Intergalactic Love

by Evelyn Marks

  He got up from the bed completely energized and refreshed. Yet I could barely move.

  “Come Rea, we have to be ready in twenty minutes,” he said and tugged on my hand.

  “Let me just...take a nap,” I said, sounding drunk. Darion chuckled, then he pulled me out of bed himself and cradled me in his arms. He took me into the bathroom, then set me down in the shower before he turned it on. I simply stood there and let him wash me. Eventually my post-sex high wore off a little and I was able to take over after our shower.

  “Do you remember what to say...?” Darion asked as I brushed out my hair.

  “Yes, I remember what to say. Hopefully we make Nye proud,” I chuckled.

  “We have to start by being on time. Nye is completely loyal, but he does behave like a parent from time to time. He will come in here and grouch,” he chuckled.

  “I can see it happening. I like Nye...” I said, then paused. I couldn’t help it, a small part of me wondered how Darion would take that. He looked at me, questioning my pause, then it dawned on him.

  “You can tell me those things, it’s fine,” he said. “Rea, I’m not going to kill every male you admire or become friendly with,” he said. He added gravely, “Not anymore, never.”

  “Okay...just making sure,” I said with a small smirk. Darion chuckled and then leaned over to kiss me soft on the lips.

  Chapter 5

  Darion

  I COULD TELL REA WAS nervous. Though Nye invited the more civilized media to the press conference, she still had to speak before them. About personal things. She looked beautiful though, and held together. Even though I knew it wasn’t habit for her to bite her lip, or play with her wedding rings.

  “Relax...it will be fine,” I told her. The private throne room held the crowd comfortably, having been fitted out as a press conference room a few decades earlier. The media all sat facing the slightly raised stage where a standard glass podium stood waiting.

  “Okay...yeah,” she breathed. I led her up to the stage and she stood just behind me. I took the podium first.

  “Good morning all...” I began, “I’ve called this conference to give some comment on all that has come about, my actions on Mars Colony and certain matters regarding my wife.” I glanced around the room, then back at Rea. She smiled at me and slightly inclined her head, urging me on. “I am regretful of certain actions of mine while on Mars. To my disgrace I acted rashly in certain situations. But those decisions are not who I am. They are certainly not who I am today,” I paused to look at Rea briefly once more. “Of course this is a personal matter for me—for the both of us. I ask you to respect our privacy at this time. But I do wish to convey to the Radonian public, that I am still one of you. I am still Radonian, I am still Chief, and I will continue to lead our planet to peace and prosperity no matter what may come of the investigation. Of course, there will always be dissent. Do not let it trouble your certainty of our Radonian future.” I ended there and made a small gesture to welcome questions.

  “Chief Darion, what do you have to say, specifically, to the charges brought against you in the High Council hearing?” a female reporter asked.

  “Of course I cannot mention specifics when dealing with an eventual trial...but I do plan to work with all investigators. The High Council will be the ones making the final decision,” I said.

  “And to the accusations against you regarding Madame Rea?” she asked.

  “My wife stands here by my side today on her own volition. Though I will not say anything further for her. Rea can speak for herself.... With that, I will pass the podium on to my wife. She has a few words to say,” I ended with that. Rea stepped forward and I took her place.

  “Hello everyone...as Darion said, I am here on my own volition. No matter what comes to light as truth in how I came to be on Radon. I chose to remain here, with Darion. He’s my husband and I love him, that won’t change,” she said.

  A different reporter stood, a man. He said, “If I may, Madame Rea...and I do apologize for how this will sound, but I must ask...” Rea nodded, prompting him on. “Are you saying this truly on your own accord? Even when fully knowledgeable of what Chief Darion is being faced with?” he asked.

  “Yes, as mystifying as it seems. Darion and I have been through much, but we came out together. We’re here standing in front of you. I’m in no way being controlled by him. I’ve had several chances to return home, which you can confirm for yourself, but here I am. Since I’ve been on Radon. I’ve come to value the life I have here. Of course before all of this...” she said with a small chuckle.

  “It’s extraordinary, the love you have for Chief Darion,” the reporter commented.

  “Darion is good on the inside, I believe that,” she said and looked at me when she did. “He does the best he can at life, just like anyone else. He had some shortcomings that he recognized and he’s overcome them. He’s better for it now,” she said, in a softer tone. Her gaze swung back to the media then, though I took her words as if she said them to me in private. She in my arms, and all right with the galaxy. If we’d been in nearly any other setting, I’d have kissed her. “Anyways, that’s all I have to say. Again, thank you all for coming,” she said, then she stepped back, by my side.

  Rea laced her fingers with mine when a few more reporters stood with questions. I felt we said all we had to though. Rea felt the same, I was sure. She pulled me down from the stage, and we made our exit, escorted by guards.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” Rea said as we were escorted back to the private wing.

  “No, you did very well. Better than I,” I commended. “I don’t deserve you,” I mumbled. She smirked at me, then winked.

  “Well lucky you then,” she said, a sly smile on her lips.

  “You have no idea how true that statement is,” I chuckled. When we got back to the private wing, Nye was waiting for us. He was in the living room, along with two of Radon’s most famed defensive lawyers, both serious-looking men.

