Chapter 6

six

. . .

Thundar

"Remind me again, oh you barbarian king, why are there no showers in here?" Lottie asks me combing her fingers through her hair and pushing them to one side over her shoulder.

They're wet and sticky and the move leaves a side of her neck exposed and she looks utterly delectable. My cock twitches at the thought of taking her again.

"Showers?" I ask.

"Showers. You know, where we wash and get clean?"

"Ah, you mean bathing chambers. Why would there be a bathing chamber in here?"

She stops and stares at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows that I've come to learn is her "Are you serious?" face. It's quite endearing, although I certainly prefer her O-face. Her "Oh my Gods, Thundar, you're so big and handsome face."

"Because we smell like sex," she says after a moment's pause.

"That's the point of the isolation interlude."

She rolls her eyes and sighs.

"I don't care what the point of this is, I just know I'd kill for a hot bath."

My heart soars. Merely four days together and Alexandra is already assimilating so well. Hunting is in our blood and if my future queen wishes to kill, it would be my pleasure to arrange it for her. I approach her and take her hand in mine.

"Would you like me to bring some servants for you to hunt?"

She blinks at me, her exotic brown eyes so wide and mesmerizing. "What?"

"You said you would kill for a bath. Just say the word and I'll order a couple of the wenches to be your prey."

"P– Wen—what the? How can you be such a skilled lover and also such a barbarian?"

I preen. She thinks I'm a skilled lover. Obviously, I know I excel in the carnal arts, but it's always nice to know my future wife appreciates my abilities.

"I don't actually want to kill anyone! It's just a figure of speech."

Oh. Well, that is unfortunate. I will need to show her how fulfilling it is to hunt when we reach Aysgoth.

"And wenches? Who the hell are the wenches?

I gesture toward the door, where the Thing has rolled into a ball sleeping directly under the service hatch. Clever animal. It learned quickly where food comes from.

"The female Aysgarthians assigned to cater to our needs."

"You have got to be kidding me." Lottie stabs her fingers through her hair, yanking hard

Alarm races through me at the gesture. Humans don't have living hair like we do, but surely they understand how unwise it is to tear out one's own hair. Only those who are unstable do something like that.

"My princess, are you becoming delirious?" I ask. I've heard stories about mates who lost their minds during the interlude. Our doctors mentioned something about isolation being bad for some people's brains but didn't research it further since it was such a rare occurrence.

"What? No, Thundar! I'm not becoming delirious. I just…" She huffs, deflating a little. "You can't call those women wenches."

I blink in confusion and reach for her hand. I expect her to pull back, but she lets me hold her. She's grown softer for me in the past few days. I guess fornicating for four days straight will have that effect on humans.

"But that's what they are, my princess."

"Thundar, darling, a wench is such an offensive word for any woman. I'm sure there are much nicer terms you can use."

I don't see why it's an offensive word, but if Lottie says so, then I believe her. "I'll call them whatever you want me to. Would you like… a woman?"

She laughs, shaking her head. Then she lifts her hand to my face and caresses the peaks of my cheeks, my brow bone, the scruffy sideburns. Wherever she touches, a little fire lights up under my skin, and all the fires build to a scorching heat that shoots straight to my groin, branding me something fierce.

A groan rumbles up my throat but she doesn't flinch, like she did the first couple of days. Instead, she bites her lip and slow blinks as if she's a wild animal and I've just gained her trust.

I lean forward, closer to her, and hover my lips in front of hers. It's something she's done to me so now I return the favor, leaving it up to her to close the distance.

When she does, it elicits a moan out of her. She pulls me back down on the bed with her guiding me to her wet pussy and I take her for the hundredth time. I'd take her a hundred more if I could. I'd take her from now until the end of time.

I don't know what she's done to me, what kind of spell, what kind of magic, but I've never wanted another woman like I do her. She's ruined me for anyone else. It's common amongst the Aysgoth aristocracy for husbands to abandon their wives in favor of the brothel wenches. But I can't imagine any woman being as supple, as delicious, as intoxicating as my Lottie.

I kiss every inch of her body after we've both climaxed but she crosses her legs before I can lick my essence from her body.

"Oh God, Thundar, no. I need a shower. I must smell."

