Payton

PAYTON

The hidden greenway of Thodos III was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. After so long trapped in cold metal environments, the vibrant colors and sweet scents were almost overwhelming. I wandered down the winding paths, soaking in the tranquility. Havek walked beside me, our fingers interlaced.

"I still can't believe we're actually here," I said. "Sometimes I feel like I'll blink and be back in that awful prison."

Havek squeezed my hand. "This is real, my love. Our long trial is over."

We strolled leisurely through the gardens, enjoying the rare chance to simply be together. After a night's rest at the station, we arrived on Thodos III that morning.

Alkard was eager for Havek to dive back into work, but he mercifully gave us this one day of reprieve first. I was determined to appreciate every second.

Vibrant vines crawled up carved trellises and spilled over pots carved of dark stone. Strange but beautiful blooms waved in the gentle breeze of the recirculators, and my fingers trailed over their velvety petals as we walked.

"What's this one called?" I asked Havek, pausing to examine a bush with delicate spiraled leaves. Each leaf seemed to glow from within, lit by some inner bioluminescence.

"Ah, that's kalla," Havek said. "When the leaves fall, people write secret messages on them that can only be read under certain lights."

I smiled up at him. "You'll have to write me a message sometime."

"Gladly." He plucked one of the leaves and tucked it into my hair. "A preview, for now."

We lingered for a while in an orchard filled with strangely shaped trees that produced colorful orb-like fruit. I closed my eyes, just letting the rich scents wash over me. After so long in the sterile recycled air of ships and stations, I couldn't get enough of the natural smells.

Leaning against Havek beneath one of the twisting trees, I realized something. Here, now, I was truly happy. After everything we endured, just being with him like this was utter bliss.

"I love you," I whispered against his chest.

His arms tightened around me. "And I love you, Payton. With all that I am."

Tilting my head up, I drew him into a long, deep kiss. His hands slid down to press me closer, igniting the now-familiar heat between us. I wished we could stay lost in each other beneath the trees.

But we still had more of the gardens left to explore. Reluctantly, I drew back, taking his hand again. "Come on, I want to see everything!"

Havek laughed, letting me eagerly pull him along. My childlike excitement seemed to delight him.

We passed through rows of alien vines dangling opalescent pods that chimed softly in the breeze. Tiny winged creatures with jewel-toned carapaces fluttered from flower to flower. The path opened up into an area dotted with benches and fountains carved from the same dark stone as the gazebo.

I paused before a fountain depicting an elegant winged creature. Crystal clear water cascaded from her outstretched palms into the basin below. The serene sound soothed my spirit.

Havek came up behind me, nuzzling into my hair. "I never properly thanked you, you know."

I glanced back at him curiously. "Thanked me?"

"For not giving up on me." His voice was husky with emotion. "For believing when I lost all faith."

Turning, I brushed my fingertips over the sharp angles of his face. "You gave me strength when I needed it most. I wanted to give that back to you."

He turned his head to press a kiss to my palm, his eyes never leaving mine. In their fathomless depths, I glimpsed eternity.

"Whatever comes next, we'll face it together."

"Together," I echoed, pulling him down into a kiss filled with promise.

We had a lifetime of tomorrows ahead of us now. The future was still uncertain, but with Havek at my side, I could withstand anything.

After lingering a while longer, we continued following the meandering garden paths wherever they led. I felt drunk on color, scent and beauty. This place was so different from anywhere I'd been before.

The spaces of the station I grew up on were cramped and utilitarian. The closest thing to nature was the occasional sad hydroponic garden.

The greenway was a feast for the senses. I wanted to imprint every detail on my mind.

We passed through a shadowed grotto where vines curtained with tiny white flowers tumbled down artfully arranged boulders. Glowing crystal formations studded the stones, refracting dazzling rainbows of light. It was ethereal.

Havek smiled indulgently as I exclaimed over every new marvel. With him, I didn't have to temper my excitement and curiosity. I could be unabashedly myself.

I paused, suddenly overcome. I turned to Havek, my vision blurring with tears.

"Thank you for this," I managed. "It's perfect."

Alarmed, he tilted my chin up. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, laughing through my tears. "Nothing at all. I just never thought I'd have this. Be free to enjoy something so beautiful, with someone who loves me." I swallowed hard. "It's more happiness than I ever expected, that's all."

Comprehension dawned in Havek's eyes. He enfolded me in his arms, one hand gently stroking my hair as I sniffled into his chest.

"You deserve all the happiness in the universe, my darling," he said. "I swear I'll spend my life trying to give that to you."

When my tears finally subsided, he brushed a soft kiss over each of my eyelids. I basked in the tender gesture. The aching sweetness of this moment was almost too much to bear.

"Come with me. There's one last part of the gardens I want to show you," Havek said, a glint in his eyes.

Intrigued, I let him lead me deeper into the gardens. In an open clearing, we came across an elegant gazebo overlooking a tranquil pond. Inside, a table was set for two, a bottle of luminous wine set into a cooling prism, two tall glasses set underneath a tall bouquet. At Havek's delighted grin, I realized he must have arranged this quiet retreat for us. Happiness bubbled up in my chest.

"It's perfect," I said, turning into his arms. "You're too good to me."

He cradled my face in his hands. "You deserve the universe, my mate. I wish I could give it to you."

I shook my head, smiling up at him. "You've already given me the most important thing. Your love. That's all I'll ever need."

