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ANDIE SENT XANDR FOR food at some point and by midnight most of her bruises had subsided to nothing more than a bit of stiffness and discomfort. She didn’t look forward to the next beating, and she was certain Mebion wouldn’t be so kind as to provide regen gel. Not unless Xandr confessed to crimes that would see him executed. And in his attempts to manipulate his brother, the duke had sealed his own fate.
At least she hadn’t been moved back to the house yet. There wasn’t much to do in Xandr’s room except pace and contemplate their next steps, but she’d take as many moments with Xandr as she could get. This was probably meant to be another part of the duke’s manipulations, but there was no use dwelling now.
Xandr came out of the connected bathroom in a cloud of billowing steam, covered only by a towel, and Andie’s mouth went dry. Now that was something to contemplate.
Her man grinned as her eyes raked up and down, taking in the rippling muscle and the pure beauty of his purple flesh. “You like what you see?”
She grinned back. “I love it,” and then her expression grew serious. “I love you.” What was the use of holding those words back when they could be separated at any moment? No matter their schemes, they weren’t in control of their own lives, instead bound to the whim of a man set on wreaking vengeance for things that had happened a decade ago.
Xandr let the towel drop as he strode across the room, but Andie’s eyes were glued to his face and the intense storm in his lightning blue eyes. He cupped her cheek and kissed her nose, then her forehead, his thumb stroking a soft pattern on her skin that made her shiver. “You are my dearest love, cavria. And there is no one else I would want at my side.”
She leaned into his heat, letting her hands roam over his skin, still hot from the shower. It smelled sweetly of whatever soap he’d used and she breathed deep, as if she could bond them together by will. Their lips met, teasingly at first, soft and playful, as if too much pressure would break the moment, would snap them out of this time and make them face the reality around them.
Xandr loved her. Andie smiled into the kiss, unable to contain the glee bursting out. Loved. Loved! No lover had ever used those words before, had never cared for her as much as her Oscavian outlaw lord. Whatever fear she’d had about saying the words, about the emotion not being reciprocated, dissolved as Xandr’s fingers stroked her skin and his lips marked her as his.
Loved!
Delirious laughter threatened to bubble up, and to stop it from happening Andie deepened the kiss, her tongue tangling with Xandr’s as she pulled them close and felt every bit of his hard body pressed up against hers. He should never be allowed to wear clothes, she thought as one hand glided down his back and ended on his ass. He was a work of art and she didn’t want one centimeter covered by fabric when it was just the two of them.
Xandr broke the kiss, his expression suddenly worried. “You were injured, we shou—”
“Finish that sentence and see what happens,” she warned, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “Really,” she reassured him when the worry didn’t leave his eyes, “I’m fine, I promise.” To prove it she stripped off her top and threw it away. “See, most of it’s fading already.” She could see the second his eyes stopped focusing on the bruises and instead looked at her bare torso and naked breasts. He licked his lips like she was a four course meal and Andie felt the heat of it all the way down to her core.
Xandr kissed her again and moved, guiding her back to the bed where he laid her down gently, mindful of everything that had been done to her. At another time Andie might have objected. She really was fine and the more he kissed her, the more he touched her, the less she could feel the memory of everything that had been done to her. As her blood heated, any lingering pain faded.
But Xandr moved slowly, and that was a torture in and of itself, but one she didn’t resist, not when he hovered over her and trailed kisses down her neck, taking his time and licking and nipping at the sensitive flesh, leaving his own mark to blot out anything that had been left there before. Her fingers tangled in his hair, but she didn’t try and hold him there. He clearly had a plan and she wanted to see where it went.
Lower. It went inexorably lower.
He kissed over her collarbones and she’d never before considered that an erogenous zone, but anywhere Xandr touched went up in flames, and when his tongue lapped at one of her nipples she couldn’t stop from crying out and arching into his touch. He took that as encouragement, swirling his tongue around and increasing the pressure, and when he pulled back, Andie almost yanked on his head to keep him in place. But when he gave the other side equal attention she let herself fall into the sensation as Xandr kissed his love onto her body.
His fingers brushed between her legs and she let her thighs fall open to give him better access. At some point her pants had disappeared and she wasn’t quite sure how that had happened. She couldn’t think beyond the sensation as he gave her pleasure on two fronts, his tongue on her breast and his fingers between her legs. But she needed more, needed to be filled and shown just how much he loved her. They’d done this dozens, hundreds of times, but never after saying they loved one another.
