95. Epilogue
Epilogue
S avannah
“This is how it’s done on Earth?” Tarrex asks as he hits the autozip on the black leather thigh-length jacket, which is the intergalactic equivalent of a tux.
“Absolutely not. But it’s what I want.”
He shrugs out of the jacket and begins to unbutton the crisp, white shirt he’s wearing.
The black jacket he wore on the Diabolus went into the furnace. We wanted no reminders. This one’s of a similar design, but it has five thin, blue, vertical gussets near the lapel. It’s not only the latest space fashion, but the color is the exact Caribbean blue of his eyes.
After he skims off his black leather pants, I turn my back to him so he can hit the autozip of my wedding gown.
I’ve taken this dress in, let it out, hemmed it up, and lengthened it for every mated female on the ship. Today was my turn.
He dips his face to whisper a question in my ear. “Did my vows please you, Love?” His warm breath gives me shivers.
“They were perfect, but I didn’t need them, my love. I know your heart.”
I turn and don’t pretend to hide my interest as he wraps his cock into his loincloth. I’ll never tire of that sight.
When he’s done, I pull on my black leggings and the long t-shirt I picked up on the last planet we visited. It’s a cartoony woolly mammoth-looking thing that caught my fancy. I’m told it’s the logo of a low-cost local beer.
“Come here, big guy,” I call to King.
He pads over, looking very fine indeed in his black leather bow tie—with the tie facing upward.
“Let’s take this off.”
My big, furry boy whips his head back and shoots me an I-don’t-wanna look.
“You want to keep the tie on? Of course you do. My big boy is so important and so purrty.” I feel his delight as I scratch under his chin.
After King shifted from his protective form, Terrax took him to each of the crew and introduced them as a member of our pride, which then made them a member of King’s pride. Now that everyone understands King will protect and never harm them, they all love the big, beautiful animal. King has free rein of the ship and roams it like it’s his kingdom. He is completely subordinate when he is with Zar, though, so perhaps I should have named him Prince.
“Ready for the reception?” I ask as I clap my hands together.
The ceremony we just endured was for our shipmates. Well, I know Tarrex wanted it too. It was a clear statement of commitment to all involved. But it was more to fulfill the expectations of others than to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine.
As much as I love clothes, the white wedding dress was never a huge aspiration of mine. It just seemed like one of the trappings of the $50 billion a year wedding industry.
I’ll never regret it. It was touching. But my dream was always about the family part of the wedding.
“Now for the fun, mate.” I rub my hands together in glee.
“I think you just want to play a game that only you know the rules to so you can win,” he gripes.
“That may well be, but you’re all going to humor me.”
We join the crowd as everyone makes their way from their cabins to the ludus for the game.
Everyone’s here, except Doctoré and Theos. How things turned out surprised everyone. Especially them, I think.
A couple of days after our rescue, Doctoré asked Zar to take him back to his home planet. Zar didn’t even hesitate changing course. As we gathered to say farewell, Doctoré told us he wanted to spend the rest of his days fulfilling a lifelong wish: to live in quiet solitude, read, write, and teach.
Not long after that, he sent us a vid of his cabin on a mountain overlooking a waterfall cascading into a river that meandered through a lush forest. He looked at peace, his face more contented than I could have imagined. The words Zar read to us from Doctoré’s journal on the day we thought we had lost him and had gathered to mourn his loss, still come back to me, as I am sure they do for all of us:
Perhaps only one who has survived meager rations
Can fully savor the taste of mellaberries on a summer day.
Perhaps only one who has been locked inside a cell
Can appreciate the simple pleasure of the warm sunshine kissing their skin on a trip to the sea.
Perhaps only one who has felt the sting of the lash
Can appreciate days without pain.
Perhaps only one who has been forced to bow to another
Knows the true joy of standing tall as a free male.
Appreciate it, I say.
Revel in it
Relish it all.
“Is there something you’ve always wanted to do? To try? To say to someone? Do it now. Tomorrow might be too late.”
I think we have all taken that advice to heart.
Theos is not on the ship. He got off on Doctoré’s planet, saying there was something he needed to do. At first, I was terrified. He never seemed to recover from his time on the Diabolos and I worried he wanted to harm himself.
I should have known better, though. He just needed to heal in his own way. He contacted me recently to inform me how well he’s doing but made me swear not to tell anyone what happened until he can come back and inform everyone himself. Of course, Tarrex knows, I can’t keep secrets from my mate, but he won’t betray Theos either.
When we arrive at the ludus , I have everyone divide into two evenly matched teams and then begin the football tutorial.
I’ve already marked off the floor with tape to signify the goalposts and yard lines. Of course, we don’t have a full football field, so I’ve amended the rules a bit.
