Trained in an abbey, she is finally out, married to a vampire, and looking for a fight within a day. Whatever will she do on day two?

To protect herself and those around her, Ebra has spent the last twelve years at an abbey, training to be a good wife and mother... and assassin, commander, warrior, spy, and interior decorator. It was a full education that helped her manage the syndrome that made her so deadly.

Assigned to the man her parents decided to give her to, she trusts her family not to do anything stupid. The offer to cure her is a surprise as there is only one cure. Death.

The treatment that is offered is a cloned body without her flawed DNA and transfer of most of her consciousness before they destroy the original body. She would like a second opinion.

A convenient attack on the space vessel she is on gives her the chance to escape her fate with minimal bloodshed. Getting caught by the man she proposed to is a bit of a surprise, but she is nothing if not adaptable.

Changing from one suitor to the next is easy enough, but is the vampire going to be happy with the lady in his embrace, or will he have second thoughts?

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Fighting Syndrome

Copyright © 2020 by Viola Grace

ISBN: 978-1-989892-37-4

©Cover art by Angela Waters

All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.

Published by Viola Grace

Look for me online at violagrace.com

Fighting Syndrome

Stand-Alone Tales Book 13

By

Viola Grace

Chapter One

Ebra looked around the abbey and fixed her veil as she watched the shuttle descend.

The mother superior murmured, “Don’t worry. You are just headed to your marriage. It is a good thing. Sister Weller will be with you until you meet your fiancé. You will be fine.”

Ebra looked at her instructor, bodyguard, and mentor. “You don’t mind the time away from the abbey?”

“I will experience what I can, and then, I shall return home and do penance.” Sister Weller grinned. “You can’t sin on a good scale if you never leave home.”

Ebra snorted and took up her small bag. “Thank you for your guidance, Mother.”

“You are most welcome, daughter. Take care, and don’t forget to write. We didn’t go through years of calligraphy for you to discard it just because you are about to become a queen.” The mother superior smiled gently.

The two men in royal livery stepped forward and bowed. “We are here to escort Mistress Ebra Arthun to the royal court of Urnet.”

Sister Weller stepped forward. “We are ready to proceed.”

Ebra looked at the men, and they held out a scanner. She stepped forward and put her hand on the plate. The plate chirped, and her identity was confirmed.

One of the guards said, “Why are you dressed like that?”

“I have been here for the last ten years. It would be rude to stand out.” She folded her hands in her dark robes and smiled slightly.

The guards blinked and were slightly dazed. She sighed. It seemed that the effects of her syndrome remained. She hadn’t seen a man for a while, and she thought the effect she had might have worn off. Apparently not.

Sister Weller stepped forward. “Please, let us be on our way.”

The men shook their heads and led the way to the shuttle. With one final look at the abbey, Ebra followed the strangers and headed to her future as the wife of a powerful man. It was what she had been raised for, after all.

She was strapped in and breathing calmly as they left the world where she had been safe and protected. Sister Weller was nearby, and they sat in silence as the shuttle flew skyward and headed for a large warship.

When they were docking, she asked the question that had been in her mind since she had gotten the message from her royal house. “Is the prince going to be on board?”

“He is on the way. We will meet him en route.” The guard who wasn’t at the controls smiled back at her.

She nodded and looked forward, focusing on appearing as ladylike and non-threatening as possible. That had been the first part of her training.

Her body was hers to control, her mind had to remain clear, and her movements needed to be focused. She could not lose control.

Ebra got up and followed the guards out of the shuttle. When she was facing the medical team, her stomach flipped. “What is going on?”

The doctor smiled and bowed. “I am Dr. Rejis. I am here to assist with treating your Storner Syndrome.”

She was instantly tense. “Treatment? Really? That’s interesting. As far as I was aware, it is stamped into my DNA.”

He smiled brightly. “I have made amazing strides regarding the syndrome. If you come with me, I can explain it. Do you know much about your condition?”

“I have more than a passing familiarity with it.” She stepped with the doctor, and Sister Weller tried to follow. The other members of the med team moved to stop her.

Ebra stopped, and the doctor was a few steps ahead when he realized she wasn’t with him.

“What are you doing, miss?”

“My companion is essential to my equilibrium. I will not proceed without her.”

The doctor paused, and then, he nodded. “Very well. Allow the sister to accompany us.”

Something was very wrong, but Ebra was on a warship with precisely one person on her side. She was going to keep that person near her at all times.

They walked into the center of the ship, and that made Ebra uneasy. It was going to take a bit of effort to get out if she needed to. She inhaled and exhaled in a controlled manner. No sense borrowing trouble. The treatment might be completely benign.

Dr. Rejis walked with her and kept up a surprisingly chipper tone as they moved into the medical bay. “I had them bring in all the equipment that I required. This is now the most medically advanced ship in the Urnet fleet.”

She nodded politely. “It is an excellent achievement.”

The doctor smiled brilliantly at her. “You are not at all like I had imagined.”

“You have imagined me?”

“Yes, I have been staring at your genetic code for two years, since the engagement was announced, I believe. I expected you to be a bit more of a beast, given your condition.”

She smiled softly. “There is a time and a place for everything, doctor. My condition is no longer a concern. The effects of the syndrome have been corrected.”

They entered the medical area, and there were a lot of guards on duty for a place that healed the sick.

Without ceremony, she was marched into the medical bay, and there was an empty med bed waiting for her. The med bed that had a patient chilled her blood.

She swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. “A Jenven blank. I thought they were illegal.”

The doctor beckoned to his assistant. “It is only illegal if you are caught. You won’t fight now, will you, miss?”

She glanced at Sister Weller, who shook her head. “No.”

“Please, climb onto the bed. We need to run the initial scans to make sure the match is perfect.”

Ebra looked at the bed and swallowed again. “You don’t need me to remove the habit?”

“No. That won’t be necessary. You can keep your dignity until the final phase when we need access to your cranial scans. We are not monsters.”

She nodded and got onto the bed, studiously not looking at the blank body with her features. It was sort of a template for life. Grown to match a general shape and fine-tuned with actual DNA.

The process took days and was used for wealthy assholes to replace their bodies with younger, fitter ones. They kept a younger DNA sample and used a current brain scan to fill in all the information.

“So, this is your treatment for Storner?”

“He will have a nearly identical copy of you without the genetic failure that makes you dangerous. There will also be certain memories removed, but that isn’t for you to worry about. You will be reborn inside the new body, and it will be perfect for the Urnet family. A perfect body to bear perfect heirs.”

She was going to comment, but there was a hiss, and she was sedated.

Ebra woke up when the room went silent. She pulled the tubes out of her arm and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She took the interface probe from her sleeve and slid it into the cognitive transfer unit over the blank with her face. A few jabs and she had wrecked their ability to download a mind into the body.

She walked to the screens and looked up their location and the time. She had been out for three hours. They had gone through two gates and were out in an open stretch of space.

She frowned. If she had picked the route, she would never have chosen that route. It was far too exposed for a ship this large with no nearby outposts.

The copy needed to be dealt with. She pulled a filament from the interior of her belt, and she reached behind the neck and started to lance the spine. She looked down the body and grimaced. She was curvy and well-endowed, but the blank had been made into a caricature of a female body. Her female body.

She spiked it in several places to make sure that even if she was knocked out immediately, the blank would not be able to begin the full copy cycle.

She grabbed her bag from the base of the med bed she had just been on, and she headed out to find Sister Weller. She paused and turned back to the blank. She reached into her bag and put her spare habit on the blank before dropping it between the two med beds. Genetically it was her.

The ship’s alarms began to sound, but it wasn’t the sound of an escape. They were under attack. “Really?”

She was hiding behind the door when the medical staff arrived, and someone began shouting that the blank had been taken, and they needed to find it.

Ebra slipped out of the medical bay, and she took a deep breath. She would find Sister Weller with the effects of the syndrome, enhanced senses, and homicidal urges. If Weller wasn’t at her side, she had to be confined somewhere, so she just had to find out where.

She hid from the crew running to duty stations and eventually got a hard hit of the sister’s scent—starch and weapons oil. There were no guards on the room, so Ebra used a jammer for the door and eased into the space. Weller was sitting with her hands together, and she stood up with a smile. “It is about time. I was getting tired of praying. Oh. I have something to atone for. Things are moving right along.”

“We can’t use a pod. We have to get a shuttle. There is nowhere to get help around here.”

“Can you find our way to the shuttle bay?” Sister Weller shook out her skirts.

“Of course. All these years of training won’t go to waste.”

“Can we appeal to the folk attacking this vessel?”

“I doubt it. You only attack a warship if you are at war or want something they have.”

Sister Weller approached the door where two guards rushed in. She struck them both with pinpoint accuracy. The men dropped to the ground. “Well, you are here now. You could be the draw.”

Ebra snorted and began to lead the way down the hall, her bag draped across her body. “They could have tried to get me from the abbey if they wanted to.”

“I dunno. We were pretty well supplied with weapons and personnel. Maybe it was just when you had been transferred. A fuck you to the Urnet family?”

They kept their casual conversation up as they disabled the guards that charged them. Sister Weller used her pressure-point technique to good use, and Ebra used speed and rage.

“I don’t know. It seems rather contrived. Maybe they were after the transfer equipment.”

They made their way down and out to the shuttle bays in about twenty minutes. Some of their victims were no doubt up and moving, but they would just have to hit them again. These guys seemed to think that a weapon in the hand was the only dangerous thing coming toward them.

Ebra looked around and found the shuttle that suited her purposes. It was long-range enough to get her where she needed to go but small enough to go fast.

She walked toward the shuttle when four men emerged from it. Sister Weller muttered, “Oh, damn.”

One of the men was a Sandman, another a Kiidar, a third was an elf, and the last was the one that fixed his gaze toward Ebra. He smiled. “Huh. Sisters. You called it Mathon.”

The Sandman inclined his head.

Ebra looked around for any place to hide, and her senses started to riot.

Sister Weller stepped in front of Ebra. “We don’t have any issue with you. We will choose another vessel and go.”

The man stepped toward them, and his voice was low. “Oh, but we want you to come with us. That has been the point of this exercise, after all, Sister.”

Ebra listened to his voice and saw the men approaching them. “Sister Weller?”

“Bank it, there will be time later.” Sister Weller knelt with her hands behind her head.

Ebra growled, but she followed her bodyguard’s order. She knelt and put her hands behind her head.

The man came over and crouched as he put the cuffs on her. “It’s a pity. I heard that you could definitely give me a fight.”

She smiled tightly. “Get me someplace one-on-one where I can’t be punted out of an airlock, and you can have your fight.”

He kissed her quickly. “Good to see you again, Ebra, but that habit doesn’t do anything for you. I can hardly wait to get you out of it.”

The Kiidar came to retrieve her, and she remembered the taste that was now on her lips. “Tonos?”

A crack of laughter came from the interior of the shuttle as she was marched into the space and tied up in the hold next to her companion.

Sister Weller had been carefully handled by the Sandman and assisted to the floor next to her. They waited until they were alone, and then, the sister asked the question that had obviously been on her mind. “So, you know him?”

Ebra was miserable, and she looked over at her friend. “I proposed to him when I was six. I am guessing he didn’t forget.”

