An Unexpected Return
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An Unexpected Return
Copyright © 2012 by Jessica E. Subject
ISBN: 978-1-61333-299-3
Cover art by Fantasia Frog Designs
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Decadent Publishing Sci-Fi Romance
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An Unexpected Return
Elatia Series
by
Jessica E. Subject
~
DEDICATION
~
To Dawn, for all of your support during the writing of this story
Glossary
Claustrum
– a planet containing only a prison colony. It is often used as a threat to misbehaving children.
denotatio
– marking. In An Unexpected Return, denotation refers to the facial markings used to distinguish an echelon four Adamo from those still in training.
domus
– house
farite
– a precious metal mined from the rock of Tyto, and used for exquisite pieces of jewelry and in trade.
hospes
– hospital
Mikashe
– a transient race. They are peaceful, and travel across the universe. Their bodies are covered in scales, much like a snake.
nutrix
– nurse
Otaria
– a planet in the Petrogeous Galaxy. The inhabitants are humanoid with blue skin. Hair color ranges from gold to dark brown.
Star cycle
– approximately one Earth year
stellae
– star
Tyto
– Otaria’s moon. Inhabitants, originally from Otaria, live underground.
Chapter One
Benignus eyed him, as if confident he would change his mind. “Aristides, are you certain you want to go through with this?”
Grinning at his fair-haired friend, Aristides had no doubt. He’d made his decision long ago. “Yes, go in there and enjoy the woman you have craved for more than two star cycles. I have no use for her.”
“And when the king comes in?” Benignus scanned the tapestry-rich corridors of the castle’s west wing. “I know he’s going to send me to Claustrum.”
“He’s not going to send you to the prison colony.” No one had been sent there from Tyto, ever. The planet was simply used as an idle threat to misbehaving children. Aristides placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders. “I give you permission to deflower my betrothed. She will be yours, as it should have always been. Just be sure she is on top when we come into the room.”
He slid open the door to his grand suite, a place he would not return to any time soon, not before experiencing what the universe had to offer. “She waits for you. Now, go in there and take her.”
His friend and gentleman of the bedchamber patted him on the back. “Thank you, Aris, and star’s speed.”
After shoving Benignus through the door, Aristides waited in the hollow silence—usual for this part of the castle—for some indication his plan had worked before leaving to search for his father. Through the darkness engulfing his room, he couldn’t see a thing, but the sounds of wet lips in action caught his attention.
His cock stirred.
Almost there
.
Rubbing his hands down his arms, he tried to escape the chill common to the kingdom. The sun didn’t shine underground and fires only burned in the kitchen and the north wing, where his parents slept.
“Oh, Aristides, I’m so glad you decided to deflower me before our wedding night. Take me this instant.”
Don’t fail me now, Ben
.
“No, Madelia. It’s me, Ben. Don’t worry. No one will know.”
“Oh, even better. Will Aris be joining us?”
A threesome
?
Oh, gods
. Could he get any harder? He and Ben often discussed sex, what their first time would be like, and whom they wanted to lose their virginity to. Sure, they’d had their rods sucked by the mouths of many fair maidens, touched the girls in their most intimate places, everything but the final penetration. They’d each been told to save themselves for their one true love, the woman they wanted to marry. Oh, he’d had plenty of offers, but sure as Terrans hated Otarians, the woman would babble about having her cherry popped by the prince, and he’d find himself chained to a female he’d only used to get off.
Ben, though, had always been fond of Madelia. Yet she had never shown any interest in him before tonight. And once she’d been betrothed to Aris, she’d become a constant thorn in his side. He refused to betray his best friend.
He’d plotted this night ever since his wedding date had been set, for no matter how hard he tried, he could never care for Madelia. Watching his parents pretending to love each other over the years had been enough for him. No way in Claustrum did he want the same thing for himself. And then, he’d heard rumors of how they spent their holidays on the planet Elatia, in the Belverian system, receiving sexual pleasure from the revered Adamos. That was where he planned to travel. He wanted to experience every sensation before he settled down with anyone, if, of course, he found someone he could love.
No one on Tyto appealed to him. They were all too needy, not willing to get their hands dirty with work until forced to upon their twentieth birthdays. Then they became bitter with him because of his father’s decree, and invariably left him to search for an older man wanting to make a family. He could care less what they did with their lives. Once his marriage was called off, he planned to sneak away from Tyto and get busy living.
A whimper broke the silence. “Oh, Benignus, how you fill me so.”
His cock jumped, demanding attention. He’d love no more than to watch them fuck, stroking himself, but then he’d never get a chance to leave.
