by Nia Mars
“So Oath Forger doesn’t mean queen?” Lily asks. “We got the impression that you were a big deal.”
“It’s complicated.”
“But you’re married to the king? I saw how he looks at you. His eyes go gooey.”
“I’m kind of married to them,” I say under my breath as we get on the elevator to go down to the tunnels.
Lily’s eyes bug out of her head. She squeezes my fingers so hard that they go numb. “Them?” She breathes the single word next to my ear, then pulls back, her eyes begging for an answer.
I do the silent sister-communication thing. Let’s talk about this when we’re not tightly packed into an elevator with a bunch of people.
We don’t go far. We get out on the top level where the richest colonists live and the Dallas government offices operate. The higher levels have better air quality. And, also, less noise. The lower levels are always humming with the sound of generators.
As we turn a corner to follow our host, a glinting arrangement on the wall catches my eye. I stare at my ‘artwork.’ “This didn’t use to be here.”
I’d put the installation on one of the lowest levels. While scavenging on the surface, I’d gotten into the habit of collecting anything shiny, anything that could reflect light, shards of mirrors and glass, strips of aluminum, whatever reflective surfaces I could find. I used to create swirling designs on the tunnel walls from my pickings to multiply the light of our few bulbs.
I meant the installations to be functional. Maybe in my heart of hearts I thought of them as art, but I didn’t expect anyone to think the same. And now... I stare at the name plate: Ava Smith.
I have a name plate?
Koah puffs out his chest. He’s clearly proud of me. “I told you, you were talented.”
I respond under my breath. “I thought you were just trying to get into my pants.”
His booming laugh echoes off the walls of the tunnel, and people laugh with him, even though they couldn’t possibly have heard my comment.
“That remains my purpose in life,” he whispers back as we move forward, while Lily is giggling like mad.
The reception committee had anticipated that I would want to spend time with my sister, so instead of taking us straight into meetings, the delegation is given downtime to rest or join a guided tour of the colony.
Lily comes with us to the room that Koah and I will share, but stops at the door. “Do you two need a nap?”
Her eyes glint with innuendo.
Our quarters are simple compared to the Oath Forger’s palace, but we have been given the colony’s best. I slip out of my heavy robe and drape it over our single chair. That’s ten pounds off. Much better.
“I think we can manage without a nap.”
“Speak for yourself,” Koah grumbles under his breath, making Lily giggle again.
“I want to see our place,” I tell her. I want to go home.
“Not our place anymore.” Lily’s grin is as pleased as if she found a bar of gold in the sand. “When I was elected councilwoman, I got upgraded. It’s good to be the only living relative of the Queen of the Universe.”
I laugh at her pompous expression, ignoring Koah’s snort behind me. “I’m not Queen of the Universe!”
She bumps her shoulder against mine. “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to lose the perks.”
I take her hands and turn her toward me. “So you’re happy?” I pause. “I saw you with a guy. We got a glimpse of the security footage from the colony’s entrance, a little while back.”
She stares, then shakes her head. “Only you would spy on me from millions of miles away to make sure I was okay.”
“Any self-respecting big sister would do it.”
“I’m happy.”
“And the guy?”
She shrugs. “He wasn’t the one. But we had fun.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
She doesn’t look sorry in the least. “Do you have any idea how many guys want to date the sister of the Queen of the Universe?”
Okay, she’s having fun. I’m glad.
She pulls me closer and whispers. “Now tell me about them.”
I might as well. She is not going to let it go.
I turn to Koah. “I’m going to see Lily’s new quarters. Will you be okay here?”
“I think I’ll go on that tour of the colony with the others. I want to see the underground gardens.” He pauses. “You know, now that I’ve seen Earth’s surface, I don’t see any reason why our translucent bio domes wouldn’t work here. They can withstand sand storms, and pirates are no longer an issue. I want to talk to someone about that.”
I’m sure he does, but I also know he’s giving me time alone with my sister. When he kisses me on his way out, I kiss him back with all the love in my heart, visions of a better Earth flying around in my head.
“Does he have a brother?” Lily asks after the door closes behind Koah. “Cousins? Second cousins? A nephew twice removed?”
“I thought you had ample offers here.” I throw myself on the bed. I want to catch up with her a little first, before we go anywhere.
In two seconds, Lily is next to me, the two of us contemplating the ceiling as we’d done countless times in the past while sharing confidences.
She glances toward the door. “The guys here aren’t exactly like him, are they?”
I laugh. No, nobody is exactly like Koah. On any planet.
“So...” Lily turns to me. “Them? Does that mean you have two husbands?”
I shake my head.
“Three?”
I shake my head again.
Her eyes snap impossibly wide. “Four?”
I clear my throat. “Five.”
She grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me. “Five? Like Koah? Are you kidding me right now?”
“Believe me, they’re no joke.”
She groans as she throws herself onto her back. “Are any of them really weird? Like alien weird? Three eyes, spiked penises?”
“No!” I nearly choke on the word.