Sister Weller laughed her ass off until Ebra kicked her. This wasn’t good.

Chapter Two

Stuck in the hold, she could feel the changes in pitch, and she shivered as they entered a gate. “Did you know there was a gate around here?”

Sister Weller snorted. “I didn’t know there was a gate. I just know that you are safe from genetic tampering, at least.”

Ebra blinked. “Tampering? They were going to kill me, Weller.”

“I don’t understand. They said it was a treatment.”

“It is—sort of. You know about Storner Syndrome, but it is caused by the imbalance between my parents’ genetics. So, the only way to stabilize that is to create a blank, as they did. Then, the fine-tuning is done, and the final phase is to activate the blank’s organs and download my mind into the artificial body. The final step is to destroy the original.” She smiled tightly. “That is the part I wasn’t a fan of. That, and they exaggerated the secondary sexual characteristics on the blank to a ridiculous degree.”

“I thought it looked just like you.”

Ebra glared at her friend, looked down, and then grimaced. “Shut up.”

Weller laughed. “You have the figure of your mother’s people, and the homicidal tendencies of your father’s and grandmothers’. A genetic blessing from all sides.”

“Oh. Right. A blessing.” She snorted and thudded her head against the wall behind her.

“That sounded like it hurt.”

“It did. A little. Right. I am tired of these cuffs.” She got a monofilament out of her sleeve, pinched it between two fingers, and swung it, splitting the cuff chain. She freed Weller and then used the monofilament to slice off the remaining cuffs off.

She finished her tidying and wove the filament back into her habit.

They exited the gate, and she grunted. “And we are out. I wonder where we are.”

Weller said, “Better than on that warship?”

Ebra chuckled. “Likely, but I don’t know.”

She reached under her scapula and pulled out a deck. “Want to play cards?”

Weller laughed, and they sat in the hold, playing cards for another four hours. When the door opened, they were in the middle of a hand, and Weller held up her hand to forestall any interference. “Just a minute, I think I have her.”

Ebra looked at Weller’s face with a scowl.

“Six of clubs.”

Ebra smiled slowly. “Go fish!”

Weller howled and picked up another card.

The Sandman walked up to them. “Enough. The captain wishes to speak with you.”

Ebra pointed at herself. “Me? I thought I was just being held for ransom or something.”

He sighed and nodded. “Up.”

Sister Weller got to her feet and stood next to Ebra.

“Only Miss Ebra.”

“Oh. I go where she goes. I am her bodyguard.” Weller’s expression was amused.

The Sandman looked at her and then looked at the hold. “You have done a helluva job.”

Weller grabbed Ebra’s arms and flapped them. “Well, she’s not dead!”

Ebra laughed until she snorted.

“Sir, please just show us the way.” Her shoulders were shaking as she was led through the ship, past a variety of species that she had only heard about before.

He stopped in front of a sealed door, and he said, “Your sister will have to remain outside.”

Weller folded her hands in her sleeves and took up a position next to the door. “I can do that.”

Ebra nodded to the Sandman, and he opened the door, pressing her lower back until she was through, and then, he sealed it again. The captain’s quarters of this vessel were quite spacious, and the captain, himself, was sitting at his desk with his clean profile to her.

She folded her hands in her sleeves and waited.

“Come here, Ebra.” He didn’t look up.

She stepped toward him and stopped just out of arm’s reach. His lips turned in a smile. “So, you have been taught to avoid being grabbed.”

“It has been the only lesson that stuck. Captain Tonos. I am not a very quick study.”

He turned his head to glance at her, and he shook his head. “I had such plans for our first meeting.”

She cocked her head. “Why?”

He grinned. “Because you proposed, and I take that offer seriously. Now, you are wearing an all-covering habit, and I have no doubt of the fact that you are armed to the teeth.”

“No, sir. My teeth are not armed.”

He got to his feet, and it took all of her focus to not step back. “Really?”

He caught her chin between his index finger and thumb, opening her mouth as he kissed her.

Her eyes went wide at the contact. His lips were smooth, and the small, soft motions weren’t threatening at all. When he stroked his tongue along her lips, she blinked in surprise, tilting her head and parting her lips to let him in.

At the first proper taste of him, bolts of heat ran through her. She dug her nails into her forearms to keep her from grinding against him. Oh, this was not good.

His tongue slid along hers, and she was shivering when he finally stepped back. He ran his thumb under his lower lip, and then, he licked it off. “Oh my. You are exceedingly responsive. I would not have guessed based on our first meeting.”

“You would have been a pervert if you had guessed. I was a child.”

“And yet you ran up to a seventeen-year-old me and proposed. What drove you to do that?”

She made a face. “It felt like the right thing at the time.”

“It has taken me fourteen months to find you.” He walked back to his seat and sat down.

“Did you call the abbey? They normally knew where I was, and my presence there was not a secret.”

“It was more of a secret than your parents told you. They would not have handed you over to Urnet if it wasn’t due to an ancient treaty.”

She grimaced. “Yeah. That twit prince that I really want to dismember. He didn’t even have enough class to meet me himself before I was butchered.”

He paused. “Butchered?”

“Yeah. There is no treatment for my condition except what my parents sent me for. I have been taught self-awareness and keep my invasive insights to a minimum. The rest is up to the stars.” She tried to channel mother superior’s serenity, but she just ended up feeling like she was a bad mimic.

“What do you mean, butchered?”

She cocked her head. “Dr. Rejis has created a treatment. He makes a Jenven blank, copies my DNA without the effects of the Storner Syndrome, and transfers the part of my consciousness that makes me a suitable mate and leaves the rest behind. Then, they destroy the original. This option was offered to my parents when I was a toddler. They refused, so I know they weren’t behind it.”

His fist was clenched on the table. He spoke softly. “They were going to kill you.”

“Oh. Yeah. And they were going to pass along a flesh blow-up doll as me. Since my parents are worlds away, the copy would have popped out a few heirs and then died gracefully in childbirth by the time they found out. Now...” She grinned, and it was not a nice grin.

“What?”

“Well, they either admit that they tried to copy me, or they can claim I was kidnapped, but they have a copy with my DNA that they can use to state I was killed. If they do that to reap the benefits of my dowry, they will have to provide the body, and that will get them in trouble.” She wanted to rub her hands together at the thought of what them presenting the blank would do, but she wasn’t going to be there to find out.

That gave her an idea. “Oh. Can I make a call?”

He looked at her like she was insane. “No. Not until we have locked in your status here.”

“Status?”

“You are a high-ranking member of the fey court of Natha. Your grandfather is partially drake member of the Kadoran council, and your father is half Other and half Kadoran. Your mother is half fey and half Kiidar. You are an exotic mix that the Urnets would be a fool to pass up. However, we are not on Urnet. We are landing on Fathos. You will need to act and dress like a lady.”

She groaned. “Fine. But, I am still going to curse and work out in private.”

“You seem very amenable to your change in state.”

Ebra wrinkled her nose. “It is part of the joyous conflict caused by all those genes. You grow up knowing that your future is up in the air, and then, you just have to deal with it when you land. This is a landing. I will deal with it.”

Tonos smiled. “You had the same determined expression when facing the dessert table.”

She blushed. “And you lifted me up and helped me to get my favourite, hidden at the back of the table.”

“Yeah. I caught hell for that. My mother was outraged. One of your little shoes dropped in the sherbet bowl.” His bright green eyes were soft, and then, they hardened as he fought his way free of the memory. “I have clothing for you in the bathing chamber. We don’t have time to get all the weapons out of your habit, so please just keep any transferred defenses to a minimum in the clothing I have brought you.”

She made a face. “But I have so many favourites here.”

“Transfer what you can without ruining the clothing.” He chuckled. “Now go. We are transferring to shuttles in thirty minutes.”

Chapter Three

Weller looked at the Sandman. “Well, your kind don’t part from their kind much.”

“Captain Tonos is a good man and easy to follow. I am fascinated by the scenarios that he enters.”

“Hmm. I am Sister Weller.” She turned and extended her hand.

He didn’t respond. “I know.”

She snorted. “Your name would be...”

“What my friends call me.”

She looked serenely into the hall. “Asshat.”

He turned his head toward her in astonishment. “What did you call me?”

“I called you an asshat. Since you won’t tell me what your friends call you and I need a designation, you are Asshat until I am told otherwise.”

He stepped toward her and loomed over her. “You are incredibly cocky for someone so tiny.”

“I am only tiny because you spent your formative years eating everything and everyone in sight. Now, shoo, Asshat. Get back to your side of the door.”

He remained next to her, and she waited. When he gripped her arm, she moved quickly, and with several precise blows, she knocked him to his knees. He still had a grip on her, but he looked surprised. She cracked him in the nose with her fist. He rocked back and then straightened, still on his knees.

She lifted her arm and cocked her fist at him. “You are still touching me.”

He looked at the hand, and then, he nodded. “Yes, I am.”

The door opened, and Weller stared at her charge. Ebra was wearing a lovely and delicate gown that highlighted her feminine attributes to a ridiculous degree. “You are right. I look like an inflatable date.”

* * * *

Ebra looked at Sister Weller and the Sandman, and she smiled. “Is there something going on here? Did he touch your veil or something? Or, did he grab your arm to make a point, and you pounced on him?”

Sister Weller frowned. “His hand is on my arm.”

“Sir, will you please release the sister? She is a Makora, and her skin is sensitive. You are hurting her.”

He let Weller go with an apology. Sister Weller snorted. “You didn’t have to tell him.”

“Of course, I did. I need you around to guard me, not flipped over his shoulder because he was feeling frisky.” Ebra grinned. “At least not right away. Now, come on and help me with my hair. Tonos said I had to look cute and feminine, and with my efforts, it always slides straight into slutty.”

Sister Weller nodded and followed her into the captain’s quarters.

Ebra watched her friend try and recover her equilibrium over the light contact with the Sandman. It was rough for Makorans. Just about everything in the world aroused them, and it got very intense very quickly. If they actually were attracted to the person, things could go from first meeting to bonding with only a heartbeat and a kiss to set the focus. After that, only their target would be able to arouse them, so it was a double-edged sword. If they chose wrong, they were forever keyed to someone who would walk away. It was serious stuff.

Sister Weller asked Tonos, “How cute do you want her to be?”

Tonos scowled. “I want her to be seen as adorable and innocent. It will work to the visual we are after.”

She snorted. “You should have gone for a different outfit at that point. Nothing looks innocent on Ebra. Even the habit had curves.”

Ebra smacked her friend’s thigh. “Funny.”

Weller quickly made a cascade of braids, curls, and tendrils that made Ebra’s blue-green hair into a mass that covered her upper back and upper chest.

The puffy sleeves of the dress were tugged to cover her shoulders, the bodice was already snug under Ebra’s breasts, and a few small relief cuts stopped her cleavage from straining out the neckline. The shoes were fine.

All of the makeup was skipped except the lip gloss. Ebra rubbed a tiny dab on her lips, and then, she made a face at the mirror. “Right. That is enough of that.”

She stood up and turned to look at Tonos, but he had crept up behind her, avoiding the mirror. “Oh. Well, what do you think?”

He looked at her, and his hands were balled into fists. “Good. It will be fine. Come on.”

