Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
Jacaranda
A s Sovereign approached the massive gates of Faithless, I braced myself. The gates were taller than any building in Orhon and certainly taller than anything on Halla. They were pulled by skenthas, lumbering beasts with nasty tempers and a taste for Ladrian meat. A line of guards, both living and ghost, stood flanked by two groupings of skenthas. But the scattered crowd of visitors and merchants from our first visit were absent. Only a few wanderers in a short queue.
With every fiber of my being, I wanted to fly over the gates and go straight to Rex’s manor, where he undoubtedly held Sarah against her will. My body tensed, waiting for the guard to do more than gawk at Sovereign’s lights.
“Stick to the plan,” Omen murmured, reminding me to be patient.
“I’m not going to attack,” I muttered, not feeling amenable at all. “Not yet.”
Arms crossed in front of her, she glanced at me. “If you do, you know who the first casualty will be.”
My jaw clenched. “Which is why I haven’t attacked, Omen.”
She seemed satisfied by the answer.
A guard used his gauntlet driver to project his voice. “Turn your lights down, park, and turn your engine off.”
I followed his orders and watched relief remove the lines from the guards’ faces. Sovereign had outer speakers, so I said, “I need an immediate audience with Rex Terian. Tell him Jacaranda Cozz is here to see him.”
The guard snarled, “We are not your errand boys, Cozz.”
But then someone behind him got his attention. We heard only blips through his gauntlet driver. “It’s the middle of the night…you’re kidding…who the hell…pfft, whatever.”
Then he stood in front of the line of guards again. “Helios has heard your plea. He will join you momentarily.”
“Thank you.” I turned off the speaker, unable to contain my irritation. “Not that jackass again.”
“Self-important boob,” Omen grumbled beneath her breath. “But if that’s what gets us where we need to be, then so be it.”
Helios emerged from the guard tower area and headed toward my ship. I didn’t want him aboard, but he went directly to my passenger door and waited.
"Fuck.” I pressed the entrance button to open it.
Within seconds, the preening fool came to the entryway of my cockpit. “Kind of you to let me on board. After all that waiting.”
“It was seconds , Helios,” Omen said testily.
“Yes, well, I would expect gentler treatment, considering we are breaking the rules for you,” he replied in a haughty tone.
“What rules?” I asked, watching as the gates began to open.
“You are the first ship which Rex does not own that he has permitted past the gates,” Helios said. “We will fly from here to his glorious estate and there he will do with you as he pleases.”
“So why are you here?” Omen asked.
“To ensure you do not make any detours or unnecessary stops.”
I bristled. “A fucking chaperone. Like we need one of those.”
Helios looked down his nose at me. “You have been to the manor only once. I cannot imagine you know the way in the dark.”
“I know the way,” I assured him.
After the skenthas pulled the gates open, I drove slowly into the city. It was different to fly above it all, instead of walking through it, like I did last time. But of course, last time, I was being escorted to the fighting pits. I recalled the hungry hawkers on the street who mistook me for a rich man and tried to sell me things. I wondered what they would think of me now, if they knew I was flying over them. I was not a rich man—not like Deacon—but I still had more than any of the hawkers. I wished I could do something for them. Maybe one day.
We pulled up to Rex’s manor estate, careful to soar a little higher than needed over his moat. It had tried to kill me once, and I didn’t feel like wrestling my ship from any of the beasts lurking beneath the surface. I parked near Rex’s front door and assembled a team to come with me.
“Treg, Tiger, I want you with me inside the manor,” I ordered my main crew, then turned toward the others. “Omen, you ladies, Fan, Bell, and Maverick, I want you to stay with the ship, and don’t give me that look,” I said, directing my comment toward the men. “I want a small team inside to be able to keep track of everyone, and I want the rest of you out here, guarding my ship to make sure Rex doesn’t try to fuck with it. After what his men did to Deacon’s ship, I’m not taking the chance that we don’t have an exit plan.”
Helios tugged on the front of his fancy uniform. “I assure you, no one wants you here any longer than is needed. No one will harm your pitiful ship.”
“Watch your mouth, boy,” I warned him, then grabbed a rucksack with weapons from the hold. Treg and Tiger did, too.
“There will be no weapons brought into the master’s home,” Helios said, his nasally voice grating on me. “I have granted you safe conduct.”
I locked eyes with Treg and Tiger, and Treg was quick to answer. “We are taking these weapons with us as a gift for Rex.”
“Whether you mean them as a gift, or as a threat, is of no consequence,” the other man said. “They will not be taken into his home.”
My hands fisted in frustration, but before I could speak, Tiger jumped in and said, “ Helios , am I saying that right?”
