times I would almost forget we were on an alien planet. We would get so lost in conversation and forget.
“The commander has been visiting me at night while I am sleeping. I don’t think he knows that I have seen him doing it,” she said.
“Ineq used to do the same thing to me, only I didn’t know that he was doing it,” I said.
“Why do they do this?” she asked.
“I really don’t know.”
“I do want to talk to him again,” she said.
“Then do it. He is trying so hard,” I said.
“I know he is. I will talk to him soon,” she said. She was frowning, and I felt a wave of guilt hit me. I was the reason for her sadness, and I did not know if I could ever get over the guilt. But I wanted her to be happy, and I knew that she wanted to be with Vrerkin. So I would encourage her to do so no matter how awkward it might be between all of us. If Ineq could forgive me, then maybe Camilla could forgive Vrerkin.
“Want to see something cool?” she said as she hopped up off the bed.
“Sure,” I said.
She ran over to the cabinet on the wall and opened it. Then she ran back to me with something in her hand.
“Is that what I think it is?” I asked.
“Yes! Cosmopolitan Magazine! Can you believe it?” she laughed and dropped it on the bed in front of me.
“Where did you get this?” I said thumbing through the pages. It was so odd to see something so very Earthly in front of me.
“One of the girls had it in her back pack when she was abducted a year ago. It’s old, but not that old. I thought we could do the quizzes and stuff like we used to,” she said.
“Absolutely!” I said excitedly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CAPTAIN INEQ SHUN
Seeing how happy Alexandra was about getting her friend back filled me with joy. I only wanted her to be happy, and now she had everything she wanted. I even stopped feeling restless between missions. Now I was more than glad to be at home and have someone to be at home for. I still craved the danger and adventure of a mission, I was a dragon warrior after all, but I was more reluctant to leave. Even during my daily responsibilities in the warrior barracks, I was thinking about Alexandra. She was always on my mind.
“What do you think, Captain Shun?” Nankara said to me breaking me out of my daze.
“What? About what?” I said.
“About the population of Aeriwana? Do you think they occupied more than just Tiok?” he asked.
“I am not sure, but I think it is safer to say they are still out there and be prepared than to assume they are all dead and have them catch us off guard,” I said.
“Yes, that is a good point,” Nankara said.
“And the peace talks?” I asked.
“They are being initiated between what is left of the opposition and the king’s chosen Draqua. They are no longer a real threat,” Nankara said.
“It seems they have finally understood that the humans are needed to carry on this race,” Commander Roan said.
“That is all for today. You are both dismissed,” Nankara said. Roan and I saluted our superior officer and then walked out of the building.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Camilla said as she came up to us. Roan looked at her in shock.
“Me? You’ve been looking for me?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ve been looking for you, V. Can we talk?” she asked.
Roan had the biggest grin on his face. I thought he would shout for joy that Camilla was finally talking to him.
“Yes, of course. Let’s take a walk,” he said, gesturing her toward the gates of the barracks. I smiled as I watched them leave. Alexandra would be pleased to know they were talking. When I finally made my way home, I saw Roan and Camilla kissing on a jungle path. I smiled. Then I went to pick flowers for Alexandra.
When I flew into our hut, she was in the tub. She squealed in surprise.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” I smiled.
“It’s a good surprise,” she said. I handed her the flowers. She took them and pressed them against her face as she inhaled.
“These purple ones are lovely,” she said. “Look around. This place is filled with flowers,” she said.
“I can’t look around. I am distracted,” I said as I looked down into the tub. Seeing her perfect body under the water with her breasts peeking out was driving me crazy. I felt myself grow hard.
“Yes, I can see that,” she whispered. “Will you join me? These Draqua tubs are enormous,” she said.
“I would love to,” I said. I shifted out of dragon form. I pulled off my clothing and then climbed into the tub behind her. She leaned back against me. I grabbed the sea sponge and plunged it into the water, and then I ran it down her shoulders. She moaned softly. My shaft was growing rigid. I didn’t know how long I could bathe her before I needed to be inside of her.
“Your skin is so soft,” I said kissing the side of her neck.
“And you are so hard,” she said as she reached back and wrapped her hand around my cock.
I groaned, “Mmmm, Alexandra.”
“Yes, Ineq?” she whispered.
“That feels so fucking good. But I want more,” I said.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“This.”
I put my hands on her hips and picked her up. Then I pushed my cock into her wet center and then lowered her gently on it. She moaned in ecstasy.
“Oh, Ineq…”
I groaned at the sensation. Then I did not move her. I did not move her up and down; I simply wanted to be inside of her.
“Marry me, Alexandra,” I said.
She gasped. “Are you proposing while you are inside of me?”
“I am right where I want to be,” I said.
She smiled and turned her head to look up at me. “Kiss me.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. Her full lips were soft and wet. I pushed my tongue into her mouth, and she moaned. I moved my hands up from her hips and placed them on her ample breasts. She moaned again as I pinched her nipples between my fingers.
