Starlight Gleaming Ch. 22

"You are most welcome, General." I looked at my watch. "It's an hour past lunch time. May I treat all of you to lunch at the O Club? We can drop your aides at the NCO Club on the way, and I'll pick up the tab there, too."

Surprised and pleased, both generals checked their schedules, and with a minimum of shuffling, we went to lunch. I brought a boxed lunch back for Hanami - a grilled tapir steak, seasoned red quinoa, and steamed vegetables with a wine sauce. I was pretty sure she'd eaten, but who doesn't want to take home steak? Doyya bought one for Chita.

Doyya rode back to work with me, as her shift was just starting. She didn't say anything aloud. But she did give me a long and meaningful look as we rode back silently together.

When I returned to the office, I assured Hanami that we'd saved Lieutenant Hanti. She was relieved, and thanked me for providing her dinner. Next, I called Lieutenant Hanti, and told her whatever else happened, that I was positive that either General Barankoshto or the Commandant would amend her Quarterly Performance Review in her favor. Emotional, she thanked me for saving her.

Then she said, "Commander, that's twice you've come to my rescue. I know this is rather forward, but would you be willing to be listed as my official champion?"

"I would be honored," I replied. "However, I did what Air Security was and is supposed to do, which is enforce the law and the Emperor's Peace. Have a good day, Lieutenant."

After I hung up, I worked at my desk for the rest of the day, while Hanami cleared future scheduled staff meetings with General Ulee'ar from my calendar. She also set out a block of time for me to interrogate Toomie the next day.

If the Commandant was going to push to replace General Ulee'ar, then I didn't think I needed to do too much with questioning of Toomie. While I hadn't actually witnessed him shooting my troopers, he did have it when they fell and he did try to shoot me with the stunner. I had him dead to rights on some serious felonies. As it was, I was down five troopers until they could be examined by medical staff to verify their neuro-functions were back to normal.

For his actions, I could push to have Toomie demoted. However, the general would turn right around and promote him back again, making it a waste of my time. As an officer, though, I couldn't have him flogged, though he certainly deserved it. Yeah, flogging wasn't really effective, but Toomie had pissed me off. Instead, I set in motion the paperwork for his court martial, which meant he was here at High Guard until those criminal charges were adjudicated. If he was discharged under a court martial, his career was pretty much over - which I was more than okay with.

Then I recalled there had been a second officer with General Ulee'ar when he'd arrived. I realized I hadn't seen him around in a while. Looking back through my notes, I discovered his name was Hoomentar. It was possible, he might not be at High Guard. Doing a profile search, I found him, and cursed as I discovered he was a senior officer working for the Air Service in Human Resources for almost two months. I'd found the general's HR source!

General Ulee'ar was probably using Hoomentar to find the women he targeted for persecution. Accessing some of my "other" tools, I flagged Hoomentar's profile to give me a reading on what records he touched, set up a second task to collect a report of the personnel records he'd directly accessed since his arrival, and set a tickler to remind me to check the logs generated at the end of the day. The depredations of Voyacherno under Dagantochtlo's watch had been corrosive and traitorous. The actions of General Ulee'ar and his minions weren't overtly corrupt, but they did have an insidious effect on the health of the Empire, and the sooner they were excised, the better the Empire's chances of weathering the storms ahead. In the meantime, I sent out orders restricting Lieutenant Hoomentar to High Guard. Then I turned my mind to other matters.

The good news was that after a day of rest, all the troopers recovered from the sensory overload, and were cleared to return to duty.

* * * * *

That evening the meal was good and my time with my girls was pleasant and without incident. Janetta and Zinja were both late that night, arriving home for dinner while I was reading aloud to my girls and the others.

This lateness had been going on for a few weeks, and they'd both been steadily arriving later in the evening than their previous schedule. I understood the ground crews were working as fast as they could to upgrade as many aircraft with energy shields, and where possible, to give them a weapon capable of doing at least some damage to their Atlantean counterparts.