He turned and walked toward the door. When it opened, he held out his hand to her. Bemused, she took the offered hand and let him lead her out into the ship. A quick glance showed that Sister Weller was walking next to a very unsettled Sandman.

Ebra asked calmly. “Where are we going?”

“You are going to be presented to my parents. Try and appear enthusiastic about the prospect.”

“What are you declaring me to be?”

“My fiancée.” He glanced down at her. “I do have a claim far older than the current engagement.”

She swallowed. “I suppose you could say that.”

“Fortunately, your mother’s people believe in a person’s ability to select their own mate.”

She exhaled and nodded. “There is that regulation. We are told that our mate is up to us, and we need to choose carefully.”

He grinned. “Careful or not, you chose. I am using that as my defense for your kidnapping.”

“Kidnapping?”

“From the prince of Urnet.”

“Oh. That. Right.” She chuckled. “I am pretty sure he is going to be pissed because I broke his toy before he could play with it.”

“How do they grow them?”

They were inside a shuttle, and he kept hold of her hand while they sat and waited for the drop shuttle to drop.

“Same way they grow artificial meat. They add basic building blocks of a being together and make the shape, add the bones, muscle tissue, etc. Then, they wrap it in a skin and do the final tweaks.” She glanced down at her breasts and then sighed. “After that, it is a process of a few days to sync everything to the original donor, and then, the original body has to be killed as soon as the replacement is mobile and has passed cognitive checks.”

“Why are you so aware of them?”

She smiled and looked over at him. “It is the only cure for Storner Syndrome, remove the genetics that cause the syndrome. It is a matter of removing all the things that cause the species-specific traits to rise. My parents told me about it when the doctors got specific with their diagnosis and told them that with their funds, there was a treatment. They made sure that there was no way I would be fooled when it came to folk offering me treatment. I needed to know what the only cure was and what treatment would entail.”

“How did you treat it?”

She smiled, and behind her, Sister Weller snorted. “I got beat up a lot. The nuns kicked the crap out of me on a regular basis. I was forced to focus on my studies, was forced to learn how to survive in adverse situations, and I needed to know how to control my impulses and determine what my senses were actually telling me. Once I understood that I could hear better, feel lighter touches, and taste the scents of people, things got easier.”

He nodded. “That I understand.”

She looked at him and tried to picture his parents. She remembered a woman with long black hair and golden skin. His father was pale with dark brown hair and soft grey eyes. They had been a softly spoken couple, and her parents had gotten along with them very well.

“Who are your parents, Tonos? I know I met them, I just can’t remember who they are.”

The dropship slowed its descent, and then, it settled and glided toward a cliff-top landing area.

“You will meet them in a few minutes.”

“Really? Why?”

He stood and offered her his hand. “It’s our wedding.”

She stared at him and the hand that she had put in his in reflex. Before she could gather her thoughts, he had walked her out of the shuttle and down the ramp toward the crowd gathered at the end of the tarmac.

As they approached the gathered folk wearing elegant and embroidered clothing. She finally squeaked out, “Wedding?”

“Yes. It is him or me.”

She looked at him. “You.”

He smiled slowly, and she saw the flash of something, and then, she remembered something. His grandmother was a vampire.

Her stomach flipped a little. If she ran his species specs, he was strong, fast, and would take blood from his mate during sex. Her. He would take blood from her.

She shivered at the thought and was glad that her hair was covering the suddenly erecting nipples. That wasn’t something she was particularly proud of. Ebra brought herself back to the moment with the thought that the teeth might just be for show. He might not use them.

Sister Weller was still behind her, just at the edge of her peripheral vision. The sister was ready for action.

She noted the coronets that his family was wearing and looked at him in consternation.

His mother spoke in her soft voice. “She looks irritated, Tonos.”

He bowed to his parents and straightened. “She has a right to, Mother. I have neglected to brief her as to today’s purpose.”

Ebra looked at the older woman, and she was grinned at in return. “You must be confused, my dear.”

Ebra cocked her head. “No. I know that I have to marry someone. It may as well be him.” She poked her finger toward Tonos. “At least he doesn’t creep me out.”

Tonos’s father snickered. “Give it time.”

Tonos’s mother smacked her husband on the arm, and then, the man cleared his throat, beckoning for a document to be brought forward.

“I, King Aberhen, do hereby authorize the marriage of my son, Tonos Aberhen Altuin, born to Elvinia Altuin, to the heir of Arthun. Ebra Liadoran. They join today of their own free will in sight of these assembled and witnessed by their companions.”

A desk was brought out, and the contract was signed. There were no stipulations about heirs, dowry, or anything other than the life-pledge between them. It was highly unusual to have such a simple contract if he was heir to a throne.

Tonos signed the page with a flourish, and then, after confirming his signature was actually his name, Ebra signed her own name, and then, she looked for a knife to prick her thumb for the confirmation of identity mark. Tonos raised his hand to his lips and bit his thumb, pressing the blood to the box under his name on the page. He licked his wound closed, and then, he extended his hand to her. She extended her hand and barely felt the slight sting of her thumb being pierced. When she smelled her own blood, she pressed the thumb to the page, and then, she was going to bring her thumb to her lips, but he caught her and licked the blood free of her skin, leaving no small puncture behind.

She felt the thudding of her pulse, and she deliberately pulled her hand away while Sister Weller signed as witness. The Sandman did the same. Ebra looked at the contract and smiled. His name was not Asshat.

The king and queen signed the contract, and then, she heard the words, “You may now kiss your bride.”

Tonos looked at his father and shook his head. “I would rather not. I have no intention of stopping once I start.”

There were amused giggles from those assembled, and Tonos took her by the hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Welcome to my world, Ebra.”

Chapter Four

There was a manor house that they were dropped off at. Sister Weller and Asshat were with them as attendants and guards.

The skimmer pilot took off the moment that they were clear, and Tonos led her into the manor. He still had possession of her hand, so she followed where he was leading.

His body was nearly vibrating with tension. Ebra didn’t quite know how to start a conversation. When they were inside a large room with a fireplace and a huge bed, she cleared her throat and asked, “So, do you have any hobbies?”

He stared at her in astonishment and slowly began to remove his clothing. He was wearing the standard layers of leather that were part of the Sandman uniform. “I have a few hobbies. Training, piloting, trying to prepare for a war. You know, the standard.”

“Oh. I thought you might know how to cook or something.” She smiled and watched his skin come to light as he peeled the layers off. She sat on the edge of the bed and kicked her feet.

He paused while loosely folding his shirt and jacket, tossing them onto the chest at the end of the bed. “You are staring.”

“I have spent the last twelve years with nuns. Why do you think I am staring?” She looked at his face, and he had a quirked smile.

“You don’t seem very timid.”

She wrinkled her nose as he sat to remove his boots but left his leather trousers on.

Ebra tilted her head. “Why are you leaving your trousers on?”

He smiled and walked toward her. “To slow me down. Now, Ebra, I have dreamed of you for years, so I am trying to take things slowly.”

She stood up and pressed her hand to his chest. He was cool and hot at the same time.

“Why are you so calm about this?” His words rumbled to her through her hand as well as her ears.

“Well, I wasn’t at the abbey for entertainment. I was there to protect me, and by extension, my family. For whatever reason, I was nearly kidnapped twice when I was fourteen. I have no idea why, but it scared my family enough to send me away. I don’t want them to be scared anymore, so if I have to hide in your shadow, I will do it.”

“And yet you were willing to marry Urnet.”

“Like fuck. I was willing to let him get me away from the abbey. The moment that I heard he wasn’t on board, that ship sailed.”

“What do you mean he wasn’t on board? Wasn’t he there to greet you?”

She blinked. “No. Why?”

He left the bedroom in a blur, and she heard him yelling for the Sandman. She wandered around the bedroom and opened and closed the wardrobe and the chest at the foot of the bed. Tonos returned, and he had run his hands through his hair at some point because tendrils were hanging over his eyes. “I had hoped that we had more time.”

She blinked as he walked up to her, lifted her, and kissed her. She pushed on his shoulders, and he leaned back. “What is going on?”

“Urnet is on his way to our colony world. He is using his relationship to you as his bargaining chip to gain your parents’ ships and weapons.”

“We have to tell my parents that I am not involved with him.”

She squirmed in his grip and was getting ready to attack when he said, “We already have. My assistant is notifying them and my parents. As soon as it is done, I will head out to the colony and stop his progress.”

“It?”

“You.”

“Ohhh.” She sighed. “Well, then, better get it over with.”

He was startled when she kissed him, and he staggered when she slid her tongue along his, being careful to avoid his fangs.

He got over his surprise and carried her to the bed. He leaned down and held her as she dropped back. He snorted and flicked off her shoes. “This is not how I imagined you on your wedding night.”

She shrugged. “I always imagined that I would steal a shuttle and completely avoid a wedding night, so we are both surprised.”

“Ebra.”

She looked up at his eyes and his slow smile. “Yes?”

“I would have come after you.”

Her heart flipped, and she blushed. “You don’t have to say that.”

He pinned her between his hands and leaned so that their bodies were touching in a number of interesting places. “I know, but I would have, and I will if you try and run.”

She blinked at his grasp of her plan, and he grinned, showing a very feral expression.

“There she is. I had wondered what you had done with her.” He kissed her again.

She put her hands on his shoulders and ran her hands over his skin. Men were definitely constructed differently to women. His broad shoulders were wider than she was by a good bit, his muscles were slab and sinew, fun to touch.

He raised his head, and his eyes had a strange glow, his face had more of that feral expression, and what was definitely unsettling was that his teeth were out.

She was gasping, and there was some definite wetness starting between her thighs, but she wasn’t prepared for him tearing her gown down the center. The surge of adrenaline spiked her reflexes, but he grabbed her hands and held them together on her belly while he knelt between her thighs, and he exhaled a stream of hot air against her. She shivered and whimpered as his tongue made contact with her skin. He dragged the tip of his tongue between his folds and parted her, lapping upward until he flicked her clit.

He repeated the slow motion, and to her horror, he set up a steady beat until her hips were moving against him, meeting his caress. When he slid a finger inside her, she gasped and moaned. Ebra wanted to cover her face, but he was holding her hands. He worked a second finger into her, and she was caught by surprise when the rising tension snapped, and her body arched, shivering while she clamped down on his fingers.

He stood quickly and released her while he stripped out of his trousers. She sat up and freed herself from her sleeves a moment before he pressed her back into the bedding with her hands pinned above her head.

“Why are you keeping my hands confined?”

He grinned. “I have seen your dreams and read your files. I know what you can do if you choose to.”

She didn’t get a good look at his cock before he pressed it against her, but it slid in in small increments. She could definitely feel it as he stretched her to make room for the length and breadth of him.

She heard a whimper and blushed when she realized it was her voice that had made the sound. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I want to hear you.”

She swallowed and turned her head away as he thrust in all the way. She moaned. Every part of her inner channel was occupied with him. Sweat coated her body, and she was panting as she struggled to adapt to the feeling.

Ebra finally realized that Tonos wasn’t moving. She slowed her breathing and turned toward him.

He smiled. “Are you all right?”

She blinked and noted genuine concern. “I think so.”

“Can I move?”

She blushed and nodded. “I am curious as to what happens next.”

His gaze darkened, he kissed her as his hips moved, and he began to stroke in and out of her with slowly increasing speed.

