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“As long as you hold me up, no problem.” He chuckled. “I am going to enjoy you taking my armour off though. It is a little fantasy I have had for the last two days.”

Hydra laughed as they made it to the hall and then the bedroom door. She steered him past the bed and into the lav where the lighting would help her figure out what was going on.

Her gown was dirty, so she tugged it away from the belt and slipped it off over her head, leaving her wearing the metal and nothing else.

“Oh, Hydra. Why do you have to be so lovely?”

“It is a blessing and a curse. Now, where do I start? Sorry, usually when you put it on, I go into mourning, because all that skin is gone.” She grinned and kissed him quickly, backing away before he could lean forward.

She took his mask from the top of his head and tossed it aside. With a few fumbles, she managed to release the clasps and work his torso covering loose. She wisely removed his boots and said, “Now, stand up, palms to the wall.”

“Kinky.”

She laughed and worked the reinforced trousers down his legs, helping him to step out one leg at a time.

She sat back and sighed in relief when he was naked. She tugged him into the shower and turned it on. The light seemed to energize him, but she was exhausted.

She chuckled and took a quick turn in the shower as he left it. She closed her eyes and let the grime be blasted into nothing.

Clean but tired, she stepped out and took his hand, walking with him to the bed that she had strewn with flower petals.

He quirked a brow at her. “What is this for?”

“Another silly tradition. The bouquet was losing its petals, so I thought of putting them here as a welcome home.” She reached for them. “They are stupid. I am sorry.”

He stopped her before she could brush them away.

“I think they are lovely, Hydra. Stop fussing and lie down with me.”

She nodded and followed him onto the bed. “I am really glad you are home, Starburn.”

“Me too.” He spooned her against him and caressed her hip. “I missed you, Hydra.” She smiled and snuggled back against him. He curled his arm over her and tucked a hand between her breasts. Curled together, they breathed as one and slipped into darkness.

The honeymoon would have to wait until the morning.

H
ands were stroking her, coaxing her to wake up. They cupped her breasts and slid down her thigh.

When she moaned lightly, the hands move with more deliberation. She smiled and arched her head back onto Caalos’s shoulder. She gasped his name as he slid a knee between her thighs and used the opportunity to slide two fingers into her.

Hydra moaned and twisted. Her shoulders ended flat on the bed, which invited Caalos to suck each nipple in turn. He thrust his fingers, lapped and sucked on her breasts and the air around them shimmered with heat.

His thumb found her clit again, and she cried out, lacing her fingers through his hair. She bit her lip when a shriek worked its way into her throat, and she stifled it as her orgasm bucked her against his hand.

“I want to hear it.”

She looked up at his hot eyes. “Everyone else can hear it as well.”

He loomed over her for a moment before he lifted her onto his lap and settled her over his cock. “Tough. I want to see you, I want to smell you, touch you, taste you and hear you, wife.” She shivered at the combination of the heat of his skin and the heat in the weeping head of his cock as he slowly lowered her onto him. Her body fought his for a moment and then clasped him tight as he pulled her down on him in one torturous move.

Hydra panted and held onto his biceps as he cupped her buttocks in his hands. He nipped at her lips, goading her into returning his kiss with light strokes and retreats.

She lifted her head to his and leaned up, tilting her hips and letting her sink further onto him. She moaned softly, and he licked her lower lip before he whispered, “Just like that.”

He kissed her lightly, lifting her and then flexing his hips as her weight took her back onto him. He lifted and dropped her again, never letting her go completely but supporting her as he set up a rhythm to their joining.

She kissed him, his lips, neck, collarbone and chest as they rocked together. Each collision of their bodies drew a noise from her, and she gave them to him, one by one.

The culmination of her orgasm was a low, groaning moan. She pressed her forehead to his shoulder and held tight to him as her body milked his with strong pulses. He shouted and held her hips with a bruising grip as his cock jetted into her.

Her body continued to clasp and release him for minutes after they were both still and panting.

A knock on the door caused them both to stiffen.

Starburn yelled, “What?”

