The Officer's Mess (Warriors Book 3)

by L P Peace

  After the games were done, nobody was in any rush to leave. Previa was safe, in fact, the Temerin had decided to claim it, for the time being, maybe even for good. They’d yet to inform the Tessans, but it was such a beautiful planet. Aerdan loved hearing Danielle’s gasps as they descended from the clouds to a world of purple and blue skies, pink mountains and purple sands. There was one large continent on Previa and five smaller continents. The rest of the planet was made up of strings of islands, like precious gems scattered on the water.

  On the beach where they held their temit, they had a view of a massive waterfall tumbling into the ocean. The plant life was vivid with colour, and flowers here grew to massive sizes. The forest was filled with wildlife and as they’d never seen sapient life before, they were utterly unafraid. The Temerin liked it that way, and so they’d banned hunting almost immediately, deciding to bring meat and fish here, rather than hunt for it and lose the precious innocence of the animals.

  A few dozen of his fellow Temerin had decided to make the planet their permanent home, and within a few hours a bar had appeared on the waterfront, built on a small quay that they’d isolated and filled in. Danielle was right; his people were efficient when they were determined and motivated.

  Aerdan would let Thanesh know they were moving here permanently when he was ready to deliver the agreement. If he did it right, he could make the system a part of the agreement as well as the Tessans protection, balanced with the Temerin living by their own laws, of course.

  On the final day, the Temerin gathered on the beach one last time.

  Sidha and Kentor stood before one another and spoke their vows in their fastening ceremony, pledging themselves to the other for life. Gahdi Inria spoke the rites and sanctified the vows.

  A humming started low in the throats of the males surrounding the couple. When the female’s voices rose in song, Danielle joined in. Aerdan watched her as she sang a song so old, no one knew who’d written it, or when. She was smiling, just a little, and whenever her eye met one of the two ‘grooms’ as she called them, they were filled with the joy she’d felt for them when they announced their decision for the fastening.

  Aerdan exchanged looks with Bedvir and Haddis, who were standing beside him. They each knew they would be next. But not today. Today was for Sidha and Kentor. Next temit, after the babies were born.

  A shock of pure joy went through Aerdan. Even after all these cycles, he still couldn’t believe the two lives his love was carrying were his blood. Not that it would have mattered whose they were, but the fact that Danielle carried the first two members of Mita Madar born since the day the Bentari invaded gave him renewed hope for his people. His Mita would survive, thrive, and continue, despite the Bentari’s attempts to destroy them.

  For a long time, Aerdan had blamed himself for not being there. Felt guilt at surviving when his family, his father and mother, sisters and brothers, cousins, and relatives a thousand strong had died.

  But now he knew, he’d been absent so that they could continue in him and in the two new lives inside the female he loved.

  Aerdan placed his hand over her belly.

  When Danielle looked up at him and saw the look on his face, she cupped his cheek with the slightest pressure and pulled him down for a kiss. Her lips were filled with happiness and promise. When she broke the kiss to finish the song, she placed her free hand over his and over their children.

  The next morning, they were readying to leave when Aerdan spotted Gahdi Inria moving towards the ship. There were several family members behind her, carrying bags and furniture.

  ‘What… what’s that?’

  Danielle was in the seat next to him. She looked out at the old woman and sighed. ‘I told her next time.’

  ‘Next time what?’

  Danielle looked at him, a placating smile on her face. ‘Erm, so, apparently I’m the Hanra of Mita Kar.’ Danielle swallowed audibly, then smiled. There was more than a little apprehension in it.

  ‘Gahdi Inria is moving in with us?’

  ‘What do you mean Gahdi Inria’s moving in with us?’

  Aerdan turned to find Haddis staring out at the window with horror.

  ‘No!’ Haddis shook his head and left. A metri later, they saw him leave the ship, arms flailing as he tried to stop Mita Kar from moving the Gahdi onto Compound Errors.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Danielle whispered.

  ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. Being Gahdi is a great honour and responsibility.’ Aerdan looked from the chaos outside to Danielle. ‘We’re very proud of you.’ He nodded towards the crowd who had moved past Haddis, leaving him staring in awe at the news he’d just received.

  A few minutes later, he reappeared. ‘They’ve settled her in one of the spare bunks.’ He looked down at Danielle, a grin on his face. ‘Hanra to Mita Kar.’ He nodded in respect and hugged her. ‘Hanra,’ he repeated.

  The next few months went by quickly. At ten months and three weeks, Danielle finally gave birth to a boy, Thaydan, and a girl, Sevia, named for Aerdan’s parents. They gave birth in the clinic on Tessa where many of the females from Danielle’s crew had settled with their mates, some Protectorate, some not. Many came to visit, which surprised Danielle. She believed they still blamed her for giving the Halidan captain access to navigation, but as Zoe Winters said, if it hadn’t been navigation, it would have been something else. The Bentari and Fedhith were determined to stop Endurance reaching IGC.

  Thanesh appeared and offered the Temerin and Danielle roles within the Protectorate. They turned them down. They just wanted to be a family. He did, however, pledge to help them free Temerin slaves, and one day, returning Temir to their people. As a part of that, he put an open bounty up among the Temerin, pledging to pay them for every slave ship they brought down.

  As soon as Tevin cleared Danielle and the twins, they were off again, living among the stars where Danielle had taken mental refuge in her childhood. Now that she actually lived among them and had a life that made her happy, she loved it out here. She loved her males, their ship, her mita and wouldn’t change their lives for anything.

  She was still sore from giving birth, and yet again the guys became overbearing and overprotective. They did everything for the twins, leaving her to recover, feed, and cuddle. So, she wasn’t surprised, a few nights later, to wake up to three voices lowkey panicking.

  ‘Where are the diapers?’ Aerdan hissed, his voice oddly joyful.

  ‘You said you brought them in,’ Bedvir sniped back in a happy, positive voice.

  ‘I’ll get them,’ Haddis said, his voice calm amidst the panic of the other two fathers.

  Danielle was sure she’d seen a movie like this once!

  She opened her eyes to find Aerdan and Bedvir standing at the bottom of the bed, each with a baby in their arms staring at them with such love they may as well have had hearts coming out of their eyes.

  ‘Do they need feeding?’ Danielle asked, sitting up.

  The two males turned.

  ‘You weren’t supposed to wake up,’ Aerdan said.

  ‘If they need feeding, you’d have had to wake me up,’ she protested, holding out her hands for a baby bundle.

  Aerdan passed Sevia over to her. The twins looked much alike and so much like their father. The human tones of Danielle’s skin had softened the grey of Sevia’s so that her skin appeared almost pink. The olgi Danielle had eaten throughout the pregnancy had made their mita markings come alive, and both Sevia and Thaydan had almost identical striped markings on their skin, with Sevia’s being thinner. Sevia opened her eyes and looked at her mother with reflective purple eyes with barely visible brown flecks. Both children had the same flecks in their eyes. The only difference, besides Sevia’s thicker hair, was that Thaydan had more traditional Temerin colourings, with his skin being purplish-grey which was only slightly lighter than Aerdan’s skin.

  Danielle poked a nail trimmed little finger in Sevia’s mouth and watched her suckling instinct come to life.


  ‘Do you want some milk?’ she asked Sevia. They didn’t wear anything in bed, so it only took a few seconds to get Sevia latched. Almost immediately her eyes closed. Danielle felt at her diaper. It was clean and dry; Sevia had just wanted a little soothing.

  ‘How is Thaydan’s diaper?’

  ‘Full,’ Aerdan said, a grim look on his face. Bedvir, who was actually the one holding Thaydan, rolled his eyes. Aerdan avoided diaper duty as often as possible, whereas Bedvir loved the bonding time with the babies. Aerdan, on the other hand, played with them almost constantly when they were awake, and Haddis acted as support, making sure the adults were fed and watered and that everyone was bathed and spending quality time together.

