15. Odysseus’ Wandering
15
Odysseus’ Wandering
ISSA
T he Osirian whispered of luxury.
The gilded oasis nestled within the towering walls of Sable HQ pulsed with restrained opulence.
The murmur of conversation merged with the notes from a live-strings ensemble near the establishment’s grand marble arch entry.
Issa stepped inside, letting the dim golden lighting kiss the luminescent fabric of her dress.
Twas a sleek, liquid-metal creation that skimmed her curves before cascading to her knees in soft, shimmering folds.
The color hovered between champagne and star fire, shifting as she moved. It hugged her as if fate had created it.
For twas all sin.
Her jewelry was minimal but calculated.
Delicate diamond cuffs stacked on her wrists.
On her earlobes, her jar-shaped celestial earrings caught the light, peeking from the thick tumble of curls that framed her face and spilled over her shoulders.
Her heels were sky-high, black, satin, strappy, and lethal, elevating her petite figure.
She’d dressed for the occasion, needing to be on her A-Game.
A bejeweled behemoth stepped into her path, his obsidian skin gleaming under the Osirian’s golden glow, his forehead ridges, cheeks, lobes, and solid fingers adorned with diamonds and rings set with rare Dunian sapphires.
His broad scapulae filled out a tailored charcoal suit, and he radiated the presence that made lesser men step aside without thinking.
‘Miss Elaris,’ he greeted, his deep voice smooth as rich honey. ‘My name is Mo. Commander Sable is waiting for you. This way, please.’
Her brows lifted.
A welcome party?
How chivalrous.
She shot him a smile. ‘Lead the way, Mo.’
The Osirian’s interior was a testament to pleasure and power, an establishment designed to seduce the senses and ensnare the mind.
The indulgent parquet flooring contrasted with the tessellated tiles that framed the grand bar. Soft metallic detailing glowed like constellations, weaving along the walls and ceilings, giving the space an otherworldly warmth.
Padded velvet booths and banquettes sat tucked into private alcoves, bathed in adjustable amber lighting that made everyone appear much more desirable.
The scent of aged spirits, uncommon spices, and a hint of floral blossoms lingered in the ambiance.
The murmur of voices and the quiet clink of glasses only added to the venue’s elegant atmosphere.
Mo led her past the sprawling onyx bar, its rare mineral benchtops shimmering under the overhead glow.
A mirrored splash back reflected the dozen bartenders moving with fluid ease behind it.
Bottles of exceptional liquor hovered in mid-air, their labels and contents glowing in wild hues as mixologists crafted drinks in an almost balletic performance.
Flames flickering, vessels tossed with effortless grace, iridescent liquid cascading from one vessel to the next.
Mo slowed as they reached a private booth, his massive frame shifting aside to unveil the god-like man waiting for her.
Ki’Remi rose to his feet.
Damn.
He was in all-black, wearing a dress shirt open at the throat to reveal the ink curled over his collarbones, fitted trousers, and polished boots.
Jewelry glinted on his neck, wrists, fingers, and ears.
He owned the room with pure magnificence.
His locs fell in a wave over one shoulder as his dark and unreadable gaze swept over her.
‘You dressed for the occasion,’ he murmured, his growl a quiet, possessive utterance. ‘Stunning, kidaya , beautiful.’
Heat flickered down her spine, so flustered she forgot again to ask for a translation for the word he’d used on her.
He gestured that she take her seat.
As she did, she tilted her head, keeping her tone light as her pulse betrayed her. ‘I considered coming in my scrubs.’
‘That would’ve been unfortunate.’
‘For who?’
His mouth twitched as he settled in his chair. ‘For me.’
Her breath hitched, but before she could reply, a sleek server approached, her violet-hued skin glowing under the bar’s ambient luminosity.
‘What can I get you, khosi ?’ the attendant asked, a floating holo-menu illuminating in her palm.
