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  When he emerged, he was working at his hair with a brush.

  “Come here with that, Caalos.” She beckoned him, and he took a seat with his back to her.

  Hydra took the brush in her hand and divided the fine stuff up into sections. She worked the hair from the ends to his skull and finally ran the brush through his hair with long, smooth strokes. When his hair was a straight curtain, she reached up and massaged his scalp, smiling at the groan of pleasure that she worked free of his throat.

  When he was moving with her, she laughed and knelt higher, moving to massage his neck and shoulders with the same strong rhythm.

  After a few minutes, he reached up and pulled her hands forward, pressing a kiss into each palm.

  He kissed the mark on her wrist and started to move up her arm, pulling her around him and into his lap. “What did I do to deserve finding you?”

  She laughed. “You had good taste in diners.” His eyes widened. “That reminds me.” He stood and set her back on the bed. She watched him as he rifled through data slips on his desk, and he found what he was looking for, raising his hand with a cry of triumph.

  She blinked as he knelt in front of her with the small recording crystal in his hand. “What is that?”

  He smiled, and his red eyes showed an affection that went far beyond the physical. “The recipe for the diner’s forty-seven-ingredient soup.”

  Tears welled in her eyes as she took the crystal from him. She flung herself into his arms and whispered in his ear. “My hero.”

  Epilogue

  Watching Starburn’s retirement ceremony from the podium was a strange feeling for Hydrangea. For the last three years, she had stood in the shadows and tried not to be noticed. Now, she was in an evening gown and applauding as the next Guardian was called up.

  From this moment on, Caalos Renix existed once again and Hydrangea Renix would be with him. Cadian was sitting next to Hydra, and they watched as Starburn gave up his position in the Guardians to Blaze. They both wore decorative uniforms, including masks. Warp was now the captain of the team, Breaker second in command, and both of their wives were also in the audience, nameless and unrecognized.

  Tangle was still single, but Hydra saw his gaze focussing on the server at the restaurant they frequented often enough that it was only a matter of time before the shy man was able to make his move. He had six months on Deyfell 4 to pluck up his courage, so Hydra hoped that he shifted himself into action when lives weren’t at stake.

  She looked around and smiled at the familiar faces at the Academy. They may not recognize her, but she recognized them. Three years of travel and turmoil with the Guardians. Disasters, injuries and poaching women were always around the corner when you were mated to a Guardian, but now that Starburn was retiring, he was being forced into another roll that she would have to join him in, that of imperial heir.

  Cadian Renix, empress of the few remaining Shosai, stood up for her son’s right to legitimacy though she and the Nyal emperor were not married by Nyal standards. They were, however, mates by the traditions of the Shosai. A child was all that was necessary to form the union if no other vow had been spoken.

  While the emperor had acknowledged Caalos as his son, his nobles were not on the same track.

  It was going to be a long and dangerous road to the throne, but who better to walk it with than a Guardian?

  She walked out back and stretched. Arms came around her and lifted her into the sky. She turned in his arms and smiled, her mask matching his.

  “So, you are retired now. Nothing more than the heir to an empire?”

  He grinned. “That is correct.”

  “Thank goodness. Sleeping with a hero was exhausting. I think having sex with a noble is supposed to be boring and bland. I can hardly wait.” She shrieked as he dropped her and then laughed as he caught her up and flew her to their private villa in the hills.

  “Don’t taunt me, Hydra. I am no longer bound by my vows as Guardian.” His dark whisper in her ear sent a shiver through her.

  Twenty minutes later, she was tied to the bed, and he was stroking her with fingers that enjoyed every inch of what they touched. She watched him cautiously and tried to move away.

  Heat flared under his hands, and she moaned when he cupped her sex.

  She watched the sensual cruelty as it lit his eyes, and she shivered again. In her bedroom, the difference between a superhero and a villain was the amount of resistance she was willing to put into her reaction.

  The next hour passed as he teased her until she wept. He mounted her and thrust hard and fast until she screamed and he roared his release.

  Curled against her, her limbs still wearing the silks that had tied her, she heard him ask, “Are you sure you will not mind life in the court?” She laughed. “I am sure I will mind it, but as long as I have a place to escape to and you come with me now and then, I will be fine. I will have the entire Nyal archive at my disposal. There isn’t one bit of data to be withheld and that is something that holds as much attraction for me as you do.” She ran her hand down his hip and patted his buttock. He flexed under her hand.

  “We are on the way for a much longer journey together.” He held her hand, palm to palm with his.

  “I look forward it. I will look forward to anything with you.” It sounded so trite, but after three years with him, there was a trust that only fluctuated while they were having airborne sex.

  Fortunately, that was a fetish that he satisfied four times a year.

  “Have I mentioned how lucky I am that you were determined to get that soup?” He chuckled.

  “Once a week for the last three years.” She shoved him over and climbed on top of them. She squirmed her body slowly against his and whispered in a husky voice, “Go on, say it again, hero.”

  He cupped her skull and pulled him to her for a kiss that scorched her toes and ended with him sliding inside her. As he arched and his cock pulsed inside her, she heard his whisper, “So very lucky.”

  She had to agree, though she had yet to get the recipe perfect, this part of her life was doing just fine. She had a life, she had a family of sorts, and she had her hero.

  Add the news that Cadian had given her that evening and life was indeed, just getting started.

  Author’s Note

  The first book in the Nyal Imperium was Burning Ceres. For a good description of the hows and wheres of Nyal culture, that is a good place to start.

  Most of Enraptured also takes place in Nyal space.

  Well, in the next book, Destined, we meet another group of Guardians and a Terran who can paint your destiny with your portrait. She doesn’t get to finish many of them, but she starts quite a few before an off-duty Guardian comes to her door and asks for her to paint his portrait. When she finds her own face appearing at his side, she tries to stop, but he insists that she finish what she started, and now, the shoe is on the other foot.

  Is she willing to show him his destiny when hers is tied tightly to it?

  Tune in next time for Destined.

  (By the way, this book rode my brain like a slip-n-slide. I hope it doesn’t show.) Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  http://www.violagrace.com

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time.

  Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush.

&nb
sp; Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author