“Oh, Eli. You didn’t have to do all of this.”
His officers and crew stood at attention. They had rolled out a red carpet and sprinkled it with white rose petals. I blushed at him and looked at my hands.
“May I escort you to the Imperial suites, Princess Probus?” Eli asked formally.
“Yes, thank you.” I accepted Eli’s arm.
He led me past the Inquisitors who served under him as his crew. Most of the students at the Academy, like Galina and Rheanna, wouldn’t become spies in the field. They would have assignments such as this. They would be expected to know how to pilot any craft, fight like soldiers, and hunt down criminals if ordered to do so.
The Imperial suites reserved for House Probus were the same on Eli’s ship as they were on all of the warships in the fleet. Our rooms on Uncle Kagan and Kane’s ships had many personal touches because we traveled with our family so much. Eli hadn’t left the Imperial suites undecorated. He had added a collection of framed family photos. There were pictures of the children, close-ups of Thunderdrop, pictures of Momma and Papa, and several group pictures of us all together. It was deeply touching.
Eli observed my reaction before saying, “I’ll have my Captain take us up.” He bowed to me and left.
With each framed family photograph, Eli had been telling me that he loved me and the life I had made for myself. Nico put his arms around me. Turning in his arms, I rested my cheek to his chest. “I’ll be so glad when we can put everything about Felix behind us.”
My blonde giant said, “We all will.”
The warship lifted from the surface, the viewports opened, and the stars appeared as white lines on a field of black. A few hours later, Eli approached me. “May I have a few words with you in private?”
“Sure.”
I walked with him to his quarters off of the bridge. When the door opened, the delicate scent of roses wafted to me, and I entered to see vases brimming with delicate blooms of white and pink. The door closed, and Eli went down to his knee before me.
Staring up at me with serious brown eyes, he said, “Princess Teagan of House Probus of Parvac, will you do me the great honor of accepting me as your husband?”
Eli’s proposal didn’t feel like any of the other proposals I had received. There was a poignant weight to his words as though he was asking for my acceptance of him as an individual or as proof that I believed the truth of his love. His brown eyes masked his soul.
“Eli, I accept you as my husband, friend, confidant, protector, and lover, but also as my Inquisitor.”
“Will you place your hand to the contract that will bind me to you before the eyes of the Empire, even though it seems pointless when you have already marked my soul and claimed it?”
I pressed my hand to the screen, sealing our fates. Eli rose and stood before me. My acceptance had charged him with an inner strength and power. I could see my reflection in his eyes, and it was like I was a giant covering brown worlds.
Eli said, “I would make love to you on my bed if you will allow it. I want to worship your flesh and pour what I feel for you into your very heart. Each day and night, I have longed for you, but have taken satisfaction in being a small part of your life, a part that could go unnoticed and forgotten at any moment.”
Eli’s lips crashed down to mine like storm tossed waves against a battered shore. He cupped my face in his palms. Together, we stumbled to his bed.
Sometime later, we laid on our backs side by side. My head rested on Eli’s bicep. In a deep rumble, he said, “You are the afterlife, and I hold you in my arms.”
“How can I be the afterlife when we exist in this life together?”
“I passed from my former life and into the next when my body joined with yours. The Eli Beck of yesterday is no more.”
“I liked him, most of the time. He will be missed.” Picking up his hand, I held it and examined the dark hairs on his knuckles.
“You have no need of ever missing me. I will strive to be the perfect husband.”
“I have no need of perfection.” Turning to snuggle closer, I slid my leg over his.
“Perfection for you is a unique blend. You need me but not to smother you.” Eli kissed the top of my head. “I have a gift for you.”
“You don’t need to spend credits on me.” I tilted my head and gazed at the side of his face.
“I have the names of the Earth Loyalists and have submitted them to Emperor Probus.”
I sat up with wide eyes. Eli’s strayed to my breasts, and his sheet that had pooled at my waist. “What will Papa do?”
