An Unfortunate Heir

by Grace, Viola

  They agreed that the day had been very eventful, and they headed back to Tya’s home. Tonight, Shan was meeting the fiancé, so she wanted to make a good impression and not scare the hell out of him. It was important that Tya’s dream ceremony happened.

  Chapter Four

  Prolan Alloway was from a good family, a little nervous around Shan, but doting on Tya. It was a good match.

  Prolan’s brother was along for the family dinner, and he was one of the newly demobbed space crew. He talked endlessly about the beauty of the stars and the wild fights of the outrider ships that circled the warship. They were the first to see action each and every time.

  Shan did a little bit of research in the military archive, and she sighed a bit when it turned out that Demoy was launch crew.

  Tya’s father smiled. “It is an honour to have one of the crew of the Turus with us.”

  Shan raised her glass to him. “Indeed. An honour to have one of the crew of the Turus with us. That long in space is worth a lot. All of the crew deserve our respect, from pilot to dishwasher. It is hard to do such a long haul.”

  He looked at her, and he smiled, awareness of what was in her gaze. There was a bit of a blush in his cheeks that everyone else put down to embarrassment at the attention.

  Later in the evening, he stood next to her, his soft grey wings folded against his back. “So, Lady Shan, you know?”

  “I have security access. You were talking a little too enthusiastically about risking your life. I have seen men who have had that duty for more than six months. The silence of space takes them to the edge of sanity. They barely talk at all for weeks after their tour.”

  He blinked. “So, why didn’t you call me out?”

  “It isn’t my business. I, too, have seen the rings around Amebour. They are brilliant blue and filled with crimson eyes.”

  He paused. “So...”

  “Either stop being lazy and do your homework or one of the men from an exterior unit is going to kick your ass, and a superior officer might break your wings, making you unable to even consider a return to active duty.” She was matter of fact as she sipped at her drink.

  “So, what should I do?”

  “Find everyone you have bragged off to and apologize, saying that you were worried that life prepping for battle was not as impressive as life firing into the void. Then, explain what you actually did if they ask.”

  He frowned. “How do you know what I did?”

  “I have been on a few warships in my lifetime. The Kadura are known for their tactics, and being on a warship is how we spend our tenth birthday. We have to know each and every part of the ship before we turn eleven. At that point, we can return home or continue on with our schooling on the vessel.”

  He was appalled. “There are children on Kadura ships?”

  “Of course. We do not leave our families behind. Ever. But we defend them with our lives.”

  They spoke for a few more minutes when he looked at her with a smile. “I must say, it feels odd to be looking you in the eye as we talk.”

  She grinned. “I seriously doubt that you have been making eye contact with me. You haven’t turned pale and walked away.”

  She turned the full force of her gaze on him, giving him calm confidence, and she chuckled as he turned and walked off.

  Tya came by, and she smiled. “Isn’t this wonderful. Everyone is getting along so well.”

  “It is an excellent outcome. Did you have fun today?”

  Tya grinned. “I did. I even learned a few things about business and directing it from afar.”

  “What did you learn?”

  “I learned that if you are not going to be at your business, make sure the person at the top is the one you can trust.” Tya smiled.

  “My mom taught me those lessons. It is rather fun to pass them on to you.”

  Tya moved closer. “Why are you an only child? I thought your people were fixed on breeding heirs.”

  “My mom couldn’t carry more children. They did try, but with every heartbreak, they decided that one would be enough. So, I have inherited my mother’s and father’s fortunes.”

  “Wait. What?” Tya stared. “That... You...”

  “Three moons and a percentage of harvest properties on six worlds. Yeah. Funds are not my problem.” She smiled. “All the gems that were in the jewelry we looked at were mined in my asteroid fields.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “My parents were both very good at what they did, and they inherited from childless couples across the family trees. I was declared heir to more sparse fortunes than I can count, and now, I am wandering the worlds, boosting my own inheritance into a mass that I can split with my heirs, and I am waiting to find a likely breeding partner to bring my own heir into the world.”

  “You seem so confident that it will happen.”

  “Fortunately, the Kadura are not obsessed with marriage. Family is the focus, and that can be a mother with many lovers or a father with the same. The child is the desired result.”

  Tya looked toward her fiancé. “I think children will follow. The attraction is there.”

  “You two have not...”

  “No. We have not. My father watches us very closely.”

  Shan smiled. “He is very good at it. He has been doing it all your life. Do you have any questions about physical relations that we didn’t cover in our correspondence?”

  Tya blushed. “I will ask for a refresher the night before the wedding.”

  “Fine. You need only ask.”

  “So, what about General Zaber. Are you going to seek him out?”

  Shan thought about the man, the wide shoulders, and the military cut that showed his dark blue hair, still thick and waiting for an opportunity to grow. With the sensibilities of her people, she wanted something to run her fingers through to hold her partner’s head where she wanted it.

  “I will consider it. I mean, if he comes to the wedding, I will definitely see if he is interested in a tumble.”

  Tya was going to ask more questions, Shan could see it in her face, but there was a knock on the door.

