Alien General's Baby (Brion Brides 7)(66)

When at last she was allowed to see Braen again, she burst into tears of joy. As she dashed across the room, jumping into his arms, all the darkness washed away from her life.

"My beautiful gesha," Braen said, looking every bit as regal as the day she'd met him as his strong arms locked around her. "You are mine now."

It was like he had never been injured at all. Like the Fearless had not happened. Like the battle had all been a horrible nightmare, from which the both of them had finally awoken. A dream come true, in the best way this time.

"Yours," Naima agreed, unable to stop smiling.

She thought for a second before adding:

"Can we go to some warm world now? I could really use a beach vacation."





Epilogue





Naima




Two years later…
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The world was called Orache and it was very warm.

Naima compared it to a private resort often, only instead of a tiny beach somewhere on the many coasts of Terra, it was an entire planet. Orache didn't have palm trees or umbrella drinks, but it had endless beaches with glowing white sand and an ocean that wasn't dark in the slightest.

In fact, it was almost as clear as the pearly shores were, transparent and calm.

"This is so unnatural," Audrey said, coming to lay down beside her on the sand. "I'm used to cold. I have to jump into the ocean every ten minutes to make sure I don't get heatstroke."

Naima laughed, turning to her stomach to better keep an eye on her son Waen, playing in the shallow water with Audrey's daughter Mila, utterly carefree like two-year-olds everywhere. Both children were tan, enjoying a long and well-earned holiday.

She knew she was being overprotective, considering that Alona was walking along the shore with slow steps, ready to intervene a second before anything happened to the two children. The android's enhanced senses and the ability to read movement made her the perfect babysitter, really.

Naima had been slightly embarrassed to ask that from a highly intelligent creature, but Alona seemed to be sincerely fond of the little ones.

"I know what you mean," she told Audrey. "It's amazing, the things you can miss. Sometimes I think I'll ask Braen to take me to visit Matthos IV so I could have one last dive in the dark ocean. Can you believe that? I used to have nightmares of it."

Audrey snorted, nodding.

"I don't think you'd find the time," her friend pointed out. "Government officials like us get a vacation once a decade."

"Fair enough," Naima argued, laughing, "but I like Isolde Fenner's approach to those things. If you happen to be the gesha of a Brion general, sometimes it helps to cough really loudly during a council meeting and drop his name. You'd be amazed how many vacation opportunities that creates."

Audrey grinned, idly tracing the glove on her wrist, identically matching Naima's.

"So you're going to be the one controlling the lifestone?" she asked. "That's quite a thing."

"Well, yes," Naima allowed, smiling when Waen splashed at Mila and the children got into a water fight like they were wont to.

Though his training as a Brion warrior had already begun – of course, because Braen would have it no other way – she’d still managed to negotiate far more time for the boy to have a proper Terran childhood. His father had been surprisingly receptive to the idea, all things considered.

"But not quite. The union  's council still decides on the greater matters. I'm just the person who tells them which is the right decision."

"What did I say, then?" Audrey asked, looking every bit as happy and healthy as Naima did.

Ever since the final death of the Fearless, their lives had been changed completely. Although it was only reverting back to what they had been before, they both felt immense relief. No more Fearless. No nightmares, or invasions of their mind. The gloves kept their own minds protected too, from each other and anyone else who came in contact with the lifestone.

As more and more lifestone was discovered, there were bound to be accidental brushes and clumsiness. Naima was made the head of the department that regulated the use of the lifestone and she'd strictly forbidden a living being from touching the mineral, but things happened.

Everyone who'd come into contact with the stone was fitted with the glove so they could keep their minds to themselves.

All in all, it seemed the lifestone wasn't an endless resource, given that every source they'd been able to discover was now in use, and the mining capabilities certainly not endless. Hence why Naima took her job very seriously. In addition to regulating the division of the stone between the union  's many members, she'd also given lectures on the topic of its uses.

For example, a large part of the stone was given to rescue services and healers, to improve their chances at saving lives. The uses she'd found for the gun turret and the spear were put to use to protect the most valuable places and objects in the galaxy.

From the south side of the beach, Braen and Tieran approached, engaged in a fierce conversation as much as she could tell. It was clear they'd been fighting, again.

"Do they ever tire from finding new challenges and duels?" Audrey asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Naima laughed. "But it's kind of endearing."#p#分页标题#e#

"I know what you mean," Audrey sighed dreamily. “At least they both have something akin to a friend now. If a friend is a man who will beat you to a bloody pulp if you taunt him enough.”

“And they certainly taunt one another.”

As much as the Palian paladins and Brion generals tried to hide it, some things remained constant in the universe. Like the fact that boys would be boys. Even if they were fearsome, regaled warriors.

Naima left her friend to sunbathe and enjoy their own private haven and walked to meet Braen. Seeing her, Tieran respectfully took his leave, running over to Audrey and immediately carrying her, kicking and laughing, to the ocean. Waen and Mila joined in the fun while Naima and Braen walked a little further from the others to enjoy some privacy.

"You were right on that day, you know," Naima said. "When you told me I'd like a warm world. After all that trouble, this is everything I wished for and more. How did you even find this place?"

The general grinned, his hands sliding over her exposed flesh, tugging at the straps of her bathing suit. It was clear that as soon as they retreated to their resident home farther along the shore, he'd take her to heaven and back.

"I asked," he said, shrugging. "After the death of the Fearless, there isn't much I can't have. The Elders of my people are very happy. For a while, they can throw my name into every conversation about my brother generals and claim we're not so bad."

"You really aren't," Naima said, kissing him. "Not bad at all."

A hedge of dark green trees with a hint of bright yellow hid them from the sight of the others and Braen pulled her against him. Naima giggled, feeling his cock growing harder against her belly. Her own body reacted to the general's perfect body just as immediately.

Surrounded by such beauty and happiness, it was no wonder it was so easy to love him, but that wasn't the best part.

The general had been right about one more thing, as he tended to be. The Fearless had become a bad, forgotten dream. One that Naima didn't want to forget. She didn't like to dwell on it, but there was one thing about the whole affair she refused to let go.

It was easy to be happy on a bright, sunny beach, but Naima had something not many people in the galaxy did. And that was a memory of how much Braen and she had loved each other when things had been bad for them. Nothing else made her believe in a happy ending as much as that.

"Race you back," she whispered, slipping out of the general's grip and running down the beach.

Braen rushed after her. Naima knew she'd be caught pretty soon, but that was fine. It wasn't important who won when they'd already triumphed over fate together.

It would always be fair.