Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Jacaranda

M y ghost had tried to crawl out of my skin all night long. Having been sent word that Sarah was back on Halla, I wanted nothing more than to return to her, and Deacon, too. But we couldn’t leave without Volatile’s permission, and if I asked for it, he would want to know why, and I wasn’t ready to tell him where one of his daughters was. I didn’t think he would compromise Sarah in any way, but anyone on his staff could.

Over breakfast pleasantries, he smiled. “I sent you the list of some of my children.”

“ Some ?” Not all?

He arched a brow. “You may be as noble as you claim, but I have yet to see any proof. So, you’ll get to meet some of my better equipped children. Ones I trust to handle themselves if they need to. Once you have explored that list and I am satisfied with the interactions, we can talk about the rest of my children. If they are still needed, after you meet the others.”

I did not like going back to Deacon with a partial list, but I would take what I could get. I gave him a tight smile. “I’m sure Deacon will understand.”

“His father raised a reasonable man, I’m sure he will,” Volatile said, then gestured toward Sovereign. “Your crew seems anxious to return.”

Tiger stood next to the cargo bay door, arms crossed, glaring at us on the patio.

Volatile stared right back. “He looks familiar—”

“You may be thinking of his cousin,” I said. “They had the same gray skin, same purple overtone, similar build. Kapok was my second for many years.”

“ Was ?”

I tried to sound neutral, for fear of losing my shit when I thought about how Kapok had been ruthlessly murdered by Mother Portend. “We lost him recently.”

“My condolences,” Volatile said sincerely. “It is never easy to lose someone close to you.”

I cleared my throat and nodded once. “Thank you.”

“I am due for a meeting in an hour, Cozz. Best of luck with your mission. Tell my children hello for me.” He stood and dropped his napkin on his plate.

I stood, too, eager to leave. “Will do. Thank you for your hospitality, Volatile.” We went our separate ways, and I smiled at Tiger as I passed him. “We’re ready to go?”

“More than ready,” he grumbled as he followed behind and locked up the cargo bay.

I eyed him curiously. “Why more than ready ?”

“Volatile’s gardener didn’t like keeping his hands to himself,” he said in a heated tone.

I stopped in my tracks. “Is Ode okay?” I asked, wanting to make sure the ship’s doctor, the only female in our midst, hadn’t been hurt in any way.

“Not her. Me ,” Tiger fumed.

Oh. “Are you alright?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m fine. I just…I know I’m not like my cousin Kapok, and I know I don’t have his reputation for violence, but sometimes, I wish I did. It would keep the creeps in check.”

I reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Sometimes I wish you had his rep, too, kid.”

“Great,” he muttered, hanging his head. “Make me feel worse.”

“What I mean is, we need to get you out in the field more often. Get you some more experience, maybe scar up that pretty face a little bit. That’ll keep the creeps away.”

That made him laugh. “Thanks.”

“Cheer up, Tiger. We’re going back to Halla. Maybe you can meet a nice girl there.”

“I prefer my girls alive,” he said, since Halla was mostly inhabited by ghosts.

I arched a brow. “With standards like that, no wonder you’re still a virgin and have never gotten laid.”

He laughed again, and his morose mood shifted. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll lock down the gear.”

Kapok’s old job. My stomach twisted at the thought, and the loss. “Thanks. I’m cockpit bound.”

I strolled past the half-blinking panels in the walls, occasionally smacking one to make it work again. I walked past the infirmary with a half-hearted wave at Treg and Ode to let them know we were about to depart.

Inside my cockpit, my trusted android, Camp Deo, waited for me. Her blue eyes lit brighter when she saw me. Her copper metallic body glimmered beneath the low lights of my cockpit. “Captain—”

I shook my head at her formal greeting. “I know your protocols have certain settings, but I believe I told you to change those settings.” I sat in the pilot’s seat and readied Sovereign for takeoff.

“Right, right,” she nodded mechanically. “Not Captain. Jacaranda . Now that Sarah is back on Halla, will we be in residency there?”

“I’m not sure what the plan is just yet, Camp.”

“It’s just that, if we were, then perhaps I could, if Silence and Valor and you don’t mind…maybe I could be the nanny for the twins?”

