by Bex McLynn
Therion beamed down at Maude. “Bet it was the best-written contract they’d ever read.”
Maude nodded along. “Lady Arana did say it was noteworthy for the number of ‘fucks’ included in the language.”
“Of course the contract would include ‘fuck.’ I’m not an idiot. I know these things have to be in writing.”
Maude chuckled. “And that you submitted pictures of my ass.”
He squeezed her shoulder, pulling her closer. “To be fair, I sent pics of my ass too. So they could see our perfect asses together.”
As they walked through the station, Therion’s sensitive ears picked up the murmurs of the Teras around them. Sacana Turris wasn’t entirely comprised of House Borac loyalists. It was the port-of-call for Bulan Ero, his homeworld, thus other houses had established businesses and attaché offices. The turris was both House Borac’s link and its vulnerable connection to the rest of the Dominion.
As they approached the hangar, where a shuttle waited to return them to Prykimis, other men in House Borac tactical gear stood at their posts. Therion appreciated his brother’s overprotectiveness of Seph because Maude benefited from that vigilance as well. However, his brother’s resources served as another stark reminder that by choosing him, Maude had disadvantaged herself.
His clutch contract couldn’t silence the insecurities that rode him hard. Had him casting his eyes about the station, as if a usurping thane would suddenly appear and Maude would fall right into the rival’s arms. It was a fucking ridiculous scenario. Zver would never let another thane this close to Bulan Ero without asserting his own significance. Therion needed to cool his wild imaginings and focus on getting Maude back to Prykimis. Back into his bunk. Back into his arms so that he could sink back into her body. Let her know, in orgasmic punctuated terms, that he would keep her safe.
He heard the rise of Seph’s voice, but couldn’t see her through the blockade of guards surrounding her. He did catch sight of his brother, his head bent, and Therion was certain that Seph was spiraling, spinning with her agitation over yet another pointless encounter with the Trine. Fine. Zver would take her burden and hopefully ease Maude’s worries.
Therion turned to Maude, wanting to point out how Zver was about to pound down Unholde’s Gates to ease Seph’s mind, when he caught movement to his left. A tight contingent of TerTac uniformed men strode straight for them.
Fucking Unholde.
The TerTac contingent shouldn’t have surprised him. Since Seph and Maude were proving to be uncooperative with the Trine, it would be TerTac’s turn to jump into the fray.
He flicked his eyes to Zver, pleased to see that his brother already took notice. Zver tracked the oncoming contingent with a blank expression, straight back, and squared shoulders. He had a hand lightly grasping Seph’s elbow, as if keeping tabs on her while he inhaled. The men about him, already at-the-ready, shifted, repositioning as the TerTac officer and his lackeys approached.
He felt Kora slither back down Maude’s arm, resuming her protective encasement. Therion approved and gave Kora an appreciative knuckle rapping.
“Therion?” Maude asked, her gaze darting up to him and then scanning their surroundings.
Therion lengthened his stride, practically hoisted Maude onto his hip, and headed straight for the pocket of Zver’s men. He was fucking relieved that they parted smoothly to let him slip Maude inside.
“But a moment, Maude.” He gave her a gentle nudge toward Seph, who appeared as confused as Maude did.
“Zver?” Seph asked. Therion recognized that tone. Seph was gearing up for a brawl, getting ready to kick ass. “If it’s more suitors—”
“They’re not suitors.” Zver stepped out of the pocket and signaled his men to close the gap.
Therion bristled with alarm. If it had been suitors, hell, Seph could have told them to fuck off all on her own, and Zver would have stepped back and enjoyed the show with barely a brow twitch.
But this—TerTac officers that took Zver by surprise—had his brother doing something that Therion had yet to see him do. Zver had been short with Seph. His brother perceived this threat to be dangerous enough that he hadn’t handled Seph with absolute care.
Therion drew up next to Zver, noticing that his brother held his breath. Gods, the man must have the lung capacity of a deep-sea free diver. He suspected that Zver was scouring logs and reports. If a TerTac contingent was on Sacana Turris, then Zver would have had advanced intel about it.