  The party paused, and then, conversation resumed as Tya’s father went to speak with the person at the door.

  The march of military boots was unmistakable. Shan put herself in front of Tya. “Hide.”

  Green scanners opened fire and struck every woman in the place. Shan watched the beams and saw them strike her neck. The magnified result was what they were looking for. The scanners shut off with a snap, and the men stomped toward her. “Miss, you are a match and are being conscripted to appear as a concubine candidate for General Zaber.”

  She quirked her lips. “You don’t say.”

  “Please, come with us.”

  One of the men reached for her, but he grabbed the bare skin of her wrist. He dropped to the ground a moment later. “Ah. Yes. I am a Zeffer Kaduran. If you remain calm, I will put on gloves.”

  She produced the gloves out of her robes and pulled them on. “Fine. Now we will go and have a chat with the good general.”

  The men seemed a little taken aback by her calm demeanor. Shan pulled her hood up and nodded. “Lead away.”

  They appeared amazed by the acquiescence, and from the night, cries of sobbing women sounded. “Seriously? You are doing a sweep?”

  They didn’t answer her. Two took her by the arms, and then, they were flying toward the distant tower along with over a dozen other kidnapped women. Shan didn’t squirm, but when they put her down, she straightened and strode into the building. “General Thander, does he know you are doing this?”

  Thander jumped as she walked forward.

  “Ah, Lady Shan, I was not expecting you to be picked up.”

  “I am guessing that your men were not told to act with discernment during the collection.”

  He blushed. “Oh. That. Well, time is a factor. Zaber is the last of his line, and as we all
know, life is uncertain.”

  “Now for the fun question. Does Zaber know that you are acting as his pimp?”

  There was a roar of fury from within the building. If Shan was honest, it sent a nice thrill up her spine.

  The women who were crying softy near the wall, being guarded by the same type of men who had snagged Shan, began crying louder.

  The thudding footsteps warned of his approach, and Shan braced herself for action.

  “Gather them up and send them home, Thander. I am not going to drag a line of sobbing women through my bed.”

  Shan looked at him with her head cocked. When he saw her, he froze. “You.”

  “Indeed. Me. Taken from one of the engagement dinners. So, you are stocking your concubine collection?”

  He took a few steps toward her, and she could feel the heat coming from his body via the uniform. With gritted teeth, he made himself clear. “I. Did. Not. Ask. For. This.”

  “Aw. You did too good a job with your ship, and now, they are trying to keep your bloodline in play. Boohoo. I am missing dessert.”

  He stared at her in shock, and for a moment, it was like there was no one else in the room. No crying women, no scowling men, and the delight and worry on Thander’s face were easy to ignore.

  Shan checked, and she quirked her lips. Her body was telling her what it wanted, but now, she had to convince him to cooperate. “Why don’t you agree to take a single lover for tonight and let the others go home?”

  He raised his brows, so she drove the point home, leaning up slightly to kiss him, waiting for the inevitable reaction when he dropped to the ground. His hands wrapped around her waist, and as she pressed her lips to his, his tongue flicked out to taste her, and she returned the favour.

  Her body shivered and pressed toward his. His body was doing the same. Layers of clothing between them were the only thing that kept them as individuals when their bodies wanted to be one.

  He flexed his wings, and they were suddenly in a warm and scented bit of cover that wrapped her in his pheromones and left her wanting to rip all of the hidden barriers away from them.

  When she finally broke the kiss, he lowered his wings and looked at Thander. “Tell them I agree to one but no confinement to the tower.”

  Thander’s astonished face nodded. “No confinement. Right. She is here for a month and easy to keep ground-bound.”

  Shan gave him a look, but Zaber’s arms were around her, and she knew what the results would have been if she tried to ease away. Nicknames, like kitten paws, were given for a specific adaptation that rang in the Kaduran bloodlines. It was a recessive gene but a deadly characteristic.

  Zaber kept his grip around her back as he walked her out of the holding area and up a set of steps that led to a private lift.

  She held her hand over his at her hip. Four minutes after being in the holding chamber, they were standing in his private quarters.

  He turned to her. “You are serious about being mine for the night?”

  “I am. My—our people have a different attitude toward these things. I am willing to share pleasure with you for one night to start. More if you earn it. I do have things to work on for my friend’s wedding, so that must be accounted for in the time we spend together. I will not shirk my duties to Tya. Plus, I bought a dress.”

  He smiled, and she could see that part of his mind was listening, but the vast majority wanted to strip her to the skin.

  He nodded and removed his tunic, unfastening the strap that kept the thing closed behind his neck, and the lower closures freed him from the fabric.

  His uniform trousers were simply trousers and soon gone. He wore underwear, how cute.

  Shan watched until her soon-to-be lover was naked and ready, and then, she pulled off her gloves. The hood had to be detached from her crystal, and she shrugged away the lighter robes that she had been wearing. Her own tunic tied on the side, and the skirt that she was wearing fell to the ground in a rush. Her boots were pried off easily, and for the final, she took the spike that was holding her hair in place and let the long locks loose around her shoulders and down to her lower back.