“Oh yes,” she moaned.
I stopped kissing her. “Is that from pleasure? Or are you answering yes to my proposal?”
“Both,” she said.
“I want to hear it,” I said.
“I will marry you, Captain Ineq Shun. I will be your Draqua wife,” she whispered.
“Mmmm, that makes me harder than I was before. I want to know that you are mine, and only mine, forever.”
“Yes, I belong to you,” she said.
“Damn right you do,” I said. Then I kissed her again, sealing the contract that she belonged to me, now and forever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ALEXANDRA
I now had everything that I wanted, and I could not be happier. Camilla had opened herself up to me, and we were friends again. I had a child on the way, and I had a skilled warrior that had proposed to me. I never thought when I was graduating college that this would be the next stage of my life. How could I? I didn't even know that aliens existed. But since I studied strange life in the ocean, it seemed to fit me well to go live among strange life in another galaxy.
Not only was I happy, but the entire Draqua village was happy. It seemed this was the first time in a long time that the conflict between them and the opposition was in a place of peace. Because of this, there was a different energy, a celebration at all times in the village. This made me happy too, of course; it meant that my soon-to-be husband would not be going on so many dangerous missions all the time. Even though he said he would miss it badly, as he craved the adventure and danger, I craved knowing that he was safe.
Camilla finally gave Vrerkin a second chance, and they had happily been a couple ever since. It was all coming together the way it should have from the beginning, before all the chaos happened. When we were taken from that boat in Mexico, we could not have foreseen the crazy events that would happen to us; now I was glad that it was all over. I found myself in a place of happiness and calm for the first time since we were taken. Yes, of course, I missed Earth, and I missed out on the chance to explore my career further after graduation. But I would not trade that experience in for what I had now. I was now a marine biologist studying alien marine life, and no one could ever do what I was doing. I was getting married to an alien dragon shifter, something that could never happen to me on Earth, and I would not trade it in for anything. So everything had worked out for the best, and today was the day that I was getting married.
“What do you think about these?” Camilla asked.
“I think they look beautiful with your blue eyes,” I said. She held a crown of blue flowers in her hand, hovering it over her head. We were both in her hut getting dressed in our wedding clothes. We had decided on a double wedding. It seemed fitting for two roommates and best friends.
“Which one are you going to wear?” she said looking at the flower crowns on the table. The females of the village had made them for us.
“I am going to wear the purple flowers. They are my favorite and very fragrant. I just love them,” I said walking to the table and picking it up.
“Here, let me. Sit down,” Camilla said taking the crown from me. I sat down, and she placed it on my head with pins.
“There, now you are perfect,” she said.
“So are you,” I said.
“Thank you, I never thought I would be wearing this as a wedding dress,” I said.
“Me either,” she laughed.
We both wore the same wedding clothes. We wore a white loincloth and white tube top cloth underneath a sheer white dress. It was the closest thing to a wedding dress we could get. The flower crowns on our hair were perfect for a tropical island wedding.
She looked at me, and her eyes begin to water.
“Did you ever think we would be doing this when we graduated college?”
“No, absolutely not,” I laughed. “I never thought I would be marrying an alien dragon shifter. Especially one that frustrated me so much when I first met him.”
“Yes, but there was passion between you two immediately. Now you are bringing new life into the world,” she put her hand on my belly. I was not showing yet; it was still too early. And I was thankful for that considering what I had to wear on my wedding day.
“Yes, that is true. I am very excited. You will be doing the same one day,” I said.
“One day very soon. I am pregnant,” she said.
“Camilla! You are? Oh my God!” I hugged her. We jumped up and down excited.
“Now our children will grow up together. They will be best friends, just like us!”
“That is the best thing ever!” I said.
“They are ready for you,” Lisa said walking into the hut.
“Thank you, Lisa. We are ready,” I said grabbing Camilla's hand. We walked out onto the platform and followed Lisa across the drawbridge. I stopped in the middle and looked out over the island.
“This is our last moment as single women. Look at this beautiful view,” I said.
“Look at those dragons flying around,” she laughed as we looked at the full-blooded Draqua that shifted into dragons flying around over the ocean in the distance.
“It is unbelievable. Are you ready?”
“I am. I am ready to be Mrs. Commander Vrerkin Roan.”
“And I am ready to be Mrs. Captain Ineq Shun.”
“Let’s do this!” she said.
We laughed and finished crossing the bridge. We entered the arch in the tree and entered the spiral staircase. The staircase was a masterpiece. It was carved from the inside of the tree and was intricate with beautiful craftsmanship patterns. It was a very long spiral staircase that went for flights down. It made the ceremony feel even grander even though I had walked
the stairs many times. This time I was walking to give up my single woman freedom. Because of that, it gave these stairs meaning. We finally reach the bottom of the stairs and walked out of the tree onto the jungle path toward the beach.