by K. T. Flores
Fingers ghosted against her thigh, and she winced.
She pursed her lips. “So, uh… I found Kira.”
He didn’t laugh, and his eyes narrowed. “I noticed.”
“I upheld my end of the deal. You’ll get me off Navar right? We can go see my parents?”
“You’re ridiculous,” he growled, his hands running through her hair. “We nearly died, and all you can think about is that you did what you said you were going to do.”
“I’m trying to lighten the mood.” She rolled her eyes. “I hate it when you look so worried, you know.”
“Is it any wonder? You left without saying anything! And then Kira shows up, and you weren’t with her. Do you have any idea how horrible these few days have been? I’m ridiculously upset with you.”
She had never been so glad to see his glare.
“I’m sorry, but I did what I thought was right.”
“Please, don’t ever disappear like that again. Talk to me next time. We can figure things out together.” His voice uncharacteristaclly shook, and guilt gnawed at her.
“Of course. I missed you, Sparkles.” She felt whole again with him at her side.
“I missed you, too, Tauri,” he said, laughing, soaking in every brush of her lips against his skin. His hands clutched at her hips, fingers going under her shirt to press into her. “Now, let’s go get these gunshot wounds taken care of.”
“Cyril, I—”
“Everyone on your knees!” Kira yelled, bursting through the garage’s side door. She had a rayrifle pointed into the room, her brow furrowed and gaze aflame.
Tauri began to laugh, relieved to see Kira alive and well. She had made it to her brother. On her wrist was Tauri’s holowatch. So, she’d found it after all.
“Where did you get that gun?” Tauri asked, unable to help her surprised laugh.
“Stars above, Ki. Stop pointing at us and put that thing down!”
Kira chuckled sheepishly, rubbing her head as the weapon clattered to her side. She took a moment to switch on the safety before fitting it against the holster on her back.
“Sorry. Hi, you two. All the guardians outside have been apprehended. And it looks like everything in here has been taken care of.” She stepped forward, pushing Fili’s shoulder with the toe of her shoe. “A pity they’re still alive.” She grabbed handcuffs from her belt and snapped them around the three fallen guardian’s wrists—including Fili.
Cyril helped Tauri stand and undid the ties around her wrists and ankles. Kira hurriedly procured numbing foam and sprayed it on their gunshot wounds. She and Cyril leaned into each other, and for the first time in her life, she felt like she could breathe freely.
Chapter Eighteen
Tauri scanned her holopad, reading the recent planetary news. But it wasn’t anything she hadn’t already known. She had helped cause it, after all. Fili was grounded in a prison cell, awaiting trial with the other Vice guardians the Navarian officers had managed to capture.
She had received an earful from Cyril about her recklessness but quickly tuned him out, only apologizing for disappearing. She wasn’t sorry about rescuing Kira. And she would do it all over again if she had to.
She gently placed a hand against the hovercraft window. The stars sparkled around the darkness of space, pulsating like a heartbeat. She could see several moons and planets from her perch, and she traced the shape of the R’nal Outpost in the distance.
Navar was beautiful from space. Green and blue and gray, separated by fluffy clouds. Chunks of the underworld were visible from the large holes in the overworld.
She sighed, her forehead thumping against the glass.
Cyril moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Something’s wrong.”
She laughed, glancing his way. “My whole life, all I wanted was to be in space.”
The but hung in the air between them. His fingers tightened.
“I thought starlight was my freedom.” She swallowed, turning in his arms and placing her palms on his chest. His heartbeat picked up under her touch, and she pushed away a smirk. “But I don’t feel any freer than I did before.”
“Tauri…” He stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his touch.
“It’s everything I dreamt about. But it doesn’t solve all my problems like I thought it would. Navar isn’t done with me.”
And I’m not done with Navar.
“I have to see it through to the end. I can’t leave it behind. I spent all this time trying to get off Navar, but now, I can’t stop thinking about it.” She furrowed her brow, thinking of the upcoming trials for the Vice corruption. “There are people there that need my help. People that need someone who understands and wants better. I’m coming back after we see our parents.”
What are you going to do? she wanted to ask him.
As if reading her mind, he said, “It’s funny you should say that. I was thinking of buying some property on Navar. I’ve lived on my ship for so long, and Navar feels like it could be a nice place to settle for a bit.” The fingers of his other hand trailed down her neck, pulling down the fabric of her shirt to her sternum.
Could he feel her heart beat wildly in response?
“Oh? So, if I’m living on Navar, and you’re living on Navar… maybe we should save some money and move in together?” She fluttered her lashes, his laughter trickling down her spine and settling somewhere dark and hungry.
“Things are a lot quieter when you’re not around,” he admitted.
She bit her lip and looked up at him. “It’s quieter when you aren’t around, too. But I like it that way.” Her laugh was wicked, but he cut her off with a kiss.
“Are you sure about that?” he rumbled.
“I think I can be convinced otherwise,” she whispered, palming him through his pants.
His strangled gasp was cut off by her. She tilted her head to the side, coaxing his lips apart with her tongue. She brushed it against his lips, urging him into her own mouth. He tried to pull away for a breath, but she followed relentlessly.
Tauri smirked, enjoying his disheveled hair and glossy eyes. She probably looked the same, eyes darker with want. He pushed her forward until she was stuck between him and the window, the glass chilly against her skin.
She made quick work on her pants as he did the same. His fingers found their way onto her little bundle of nerves, circling languidly. Her breath hitched as he began to apply little taps of pressure.
“Anyone can see us,” he whispered into her neck.
“Let them see,” she shot back, but she knew he was joking. The windows were tinted nearly black, hiding all activities, innocent and illicit.
