by Leandros
An icy ball settled in Jiska’s stomach. “Neccial?”
Deskin looked at her with calm on his beautiful face. “I was going to tell you.”
“When? After we had sex?” She felt brittle.
“Ideally, yes.” He got to his feet, but he was too late.
She let the power surge and the three beings in the room collapsed.
Jiska found the gym, and she started to work out. The men of the base were eager to help her set up the equipment, but her heart didn’t flutter when she saw them.
Neccial. He was one of the enemies that she had been trained to fight her entire life. If the people of their world hadn’t been a mix of nineteen different species, it would have been easier to see what he was.
She grunted as she pressed the weight and shoved hard. She was going to feel it the next day, but it was helping her with her emotional pain.
A shadow fell over her and hands lifted the weight from her. “Jiska, we need to talk.”
She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Why?”
“Because, you need to hear the whole story, and I am sorry for not telling you up front.” Deskin’s face was sincere.
She got to her feet, and he offered her his hand. She walked with him down the halls until they reached a section marked as Citadel quarters. He opened the door that had both their names on it, and a comfortable sitting room greeted her gaze.
He sat down on the couch, and she sat across from him. “I am sorry I did not tell you earlier. I was afraid of how you would react.”
“Funny, that.” She kept her hands folded in her lap.
“When I was nine, a seeker came to my door and demanded my skill for the war effort. My parents fought and were killed by the recruiters accompanying the seeker, and I was hauled to the training base in shock.
“My skill at reading truth was not welcome when the dignitaries and politicians came to gauge my level of usefulness. No one wants the bald truth staring them in the face when they spend the days lying to all around them. I was rewarded with these marks, and when I was eleven, I ran away, hiding on an off-world freight transport that brought me to a Citadel outpost.
“I watched the war and paid attention to the lack of death that surged about the time that you took to the field. The Neccial were prisoners of war and the Urgat were no longer suffering catastrophic injury. Once the two governments asked for a mediator to help with their issues, I knew that my time had come. The documents provided showed me your history, and I included you in the negotiations. The price on your head was to be expected, given your history.”
She sighed. “It is plausible. More than that, it is likely. So, the Neccial were assholes too? Good to know. It makes me feel marginally less guilty.”
He reached out and pulled her into his embrace. “I am sorry that I had to hide the truth, but you weren’t ready to hear it.”
She looked into his eyes and read the truth there. “Were Guardian and Pax upset by being knocked out?”
He wrinkled his nose. “I am fairly sure that you should avoid asking for a raise anytime soon, but they did understand the reason for the upset.”
“It is a little embarrassing. I was caught off guard and that doesn’t happen often.”
Deskin hooked a finger in the front of her bodysuit and pulled her to him. “Allow me to test that. I plan to keep you off guard as often as I can.”
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he began a series of nibbling kisses on her lips and jawline. Her Masuo retreated, leaving her naked in his arms, and he took full advantage of her vulnerable state.
It seemed that the timing was just right.
Jiska lay in bed with Deskin’s arms wrapped around her. She didn’t remember leaving the sitting room, but here she was with a pleasant ache and a physical satisfaction that her body was enjoying.
Deskin being a Neccial was going to be hard to deal with, but she would manage. If her mother could enjoy having a daughter who controlled the largest army in the region, she could manage to have a partner who had been born on the other side of the continent from her.
It would not be easy, it would not be pretty, but for a woman who could drop and army with a single thought, dealing with Deskin would be the most enjoyable challenge of her life.
Author’s Note
Embracing someone’s more irritating habits is what makes couples go from stable to eternal. I have been lucky enough to witness a few couples who had this peculiar link to each other, and despite their differences, you can literally feel the love when you are near them. You can also feel irritation and an urge to kill, but that is a tale for another day. J
The next Tale of the Citadel is Mauled by Destiny. There is a delicate moment in every woman’s life when she can either follow the path laid out by tradition or she can be clawed up by an alien interloper and begin a transformation into something far beyond her wildest dreams.
Thanks for Reading
Viola Grace
[email protected]
http://www.violagrace.com
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
