Page 9 of Taken By the Naga King

“What?” he snapped at Jakam.

Chapter 4

Azha

Azha turned to see the Naga, Jakam, who she assumed was some kind of servant to Gravon, at attention in the doorway.

“Everyone is prepared for takeoff. The doors have been sealed, and the ship is being pressurized. Everything should be ready by the time we reach spot number one.”

“No more issues with the Jorvlens?”

“No, Your Majesty. They seem to have moved on. We have not received another call on the comms from them or the control tower.”

“Perfect. Anything else?”

“No, Your Majesty, unless you need a copilot.”

“No, it will just be me and Azha up here. I do not want to be bothered for the entirety of the flight unless there is an emergency.”

“Yes, of course.”

Gravon pressed the button to close the door and turned back to her. As soon as he looked at her, she remembered the moment they had just shared. How could she have forgotten?

She felt her face heating up at the memory from only a few minutes ago. His lips on hers, his hands. Especially those hands. They had moved along her body with such surety, like they knew exactly what they were doing. Exactly what they wanted.

And she was pretty sure she wanted it, too.

Azha turned to look forward, away from him. Though she had enjoyed the moment immensely, she was unsure of what that meant. She had only just met him, and he was a king while she was a slave. Ex-slave? She wasn’t sure of her status yet.

But she couldn’t ignore the feeling deep inside of her, the one that told her that this was right. That somehow, this was where she was meant to be. She wanted to follow that feeling, no matter where she ended up as a result.

The fact that she wasn’t scared anymore confused her. The way his presence was turning into not only a comfort but something that excited her in ways she’d never felt before.

Gravon moved around the flight deck, seemingly getting ready for takeoff. She’d never been on the flight deck of a spaceship before, and she realized exactly what was about to happen. She was about to see outer space and experience what it was like to travel through it. In all the chaos and excitement, she hadn’t realized that fact until now. She had always been a Jorvlen slave on Noxxa, born and raised on the alien planet after someone in her family had been abducted from Earth years ago.

Her eyes widened, and she looked at Gravon. He noticed her gaze and met it with questioning eyes.

“Is something wrong?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s just… I’ve never witnessed this before.”

“Witnessed what?”

“This,” she said, gesturing around her. “Space travel. I’ve never left Noxxa.”

“Oh,” he said, as if this hadn’t occurred to him, either. “Are you scared?”

She shook her head again. It was no scarier than the things she’d seen in the past.

The control panel beeped, and they both looked toward it. The Imperial Nirum was now in spot number one, with the words “ready for takeoff” flashing next to it.

“I’m excited,” she heard herself saying. And it was true. She was. She was excited to get the hell off of Noxxa. This planet that had brought her nothing but a life full of running—a life no one should have to live. She was now leaving that life behind, which was something she never thought would be possible.

Azha gave Gravon a small smile, grateful he was doing this for her, though she didn’t quite understand why.

“I need to get us past the exosphere and into space. Once we’re on the right path, I can trigger an autopilot until we get closer to Nirum.”

“How long does it take to get there?”

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