Ensign Probus

by Wendie Nordgren

  Groaning, he took my hand and drew me along behind him into the kitchen, checked my cake timer, and then pulled me laughing behind him into the Infirmary. Lifting me up to sit on an exam bed, he said, “I’ll be quick.”

  “You? Quick?” I scoffed.

  He pushed my skirt up my legs, pulled my undies from me, and unfastened his pants. Mischievously, I spread my legs and watched as his eyes focused and smoldered with lust. Slowly, I moved my hand up my thigh and touched my delicate folds. My action was Eli’s undoing. Closing the space between us, he slid his thick cock home, grabbing me behind the butt and pulling me closer. His balls slapped against my ass with each long, hard thrust. I secured my arms around his neck and held onto him. Gasping for air each time he withdrew, I sounded like a wild thing. Eli’s muscles rippled beneath my palms. Gripping him around the neck with one arm, I explored his muscles with my other hand, enjoying the sensation of his power and strength while he fucked me with everything he had, his hard dick, his rage, and his murderous feelings of revenge.

  I looked into his eyes and saw something completely different from what I physically felt. It was like he was trying to clean himself by washing his soul in his love and passion for me. In his dark eyes, I saw a man, emotionally naked before me, who desperately needed me to love him and accept his darkness.

  “Oh, Eli.” Tenderness for him filled me, and something within my soul reached out and ensnared him, binding us together. The bright gold cord I imagined burned the pain we had once caused each other into ash and illuminated his desperate longing for my love and trust, his need to protect and defend me, and his wish that he had found me first on Earth before Yukihyo had.

  He felt the bond as it formed between us and was overcome with emotion, spilling his seed within me mid-thrust. He came again and tried to bury himself deeper. Eli brought his arms up to hold me and then held my head in his hands. My hair spilled through his fingers. Then, he lowered his head to my shoulder and cried. His body shook. I could feel the lifetime of loneliness. He’d possessed the cold aloofness and emotional detachment of a killer from a young age, but in the Empire, such emotional and mental traits were cultivated and used to our advantage.

  “I was sent to the Academy at such a young age. I see you with your children. I see the way you love them unconditionally. I never thought I’d feel such a love, but I feel it now. I feel it in your arms. I thought only parents could feel such a pure love for their children. Well, most parents do. As I grew, the love faded from my mother’s eyes.”

  I hugged him tightly. Eli never spoke of his parents, and now I knew why.

  “When I first saw you, so sweet and gentle, and learned of how you had been treated, the rage within me took on a new life. I had accepted why my mother couldn’t love me, but you? How could you have not been loved?”

  “All of it is behind us. We’re both safe now. You have your own family, a family who loves you, and you’re stuck with us.”

  Shame filled his eyes, and he bowed his head. “The things I’ve done, Teagan.” I pushed up on his chin, forcing him to look up into my eyes. “I shouldn’t touch you with these hands.”

  Grinning, I said, “I guess it’s a good thing you’ve never killed anyone with your dick.”

  His mouth opened in shock.

  Laughing, I slapped his bare ass. In the kitchen, my timer went off. “Crap! Hand me one of those cleansing wipes.” I pointed at Phillip’s medical supplies. “Where are my undies?”

  He pulled his pants up from where they had pooled around his ankles. Then, he started laughing.

  While my cakes cooled, I fed Eli cookies and tea in the sunroom. “So, I take it you’re all back from exacting revenge against the pirates?”

  He nodded.

  I knew he wouldn’t tell me about it, so I didn’t ask. “Where are Drex, Zared, Izaac, and Clark?”

  “They will arrive shortly. We thought it best to split up and arrive separately. No one will know whether or not we have been here the entire time.”

  I nodded and told him about our visit from Lieutenant Pullman of the Constantine. Then, I showed him the data chip Uncle Lee had given us.

  Walter entered the room. “Do you want me to fill him in on what we’ve learned so far? They smelled the cookies and are heading your way,” he warned.

  “Sure. Thanks.” I kissed Eli and returned to the kitchen.

  “Cookies!” Yukihyo and Nico exclaimed.

