by Shannon West
“King Leanor was his father,” Davos said, nodding. “I remember now. His death was a blow to the Alliance forces. Helios was one of the turning points in the war.”
“Yes. And Janos wasn’t crowned king of Herkos until he was released from one of our prisons, nearly two cycles after the end of hostilities. He was never tortured, but his treatment wasn’t good.” Davos glanced over at Blake. “We were at war with his people, and regrettable things happened on both sides. Our prisoners of war weren’t always treated as well as they should have been.”
Blake made a snorting noise and Davos spread his hands. “I tried to put an end to as much of the abuse as I could, but it was not…ideal. Our best men were in the army, fighting. We often had to employ former soldiers as guards, ones who had been wounded. They weren’t the best choice, as it turned out. Our own repatriated soldiers reported abuse at the hands of the enemy as well.” He turned back to Mikos. “And Laltana still is one of the planets that hasn’t signed any of the peace treaties yet.”
“That’s right.”
“Wait—what are you saying?” Blake demanded urgently. “They might be abusing him because of what happened to their king in prison?”
“No, Omak,” Mikos said quickly. “The Lycans would have reported that. They said he seemed to be in excellent health. Technically, his planet and ours are still at war. We have no diplomatic relations with him or any of the kingdoms on that planet, because Janos refused to sign any treaties despite our threats, and since Laltana and the K-8 galaxy are so far away, so close to the edge of our universe, we saw little point in keeping Janos in prison, especially since reports were beginning to surface about abuse in the prisoner of war facilities. We released him to go home. That was one of the reasons for the Lycans’ visit. Since the Lycans and the Laltanans were once allies in the war, we thought another peace overture might be better received coming from them.”
“The Farlians also live on Laltana, don’t they?”
“Yes, their country is there, along with another warlike nation called Athelon, and a few smaller nations.”
“What does all this mean for Larz?” Blake interrupted, leaning forward impatiently. “Tell me about him. You think they took him for revenge? For some kind of leverage?”
“We don’t know. We’re not even sure it’s him, though the Lycans think it is. When the Lycan delegation met with King Janos, they saw a young Tygerian male who was a soldier in the king’s personal guard. He was training with the other soldiers for an upcoming conflict. The Herkons have been known to use their slaves not only as servants but as soldiers, though it’s unusual for the king to have a slave in his own guard.” Mikos leaned over to grip Blake’s hand. “Omak, they say they’re almost sure it was Larz. He removed his helmet at one point to speak to another soldier and they got a good look at him.”
Blake drew in a sharp breath as Davos nodded carefully, hardly daring to hope. “Still, the K-8 galaxy is a huge distance away from where Larz’s ship was last seen. What makes them so sure it was Larz? Outsiders often think all Tygerians look alike.”
“I spoke with the leader of the delegation. He’s a close friend of Renard, Anarr’s husband. He told me the young man they saw was definitely Tygerian, and…he looked a great deal like Anarr. But he said he most closely resembled me. He called the resemblance striking. Anarr has seen the images and he agrees. Anarr says he’s sure it’s Larz.”
Blake grabbed for Davos’s hand. “Oh, God, could it be true?”
“They said they were almost positive, and Anarr confirmed it. They’re on their way to Laltana now. Renard said he’s having trouble controlling Anarr and keeping him from going directly to Herkos to confront the king and demand his return. It will take them a while to get there, but I told Renard to stand by and do nothing more until they hear from us.”
“Good,” Davos replied. “Tell him to stay well out of the Laltanan solar system until we know more. The situation with Laltana has always been volatile. I don’t want the two of them caught up in this without us if this is true. If we decide to mobilize against them, there’ll be time enough for them to move in. And if it’s really Larz, we’re going in to take him, and I’ll crush anyone who gets in my way. It has to be a sudden and surprise attack, though. We don’t want a hostage situation.”
Blake shook his head. “Try diplomacy first. I don’t want there to be any possibility of Larz being hurt. I’ll go myself and talk to them.”
“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” Davos said firmly. “Mikos will go, and you’ll stay here to recover. This pregnancy has been hard on you, and I won’t risk you further.”
The baby started some little fretful noises and Blake broke off whatever response he’d been about to make to glance down at him. Mikos took the opportunity to give his father an uneasy look, and Davos suspected he was holding something back. He wished he could take him aside to question him further before upsetting Blake any more or getting his hopes up so high, but it was already too late for that. After they returned from Tveir, Davos had attended several briefings that he’d kept from Blake regarding the chances of finding Larz or any more of his crew alive after they’d been missing for so long. They had been grim to say the least, and he’d never shared the information with his mate. In truth, he’d come to the private and heartbreaking conclusion that Larz was probably lost to them forever.
He was almost afraid now to get his own hopes up again too, but most of all, he wasn’t willing to let Blake be hurt again. He didn’t think Blake could stand too many more reminders of what they’d lost. There had been so many leads like this over the time since Larz had been missing, and even in the months since they’d been back from Tveir. They’d followed all of them assiduously, only to have Blake’s hopes dashed time and time again, and with each disappointment, his depression had worsened. This baby was one of the few things in his life that had brought him a smile in the time since they’d been home.
