Escaping Fate (Veredian Chronicles Book 1)

by Regine Abel

  Nana cleaned my sister and placed her in Mom’s arms. They both wept while Mom caressed my sister’s brown curls.

  “Oh Eryon! I wish you could see how beautiful our baby is. She looks just like you,” my mother sobbed. “I wish I could see you one last time. My Eryon…”

  The medical officer took the baby from my mother’s arms as the light faded from her eyes.

  That’s when I snapped out of the dream, frightened to find Mom and Nana’s bunk beds empty. I ran to the sick bay, my bare feet slapping on the cold surface of the ship’s corridors. When I burst into the room, Nana was washing her hands of Mom’s blood. I became completely hysterical, kicking and screaming for Mom to come back. Despite my small size, it had taken two crewmembers to hold me down before the medical officer managed to sedate me.

  “Amalia? AMALIA!” Lhor’s voice snapped me out of my daydream.

  My eyes refocused. “I miss them, Lhor.” A tear slid down my cheek. “I miss my Mom. I miss my Nana.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and bawled my eyes out.

  Lhor pulled me to him and sat me on his lap, stroking my back. “Don’t cry, Lia. We will find your Nana. I promise you, we’ll find her.”

  * * *

  We ate dinner with Lhor, Sivh and Jhola in the garden. Lhor brought up the Advisor’s strange visit. While I didn’t want to keep secrets from my mate, a part of me wished he hadn’t. As expected, Khel was livid. It took a bit of effort to cheer the mood back up, but it eventually did.

  As we finished our meal, I admitted not knowing how to swim. Jhola pointed out that since I now owned a few bathing suits, delivered by hers truly, they needed to be put to good use. Khel graciously offered to teach me.

  An hour later, Khel joined me by the pool wearing a pair of short breeches. Sinfully, I wished they were the skin-tight ones the males wore during the Selection. The nature of my thoughts must have shown on my face because his eyes smoldered.

  I rose from the chair where I lounged and strutted to him. The two-piece bathing suit flattered my figure. I loved the contrast of the white fabric against my copper skin. While hugging my breasts, the top piece hid little of my pebbled nipples and revealed ample cleavage. The high cut bottom showed a glimpse of my bum’s curve and framed the markings of my hips. It was decent enough to be worn in public, yet naughty enough to inspire wild imaginings.

  When I got within range, Khel placed his hand on the small of my back, pressing himself against me. His breeches might not be revealing, but the hardness that strained against me broadcasted his state of arousal. He combed his fingers through my hair and gave me a searing kiss. A hungry moan rumbled in his throat. His other hand slipped down to my bottom, pressing me even more tightly against his stiffness. I pulled away from the kiss, placing my fingers against his lips as he leaned in for a second kiss.

  “None of this right now, dear mate,” I said with a poise I didn’t feel, trying to ignore the throbbing between my legs. “You’re here to teach me to swim remember?”

  Khel groaned in pained frustration. “Right.”

  He grabbed my hand and helped me into the shallow end of the pool. The water was pleasantly warm. I’d imagined it would be fairly cool with the setting suns. To my delight, Khel proved to be a very patient and supportive teacher. I wasn’t terrible – okay maybe a little – but I would never be a swimming superstar.

  By the time I was ready to call it quits, the suns had set. The house was dark, Sivh and Jhola had retired to their quarters and Lhor was probably in his office. The only lights in the darkened garden were recessed and scattered along the edges of the pool. Khel and I stood facing each other, the water lapping at the bottom curve of my breasts.

  “It’s time to reward your hard work, professor.” I batted my eyelashes at him. Folding my arms around his neck, I wrapped my legs around his waist.

  Cupping my bottom with both hands, he pressed his reawakening length against me. “It was indeed hard work,” he whined gruffly. “It warrants substantial compensation.”

  While kissing me, Khel nimbly removed my top and tossed it to the edge of the pool. He lowered his hot, wet mouth to my sensitive breasts and sucked a nipple in. Without interrupting his ministrations, he waded through the warm water and sat me on the edge of the pool. Pushing me gently on my back, my legs dangling in the water, he pulled down the bottom of my bathing suit. I lifted my bum to help rid me of the inconvenient obstruction which he then tossed in the same direction as my top.