“There is a message from the Nyal Imperial household. It appears to be a reaction to the formal wedding confirmation that we sent in.” Starburn sighed and stroked Hydra’s spine.

“Come in, Tangle.”

Funnily enough, from his angle, Hydra was completely covered by Starburn’s body as long as she didn’t move around too much.

“The Imperial household would like a reply to their query at your earliest convenience.”

“What is their query?”

Hydra could see Tangle’s face as he winced.

“They want to know why you are throwing your life away on some out-of-system whore.” Starburn’s body took on a heat that was less that comfortable. His eyes were narrow, and fury was radiating out of him along with the heat.

“Tangle, I think you should leave now, because I have to dismount and you are going to see quite a show.” She levered herself away from Starburn the moment that Tangle was out of the doorway.

“Okay, quick shower and back into my one and only dress.” She chuckled. True to form, the cleaning bots had tidied up the uniform and the dress. The dress was now clean and waiting for her and a fresh uniform was on its stand, waiting for the next disaster.

She took the solar shower and came out, slipping on her dress and digging for the belt in the sheets before she found it. With the belt in place, she could move around fairly comfortably.

“Why didn’t you raid Breaker’s wardrobe for something new?”

“Because you have little enough privacy as it is without me rummaging through your shit while you aren’t home.”

He put on his standard at-home uniform of dark loose trousers and a pale, loose open vest that hung to his hips. Today’s claw marks were front and centre with a few bite marks that Hydra didn’t remember making.

She walked down the hall with him. “Did I do all that?”

He chuckled. “I asked myself that when you came out of the lav and you had finger bruises on your hips and ass. Yes, we did a little mild damage, and yes, it will heal.”

She tutted in disapproval. “You also need a brush taken to your hair. It is tangled for some reason.”

He grinned. “You are welcome to brush it, dearest wife.”

“So, the long, pale hair has its admirers, does it?”

“An entire fan club, but you are the only one allowed to touch it.” He lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss.

Tangle was at the com station, and he looked relieved to see them both dressed. “The Imperium household manager is on right now. He called back.”

“Transfer it for privacy.”

Starburn took her to a wall that she hadn’t thought anything of, but after an optical scan, a chunk of wall slid back to display a tiny com centre.

Starburn hauled her in with him, and the door sealed behind her. He took the seat in the chair and pulled her into his lap.

He reached out, and the face on the screen was scowling at him. “Guardian Starburn, I wanted to speak to you in privacy.”

“This is privacy. My wife and I have no secrets from this moment onward. Now, please, explain why you have the right to offer an opinion on the spouse of a Guardian, and put my father on. It is his complaint I am dealing with after all.” The household manager flushed, but he nodded with a jerk. A moment later, a new masculine face was on the screen, and Hydra had seen that face before. It was the Emperor of the Nyal. Caksix Hedderian, the Ninth.

“My son, tell me why you have bonded to a woman so far away from your own bloodlines.”

“Father, please meet my wife, Hydrangea Graham of Terra. Now Hydrangea Graham Renix. Hydra, this is my father. Caksix Hedderian, the Ninth, current Emperor of the Nyal Imperium. I am a bastard.”

“Pleased to meet you, Your Eminence.” She was a little out of her depth, but it was another thing she needed to learn.
How to address an emperor
while sitting on his bastard’s lap
.

“And you. I am sure that you are a lovely woman, but I have other plans for my son, and they don’t involve him breeding out of the Nyal line.”

Starburn smiled. “That is my choice, not yours, Father. Just as my mother’s choice had nothing to do with you and everything to do with possibilities. You rejected her attempts at peace and forced the Shosai to continue hiding, but now that I am in the world, you want to get the bad blood out of your line as fast as you can. How goes the effort to gain a son, by the way?” The emperor’s face darkened. “Damn it. You know you are my only son. When I die, you are the heir to the Imperium.”

“I don’t want it. I have never wanted it.” The emperor’s face softened. “I know that. I wanted what is best for you.”

