Ensign Probus

by Wendie Nordgren

  Staring straight ahead, he said, “He’s right. You’re pregnant and could have been hurt, but I know you well enough to know that you would never do anything to risk your children. I also know you aren’t stupid. All I will ever insist upon is that you allow me to do your fighting for you.”

  “Thank you, Clark.” I smiled up at him.

  Jazon snorted again, loudly.

  Clark turned to him. “I’m not afraid to put you in your place. Teagan did as well as any of us on our mission, better in fact, even though she’s a female.”

  The spark of pride and happiness the first part of his sentence had begun to ignite within me fizzled out with the second half of it. My smile fell into a flat line. Parvac males were amongst the most sexist of all lifeforms known to exist.

  Jazon chuckled.

  While their sexist, over-protective attitudes annoyed me, I didn’t feel the need to prove myself to them. I’d done that when I’d been accepted into the Inquisitors Academy. It was Captain Espanoza to whom I wanted to prove something. To her, I was a former uneducated reclamation worker turned princess of a formerly hostile alien race. Yes, the men with whom I surrounded myself were capable and dangerous, but as an individual, devoid of my Imperial status, she saw me as nothing more than a coddled female who was playing at being something more. Fuck that.

  Chapter Eight

  Cormac’s Chief Medical Officer already had a team assembled and waiting for the moment when I stepped into their domain, but his wasn’t the only team eagerly awaiting my arrival. Science officers took my wedding band to study the alien lifeform. Climbing onto an exam bed, I made myself as comfortable as possible. Then, all of the poking, prodding, and scanning commenced. While they assured themselves of their Emperor’s daughter’s good health, I listened to what was being discovered about the lifeform.

  The science officers were Inquisitors first and were meticulous in their examination of the alien. They studied it with a clinical dispassion which I knew I’d never master. To those recruited by the branch, it was natural, that cold, calculating persona.

  Cormac asked, “Can it be safely removed from the Princess’s ring?”

  “Perhaps, we might be able to lure it to another piece of metal,” one of them suggested.

  “Carry on,” he ordered. Then, he turned his attention to me.

  “I failed. She took it from me, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

  Beside me, what I had perceived as empty air shimmered and solidified. With a shriek, I jumped, and drew my legs up, preparing to kick, and peed a little. Kaoti had appeared. “Damn it, Kaoti! How many fucking times do I have to tell you to stop scaring the piss out of me? Shit!”

  Raising an eyebrow, he said, “It’s piss, not shit,” while staring pointedly at my crotch. “At least, I hope it is.”

  Grabbing the pillow from behind me, I whacked him over the head with it a few times. He didn’t care. He held his palm out to me, and my jaw dropped, along with the pillow I’d been preparing to hit him with again. On his palm was the alloy that Captain Espanoza had confiscated from me.

  “How?” I stared at him.

  “I am always with you. I remained hidden and silent so as not to interfere with your mission. When Captain Espanoza took the alloy, I waited a few moments and then took it back, first switching it out with a piece of similar appearance.” He was nonchalant about accomplishing a task which I had considered to be impossible.

  Laughing, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “You’re amazing!”

  In a feigned, long-suffering tone, he said, “The lengths to which I will go to hear female laughter. You’ve ruined me, Princess.”

  I gave his cheek a second kiss. “Me? Neema is the one who first ruined you with her tiny baby feet. Don’t put all of the blame on me.”

  Kaoti winked at me and handed the alloy over to one of the science officers. I watched as he took it over to place it near my ring. Taking stock of myself, I said, “Ugh. I need a shower and a change of clothes.” Sliding from the exam bed, I made my way to the doors.

  An officer said to Cormac, “Inquisitor Gordian, all teams are aboard.”

  “Set course for the Empress.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I could sense Izaac, Zared, Yukihyo, Drex, and Dario getting closer. I smiled. They were on their way to check on me, but I also sensed something else. It was faint. The vague sensation reminded me of what I felt when one of my children needed something, but it was weaker, almost imperceptible. Empathically seeking out the source, I found myself beside the scientists with Jazon at my side.