Ki’Remi flicked his wrist, scanning the options with lazy precision. ‘Rum for me, neat on the rocks, and the lady—?’
Issa arched a brow. ‘Suggest your best.’
Ki’Remi’s lips quirked with amusement. ‘A moon dust cocktail? A Celestial Eclipse?’
‘What’s in it?’ Issa asked, intrigued.
The host smiled, her voice silken as she listed the ingredients.
‘Aged starfruit liqueur from the Nightfall Isles. Dark elderberry extract, a smidgen of Tansinian nebula honey. Plus, an infusion of crystalline ice from the frozen rings of Vaelos-9. The final touch is liquid stardust, a rare mineral that shimmers like the constellations themselves, suspended in a swirl of deep indigo.’
Issa’s lips curled in curiosity. ‘I’ll have the Celestial Eclipse.’
The hostess inclined her head, and the mixologists commenced their alchemy within moments.
Issa’s gaze followed their artistic shaking, stirring, muddling, and blending techniques.
It was a safe choice that allowed her to avoid the scorching eyes across from her.
The mixologist began weaving their magic.
Midnight-hued elixir dispensed in streams of iridescence, cascading through the air like captured space light.
A glacial mist unfurled from a frost-coated decanter, settling over the bar as a sommelier drizzled nebula honey into it in delicate spirals.
Her libation was complete with a wrist flick, a burst of flames.
The final flourish, a vial of liquid stardust, was uncorked and poured into the center of the cocktail. The drink bloomed with cosmic clusters, tiny starbursts flickering into existence within the deep violet swirl.
The glass appeared before her, the surface fluctuating like the endless cosmos, nebulae forming and dissolving with each ripple.
A cold mist still curled from the rim, the scent of dark berries and honey weaving through the air.
Ki’Remi eyed her, expression unreadable.
‘You approve?’ he intoned.
Issa elevated the goblet, watching the shifting galaxies spiral beneath her fingertips, then took a slow mouthful.
‘Exquisite,’ she muttered, the smooth burn of elderberry and starfruit melting on her tongue, balanced by nebula honey’s rich, heady sweetness.
Ki’Remi lifted his tumbler, his mouth teasing an unhurried sip of rum, stare never leaving hers.
‘Good,’ he rasped. ‘I have a feeling you’ll need it.’
The temperature under her skin rose, heat unfurling in places that had nothing to do with the drink.
His lips flexed as he knocked the rest of his potable back.
Issa’s soul lurched, tracking the flex of his throat, the sculpted cut of his jaw, and the ridges of his ink disappearing beneath his open collar.
She coughed, placing her beverage on the table with careful precision.
‘Long day,’ she murmured, shifting the conversation, trying and failing to keep the atmosphere casual when their eyes locked and arcs of heat scorched the air between them.
He exhaled, his chest rippling. ‘Lengthy few days.’
She nodded, going for the jugular. ‘Are you planning on interrogating me further, or is this your version of an apology?’
His lips twitched, but his eyes stayed dark. ‘Neither.’
She tilted her head. ‘Then what is it?’
Ki’Remi studied her, rolling his glass before finally leaning in, voice dropping just above a whisper.
‘An exploration of the unknown, Issa Elaris. I want to know all about you and your mystery.’
Her pulse tripped.
Damn .
She dragged her gaze away from his unabashed intent and lifted her chalice. She stared at it instead, captivated by the swirling silver iridescence dancing in the sunset and crimson liquid.
Her eyes caught movement in the bar lobby.
Five men prowled into the establishment.
Nada , scratch that.
Twas a quintet of divinities, more imposing and menacing than the Ssigis warriors she fought with for most of her life.
That’s when she realized they matched Ki’Remi’s essence.
From their enormity, muscled builds, the dead giveaway, luminous meta eyes, and shifting glowing ink.
Their connection was confirmed when they slowed their prowl and exchanged sustained looks with the man across from her.
His expression shifted into a series of almost indiscernible expressions, and she sensed they were communicating aphonically.
