by May Sage
«Kai?» she called directly to his mind, tentatively.
«I’m here.»
«There’s a large, well-shielded fighter; blue, with pointed engines, shooting green.»
«Eyes on it. It remains behind four light fighters.»
She paused, trying to find the words. She would have liked to just say, “Blow it up,” but that wouldn’t have been fair or honest. So she settled on, «It’s your brother.»
«Half, at best.» There was humor in his tone now. «I’m on it.»
His Lotus spun around at high speed, shooting relentlessly, without a second of hesitation. Less than a minute later, the ship was exploding. Then, he shot the male who ejected out of it.
Kai reached her mind this time.
«For all the females he touched. Or made uncomfortable.»
«Thanks.»
«My pleasure.»
Kai burst back into the bridge and removed his mask. She felt a little awkward in his seat now, half expecting him to tell her to move.
He did no such thing.
“You crazy woman.” He laughed. “I thought I was a decent pilot, you know.”
Kai walked to her, stopped right in front of her, and bent down, like he had before leaving earlier. Her heart palpitated in anticipation. His lips only brushed her forehead now. A long buzz of current passed through her entire body, starting where he’d touched her down to her toes and leaving her breathless, weightless, thoughtless, just…less. And so much more, all at once.
It had taken her a long time to understand, but, finally, there was no more denying it. No more questioning what she felt. From the very start, the very first moment they’d met, she’d known Kai for what he was. She’d seen Darkness. She’d seen destruction. And yet, she’d needed him to live. Just live. Just keep on breathing, as though knowing, from the depth of her soul, that he couldn’t cease to exist.
She’d loved him then, although she didn’t quite know the meaning of that word yet. She did now.
“Their command ship is uncloaked,” Kass said from her station. “We have a shot at their high command now.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Kill them all.”
She’d seen that in a vision a long time ago. Back then, she’d been horrified. And then she always saw herself, saying one simple word. She didn’t even shout or scream. She didn’t need to.
No.
That’s just what she did now. “No.”
Kai turned to her, glaring, belligerent. “They’re threatening our very existence. Our peace.”
“And us wiping them out is going to achieve what exactly? There are families in that command ship, just like there are here. And they’ll remember what you choose to do today. You’re either condemning us to a life of war, or undermining everything those loyalist pigs have fed their soldiers today. Your call.”
Kai glared. Then he breathed. And finally, there was a sigh.
He started their comm, reaching out to the enemy’s commander ship.
“We have you surrounded. My fighters are intact. My ship and shields are intact. We can crush you effortlessly.” His thundering voice was almost bestial. “I’m very tempted to.”
Kai then glanced at her. “This world is ours. Mages will live here, free and in peace, whether you like it or not. There will be no slaves. None. These are my terms. My only terms. If you don’t like it, go live amongst the Imperials. But I tell you now, come back to this sector with an army, and I’ll show you no mercy.”
He closed the connection and reluctantly gave the order to let the loyalists go. Then, he turned to her, still grumpy, but not quite angry. “Happy?” he muttered.
Because that was all that mattered to him in the end. Her happiness.
How fucking stupid had she been? He’d cared, all along. She’d run from peace for fear of starting a thousand wars.
“Very much so.”
“Good. Now, if no one objects, get this ship home. We have a party to crash.”
Vratis had never been home.
But it could be.
Realizing he meant for her to carry on piloting the Dominion, she grinned at the unexpected present, input the coordinates and jumped to hyperspace.
Thirty-One
Home
Getting to Vratis from their previous location would take them only seven hours — most of the day — as there were many direct warp pathways leading right to Vratis across the sector. But taking into consideration the hour-long battle that had preceded the journey, and the fact that the cabinet had been in a meeting before that, everyone had had a very long day.
Evi was the first to go to catch some sleep, heading out as soon as they hit warp. When she came back, a couple of hours later, Hart and Ollis had gone off. They also came back quickly, and Park and Star went to sleep.
They just hovered around, pulling up maps, communicating in hushed tones through their comms, reading some reports.
“Are members of your cabinets always on call?” she mused, surprised.
Kai shook his head. “Hardly. We have a team at the ready, more than willing to take a shift on the bridge. Besides, we’ve entered the coordinates, and we’re traveling at light speed. None of us are truly needed here right now.”
Good point. She just didn’t want to leave the bridge, not while Kai remained.
Besides, she definitely liked the captain’s chair.
“We simply get a little controlling after an attack,” he explained. “You should go get some sleep, though. You must be exhausted.”
Nalini shook her head. “Not tired. Too wound up.”
He smiled. “Was it your first battle?”
She bobbed her head enthusiastically.
“And we put you in charge of the whole damn crew,” he tsked, shaking his head. “Oh well. I guess you didn’t do too bad.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing she’d killed it.
“I think this beast is cozying up to whoever is in the captain’s chair,” Kai said, pointing to the neko, who was still on her lap.
