by Jayne Ripley
Nahkar was nearly out of his mind with the need to keep Jennifer safe and his helplessness to do so right now. He was fearless and would face any kind of enemy or monster to protect her. But sitting here strapped in a chair while starfighters shot at them had to be his worst nightmare. He felt so helpless.
He glanced at his mate. She was afraid but not out of her mind with terror like he almost was. She had strength in her. She’d made peace with the fact that she had no control over this situation, but she was still controlling her fear.
He was in the same place as Jennifer—trapped in events he couldn’t control, unable to fight back directly or change the outcome. The realization sparked understanding and sympathy inside him for his little mate. She was just as brave as either of them. Braver, even. Because she wasn’t a strong warrior used to fighting for her life. She was his sweet, beautiful little Terran. And right now, they were both just as ineffective and useless in this situation.
They were both forced to rely on Darkon.
And she was handling it better than he was.
Luckily, it seemed Darkon really was a good pilot. He was keeping their speed yacht spinning, turning, and dodging their pursuers—
Another shot hit them. The engines cut out. The holo-computer screens dimmed.
Darkon cursed and threw a switch and pushed holo-screen buttons so quickly his hands were a blur.
Power surged back. The engines returned to life.
“That was close,” Darkon told them as if he was commenting on a rather nice cup of kiwei tea.
“Why aren’t we leaving?” Nahkar bellowed. All his attempts to accept what was happening flew out the airlock.
Jennifer reached out and took his hand in her tiny one. She squeezed him. He turned and met her gaze, suddenly grateful for the comfort of her touch.
“We’ll be okay, Nahkar,” she said. “Believe me.”
He gave her a wry smile, admiring her even more. Here they were, fighting for their lives in a wild escape, and she was reassuring him. It put him in his place, but also helped him center himself again.
“I love you, my precious mate,” he told her, giving her hand an answering squeeze.
“I love you too, Nahkar.” Her smile warmed him all the way through. Her pretty blue eyes looked back at him with faith and love. They made him want to give her the galaxy because she deserved all of that and more.
“I hope nobody forgot about me just because I’m working right now,” Darkon quipped, juking the ship to avoid more shots from their pursuers.
Jennifer laughed. In the tense, dangerous situation, her laughter sounded like joyful music to his ears. “Don’t worry, Darkon. I could never forget about you. I love you too.”
“We all love you,” Nahkar growled at him. “But maybe you can pay attention to your job and get us out of here.”
“Did I ever mention how impatient Ikestrans are?” Darkon checked a bunch of holo-screens. His fingers became a blur again as he input a new set of commands. “Good. We’re finally out of range of the station’s jump-space dampening fields. Hold on tight!”
More energy blasts flashed by, far closer than he was comfortable with. But Darkon finished his rapid button pushes and screen selections. Their stolen luxury speed yacht finally entered hyperspace now that they had left behind the station’s defense fields and the planet’s gravity field.
Around them, the stars streaked and blurred. The cockpit lit up as bright as the arena. The sense of speed was incredible to see, but he didn’t even feel as if he was moving. Everything inside the cockpit was still and tranquil as if the yacht were floating.
“Are they after us?” Jennifer asked.
Darkon checked some screens. “No. But we aren’t done yet.”
A few moments later, the ship came out of hyperspace, the stars turning back into pinpricks and a huge planet appearing in the distance. He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
“Keep holding on,” Darkon said. He was still giving the engines maximum speed. “We’re jumping again. We need five seconds for the supercomputer to recalculate. Four. Three. Two. Initiate.”
The ship leaped into hyperspace again. Once again, Nahkar felt as if they had stepped out of time but were moving at mind-numbing speed in a tunnel of glimmering light.
Darkon put them through three more jumps before they finally flew in normal space for a while. The ship had stopped near a huge gas giant planet that seemed to be nothing but swirling clouds. The planet had three small moons. Darkon steered the ship toward one of them.
