by Juno Wells
Tabor aimed his weapon at her and waited for the order to destroy their arch nemesis. She moved ever so slightly, and one of the long filaments growing out of her body reached out to him. For a moment, the sight roused pity in Meric’s heart.
“Sir, this is our one chance. Do you wish her to infect your queen?”
Slowing bringing up his weapon, Meric sensed the others doing the same. “Destroy the soul sucker for the evil she’s done to millions of our people spread over many generations, but also so that she can harm no one else.”
Laser weapons sounded off repeatedly all around the circle. Meric did his share of bringing the ruthless being the end she so richly deserved. The firing continued for what seemed like a long time, such was their fury and need for retribution. When the laser weapons ran out of charge there was nothing but black cinders scorching the metal floor. Tabor spoke the words they were all thinking. “This is finally done. We can rest easy.”
Meric shot him a dark look. “We will rest after we find the tissue he excised from the queen mother. Flood this chamber with cryogenic gas. Make sure nothing lives, not even at the cellular level.”
Tabor nodded, “I’ll see it done, captain.”
27 Hero’s Welcome
Stacy
She’d processed the last of the wounded and either sent them to their quarters to rest or to medical for observation. Her gut twisted at the thought of telling Meric that one would need to be transported back to Dracon Two. He was in stasis, but the man just needed more than she could provide in even the reasonably well-appointed medical unit aboard the Raspian. The medical unit aboard her namesake ship was nothing to brag about.
Timric’s hand landed on her shoulder. “You are pacing. Do you do that in worry over my sire?”
Nodding, she allowed him to wrap his wing around and guide her over to crate to sit on. He kneeled down beside her, petted her head and tried to give what she supposed was reassurances. It was kind of cute that he was doing the head thing the elders did to the young ones when they were upset. “You have only known my father when he is going about his business here on the ship. I have seen my father in battle mode. He is terrifying, and few can stand against him.”
“You used the word father, instead of sire.”
“I did this because you are now part of our family, and I wished to demonstrate that I respect your strange human ways.”
Stacy had to fight back a smile. She was reasonably sure the young didn’t know that calling her ways strange was an insult. “I appreciate that, Timric. It was thoughtful and considerate of you to make me feel welcome.”
“Your choice to select my father as your mate was a good one. I am aware that you cannot bear children. Is this why you selected a Draconian male rather than one of the other species?”
Stacy’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Warriors do like to share information, don’t they?”
Smiling pleasantly, he sat back and propped up one knee to rest his arm against. “It is but one of our many strengths.”
“You are correct. Draconian males are one of the few species where males are capable of giving birth. That’s real plus for a female who can’t have children.”
“Phan told me that you really like young and do not plan to send us to live with another warrior. I’m glad of that. Though I could adapt, my brothers are very young and dependent upon my father.”
“No human would consider giving away children just because they were spawned by another woman.”
“You went from having no young to having three. Are you pleased by such a turn of events?”
“I actually have four sons. Don’t think just because you are nearly grown that I’m not going to mother you.”
“I have no idea what mothering consist of, but if it is similar to what my father and grandfather do, then I will not object.”
“Well, part of our human customs is for the mother to groom her young by licking their skin all over.”
“I like that you jest with me. I have seen Queen Hope with Larok’s young and there is no licking involved.”
“You caught me out on that one. I was trying to gross you out.”
“You chose well. For if I thought for a moment you would do that, then I would be quite grossed out.”
“Are you spending time with me to get to know me better, or to keep me calm while we wait for your father?”
Looking a little sheepish, he responded. “I would have to say both. All the warriors are fascinated by you. I wish to figure out why this is.”
“I think you are confused about that. Practically none of them speak to me unless they need medical treatment.”
Timric laughed. His long golden hair flew about his shoulder as he shook his head. “If they’re smart, they won’t even look at you. My father is very possessive. The very first time you touched him for all to see, they knew he was being considered by you as a breeding partner. Speaking to you after that would have been considered extremely rude since all know that human queens mate one male to one female.”
Stacy replied thoughtfully, “That actually makes perfect sense. They were a lot more interactive when I first arrived. I worried that maybe I was doing something off-putting and didn’t realize it.”
“I do not think that is possible, for whatever a queen decides to do is by definition correct.”
“I don’t think life works that way.”
There was some kerfuffling and several of the portals opened at the same time. Warriors came pouring through. Stacy leapt to her feet when she saw Meric come strolling through into the loading bay. Unsure if he’d be embarrassed if she went to him, she stood with her hands fisted anxiously at her side and waited for him to come to her.
Timric’s amused voice floated up to her ears. “You can go and jump all over him, the way human queens are wont to do. He’ll be thrilled.”
“Thanks, my always helpful new son.”
She heard Timric chuckling as she started walking across the expansive space towards Meric. He looked super-serious and like he’d had the fight of his life. She stopped cold when she saw a huge hovering disk with a horned being curled up on it. She skirted around, giving it a wide berth as the warriors walked by with it. She headed for Meric in an undignified run. He turned in time to catch her in his arms.