The officer leading the contingent stopped a few paces from Zver and gave a brisk head nod. “Thane Borac. Commander Borac.”
Therion and Zver were at a disadvantage. They couldn’t address the officer before them because they had no fucking clue who he was.
His brother said nothing. He adored how Zver could simply wait, without blinking an eye, while others found the suspense maddening. Huh, so there was yet something else that he and his brother held in common.
The TerTac officer pivoted toward Therion, yet gave Zver one last hesitant glance, as if he expected Zver to say something. Well, his brother would say shit. Obviously, the officer was there for a reason.
The officer tapped on his WristCune. “Commander Therion Borac, your orders.”
Therion’s WristCune pinged, and he glanced down at the TerTac encrypted message.
He read the thing three times before he laughed. “You’re arresting me?”
Zver’s chest expanded, then stilled. Again, his brother had accessed his technopathy and spied Therion’s encrypted message. “House Borac was never made aware of these orders.”
The officer shifted on his feet. “With all due respect, the orders were for Commander Therion Borac, not Thane Zver Borac.”
Therion scoffed. “That didn’t sound respectful at all. Did it, Zver?”
His brother stared down at the officer and then said, “I’ve filed a challenge with TerTac High Command.”
“That’s right!” Therion jabbed a finger at the officer. “This insult will not go unanswered.” Then he leaned toward his brother. “You gotta say that bit, Zver, or they don’t understand how fucked they are right now.”
The officer squared his shoulders. “But my orders still stand.”
“Ah, Zver!” Seph called from behind them.
A chorus of WristCune alert notifications pinged, the ominous tone silencing the idle chatter around them. Every person in uniform knew the low tone of a defense priority alert.
Through his earpiece, Therion heard the grim announcement from the station’s commander. Prykimis had brought her railguns online.
Seph called out again. “It’s Prykimis!”
Zver kept his gaze on the paling officer. “I am aware.”
The officer swallowed thickly. “That doesn’t change my orders.”
“Your orders? No. It does not.” Zver spoke slowly, and Therion knew he measured his reply for the officer’s benefit, practically spoon-feeding that idiot what he’d left unsaid. The orders might stand, but the officer would never be able to carry them out.
Gods, he loved it when his brother got all autocratic with others.
The officer turned back to Therion, his composure no longer as confident. “Commander, you need to come with us.”
A commotion started behind them. Seph’s uncharacteristic swearing had Zver turning, giving the TerTac officer his back, as both Seph and Maude pushed through the line of guards.
Really it was Maude pushing with the help of Kora, shoving the armored grunts aside. Seph simply clung to Maude’s side, following in her wake.
Maude reached him, her eyes burning bright with determination. Her arm was raised with Kora’s dart barrel mounted on her wrist. “What’s going on, Therion?”
Therion gawked for a moment, stunned that Kora had inserted herself between him and armed TerTac grunts. He shook his head, jarring himself free from his shock. “Kora, it’s all right. Stand down.”
Kora rippled but didn’t retract back into vines.
&n
bsp; “Seriously, Maude,” Therion said. “Tell Kora to stand down.”
“No. It’s not Kora. This is me.” With her mouth set in a grim line, Maude widened her stance and set her shoulders, shielding him from the TerTac officer.
Gods, Therion’s heart stopped. Hell, his whole entire universe froze. He wanted to remember this moment—the precise time in his life when he fell completely and irrevocably in love with Maude. She was his champion.
He heard the TerTac officer speak, but the man’s words didn’t register.
Maude’s hard reply delighted him. “He’s not going with you.”
By Direis. How did he miss this aspect of Maude? She had grit. Soft, fine grit like sand rather than gravel, but grit nevertheless.
Therion swallowed and said, “Because I’m going with you?”
Maude’s brow furrowed, and she flicked her eyes to him, then back to the officer. “Of course you’re going with me.”
With his heart pounding in his chest, he spoke softly. “Because you chose me?”
Gods, please, let her tell him what he wanted to hear.
