Halt (7 page)
“Arkenor!”
“Yes, Anastasia!”
“I want you inside me, now.” She reached for him, and he wove his hands through hers.
He pressed her back to the bedding and parted her thighs with hands made of silver. She widened her eyes in surprise as another pair of hands held her while fingers stroked inside her.
“That isn’t fair.”
He brushed his lips across hers while his mercurial hands stroked in and around her. “I know it isn’t, but if I come inside you now, I won’t last a minute. I need you to move further down the path.”
It was a Decolian saying, and he moved her further down the path with his fingers, first two and then three plunging into her while a thumb stroked around her clit. She twisted and screamed as the build-up finally reached its peak.
She arched against him, and she heard him mutter something before the heated length of his cock slid into her on a savage thrust. He rocked and plunged inside her, bucking his minute estimate and filling her with a heat that she had waited for, for so very long.
Tazzy clenched her fingers against his, holding him tight with her legs and hands as he thrust and retreated, sliding the wide head of his erection against her channel. She moaned and welcomed the return to heat on the path toward release.
She jerked when one of the quicksilver hands caressed her rear entrance, and as a finger eased into her, she cried out in release again.
He shouted as his hips jerked against hers; his cock pulsed inside, leaving a splash of heat within.
She sighed and lay back, pulling him down to her with her thighs around his.
Arkenor kissed her softly, nibbling at her lips before laving them with his tongue. “Not as long as I had hoped, but far better than I feared.”
She took his lower lip between her teeth for a moment. “That hand thing was very sneaky. Please tell me that if I look down, they won’t be there.”
She felt the hands disappear from her skin, and he gave her an innocent look.
“What hands?” He grinned, and the kiss went from gentle to savage.
A bot waving a white napkin appeared in the room, looked around and then chirped.
Tazzy groaned. “What meal are we late for?”
He looked at the sun streaming through the window. “I think it is lunch.”
“Fine. Back to the uniform.”
“Like hell. Wear a day skirt and the beaded top.”
He lifted her and carried her into the solar shower. They were clean in a matter of minutes, and she frowned at the clothing a moment later. “This isn’t a beaded top. It is beads as a top.”
Her skirt was a nice breathable fabric, but the top was made entirely of beaded necklaces joined into a long and wide cascade of jade and black. It was as low in back as it was in front and weighed about five pounds.
“It looks lovely. I am going to have a chat with my family and get some of the family jewels set for you.” Arkenor grinned.
She paled, “You can’t be serious.”
“I can. My family is very aware of my Guardian placement and the reasons for it. Sollas is the official heir as my damaged genetics alter my suitability as heir to the throne.”
She blinked. “Really? I mean, if your children are fine, then what would the problem be?”
“That is just it. I do not yet have children and cannot prove their suitability, as they do not exist. Inheritance is a tricky thing.” He shrugged and put on the formal skirt from the night before and then offered her his hand.
She slipped her hand into his and walked with him to the dining room.
Quell and Flick got to their feet when she entered.
“Silver was right, you do clean up well when you choose to.” Flick grinned.
She looked at her ex-partner. “You said that?”
“Well, remember Jerrilon? You were amazing under cover and devastating in elegant gowns at reception after reception.” He kissed the back of her hand.
She narrowed her eyes at him while she took her seat. “That was work. The dresses were returned to the quartermaster the moment the assignments were done.”
He sighed and sat next to her. “I am aware. However, now, we will have a little spare time and the occasional trip to the capitol to visit my family. You will need to dress as etiquette dictates.”
She leaned back. “I am going to be visiting your family? Sollas will enjoy that.”
He went from affable to bristling in a moment. “My brother will keep his distance or he will get the wrong end of my temper.”
The bots began to serve lunch.
Tazzy remembered something from her first meeting with Sollas. “He knows about me, doesn’t he?”
Everyone was looking at Silver. He cleared his throat. “Yes, when I returned home, I was a little distraught. My family wanted to know the details, and as I was not yet a Guardian, I told them.”
She blinked. “So, Sollas was after me because of who I had been to you.”
“Eventually, yes. Initially, he simply wanted you because you are you and very attractive. He has always enjoyed women who were willing to stand up to him and order him around.”
“I certainly did that.” She chuckled.
He growled. “He is going to stay clear of you, or I will alert our parents. My mother is even more fearsome than you, my dear. She will sort him out.”
“When will this meeting occur?” She raised her eyebrows.
“As soon as I can arrange it. There is protocol to adhere to.”
She settled in to sip the soup that the bots brought.
Soon
seemed pleasantly amorphous, so she decided to live in the now.
Soon
showed up one week later. With their uniforms packed in case of emergency, Silver and Halt headed for the capitol.
The procedure involved not only authorization from the royal family, but also the Guardian project and the Nyal Imperium, peacekeeper division.
Her hands were sweating. She had met the king and queen before but never as the woman that their son was interested in. Well, not this son.
Arkenor landed their transport on the private deck. He extended his hand to her and smiled. “Don’t worry. They already like you. This is just a formality.”
“I wish I was wearing a little more.”
She was wearing another beaded necklace in lieu of a shirt. The skirt was a wonderfully rich fabric and had the same beads in it as her necklace.
“You look like a lady of the court, well, aside from your hair.” He grinned.
“I did what I could.”
“I was not complaining. The purple and green are striking. They match your eyes.” He winked and she realised that he had tugged her out into the daylight.
“Weasel.”
“Probably. You will have to explain what a weasel is.” He grinned and placed her hand on his arm a moment before his parents and siblings exited the palace to come toward them.
His mother rushed forward with her arms out, “Arkenor! It is so good to see you and to be able to use your name.”
The king bent over Tazzy’s hand. “Welcome to our home, Anastasia Rikkat. Thank you for providing him with a reason to return home.”
She curtseyed. “He needed an excuse, Your Majesty. I am happy to be part of it.”
Sollas came forward, and when the king surrendered her hand, he took it. “Anastasia Rikkat. So delightful to meet you again.”
His lips were an inch from her skin when a silver curtain slipped between them and shoved Sollas backward. “Keep your lips off my wife, Sollas.”
Everyone gasped, including Tazzy.
His mother grinned with delight. “Wife?”
“I was planning on asking her after today’s introductions. Sollas’s eagerness has caused me to break protocol.” Arkenor inclined his head. “Mother, Father, I was coming to gain your blessing.”
Both of them blurted out, “You have it!”
Arkenor knelt at her feet, his skirt the same blue as his eyes. “Tazzy, will you be my wife?”
“Can you be less of a dumbass?”
He grinned. “I can try.”
“Then, yes, I will be your wife.”
Sollas shouted and clapped Arkenor on the back, his parents hugged each other and his sister wiped at a tear.
Tazzy leaned down and kissed Arkenor, draping her arms around his neck as he got to his feet. It was a good start to the day and a better start to her new career.
If she could just work more clothing in to formal Decolian 12 court dress, she would have a handle on the changes in her life. For now, she had her partner, a purpose and a man who loved her all in one.
She was willing to devote her life to the man, the world and the job. At least she would never be bored.
An abrupt end to
Halt
. Sorry. I wrote it after my trip to Vegas and time was a factor. I promise to do better next time.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
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.