Intergalactic Love Page 9

  Once she recovered, Rea pulled my waistband down to free my erection. She slid from my lap and settled in between my legs. She lowered her head and flicked her tongue against the tip. The sensation was electric and shot through my sex to the base of my spine and out to my limbs. She circled her tongue around it before she took me further into her mouth. The silkiness of her lips and tongue echoed where I truly wanted to be. I lifted her gently and pushed her onto her back. I quickly pushed her dress up around her waist. Her sex glistened as she opened for me. I positioned myself at her entrance and entered her. Rea moaned as she clenched around me. As I drove into her again and gain I hoped the couch wouldn’t fall from its fixture.

  I felt as her orgasm approached, and my own release did too. Her hips moved in tandem with mine as we lost control. The heights of our shared climax engulfed us and I emptied into her with a harsh cry. Only when we began to recover did we realize that the couch did indeed break from the fixture.

  “We broke it,” Rea giggled. I laughed with her.

  “We may break many more things,” I said and kissed her neck.

  “That’s fine with me,” she said. We righted ourselves, then got out of the egg. I tried to fix it, but there was no hope for the thing. Rea took my hand and we hurried inside to the bedroom.

  The rest of the weekend we spent lazing around, eating, and simply being with one another. Rea called the vacation a ‘honeymoon’, either way I wouldn’t have wanted it to be anything other than what it was.

  Chapter 5

  Rea

  I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE the island at all. Come Monday I dragged my feet and Darion literally carried me out to the waiting glider.

  “Was it me that made the weekend special for you Rea? Or the island?” Darion glanced at me and I turned away from the distancing view of the island.

  “It was like...sixty-forty,” I said, pouting.

  “What was sixty and what was forty?” he asked, his brow quirked. I gave him a sly grin and he laughed dramatically. “Oh now I see the truth!” he said loudly. “Perhaps I should be chopped up into little pieces and blended with the beach so that my wife would truly love me,” he said in a sarcastic voice. I giggled then leaned over to kiss him.

  “You’re silly,” I murmured, then kissed him again. It was always melancholy to get back to reality after a great vacation. Luckily Darion’s family owned the island so we could go whenever we wanted.

  “You can call your work and tell Burton you’ll be there tomorrow,” he offered.

  “That sounds tempting. I think I’ll do that,” I murmured. When we got back to the palace Darion and I intended to go hide out for the day in the private wing. But Nye was waiting for us in front of the entrance.

  “Chief, Madame Rea. Ambassador Burton is present, along with one of his security personnel. They wish to speak with both of you, urgently,” he said.

  “It’s urgent?” I asked.

  “Yes, Burton seemed concerned when we spoke face to face. They’re waiting in Chief Darion’s study,” Nye said.

  “Do you have any idea what would be the matter?” Darion asked me.

  “Ah...yeah, you know how I said I had a weird morning at work last week?” I asked. Darion nodded, his brows furrowed as he concentrated on me. I opened my mouth to continue, but just then Burton and one of the security soldiers emerged from the entrance.

  “Oh! There you are, we were just about to give up. Rea, we were concerned when we didn’t hear from you for several days,” Burton said.

  “I thought...the weekend was covered?” I asked, technically I’d missed the last day before the weekend. But Darion had said he’d arranged everything before we left. I assumed that meant telling Burton.

  “Right, but of course we’d be concerned after...” Burton glanced at Darion then. He gave him a curt nod.

  “What is going on exactly? What reason would you have to be concerned for Rea?” Darion asked Burton. His eyes darted to mine and back.

  “We simply hadn’t heard from her, though I’ve tried to contact her. So, we came by as a courtesy, to see if everything is alright,” Burton said. I saw the lie, Darion seemed just as skeptical of his words.

  “We left all communication here before we left. It was a private vacation,” Darion said. I saw how much he didn’t like having to answer to Burton.

  “Of course,” said Burton.

  “If you’ll excuse us Ambassador Burton. We’ve just returned from a long trip and quite frankly, you’re intruding,” Darion said after he cut Burton off.

