Her words after she’d said Felice’s name passed by Kieran entirely. Was Felice
here
? In custody? Hurt? Or shoved onto the nearest transport headed toward Earth?
Rees also looked as though someone had dropped a heavy brick on him. The other Shareem had stopped laughing and listened, watchful. Lady d’Aroth hadn’t told them the fates of these ladies, only that they’d spoken up for the Shareem.
“In light of these developments,” Lady d’Aroth was saying, “which have been building for twenty and more years, culminating in this night’s unfortunate events, I am waiving the restriction for Shareem leaving the planet. For those Shareem in this hall, now. But the waiver is only good for tonight. Tomorrow, I might feel differently.”
Dead silence. Kieran drew a long breath as her words sunk in .
. . Waiving the restriction on Shareem leaving the planet . . .
Shareem started to move uneasily, looking at each other then back at Lady d’Aroth. Was she serious? Or was this another cruel trick?
“I say we take it,” Kieran said loudly.
Lady d’Aroth raised her hands. “Let me be clear. Once you go, you can never return. Ever. You will be terminated on sight if you set foot on Bor Narga again.”
“What if we decide to stay?” A deep voice asked. Justin. His tone was somber. “What happens then?”
“Stay?” Lady d’Aroth’s brows climbed, as though she hadn’t anticipated
that
question. “If you stay, and stop this nonsense, you can return home unhindered. But you will remain subject to the laws of Bor Narga regarding your kind. If you decide to leave later . . .” She was making this up on the fly, but Kieran had to respect her for having the balls to do it. The rest of the ruling council would probably shit themselves when they found out. “If you decide later you want to leave, you may apply for a permit. Your conduct while living here will determine the outcome.”
Murmurs began, the Shareem finally starting to believe she meant what she said. Rylan put his arm around Maia and kissed her hair. A few Shareem high-fived each other.
“I will arrange transport for all of you,” Lady d’Aroth said. “Immediately.”
“No,” Rees said. His voice broke over the rising tumult, and the other Shareem stopped talking and fixed on him. “Thank you,” Rees said, giving Lady d’Aroth a slight bow. “But we’ll arrange our own transport.”
Lady d’Aroth’s eyes narrowed. “You will pay for it, then. I’m not offering charity.”
“We will,” Rees said, and fell silent again.
He had a point. Lady d’Aroth might generously arrange one transport ship for all Shareem, auto-piloted to run straight into a sun. End of Shareem problem.
Kieran couldn’t keep silent any longer. “I’m out of here!” he shouted. “Who’s with me?”
A roar followed, Shareem letting loose in whoops and yells, grabbing each other for a little joyous male hugging. “Lady d’Aroth!” One of them called. “Let’s hear it for our lady.”
They cheered her—no one could do it more boisterously and honestly than Shareem.
Lady d’Aroth listened, waited, and then her words came, amplified even more to be heard over the noise. “If you can
possibly
leave my hall in an orderly fashion, you will be escorted to the docks to find your transport. I want you gone within the next twenty-four hours. In other words, gentlemen, please get off my planet.”
“You got it, sweetheart!” another yelled, and laughter followed.
The Shareem left in a cacophony of sound, of joy. The patrollers stood by, looking annoyed, their weapons ready in case the unruly Shareem tried anything, but they let them go.
Kieran heard his name. He turned in time to see a streak flying through the crowd, and then five-foot-six worth of woman leapt into his arms and wrapped strong legs around him. Felice was crying, her gray-green eyes alight as she clung to him.
Kieran crushed her mouth in a kiss. This was where he belonged, his arms around his lady.
Felice broke the long kiss and smiled widely at him. “Kieran. Damn.”
“You little shit,” Kieran said fiercely. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be safe on a space station.”
“I made Mitch bring me here. I couldn’t leave you.”
Kieran growled, but his excitement was too big at the moment for any anger. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said. “I’ll spank you later.”
Felice gave him a huge grin as Kieran set her down. “Looking forward to it.”