Issa leaned into the table when he sliced his meta eyes back at her. ‘The Sable Riders. Right?’
His lips quirked. ‘My ka and aki , indeed.’
She blurted out the words before she could rein them in. ‘I want to meet them.’
He arched a brow, but the slight shift of his stance and the near-imperceptible tightening of his fingers at his sides gave him away.
She read hesitation as he raked his eyes over her. ‘Promise to behave?’ he growled.
‘Always.’
‘Liar. Just don’t unleash your untamed savagery on any of them. They bite.’
Her mouth twitched. ‘ Sawa .’
He canted his eyes to the throng just as they were about to settle into a booth.
They paused, shared glances, changed orientation, and prowled toward the couple.
Ki’Remi crossed his arms as they arrived to encircle their banquette. ‘Brothers.’
She had to inhale to tamp down her ratcheting reaction to their beauty, magnificence, and sheer fokkin ’ sensuality.
They loomed down over her, staring at her.
‘Meet the Sable Riders, in effect, The Sable Group.’
Ki’Remi’s rumble just broke through the thump of her heart rate because the men staring down at her were formidable.
The one closest was huge, a colossus with dark wavy hair
With shoulders so extensive, so expansive, he blocked views behind him.
He was also more muscled than most, with massive, robust, thick limbs.
Clad in a matte black, short-sleeved shirt and slacks like the others.
He sported slim, power-driven hips and enormous thighs that eased into gigantic booted feet.
His skin was a light, lustrous caramel. A series of stunning gilded and azure tattoos covered his solid neck, broad upper arms, and hands. The marks appeared like a badge of honor in the shape of an evocative nebula.
She slow-blinked twice in disbelief.
Yet his magnificence kept giving.
A long, messy mane of inky locks crowned his head. Shot with highlights of cobalt with silver at the temples and trailed lush and glossy down past his shoulders.
The same iridescent sapphire, aurous, metallic hues flashed on his beard, squared jaw, and mustache.
His lips were full, his cheekbones high, and his nose prominent and flaring, but his eyes mesmerized her the most.
Holy Sivania , she thought, as she stared into molten gold flecked with flashes of electric azure.
Each spark in his deep-set eyes arced with blue energy bands. They pulsed with charged centers that graduated in color and frequency, glowing as they appeared to flow from his corneas toward her.
‘Kainan,’ he rumbled, his lips quirking as her eyes widened. ‘I lead this troop of untamed mofos .’
‘ Fokk off khosi , stop scaring her. I’m Kage.’
Issa swiveled her head, fascinated.
The man who’d just spoken was just as significant in size as Kainan.
He was a hulking figure with short jet-black hair, blue streaks, a bushy, inky beard, and silver-gray eyes.
His face was framed by a stubborn chin and a swathe of jagged scars down one side.
Ki’Remi gestured to the scar-faced man. ‘He’s an ex-ship designer and tech head turned cook.’
When his locs got swatted by said chef, Ki’Remi grinned and changed tack. ‘Culinary maestro.’
Still, the Riders kept giving.
The man beside Kage was tall, with angular, dark features, a roughly shaven jaw, stubble, and penetrating eyes with hazel irises ringed with glowing sapphire flecks.
He, too, was devastatingly handsome, but to her, he did not exceed Ki’Remi’s beauty.
Still, the ground trembled where he walked, she mused.
‘Call me Xion. I am the head of internal security, overseeing law and order on the rock.’
Two more demi-gods lifted their chins at her.
One sported a magnificent sheathe of dead-straight ivory and silver hair that fell to his back in an extended, smooth sheet with a braid over one shoulder.
His skin was pale, and so were his white irised eyes that he seemed a ghoul, albeit an exceedingly handsome one.
He wore a close-fitted black jumpsuit with the same crest on his deltoid as Kainan.
She assumed this was The Sable Group’s insignia.
He jerked his chin to her, his light eyes raking her face.
