“Holy shit,” Jackson whispers. “You working with him?”
The words break the tension, but they also break the fragile silence. Mathios looks away from the still body of Lukas, head jerking toward Jackson, apparently registering him as another possible threat. Or maybe, I think, he is indiscriminate. Perhaps his words had not been an exaggeration born of fear, but rather the truth to which I—his mate—happened to be a loophole. Mathios angles his body in Jackson’s direction, and I know that he is preparing to make the same leap he’d made toward the other Red Novas.
I move just as he does, planting myself between them before Mathios can get dangerously close. He nearly bowls me over before his feet bring him to an abrupt halt.
“No!” I say. “It’s Jackson.” He is growling, looking past me at his target, but he does not shove me aside to go past. “He’s my brother,” I say, loud and careful, facing Mathios but very aware of the presence of Jackson close behind me. “Mathios,” I cannot say his name without letting my tongue caress every syllable. Each time I use it, it feels more intimate than any kiss. He tilts his head, recognition flaring bright in his intelligent eyes. They are more animal than anything at the moment, but my mate is in there and I know he sees me. “He’s my family. And he’s your family too.”
The dragon with my mate caged within him lowers his head. I place a hand on his snout, slowly and with care, mindful of the sharpness of the teeth that wait inside. Mathios leans forward and presses his forehead to my own.
“See,” I say. “I’m safe. We’re safe.” I pull back just far enough to plant a quick, gentle kiss on the end of his nose. My eyes close, and I do not notice that he has begun to shift back until I feel his hands close over my arms, soothing over the hurt that Lukas has left behind.
He looks around the warehouse and the destruction he wrought, and then at me. “I didn’t hurt anyone?”
“Only the ones who needed to be hurt.”
Around us, the former hostages are beginning to trickle out of hiding, many of them staring at Mathios with fear and confusion. A few of them have eyes filled with awe. I look Mathios up and down, raising a brow at the tatters of his suit and the vast swaths of skin that have been revealed. He huffs a small laugh, looking behind me for the first time, at Jackson.
My brother’s knees have buckled and he sits still on the dirty floor, looking at his legs like he’s trying to convince them to stand again. Mathios takes a step forward and reaches down, pulling the young human to his feet. As soon as he is there, I rush forward, giving him the tightest hug I am capable of.
“I missed you,” I say, and I mean it. Jackson and I are partners too.
“Me too,” he says back. His eyes shift toward guilt, sinking toward the ground. “I’m sorry I didn’t come with you the first time. I should have—”
“Hey,” I cut him off. “Don’t do that. Sometimes, you have to figure things out for yourself.” I shrug. “Seems like you figured it out.”
“Seems like you did too,” he says, looking past me to stare at Mathios. His eyes move from the Velorian, back to me. “So,” he says. “This is your boyfriend?”
“Mate,” Mathios corrects without thinking, holding out a hand. After a moment, Jackson grasps it and gives it a shake that tries to be welcoming. “I’m glad you’re safe,” he adds, his voice warmer than usual.
I feel my heart swell with pride toward both of them. Mathios is not so lost to his dragon as he feared, and Jackson is finally able to choose his own path, free of any debt he felt he owed Lukas.
“We should go,” Mathios says. “The villagers are grateful, but I think they’ve had their fill of me.”
“You’re probably right,” I agree, laughter bubbling up inside me as the adrenaline wears off.
Around us, the freed villagers are making use of the blasters and pointing them at the handful of Red Novas who are too injured to flee. In the storehouse, there are plenty of ropes and various packing materials that can be repurposed as restraints. I smile as I watch a young alien worker wrap a rope around the length of Lukas’s frozen body, pinning his arms to his sides.
“I’ll call the Federation,” Mathios says, loudly enough for the villagers to hear. “It looks like you can all hold things together here until someone arrives.”
A young worker, the closest one to us, nods.
Mathios walks beside me, one arm wrapped around me for both comfort and support. We’re both leaving this fight with more bruises than we arrived with. His arms are long enough that his fingers can easily reach my stomach, and they rest there for a long while as the three of us make our way home.
Epilogue—Mathios
One Month Later
The ship drifts through the black, headed toward the icy half of Veloria. My home. Anna still has no immediate desire to return to Earth, but she expressed great excitement at seeing my home planet. Jackson, too, was surprisingly enthusiastic about the prospect.
Anna sits beside me on the sofa built into the wall of the ship, snug against my side. At some point during the film we are watching, she has seen fit to steal my arm and wrap it tightly around her shoulders. I keep it there, offering whatever comfort she needs, fingers toying with the strands of her hair that hang down past her collarbone when she wears it loose. Jackson sits on her other side, laughing at whatever the characters on screen are up to. Movie night was his idea, and I find that while I still have a bit of trouble understanding the nuances of human culture and humor, I gain enjoyment regardless from watching Anna’s expression shift with the mood of the film. Perhaps that is why I’ve enjoyed the comedies we’ve watched more than anything. Jackson’s attempts to explain the things that go over my head or glitch through my translator are equally as amusing.