  His tongue licked, lapped, and stroked me, spreading warm tingles throughout my body. He placed my legs over his shoulders and spread me wide open for his wicked mouth. I cried out his name as a bolt of pleasure speared through my belly, making my toes curl. Long, sobbing moans dripped out of me as I rubbed his short hair and kept him latched onto my core. Khel made love to me with his tongue. It was long, rough, and slipped in and out of me with furious ardor. I was riding the edge of an impending orgasm when a vision hit me.

  Lhor stood in the shadows of his balcony. He peered into the garden with sorrow and yearning. He watched for a few seconds before turning into his room. His hand lingered on the doorframe, his knuckles whitening. Shaking himself, he turned back toward the garden. Lhor’s woeful expression bled away as his gaze filled with unbanked heat.

  He stepped onto the balcony, pressing himself deeper into the shadows of the moonless night. After a few moments, he shuddered as if hit by an intense wave of pleasure, his face taking on a rapturous expression. He supported himself with one hand on the balcony, the other on the wall. Another tremor coursed through him. His jaw slackened and he tilted his head back in ecstasy.

  Khel rubbed my clit with his thumb, snapping me out of the vision as I convulsed in the throes of an earth-shattering orgasm. My body writhed in the blissful aftermath, sprawled at the edge of the pool. I felt Khel’s fangs in my inner thigh. In a languid haze, I looked up at the house and saw Lhor’s balcony door open. He had no idea I had perfect night vision.

  Through my foggy mind, I wondered if I should say something. Some part of me knew polite society would frown on him watching. But I hadn’t been raised in such circles. In my world… Well, in my previous world, people fucked or got fucked whenever and wherever. Some forcefully, others seeking comfort. My moral compass was different. The thought of Lhor watching us aroused me. That he could feel Khel’s pleasure made me want to make Khel climax even harder.

  Khel interrupted my musing by lifting himself out of the water beside me. Walking over to the chaise lounge, he threw its padded cushion on the ground. He picked me up and gently laid me down on top to protect my back from the rough stone patio. I spread my legs as he knelt down between them. Glancing to the right, I saw Lhor returning to his bedroom, just like in my vision.

  Khel slowly inserted himself inside me until he was fully sheathed. He uttered my name in a long, reverent moan as he began to rock in and out of me.

  “Amalia… Amalia... My mate. It feels so good inside you.” His voice sounded broken with blistering pleasure.

  He picked up speed. I moaned his name, clutching at his rear to pull him deeper into me.

  “I love the way you sound… the way you say my name, with that husky voice of yours. You make me so damn hard.”

  The ridges on his shaft sent ripples of pleasure through me. I sucked on his neck, tasting the saltiness of the sweat on his skin. Khel changed his angle and the blunt head of his cock grazed my sweet spot with every other stroke, sending burning coils of bliss from my belly, down my legs. I bit on his shoulder with a strangled cry.

  “You like that, Falihna? You like my cock inside you?” he whispered in my ear.

  My mate liked talking dirty during sex. It turned me on.

  “Yes… Yes, Khel. Harder…”

  I was right on the edge of another orgasm when he suddenly pulled out, leaving me hollow. He flipped me on my front and before I realized what happened, he pulled me on all fours, spread my legs with his knee and slid back inside me in one
powerful stroke.

  I screamed in ecstasy at the incredible fullness and he set a punishing pace. I rocked back into him, meeting each of his thrusts. His hand crawled to my breast, arching my back into him. Hot, labored breath blew at the base of my neck seconds before his tongue licked the markings between my shoulder blades. I whimpered as a fiery bolt ran down my spine to explode in a burning blaze in my groin. Khel clasped his hand around my neck, lifting my head up.

  My eyes locked on Lhor who seemed to struggle to hold himself up, his hands still gripping the rail. His face strained under what looked like a mixture of pleasure and pain. The sight of his tongue licking his upper lip almost made me come.

  By the Goddess, he was beautiful.

  “Come for me, Amalia,” Khel growled into my ears. “I want to feel you come all around me. Now!”

