Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“The whole courtroom was all amazed when they saw you navigate us out of that mess,” I told her, giving her a proud smile.
Her light brown cheeks went dark with a blush but she lifted her chin proudly.
“Good! It’s about time people knew that a woman can navigate as well as a man.”
“Baby, you navigate better than any man I’ve seen,” I told her frankly. “In fact, I never want to fly with any other navigator again.”
Her eyes widened.
“Do you mean that? You’d fly with me again?”
“If I’m still Captain of The Illyrian once this is all over,” I told her. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things play out. My Chieftain and his wife were at the Binding Ceremony and I noticed that they seemed really affected by the smoke. So I guess it depends on how he feels about that.”
“A lot of people were affected—did you see Pria and Rath?”
I frowned at the mention of one of my other best friend’s name. Rath was part of our “Cross Clan Crew” as Slade had dubbed us. His horns were painted silver—showing his high rank in his Clan and the fact that his Chieftain had marked him as the most trusted member of her inner circle. Having silver horns was a great honor—one accorded to very few.
“What was he doing with her?” I asked, feeling suddenly worried for my friend.
“Just kissing her.” Jessina’s eyes went warm and dreamy. “But what a kiss. I could tell by how gentle he was being that he really cherishes her. And she was kissing him back,” she added. “The two of them were really wrapped up in ceah other.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not good. In fact, it’s really fucking bad.”
“What? But why?” she asked. “They looked so sweet together! He was cupping her face in his hands and everything.”
“It’s forbidden by the Vicious Clan Rules for them to be together,” I explained. “Pria is Rath’s charge—the one he’s guarding. And she’s next in line to be the Chieftain of their Clan.”
“So?” she asked, shrugging.
“So a Vicious Clan Chieftain isn’t supposed to choose a consort from among her own people. In fact, they always choose some high-ranking member from another Clan,” I explained. “So even by kissing they were breaking their Clan’s traditions and laws.”
“Well, I’m sure they won’t get into trouble. After all, that pink smoke was affecting everyone,” she pointed out.
“Not your Sire and stepmother,” I said. “Apparently they’re not Fated Mates.”
Jessina made a face.
“I could have told you that—Lyrah only wants my Sire for his money and power. But can we not talk about them while we’re, er, connected like this?” She nodded down to my shaft, which was still buried in her soft little pussy.
“Oh, sorry.” I kissed her mouth gently. “We’ll talk about it later. For now, we have a future to plan together.”
“Will you go back to The Illyrian if they let you?” she asked me.
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t say no to captaining a different vessel—one that’s more family friendly. A smuggling ship is a pretty rough environment for a little one to grow up in.” And I patted her belly again.
“Could we bring Snuffy and Yorrin with us if we went to another ship?” Jessina asked hopefully.
“I don’t see why not.” I smiled. “They’ve both crewed with me for a long time—I’m sure they’d follow me if I went to a different ship. I could even look into an Interstellar Cruise ship, you know? Taking passengers to different galaxies. Those things are fucking floating palaces—they have all kinds of amenities. Indoor pools, private suites, so many dining rooms you never have to try the same cuisine twice…that kind of thing.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Jessina exclaimed. “And if we do have a baby, it would be a much nicer place to raise him or her.” She smiled at me. “Though to be honest, I don’t mind where we live or what kind of ship we’re on, as long as we’re together.”
“Together,” I echoed, giving her another forehead kiss. “I can promise you that, little bird. From now on, we’ll always be together.”
But as I cradled her in my arms and thought of our future life, another image popped into my head. I kept thinking of my friend Rath and his charge, Pria. I really hoped that they wouldn’t get in trouble for the passionate kiss that Jessina had described to me—but they might, because they had definitely broken the Clan Vicious Rules.
Clan Vicious always insisted on having a female Chieftain who was Bound to a male consort from another Clan. It wasn’t like he could rule through her, though—the Chieftain—or Chieftainess—who headed the Clan had the final say in everything. That wasn’t a problem with the current Chieftain, Pria’s mother. She had ruled with an iron fist from the moment she took the leadership of Clan Vicious.