Ebra wanted to touch him, push her hands against his, but he flexed his hands and kept her arms above her head. Being along for the ride was terribly passive and not her style. She raised her legs, and he slid even deeper. She groaned and arched her head and back as the change in sensation sent her into another level of arousal. Her senses were alive, and Tonos had relentless control over his. He was hot, and there was an urgency to the signals his body was putting out, but he was refusing to simply let go. He was holding back for her sake. The problem with that was that she was depending on him to take her over the edge, and he wasn’t going to go without her.

He thrust faster and harder, sending her breasts bouncing, and her body clenched around him. She was so close, so very close. He moved his head and pressed his lips to her neck. He bit, she screamed, and he groaned as they came together in a rush.

He sucked at her blood as she was pinned under him, and with each strong suction, another round of aftershocks clasped his cock inside her. She gasped and shivered as he thrust into her again and groaned and bucked again.

When he lifted his head, her body was buzzing, and her neck was throbbing. He licked the wounds shut and pressed his forehead to hers. He licked at her lips, and she tasted her own blood.

She growled and moved, flipping him to his back, and he was still inside her. She smiled and pinned his hands to the bed next to them as she slowly rocked her hips.

He frowned. “How did you do that?”

She chuckled. “Oh, dear. I thought you said you had read up on the syndrome?”

“I have, I meant, I was on you, and then you were on me.”

She leaned forward and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “Oh. That. Fey blood. Other blood. It lets me move short distances very quickly. I can’t sprint like you can, but short distance is very possible.”

His eyes closed, and he gripped her hips. She was still slowly riding him, but it was just keeping her body hot rather than driving her higher.

Tonos’s eyes were hot. “Would you like assistance?”

She bit her lip and nodded, not quite sure how to get what she was aiming for. Tonos slid his hands across her torso, cupping her breasts and rolling her nipples between thumb and forefinger.

She shuddered as a very pleasant set of sensations connected her breasts and her clit. Who had done that wiring?

When he sat up, he took one of her breasts in his mouth and licked before blowing a column of air across her now-wet skin. She gasped and squirmed when he wrapped his lips around the now-tight nipple and sucked while stroking the nub with his tongue.

She felt her body clenching around him, and he paused for a moment before continuing. The rhythm of her rocking faltered, and he switched to the other side. She squeaked and shivered. Ebra started to slide a hand down toward her clit, but his hand was suddenly in the way. She shuddered as he started to stroke the hard nub, his mouth still working on her breast.

She ignored the sound of her voice and just kept moving on him, rising and falling faster and faster until she let out a long, low moan. Her body clutched him, and her muscle control ceased to work. Tonos didn’t hesitate; he sat up, pulled her into his lap, and bent her back so he could continue to worry at her breasts while his hips slapped against her from below.

Ebra gasped, whimpered, and moaned as his attentions went on. She opened her clenched eyes and whispered, “Tonos, please.”

His pupils went black, and he pulled her tight, bit her again, and shuddered into her.

She gasped and clutched at his shoulders as her nerves burned hot in a flash.

She felt him moving her around and woke up when he had tucked her into bed. He was dressing. “Where are you going?”

“I told you. We have to defend our colony.”

She sighed, focused, and sat up. “I am coming with you.”

“No.”

She glared at him. “If you want my family to listen, I had sure as hell better be there.”

He looked at her body. “I don’t have anything for you to wear.”

She grabbed the sheet, wrapped it around her, and changed its shape. In less than ten heartbeats, she was wearing boots, leather trousers, a tight bandeau, and a long vest to make it less obvious.

He stared. “Right. Well, you aren’t armed.”

She touched the sides of her thighs and lifted her hands with blades in them. “Good enough?”

He frowned, spun her around, and then, there was an amused glint in his eyes. “Where do you pull that stuff from?”

She smiled. “That will have to wait for our first anniversary. There are some secrets a lady should not divulge right away. Shall we?”

He sighed and nodded. “Come on. Let’s get your sister and go.”

Ebra laughed at his expression, and she dismissed her blades. Not everyone could have a weapon in their mouth. She had to make do.

Chapter Five

Weller looked shocked when they entered the living area. “Aren’t you... uh... busy?”

Tonos sighed. “Regretfully not. We have a colony to save. Will you accompany us?”

Sister Weller got up and smoothed her habit. “Ready. Asshat, are you coming?”

The Sandman got up and glowered. “I am ready. Shall we use local transport?”

Tonos shook his head. “The shuttle will be here in minutes. Powder your noses if you can.”

Ebra went to the kitchen and found some food, slapping sandwiches together and shoving one into her mouth as she joined the others in the dining area. “Here. Eat if you are hungry. It has been a while for me, so pardon my greed.”

The sandwiches disappeared, so she went and made more so she could have a second one. Just as she was returning to the main area with her prize, the heavy hum of the shuttle sounded from the courtyard in front of the house.

She took her snack, made sure her friend and her mate were with her, and headed for the shuttle.

Tonos looked at her as she gnawed savagely at her food. “You are a little less polished than I imagined.”

Weller snorted. “You don’t seem to understand what the abbey is. It isn’t a religious organization. It is a refuge where folk like Ebra can get the training they need to not kill anyone in daily life.”

Ebra snorted. “Right. Folks like me.”

Weller grinned. “I was surrendered.”

“I know. I know. But there was a reason, wasn’t there?” Ebra snorted, and then, she realized that the men with them were actually paying attention.

Weller grinned. “Yes, yes, there was.”

They chuckled to themselves, and Ebra finished her sandwich. She was so damned hungry, the food only touched it. She was going to need more, but the mother superior had warned her about it.

During the last few weeks, her diet had been altered from the food at the abbey to the food from off-world. It was a difficult transition, but it meant she needed more food to fill the gap of running multiple metabolic rates at the same time.

The shuttle lifted off and met up with a warship in the skies above. Ebra tapped Tonos on the shoulder, and she said, “I need a com unit. I don’t want my parents thinking that I am dead for any longer than necessary.”

He stared at her, and she smiled. “Your Highness?”

He sighed and looked to the Sandman. “Com station. She has twenty minutes before we are underway.”

Asshat smiled and nodded. “This way, princess.”

Weller pointed at the prince. “I am going with him. I want to find out how to steer this thing.”

They split up, and Asshat warned the com that they were on the way and told them to connect to her family.

Ebra rattled off the bounce locations into the com link.

The voice on the other end confirmed, and she and Asshat continued their controlled sprint through the ship.

She started sweating as she ran, and heads began to turn as she started giving off pheromones.

Asshat glowered. “What is going on?”

“The elf genes are waking up. They go with the hair and attract the largest quantity of mates for my perusal. They don’t usually chase me, so that’s fine. It was the main reason for my time at the abbey. Girls aren’t that interested.” She chuckled and continued the run with turned heads in her wake.

“So, you can’t control the attraction?”

“If I am with Tonos enough, it will alter the expression of my glands, and that should circumvent the normal expression of my pheromones. They will reduce in intensity over time.”

“What is the purpose of the pheromones?”

She chuckled. “A high quantity of mating partners. In elf society, when you get pregnant, you get a mate. Not before. You don’t want to be hogging a male who could have a better chance at procreation with another female.”

Asshat was appalled. “That is horrible.”

“I suppose it depends on if you are in line or working on drawing them in. Either way, the joyous union needs to result in offspring, or you have to move on after a few months.” Ebra shrugged. “I can’t do anything about it, so I just have to know that the effect is there.”

They entered the com deck, and she was ushered to a screen immediately. The call had been working at connection for the duration of their sprint.

She sat in the chair, and when her access code was requested, her fingers cruised across the keys. She wasn’t surprised when her family’s secretary was on the screen. “Hi, Mortin.”

He sat, stunned. “Miss, you are supposed to be dead.”

“Yeah, I was wondering if he was going to play it that way. Can I speak to my mother, please?”

“Your mother? She is...”

“Bawling her eyes out. I know. Get her to the monitor. Now, Mortin.”

There was a two-minute wait, and then, Ebra saw her mother’s face with her father in the background, looking murderous.

Her mother gasped. “Ebra? We saw your body.”

“It was a Jenven blank. They were trying to cure me. So, I made sure that the blank was unusable and ran away to marry a vampire mix named—”

“Tonos.” Her father looked relieved.

“Um, yeah. He found me, and now, I am on his warship heading to defend a colony. If you have any men in the area, pull them back, please. I don’t want to hurt anyone whose family I have met.”

Her father nodded. “I will order the pullback and break our connection to the Urnet force. Now that you are with Tonos, there is a whole other range of treaties to put down.”

She smiled. “There is no room for negotiation, Father. I have signed the contract and am locked to him.”

Her father looked furious all over again. His anger was causing his aura to flare, so she had to get his attention.

She whistled sharply, and when he stared at her, she inclined her head. “Time was a factor, and I am getting the signal that it is running short. So, pull your men out, or they might run into me.”

Her mother nodded. “Will do, dearest. We will wait for additional contact.”

“Thanks, Mom. Communication out.”

She cut the com and turned to the Sandman before the engines started to pulse. “Well, that was fun. At least we won’t be attacked by folks that I know.”

Asshat stared at her. “They took your word for it?”

“Of course. The whistle is made by two different sets of vocal cords. He heard that one in his bones. The copy couldn’t have managed it.”

“Ah. Well, we had better get to the control deck. We are heading for our gate.”

She nodded. “Lead the way.”

He smiled slightly and hiked out through the wide hall.

“This is a Sandman design.” She glanced around.

“It is. You recognize it?”

“From images. You and Tonos are related?”

He blinked and smiled slightly. “Cousins. How did you guess?”

“I read the name over your shoulder during the signing. How long are you going to let Weller call you Asshat?”

He blinked. “Until I want her to say my name.”

“Are you going to sneak in on her dreams?”

Colour tinted his cheeks. “That is a personal matter.”

“Yeah, so is invading her dreams. Keep that in your thoughts.” She made sure her tone was stern. It was strange to be moving through a ship as it moved through a gate, but when they came into normal space on the other side, she gasped and grabbed the wall as the ship was rocked by an attack.

Ebra grabbed him. “Where is the gun deck?”

He scowled. “You need to get to his highness’s side.”

“Not if we are in pieces. I am a very good shot.” She smiled. “So, which way?”

He frowned but pointed down the hall. “Steps, up two levels. To the left. You will see the icons.”

She grinned and ran for the stairs as the ship shook again. This was just what she needed.

She followed the directions and ignored the summons on the ship-wide communicator. “Princess Ebra, get your ass to the command center.”

She hummed and found one of the gunner stations that wasn’t manned yet and slid into the seat, putting on the halo and bringing up the screens. As soon as she was settled, she started firing. Every hit sent a ship spinning away incapacitated.

She giggled and continued her swath of destruction. It was really quite a lot of fun. She had only ever used the simulators at the abbey before. Using her skills in a real-world application was exhilarating. Her training was finally paying off.

* * * *

Tonos watched the incoming ships being critically hit and drifting into each other. “Who is on that gun?”

Sister Weller started snickering. “Who do you think? This is what she was trained for. Thousands of days of training to control the impulses created by her DNA.”

