Page 52 of Scars & Starlight
“You deserve it,” he replies with conviction.
I clear my throat so I can continue. “I’ll be leaving you in command of the Sovereign and all Earth operations for a few moonfalls while I take Tara to meet my family and her new subjects.”
My first officer whistles, his eyebrows up. “You’re not wasting any time, Cousin.”
“I know what I want,” I reply. “But I also know what Tara needs. She will want to be here, on Earth, overseeing and helping with the resistance effort. The sooner we can establish communications, the sooner she will find answers regarding her family.”
“Fair enough. You know I’ll do my best to have everything running smoothly in your absence,” Caden assures me. He has an easygoing nature, but there is no better first officer than him. He had countless opportunities to ascend to general and take command of his own vessel and vanguard, but turned them all down to stay with me.
“You know I love you, right?” I ask him, clearly shocking him tono end, earning a few confused blinks. He recovers fast, though, the usual carefree grin falling into place.
“Love you too, Cousin, but please, keep the flowery words for your match. I’m not the one who needs to bear your children.”
I choke at his response. “Well, thank Vireon for that. Imagine if they looked like you.”
“I will have you know I was voted the most handsome of the royal cousins fifty times in a row,” Caden says indignantly.
I roll my eyes again. “Yes, you’ve only told me a few hundred times before, I had forgotten.”
He throws me a rather rude gesture that ought to have him executed, and I blow him a kiss in return. Once our conversation is over, I take one last deep breath of the salty sea air, then crawl into bed with Tara. I kiss her naked shoulder, unable to resist the allure of her silky skin.
She stirs, but keeps her eyes closed. “Done with your check-ins?” she asks sleepily.
I rest the palm of my hand against her cheek, now gently glowing with her own neural filaments. “I wouldn’t be much of a commander if I didn’t command,” I joke, rubbing the pad of my thumb against her plush lips. I shudder when she presses a light kiss against it. This female can bring me to my knees with the smallest of gestures. “Are you ready to head back to your base at firstlight?”
“And then Avaris?” she whispers, opening her eyes.
I press my forehead against hers. “And then Avaris,” I reply against her lips.
The soft breeze from the open balcony door ruffles my hair before her fingers slot between the strands as if she were jealous of the wind. “I can’t wait to see your home. But…”
“But what?” I ask softly.
“I’m scared of that particle web travel thing you guys do,” she admits. “Is it going to hurt?”
“Not at all.” I kiss first above one eye and thenthe other. “One moment you’ll be in your Milky Way galaxy, the next you’ll be in mine.”
She lets out a shuddering sigh, and I roll us to the side so I can pull her against me. It must be such a daunting prospect for someone who’s never even heard of intergalactic travel until recently.
“Will we pop up right above Avaris… or under it, I guess? Shit, I can’t even imagine it.” She lets out a small nervous giggle.
“The entangled particles are located within both planetary systems. However, there will be a couple of rotations' worth of travel on each side,” I explain.
“So I’ll get to see some other planets too?” she asks hopefully.
I smile against her hair. “We’ll be too far from most to see them up close. I could make some detours for you, though.”
She pulls back to look up and meet my eyes. “You must really like me, Kairen Veyrath,” she whispers.
“No.” I shake my head. “I really love you,” I finish.
I hear her pulse speed up and her breath catch in her throat. “I really love you too,” she says in a broken voice. “I don’t care what biology says. You’re meant for me, I just know it.”
Clicking my tongue at the sight of her tears, I lean in to kiss them all away, following their tracks over her cheeks and down her neck. Her breathing becomes shallow as I glide my tongue against her neck, and I pull her lower body closer against mine in response. She’s not wearing anything, her clothes discarded from when we made love earlier, and her hot core presses against the thin material of my bottoms.
I slide down and take the peak of one breast into my mouth, nuzzle it, and move to the other. Once she starts undulating against me, I pull my sleep pants down enough to free myself, then hitch one of her legs over my hips. I test her with my fingers and, seeing that she’s ready for me, I line myself up with her entrance and take her. She stops breathing the moment I bottom out, and I take her mouth with mine and give her the breath from my lungs. If shewanted them, I would tear out my hearts and gift them to her as well.
We move in perfect synchronization, meeting like waves from two currents, gently crashing against each other before receding, only for nature to bring us together again. The sounds of our skin brushing together, the wetness from our joining, and our strained breathing mix with our whispered utterances of love and devotion.