“Yes, I chose you, Therion.” Although she didn’t look at him, he heard the swell of emotion in her voice. “You’re my home.”
Suddenly, everything for him eased. Hell, TerTac could drag him away. A ruddy rogue thane could show up bearing wealth and promises, but this moment wouldn’t be sullied at all.
Maude had declared, before everyone, that she had chosen him.
Sure, the clutch contract declared that too. But that had been a very private, exposing moment between the two of them.
Because they’d been naked.
But this—with Maude armored up and ready to kick ass—was way better.
The comm chatter that had been nonstop in his ear picked up. He heard the urgent voice of his acting bridge officer. “Thane. Commander. Prykimis has targeted an unknown cruiser.”
The TerTac officer jerked, his head tilted toward his left ear. Ah, he must be fitted with an ear comm as well, receiving chatter from his own ship’s officer.
“Why?” Maude’s question drew his attention back to her.
Right. His arrest. He should probably come clean on a few things.
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “See, the thing is, Maude, I was supposed to take you directly to TerTac Command.”
She scoffed and shook her head incredulously. “You just rescued me, like, a few days ago! How much faster were we supposed to get there?”
“I brought you home to Bulan Ero. We’re in House Borac territory. That’s kinda an act of treason.”
Her arm remained raised, the dart barrel aimed at the officer, as she pivoted to face him. She probably was trusting Kora to guard their back.
She gave him a tender look. “Therion, this isn’t right. You rescued me.”
Zver stepped up to him, leaning in close. “House Saliga’s spirenought has pinged our long-range sensors.”
Shit. TerTac had commandeered another house’s battleship, bringing it close to Bulan Ero to countermeasure Prykimis.
“Vayant?” He asked his brother, referring to House Borac’s own spirenought. “Is she still patrolling Prykimis’s old sector?”
“Aye. She’s out of range.” Zver frowned. “I’ve the turris cannons, Prykimis’s railguns, and a half unit of spires. We’re matched, Therion.”
Meaning, Zver couldn’t say with certainty that he’d win. This was not how Therion envisioned introducing Maude to his homeworld.
“Zver, there hasn’t been orbital fire over Bulan Ero in a hundred years.” He kept his voice low as he shook his head. “Not for this. Not over me.”
Seph joined their huddle. “Guys, Prykimis isn’t standing down. She’s not listening. She’s getting frantic—”
Therion activated his comm to the ship. “Ech, but you’ll stand down for me, won’t you, Kimis?”
His WristCune pinged. It was a flat, standard notification ping, but for Therion, it carried the grump of a spoiled ship who’d swallowed her pride and folded.
“Thanks for standing up for me.” He chuckled. “And, for once, standing down at my command. You’re fucking brilliant, Kimis.”
“Therion,” Maude said, dragging his name out into a plea.
Gods, he loved her.
He beamed at her, hoping she’d understand that he would never deliberately cause harm to his house or homeworld. He became the Bane to protect them. “Maude, this is, by far, the best fucking arrest of my life.”
Her eyes glistened, and he saw her struggling to accept what he was about to do. “Therion, if you were under orders, why didn’t you obey?”
He shrugged. “TerTac’s orders were shit, Maude.” Then he stepped toward her, honing his focus on her, dismissing the rest of the station and his problems. Looking into her green eyes, he said, “But here’s the important part. I’m not afraid to admit that when it comes to you, fuck everyone else. I’ll do right by you every time.”
He pulled her toward him, damn grateful that she stretched up to meet him as he dove in to kiss her. There were probably dozens of WristCune cameras pointed at them right now, recording the spectacle. He didn’t care. Zver never kissed Seph in public, and he’d seen Seph struggle to keep from pawing at his brother. Her hands practically twitched when she stood next to Zver.
He had no intention of muting the consuming possessiveness Maude ignited in his gut. The Teras ran cold, but she burned in him. Lit him like a beacon that blazed only for her. He fucking loved it.
She clung to him with one arm, the other still outstretched to shield them. As she pressed her body against him, Kora’s hard plates had him grateful that although he and Maude would soon be parted, she wouldn’t be defenseless.
