A heaviness anchored her heart with the thought of Rymingten working in the harvesting fields, but the alternative was her being bound to a male who would not be able to gift her with offspring. If she was ever to take the mantle of Queen of the Argona people she would have to produce heirs or be a mockery. The females of her planet would whisper behind her back, and gaze upon her with shadows of pity in the depths of their eyes. She could not stand that.
“So, let him know that his trip to Kitcy is canceled. Honors of travel are only for those who are mated and since you are petitioning the council to end your joining, I cannot see a reason to allow it.”
Krysteena crossed the room to her mother. “This may crush him. Break his spirit. He longs to express his regrets to his King.”
“That is unfortunate. However, you cannot have it both ways, Krysteena. Do you desire for me to allow an unmated male to journey off planet? What would be his reason for return? Or who would accompany him to remind him of his responsibility to Argona?”
She didn’t consider all of the ramifications of her supplication. She thought about having to go into the social area of her parents dwelling, where Rymingten sat in company of her father, and telling him of all the changes. She knew he would be caught off guard. He believed they had come to the dwelling to get their launching orders confirmed. That had been part of her reason for coming, regardless of how things were going to pan out for the two of them. However, she had never guessed he would lose his voyage home.
“You’re correct, my Queen.” It was the only thing she could say.
Her mother rose. “So, I will call the council to session with all haste.” Stepping toward her, she placed a kiss on her cheek. “All will be right soon. We will plan and discuss another scouting mission for you.”
“Yes, mother.” A bitter taste filled Krysteena’s mouth and her stomach churned as she thought about another male with her, touching her, kissing her or holding her…and that male not being Rymingten.
With a nod, the queen turned toward the exit.
Something else in the back of Krysteena’s mind rose up. “Oh, mother, one more moment of your time please.”
Pausing before the door, her mother faced her again. “Yes.”
“I’m not all together sure what I am asking. It is also somewhat of a personal nature.”
“If you are unsure, you may consider it and approach me later.” A gentle smile stretched the queen’s mouth wide and warmth filled her gaze.
“No. It presses on me.”
“Then proceed.”
“During the final joining time with my mate something happened I don’t quite understand. Something beyond my training.”
“That is?” The queen tilted her head slightly, an indication she was fully engaged in the discussion.
Krysteena stroked the intricate weave of her braid. “My hair became streaked and glowed red. I don’t know if somehow in the midst of the coupling I had called out words of some incantation. If so…what…nothing else appeared to happ—”
“You glowed?” The queen’s eyes were wide and filled with a combination of awe and concern.
“Yes. Rymingten actually brought it to my attention. I was unsure of the reason behind the spectacle.”
She watched her mother move slowly back to the long chair and sit.
Rushing to her mother’s side, she settled beside her. “Mother, what is it?”
“I’m not fully sure. I would need to take some time to study the old scripts.” Her mother had a vacant faraway look.
That contemplative stare gave Krysteena an unsettled feeling. The Queen was always sure about everything. “I’m not understanding. And unease is growing in my stomach. Were the streaks in my hair an indication of something being wrong with me?”
Her mother must have picked up on the notes of concern in her voice because she took hold of her hand and looked at her, the queen’s eyes once again shined with confidence. “No. Nothing like that. You are well, my child.” The queen rose to her feet. “I think you should continue with your original plans and take Rymingten to make amends on his home planet.”
Krysteena stood also. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes. I gave my word to him, so I will see it fulfilled. I will consult the scripts and have more answers by the time you return. At that time we can meet with the counsel, there need not be any haste.”
Now, she was really out of sorts. Her mother never went back on a decision she had made. The fact that now the queen wanted her to wait to end her joining with Rymingten and continue to his planet caused a multitude of questions to flood her mind.
“All right, we will depart as soon as we have our launching orders.”
“I’ll see to declaring them.”
Krysteena was the first to move to the door this time. With each step she waited for her mother to call her back and say she had changed her mind. However, soon she was on the other side of the private area.
In the eating space she found her father and mate telling stories of past battles fought and won expressed in the goriest of fashions. Even though she had nothing to compare the camaraderie between the two males, since she was the first of her parents’ offspring to join, she still could see they got along well. From her vantage point at the opening, the view warmed her within even as she attempted to shield her heart from feeling anything more toward Rymingten.
“Come daughter. Breakfast with us.” Her father waved her in. “There should be a moment of time before you two have to prepare for departure.”
Her father didn’t know that if she’d not brought up the hair changing to her mother a few moments ago, she would have been entering the room with an entirely different agenda. “I will always make time for you.”
Strolling toward him, she placed a kiss on her father’s cheek and claimed the seat on the other side of him, across from Rymingten.
She had kept her gaze from him until that moment.