  Laughing, I made sure they shared while I filled glasses with milk and put out plates and napkins. With my heart practically bursting with happiness, I watched over my children and husbands. Throughout the course of the day, my heart filled even more as everyone I loved came home to me.

  Then, the night came.

  “Could you move your foot? Your toenails could slice through titanium,” Drex complained.

  “I’ll move it. I know exactly where it will fit,” Clark sniped.

  “Be glad Farowyn isn’t here,” Zared said.

  “Has anyone here ever had to share a bed with him?” Eli asked.

  “Enough. All of you could use manicures and pedicures. In fact, we’ll go to town tomorrow. Neema wants Arachnean braids anyway,” I said.

  Someone groaned.

  “See what you started?” Nico asked.

  “Ugh. Whoever is closest, please rub my lower back.” My eyes were closed, and I was using Yukihyo as a pillow. Two strong hands, belonging to different men, started massaging my back from either side.

  “Say, I could use a back rub,” Nico said.

  “Gross,” Eli replied.

  They laughed.

  Then, someone farted, and someone got clobbered with a pillow. It was a big bed, but not big enough for all of us. I wasn’t going to worry about it. They had stubbornly decided on all of us sleeping together. If they wanted to spread out, there were plenty of bedrooms.

  I’d been worried about Izaac and Clark, expecting to see hidden horrors in their eyes after what I could only assume had been a bloody massacre when the Inquisitors had found the pirates, but neither of them had seemed affected by what they had either witnessed or participated in. Izaac remained silent in my mind on the subject. He and his brothers had led violent lives before we’d met, and Clark had been recruited by the Inquisitors for a reason. He’d come from a long line of Inquisitors and was proud of it.

  I decided it was better to leave such thoughts alone. Knowing my mind, Izaac and Zared encouraged me not to dwell on it. Behind my closed eyelids, I watched as a soft, glittery fog rolled in. As I peered at it, the fog dissipated to reveal green rolling hills, magnificent flowers, a babbling brook, and a majestic swan that was larger than a transport. At my sides, bare-chested and dressed only in knee britches were Zared and Izaac. Their solid-black eyes sparkled at me like black diamonds.

  “Lady, would you care to tour your kingdom?” Zared asked.

  Laughing, I took their hands. They lifted me to the swan’s back and then joined me. It flapped its wings, lifting us up into the air. Stretching its long neck into the wind, it flew us over a magical landscape. Eventually, the beautiful dream faded, and I woke up feeling hot and sweaty.

  Nine males could generate a lot of heat. Freeing myself from arms and hands, I crawled off the foot of the bed and escaped into a cool shower. I wasn’t alone for long. Clark and Drex joined me in it, and it clearly wasn’t for the purpose of getting clean.

  “Dearest One, how I have missed you.” There was a raw hunger in his voice, but it was also in his eyes. Through our bond, I could feel it in his soul.

  Sparing a glance into Clark’s eyes before he looked away and filled his hand with soap, I saw a similar look within them.

  I realized that like Eli, they were afraid of how I would react to them after their mission. They expected my condemnation. Drex saw me as sweet, fragile, pure, and clean, and he’d never believe anything otherwise. That I’d plunged a knife into Felix Jiri and made an unsuccessful attempt to blow up a pirate ship which another pilot
had carried out, didn’t change how he saw me, and sugary words telling him he was still my sweetie would only make him feel a greater distance between us.

  Placing my hands on Drex’s chest, I slid them downward and moved one to his back. I cupped his butt with one hand and his balls with the other. “You missed me? Prove it,” I whispered. “This time, I’m not going to be the one giving the orders. You are.” Turning my face to Clark, I asked, “Do you want to play?” I lowered my lips to Drex’s skin and licked at the drops of water collecting along his collarbone.

  Clark briefly met my eyes before looking away. His hands were at his sides, seemingly clutching at the empty air for something to stabilize his jagged emotions. Suds from where he had washed his skin slid down his body. He lifted his palms to the water and bowed his head, uncertain of whether to stay or go.

  My playful mood slid down the drain with the suds as worry for him took its place.