Dax and I worked tirelessly on the football. Making even a decent approximation of one was a nightmare. Finally, on our sixth iteration, I thought we’d worked out all the kinks when King thought he was being helpful and bit the damn thing.
Soft mouth, I remind him with a stern look. No teeth.
He gives me a sheepish look.
It’s mayhem from the moment the first whistle blows. Gladiators are a competitive lot. They may not know the rules or give two shits about the game, but by gods, they want to win at all costs.
What was supposed to be flag football soon turns into tackle—at least when the males are carrying the ball.
Passing consists of everything from dribbling to tossing to handing, but there isn’t a tight spiral in sight.
Unsurprisingly, the game continues to devolve. Instead of two teams there now seem to be five. The males have picked a partner or two and are roughhousing to beat the band. Tarrex’s only desire seems to be to keep me safe rather than score a touchdown.
Big, bearded Dax is a maniac. He’ll push, shove, do anything to get the ball. I think he and red, scarred Stryker formed a team, but half the time they’re fighting each other.
Zar is on a team of one and I think he’s winning. If anyone gets in his way, he growls so loudly his opponents skedaddle out of his way. Except for King, who has joined in the fray and thinks he and Zar are working together.
Soft mouth , I remind him. We only have one ball.
All the women but me left the “field” after the first five minutes, but I’m having too much fun to stop.
The women are cheering from the sidelines, and the males seem to have forgotten they’re no longer in the male-only ludus . They’re punching, kicking, and yelling raucously. Half of them have shed their loincloths, complaining they were too constricting. Big babies.
We play so hard and fast that we’re all panting and laughing in a heap by the time Anya calls, “Game over. It’s a draw!”
“Refreshments will be served in the dining room in half an hour.” Maddie, our resident chef, informs everyone, “No male will be admitted unless he’s had a shower. Oh, and that goes for you too, Savannah.
“Might I remind you that naked bodies are NOT allowed? Don’t make me evict you. German chocolate cake will be served at the newlyweds’ request, although I can’t vouch for it. It was made without benefit of chocolate… or coconut.” She shrugs.
Do we have to join them? Tarrex asks as he shows me five successively more filthy pictures of what he wants to do to me when we get back to our cabin.
Ten minutes, then we can bolt.
We shower together, both regretting our presence is required in the dining room. We’d rather stay and make love.
King joins us in the shower. It’s become our thing. I don’t know how we manage to all cram into the small compartment together, but we do. Thankfully, our majestic feline doesn’t shed, but we have discovered he loves to be brushed. Even our big tough gladiators have taken to having brushes strategically hidden and can be found, sometimes to their embarrassment, brushing and talking nonsense, while King laps up the attention with a regal air.
After we towel ourselves dry, give King a quick once-over, then pull on our clothes, Tarrex grips my wrist before I can palm the door open.
Tarrex
“Do you think this is it?” I ask. “This will be our life? Sometimes I wondered how I earned it. To have friends, the camaraderie, a team that cares about us and only wants the best for us. People who love us. I don’t know how I deserve it, but I have it.”
She smiles. “I feel the same way. The joy of it overwhelms me sometimes. We have this ship and these people and King.”
Zar and the whole crew agreed we need to be on the lookout to find and rescue K’tars that are used to fight in arenas or private ludi . Now that we know their sweet nature and intelligence, we can’t leave them enslaved. Their home planet is on the other side of the galaxy. Too far to take them home. The crew has friends at a compound called Sanctuary, and they’ve agreed to allow any rescued animals to re-home there.
“And we have an important mission,” I say, thinking of the K’tars .
“And we have each other,” we both say at the same time.
I know our friends are waiting for us to cut the cake. Savannah described it, although the idea of stuffing food in her face seems unnecessary. But I need to take one more moment before we leave the privacy of our room.
“I meant everything I said in my vows, Love. I love you so much. Sometimes my heart feels like it will burst. I’m the luckiest male in the galaxy to have you by my side.”
“Aye. And my vows were from the bottom of my heart too, Tarrex. I think you’re the best male in the galaxy and I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.”
I use a technique I learned about during my time at the Guild but never dared to attempt before. It opens not my mind, but my heart. Despite my deep feelings for Savannah, this felt too vulnerable until right this moment.
I open the lock I’ve kept around my heart all my life. It’s been there for protection. The moment I unlock it, a whirlwind of emotion escapes. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but the entire room lights up. I feel my hair buffeted by the breeze.
It’s powerful and raw and real.
And Savannah not only feels it, but by some miracle, the lock around her heart opens, too. Although neither of us knew we’d been holding back, this moment takes us to a whole new level of emotion. Of love.
She steps into my embrace and I hug her tight, secure in the knowledge things will only get better from here.