Epilogue
Galaxoros
It took three years to finally get there, but Daisy smiled as she stood on a private beach, a fruity drink in her hand.
Three years is what it took before her family finally gave up hunting her and complied with the order filed by her attorney.
Life was good. Even Zil managed to get an official honorable discharge from the legionnaires with the provision that he made himself available for certain tasks so long as it didn’t interfere with their regular activities.
It seemed to be a fair trade for their freedom.
It was also why they were now finally able to enjoy the pleasures offered by Galaxoros since they no longer had to covertly fly under the radar.
She breathed deeply of the salty air, her smile widening.
It was truly paradise. The late afternoon sun was shining off the sea, adorning it in a hundred thousand jewels, and the sand was bright shade of gold that was unequal to any other place in the galaxy.
Galaxoros was indeed the jewel of the sector as it widely proclaimed.
It was, of course, a hot tourist destination and as such it was ruined by one small thing—people.
Or rather, lecherous men who seemed to think that a woman in a two-piece was a good target for getting their rocks off.
She tried to ignore them as much as possible while being observant enough to evade their gropes.
For their sake.
If she was the vengeful sort, she would just let them enjoy their just desserts. But she really didn’t want to disrupt her vacation with yet another police report because Zil broke yet another hand for touching her.
“This is the life,” she sighed as she took a sip and nearly moaned as the cold fruity concoction slid over her tongue and down her throat.
A male drew up to her side, casting a massive shadow. “This planet is seventy-five percent sand,” her mate pointed out. “I do not see the draw. You had that on Habtal.”
Daisy glanced over at him, her eyes raking over the floral shorts and form-fitting bright yellow sleeveless shirt.
There was a hint of glow from his red eyes behind his shades as he looked casually—and perhaps a bit dismissively—over the beach.
Although Galaxoros was not human only, aliens were largely just locals due to early treaties.
Others that made an appearance were typically guests of guests to what amounted to a private-resort planet that fueled the local economy in ways that also made it the wealthiest planet in the sector.
Needless to say, Zil stuck out like a sore thumb.
“It is hardly comparable,” she retorted. “We had a murderous crew of space pirates after us, no shelter, no sea, no present breeze, and no iced-sasquatch.”
Her mate’s lips quirked. “Sasquishima,” he gently corrected. “It is the purple fruit that locals dig out of the sand.” He tilted his head thoughtfully as he considered it—likely uplinked to the planetary information pathways. “It is not actually a fruit. It is a fungus that grows—”
Daisy upturned her cup, pouring out the delicacy on the sand with a small pout. “Did you really have to tell me that?”
Zil chuckled as he reached for her, caught her arm, and turned her toward him. “I have something far better,” he assured her. “Or did you already forget?”
“Careful,” she whispered. “You might scare the locals.”
“Then should get comfortable with it,” he replied. “This is the new era. Not even Earth can dictate the rules of Galaxoros... as they have discovered.”
Daisy grinned. It had been quite satisfying to see all the pearl clutchers being told to take their prejudices back to Earth territory.
Watching a bunch of tight-ass humans who looked like the sort that would rub elbows with her family being politely told to fuck off was already the highlight of her trip.
But now... she supposed that they would have another complaint for indecent cross-species exposure because the way Zil was looking at her and the way his tongue was peeking from between his lips was doing things to her.
“Fuck it, this is our vacation,” she said cheerfully as she launched herself at her mate, dropping them both down into the sand as she drank deeply of his honey flowing through his tongue.
Water lapped at her feet as she alternately sucked his tongue and kissed him, the sun warming their backs and the breeze toying with their hair.
And in the distance, a melody played... romantic and sweet.
The lyrics of unwavering love were crooned through the air, but they might as well have been a song that said welcome to Galaxoros, welcome to your personal paradise.
And it was because with her Daranthiki, it was paradise wherever he was.