I smiled at her. Androids were given all kinds of programming from language translation to analytics, but they were also given personalities to help them ingratiate themselves with their owners. I wasn’t sure why Camp’s programmer made her adore babies and children. But I had never seen her as happy as when she was holding Silence’s twins.

I said, “Anytime I don’t need your services while we are on Halla, feel free to nanny the twins, with their parents’ permission.”

Her eyes brightened even more. “Thank you, Jacaranda.”

“Now check in with Treg and see if he needs any help,” I said of the Sovereign ’s engineer.

“Of course.” She left in an instant.

I let everyone know we were heading out and took off. My heart had soared when Ode had told me Sarah was back, but the joy was short-lived when my brain started to work again. As soon as we broke atmo, I fought the urge to call Deacon’s ship. I didn’t want to see her over comms. I needed to yell at her in person.

Why in the hell did you come back to Halla, the one place in the universe where you know you’ll be hunted down?

Okay, in all fairness, it was the second place in the universe where she knew she would be hunted down, but still. The only worse place for her to be is Orhon. I didn’t understand how she could do this to me. I died a thousand deaths when I took her back to Earth, but I knew it was her best shot at safety. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

And it was all for nothing.

I punched the passenger seat to release some of my frustration. It wasn’t enough. Punching inanimate objects never worked. I huffed and my foot tapped impatiently the whole way back to Halla.

When we arrived, I parked next to Deacon’s ship, Allegiant , and we disembarked. When my boots hit the ground, I was on the hunt for Sarah. She made my job easy by standing in Valor’s front yard with Deacon and Silence.

My breath caught in my throat. Gods, she was beautiful. Long brown hair, smiling brown eyes. Trim, but with curves. She was the size of a Ladrian teenager—a short one, at five and a half feet tall. I wished there was more of her.

More of her to yell at.

She passed one of the infants back to Silence and grinned at me in excitement until she saw my expression, then her own fell with worry. “What—are you okay—what’s wrong?” came out fast.

I wanted nothing more than to hold her, to bury my face against her skin and smell her hair. To strip her naked and fuck her like a wild man. But the memory of my cargo bay door shutting between us after I said my final goodbye and drove all the way back to Halla on the longest, loneliest ride of my life—that was the memory that kept my feet glued to the ground. I couldn’t just let that pain go.

My jaw tightened, but I tried to keep my tone light as I stared directly at her, ignoring Deacon standing nearby. “I would like to speak to you someplace else, away from the babies. They shouldn’t have to hear me yell at you.”

Silence smiled once, gathered her babies close, and went back into the cottage, leaving the three of us alone.

“You’re going to yell at me?” Sarah asked, confusion etching her expression.

Deacon interjected, “She has done nothing wrong, Jac. What is—”

“You. Be quiet,” I demanded, pointing at him.

He closed his mouth, surprised.

I shifted my glare back to Sarah, and it pained me to do it, but I managed. “What are you thinking, coming back here so soon? We waged a war for you. Kapok lost his life for you!” I knew it was unfair to lay the blame for his death at her feet, but I was hurt and angry and being petty.

Her lip quivered. What was left of my ghost evaporated from the tiny, vulnerable motion. Her voice cracked, and moisture filled her pretty eyes. “I’m…I’m sorry, Jac. I—”

“I went through the pain of saying goodbye to the only woman I have ever loved,” I said, my voice cracking, too, mostly out of fear for her safety. “So I could protect her. And all that pain, all that grief, you made it worth nothing by coming back here, when the conduits are still running around and a threat. You are going to get yourself killed, for no good reason whatsoever. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Tears flowed freely down her soft cheeks. “Marry me,” she whispered.

Time stood still. I blinked a dozen times, certain I’d misheard her. “What?”

“Us. Marry us ,” she rushed to say. “I mean, unite with us. Me and Deacon. We want that.”

I looked at Deacon, completely lost.

He smiled sheepishly and confirmed what Sarah just said with a nod.

I glanced back at her, shocked by this turn of events and what she was asking. “You came back here…to unite with me and Deacon?”