  “Right...Rea, we’ll see you tomorrow?” Burton asked.

  “Sure,” I said. Then he and his guard made to leave. I refused to make eye contact as they passed by us. One look at Darion though, and I knew we were about to have quite the discussion. His jaw was clenched and his gaze was hard. He turned on his heel and strode inside with purpose. I followed sullenly behind him. The honeymoon was certainly over.

  “Darion, can you please not be mad? I can explain everything,” I said after the veritable funeral procession to the bedroom. I noticed that our wedding contract had been put into an intricately crafted golden frame. It looked like ribbons of gold had been melded together seamlessly around it as it sat on the bed.

  “You told them. About my abducting you. And you lied to me about it,” he said. He’d turned abruptly to face me and I glanced from the bed to him. We stood too many paces apart. Me near the head of the bed and him near the foot.

  “I didn’t Darion, I didn’t tell them.” I took a step towards him, but he held his hand up to stop me.

  “It seems like it to me Rea, I’m not a fool...or perhaps I am for thinking you had true feelings for me. Have you just been biding your time until they could swoop in and save you?” he berated.

  “No Darion. I didn’t tell them anything. If you’d let me explain—”

  “What could you possibly explain Rea? Either way this is...this is—” he shook his head back and forth.

  “When I started the job at the embassy I found myself having to constantly lie about the wedding we never had and being a happy newly married couple. After work I’d had enough, I needed to vent and so...I told Saphia. I had no idea that she would turn around and tell Burton everything, especially after I'd assured her that things were fine with us and that I wanted to keep things confidential,” I said in a rush.

  “Saphia? Rea, didn’t you think that if you told anyone they’d talk? I’m the Chief of Radon! There are millions who’d love to see me dethroned. Saphia of all people. What made you think you could confide in a stranger? Why not confide in me?” he put his hand on his chest at the perfect time. It made his statement hit home a lot worse.

  “I was still upset with you at the time...” I said in a small voice.

  “That is an excuse and you’re lying still. Just admit to me that you don’t want to be here Rea. Please, don’t continue this charade,” he said.

  “I’m not lying. I’m telling you the truth Darion. Yes, I messed up in telling Saphia. I should have just kept my mouth shut or talked to you about it. I screwed up. But Burton isn’t even going to do anything about it. After Saphia reported it to them they called a meeting and offered to have me sent back to Earth. But I refused! I came home, I went to the island with you, I got married to you. For real this time.”

  “No...I won’t keep you someplace you don’t want to be Rea. You told Saphia for a reason. Perhaps you are in denial of that now, but you told her for a reason.” His voice had gone scarily calm. He stepped towards the framed marriage contract and picked it up. It seemed like he just flicked the glass and it broke. He extracted the paper and proceeded to crumple it up. “Go, go back to the embassy, go back to Earth. I won’t keep you here against your will any longer,” he said.

  I stared at him in shock. It felt like he tore my heart and lungs from my chest and crumpled that up instead. After a beat of silence, I took a deep breath and held my hands together. Idly, I circled my wedding band around my fing
er. I debated throwing it at him. I figured, maybe I should leave. If I stayed we’d only continue to hurt each other.

  Chapter 6

  Darion

  SHE LEFT WITHOUT A word, which meant I was right. She’d wanted to leave and lied to me about it, then played me as a fool! I was wrong to have so blindly attached myself to Rea. Not only had she caused everything to go awry, but my chest had constricted onto itself as soon as she stepped out of the door. I rubbed my sternum as I sat down. After a breath, I dropped the frame and contract back onto it. Then went in search of Nye. If Saphia knew what I did, there was no doubt she’d have taken the news to the public. I found him nearby in my study. He seemed flustered.

  “Oh, Chief Darion...I was debating whether to disturb you, but you must see this.” Nye rushed to turn the television on. My office was one of the few places I allowed television in the private wing. I usually found news and propaganda so distracting. But in certain situations, both were necessary.

