Starcrossed

And on to the next chapter! Sorry about the delay between the chapters, but a new full-time job mixed with classes and life stuff... Yeah. Writing gets pushed to the back burner. I apologize.

Keep the votes and comments coming!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Deena roused slowly, confused for a moment as to where she was. The room was dark and warm, and there was someone holding her close from behind. It took a long second before she remembered that it was Crown Prince Alex, her husband, and that they were en route to their honeymoon.

The presence of another body in bed with her was a new one. He was so much bigger than her, this bulky warm thing pressed close to her back, his heavy arm draped across her middle. She could feel his breath blowing past her ear, his rough hand against her tummy. That last touch sent the most delightful tickles across her skin, warming her even more than his furnace-like body heat.

I'll have to get used to sharing a bed

. She wondered why, given the enormous space available, Alex felt the need to spoon against her. Not that she was complaining, really, but she was used to spreading out.

Lifting his arm, she managed to slip out of bed without waking him. Standing beside the bed she looked down at her husband as he rolled onto his back, the sheets only covering his legs. He looked peaceful in sleep, his breathing slow and even. Deena's eyes trailed down his body. Even like this, in repose, he looked like the Colossus of Ix, chiseled muscles moving under his lightly tanned skin. Looking at his manhood, Deena had to bite her lip: even in his sleep it was impressive, curving heavily along his thigh.

How many times have we done it already?

There was the first time, then the second time when she rode him, and then he managed to rouse her passion again with his stroking fingers and lips on her breasts, taking her as they lay on their sides.

Three then? Is that it?

Her sore body screamed at her that that was more than enough for the first day of marriage.

Slipping to the attached bathroom, she closed the door and activated the lights, giggling as she saw herself in the mirror. Her hair was an absolute mess, looking very, Deena thought the phrase was "just fucked." She had a hickey on her neck, with another matching one on the inner slope of her breast. Her belly was criss-crossed with dried semen, from when she had demanded that Alex shoot over her belly, desperately wanting to see his orgasm.

"I look like a whore who just took on a goddamn platoon," she said quietly, turning to survey the damage. But thinking back on the long night with her husband, she wouldn't have had it any other way. As she glanced at a clock she also realized it had been at least 30 hours since she had last bathed. Activating the shower cubicle, Deena stepped in and let the multiple streams beat on her.

"Mitra..." She sighed as she felt the hot water pound against her sore muscles, leaning back to let the hot water rush through her long hair. She could feel the hot water sluice over her belly and wash away the evidence of her wedding night. But the soreness remained, the mild ache in her tummy.

I'm a woman now.

Deena wondered at that: she didn't feel particularly different then she had the day before, except for the ring on her finger that still felt very out of place.

Princess too, I have to remember.

She frowned slightly.

Nope, don't feel like that either.

There was a sudden rush of a air as the shower door opened, but before Deena could turn and look she found herself in her husband's strong arms once again.

"An excellent idea, Princess," Alex said as he pulled her tight to his chest.

"I thought I was getting a bit ripe." She relaxed against his broad chest, feeling his arms, thick with muscle, crossed over her breasts. "Wash my back?"

"I plan on washing every damn inch of you," he murmured, moving away and beginning to do just that, filling a sponge with gel and working it into a thick lather.

Deena stood quite still as Alex gently washed her from head to toe. He began at her shoulders, taking each arm and scrubbing along their slim length, even washing her fingers individually. Returning to her shoulders, he went down her back, kneeling behind her as he dragged the sponge in small circles down her spine. His hands joined in as he scrubbed over her butt, half washing and half caressing her firm cheeks. But he didn't linger as he continued down her thighs, kneading the muscles on his way to her feet. He picked up each foot in turn, washing the soles of her feet and her pretty toes.

Deena was enjoying this immensely, biting her lip as Alex moved to her front. The sponge felt divine on her nipples, the rough fibers rubbing against her, sending sparks of pleasure straight to her pussy. He moved down her belly, taking particular care with her belly button, making her giggle. When he reached her pussy, kneeling before her, he scrubbed gently, pushing the sponge back and forth against her smooth lips, drawing it up through the crack of her ass. Deena gasped as the rough sponge dragged across her clit, through her pussy, and between her full cheeks, rubbing against her sensitive anus.