“Mikos,” Davos said carefully. “I have to ask again if Anarr was sure. The images couldn’t have been faked in some way?”
“He said he was positive, but I’m more cautious. I hesitated to speak to you about it until everything was confirmed, but I felt like I had to come and tell you what I knew so far or omak would never have forgiven me.”
“You did the right thing,” Blake said, leaning forward again. “Tell us the rest of it, Mikos. Whatever it is you’re trying so hard not to say.”
Davos glanced over at him in surprise. How did he always manage to do that?
“Go ahead, Mikos,” Davos said with an uneasy look at Blake. “If there’s something else, you may as well tell us.”
Mikos squared his shoulders and took a breath. “The young Tygerian they saw was…the Herkon representative they were with noticed their interest in the boy and told the Lycans Larz was...”
Blake stared at him blankly. “He was what?”
“The king’s love slave. They said he was King Janos’s personal bed slave.”
****
Ryan, former colonel in the Alliance army and now His Royal Highness, Consort to Prince Mikos and father to their son Prince Mikol, lay back in the huge bathing pool he and Mikos had installed in their quarters and sighed deeply. The water was the perfect temperature—not so hot it was painful, but not too far from it. Soaking in a warm pool was his favorite thing to do since he’d come to this chilly planet, but he hadn’t had time for it lately, what with all the added duties he’d taken on since Blake’s confinement.
He’d just received word though that Blake’s baby had been safely delivered and that both of them—Blake and his new son—were doing fine. He wanted desperately to visit and see the baby, but had decided to wait until later that day when Blake might be feeling well enough for company. Mikos had told him before he left that he was taking the news about a possible sighting of Larz to Blake and Davos that morning, and Ryan was afraid Blake would be devastated at the idea of his child being some alien king’s bed slave. It ha
d made Ryan sick when he heard of it, and he couldn’t even imagine how he’d feel if it had been Mikol.
Thank God, at least Blake had the new baby safely in his arms now. His pregnancy and the baby’s birth, with all the added emotional turmoil, had been difficult. This new baby would be, to Ryan’s knowledge, the first Tygerian royal child born “naturally,” in that Blake hadn’t received any of the injections the doctors gave humans like Ryan and Blake to suppress their own DNA.
It was exciting to think of what a human/Tygerian hybrid would actually look like, and whether or not this might become an accepted practice on Tygeria. Certainly, Tygeria would benefit greatly from a little diversity in its people, and “new blood” always had a way of shaking things up. Ryan wondered what Mikos would think of the idea of such a birth for their own child. If, of course, they decided to have another baby.
For a long time after Mikol was born, Ryan had adamantly argued against the idea, saying he’d never get pregnant again, even teasing Mikos that it was his turn. But since he’d learned of Blake’s pregnancy, he had been experiencing some longing for a new baby that he’d never expected to feel. Not that fathers couldn’t want a new child too—they could and did. But Ryan had been so vocal about never getting pregnant again. Right up until he changed his mind.
As for Mikos, he’d had gone back and forth on the issue. He said he wanted more children desperately, but when Ryan explained to him how dangerous it was for human males to undergo pregnancy and delivery, he had abruptly changed his mind. Still, the possibility of another child had been coming up a lot lately in Ryan’s thoughts. It was something he and Mikos would need to seriously discuss.
And if the news Mikos had received about a possible sighting of Larz could be proven true, this family might be able to find its way back to being happy again. Poor Blake had tried since he’d been home, for Nicarr and the other children’s sake, but Ryan knew him well enough to know his heart was broken over his missing child. Ryan could certainly understand that, because if it had been Mikol, he’d have to walk around heavily sedated at all times just to be able to function at all. As it was, it broke his heart to think of Larz out there possibly being abused or mistreated every day. Every holiday since his disappearance had been sad, because Larz wasn’t there to share it. Even worse was the ever-present thought that he might be suffering somewhere, while they were all celebrating. It had been impossible for Ryan and Mikos to be happy about anything, without feeling crushing guilt over Larz. And Larz wasn’t even his child.
Larz had been an integral part of his life on Tygeria, though, from the first day Ryan arrived, when Larz and his little brother Nicarr had both introduced themselves to him and eaten up all the cookies his servants had made for him. Ryan had been so nervous and feeling so unhappy and disoriented on this new world, and then they had popped in and made him laugh for the first time in days. Later on, they had actually played a huge role in saving his life. And like everyone else, Ryan just missed Larz, and his rambunctious, inquisitive personality. He had to believe, like Blake, that one day they’d find him again. They simply had to.
The door opened softly and Mikos walked in, his eyes widening at the sight of Ryan stretched out in the pool.
“Looks like I got here just in time,” he said, his beautiful amber eyes widening as he sat down on the pool’s ledge and trailed his fingers in the water to stroke Ryan’s thigh.
“Oh, is that right?” Ryan said, arching an eyebrow. “Tell me, Mikos, do you have like some kind of warning system that goes off when I’m naked during the day? Is there a beacon that projects a light beam in the sky or something?”