Tonos watched as the surgical precision cleared a path for his vessel. He shook his head slightly and looked at his cousin. “So, I married a gunner.”

Weller snickered again. “It isn’t just guns.”

Tonos looked at her. “What else?”

“If you can gut, injure, or blow something up, she has the training to do it. She was born to fight. You can either help her or get out of her way. Either way, it is going to happen.”

Tonos’s cousin entered and caught the tail end. “What happens if she doesn’t have an outlet?”

Sister Weller grinned wide. “She finds one. She has no choice. That is why she was sent to the abbey.”

Tonos blinked. “I thought that the abbey was for meditation and education.”

“It is, but we don’t raise delicate ladies. We are not those kinds of nuns.” The sister was very smug, and she had the confidence of someone who could defend herself if she wanted to or just for personal entertainment.

Tonos looked at his cousin. “Can I go back and have second thoughts? I don’t have them now, but I really feel that I should have had them at some point.”

His cousin snorted and laughed. “Time for that later. I would suggest that you let your bride know who are friends and who are enemies. With her aim, it is going to be important in a few minutes.”

Tonos got on it. Ebra looked delicate and adorable, but he was beginning to have a sense of smug pride that he had taken her as his bride. It might be a rough ride, but it was going to be interesting as hell.

Chapter Six

Once the space outside the gate was clear, she checked her com. The link to the command deck was flashing. She grinned and activated the open com. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“What the hell was that, Ebra?” Tonos’s voice was wryly amused.

“I would say it was some damned fine shooting.”

“I would agree, but I would like you to head to the command deck now.”

“I would have to say that the incoming ships were of primary concern.” She kept her voice polite. “I would respectfully like to remain here to defend the vessel.”

There was a pause. “Fine. Authorization to run the main gun. Report to the gunner station. They will have a space for you at the main gun.”

She chuckled. “You have been talking to Weller.”

“I can take advantage of your skills.” Tonos’s voice vibrated through the com, and she fanned herself.

His voice was amused when he said, “Ebra?”

“Yes?”

“There is a video link to the command deck.”

She blushed, cleared her throat, and got to her feet. “Heading to the forward gun deck.”

She left her station and went past a few of the other gunners who stared as she passed. She gave them a bright smile and waved as she headed to the gangway that would take her the length of the ship. Well, that is what the signage indicated.

The ships that she had seen on the long-range sensors would be within visual distance in ten minutes, so she had some time. She made the sprint in five.

A Kiidar seemed to be waiting for her. His nostrils flared when she stepped toward him. “Hello.”

“You are the gunner?”

She smiled brightly. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Right. Are you sure you want to be on the main gun? You are going to be there for hours.”

“I am sure.” She grinned. “I went to the bathroom and everything. No problems. Now... the gun?”

He snorted. “You are in heat, and you think you can fire the gun?”

“Sure. It makes me bright and forces me to pay attention to everything. I can feel the air in the room and hear all the heartbeats around me. Shooting the bright lights on the screen as soon as they turn into ships is the easy part.”

He frowned. “There are lives on those ships.”

“And that is why I shoot to incapacitate. I haven’t taken a life yet this round.”

“What?”

“All the ships I hit today are only floating in dire need of serious repairs to their propulsion unit.”

The Kiidar smiled, his bright green eyes glowing as he caught on. “Very well. This way, please, princess.”

She nodded and followed him to the station. “There is quite the mix of personnel here.”

“We used to be raiders, but the prince had to rejoin the family concern, so now, we are a royal warship.”

She chuckled. “There was definitely something not too princely about Tonos.”

“And yet, you still mated with him.”

“Consummation was a necessary situation.” She bit her lip and spoke absently as a flicker of recent memory ran through her. “Apologies for any pheromones.”

He chuckled. “That is not an apology I have gotten before. Thanks for that.”

She snorted and looked at the new station, set the controls within her reach, and added the halo that had a projection screen that moved with her as she turned her head.

She gripped the controls and settled in to watch. The Urnet ships were approaching with other ships on either side. Her family’s merchant escort ships were peeling off and darting away. It looked like her message to her parents had made it through in time.

She flicked the com to the command deck. “I have targeting on the incoming vessels. Please, alert the lower gunner to the three ships advancing from the edges of the gate.”

Asshat’s voice came to her in a low tone. “How did you see those?”

“Our trail malformed.”

“Ah. The merchant defenders have peeled off and are leaving. Thanks for that.”

She chuckled. “My pleasure. I grew up with a lot of those crewmembers. I didn’t want to hurt them.”

“Still. It was good thinking on your part.”

She grinned. “Right, so what is going on?”

“The usual posturing. Urnet claiming the colony and Tonos refuting the claim.”

“Is it the prince of Urnet on the com?”

“It is.”

She flexed her fingers on the controls. “Can I see the conversation?”

Her screen flared up, and she watched the golden charm of the prince of Urnet talking to Tonos.

“I don’t care how many of your people are on that world. It is ours.” The golden twat was shouting.

“It has been settled by my people, and they have been there for fifty years. We lay claim to it, and we are here to defend it.” Tonos smiled. “As you have lost the support of the Arthun, you are warned that we will not restrict our fire.”

The prince shouted, “My new bride is on board. She was injured in the initial attack, but I have been assured that she will recover. The Arthuns will defend their own.”

Ebra leaned forward with interest. “That is interesting.”

The prince looked at his screen. “Who is that?”

“I am an interested party. Show me the heir to the Arthuns.” She spoke, and she smiled.

“She is resting.”

“Jenven blanks tend to do that. You might want to have the doctor check her out. I did a really good job on her spinal column and major nodes. That body won’t ever get up and run around, and there is no chance that she is the heir to the Arthuns.” Ebra chuckled.

She saw the prince’s com go blank, and then, it came online. He was fluffed up with irritation. “The Arthuns are ordering their ships to return to the battle.”

She gave an eerie sing-song, “You don’t want them to dooo that.”

Tonos looked toward the viewer she saw him through, and he looked a little unsettled.

“Who the hell are you?”

She looked to her monitor. “Prince Tonos, permission to fire?”

He paused and nodded slowly. “Permission granted.”

She grinned as the Urnet prince’s eyes got wide, and she fired shots that took out the five incoming ships in rapid succession. They powered off and floated toward the warship on the same trajectory they had been on. She hadn’t even punctured an air-filled compartment.

She spoke to Tonos. “They should have enough for emergency coms.”

She listened as he gave the Urnet vessel the order to surrender. She kept her eye on the other ships in the area and found a way to notify the lower gallery of gunners that there were vessels incoming below.

There was a light exchange of fire, and then, the other vessels were drifting as well.

Ebra sighed and sat back as the agreement for a treaty was hammered out between the vessels.

“Ebra, would you please join us in the conference room?” Tonos’s voice was respectful.

“Certainly. Formal event?”

He chuckled. “You will be assisting in the negotiation of a treaty.”

She nodded. “Right. Can you send someone to fetch me? I am only really good at navigation during times of stress.”

He looked in the lens and nodded. “Stay where you are. I will send someone.”

She nodded and continued to monitor the scanners. Everything was calm. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the calm soak into her soul. It was the first thing she had learned at the abbey—the fine art of calming her own shit down.

The kiss that was pressed to her lip surprised her. She jolted, ready to attack, but Tonos caught her hands and held them. He licked at her mouth, and she opened her lips, trying to pull her arms up and touch him, but he held her hands in her lap.

The kiss was wet, it was hot, and it was definitely unsatisfying. When he leaned back, she was breathing heavily, and his pulse was throbbing in his neck.

He offered her his hand and helped her out of the gunner’s seat. “You have an excellent eye for targeting.”

“Um, thank you. It gets a lot of practice when it comes to keeping vermin out of the abbey gardens.” She blurted it out because she wanted nothing more than to crawl onto him or have him crawl onto her. She wasn’t fussy.

He grinned and kept hold of her hand as they walked through the ship.

“This is cute, but why are you holding my hand?”

He chuckled. “So you won’t make a run for it. The mother superior gave me a briefing when I was on my way to collect you. Oh, thank you for calling your parents, by the way. Their fleet was going to be absorbed into the Urnet rule. So, that has now been stopped.”

“Um, my father wants to make some agreements.”

“That will be between him and my family. I have no need to press for trade agreements.”

She glanced at him. “You have siblings?”

“Four. They are interested in the running of our world. I have more interest in the colonies that we have started.”

“Ah. Wild worlds?”

“Very.” He gave her a slow smile. “Plenty of need for a woman who can handle herself.”

She smiled. “Good. I do enjoy being useful.”

“There is more to life than just being useful.”

“So people keep telling me. I will figure it out when it happens.” Ebra looked at him. “Can I change for the arrival of the Urnet contingent?”

He blinked. “I don’t think we have time for the fabricator.”

She waved her hand, and as they walked through the halls, she changed the appearance of her clothing into a silky skirt with an embroidered waistband and a halter top trimmed with wide gold-embroidered ribbons.

Tonos lifted her and carried her into the conference room, silent and tense.

He set her on the table and leaned over her. “Why are you wearing that? To entice him?”

She snorted. “Look at the embroidery.”

He blinked and stared. “My family crest.”

“Yeah. I thought if someone was going to stare, I would send a politically accurate statement.” She looked up at him and slid a hand around his neck. “So, when is he going to be here so I can break his fucking nose?”

He chuckled and kissed her, leaning her back until she was pressed against the cold of the table. He moved to her neck and kissed his way down and between her breasts. He pressed his lips to the inner side of her left breast. She felt his teeth against her skin, but he was sucking instead of biting.

When he raised his head, his breathing was ragged, and his eyes were focused on her. “There is nothing that I want more right now than to have a few days with you.”

She chuckled. “That is unlikely to happen, but it is a nice thought.”

He kissed her, and she drew her leg up to his hip as they had their moment.

Chapter Seven

Ebra stood beside Tonos, and she glared at the prince of Urnet. He looked at her in shock, then contempt, and then he began to look uneasy.

She asked for the occasional clarification on terms and included several charitable donations to victims of weather disasters across the Altuin territories.

There were seizures of weapons and a stand-down for the vessels in the area. Basically, Urnet was going to be persona non grata in three surrounding systems.

Tonos smiled. “Do you agree to the terms and conditions as stipulated?”

The prince frowned. “Do I have a choice?”

Ebra sighed. “You could reject the agreement and see what happens. How did you get my parents to agree to a marriage between us, by the way? You look a little too damp for me.”

The prince stood and stepped toward her. “Mutant bitch!”

She blinked. “I am not a mutant. I am the penultimate result of my bloodline. No inbreeding here. Now, let’s see if you can say the same.”

That was it, he lunged at her, and she met him halfway, punching him in the gut so hard he doubled over and gagged. She grabbed a handful of hair and wrenched his head back. “Now, please ratify the treaty, or I will get angry.”

He looked at her with the whites of his eyes showing. He was petrified. “What are you?”

She let his head go and crouched. “A very scary woman. Now get up and stop being a whiner.”

He scrambled to his feet and looked at Tonos while she slowly stood up. “How can you have sex with something like that?” He was pointing at her, his hand shaking.

Tonos grinned. “It is rather easy, but I am not comfortable having that conversation with you. Perhaps you can have some servants explain it to you.”

Ebra pressed her lips together.