Dropping the sponge, Alex stood behind her and filled his hands with her breasts again. Deena could feel his hard shaft slip between her cheeks, rubbing against her tight hole as his fingers toyed with her nipples. She clenched her cheeks around him, thrilling at his surprised grunt.

Biting her lip, she considered asking him to take her ass there and then, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Reaching back, Deena grasped his soap-slick cock and bent it down, lifting up onto her toes as the fat head swept through her folds.

Deena's mind suddenly flashed to her fantasy from all those months ago of Alex fucking her like a beast in the shower. Her pussy flooded at the memory, and she knew that she had to live it out immediately. In a flash she was facing him and leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his hips. Surprised, Alex stumbled for a moment before bracing his feet and leaning Deena against the wall.

"Maker, Dee, warn me before yo-"

Deena silenced him with a bruising kiss.

"Fuck me, Alex. Now," she hissed, her wet body sliding against him as she tried to slip him inside her. Alex's hands gripped her ass tightly as he lifted her up, lining himself up and slipping inside her in one swift thrust. Deena cried out as he slammed hard into her, filling her up.

"Dee are you-"

"Pound me, hard." Her voice was hoarse, breathless, and she bit his neck hard to drive her point home.

Alex growled as he complied, his fingers digging into her soft cheeks as he fucked her hard against the tiled wall, their wet bodies slapping against each other.

Deena was breathing hard, deep in her fantasy, playing it out in her head even as she lived it out. Her wet breasts sliding along his hard chest, his fingers digging into her ass almost painfully, his cock battering against her cervix. Her orgasm was upon her before she even realized it, her head flung back against the tiles as she panted her way through it. She gasped as, mid-orgasm, Alex bit her shoulder as he exploded inside her, slamming home and pinning her to the wall as he shook against her.

"Princess..."

"Sh. Just hold me."

Alex held her tight, but as his legs crumpled he slowly eased them down to the floor, turning so his back was against the wall as she straddled him. Deena whimpered in complaint as she felt him slip out of her, but snuggled tighter into his arms as the shower sprays beat down on them.

"I'm sorry if I was too rou-"

"Shut up, majesty." She was sore and tired, but as she felt him leaking out of her she knew that she already wanted more of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laen pushed the food cart out of the lift into the Royal suites. The Crown Prince had called in an order of "breakfast stuff," but had not been more specific than that. The cook had been alarmed, since it was actually dinnertime, but had complied with the request with gusto. The cart groaned under heaps of delicious griddlecakes, pans of bacon and smoked daar, plates of fresh fruit, plus pitchers of milk and juice, as well as a full jarra service.

As she walked down the hallway, she noticed the guard on duty was the new transfer from the Veratani, Sergeant Victor... Edras, maybe? He was young for his rank, and cute: a little short for the Royal Guard, but broad like a rugby player. He stood at ease, his rifle butt against the floor. Laen passed close to him, glancing to his brown eyes as he stared ahead with perfect military discipline.

Until they flicked to hers for a fraction of a second, nodding very slightly in greeting. Laen quickly glanced away, trying and failing to hide her smile as she continued on with her cart.

She hurried along, reaching the door to the Crown Prince's suite moments later. She knocked sharply and parked the cart close to the closed door as she had been instructed. But just as she was stepping away the door opened and the Princess popped out.

"Oh thank the gods!" Deena said as she stuffed a piece of bacon in her mouth, humming in pleasure. She was wearing a filmy silk shift, the shining fabric clinging to her lush body. It barely reached her creamy thighs and her large nipples pressed against the fabric, every bump visible through the thin shift. Pulling the cart back into the suite, Deena noticed Laen standing there, possibly for the first time. "Oh! I'm sorry... Laen, right? I-" She glanced down, noticed her level of dress, and leapt back behind the door, hiding her body from the empty hallway.

"Yes, your highness," Laen said averting her eyes and curtsying, desperately trying not to smile or blush. Her eyes flicked up to find the Princess looking right at her and for the briefest of moments their eyes met.