  “What is it?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

  “The guard you assigned to Madame Rea, she is speaking to the public on your initial marriage,” he said. Nye knew just as well as I did how I got Rea to Radon. He helped me forge the documents. He turned on the wide display that hung on the wall across from my desk.

  “Yes I heard from Rea Norwood herself. She was abducted from the Mars Colony by Chief Radon—” Saphia was sitting down across from a female interviewer in a low-lit room apart from the one spotlight on them both. Quite a dramatic setting for the sabotage of my rule.

  “So you’re saying that not only has Chief Darion committed an abduction, he also forged his wedding documents? Then held Rea Norwood against her will as his wife to this very second?” the interviewer asked. The interviewer sounded smug to me, almost giddy as she got the story of a lifetime from Saphia. I should have known better than to assign her to Rea’s protection.

  “The last I heard, Rea Norwood has been unreachable since early weekend. Ambassador Burton has visited the palace to check on her wellbeing,” Saphia reported, all true.

  “We’ve just received word that Rea Norwood has been taken into the official protection of Earth’s embassy. It appears as if she may be returning to Earth after all. Your thoughts on that Saphia?”

  “Chief? Has Rea truly gone?” Nye asked me.

  “Yes,” I said, my voice still hoarse.

  “That makes this more difficult to contain,” he murmured. He was busy on a data pad. “Do you think Moody and Tars will testify on your behalf? Perhaps they would say that Rea came here willingly?” Nye asked.

  “Rea already confirmed the events with Ambassador Burton and who knows how many others. There is no refuting this. We simply have to deal with it in a way that I remain Chief,” I told him. “Leave Moody and Tars out of it, I don’t want them getting implicated.”

  “I will do my best Chief. But I must advise that you remain in the private quarters until I have a full plan of action,” he urged.

  “I can’t just sit around listening to this Nye.” I began to pace the room. “What do you propose we do?”

  “I was thinking you should approach the council. If you confess, then perhaps they will be lenient towards you. But explain to them that Madame Rea chose to stay on her own free will. The two of you did rightfully marry after all,” he said.

  “Yes, but she still left! She’s going back to Earth. They won’t find merit in that,” I said.

  “Believe it or not you can still come out of this as Chief. You can do most anything outside of murder and still have the council believe you are a fit leader and ruler,” Nye said, perhaps attempting to lend me some confidence in the matter. He murmured something about having to go, then strode from the room. The only thing he was not aware of was the honor killing I’d set into motion on the Mars Colony. Honor killings were not legal, and I would certainly be removed from my ruling position for that, at the very least. I took a deep breath. Nye had better come up with something good.

  I wondered if Rea was happy. She’d harbored enough anger to not only leave me when I thought we were finally past everything. But to cause all this ruin as well. I rubbed the center of my chest as it constricted yet again.

  Chapter 7

  Rea

  “DON’T WORRY REA, AS soon as we send everything that’s going on here over to Earth, you’ll be on the first spacecraft back home,” Burton told me. I was sitting stoically in the conference room. The embassy’s prosecutor, Alicia, was busy gathering evidence while simultaneously on two phone calls. Minor assistants were scurrying around answering her orders.

  “Great...” I murmured. The news was on, loud and clear, on a television in the room. Not only had Saphia gone public with everything. She’d of course brought up how Darion dealt with the blight. She called him a murderer, kidnapper, and a criminal. Of course, people who were affected by the fires that put out the blight would back her a hundred percent. It looked like it was leading to some kind of uprising. I couldn’t believe things had gone south so quick and abruptly.

  “You know, you don’t have to worry, right?” Burton said. He looked at me head on, forcing me to make eye contact.

  “I’m not worried Burton, not for myself anyways. I didn’t have a problem with Darion. All this...just got out of hand,” I sighed.

  “The cat’s out of the bag now Rea. There’s no going back...you didn’t willingly marry him anyways. You can start fresh back home,” he said.

  “I guess so,” I mumbled. It was all my fault anyways, I shouldn’t have told Saphia everything, it was stupid of me. She was a stranger and I’d been way too naïve for my circumstances at the time. I didn’t want to go back to Earth any more than I did before. I did want to get to Darion and force him to listen to me, to force him to stop being so hardheaded. I know I hurt him, but his way of dealing with that was to make me go away instead of working through it. I needed to get back to the palace. He was still my husband damn it and we were going to talk things out.