  “You did very well Chief! And you Madame Rea, you couldn’t have said or done anything better. We are in a good place, I believe,” Nye said. “Now, let me introduce to you, Ruthe and Skye. These two gentlemen will be representing you throughout the trial,” Nye said.

  “Chief Darion, Madame Rea,” Ruthe bowed at the waist, followed by Skye.

  “It is an honor to meet you Chief. We hope to do you justice,” Skye said. From the first he opened his mouth I could tell he had a sly way about him. Whereas Ruthe had a calm, steady demeanor.

  Ruthe said, “We will, without a doubt. The High Council is less likely to eject you from rule. All we must do is help them make the process of pardoning you, easier. The fact that the charges regarding Madame Rea are basically null, certainly helps the cause. Once it’s been fully investigated and the charge confirmed, Madame Rea, you will be asked if you’d like to have Chief Darion tried for punishment of the crimes. When you say no, all we have left is the honor killing. For that we will need to assess multiple plans of action. What do we know about the assassin hired?” Ruthe had gotten right down to it, as efficient as his reputation demanded.

  I said, “I investigated him a bit last night...it seems that several members of his family were lost to the fire that stopped the blight. Though, having chosen his career path, he distanced himself from any ties. I did not hire him personally. I had Moody and Tars find him. He must not have connected his assignment with me until the allegations of what I did on Mars came to light. It isn’t like he went into hiding. Instead, he traveled back to Radon right after the honor killing was ‘anonymously’ reported to civil sector authorities.” Rea had sat down. Nye was busy writing everything I said down onto paper. Ruthe and Skye were listening to me intently.

  “Well then...it seems we have an avenue,” Skye said eagerly.

  “Something to work with,” Ruthe agreed.

  Chapter 6

  Rea

  THE REST OF THE DAY went by in a near blur. We talked to Ruthe and Sky for h
ours. That was until the investigators, or prosecutors, came by to get thorough statements from me about my take on what happened on Mars. They also questioned Darion and didn’t leave until late night. And they weren’t done yet.

  “That questioning was intense,” I sighed. Darion and I were drinking Radonian vodka out on our bedroom balcony.

  “After this all is over, we’ll go back to the island. We’ll decompress and find some peace,” Darion mumbled.

  “There are tons of ways to decompress now you know,” I said. Darion glanced at me with a sly grin.

  “Of course,” he said. He set his drink down on the coffee table, then sat back on the chaise. “Come sit with me,” he said and held his hand out to me. I crossed the balcony to take a seat. I had been standing near the railing to get a better view. I set my glass down on the table before I cozied up to him; leaning back against his chest and sliding my legs along his.

  “All of this isn’t going so badly now you know,” I said.

  “True, it could be going worse,” he chuckled.

  “Which means, we might be doing okay,” I lifted my head to look at him and he smirked.

  “Let’s not...assume ourselves there yet,” he said.

  “Right, no jinxing,” I smirked. He lowered his head and softly pressed his lips to mine. I sighed in content and turned so that I was half on my side and half paying on him. He wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me again. I rubbed his hardening sex as we made out like teenagers. When I felt that he was super hard, I tugged at his waistband. He quickly pulled his pants down to free his erection.

  I cupped his balls in my hand and massaged them. He gave a soft moan, then groaned when I sucked on the tip of his cock. I slid my tongue around it until I felt his fingers tangle in my hair. He guided my head down so that more of him slid into my mouth. Darion hissed as I took him deep. I pulled my head up, then sucked and teased his tip again. He lifted my head and then quickly pulled me up to straddle him. He pushed aside my skirt and ripped through my panties.

  Since I was already soaking, I easily slid down onto him. Darion leaned back and watched me as I rode him. His eyes were half closed, but they glowed with heat. I could tell when he wanted to get carried away, his hands slid restlessly up and down my thighs. Then finally he made me lean forward and he gripped my bottom in his hands. He powered into me and I felt as if my body was melting from pleasure from the inside out.

  My orgasm was intense; my whole body shook. My sex constricted tight around his and yelped with pleasure. A second later he emptied his release into me. I fell limp against his chest after, barely able to move. Eventually he slid out of me though and I rolled onto my back so we were side to side on the chaise lounge.

  “I liked those panties you know,” I said. Darion laughed.

  “I’ll get you a hundred more,” he said. I turned my head just in time to receive his kiss. “Come, let’s take a bath...” he said and slowly got up.

  I held my arms open to him and he scooped me up. We went back into the room where he set me down on the bed to go run the bath. Once it was ready he came back and carefully undressed me, then himself, and he carried me to the tub.

  “You know...I could get used to you being so affectionate. I don’t have to lift a finger,” I teased him. He lowered into the tub, sitting across from me, and settled his legs around mine.

  “Even though my father was very strict and often single minded, he cares for my mother a great deal. I grew up seeing him wait on her whenever she was in his presence. She always behaved as if it were something normal...so...” Darion shrugged.

  “I thought you said he was intense?”

