The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 93

POV: Lyra

"I love you too." The words escaped me.

Orion's black pathways returned to their original purple shade, optical fluid gathering as he pulled me into a deep, passionate neural connection with more love than lust. When our lips parted, he whispered, "Thank you, star-heart. I love you so, so much."

He held me for a moment before he remembered that we were headed for safety. Reluctantly, he loosened his arms around me before holding my hand and leading me to his dwelling where he'd parked his hover-vehicle.

Before I could get in, thinking that Orion was going to transport us back to the lodging facility, he trapped my body and turned me around in one swift motion. My match smiled widely as he said, "Have evening consumption with me?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Why do you sound like you're confident that I'll say yes?"

He moved impossibly closer to me as he said, "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe it's because your pathways just pulsed under my touch, and if I remember correctly, my Empress, you told me that you love me less than five time-units ago. But I don't mind seducing a yes out of you if that's what you want. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't say yes right away. It gives me a chance to do this." His head inched toward my neck and he pressed his lips deeply there, eliciting a vocal response from me.

I gave up, "Al-Alright, yes."

I felt his satisfaction at my neck as he teased, "So soon, star-heart? I was just warming up." As he was about to make a second connection, my hands held his face and pulled it away from my neck. He groaned in annoyance, and after getting myself out of my daze, I said firmly, "We should go now, my Emperor."

He sighed and kissed the back of my hand before opening the vehicle door for me and reluctantly uttering, "As you wish, my Empress." I chuckled at his dissatisfied look.

Orion transported us to a nearby consumption facility with an impressive ambiance. "Platform for two, please." He told the facility coordinator who bowed slightly and responded with a polite smile, "Just a moment, Your Eminences. I'll be right back."

My eyes roamed the place: the crystalline floor, the decorated support pillars, the light projectors. What caught my attention most was the long bio-aquarium along the side, partitioning the preparation area from the consumption area. A few patrons started looking up from their nutrient platforms when they saw the two of us waiting to be seated.

Orion noticed the not-so-subtle stares and whispers. Some who hadn't seen my holographic image in the news feeds were wondering whether this female was a business associate or the future Empress they'd been hearing about. They couldn't see that Orion and I were holding hands because the reception desk blocked their view.

Thanks to his Lyrokan hearing, Orion caught all of the murmurs of his subjects. But I seemed oblivious to the attention I was garnering. To put his subjects' guesses to a halt and their minds to rest, Orion smiled broadly as he let go of my hand. His arm then stretched over my shoulder, and his hand rested there, stroking it lovingly with his thumb as he pressed a kiss to my temple.

The Emperor was very satisfied with the shocked gasps and excited vocalizations he heard from the consumption area. My hearing didn't catch any of those things. I thought Orion was just showing me affection like he always did, so I matched his smile before kissing him on his jawline, then returning my sights to the aquatic organisms swimming around the coral formations in the bio-aquarium. Orion was chuckling internally when my kiss only made his subjects even more excited than before.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting, Your Eminences. Right this way, please."

We followed the head coordinator in, and the chatters seemed to die down when we walked past their platforms. I was still clueless so I just kept following the coordinator with Orion's hand still glued to my shoulder. Suddenly, I felt something collide with my lower extremity with a thud.

I halted in my steps and looked down before gasping in shock. Orion's gaze was pulled to where I was as I lowered myself before the small youngling who'd fallen over my feet.

"I am so sorry, little one. Are you alright?" I asked in a hushed, worried voice as I helped the three or four-cycle-old to stand back up. Her progenitor came instantly, facial dermis reddened in embarrassment as she stuttered, "Oh cosmos, I a-am so sorry about that, Your Eminences."

I remained in lowered position as I looked up at the nervous female, and said with a gracious smile, "Oh no, don't be, citizen. I wasn't exactly monitoring my trajectory. I should be apologizing."

Instinctively, I reached for the small youngling's arms to check for any damage or contusions, before examining her lower limbs. I then locked eyes with the youngling before asking with a smile, "What's your designation, dear?"

"E-Evie." She said shyly, holding a data pad close to her chest.

I continued to smile as I asked in concern, "Are you damaged anywhere, Evie? Do you feel any pain?"

She blinked those large adorable purple orbs as she shook her head before saying, "Thank you, pretty female."

I adjusted her displaced cranial strands before I said, "It's just Lyra, dear. I'm glad you're okay. You probably should return to consumption now, hm?"

Evie glanced up at her progenitor before she asked me, "Are you really our Empress, pretty Lyra?"

I blinked in surprise at the question but Orion, who remained standing, was smiling broadly. I knew that this youngling's progenitor was waiting for my answer as well so I decided to say, "Well, Evie. Not at the momen—"

"But she will be one day." Orion gave a gentle squeeze on my shoulder before he lowered himself next to me and asked Evie, "Would you like pretty Lyra to be our Empress, Evie?"