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  Her gown would not stay on. Every time she pulled it on, it drifted off over her head like the lightest of feathers. He didn’t even have to be in the room. He seemed to know each time she reached for her dress.

  Yomin was wearing a pair of loose trousers. His uniform was in the cleansing unit, and he was admiring the way she twisted as he traced her breasts with his tongue. “You are very easy to arouse.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “My mother insisted that just because the girls weren’t allowed to take lovers before we wed didn’t mean we should be ignorant of what we were capable of. We got pleasure units when we turned eighteen.”

  He paused. “Did you bring it with you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you used it since you arrived?” He was grinning.

  She laughed from her position on the bed with him leaning over her. “Now. I got right to work and have been too tired to even try it.”

  He nodded. “Is it in your quarters?”

  “Yes. I need it in case I go into estrus. My mom’s cycle is fast, but my dad’s family is even worse. Since I ended up with just Haldis genes, I get a very bad heat twice a year.”

  He smiled and flicked one of her nipples with his tongue before teasing her with his teeth. “Do you now? When do you think it will kick in?”

  She shivered. “I have a few months.”

  He leaned over and nipped her other nipple. “The truth?”

  “Weeks.”

  He moved phantom fingers inside her. “Weeks?”

  She hissed and arched. “Week. Next fucking week.”

  “That is what your med records say.” He chuckled, and his mind continued to move invisible digits inside her.

  It was a strange feeling to be touched everywhere while your lover was frowning with focus and his hands were firmly in view.

  He watched her as the feathery caresses brought her higher and higher, and when she came, he took the sounds into his mouth.

  He held her head as he kissed her while aftershocks teased her body. “That is six.”

  She groaned. “You are not seriously going to get to a thousand.”

  “Oh, I believe I will. It will be an effort, but I think getting there will be fun.”

  He beckoned to a gown, and it floated over to her. “Here, we can go for a walk in the gardens before dinner.”

  “My thighs are going to be so sore tomorrow.”

  “Your skin should have sufficiently recovered tomorrow. I can give you a rubdown.”

  She blushed and grunted indelicately as she fought her way into one of the semi-sheer gowns from a sitting position. “What is it with the Hredu and the transparent clothing?”

  He chuckled. “Our women’s bodies don’t have the colour variants that you do. They are green all over.”

  “Naluan is gold.”

  “She is half Terran and half Hredu. Being a pain healer is a rough gig.” Yomin sat up and straightened her gown into even lines.

  She sighed. “It is. Everybody needs you, but no one appreciates you.”

  “You have had a healing of that nature before?”

  “Of course. My dad wanted to make sure that we remembered our lack of caution. There were half a dozen pain healers at court.”

  He got to his feet and took her hand. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

  She grunted. “Says the man who still has control over his lower half. I think I am numb.”

  “If you stumble, I will catch you.” He wrapped an arm around her.

  She sighed and looked down at the dark crowns of her nipples and the swatch of shadow at the juncture of her thighs, both clearly visible through the gown. “I really hate the fabric.”

  He chuckled. “I can see some advantages to it, but there are other fabrics available.”

  “What would the odds be that I could wear Haldis Imperium clothing?” She thought of the concealing layers wistfully. She rose to her feet, and the draping folds of fabric fell into a flirty mix of light and shadow.

  “All of those robes and that thick wrap in the centre?”

  “The corset. Yes.”

  “I will think about it. You are still an imperial princess, so we probably have room for compromise.” He looked her over. “I do enjoy the look of you in Hredu fashion, though.”

  She made a face. “We can consider splitting the difference.”

  He laughed. “We can write it into the final contract.”

  They were walking toward a door that led outside. The moment they were outside, she could smell dozens of flower species and feel the cool breeze from the ocean. The taste of Hredu changed from the city’s eco-friendly clinical and medicinal flavour to something wild and alive.

  “So, why did you believe the portrait when it was sent? She could have been wrong.”

  He chuckled. “I see you are familiar with the work out of Rhoda’s gallery. How did that work, by the way? She keeps this style of portrait to guardians.”

  Padana laughed. “That is privileged information. But I do know quite a few guardians. They have shared the information as to why they chose their partners. As they put it, it is difficult to find a mate when you are the one sweeping in to save the masses. You want a life partner, not a fan. Those are fun to bed in the beginning, but the novelty wears off when you realize you are the only one in your group not wed.”

  He walked with her into the garden, and he nodded. “Understandable. When I work with women after wildfires, they tend to react as if they are slightly overheated.”

  “Do you deal with a lot of fires?”

  “Yes, we are still recovering from generations of contaminants that altered the weather patterns. My facility with fire is very happy for making firebreaks.”

  “Wait. Fire?”

  “The telekinesis is a family trait, and we each gain our specific varietals after that.”

  She snorted. “Oh, the things they don’t put in the publicly available files.”

  “What about you? You disappear from public view for months at a time. Where do you go?”

  Padana paused. “You looked into that?”