  Not long after Sevia fell asleep, she filled her diaper. Thaydan was already changed, and Aerdan took Sevia to change her while Danielle took Thaydan. He fed for less than five minutes before he was off to sleep again.

  Twenty minutes after Danielle woke up, the four adults were back in bed.

  Every now and then, Danielle had nightmares about Crucible. When she woke up, it was with conflicted feelings. On the one hand, she would always hate Tolomus and the conspiracy that had led to Endurance being attacked. She knew she would have met her guys without the two weeks in captivity. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure if the Danielle who had messed up so badly, allowing the Halidan access to their systems, would have been able to recognise these three males for the gift they were.

  They had saved her. Not just her life from the IGC explosion. Not just her body from the Myardahl who had tried to take her, but her heart and soul from the damage inflicted on her by her parent’s neglect, her uncle’s abuse and her grandparent’s control. Damage she had made worse with her walls, her defensiveness, and her anger.

  Danielle stared at the stars flying past her view screen and repeated an oft said prayer of thanks to anyone that may be listening.

  Thank you for reading The Officer’s Mess.

  Not ready for the story to end? You can read a bonus epilogue here.

  * * *

  If you’re new to the Tessan Universe, welcome. You can go back and read the Renegades series here or go back to the beginning of this series and read The Scientist’s Price here.

  * * *

  Did you enjoy this story? Please consider leaving a review. Reviews are important to an independent author’s visibility. I also love reading them. It’s wonderful to know that you enjoyed a story.

  My next book is also a Reverse Harem book. Remember Tyne and Aran from The Smuggler’s Radiant? It’s time for them to meet their mates, Vedian and Ariana.

  Drexan Thalos is looking for them, but Vedian and Ariana, both soldiers, refuse to let him hurt the adalan they love.

  Please be aware, this is a mmmf, with all members equally in love with and sexually active with each other.

  Universal Menagerie

  Aavani are one of the slave races. Their skin, hair and eyes are gold. Originally known as the children of Micilla. The race actually comes from pale gold to dark bronze colour, but the golden ones are the ones everyone knows. Most of the other colours were killed by the Bentari. Decimen and Daius Edan are both Aavani.

  Adosian have bull-like horns, pale grey skin and tails. Adosian females have no rights under Adosian law, with Adosian men considered the ones who know what is best for them. Thelan, the agent who saves Zoe from the Orthali on The Crucible is Adosian.

  Ajnia are a canine-like race. They have two sets of horns, digitigrade feet, a muzzle like mouth and two sets of arms. Their skin is like suede, and they wear their hair dreaded. They used to be members of the Protectorate but left after the Tessans made their declaration against slavery.

  Amaran people have the same morphology as humans, two legs, arms, eyes and ears. They have grey skin, the males and females in lighter tones, whereas adalan, their third gender, tends to have darker grey skin. Dahnus Ascendi is Amaran, and Tyne and Aran are adalan.

  Anadar are a race of warriors who live adjacent to the space where the planet Tessa is situated. They are members of the Tessan Protectorate and loyal allies. They live a world which is mostly natural, preferring to live in small cities which are tucked inside vast forests, or on space stations over the planet. When captured, it is not uncommon for them to take vows of silence which they only break after returning home and performing a hunting ceremony in the forests of their world alone.

  Athon have enormous feathered wings, with lighter downy feathers over the rest of their bodies. Volder, the pit fighter is Athon.

  Aurdar A mysterious race. Not a lot is known about them except that their homeworld’s location is unknown, they’re rare and seemingly itinerant. Aurdar appear as larger humans with red markings on their skin. Their hair comes in shades from white to gold and their eyes glow yellow, orange and red.

  Bataarin have dark grey skin and black eyes, which are mostly pupils. Their hair comes in blues and greens. They come from a very dark world which only gets dim twilight a handful of times a solar. Mikel is a Bataarin.

  Bolsen have blue skin with dark blue, tear-drop markings that start on their temples, go down their necks. The markings continue down the spine, over their chest and continue down to their sexual organs. They glow, flashing in different ways to show their emotional states. They also flash in a pattern when they meet their mates. The markings are extremely sensitive and are responsible for climax. Rorak, the male who helped Kadian rescue Olivia, is Bolsen. Chloe, Anne’s daughter in The Captain’s Promise, is half-Bolsen.