  I got up and murmured something about going to the bathroom. I left my things so no one would be suspicious. Most of the activity was centered around the conference room anyways. So, I got to the rear entrance easily enough. Out back were only Earth embassy vehicles. Each was marked with the planetary seal of Earth. If I pulled up to the palace grounds, I’d no doubt be stopped. I slipped out of the building and walked around the back, to the sidewalk. Once I was about two blocks away, I hailed a taxi.

  “Take me to the capital city please,” I said once I got in.

  “Of course miss,” the driver said. Soon we were on the way, we got to the city in five minutes.

  “I need you to idle near the palace, I don’t mind the bill. Keep it running,” I told him.

  “How long should I expect to wait on you miss?” he asked.

  “Ah...twenty minutes,” I said, then hurried out of the car. I may have just stolen a cab ride. I walked towards the palace. The public side was always heavy on security. Then the only way to get to the private wing was if you were escorted through the public wing, or had clearance to go directly back. I walked in the huge entrance along with the rest of the public. I recognized mostly officials going to and fro. There weren’t many tourists. The courtyard was as empty as I’ve ever seen it. That made me nervous, the emptiness meant it’d be easier for me to be recognized. I walked towards the real main entrance to get further into the palace. The security checkpoint was there. I took a deep breath and simply waited in line to get checked in.

  “Identification please, and state your business at Capital Palace,” a guard said. I was next to walk through the weapons detector.

  “Ah...” I looked up at him and his eyes widened.

  “Madame Rea?” he glanced at the other guard next to him. The gestured for me to step aside.

  “Madame Rea, I am afraid I have to inform you that your access to the palace has been limited,” he said. At least they were polite and regretful about that.

  “I know, I j
ust...I need to speak with Darion. It’s urgent,” I said. The guards glanced at one another. One glanced behind him at the rest of security handling the line.

  “I will escort her back to the private quarters,” said the one who initially recognized me.

  “Thank you,” I breathed in relief. He waved me forward and I followed him. We got as far as the catwalk to the private wing before we were stopped.

  “Madame Rea is not allowed in the palace,” one of the guards keeping watch of the entrance said.

  “Yes, but she says she has something urgent to relay to Chief Darion,” my guard said.

  “It was expressly commanded that she not—” the other guard was cut off when Darion emerged with Nye. They were coming from the private wing. Darion looked no different, of course. We’d only parted a few hours before. Nye was staring at me wide eyed though. Darion had a mix of emotions on his face; annoyance, anger, hurt. Pretty much all the same stuff from when we argued in the bedroom.

  “What are you doing here?” Darion asked hoarsely.

  “I came to speak with you,” I said. Nervously, I twirled my wedding band around my finger while waiting for his response.

  “Fine.” He turned around and walked back into the private wing. I followed him back and the guards, as well as Nye, stayed back. I caught up to him, just as he stepped into his study. “What have you come to tell me?” he asked. He turned to face me, his hands crossed over his chest.

  “I need you to just listen, hear me out, okay?” I studied his face, which he’d made carefully stoic.

  “I am listening Rea,” he said, his voice sounded almost resigned.

  “I was wrong for having trusted Saphia, a stranger, with everything that I told her. I assumed that, as my guard, she was trusted and wouldn’t repeat anything I told her. She went to Burton with what I told her. She made it seem like she was concerned about my ‘well-being’. Of course, Burton called a meeting to confirm what Saphia had reported, and ask me what I wanted to do. I could stay on Radon and pretend that nothing untoward had happened, or go back to Earth. I chose to stay here with you. Then I came home and we got married! The right way! I willingly married you on that beach, Darion. I gave my vow and I signed that contract. Then knowing what he knew, after not having heard from me at all, Ambassador Burton stopped by the palace to check on me. At the same time Saphia was going public with everything...” I paused, letting that sink in.