  Drex’s hands left me, and he grabbed Clark’s shoulder. “We spoke of this. Leave it behind you.” His tone was full of patience and understanding, not the smug self-assurance with which he usually tended to blather.

  “How? How can I? Look at her.” Misery filled Clark’s eyes, and drops of water dotted the ends of his dark eyelashes only to slide down his face.

  “It was our duty. Had we not fulfilled it, for how long would she and others like her appear as such? The stains we take upon our souls when we serve as judge, jury, and executioner keep theirs clean.”

  The compassion Drex showed to Clark made my love for him grow. “Clark, I watched my own Papa wrap his hands around Felix Jiri’s throat and squeeze until he ended the miserable bastard’s wretched life. I don’t love him any less. He was protecting us from further harm from an evil man who would have found new ways to torment us. What’s more is I know Eli has done worse in my defense. The knowledge hasn’t changed my feelings for him either.”

  Clark shook his head. “You don’t know. You can’t know.”

  I slid my hand along his arm and entwined our fingers. “Whatever darkens your soul, I’ll share what light I have in mine with you, husband.” My whispered words reached him, and he met my eyes. Moving closer, I kissed his lips.

  The doubts he had about touching me vanished. They were replaced by the truth. We were husband and wife. Lifting me under my thighs, he pressed my back hard against the shower wall and plunged himself in and out of me. From over Clark’s shoulder, I saw Drex watching us, and I came. He found his release. Panting as if he had run a race, he lowered me to my feet.

  However, Drex was there to lift me up once more. He was slower, gentler.

  Afterwards, I lathered their backs and thought about what the mission had cost them and about my place in their lives. I wasn’t some pretty plaything to Clark. I was his equal, even though he refused to allow me to engage in physical combat. I was no longer a status symbol to Drex, who had once used me to show off his ability to strategize. He’d captured the Palace and been awarded with my company and a chance to court me. His strategy hadn’t worked so well with me at the time. Now, I had become their home and salvation, what kept their eyes from turning dark and dead, like what I’d seen when peering too closely into the eyes of certain Inquisitors at the Academy. Kaoti’s eyes had been devoid of light and hope before Violet had kindled them back to life.

  Pressing my face to Clark’s back, I held him. On the outside, he was hard, muscular, and tall. In a few years, he’d be a beast of a male. However, inside, a small part of him was fragile and desperate. I reached for that part, holding him and protecting him with my soul. I’d never let the goodness in him fade. My need to shelter his heart took over, and I was pulled into him, feeling his raw pain, the sense that he had truly lost his innocence during the mission, that he was nothing and would be nothing but one of the Empire’s killers, like his father and all of the Flavians before him.

  “Clark, no. Those feelings aren’t true,” I said as the bond formed naturally between us.

  As it grew and formed, Clark said, “Teagan, you don’t understand. When we were there…. A part of me did enjoy it.” He thought I didn’t understand the darkness, the need for justice and revenge.

  “You’re wrong. I understand, and I’ve felt it. I felt it when I plunged the knife into Felix. There’s a difference between killing and murder.”

  Turning in my arms, he stared at me as if he finally truly saw me. I wiped the tears from his cheeks. “You’re a part of me. I can feel you. In here.” He placed my palm over his chest.

  “Don’t ever forget that I need you as much as you need me, Gravy.” I blushed scarlet. I couldn’t believe the nickname had slipped from my lips during a moment of such intimacy.

  However, Clark laughed, and his eyes sparkled down at me. The shower we’d shared had cleansed more than just our bodies.

  Throughout the morning, my heart felt full but fragile. I hadn’t felt this way since Chione when I’d accepted my role as the clan mother of the Ponidis. My bonds to my hybrid brothers were strong and filled me with a sense of safety, but my bonds with my husbands were so much more. They loved me, and I loved them. I kept searching for them through it, touching them to assure myself each of them was there. Then, I’d catch one of them looking at me, and I’d blush, not really knowing why.

  Rovek and my team had shown up following breakfast. We were all seated at the dining table where we had plenty of room to work. Clark had taken the seat to my right, and my hand kept straying to him. Before us, our educational programs were running on our vid-screens.