The prince stalked over to the table, and he signed the treaty, waited for Tonos to sign it, and then, he signed the second copy. The prince of Urnet was handed back to his security detail, and his hatred of her was nearly palpable.

Ebra looked at Tonos. “So, do you think he is going to let it go?”

Tonos shook his head. “No, we are probably going to have to kill him eventually. It’s a good thing he has plenty of siblings.”

Ebra snorted. “Yeah, inbreeding. Their family tree is a rope.”

Tonos laughed. “I thought you were going to kill him.”

“If this wasn’t a publicized negotiation, I would have. He tried to not only kill me but erase me from existence. Everything that makes me me would have been gone.” She growled. “I have worked very hard to become myself, so that is infuriating.”

Tonos folded up his copy of the treaty, and he filed it with the scanner.

Once that was done, he wrapped his arms around her, and he kissed her, lifting her and settling her on the edge of the table. He leaned toward her and asked, “Now, how can I have sex with you?”

She kissed him with small pecks and angled her head to catch his. She whispered, “You just have to ask, oh, and deactivate the cameras in here.”

He chuckled and gave the order then turned back to her. “Now, how do I get you out of this?”

She smiled. “You just have to ask. So, where would you like the clothing to move?”

He caressed her breasts. “Here.”

She blushed, but the fabric moved away at his touch. He lifted her up and teased her breasts and nipples with his lips and tongue, the occasional graze of his teeth causing her to catch her breath.

He stroked his hand down her belly, and she shifted the fabric away along the path that his fingers travelled until he was sliding one long finger into her and curving it upward to rub against a sensitive spot.

She shivered, and her breath came faster. When the tension growing inside reached a critical point, she moaned, and her body jerked in his grip.

He pressed his lips to her collarbone and crooked his finger again, causing another spasm of contractions to run through her. Ebra could see him licking his finger after he withdrew it from her, and then, he was reaching between them to open his trousers to access his erection.

She shivered as he entered her with a groan. She grunted slightly as he slid in and worked his way deep with a series of slow thrusts. Taking him was enough to send a heavy shudder through her body, and her skin started glowing with sweat. He rocked into her, and she lifted her legs, bracing one on the chair next to her so she could lift her hips to meet his inward push. He nuzzled her neck, and she felt his teeth for a moment, and then, she relaxed, he licked at her neck and shoulder, and then, she felt the pressure and the sharp flick of pain.

With the pain came a wave of pleasure, and she shrieked softly as her body tightened and held him in an intense grip.

He groaned and gave a few more thrusts before he shuddered, and she heard him swallowing. He kept his mouth clamped to her before he slowly relaxed his jaw and licked at the skin of her shoulder. It seemed he didn’t want to waste a drop. “You taste amazing.”

She shivered. “I would thank you, but it had nothing to do with me.”

He kissed her, and she tasted her blood. His erection was hard inside her again, but he pulled out of her, and he moved to one of the walls and exposed a lav. When he returned with a warm wet cloth, she blushed as he tidied her up.

He returned to the lav, and when he emerged again, she had her clothing back on and in place. His outfit had been returned to respectable lines.

He paused. “I really wish we had more time, but we have to check out the colony.”

Ebra nodded and eased herself to her feet. Tonos caught her in his arms and checked her shoulder. “Sorry. I got a little enthusiastic.”

She blinked. “All I remember was a flicker of pain, then extremely pleasant fire, and then a blast of light.”

He was staring at her, and a blush covered his face. “I am so keeping you.”

She touched his face and smiled slightly. “That was always the plan, wasn’t it? I mean, when I was little, I thought you were kind and very pretty. That was enough for me at the time. I wasn’t very bright.”

He snorted and stroked her cheek. “I think you were very intelligent. I am glad that as a brainless teen, I was paying attention.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, well. Thanks for remembering.”

She kissed him quickly, which turned into a longer kiss as he threaded his hand into her hair.

They were still standing there, joined at the lips, when a knock sounded on the door. They slowly parted, and he looked to the door. “What?”

Asshat opened the door, and he grinned at their position, still pressed together. “We are entering the colony space. The Urnets are long gone.”

Ebra morphed her clothing into a baggy ship suit. “Right. Are you going to visit the colony?”

He looked at her and blinked. “Uh, yes. Of course.”

She smiled brightly. “Good.”

He looked at her and scowled. “Are you using a glamour on me?”

So, he could feel it. Interesting. “No, just really keen.”

He kept an arm around her. “Come on, we are heading to the shuttle to assess the situation.”

Ebra sighed. “I have to go with you?”

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” He raised his brows in surprise.

“Ah, I guess not.” She went with him down the halls and out toward the shuttle bay. Weller and Asshat were with them when they settled in the shuttle full of emergency supplies. Ebra looked at the supplies, and she knew she couldn’t leave quite yet. She had a few days to get where she needed to be, and the destination was only sixteen hours away via gate. She could get there in time.

She sat next to Tonos as they descended and prepared to play the part of his wife, which—if she thought about it—she was.

The colony was like a stirred hive of bees. Citizens were running around, there were blast marks scorching the ground, turned-over vehicles, and the occasional pool of blood.

She shifted her flight suit to her habit, and she and Weller headed for the medical tent. This was another skill she had gotten under control. Medical aid was the thing they started learning the moment they hit the abbey.

The medics took in their habits, and an expression of relief crossed their faces. “Sisters, please help. This man needs his limb straightened before we can put it in the unit.”

The man in question was unconscious, which was good because his leg was sticking out at a right angle. Weller took a look at the scans, and they discussed the method for a moment, and then, Weller grabbed the upper thigh, and Ebra eased the limb into a better position before she pulled it straight and then lined up the bone. The medics went into action a moment later, sliding the man into a machine to allow for an internal scan while they worked to repair the limb.

Ebra smiled, and she and Weller went up and down, applying first aid, stitches, regenerative skin treatments, and burn salve. Things were pretty basic, but that was fine. Ebra could work with basic.

When they finished with the medical issues in the tent and stabilized who they could, they went out and went looking for trouble. They passed the control center, and Tonos and Asshat stared at them. Her husband walked out to her. “Ebra, why are you wearing a habit?”

“Folks trust it at first sight, and it doesn’t show a lot of blood.” She smiled. “Plus, we are not from that kind of abbey.”

She heard a sharp whistle from Weller. “I have to go. Did you want to find me later?”

He chuckled. “Oh, I will.”

She hopped up and kissed him quickly. “See you later.”

She went off to find Weller with the taste of him on her lips. They went and helped the locals move a flipped vehicle off the well head. The rest of the day was spent moving heavy objects and finding missing people who had been scattered and wounded in the attack.

It wasn’t a great thing to do, but these people were in need, and she and Weller were trained for the job.

She found one man with an injured leg and pulled him over her shoulders, walking into the colony with him and right to the medical tent. The medics grabbed him and treated him immediately.

Ebra turned to go back out in search of the missing, and Tonos blocked her path. “Have you eaten?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Have you?”

He cupped her chin. “Yes. Hours ago, plus, I had you on the ship.”

She blushed and deflated slightly. “No. I forgot.”

Tonos nodded. “Come with me. We will get you something.”

Ebra felt tired the moment that she stopped her crisis mode. She needed a shower. “Is there somewhere I can bathe or something?”

He nodded, concerned. “I think we can find something.”

“Good. I am covered with all kinds of stuff.”

He wrapped his arm around her, and they stopped at the command center. He kept her close when he spoke to the governor of the colony, and he introduced her. “Governor Akker, this is my wife, Ebra.”

Ebra smiled and inclined her head. “Governor, it is good to meet you.”

The Kiidar’s eyes widened, his striped mane stood up in agitation. “Uh, it is good to meet you as well, Sister.”

She snickered, and her clothing shifted into a jumpsuit covered with blood. “I thought that my habit would be easier for me to get around in.”

“You are married?” he seemed to be grappling with that.

She grinned. “Yes, I am from a celestial abbey. Vows of celibacy don’t go along with the habit.”

Tonos muttered, “Thank the stars.”

She elbowed him lightly. “So, is there somewhere I can wash this blood off? There are also other substances covering me that I would like to get rid of.”

“Of course. There is an emergency shelter set up just down the road. The shower facilities should be up and running thanks to the well being rescued.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you.”

Tonos and the governor walked down the street with her. The shelter was sparsely inhabited, and she was able to get into a shower in short order. She started with her clothing facing the water and washing the crafted fabric before dismissing it and washing her body. Her skin was stained with the blood of others, oil, and dirt. She scrubbed a few times before she was able to get the discolouration from her body.

When she was finally clean, she took a drying sheet, with her previous outfit, and transformed it into a light dress with knee-high boots. She finger-combed her hair and focused slightly, scraping the water out.

Dry, clean, and feeling exhausted, she walked back to where Tonos and the governor were speaking with those who had lost their homes in the attack.

The governor looked surprised when she appeared, and he appeared confused. “Where did you find that clothing?”

“Ah, I made it. I have a mixed pedigree, and personal matter manipulation is one of my skills.” She smiled. “I can manufacture small amounts of clothing or equipment, but that’s it.”

Tonos looked at her, and he smiled. “And you are as lovely as a sunrise.”

She grinned. “Thank you. Now, if you can locate some of the promised food, that will be ideal.”

“Yes, my lady.” Tonos bowed.

There was a kitchen and dining hall in the shelter, and that is where she met some of the locals, including two that she had found and assisted back to the colony.

She was almost sorry to be leaving it.

Chapter Eight

She flicked the controls and changed her dress to a flight suit. “Weller, are you ready?”

“Ready.”

They glided through the gate, and Ebra accelerated. “Launch the scrambler.”

Weller hit the release, and the beacon with the virus was left inside the gate. It would activate the moment that they were on the other side of the gate.

Inside the passage, Ebra sighed. “I really wish we didn’t have to do that.”

Weller snorted and sat in the co-pilot’s seat. “Yeah, I think I was really making progress with Asshat.”

“Oh, did you hold hands?”

Weller chuckled. “Funny lady. No, but I dodged two kisses.”

“Wow. He’s trying to move fast.” She checked on their time left in the gate tunnel.

“I know. Damn, he’s cute.”

Ebra blinked and thought about the slabs of muscle that had been assembled to make the Sandman. “I am not sure that cute is the right word.”

Weller grinned. “I think he’s adorable. I wish that I had my family’s authorization to choose him.”

Ebra paused. “Well, we have a few hours before we arrive. Did you want to ask?”

Weller blushed. “I... Well, I guess I could.”

“I am not rushing you. You haven’t seen a lot of men in the last few decades.”

Weller chuckled. “When you know, you know.”

“Well, then, as soon as we are out of the tunnel, make the call.”

Weller grinned. “I will do that.”

Weller began the elaborate coding that would bounce the call to her family. The moment that they were out of the gate, the call fired up.

The screens lit with the heavily tattooed face that was very familiar. Weller grinned, “Hello, sis.”

“Amika! You are looking pale and pasty. Has that wealthy twit been feeding you?”

Ebra grinned. “I have tried, but she keeps biting my fingers. Hello, Idalla.”

“Ah, you aren’t dead yet, Ebra? Pity. Seems my sister is competent.”

Weller grinned. “I need to speak with Mother if she is around.”