“Yes,” he responded stiffly.
The youngest of my crew was usually quiet, so for him to speak up worried me. He smiled and stood next to Helios as he conversed with him. “I can understand why you would want us disarmed. It makes sense, really. Do you know many Gorrks?” He gestured to Treg and his green blubbery appearance.
Helios wrinkled his nose as he glanced at Treg, considering his answer. “I have never met one. Why?”
“Treg is a great guy. One of their saints, actually,” Tiger smiled at the ship’s engineer. “But there’s a thing you should know about Gorrks, Helios.”
The other man’s eyes narrowed. “Yes?”
“Their weapons are sacred to them. They spend hours making them, crafting them.” Tiger pulled out an ordinary bone knife from its sheathe. “See this one? It was made from the pelvic bone of one of Earth’s whales. Magnificent creatures. Powerful. Deadly. Much like your master.”
“It is a fine blade, but—"
“It’s a magnificent blade,” Tiger said, cutting him off as he continued. “Treg has spent days on all these weapons, hoping to give them to someone worthy. It is a part of his religion. A sign of ultimate respect and dignity. I know this city is called Faithless, but surely you are not ignorant enough to disrespect a foreign religion, are you?”
Helios frowned. “I was trained at the academies of Orhon. I am not ignorant—"
“I didn’t think you were,” Tiger said with a calm smile. “You are a man of the worlds, clearly. A gifted messenger. I think you are meant for more than this simple post. Obviously, Rex thinks so too, or he wouldn’t have given the order for you to escort us to his home. Perhaps, an emissary position is in your future.”
“Emissary?” Helios was clearly flattered by the thought.
Tiger nodded. “You could be the one Rex calls on to greet foreign dignitaries. I know you’ve already been working your way toward—"
“I have,” Helios said eagerly. “Sometimes, I help him with his business deals.”
“See what I mean? He trusts you. The point is, if you balk at every foreigner’s gift when they’re unconventional, then you will never become the emissary Rex thinks you could be. You’ll stay a lowly messenger.” Tiger put his arm around Helios, as if they were the best of friends. “But I think you could be more than that. Don’t you?”
Helios nodded, looking completely enthralled by the possibility. “Yes. I’ve always wanted more.”
“So, can we deliver these gifts from a foreign saint to Rex in gratitude for seeing us at such an odd hour?”
Helios stood up straighter, and glanced at the Gorrk standing by my side. “I think the master would be most pleased to accept these gifts, Saint Treg.”
It was everything Treg could do not to laugh in his face. His green gelatinous body shook from the effort. But he kept his expression serious and played along. “I thank you, Helios. It will be an honor to bestow these symbols of my faith to him. Rex Terian is blessed by the whales to have a wise man such as you in his employ.”
Helios beamed. “The blessing is all mine. Follow me.”
Treg nodded once and lined up behind the messenger, then shot a smirk at me before he followed him out.
I tapped Tiger’s shoulder and he glanced at me. “Where the hell did you come up with that line of bullshit?” I said in a low, amused voice.
“When we were kids, Kapok often ran into problems he couldn’t get us out of. One of us had to save our asses, so I learned to blow smoke when I needed to.” He shrugged and stepped out into the night.
Omen laughed behind me. “That kid deserves a raise.”
I nodded heartily and followed him out of the ship and onto the estate. The manor was as I remembered it—two-stories, opulent, somewhat menacing. Thankfully, the moat was far from the main entrance. As we entered, it was dark inside. Sparse candles lit the halls to give just enough light to see, as Helios led us to some preordained destination to meet with Rex and Sarah. I presumed it would be Rex’s office or a sitting area.
I was wrong.
We were led to the hall which led to his bedroom. I frowned at the realization. What is Sarah doing in his bedroom?
Helios knocked once on the closed door, and it opened a few moments later. Sarah stood there, and when she saw me, a huge, excited smile lit up her pretty face.
“Jac!” Without preamble, she jumped into my arms and kissed me.
I caught her, and as overjoyed as I was to see that she was fine, I was also confused to find her in Rex’s personal quarters. But the moment her mouth touched mine, I didn’t care about any of it. I just needed her. That scent, those lips, her warmth. I drank it all in, dizzy from it all.
After a minute or so, though, Helios cleared his throat. “Perhaps your happy reunion could wait a spell?”
Sarah ended the kiss and giggled. I set her back down on her feet and searched her face for any signs of distress. “You’re alright?”
She nodded and beamed up at me. “I’m fine.”
“Yes, that’s wonderful,” Helios asked impatiently as he glanced around the room. “Where is my master?”
“Excuse me a moment everyone,” Sarah said, then she tipped her head to her shoulder, and we all saw Rex’s head as though it sprang from her crooked neck.
