Hollow Space Read Free

albeit silently, that he was growing weary of Leanderus’s suspicious nature and his incessant questions.
    Still, he’d let his half-brother dominate the conversation, preferring to enjoy the sound of the princess’s lyrical voice mixing with the music hanging in the air. A bit stunned he was the sole mate, Michaelerus wondered how Jada would react to his touch, how she’d taste. Would she scream his name as he pounded her into Oblivion? Would she moan prettily or rake her nails down his back while she begged him to give it to her harder.
    “Then why is it that you require League ships to escape your planet if it is practically a Nirvana?”
    Michaelerus cocked an eyebrow. The Dareauxsians’ use of other species’ ships was a question that had burned a long and hot path through the League of Sentient Beings and the Community of Modernized Planets. Personally, he didn’t care one way or the other. Princess Jada’s kind wasn’t the first species that had decided not to build their own star-worthy crafts.
    “Our planet’s primary resource is D-crystals, and the technology we’ve built for its use. We sell much of this to other species.” She took a tiny sip of her water. “Rather than have ships clogging the stratosphere of Dareaux, we merely ask for transport to trade conferences and such. It’s much easier not only on the traders this way but also the inhabitants of my planet. We appreciate the tourist industry; we just don’t want Dareaux to become an interstellar hotspot for family holidays.”
    “You also don’t want robbers stripping the crystal mines bare, I suppose.” Leanderus flashed a cynical smile at Michaelerus as if to say, “See, they’re no different than any of the other juvenile species the Council of Kings would have us mate with.”
    She didn’t bat an eye. Instead, she twirled a lock of her raven hair around her finger. “Actually, no. It has happened in the past where another race has transported whole fields of the crystals to their ships.” Her smile glimmered, and light flashed in her unusual, nearly translucent blue eyes. “The crystals’ properties cannot be activated anywhere besides the planet.”
    “It’s amazing that you haven’t been conquered.”
    “We are not without our wiles.” She stood. The men followed her lead. “Thank you for the wonderful meal, Supreme Commander.”
    Through the empathic connection wrought from the sand, Michaelerus sensed she didn’t mind the conversation, but she’d grown bored with Leanderus. It also informed him she was telling the truth—mostly. “Allow me to escort you to your quarters,” he offered. “The Vor Marran is vast, and a guest is easily lost in the maze of corridors.”
    A flash of light flickered in her eyes. She gathered her long hair in her hands and tossed it over her shoulder. The move was probably purely innocent, but it had the power to harden his cock.
    “Thank you, Supreme Commander. I’d enjoy the company.” A note of seduction etched her intoxicating accent. The way her gaze flowed down him made him bite back on the growl rising in his throat.
    “But—” Leanderus didn’t have a chance to begin a lecture regarding ship’s protocol or spout self-righteous rhetoric regarding his mindset.
    Michaelerus leveled his glare on his half-brother. “You are dismissed,” he ordered in a no-disobedience-allowed tone. He steered his gaze to her face once they were alone. “Forgive Leanderus.”
    “He believes your kind should remain pure,” she stated softly. “A noble ideal, but far from realistic considering the Navorains’ diminished populace.” She strode to where he stood and placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. “I am sorry for what happened to your homeworld.”
    “So, the reports about your kind being strong telepaths are accurate.”
    “Very much so.” She bowed her head. Her hand fell to her side. A pause passed between them. A sparking energy crackled across the ether.