  “Oh, indeed. Once I knew who you were, I requested each bit of information that your family was willing to part with, but they would not tell me where you went for three months out of the year.”

  She blushed. “Oh, that. I just go for a bit of a jaunt to different cousins’ places, and I do some negotiating for them.”

  “Cousins? I thought that your father didn’t have any other siblings.”

  “Oh, he doesn’t. The folk I visit with are cousins the same way that you and I are. One parent is a Terran. I help with negotiations for personnel, supplies, technology, and I assist in guardian recruitment.”

  He chuckled. “That is definitely not in your file.”

  “I also assist in Sector Guard recruitment, and I have been on my mother’s home world twice for tough negotiations.”

  Yomin chuckled. “Of course, you have. What is it like?”

  “There is only one moon; the oceans are a lovely blue and green. Weather is wild, and they are just beginning to accept that they have an avatar in their midst. They keep trying to kill her. I don’t know how they think that would work.”

  He paused as they stood in his mother’s garden. “They have an avatar?”

  “Oh, yes. She was accidentally woken by one of the Volunteers, and once she was awake, she had to start looking for a host.” She chuckled. “She found one, and a celestial avatar has joined her, so they are a very happy couple.”

  “Do they have children?”

  She shook her head. “Yes. A daughter. She’s a few years younger than I am. She’s going to be doing her education at the Archive.”

  “You have met her?”

  Padana nodded. “I have. She’s charming and an excellent blend of her mother’s and father’s species. She was born to the two before they were avatars.”

  “Interesti
ng. I always wondered how that worked as I have heard of a few avatars having offspring over their generations.”

  He nodded. “We have always been relieved that Hredu has not developed one.”

  Padana smiled. “It didn’t need to. Your people created the guardians here and took charge of your environment. If there was a consciousness here, it did not need to rise.”

  “So, do you think one will rise one day?”

  She shrugged. “Not if it does not have to. While they enjoy having bodies and emotions and actually being with their children, they also feel a little peculiar when their avatar leaves the surface and goes travelling for trade negotiations.”

  “You truly have spoken with a few of them.”

  She laughed and wandered over to the flowers that were identical to the ones her mother had in her gardens. She spoke absently. “Of course. That’s what negotiators do. We have to understand both sides to draw the points of commonality between them.”

  He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “So, how would you draw a contract between us?”

  She touched the soft petals of the rose and leaned back against him. “Well, what are you willing to surrender for me? I am giving up my home, family, social connections, and my occupation. I will be subject to assassination attempts and social snobbery until I bear an heir. So, I gain an elevation in status, and you gain a body servant with a keen wit.”

  He squeezed her. “What do you want, and then, we will negotiate.”

  She chuckled and turned in his arms. “I want a bodysuit that doesn’t burn my skin when the electricity rises; I want a secure place with privacy where I can retreat to when I feel it necessary. And, I want to wear Haldis Imperium styles with Hredu crests to most of the public events unless Hredu styles are absolutely required.”

  He blinked. “That’s it?”

  She looked up at him and stroked a hand down his chest. “A midwife from one of the Citadels would be nice when the time comes.”

  He smiled slowly. “You have confidence in your ability to get pregnant?”

  “I am certified normal, healthy, and I got my primer treatment when I was nineteen, and the requests started for my hand and other parts of me.”

  “Primer?”

  “It... helps my body figure out what species I am mating with. A bit of your DNA and it adapts the next ovulation to match your species. Wow. This is really not a romantic conversation.” She blushed.

  Yomin stroked her hair, “So, whoever gets there first is what your body will sync to?”

  “Yeah, and then, there is a fixing shot afterward. It locks me into a specific species. I am pretty sure that your mother had the same scenario.”

  He grinned. “Can we not discuss my mother’s sex life?”

  She snickered. “Ah. Right. Well, it is common enough.”

  “So, all you want is a bit of privacy, a new suit, and to wear clothing that you are comfortable in but still with the royal house insignia. I believe we have just drawn up a contract.”

  She was going to respond to that when he kissed her, and she went up on her toes to reciprocate. Padana ran her hands over his chest and abdomen, teasing around the waistband of his trousers.

  He sighed and moved her hands away from him with controlled care. “I think that is enough for today. You are still recovering, and I don’t trust my control if you are touching me.”

  She grinned and looked at the setting sun. “How many days do you have off?”

  “Four more if there isn’t a disaster that requires my assistance.”

  She nodded and stepped back. “Fine, I will be hands-off until tomorrow. Will you do the same?”

  He smiled slowly and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Absolutely not.”

  Chapter Eight

  Padana woke up exactly on time. She turned over and faced Yomin, kissing at his neck and moving down over the muscle that flexed as she shifted down his body.

  His tone was husky when he asked, “What are you up to?”

  She tongued his navel. “It’s tomorrow.”

  He groaned when she wrapped her lips over the head of his cock, and she sucked at it lightly before moving on him with more enthusiasm.

