Page 79 of Dark Space
‘More than what you have been, I hope,’ Alcide said, drawing Callan’s arms tighter.
‘Personally, obviously.’ Callan nipped Alcide’s ear. ‘But professionally, I want to stay your pilot. And Vesper … Well, that’s up to Vesper.’
‘I like the sound of consort,’ I said, my lips tugging up at the corners. ‘I don’t need anything else. And if you announce it publicly, then I can stay close.’
‘To Anna,’ Callan said.
‘To all of you,’ I answered, and, deciding I’d had quite enough emotion for one day, dissolved into my trueform, closing my eyes and ignoring any further conversation.
After I’d left my parents and twin, I’d never stayed long enough around other beings to care about them; in fact, I’d deliberately done the opposite. You couldn’t let yourselfcarefor a being you were about to steal from, someone you were using as a diversion, as a scapegoat, someone you were setting up to take your fall. Being a thief didn’t exactly mesh with having a family. I’d been ruthless, cutthroat, selfish, and I’dlikedit that way. When I was hurting other people, there was no wayIcould get hurt, not really. I’d been in control, always.
But now Anna had her fingers wrapped around my heart, and I’d made myself vulnerable to her and our Roth. I wasn’t used to the feeling, and I didn’t like it, but my want for her, and for them – myneedfor her, and for them – outweighed the sense of danger. The tiny human had captured me,vanquishedme, and now she and her horned abductors were changing the very fabric that made meme.
And I wasn’t even sorry about it.
We stayed in Alcide’s room for three days, leaving on the fourth morning after Bryn sent a terse cast saying he was sick of running the orb and would the King kindly come back and do his job. I’d gone back to Earth for more condoms – asking for directions from Anna this time – but Callan decided that it was too risky – not to mention impractical – for me to keep going back. We didn’t have a doctor to offer Anna a more long-term solution, but wedidhave a generator, and, after a few failed attempts, Alcide managed to make something from a malleable plastic that did the same job, but with the benefit of not dissolving the moment my cum touched it. Anna whispered to me one night as the Roth lay sleeping that while shedidwant children, she wanted them in the future. My twin had always wanted younglings, but I thought it might take a while for the notion to sink in for me; I was happy to wait for Anna to come around to it.
Alcide and Callan returned to the bridge while Anna and I explored the ship, finding all kinds of interesting storerooms and empty quarters where I took every opportunity to slip my hands inside her clothes. My shy little lodestar had a hidden exhibitionist streak, and was more than happy to let me press her against the wall and lose myself between her legs with doors left precariously open and glass not opaqued, where anyone might walk in or notice what we were doing. I liked the time that was just for us, but Anna’s light glowed most brightly when the four of us were together, even if all we were doing was eating or listening to Alcide talk about Roth history.
I liked that, too.
Bryn had hacked into the communications channels used by the Intergalactic Council, so we had up-to-date news on the peace summit. Even a full Earth month out from the summit starting date, delegates were beginning to arrive, though the cephalopod Queen was refusing permission to land on terra until the agreed date. Alcide thought it was a power play, but Anna pointed out how hard it was to plan a big event, and commented that the Queen might simply not have beenreadyto host hundreds of guests.
As we would be turning up without an invitation, it wasn’t really an issue either way.
Bryn also kept Alcide updated with what was happening on Scytha. In no sense of the word could it be calledgood. In Alcide’s absence, his cousin was beginning to consolidate power, starting with the military and a brutal, impressive coup, before moving onto the Dread Order – the Roth priesthood. The religious organisation was, surprisingly, a harder skull for Fiach Redhands to crack, obsessed as they were with the notion of divine order and Alcide being the gods’ representative made flesh. The fact that he’d killed his father onlystrengthenedhis claim; apparently Roth kings had a long history of impatience with their patriarchs and a penchant for taking the throne in interesting and violent ways. It was seen not as a disruption of divine order, but rather an emphasis of it; the gods, the priests argued, always had a plan, and sometimes that meant sons murdering their fathers over a family lunch. Fiach had a few pet priests who were cobbling together an argument that the gods preferred him, but the Dread Order as a whole were stubbornly resisting that notion. Alcide, they were arguing, was the gods’ weapon, their tool, and he was a shining light representing a new dawn; Darius was supporting that notion by sending the priesthood curated updates emphasising Alcide’s kingly nature and aptitude for ruling.