Idalla narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

Weller blushed. “I think I have found a man, and I want permission to lock to him.”

“Freak! Is she speaking the truth?”

Ebra chuckled. “She is. He’s a Sandman and second-in-command to the prince of Altuin.”

“A Sandman? Excellent. I will give you a yes right now.” Idalla began typing. “Here is your authorization.”

Ebra looked at the screen and grinned. “Idalla, those twits put you in charge? Nice diadem.”

The tattooed mark on her forehead glowed. “Thanks, freak. So, what are you doing for companionship? Got tired of flying solo?”

Weller chuckled. “She married the prince of Altuin.”

“No, shit. Huh. Well, if you are married, what are you doing with Amika?”

“We have some business to attend to.” Ebra wrinkled her nose. “We have found the missing cousins. We just have to collect them and fight off an army. It’s going to be a fun day.”

Idalla perked up. “Where are you headed?”

Weller sent her the coordinates. “The auctions.”

“You are going in there alone?”

Ebra laughed. “It is for the best.”

Weller nodded. “I have her back.”

“Yeah, just don’t let her carve you up. Okay, have you gotten clan clearance?”

Weller checked and nodded. “Got it.”

“Excellent. I will look up the Sandman pattern. I don’t think it exists yet.”

Ebra warned, “He might not want her marked up.”

“A warrior not wearing their mate’s markings? That isn’t unheard of, but he is going to have to fight for the right to keep your skin intact.”

Ebra laughed. “I think Asshat would enjoy that.”

Weller winced. “I don’t know if I want that to occur. I might just take the markings.”

Idalla grinned. “You run it past your guy. I look forward to meeting him.”

Weller disconnected the call and shuddered. “Maybe I should just spare him my family exposure.”

Ebra grinned. “I wouldn’t worry about it. He looks like the sort to enjoy the battle. I am not sure, would he fight your sister or brother-in-law?”

Weller looked at her and grimaced. “My mother.”

“Oh. Shit.”

“Yeah. This isn’t going to be easy, but I just feel like prey when he is around.” Weller sighed. For her, this was a compliment. He had to look past her species and her habit. That took guts.

“So, when we land, do you want to cause the disturbance or be sold into the auction?”

Weller grinned. “I will be the disturbance. You can enter the auction.”

“Lovely. Fine, but you better charge a good price for me. I am not a virgin, but I am prime real estate.”

“Okay, so you are classified as gently used but in showroom condition.” Weller laughed.

“Yeah. I will make you a cloak that will give you a bit of a buffer layer and some monofilament weaponry.”

“Good. I don’t want to show up with just my normal weapons assortment hidden in my clothing.”

Ebra grinned and headed for the mobile station. She changed her clothing into something lightweight and slutty with a matching cloak. She had to get into the pens, and going in bodily was the only way. Using her looks was a key that would get her where she needed to be.

Weller had waved her off with, “Make a lot of money for Grandma!”

Ebra snorted and walked away with the handlers. She had standard med scans, but she was classified as a mutt. Her body put her into the exclusive category, but only because she appealed to a lot of fetishes and those got expensive.

Her hands were cuffed in restrictors, and she was led to the exclusive pens. The restrictors were just in case she actually had some kind of talent via her mixed bloodline.

It was a pity that the first thing she did was hollow out the cuffs to make them into decorative objects.

Ebra sat in the exclusive pen, and she smiled at the collection of young sisters who had been on their way to the abbey. “By the light of the stars, you will get through this.”

The young women’s eyes brightened, and they murmured, “By the shadow of the moons, we will survive.”

She grinned and went up to them, touching their cuffs and slicing them in two.

“You, troublemaker.”

Ebra grinned. “I think that’s me.”

It had been eight hours since they landed on the station, and as she was guided onto the stage, she wondered idly what Tonos was doing. Taking off on him had been rather mean, but she had left a note.

She walked out onto the stage and moved with the grace and acquiescence that would get folks to believe she was passive. Hah.

The auctioneer began their patter about her beauty, the heft of her breasts, the narrowness of her waist, and the curve of her hips. They brought down a hook and raised her by the arms and hung her in the air with her toes just grazing the ground.

When she heard the fight beginning in the auction hall, she snapped her cuffs, turned them into blades, and stabbed the auctioneer and the handlers as she headed back to the pens. Ebra collected more materials and increased the blades, but she slashed and hacked her way through the guards until she was back at the pens. She opened the exclusive pens and beckoned to the ladies to follow her. The young sisters-to-be followed her closely, and one kept watch behind them. The standard pens were opened the same way, and the girls were herded back toward the doors that they had entered by. The guard looked at her. “What are you?”

“Storner Syndrome. I love a fight. Out of the way or die.” She gestured. One of the men attacked, and the other ran for it.

She checked back, and she had today’s auction of forty souls. Getting them to the abbey was going to be fun.

Ebra reached out and grabbed for the door, dissolving it into moss. She didn’t use that particular skill a lot because it was tiring, but it was handy.

The other side of the door showed a lot of bodies who had weapons drawn, but she stepped out and stared at the person who was approaching her, and she blushed as he looked her up and down.

Tonos nodded. “It’s a good look for you, but I prefer you in a little more fabric or nothing.”

Ebra stepped aside. “Tonos, these are the junior sisters of the abbey. They were taken and scheduled for sale today.”

He looked past her and sighed. “Right. Them first. Ladies, please go with these men to the warship, and we will get you back to the abbey.”

He looked at Ebra with narrowed eyes. “I am wondering if that is the safest place to keep you.”

She blushed and started to change her clothing. He grabbed her chin. “Oh, no, you don’t. You paraded yourself around like that as bait, so you are keeping that outfit until we are back to our quarters.”

She was going to argue, but he kissed her, and she sighed into his mouth. The girls giggling behind her brought her around to the embrace occurring in front of witnesses.

She tried to lean back, but he caught her head and held her as his tongue plundered her mouth. When he broke the kiss, he lifted her into his arms and began a no-nonsense hike toward the docking area.

It seemed her little adventure had soured his mood.

Chapter Nine

Tonos took a ribbon out, and he wrapped her wrists with it, locking her onto his bed the moment that they returned to the warship. She tried to loosen them with a thought, but they didn’t respond. She got nervous. “Is this ribbon elf-made?”

Tonos was removing his clothing with short jerks. “It was a gift from your parents. Elf-woven fabric, the only thing that can slow that aspect of your inheritance down.”

She gave him a look. “My parents gave you this?”

“Your father mentioned that it might be necessary.”

She pushed her nervous tension aside. “Where is Weller?”

“She and Kekkor are having a discussion about combat tactics. He went into the client area and assisted her with the attack on the bidders.”

Ebra sighed. “Oh, good.”

“So, why does a woman with an intensely sensitive body put herself into a crowd of strangers?” Tonos frowned at her as he walked toward her naked. He untied her from the bed and pressed her to the wall.

“We had to get one person to the girls and one out front so that we could get back to the pens. Weller’s body makes her a little obvious when you put her in a skimpy outfit.”

“Obvious?”

“She’s a member of the Alhorra clan. The habit covers the wrap of family tattoos.”

Tonos stopped and looked to his right. “So, if Kekkor removes the habit...”

“He’s going to find bodyguard markings. She’s been with me since I entered the abbey. She went in the year before I did to help me with the protocols.”

“Why?”

“Her family owed my family a bodyguard. So, since she is very much her father’s daughter, putting her into service in my household was the best option.” She saw the confusion on his face and explained. “Her father is Makoran, but her mother is Agentile. They are highly matriarchal. She’s the daughter of the third husband.” She blinked. “Oh, shit. If Asshat is going to stop her from getting her binding tattoos, he is going to have to fight her mother.”

Tonos paused and grinned. “Really?”

She shuddered. “You have not seen Weller’s mother. She was the clan leader, and she is terrifying.”

“Who is the clan leader now?” While he spoke, he was sliding the top away from her breasts and moving the skirt up and away.

He pressed her to the wall, and she could feel his erection between her thighs, rubbing and sliding against her.

Keeping the conversation going was difficult. “Her sister.”

He looped her arms around his neck, suspending her. “Well, that is for Kekkor to deal with. I have my hands full with my own psycho.”

He reached between them and circled her clit with his fingertips before he plunged two fingers into her. “Next time, just tell me instead of leaving a note. You have no idea how irritating it was to try and find you via the dreamscape. You didn’t doze much.”

She wrinkled her nose. “But seriously, how did you find us?”

The head of his cock pressed against her, and her body slid reluctantly onto him. He lifted her and plunged deeper. He grazed his teeth across her breasts. “How do you think?”

She shuddered and wanted to beat herself in the head. Blood tracking. She was an idiot. “Sorry. I am still not used to...”

He withdrew, and he slid back into her. “This?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Being more than just myself.”

He paused. “Damn, that was the right answer.”

He kissed her slowly and rocked into her with a slow and steady beat until her voice was keeping time with his thrusts, and her body was coated in sweat. She shivered with every incursion and tried to direct his head toward her breasts, but she was pinned to him, and his kiss was also a slow escalation in pleasure.

She licked at his teeth and slid her tongue along his as he rocked into her, grinding into her with every deep slide.

Ebra caught her breath, and her body tensed as she shook and groaned against him as pleasure rippled through her in heavy, coarse waves.

When she had stopped twitching, Tonos grinned, and he started thrusting again. She locked her legs behind him and groaned when her body flared into wild heat once again. She widened her eyes and tried to do some math and was mortified. It was entirely possible that she was entering her heat. The random gunner had been correct. The timing hadn’t occurred to her because she had other things on her mind, but the six months was nearly up.

She held tightly to him, and when he sank his teeth into her skin, she shuddered as her body spasmed around him. Ebra was sweating and sighing as well as wincing a few minutes later when he uncoupled them, released her wrists, and walked her to the shower in his quarters. She dismissed her clothing and blushed as the light spray covered her in a gel that hardened in seconds, shattered, and was blown and vacuumed away.

Tonos supervised and made sure that she got all of the nooks and crannies, as well as the line of cum that was running down her inner thigh.

When she was tidy, it was his turn, and she swallowed slowly as she had the opportunity to take him all in. He wasn’t like any vampire she had seen before. The golden skin of the Sandmen had overlaid the normally chalky appearance. His dark hair was thick and wavy, and he had the physique of the elementals that he was descended from. He was a man now and not a youth, but with a woman’s eye and not a child’s, he had gone from pretty to stunning.

She turned her back and looked at him via the mirror. It seemed safer.

Tidy and sparkling clean, he walked up behind her and placed his hand next to hers, licking the back of her neck. “You are going into heat.”

She nodded. “It is quite possible.”

He grazed his teeth along her spine. “It is more than possible. I can taste it.”

She shuddered. “Right. I had forgotten about that.”

“You weren’t going to tell me?” He nipped her shoulder.

“I thought you might notice when I just jumped you at random intervals.” She smiled slightly.

He gripped her hips. “I might have, but I might not have been there when you needed me. What would you have done then?”

“Lots of combat practice and meditation. Same way I have been dealing with it since it started.” She blinked because he knelt behind her and was licking and kissing his way down her back.

“I am sorry that you have had to go through it on your own.”

