Chapter 29

Nikki stood at the window staring out at the night sky with a frown on her face. She heard the bedroom door open and close behind her, but didn’t turn around to acknowledge her husband.

Seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. “She’ll be okay, Nikki. Zach is with her.”

“I know he is,” she said, a little too quickly.

Xavier sighed as he let his hands rest protectively over her stomach, “Leijha’mi, you know it’s not safe for us to go. Besides, Zach is more than enough to protect her. And we all know she needs him the most now.”

Nikki closed her eyes, “I know, Xavier. It still doesn’t make me feel any better. She still has to deal with Amy alone, none of us can help her with that and I’m worried that it’s too much for her.” She turned in Xavier’s arms as she said, “Kristine needs to be able to mourn her father’s passing instead of having to deal with Amy’s breakdown.”

Xavier nodded, “That’s where Zach comes in, Nikki. He’s there for her when she needs him.”

“She needs him there during the funeral, Xavier. She’s being strong for Amy during all of this, but who’s being strong for Kris? Zach can’t do that until everyone has gone and they are alone.”

Her lips began to tremble as she thought of her best friend having to be the grown up, holding everyone else’s hand. Kristine was all alone up there because Amy hadn’t taken Felix’s death well. Kristine had to be the strong one. She was the one who was keeping Amy from going off the deep end.

Zachary couldn’t be there for her until everyone had gone away. It was only behind closed doors that Kristine could finally break down and find comfort and strength in Zachary’s arms.

Nikki and Xavier had visited with Kristine the morning after Felix’s death, but it had been a short visit. Soon Amy was awake and needing Kristine’s attention. On top of that, Kristine had to prepare for the funeral too. Thankfully, they were able to get things situated so that the funeral could be held two days later.

In all that time, Nikki hadn’t been able to see Kristine again. All of Kristine’s time was occupied during the day with the repercussions of her father’s death and with her mother’s sorrow. Her nights were occupied with getting Amy to sleep with the medication, then she was too exhausted to do anything other than curl up into Zachary’s arms and sleep.

Nikki was at least grateful that Zachary had been with Kristine every night since Felix’s death. At least Kristine had his strength and comfort when Nikki couldn’t be there for her. She knew Xavier was right, Kristine needed him more than she needed anyone else right now.

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Zachary ran his fingers through her hair, as she lay against his chest. He could feel her even breathing against his skin and hear the steady beat of her heart. She was finally asleep after hours of crying in his arms.

He knew without a doubt that the day of the funeral had been the hardest day Kristine had ever had to go through. Despite the fact that most of it had been taken care of by some of the people who were close to Kristine’s parents in the group that was fighting against the gang, Kristine had still gotten up at the crack of dawn to prepare for the service.

The funeral itself was held late in the afternoon, but Kristine had been running around doing last minute errands and trying to get her mother ready for the funeral. It had taken her a couple of hours to get her mother up since Amy had heavily sedated herself the night before. The drugs were still with her when Kristine had managed to get her up around ten in the morning.

Unfortunately the drugs had worn off about two hours before the funeral, which meant Amy became an emotional mess. Granted, Kristine could see that Amy was doing her best to hold herself together, but it had been a struggle. Kristine had seen her mother start to tremble when she was trying to lend a hand with things. A certain word or object would set her mother off and she would start shaking or tears would trail down her cheeks. Amy would then disappear into the restroom for a few moments and when she came out, she was fine again.

Then the funeral had started. Things had seemed to be okay until they had begun to lower the casket into the ground. At that point, Amy had lost it. Kristine had been grateful that Amy’s friends from the group were there to escort her back home because she had been at a loss of how to handle her mother. As Amy was escorted out of the cemetery, Kristine had stayed behind to say her last goodbyes to her father. She’d remained there for a while after the others had already left.