She certainly has lost the ceremonial delicate scents she'd been bathed in before my arrival, but I prefer her like this, in her own skin, her own scent.

"You smell divine to me."

She chuckles.

"Yeah, I'm sure you think that, but I feel yucky. Can't we go to that place where they bathed me before?"

I return to her kiss-swollen lips, admiring my handiwork. " No, we can't go there. It's outside the mating chamber."

She narrows her eyes into slits and stares at me.

"Why not? Aren't you the prince?"

"I am the Crown Prince of Ays?—"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Which means you're the highest in command on this ship. So explain to me why a prince can't do whatever the fuck they want in their own ship?"

I open my mouth but she puts her fingers on my lips and raises an eyebrow.

"And your answer better not be about tradition and customs."

Well, she's got me stumped there. And to be honest, I agree. Our customs are more primitive than I prefer. The interlude is one of those customs, but I've been having such a wonderful time with my future queen, that I forgot my objection to the whole ordeal.

Yes, fornicating for five days straight before a wedding sounds like bliss to me, but why do we have to cut ourselves off completely?

"You know, I'd kill for a bath too." I try out the new phrase I've learned–I like it, it feels very Aysgarthian. I kiss her cheek then take her hand and bring it up to my lips to do the same.

Her eyes light up at my response.

"You mean it?"

I push myself off the bed and help her up before we approach the door. The Thing wakes up and starts circling our feet.

It's certainly an annoyance when Lottie and I are trying to get intimate. Also, it yaps too much, but despite all that I've grown to like the little Thing.

Lottie bends over and picks it up, whispering at it and scratching under its neck.

I press the intercom button and lean toward the receiver.

"I need assistance."

I let go and it's not even a second before the response comes from the other side.

"Whatever you need, Your Most Brutal Highness."

"Brutal Highness?" Lottie mumbles but I focus on the task at hand.

"I need you to open the door," I tell the wen—woman on the other side.

"Oh, Your Highness, I… we're not allowed to..."

My hands ball into fists and I punch the wall next to the intercom when Lottie shoves the Thing into my hands and presses the intercom button herself.

"Hey, hi. What's your name?"

She glances at me and even though the Thing is wrestling in my arms all I can do is watch her.

"Fi-Fiotrix, ma'am."

"Fiotrix? What a wonderful name."

"Th-thank you," Fiotrix responds.

"I'm Ch--Alexandra. Listen, Fiotrix, you're doing a fantastic job. The interlude is only going splendidly because of your hard work. I couldn't thank you enough."

"Thank you, ma'am."

I don't know why she's chatting with the help but I'd be damned if I can stop staring at her.

"You don't have to thank me. Truly. Thundar and I have been enjoying our time so much and you and I both know if things are going well, there must be a woman behind the scenes."

"Uh, if you say so, ma'am."

"I do. And not only you, but your whole team is wonderful. A force to be reckoned with. You really should be doing much more than looking after horny royals, that's for sure."

A laugh comes through the speaker and Lottie smirks.

"You're too kind, ma'am."

"Just being honest. Now, Fiotrix, I know we're not allowed to leave but would you please make an exception for me? If you do that for me, I promise you, when I'm queen, I'm going to make sure you and your team are taken care of and promoted to much, much, better positions."

I'm supposed to tell her she won't have that kind of authority. That she can't make those kinds of promises, but I don't have the heart. Not when the word queen comes out so naturally from her lips and sounds so fitting. So perfect.

Lottie catches me watching her and she narrows her eyes. "What?"

"That won't work, you know--" I start when the door mechanism crackles and the door slides open with a heavy whoosh.

"You were saying?" She raises an eyebrow before she turns to the woman standing in front of us. "Thank you so much, Fiotrix." She's still wearing the ceremonial robe, unlike Lottie who seems to have embraced her nakedness and grabs Fiotrix's hand and shakes it.

Fiotrix's eyes go wide and she gasps but she daren't say anything. When Lottie lets go, she steps aside and we both come out. I put the Thing in Fiotrix's arms and tell her to take it for a run around the ship, maybe introduce it to Hailmak. Then I take Lottie by the hand and guide her to my royal quarters.

"Why did she look so shocked when I shook her hand?" Lottie whispers.