“Tell me everything.”
And I do.
“I was kind of hoping you’d come back to Merim with me,” I say after I recounted all that happened since my kidnapping.
Her brows furrow. I can tell she’s thinking about it very carefully.
“If I don’t go with you permanently,” she says after a long while, “will I be able to just visit, from time to time?”
“Yes.”
She turns to me and hugs me. “Then I think I’d rather stay on Earth. At least for now.” She pauses, a glint coming into her eyes. “Unless, as the only sister of the Queen of the Universe, I have to enter into some arranged marriage with four or five hot princes? You know, for the good of the galaxy?”
“I’ll definitely call on you, if we get to the point where that sacrifice must be made.”
“Don’t even hesitate. You’re my sister. I’ll do whatever makes your life easier.”
We collapse against each other, giggling like a couple of teenagers.
God, it’s good to be back together.
I watch the smile on my sister’s face through tears of joy. I’m so glad that she’s doing well. And with the Federation helping Earth, things are only going to get better here. I’ll make sure of that.
“Lily?”
“Yes?”
“I hope you’ll visit often.”
Chapter Thirteen
OUR VISIT TO EARTH WENT BETTER THAN EXPECTED. Alliances were made. Treaties were signed. Earth’s first export to the Federation will be salt. Koah is seriously impressed with the oceans. The Federation will trade bio domes for the salt, and better crops will make for healthier citizens.
My heart just about breaks when I have to say goodbye to my sister. I can only handle it because a communication link is going to be put in place between Dallas and Merim, so I’ll be able to talk to her from the palace whenever I want. And she does promise to come and visit.
<
br /> I show a brave front, but by the time I’m back in our room on the spaceship with Koah, I’m weepy.
Luckily, Koah is very good at comforting. Especially when we’re naked. Or almost naked. My clothes are long gone, and his are on their way off.
“I’m going to make you feel better,” he promises against my skin, his lips on their way down my neck.
“Yes, please.”
There’s nothing to stop us, we have a long journey ahead of us back to Merim.
There’s nothing to stop us, except... Roax popping up on the screen in all his warlordly hotness, in his usual stark black uniform. He must have somehow tortured Tiam into revealing his hacking secrets.
“I’ve come to pick up the Oath Forger. I decided I’ll take her back home on my ship.”
Koah groans and throws a pillow at the display.
“You’ve had her long enough,” Roax says reasonably.
He’s scary when he’s reasonable.
Who am I kidding? He’s scary all the time.
“Sharing is not going to work, if we all are not willing to share,” he points out next.
“There’d be less sharing if there were fewer of us,” is Koah’s way of threatening him with murder.
Then Koah pulls back to look at me. “My Ava?”
The choice is mine. Always mine. But this is what I learn about myself in that moment: I’m not good at making choices naked.
“Ava Mine?” The words are softly spoken and come from Roax on the screen.
I feel his voice like a caress on my skin.
Koah watches me, the heat in his gaze tempered with support and understanding. He will not argue, no matter what I decide.
They will share me, nicely, and I will just have to be sure to be fair. And to be fair, Koah made love to me at least once a night on the trip out to Earth and during our stay at the Dallas Colony. He was determined to make the best of every minute he had me to himself.
He reads my decision in my eyes, because he says to Roax, without turning to the screen, “Send your transport pod over.”
And that’s how I end up on Roax’s ship for the first time, fifteen minutes later.
“Take off your clothes,” Roax orders as soon as the door is closed behind us, the heat in his tone saying that he’s waited long enough, and I’m a fool if I think he’s going to wait a moment longer.
I hear him, but I’m too busy gawking.
Roax’s bedroom is...different.
He really does like ropes. He has hooks and restraints everywhere, on the walls, on the ceiling, on the floor, on his bed—a bed that has clearly never been told that furniture on spaceships should be smaller.
My pulse drums madly, my throat dry, as I ask, “Have you brought a lot of women here?”
“No one else, Ava Mine. This was all installed a few weeks ago. For you.”
I swallow hard. Because if he installed all this for me, then he expects me...us...to use these things.
“Take off your clothes. It’s the last time I’ll ask.”
I bite my lower lip. “I’m not sure if I’m into kinky stuff.”
His gaze is riveted to the spot where my teeth are digging into my skin. “We can spend the journey home finding out.”
“Because this is what you like?” My gaze freezes on a paddle on the nightstand.
He doesn’t respond. Right. He knows I’m not stupid. I guessed long ago what he liked. Honestly, I’m mostly talking to stall. “So what’s been happening in Merim since I left?”
He just looks at me.
Right.
I love him. That’s my touchstone. Okay. My fingers trembling with nerves, I reach for the hem of my top and pull it over my head.
The heat in his eyes is gratifying. It gives me enough self-confidence to kick off my boots, then push down my pants...making it slow. And, oh, how he watches.
A smile twitches at the corner of his sexy lips. “Are you teasing me right now, Ava Mine? Are you sure it’s smart?”