  “Do you feel it, too?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Feel what?” Cormac asked.

  Clark stood behind me, looking over my shoulder.

  “I didn’t feel it at first, but it has emotions. It’s not corporeal, but it needs something,” Jazon said.

  Letting go of my own worried thoughts about the children, my warship, and the mission, I tried to sense what Jazon was feeling. I closed my eyes and felt it when my husbands entered the infirmary.

  Quietly, Zared said, “It isn’t dangerous. It’s frightened.”

  “Alone,” Jazon added.

  “It needs something,” Izaac whispered in all of our minds.

  “Cormac, may I have permission to keep it with me? Please?”

  “Teagan, it’s not a pet,” Drex said.

  “I know, well kind of. We don’t know who or what it might be. It could be a pet. That’s not my point. It likes my ring. I’ll wear it and watch over it, keep it safe. You’re all always guarding me anyway, and if it’s on me the Militia won’t be able to figure out it exists. If one of their Laconian officers senses another lifeform or they pick one up in their readings, they’ll assume it is one of the babies or a faulty reading.” I looked around at skeptical male faces.

  “She has a point,” Eli said.

  While they discussed the possible ramifications of my suggestion, a debate which could take hours or days, I walked toward the doors, intent on a shower, but stopped when I sensed the equivalent of what I could only compare to the sound of an infant’s cry. The faint feeling came from the alien, an almost oily-looking glittery shimmer on the metal of my wedding band.

  “It doesn’t want me to leave it here.” Turning around, I went back to where the scientists stood around it with enough data to keep them occupied for a few hours and held out my palm. Then, I waited a little while longer until Cormac nodded to his officers. Taking my ring, I slid it back onto my finger.

  Then, with a bevy of males surrounding me, I made my way to the Imperial quarters and into the room which I always chose as my own. I always left the largest one, the one reserved for Papa, empty even though Nico always tried to convince me to use it.

  “Will you secure these?” I asked Yukihyo of my blasters.

  He took my weapons and his own to our closet.

  In the bathroom, I stripped and stepped into the shower, glad no one joined me. I assumed they were in the sitting room having a discussion. Relieved to be scrubbing away the grime, I watched as soapsuds rinsed from my ring and then belatedly worried how they might affect the alien. Oh, well. If it wanted to be with me, it would have to deal with it.

  “If you’d rather be in a nice safe containment field, let me know.”

  Soon, I was clean, dry, dressed in comfortable clothes Yukihyo had left on the bed for me, and had my hair wrapped in a towel. My suspicions had been correct. The males were so engrossed in their conversation that they barely noticed when I exited my quarters and walked to the kitchen. A chef was busy cooking and with a smile directed me to the table where he placed a plate of fruits, cheeses, and olives before me. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. May I get you a beverage?” His bright, flirtatious smile dimmed when Eli took the seat beside me.

  “Coffee, please.”

  The chef bowed to me at the waist and went to fulfill my wish.

  Eli said,
“I have an update from Captain Ricimer. A path from the docking bay through the debris field has been cleared. When we arrive, we will be able to safely evacuate your household to this warship. We should reach the Empress by morning.”

  Sliding from my seat and onto his lap, I ran my fingers through his dark hair and then kissed him. He lifted his hand to the back of my towel covered head and held me still while deepening our kiss. His right hand protectively covered my stomach.

  When his hungry lips left mine, I asked, “What then, my Inquisitor?”

  His lids had halfway lowered but didn’t hide eyes which had darkened with passion. “I believe you have plans with your cousins on Arachne. Do you not?” His voice was deep and quiet.

  “I do, but I haven’t made any plans between now and morning.” I stroked my fingertips from his earlobe, along his jawline, and down his throat. His length hardened between us pushing almost painfully into my hip and side.