I stared in shock and disbelief at the man inhabiting my consort’s body. Holy shit.
“I’m right here, Helios,” he said, sounding a bit disgruntled as he eyed me and my crew. “And don’t bother to gape like that. It’s undignified.”
Then Sarah’s body shook, Rex disappeared, and she stood upright once more. “That’s where he is, Helios. He is my captive for the time being. Do inform your colleagues. Tomorrow at midmorning, and not a moment sooner.”
He gulped, his eyes still as wide as saucers. “Yes, of course. Anything you say.”
“Now, where were we.” She gave me a sultry smile and grabbed my fatigues to pull me closer, but having just seen Rex where her head was…
“Wait a minute,” I said, stopping her. “We need to talk.”
“Oh, okay.”
“We will take you to Sovereign ,” I said, grabbing her hand in mine. “You can let Rex out of you, and we can be in the air before his people have a chance to attack. Let’s go.”
Much to my frustration, she wouldn’t budge. “How…how do you know that would work? Someone like Rex has people everywhere in his city. Don’t you think his home would be even better guarded? They aren’t going to let me out of here, knowing he’s inside of me.”
I tried to remain calm, but Omen’s words were at the forefront of my mind. Has she grown fond of hosting Rex’s ghost? Was Omen right?
I cleared my throat and tried again to reason with her. “Look, this will work. I’ve got a team at the ship to make sure everything is in place. They will know if there are guards coming to attack us. Let’s. Go,” I said firmly.
But she yawned, not in any hurry to leave. “It’s been a long day, Jac.”
“Yes, but—"
“I’m so tired, and I know you and the crew are too.” She pressed up against me, her small hands rubbing along my abdomen. “Let’s just stay the night. We can leave first thing in the morning. You have no idea how taxing it is to keep someone like Rex trapped and I can’t keep my eyes open much longer. If I don’t maintain a constant hold on him, even in my sleep, I’ll lose control of him. None of us want that, right?”
I grabbed her wandering hands, my lips pressed into a firm line. “You can sleep on the ship—"
“I want to sleep here,” she insisted, and pouted. “Stay with me.”
Treg stepped up. “That would give me a chance to get new replacement parts for the air scrubbers on the ship, Jac. It’s not a bad idea.”
But he didn’t know what Omen had told me, and I couldn’t shake the growing apprehension taking hold inside of me. “It’s not a good idea, either.”
Sarah looked up at me, her big brown eyes somehow bigger and prettier and far more seductive when she purred, “Please, Jac.”
I knew I wasn’t going to win this battle, and I could only pray that Deacon didn’t behead me for this. “Fine. We will stay here just until morning. Tiger, I want the perimeter of Sovereign guarded all night, and—"
“We’ve got it, boss,” Tiger said. “Come on, Treg.” They left down the hall, with Treg whining about wanting to sleep in the manor.
Once they were gone, Sarah smiled up at me as the light in her eyes became devious. They stayed on me when she said, “Helios, you’re dismissed.”
He wasted no time fleeing down the hall.
Sarah took both my hands in hers and pulled me into Rex’s bedroom. She closed the door behind me and that was all the time I had to take in the view of his room before she pounced on me. She wrapped her legs around my waist, practically climbing me, giving me no choice but to anchor my hands beneath her ass to keep her from sliding back down. When her mouth touched mine, her kisses were wild things mixed with teeth.
I walked her backwards to the elaborate, massive bed and leaned over it, hoping she would drop onto the mattress, but she clung to me like a monkey. I had to pry her hands from me and once she was on the bed I pinned her there with my body, and anchored her wrists above her head to keep her from touching me.
“What are you doing?” I rasped.
“My companion,” she murmured huskily. “I want you.”
As much as I loved hearing those words from her, I stayed focused. “You have a passenger, Sarah. It’s weird.”
“It’s not that weird," she said flirtatiously.
“It’s fucking weird,” I insisted. “I don’t want him watching…or gods forbid, participating—"
“I am in full control of when he can do anything with my body, including when he watches anything.” She writhed beneath me. “It’s just me, and it’s just you. In this great big bed. Don’t you want me?”
“Of course, I do,” I growled in frustration. “But I don’t want him !”
She nibbled at her bottom lip while she stared up at me from the flat of her back, grinding against me. “He’s not here. But I am.”
The heat of her pussy warmed my cock through our clothes. Her lust was too powerful for me to deny, and I felt myself weakening, caving to our mutual desires. “Promise me, he’s not watching and he’s not playing.”
“I swear it,” she whispered.
