Azul

AZUL

J enna is curled in my coils. My knot took a long time to release her because it was concentrated on ensuring her body took my seed and created life. I study her stomach, imagining it bulging with young, with our young. I think of her in the birthing pool…

I think I will have to make sure she can swim and is no longer afraid of water. But then, my Jenna is not afraid of anything. She joined the Starlight Brides even after her government suggested there was something not right about it. She married me without blinking an eyelid and let me take her far, far away on the basis of a contract with a being she hardly knew.

She is fearless. And she is mine.

“What are you thinking about?” Jenna says sleepily, staring up at me.

“I’m thinking of ways to get our mark and get the fak off Luxus.”

“And then where do we go?” she asks.

“Back to Glycon.”

Any vestige of sleep leaves her, and I feel her body tense. “To your parents?”

“To my home, a home I want you to share with me, not a space ship roaming the galaxy.”

“What if roaming the galaxy is what I want?” she asks. “Because I’ve spent my entire life stuck in a hulk of a ship seeing nothing, going nowhere.”

“Then we do what you want,” I tell her. “If you want to roam the galaxy, we’ll roam the galaxy.”

“After we get your mark.” Jenna grins up at me.

I feel her excitement. It runs through me like a streak of pulsar fire.

“Wow!” she exclaims. “What was that?”

“I had heard…but”—I shake my head—“I never believed it.”

“What?” Jenna grabs hold of my arm and shakes it.

“That with true fated mates, once the mate bond has been consummated, they have a way of telling each other’s emotions,” I say, hoarsely.

Surprise and amazement floods through me. It is not mine.

Jenna furrows her brow. “I don’t feel emotion, just tingles.” She gazes at me with a half smile. “Good tingles,” she adds.

“As long as you have good tingles, then maybe you’ll feel my emotions in time too,” I reply.

I’m wishing I’d paid more attention to my dusty old ancestor professors who delighted in extolling the ancient texts on Glycon, ones I thought were dead and should be buried.

Perhaps they might have explained why I can tell what Jenna is feeling and yet she cannot gain the same from me.

“It’s quite tickly.” She giggles. “I think I like it.”

Jenna sits up and grabs at her swimwear, wriggling in my coils as she pulls it on.

“So, big bad bounty hunter, do we have a plan?”

I pull the small info-cube from my belt and activate it.

“We’re to attend a small gathering this evening which Rossz is hosting,” I say, inspecting the messages.

“Quick work.” Jenna chuckles. “We only saw him this morning.”

“He’ll be calculating whether a Glycon prince can be an ally or a customer,” I reply.

Jenna fingers the large jewel around her neck.

“Which one are you going to be?” she says, cocking her head to one side.

“I thought customer. That way I can ask to sample the merchandise and get him alone,” I respond without thinking.

“If you think I’m letting you go in without back up, you’d better think again,” Jenna growls. “And I don’t want to be left alone with the furry twins either.”

“His supposed mates are trained assassins,” I reply, checking the info cube again to ensure I have the correct information.

“How do you know?”

“My…employer…Tisel…he gets me the information.” I show her the cube. “A bit like the transmitter your government gave you, only I keep mine on all the time. It gathers data which he processes.”

“Makes sense,” Jenna says, inspecting the cube. “And does this thing know whether Rossz has the narcotics with him?”

“He doesn’t do vacations,” I reply. “This trip here is strictly business. He’s got all the great and wealthy in one place to ply his trade or make connections. The one thing we have to be wary of is any attempt to put us in a position where he has leverage.”

“Surely a prince of Glycon sampling his narcotics is going to give him leverage?” Jenna states, handing me back the cube.

“It would, if I cared what anyone on Glycon thought of me,” I reply, as guilt spears through my body. “But as I don’t, and you’ve already made the decision that we’re not going back, then there will be no leverage.” I grin at her, exposing my fangs and delighting in the shiver which flows through her tiny form.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Jenna asks, already starting down the path towards the ground transport.

If I wasn’t sure what love is before, I am sure now.

Love is a mate who wants to cause pure havoc with you. And I love Jenna with all my heart.