“You’ve been gone for almost twelve hours. Was it a rough battle?”
“We spent ninety microns engaged with the enemy, and the rest searching the space around the enemy vessel for something we did not find.”
Stacy pulled back to look up at him. “That sounds cryptic.”
He set her on her feet by allowing her body to slide down his until her feet could at last touch the floor, looking into her eyes to see her reactions. They both enjoyed the sweet mutual friction between her front and his, but because they were adults, they were able to wait until the evening for complete fulfillment. They knew they had tonight and tomorrow and all the tomorrows for the rest of their lives to make as much friction as they could stand.
“I will tell you all about our victory over an evening meal,” Meric said.
“You must be starving.”
“Unless I am mistaken, I doubt you ate today either.”
“I was too worried to eat.”
“Tabor is in command right now. Come, I have messaged my father to prepare a victory meal for us. It is customary for me to tell the tale of our skirmishes over a fine meal.”
Stacy laughed, more relieved than she’d like to admit. “That’s fine, as long as you leave out the gory bits.”
“Never. That is going to be the best part of this story.”
“I take it you found the queen mother.”
Wrapping a gigantic wing around her body, he guided her towards the door. One swift jerk of his chin brought Timric running to fall into line behind them. “We did, and she is no more than a bad memory now.”
“Considering that she’s been a plague on your people since time immemorial, I’m sure it’s cau
se for celebration. I’m just happy you were not harmed.”
Pulling her closer, he replied sincerely. “I make it point to be as safe as possible when involved in a battle, because I have young who depend upon me for their care. And now I have a lovely human mate who worries over me as well.”
They chatted as they walked, and it was fortunate that he kept her tucked close to his side, because Stacy couldn’t stop touching him. It was needy, clingy behavior that she used to frown upon when other women did it. The little ones came running to them the moment they walked into Meric’s suite. He bent down and picked up the twins, lifting them onto his shoulders.
Stacy peered down at the youngest of his brood. His tiny wings drooped down, almost touching the floor as he stared up her. Stacy squatted and held out her hand, palm up. “Hey there little guy, do you remember me?”
He inched closer but then got shy. His tiny body twisted back and forth, and he picked up one of his wings and started playing with the tip. Stacy’s heart squeezed. He was the most adorable kid she’d ever seen, if she wasn’t counting the twins. They were pretty darn cute as well.
“Why don’t you give me your hand and I’ll carry you? You can even sit with me if you like.”
That got him moving towards her. The little boy surprised her by jumping up and grabbing her hand with both hands like he had to heave himself up. Stacy scooped him up and followed Meric to the table with him. She sat down with him in her lap. He looked almost exactly like his father. Then again, they all bore a strong resemblance to Meric, and Meric was almost a mirror image of his father. Draconian male DNA overpowered that of even their own queens.
“It was sweet of you to name your youngest after Tabor.”
“Every single time I spawned she would remind me that Tabor was a wonderful name for a young warrior and Tabora for a little queen. We call him Tabori while he’s still so little.” Meric chucked his youngest under the chin until the boy giggled. “You don’t want to get mixed up with a big, strong warrior, do you, Tabori?”
“No!” Tabori emphasized his word by smacking the bowl of his spoon against the table to the indulgent laughter of his elders.
Rheric had apparently invited a couple of other warriors to assist him with the evening meal, and they took their seats at the table now. Meric launched into the story of how they boarded the enemy vessel, broke through layers of security, only to find that the queen was not in control of the Moltan. They were the ones holding her hostage. Stacy couldn’t imagine why in the ‘verse they would want to chance having the huge symbiont on their ship, much less how they managed to get her to the Naxis. There was a small chance they were simply ignorant of what the symbiont was and curious enough to want to examine it.
When he got to the part about them excising a part of the symbiont and trying to take it with them, that piqued Stacy’s curiosity. “Do you think they were scientists, trying to study the symbiont?”
Meric glanced over at her, glanced down at the little one in her arms and smiled. “I was hoping you might have some idea. The symbionts are, for all intents and purposes, a parasite. It’s difficult for me to imagine why anyone would be interested in them, for no good can come of contact with a soul sucker.”
Rheric interjected smoothly, “It was a poor decision on their part. It’s unfortunate you could not locate and destroy the piece they put into the waste removal system.”
“I would have preferred that as well. We believe the tissue was immediately frozen when it reached the vacuum of space and was likely hit by one of the fighters or laser fire as there was a point where the Moltan battleship got control of their weapons for a short time.”
Rheric appeared pensive. “I can’t see how it’s anything but destroyed. With our scanning technology, we’d have picked it up, and it couldn’t have been traveling fast enough to escape the range of our sensors.”
Meric sighed. “That was our assessment as well. We plan to leave a beacon and have our war ships come out to conduct another sweep. I doubt they will find anything, but the danger is too great to risk overlooking it.”