She snorted. “So he’s not only evil, he’s also cunning and power-hungry.”
“And yet, for all his flaws, however much evil you see in his heart, you’re very fond of him. What does it say about you, Nalini Nova?”
She hadn’t expected him to be so…normal. Simple. Teasing her, with that disarming smile.
“It’s not my fault. Evil and cunning males have evil and cunning ways of getting what they want.”
“So, you suppose he could have charmed you. Bespelled you. Good theory.”
“Not ruling it out.”
“Or, perhaps there’s also a dark part of you, little lady.”
A blue light flashed on the command platform, demanding her attention. Regretfully, she pulled herself back to manual.
“We’re close. Time to pull out of light speed.”
Kai nodded, calibrating his comm, and then announcing that they were coming out of hyperspace, always a jarring feeling; preparing the crew for it made sense.
Her stomach dropped as the entire ship violently stopped. She was used to it, and they had the best stabilizers – much more efficient than those of her old Whistle, for sure – but still.
Nalini moved the Dominion towards the coordinates of Vratis.
She’d been in Vratis just over a year ago, when she’d met Krane. Entering the planet’s atmosphere, Nalini didn’t feel one way or another, but as they slowly approached the main city, her stomach dropped again, this time for a very different reason.
She knew that autumn sky. The farisle south of the main island. The torrent. She’d jumped out of the endless waterfall, only to be caught by one of the deadliest beasts on the entire planet. It had been a lifetime ago. Another time. A darker time.
Coming back here should have hurt more. Should have made her panic.
“Vratis Central to the Dominion,” an automated voice called. “Transmit your clearance code.”
“Clearance codes transmitted,” she replied, after getti
ng the ship to input their security clearance.
The translucent energy shield surrounding the city disappeared just long enough for them to pass, and reappeared right away.
“Welcome home,” Kai told her.
And she breathed again.
Nalini had never been into clothes.
After the way she’d been kept bald from age three to age seventeen, she loved playing with her hair, adding strands of every color in the rainbow to it, sometimes coloring it all. She’d spent time learning complicated braids and knots. The one thing she’d never done was cut it. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
In his effort to strip any individuality from her, Enlil had also ensured she was always dressed very simply, yet clothes, she never “got.” She kept wearing whatever she could get her hands on for cheap, preferring to spend whatever extra cash she had on new propulsors, sensors, or on treats for Kronos.
Kai was going to change that if he kept this up. She might have rolled her eyes if a pretty dress had been waiting for her laid out on her bed, but he’d had a warrior’s attire sent to her. A red chemise so soft to the touch, and various layers of silk, meant to be knotted at her waist. Working out where it was all supposed to go took some time. Her leather breeches were warm and so damn practical, she might have been spared a scar or two had she owned anything of the sort before. A leather and metal bustier was meant to go on top of all these pretty pieces of cloth, covering her heart. She smiled, seeing the tightly knit, thick, yet flowy, red cape she could hook on her left shoulder. The right one, because somehow, he’d known she would want her scar and its ornaments bared on display.
He’d actually left—or had his servants leave, more likely—a few different choices, which were all just as appealing, but her greedy hands went right to that odd ensemble. Observing herself in the mirror, she wondered if she’d ever looked quite so much like the person she was meant to be.
Nalini sat on her bathroom counter and painstakingly painted her face, applying makeup; the neko, who’d consented to keep her company for a time, leisurely played with the tap water, hissing discontentedly each time he splashed it.
“Don’t make me mess this up,” she told him, as though he would care to listen.
There was no doubt in Nalini’s mind that the creature understood her every word; he just reveled in ignoring each and every one of them.
She carefully stepped away from the growing monster. This was a party, and, for once, she wanted to look the part. Copying the makeup she recalled from Tejen, she traced a star on her forehead and observed her handiwork. Rani would have approved.
She was just done when Kronos knocked. She laughed, finding him with a band strapped to his head, like a warrior’s.
“Looks like we had the same idea.” She tilted her head. “You should go back, someday, you know. Finish your training.”
The boy nodded. “I think I will. Someday.”
He didn’t spell it out, but she knew. He’d go when she was safe. When she had a home. When she didn’t need him to anchor her.
“Soon,” she added.
Kronos smiled. “Yes, soon.”
Thirty-Two
A Dance in the Night
The palace had changed a lot in the last nine years. Kai had practically destroyed it and rebuilt it from scratch, with modern materials and a sleek, minimalist look. For that, she was grateful. She might have hated it if it had been the same walls within which she used to be caged.
A part of her wondered if that could be the very reason why he’d changed it. But that notion was just too self-centered by half, so she dismissed it.
The sound of drums making the floor vibrate beneath their feet, Kronos and Nalini ran downstairs, racing like children. She burst out of the palace, getting a kick out of the fact that instead of rushing to pull her back in, the enforcers just inclined their heads as she passed.
Freedom. This was what freedom tasted like. She could get used to it.