It was incredible: That look, that glance, was almost like a psi-link. They both knew what was happening in that room: The Royal couple was fucking each other's brains out.

Maker, they probably just finished a bout. He must be leaking out of her right now.

And as their eyes locked for that heartbeat, Deena smiled. She knew that Laen knew, and was pleased.

"Good night Laen. If there are any other requests for the room, can you be the one to bring it please? I like you." It was said with a smile as she pulled the cart the rest of the way in before closing the door.

"Yes your highness. Thank you," Laen said, beaming a little.

Laen returned down the hallway with an extra spring in her step. She was pleased that the married couple was enjoying their honeymoon. As she passed the guard, she looked right at him, his eyes once again moving to hers.

"Good evening," she said as she passed him, a great breach of protocol.

"Good evening, my lady," he replied, tilting his head. Laen smiled at the compliment, and continued on, her hips swaying a tiny bit more than necessary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you."

"What?"

"Putting on underwear. Do I disgust you so?" Deena was smiling as she lay on the bed in her full naked glory. It was their second or third day of travel, and Deena had lost count of their lovemaking sessions.

"Dee, not that being with you isn't a strenuous work out, but... alright. During basic, on my fleet assignment, I was initially on a firing crew, railgun. Four men, I was the loader."

"Alright." She moved to lie on her belly, watching as Alex stood up quite straight, squaring his shoulders and releasing a held in breath. He took a big step forward and came down on one leg, squatting deeply as he twisted his upper body, leaning into the stretch as he breathed deeply.

"See? This wouldn't look so great with the royal scepter swinging about."

"The royal scep- Oh come on. You don't actually... do men really name them like that?"

Alex lunged again this time onto his left leg. This led him to facing away from her, his butt looking quite lovely in his tight underwear. Deena noted it, her eyebrows rising involuntary as she checked him out.

"I don't call it that or anything. It's more like a nickname. But anyway," he continued over her laughter, "we were doing loading drills when the autoloader failed. So instead of using a conveyer to move pallets into a feeder unit, I'm loading 30 kilo shells by hand, fast as I can."

"Oof."

"Yeah. And the autoloader didn't break at all. Just some of that basic training fun. Building character and all that."

"I wouldn't have... I mean I thought that you-"

"What?"

"Well, you know... Alex, you're the Crown Prince. I expect you to be at least a little..."

"Coddled?"

Deena nodded, then tried to apologize.

"No it's alright. I know that a lot of people think I probably had an easy time of it. But I didn't want that, and Horace saw to it that I was treated like any other sailor. My CO during fleet assignment was an old friend of his. Captain Thayrus busted my ass, believe me."

"I do." Alex had moved to his knees, bent way over as he bowed deep into another stretch. Deena could not ignore this display, every muscle revealed along his back and shoulders.

"Well anyway, mid-maneuver, I'm lifting a KCP round into the spout-"

"A what? Into the what?"

"Kinetic Core Penetrating round. A solid-cored metal slug, designed to penetrate heavy armor. We were on maneuvers and the ship suddenly shifted, and everything tries going sideways, including that 30-kilo shell and me. So I twist, and my weight goes all wonky... and I throw my back out. Down I came... with the shell on top of me, breaking my leg in two places."

"Mitra's tits!"

"Another few inches and I'd have a vat-grown knee. But still bad, herniated discs and everything. I was in the bacta tanks for a few weeks after surgery, then a few months of rehab after that. But ever since then I've tried to be pretty rigorous about stretching. I mean, the last thing you want is my back striking during the honeymoon, right?"

"Absolutely." Deena was still watching her husband's body as he moved onto his back, holding his legs off of the floor, his abdomen clenching in effort. "How come I've never heard about any of this? The way the press hounded your service I'm amazed they weren't all over that."

Alex laughed dryly. "For that, you can thank Erina. The fleet was able to keep the information pretty well bottled up, and she fed the tabloids some tale about a polo injury."

"That's... wait. This was what, two, three years ago? How long has Erina been on your staff? I mean she's so young... recruited straight out of academy, I take it?"

Alex was still facing away, and was glad.

"Erina's parents were friends of the court, remember? She's been in the palace practically her whole life. She's been working for the crown since her teens."