  Bentari are the most successful slaving race in known space. They have orange to red glowing eyes with vertical pupils. Their skin is ruddy brown, and they have dark red tendrils on the back of their heads. Hekalion Dar is Bentari.

  Cealin have white skin, pale blue, green and purple eyes. White hair. They are tall but slenderer than the average race. They kidnapped 50,000+ human males and genetically altered them and wiped their memories. Those males revolted, escaped and became the Protectorate. The Cealin live underground on the third planet of their system but evolved on the second planet. It was destroyed by the Enhari.

  Damik are a giant race of tree dwelling aliens. They are extremely gentle and live harmoniously with their environment. They are very protective is smaller races and females in particular. They are non-violent, but fierce hunters.

  Dauvin have black hair and eyes with dark grey to black skin. Dauvin males are subservient to their queens. A queen will have several lovers and goes through heat every few years where she will make love with her entire harem, then lays eggs.

  Davoshin have dark red, almost maroon skin. Large bone plates and bone spikes protrude from their arms, shoulders and back. Daius Edan was born free on a secret Aavani colony. Their colony was destroyed when Davoshin invaded, killed the darker-skinned Aavani and sold the remainder into slavery.

  Devori live close to nature. They are a neutral race, though some want to enter the slave trade to become more powerful. They have black hair, yellow, orange and red eyes and grey/green skin.

  Enhari have steal blue and charcoal grey skin with striations of different colours. The striations are better than fingerprints for identification. The current Enhari king murdered the previous king and his family. Their society is under embargo by most worlds for their attempts to create an empire almost four hundred solars previously. This embargo would have ended a long time ago, but they keep acting against different members of the IGC.

  Fedhith are a metallic purple-skinned race, with stunning eyes. Fedhith males are subservient to their females. A female can take as many lovers as she likes. Males are brought up in monasteries where they are trained to please their females. If they lose their purity, they are punished, tattooed and sold as pleasure slaves. They produce a venom that allows a female to bear their children, but it also acts to prevent them getting pregnant by other males. Males are required to wear their hair long and bound for the pleasure of their females only.

  Gaoalin are a de
eply honourable race. They have ice blue skin, white horns and pale eyes of all different colours. Their homeworld is extremely cold.

  Gliedan are Black-skinned and gold-scaled aliens, with digitigrade feet, tail and tendrils on their heads. They are ovipositors. Vandamir the pit fighter is Gliedan.

  Goedan are a reptilian race who took the Enhari's side during the war hundreds of solars ago. Their space is surrounded by Amaran, Enhari and Inadiine space. Not much is known about them.

  Hieledan are a Naga like sapient race made up of several tribes of different colours; black, blue, gold, green, purple, red and turquoise. Each tribe will occasionally produce a pure white Hieladan, they are considered sacred. The blue Hieladan tribe used to rule the planet, but they were betrayed by the black, who were their primary guards. Later, the family who took the throne were murdered, all but one son, and overthrown by the head of their guard. The home world has been in a state of war since.

  Himaran are a dark grey race, with red markings. They are highly poisonous.

  Hinari can only mate in groups of five; four males to one female. They are neighbours of both the Amarans and Kuyon and along with the Horran have fallen under Amaran protection for hundreds of solars. As such, they have strong political ties with all three peoples. Hinari males have a strong domination instinct. Unfortunately, it is easily corrupted to make true sadists, so they ignore the urge to dominate out of fear of falling into behaviours that once brought their race to the edge of oblivion.

  Horran are one of the larger races. From 7 to 8 feet tall. They have huge horns which make them appear much taller. Even though they fall under Amaran protection, they do not have Tessan protection, though they are under negotiation to join the Protectorate. Their skin is mottled blue steel with a lighter turquoise or teal markings. It almost appears like marble. Jorvath, the pit fighter is Horran.