A couple of times I was frustrated and stepped out into the night air on the deck, and watched the starlight gleaming. I didn't like the growing distance I felt growing between Janetta and me, and while Zinja loved me, she took her direction from Janetta. I knew my fierce warrior was swamped with work, and frankly, so was I, and I didn't know what to do about things. She was so stubborn sometimes! I wanted to make her listen, but she was also an officer in the Imperial Air Service, just like I was. She had her own career, and it was important to me to respect her choices. I never wanted to make her feel like she had to choose. Partly because I was afraid that even if it broke her heart, her flying would come first. I understood that love of flying, and her passion was part of who she was and why I loved her so much.

Eventually, the silence or the cooler air would send me back into the house.

As in previous situations, when they arrived home after we'd started filming the evening's reading session, both women waited in the kitchen, chatting quietly until we were finished and filming had wrapped up for the night. On those nights, Janetta and Zinja were so tired that they barely responded to my greeting them and giving them a kiss and a hug. They took a hot shower together and pretty much fell into bed, passing out as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

I had the girls watched while I had Calia and Ixma join Izel and me in the master bedroom. I told them about what had happened with Lieutenant Hanti, the altercation with General Ulee'ar and his aide, Lieutenant Toomie, and the results afterward. I also told them about what I'd been told, that important people were looking at how the Protection Order affected morale and military readiness.

Concerned for me, they insisted I show them my shoulder, and when I did, all three commented on it.

Izel said, "Husband, there's bruising outside the borders of the Nu-skin patch."

Though she was tired, Ixma looked at me with pride and affection. "Well, the other part about the Protection Order - that's great news, isn't it? It means others are taking notice, and there's a chance this will spread to other places within the Empire!"

"It is, indeed," I confirmed. "At this time, the Order will spread to a few selected war bases, but yes, the idea is that the Protection Order will continue spreading."

Excited by the news and suddenly weeping with happiness, Ixma burrowed into me, telling me how much she loved me for making her life better in so many ways. Izel, too, cuddled against my left side, about how happy she was for having married me.

I didn't want to tell them that this task which I'd undertaken had effectively capped my career; I didn't want them feeling guilty. I had done this because it was the right thing to do. Warriors stand up for what's right and they act. Had I known before taking that stand last year that it would put a ceiling on my career, I'd like to believe that I would have still done it. The change in not only the women of my own household, but across High Guard was palpable. With this change, my daughters and all the other daughters of the Empire would face fewer roadblocks to their futures.

Then I shook my head. A lot of officers never reach the rank of a full commander, and at twenty-three, I was feeling sorry I couldn't reach any higher.

Then I saw Calia, tears silently falling down her cheeks as she looked at me, her face a riot of emotion, and I knew that because I was thinking about it, she knew my reasons for keeping silent and the cost to my career.

*Master, if this is what you wish, I will keep your secret.* Hearing her voice in my head was more than hearing the words spoken, it was feeling her presence in a way that is difficult to fully describe. *It is love that inspired you to do these things for us. You so often feel that you don't do enough to let us know how much we mean to you. I tell you that what you're doing improves our lives in so many ways. Think of your wife, how frightened and alone she felt when she first arrived. Then look at her and see the love in her eyes when she looks at you. Think Ixma, when you first met her, and how much she's changed in the past year! As for me? If I had a thousand years, I would only begin to scratch the surface of all you mean to me. You loving us makes us happy!*

Calia joined the group cuddle so all three of them could shower me with affection and I happily held and kissed them back. For long minutes, we basked in each other's company, till the time compelled Ixma and Calia to depart to sleep with my girls.

Janetta and Zinja slept through everything.

Izel and I prepared for bed, then held each other. She kept kissing me, running her hands over my shoulders and down my sides. I found a need to return the affection she was showing, and feeling her press her naked body against me soon aroused me. After several heated, lingering kisses that left us both breathless, I scooted down, lavishing loving attention on her breasts, flicking her nipples with my tongue, and using my hands to mold her soft globes, mindful of her growing tenderness on her nipples, my gentler touch eliciting sighs and gasps that soon became needful.

I worked my way lower.

Izel murmured, "Oh, gods, Ranji, you haven't even touched me down there yet, and I'm getting soaked with anticipation at feeling you lick my pussy. It feels so decadent, yet I love how it feels and you for your willingness to focus so much attention on me while giving me so much pleasure."

