by Cathryn Cade
Finally, Sirena stepped forward. She picked up Nelah’s free hand, limp on the coverlet and held it in her own, in a physical pledge.
“All of us here will gladly die to protect each other and our ship,” she said quietly. “Daron, now you must respect her wish to do the same. She’s young, but she’s a woman of honor, just as you are a man of honor.”
Navos bowed his head. He gave a deep, shuddering sigh. Then he straightened, his eyes dark.
“If anything happens to her, I will spend the rest of my days making them pay,” he vowed. “Everyone who’s had a hand in this.”
“As I will,” Craig swore.
“And I too,” Slyde agreed.
The holo-vid winked out. Nelah sat for a moment, utterly stunned. Then she turned to Navos and gazed at him wonderingly.
“You do love me,” she whispered. “Oh, Daron, have I really had such an effect on you?”
“You have shifted my entire galaxy on its axis,” he muttered, his high cheekbones flushing.
She giggled through her tears, but sobered quickly. “If anything had happened to you, I would not have wished to live, either.”
“Then you forgive me for placing you in such danger?” His gaze searched hers.
“Daron! As if I would have let you stop me. I was frightened, of course. But I knew that with you beside me, I could do … anything.”
“And you did, flower. You were magnificent.” He lifted her hand to his lips.
“Marry me,” he said. “Let me spend the rest of my life putting you above all others.”
With a little cry, she flung herself at him, her hands clasping his beloved face. His good arm closed around her, hard and strong.
Their lips met and clung.
“Yes,” she promised. “And you will be above all others for me, as well.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Beryl Mazarin’s ship had taken off from Indigo with no flight plan, but she and Cyan were now on the galaxy’s list of most wanted criminals. Both holo-images, and that of her ship, played in every space port waiting area and bar and while their crime stirred avarice in some galactic beings, it caused utter repugnance in many more.
Mazarin was spotted on Frontiera, courtesy of a new sat-com surveillance system in which Logan Stark was one of the chief investors. Her conspirator, Cyan, was nowhere to be seen.
Sirena and Slyde took off on his sleek star-cruiser the hour they heard her location. The Dragolin promised his bride that they would outrun the IBI to get to her.
They did.
The Orion landed on Frontiera later that day, at the new space port outside of Frontiera City. The planet’s largest city had been built on a south coast of the sea and had a mild climate and long, sandy beaches.
After the passengers disembarked and the crew was preparing enthusiastically for their layover on the frontier planet, the command team gathered for their post-flight briefing. Navos and Nelah would be flying home to Indigo as soon as the meeting ended, for her surgery and recuperation. Craig and Tessa would stay on Frontiera for a vacation trip into the wilds.
Halix walked onto the command deck, a little late, looking perplexed.
“What is it?” asked Craig.
“I have just had a request from an elderly Earth II couple,” Halix said. “They wish to know when we will do another of these ‘sex cruises’. Said it was like a second honeymoon for them.”
Craig’s mouth fell open. He turned to Navos. That bastion of Indigon dignity and restraint merely arched one dark brow at him.
“Perhaps we should raise our rates.”
Craig and the other crew commanders howled with helpless laughter. Navos watched them with outward calm, but his dark eyes gleamed.
The new owner of PanRra was awed by the scope of the corporation his uncle had left him. He was nearly as dazzled by his new executive assistant. Such a beautiful, sophisticated creature. He blushed each time Lly bent her sensual smile on him. He’d intended to spend his life in academia, but with her help he was taking the reins of the huge corporation with relative ease. He thought he might quite like this new lifestyle. The company employees treated him with ego-bolstering deference and his offices, his personal cruiser, were the stuff of dreams.
He’d moved his mother into Rra’s penthouse with him. She had her own suite of apartments and was very much enjoying having a maid to do the housework and the cooking.
He was puzzled, but polite when one of the receptionists announced that a party from off-planet had arrived to see him. He noticed Lly went pale when the receptionist mentioned they were from LodeStar Corporation, her hair wrapping around her lovely throat.