The look in Rymingten’s eyes was intense, passionate. It reminded her of the things they had done to each other in their dwelling. That memory brought forth the fact that the male across the table from her would never provide her with offspring. The echoing sadness that swelled up from her core helped to extinguish any growing lust she felt for him. In his features she also recognized the joy radiating around his countenance, proof of his excitement about going home. In a way she was glad she was not crushing his hopes.
Chapter Five
“Pod 12 you are cleared for planetary departure.”
Rymingten watched a redheaded Argona female take the signed form from Krysteena that the queen had given them earlier.
He was anxious, ready to get on board the small vessel and travel to his home planet. It seemed like ten galaxy decades since he’d seen his family or run along the mountains and fields of Kitcy. Reaching up, he touched the collar around his neck. With this thing on there would be no running for his cat. The weight in his gut began to swell through his body, but he gritted his teeth swallowing his angst. Right now he just needed to be focused on getting home.
“Are you ready to board?” Krysteena walked over to him.
He always enjoyed watching the way she walked. She moved with such confidence and the sway of her round hips showcased her sensuality. His body heated and began to flame with memories of the evening before and the time they had spent together pleasing each other.
“Yes, more than.”
“Figured as much.” There was something in her tone and expression since she had met with the queen. When she joined Pryde and him for first meal there were lines of concern etched in her features. At first he had been concerned that maybe she had requested their joining to be over. However, she had informed him of time of flight, so now he was stumped. He had hoped that as her mate she would have opened up to him.
But if she didn’t want that, he would give her the space. He himself had things he was carrying he wasn’t inclined to share. So let her have her secrets.
H
e followed her to the oblong pod. There wasn’t a door of any sort that he could see. He wasn’t sure of the vessel that had been used to abduct and transport him because he had been in some sort of spell or stasis mode from the instant he left Kitcy.
Krysteena stepped to the small vessel and placed her hand on the side of it and closed her eyes. As if sensing her will, there was a popping sound as if something was disengaging, then all of a sudden a side panel lowered and became steps that led inside.
Once he entered behind Krysteena he became confused at seeing the interior. “How does this fly with no controls?”
She stood in the center of the pod where there was a circle in the middle of the floor and a large square pillow. “I am the controls.”
“Excuse me?” He didn’t comprehend what she meant at all. On Kitcy all of their off planet vehicles had two command chairs and a million buttons, gadgets and gauges that would allow them to navigate destinations, steer and communicate with the control center.
“All pods and vessels on Argona are commanded by majji energy. It is also the same ability that will open the shield around the planet so we can leave. Your presence on board will assist with direct connection to our destination.”
To say he was flummoxed was an understatement. The magic of their planet was something new to him. It awed and unnerved him a little. On Kitcy they believed in science and those things that were tangible. He didn’t recall anything about his abduction from his home or his flight to Argona. One moment he had been walking along the mountains of his planet getting his mind in order for his mating ceremony the next day, then he was standing before a sorcerer queen.
“Come and sit with me.” She laid her hand on the inside wall beside the doorway and it lifted and closed silently. Crossing the room she sat on the large pad in the middle of the pod, folding her legs before her. She glanced at him.
Still not sure what exactly she needed from him, he approached her. He thought about how the males and females were settled together during his and Krysteena’s joining ceremony and moved on instinct. Folding his body behind hers, he sat there and awaited more instructions.
Scooting back until she was positioned in the opening of his parted thighs, she said, “Wrap your arms around my waist.”
“Like this?” He slipped his arms under her arms and encircled her body, pulling her back against him a little closer until her back was pressed against his chest.
She caressed the back of his hand as hers covered his. Glancing over her shoulder, she held his gaze. They sat like that for a long moment. “Yes, perfect. Now the only thing I need you to do is think about going home. Every aspect of your planet. Can you do that for me?”
If she would have asked him a moment ago if he could sit and solely concentrate on his home planet he would have easily said yes. However, staring into the beautiful face of his mate and holding her in his arms it was hard for him to want to picture anything but the two of them locked in an embrace, loving each other to pleasures end. But, he knew that it was important for him to push past his emotions and desire for Krysteena and focus on getting home. Kitcy.
“I can do it, sweet Krys.”
She only gave a small frown at her nickname. “Then let us begin.” Facing forward again, she took a deep breath.
He could feel the expanding of her stomach then its slow contraction as she exhaled. Unsure completely of what he was supposed to do, he matched his breathing to hers. Almost instantly the pod began to vibrate beneath them. He aimed his thoughts stronger toward Kitcy. His heart began to pound as the vessel lifted and he could feel them start to soar higher and higher.
Being connected in such an intimate way with Krysteena he couldn’t think about what he hoped would happen once they arrived on his planet. He wasn’t sure what she could pick up on.
Soon enough he would be home and that was plenty to cause joy to spread warmth through his body and his cat to roar inside of him.
~YH~
“Commander of foreign craft, please state your purpose for entering Kitcy atmosphere.” The voice from the Kitcy command center boomed through the interior of the pod.