Time for the next phase
.
Rushing down the corridor, he ignored the lavish silks of purple and gold hanging on the walls, for the extravagance did not suit him. He wanted to rule his father’s kingdom on Tyto, the moon of Otaria, no more than he wanted Madelia as his queen. Not until he was ready to settle down. The excessiveness of this lifestyle had never held any appeal to him anyway. Even as a child, he’d preferred to explore the caves of Tyto with the common children, or stow away on a supply ship to visit other planets, only to be dragged back home by his guard.
Reaching his father’s study, he burst through the door. The warmth hit him like a brick wall. He drew in a quick breath. “Father, I need your help. Benignus is very ill. He’s been in the lavatory with the sickness. I believe he ate some tainted food.”
The king peered up, examining him. “No one else has shown any signs of the sickness. Seriously, at twenty-one star cycles, I would expect the two of you to have outgrown your antics. What kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?”
“No trouble at all, sir. Please help him. I have him resting in my bed now, but he is too ill to move to his own quarters.”
“Thornton!”
The stout man—and the only Terran friendly with his father—entered the room as soon as the king beckoned. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Fetch the doctor and bring him up to the prince’s quarters.” The king stood up, his purple robe billowing behind him. “Let’s go.”
Aristides hurried to follow his father, hoping Benignus had stuck to the plan and would last long enough to get caught.
“Were you in those caves again? You know the black magic there causes the sickness.”
He sighed. The humid caves were filled with bacteria, occasionally causing visitors to become sick if they didn’t wash after returning from them. His father, though, preferred to live in his fantasy world. “No, Father, we went directly to my quarters after dinner.”
“Honestly, you two cause more trouble than any common child.”
His father reached his suite first. The lights flashed on and in an instant, they were treated to a view of Madelia, who sat on top of Benignus, speared by his cock.
“What is the meaning of this?” The king’s face turned from its usual shade of blue to bright red, heat radiating from his body even in the cooler part of the castle.
Benignus scrambled out from under Madelia. He held his stomach. “I was there lying on the bed and she climbed on top of me. I was too weak to push her off.”
Smirking behind his father, Aristides winked at his friend.
Madelia chose that moment to turn around and glare at him.
“And you, woman?” the king asked.
She cowered under his father’s glare. “I thought he was…. Oh, fuck. I was set up.”
“No one talks like that to me or anyone while on my land.”
Everyone cringed. His father hadn’t been born into a kingdom, but had given himself the title after settling on Tyto. He’d been the president of Otaria, and when he and his followers left for the moon, he’d changed his title to king, and declared the state a monarchy. Though Aris had never understood why his father left in the first place. Every picture he’d seen of his birth planet, the luscious forests and open sky, had left him with an ache to flee from Tyto.
But oh gods, his childhood had been hell, growing up in the cold-climate underworld. He’d been a toddler when his father moved him there. He grew up speaking in the “proper manner,” yet his schoolmates spoke in the old world way. He’d learned the rough dialect and every curse word, yet he took care to revert back to the royal tongue when at home in the castle. He couldn’t wait to leave.
“Aristides.” His father pulled him forward. “Since she is your betrothed, you must decide her fate.”
Just as he’d hoped.
He stuck out his chest, attempting to appear noble while his insides jumped for joy. “Since Madelia deflowered herself with my gentleman of the bedchamber, she shall be bound to him for the rest of her life.”
“Then let it be so,” the king proclaimed.
Benignus grinned. He finally had the woman he’d always wanted. Aris yearned to find an ounce of his friend’s happiness.
“Gentleman of the bedchamber, my ass. More like jack-off partner,” Madelia muttered. “At least he knows how to fuck,” she said, tossing her comment in Aristides’ direction.
Thornton and the doctor appeared at the door, panting like Terran dogs. “Is everything all right, Your Majesty?”
Time to go
. He refused to stick around for Ben’s betrothal ceremony, for surely they would have another woman for him by then, too.
“Prince Aristides, where are you going?”
Shit
! He refused to turn around and acknowledge his father’s question, for the man would never chase after him. And the two men who would still had to catch their breath.
Aristides rushed to the south wing and down a flight of stairs, toward his waiting Personal Space Transport Vehicle. He’d already packed clothing appropriate for Elatia’s warmer climate and enough nourishment to last his entire journey inside the PSTV.
He climbed in. After starting the engines, Aristides steered the ship up the narrow rock tunnel and out into space. The fold that would take him to the Belverian system lay straight ahead.