‘We can play on that,’ I said musingly, having turned off a rather lengthy sermon cast we were listening to one morning in the control room. ‘If they think Cide is the shining light of a new era, we can dress him accordingly.’
Callan blinked at me. ‘Like the Sun King,’ he murmured. ‘A king from a few millennia ago,’ he went on, when I cocked an eyebrow in question. ‘You might remember him. His reign coincided with Scytha becoming a Category-2 planet, and he oversaw an explosion of new technology and exploration of our galaxy.’
‘Perfect,’ I said, though I flicked his shoulder in punishment for theyou might remember himcomment. ‘Did he do anything particularly awful?’
Callan frowned. ‘Not that I remember,’ he said. ‘He had three consorts and a number of children. He’s one of our few kings who managed to die of old age.’
I tapped my bottom lip with my finger. Callan tracked the motion, his eyes narrowing. I pretended not to notice. ‘What did he wear?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘If he was calledthe Sun King, what did he wear?’
‘Not golden armour,’ Callan said with a snort, his hand finding my hip. ‘Though the tradition of gilding our horns comes from him.’
‘We can work with that.’ I turned to face him, winding an arm behind his back and bringing him closer. ‘We can gild Alcide’s horns, and the pommel of his sword, and keep the golden makeup –’
‘War paint,’ Callan growled, pressing his hips forward so I could feel his growing hardness against my thigh.
‘War paint, makeup,’ I said airily, waving a hand. I slipped that same hand between us and found his cock, gripping it hard, hisscales undulating against my palm. ‘It’s all the same. As long as it’s noticeable.’
‘We set Cide up as the Sun King come again,’ Callan said, thrusting into my hand. ‘Do you know, I think the old king even had red hair.’
I turned him around roughly, unfastening his uniform to the waist and pulling it down, baring his muscular ass, trying to keep my breath steady at the sight. I took his hard cock in one hand and pressed into him with two fingers from the other, finding him slippery and ready for me. It was odd that the Roth were so opposed to male-male couplings when their body was seemingly made for it, but I didn’t comment. I dissolved my clothing and guided my cock inside him, feeding it inch by slow inch, until the big pilot was panting and begging beneath me, arching his back as he leaned forward carefully on the control panel.
I purred approvingly at him, pleased and proud at how swiftly he’d thrown aside the shame he’d been raised with to embrace what he wanted. That he was desperately in love with Anna was clear; that he’dalwaysbeen desperately in love with Alcide was even clearer. I had no idea what he felt for me, but I was happy to take his body when he offered it. I thickened my cock, stretching him slightly, and listened with pleasure at the resulting low growl rumbling from his chest and the increase of slick in his hot passage. I hooked one forearm over his chest, encouraging him to rest against me, and licked up the column of his neck before my other hand wrapped around his throbbing cock.
I pumped until hot cum splashed onto the floor to settle in a pool, his ass clenching around me as he came. I gave two hard, punishing thrusts, and emptied myself inside him, my eyes closing as my vision went white. I liked that I could fill him, liked draining myself inside his hard, strong body. There was something primal about it, something instinctual, as if throughthe act Callan became somehowminein the same way that Anna was.
It didn’t help that I could also imagine Alcide under my hands, imagine myself stretching him, opening him up, taking him in the same way. He’d be different; it would be a battle for dominance. Callan was used to being the tallest, the strongest, and his surrender was almost an act of defiance; it would be harder for Alcide, whose entire life was a constant fight for control.