  After a quick meal, Eli picked me up and spirited me away while I left laughter in our wake. In his quarters, he lowered me to sit on the foot of his bed. I started to rise to undress, but he placed his hands on either of my thighs, trapping me within the confines of his muscular arms. Hidden behind the passion in his eyes was an almost imperceptible sadness, a result of the broken trust between us, caused by the scheme he and his team had concocted to capture Ambassador Jiri. I’d forgiven him, but I hadn’t yet bound him to myself as he so desperately wanted for me to do. I just wasn’t ready, and I knew it hurt him, but it wasn’t something I wanted to force. It was something I wanted to know was meant to be. It would happen when both of us were ready.

  Until then, I could give him this, the trust of sharing our bodies, of loving him and expressing it physically, even if something in either my heart or mind was keeping him at a safe distance. He didn’t ask me what he could do to repair the rift because he knew I didn’t have the answer. Instead, he lowered his lips to mine. Eli’s lips were the only things about him that were soft. Unfastening his jacket, I pushed it from his broad shoulders, enjoying the feeling of his strong shoulders and his corded muscles beneath my palms as I slid the sleeves free of his wrists and hands.

  He held still allowing me to explore him, but the blood pulsed through the veins in his arms. He was like a fighter ship ready to burst forth and stake its claim to the stars, and I knew once our clothing was no longer between us that it was where he would take me, the stars. I traced the muscles of his chest down to his pants, pushing them past his hips and letting my fingertips linger on the sexy dimples on each of his butt cheeks. Then, I nipped playfully at his stomach.

  It was enough to shatter his control. He made quick work of removing my attire. He stared at my naked form where I sat on the foot of his bed with my feet not quite reaching the floor. Reaching over my shoulder, he pulled a damp lock of hair over my shoulder to fall over my breast.

  “So beautiful,” he said as he lowered himself to his knees.

  He covered my knees with his hands and spread my thighs. With one more look into my eyes, he lowered his head, and his tongue disappeared inside of me. I moaned and clutched at his hair while he dipped his tongue inside of me and then pulled it out long enough to swirl my most sensitive place with its tip until I was gasping and gripping his head between my thighs while screaming my release. He placed his hands against my back, lifting me up until my head rested against the pillows. Pushing my thighs apart once again, he entered me. My aching channel clutched at his long, hard girth, and I moaned as he stretched me, filling me with himself.

  “Oh, Eli,” I whispered.

  I surrendered to the rhythm he set with his powerful strokes, surrendering to the pleasure that built within me to the point of pain. Gripping his back to anchor myself, I gave in to my release, succumbing to an ecstasy that had me seeing stars behind my closed eyelids. Finding his own release, he laid beside me and laced our fingers together, letting our joined hands rest between us on the mattress.

  “I hope you can forgive me.” His words were breathy whispers of sound while his heart rate slowed. Before I could gather my thoughts on our broken trust, he continued. “Kaoti had orders not to interfere with your mission. It would have been an outright success if not for the Militia’s involvement. Therefore, I countermanded his orders and told him to retrieve the alloy.” His confession was a relief because I’d thought he was talking about our relationship.

  “I wish I could see the look on her snooty face when she realizes we stole it right out from under her nose.”

  “I can arrange it.”

  Laughing, I kissed his shoulder. “Do you think she’ll chase us down and fire upon us?” I moved closer so I could slide my toes up and down his leg, enjoying the way the curly hair tickled them.

  “What would you do if you were her?” he asked. My innocent caresses had caused his manly appendage to rise up once more in all of its glory.

  Grinning, I straddled his hips. Lifting up on my knees, I positioned him at my entrance and slowly lowered myself. Sighing with pleasure, I pressed my palms to his chest and rode him while considering his question. “If she was aboard my ship and had taken it from me, I’d want payback but not at the expense of peace. She once convinced me to meet with a certain Parvac general for the sake of peace.”

  “I know. You were frightened but so brave.” He caressed my thighs while I rose and fell upon his shaft with a roll of my hips. Eli had watched me for years and had been the Inquisitor who had first learned of my existence.

  “What would I do if I were her? I’d follow her and wait for a moment of weakness so I could take it back…. She knows where we’re going. My ship is trapped in a radioactive debris field. She’s going to use my family against me to get what she wants!”