It wasn't exactly a lie. He'd been very careful not to actually lie to Deena at any point during their courtship. It was mostly a matter of keeping certain truths away from her. He knew it was necessary, and that eventually he'd stop having to do even that.

It didn't make him feel like any less of a shit.

"That's right, I'd forgotten. But I remember the fake story! Something about you going down in a scrum and getting a little trampled..."

Alex held his stretch as he felt his abdomen burning, fighting the rush of guilt. He felt guilty for being with Deena, for betraying Erina like that, only to have another wave of guilt as he felt horrible for thinking of Erina while on his honeymoon with Deena...

Stop it. Deena is your wife now and you have to put the past behind you.

But even as he tried to convince himself of that, all he could think was Erina elsewhere on the ship, alone and betrayed by her lover and his stupid responsibilities.

"... Just thought you hadn't tightened your saddle again."

"Hm?" He snapped out of it, his feet dropping back to the floor with a quiet thump.

"I lost you there for a second. Is something wrong?" Deena asked as she moved to sit on the side of the bed, still naked as the day she was born.

"Nothing, just- I've never forgotten to fasten my saddle!"

Deena burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Sure you have! On Ashnan you must have slipped off every damn time! I was worried you didn't know how buckles worked! Remember when you just flipped right off of Comet in the

stall

..." She trailed off, laughing so hard she slumped to her side, crying in laughter.

"That's not, I... I was ten years old!" Alex said, laughing a little himself now. "Well it hasn't fucking happened since, I swear it! I'll ride circles around you on Moritani!"

"Ha! Horse shit." Deena was no longer laughing, glaring at her new husband. "I'll take any challenge you care to offer."

"Have you not seen me on the field!"

Every citizen of the system had seen the crown prince on the field. Polo had never been a particularly popular sport, but Alex had become near obsessed with the sport shortly after his nineteenth birthday. His popularity had rubbed off onto the game, as he was a frequent attendee and even played in certain exhibition games.

"I have, and it's quite impressive. But that's not riding, that's polo."

"So what constitutes riding, highness?" Alex was hugging his knees to his chest, each in turn.

""On Ashnan we're working to utilize the Mekara badlands."

"I'd read about that." Ashnan, the breadbasket of the system, was a land of endless prairie. Modern agriculture and irrigation had created some of the most productive land anywhere in the galaxy, but the Mekara was fifteen million square kilometers of scrub and rocky headlands, an unproductive blight on a planet of plenty. "I think you got matching royal funds for that project."

"Then you know what a massive undertaking it is. A year ago I led an inspection tour on horseback." She was upright again, glaring at her husband. Alex was listening, but he couldn't help but stare as her breasts moved delightfully with each breath.

"I've ridden two hundred kilometers a day in the open country. I've navigated uncharted canyon land. I've crossed rivers during induced floods.

That

is riding."

"Some sort of contest seems in order then, Princess," Alex moved smoothly from his back to his knees before her, hands lighting upon her knees. This put his face right at breast level, and Deena smoothly pulled his face into her cleavage.

"Indeed. Perhaps a race around the big island?"

"Agreed. Stakes?"

"Oh I'm sure we can come up with something suitably motivating." She shivered as she felt his stubble rubbing along the soft skin of her breasts. "But perhaps first we could have some more riding practice..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erina's desk was a landscape of stacks of pads, papers, and reports. The sheer volume of material formed a barrier between her and rest of her office, and she had come to think of it as a fort she was hiding out in for the cruise to Gadia.

Not that I'm hiding. Just staying busy is all.

The wedding had produced much more intelligence than anyone could have imagined. She had been tearing through the reports from the ceremony and reception, but she had been receiving too many updates from the palace to keep up with. The party had not stopped after the royal couple had left and had, if anything, intensified. The only thing more interesting than who was seen dining with whom was what hotel rooms people were ending up in at night.

She was even receiving messages from Duke Fain, who never went to the trouble of assisting her, with some excellent information. He was always invited to the most exclusive dinners and events, and was eager to share these happenings with Erina. She suspected he was mostly looking for someone to brag to, but she wasn't going to complain. He also mentioned the Lady Orma several times, which was in itself rather interesting...