Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The little scouting ship wasn't much, but it had more than enough range to cross the continent with ease once it reached altitude. Braxxos had a basic knowledge of flight controls from his many digital lessons he'd studied over the years, but now he was putting that didactic learning to practical use.

The recordings were a loss, unfortunately, destroyed in the carpet bombing along with many other of his treasured valuables. But when he flew home to his treehouse, he'd been pleased to find the destruction had come up short, leaving it, and the immediate area around it, unscathed.

"And this is why we don't put all our eggs in one basket, yes?" he said, kissing Margot as they stepped out of the hatch.

"Such a quick learner."

"I do my best."

"And your best is really, really good," she replied with a look in her eye that could only mean one thing. "Think we have time to stay a little while?"

"You read my mind."

The treehouse was just a stopover while they collected the few valuables Braxxos held dear. They had another destination now. One he hadn't seen in a very, very long time. But first, they had something to do.

The treehouse shook from the intensity of their lovemaking, the pair absolutely ravishing each other with enough force to make leaves shake loose and drift to the ground below. Now that their Infalas had fully bonded, they were insatiable, and with Braxxos's blood in her veins, Margot was very pleased to find she could take a hell of a pounding without injury.

"Yes!" she shouted in delight as he slammed into her from behind, her fingers digging into the wooden wall so hard she nearly splintered it. "Give it to me."

His hands squeezed her hips harder as he pulled hard, yanking her back into him as he bottomed out with each thrust, his balls swinging forward and slapping her clit as he did.

The sensation was divine, and every impact made her clit sing and her insides churn like molten lava. They'd found their groove and were putting it to very good use.

His hand slid up from her hip, pausing and smacking her ass. She bucked from the sting, savoring the sensation, the pleasure and jolt of pain. He felt it too, his cock thundering away relentlessly inside her. He reached up and ran his fingers into her hair starting at the base of her head until his hand was full of her thick locks. He knew what she wanted, and he wanted it too.

He pulled firmly, squeezing just right, her head pulled back just enough to be fucking hot but not so much as to be unpleasant. With her back arched, her breasts stuck out in front of her at full attention, his other hand glad to reach around and play with her nipples, squeezing them and sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body.

Margot shook as she came hard, gushing all over his cock, her juices dripping down his legs and onto the floor. He didn't care, nor did he slow his pace. He wasn't done with her. Not yet. He wanted more.

Braxxos released her hair and spun her around, lifting her up and setting her on his tall counter, immediately driving his cock between her legs, filling her pulsating pussy to the limit with his vibrating shaft. She kissed him hard, biting his lip with a feral growl as she came again and again, her clit pressed right against his pelvis at that angle, his cock aimed just right, making her G-spot go wild with its vibrating rippling motion.

He groaned, low and deep, his balls pulling close to his body before erupting like a geyser inside her, still thrusting, still pulling her to him, taking them both well into their shared state of perfect bliss.

"Wow," he said with a gasp when he finally pulled free, their mixed cum leaking out and flowing across the countertop.

"Yeah, you can say that again," she agreed, sliding to her feet and cleaning up as best she could. "Quick stop at the waterfall?"

He pondered the suggestion a moment. "We have time."

"Good. I want a proper rinse before we go. A girl's got to make a good impression, after all."

He chuckled and kissed her forehead then moved to collect what he'd really come for, digging through his prized possessions and sliding the chain over his head and tucking the pendant inside his tunic, then headed out with his love.

Bathed and refreshed soon after, they took to the skies once more, flying long and fast, chasing the sun. As a result, it was still mid-day when they finally arrived at their destination.

It was even more beautiful than she'd imagined. Rylinn's description when he'd casually discussed visiting it when she'd first arrived hadn't remotely done it justice.

"It looks like something out of a fairy tale," she gasped.

Braxxos chuckled with delight. "I suppose it does," he said, pleased at her response. "Welcome to Gimballa. My home."

He spun the ship, quickly setting down in a lush garden-like space just outside the main castle gates, flattening some decorative shrubs in the process.

"Uh, Braxxos?"

"Yes?"

"Is this a landing site?" she asked.

"It is for me."

Margot shrugged and rose, following him to the hatch. A large ornately armored guard stood outside, ready armed and for a fight. In fact, there were about two dozen of them, all similarly geared up and on a hair-trigger, about to attack.

Braxxos, however, seemed calm.