“Rees!” Another streak, this one with gauzy robes fluttering in her wake, then the small woman threw her arms around the big, annoying Shareem. “She did it! We’re going!”
Rees lifted Talan, spinning around once with her. Kieran caught sight of his face. The crazed look had vanished from Rees’s blue eyes; he was now simply a man who’d thought he’d lost the one he loved, and against the odds, found her again. Rees kissed Talan’s lips, her face, her hair. Then he thumped her back on her feet and started yelling at her.
Talan took in Rees with an enraptured look for a second, then she started yelling right back at him.
“That’s true love,” Kieran said, watching them. “Let’s go, babe.” He planted his hand on Felice’s backside. “Before she changes her mind.”
On the way out, they passed Justin, reunited with Deanna, both of them hugging, kissing, Deanna crying, and Justin moist-eyed himself.
“Seriously?” Kieran asked Justin. “You want to
stay
?”
“For a while,” Justin said. “I think you know why.” Kieran did. He kept silent even now—Shareem might be free to go, but announcing that a young Bor Nargan woman out there was Justin’s daughter probably wasn’t the best move.
Kieran held out his hand. “See you then. When you decide to finally leave, look us up. We’ll be . . . Somewhere. Probably having sex.”
Justin took his hand and squeezed it hard. “When aren’t you?” He grinned. “Take care of him,” he said to Felice. “Someone has to watch over this big guy.”
“I’ll let her,” Kieran said. He said good-bye again, and he and Felice walked away.
Rylan had also opted to stay, with Maia. Rylan and Maia lived away from the city, out in the desert mountains. They’d found freedom there, of a sort. Rylan was a skilled artist, making beautiful singing spheres out of the quartz deposits the mountains had in abundance. Kieran had stayed with him a while, and still didn’t understand how Rylan could coax something so amazing out of a pile of rocks.
“We’re happy where we are for now,” Rylan said. “No one bothers us—except when other Shareem come to visit.” He gave Kieran a big, teasing grin.
Maia hugged Kieran, her lush body throwing warmth and pheromones over him. Kieran thought he understood why Rylan believed it better for them to hole up in the remote mountains—the way males reacted to Maia, she needed protection. A space station full of horny pilots and dock workers was not the best place to take her.
More good-byes, and then Kieran and Felice were walking through the halls of the ruling family’s palace—a place Kieran never thought he’d find himself—and out into the bright light of a Bor Nargan morning.
Already, it was filthy hot. Ground transport stood by ready for them, but Kieran ignored it to lead Felice to a hover train headed down to Pas City. Back to reality.
Except the universe had changed.
Chapter Twenty
Rees, back in his favorite position of organizing everything, had transports lined up within hours, ready to take the rest of the Shareem out. Kieran knew the funding came from the ladies, and he vowed that when he got himself a real job on someplace like Sirius or Ariel, he’d pay them back every penny.
For now, Kieran decided that he and Felice would hitch a ride with Mitch, whose little ship had returned on autopilot. Felice had explained what she’d done, which only made Kieran want to get alone with her more. Her audacity both made him proud and want to yell at her at the same time. What she’d done was fucking dangerous, and fucking brave.
Judith was riding with them to Station 579—she and Mitch deserved a little vacation, she said. However, Judith was electing to remain on Bor Narga—she still had a business here. Plus, she wanted to make sure the Shareem staying behind weren’t mistreated, and Mitch had a lot of contracts with Bor Nargans, so he’d be coming there a lot. Judith’s eyes, though, told Kieran she’d go wherever Mitch roamed.
Kieran wasn’t sure what he felt as the dust-colored rock of Bor Narga dropped away beneath him, Mitch climbing for the stars. Relief? Regret? Shock? Joy?
He saw the inevitable wave of yellow sand encroach on then swallow the city—another day, another sandstorm. Kieran’s breath mask, which he’d habitually grabbed when he’d stopped at his apartment to throw a few things into a bag, was stowed with his stuff. No longer needed.