He spun her around, pressing his chest against her back. Her fingers scrunched along the glass, leaving smudges. She wrapped her other arm around his neck, the new position arching her back deliciously. She groaned as she felt his length against her, and his head shook along her spine. His silky strands of hair tickled her, a startling contrast to his unyielding body. She loved the feel of his digits along her mouth, and she sucked on his pinkie.
He laughed, low and sticky. Enrapturing.
They ground against one another, anticipation coiling around her. Her legs shook as he positioned himself at her entrance. He ate her cry as he thrust forward and filled her.
Tauri rested her head on Cyril’s shoulder, breathing in his sharp warmth. She wrapped her hand around his, awestruck in the way his skin delicately reflected the light. She studied his reflection in the window, profile lost in concentration and ecstasy. She felt safe and cozy, loved and wanted and needed. Her heart thrummed to the rhythm he had fallen into, devolving rapidly as her hips began to jerk against him in earnest.
He groaned her name into her hair, ear, and jaw.
She whined, back arching as her toes sought purchase against the ground. Her head thrashed back and forth as she sunk back against him, body overtaken by waves of gratification.
He pulled her shirt up.
�
��You are so lovely,” he whispered, his calloused index tracing along her skin.
“So are you,” she gasped.
His lips curled upwards, tantalizing and burning on her shoulder.
“Please,” she mumbled against his neck.
He swallowed thickly and nodded, doing as she had asked. The pacing was slow at first as they tried to settle into a rhythm. His grunts next to her ear were becoming increasingly broken, just as his movements were becoming jerkier and jerkier.
She could feel that tension from earlier building to immeasurable heights as she desperately tried to halt her coming. She wanted to enjoy this, enjoy the feel of him stretching her slightly different each time.
Voices and breaths mingled together, disjointed and unresolved. Fingers skipped across slickened skin to create instruments of one another, plucking at strings and sliding along keys.
There was dark pleasure playing within her. The vibrations of his chest against her, the teasing bites...
She whimpered broken commands at him, twisting and searching for relief. Her back arched to encourage him. Her legs stiffened, and she was afraid that without his support and the window, she would collapse into a quivering ball.
His eyes went glassy as his motions devolved uncontrollably.
She groaned loudly, feeling the pulsating of her walls. “Go, go, go,” she encouraged, loving the chill from the window against her chest.
“Tauri. I’m almost there!” he cried, tossing his head back.
“Tell me when you’re ready. I’m ready—I’m ready—I—”
Her body was poised, ready to unwind the tangled mess within. She needed his cue to let go, to hurdle over an invisible crest they were climbing.
“Now,” he moaned.
“Cyril!” she cried out, desperate to keep up.
Enticing lava flooded her veins and exited where they were connected. His arms tightened around her, nails rasping along her upper thigh and hip. Even as he moved, she felt her body constrict around him, urging him to stay buried. He leaned forward, crushing his mouth to hers.
He finally shuffled back, allowing her space to press her side into the window. She stroked his face, and she felt unstoppable and unchained.
His little chuckle pulled her from her thoughts. He pointed out a falling star in the sky, tracing its path with his finger.
“Make a wish, my love.”
His voice rumbled through her body.
I wish to save this moment of time forever.
She tapped her chin and pursed her lips. “Well,” she drawled, “I wish you would kiss me again.”
He cocked his head at her, so beautiful he outshined the night sky. “I thought if you said your wishes out loud, they didn’t come true?”
“What a shame.” She leaned on her toes to kiss him, as they laughed into one another.
"I love you, Sparkles," she declared. The words fell from her lips with ease, and a part of her wondered why it had taken her so long to tell him the truth.
His face transformed, his smile so full and honest it nearly knocked her back. It was infectious, and she doubted anyone could be immune to his luster.
“I love you, too,” he murmured.
And she felt the truth of it to her core.
The words were sweet on her lips—like starlight and candy.
Acknowledgement
All dreamers need doers in their lives. I’ve always been the dreamer, thinking of endless possibilities and make-believe worlds. I remember telling my brother bedtime stories, and I stopped using our fairytale book. Instead, I spun impromptu tales of princesses that needed no saviors and warrior queens that kept kingdoms safe. We were just kids having fun, but he was always so hooked and excited to hear more.
My love of storytelling started young, and I kept on dreaming and writing. I always told my sister that I wanted to write a book one day, but most of my ideas went unfinished. Fanfiction was an easy way to fill my desire to write, but then my sister started drafting an original story. I was immediately invested. For fun, we worked on the manuscript together, and I shared more story ideas. Mystical words. Space romances. Fairies and moths and butterflies. Evil time god (because let’s be real, the passage of time is terrifying). She told me I had to finish an original work. A seed was planted, but my sister—like me—is an endless dreamer. We dream together and doing is hard.
This is where my brother-in-law comes in—the doer. The intense-doesn’t-always-sleep kind of doer. He’s a business guy, and he couldn’t stand hearing us dream without a plan. So, he made one, and he pushed us. And for that I am forever grateful.
Thank you: KG, JB, our independent editor, and Mayhem Cover Creations for the gorgeous cover art! Thank you to my mom and dad for always encouraging me and listening to endless prattles about my ideas. Thank you Aukie for always being in my corner. Thank you to my family and friends that said I could do whatever I set my mind to. Thank you to Tauri and Cyril for the world you helped create.
And thank you readers for giving this book, and me, a chance. This may be the first novel I have ever finished, but I know it won’t be my last.
About The Author
K. T. Flores
K.T. Flores (she/her) loves science, but fiction has always been her passion. She's been reading and writing both original works and fanfiction for as long as she can remember. She's a certified nerd and a hopeless romantic. K.T. currently lives in central Texas where she spends her days sipping tea. If she's not writing or livestreaming games on Twitch, she's cooking or searching for new hobbies.
You can check out her website at ktflores.com.
