Destined (8 page)
Drehl sighed and directed her to the food. “I will show you after breakfast.”
She chuckled and picked out some of her favourites before taking a seat at the large round table where everyone else was seated.
Breakfast was a fairly entertaining event with Kebril listing the kind of woman he thought was his destiny.
Under fidgeted and asked, “Would you do a portrait of me as well?”
Hawk smiled. “Me too. Since we are all here, security isn’t a problem.”
Rhoda blinked. “I suppose that is correct.”
She finished her meal and looked around. “Where do we put the dishes?”
Hawk laughed. “Drehl built some bots to take care of them. They prepare our meals and do the laundry. It’s pretty sweet. The other bases I have been at all require the Guardians to do most of their own chores.”
Rhoda listened to the description of the other bases and smiled at the differences. When Drehl was finished with his meal, he got a cup of tea and led her through the halls to her new studio.
“Oh wow.” The room was three glass walls protruding from the castle walls, and it had light coming in from every angle. Her easel was standing with Drehl’s painting on it, and someone had taken her palette knife to his face.
She stepped forward and touched the gouges in the canvas and whispered soft words of commiseration and healing. As she watched, the cuts healed and sealed. “Holy heck. Did I do that?”
Drehl was as surprised as she was. “Apparently you did. That is surprising.”
She looked at her fingers, and a slight glow coated her fingertips. She touched the next slashed canvas, and it sealed smoothly, becoming unmarred in seconds. “Whoa.”
“How do you feel?”
She quickly assessed her physical status. She should have been sore from the night before, but she didn’t feel any aches or pains. “I feel good. No aches and pains, no dizziness. What should I be feeling?”
He smiled. “Exactly what you feel. If you were forcing the nanites out, there would be some physical discomfort.”
She snickered and went around repairing the rest of the damage the officers had done. When she finished, she set Drehl’s portrait aside and put one of the blanks onto her easel.
She thought of Kebril and lifted her drawing tools, sketching quickly.
When the blindness of her talent wore off, she blinked and stared at the image. “That’s not right.”
Drehl put his hands on her shoulders and looked at the canvas. “What isn’t right?”
“She’s Terran. There is no doubt about it, she is one of my people.” Rhoda scowled at the sketch for the portrait. “I won’t know more until Kebril sits for it, but I know that that woman is one of mine, and she’s armed.”
“Is she? That will be fun. I am sure that Kebril will enjoy it. He has a fencing fetish amongst his other perversions.” Drehl placed a warm kiss on her neck.
“You like kissing my neck, don’t you?” She chuckled but tilted her head to allow him further access.
“I do. I like biting it more, but you aren’t fully able to regenerate yet. I don’t want to embarrass you.”
She chuckled and leaned into him. “A day with a mark won’t kill me, and being mocked after sex is not something I am unfamiliar with.”
She threaded her fingers in his hair and pressed his mouth to her neck. His teeth grazed her skin, and she shuddered. She felt his arms go around her, and he carried her to the window. With some coaxing, he placed her palms flat on the glass.
She groaned when her skirt was moved aside and her underwear parted with a few snaps of his fingers. Her skin felt hot when he slid his fingers into her, letting her slick heat coat his hand. His cock replaced his hand a moment later. She grunted and tried to relax as the angle she was standing at caused resistance.
A few aborted thrusts and he changed his angle of entry and slid home, causing her to gasp at the feeling of being filled nearly beyond capacity.
Rhoda hissed and rocked with him as he began to thrust. A few light caresses and she was already on the spiralling climb to release.
Drehl moved his hand around and pressed her clit at the same time his teeth bit down on the curve of her neck. She shrieked and her fingers pressed to the glass while her body rippled through an orgasm. Lights sparked behind her eyes and images swam in her mind of her and Drehl in dozens of poses and laughing together with younger versions of themselves standing around. She had gone right from honeymoon to grandchildren, and as her body slowly relaxed, she smiled slightly at her reflection in the glass.
She felt his cock pulse inside her, and he groaned against her skin, bringing a second wave of soft, pleasurable ripples through her channel.
She shuddered as he pulled her upright and back against him. “I am sure that this obsession to be inside you will wear off eventually, Rhoda.”
She chuckled. “Not for the first thirty years from what I can see.”
