Page 48 of Needed in the Night (The Fortusian Mates, #2)
MIKAS
One Year Later
When my Isla took the stage, all the world stood still—or at least it did for me.
“ I do not need to go to any heavens above ,” she sang in Tivoran, her rainbow hair and teal dress shimmering in the multicolored lanterns hovering around the stage. Her sparkling violet eyes met mine. “ Or see starlight shine or moonlight glow to be happy. I only need to be with you .”
Smiling, I filled a tankard with Bacorian mead and a glass with Terran sake and slid them across the bar to the green-skinned server. She added them to her fully laden tray to deliver.
The weight of the tray was no challenge for a Hardanian female. The servers casually competed nightly to see who could carry the most drinks at once, with the winner pocketing a modest purse. As long as no drinks were spilled, I pretended I did not know about their wagers.
Unlike most bars along Jakora’s Angel Coast, Silver Sails Tavern did not use service ’bots or drink kiosks.
Nor did it have holos or vidscreen entertainment.
Instead, our tavern offered live bar service, live entertainment, and a spectacular lavender ocean view as a backdrop.
And it had proven an effective business plan, much to the delight of its humble and hard-working owners.
“So, you’re living the dream,” Brae rasped in my ear. In shadow form, he was perched carefully on my bare shoulder, his claws gripping my spines to hold himself steady as I moved around behind the bar. “How does it feel to own the most popular bar on the Angel Coast?”
I chuckled quietly. “All I need is to see Isla happy. If she is happy, then I am happy.” I scanned the packed bar and allowed myself a moment to feel pride in how few empty seats I saw. “But it does feel good,” I admitted. “Damned good.”
My order screen displayed a long list of drink requests awaiting my attention. Our newest bartender, a human woman named Abril, was as busy as I was at the other end of the bar. She seemed to be keeping up without any trouble. Not surprising, given she had been bartending for years.
Abril had jumped at the chance to work at Silver Sails when we posted a job notice.
She moved here almost overnight from the central port area.
Her explanation for her willingness to relocate more than a thousand kilometers from her previous home to take the job was the very business plan our financing agent had met with extreme skepticism.
It was, that same agent had grudgingly admitted at our last meeting to go over the bar’s finances, a business plan that seemed to be catching on in the area.
More bars and resorts advertised live service and entertainment and fewer ’bots and kiosks.
Customers were happier, profits rose, and the area had drawn more interplanetary visitors who before had stayed closer to the planet’s primary port.
Isla and I had changed the Angel Coast with our vision.
And it did feel damned good, but what filled me most with warmth and contentment was my Isla’s unending joy.
In the months following our departure from Fortusia, Madame Ycari’s sources reported the Erotovo on Ngara had given up his search for Halena Onsulus.
Nubo had run afoul of rivals and fled Fortusia for parts unknown.
Soon after, Atlath had purchased Zaa’ga and promptly replaced all the drink kiosks and service ’bots with live bartenders and servers.
He had also hired local singers and musicians to perform nightly.
Ycari reported the bar rarely had any empty seats.
We had promised to visit as soon as we could.
Kona had received a thirty-year sentence in the Ymar II penal colony for attempted murder, with no chance at early parole because she had targeted a diplomat.
If Nubo had sent Kona after Isla, she had never mentioned his involvement.
Either way, I hoped justice in some form would find him wherever he was hiding.
Isla no longer wished to work as an undercover operative for the Web, but she, Brae, and I had discussed becoming local agents on Jakora in the way Madame Ycari helped those in need on Fortusia.
Though the risk was far less than what my mate and her companion used to do, we had many considerations to weigh and would not rush making a decision.
My beautiful mate was happy day and night. She smiled at work and at home, in my arms and swimming in the lavender ocean, and even when she slept. Her heart was at peace here, and so was mine.
Gods above, ours was a good life.
I made four Bacorian fullwells for a pair of six-armed, two-headed Boltanians. Fullwells were not as popular on Jakora as they were on Fortusia, but every so often someone would order one and I was reminded of my time at Zaa’ga, which now seemed a lifetime ago.
“I’m off to forage,” Brae said, rubbing his round belly. “I’ll see you and Isla back at the house later—unless you’re going to be down on the beach when I get back.”
“We might be,” I said with a smile. “You know Isla likes to sit under the stars with a brandy after our shift.”
“Yes, I’m sure it’s the brandy she likes to have on the beach after her shift.” Brae chortled. “See you later, Mikas.” He launched himself off my shoulder and disappeared into the night in search of the area’s tastiest insects.
Unlike the bars and clubs on Fortusia and those on Jakora close to the port, establishments on the Angel Coast closed generally around 0100 or 0200 hours.
The area was less tourist-oriented and at least half to two-thirds of our guests were local residents.
It was, in my opinion, an ideal situation, because it meant Isla and I returned to our little home by 0200 or 0300 at the latest nearly every night—sometimes earlier.
Tonight, Isla and I took a blanket, our dinner, and a bottle of Bacorian brandy to our usual little secluded cove on the beach. As much as we loved Silver Sails, the quiet of an empty beach and the gentle sounds of waves were a welcome respite from the pressures and noise of our workplace.