Mikos tilted his head to consider it. “No, but that’s an excellent idea. I’ll get my engineers working on it right away. Of course, that means you’ll have to wear some kind of signaling device, or I’ll have to install cameras in our rooms.”
Ryan laughed and splashed a little water Mikos’s way. “You wish!” He sighed as Mikos’s hand moved farther up to caress his balls. “Mmm…do we have time for this?”
“Not really, but I can always make time.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Take off those robes and get in here.”
Mikos smiled, and stood up, lazily unbuttoning his robes and letting them fall to the floor in a pool of sapphire blue. His body was magnificent, long and lean with well-defined muscles everywhere. When they first got married, Ryan thought he was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, and he’d only gotten better looking. The tiger stripes were subtle, but they were all over his tan skin, except for his large, thick cock that had a solid black head. It was striking and outlandish and totally enticing.
Ryan held a hand out to him and he took it, stepping over to settle in beside him, wincing a little at the temperature of the water. Ryan smiled and smoothed a hand over his chest. “It’s warm, I know. But it will help soothe those tight muscles. You’ve been so tense lately.”
“Worried,” he said, stretching out with a sigh as apparently his body adjusted to the temperature. “I’m so glad Omak had my little brother with no complications. I was afraid—with how upset he’s been over Larz…”
“Any more news about Larz? And have you been to see the baby yet? I can’t wait to see him.”
Mikos smiled over at him. “No more news other than what you already know, and I have seen the new baby. His name is going to be Rakkur. They just decided. Oh, and he’s beautiful. He looks just like Blake.” A frown creased his face. “It will be hard to keep the little boys off him as he grows older, though. We’re going to have our hands full with that one.”
Ryan laughed. “God, I forgot that little Tygerians get started early. But you have a long time before you have to worry about that. Let’s get him out of diapers first.”
He shrugged and sighed again. “You laugh now, but just wait. He’ll be the only one of his kind too, so he’ll be doubly precious.”
“Or he could have a dark-haired little nephew—just a little younger than he is. You know, so he won’t be the only one to look half-human.”
Mikos sat up quickly and scowled over at Ryan. “Dark-haired little nephew? Do you mean our baby—because if you do, the answer is still no. I won’t risk you that way.”
Ryan reached down and trailed a finger along Mikos’s cock. “It’s not just your decision.”
“Yes, it is.”
Ryan moved his hand down to Mikos’s balls and gripped them tightly. Not enough to hurt, but enough that Mikos winced and grabbed Ryan’s wrist.
“Want to rethink that statement?” Ryan asked, leaning in to brush his lips against Mikos’s.
Mikos straightened up and stared directly into his eyes. The amber ones turned a dark shade of gold as Mikos fully realized his position. He looked down at Ryan’s hand and then back up.
“Uh…rethink it?”
“Yes. That last arrogant, bullshit statement about it being only your decision?”
“Now, nobyo…”
“Don’t ‘now, nobyo’ me! I thought we’d moved past all that.”
Mikos’s eyes darkened further and he huffed out a breath. “I don’t think this is the time to discuss this. I thought you wanted me to relax.”
“I do. Right after we settle this issue.”
“Nobyo…baby…”
“Yes? Baby,” Ryan said mockingly. Mikos made an attempt to pull Ryan’s hand away, but he only tightened his fingers.
He raised his eyes back up to Ryan’s and finally sighed. “All right. I’m sorry I said it was only my decision. Of course, it’s your body and your decision too. Now, is that better?”
“It depends. Do you mean it?”
“Yes.” He sighed wearily. “But I want you to know this is most unseemly of you. I thought you wanted to make love to me, not get into an argument.”
“I do. Or I might, if you say the right thing next.”
“What’s the right thing?”
“That you respect me as a person and an adult who can make his own
decisions. And that a decision about having another child is going to be made by both of us. And that we’re not going to let silly fears about losing me interfere with it.”
Mikos looked away from him and his lips began to stick out in a pout that was too cute for Ryan not to react. He leaned over and kissed those pouty lips and gave one, last gentle stroke to Mikos’s balls. “I love you too, honey. You know I do. And I would never do anything that would put me at risk of leaving you and Mikol.”
Mikos’s eyes lit up and he turned back to kiss Ryan more deeply, taking his time and easing his tongue inside Ryan’s mouth, sweeping across the inside of it, to taste him and claim him thoroughly. “Good. Then that’s settled and we’ll have no more talk of you and babies.”
Ryan slid a leg over Mikos’s and then settled himself over him. “Watch yourself. I never said all that. Besides, you’re young and strong. Maybe you really should have the next one.”
Mikos’s eyes widened in horror, and his erection, which had been sticking up out of the water, slowly deflated. “But I-I don’t…we already settled this!”
Ryan laughed softly against his mouth, teasing his lips with his teeth. “Mm, not really. But you’re so much fun to mess with. You’re just adorable, do you realize that?”
Mikos’s eyebrows came quickly together. “Adorable? I’m a Tygerian warrior!”