Beside him was a lean, towering, striking, and muscled man in an exquisite suit. He had dark, thick hair with silver highlights, a neat mustache, and a beard with piercing blue eyes.
His elegant presence contrasted with his more casual-dressed companions. He nodded to her cordially.
‘Meet Riv. He runs our armories. He moonlights as the head of our secret surveillance ops and militia, and on his off days, he dallies as a bounty hunter. With him is Zane, our business and financial controller. He oversees our sales, logistics, private equity, and finance division.’
‘We have another brother, Kisan, but he now lives off-world with his partner on her home planet.’
Issa’s breath hitched. They weren’t just men.
They were weapons given human form, menace carved into muscle and precision.
Each carried themselves like battle-hardened warlords.
She spotted sleek blasters holstered across their muscled thighs, combat knives strapped to their hips, and imagined deadlier munitions concealed in places she couldn’t see.
Kainan spoke up, his timbre deep and carrying an undercurrent of amusement. ‘So this is her.’
Riv, arms crossed over his chest, uttered a timbred chuckle. ‘The woman who’s got Remi this distracted? Gotta say we’re intrigued.’
Kage, leaner but no less deadly, smirked as he tipped his chin toward Issa. ‘I didn’t think anyone could get under his skin. He’s been insufferable and uncommitted for years. Ask all the ladies he’s kept at arm’s length all these years.’
‘ Fokk off,’ Ki’Remi rasped. ‘Not the time and place, kaka .’
Zane let out a slow whistle. ‘He’s growling, his fur’s bristling brothers.’
Issa arched a brow, crossing her arms. ‘You all talk a lot of shit for men who look like you’re modeling for a weapons catalog.’
A laugh rippled through the group.
Ki’Remi shook his head, his lips twitching. ‘Enough.’
Before any of them could retort, a delighted cry rang through the air.
‘Ki’Remi!’
A woman surged forward, her stride quick, her smile beaming. She was striking with honey-dark skin, keen eyes, and confidence woven into every movement.
Ki’Remi rose to his feet as her arms wrapped around him in a hug that spoke of old familiarity.
Issa’s stomach tightened.
They were well acquainted with each other. Perhaps too well.
She was also au fait with the Riders as she spun to give them all hugs.
‘Hey, sis-in-law,’ Kainan grinned.
‘Hey, you. How’s my sibling? Still giving her the caveman treatment?’
The colossus’ eyes flamed, and he chuckled as they exchanged a few more words before the woman rotated to Ki’Remi.
‘You’re back?’ she called, mock-scowling. ‘You didn’t even check in yet?’
Ki’Remi exhaled, his tone softer than usual. ‘Had matters to handle first.’
She rolled her eyes, turning to Issa, her expression friendly nevertheless laced with curiosity.
‘And this is -?’
‘Issa Elaris.’ Ki’Remi introduced, his voice neutral. ‘She’s a fellow surgeon on Perseus Prime.’
The woman’s brows lifted, warmth flickering behind her gaze.
‘Issa, Meet Sheba Munene,’ Ki’Remi continued. ‘Senior Nurse Extraordinaire. We worked together in relief vessels in the far reaches of Pegasi. We also set up a permanent hospital here in Eden II, a high-end facility to prevent interplanetary patients from overburdening Dunia’s resources. She now runs it.’
Sheba shot him a smirk. ‘While Ki’Remi gallivants on mercy ships and wanders like Odysseus, nursing his walkabout itch.’
Zane chuckled. ‘That’s one way to put it.’
Riv arched a silver brow. ‘Man’s been dodging any talk of enduring roots since we met him.’
Ki’Remi sent them all a slow glare, but there was no real heat in it.
Watching the way they bantered and how seamlessly they fit together, Issa felt emotion stir inside her.
A longing, a pang of missing her loved ones that bordered on grief.
A reminder of the family she left behind.
She forced a smile and took a sip of her cocktail, masking the yearning ache deep in her chest.