The only ache in my hearts was that even on a mild night Isla had to bring a second blanket to keep herself warm.
She always reminded me we should be grateful the poison’s only lingering aftereffect was sensitivity to temperature, and I was grateful, but it was a never-ending reminder of what I had almost lost.
We made love under the stars and moons, and then I settled her on top of me with a blanket draped over us and my arms holding her close. She nestled her head against my chest and made little contented sounds as we caught our breath.
Another benefit of this stretch of beach was its view of the night sky without interference from light pollution. In deference to local residents and late-night beachgoers, ordinances required non-essential lights to be dimmed or shut off after the bars and restaurants closed.
“Tell me which moons we’re seeing tonight,” Isla murmured.
“The small moon just there is Kyri,” I said, running my fingers through her soft hair. “The gray moon without an atmosphere is Lirai. And the large purple moon is called Iosa.”
“I’d like to visit some of the moons.” She snuggled deeper under the blanket. I tucked it more tightly around her. “I’ve heard Iosa is lovely when it’s not hurricane season. Can we go?”
“Someday,” I promised, raising my head to kiss her hair. “There are no resorts there and only a small population, but the oceans are lavender like here and the wilderness is unspoiled. It would be beautiful and quiet, I think.”
“Sounds like it.” She let out a contented sigh. “I miss Fortusia, but we live in paradise, don’t we?”
Isla was my paradise, but Jakora was certainly one too. “Yes, it is wonderful.” I reached into the bottom of the bag that had contained our meal. “I have a gift for you.”
She chuckled. “Another one? You already gave me…” She counted on her fingers. “Three?”
I nipped her fingertips with my teeth. “ Only three. Not my best effort.”
“I’m always more interested in quality over quantity.” She rubbed her nose against my chest. “And every one of those was of the highest quality—especially your bite.”
“I very much enjoyed my bite as well.” I caressed her wonderfully soft thigh, which was draped over my hip. My cocks leapt at the thought of the little marks my fangs left in her skin. “I am sorry you have to stay quiet when we make love on the beach. I would much rather hear you scream.”
“Greedy man, I scream enough for you at home. And we don’t want everyone in the area knowing what we’re doing down here.” She rested her chin on my sternum and looked up at me, her eyes twinkling. “What was that you said about a gift?”
I sat up, leaned against a stone, and settled her in my lap wrapped in the blanket.
She took the package and studied it. “No sign of where it’s from or what it is,” she said, frowning at me. “Give me a hint.”
I shook my head. “No hints. Open it.”
Scowling, she found the latches and raised the lid. She gasped.
The first item in the case was a wooden box. Wide-eyed, she opened it and withdrew a cloth pouch. “Mikas! Is this what I think it is?”
“Yes.” I kissed her temple. “Go on.”
From the pouch she took a delicate hand-carved crystal perfume bottle in the shape of a miniorinae, a purple flower native to Jakora. The flower’s stamen was the stopper. When she freed the stopper and lifted the glass rod, a wonderful fragrance filled the air.
“Oh,” she breathed, closing her eyes to inhale.
“It’s the scent of us again…but with Jakoran florals.
Oh, Mikas.” She applied the perfume to her wrists and stoppered the bottle carefully before setting it in her lap and kissing me deeply.
“Thank you. This is the most wonderful gift. All the way from Madame Ycari on Fortusia!”
“To celebrate our first year on Jakora.” I nestled her head under my chin. “Now the rest of what is in the package.”
“What?” She blinked at me. “There can’t be more. This is already too much.”
“My love, nothing is ever too much.” I nudged her arm. “Lift the divider and look at what is underneath.”
She found the release and popped open the lower section of the case. And shrieked.
“Jampas!” She bounced on my lap in glee, holding up the case so I could see the bright red berries, preserved for the long journey from Fortusia to Jakora. “Mikas, jampas! ”
“Yes, I know,” I chuckled. “Jampa berries…and seeds.”
She gasped. “Seeds? To grow our own jampa bushes?”
“Yes.” Gods, her joy warmed me like a sun. “We will need specially blended soil since they are not native to this planet, and they will have to grow indoors, but?—”
She silenced me with a kiss.
I fed my mate two berries and watched her savor both, and then I kissed her again. She was so perfect: so sweet, so fiery, so full of passion and joy. So wonderfully Isla .
Her hand slid down between us to stroke my cocks. I rumbled.
“I would like to thank you properly,” she murmured against my lips. “That is, if you have the energy, and you’d like to see me take your knot tonight after all.”
“There is nothing in the universe that would keep me from saying yes to that proposal.” I cupped her face. “I love you.”
“I love you.” Isla’s smile made my hearts sing. She rolled off my lap to her hands and knees and frowned at me over her shoulder. “Don’t keep your mate waiting.”
“Of course not.” I rose to my knees and kissed her shoulder. “As you know, I obey my mate in all things.”
She laughed, and then she gasped, her back arching. “Mikas…”
“Yes, my love,” I growled, my fangs grazing her delicate skin. “The best is yet to come.”