“What was all that for?” Jennifer asked, rubbing one of her temples. “I think I left my stomach two jumps back.”
“Imperial supercomputers can extrapolate our possible destinations if we only jump once. Two jumps make it exponentially harder.” He grinned at her. “More than two, and we are lost in the stars for as long as we want.”
Nahkar stared out the yacht’s wide, curved viewscreen at the gorgeous green and blue moon in front of them.
“So where are we?” Nahkar asked, finally feeling a little less helpless and able to peel his death grip off his sword’s hilt. He massaged his hand. The hilt had left a deep impression in his skin. He would never admit aloud to being afraid while flying in this death trap, but he might admit to being the slightest bit…uneasy. Nervous even.
Darkon leaned back in the pilot’s chair with his hands laced behind his head. He looked annoyingly happy. “Falsiros Moon. Masyra gave me the coordinates. I told you I was a prince. This moon is where many of the people loyal to me went after I was exiled. We’re safe here.”
Jennifer undid her harness and threw her arms around his neck. She hugged him and kissed him over and over again. “You’re amazing, Darkon.”
Darkon was grinning from ear to ear. “Not bad for a spoiled, pampered prince, right?”
“It was adequate,” Nahkar told him. “Barely.”
Jennifer burst out laughing and punched him on the arm. Then she winced and rubbed her knuckles. “Hey, be nice. I don’t want grouchy Nahkar. I want fun and horny Nahkar.”
He grinned and drew her into his embrace. “Why didn’t you say so? Horny Nahkar is always ready to come out and play.”
“No fair,” Darkon protested. “No wild sex while I’m stuck landing this ship. Unless you want us to burn up in the atmosphere or crash into an ocean because I can’t help joining in.”
Jennifer wiggled out of Nahkar’s grip. He let her go…reluctantly. With a few last kisses to see her off. She giggled and threw him a look promising far more when they were finally safely on the ground.
The moon grew closer as the yacht raced toward it. He was a little concerned—not afraid, not at all—about all the water. Growing up on a space station, he’d never learned how to swim.
Darkon smoothly guided the star yacht into the moon’s upper atmosphere. The heat shields came on, illuminating the cockpit with red. Nahkar held on tightly to his seat again, still hating not being in control. Jennifer reached over and gave his hand another reassuring squeeze.
They touched down by a lake, not far from the ocean’s shore. An ancient stone fortress sat on the cliffs. Trees were everywhere, along with grassy meadows, and tended fields. Nahkar had never seen anyplace as beautiful. Not outside of holo-vids.
Once the three of them headed down the ship’s gangplank, they discovered a crowd had gathered to meet them.
For a moment, the crowd of blue-skinned Quindon of all shapes and sizes only watched them.
Then Darkon looked around, put his hands on his hips, and said, “Nice place you have here. You need a prince? Because I know one you can get for cheap.”
Then the crowd rushed toward them. They actually startled Nahkar for a moment before he realized they were cheering and laughing and some of them were even crying. After that, Nahkar was surrounded by Quindon who were asking him questions, telling him how happy they were to see him, poking his muscles to see if they were as hard as they looked. He stared around him, bemuse
d, but Jennifer stayed close. She was laughing and talking animatedly with the Quindon, who seemed fascinated with her skin color and hair.
Soon the crowd escorted them to the fortress where a feast would be held, with lots of dancing and celebrating. That sounded good to Nahkar. As long as he could get the two other members of his da’katal alone after it was all over. After narrowly escaping death a hundred times today, he needed to cut loose and have a very good time.
The three of them walked side by side toward the fortress, surrounded by their new friends, and Darkon turned to them. His smile lit up his eyes.
“Welcome home,” was what he said.