The streets were alive that night; there were stands where people offered grilled meats, refusing any payment on that one special day, which had very little to do with profit or greed. Celebrating just being alive and part of this world.
She ate everything. Kronos almost managed to keep up. There she was, going from one stand to the next, gorging herself like a pig, when he found her.
“Leave some room for the torrent delicacies down the street.”
The words were whispered against her neck as he came from behind, entering her personal space like he had a right to stand there.
“There’s always room for dessert,” she retorted, turning to Kai.
He’d never looked more glorious. He wore nothing on top, and of that, Goddess Light knew she approved. No male should be quite so glorious. Carved in gold, sculpted like a god, each muscle powerful. Low on his waist, there were layers of dark fabric hanging, following his every movement. Strange that a male who’d never stepped foot on Tejen would be so adorned, in a manner so similar to their ceremonial dress. And yet not very strange at all.
“A skirt?” she teased him, and yet she approved.
Oh, Goddess Light, how she approved.
“One of us has to wear it, and I suspected you might prefer the trousers.”
He knew her well, too well for a stranger. Reason should have reminded her they’d actually really only met a few days ago. Yet they hadn’t. Not at all. She’d known him, most of what there was to know about him, from nine years of age, and he’d lived with her, within her, since. She’d just been too blind and stubborn to listen to what her heart had whispered.
Her eyes dipped low to his formal wear, and she smirked, wondering….
“Don’t look at me like that right now, Nalini Nova.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll feel compelled to let you check for yourself whether I wear anything underneath.”
She shook her head, wishing she could be annoyed. “It’s quite unnerving how you effortlessly go through my shield.” She attempted to glare, and failed. “I’m supposed to be good at this, you know.”
He feigned shock. “You are?”
There was no reaction more appropriate than sticking her tongue out.
Teasing him shouldn’t have felt quite like this, like playing with fire, yet it did. There was teasing and flirting, and then there was what they were doing right now. Playing, poking, and pulling at each other’s ankles, all the while knowing that there was only one way this was going to end that night.
Nalini blushed and then recalled how he’d asked about a wife and children. Even thinking of it now, when he had only kissed her once, was true, pure insanity. She banished the very thought before he could catch it. Or so she hoped. His expression betrayed no sudden need to run for the hills before she could get clingy as hell, so there was hope.
“Come,” he said, pulling her to him. “Dance with me.”
So, they danced. All night, in any manner of ways. Slowly, unhurriedly, undulating against each other as the drums beat in sync with their hearts. His head dipped to her throat, and his lips dropped one hot kiss against it, making her gasp and then groan. Oh, how he made her feel with such simple touches. Not liking how he so completely got her under his power, she got to her tiptoes and claimed back the upper hand, as her teeth found his earlobe and nibbled at it. That would teach him.
But all it taught him was to growl, take her hips, turn her around, and press her against his cock, grinding on her, making her feel every glorious, hard inch of it through layers of fabric.
Too many layers. Too many people around them. At this point, she didn’t think she would have cared, if the street hadn’t been crawling with laughing children who shouldn’t witness what she planned to do to this male. She almost begged him to sweep her away, take her to his room and lock her there, but Nalini Nova didn’t beg, and Kai wasn’t willing to stop this delicious torture quite yet. Instead of heading to the palace, or somewhere, anywhere with closed doors, he pulled them ag
ainst the closest wall, ever so slightly away from the crowd. His hands dipped below the layers of soft material, one finding her naked, heavy breast, the other cupping her dripping sex. He teased her there, claiming her in public, marking her as his; her clothing remained in place, somehow making it all the more indecent.
Her mouth popped open, and she breathed hard against his chest.
“The instant I get you home,” he whispered low, “I’m going to destroy every single thing that presumes to hide you from me and kneel at your feet. You’re to be worshipped. You shall endure it.”
“You’ll do no such thing. I like these clothes.” She didn’t know how she could clearly enunciate anything in her current state, but somehow she managed, her voice low and seductive, the unfamiliar intonation of a temptress. “You’ll kneel and wait for me to remove every single item from my body. Slowly.”
As she felt her inner muscles strain, and panted against him, she plunged her hand inside his belted fabric, finding him bare. She grasped his enormous dick and moved her hand up and down, pressing her thumb hard, coaxing him.
“Oh, goddess, yes,” were his last words; she then sealed his mouth with hers, muffling their panting and groaning.
He was so good with those infuriating hands, one pinching, caressing, massaging her breast, the other penetrating her wet folds, playing with her clit.
At long last, she couldn’t hold it back anymore; her head fell back as she screamed in release.
He wasn’t done yet, but she’d unhanded his cock. Nalini fully intended to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs, but before she could return to business, he’d lifted her off the ground and was carrying her to the palace, like she was no heavier than a feather. Damn brutish giant.
She should have blushed as she passed some faces she recognized, as this display was making their intention for the rest of the night quite clear. And yet, she couldn’t find any timidity or shame.
