Page 61 of Possessed By the Leonid King

Rupex briefly thought of Silvia. His mother. Alana.

Would I let any King or Knight call me out for loving them? Alana did not let the age-old tales about “cats and dogs” stop her from loving Jaxson. Why should I let others rule my heart?

He felt a grudging admiration for the grizzled old Lynxian he’d talked to. That gruff and gray backwater-dwelling hadn’t hesitated to show off his human lover.

Times have changed. Worlds have changed.

“Layla?” He kissed her shoulder and then used his mane to tickle her cheek and ear. Her eyes fluttered open. “Layla?”

“What’s wrong, baby?” she whispered groggily.

“I love you.”

“That’s not wrong. Love you, too. Even if you are slowly wrecking my ability to walk.” Layla winced as she tried to roll to face him.

He cuddled her, keeping her still. “That’s not wrong. I love you. Wanted to tell you. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Look, I’ll try it, but I don’t think your cock is going to fit back there. We should start with some toys. Or a good tail-fucking.”

Rupex felt his cock surge back to alertness. His sexy, naughty, beautiful Queen. He could easily imagine fucking her tight back passage, something he’d never attempted with previous partners. The act of fully giving herself to him, every single opening, made his eyes darken with lust.

He shook his head to clear it. “Not that. Not yet, at any rate. Layla? Would you be my wife? Officially?”

Layla went stiff in his arms. “You want— what? Really?”

Rupex couldn’t keep her still this time. She spun on his best sheets with a splash of spilled juices. “Oh, f—”

“Shh. That doesn’t matter. I want an answer. Please. Will you marry me?” Rupex grabbed her face gently to force her eyes away from her thighs and up to his face.

“Yes! Yes, of course, I will. But... but no one was ever... I mean, I never thought I’d ever get asked that question!”

Rupex blinked at her, trying not to laugh at her squeaking protest and her shocked expression. “Well, I’ve asked you now. That was a yes you babbled at me, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Layla blinked up at him. “Now what?”

Rupex thought. “We take a warm shower, and I go wake up Marcus?”

“We can get our own breakfast!”

“I want to tell him the good news. We may butt heads—more in the past than we do now—but he is the closest thing I have to family. Well,” Rupex kissed her forehead, “he used to be.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rupex woke up one morning several days after his proposal to find his new bride-to-be shrieking outside the hut they were sharing, his hut to be precise. Dragging pants over his slightly sore limbs, Rupex stumbled out the door.

“Layla!”

“Contracts accepted! Contracts accepted! A whole bunch! Look!” Layla was running through the sand in a loose white dress that only came to the top of her thighs (it had probably been one of Alana’s undershirts), her breasts bobbing up and down, blonde hair streaming back from her sun-kissed face. She looked like a goddess. The only imperfections were the bruised starburst on her arm from her most recent shot and the tablet in her hand.

“Which ones?” Rupex held his paw out, his heart slowly returning to normal speed. Each day they had checked for word of contracts being accepted and for news of the quarantine procedures and flight restrictions. They already had their first post-grounding flight plan scheduled—out to Lynx-Nineteen. That would be a long-haul flight, lasting around five weeks, and that was provided they had enough crew.

Layla was thrilled to be with Rupex and to have accepted his offer of marriage, but her joy seemed incomplete. Every day she would spend a happy hour or two learning about Leonid wedding customs on her database computer, an hour or so studying for her entrance exam to the Information Officer Course, and an hour pacing, wondering why her three friends had not been in contact.

By the look on her face, Rupex thought that wait was over.

“They’re coming! They’re all coming! Look, look!” Layla scrolled frantically, too fast for him to see the words. “They’ve all accepted the position of ‘Crew, Maintenance.’ Oh, and we’ve got some others. There is a Tigerite, Talos, who accepted the offer for Security Systems Officer. A Servali chef—you know Marcus was rooting for him to accept, and a Leopardine freight coordinator, and an Engine Systems Mechanic...” Layla’s face twisted suddenly, something bright in her eyes.

“An Engine Systems Mechanic? Thank Bastet! We haven’t had one in three years. My brother-in-law, Jaxson, was the head ESM for Sirius Flight—What? What are you giggling about?”

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