What she hadn’t known was that Zachary was there too. Hidden in the trees, far enough away so that none of the people would see him, he’d kept a silent watch on his girl. His heart was torn to see Amy lose it and Kristine looking so lost. Then he’d wanted to go to her so badly when she’d remained behind alone. He had almost decided to get out of the tree and go to her when he saw one of Amy’s friends come to escort Kristine to the car so they could all return home.

The wake was being held at Kristine’s house, so there were already several people there when Kristine had arrived. Amy was sitting curled into a ball on the couch with several others surrounding her. She no longer seemed to be hysterical, but there were tear tracks on her face and she was extremely quiet. She sat staring at nothing and wasn’t responding to anyone there.

Kristine was grateful to everyone who watched over her mother, but she had wished they’d leave already. Putting on a smile, she had thanked them for their condolences and concern and told them she was fine. Slowly they began to leave and a few had asked Kristine if she needed anyone to stay with them. Kristine had declined their offers and said she and her mother would be fine.

It was while the last two women were finishing up cleaning the remains of the wake that Amy had come out of her stupor and started crying again. Kristine had gone to her and hugged her before asking if she wanted to go get comfortable. Amy had nodded and they’d walked to her bedroom.

An hour later, Kristine had said goodbye and thanks to the last two people before locking up and heading towards her room. She stopped in to check on Amy and found her sitting in a ball on her bed in tears. Amy had looked up at Kristine helplessly and said she couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Felix laying in the coffin.

When she started to shake and sob again, Kristine had sat down with her and held her in her arms. Finally, Amy pushed her away and said they both needed to get some sleep. She had gotten up then and went to the bathroom to take her medication. Kristine knew it was the only way her mother would be getting any sleep.

Once her mother had gotten into bed, Kristine had sat with her until she’d fallen asleep. Then she had made her way to her own room. The moment she had walked inside and closed the door, Zachary had come out of the bathroom. Kristine had launched herself into his arms and began sobbing.

Zachary had moved them to the bed and held Kristine as she cried out all of the pain and sorrow she’d held in all day long. When her tears had tapered off, he’d managed to get her undressed and into a pair of short pajamas before tucking her in. Then he’d taken off his shirt, shoes, and pants before climbing in with her and holding her again. She’d sighed against his chest as he held her, rubbing soothing circles on her back. He could still feel some stray tears drip onto his chest, but he said nothing.

Finally, she had fallen asleep and he had remained awake enjoying the feel of holding her in his arms. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss against her forehead and smiled when she sighed in her sleep. He settled back into the mattress and closed his eyes, finally allowing himself to get some sleep.

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Heads raised as Zachary trudged into the meeting room, still looking slightly rumpled.

As Charles held out a chair for Zachary, Kegan raised an eyebrow and asked, “Rough night?”

Nikki sighed, “Leave him alone, Kegan.” To Zachary she asked, “How is she?”

Zachary raked his face with his hands as he replied, “As good as she can be. She thinks her mother is getting better because she seemed to be behaving more logically yesterday. There were a few times Amy lost it, but she still managed to come out of it better than before. Kristine’s just worried that Amy will get too dependent on the medication to help her sleep.”

Nikki nodded, “Yeah, I’m worried about that too.” She reached out and took his hand in hers, “Thank you Zach, for being there for Kris when I can’t.”

Zachary smiled as he squeezed her hand, “It’s something I need to do too, but you are welcome.” They shared another smile before Zachary cleared his throat and said, “Okay, so what have I missed?”

Xavier shook his head as Nikki moved to stand next to him again, “Not much, we were just talking about the moves into the city being finalized.”

Nikki nodded, “I was telling them that the last convoy is being settled in as we speak. That means that everyone should be completely moved in to their new homes by the end of the week.”

Zachary nodded, “That’s good news.”

“Indeed it is,” said Jules. “The other good news is that the last batch of guards have been fully trained and are ready to be moved to the border.”

“Good, see if they can be there before the end of the week. I want the borders fully protected since the scouts are reporting back to us by then. Hopefully they will have some news about what the rebels are planning.” replied Xavier.