“Then, rejoice in my finding Hydra. She is what is best for me. She cleaned me after a two-day tsunami clean up, got me out of my armour and into bed after she made sure that we all ate and had something to drink. She met me with an open mind and still asked me about my day. At no time has she attempted to pry into my privacy. She is a woman so rare as to be one in billions, and I would have been a fool to let her pass.”

“But… ”

“Fate put her in my path and was determined that we meet again, so when we did, I caused a scene that put her into the public eye, and then, I manipulated her into coming to the base. I pursued her by what means I have available to meet a good woman. Congratulate me.”

“Woman, do you have to sit on his lap?” The emperor lashed out at her.

She raised her arms to show the bands of his arms around her torso. “I sort of do. He won’t let me stand behind him, so I am stuck in his embrace. It is a comfortable place to be. Nice and warm.”

Caalos chuckled.

The emperor nodded. “I see. What do your people think of this union?”

She bit her lip. “I haven’t been able to contact anyone to register it.”

“So, they may disapprove.”

“Possible but not likely. My mission was to enter space-faring society, make a place for myself, find a job and when the time was right, bear an heir to my genetics. I am a class zero, so my genes aren’t much of a concern, but I still have to have one child in order to fulfill my contract with the Alliance. That can’t happen for at least a year.”

“Why?”

Caalos smiled. “Restrictor shot. I made sure that she was safe before I tried my ham-handed courtship. Until I know it is safe, I don’t want to put our child at risk. I have three years left on my contract, and leaving her with a child and no one to help her raise it is not something I will do.” The emperor nodded. “Three years before you have an heir? That is risky.”

“Not really. Your bloodline has no direct heir.”

“No longer true. You were legitimized six weeks ago. You are the next emperor of the Nyal Imperium, whether you want to be or not.” The emperor hung up on his son.

Hydra looked at the shock on Starburn’s face.

“Are you all right?”

He shook his head and reached out to make a call.

A woman answered, her skin was the deep mocha of Caalos’s and her hair the same white.

“Mother. I would introduce my wife.” The woman smiled. “I greet you, daughter.”

“Thank you, Mother.” She pressed a hand to her breastbone. “Hydrangea Graham Renix.”

“Cadian Renix.” The woman’s face showed her pleasure. “What can I do for you, children?”

“The emperor has announced that he has legitimized me and I am the next heir of the Nyal Imperium. Did you know of this?” Cadian shook her head. “No. It is a good thing though, if you survive it.”

“But now, I must watch out for my wife. How can I keep her safe?”

Cadian kept her smile in place. “Give her the tools to keep herself safe. Have those around you that you trust keep the one you love when you cannot be there to protect her. She seems like an intelligent woman, and I will be happy to meet her in person one day.”

Dismissed, the call ended.

“Well, Caalos, I like your mom but your dad sucks.” She kissed his jaw and the tenseness loosened.

“You are very subtle, Hydra.” He got to his feet and kept her cradled against him. “Don’t be surprised if we are summoned to the imperial court soon. My father is not one to miss an opportunity.”

She really, really hoped that he was wrong. She literally didn’t have a thing to wear.

W
arp brought her belongings to the base three days later. It was such a relief to have her own clothing back that she gave Warp a bone-cracking hug that had Starburn growling behind her. He pried her away from his teammate and grabbed two of her bags, taking the entire collection of her and her belongings to their room.

The moment the door was closed, she squirmed to be let down. Starburn set her down, and she yanked the bags from him and plunged her hands into her own clothing.

“I don’t understand the fuss, but as long as you are happy, I am glad.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and left her to play dress up.

She burrowed around until she found what she was looking for and gave an evil smile to the closed door. With a little effort, she was wearing an outfit that normally would have been more at home on a sun-dappled beach than a superhero base, but she didn’t care.

Hydra arranged her hair so that it fell down her back in soft ringlets, slipped on some sandals and walked out onto the balcony to feel the afternoon sun on her skin.

Tangle was working on some flowers in the garden, and he glanced toward her. He froze in place and didn’t respond when she waved at him.