Vanquished (23 page)

Epilogue

Neira crept down
the hall toward the room she and Vayne shared for sleeping—and other, more
pleasurable pursuits. He denied her nothing, except this. He insisted on their
own personal space, one that the children weren’t allowed to breach, despite
how she often longed to welcome them here. Perhaps when they were older, she
mused, even though it was unlikely. Her sovereign loved his offspring with a
depth of emotion she recognized, because he loved her with the same intensity,
but he’d drawn the boundary and she’d respect it. His need for her was huge and
never flagged.

Nibiru was now her
home, and the house she shared with Vayne and their children, along with an
astonishing number of primarily male Shadalla, was everything she could have
hoped for. The city itself was clean and all the buildings well constructed
from stone from the local quarries. The air quality was far better than that on
the Home World, and the Shadalla were eons ahead in their respect for the
environment. The countryside was peppered with efficient farming enterprises,
and the factories were under stringent environmental controls. The Shadalla
insisted on being self-sufficient in all matters—the result of near genocide.
Some trade was allowed but only items that were deemed a necessity and couldn’t
be produced on Nibiru. Change was carefully considered and took a very long
time.

Pausing for a
moment to peer out the window in the hallway, she studied the rolling
landscape, quite similar to that of her planet of birth, illuminated by
Nibiru’s two moons. The golden glow was shot with silver and she could make out
the movements of the guards among the gardens. There were risks and dangers
even here, but Neira couldn’t find it in herself to worry. Vayne carried that burden
willingly and she trusted in him to protect his own. She had other things to
deal with and appreciated how they split the responsibilities. The learning
curve was still steep but it never felt insurmountable, and while she and Vayne
butted heads often enough, they always worked things out.

Nibiru was indeed a
planet sadly empty of the calls and laughter of children, and a lack of
females, something that would hopefully change over the next few decades. She
and Vayne had made a start on that, as had the other couples from the
Tomodr
. Victoria had two little ones,
and Sheera and Alondra were each expecting their second child. The rest of the
women were already placed with lifemates and most of them were breeding.
Funny how that concept didn’t bother Neira anymore.
It was
hard to get worked up over something so natural when one’s every need, desire
and wish was immediately granted, and she hoped that never got old as more
human women came to Nibiru to stay. Most of the male Shadalla she’d met were
like Vayne—intensely dominant and no fool—and surely the depth of commitment
would serve to eliminate a bond based on avarice.

Her feet were cold
and she regretted not finding her slippers before moving quietly away to the
nursery. She wore a nightgown because while Vayne insisted she remain uncovered
in their bedroom, he wasn’t inclined to let his entourage see her in that
state. Her lips curved at his possessiveness and she hurried into their room.

“Are they asleep?”
His deep voice startled her,
not that she didn’t expect him
to be awake
.

“They are.
And hopefully for the night.”

“We have their
caregivers to tend to them, Neira.”

It was the same
discussion each and every time the triplets woke and called for her—or him. And
each and every time one of them got up and took care of whatever reasons the
children were awake. In fact, she knew he’d been hovering just out of sight
while she soothed Alexi’s childish bad dream and kissed his tears away,
grateful the youngest triplet’s cries hadn’t woken Anika or Bella.

“I know we do. But
I want to do it. As do you,” she accused, climbing back into bed and putting
her cold feet on his leg.

He manufactured a
shudder, although she knew he barely felt the chill, and yanked her against
him. Her sensitive breasts responded and her sex dampened at the feel of his
solid cock flirting at the apex of her thighs. “I don’t want you wearing
yourself out.”

“Hah. I’m waited on
hand and foot. The occasional jaunt down the hall to the nursery won’t wear me
out. You’re the one with a full schedule, ruling the planet.” Organizing the
screening and visitations of all the human women that Nibiru hosted was only
part of his duties. “Yet you don’t ignore the children.”

She’d been
astonished by how fulfilling the role of his lifemate and mother of his
offspring, punctuated with appearances of political necessity and addressing
those human women as she’d previously offered, was enough for her. And Vayne’s
gratitude was the only praise she required.

Exploring had been
possible,
and accompanied by Victoria, Sheera and
Alondra—plus twenty or so trusted guards— they’d wandered at will. All the
wives had followed their husband’s edict that they cover themselves. None of
the women had balked, aware of the simmering need of those Shadalla males on
the streets of the city, the ones with no military training to instill
exemplary self-control. Neira hoped all of them found their chosen, but it
would take time. Perhaps even the belief it was possible would soon ease the
desperation. Then there would be another sense of freedom for the females here.