  The hot and salty taste of him mixed with the musk of his body and hers. Hands gripped her hips, and she yelped in surprise. She moaned a moment later as his tongue slid along her folds, parting her and delving into her.

  He chuckled. “You started it; finish it if you can.”

  She wrapped a hand around him and stroked then put her mouth on him once again. She sucked and stroked with a staggering rhythm that was lost when he flicked her clit with his tongue. She pulled her mouth away from him as she groaned and shuddered as her body clenched and clasped at a cock that wasn’t there.

  He lifted her after loosening her grip on him and turned her around to straddle him. He eased his cock into her, and she moaned again as her body made room for him.

  Once inside her to the hilt, he smiled, “I win.”

  She shivered as her body came to grips with the sensation of someone inside her. She braced her hands on his chest and rocked her hips. “If you say so.”

  “You feel like a wet, hot glove around me.” His golden eyes narrowed.

  She closed her eyes and blushed. “Uh, sorry?”

  He laughed and gripped her hips. “Try this.” He moved her on him, lifting and lowering her with a slow and careful pace that stroked inside her with every move.

  Padana moved on him, and her fingers dug against the smooth but tough hide of his skin. He cupped her breasts as she rode him, and she heard her voice in the bedroom, echoing on the walls until she leaned back and screamed as fire ripped through her body before she collapsed on him.

  He rolled her to her back and thrust into her carefully until he groaned and held himself deep inside her. She felt the flex and twitch within her. It was only when he nuzzled her cheek, and she turned toward him that he kissed her softly, nipping at her lower lip. “Fifteen.”

  She carefully wrapped her legs around his hips. “Want to shoot for sixteen?”

  His kiss deepened before he murmured, “And here I thought you weren’t psychic.”

  He slid inside her, withdrawing to the tip and then plunging inside with a grunt. She groaned, he groaned, and sweat pooled between them as they writhed together. She undulated her hips against him, meeting his rhythm with her own.

  Her orgasm struck her by surprise, and she simply shivered all over with her arms pinned over her head. His hips slowed, but the inner spasms continued with every stroke. His tongue mimicked his cock inside her, and she moaned as her blood heated again.

  Padana resumed rocking her hips against his, undulating to take him as deeply as she could. She sent sparks through her skin where they were in contact. He jolted slightly at first and then groaned against her mouth.

  She felt him buck and hold himself against her again. He pressed his forehead against hers. “Now, if only I could stay inside you for the next hundred years.”

  She flexed her fingers against his, and he did the same. She sent a light crackle through their contact points, and he shivered.

  “That was quite a surprise. It feels like a thousand fingers caressing me at once.”

  She chuckled. “I can also use pressure points to give you a backrub after a hard day.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “A little tender, but it has nothing to do with the recovery from the suit. That is fine.” She chuckled and unlocked her legs, letting them slide alongside his thighs.

  He chuckled and grazed his lips across hers. “Thank you for waking me for the new day.”

  “Too much anticipation can be annoying. I am a jump right in kind of woman.” She smiled. “I suppose it is nurture over nature in that way.”

  He smiled and kissed her again. “I suppose that I should remove myself from you.”

  She flexed her fingers, and sh
e asked, “Just a little bit longer?” She started to breathe deeply and slowly.

  “Are you falling asleep?” He laughed lightly.

  “Maybe. It has been an interesting few weeks.” She turned her head and yawned.

  He released her hands, slid one of his to her backside, and rolled to his side, taking her with him. “Rest then. I am hoping to add considerably to our tally before we return to duty.”

  She chuckled and slid her knee onto his hip. “I might be a little sore.”

  “If it gets to be too much, let me know. I will do what I can to alleviate your discomfort.”

  “I note that you are not offering to abstain.”

  He laughed. “I am going to rule an empire. I do not make promises that I cannot keep.”

  She smiled and nodded off, cuddled against him.

  Three days blurred by until there was a call that they could not ignore.

  Yomin spoke into the com, and he nodded while Padana finished eating her sandwich.

  “So, it is completely collapsed?” He frowned.

  “It is, and we can’t get the generators going. Halu said your bride might be able to help with that. They have two hours of oxygen, and we can’t mobilize equipment here that quickly.” Winter’s voice was tense.

  “Right. We will be on our way in five minutes.”

  Padana blinked. “We are doing what now?”

  He sighed and said, “Come with me. Can you fly a skimmer?”

  “I can.”

  “Great, I will get changed, and then you, and then I will be able to increase the speed to get us to the southern continent.”

  “What am I going to change into?”

  They were at the skimmer, and he pulled open a cargo compartment. One of his bodysuits was waiting, and next to it was a suit with a full helmet. The imperial insignia on the shoulder was the house of the Haldis Imperium.

  He nodded. “Get us airborne. They should have sent me the coordinates already.”

  Padana got into the pilot’s seat, and she looked at the displays and setup for the skimmer. “We are taking off. Lean against something stable.”

  The coordinates were in the navigation unit, so she throttled up, got them clear of the private retreat, and directed them toward their target.