Page 75 of Scars & Starlight
Her laugh turns into a darling hiccup, and she pulls back, her warm brown eyes connecting with mine. I see my entire future in them.
“Sounds good to me, to be frank,” she agrees.
“Good,” I say before I kiss the tip of her nose. “But who is this Frank, and why do you want to be them?”
37
TARA
“I'm fine,” I tell Lirael for the fourth time since Kai shuffled me into the med bay. His cousin ignores me and keeps waving her weird-looking probes over my head and belly, the two areas that got insulted the most since my abduction. Looking at the devices reminds me of the mess that started this whole thing – accidentally killing my assailant, General Korvann’s son. Impending parenthood brings a new layer of guilt to the act, but four years of survival have taught me not to agonize over selfish assholes who take what they want regardless of others’ feelings.
Kairen sits behind me on the medical table, running his hands over my arms while Lirael works. “Just a moment longer, my love.”
The medical chief puts a smaller device on my neck, which makes a hissing sound, followed by a cooling sensation on my skin. “Just some nutrients you and the child were deficient in,” she explains.
“You know what I’m really deficient in?” I ask. When they just blink at me, I continue. “A shower. Or maybe a bath. Yes, that’s even better.”
Kairen hesitates. “We do have a pool of Vasari seawater on the recreation deck. Why don’t we head there?” he suggests.
I jump up, making both of them flinch back so they don’t get hit in the face by flailing limbs. “Perfect!” I clap. “Last one there is a rotten egg.” Scrambling to the exit, I come to a realization and a consequent sudden stop. “Oh, but I don’t know the way.”
My prince and his stoic cousin smile at me with such affection that it heats up my entire face.
“This way, precious,” my love says once he reaches me, his arm wrapping around my waist. “I’ll let you take the first step in. Wouldn’t want you to be a rotten egg.”
I have the biggest smile on my face as we walk through Sovereign’s corridors. I’m not going to be bitter about what happened to me, not when I have such a bright future ahead. According to Kairen, Korvann will be held publicly accountable soon, and this chapter will be permanently closed.
Every Avaren we encounter on the way to mybathbows respectfully, greeting us with grins that mirror our own. I’m even slowly getting used to theYour Highnessstuff.
It’s not long until a large double door opens up into the pool area, and I gasp in awe. The ceiling mimics the night sky, bright stars, galaxies, and nebulae illuminating the translucent water below. The pool isn’t as much of a pool as it is a proper beach, with a sandy shore, glowing, colorful palm-like trees, and interesting seashells.
“This is wonderful,” I breathe, drinking in the sights and smells. Without looking away from the beauty around me, I strip off the plain medical overalls Lirael put me in as soon as I boarded The Sovereign. I told her to incinerate the stained clothes I wore while I was apart from them.
Once I’m free from the white material, I pad to the water’s edge, letting the gently lapping waves cover my toes. I can’t tell where the pool ends and the projection begins, the water and sky seemingly stretching to infinity. For a moment, I forget I’m not alone,heeding only my body’s drive to feel clean, to feel weightless. I step into the water, letting it swallow my trauma.
Once I’m waist-deep, I turn around to give my prince a hopefully seductive smile. “Aren’t you going to join me?”
His smirk would get me pregnant if I weren’t already there. “I was admiring the view.”
“Admire it from close up,” I suggest cheekily.
With a snort, Kai strips off his uniform in that universally sexy way men – and males – have. I admire each revealed inch of smooth skin interspersed with glowing teal lines, now softly flickering in the twilight dark of the beach simulation. My gaze follows the regal column of his neck, the broad shoulders, tight pecs, and the defined eight-pack abdominals, ending with that V meant to drive females insane. His cock is already hard, standing proud against his pelvis, gently glowing with the neural filaments decorating it. The bumps and spurs on it make my mouth water, my tongue eager to explore every divot over and over again, never getting enough.
Mesmerized, I meet him halfway, then drop to my knees, the soft sand cushioning the impact. I place my palms on his strong, muscular thighs, feeling them flex under my touch.
“Princess,” he groans, and my nails dig into the supple skin of his legs in reflex. Giving in to my desires, I extend my tongue to count the bumps following the underside, from the bottom all the way to the top. Kairen’s breathing increases, becomes louder, more ragged, and I squirm, squeezing my thighs together, feeling empty and aching.
When I reach the tip of Kai’s member, I swirl my tongue over it, enjoying the unique shape, imagining it inside me already. His hands reach into my hair, holding on, but not pulling, letting me set the pace. Finally, I take him inside my mouth, each groove and curve massaging my tongue and cheeks. His subtle smell of iced blueberries grows stronger as my nose nears his pelvis, and I let him pull out so I can move to his sack, firmer and smoother than a human man’s, alsolightly glowing.
My prince groans raggedly before I feel his arms on mine, pulling me up. “I can’t take it anymore,” he says, and picks me up, taking me into his arms. He walks us back into the water, stopping when it reaches our chests. “I need you now. Need to be inside you, reclaiming you as my own.”
With that, he shifts my weight into one hand and reaches between us to guide himself into my waiting pussy. We moan in unison when he bottoms out, and I throw my head back, feeling my hair get weighed down by water. After giving me a moment to adjust, his palms squeeze my butt, and he sets a sensual rhythm, the unique texture of his dick hitting all the right spots on every thrust and retreat.
“You’re mine,” he murmurs. “This pussy is mine.” He punctuates his words with an aggressive thrust. “Your human heart is mine.” He bends and leans forward to kiss the top of my chest. When his eyes catch mine again, he stops moving. One hand comes to my front, resting on my lower belly. “This baby is mine,” he says hoarsely. “All of you is mine, Tara Novak. And I’m never letting any part of you go.”
Tears gather in my eyes at his words, possessive and claiming, but also vulnerable and raw. I nod frantically and lean in to capture his lips in a brief kiss. “And you’re all mine, Kairen Veyrath,” I answer. “You will always belong to me. Only me.”
“Only you,” he confirms, his thrusts starting up again, picking up speed, aided by the weightlessness of the seawater. Ripples form and spread from where our bodies meet over and over, the water churning with our movements.