  It was time to see if he was as good as he looked.

  Chapter Five

  She watched as he stared at her approach. “So, I have done this a few times. How about you?”

  “I have had a few encounters but never a Kaduran.”

  She smiled. “Pretty much the same, just coated in poison and a little taller. I am surprised you were still standing after we kissed. I was expecting you to pass out.” She reached out to touch him and ran her fingers down his chest.

  He inhaled on a ragged breath. “Why does your touch feel like that?”

  She began to run both hands over his shoulders, chest, and belly. “The records indicate that when two compatible Kadurans get together, their toxicity cancels out and adds to the pleasure.”

  His erection flexed as his breathing increased in pitch. “It does seem to be that way.”

  Shan pressed her body along his and stroked the back of his head. She didn’t say anything else. There wasn’t really a need for intelligible vocals.

  He grabbed her, turned to walk a few feet, and lifted her, pressing her against the wall near the balcony doors. His lips caressed her throat, and she felt the scraping of his breeding teeth.

  She could feel it when he realized what was happening. Her own teeth had descended, but she hadn’t experienced it before. Her body liked whatever chemical cocktail he was putting out.

  He kept her pinned with his torso, but he worked a hand between them. A shudder went through him when he found her slick and ready.

  She whispered a taunt in his ear. “What are you waiting for?”

  He growled in her ear and lifted her higher so that he could slide inside.

  She closed her eyes as the strong heat of him slid into her flesh. Shan clenched her fingers into his shoulders and hung on as he began a slow flurry of thrusts that went longer and deeper as time went on.

  His skin slicked with sweat as he thrust into her, his wings flaring wide to cast her into a shadow of his own making. The silver of his eyes glowed brightly when she met his focused gaze. She looked into his eyes as he plunged deep and her soul fell a thousand fathoms into his mind. Fire roared around her, but it didn’t hurt, it caressed and teased her, urging her senses to rise just as high as his.

  She locked her legs around him and moved with him, her enjoyment ratcheting higher and higher until she jerked in his arms, snapping her head forward to sink her breeding teeth into his neck. The bite only took a few seconds, but it served her purpose.

  The needle-sharp tendrils delivered her chemical cocktail into his bloodstream before she let go and leaned back against the wall. He growled and pressed his mouth to her throat. The sting of his teeth caused another wave of slow shudders.

  The thrust of his hips against her turned into a slow grind as more and more of his weight pressed her into the wall. Shan gasped, moaned, and shivered as her body’s spasms went on and on and on.

  She felt the moment that his body keyed to hers. He let out a low grunt, retracted his teeth from her neck, and plunged deep as his own pulses of release jolted through him.

  They remained locked together for several minutes, sweat cooling on their bodies. Shan chuckled. “So, are you inviting me to stay the night?”

  He looked at her, threaded a hand through her hair, and pulled her close for a kiss.

  She smiled when she was able to breathe again. “I am guessing that is a yes?”

  Zaber shook his head. “Where have you been all my life?”

  She chuckled. “Kadura and the stars.”

  She ran a hand over his fuzzy head. The inch of hair on top was thick and silky. “Are you going to leave me pinned on your cock, or can I try and get my thighs together again?”

  He stroked her thighs and gripped her ass. “I like you here.”

  “I am en
joying it as well, but I don’t want you to get soaked.” She chuckled.

  He nuzzled her neck. “I am not worried. You smell amazing.”

  She caressed his cheek. “That’s you. Your breeding scent is very enticing.”

  He shook his head and kept nibbling at her neck. “The scent is all yours.”

  Shan sighed and tilted her head so that he had a full span to explore. “You know, if we were on the bed, you would have access to a lot more of me.”

  It was like she had jolted him with energy. She winced at the feeling of cold emptiness when he pulled away, but as she was settled on his bed, he moved to cover her, and the cold soon became a thing of the past.

  The evening had gone from an elegant dinner party to a lot of fun. By the time Zaber was exhausted, Shan was a little sleepy and decided that she would explain her situation to him and get the time to run the wedding errands when she wasn’t under him and he wasn’t inside her. She looked forward to seeing if they were a good enough match to manage to create a baby. It was about time she tried for her own heir.

  She fell asleep with the thought of a child on her mind and the planning for the infant portfolio half done.

  * * * *

  Zaber opened his eyes, and the swath of blood-red hair spilling across his pillow made him smile. It hadn’t been the madness of deep space. A woman had volunteered to be his breeder. A striking, Kaduran woman. Zaber sighed. He was going to have to make his point very clear in front of the ruling body of the military. If Lady Shan carried his child, it was going to be his heir. No matter the gender or genetic dominance of the Kaduran traits.

  Zaber wanted nothing more than to roll his lover over and start the events from the evening all over again, but his com was flashing, and there was a message from Thander. He wanted to meet with Zaber in their morning ritual. The gym.

  Zaber eased away from Shan with regret, grabbed some clothing, and left his chambers as quickly and quietly as he could. The sooner he got his meeting with Thander over with, the sooner he could return to Shan.