“I want a life here on Halla.” She wiped her cheeks and walked toward me, closing the short distance between us. “I am so sorry for all the pain and the grief I caused you, Jac. I am sorry about Kapok. You have every right to be angry with me for that. I understand your anger, and if you don’t want to unite with me, with us, I guess I can—”

I took her in my arms and kissed her before she could finish. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I breathed her in, let her scent fill my lungs. Her strangely soft tongue tasted like her salty tears. She was so petite compared to me, and her little size made me want to keep her safe in my arms forever. The urge to admonish her vanished.

When our kiss broke, I framed her small face in my big hands, the guilt for my behavior surging forward. “I’m so sorry. Kapok is not your fault. I hate myself for yelling at you, please—”

“Forgiven. Always,” she murmured sweetly.

Deacon’s handsome face split with a smile. “And what about me? Are you angry with me, too?”

“Get over here,” I growled.

I grabbed his collar, hauling him forward so I could fuse my mouth to his, too. Kissing wasn’t a common custom for Ladrians, but with these two I couldn’t get enough. I had gone from angry and hurt to elated and horny in just a few seconds and kissing them had made me dizzy from it all.

I pulled back, and we smiled at each other. “Is she serious?” I asked Deacon, who was the classed one and who would need to approve such an unconventional union. “You want the three of us to unite?”

He nodded. “I have loved you for years, Jac, and you know my feelings about Sarah. Say yes.”

I grinned like a fool. “Yes.”

The pair of them hugged me, and I had no idea what to think of any of it, but I was ecstatic. Until another thought hit me and a flash of jealousy seared through my heart. “We can forego the pomp, right?”

Deacon said, “We will have to ask Wave—”

“I’m not being shared with Tiger or any of the rest of the crews.” Sarah put her tiny foot down on the matter, poking Deacon in the chest with her finger. “I realize this is your Ladrian custom, blah, blah, blah, but it is not my custom, and I think I should get some say-so in the matter.”

He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it to placate her. “We will figure something out, I promise,” he said.

He put a call out to the Allegiant’s historian, Wave, on his gauntlet driver, and she quickly joined us from his ship.

“Yes?” she asked, once she’d arrived.

“We would like you to unite us,” Deacon told her. “All three of us.”

Her brown eyes widened at the unorthodox request. “All three of you?”

“Yes,” I interjected firmly. “Before I jump them right here, right now, preferably.”

“Eww,” she cringed at the insinuation of sex. “I did not need to hear, or envision, that. Very well…wait. What about the pomp? Are you—”

“No. We’re not,” Sarah said firmly.

A stickler for rules, Wave frowned at Deacon. “But the law is clear on the matter—”

The discussion went back and forth for a while until Sarah finally jumped into the exchange. “But we’ve already had one pomp. So, why would we need another?”

Wave crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. “If I agree to that, then can we stop debating your sex lives? That would be preferable for me.”

I searched my memory, trying to think of a time the historian had been in a relationship of her own. “Wave, do you even date?”

“Ugh, no, not anymore.” She shimmied the willies away. “The whole idea is deplorable to me. Are we ready to do this? I do have other duties, you know.”

I laughed and shrugged. “Let’s do this.”

“Wait, one second,” Deacon said, then ran into Valor’s house.

While he was gone, I smiled down at Sarah. “Did Deacon talk you into this?”

Her beautiful eyes had a dreamy quality to them, as if the thought of being united to both of us made her the happiest woman on the planet. “I brought it up to him, actually,” she admitted.

My heart expanded in my chest, and I gently brushed back a few strands of hair from her cheek. “I love you, Sarah Hollinger.”

She beamed up at me. “I love you, too, Jacaranda Cozz,” she said, making me feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.

Deacon returned, followed by his family and both of our crews. “It only seemed right to have everyone here, since everyone is here.” Grinning, he stepped up to us so that he and I both flanked Sarah on either side.

“Couldn’t agree more,” I said with a nod, then pointed at the historian to get things moving. “Wave, you’re on.”

She smiled and pressed her badge to record the ceremony. “On the 12, 519 th day of Muraska, I unite Deacon Amroll-Bellket Ladrang to Sarah Hollinger and Jacaranda Cozz. May you produce many heirs.”

And that, was that. Short and sweet, thank god.