He withdrew from her and turned her to face him. “You can see that far?”
She snorted. “I saw my own destiny while I was staring into the glass. I have never looked for it before.”
Rhoda wrapped her arms around him and held him for a moment while the images wove themselves into her memories. While she held him, his clothing righted itself.
She sighed. “What do you think Kebril will think when he finds out that his destiny is a Terran woman?”
Drehl laughed and rubbed his hands up and down her spine. “He will consider himself very lucky.”
“You say the sweetest things.” She laughed and held on to him. “So, what did you do before you were a Guardian?”
“Like Kebril, I designed household bots that are used throughout the Nyal Imperium.”
“How much longer will you be an active Guardian?”
He shrugged. “Since I am now stationed on Yacaro, I can remain active indefinitely.”
She scowled. “That doesn’t sound too great. What if you find a replacement?”
He grinned. “Then, I will happily retire and pester you night and day.”
She frowned. “I think I need to work out a middle ground here.”
They walked out of the studio and back into the breakfast area. Kebril was in deep discussion with Under, but as he looked at Rhoda, he smiled. “I can see that the getting-to-know-you is going very well.”
She couldn’t think of what he meant, but a breeze cooled her buttocks under the fabric of her gown, and she realized that the underwear was still missing. She sighed. “It proceeds apace. Now, would you like to sit for the portrait? I need to get used to that new studio.”
He nodded and followed her through the halls and into the studio. He glanced at the sketch with interest. “You did that without me?”
“It is easy to pull an image into my mind, but to get it accurate, I need you in front of me.”
Kebril nodded as if he understood what she was saying.
She found her paints and brushes and prepared her palette. Standing in front of the blank canvas, she started to paint with her eyes gone blind.
She painted for hours until her hand stilled and her vision returned. She turned and put down her brush and palette then went looking for a glass of water. She was so thirsty.
Kebril was sitting, as if afraid to move. She grinned. “You can go and look. I have a few things to tell you about where to find her if you want to know.”
Kebril came around and stared at the picture, his fingers almost touching the cheek of the woman who stood with a blade extended. “She’s a duellist. They have them on some of the worlds in this sector.”
“Do you recognize her species?” She drank two glasses of water and then scrubbed her hands.
Kebril looked at the woman and frowned. He had an idea and turned toward Rhoda. “She is one of yours.”
“She is. But as far as I know, there are only two possible locations for her based on her clothing and that mark on her inner arm.”
“What are they?”
“That mark is small, so she is either in the high court of the Imperium or she is in Janial prison. I am rather leaning toward the prison at the moment.”
He scowled. “Janial prison is for felony cases awaiting trial.”
She nodded. “And without bribes, there is no way her case will ever be called. I don’t know her name, but I can find it out in short order. There really aren’t that many of us in the Nyal Imperium.”
Kebril smiled. “I believe that we can figure out a plan of attack. Are you willing to help me?”
She nodded. “I am. I have been an agent of destiny every chance I could get. It is nice to be able to use it close to home.”
He laughed and gave her a chaste hug. “Thank you, sister. I believe we should go in search of some foundation garments for you. I get the feeling that Drehl is going to be hard on your wardrobe.”
Rhoda laughed, and together, they went in search of her new clothing.
Drehl met them in the hall, and she confirmed that it was indeed a Terran in the picture, and they were going to try to find her in Janial prison.
As a trio, they went through the clothing and separated the eveningwear from the daywear and the work wear. “Kebril, how many clothes did you order?”
He shrugged. “There are a few more shipments for me to deliver. Married to Prince Drehl, you will have to attend plenty of functions. It is a side effect of wedding one of the Genarans. Sorry.”
Drehl smiled as if he had known she was going to be perturbed by it.
She squinted her eyes at him and mentally promised to make him pay. She delivered a silent flick to his groin, and her eyes opened wide as he flinched.
Her control over his body was starting, and he was going to have quite a time after she learned how to stake him out so she could have the upper hand.
The details of her professional life still needed to be ironed out, but her personal life was definitely looking up.
Author’s Note
T
here are five Terrans in Janial prison, but the first will be set free in
Fencer
.
In
Fencer,
we will see more of the Yacaro Guardians and more Rhoda.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.