“Will do.”

Charles spoke up then, “All of the remote security systems have been checked and repaired by my teams, so everything should be running smoothly now. I’ve also made sure that each station has the required number of people to man it and they are currently teaching the guards assigned with them about the systems so there won’t be any careless mistakes.”

“That’s great news, Charles. Hopefully this will help keep those attacks at bay now.” Xavier said as everyone else nodded their agreement.

“Kegan? Have you heard anything from the scouts?” asked Zachary.

He shook his head, “Nothing yet. Although I’m not surprised. They should all be too deep into enemy territory to be able to communicate with us at this time. So, we’ll just have to wait until they all return on the appointed date.”

Xavier sighed, “I don’t like this.”

Zachary nodded in agreement, “I agree. Something about this just doesn’t feel right. And I’m worried about our scouts being unable to contact us.”

“Me too.” Xavier said as he ran his hand through his hair, “I’m worried that they’ll get into trouble and no one will be able to help them. These rebels have been able to elude us all this time. Who’s to say that they know we’re looking for them and are aware of our scouts tracking them.”

Kegan nodded, “We all know this Xavier. The scouts knew it too when they volunteered for this assignment. They knew there was the possibility that the rebels were already watching us.”

Jules added his agreement, “We all made sure the scouts knew what they were getting into. Most of them are veterans, so they know missions like this aren’t easy. They know that their lives are at stake here, but they also know it’s for the safety of our kingdom. It’s a risk they were willing to take, Xavier. You didn’t force anyone to do this.”

As Nikki slid her hand into his, he nodded, “I know, I know. I just don’t like being in the dark. It bothers me that these rebels know so much about us, yet we don’t know a thing about them. And the fact that they managed to stage those attacks with no eyewitnesses except the one guard that barely survived, it doesn’t bode well for us.”

Jules sighed, “You’re right. We can’t fight an invisible enemy. So, we are going to have to keep our fingers crossed that those scouts come back with something good for us to use. It’s all we can do now.”

Zachary added, “At least we’ve finally gotten the borders fortified with the added guards and security systems. Hopefully that will go a long way to keeping the kingdom safe.”

Once again everyone nodded their agreement.

“Okay, we’ve touched on everything on the agenda. Anyone have anything else to add?” Xavier paused as everyone shook their heads, “Okay then, this meeting is closed.”

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Nikki sat at her desk in the Queen’s office perusing the day‘s paperwork. It had been Devnet’s office until the day Nikki had married Xavier and become the new queen. Now, it was where she went to take care of any of the business she was responsible for.

Devnet often joined her there, sitting in one of the comfortable overstuffed chairs with whatever she’d brought to occupy herself with while Nikki worked. She stayed quiet unless Nikki needed her advice or when Nikki needed a break from the tedious paperwork.

That afternoon, however, Devnet was busy remodeling the new suites that she and Marcus had finally moved into after retiring from their duties as a royal couple. Nikki smiled to herself as she thought of how hard it had been to get Marcus to move out of the castle and let go of his responsibilities as King.

That little tug of war between Xavier and Marcus continued on even now. It was a constant source of agitation for Xavier to find his father trying to butt his nose into Xavier’s business. Nikki knew Marcus didn’t mean to undermine his own son. Marcus knew Xavier was more than capable of running the kingdom on his own, but it was hard to let go of something you’d been responsible for after so long a time.

Nikki could only hope she and Xavier would have that chance to retire to their own little place someday. His grandparents and great-grandparents hadn’t been so lucky. Neither had Zachary’s father.

She frowned as she thought about the impending war that everyone seemed to be expecting. She hoped that it wasn’t going to be as bad as everyone thought it would be. Still, she wasn’t going to delude herself. She knew that it wasn’t a good sign that no one could find clues about the rebels and no one had even seen one of them. The enemy was way too good at hiding.

She shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts and instead began to think about Kristine. She really missed her best friend, but knew Kristine had the right of it about wanting to stay until after graduation. Still, she was worried what was going to happen now that Felix was dead. She didn’t think Kristine was going to want to leave her mother alone up there.

And Zachary wasn’t going to like leaving Kristine up there either. She sighed as she tried to think of some way to help Kristine and Amy, then wondered if it might not be a bad idea to tell Amy the truth. Would Amy be able to handle that? If she could, maybe she could come down here too. Nikki wondered if Amy would be willing to leave that world and the fight against the gang to come to a strange new world.

As she sat there thinking of ways to help the people she loved, her skin began to tingle. She sighed and looked down at her stomach. Placing a hand over it, she whispered, “Couldn’t you hold on for a few more hours? It’ll be dark soon.”

She tried to focus on finishing up the rest of the paperwork, but as she felt the fever begin, she threw her hands up in exasperation. “All right, fine, have it your way.”

As soon as she said that, the door to her office flew open. Xavier stood there with white eyes flashing.

Nikki growled as she slowly rose to her feet, eyes shifting to orange.

He grinned, “Sorry, leijha’mi, you can’t talk the baby out of needing nourishment.”

She growled once more, “You are enjoying this entirely too much, husigos eto dimo!”

He raised an eyebrow as he began to stalk her around the room, “Me? I’m merely doing my duty.”

She bared her fangs and hissed before sprinting out of the room. As she ran for their bedroom, she could hear his laughter in her mind.

And you aren’t enjoying this either? came his sarcastic remark.

I’d enjoy it more if you caught me, maos dimo. She replied as she threw open the bedroom door and launched herself at the bed.

She was caught in mid-leap, as Xavier wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.

Leaning over her, he whispered into her ear, “Oyare, leijha’mi.”

Shivers ran down her spine as she turned in his arms to wrap hers around his shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her close to his body as he did.

Nikki moaned into his mouth as she felt her skin heating up more. Pulling away from him, she trailed one hand down his chest and tugged at his clothes. “Ryomeh deh kepai emos klif, idi thewa meco kepai dimo rati meco oyare. Idi oka thi thewa dimo gerna meco ekhru prathis.”

He nodded as he began removing his clothes, watching her as she removed her own and backed towards the bed. “Hosa esu heswi, va’sique dimo.”

Nikki tossed the last of her clothes to the floor as Xavier pounced on her. Laughing, she slid an arm around his shoulder as he lifted her in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the bed. His lips descended on hers as he lowered her to the bed and pressed his body over hers. She moaned into his mouth and slid her hands down his back. Her legs opened to accommodate his hips as he settled between them.

Xavier moved his lips from her mouth to trail kisses along her jaw and down her neck. He began to lick a trail from there to her breasts, swirling his tongue around her areole before taking it into his mouth.

Nikki arched off the bed and dug fingers into his back as he began to suck slowly. A whimper escaped her lips as the temperature of her body continued to rise.

Xavier knew she was heating up. Not only could he feel the heat, but he could smell how much she needed him. He knew she didn’t want to rush things, so he was taking his time to pleasure her. He wanted to feel her as much as she wanted to feel him.

Nikki could feel the trembling of her body begin as Xavier ran his hands over her body. She kept her eyes closed tight and allowed him to take his time with her. She loved the way he touched her. The way his hands gently shaped her curves. As his fingers caressed her folds, another whimper escaped. She tried not to give in, but even Xavier heard the plea escape her lips.

“Asepros,” she whispered.

Xavier couldn’t deny his feigos what she wanted. Not when she asked like that. Removing his fingers, he positioned his body over hers and slid in slowly. A hiss of satisfaction escaped both of them until he was completely sheathed inside of her.

“Yene! Xavier!” Nikki cried out.

“Nikki,” moaned Xavier, as he captured her lips in his once more. Together, they began to move their bodies in the age old ritual of mating.