  Scornfully, Rovek said, “Unlike your teammates, you have been neglecting your studies in our absence.”

  “I may not have worked on my stupid assignments, but I found this,” I said holding up the sphere, “and I’ve been working on a new possible lead involving two merchant ships which vanished after leaving Earth,” I said defensively.

  Rovek steepled his fingers and gave me a cold stare. I tried to hold it but ended up looking down and fiddling with a frill on my new purple silk dress. “For your insubordination, you will give me time in the ring.”

  I looked up at Rovek but kept my mouth shut.

  Clark’s jaw made a crunching sound. “With all due respect, she isn’t fighting anyone.”

  Rovek slowly leaned over the table. “Of that, I am aware. You will be sparring with me. Perhaps afterwards, you can teach her to respect authority.”

  I glared at the condescending, sexist asshole.

  “Is there a problem, Dearest One?” Drex asked. He placed a milkshake on the table where I could reach it, and I wasted no time snatching it up.

  “Yes,” I started to say, but Clark interrupted me.

  “No, sir. There isn’t a problem.”

  Drex looked from Clark to Rovek. “Very good,” he said in a tone which said he didn’t believe it. He asked Rovek, “What has placed you into such a foul temper?”

  “I am in complete control of my emotions.”

  “Teagan, are you home?” I heard Tracy call from the living room.

  “Tracy!” Getting up, I rushed to her.

  She had a big smile, and her black eyes were shining with happiness. The white sclera visible around them attested to her emotional state.

  I threw my arms around her. “I’ve missed you so much! Where have you been? What have you been doing?” I noticed Jazon leaning against a wall.

  His mind was elsewhere, and his expression was unreadable.

  “We stayed at a beautiful remote cabin in the woods by a lake which was teeming with aquatic life. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. What have you been doing?”

  Linking our arms together, I led her through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Oh, baking amongst other things.”

  Tracy helped herself to a surviving slice of cake. Watching us, Drex made another milkshake and followed us into the dining room, placing it on the table where Tracy intended to sit. Jazon pulled out her chair, and she smiled her thanks at both of them.
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  “Aside from baking, I was just getting into trouble with my instructor when you arrived.” I made sad eyes at Tracy.

  Being a telepath, she knew what I was thinking and played along. “Oh?” she asked.

  “Yes, he’s so angry with me for falling behind on my educational programs that he’s going to beat my darling Clark bloody in the ring, right in front of me, too.” I stared at her with mournful eyes and tried to summon some tears. It wasn’t difficult. I’d seen Rovek sparring with Eli often enough to imagine the harm he could inflict on Clark. I didn’t want him punished because of me, but the clause he’d hidden in our marriage contract was his own fault.

  Izaac laughed in my mind. “He wants to be your personal champion, so let him.”

  “Oh!” Tracy turned toward Rovek and looked at him as if he were a brute.

  Rovek cleared his throat. “Perhaps, I was too harsh.”

  I sucked down my milkshake and watched him sweat. Then, I thought about Jazon’s feelings and worried it might make him mad, getting Tracy to manipulate my teacher. Rovek had a huge crush on her.

  Jazon grumbled in my mind, “It’s good for her self-esteem. If he irritates me, I’ll take him somewhere so isolated it will take him years to find his way home.” A sweet smile transformed his face at the thought of it, and Rovek completely misread Jazon’s expression.

  “Lady Tracy, I would never do anything to cause you distress. Please, forgive me.”

  Playing at being placated, she said, “Positive reinforcement is always preferable in my opinion rather than such negativity.”

  Leaving his chair, he went to her side, went down to one knee, took her hand, and kissed it. “Of course, you are right. I will concede to your wisdom in this matter. Never before have I taught one of the gentler sex. Perhaps, treating her in the same way as I do the young males is in error.”

  Slowly removing her hand from his, a deep blush gave color to her porcelain skin. Jazon cleared his throat, and taking the cue, Rovek stood and returned to his seat.

  My hands were cold from clutching my milkshake. At Tracy, I directed my thoughts. “I could warm my hands with the heated looks he’s giving you.”