Epilogue
The flashing neon lights and thrumming music flood my senses as we step into the club, and Hadrell squeezes my hand, sending a pulse of reassurance into my mind. I squeeze back and turn my head to look up at them with a thankful smile, noticing how luminous they look under the dark club lighting.
They’re wearing the same shimmering gold jumpsuit they had on the night we met, the neckline cut to the waist to show off an enticing sliver of their lean form. It makes me want to slide my hands inside it and caress the constellation of tattoos and saelit I’ll find beneath the sleek fabric.
“Don’t look at me like that, l’thran , or we won’t make it to the gathering,” Hadrell says, flashing a heated smile at me.
“Quit blocking the entryway, you two,” Rema grumbles, giving Hadrell a small shove on the shoulder and winking at me.
I tug my gorgeous seladin partner out of the way, and our group files into the club. The main dance floor is packed with gyrating aliens, and we weave around the crowd toward the glowing bar, where we agreed to meet up.
We only get halfway there before I see a flash of dark pink above me out of the corner of my eye.
“PAUL! HADRELL!”
I snap my head toward the source of the shouting to find my nexxit friend Mezli up on the second level, grinning and waving all four of her arms wildly.
“We’re up here!” she shouts, drawing even more attention from the aliens surrounding us. Beside her, Fina gives us a sheepish wave, her pale skin flushing at the attention that Mezli is drawing.
“Is this the friend that threatened to torture Hadrell?” Bret’u asks, sounding more curious than off-put.
“Yep, that’s her,” I groan, waving back. “I promise all my friends aren’t as violent or vengeful.”
Bret’u nods. “I’d be interested to discuss with her mates what methods they would’ve used.”
I blink at the shikzeth in shock.
“For purely scientific reasons, obviously,” ze adds.
Rema drapes an arm over zir shoulder. “I’d like to know, too. Maybe we can get some tips for if Frea’set ends up getting out of prison in this lifetime.
“I think Paul might prefer if you don’t immediately bring up torture when you meet his friends,” Hadrell says drolly as we make our way over to the lift to the second level.
“Of course,” Yaz says, his antennae flicking. “I’ll save it for at least five minutes into the conversation.”
“That’s not what I—” Hadrell huffs.
“A joke, Captain,” Yaz interrupt, their enormous eyes sparkling with mirth. “We will endeavor to not embarrass your soul bond in front of his friends.”
I snort. “No use worrying about that. They’re all as weird as our crew.”
When my friends suggested we have a night out so they could meet the rest of the crew I’d run off across the galaxy with, it made me anxious. I love my friends and am fond of their respective partners, and I’ve fallen in love with Hadrell’s crew—minus Dill, who still creeps me out. So them getting along is important to me, even if they’re unlikely to spend much time together.
At least I know my friends already love Hadrell. Sure, Mezli was angry with him for absconding with me, but that didn’t last more than a minute when we reunited a handful of cycles ago.
She gave us both a knowing look and they let out a gleeful shout about how cute we are together. Thankfully, Fina was much less overblown in her reaction to seeing us together, though I didn’t understand her surprised blushing when she saw Hadrell. It wasn’t until afterwards that Hadrell explained that they’d flirted with my purple-haired ex in a club a while back.
The moment the lift reaches where Mezli is still waving excitedly, she leaps onto it and tugs me and Hadrell into a crushing, awkward hug.
“You’re here! Excellent, now the party can really start,” she yells into my ear.
I wince. “Yep, we’re here. Mind letting us off?”
“Oh!” Mezli laughs and lets go, stepping out of the way. “So I was thinking we could start with a round of shots. Then maybe a drinking game Fina told me about where you only drink if you’ve done something. ”
Fina shakes her head. “Mez, that game isn’t fair if you can’t get drunk.” She steps forward and extends her arms to me for a hug, which is a soft, sweet contrast to the vigorous one Mezli gave. “Phelix already promised to keep her distracted, so she doesn’t cause too much chaos,” Fina whispers in my ear, and I chuckle.
Hadrell flashes her a toothy grin as we part. “Hello Fina.”
She flushes bright pink and smiles, not looking them directly in the eyes. “H-hi, Hadrell! Good to see you. I’m going to go, uh, check on something with Maerlon, but we’ll chat soon!”
I shake my head as she retreats. “I dated her for a couple of years and she’s not weird about that at all, but you flirt with her once and she’s all breathy and nervous,” I grumble.
“I have that effect on a lot of people,” Hadrell says, giving me a cocky smirk and grabbing my hand as I go to smack his shoulder. He brings it up to his mouth and places a kiss on it. “But you’re the only one I care about.”
We make the rounds, greeting everyone. I invited a few of my ex-coworkers from the embassy since it’s likely this will be the last time I see them for ages.