“Well, if you had tried to help me in the early days, you would have been arrested, and mother superior would have flayed you alive. Probably for the best that we reconnected now.”

He chuckled and held her waist. “I have to agree.”

She turned her head toward him and twisted so she could look at him. “You never answered me.”

He blinked. “What?”

“When I proposed to you back then, you laughed and didn’t answer me.”

He stared at her and moved back, taking one of her hands. “Yes, I will.” He grinned. “And I did.”

She blushed. “Well, that is fair then. Should I have offered you a ring or something?”

His eyes brightened. “Wait a moment.”

He left and went into the bedroom, and she watched as he went through a locker before bringing out a small object. “Here it is. You were wearing it in your hair and said it would have to do until you were older.”

She stared and remembered that hair clip. It was a small wire twist that had wrapped around a ponytail. “You still have that?”

He grinned. “Of course. It was my engagement ring.”

He handed it to her, and she took it, looking at his hand and chuckling. “It might need to be resized.” She slid it onto his smallest finger. “Your Highness, will you marry me?”

He grinned. “Yes, Miss Ebra, I will.”

He leaned in and kissed her chastely, considering they were both nude and both aroused again.

Ebra smiled. “So, we are delivering the rescues to the abbey?”

“We are. That is the only way to keep you from running off to rescue them again, so we will take them all to the abbey, and the mother superior can help sort them out and assist others in travelling to their homes.”

“That is what the abbey is for.” She smiled.

He lifted her up and carried her to the bed. “I am glad you agree. I am still going to convince you that I am right.”

He set her on her back and laid on his belly between her thighs, sliding his hands up and under her legs.

“Um, I have already agreed.”

He grinned. “I know, but I have wanted to try convincing you since I first saw you in that habit.”

He bent his head, and she felt the heat of his mouth against her. Her back arched, and she exhaled rapidly. “Oh, I think I need more convincing.”

His chuckle against her folds was delightful, and she settled in for some heated negotiations.

* * * *

Weller glared at Asshat in the cargo bay where they were settling the stolen and sold women with clothing, rations, and water.

She muttered, “I had the fight under control.”

Asshat spoke to her in a very calm manner. “You were outnumbered by over a hundred to one.”

“So, a fair fight.” She smiled.

“There was a man behind you with a dagger.” His words were growled.

“I saw him. I had time.” She lifted an armload of clothing packs and walked around the room with them, handing them out. The ladies were almost set up for the trip, and several were busy hiding when Asshat followed Weller into the grouping.

She turned when her arms were free and pressed a hand to his chest. “Back out. You are freaking them out.”

He looked at her hand and grabbed her arm, wrapping another arm around her waist and carrying her out of the hold.

Weller gasped and tried to hold still. The pressure on her skin through her clothing was heating her up, and while she wanted to kick the hell out of him, she also wanted to enjoy the moment.

This could be the moment when she propositioned Asshat, but did she have enough nerve?

“Um, I need to talk to the quartermaster to get somewhere to stay.” She spoke calmly while she was being squeezed.

He glanced down at her. “I can assign you quarters.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

The Kiidar and the few Sandmen in the halls chuckled at her but inclined their heads toward Asshat.

“Uh, why are they all nodding to you?”

“If I had stayed with the Sandmen, I would have been a general, but now, I am Tonos’s bodyguard. So, the Kiidar know my ranking, and the Sandmen respect my previous efforts.” He growled. “None of them call me Asshat.”

She sighed and drummed her fingers on his arm. “Well, you would not tell me your name.”

He opened a door and walked through the opening. Punching the lock on the other side. “Kekkor.”

She blinked, and he set her on her feet. “Kekkor?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes.”

She stepped back and looked at him. “My name is Amika. Fourth daughter of the Agentile clan leader Mertwin by the Morkadan, Amwer. Any man who would have me would have to meet my family specs, and if I am to avoid mate tattoos, they would have to fight my mother.”

“You have clan tattoos?” Kekkor frowned.

“I do. Standard wrap.”

“But wasn’t that intolerable?”

Amika smiled. “It was what was expected, and my family helped while still adhering to the rules.”

He uncrossed his arms. “Can I see them?”

“You want to see my tattoos?” She blushed.

He nodded. “Please.”

She shrugged and unfastened the closures of her habit and turned so that her back was to him as she lowered the fabric to her hips.

She didn’t hear him move, but he stepped up to her, and the heat of his hand skated just over her skin. When she felt breath on her back, she knew he was kneeling. “This is amazing work.”

She shivered as her senses took the warm puffs of air and translated it into a caress. “It took a few weeks.”

He murmured, “How far down does it go?”

“Tops of my thighs.” She shivered again.

“You don’t wear them in your dreams.” Kekkor was so close that another shiver would make contact.

“What?”

“I have been seeing your dreams for the last two years. You don’t wear the marks in your dreams.”

She turned and stared down at him. “Why have you been in my dreams?”

He was sitting back on his heels, directly in line with her breasts. “That is how the Sandmen find mates. We find them in their dreams and seek them out in person. That is how Tonos focused on Ebra, but he had little idea how she had changed over the years, so it took some time for him to figure it out. I haven’t had time to seek you out, but I knew you when I saw you.”

She swallowed. “Neither of my species has that kind of a response to finding a match. All we can do is link to the one that we want and hope they want us in return.”

He frowned and opened his mouth, she kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding tight as the link started. He pried her away from him. “What did you just do?”

She stumbled back and sat on the bed, her fingers pressed to her lips. “I jumped.”

He rushed to her side. “Does it hurt?” He touched the side of her head, and she shivered again.

“No. That isn’t what is going on.”

“What is happening?”

She met his gaze and shrugged. “A link is a link.”

He kissed her, and she leaned into him, meeting the caress of his tongue with her own.

He pulled his head away. “You could have warned me.”

She nipped his lower lip. “I am a nun who willingly stripped to her waist for you. That was all the warning you got.”

He grinned and pressed her to the bed, clearing the rest of her clothing from her body and finding how far down the tattoos actually went.

Epilogue

Ebra spoke with the mother superior and listened to the shriek of children in the background. There had been a new batch of young ladies delivered to the abbey, and the graduating class was responsible for helping them learn the basics.

“So, Ebra, how are you enjoying life on the outside?” The mother superior sipped her tea.

“Well, I have been out for five years, so I think I have adapted.” Ebra watched her children with the sisters.

“You have three sets of twins, Ebra. Are you trying to repopulate a world?”

Ebra shrugged. “I can’t control the multiples, but there are no signs of Storner Syndrome in the children, which is a relief. Controlling the urges is what has led to all of the children.”

The mother spluttered. “So, you are using sex for therapy?”

“Of course. Tonos prefers that I take my agitation out on his body. Since Weller has linked to a Sandman, she isn’t really a good sparring partner anymore.”

“Too strong?”

Ebra sighed. “And fucking fast. Her two little girls are constantly having to go to the Sandman home world for examination. I was lucky to sneak them out here for a play date.”

“Girls are still rare for them?”

“Very rare. She’s the first Morkana to be mixed with them. It is creating a bit of a stir.” Ebra leaned down and caught her youngest, pulling the toddler onto her lap and letting her child drink out of her arm. The children were split down the middle—one twin from each pair was heavy with the vampire, Kiidar, and Sandman genes; the other twin was Other and elf with a mild bit of crossover.

“What about your children? Are you happy with their developments?” The mother superior looked at the little boy with the fangs and bright blue eyes.

“I am enjoying them. Aside from feeding the ones who need blood, they are very good at taking care of each other and taking care of Weller’s little girls. They are tiny golden princesses, and everybody is gathering to make sure that they have what they want.”

There was a wail from the field, and Ebra excused herself with her son still held and feeding. She pinched his nose, and he let go, scrambling to the ground and looking at his oldest brother.

“What happened?”

Her eldest son was sitting, and he looked dazed. Weller’s eldest was wringing her hands. “I lost my hairclip, and he said he would make me one.”

Ebra sighed and pulled her son onto her lap. She put her hand out, and he put his hand on top of hers. She whispered encouragement in his ear, and the hairclip appeared in his grip. He held it out, and the little girl smiled with a shy, “Thank you, Tonro.”

He beamed and pulled himself to his feet, bowing gracefully.

Ebra ruffled her son’s hair, and she asked, “Feeling stronger now?”

“Yes, Mom. Thank you.”

“Okay. Go play.”

Ebra stood, and the nuns were nearby, a few had toys, and some of the younger ones were racing with the little people.

Ebra returned to the mother superior and sat to resume their conversation. She had to feed two more children and break up one fight, but it was a good visit.

“So, what do you see in their futures?” The mother superior smiled and offered her a biscuit.

“The boys will be trained by the Sandmen and be pages in the Kiidar Imperium, the girls will get training from myself and Weller, and if they need it, they will be sent here. I know that my education here was invaluable and has provided me with the skills I needed to get through certain situations with my husband.”

The mother superior chuckled. “So, he’s not dead then.”

Ebra shook her head. “No. He is very much alive and in the orbiting ship. I have just wanted to visit you as we pass through your sector.”

“Thank you for remembering your manners. Passing through a drake’s territory without stopping in for tea is very rude. Glad that your sense of propriety is intact.” The mother superior smiled, her crimson skin bright, and her fangs showing.

“Well, I thought you should meet the little ones and see if any of them would run afoul of you in the future.”

The mother superior chuckled. “Not them, not yet. Their siblings might be a little rough, but it is nothing that a few years here can’t fix.”

Ebra exhaled in relief. “I just don’t want them to be spoiled brats.”

“They won’t be as long as you keep teaching them like you are doing. That was a nice trick with the manifesting of the hairclip.”

“He tries so hard he drains himself. I imagine he will constantly be flirting and offering flowers to his preferred partners when he is an adult.”

“Or lingerie. You never know with a charmer like that, but Weller’s youngest has her heart set on him.”

Ebra looked to the two little girls, the older one pretty and confident, the younger one sword fighting with the nuns. “Oh, that is going to be fun to watch.”

“They are made entirely of possibilities, Ebra. Don’t forget that.” She chuckled. “Where is Weller?”

“In the ship above. She can’t handle the acceleration for departure at her stage.”

“Another one? What are the Altuin feeding you two?”

They laughed together and continued their conversation until the three-year-old came up for some blood, and then, the eldest did the same. By the time Tonro was finished, it was time to leave.

The nuns carried the children to the shuttle, and the mother superior patted them all on the head or stroked their cheeks. “You made some very pretty offspring, Ebra. Weller as well. I bet her family was shocked when she had girls.”

Ebra snorted. There was no way that a Sandman should have generated a girl, let alone two, but contact with Amika Weller had produced two daughters that were definitely full-blooded Sandmen... women. It would make things difficult if she wanted to pursue Tonro, but if fate was on their side, she wouldn’t stand in their way.

She had chosen her own mate when she was six; it looked like Kekka was just getting an early start.

Author’s Note

Whew. Another one. The next story is a little... differenty. The next three books are ménage and will intertwine, so they will be connected Stand-Alone Tales.

Familiar with the Warlock is going to be up next and was actually completed and edited before this one was done, but this has to come out first because of reasons.

So, if you don’t like ménage, skip the next three books, and then, I will be back to my regularly scheduled stuff.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

About the Author

Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.