The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 118

POV: Lyra

With a cheeky glint in his eye, Orion said, "You'll know soon. And remind me, Christian. How many females have I been with before our Queen?"

I flinched a little away from Orion at the words 'how many females.' But Orion's arm reached out to trap my body and press it back into his, his clear purple eyes locked with my anxious black ones.

Christian took a moment before responding, "Is this a trick question? Cuz, when have you ever..." he paused, and his voice took a teasing twist, "Oh, wait. I think I get it now."

I was flustering in embarrassment, my skin shifting through multiple colors. Even so, I took the liberty to utter a not-so-confident "Hey, Christian" through the line.

Christian chuckled. "Didn't believe that you're my cousin's first and only love now, did you, my Queen?" Orion was smirking cockily at me as he held his communicator.

I braved through the embarrassment. "In my defense, it's unbelievable, for both of you, in fact. Being who you guys are."

"Ah, yeah. Emperors and Dukes do get a lot of offers." Christian said. "But it was all rather a turn-off if you asked us."

This piqued my curiosity. I leaned into Orion's communicator. "What? Why?" Orion had already started running his fingers through my hair at this point, feeling the softness that always softened his heart.

Christian said, "Think about it, my Queen. If you were born into some high position and you get all these offers, would you be convinced that they're there for who you are and not what you are?"

I rolled my eyes at the question. "Of course not. But that's me!"

"It's us too, Lyra!" Orion exclaimed firmly. His desperate purple eyes locked with my black orbs, begging me to believe him. His hand in my hair had stopped moving as his entire being focused on assuring me that he was never intimate with anyone before me.

There was a moment of silence before Christian's cheeky voice rang through. "Cuz, chill. Annie didn't believe me when we had this talk either. And let me remind you, Greg was feeding her with lies back then. You're having it way easier than I did."

I relaxed a little hearing that Annie was in the same boat as me years ago. Orion then retorted to his cousin, "I wouldn't say that, Christian."

My eyes widened in fear, and there was a cheeky glint in Orion's eye again before he continued, "Do you have any idea how many males she has attracted..."

"No! That's enough. Give me that." I cut Orion off mid-sentence as I tried to reach for his communicator. He swiftly held it away from me, and I started climbing on his body just to reach for it as Christian's uncontrollable laughter rang through loudly.

When I was close enough, Orion dropped his communicator to his other hand and his free hand held me by my hips. My embarrassed but fierce eyes locked with his amused ones before Christian finally stopped laughing. "I can't say I'm surprised, cuz. She's still attracting them anyway. Maybe it's a tie between us. We both have it equally hard with love. I had Greg and Annie's colleagues. And you have... well, every unmated creature." And he continued laughing.

"That's not true!" I shouted from a distance of the communicator.

"My Queen, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't true. So uh, cuz, how many males was it again?" Although the question was directed at Orion, the three of us knew it was to tease me.

I started reaching for the communicator again, but Orion locked my body in his embrace. "I don't know. I'm still counting."

Then something hit me. "I wasn't intimate with whoever you have in your head, Orion. If we're talking about attraction, then let's start counting yours. Between us, I already know who's going to have the higher number."

Christian's contemplative voice rang through. "Oh, this is gonna be tough. Do we have to bet? I honestly don't know which one of you will win."

I looked at the communicator in frustration. "Christian. The Emperor or the Commander. Which do you think?"

"Uh... gosh, this is hard." Christian continued to ponder in seriousness. "The Queen! That's the answer! I knew that was a trick question!"

"It wasn't a trick q—" My protest was silenced by a sweet press of lips to mine, which sent a course of pleasurable neural sparks into my being, calming my irritation.

Christian then said, "Cuz, why are you fussing over this again? It's not like she had a partner when she met you like Annie did when I met her." I smirked victoriously at Orion.

Orion sighed in frustration. "Christian, the whole point of calling you was to get you on my side."

"I am, but don't you think you may be overreacting? The Queen is practically blind to all the hearts she's stealing anyway. Annie wasn't. Be grateful, cuz."

Now, both Orion and I wanted to protest what Christian just said. But then Annie's voice came soft in the background. "Is that Orion? Why didn't you two just use your private frequency?"

Christian chuckled lightly before explaining casually to his match. "Do you remember that talk we had about me never being with anyone else before you, my Duchess?"

"Yeah." Annie's voice was louder now, standing closer to Christian's communicator.

"Well, the Emperor is having that talk with the Queen now. She didn't believe him when he told her either."

There was only silence for a moment as I covered my face with both hands in embarrassment. Everyone waited for Annie's response.