“You all right?” Felice asked him. Kieran realized he was squeezing her hand as the engines kicked in to lift them far away from the atmosphere.
For answer, Kieran leaned across the seat, battling the restraining webbing, and kissed her. “Never been this good.” Her answering smile was all he needed.
Kieran held Felice’s hand all the way to Station 579, which was not only the closest space station—a few hours’ journey—but an independent port, lying outside the jurisdiction of neighboring planets. Station 579 obeyed no one but its corporate directors, and had no laws except station rules and the universal humanitarian ones. Mitch went through all the hoops pilots had to jump through in order to dock, then Felice and Kieran had to jump through some more to be able to disembark. Freedom meant paperwork, Kieran soon learned, but it was worth it.
In the end, Kieran was issued a pass that let him into most parts of the station. Whenever he wanted to leave, he could go, provided he paid for his transportation. After that, he was on his own. Felice, as a citizen of Old Earth, was pretty much granted a pass for everywhere.
Kieran had a little reunion with the other Shareem who’d made it and were waiting for them—Calder and Katarina—Calder already looking as though he’d lost twenty years, with a smile creasing the corners of his mouth. He was protective of Katarina, though. Very protective—scowled at anyone who came near her.
Aiden and Ky nearly crushed Brianne when she came off her transport, both men trying to hug and kiss her at the same time.
A six-armed bundle of love,
Kieran said in Felice’s ear, and she laughed. It did him good to see the threesome reunited.
Braden and Elisa, twined around each other, hurried off to find a room, Braden grinning hard. Rees and Talan . . . the two of them were
still
yelling at each other, but that would likely wind down into a bondage session that left them both breathless.
One more Shareem came to them, Rio—that smug bastard who’d left Bor Narga with his lady from Ariel two years ago.
“About time you assholes got here,” Rio boomed as he reached Kieran and bumped fists with him. “Who’s the pretty? Don’t tell me you conned a lady into sticking with
you
.”
“This is Felice,” Kieran said, wrapping his arm around her. “And she can kick your ass, so don’t mess with her.”
Rio shared a laugh with Felice and his lover Nella, but Rio gave Felice a wary look as he went on by to greet Rees. Rees and Rio had been best friends, and they met with a lot of laughter, bear hugs, and loud words.
Felice squeezed Kieran’s hand. “I say we find us a room. I’m exhausted.”
“Yep.” Kieran said, though he wanted a room for better reasons than sleeping.
While he and Felice moved down the wide corridor in search of the quarters Rees had arranged, Kieran took the time to enjoy the fact that he was actually
off
Bor Narga. He’d never been to a space station, which was like a huge indoor dockyard, but clean. So clean. No dirt, no dust.
The floor was paved with multicolored stones brought from the planets surrounding them, and the ceiling soared overhead to a clear canopy that showed the stars outside. But the place wasn’t empty. Station 579 was crowded with people from different planets, different systems, different races—most of them Kieran had never seen before. Many of Kieran’s clients came from off-world, but the variety of sentient beings here stunned him. Skins of different colors, beings of different shapes, things that might or might not be people at all—everyone mixed freely. Gender wasn’t as apparent either.
Felice took it all in stride, but she was from Old Earth and had been around the galaxies a time or two. Kieran had thought the Shareem with their body-hugging tunics and black chains would stand out, but no. Turned out the Shareem were some of the most human-looking beings here. No one gave them a second glance.
Well, all right, maybe a
second
glance from anything remotely female. They were still Shareem, still gave off come-and-have-sex-with-me vibes, and that fact would never go away.
“I think I’m going to like it here,” Kieran heard a Shareem say before he and Felice dove into a lift that swept them up to guest quarters.
“Space station inns are all the same,” Felice said as Kieran led her into the clean white room with a beige-covered bed, beige chairs, and beige rugs. The console was black, breaking up all the beige and white. “But I have to say, I’ve never been happier to see one.”