My arms and my restraint collapsed. I fell onto her, kissing, biting, worshipping, while we stripped away our clothes until they were a faded memory on the floor. I reached between her thighs and found her wet already. She lifted her hips, her pussy searching for my cock.
I evaded her attempts. “Slow down. We’ve got—"
But she shoved my shoulders and pushed me onto my back, straddling me. “Can’t slow down. Need you now!”
She pressed her core against the head of my cock and lowered her body, taking my length deep inside. I roared as her wet heat engulfed me, while she gasped curses and leaned forward. Sarah’s grip on my shoulders was stronger than usual, like she truly needed me.
Her fingernails dug into my muscles there, then clawed down my chest while she rode my cock. I grabbed her ass, trying to slow her down. She pulled my hands from her and pinned them to the bed next to me in a little power exchange, and I let her. I wasn’t sure where she was going with this but I was definitely along for the ride.
She looked into my eyes and gloated, “I’m not slowing down for anything .” Then she bucked against me harder, faster.
“You keep that up, you’re gonna make me come,” I warned, while I thrust upwards to match her efforts.
“I want you to come for me, Jac,” she ordered. “I want your cum inside me. I want you to fill me up.”
She never spoke like that during our sex. Not that boldly. But I liked this new, dirty talking vixen, and found her hard to resist.
“That what you want?” I rasped, completely enthralled.
“Yes!” she gasped.
I interlaced our fingers, then flipped her onto her back. I took both of her small hands into mine and held them up over her head. She lassoed my waist with her legs, trying to pull me into her again. She was stronger, or maybe she was too tired to realize she was playing so rough. I wasn’t sure what it was. I didn’t want to think of what it could be—I’d lose my erection.
“You want me to fuck you hard and come in you, then what?” I demanded.
“I want to get you hard again and make you fuck me more,” she rasped, still trying to pull me in with her legs.
I was almost ready to oblige and drive into her, but I needed to know it was her and not the alternative. I kissed her, gliding my tongue into her mouth, but she bit the tip.
“Aah,” I said as I pulled back, my gaze narrowing. “That was mean.”
“Isn’t that what you Ladrians like?” she asked, shifting restlessly beneath me. “Biting and clawing and feistiness?”
“I like you , Sarah,” I said, holding her gaze. “I like how you are.”
Her eyes darted for a breath, before she said, “Kiss me again.”
I did, and this time I was careful with my tongue. But it was a sweet kiss, a Sarah kiss. As I eased into it, I sank into her body. She held me close, so I did the same. Our bond was stronger than any strange thing her abilities could do to her. We were united, companion to consort. No matter what else came along, it was us.
I wished Deacon was there for it, but I was also glad to have private time with her. It was rare for us. I stroked the side of her pretty face and stared into her eyes, marveling at everything that was her. “I love you so much, Sarah.”
“I love you too,” she said quickly, before her body pulsed around my cock.
I recognized the telltale sign. “You close?”
“Mm, hmm.”
I kissed her again, but she gave my shoulders a gentle push. “Not like this.”
I tipped my head curiously, though I was game for whatever she had in mind. “How?”
She slipped out from under me, turned around, and backed up on her hands and knees. “This way.”
Her tail-free ass was a fascination of mine, so I didn’t object. I entered her from behind and reached down for her clit but found her fingers were already there, so I gathered her tits in my hands instead, letting her work herself back and forth on my cock.
I needed to feel her come on me. I craved her orgasms more than my own. She cried out as her body locked onto mine, squeezing around my cock. The surge hit roughly, and I gripped her tits tighter. She cried out, from the pain, from the pleasure, I wasn’t sure which, but her pussy clamped onto me when I did it.
My orgasm ripped through me, and I released long and hard as her body almost sucked the cum out of me. She writhed against my length as I softened, like she thought I could go again so soon.
I collapsed on top of Sarah, keeping my weight from crushing her. I kept our bodies joined as I brushed her hair away and nibbled her neck.
She ran her hands down my back and murmured, “You will get hard for me again—"
I groaned at her enthusiasm. “Soon, baby, I swear—"
“Right now ,” she demanded.
On her command, my cock started to firm up, startling me. “What the hell?”
She giggled. “Conduit magic. Apparently it works on boys, too.”
I was completely hard inside of her now. “What are you talking about?”
Her grin was devious as she looked up at me. “I can make my body fit to your cock now and I can heal minor wounds. I thought I would try it on you.”
I laughed. “You’re making me magically hard for you?”
She batted her lashes flirtatiously. “Complaining?”
I moved off of her and laid back to stare at my newly re-hardened cock. “Nope. Sort of fascinated. But definitely not complaining.”
“Good.” She grinned, and clearly no longer tired, she mounted me once more.