“Turn them over to his contemporaries in those governments, I suppose.” Eli ran a finger from my collarbone down to my nipple.
“How costly was that gift?”
“It was a price paid in the blood of our enemies.” His lips closed. His attention had become riveted on my chest.
“You are taking me to the final one. Is that it? You wanted to give me closure.”
“You deserve it. Soren is harmless. He is a chef. Felix bought his cooperation which Soren used to fund his dream. All he had to do was keep Felicia under surveillance and report any dealings she had with you. Soren decided the best way to do that was by taking her as his own.”
Eli’s eyes followed the subtlest movement of my chest as though my nipples had him transfixed. I wondered if there weren’t more effective means of retrieving information from a suspect than the torture taught at the Academy. “Felix was plotting before I left Earth on Tora.”
“No, he was plotting before you were born.” His words chilled my flesh and pebbled my nipples, much to his amusement. “I have been watching you since your genetic samples were analyzed on Arachne. I am the one who discovered that you lived, who hunted and captured Nathan Green. I will keep no secrets that are of myself from you, but some secrets involve the lives of others and must be kept.”
“I understand.”
“Yes, you do or will as you continue to learn through your studies.”
“What do you mean?”
“You still intend to graduate. Do you not?”
“I still can? It all wasn’t just part of your team’s plan to capture Felix?”
“Your Academy training is your own. We simply worked with the situation.” Eli cupped my breast in his palm. Then, his hair tickled my chin while he slid his tongue across my nipples and played with them in his mouth.
Much later, once I was too exhausted to move, Eli held me in his arms and whispered against the top of my head, “I will right every wrong and facilitate all of your dreams, sweet princess.”
With thoughts of the Academy running through my mind, I fell asleep.
When my eyes drifted open once more, Eli’s quarters reminded me that I didn’t have diapers to change or babies to feed and cuddle this morning. It was so strange and sad waking up without any responsibilities, but it was also relaxing. Eli was all warmth and hard muscle beside me.
“What are you thinking?” he asked as he ran his hand down my arm. Only a white sheet covered us.
“I won’t have any sweet little arms around my neck today of the baby or spider variety.”
Eli shifted and slid his arm over my stomach. Then, he placed gentle kisses up the side of my neck and collarbone. “For so long, I have yearned to touch you, to share with you my love through our joined bodies.”
With a throaty chuckle, I opened my thighs to give him access. He filled the space I provided with his lean, heavily muscled body and slid his stomach and hips upward until he had positioned himself. We had made love a few times over the course of the night, enough that Eli could now take me in a slow, unhurried manner, and slow he was. He moved within me and began a slow roll of his hips that created a sensation unlike any I had experienced before. When I came, it was with his name on my lips and my nails in his back. Eli kissed me with bruising force.
“Stay here. I’ll get your coffee.” He put on a pair of pants and left his quarters shirtless and with bare feet.
I cringed at what I had done to his back. Eli’s blood was under my nails. He had made me lose control to the extent that I was unsure of how exactly I had behaved while beneath him. Disentangling myself from the sheets, I went into his bathroom to freshen up but was back in bed when he returned with a breakfast tray. I eyed it with skepticism.
“You’re going to have to help me with that tower of pancakes.”
Eli grinned at me.
After breakfast, I pulled him into the shower with me. Eli spent more time touching me than washing. “I love you, Teagan.” His brown eyes never left me. Shutting off the water, I wrapped my hair in a towel and dried myself with another. Lifting up on my toes, I kissed him and handed him a towel. “Fear that you would force me from your life consumed me for weeks.”
“You can release those fears. You’re mine, now, and I’ll never let you go.”
“Speaking of going, you don’t have to leave. No duties call for your attention. Stay with me.” He wrapped the towel around his hips and followed me into his bedroom where he poured me a fresh cup of coffee.
I took a few sips while watching him over the rim. “So, you just want to keep me here, naked and secluded in your quarters, all of the way to Scipio?”
“Yes.”
“What about Nico, Fitz, Drex, Dario, and Zared?”