She pulled her legs apart, eagerly splaying her sex for me to inspect and to ravish. Sucking and licking her tender folds, and drinking down her arousal led to her pussy lips swelling and darkening before pulling apart with a wet sound, like a peach bursting with ripeness, her nectar oozing forth. I drank down her honey, and her voice trembled and warbled with growing bliss. When I added two fingers to probe her entrance, she sucked air and thrust back at me until it was all too much and her core exploded in writhing shivers of ecstasy.

As she slowly came back to her senses, she whimpered, reaching down and lightly tugging at me, urging me to lay next to her. "Oh, I love you so much, Ranji! I loved what you did to me. Please, my sweet, darling husband! Now I need to feel your wonderful, hard cock inside me!"

I rose up onto my knees. "See how hard you've made me, Izel? You've done this to me, my sweet, loving wife."

Cooing, she reached out and gently stroked my length. "Oh, it's so beautiful, so hard yet so soft to the touch, and so warm! Are you going to enter me now?"

"Dear wife, the beauty of your body, the eagerness by which to respond to my touch makes me want to bury my cock in your pussy and pleasure you till you come for me."

"I love your cock, Ranji, how it fills me so completely, how it reaches so deep into me. I also love the feel of your strong, sure hands on me, directing me how you want me. Please, take me!"

Unable to wait any longer, she scooted down and kissed the swollen crown, then licked her lips after. "You're leaking, Ranji." Izel leaned over it again and licked away the drop beading at the slit, and she hummed thoughtfully. "So salty and musky, it's earthier, and definitely male. Tasting your essence sends shivers down my back and makes my pussy tingle and clench, eager to feel you stuff my womanhood full with this wonderful, hard shaft."

Emboldened, she inhaled the crown and partway down my length. I groaned in delight, watching as she tentatively sucked, then felt her tongue bath the underside with a wet, writhing caress. I marveled that not so long ago, she had given up on intimacy with others, and oral was read about and contemplated but never practiced.

Reaching down, I caressed her thick, lustrous hair, loving the feel of its silky texture. "That's it, my sweet wife. Show me how much you love me. Imagine me ravaging pussy, from your entrance to your core, sending you intense sensations of fullness and pleasure again and again till I fill you with my hot need."

Izel moaned and bobbed up and down my tipped, till gasping for air, she looked up at me, begging, "Please, Ranji, please mount me! I need to feel you moving inside. Please, make love to me!"

"Guide me in, Izel."

Excited, she leaned back as I moved into position, her hand placing my tip between her puffy, slick lower lips. I pushed against her crease, and her hot flesh yielded to me. She groaned as the wet heat of her body stretched and opened, thrusting deeper and deeper until she fully engulfed my shaft. She sighed when my balls nudged against her entrance.

She felt so snug and hot and wonderful, her pussy wrapped around my cock. After a few heartbeats, letting her get used to my presence, I pushed firmly, brushing my crown against the gateway to her womb.

"Oh, Ranji, I love this! Feeling your hot length buried in me!"

Reaching up, she tugged me down for a kiss full of hunger, and I passionately answered her with my own need. As she locked her legs around me, I began full strokes within her slick, fiery sheath. With our mouths locked, our tongues danced and dueled, while with my cock moved inside her, explored what she offered, filling her emptiness over and over with my hard, demanding presence, pushing her butt firmly into the mattress each time I bottomed out within her snug, vibrant folds.

When her need for air was too much, she lay back, heaving for air, whimpering as she met each of my thrusts with her own counter movement, rubbing her clit against my groin.

"That's it!" I encouraged. "Rub that bead of bliss against me. Don't hold back! Come on my cock, Izel!"

Moaning, she held onto my arms planted on each side of her, her eyes on me as she humped faster. I matched her pace, and we gave into the building need burning within, the joyful sensations urging us on. In no time my hips were slapping into hers, and the wet schlock schlock schlock sounds of our union mixed with my grunts and her soft cries.

"I'm going to come inside you!" I warned, deliberately speaking Nahuatl.

If I thought she was passionate before, the look in her eyes became positively incendiary! And she responded in her native tongue. "Oh, gods, Ranji! Fuck me harder! Harder, my love, harder!"

I pistoned rapidly within her steamy core and she ground back with her own urgency, the rapid frisking creating a frothy, pungent mix male and female that filled our senses.

"Do you want it?" I grunted out.

