by Bianca D'Arc
She had never been able to visualize such things before. Maybe she, too, had gained strength from Ki’s influence.
As soon as Agnor seemed satisfied that the bridge crew was all right, he came back to Bet and escorted her to a seat near his command chair. He had to sit at the command station because all the ship’s functions he’d need were routed through there, but he looked as if he was loath to let her go. She smiled at him. There would be time for them later. Right now, they had to clean up the situation Ki had made.
She took the secondary comm station and keyed in her identity. She could help by tracking some of the smaller collective ships she had thrown quite far away. Her eyebrows rose as she noted some of the distances. It hadn’t felt like much when she was holding that spalling in her hand and hearing the music of the spheres as she walked on the galactic plane. Back here in the real world, what she’d done didn’t really seem possible. Not for a normal person.
Then again, Bet had never been normal. She used to resent that fact, but first Agnor, and now Ki, had taught her to revel in it. Nothing wrong with being different. No, not at all.
Agnor was issuing orders to the rest of the crew. She waited for an opening and then sent him the list she had compiled of all the ships she had moved, their current locations, engine status and whatever identifying numbers or names she could glean from her scans.
“Shall I begin contacting them?” she asked when Agnor looked at her with one raised eyebrow. “They’re bound to be dazed and probably free of the collective’s influence for the first time in years. Some may want to defect.”
“Yes,” Agnor said quickly. “Yes,” he repeated, a bit more calmly. “That’s one thing we didn’t do at Liata that we should have done right away. Good thinking, Bet. Do it, and offer them conditional asylum if they want to come back to Council space with us.”
“Conditional on what?” she challenged, loving the way his gaze glowed with approval. “You know they’re going to ask.”
Agnor chuckled. “Conditional on a quick examination of each crew member by a Council member. We don’t want any of the puppet masters or their sympathizers insinuating themselves onto one of our worlds if we can help it.”
Bet nodded, seeing the wisdom in the precaution. “Will do.” She turned back to her console and got to work.
What followed was hours of the most exhausting, and rewarding, duty of Bet’s life. Every single one of the former collective ships wanted to defect to the Council and agreed to the conditional terms.
Only three of the ships were destroyed as they entered the atmosphere of the planets and moon they orbited. Two of the captains had died as a result of their control crystals shattering, Bet knew. She had been in contact with Ki when it had happened and had felt the crystal entity’s acknowledgment of the passing of two sentient beings by its actions.
Those two ships seeded the planets on either side of Ipson. Ki had communicated to Bet that she should make an entry into the stellar databases renaming those planets for the captains who had perished.
Before relinquishing the power Ki had given her—and therefore, direct communication with the entity—she agreed wholeheartedly. When she got back to Geneth Mar, she would make a formal application before the Council, acknowledging Ki’s wishes. She would also tell Agnor of the plans Ki had for him, but that could wait.
First, she needed sleep. After the long shift recovering from the energy storm and organizing the retreat from Ipson, she and Agnor retired to his suite together.
He took her in his arms as they lay on his big bed and just held her. She felt safe in a way she never had before. Secure in the knowledge that she loved him and would face whatever happened next full of the power that love gave her. It was stronger than anything in the universe. Even stronger than Ki’s influence, or so Ki had claimed when it spoke of Agnor’s bond with her.
Ki had seemed to think Agnor loved her too. She hugged that knowledge close, even as she snuggled into Agnor’s embrace. Maybe he did. And maybe dreams really did come true.
* * *
It was a ragtag fleet of ships that made their way back to Council space. They had to travel slowly because many of the collective’s ships had been damaged in the energy storm. Also, the survivors of the three ships that had been destroyed had to be accommodated on other vessels. There was a bit of overcrowding, but so far, they were all managing.
As they moved slowly through collective space, occasionally, they would be challenged by ships still under the control of the collective. Each time, Bet did her thing, and another ship was added to their little fleet.
After the first battle, she had learned a way to cut the power of the enemy’s control crystals without having to blow them up. Ki, through the spallings and Bet’s mind, was somehow able to recall—or maybe reprogram would be a better word—the crystals on the enemy ships, blocking their control over the crew and captains.
Once that link was severed, the captains were usually glad to hand over the instruments that had kept them enslaved. Bet was amassing quite a collection of control scepters, shards and spallings. She had been able to fill another of the small storage containers in the hold so far, and they were only about halfway home.
Soon though, they would be in Council space. Unless the collective wanted to invade, Bet thought they would most likely cut their losses and let the small fleet of defectors go. At least, she hoped for that outcome. She didn’t want to have to cause anyone harm. The Calypso was very low on ammunition, so any defense would most likely be up to Bet. She would do what she had to do when called upon, but she didn’t really enjoy violence. It went against her nature.
She would do all she could to protect her people, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for those who tried to stand in their way. Agnor tried to help her focus on the many Talents they had freed from the collective on this journey. That helped. Each ship held souls that would be free to choose their own path now. There was a beautiful sort of justice in that.