  “Yes, he is. Especially when it comes to me and others, but he’s soft for her only,” he said.

  “Do you want children?” the question seemed like a natural enough one, even though it just popped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

  “I would like children, yes. Perhaps two. I know you have a large family,” he smirked.

  “I think the most I’d have is three and they have to be a year or two apart at the most. I hated my brothers growing up, they were all so annoying,” I mumbled.

  “Aren’t all siblings?” he asked.

  “I guess so...” I sighed.

  “After this is over, this mess, I will have to do some damage control. Most likely I’ll be touring around the planet, regaining the backing of my people,” he said, it sounded as if he were thinking out loud. But I wasn't really listening. I was thinking about children, and wondering what kind of dad Darion would be.

  Chapter 7

  Darion

  SKYE, RUTHE, NYE, REA, and I were gathered in my study.

  “Chief Darion, we’ve been trying to come up with an angle of revealing the assassin’s biases in a natural way. But, to jump immediately to, ‘he did it for revenge!’ will not work.” Skye said.

  “Well...the whole reason this all came to light and snowballed was because I’d confided in Saphia, my old guard and driver. I spoke to her in confidence, but she went to Burton with it anyways. She said she was ‘concerned for my well-being’. But then later told me she had a chip on her shoulder because she had family that died in the blight fires,” Rea told them.

  “She would never come forward with that during the trial,” Skye said. His impatience came across as brusque, though he didn’t mean it. I didn’t like it and would rather he not speak to Rea as such.

  “Perhaps you should relax and listen to everything Rea has to say on the matter,” I told him.

  “Of course Chief, my apologies. I do apologize Madame Rea, I meant no disrespect,” Skye said hastily.

  “That’s okay...” Rea put a hand on my shoulder before she continued. “I went to speak with her after she gave her interview on TV, I wanted her to come clean with the full story behind her actions. Of course, she refused, but I did get her to admit what she told me about her family before. I’d recorded our conversation as a fail safe,” she told them.

  “Where is it then?” Ruthe asked. Rea glanced at Nye, who produced the recording. He’d converted it onto his data pad. Nye played the full recording.

  “This is a good start. What will happen is that after Earth’s embassy inevitably drops their accusations about Chief Darion's abduction of Rea, the murder will stand out as the main issue. The assassin will come to the floor. He will be interviewed by the council. Tars and Moody will also be interviewed. Then we will begin our defense. We will go forward with this tape, outlining starkly that Earth’s embassy has dropped the charges because Madame Rea has willingly chosen to remain with you. Then we will point out that the ‘misunderstanding’ surrounding this, was due to the anger Saphia harbored towards Chief Darion. Then we will bring to light the things we spoke about dealing with the assassin’s intentions,” Ruthe said.

  “It sounds like a wonderful plan,” Nye said. “A good start,” he amended.

  “Well as long as we have direction. Unfortunately, Rea and I must go. We have another round of investigative interviews to sit through,” I sighed.

  “Great...” Rea mumbled. We said our goodbyes, then headed out to make our way to the public study on the other side of the palace.

  “What else could the civil sector want to know?” she asked me.

  “I’m not sure...” I said thoughtfully. “They asked about the assassin, Nor, yesterday.”

  “Did they ask you about Moody and Tars?” she asked.

  “Yes, what did they speak with you about?”

  “Whether I was aware of anything at the time. Which I wasn’t,” she sighed.

  “They did not ask you about the man that was killed?” I looked down at her curiously. She shook her head. “Perhaps that is it then,” I said.

  “The guy, the head of the civil sector, Knoll? I don’t like him,” she murmured.

  “He makes you uncomfortable?” I asked. She shrugged, not looking at me directly.

  “I’m just ready for the investigation part to be over,” she
said, sighing. I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath through the nose.

  “As am I...” oddly enough, the true test came right then for me. The look on Rea’s face, I did not like in the slightest. Then to know that Knoll made her feel insecure? I wanted to remove him from our lives, in any way necessary.

  “You have that look on your face Darion,” Rea said and she tugged on my hand, bringing me to a stop.

  “What look?” I asked.

  “Like you’re ready to have something...happen,” she said in a low voice.

  “I’m overcoming that feeling, do not worry. I won’t do anything,” I assured her. I brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “But if he so much as—”

  “Yes, don’t you worry, I’ll let you know if it’s anything worth really getting upset over,” she assured me. I took a breath, then we continued on to the study.

  “Ah, Chief Darion, Madame Rea, good afternoon,” Knoll greeted us when we entered the room. Two of Knoll’s prosecutors were present as well.

  “Good afternoon...” Rea said. I remained silent. Knoll was a tall, physically imposing man. His voice was deep and sometimes booming. He had the ability to make anyone uncomfortable. Especially if he were attempting to get answers out of them for a council hearing.

  “Let’s get this last round of questioning over with, yes?” I said, finally.

  “There are only a few things we wish to ask Madame Rea, Chief Darion. You may remain, if you’d like,” Knoll said. I simply stared him down as Rea sat in the nearest chair. The two lawyers were set up across from her on the chaise, Knoll stood just to Rea’s right. I stood behind her on the left.