Chapter Two
Zelda woke without pain and with a low light over her. She sat up slowly, and Orex was sitting at a desk. He looked up and smiled. “You are awake.”
“Um, yes. How long was I out?”
“Ten hours. The infection was near to killing you. I am glad Queen Harwin contacted you when she did.”
“So, that was at your urging?”
“No, she had an impulse to do so.”
Zelda checked her mind and memories. “Isolde was poking around.”
“Isolde?”
“A friend. A good friend. She and I talked a lot after the asteroid hit. She needed to chat, I needed to chat, and we were both a great distance away. I helped her work on her instinct and senses, and she helped my long-range communications.”
“She was brought up with you?”
“Oh. No. She was three thousand kilometres away. Long-range communication.”
He looked at her with only the slight shine from his eyes giving him away. “You are psychic.”
“Sort of. I was never tested for it. I was so tired by the time I got to the station that they did a health check, and after I threw a fit about my daughter, they sedated me and dumped me in one of the lots heading toward you.”
“But they knew you were consort class.”
“They suspected. They knew I was companion class. That was certain.”
“You let Marta state she was the companion.”
“Sure. My daughter was gone, and I didn’t give a fuck by then. If she wanted to kill herself, that wasn’t my business. She spent her waking time telling us how she was going to have a great life with money and fame. I just shrugged and let her go.”
“You knew.”
“Anyone who read the briefing knew. She thought she was just giving up her body, not everything she felt.”
He sighed. “Our contract did stipulate that she knew what was being asked of her. She will be happier with a new career, I think.”
Zelda snorted. “You think?”
He smiled and got up, bringing over a tablet. “Read this and make changes.”
She looked at the tablet. “Oh. I have come to claim my daughter.”
“Read.”
She frowned, and he moved around what was obviously his room and carried a tray over to her. His voice rumbled. “It is long. Have something to eat and drink. You are hungry.”
She blinked. “Thank you, Overseer Orex.”
“Keep reading.”
She went through the standard boilerplate of the consort-companion contract and then paused. Restrictions and guarantees regarding Aretta, daughter of Zelda.
She looked through schooling, outdoor training, private tutors, a set of nannies, and bodyguards, as she would be a very wealthy young woman.
Wardrobe fitting every four months to account for growth.
Training on riding beasts, personal vehicles, and a minimum of four uninterrupted hours per day with her mother once the acclimation to Orex had completed.
Travel with Orex and Zelda when they went off-world, with Aretta’s entourage accompanying them.
Zelda blinked away tears and looked at him. He looked nervous. “You thought of all of this?”
“I have been asking other consorts of other Hmrain for help. They have advised me of things that I had not considered, like the clothing changes.”
“And the private time with her. That is important.”
He nodded. “It is all right?”
“It is... if she isn’t furious at me, it will be fine.” She went through the last of the contract and smiled at Aretta’s trust account, as well as the discretionary fund available to Zelda. She paused. “A ship? You are giving me a ship?”
“So that you do not feel confined. Of course, keep reading, there are restrictions to using the ship.”
She laughed when she saw that it was to be used to bring friends to her so that Orex would not be inconvenienced. “I suppose that is fair.”
The last section was about children. Orex wanted children and had had no luck so far with companions, so he was interested in trying to have a family that included her, Aretta, and any children they could manage together. She sighed. He was lonely.
She knew that this was as far as her wild move through the stars would go. Orex did and always had felt right.
She signed off, scanned her eye, and left a tiny bit of blood on the side of the tablet.
Orex was standing still. “You agree?”
“Yes. I notice that you left the out after a century from the clauses.”
He shrugged. “I can cancel the contract if you are still displeased with me at that point.”
“I do warn you that Aretta may call you Dad at some point. She is fairly adaptable.”
He blinked. “I am sure we will discuss it if it arises. You really agree?”
“You know my bloody history?”
“I do. It is admirable.”
“They took my child from me and left me outside the walls. Aretta came to the walls and spoke to me, and it kept me calm while I fed them, protected them, and got them water for six months.”
“That was not mentioned.”
“No, but that was why they lied about Aretta and me. They weren’t sure I wouldn’t be up on the next shuttle and wanted her hidden.”
He paused. “Are they in the transport with your daughter?”
“They are.”