EPILOGUE
Jennifer
Falsiros Moon
Jennifer leaned back in her chair and let the sun of the Sanius System warm her skin. She didn’t want to burn, but oh it felt so good. She was sitting by the lake below the fortress. Those stone ruins sat on a rocky cliff overlooking the water. She was down on the blue-pink beach. Darkon had told her the lake’s beach sand was colored blue and pink by flecks from the shells of gacara, the crustacean-like things that tasted so good and made up much of their diet now.
It was so beautiful and peaceful here. She loved it and—
“Watch this splash!” Nahkar bellowed, interrupting her lazy thoughts. “Your puny attempts cannot match it!”
Nahkar sprinted along the outcropping of nearby rocks that jutted out from the beach. He launched himself off the end of the rocks, sailing through the air like a huge bronze cannonball. He splashed into the azure water, sending a huge geyser into the air. Water even rained down on her, and she was twenty feet away from him.
Darkon stood on the rocks, laughing. He was very naked, his blue skin glistening with water. She loved the intricate pattern of silver lines all over his body, back, and that perfectly smackable ass of his. He was stunning. If someone had told her a year ago that she would be sunbathing under a different sun with two incredibly hot alien males who sent her to cloud nine and back every night, she would have signed them up for the nearest loony bin.
But she was so lucky. She loved them both. So very much.
Another thing she would not have believed: that she could love two people this deeply at the same time. She’d always believed there was one person for her. One perfect man. But now she had two. They weren’t even human either. She laughed gently, watching through half-lidded eyes as Nahkar shot back to the lake surface and began swimming for shore.
She was greedy. She wouldn’t give either of them up. The three of them made the perfect da’katal. They were strongest together, caring for each other, helping, working, and making love. Lots of lovemaking. It was a great stress relief. Doctor recommended.
Their slave chips were permanently turned off. Freedom had never tasted so sweet. She would never take it for granted again.
A week ago, Masyra had arrived at the fortress safely in her own ship. Darkon, Jennifer, and Nahkar had been at the front of the big crowd that had gathered to greet her. Masyra received a hero’s welcome. She stepped down from the ship—another stolen one—along with her lover, a Gerdonian, to the sound of wild cheers. Masyra had been forced to flee the station because the investigation into their escape had turned its focus on her.
Masyra eagerly filled them in on news from Quasarask Station. Princess Piedasa had been furious after their escape. She’d had Omgan Rarda arrested and shipped off to an asteroid mine, accusing their former owner of helping the three of them escape by giving them his starship. That news had made Darkon laugh and laugh. It made Nahkar regret missing his chance at killing Omgan. But it only made her think that karma was a bitch, and now Omgan was paying.
The important thing was that Masyra had escaped before the imperials pounced on her. Now she was safe here with them, hidden from the empire and already encouraging Darkon to act more princely. Following her arrival, there were more feasts, music, dancing. Quindon loved to dance. They also loved sex. They were amazingly open about their relationships too. The three of them may have stood out on the station, but here, they were but one of many threesomes or even foursomes.
She felt like they fit in here perfectly. It was surprising and touching, but Darkon’s people had immediately taken Nahkar and Jennifer in without hesitation. It made her eyes tear up and her throat tighten every time she thought of the kindness they’d shown. They were such an example of how good people could be that she only wished she could have all the fighting, bickering, judgmental people on Earth learn something from them.
But she would never be returning to Earth. She was at peace with that. Sometimes she still wondered if they would feature her on one of those missing person shows or even an alien abduction special. Someone had to have seen those weird lights that night and put two and two together.
Yes, she would miss the people she loved on Earth. She would even miss L.A.—but not the traffic, of course. She wasn’t insane. But here on Falsiros, something special was beginning. Much of the ruins had been rebuilt as a base for the exiles from Darkon’s homeworld. Soon it would also be a place for escaped slaves from the empire and other outcasts who needed a place to live in peace and safety.