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Kristine slid her hand down Zachary’s chest as she moved over him. Zachary groaned into her kiss when he felt Kristine’s heat pressing against his groin. When her hand reached his underwear and started to tug them off, he curled his fingers around them and mumbled against her lips.

“Kris, please.”

Kristine lifted her head slightly to look down into his eyes, “I want to Zach. Don’t you want me?”

Zachary swallowed at the look in her eyes.

After the meeting that morning, he’d gone to his rooms to take a nap, letting Kegan be Xavier’s sparring partner since he really needed some sleep. When he’d woken up late that afternoon, he’d gone to meet with Xavier again until Nikki’s heat had interrupted them. So, he’d spent the rest of the time catching up on his duties as Chief Advisor before finally going to see Kristine for the night.

When he’d arrived, she was already in bed, waiting for him. Amy had called it an early night and was already fast asleep by the time he’d arrived. Kristine had let him in and they’d curled up together in her bed. She had told him about her day as they lay there, but eventually one thing had led to another.

So far Kristine had managed to get all of their clothes off except for his underwear and her panties. He’d thought they’d just fool around like the last time, but he could tell, Kristine wanted more.

He sighed and lifted a hand to her cheek, “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I want to be with you Zach.” She turned her face to place a kiss in his palm before she took his hand in hers and led it back to her breast.

Zachary curled his fingers around her breast, kneading it as she continued to remove his underwear. He lifted his hips to help her slide them off, then wrapped his arms around her and rolled her beneath him. His lips covered hers as he slid his hands down her body and removed her panties. As he nudged her thighs with his knee, he slid his fingers over her folds testing her readiness.

Kristine gasped and lifted her hips to meet his fingers. She spread her legs wider as he slid a finger inside of her. He pulled away to look down at her as he slid a second finger inside.

She moaned, “Oh Zach.”

He gave her a smile as she slid her hand down his chest until she was cupping him in her hand. He closed his eyes with a moan as she began to stroke him.

“Kris,” he gasped as his hips jerked.

He slid his fingers out of her and moved down to kiss her again. He slid one hand into her hair and supported himself with the other as he felt her guiding him to her heat. Slowly he slid into her, until he hit her barrier.

Kristine slid both hands around his hips to his ass and pulled him down even as she lifted her own hips. Zachary swallowed her cry as he felt himself pushing past her barrier. He held himself completely still until he felt her rotating her hips against his.

Soon, she was moaning into his mouth as she lifted her hips to meet his downward thrusts. Her legs wrapped tight around his, urging him to pick up the pace.

“Kris,” he whispered against her lips.

She smiled as she continued to kiss him. “I love you, Zach.”

“I love you too, baby.”

She arched her body up and threw her head back, fingers curling into his back, “Oh, God, Zach.”

Zachary leaned over her and captured her lips in his just as she let go. Her scream was swallowed by his kiss as he continued to thrust into her, prolonging her release. As she began to tremble beneath him, he felt her arms pulling him closer to her.

Her lips pressed against his ear as she whispered, “Let go, baby, I’m here with you.”

He groaned against her neck and let go, releasing himself inside of her even as her walls tightened around him and she stroked his back with her hands.

She held him close long after their climax had left the both of them. Zachary finally lifted his head from her neck and took her lips in a long, slow kiss. She was smiling at him when he lifted his head to look into her eyes.

“Thank you, Zach, for being with me. I love you.”

He caressed her cheek, “I love you too, Kris.”

Translations
leijha'mi - beautiful
husigos eto dimo - husband of mine
maos dimo - my mate
oyare - enjoy
ryomeh deh kepai emos klif - hurry and take them off
idi thewa meco kepai dimo rati meco oyare - I want to take time to enjoy
idi oka thi thewa dimo gerna meco ekhru prathis - I do not want my hunger to rush things
hosa esu heswi - as you wish
va'sique dimo - queen my (my queen)
asepros - please
feigos - wife
yene - yes