I doubt anyone bought my explanation for disappearing—that Hadrell and I met, and I threw caution to the wind and let them sweep me off on a passionate getaway during which I completely forgot about everything, including comming people to let them know I was okay. But I couldn’t exactly tell them the truth about getting accidentally kidnapped and then lying to the Consortium to clear my lover’s name.
By the time we’re able to sit down with our drinks, people have already broken off into smaller groups. Eden and Phelix are talking to Bret’u, while Rema and Mezli chat animatedly about what I hope isn’t actually torture techniques. Yaz is sitting with my coworkers, and judging by their shocked laughs, may be asking them inappropriate questions about human mating customs. Val and Tari are dancing together, lost in their own little romantic moment. Leaving Fina and her partner Maerlon as the best option for us to join.
Maerlon stands and gives Hadrell a nod of greeting as we approach. “Hello, sibling.”
Hadrell gives him an affable grin. “Nice to see you again.”
I may be more than a bit biased, but standing next to each other, I definitely ended up with the hotter seladin partner. Maerlon is taller, with striking, intimidating features, but Hadrell’s smile that extends up to their mismatched eyes and their beautiful whorls of saelit make it no competition.
“Glad you’re alive, Paul,” Maerlon says, tugging me into a hug. I always expect him to be gruff or standoffish with me since I’m Fina’s ex, but he’s been nothing but kind and supportive since I moved to Spire.
“Me too,” I chuckle, hugging him back.
Fina does a better job of not looking flustered around Hadrell with Maerlon beside her, and we quickly fall into a natural conversation. My heart warms at how easy and right it feels to blend these two lives of mine together, then aches a bit, knowing I’ll be leaving again soon.
Eventually, Hadrell and Maerlon go to get another round of drinks, and check in on the others, leaving me and Fina alone together.
She smiles softly. “You look happy.”
I nod, my cheeks aching from smiling and laughing so much. “I am.”
“Hadrell and you really fit well together. It’s obvious how much they love you. I…” Fina’s eyes grow watery. “You know I’ve always loved you, right? Even after we broke up, you’ve always been important to me. I know it’s weird, but you’re my family, Paul. I saw how you were struggling, and I’d talked to Maerlon about us doing more to make you feel included and supported, and then you vanished. I was so scared that I hadn’t done enough to show you I cared.”
“Fina…”
Her words stun me. I saw her messages telling me she missed me and she loved me and she was worried, but hearing her tell me in person is different. There’s so much guilt etched onto her face that I couldn’t see through the comms.
I swallow hard, reaching out to take her hand in mine and giving it a squeeze. “I love you, too. None of this was your fault. I got so wrapped up in my loneliness and jealousy that I didn’t let myself see all the love I already had. Not so wrapped up that I would’ve voluntarily run away, mind you,” I add with a laugh, wiping away the moisture spilling from my eyes.
Fina giggles and sniffs, swiping at her tears. “Look at us. Who would’ve ever guessed back on that Coalition ship that we’d be here on Spire with our alien partners?”
I laugh and shake my head. “I certainly wouldn’t have. But you’ve always been the brave one of the two of us.”
“Uh, I’m not the one who went on an adventure with a space pirate,” she scoffs. “You’re a hell of a lot more of a brave badass babe than me now, Paul.”
I smile at the mention of her mantra. “Hah, true.”
“So… We’re going to miss you. Promise to come visit when you’re not busy being a badass or enjoying your partner, okay?”
I nod, the ache in my chest returning at the reminder. “I will. I’ll miss you, but at least this time I’ll be able to keep in touch.”
Fina nods. “Good. If you don’t, Mezli will come after you for real. ”
“You talking about me?” Mezli stumbles over with Eden in tow, the zaftig human blushing from head to toe as her mate’s lower hands grope her ass unsubtly. “Quit moping over here and come play with us!” Mezli gestures over to where everyone has gathered in a circle with drinks in hand.
I pretend to glare at Fina as we’re herded over to the rest of the group. “This is your fault, you know. Why did you tell her about this game?”
Fina groans. “I didn’t think she’d make everyone play it. I mentioned it as a joke.”
Eden laughs. “I’d already told her about it, so I think it’s technically my fault.”
“I’ve never had sex in public,” Rema says, her slightly unfocused glowing eyes scanning the group.
I look around as well, watching as Mezli, Eden, and Phelix all sip their drinks. Rema downs the rest of her drink, as does Tari, and, surprisingly, Val. Hadrell brings their cup to their lips and I raise a brow at them.
They nudge me with their elbow. “Why aren’t you drinking?”
My face flames. “That was for the job! And it wasn’t even sex, just you groping me.”