The crowd clapped for us, before I grabbed both of their hands in mine. I wasn’t waiting any longer to make this union official. To make them both mine .

“I’m glad you’re all here, but we have business elsewhere. Excuse us,” I said impatiently, while Sarah blushed and giggled adorably.

I whisked them away toward Deacon’s ship, Allegiant , because he had the bigger bed. Once we were in his quarters, I kissed him and began yanking his uniform off, while Sarah pulled at mine, stripping me of my clothes until they were gone.

When I turned around, she was already nude. My eyes feasted on her curvy body. Her perfect tits caught my eyes, before Deacon snuck around me and hoisted her into his arms. She giggled and motioned for me to follow as he carried her away. Her ivory skin contrasted gorgeously with the dark gray fur as he set her on his massive bed.

He kissed her inner ankle, then looked back at me. “Come here, Jac. You’re a part of this, too.”

“I don’t know,” I drawled, my hand gripping my hard cock and giving it a firm stroke. “I like watching the two of you.”

“Get your ass over here, Jac,” Sarah demanded in a firmer tone, and patted the fur next to her.

I settled in beside her, watching as Deacon kissed his way up her spread legs while I played with her soft tits. I sucked her stiff nipples, making her quiver and moan, but I was not the only one. Glancing down once again, I caught sight of Deacon devouring her pussy. Sarah’s spine arched as she dug her heels into his back. Her moans became more frantic as she twisted her fingers in his hair.

Squeezing one of her breasts in my hand, I pressed my mouth against her throat and worked my way up to her ear. “He has a magic tongue, doesn’t he?”

“Yes,” she panted, her hips desperately bucking up to meet Deacon’s mouth.

“I want you to come for us, baby,” I murmured huskily.

“Close,” she squeaked out.

I reached down and pressed Deacon’s head against her pussy, knowing he’d use his long tongue to fuck her and stroke that sensitive spot just inside her channel. She gasped as he did just that, her entire body shuddering with the pleasure of it.

“ Now ,” I growled.

She gasped as she came. Her body trembled and jerked, and I kissed her, swallowing up her sounds. She clutched her tiny arms around me, holding tight until she simmered down. Then she panted, “No more!”

Deacon was still lapping her pussy as she squirmed, and I fisted my hands in his hair, lifting his face from between her legs. “Get up here.” I growled the order.

He licked and flicked his tongue along her stomach on his way to me. When our mouths finally met, he still tasted like her, and I was jealous. I wasn’t sure who I was more envious of—him or her—but I was jealous, all the same.

He pushed me onto my back and pinned my hands against the fur, a wicked smirk on his lips. “I am not finished with you.”

He licked and bit down my torso, while Sarah settled back against the pillows and watched us with hooded eyes. Deacon and I had fooled around some in front of her before, but I could tell by his fervor he had something specific in mind.

I groaned beneath him, enjoying the feel of his teeth scraping along my skin. He grabbed my cock and stroked me a few times before he licked the length of my shaft and sucked my girth into his mouth. My eyes rolled back from the sensation of his tongue. It was one of my favorite things about blow jobs from Ladrians, but there was something to be said for human blow jobs, as well. The softness of their tongues was unmatched, but Deacon knew exactly what he was doing when it came to pleasuring my cock.

I ran my fingers through his hair and pushed the back of his head to take more of me in his throat. He swallowed against the tip, sending a shockwave of ecstasy through my body. My hips rolled up to meet him.

A gasp caught my ear and it wasn’t mine.

I looked Sarah’s way and saw her touching herself as she watched the two of us. Her busy fingers caressed her tits, her stomach, her pussy. Like she was imagining we were still touching her. But her lust filled eyes were glued to the sight of us, studying every motion.

Reaching over to her, I pulled her onto me, not satisfied with just kisses this time. I maneuvered her small body until she sat on my face. Her clit called to my tongue, her soft thighs cushioned my ears. As she tried to balance herself, I almost felt insulted.

I had her—I wasn’t going to let her fall.

I held her waist, keeping her pressed to my mouth while she gasped and moaned. Her nectar drove me insane. I needed every drop. Soon, I went to the source, shoving my tongue deep inside of her. I found that rough spot that made her cry out and toyed with her there.