“I need you,” she begged, somehow still managing complete sentences. “I love you.”
She felt his lips grin against her flesh and he looked up, pulling back just enough to talk. “I love you.” Then he went back to work, fingers plunging into her and thumb brushing tantalizingly over her clit. Not enough, never enough, not until they were joined.
“Inside me,” she said. She bucked her hips, chasing his fingers as he pulled them out. “Fuck me.”
“You want my cock?” She couldn’t quite see where his hand had disappeared to, but from the way he hissed out a breath she could tell he was stroking himself.
“Want to see,” she replied. The longer they were together, the easier it was to speak when they were making love. There was no request she could make that would make Xandr push her away. They fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, even if they’d been born thousands of light years apart, her a nobody on Earth and him a lord of the Oscavian Empire.
Her lord shifted so she could see his fingers gripping his cock, not quite managing to wrap all the way around. His size had been intimidating at first, but now she couldn’t get enough of it, and as she watched him stroke herself she was torn between wanting his thick length between her legs and wanting to taste him, wanting to watch him come apart under her tongue.
“Keep looking at me like that, cavria, and this won’t last long for either of us.” He gave his cock another lazy stroke before letting go.
Andie watched the organ stand proudly, covered in veins and valleys unlike any human cock she’d ever seen. It was purple, like the rest of him, but darker as it filled, ready to bring them both to the heights of pleasure. She pulled up one leg and let her other knee fall to the side in debauched invitation.
Xandr’s nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to crackle with that lightning that made them so blue. He kissed her raised knee and traced a path up her thigh until he made it to the heat of her sex, where his tongue showed her exactly what it could do, circling and teasing, tracing a path through her most secret parts and making her squirm and shiver, pant and moan. His fingers joined in on the action, plunging back into her, making her ready for him and promising to wring out every bit of pleasure her body could endure. Andie made promises, begged, pleaded, and demanded that he give her more, even when she was sure she’d had enough, too much. But Xandr knew her limits, knew exactly what she loved to take, and he gave her what she needed.
She came apart, her vision going white for a moment as she cried out, calling his name, declaring her love, and mumbling things she’d claim to forget if he ever mentioned them.
When he hitched her legs up she made encouraging sounds, far beyond the ability to form more than the most basic words. And when he eased his cock inside her their eyes met and locked. A spark of heat leaped between them, and on its tail came the fire of love, something binding them together more firmly than they’d ever been bound before. They’d found each other, chosen each other, and they would fight for their future, fight to get off this planet and see all that the stars had to offer.
Together.
They came together, Andie crying out at the same moment as Xandr as they clutched each other tight and made promises with their bodies that their hearts would fulfill. It was a heady thing, adding love to their already combustible relationship, but Andie wouldn’t trade it for another, not if it meant giving up one bit of Xandr.
She’d found him and she was keeping him. For good.
***
EVERY MINUTE THAT XANDR was away from Andie was a small torture, but she’d convinced him that he couldn’t guard her all day. If Ceetr was going to make his move, he’d do it whether Xandr was there or not. The fact was no comfort, but Andie had been insistent. If they were going to get away from the planet, they had to work towards their goal, and staying in bed all day would accomplish nothing.
Well, nothing that would get them to safety and freedom. No day spent in a bed with Andie could be truly wasted.
He had to keep his expression neutral even as he could feel the grin threatening to split his face in half. She loved him. Despite his faults, despite his lies, despite the things his brother had done to her, she loved him. She chose him. She wanted to stay with him. He could hardly believe that it was true, but as their lovemaking had subsided into sleepy whispers she’d said it again and again, as if she couldn’t believe that she could say it out loud.
They were quite the pair, both jumping at the shadows of their emotions and yet unable to hide them from one another for long.
He had to chase those thoughts from his mind. Ceetr knew he cared for Andie and wanted to use that against him. Xandr didn’t know the lengths he would go to in keeping her safe. But he didn’t trust his brother to uphold his word, not given their past, and any promises he made about Andie and the crew would be thrown away as soon as he had Xandr where he wanted him. Xandr didn’t need to be a genius to know that, he just needed to know Ceetr.