Nna frowned. He would allow no one to bully this wonderful woman.
“Shall I tell them to wait?” he asked her. “We need not allow them in.”
“No,” she said, trying to smile at him. “You—you must give them an audience. I’m sorry. I should have explained certain things to you…before this.”
It was a formidable group of beings who strode into the huge office. Tall, commanding, every one of them. The man who was clearly their leader, a dark-haired human with fierce brows and piercing light eyes, wore impeccable business attire.
Three wore the silver-grey uniforms of LodeStar, PanRra Air’s chief competitor. He noted captain’s bars on the shoulders of the blond human—a warrior if he’d ever seen one. Beside him was an Indigon with eyes so deep and icy a blue Nna felt as if he’d been flayed by ice crystals. Next came a Tyger, with the fierce golden leonine look of his race and finally two warriors in golden-yellow uniforms that highlighted their deadly beauty to a frightening degree. Nna shivered again as he met two implacable pairs of Serpentian eyes. Ack, they looked at him and Lly like two serpents watching bunnies.
Standing as tall as he could, Nna gestured them to the comfortable grouping of seats by the windows.
Lly perched at his elbow on a settee. “This is Mr. Stark,” she murmured, as the leader nodded coolly.
“You’re Rra’s heir,” he began without preamble. His voice was deep and cold.
Nna nodded stiffly. “I am.”
Stark looked between him and Lly. “Has she told you what your late uncle was up to? Or perhaps I should ask if you were in it with him?”
“He was not involved,” Lly said quickly, her hand on Nna’s. “He knows nothing.”
Nna looked at her. “I know nothing of what?” he asked politely.
She withdrew her hand quickly. “I will explain,” she whispered.
She did. What she failed to elucidate, Stark and his crew commanders filled in.
Finally, Nna sat back in the cloud-soft settee and stared blindly before him. The others were silent, watching him. He lifted his head, looking Logan Stark in the eye.
“My mother kept me away from my uncle,” he said. “She would accept no credit, no help from him. I always wondered why she distrusted him, even seemed to fear him. Now I understand. Mr. Stark and crew of the Orion, you have my solemn oath that from this day forward, PanRra Corporation will compete with you in only the most honorable way.”
Logan Stark nodded slowly. “You know, I believe you. Your uncle was a vicious, murdering bastard, but you seem to have been grown in different soil.”
“What about her?” asked the Indigon with icy quiet. “She was involved.”
Beside him, Lly straightened, but Nna could feel her trembling. She did not reach for his hand again, but clutched the settee cushions so hard her hand turned pale green-white.
“Yes, I was,” she whispered. “In the beginning, it seemed…like a game. Like besting an opponent, by trickery if needed. Then, beings began to die. And I wanted out. Rra…told me what he would do to me and to anyone who helped me, if I tried to run. So I stayed.”
Sick, Nna laid his hand over hers. She was so brave, so tragic.
Clutching at his hand, she turned to the Indigon. “You may work your power on me, if you don’t believe me,” she offered.
He raise
d one arching brow. “Oh, I already have, madam. Fortunately for you, I find that although a trifle ruthless for my taste, you are…nearly as much a victim as you claim.
“In the beginning,” he went on with quiet precision. “You didn’t care that his dupes died, only that your silk-lined nest remain comfortable. But slowly, you began to see what a monster you took into your arms each night. By then it was too late, wasn’t it? He’d already begun to torment you, as he did so many others. And no one would help you escape, because they all feared him so much. Until you met the man called Cyan. An Indigon like myself. He saw financial success in his foul schemes. You saw a way to get rid of your tormentor.”
“No!” she cried out, breaking. “Don’t go on. I’ll tell it!” she shot to her feet and stood trembling, staring wildly at all of them. “I’m not sorry for how it ended, do you hear? He was insane. He would have gone on killing and killing—”
The Indigon rose, implacable. “So you contacted Cyan again. And Rra—”
“He fell,” cut in a hard voice. It was Stark, rising to face them both. “He fell from his balcony, in a terrible accident. And that’s an end to it. No good will come of pursuing it any further.”