“I will make sure that she is woken first and that you are both removed from the vessel before the others wake.” He paused. “I didn’t know the size of your daughter, so I have brought tunics and trousers of a smaller size, as well as dresses if she prefers.”
Zelda smiled. “Sign the contract, Orex, so that I can begin your replenishment. You are looking tired.”
He blinked. “You mean you are willing to...”
“I will finish my snack, and then we will see how far we can get.”
He signed the contract, used an ocular scan, and the side of the tablet took a drop of his blood. The screen turned bright blue, and Orex stared at it. “Zelda, are you receptive right now?”
“I don’t know. My timing is off.”
“That may change things.”
She snorted. “I am aware.” She ate the fruit and toast that he had provided her. The tea went down easily. She took the tray and left the bed to set it where he had retrieved it.
She took Orex’s hand and walked him to the bed, pushing him down to sit.
“I can disrobe.”
“Would you care to? I can wait.”
He shot up, and his wrapped leather tunic came off in a blur, and she stepped back as his boots and trousers went flying. He put his hands on her arms, stroked her slowly, then he bent, gripped her butt, and lifted her against him.
She kissed him without hesitation. Her tongue slid past his, and he was surprised and reciprocated.
There was a deep groan as he flipped his wings back, sat, and then tilted back.
Zelda smiled and started to slide her body against his warmth.
His fingers touched her sex, and he jolted at the dripping heat.
He blinked. “Consort class is definitely different.”
Zelda grinned. “Just wait.”
She moved herself over him, her pulse getting faster, and eventually, she moved to capture his tip in her sex.
She wiggled back slowly in small motions, and Orex’s neck was corded and his head thrown back.
Zelda inched onto him and took close to half, panting to acclimate to the girth.
She moved her fingers between them and got them slippery before she circled her clit until a soft orgasm went through her. Orex gasped.
She kept moving on him and whispered, “You can participate at any time.”
“You wish me to touch you?”
“Please. It works a lot better that way. If you want me to tune completely, you will have to bite and give me nanites.”
His eyes opened wide, and stars were swirling in them. “You will not mind?”
“Just behave as you would have without failed companions. Think back to the first, and follow your instincts.”
He looked at her, nodded, gripped her hips, and flipped her to her back. He slid out of her, and his mouth went to the side of her neck, licking and scraping with his teeth. Zelda shuddered and smiled.
He whispered against her neck, “I can feel you.”
“I can feel you, but in a very different way.”
He sought her opening, thrust into her, and then his teeth went in.
She inhaled and shuddered, but a hot throbbing inside her started and continued until she squeaked in discomfort.
The pressure built and built, and then there was a kind of release, like piercing a water balloon.
She shuddered and touched his head. He relaxed the bite and started licking.
He roughed the skin of her breasts and pinched her nipples, causing more fluttering around him. Orex rocked back and forth on her, slowly, waves of heat filling her as he moved. Zelda moaned and wove her fingers through his hair, pulling his mouth to hers again.
They locked and moved together, and when she had cum for the fourth time, he raised his head. “Are you well?”
She smiled and said, “Very well. How are you?”
He shuddered. “This is more than anything.”
“You won’t mistake a companion for a consort again, will you?”
He grinned. “Definitely not. I hope that you are willing to remind me for the next five centuries at the least.”
She smiled sadly. “Aretta will have passed by then.”
He smiled. “If she is anything like you, when the time is right, we will allow suitors from other Hmrain bloodlines. She may be around longer than you can currently imagine.”
“Oh, shit. I didn’t realize that this could be inherited.” She closed her eyes and arched against him. “Stop that, Orex.”
He laughed and nuzzled her jaw. “I will, but only because Harwin is trying to beat her way through my firewall.”
She smiled. “Ah. Got it. Are there clothes for me?”
He paused. “You will have a difficult time getting them on over me.”
Zelda snorted. “Orex, we have a lot of time ahead of us, and I don’t want to suffer pain from overuse.”
He blinked and nodded as he eased out of her.
“Once I am acclimated to you, we can go for broke for a few days.” She smiled and stroked his cheek. “Now, I need to get the sweat off. Care to join me?”
He got to his feet and shook his wings. She grinned and took him by the hand to the shower. It was best to start as they were going to go on, and he was stunned by affection. Affection came as easily as violence to her. Today, she chose to scrub his back.