Bet didn’t see a lot of Agnor in the days following. They were both kept busy with the occasional confrontations and then the aftermath of each new ship joining their little fleet. Bet was in charge of all the spallings and collected control devices of surrendered ships. She was run ragged obtaining them and then securing them in the hold, while Agnor did his job on the bridge.
They slept together every time they were off shift, but new challenges arrived almost constantly in the first few days of their journey. After the initial surge to try to stop the Calypso, the enemy attacks came less frequently, but they still came at all hours. More than once, Bet and Agnor had been dragged out of sleep by the need to respond to some new threat.
Eventually, though, they crossed into Council space and, as she’d hoped, the collective’s attacks dropped to nothing. The little fleet of ships limped along, heading for Geneth Mar on the closest possible route.
“We’re not quite home free yet,” Agnor had told her as they snuggled in his bed during the first off-shift they’d spent where nothing had disturbed them. They’d both have to be back on duty soon, but they had a few minutes to laze together and cuddle.
“But we’re less likely to encounter problems now that we’re in Council space, right?” she asked, tracing patterns on his chest with a lazy fingertip.
“Yeah, and although we didn’t mean to, we’ve been decimating the collective’s fleet. We never had a completely accurate count of how many warships they had, but even so, the sheer number of ships that we’ve liberated has to hurt. I wonder if Ki knew this was going to happen?”
“I think Ki probably suspected as much when it gave me the power to retune the collective’s control crystals. I got the distinct feeling that Ki would be glad to break the enslavement of whatever minds we happened to crossed paths with along our journey.” Bet sat up, knowing they needed to start getting ready for the day ahead. “Ki isn’t exactly benevolent, but it does not enjoy loss of life.”
“In my talks with Ki, I got a
sense that it was unlike any other life form we’ve ever encountered in its way of thinking. It has its own code of behavior, and its own expectations of others,” Agnor said as he rose from the bed and stretched. “I was very concerned, at first, that it wanted to expand to those other planets and that moon, but I’ve come to realize that Ki has a right to live and grow, as do we all.”
“It doesn’t like its spallings being used to subjugate other minds. Ki helps bring order, where wanted. It doesn’t seek to impose it against another being’s free will.”
She stepped into the sonic shower to quickly clean up, unsurprised when Agnor followed her. After a quick blast of cleaning pulses, he shut off the unit and crowded her against one smooth wall, bracketing her between his outstretched arms.
“Speaking of free will…”
Agnor hesitated, which was very unlike him. Bet reached out and cupped his cheek in one palm. She saw the struggle in his gaze. The uncertainty.
She took a chance and made the leap he seemed afraid to broach.
“I love you, Agnor.”
Bet didn’t dare breathe, waiting for his reply. Had she just screwed everything up? Had she misread him? She wanted to cringe, but maybe…just maybe…
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Agnor let go of the breath he’d unconsciously been holding.
“Oh, thank the stars. I love you too, Bet. With all my heart.”
He dipped his head to capture her lips. He couldn’t wait to show her how he felt. They didn’t have a lot of time, but that never stopped them. Bet was his match in every way.
He felt her warm skin against his, and all the feelings he’d hidden away deep inside came out in a rush. He wanted forever with Bet. Forever. With her alone. It was an astounding thought to a man who had been with so very many women in his years, but somehow, all those experiences had been preparing him for this. For perfection. With Bet.
Tears formed behind his eyes as he held her. They’d been through so much in the past days. The danger of confronting the priests and then the danger inherent in making first contact with a new and unusual life form. Those long minutes when Bet had been unconscious had nearly killed him with worry.
He’d realized then that, if she had died, he would have tried to follow. He wouldn’t have wanted to live without her. After experiencing the glory of her love, he couldn’t go back to the superficial joinings of his past. He had witnessed the true bonds between Micah and Jeri, Darak and Jana. He had wanted that, and he had found it. With Bet.
He kissed her deeply, pouring all the love into his touch that he possibly could, hoping she understood how precious she was to him. He would show her again and again, every day of their lives, if only she would consent to be his.
“I love you, Bet. I’ve never said that to anyone else. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else. You’re it for me,” he said within the intimacy of their shared minds, laying his soul bare to her.
He practically held his breath as he awaited her answer. He lifted his mouth from hers and kissed his way down her neck, pressing close against her.
“I feel the same,” she replied finally, seeming to hesitate just the tiniest bit. He didn’t like that.
Agnor drew back a few inches to meet her gaze. He paused to emphasize the seriousness of the moment.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Bet. I want you to be my life partner. My mate. My lover. My wife.” His voice gentled as he saw the tears in her eyes.
“I want that too. But are you really sure? Agnor, you could have your choice of any woman you wanted.”
Agnor didn’t like the uncertainty in her words, but he would show her—for the rest of their lives—how wrong she was to doubt him. He would make it his life’s work to prove his love to her, each and every day.