“I have given them ample intelligence reports on the Earth Loyalists to keep them busy.”
I shook my head at him and sat in bed with my coffee. Eli stared at me with a hungry possessiveness. He handed me one of his shirts and pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms. We sat in bed together with our vid-screens. I called home and visited with my babies and parents. Momma and Papa were in their bed and covered with babies. Momma looked radiantly happy.
“Mommy!” Neema shouted.
“Good morning! Are you having fun with Gama and Gapa?”
She nodded her head. Her hair was a wild mess. “We going to a tea party. I send you pictures.” She had a stuffed bear by the arm and started bouncing on the bed. Papa grunted when her knee landed in his gut. “Oops. Sorry, Gapa.”
“Okay. I can’t wait to see how pretty you will look.”
“Oh, Mommy. You have to wait. I not dressed yet.” She cocked her head at me which made me laugh.
Niklos said, “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you, too.”
He was already sliding from the bed on his stomach to chase after Neema. Papa had Peter cradled in his arms and was feeding him a bottle.
Momma said, “Stay as long as you like and enjoy your romantic getaway. We have everything here under control. We love you, my sweet,” she said before ending the call.
“Romantic getaway,” I said to Eli. “We’re on a mission.”
“Emperor Probus did not think she needed to know the particulars of our mission.”
“No, of course not. There’s no reason to upset her. She looked so happy.”
Afterwards, I skimmed through the newsfeeds. My new husbands and I were all over them. “Dario must be busy speaking to Houses that wish to affiliate with House Galerius.”
Eli said, “Yes, indeed. That should keep him occupied for months.”
“Is being my husband really that big of a deal?”
“In our world, becoming your husband is akin to the Galaxic Government voting on new leaders.”
I gaped at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am. News of our union has been known for a few hours, and look.” He showed me a long list of messages from Houses that wished to form alliances with House Beck.
“There must be hundreds of them.”
“Dario is from a prominent house. With their control of Daphoene, House Galerius rivals House Jiri in power. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dario was called home soon to solidify political ties. Does that bother you?”
“No, Dario and I are married friends with benefits. Aside from that, he was a smart choice, the kids adore him, and he’s supportive and dependable. Of my husbands, I have only chosen three to satisfy my heart. The others were for political reasons, but I have learned to love a few.”
The room had gone still. Eli asked, “Who did you marry for love?”
I looked into Eli’s eyes. “Yukihyo, Zared, and you.” We sat in silence, staring into each other’s eyes.
“You love me. That is the only reason you accepted me.”
I nodded. “I’m not sure when it happened. With Yukihyo and Zared, it was a powerful and unmistakable bond. With you, it was slow and gradual. You never tried to bribe me with gifts or feed my vanity with flattery. You fed my soul through your actions and earned my trust with your devotion.”
Eli moved our vid-screens aside and kissed my shoulder while removing the towel from my hair.
By lunch time, I had to push Eli away. “Aren’t you sore?”
He laughed deep and loud with his face raised to the ceiling. “No, but I take it you are?”
I gave him an incredulous look. “Well, yeah. What the heck do you think? I’m crawling away now while I’m still somewhat perambulatory.” Eli moved to kiss me. “Oh, no you don’t. Even my lips are sore, Eli Beck. You’ve had plenty of kisses here and here.” I pointed to his lips and his manly appendage.
Eli said, “I’ve become insatiably addicted to both.”
I snorted at him in laughter. “I have, too.”
He said, “It’s obvious where you prefer my lips.”
Then, I frowned at my sore inner thighs. “Eli, I am going to have to insist that you either remain clean-shaven or grow out your beard. My lady parts have thoroughly enjoyed that mouth of yours, but my inner thighs feel a bit raw from your stubble.”
Eli laughed. “As you wish, sweet princess. I’ll go get something comfortable for you to wear.” He dressed in his uniform and left.
I returned to his shower. When he came back, I noticed a subtle change to Eli’s eyes. There was more to them now than death and duty.