The Novas were a flawed people, to say the very least, but whether by fluke or no, the alien was right about one thing.
Soon, within a matter of months, I will become a father. I feel nothing but absolute joy at the prospect. At first, I was skeptical of the psychic’s pronouncement. It was far too early for Anna to be able to sense any life within her body. The most wisdom she could offer on the subject was to say that Rirn was correct in guessing that she was in love. The words had my lips brushing over hers scarcely before she was finished. I will never get enough of the sensation of her well-deserved laughter against my own mouth.
As a week passed and then another, I was able to smell the dragon blood within her. After that, I questioned the psychic’s statements no more. There are many inexplicable things in this world; who was I to question one more?
Jackson pauses the movie to explain the latest scene that he has deemed too complex for the resident alien to follow. I blink, nod along, but find myself watching Anna more than I listen to him. Her eyes keep drifting from the screen to the window, watching the stars.
Though it has only been a little more than a month since I pulled her from the auction stage, she already looks eons healthier than when I first saw her.
Her too-thin form has filled out nicely, cheeks full and pink from laughing at the film, her arms no longer slender as twigs. She has been eating three meals a day, with plenty of snacking in between. So has Jackson, who has proven to be a passable cook and an amazing baker. It is difficult to find foods that are appealing to both myself and the humans, and the young man’s efforts to include Velorian-friendly fare have ranged from disastrous to interesting, but each attempt is appreciated.
I expected to feel overwhelmed with so many people crowded onto a ship this small. I am not used to constant company, and I feared that my dragon would find it stressful. Somehow, it has had the odd opposite effect. I have not felt in danger of losing control even once since Anna and I returned to the ship with Jackson in tow. It feels almost as though my dragon is merely a tame pet, sleeping quietly in the back of my mind. Where he belongs.
The movie screen goes black and my wrist comm pings, alerting me to a call. Jackson sighs, and melts into the couch, irritated with the interrupti
on. The ID of the caller is not to be ignored. I press the button that allows the transmission to come through, routing it to the screen already in front of us.
Prince Takkan looks tall and regal as always. The smile he gives Anna is as bright as the sun of the Glaxmea system. It is unsurprising really, how much he seems to like and respect her already.
“Good to see you all,” he begins.
“Takkan,” I greet, before he can go on one of his long spiels. He has always been shockingly verbose for a Velorian, though I suppose it makes him a good monarch as far as our people are concerned. There have been trying times for Velorians in the centuries past, and well-placed words go a long way toward reassuring the public. “Do you have news?”
“Yes,” he says. “Very good news in fact.”
Jackson sits up at this pronouncement, curious.
“The last of the Red Nova gang has been captured and dealt with by the Federation. There was a long wait for their trials to be completed, but now you can rest assured that they’ve all been processed and given their sentences.”
“Which are?” Anna asks.
“Lukas, as the leader, will be spending a very long time in a very nasty prison. He received a life sentence. The possibility for appeal is there, but with his record and all the witnesses, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll breathe free air again. The others received varying charges based on their involvement.”
Takkan pauses, consulting a tablet nearby. “There are a few members missing, but no one has any record of their whereabouts. In fact,” he goes on, “the dossiers for the remaining two members had to be scrapped. It turned out that the information was unreliable.”
He winks.
Jackson snorts a laugh, while Anna settles for a pleased smile. Carefully, neither of them say anything that might be construed as incriminating. I imagine the looks on all three of our faces say enough.
“Very subtle,” I say, in place of a real thank you.
Takkan nods.
“I’m sending along the newest stack of leads. Interesting ones are up top. We’ve gained some information on slaver activity recently; most of the cases involve that in some way. They’re not easy,” the prince says. “Definitely not jobs for a solo officer, but I have it on good authority that you’ve got yourself an impeccable team.”
“You heard correctly,” I answer.
“Good. Keep up the good work, Mathios. The world’s a safer place with you in it.”
The screen fades to black. A month ago, the words might have rang hollow, with the danger from my dragon always looming, but now, I find that I can believe them. The lights were dimmed prior to beginning the movie, and it is pitch black without the light of the screen.
Before we can resume the film, the navigational systems ping, alerting us of our proximity to a refueling stop on a trade station. The three of us head to the cockpit. There are only two seats here, but Anna knows Jackson’s obsession with piloting well enough to leave the second one to him. She stands behind my seat instead, her chin resting on my shoulder, as I calibrate the controls and ease us into the planet’s pull.
“Can I land us?” Jackson asks. “I did fine the last time.”
He did not do fine. But I’ve certainly experienced more stressful landings. “Of course,” I say. It is no cause for concern, as I’ll be in the seat beside him for the entirety of the landing. This does not stop Anna from scoffing.
“You’re citing last time as a success? You broke a piece off the ship,” she says, voice teasing.
“It was a small piece,” Jackson mutters, and gets to work.
The young human keeps a cool head and a steady hand, the latter of which he’d been lacking the first time. It is a vast improvement.
“So,” Anna says, once the hard part is over. The actual descent is a success. Jackson now only needs to guide us to the port and to the dock at which we have clearance to land. “Do you really want us on your crew?”
