"Wow," his fated said, taking her first tentative steps in his quarters.

Kol-Eresh looked on as Jackie went from room to room, trying to take in everything. Her shock was evident, not that he blamed her. Nayanors were a warrior race. Terrans had so many items they didn't need, whereas Nayanors had none.

The only things Kol-Eresh owned that didn't serve a very particular purpose in his day-to-day life were his war trophies. Weapons taken from powerful enemies, tokens of value. They lined the walls of one of his rooms, some still so fresh from battle that there was a distant smell of blood around them.

Their owners had not been eager to die.

Jackie quickly left that room, taking deep breaths when the door slid shut after her.

"That's horrendous," she said, pointing. "Why do you keep things like that? At the very least, you could have them cleaned up."

"No," Kol-Eresh said. "To have them still coated in the blood of the enemies I took them from shows I won them in hard combat. It is a sign of strength."

"It nearly makes me sick," Jackie admitted, glancing at the closed door.

"I won't pretend to like the smell of blood," Kol-Eresh said, leading her deeper into his quarters on the Leviathan. "But it is a necessity."

Jackie didn't utter any of the things that were very obvious from her expression. Instead, she ventured deeper into her new home, her hands wrapped around herself protectively. The overly big coat she seemed to be wearing did not compliment her. Kol-Eresh swore to have it off her soon enough. His eyes traveled over her tanned, smooth legs and the ass that the tight pants framed perfectly.

His cock grew even harder than it had been before. The lust he felt for her was unlike anything the harbinger had ever experienced before. It was more than a need for her body. It was a complete and overwhelming ache to possess every inch of her, to make the female his in a way that even the galaxy couldn't deny.

Soon.

"Where... Where am I going to live?" Jackie asked at last after having glimpsed his bedroom and quickly walking away from that.

"With me," Kol-Eresh said, grinning when he saw her eyes go wide. "These are not just my rooms anymore, they're ours."

"I'm assuming that includes the bed," Jackie replied in an emotionless voice, her eyes searching his face.

"Yes."

His fated looked at the bedroom with obvious fear in her eyes. That was not the emotion Kol-Eresh wanted her to associate him with.

"The other women," Jackie said seriously. "Where are they? Are they as... comfortable as I am?"

No.

The truth was that the travel to Luminos wasn't a great experience for most of the females. Logistically, there was no helping that. They were locked up in great halls, left mostly to their own devices, except for the lucky ones who had already been claimed by the warriors of the ship.

One of the most feared harbingers, Zar Kohora, had suggested something his own Terran fated had discovered for Nayanors. Kol-Eresh had enforced it on his ship as well, thinking that it was definitely worth trying even if there was no helping the terrible mood the females were in.

The idea was to send a Terran female who had already been to Luminos, who had a fated as well, to speak to them. The ambassador, or so the position was called, explained the most basic facts of their new lives and warned the females about the wormhole travel.

Over the years, it had gotten better and safer, but it wasn't uncommon for the ship to go through some warping during the journey through unspace.

"Don't think about them," Kol-Eresh told Jackie. "Come. Are you hungry?"

Jackie followed him silently into his living room. Unlike some other harbingers, Kol-Eresh preferred to keep that room as comfortable as possible. There wasn't any furniture there to speak of, other than a few sofas and a low table. The floors were covered with Fermanoli coats, the warmest fabric that could be found on Luminos.

It served the species well during the long night, a month-long storm that overtook the planet every year, killing untold numbers and threatening them with extinction.

Kol-Eresh was glad that Jackie would get to spend a few months on the planet before she had to deal with that.

It seemed Jackie was barely listening to him. There was clearly something bothering the female, something beyond the obvious.

"I asked if you wanted to eat?" he repeated himself, something that he would never have done with a warrior.

Jackie tried to put on a smile.

"Yes, thank you," she said, looking around. "Can I sit?"

The harbinger nodded, opening his comm link and ordering:

"Bring food and wine to my quarters. And a wardrobe for my new fated."

Jackie raised an eyebrow, sitting down on the floor and resting herself against the sofa. She stretched herself like an animal, looking divinely gorgeous while doing so. Kol-Eresh had never envied his floor more for getting to touch the bare skin of her long legs.

His fated was quiet for a moment, shifting uncomfortably before kicking off the odd shoes she had been wearing. Then she sat against the sofa, brought her legs up and folded her hands around them, looking up at him to see if he was going to join her. The expression on her face didn't shield her fear well.

Kol-Eresh was going to amend that, but for the time being he was simply dazzled by her. Nothing stood out about what she was doing, but all put together she was pushing his buttons in all the right ways. The way she sat there, trying to appear braver than she was actually feeling, the soft smile flickering in and out of existence... he had never seen anyone as gorgeous in his life.

Slowly, the harbinger put his massive sword away. Rested against the wall, it was still taller than Jackie and weighed more than her now that he had the comparison. The blade was as thick as her thighs.

It was a good sword. It had served Kol-Eresh most of his life and now it would continue to do so while he kept his fated safe.

He started removing his armor, with Jackie watching him, clearly unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"You said we were going to eat," she finally pointed out when Kol-Eresh stood in front of her in just the long black pants and a sleeveless shirt he wore underneath the armor.

"We are," he said, sitting down opposite of her, on the floor like she was, resting himself against another sofa. "The armor isn't exactly made for that."

He didn't miss how Jackie's eyes kept flickering to his biceps, bulging and thick after a lifetime spent in battles and hard training. The life of a Nayanor was as unforgiving in times of relative peace as it was in open war.