He made his way back to the garden and into the maze. It was a danger to meet in public, but if they were caught in private all hopes of carrying out their mission would dissolve. Zeesa was already there, ready and waiting. She stared at the fountain as Xandr approached. “Have you thought about it?” she asked.
“Do you know what he did?” The image of Andie curled up in pain wouldn’t be leaving his mind any time soon and rage flowed in his veins, burning out the blood and leaving something far hotter and more violent in its path.
Zeesa gave a slight nod, her expression pinched. “He’s grown more reckless in the past six months. I thought getting her off the estate would cool things down.”
“Which her are we talking about?” Xandr asked. Last he’d checked, Andie was in his room while they waited to see what Ceetr’s next move would be. And then he remembered Andie mentioning that Keana had been returned to the crew. “What did he do?”
Zeesa shrugged. “A bit of roughhousing. Her father was there to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.”
He needed to get off this planet. It looked peaceful and prosperous, but it was the kind of place where a parent thought nothing of letting their child be beaten for disobedience. Xandr didn’t know what to say so he let his silence speak for him.
Zeesa picked up the slack. “If you are ready to do what needs to be done, I can give you a place. It must be swift and I cannot protect you if you’re caught, but I might be able to get you off the planet. I’ll need some record that you’ve renounced your claim to the title.”
He would have admired her dogged determination in other circumstances. She was a hell of a duchess, of a leader, and Xandr had never wanted to rule a planet. Perhaps her determination to kill someone should have given him pause, but his hands weren’t clean on that account so he couldn’t judge. But he could ask. “Why can’t you do it?”
“I could.” She stood and turned to face the fountain, watching the water flow. “But then I would be arrested and executed and my daughter cut off from succession. I have brought her up to be everything Mebion needs, even though she’s only a child. I can act as her regent until she comes of age, but only if I am above reproach.”
“And you trust I won’t betray you?” If he wanted he could take this scheme to his brother and perhaps sell out Zeesa to buy his freedom. He wouldn’t, but he’d been an outlaw for a decade and Zeesa couldn’t know all of the shady things he’d done to keep himself and his crew going.
“You are many things, Karday, but betrayal has never been your style.” She offered him a sad smile as if she was delivering a grave insult and wanted to soften the blow.
Maybe she was. Imperial politics could be just as cutthroat as his life and he’d never had the stomach for it. “I can’t just murder him.” If it were combat or an honor challenge, something approaching fair, Xandr could do it. But he could not stab his brother in the back, no matter what he’d done. It was Andie who had convinced him when he was ready to charge off and end Ceetr the moment he saw him. Premeditated murder took a certain kind of man, and that wasn’t him.
“So what am I supposed to do?” She rounded on him and the frustration she carried was obvious. Zeesa hadn’t hatched this plan overnight; it must have been growing within her for years and she’d nurtured it until the right opportunity showed up for her to bring it to fruition. And now Xandr wasn’t ready to do her bidding. “I had Keana moved as a sign of goodwill. What more do you need from me?”
Of course she hadn’t done a kindness in the name of old friendship. “Getting rid of him your way could boost his reputation until his memory is unassailable.” He could imagine it now, the visionary duke struck down by his thieving, evil brother when he tried too hard to make Mebion a better place. “It will empower his allies. There’s nothing better than an assassination to make a ruler popular.” He’d seen it time and again in his travels, not to mention his studies when he’d been a boy. It wasn’t his main reason from shying away from Zeesa’s plan, but he needed to convince her of another path, and moral qualms weren’t likely to work.
“Are you saying there is no way to stop him?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”
“We need to expose his crimes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s rich coming from you.” That barb stung, but Xandr didn’t let it show. “As you said, the people love him, no one will believe allegations that come from his outlaw brother.”
“Let me work on it. I need you to get me and Andie time with the crew, no one can know. We’ve pulled off bigger heists than this. And I need to know you won’t work this from another angle, won’t try to get someone else to do the job. If you let us, we’ll end him and your daughter will be elevated without the blood of her father on your hands.” It was the biggest job of his life, one he’d never imagined he could pull off. But as the possibilities swirled in his mind, Xandr liked his idea more and more.
“What are you proposing to do?” Zeesa asked cautiously.
Xandr grinned. “We’re going to steal a dukedom.”