Belatedly, I realized that Terre and I were the only two females onboard a warship of Inquisitors. The knowledge was driven home to me when I found her on the observation deck. Eli had been correct. My husbands had become engrossed in their own pursuits when I hadn’t been around to play with.
“No, that’s quite alright. Thank you,” Terre said as she declined an officer’s offer to move her chair for a better view of the stars. Another one was topping off her cup of tea. They all looked poised to strike.
“Hey, Terre. What are you doing?”
Terre gave me a grateful look when a few of the swarming officers turned their attention toward me, sighting me as though I were juicy prey. “Are you alright? Are you limping?”
My face turned scarlet. “Let’s just say that Eli wore me out and leave it at that.” I accepted a cup of coffee from an officer, who smiled at me seductively. I took a sip and choked. Then, I threw it at him and missed because of his superior reflexes. “You bastard!”
I stood on my chair, jumped, and hurled myself at him. Instead of knocking him down to the floor and beating him bloody with my fists the way it had happened in my imagination for the split second before I had reacted, he caught me in a bridal hold and spun me around with a smile on his face. His hair was too short to yank, so I went for his ears.
The bastard laughed. “You’re adorable when you’re angry.”
“Fuck you with a blaster cannon! You, asshole! Don’t you dare laugh when I’m beating you up!” Furious, I screamed and smacked him in the head. The harder I smacked him, the louder he laughed. I was preparing to gouge out his eyes when a voice froze my hands.
“Teagan, stop. Nothing was what we thought.” Cedrenus had his hands raised in an attempt to placate me.
Clark had bent down to pick up the cup I had hurled at his father. An officer replaced it with a fresh cup, and another cleaned up the mess I had made.
Terre said, “Put her down immediately. You have no right to touch her Imperial person.” Her tone was so regal and aloof with affront that Flavian hastened to comply.
Flavian said, “I had to catch her, or she might have fallen and hurt herself.” He put me down on my feet.
I pulled back and hit him as hard as I could in his gut. Pain shot through my wrist. “Ow, ow, ow,” I whined.
“Oh, no. Did you do what I did when I punched you in the eye?” Terre rushed to me placing her soft hands on my injured wrist.
“No, he’s harder than my eye.”
Terre and I were forehead to forehead huddled over my wrist.
“Teagan, let me see,” Cedrenus said. “You know you’re supposed to wear sparring gloves so you don’t hurt yourself. Let me see it,” he demanded. Cedrenus’ cool hands held my wrist.
“How the hell was it supposed to hurt him if I was wearing gloves?” I grumbled.
Flavian said, “You’re angry. I understand why and feel deserving of it. Jiri had hidden himself too well, and it took us time to foster identities and contacts that he would believe. We needed you to lure him out. Nothing else worked, and collaboratively we used our surveillance and infiltration technologies, skillsets, and informants to do so. We have hunted Jiri since Amphictyon and the discovery of his clones, all of us have. Had there been a way to leave you out of it, we would have done so, but he had become fixated on you. No one wanted you involved.”
“Then, why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Why make me think you did what I thought you did? Do you have any idea what that did to me? You threatened my babies and everyone aboard Tora!” I felt hot tears on my face. Terre wiped at them and made soothing noises to me while rubbing circles on my back.
“My threat against your children was a manipulation meant to send you fleeing to the safety of your home. When I said those terrible things, did you see the effect it had on Jiri? For a few moments, his steel resolve broke, and he forgot his plan. I would have had him then if Clark hadn’t chosen that moment to profess his loyalty.”
“Well, Clark’s not an asshole like you are.”
“Teagan, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Clark said.
I tried to flip him off, but it hurt.
“Here. Please, sit down,” Terre said as she led me to my chair.
The officers on the observation deck stood at attention with their backs to the hull. Eli’s Chief Medical Officer entered and came straight for me. After examining my injury, he diagnosed me with a sprain, and proceeded to immobilize my hand and wrist with a wrap. Then, he bowed to me and excused himself.