  Dipping his hands between my legs, he rubbed my nub feverishly, throwing me over the edge. My climax hit me like lightning and my mouth parted in a silent cry. Khel roared his own release, filling me with his seed. Lhor’s face dissolved into rapture. Letting go of the rail, he gripped his crotch as if to contain the dark stain spreading on his breeches.

  I climaxed again…

  Destroyed, I collapsed on the cushion. Khel held my trembling body in his arms while he covered my face, neck, and shoulders with passionate kisses. When he sank his fangs into me, I leaned into the bite, lost in blissful oblivion. A short while later, Khel carried me tenderly to our room. As I snuggled into him, I vaguely remember thinking that we had left our bathing suits strewn about the garden. Jhola would have an eyeful in the morning.

  Oops?

  CHAPTER 13

  Khel

  I lay in bed with Amalia, both of us naked. She still slept, sprawled over me. I lazily caressed her plump bum while tracing the markings on her arm with one finger.

  Was she aware that the bigger spots darkened when she was aroused? Once they did, they became highly sensitive and the slightest touch drove her crazy. The way she shivered and the sounds she made when I licked them drove me nuts. I felt myself harden at the thought. I wished I could feel her hands and her lips around my shaft. The way she’d made me feel last night…

  Goddess have mercy!

  This, in turn, brought back a more disturbing memory. It made me soften. I felt Lhor’s presence the minute he stepped out of his room onto the balcony. I couldn’t see him in the shadows but I knew he was there, watching us. I had never sensed him from such a great distance before, nor so strongly. Our bond seemed enhanced lately. Lhor was my Gem, the other half of me that somehow landed in another body. He’d been a sickly baby. Only my presence made him better. So his parents came to stay with us during his early years.

  His indiscretion left me torn. I was outraged that another male watched Amalia in such an intimate moment. However, I also felt guilty for flaunting something Lhor would never have. I couldn’t begrudge him seeing what should’ve been done behind closed doors, but he should’ve left.

  When I first sensed his presence, I almost dragged Amalia back to our room. I assumed he would walk away, so I kept quiet. By the time I realized he wouldn’t leave, I was already balls deep inside her. The sky could have fallen, the ground split open around us, there’s no way I could have stopped. She felt too damn good. Afterwards, I didn’t care. Now, I felt guilty for not keeping her safe from prying eyes.

  She stirred against me. Her hand slipped from under mine and rested right below my navel. Keep going! I groaned internally as my blood rushed to my groin. She sighed prettily against my chest and pressed herself against me in a tender hug.

  She brushed a soft kiss on my nipple. “Good morning, Sehr Praghan.”

  “Good morning, Seha Praghan.” I gave her bum a gentle squeeze.

  Resuming its journey downwards, her silken hand landed on my pulsating cock, her dainty fingers encircling it.

  “Looks like someone else is awake. I guess he deserves a good morning kiss too.” She crawled down to my groin, trailing a path of kisses on the way.

  I held my breath as she knelt between my legs, her face inches from my cock. Its head glistened with a pearl of pre-cum. Locking eyes with me, she slowly licked the salty moisture from its slit, making me hiss with pleasure. She winked and wrapped her mouth around my shaft.

  Oh, Goddess!

  * * *

  The morning was a little chilly so we had breakfast inside. Lhor joined us. It took me a while to overcome my own awkwardness after last night and join the casual conversation without sounding stilted. Lhor acted his normal jovial self, delighting Amalia with embarrassing stories of the less glorious moments of my youth. They had taken an instant liking to each other. It scared the fuck out of me that the two most important people in my life got along so well. There was real chemistry between them. Had she chosen him instead, he would have made her happy.

  Lhor was pretty. Running around town as kids, I felt self-conscious people would find me lacking. I wasn’t ugly by any means, but where I was gruff and intimidating, he was refined and charismatic.

  Lhor wanted my mate. Who wouldn’t? I couldn’t feel his emotions, though I occasionally got glimpses of them. But no matter how much he wanted her, Lhor would never betray my trust. Yet, when she looked at him with eyes alight with wonder, I couldn’t prevent the sliver of fear curling in my gut. Dervhen’s words at the Fastening crept into my mind. What if she chose to leave me at the end of the Trial? What if she decided she wanted Lhor more? I wasn’t playful like him. My skills at humor were barely a notch above Ghan’s, which were non-existent. Work kept me away for hours and soon missions would take me off-planet for days, if not weeks. My stiffer, easy to anger personality was bound to eventually bore or even frighten her.