“I mean your people no harm. I arrive in peace with one of your warriors aboard.” Krysteena responded, her eyes still closed as she held the pod hovered over the planet.
“Is the warrior wounded?”
“No, he is not,” Krysteena responded.
“Then let the warrior verify himself.”
Krysteena glanced over her shoulder at the man whose warmth and strength had surrounded her for the entire flight between their planets. It had been hard at times to maintain the high level of meditation and concentration it took to control the pod. A few times her mind had wandered to the feel of Rymingten’s hands and wanted them to move from covering her stomach up toward her breasts or down between her thighs.
Leaning closer to her, he brushed a light kiss over her cheek. “Hello, Krandal, it is I Rymingten.”
“Rym…my ears must be deceiving me. We have searched the entire galaxy for you.” The man rambled on with a combination of bewilderment and excitement.
“I’m sure you have. Congratulations on your promotion to lead air security.” Rymingten’s deep voice caressed her ears as he spoke to the male who must have been someone he was very familiar with.
“Many thanks. We have so much to catch up on. You’re clear to land.”
Once the Kitcy male had disconnected, she asked, “A comrade of yours I assume.”
“Correct. Krandal and I have been friends since we were in primary lessons together. When I left,” he paused, the eyes that were bright a moment before as he spoke with someone from his planet clouded for a moment. “Krandal had just begun his entry training in the air security department.”
“What were you doing?”
“As the King’s youngest son I was automatically in the Kitcy guard. There has never been an heir to the throne that wasn’t a part of the planet enforcers.”
She understood for a moment her naivety in selecting Rymingten as her mate. A male that was being trained in the highest level of battle could have embarrassed her greatly in the arena. He had already been a tough opponent, but she now comprehended that he may have been restraining his skills greatly while they battled. She wasn’t sure if she should be angry or honored that he had allowed her to best him.
“Do you think it is time to set this pod down?”
Licking her lips, she realized that she had been lost in her own thoughts for a while. “Yes. Of course. The queen promised you a visit with your people and a visit you shall have.” Facing forward once again, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She tapped into Rymingten’s thoughts and images to bring the craft down in an area he’d shown her.
Soon they were disentangled from each other and they were rising to their feet.
She watched as Rymingten stretched out the cramps of his body, unfamiliar with sitting in such a position for such a long span of time. Even though telepathy transporter travel was a lot faster, it still could wear on a body the first few times.
“Are you all right?” She stepped to the side and raised her hand prepared to open the door, hesitating while she waited for his response.
“Perfect.”
Nodding, she rested her hand on the wall and visualized the pod opening. It did, smooth and soundless.
She was the first to look out and gasped at the lush fields and the impressive landscape of the mammoth hills before her. When she had been there to select Rymingten and her cargo vessel was orbiting the planet, it never landed or came within distance of their air team picking up their location. An incantation had brought Rymingten to her and placed him in a deep sleep for travel.
The coolness of the planet blew around her, different from Argona’s heat. It wasn’t cold enough to cause her to shiver, but jarring just the same.
“A sight to behold.” Rymingten’s heat greeted her as he spoke.
“Your planet is beautiful. We don’t have
hills as massive as you have here, as well you know.”
“Mountains. That is what they are. My cat has always enjoyed running along them. They have been there even before the buildings the first generation erected.”
“That is how I feel toward our forests and rivers. We must always respect them because they provided our early generations with shelter and food.”
He laid a hand on her shoulder, a physical connection that spoke volumes of their similar intellectual observations.
“Time is of the essence, we should not waste it with my sightseeing. Later perhaps you will have time to provide me with a tour of the planet.”
“I will make the time,” he confirmed.
They left the pod and went down the short ramp.
He stopped and took several breaths, as if the need to fill his lungs with Kitcy air was the most important thing. She allowed him this time.
Soon he was leading her along a path dotted with large azure-colored trees with some sort of mandarin-hued fruit hanging from them.
“What are those? Are they edible?”
“Yes. Very much so.” Stepping toward a low-hanging branch, he reached up and plucked a plump fruit off. He moved toward her and peeled back the outer hull causing juice to run down the side and over his fingers. “Egnarine. It is extremely sweet but there is a spice to it as well. It helps keep the blood and body warm when we are not in our cat form.” He offered it to her. “As warm as your planet is, Kitcy has to be cold for you…eat some.”
Taking it, she cradled the egnarine before biting into it. It was juicy and sticky sweet. After their journey she didn’t realize just how ravenous she was until she’d devoured the fruit and he was handing her another. The edges of her lips and tongue tingled with the spiciness of the fruit, but not enough to make her stop eating it. “It is very good.”
“When I was younger, my friends and I would skip our lessons and come here to the fields and just lay out in the grass and eat egnarine. All of us would journey home ill from over consumption and in great trouble. However, it did not stop us for long before once again we were laid out here.”
Scandalous Heroes Box Set Page 145