  A deadly emptiness entered his eyes. Lifting me off his dick, he lowered me carefully to his bed. Naked, he grabbed his vid-screen and called Cormac. I had just enough time to cover myself with his sheet. “Increase speed and alert Captain Ricimer to prepare for an attack.”

  Cormac caught his line of reasoning immediately. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  Eli said, “It’s what we would do.”

  “We would take hostages and destroy the ship.”

  Sitting up and splitting Eli’s vid-screen image, I called Nico. After hearing our concerns, my blonde giant was not amused. “Enough of this Naxan bison shit! Sparrow!” he bellowed. His part of the screen went dark before being filled with Captain Ricimer.

  While Eli and Cormac shared with him our suspicions, his concentration kept straying. When I caught Cormac looking without trying to look like he was looking, I realized the problem. I’d had a nip slip. Dropping the sheet so they could get their fill, I got up and put on Eli’s shirt which was tight across my abdomen but almost reached my knees. I tossed Eli his pants. On the viewer behind Captain Ricimer, the debris-filled space seemed to pulse as with a deep breath. Then, the metal trash surrounding the Empress flew outward and away from it like a spherical tsunami at warship speeds.

  “What was that?” I asked in complete shock.

  Nico strode onto the bridge and looked at us over captain Ricimer’s shoulder. He said, “That was a gravitational pulse. The Militia can suck it. Change of plans. We’ll meet you on Arachne. I’m getting our family out of here. Oh, and Eli, if Fitz and I get there first, we get Teagan to ourselves for a week.” He straightened and clapped his hands at Commander Genso and Lieutenant Commander Glous. “Let’s go! Let’s go! We could have an enemy ship on our ass. Get us the fuck out of here! Move your asses!” Nico’s voice boomed across the bridge.

  “Dismissed,” Eli said to Captain Ricimer. He nodded to us and hurried to follow Nico’s orders while ending our communication. To Cormac, Eli said, “You heard Nico. Get us out of here. The faster we get to Arachne and her land, the better.”

  The screen went black, and I felt the ship’s speed increase to what might not be considered safe.

  “Now, where were we?” Eli took hold of each
side of the collar of his shirt and tore it from me as if he were opening a gift.

  Hours later when I woke up, he was holding my left hand in his and staring intently at my wedding band. “If it weren’t for sensor readings, I’d think nothing of it. How can something so barely discernable to perception be alive?”

  Blinking sleepily at the faint shimmer on the metal entwined with meteorite, I asked, “From where did it come, and how did it get here?”

  “Excellent questions. It’s too bad that I can’t interrogate it.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and freed myself of his grasping hands. Managing to make it to his bathroom, the insatiable male soon joined me in the shower. The grumbling of my stomach was the only thing that saved me. Grudgingly, he decided to keep his dick to himself. Quickly showering, he left to get me something clean to wear.

  After drying my hair, I found him waiting for me with a white maternity dress which I’d never before seen. It was a surprise because I’d expected he’d just put my clothing in a cleaning unit. It had pearl beading along the neckline. “Where did you find this?”

  “Your closet.”

  “I haven’t filled it with anything.” Thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t even looked inside of it yet.

  “Do you forget upon whose ship we travel? You’ll find your closet practically overspilling with luxuries,” he said while helping me fasten the closure at the back of my neck.

  At the dining table, we found Tracy with a bowl of caramelized figs and blueberries. Making eye contact with the chef, I hoped I made my views on fruit for breakfast quite clear. It wasn’t necessary because Cormac had already specified my preferences. Phillip, Yukihyo, Zared, Phillip, Dario, Izaac, and Drex joined us, and the chef brought out biscuits, gravy, steaks, and eggs. None of it survived.

  “Where’s Clark?” I asked.

  Tracy started laughing. “Oh, Teagan. He’s so adorable. He and Jazon got into it this morning, and he decided it was time he straightened Jazon out over his treatment of you.”

  Phillip said, “Don’t look at me. I tried to warn him.”