"Oh, yes!" she begged. "Give me every drop! Please! Please, oh, pretty please! I want it all, my husband. Fill me up till my pussy is overflowing!"

The tension in my balls coiled tighter and tighter, then with a gasp, I shoved hard, pushing and grinding against her as my cock swelled and streams of hot sperm shot out, coating her inner walls with sticky heat.

With a jerk, she stared up at me and adoration suddenly bloomed in her face. "Oh, Ranji, I feel it! Your seed in me feels so warm and good!"

Izel's legs wrapped tighter as she held me against her, her hips rocking up and down two, three, four times, then she froze, gasping out, "Oh, gods, I'm coming on you!"

As I emptied myself into her inner sanctum, a fresh wave of hot fluids bathed my length. Izel shivered as her pussy pulsed around me.

For several long moments we held onto each other, riding out our orgasms till they slowly faded. I enjoyed feeling her tight, wet heat wrapped around my cock, and I believe she enjoyed feeling her pussy stuffed with my hard cock, as well as the heat of my semen spreading deep within her belly.

In the dim light, her eyes focused on me, and she smiled tenderly. "I love you so much. Even if it was short, you helped me come twice. You are the best husband ever!"

I chuckled. "Oh, sweet wife, I had a great time, too."

She snickered. "I hope our son appreciates getting extra spirit energy from his father."

"You're positive it's a boy?"

"No, not a hundred percent, and I haven't asked Calia. It just feels like a boy."

"I love you, Izel Kandikan."

"I love you back, Ranji Kandikan. I'm so happy, living here with you, I feel loved and cherished. I'm so proud to be your wife." Then she pouted as I was squeezed out. As she unlocked her legs, she said with dismay, "Husband, we forgot to put down towels before we got started. It feels like a river gushing out, and it's pooling against my rear. The wet spot is going to be huge!"

Giving her another kiss, I carefully got out of bed. "Stay there. I'll get some towels and I'll bring you a glass of water."

"You're such a love."

I quickly grabbed the towels, her cup of water, and a warm, wet washcloth so she could wipe herself down.

She got up and drained her glass while I laid out two towels to cover up the mess we'd made. She was right, it really was a huge wet spot.

After wiping herself down, she waited for me to climb in first. Once she was settled, I spooned up behind her; she wriggled and giggled until her rear cheeks were flush with my groin. She lifted her arm as I put mine under her breasts and tugged her close.

"Ranji? Does this mean we aren't making love in the morning?"

"Nope. I just needed you again tonight."

"Really?" I heard the delight in her voice. "Tonight, you needed me?"

"Yes, Izel."

"Ranji, please don't get irritated. I need to make sure I understand what you're saying. I love you and I know you love me. But tonight, you needed to be inside my pussy? Not anyone else's?"

"Yes, wife, Tonight, I needed you and no one else."

"Having a man to love and love me back has been wonderful, but I've never been needed like that before," she whispered. "I'm so happy!"

"You like being married to me?" I asked.

"I love it!" She made a happy hum. "The best part of getting to make love to you, Ranji, is after we're done, I get to be held afterward, and fall asleep in your big, strong, protective embrace."

"I'm rather fond of you as well," I murmured into her hair. "I suppose that means I'll have to keep you."

With a sharp inhale, she said, "Oh, Ranji, you stinker! Be nice to me! I gave you sweet and loving compliments! And in response, you tell me you're merely fond of me and you'll keep me? What kind of crappy response is that? Huh? I ask you!"

I chuckled. "All right, Izel, yes, I admit I was teasing you. You are my brilliant and beautiful wife. With your winsome ways, you made me fall in love with you, and I've noticed you stepping up and helping keep the household running. What you need to know, Mrs. Kandkan, is that you are now mine. I'm not letting you go without another fight."

"That's much better," she said with a happy sigh. "You're forgiven for your transgression. This time." Pulling up my hand, she kissed it, then put it back. "Sweet dreams, Ranji."

"You, too," I replied, nuzzling her hair.

To my surprise and delight, Janetta chose that moment to shift closer, mumbling something unintelligible, before curling up against my back. I felt tension where her body lay against mine.

Turning my head, I murmured to her in Nahuatl, "I love you, Janetta."