I reluctantly let go of her hand to climb the narrow stairs, but when I reach the top, I reach back to help her for the last few steps.

"Because touching anyone but your mate during the interlude is considered offensive."

"Oh. Oops." She tiptoes with me to the door at the end, and I put my palm on the panel. The door opens to my quarters. "Is there a way to apologize? Can I make it up to her?"

I stop and look at her as the door closes behind us.

"What?" she asks.

I shake my head and run my hand over the side of her face.

"Nothing. You're just… such a strange creature."

Recognizing her words from earlier she grins and pouts her lips.

"I guess we both are."

I nod.

"So? Is there a way to make up for it?"

"Huh?"

"For insulting Fiotrix."

I chuckle and lead us toward my bathroom.

"As long as you don't marry her in two days, I think we'll be fine."

Lottie tilts her head to the side and stares at me for a second then her eyes light up.

"Oh. Shoot. So she thought I was coming on to her?"

I shrug.

"Or she knows you're an Earthling and you don't know our customs but was still shocked by your touch."

Lottie nods.

"Ok. Ok. Good. Now where is the..."

I open the bathroom door and Lottie's jaw drops.

"This is bigger than my fucking apartment."

"This is a very basic bathing chamber compared to what we have on Aysgoth," I tell her.

She laughs and shakes her head. "Your people are strange."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because. You lock people in a room for five days with no napkins, no water, no soap, and yet your bathrooms are like palaces. Make it make sense."

"Our hygiene and body care are important parts of our routine. However, we don't engage in it daily."

"But from the looks of it, when you do, you go to town!" Lottie runs to the bathtub and starts pressing buttons.

"You want to go to town?" I ask her but she just shakes her head and tells me to ignore her.

Instead, I help her fill the bathtub with hot water and all kinds of oils and cleaning powders and it's not long before she and I are submerged in them. She sits with her back to me and I embrace her as my cock grows harder.

She lets out a moan and rests her head on my shoulders with her eyes closed and I do what any man in my situation would. I massage her clit and make her come as many times as I can before she's all spent and tired.

As she rests against me, I press a button on the bathtub controls and the tint on the walls dissipates giving us a perfect view of the infinite dark space outside.

Lottie hums and sits up.

"Wh—I… this..."

"Are you okay?" I ask her and push her hair to the side so I can kiss her nape, behind her ear. Trace her back with my eyes, take in every inch of her.

"This is beautiful," she says after a moment.

"Indeed," I reply and kiss along her shoulder.

"You know, for a brutal highness… you aren't very brutish." She says as I lavish her hands with my lips. "You may act all caveman-from-space but you're really just a softie."

Had anyone on my planet called me that they'd have been torn to pieces by my bare teeth but somehow, coming out of her mouth, it doesn't sound like an insult.

No. It doesn't sound offensive at all. If anything it sounds… sweet, which wasn't a word I'd ever thought I'd use to describe a person.

"Perhaps we're not so unlike, your people and mine," I offer.

"No. Perhaps not," she hums.

I kiss the other side of her body as my hands explore her curves, her tits, her pussy. Why can I not get enough of this woman? Why can't I stop?

"Thundar."

"Hm," I answer, not stopping what I'm doing.

"You know I asked you to call me Lottie." I slide a finger in her and elicit a gasp out of her.

"I do," I mumble.

"I… there's a reason for that."

"Oh yeah?" I ask and slide another digit inside her.

"Yeah. I… I'm not..." she starts moving, grinding her body against my hand, driving me deeper into her.

"You're not?"

She swallows and turns to look at me.

"I'm not..." she starts but her eyes go wide and she looks behind me.

I follow her gaze and find the offending interruption.

Through the window above our heads appears a large, icy blue sphere in the distance.

"Is that..."

"Home," I tell her.

"That, right there, is Aysgoth."

She stares out into space, in Aysgoth's direction, and sighs.

"It's beautiful," she says.

"You're beautiful," I tell her.

She glances at me and I press my thumb on her clit. A moan escapes her lips and I trap it in my mouth. I don't stop until I make her mine again. Until I claim her under the stars, under the shadow of my home planet.

Is it terrible that I don't want this interlude to end? Do I have to go back to politics, meetings, and royal duties? Can't I just stay here with her, fucking and kissing and hugging until the end of time?