Inquisitor Flavian went down to his knees at my feet which brought him to eye-level. I regretted that I hadn’t waited until this moment to punch him. “Princess Probus, I beg your pardon. Had there been any other way to gain our objective without causing you pain or torment, I swear on my life that a different course would have been chosen.”
I reached out telepathically to Zared, questioning the truth and sincerity of Flavian’s protestations. Zared communicated, “He deeply regrets how he was forced to flush Felix from hiding, but is gratified that he and his team managed to do so where so many others failed.”
“What should I do?” I silently asked.
“The gracious thing to do would be to forgive him and thank him for his service. After all, he and his team did succeed where we failed.” I could feel Zared’s despondency and tried to soothe him.
Silently, I said, “You have never failed me, my love. I cherish you.” I looked at Terre and said aloud, “I’m not sure what I should do. I was thinking of flogging him, but my wrist hurts.”
Terre said, “General Cassian is quite muscular. He could do a better job of it than either of us.”
“Didn’t my husbands already begin punishing you, Flavian?” I asked sweetly.
“Yes, Princess Probus.”
“What did that entail?” I asked as I took a sip of my coffee.
“Punishment for an intimate crime against a female is being sliced to death by the blades of her champions,” he said quietly.
“How many cuts did they make before you escaped during the explosion?”
“Fifteen, Princess Probus.”
“Which cuts hurt the worst?” I asked.
“Those delivered by Fitz Jiri, your highness.”
I remembered that Fitz had come to me that day in the infirmary freshly showered. He had been ridding himself of Flavian’s blood. “I see.” I took another sip of my coffee. “What is your next assignment?”
Flavian’s eyes locked onto mine. “We are to sow dissent within the ranks of the Earth Loyalists.”
“Why?”
“Earth’s leaders have extended an invitation to the Empire with the intention of fostering more peaceful relations and cooperation between our governments.”
I thought about that bit of information. I had grown to despise Earth and my memories of it. His words could only mean one thing. A trip to Earth was in my future. I scowled. Papa hated diplomatic missions and thought that I was better suited to them. “Earthlings….” I shook my head.
“Oh, Teagan! I have always dreamed of visiting Earth. It is my ancestral planet. There are so many things to see!”
“Like what?” I asked with heavy cynicism.
Terre’s doe-shaped eyes widened at me making her look adorable. “You lived there! Did you see Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, or the Sahara Desert?”
I snorted at her. “I cleaned trash from dirty streets and lived in a housing community under an ancient overpass. I never got to go anywhere or see anything. Only wealthy people got to do things like that.” My eyes grew wide, and I sat up. “Shit! I’m swimming in credits! I’m not poor anymore!”
Terre nodded at me in agreement.
“Flavian, go find out how many credits I have. Go! Shoo!”
Terre asked, “You don’t know how much you have?”
“Nope. No idea. Yukihyo handles all of that for me. He’s really good with finances.”
Flavian stood, bowed low to me, and left the observation deck with a grin on his face. I noticed that his scars were fading.
“If we did go to Earth, we could do anything we wanted, eat at fancy restaurants, and see all of the places wealthy tourists go.” Having credits changed everything. I had taken two thoughtful sips of coffee when Flavian returned. “What? Go do what I asked.”
He bowed to me. “I have done so, Princess Probus. Additionally, I looked into the finances of a few Earthlings. Rupert Warren of Earth has eighty-three billion credits. After calculating your newest marriage contracts, you have two and a half billion credits.”
I gaped at him.
He continued. “However, the Emperor’s wealth exceeds that of Rupert Warren.”
I looked at Terre. She reached over and pushed up on my jaw. “Even after buying Farowyn a starship?”
“Yes, Princess Probus.”
I was astounded but also sad.
“Teagan, what’s wrong?” Terre asked.
“Nothing,” I told her. I didn’t want to upset her. All of the credits I had were worthless. They hadn’t saved Luca or our baby. With all of the intimate attention my husbands gave me, I still hadn’t conceived. Phillip, Dr. Savelli, and Dr. Fotri had assured me when I had confided my fears of not being able to carry another child that I was perfectly healthy, so why wasn’t I pregnant?