She grabbed onto the headboard and rode my face, distracting me from much else, until Deacon’s mouth left my cock. I grunted my discontent and barely heard his words, as her thighs were great earmuffs.

But he said, “Be right back.”

So I focused on the pussy in front of me, diving my tongue in and out of her. I heard them say something, but I was too absorbed in what I was doing to ask about it. Sarah’s body was everything I wanted in a human woman—beautiful, delicious, soft. I squeezed her ass for the feel of it and couldn’t get enough. I kept at her, tongue-fucking her pussy, making her squirm against me. It was all that I wanted to do—

Until Deacon pulled my legs wide apart and knelt in between.

Oh fuck, is he—

His slick, lubricated fingers glided along my ass and dipped inside. I stiffened in surprise.

Gods, it’s been so long, how is this going to work?

One thing I had always loved about Deacon was that he was so formal in his normal daily routine, and so shamelessly brazen in his bedroom. Nothing was off limits when it came to fucking, the more depraved the better. And I loved it.

His fingers felt amazing. First one, then two fingers fucking me there. He stroked my sensitive tail with his other hand. He hit all the right spots, making my body jolt for him.

I growled against Sarah’s pussy, but then she pulled away from me. I let her go, unsure of her intent. She bent low and kissed me, licking her nectar from my lips before moving down the bed toward Deacon.

Deacon had added a third finger and I cursed out loud as I gripped the fur beneath me. He thrust them deep, stretching me, while Sarah carefully straddled my painfully erect cock, taking what she could of me inside her. Only six inches could fit in her at a time, but gods, the feel of her tight little pussy gripping my shaft made me a little insane.

She laid onto me, her body draped over my torso, her silken hair sliding along my skin as I jerked and fucked her from underneath. She rolled her hips and rubbed her breasts against my chest, and once again, I was distracted by her.

Once again, Deacon took the opportunity to step things up.

Deacon further pulled my legs apart, wedging himself between them. The fat head of his cock rubbed against my back hole, slick with lube. I grunted loudly as he penetrated my ass. Sarah watched my face when he did it, biting her lip, completely turned on by our three way fuck-fest.

Then her eyes widened, and she groaned. “How are you bigger now?”

Deacon leaned over Sarah, trapping her between us as he buried himself deeper inside of me. “Because he likes when I fuck his ass, Consort,” he said, biting her bare shoulder before skimming his mouth up to her ear. “I think you like it, too. Does his big, thick cock feel good inside of your tiny pussy?”

She whimpered, her sex pulsing around my shaft in response. “Yes,” she moaned.

Deacon gripped her hair, pulling her head back and placed his other hand on her hip to work her body over mine while he continued thrusting into my ass. “Come for us, Consort.” Deacon growled the order, and that’s all it took to send her over the edge.

She cried out, her body shaking and her nails clawing down my chest as she orgasmed on my cock, sealing me inside of her. The cock in my ass throbbed, too, adding to the tension gathering in my body. I was so close that I became unhinged. I could hardly hold still for her safety.

My body trembled as I tried to keep my control, but then Deacon’s eyes held my gaze from over her shoulder. He smirked at me as he gloated, “I’m going to make him come inside of you, Consort.”

She gasped and panted, unable to move from between us as Deacon manipulated us both to get what he wanted.

The pressure and the pleasure hit at the same time, sending me over the edge as Deacon fucked my ass even harder, impossibly deeper. I gripped Sarah’s hips so I didn’t hurt her with my own wild thrusts as I roared through my orgasm—I couldn’t hold anything back any longer.

Deacon ruthlessly pounded into me, reaching every neglected place, his guttural grunts warning of his own impending orgasm. As I unloaded inside of her, my cum dripped down between us, coating my shaft. In my ass, Deacon’s cock swelled, splitting me apart. Sarah’s pulsing body drew out every drop while I jerked beneath her.

Each time, an echo of my orgasm hit me again, the pleasure sublime. Then Deacon snarled and snapped like a beast as he came up my ass. He bit her shoulder again like an animal, causing her to cry out as he stared into my eyes, thrusting into me again and again until we were both milked dry.

Between the two of them, it was everything I had ever wanted.