Page 186 of Stars in Umbra
Mo gave his woman a lopsided grin. ‘It’s not often I get out here because of work, but when I do, I relish it. The peace is extraordinary, the views are out of this world.’
‘How long have you owned it?’
‘Zane sold me the land a few years ago for a favorable price, and now it sits along the same ridge as their vacation homes. It has a house bot, and Mirage oversees all cleaning and maintenance as part of the service she confers to the other Riders. It’s also a good investment and has grown in substantial value, which means it can be a nest egg for our little one in the future.’
He stroked her growing belly as he spoke, and she turned for them to share a long kiss.
When he finally came up for air, he made her stand, patting her behind. ‘Strap in, beautiful, we’re landing soon.’
When she pouted, he gave her one more scorching embrace. ‘You’ll get your sweet later,mi kaya, promise.’
She smirked and slid back into her seat as Mo flew along a craggy ridge.
Until a structure set on boulders emerged from the mountainside.
The cliff-top mansion sat perched at the edge of a sheer drop as if daring gravity to test its resolve.
The mansion rose in sculpted, modern lines, all silvered minerals and sweeping panes, a seamless extension of the rock itself.
Mo brought the corvette down on a shielded landing terrace, the repulsors humming against the boulders beneath.
The security dome over the home protected them from the worst of the wild elements.
Still, a raw, untamed wind whistled through the cliffside crevices, and the roar of the desert mare far under their feet was audible.
Rina took Mo’s hand, stepping through a set of ebony-engraved floor-to-ceiling doors that shut behind them with a hiss.
She caught her breath as she took in the view.
Of an internal garden that should have been impossible here, tiers of lush plants, their leaves glossy with moisture from hidden misters.
Glossy, wide-hued flowers spilled in between giant fern fronds, and the air shimmered with the heady perfume of blooming vines.
It was a jungle bursting from the mountain’s bones.
Her Dunian heart, so attuned to the natural world, recognized a meticulous dedication to the thriving ecosystem.
‘You did this?’ she asked, her voice filled with awe.
Mo shrugged, though a quiet pride was evident in the gesture. ‘Every root, each seed. It took years to coax them to take. They feed the atmosphere with oxygen and cleanse it too.’
Past a corridor lined with mini palms, they walked into the house.
It was a cathedral of glass and stone, its architecture a tribute to the view.
The cliffside wall was transparent, the plex panes so clear that they seemed to dissolve into the night.
Offering an unobstructed panorama of the jagged mountains and Alphetraz twin luminaries floating massive and radiant on the horizon.
The interior was warm and lived-in.
Soft rugs layered the marble floors, velvet couches curved toward a suspended hearth, and the walls were broken up with built-in planters where more greenery thrived.
A thick-leaved ficus arched over one corner, a citrus tree heavy with fruit in another, and trailing flowers lined the stairwell.
‘It’s gorgeous,’ Rina murmured, her fingertips tracing the curve of a broad leaf. ‘This could be a home on Dunia.’
‘That was the point,’ Mo said, his hand resting on the small of her back as he guided her deeper into the space. ‘I grew up on a volcanic planet; we never saw plants. I then moved to Eden II, the same thing. Now I can’t live without them, they make me happy.’