Stacy had been feeding the toddler in her arms as Meric spoke. When he finished his child-size portion of food, she gave him a piece of doma. He cackled maniacally and began chomping off pieces of it, making a bit of a mess.
She looked up to find Meric’s eye on her. Crinkling her nose, Stacy glanced down at Tabori and back to Meric. “I’m guessing that he probably wasn’t supposed to have that, was he?”
Meric reached over to rest his hand on his son’s head. The little fellow was so intent on enjoying his doma that he didn’t even look up. “Doma is a rare treat for the younglings, but they may have any extravagance their mother bestows upon them.”
When he leaned closer, Stacy leaned out to meet him. Their lips touched and within seconds, Tabori was wiggling between them, babbling something about Meric eating doma and not queens. Stacy had to laugh. “I can almost understand how he made that mistake.”
Pulling the child into his lap, Meric leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Did I mention that my sleeping room is soundproof?”
“Have you ever tested it to make sure?”
“I saw the specifications myself.”
“We’ll need to test it before we…well…you know.”
Slipping his hand into hers, he responded quietly. “I know how to best serve my queen.”
“And she knows how to best serve you.”
He whispered, “I came back like you asked.” His voice dropped even lower. “Am I to be rewarded with the reverse revidian?”
“If that’s what I think it is, you will be reverse revidianed until you pass out.”
The warrior sitting closest to them made a strangled noise and began thumping his chest. That was about the time Stacy realized that maybe Meric was super-whispery for a reason. Tabori was clawing to get away from Meric and back into her lap. He was causing such a fuss that she settled him down with another half piece of doma.
Meric leaned back in his chair but didn’t take his eyes off her. He was looking more than pleased with himself tonight, and why shouldn’t he? He had tracked down the bad guys, destroyed the symbiont before it could get a foothold in the Naxis, and had a new wife who was dying to get a taste of his body.
Rheric served some kind of desert that looked suspiciously like pudding along with a fine drink he’d been holding back for a special occasion. It tasted chocolaty. As the conversation swirled around her and Tabori turned and snuggled in her arms, the full force of her decision finally hit. Yes, Stacy knew that she’d found a fantastic man in Meric and was getting a ready-made family. Somehow sitting at their table with her arms wrapped around the tiny precious child who was now her son, she finally felt the happily ever after that she spent most of her life only dreaming of. Three generations living under one roof felt like a blessing. Her life was turning out to be much better than she’d been able to imagine. Stacy had a really good imagination, so that was saying something.
She was tearing up. She struggled to get ahold of herself. Meric was on his knees beside her in an instant. Before he could even ask, she whispered, “Happy tears.” Others were taking up plates and heading to the kitchen, but Meric brought his forehead to hers. They closed their eyes and shared a tiny moment. Stacy made a short prayer that nothing would spoil the happiness she’d finally found. When Meric’s lips drifted down to kiss her, a tiny hand shot up between their lips.
Stacy had to laugh as she looked down into Tabori’s sleepy little face.
“My scion is protective of you. I didn’t realize hatchlings had such instincts.”
“Of course he’s protective. He’s your son after all.”
Meric’s face shone with pure happiness. “He is not our son. I say we put him to bed and work on making more sons.”
“You’re making an offer I know I’ll never be able to refuse. I thought you were exhausted.”
Meric’s gaze turned heated and he came gracefully to his f
eet. Holding out his hand to her much as she’d done for Tabori, he murmured, “There will never be a day when I am too exhausted to enjoy my queen. Come, my sweet. Let me love you the way every queen deserves.”
Taking his hand, she stood with their son resting on her shoulder. She gently brought him down, and as his tiny body tumbled from her arms to Meric’s, it seemed like a metaphor for their relationship. Working together for their family and one another, to protect them and make them happy—it was all in life she wanted, and Stacy knew Meric felt much the same way.
Finally finding Meric was worth sifting through every eligible warrior on their home world. She often wondered if all the women who signed up for the Intergalactic Bridal Registry were so lucky. They couldn’t all hit the hot sexy husband jackpot, could they? Happily ever afters are so satisfying when they finally happen.
Glossary
Akes – Draconian god of hunting, war and violence. He is the consort to Entares, the benevolent goddess worshiped by Draconian males.
Antar – Right (Lutar is left.)
Avada – Small carrot-like vegetable that is seasoned and wrapped in a dry leaf.
Challenge–Draconian queens settle disagreements and property disputes by challenging one another in single combat. It is usually a battle to the death.
Clade – Group of Draconians who are descended from a common set of genetic code.
Dark Star – Another term from black hole.
Doma – Type of Draconian flatbread.
Dracon Two – The name the second wave of Draconian warriors nicknamed Onello, which is their new home world in the Naxis sector of space.
Draconian - Species created by mixing dragon DNA with humanoid DNA. There are many family line with unique strengths and weaknesses.