  Chasing away my somber thoughts, I reached for a slice of fresh ryspak and fed it to Amalia. She moaned as the taste of the sweet fruit exploded in her mouth. I was happy she liked ryspak. It was central to the Xelixian diet. A female couldn’t carry a Xelixian fetus to term if she didn’t consume substantial amounts of it on a daily basis.

  After breakfast, I left Amalia in Jhola’s capable hands. They would start decorating her three-room suite. Amalia wanted an office to study the Xelixian language, among other things. She also wanted a career of some sort. She didn’t know what yet and felt hacking wasn’t a proper profession. It was unfortunate. In the military field or law enforcement, her skill would be a powerful tool. However, she was traumatized by the way Gruuk had leveraged her ability and wanted as little to do with it as possible. I wouldn’t pressure her but hoped she would reconsider.

  For the first time, she had the possibility to decide her future and she didn’t want to squander her fate by lazing around a pool all day. I would have been fine with that. After all, it was my duty to provide for her. That said, I believed a lack of purpose killed the soul. It was good that Amalia wanted to push herself and challenge her limits.

  Thank the Goddess, money wasn’t an issue. Under Lhor’s skillful management, our ryspak business thrived. We had a number of sound investments and a large cushion of credits collecting dust, which I would finally get to spend, giving Amalia everything denied to her before.

  Lhor and I returned to the compound where Ghan waited for us with a status update.

  “Tell me everything,” I said.

  Ghan displayed a map laying out Capital District Spaceport. “I listened to Lhor’s recording of his conversation with your mate. Retracing the steps of her escape, we were able to determine that Gruuk’s ship was in Terminal C of the secondary Docking Bay 285A. But according to the ships manifest and the spaceport’s official records, The Revenant never docked there on Tuesday. Emergency repairs on their ship following a pirate attack forced them to delay their arrival. New date pending. The records also state Terminal C was vacant that entire day.”

  I made the obvious conclusion. “The records were falsified.”

  “Yes,” Lhor said. “An inside job very well done. My first query indicated Th
e Revenant left the spaceport an hour after Amalia escaped and was docked at the Main Docking Bay, Terminal E. Even before they had reason to expect a possible investigation, they already had doctored the records.”

  How deep does this corruption run?

  “Do we know if he truly left the planet?”

  “The Revenant definitely left Xelix Prime,” Ghan said. “But we cannot guarantee Gruuk was aboard or that he hasn’t returned planet side in a different spacecraft. There are only four people with the clearance level to modify the records. One was off planet, the other is in Xelhin celebrating the birth of his Prime great daughter. This leaves Sahl Kerlhan and Yhul Mirvhen who were both on duty Tuesday and Wednesday.”

  “I found nothing remarkable about either males’ financial records.” Lhor reclined in his chair and crossed his legs. “Average salaries, average credit balances, average lifestyle, and no recent fancy purchases. However, Mirvhen was in the last stages of the Taint. Four years ago, despite being unmated, he made a miraculous recovery shortly after he got promoted. He’s now classified as a Norm.”

  “We need to talk with Mirvhen.” I looked at Ghan who nodded. “Lhor, what about Terminal C? Anything on exclusivity contract holders?”

  “There are two holders. One is a small co-op of farmers from the Xelhin District. The other is Capital District Hospital. Ghan and I are confident neither are involved.”

  “Also, Gruuk’s activity began long before either acquired the contracts,” Ghan said.

  “Excellent work. Have we…”

  An emergency call buzzed on my com.

  “Jhola?” I asked with a sense of dread.

  “Khel, come quickly!” she sobbed. “Amalia collapsed. She’s having a seizure!”

  My heart stopped. I dashed toward the house. Through the com, I could hear pained gurgling sounds and limbs thumping against a hard surface. “Restrain her so she doesn’t harm herself!” I yelled in the com.