Page 86 of The Queen

Satisfied that their hunt was at an impasse, at least until morning, I trudged my way through the weeds, keeping a keen eye out for splashes of color in the otherwise dark overgrowth.

It didn’t take long to locate the tall stalks crowned in white. I flipped on the handheld torch to confirm my suspicions, but it was easy to see the yellow sponge-like orb circled by delicate, pale petals. Star flowers. The milky blooms opened at night when the ambient illumination was bright enough, which certainly made picking them out of the weeds easier now.

The frond-like leaves tickled my hands as I held the stems to pluck off the buds. The roots had medicinal properties as well, but there was no need, and no time for that tonight.

Without a moment to spare, I harvested what I could, turned off the lamp, and headed back to camp. Before leaving the field, I cast one more glance down the mountain. The ships hadn’t moved at all. Once more, Verden’s strange weather patterns were assisting in our plans.

I shook my head. That made no logical sense. The planet was just a spinning rock flying through space, not a sentient being, and it certainly couldn’t conjure up a cloud bank to cover our escape. That wasn’t scientifically possible, but I was beginning to wonder.

The cheery glow of the fire and the soft moans of my mate greeted me when I arrived back at camp. I’d put a kettle on to boil earlier, and it was ready, so I tossed the flowers into it and let it simmer. There was no way to distill it properly out here, but this should work, in theory.

Saphyra’s pleasure rolled down the bond in waves. They were just up the hill, splashing in the natural stone pools. Moonlight glinted off wet flesh and water lapped against the rock ledges. I adjusted the waistband of my trousers.

It was killing me not to run up there and join in, but this needed to be done. They were all lost to their hormones, and no help to me.

One of us had to keep a level head.

That would be me. The simple beta with no military training. I’d studied hard while on the Hive, and this was what I’d gone to school to do. To manage omegas and, when necessary, their alpha counterparts. If someone told me then that I’d fall in love and form a mate bond with my charge, I would’ve laughed them out of the room. It just wasn’t done on Altaira.

The only omegas left on the surface of my home planet were infertile cast-offs from the Hive. Usually trained as courtesans, or sold as chattel on the flesh market, and all of whom were certified as sterile by fertility specialists. Not that they could get pregnant on Altaira from my understanding. That was why the Hive was built. Not a single omega child had been born on the surface for generations. Not since the last omega queen.

As I waited for the tea to steep, my mind wandered, wondering if Saphyra would grace us with children now that we were free of that place. If I thought the alphas were protective now, I couldn’t imagine how they’d react to being fathers.

The image of a chubby little cherub in Valyx’s tattooed arms brought a smile to my lips. That would be something to see, but we’d only be alive to see it if the infusion worked.

I pulled the kettle off the fire and portioned out the bubbling liquid into mugs. It wouldn’t hurt to get some of this into the alphas, either. The possibility of rut lingered a bit too close to the surface with all of them these days.

With some luck, the fog would delay the search until morning at least, and the herbal concoction would see us safely away by then. I cast a longing look at the sleeping pallet, but the stroke of pleasure through the bond and whimpers from up the hill captured my full attention. I was tired, unused to the activity of the day, but there were more important things than sleep.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Saphyra

When Grey walked into the darkness, the bond stretched tight in my chest. The emptiness his departure caused was replaced with a torrent of fire more intense than the hot spring water around me. Even with the embers of flame filling the void, it left me feeling incomplete and needy.

He’d said something about heat. My heat? His voice was a muffled blur in my hazy mind. Nothing mattered more than my mates surrounding me. Words weren’t necessary right now.

My belly clenched, squeezing Shadow’s softening knot, and I whimpered. Everything was on fire. Desperation for whatever I was missing settled in the pit of my stomach, and I squirmed.

I slid off of Shadow’s lap, his lock releasing its hold, and stood up in the knee deep water. Ghost dropped the last of his dark clothes on the stone shelf surrounding the steaming pool. His satisfied smirk was clear, even in the dim light.

“Come here, princess.” His pale skin glowed in the moonlight, which did nothing to hide his thickening shaft.

I was starving for him.

The small distance between us disappeared as he stepped down into the spring. His ocean fog scent enveloped me like a drug, and I sucked it into my lungs, but that wasn’t enough.

His long fingers closed around his length, pumping it in slow, teasing strokes.

A needy whine escaped my throat, and I bit my lower lip to stop more from following.

“Only good girls get cock shoved down their throats. Have you been a good girl?” he asked, taunting us both by running his thumb through the bead of pre-cum clinging to the tip of his shaft.

Stars, how I wanted to taste that salty droplet. “Please. Yes. I’ve been so good.”

His abs rippled as he chuckled. “I know you have. You’re always such a good girl. Now come over here and let me choke you on my cock.”

I was ravenous as I fell to my knees with a splash, wrapping my lips around his wide crown. The flavor of briny mist washed over me, cooling the heat boiling under my skin. My mouth enveloped his long, silky shaft.

---