"You have no authority to land here! Be gone at once or face death!"

"You will not speak to me like that," Braxxos growled, pulling his odd pendant free from his shirt. Margot noted that for the first time it was not flashing red but had turned gold instead. "I am Braxxos. Son of Morvalia and Zayoos, and I am home."

The men audibly gasped, several dropping to one knee, heads bowed. A few held their ground, unsure what to do. They looked at one another in sheer confusion.

"It can't be. Braxxos is alive?" one of them wondered aloud.

"He's dead," another replied.

Braxxos stood tall, a confident look on his face of the sort that Margot had never seen before. He was putting on the airs of a leader. A ruler. And these men didn't quite know how to react.

"I assure you, I am quite alive. And you know my sigil and seal. There is no lying. It reacts to my family's blood and no other." He pulled the pendant from around his neck and held it up high so all could see. "I am home. And I demand you take me to my throne."

Margot swallowed hard. Did he just say throne ?

"Of course, my Lord. Please, forgive me," the lead guard sputtered, hurrying to lead the way.

The others stepped aside, the doors to the castle swinging open as they approached. Braxxos walked quickly, outpacing the guards. He knew the way. After all, this had been his home once upon a time.

He burst into the main receiving chamber before anyone had time to announce his arrival. All heads spun, the king rising to his feet with a look of disdainful shock.

"Intruders in my throne room? Guards, seize him!"

The guards in the chamber reacted at once but the man accompanying him from outside stepped forward and spoke up before they could act.

"It is Braxxos, my king," the guard replied. "He is alive!"

The king's face went pale. "Impossible. Braxxos died years ago. His blood was tainted. He was unfit to rule, per our laws."

Braxxos stepped forward, holding his bright gold proof of lineage high for all to see. "It was tainted, that is true. And due to your treachery, Cousin."

"Preposterous. Seize him! I command you to seize him at once!"

Braxxos held his ground, unfazed. "I know it was you who poisoned my pigment when I was a boy. You knew it would be a death sentence for an heir to the throne, but my parents managed to have me secreted away without your knowledge, lying about my demise. A capital offense on their part if any found out. But you had them removed for entirely different reasons and claimed the throne for yourself."

"Wild allegations you cannot prove."

"And this, dear Cousin, is where it gets interesting. You see, it does not matter if I can prove it or not. What does matter is my lineage and right to ascend to the throne. A right you took for yourself. But no more." He took a long stride forward, then another, quiet menace with every step. "I am here to claim what all present know is rightfully mine. Now, Get. Out. Of. My. Chair."

The king scoffed, scared, yes, but with an ace up his sleeve of his own. "You cannot make me, and your claim is null and void. None with uncontrolled, contaminated runes such as yours can hold the throne, and you know it. Your pigment is tainted and cannot be cured."

Braxxos's laugh took him off-guard. "Oh, you are quite right about the laws. None with tainted runes can occupy the throne. But my mate and I—my Infala mate—share the same blood."

"Impossible. You cannot Infala bond. Your pigment is unpure, and no mating can cure that."

Braxxos didn't hesitate, whipping his shirt off in a flash, revealing his pure, untainted pigments with not a hint of green remaining in them, as well as his now glowing Infala rune.

"My mate is from a distant realm, far from the Dotharian Conglomerate's reach. And her race's blood, never once touched or influenced by our pigments until her arrival on this world, reacted quite differently than our own people. She has brought me not only love, but has restored me as none from our realm ever could."

The treacherous king was beside himself, but the evidence was incontrovertible. "Impossible!" he shouted, utterly at a loss, feeling his life, his rule, slipping from his grasp.

"Oh, I assure you, it is not. Guards, remove this traitor from my throne."

The guards didn't hesitate, moving as one, hauling the man on top of the world only moments ago unceremoniously from his perch.

"Take him away. I will decide what to do with him later. For now, I would have him confined to a clean, safe, and very secure cell."

"My Lord!" the men shouted in unison, then hauled the man away.

Braxxos ascended the dais and ran his fingers over the ornate throne. He looked at Margot, a barely contained grin creasing his lips, then sat, the rightful king at last upon his throne.

"Hail King Braxxos!" the guards shouted.

All present cheered their reply. "Hail King Braxxos!"

Margot shook her head in disbelief. Well, this certainly wasn't what I expected, she mused with a chuckle. But I'm not about to complain. But what does this mean?