Zared entered the observation deck and strode forward. I hid my face to his chest as his arms came around me. “Think of Neema, Niklos, and Peter. Think of those of us who remain together,” he said softly.
“I know. I do. I just wonder what might have been.”
Zared stroked my hair.
Drex showed up next. “Dearest one, has Inquisitor Flavian upset you?”
“No, Drex. He was trembling in fear at my feet and begging for my forgiveness.”
Drex asked, “Do you wish him tossed from an airlock?”
I sighed. “No, he was following Papa’s orders.” I turned to face him. “Do not ever leave me out of plans again. You are never to lie to me.”
Flavian bowed. “I swear to obey, Princess Probus.”
Drex said, “Dearest one, you and your lady need amusement. Boredom causes your mind to dwell on the past.”
Terre said, “Oh, I suggest we paint since needlepoint is out of consideration due to your wrist.”
I frowned. “I can’t paint. Ms. Laura is an artist, though.”
Terre laughed. “It doesn’t have to be any good. It’s just for fun.”
Officers left to search for supplies.
“They won’t have stuff for us to use,” I said grumpily.
Drex said, “Of course, they will. There are storage rooms all over the ship with all sorts of amusements and games.” He sat near me and filled himself a cup.
He was right. Soon, officers had an area set up for us. I rolled my eyes at them. They had been trained to kill with their bare hands but had been running around gathering playthings for Terre and me. Terre spent a few minutes giving me some basic instruction before she became engrossed in her canvas. I stared at my supplies in consternation.
Cedrenus said, “We could work on your chemistry assignments if you would prefer.”
I scowled at him and grabbed a brush. “What should I even try to paint?”
Terre said, “Something that makes you happy.”
I looked out of the viewport at the stars but didn’t think a black canvas with white polka dots would be fun to paint. What made me happiest? I thought of Yukihyo and painted a tilted, white, horizontal oval with pink and gold striations. An oval with a jade-green disk followed. Then, I painted a green and gold iris around a black pupil, and a brown one after it. Remembering Luca’s eyes, I painted his next. Zared’s eye was challenging. It was difficult to give the black emotion and depth, but the effort made painting Thunderdrop’s eyes easier. My hand felt cramped by the time I had finished. Paint decorated me almost to the extent of my canvas. On a blended background of pinks, orange, and gold, was a blurry depiction of the eye color of each member of the family I had created for myself, my children and husbands with Yukihyo at the center blending them altogether.
“That’s interesting,” Terre commented. “What is it?”
I tilted my head. “It’s what I love most, and what matters to me more than anything. Let me see yours.” I got up and walked to Terre’s canvas. “Wow.” Her painting actually looked like something. I recognized the beach on Thalassa on a calm day. A male figure stood alone in the water with his muscular back visible from the hips up. “Do I detect blonde hair?”
Terre blushed. “I don’t know what you mean. It’s just the lighting is all.”
“Uh huh. Well, it’s really pretty.”
“Thank you.”
From a few feet away, my painting looked like a pink and gold nebula with small gas clouds. Quietly, Flavian asked, “Will you return our sons to us?” He knew what my painting was supposed to represent because I had what mattered most to him.
I looked at Clark. He, along with Levi, Tyler, and Stayton, had renounced their Houses and sworn to me when we had believed the Inquisitors’ subterfuge. “They can do whatever they want with no hard feelings. I formally release them. It was a misunderstanding, but I know on whose side they are.”
“House Flavian is loyal to House Probus, has been so for several generations, and will continue to be so for many more, stars willing. Clark is the last of my line.”
I said, “You never know. Clark might find himself a girl who is willing to put up with him on Earth if we visit.”
My team perked up from where they sat working on assignments. Feeling guilty, I spent much of the week catching up. Flavian was still a total bastard in my opinion, but he was a good chemistry tutor.