Nna watched in terrible fascination as the two powerful men faced each other.
“She gave up Cyan,” Stark said. “Turned out it wasn’t in time, but she didn’t know that.”
Slowly, the Indigon bowed. “Very well. That is an end to it,” he agreed.
Stark returned the bow in mutual respect. He turned back to Nna.
“And now,” he said. “We’ll get it, as they used to say on Earth I, in writing.”
Nna nodded. Lly collapsed back onto the settee, weeping quietly. They all ignored her.
In a short time, they had forged a legally binding agreement that the IBI would, for a period of time, keep a close oversight on PanRra Corporation. If, during this time, nothing of suspicious nature in their business dealings was uncovered, they would once again be back to being a normal, privately held corporation.
Nna saw his visitors out with numb courtesy. The Indigon paused before leaving, looking back at Lly.
“You may wish to know,” he said, “that the Indigon, Cyan, will never trouble you again.”
“What happened to him?” Nna asked. Cyan had, after all, apparently killed his uncle.
“He threatened the woman I love,” the Indigon said softly. “So I destroyed his powers. We believe his conspirator finished him.”
Nna swallowed. “I see. It was…the right thing for you to do, I’m sure.”
“Oh, yes. It was.” The Indigon strode out.
The Tyger and the Serpentians eyed Nna and Lly with the wistful regret of large predators restrained from juicy prey. Nna shuddered with atavistic relief as the huge doors closed behind them. He hoped fervently never to meet any of them again.
He sighed at the lovely creature weeping on his settee. His awe of her had disappeared, he realized. She was still beautiful, but she was only Pangaean.
Slowly, he crossed the room to her. He reached down to touch her shoulder.
“I still have much to learn about this business,” he said.
She peeped at him uncertainly and then swiped at her wet face with her fingers, hope lighting her lovely eyes. “I…I can teach you,” she offered.
He nodded. “Yes. You can.”
They looked away from each other, suddenly awkward.
“I…would invite you to dinner with my mother,” he said. “But, perhaps it would be best to wait until after I have found a new residence. I don’t suppose you wish to go back there.”
“No,” she said, with a shudder. “No, never.”
He nodded briskly. “Then we will go forward. A new era has begun at PanRra Air.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The wedding of Daron Navos to Nelah Cobalt was a splendid, formal affair. Slow, dreamy music played as blue, creamy-white and mauve flowers nodded in their vases. The university fountains splashed behind the altar, water gleaming in the warm sun and reflecting off the white stone columns that soared around the huge garden.
The bride wore blue diamonds and a pale lii silk gown, the groom a dark blue lii silk suit. As she paced slowly up the aisle to him, their faces were calm, as befitted Indigons, but their eyes glowed with secret, indigo fire. The guests shifted in their seats, the balmy air full of some sensual electricity.
All the Orion crew commanders were there with their partners. Tessa Craig wore a lovely yellow gown, one that showed off her newly rounded belly. Captain Steven Craig sat with one arm around her shoulders, his handsome face full of contentment.
Beside them, Slyde Dragolin’s face held the same look of male smugness, for although her figure looked no different yet in a stunning gown of red spider lace, Sirena now bore his child, as well.
Nearby sat Tryon Jag and his wife, Calla. She wore amber lii silk, cut to highlight her lovely jeweled marriage collar. He held their sleeping son in his arms, lazy and proud as a big cat watching over his pride.
Halix and Qwerx beamed beside them and Tentaclar, Ogg and Mra smiled as they watched the Indigon University chaplain lead the bride and groom in their vows.
The other guests, mainly Indigons, regarded these fascinating visitors with caution, tempered with awe. All had heard of the exploits of the ship Orion.