They had big plans. Nahkar, her warrior, was overseeing the fort’s defenses. Darkon, her prince, was leading the people, showing a side of him she hadn’t realized he’d had inside. But it really impressed her. It warmed her heart that these two escaped fighters had become so dedicated to helping people. They were helping unfortunate people like her, who had been alone and scared. People who had lost everything.
Her two lovers had made all the difference in the universe to her.
She watched as Nahkar swam past her, doing a backstroke and looking pleased with himself for exploding half the lake into the air by jumping into it.
“You call that a splash?” Darkon taunted as Nahkar swam past him. Darkon was still standing on the gray rocks with colorful, glowing water plants swaying just below the surface of the water. “My cock alone makes a bigger splash than that!”
Was it too late to amend her statement about being impressed by her two guys? Males everywhere seemed to share some…quirks. Really dumb, exasperating quirks. Most of them had to do with the meat dangling between their legs.
She grinned. Quirks or not, she wouldn’t change things for the world. Or for a chance to go back to Earth again. She had made her choice, and she did not regret it. Oh, she missed Melissa and missed her parents, her cousins, her other friends. She thought of them often and wondered what they were doing, hoping they were happy and healthy. She wished she had a way to tell them that not only was she okay, she was better than okay.
She was deeply, truly happy.
Nahkar strode out of the lake and onto the beach. He was just as naked as Darkon. She knew he loved showing off his massive, powerful body. That was good, because she loved admiring it. So it was win-win for them all—but especially for her. She bit her lip to keep in a needy groan as her gaze roamed over his broad, heavily muscled chest, then down those ripped abdominal muscles, and lower to where his cock swung free. She had the urge to order him to bring that thing over so she could wake it, have it standing up long, thick, and erect. Of course, Darkon was invited too. She had gotten very good at pleasing two males at once since the first night she’d shared with them. She’d always learned fast.
It might be a life skill that would’ve scandalized her mother and any priest in a ten-mile radius, but she didn’t care. Why? Because her two males were even better at pleasing her. They made her feel amazing, drove her crazy with pleasure, and left her wonderfully exhausted and sated a hundred times over. A kiss from either of her two aliens was ten times better than anything she’d ever experienced on Earth.
They loved her. It was as simple as that. She loved them both right back. For this love, she would give up her old life. She would travel with them to any planet. She would do anything for them. Why? Because they were worth it. They would do exactly the same for her.
Nahkar sauntered over to her. “You should join us, little mate. The water is perfect. The day is perfect.” His gaze intensified, growing heated as he looked her in the eyes. “And you are perfect.”
Darkon wandered over as well. “Wrong again, Nahkar. She’s nearly perfect.”
They both turned to look at him. She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to explain.
He grinned back at her. “Nearly perfect because she’s still wearing clothes. She needs to be naked and with us in the water.” He held up a finger and cocked his head. “Then she will be perfect.”
Nahkar glanced at her and rubbed his chin, considering. “I hate to admit it, but he has a point.”
She laughed. What woman wouldn’t be pleased as punch when her ultra sexy males wanted her to join them for skinny-dipping? She loved how much they wanted her, their passion, their love. Could someone say “ultimate ego boost?”
“Happy to do a favor for a couple of deserving fellas,” she said.
She got off her chair and began to strip out of the simple synthetic clothes she wore these days. These fortress ruins on Falsiros had been rebuilt enough to live in, but they were roughing it compared to their time together in the luxury suite at the palace.
Not that she wanted to head back there. Ever.
Nahkar swept her up in his arms and heaved her over his shoulder. She squealed and giggled. He squeezed her butt cheeks as she laughed.
“I love these,” he mused. “They are the perfect shape for my hand.”
“I can walk, you big oaf.”
“It’s more fun to carry you.”
Nahkar carried her into the water. She thought he would toss her in, but he never failed to be gentle with her, even when they were playing. He shifted her into his arms again and smoothly lowered her into the warm water current. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her pussy against him, teasing him. Letting him know exactly what she had in mind for this afternoon. And evening. And maybe even the morning too.