When one has restrictions—pretending to be an advocate, running for their lives, nearing death, struggling for survival—you seize on the spare moments. Those were the brief pockets of time when one was permitted to come up with their dreams, even if they knew there was no chance of their happening.

Whenever I was on top of him, it felt like that first experience after my rebirth. It was only a few days, but it felt like a lifetime. The traumatic escape led me right toward the salve that healed me: joining with my perfect match. The story of my life was mainly one of survival, finding the bright spots in the rare places where they lurked.

With Havek by my side, I was living the first chapter of a new story altogether, with a new discovery every day.

Here in new quarters in the family compound at the top of the Fallen Star, it felt like anything was possible.

I just had to reach out my hand and take it.

And what I wanted to reach for was him.

A gentle glow came from the wall display, slowly brightening as the morning progressed.

I studied Havek's face, the sharp angles of his cheeks, the soft lips, the spikes of horns at his temples.

How could such a handsome man be mine?

It was a mystery, an unanswerable enigma. But I knew it was the truth.

He was mine and I was his and nothing would change that.

Leaning over, I brushed my lips over his. My perfect, brilliant, sweet mate.

Mine.

Havek's eyes fluttered open, a smile curving his mouth as he focused on me. "Good morning, my love."

His gravelly, sleep-roughened voice sent a delicious shiver through me. "Morning," I murmured, trailing kisses along his sculpted chest.

With a low groan, Havek wrapped his arms around me and rolled us until I was pinned beneath him. The evidence of his desire was already pressed insistently against my belly.

"Insatiable as always," I laughed, then gasped as he nipped down the sensitive curve of my throat.

"Only for you." Havek's dark gaze smoldered. "I'll never get enough of you, Payton."

Before I could think about it, his fingers already pushed aside my panties, and his thumb and first two fingers—each one the size of two of mine—penetrated deep within me, long enough to touch my g-spot with virtually no effort.

"Mmm!" I moaned, letting out little yelps as he rubbed me.

He flipped me around and held his body against my back. His cock felt like a coiled-out snake against me, stalking, vigilant, deadly, single-minded.

"Mmm," I let out.

"You like that?"

He held his tip at the entrance of my ass, gliding it softly along the crack.

"On all fours. Now."

I did as my mate commanded. I would have done anything he asked, no matter how depraved, no matter how sudden. All I wanted in life was to please him, a vow I made with my very blood.

"My good girl," he said.

He swished the palm of his hand flat against the length of my opening.

"You're so wet, my angel. What are you wet for?"

"You. For all of you. Your gigantic cock. I want to feel it go in."

"And do you think you deserve that, Payton?"

"Yes."

"I do, too."

He spread my legs open and slapped my ass, and by instinct, I lifted up my red, raw pussy for him to have easy access.

"Yes," he said and grunted.

He slid himself into me and held onto my hips. He dove deep into me, as far as he could go, and he barely had control over himself. He sped up his jerks forward into me, heaving himself forward with intense ferocity. His strength was unimaginable, and it was all laser-focused on feeling every atom of me, reaching in as far and as hard as possible, stimulating me more than I ever thought possible.

He pressed his hands on my breasts like ripe fruit, sending blunt sensations throughout my upper body.

"God, your breasts feel so good in my hands. They drive me fucking wild. Holding them in my hands, I feel it all the way in my dick," he said. "Your whole body affects every part of mine."

I lifted my ass higher in the air and lowered my head to the bed to let him in as deep as he needed to go. It felt so good, I put the sheets in my mouth to contain myself.

The friction of his pelvis hitting my juicy ass emitted a slapping noise that sent a piercing warmth through my core, and it made even more of my juices pour out of me.

He put his hands on my hips to send me hurtling backwards, slamming into him as he drove into me, slowing down in a delicious form of teasing, almost glacial in his movements but intense in the frozen motion.

"I want to keep going. I want you to know there's no rush. Not now, not ever. Because we're each other's. For life. Forever," he said.

"And I love it when the man of my life claims me all over again. I love when you go fast, when you're slow, when you don't move at all. And I can't wait to discover all the new ways I love to have you inside me."

I turned my head behind me for him to kiss me. He instinctively put his left hand on the place that marked where he bit me. He leaned forward and suckled on it as he continued to fuck me slowly.

"I love you, my Havek," I said.

"And I love you, my Payton. My mate."

He flipped me over, from all fours to my back, and thrust himself inside me, hard.

"I'm too in love with you not to look at your face when you're coming. I'll need to fuck you a lot more before I won't need to see it," he said, then kissed me while wrapping his fingers loosely around my neck.

"I think that can be arranged," I said, briefly disconnecting my lips from his.

We moved together faster, and I felt his breath on my neck. He kissed the bite mark deeply, pressing his fangs against it, feeling like electrical pulses injected under my skin.

His whole body tightened as my insides began to spasm all around him. With a loud roar, he emptied himself inside me, pushing me back over the edge of the cliff of pleasure.

We kissed for a while after, catching our breath and relaxing, until he moved once more.

"Want to go again?" I said.

"So insatiable."

"That doesn't answer my question."

He moved again and kissed me.

I had my answer.

There was still one mystery we didn't know the solution to: just what had Tazhr and his mate done to prove Havek's innocence?

But as the spirals of delight swept through me with every move, I shoved the question far away.

All I needed right now was here, in my arms.