Unlike the warrior species in the Union, like the Brions or Corgans, Nayanors weren't known for valuing honor and duty. The concept of honor mostly referred to acts of cowardice being shunned. And there was no such thing as duty in a world where every man did as he wanted.

"You also said wardrobe," Jackie continued, relaxing a little when she saw that she wasn't in any immediate danger. "What does that mean? Please tell me it doesn't include bikinis or something humiliating like that. I won't be dressed like some concubine for your pleasure."

"You will wear my colors," Kol-Eresh said. "And there is a coat, made of the same material as these carpets are. You'll be grateful for it once the long night comes."

"What's that?" Jackie asked with interest.

His answer was cut short by the food arriving as well as people shuffling around in the quarters to lay out Jackie's new clothes in another room. The harbinger poured wine for them both, seeing the way Jackie looked at the clerks with unguarded interest.

"They're all Terrans," she said when the women left.

The anger was very audible in her voice although he could hear how much she tried to control it.

"So we are slaves to you," Jackie said angrily.

"Everyone works on Luminos," Kol-Eresh said, leaning back and regarding her seriously. "All the females you saw volunteered to be on the ship. It's an easy charge, compared to life in some harsher part of Luminos. Some of them have fateds aboard."

"I guess it makes sense," Jackie mused, observing the wine he'd offered her. "I think they're here in the hopes of escaping when you return to Union space."

"I'm sure that some harbor those hopes, yes," Kol-Eresh agreed. "I assure you that they are kept under the strictest watch during the raid. I told you. No one leaves Luminos."

Jackie sniffed the wine, wincing and pulling back from the sharp smell. The harbinger laughed, shaking his head.

"It's not poisoned," he said. "Drink. You should get used to it. During the long night, the brew is precious to us. The temperatures drop so damnably fast even in the best fortresses."

Jackie took a small sip, coughing then, a broken bark of laughter escaping her lips.

"Unbelievable," she said. "It tastes even worse than it smells."

Kol-Eresh took a sip of his own drink, unable to tear his eyes away from his fated. She was truly an amazing creature. The way she didn't seem too bothered with her new condition other than some very natural fear delighted him. It would make conquering her easier, even if he didn't mind a tough fight.

"You were telling me what the long night is," Jackie reminded him, her eyes wandering over the food laid out on the low table.

"It's a storm," Kol-Eresh said. "It covers the entire planet for a whole month. All the population escapes into reinforced fortresses, staying there until it passes. Nothing moves during the long night. All the ships are grounded and every step outside is a death sentence. The temperature drops so fast you can feel the air freezing in your lungs. And the storm has other tricks in case you survive that."

"I definitely see why you would just not find a new home world," Jackie deadpanned, the smile creeping back on her lips.

"There are no others," Kol-Eresh said, leaning back and admiring her simple, effortless beauty. "The same cluster of stars that hides us from the sight of the Union scanners makes life impossible anywhere else in the section."

His fated nodded, reaching for more food. Kol-Eresh didn't miss the way she gathered up the items that she liked on her plate and then pulled back, legs raised up like in defense from him. She rested her plate on her propped-up knees and regarded him.

"Could you tell me something?" she asked seriously.

"Go ahead and ask and we'll see."

Jackie glared, but the need to get answers won out.

"How did you catch Terra off guard?" she inquired. "The Palians have systems for that. Alarms, proximity warnings. It shouldn't have been possible for us to be so blind to you. They are the smartest species in the galaxy. How did you outwit them?"

The harbinger shrugged.

"It was unfortunate for us when the Union found out about the wormholes," he admitted. "We merely adapted as well. I won't explain to you how. I'm not entirely sure I could. But my species doesn't just have brawn. The scientists came up with the wormhole travel. They have invented a lot more. Gadgets, weapons, medicine..."

"Medicine?" Jackie asked all of a sudden, her eyes wide.

"Yes," Kol-Eresh replied, unsure of what had triggered such a response. "The diadons all warriors wear counter all the known diseases. The only threat to us is being killed in battle, which happens often, but for all other intents and purposes we might as well live forever. It's a pity they can't be fitted to Terrans."

The look in Jackie's eyes was indescribable. The plate was almost shaking in her hands before she caught herself and forced her body to relent.

"What's a diadon?" she asked.

Kol-Eresh set his wine chalice down with a smirk and pulled up his shirt. In the middle of his chest, the diadon glowed. The mechanical frame protruded just slightly from his powerful body, for the purpose of connecting other devices to it. The sapphire mineral inside that was the source of the healing flashed as his body adjusted to being at leisure.

Jackie crawled closer, her eyes nailed to the device. She reached out her hand, then seemed to realize what she was doing.

"Go on," Kol-Eresh said, watching her without blinking.

It was too hard to resist her first touch, even if it was the device in his chest instead of his flesh. Jackie reached out her fingers, gently running them over the sapphire diamond. The harbinger chose not to point out that her hand slipped just for a moment to run over his chiseled, firm abs. There was such an emotion in her eyes that it took Kol-Eresh's breath away.

Then she drew back and all the walls that had come down for a second were up again. Jackie returned to her seat, curling up like before. The smile on her lips wasn't as brave as it had been a moment ago.

She lifted more food onto her plate.

"Tell me more about Luminos," she said, her voice shaking just a little. "I would like to know the world I'll be spending the rest of my life on."