“I see you continue
to wish the last word, Neira.” Vayne worked a hand beneath her night apparel.
“And you’re in my bed, clothed again.”

The tearing of the
really nice gown made her wince, but Vayne’s expectations and desires hadn’t
relaxed, even after four Earth years and three children, even if the kids had
all come at once. That first year had been one of adjustment, flavored with
intimacy and that nonstop sex.

He maneuvered her
on top of him, the light from the moons casting shards of illumination across
his chest and handsome features. She crouched above him, her wet sex spread and
nuzzling his cock, and she teased him with a slow glide. His growl made her do
it again.

Hefting a breast in
either hand, he leaned up to nibble at first one nipple,
then
the other and she shivered.

“Growing
more and more sensitive, my chosen.”
He gave her a sly grin before
suckling the right nipple and she moaned, involuntarily rocking her hips. When
he gave the same treatment to the other, she gasped and tried to retreat. He
immediately released her. “I won’t tease you.”

She leaned upright
and traced a finger over the flat discs of his nipples, the tiny centers
peaking with interest, then outlined the silvery remnants of his scar. His back
was unblemished as Stenlor’s skill had ordained, and for a moment she winced
internally. Positive thoughts, being here with him, immediately replaced that
dreadful time and she rocked against Vayne again. He had such a tendency to
drive her pleasure to such heights it was no surprise she’d produced triplets.
Her husband had crowed and strutted with pride at the news, assuming total
responsibility for that fortune, of course.

“Why
so pensive, my love?”
His face creased with worry and she hurried to reassure him.

“Just thinking,
reminiscing. Good thoughts. I love you.”

“Then perhaps you
might show me.” His big hand cupped over her belly.
“If this
little one consents.”

One.
Singular.
She carried only one fetus this time, although the second pregnancy had already
curved her slender body, recovered with difficulty after the first births, to a
very distinct and large shape. Not that she or Vayne cared. But he was afraid
of crushing the baby, hence woman on top, something Neira relished with this
dominant man. She hitched upward and gripped his fat cock, setting it at her
entrance, and lowered herself in tiny increments. She swallowed a smile at the
way her lifemate’s lips set and his eyes narrowed as he instilled his
self-control because of her slow pace. He stretched her most pleasurably, the
walls of her pussy giving way grudgingly until he came up against her cervix.
Neira clenched, experimentally, and Vayne groaned.

“Payback,
my love?
For your oh-so-sensitive nipples?”
His
fingers were on those tender buds in a blur of motion that took her breath and
it was her turn to groan.

She was a needy,
wanton sex fiend and had this alien male to thank. If she thought of it, he
made it happen no matter how complicated her fantasy. And he was definitely
creative in his own right, having had all those decades to hone his craft with
the opportunities with otherworld females. Those sex toys had found their way
to the bedroom and she’d been correct in thinking how experienced he was and
how incredible those times would turn out to be. Not that any of them replaced
the pleasure his cock brought her.

And beneath the
physicality, where she could throw off all her burdens and surrender because
Vayne would never let her fall, was the deep, abiding bond that melded their
souls. Neira had never known this kind of connection but recognized it as love,
that elusive four letter word, despite her past frantic attempts to deny
herself.

Vayne let her set
the pace as she rode him, and steadied her with his hands on her hips,
occasionally using his amazing abdominal muscles to strain upward so he could
access her breasts with his mouth. Between that intermittent sensation and
working over his throbbing shaft, Neira swiftly climbed toward release. When
she strained to reach the precipice, Vayne slid a finger over the top of her
slit, above where they were joined so intimately, and flirted with the knot of
nerves. The quick touch pushed her over with a shudder of her entire body and
she felt all those tiny muscles inside her sheath strangle his cock. Vayne
emitted a subdued roar and stiffened, then thrust in ragged tempo as he held
her in place. She felt him come and bathe her with his seed and gloried in it.

Sagging over his
chest, she enjoyed the final flutters of the release as
their
cum
slipped down to signify the union. Vayne rubbed her back before
resting a hand on one buttock.

“Glorious.”

Neira was too spent
to speak but made her lips pose a reasonable facsimile of a kiss against one
hard pec.

He tugged a cover
over them both to ward off any chill, and she sprawled on a very firm and
heated mattress, reluctant to change position and lose him. Replete, Neira
reflected and sighed with contentment.

“Heavy
thoughts, my little warrior?”

“Good
thoughts once again, my husband.
Those responsible for the genetic weapon, the Shadalla’s
concern about extinction, my personal terrors—vanquished, all of them.”

Vayne held her
closer, his steady heartbeat lulling her into slumber.

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