“I’m never sure of anything around you,” I admit.
His dark gaze snaps to mine. “You can be sure that I love you.”
My heart sings. I missed him.
“Underwear, too,” he orders.
I tug off my bra and drop it on the floor, then do the same with my panties. Then I’m standing naked in front of Roax, heat gathering at the apex of my thighs from the hungry look in his eyes.
“On your knees.”
I drop without question.
“Fold your hands behind your back.”
When I do, my back arches, pushing my breasts out farther.
There’s a catch in Roax’s breath.
“Open your knees.”
I do.
“Wider.”
Stars, this is... I don’t know how I feel about giving him this kind of control. I hesitate.
“You let me know when you want to stop, and we’ll stop.”
His tone is kind and reassuring. But it’s the undisguised love on his handsome face that makes me comply.
“Beautiful,” he says in a ragged whisper. “You’re beautiful, Ava Mine. And I have you all for my own. For days and days.”
My heart gives a hard thud at his possessive tone.
He walks up to me slowly, giving me time to anticipate.
He stops so close that his boots nearly touch my knees. “I want to see those sweet lips wrapped around my hard cock.”
I lose my breath.
He unfastens his pants enough to free himself. “Now.”
Moisture gathers between my legs as I rise to my knees. I’m dying to taste Roax. I want him to fill me—wherever he chooses.
I lick the clear bead of liquid at the slit first, tasting his saltiness, then lick the whole head, gratified when his breathing grows unsteady. As I enfold the swollen purple head between my lips, his fingers dig into my hair.
“Yes,” he says in a ragged tone.
I, obviously, can’t speak.
Then he orders, “Deeper.”
And I suck him in.
His size fills my mouth completely. I breathe through my nose as he taught me.
“Well done, Ava Mine.”
His voice is unsteady. I love that I can make him lose at least some of his iron control.
I begin moving my mouth up and down on his length, but he takes over after a few seconds, his hands in my hair setting the rhythm and the depth.
My arms are still folded behind my back. I’m thoroughly his. That thought fills me with pleasure, because I know that he is also thoroughly mine.
I’m not nearly done with him when he pulls out.
“On the bed.”
I scramble on the black silk cover to obey.
“On your stomach, bent over the side.”
I slide into place.
“Hands behind your back. Feet farther apart.”
I hear his knees hit the floor behind me. His large hand claims my wrists and holds them together, immobile. Then he licks into me.
Stars!
I arch off the bed.
“I will have to be very harsh with you, if you come without my permission.”
I groan. “Do you enjoy torturing me?”
“Very much.”
The words are said with so much silky satisfaction, they make me laugh.
Then he licks into me again, and all humor is replaced by a sense of urgency.
He is a master of torture. I’m about to ask him how many women have previously died in this very room from frustration, but then I remember that he told me he never brought any others here before, that this room was equipped for me.
I’m half-passed out from trembling desire, and he hasn’t used any equipment on me yet. I don’t find that thought comforting at all.
Only when I’m balanced on the ragged edge of orgasm does he withdraw.
He stands and caresses my butt while he gives me time to calm down, then, still holding my hands immobile behind me, he pushes his hard cock into my sli
ckness in a long, relentless slide.
I struggle to catch my breath, thrashing against the bed, my back bowed once again.
By the time he’s fully in, I could weep with the need for completion.
“You don’t have permission,” he reminds me as he begins pumping.
Measured strokes, a maddening glide, rubbing against all the right places.
My knees tremble. He doesn’t care. He keeps driving relentlessly into me.
I do weep then, and beg, but it doesn’t end the torture.
I bite my lip hard, hold my breath. No, no, no. I try to hold back, but my insides begin to flutter around him.
And then he stops, withdrawing completely, even letting go of my hands at last.
“In the middle of the bed. On your back.”
I’m so boneless, several seconds pass before I can comply.
“Hands above your head.”
Before I realize what’s happening, my hands are tied with silk rope to the headboard. I tug against the restraints, trying to decide if I should be alarmed, while Roax watches my reaction closely.
I decide I’m okay with things for now, so I relax.
“Thank you,” Roax says.
I’m not so certain about the second set of ropes. He makes some kind of a harness around my knees and pulls them up and apart, also secured to the headboard.
This is different. Now I can’t move.
And then, he produces a thing from a hidden compartment, an alarmingly large implement that’s the mirror image of his straining cock.
He reaches into the hidden compartment again and this time he comes up with a squeeze bottle. Lubricant?
My entire body stiffens with alarm.
“Do you trust me?” he asks in a soft tone.
“I did. Right up until a second ago.”
He grins. “Trust me again.”
After a long, long moment, I nod.
He dribbles the cold liquid onto my puckered opening that’s fully displayed to his gaze. He uses his fingers to work the lubricant around and into me. Then he generously coats the instrument of torture he is holding.
“What is that?” I gasp out the words, breathless.
“A largish plug.”
“Couldn’t we start with smallish?”
