Page 66 of Heir of Draga

Chapter Eighteen

Varan

The Jasmine

The Border

The Hai Galaxy

Varan brushed the hair back from Adelina’s face and kissed her cheek before he slipped out of the bed. He didn’t want to wake her just yet.

Adelina had asked the newly minted privateer and her crew onboard The Jasmine for breakfast and surprisingly Delphine had agreed. The Ravager was well known for its ruthless crew, merciless captain, the propensity for no quarter, and no prisoners. Though the captain was never specifically described, which made Varan think the legend was passed from one generation to the next.

He’d read every story about the Ravager he’d been able to get his hands on as a boy. So it was a bit surreal to have her accompanying them to the Hai Galaxy. Varan absently wondered who the captain had been before Delphine, if it was the male he’d always aspired to be.

He slipped on his leather pants and then sat down to buckle up his boots in the dark room. The floating clock said it was nearly nine in the morning on Draga Terra. Adelina hadn’t slept like this for a while from what he could remember. The spy he’d had on her over the cycles had informed him she was up at six most mornings.

It was strange still to think he was a married male. Whenever the diamonds caught the light he found himself staring at it. The ring on his finger was heavy, and felt a bit odd. Varan was still unused to the weight of it. But just like the cuff on his wrist and the rings on his other hand he would get used to it.

Their union was still so new, so dreamlike, and Varan wondered sometimes if he would wake up one day and find out it had never been real. Because it felt as though he could hardly remember what life had been like before Adelina. She permeated every memory and thought. The last five cycles were a blur – but she stood out like a star in the night’s sky, guiding him to safety.

Varan shook his head and strapped on his second boot. He’d only taught her a few things over the cycles when he’d known her only as one of his skilled jewel thieves, but the last few days they’d traveled to the border she’d taken to his fighting style like a fish to water. All those dance lessons, she’d said.

There was some truth to it. She was the most graceful fighter he’d ever seen. Every move was fluid, every motion perfect and precise; every move flowed from one to the next in the blink of an eye. It was art when she moved – a strange masterpiece of death.

Small hands wrapped around his bare waist and he leaned back into Adelina’s naked body. She smelled divine. Her jasmine scent was mixed with his own spice and it was intoxicating on her. Varan turned and pressed his forehead to her stomach and just breathed her in.

“You let me sleep in,” she murmured, running her fingers through his hair and tugging gently on the gold hoop in his ear.

Varan sighed and closed his eyes. He pulled her in tight. His cock stirred at her scent, her bare skin, and the raging desire that was always there, but he simply wanted to enjoy her for a little while longer before they had to join the others.

“You need the sleep,” Varan told her. “I doubt we’ll have the opportunity once we’ve done what we came all this way to do.”

Her sharp nails were so gentle on his scalp he practically rumbled with the pleasure of it. “You take such wonderful care of me,” she whispered.

The silence in her room was strange – nearly holy. Neither of them wanted to break it, to break the spell they could both feel between them.

“I love you, Adelina. You are my sun – you are every star in the sky, and I will love you until every single one of those stars is dead and nothing more than dust.” She was brighter and warmer than all those stars and he needed her to know that.

A drop of wetness fell on his cheek and he looked up to see her smiling down at him with tears in her eyes.

“I love you, too, Varan. You are everything I could have dreamed of and more.” Then she kissed him gently on the lips and slid off the bed toward the closet.

It was difficult to watch her ass sway, so tight and round, and not do anything about it. Varan wanted her more than he wanted breath in his body, but they couldn’t afford to be late to their meeting with Delphine. So he grumbled and adjusted his cock before finding a clean shirt to wear.

No more fancy tunics for him. The white button-down silk shirt was comfortable. Varan rolled up the sleeves and tucked his shirt in and then grabbed his normal belt with his actual knife and pistol. The other blades he tucked away here and there, they would never be seen unless required.

The knee-length black coat had even more tucked away and Varan felt settled under the familiar weight.

“Did I tell you I put a spycast on Giselle’s shreve before we left?” Adelina asked from the massive closet. It was similar to the one she had in the palace, but this was far more modern. The décor was more high-tech than desert riches.

Varan perked up at the mention of juicy intel. “You did not, though I am pleased you’re so thoughtful.” He lounged across the bed to watch her dress. Adelina was a female with rare grace. Every action was intentional, every move of her body rhythmic and hypnotic. Varan propped one elbow up and kept his boots off the actual bed. “Tell me, cunning wife. What did you find?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him and those twinkling eyes nearly took his breath away. “Other than the mundane and a few things we should probably look over together – I found out who her secret lover is.”

Varan couldn’t look away as she slipped on leather pants similar to his own, but lined with fur for the warmth. The waistband strained against her ass as she pulled them up and he felt his eyelids dip down as he enjoyed the view. “Oh? And who pray tell can stand her?”

“General Tamika of all people. They’ve been together for over a cycle now from what I can gather.” Adelina slipped on a long sleeve black lace shirt.

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