There is no question lingering in my mind. I am sure that I want Anna in my life. “I don’t know,” I say. “Three is a bit crowded on this ship.”
Perhaps I have learned a bit about sarcasm from the array of human media Jackson is so intent on indoctrinating me with. The words make Jackson laugh and Anna smile. She puts a hand on her stomach, already starting to swell, just enough to be visible. It is a Velorian pregnancy. It will advance more quickly than a simple human birth.
“Four,” she says.
“Four,” I agree.
“Hey,” Jackson says. “Hate to interrupt, but is this right?”
The ship has stopped without my notice, the smoothest landing he has managed so far. I do not smile fully often, but I find myself sending one his way. “Excellent,” I say. “There are few pilots who manage this well on their second try.”
“Awesome,” he says, and it does not seem as though he can stop beaming. Anna rolls her eyes, but there is nothing in them but pride.
She walks around the chair and plants herself in my lap, still staring at my face. I realize that still, after several attempts, I have yet to actually answer her. “Of course I want you on my crew,” I say. “Both of you. But I must warn you that it will be dangerous.”
Anna shrugs, letting her head rest against my shoulder. “A little danger is fine,” she says. “I don’t think any of us can live a normal life now.”
“There will be times,” I warn, “that you and Jackson cannot take such an active role. I’m the only one with a badge after all.”
Jackson shrugs as well. “I know a guy who does fake badges.”
Outside the ship, the bustling nightlife of the port rushes past. We will have no trouble resupplying here.
“If we’re a real part of your crew,” Anna says, “then I get to be the brains, since I’m the navigator.”
Jackson nods agreeably. “She’s also good if you need a lock picked.”
“I usually just shoot locks,” I answer.
“Jackson, you’re the pilot-slash-cook, and you,” she tilts her head back to look at me. “You’re the muscle.”
My lips twitch. “The muscle?”
“It’s an important job,” she says. “Those locks don’t stand a chance.”
I have never been happier, and looking at her, hair messily edging too close to her bright eyes, vibrating with withheld laughter, I believe the feeling is mutual. “You’re impossible,” I say, but what I mean is, I love you.
“I thought I was beautiful,” Anna fires back, but I can hear the undercurrent of her words as well.
“Both,” I say, and my mate, my crew, my partner—the mother of my child—she kisses me, head leaning back as far as it will go.
Jackson sighs. “You guys are gonna be gross again aren’t you?” he says, standing up and heading for the ramp of the ship. “I’ll be back in two hours with takeaway.”
Anna manages to restrain herself until her brother makes his way down the ramp, the automatic door easing closed behind him. “You realize that any food he buys, he’ll just eat on his way back?” she says, standing briefly, but only so that she can turn herself around, straddling me where I still sit in the pilot’s chair.
“I realize,” I say, and then squint at the cityscape visible through the front of the ship. “Perhaps there’s a place that delivers. All I really care about is that we have two hours to ourselves.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Which means we can be loud.”
“Exactly. I very much love hearing you scream my name.”
“And I,” she replies, “very much love screaming it.”
Her breath is warm on my face, intoxicating. We are kissing then, and it seems as natural an occurrence as breathing. She bites softly at my lip, our bodies pressed together for a long, tempting instant before we break apart to remove the more restrictive pieces of our clothing. When Anna realizes she is nearly baring all her skin, she laughs at herself and nods at the large window behind her. I quickly press the control to shutter it closed and kiss each par
t of her blushing face.
“Here?” I ask her, as she settles in once more to her place atop my lap.
She nods, pushing me back against the chair with one hand to the center of my chest. Her thumb strokes over my jaw before she reaches downward. As she grips me and kisses me, as I slide into her, I feel the events of the last month settle, as though they have all been leading me here. My eyes roam over her as she begins to move her body in perfect rhythm. With this position, she has the bulk of the control, and I am just a passenger. When I wrap my arms around her, lift her up, and settle her onto the control panel.
“Mathios,” she says, laughing around the single word. The sound of it is breathless and joyous as our bodies move in harmony the way they always do, somehow each time giving the other exactly what they want. I find that my name surrounded by this sort of laughter is just as satisfying as having caused her to scream it.
My pulse kicks up a notch, my breathing becoming shallow. I lean down and flick my tongue against her bottom lip, her just slightly shifting breasts growing fuller with the pregnancy. My mind is absent of everything but how good this feels. I trace my eyes over her face, before pressing my mouth to the hollow of her throat and sucking, drawing forth a moan and making her clench around me. Her nails claw lightly at my back as she drags me closer, her mouth burning against my chest. I think for a moment that I could spend the remainder of my life right here, doing this, watching her.
I am on the precipice before I realize it, and both of us fall from the edge together, dizzy with the ecstasy we can find in each other.
Spent, we both collapse, Anna against the controls and myself against Anna, lying half on top of her. I know she can’t tolerate the weight for long, and it is only second before she whispers, lips against my ear.
Primal Planet Dragon: A Science Fiction Alien Romance (Ice Dragon Shifters of Veloria Book 2) Page 10