“May the stars be with you.” Lorn waved to us as he wheeled the food cart away. “Calia will tell you about the first test and lead you to it. I will see you again for the second.”
“Thank you.” I bowed my head as he disappeared through a rear corridor.
“Now then,” Calia said as she led us through an arched doorway and to the main hall with its golden carpet. “The first test is often physical.” The construction of the palace in its prism design created an optical illusion, as if the hall and its rich rug spread off into infinity. “With a pairing such as yours,” she motioned to where Jane and I had linked hands again, “I don’t think you’ll have trouble, but do not hold back.”
“We’ll give it our all.” Jane tilted her chin and held her head high. “We will succeed.”
I squeezed her hand in mine. “We will.”
“I have no doubt.” Calia stopped in front of a diamond shaped door. The tip at the top was painted ruby red while the rest of it bore a midnight black hue. “You’ll sense what you need to do.” A watery smile tugged at her lips. I may have been new to emotions, but I could read the hope for us in her face. Her open caring toward us humbled me. “May the fates guide you.”
The door slid open at her words, revealing a room of solid darkness. No light penetrated the space.
“In there?” Jane said, a ring of doubt circling her question.
“Yes,” Calia said as she stepped back from the entrance. “You can do this. Remember, don’t hold back.” With that, she left us at the threshold to our first trial.
My ljona gulped. “No time like the present as they say?”
“Wait.” I dropped her hand and put my arms around her. I drew her to my chest, her head resting above my hearts. “We’ll be all right, Jane. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She snorted and leaned back. “Well, maybeIwon’t let anything happen toyou, since you seem to be the one getting yourself hurt and all.”
“Brave, little captain.” I pinched her nose.
She swatted my hand away, laughing as she did. “Cocky commander.”
My cock hardened, threatening to show through the sheer fabric. “I told you I liked when you called me that.” I pulled her flush against me, letting her feel my desire.
“Maybe I remembered.” Her voice turned husky, and a hint of her arousal reached my nose.
“Jane,” I warned, not having the time to take her as I desperately wanted.
Running a light touch around my ribs, she said, “Just don’t get hurt again. I don’t like it.”
“Yes, Captain.” I brought her fingers to my mouth and kissed each one. “As you say.”
We turned as one to enter the first test. With the room as dark as it was, even I struggled to see. Jane kept a death grip on my arm. We walked forward, each step heavy and sound before proceeding to the next.
“I can’t see a thing in here.” Her voice was strained. “I wish we had some light.” As if in response to her request, a bright silvery ray streamed from above. It shone like a moonbeam casting an ethereal glow. Jane stretched out her hand, wiggling her fingers in the light, and let free a heavy sigh. “That’s better.”
Before I could decipher the meaning of this light and darkness, a force swept us off our feet. We floated in midair as if the gravity had been eliminated from the room.
“Tor,” Jane laid suspended in the middle of the glowing moonbeam, “what’s going on?”
“Zero gravity,” I hypothesized from our situation.
“Yeah, but why?” Her gauzy outfit turned translucent under the silvery light.
My hearts beat faster as I watched her, the mating bond calling louder than ever in my soul. I breathed her name, “Jane.”
Her gaze slid to me, a question in those shining blue eyes. “Tor?”
A sense of knowing washed through me. I needed to pleasure my mate, to prove I’d satisfy her need. Even a lack of gravity would not stop me. “I’m going to make you come, Jane.”
Her mouth fell open. “But we have to figure out…” Her nose scrunched. “…ah the…” Understanding gleamed in her eyes. “It’s a test of desire?”
“The Kinsians told us we’d be suited for the task.” I stretched my toes toward the wall and grazed it, but in the zero-gravity environment it was enough to propel me toward my mate. When I glided to the center of the moonbeam, I grabbed her leg and spun to stop my progress. We floated together under the glow. “And Calia did mention a physical task.”
