Page 18 of Black Star

She leaned down to kiss him and he wrapped his arms around her to hug her close. The emotion she felt from the touch of his mouth and arms brought tears to her eyes. When he ended the kiss, she smiled at him. “Who said you couldn’t be gentle?”

Mikiel laughed. He had never felt so good in all his life. For the first time, he felt complete. Whole. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to keep her with him.

“I love you, Nadira. With all that I am, I love you.”

“I know.” She giggled when a look of male suffering came across his face. “You’re pretty good at hiding your feelings, but I figured it out.”

“And you? I took you, kept you here against your will, and made your life miserable for several months. Can you find it in you to love me back?”

Nadira grew serious, all kidding and joking pushed aside while she spoke what was in her heart. “I’m not exactly sure when I realized I loved you, but I’ve known it for a while now. I think it was your decision to keep me here rather than give me my own place that started me down that path. I lived with you -- difficult as you were sometimes -- saw you in a way no one else ever could, and managed to see through the gruff exterior you present to everyone else.” She cupped his face in one of her hands. “You’re a good man, Mikiel. You’ve always done right by me, even if you did trade me for theBlack Star’s freedom.” She chuckled at that. “Which, by the way, turned out better than I could have hoped. Not only do I have my freedom, but I have a wonderful man and a father I never knew. I’d say things turned out for the best. You even got theBlack Star.”

“Yeah, well. I think it might be wise to keep that a secret for a while. I don’t want these ships separated until I can figure out what to do. What happened to them simply wasn’t right. I won’t compound that injustice by running back to Homeworld with a war prize.”

Nadira’s heart swelled. He truly was a remarkable man. “Just one more reason why I love you, Mikiel.”

She wrapped her arms around him as he took her mouth again. This time, he demanded her participation. His hands shaped the curves of her body. If he lived an eternity, he would never grow tired of how womanly she felt in his arms. Every curve, every contour, was created with him in mind. She was the perfect woman for him, both in body and in spirit.

He rolled off her so he could rid himself of his clothes and she did the same. When she bent her knees and spread her legs, Mikiel situated himself in the cradle of her body. With one forward surge of his hips, he filled her. Nothing felt so good as Nadira’s tender flesh surrounding him.

She arched her back, and he took the offering of her breasts. One hand supported her back while the other squeezed and fondled one large mound. His mouth latched on to the other and he knew he had reached the glory of the afterlife. Surely there could never be a place or time as wonderful as the moment he was in right now.

Nadira met him thrust for thrust, her pussy hot and becoming wetter with each pull of his mouth and each surge of his hips. Her breath came in short gasps, and when he lifted his head to take her mouth once again, he noticed sweat dotting her forehead and upper lip. Her cunt clenched and unclenched and Mikiel knew it wouldn’t be long before she came.

“I love you, Nadira. I always will.” He managed to get the words out as he pumped himself into her faster yet until he felt the spasming of her pussy growing out of control. When she threw back her head and screamed her pleasure, he let himself go. Stream after stream of his cum bathed her inside. With any luck, he had planted the seed of his child inside her.

Time would tell.

Time would tell.

Epilogue

Black Starhad never felt so empty. Damon had just put the last crewmember aboard the ship that would take them back to Vok’nair. He had no doubt a bounty would be issued for him as soon as his crew arrived. The king would not be forgiving in this betrayal.

But that was OK. If he had stood up for his friend all those years ago, none of this would be happening. Anything the king saw fit to do to him, he probably deserved.

Only a handful of theBlack Star’s crew remained -- those who were loyal to him and not the Empire -- but he needed a pilot. When he’d requested assistance from theSword Breaker, they had sent a man only slightly older than Nadira named Ranier. In only a couple of hours, he was handling the helm as if he belonged there. His easygoing manner put the rest of the command crew at ease, and they soon settled into their regular routine. Confident everything was under control, Damon headed back to his quarters to lie down. It had been an exhausting day.

When the door swished open and the lights didn’t automatically come on, Damon went into full battle mode. Something wasn’t right. He stepped carefully around the room, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light, the only illumination coming from starshine through the window. That was when he noticed the oddly shaped lump on his bed.

“Lights,” he barked. The computer complied, and the lump shrieked and sat straight up. In the middle of his bed sat an incredibly thin woman dressed in nothing more than tattered rags. Her long white hair tumbled around her face in a frizzy tangle. Dirt and grease smudged her skin. And she stank.

She must have snuck aboard at the last outpost they’d visited to pick up supplies. Wherever she had come from, she was here now. Probably after a better life for herself.

Well, time would tell if she had made a wise decision. For now, he’d clean her up and feed her. Then they could figure out what came next. Damon had the feeling life was about to get interesting.

He’d just acquired a stowaway.

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