With a reluctant groan, he pulled back.
Cupping her face, he held her gaze and gave her a bright smile. The smile he saved for those he held most dear. “And don’t worry, Maude. I’m gonna take over Fleet.”
“What?” she sputtered.
He winked at her, delighted that she gawked at him.
Then he turned to the TerTac contingent. “Which one of you kinky fucks brought the wrist restraints?” He pointed to the back left grunt. “My creds are on you.” He wiggled his fingers before his crotch. “I see your anthers twitching as you look at me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Prykimis pulled Maude from her dream. “[I fire.]”
The sheets next to Maude rustled with a burst of movement as Seph bolted upright and blurted out, “Stand down!”
Kora, who must have been flat on the deck, rose up in her spider-like form and rattled her plates. “[I fire.]”
“No, Kora,” Maude’s heart pounded, shattering the lingering grogginess of sleep. The harsh shards of reality sliced into her. “Stand down. There’s no one here.”
Seph, her hair in disarray, scrubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand. “What I would give for coffee right now.”
Maude was dog-tired too. Because the thane had spent the overnight shift contesting Therion’s arrest, Seph had invited Maude to stay with her. Together, she and Seph had kept vigil on the couch in the Athela cabin, constantly convincing Prykimis to stand down. The ship had become obsessed with targeting the TerTac cruiser where Therion was being detained. At one point, before she and Seph moved into the berth to bunk down, the thane had threatened to have an engineering team manually deactivate Prykimis’s railguns.
Overall, it was not a good night, which made Maude grateful that she’d found it comforting to once again share a bed with her cousin.
When Seph was a toddler, she’d crept into Maude’s sleeping bag during a family trip. Gazing up at Maude with her warm brown eyes, Seph had chatted for a good hour. The babble had been undecipherable, but Seph had communicated her passion for the topic with her astounding range of swooshes, blubbers, and giggles. With a final sigh, she’d rolled over and sprawled out, kicking Maude out of her sleeping bag entirely. It hadn’t mattered, though. Maude simply adore
d her.
Last night proved to Maude that Seph hadn’t changed. As Seph had drifted off to sleep, she cuddled next to Maude and babbled. About Earth. About Xander. About using a Teras spaceship to fetch her son and bring him back. About Maude presenting her baby to Nicole. Then, once Seph had babbled herself to exhaustion, she rolled over in her sleep and sprawled out.
Maude had gazed at her cousin fondly while managing to shake her head in amazement. The sizable bunk that they shared was meant to accommodate the much taller Teras people, yet Seph’s sprawl had taken over the entire space. How could the thane possibly fit in this bunk with her cousin?
With a heavy heart, Maude looked around the berthing cabin and saw the fragile beginnings of a new life for Seph. The thane had claimed this room as a co-occupant. His personal items were in the lavatory and on the shelves. She hoped that Seph’s fledging home with the thane could survive the anguish to come. Her cousin, when finally forced to face the truth of their abduction from Earth, would shatter over the loss of her son.
Seph jolted again. “Stand down, Kimis!” Then she moaned and rubbed her eyes once more. “It’s like having a newborn all over again.” Her tone changed to cajoling as she addressed the ship. “No. Still sleepy time, Kimis. It’s not story time.”
Maude shrugged. “I could tell her a story, if you’d like.”
“If I’d like?” Seph gave her a playful whap on the shoulder. “Would have loved to have had you around when Xan was a baby.” Then, Seph winced. “I mean, I know you were here. In space. I know that now. I was just saying.”
“I know, Seph. And I would’ve loved to have been there.” And she would have been, too. Sharing the night feedings. Changing diapers. Anything to have helped Seph through those overwhelming days of joy and exhaustion and anxiousness.
Seph shuddered and slapped her hand over her mouth as her color drained, leaving her face ashen.
“Purple menace,” she moaned regrettably as she shimmied off the bunk and dashed into the lav.
By the time Maude followed, she found Seph bent over the sink, spitting phlegm into the basin.