Everyone’s eyes land on me and I realize I said that a lot louder than I meant to.
“Fine,” I grumble, and a few people cheer as I take a tiny swig. I’m by no means drunk, but the past few rounds, it’s felt like everyone’s statements were targeted at me.
Hadrell strokes my back and leans in as I set my cup down. “We could make that less of a technicality if you’d like,” they murmur in my ear.
My eyes widen. When I turn to look at them, they have a filthy smile on their lips. It’s a question and a dare. I look around the group to make sure no one is focused on us, then give a small nod.
Hadrell stands and holds a hand out to help me up. He doesn’t bother providing an excuse for leaving, but everyone is too wrapped up in the game to pay us much attention.
I follow Hadrell as they duck through a door next to the bar, tugging me into a storage area that’s clearly not meant for patrons to go into, with stacked crates crowding the space.
“What are you doing? We can’t be back here!” I hiss, but Hadrell just laughs and leads me further into the space, until we reach a back wall with windows looking out into space.
Hadrell cages me in with their arms, hunger burning in their eyes as they slam their mouth against mine. I moan into the kiss, and they tug my hair in warning. “We need to be quiet, l’thran ,” they chuckle.
I nod and our lips meet again, and I fight back a moan as they grab my ass and grind my stiff cock against their thigh.
“Better,” they whisper. “Do you want me to fuck you, Paul?” Their mouth drops to my throat and they scrape their fangs against my skin, making me buck against them and release a strangled sound.
“Yes. Please, sir,” I murmur.
Hadrell pulls back and smiles. “Hands against the window, fa’sli . Pinch me if you need to stop, but don’t make a sound.”
They spin me around and I brace myself against the window as they unceremoniously yank down my pants and underwear.
“Mmm, look at you,” they whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear. “Such a little slut, wanting me to fuck you while all your friends are right outside.” They spread me apart and spit right on my clenching hole, and I can’t help gasping at the filthy sensation.
A moment later, their mouth is on me, tonguing my ass with sloppy, wet strokes. I collapse forward at the sensation, gritting my teeth to keep from making more noise.
When I go to fist my cock, Hadrell growls against me and pulls back. “Did I give you permission to touch yourself?” they hiss under their breath.
I shake my head and they go back to preparing me, using their tongue, then their fingers coated in lube from the small bottle they keep in their pocket for “emergencies”, working my hole open until I’m trembling and barely able to stand.
“Please,” I whisper when I’m so hard it hurts, desperate for them to be inside me or touch my cock.
Hadrell stands and the head of their hardlight cock presses against my asshole. “What would they say if they saw you like this?” they rasp into my ear as they press in, inch by inch, as I shake and gasp around the invasion. “They’d see what a good little pet you are for me, taking my cock.”
“Yes,” I gasp, the sound a little too loud. I freeze, my eyes darting in the direction of the door, and I swear I hear it open, but it’s hard to tell with my heavy breathing and hammering pulse.
Hadrell claps a hand over my mouth and thrusts. Excitement and the fear of being caught make my head swim with so much pleasure it makes me dizzy.
When he grabs my cock, I lose my tenuous control, moaning against Hadrell’s palm and rocking against him as he pounds inside me.
“Better hurry up and come. Someone definitely heard that,” they growl into my ear .
I shatter, arms giving out as I paint the window with my cum, my cry muffled against Hadrell’s hand as they hold me in place and slam into me a few more times before letting out their own shuddering sigh and slumping over my back.
When they release their grip on my cock and step back, I turn, wide eyed at what we just did.
“Holy shit, that was…” I murmur, still partially in an orgasm-induced stupor.
“Incredible?” Hadrell offers, eyes glowing and ears flushed dark.
“I was going to say reckless. We could get arrested!” I scramble to clean myself off with the handkerchief Hadrell hands me, then tug my pants back on, grimacing at the mess I made of the window.
Hadrell grabs the rag from me and starts to clean up my mess with no sense of urgency.
“Hurry!” I hiss.
He grins. “Don’t worry. I bribed the staff to let us use the room for a bit.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want your first foray into public sex to end in disaster. Next time, I’ll take you to a place where it’s encouraged. Where people can watch, too, if you’d like.”
My spent cock twitches feebly at the idea. Then my heart expands with affection for this wonderful seladin who keeps encouraging me and providing me ways to do the things I’ve been too scared to try, all while keeping me safe.
“God, I love you,” I blurt.
Hadrell laughs. “I love you, too, l’thran .”
We kiss one more time before heading back to the others, and as we walk through the door hand in hand, certainty settles over me.
I’ll miss my friends so much, but I can’t wait to experience everything life has to offer—kinky sex, dangerous adventures, and the many wonderful, quiet moments in between—with the person I love.