“No, I won’t just do what he says,” she replied, holding the woman’s gaze with her own. She needed to get this just right. “Just because I’m from the Warrens doesn’t mean I’m a puppet. I’m a thinking, feeling human being.
“My mother sold herself into slavery to give me a better life, so I understand what it means to hold a debt to those who sacrificed for your freedom. I hear you lost your homes and families to the Emperor. I’ll never betray your secret. You dream of a galaxy where nobody dies because a seating chart gets fucked up. I dream of a place where nobody’s parents become slaves to provide their children with an education. Sounds to me like we’re on the same side. But I’m not just going to obey him blindly.”
Tessa snapped her mouth shut, shooting Daaron a defiant look before turning to meet the woman’s gaze. She expected to see hostility there, perhaps even a threat.
Instead she caught a smile.
“Good,” she replied. “He deserves to be put in his place. He might threaten you if you don’t obey, but I’ll kill you if you do. There aren’t many women on this planet and we have to stick together. Otherwise the men will get the idea that they own us, and we can’t afford that. They already hold most of the power. The priestesses will agree with me.”
Daaron glared at her, but she laughed, walking up to Tessa and offering her hand in friendship.
“I’m Leezal,” she said, helping her step down. “Don’t worry about Daaron, he made it clear to us from the moment he saw you that you were special. I think he’s the only one who didn’t realize just how he felt about you. Your people seem to be awfully stupid about lifemating. And I’m sorry we shot you with the flechettes. It was the only way we could think of to keep you from getting hurt.”
“I’m just happy that I didn’t hurt Daaron,” Tessa replied, wondering if Leezal could be a friend. How strange things had become! “When I thought I’d killed him, I wanted to die myself.”
“And you would have too,” Leezal replied, her face suddenly serious. “We owe him everything, Tessa. You can’t imagine.”
“I’m beginning to,” she replied, meaning every word. “I’m starting to realize just how much I want to learn more about him. I’ve never been so wrong about anyone in my life.”
“I know the feeling. I’d just lost my home and family when he found me. I thought he’d come to kill me for the Emperor. Instead he gave me a new life and purpose. Come with me, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Epilogue
Six months later Tessa leaned forward, kissing her husband’s neck and hugging him so tight it almost hurt.
“A message arrived today,” she said. “My mother will be here in about a week.
She’s very excited to meet my new husband.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Daaron said, reaching down with one hand to rub her slightly swollen belly. The Danubians were thrilled about the pregnancy—they took it as a sign that the Goddess looked upon their lifemating with favor. He wasn’t sure he believed in the Goddess, but he’d never been happier in his life. And now that they were becoming a family, everything seemed different. Brighter and better somehow.
Glorious.
Tessa reached up to kiss his mouth and he lost track of his thoughts. He’d always been a man of lusty habits, able to go two or three times a night, but the speed his cock rose to meet her was almost embarrassing. It was always this way between them.
Intense. Some day he’d have to figure out a way to draw things out a little more.
She pulled back from the kiss, and smiled up at him. Then she looked at the bed pointedly, and gently pushed his chest. Daaron fell back, taking her with him. He reached for her breasts, but she stopped him, giving him a smile that was pure woman—filled with mystery and a knowing wisdom that he could only wonder at.
“I’m really excited to see my mother again,” she said, dropping kisses along his chest. “I hope it won’t offend you, but I have an old-fashioned way I’d like to show my appreciation.”
He looked at her, hoping desperately it would involve her lips on his body.
“Helping your mother is the least I could do,” he said. “You’ve made my life complete, Tessa. You don’t owe me anything.”
“You might think that, but I’m feeling a rather urgent need to make myself clear,” she said, giving him a smile. She dropped her head, kissing down to his nipple, suckling it with gentle insistence. Then she flicked it with her tongue and looked up.
Accepting defeat gracefully, Daaron relaxed against the bed, allowing her free reign. After a moment’s pause, she leaned down and bit his nipple.
He started.
“Just making sure you’re paying attention,” she said, and gave the tiny hurt a gentle kiss. Then she nuzzled down his body, finding the gentle rises and swells of his muscles and ribs. When she reached his stomach he froze, every part of his body focused on the feel of her lips grazing his sensitive flesh. With agonizing slowness, she kissed, licked and nipped her way to his navel, then darted her tongue inside. He felt it right at the base of his cock, as if a string connected the two spots. His balls tightened, and he clenched the muscles of his ass to keep from rearing up at her.
She gave a low laugh, full of power, and Daaron felt it run through his bones. He’d never heard anything sexier in his life. After long moments spent toying with him, she allowed the bottom of her chin to brush the tip of his straining cock. Once, twice, the skin catching as moisture welled up from his eager slit.
Tessa laid her cheek against his stomach and flicked her tongue out quickly, swirling it around his cock head. He gasped.
“I’d heard that men like it when women do that,” she said, her voice all innocence.
“I take it that rumor is accurate?”
He gave a groan, incapable of offering her any other answer. She opened her mouth, resting her lips against the round head and deliberately licking his slit, poking it with the tip of her tongue.
“Salty,” she whispered. “Yum.”
Daaron took a deep breath, trying to focus on the moment. Pressure built in his balls. He knew he’d come too fast if he wasn’t very, very careful. She was a heady drug, one he couldn’t begin to resist.
She sucked him in like a piece of candy, her mouth barely fitting around his girth.
She reached down with one hand, finding his testicles and cupping them. Then Tessa rolled the orbs between her fingers, pulling at them within the sac of skin. He shivered and she sucked him in deeply, continuing to roll and tug at his testicles.
Daaron closed his eyes, awash in sensation. He took deep, gulping breaths, desperate to calm himself. He wanted to savor this moment, and yet the more she touched him the greater his urgency grew.
He’d gotten blowjobs from the best, most expensive and exclusive pleasure workers in the Empire during his old life, but their skilled touch was nothing compared to Tessa’s at that moment. She was far from expert—for all her boldness, she was still perfecting her technique. Every once in a while her teeth grazed him. It should have hurt, but instead it turned him on. There was something so amazing, so sexy, about having been the first man inside a woman’s body. Each time they made love it was special, beautiful.