“You are all I have ever wanted. You are the woman I have been searching for, unconsciously, my whole life. I have never been more certain of anything as I am of my love for you. I need you by my side, facing life’s challenges, Bet. You. And only you. For as long as we live.”
Finally, an incandescent happiness seemed to replace doubt in her gaze, and he stepped closer, sealing his declaration with a deep and fiery kiss. He cupped her breasts, massaging the tender tips, enjoying the feel of her response to his touch. She writhed against him as her passion mounted, making those soft little sounds that drove him wild.
Unable to hold back, any longer, he lifted her legs, and she eagerly wrapped them around his waist. She was slick and hot against his cock, both of them ready for anything after all they’d been through. Still, he paused long enough to check on her. Her comfort would always come first with him.
“Do you want me now, my love?” he ‘pathed to her receptive mind.
“Come into me, Agnor. Please. Don’t make me wait. I need you.”
“That’s just what I wanted to hear,” he all but growled, speaking aloud in his haste to be inside her.
He held her gaze as he pushed inside, slow and steady, until he was deep within her, and they were one. He did something then that he had never done with any other lover—he deliberately meshed their minds, dropping his guard to her and her alone, letting Bet inside the shields he kept rigorously tight against all others. Only for her, would he ever drop his shields.
He felt the touch of Bet’s mind as he began moving within her. He hoped she knew how much he loved the feel of her accepting him, welcoming him, taking him in and giving her all in return. It was a profound moment, full of promise and potential. His lips sought hers as he repeatedly thrust into her slick heat, pumping them both toward an ecstasy he’d only ever found in her arms.
“Do you understand what you are to me?” he asked in the privacy of their joined minds. Emotion engulfed his thoughts—his, hers, theirs.
He didn’t know exactly where he ended and she began, and it was the most fulfilling thing he had ever experienced. Even as their bodies strained toward completion, their minds interwove and formed a new, thrilling creation that was…more. Bigger, stronger, more powerful, but also more emotion-filled, more loving and caring. More…everything.
If Agnor had harbored any doubts, he now knew they were meant to be this. They were better together than they ever would be apart. They needed each other to complete each of their souls, and he never wanted to be apart from her ever again. He just had to make her understand his need was more than for just this moment out of time. He had to make sure she wanted this communion of the spirit for keeps—or at least as often as they could manage this sort of joining over the next hundred years or so.
“I am…everything?” she answered, her thoughts powerful in their confusion as the sensations he was creating within her body threatened to overcome her rational mind.
Not yet, he hoped silently. They were on the brink of something here even more momentous than the physical pleasure they created together.
“Yes, my Bet. You are everything to me. All that I am. All that I may yet become. All that we can be together. Do you understand?”
He wanted so desperately for her to give it all to him. Her body, her mind, and now her soul. But she was too far gone. The pleasure beckoned and he was as powerless as she was to deny the explosion of their shared climax. His body spasmed in ecstasy as she cried out his name, over and over.
Physical pleasure overcame them, even as the emotional component added something never before experienced to the climax. Agnor gasped, his breath short as his body tried to deal with the firestorm of pleasure on every level. He felt Bet tremble in his arms as she dealt with the same. Their minds blasted apart at the last, unwinding in a gentle slide that only added to the sensation of being caressed on every level.
It was like nothing he could ever have imagined. It was the most complete immersion in orgasm on every level—physical, mental and even spiritual—that he had ever experienced. And he wanted more. So much more. He wanted that every time. Every day. It was like a new drug that, once tasted, was always craved. And the drug was l
ove in its purest, rarest form.
Distilled perfection.
Agnor held Bet as she gasped along with him. Gradually, their breathing quieted, as they came back to themselves.
“You are amazing, Bet,” Agnor praised her when he could speak again.
She snuggled against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. “You too, Ag.”
She sounded adorably worn out. He roused her briefly to cycle through the cleaning pulses again, amused by the way she let him take charge.
She seemed to revive as soon as they were both clean again, and his thoughts turned to the big bed waiting for them in his quarters. But, no. He had to resist the temptation to find that nirvana of pleasure again.
He wished he could just take this shift off and spend it in bed with her, but duty called, and he was the captain. There were things only he could deal with. Just as there were responsibilities in the cargo hold that only Bet could see to. Most especially the very rare collection of spallings, control scepters and other bits of Ki that only Bet seemed both capable and willing to deal with.
Reality came back to him with a crash. They both had responsibilities, much as he’d rather just make the world go away and spend time with her. He carried her into his chamber and placed her on the bed—seating her on the side of it, not lying in the center, spread eagled, the way he really wanted her. He was trying hard to be good. The ship needed them both, he reminded himself. There would be time for more divine sex later.
But before they each left for their duty stations, Agnor had one thing he wanted to make perfectly clear. They dressed quietly, each a little wrung out from the emotional storm of their lovemaking, the admissions of love and the aftermath. By the time Agnor was fully dressed, he’d regained a bit of his equilibrium. He took Bet by the hand and urged her to sit beside him on the edge of the bed.
