He waves an admonishing finger at me. “No dissing the magic of the onesie. However, you’re off the hook this time. This is a fan convention, after all. I went full-on nerd with some of the ensembles I prepared for us.”
“Why does that make me even more worried?” I ask dryly.
“Don’t fight it, boo. You’ll never beat the force of my sci-fi nerd superpowers. Best to just give in.”
Galactic gods help me, but I do.
CHAPTER SIX
“Now, where were we?” Vardox murmured as he locked the door to their room once they were both inside.
“We were talking,” Starblade said, taking a cautious step back.
Vardox followed him. “We’ve done enough talking. I think it’s time we let our bodies communicate instead.”
Starblade swallowed hard. He had a sneaking suspicion sex with Vardox would be different this time—and he was more than a little nervous about that prospect.
Seeming to sense his dilemma, Vardox licked his lips. “Let me show you how I can torture you tenderly, my darling, and have you begging for more.”
Starblade narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t realize love came with a dose of torture.”
Vardox laughed with obvious surprise. “My sweet captain, have you never been in love before?”
He knew it was an offhand comment, but Starblade’s cheeks warmed and he found he couldn’t respond.
Vardox stilled for a long moment and then a delighted grin spread across his face. “How interesting. I’m so honored that I am your first, my sweet captain.” He stalked forward until he had Starblade’s back pressed against the wall. “And trust me when I say, I’ll be your one and only. Masnoks mate for life.” He lightly trailed a claw-tipped finger down the side of Starblade’s face, passion igniting behind his eyes. “Fear not, my precious. What I have in store for you tonight will take you to new heights of ecstasy.”
That’s precisely what Starblade feared—and desired.
—The Tentacular Tales of Captain Starblade,Ch. 170
Kai
I scratchat the slightly itchy synthetic wig currently covering my head and trailing down to my shoulders.
“Stay still,” River admonishes me, his expression serious. “We don’t want to get your mustache crooked.”
The tip of his tongue pokes out between his teeth while he concentrates on attaching a fake mustache above my upper lip. Then he steps back to examine his handiwork and nods in satisfaction.
“You make a very convincing and super dashing Inigo Montoya.” He sighs dreamily. “New fantasy unlocked.”
I return the favor and eye him up and down. He looks even better dressed up as Westley in his all-black outfit, including matching headscarf and eye mask. It gives him a piratical flairthat I find incredibly sexy. Then again, everything about River is sexy. Even when he’s wearing a onesie.
River beams. “Isn’t this perfect? No one will know who we are under all of this. Mwahahaha!”
“Were you planning this all from the start?”
He strokes his chin. “Not entirely. I actually bought these costumes for us a while ago because they’re awesome and were on clearance. I just knew there would be a perfect occasion for us to wear them together in our future.” He flashes a conspiratorial grin. “Then, when you announced our honeymoon destination and Nirblob told me the schedule for the convention, it was like destiny! The universe handed us a perfect answer to how we could attend the opening ceremony incognito.”
“Won’t most of the other attendees be dressed up in homage to your series? We might actually stick out like sore thumbs.”
He waves a hand dismissively. “Nirblob told me most folks save that for the actual costume ball on the last night. At the opening ceremony, it’s a bit of a free-for-all. Some folks come in casual wear, while others come in elaborate costumes, some of which are connected to my fictional world, others related to different media franchises. Either way, we should fit in just fine. Nirblob told me that a lot of congoers who come here are fans of Earth film and media franchises they’ve accessed on the intergalactic dark web like they did my story. Nerds unite!”
I fight back a laugh. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
He puts a hand on his hip and cocks it sassily. “Duh. I want to make the most of this. After all, it’s basically a convention in honor of my supersmart brain and the epic stories it’s created.”
“Indeed, my dear.”