And the tall, enigmatic human in the front row, watching the proceedings with an air of polite distance—was that not the owner of the ship, Logan Stark? He had an aura of admirable control, but at the same time his dark eyes and those fierce brows hinted at smoldering passions that made the Indigon guests shudder a bit. Best to leave him alone and concentrate on more civilized beings, such as the bride and groom. Although one had to wonder about the pair of them, as well. Just look how they were embracing, now that their vows had been said. Why, the air was quite warm around them.
After the ceremony everyone followed the bride and groom to the nearby open pavilion, where a feast of food and drink awaited. When the blue-jacketed waiters had circulated with glasses of moon-ring champagne or sparkling water, Logan Stark stepped forward to lead a toast to the happy couple.
“To Commander and Mrs. Navos,” he said. “May they live long, happy and prosperous lives.”
Everyone drank. Stark smiled slightly. “And may the two of them always use their powers only for good.”
The Indigon guests stared as the Orion guests laughed heartily, lifting their glasses high to Daron and Nelah before drinking.
Later, Navos leaned on the balustrade, watching Nelah with the other Orion wives, cooing over the Tyger baby, who had awakened and was gurgling happily in his mother’s arms. Steve Craig joined him.
“Stark has a point, you know,” said Craig wryly. “If you ever decided to take over the galaxy, you might just be able to do it. I’m glad you’re too honorable to control those around you.”
Navos raised one elegant brow. “How do you know I have not?”
Craig grinned, lifting his glass. Then he paused with the champagne flute at his lip as he suddenly recalled the extra day on Aquarius he’d authorized on their last voyage. He’d struggled a bit, explaining to Stark why they’d varied from their flight plan. He remembered Navos had said something about how nice it would be to have an extra day on the cool, oceanic planet.
He stared at the Indigon.
Navos simply shrugged. But there was a glint of humor in the depths of his dark blue eyes as he strolled away to claim his wife for a dance.
Steve Craig stared after him, wondering. But then Tessa caught his arm, her eyes sparkling.
“Care to dance with me, Captain?”
He smiled down at her. “Yes, I would, Mrs. Craig.”
They joined the other dancers circling the floor, joining in the joy of the occasion and being together with their friends, safe from menace.
Nelah Navos strolled out through the gracefully stirring draperies, onto the balcony of the remote resort. She joined her hu
sband at the balcony rail to admire the view down the tumbling mountainside. A narrow strip of beach was visible below, at the edge of the deep indigo sea.
They had swum there several times and done more than that, as well, in a tented beach pavilion full of cushions. She blushed as she remembered discovering, during a heated interlude, they were not alone on the beach. Fascinated eyes watched through the open hangings stirring in the warm breezes.
Her husband had not ceased what he was doing to her, however. He’d even widened his stance, so their joining was clearly visible to onlookers. As he described to her silently, in detail, just what they could see and shared every nuance of her excitement, she’d come deliciously.
As had the other couple. When he moved off of her, she’d peeped through the draperies to see two young humans coupling in the surf. Daron had lain over her, watching as well and then parted her legs and thrust into her again, taking her with long, slow movements as she watched the others.
It was not the only time they had participated in such an interlude, either. She’d been shocked to realize the resort catered to wealthy young couples who enjoyed voyeurism, in a tasteful way. However, she’d seen nothing but couples enjoying each other with respect and it fulfilled secret fantasies she would never have suspected she harbored, had it not been for her husband and lover.
Going down to dinner, meeting the eyes of other sun- and sex-flushed vacationers and realizing from the gleam in their eyes they had watched her husband teaching her some new sensual delight, made her blush with embarrassment even as her pussy dampened yet again.
Now she turned her gaze upward to one of her favorite views, that of her husband’s noble profile. She hugged his nearest arm and smiled up at him.
“What do you want to do today, husband?” she asked, for the pleasure of hearing the word.
He cast her a hooded glance.
“Read my mind.”
She was laughing delightedly as he swept her up in his arms.
