When the feather was soaked through, he brought it back to my lips, squeezing the rain and my wetness into my partially opened mouth. With my eyes still closed, I drank the warm elixir in, arching my back against the wood of the tree base, sacrificing my body to Jidden upon his altar.

Once I had finished, slowly licking the last drops from where they spilled over my lips, Jidden grabbed my legs and pushed them apart. I let him do as he pleased, knowing everything he did was for my benefit.

"Keep your eyes closed," he bid. I had not opened them.

I listened for the faint shuffle as Jidden took off his clothes, but it never came. Instead of his cock, he placed a warm, jelly-like object between my thighs the thick shaft of the feather. With it, Jidden circled my clit, stimulating my core into a glorious ache. Having given complete control to him, I relaxed, grinding my hips in time with his movements.

"You don't know how sexy that is," he growled. This time, he freed his cock from his clothes. I couldn't see him, but I heard it. First the zipper, then the music of flesh against flesh. He worked himself with one hand while pleasing me with our new toy in his other.

He plunged the jelly-like shaft into my core. It did not fill me the way Jidden did, but he had the freedom to maneuver it as he pleased, massaging me deeply within, hitting spots of euphoria that he had never touched before. As he thrust the toy in and out of me, pulses of ecstasy shook my body.

Disobeying him, I opened my eyes, staring up at the leaves of the jungle as he continued to thrust, allowing the pleasure to overcome me. The plumes of the feather charged the blood within my thighs, awakening my skin as the shaft entered my core over and over again.

"I'm going to come," I moaned as I shuddered, preparing for release. The heat of orgasm was strong within me, swelling high. "Don't stop. Never stop."

He did stop, giving my body time to peak, filling me with desperate anticipation. Then he thrust the toy into me one final time, sheathing me in bliss. He kept the toy in me as I came, and my pussy clung to it.

When I finally recovered, Jidden set the feather aside and, fully dressed, helped me to stand. He held me in his arms, trying his best to shield me from the rain that cleansed our troubles. "Did you finish?" I asked, catching my breath.

"I don't need to," he answered, kissing me, so I felt all of his love. "My joy is holding you in my arms, knowing you chose me of your free will."

"It's beautiful here, but the beauty conceals danger," Lucina observed. The women of the Fortuna gathered in Jidden's private training yard.

His secret was out, but only to my sister warriors. Technically, I had not asked Jidden if I could bring the women here, but I had to reveal the location. It was the best place for us to talk without being overheard.

"I can't stand the rain," Minerva protested, pointing at the curls of her chestnut hair, which were frizzy from the humidity.

"I rather like it," Juventas said, picking up a pile of mud with her burly hands. "Mud is fun. It feels like dough." She pretended to throw a mudball at Minerva.

"Don't you dare!" Minerva squealed.

"I do dare," Juventas said.

Praying that Jidden wouldn't discover us before I had a chance to explain to him, I raised my arms high and caught their attention. "Ladies, we're here to discuss a way to get back to Earth," I reminded them.

Juventas refused to put the mud down. "No discussion needed. We steal a ship. Simple as that."

"It's not simple at all," Minerva countered quietly. She seemed apologetic. "I don't want to go."

Bellona was furious. "Did that pretender Godfrey get to you?" she demanded.

"No," Minerva said, and she blushed. "I met someone a man from the southern highlands. I found a new purpose. I want to start a family."

I was happy to hear it. "It's okay. Not everyone has to come, but we could still use the help of those who stay. Getting off this planet will be difficult."

"Why does this feel like our escape from the Fortuna?" Juventas mumbled, playing with the mud like it was an ingredient in the kitchen when she prepared her sweet bread.

"This isn't an escape. We are free women. We don't have a means of transporting ourselves across the universe, and Godfrey has denied our wishes. But we aren't captives. This is nothing like what we endured when the Surtu invaded the Fortuna. Let's make that distinction now."

"Whatever you say, boss," Juventas said with a smile. When she smiled, it meant trouble was coming. Seconds later, she hurled her handful of mud at Minerva, hitting her in the head.

"Eat a mud cake!" she shouted triumphantly.

"What was that for?" Minerva cried as she wiped dirt from her face. She sounded indignant, but her eyes danced with merriment.

"For falling in love," Juventas said with good humor. "And leaving the sisterhood. It's your initiation back to the other side."

Minerva scooped up her own handful of mud. "Initiate this!" She managed to hit Juventas square in the head.

Lucina giggled. It was a small but delightful hum in the chaos. It had been far too long since she expressed any measurement of happiness. It made the effort of organizing the meeting worth it, even if we made no progress towards our departure.

Inspired by Lucina, I went on the attack, hitting Bellona with a mud ball that splashed on her back.

"Don't worry, the rain washes it off quick enough," Minerva told her, but Bellona was all for it.

"It's on, Nightshade," she declared. "You're on my list."

I ducked at her counterattack, allowing the mud to fly pass me. It hit Jidden.

"What's all this?" he asked, examining the mud with his strong hands.

"Target practice," I replied, trying not to sound guilty as I studied him. I hoped he wasn't upset, especially not after we had finally reconciled.

"It makes sense," he said. He was completely unreadable. "An army of female warriors needs to train."

"As opposed to an army of male soldiers?" Minerva demanded. This time, she was indignant.

"As opposed to soldiers who let their guard down," Jidden said, and with a broad grin, he threw the mud at Juventas, the closest to his bulk and height.

She was delighted. "Oh, this is war!"

It was, but instead of laser bullets and coffins, instead of orphans and tears, there was a childlike joy as we annihilated each other with mud. The rain was drowning out our laughter, saving it for us the sister warriors and the Surtu man who had inspired an entire movement.

JIDDEN.

I felt like I had never heard Terra laugh before. The woman before me was a different person. She giggled even though mud covered her. Her brown eyes shone like a summer day. I had seen her content. She possessed a forced optimism in the face of great tragedy. Now she was joyful.

Surrounded by her friends, she was in her element. She was not a Commander or Nightshade. She was not a warrior. She was just Terra. No labels and no assumptions.

For the first time in my life, I realized I was just Jidden. I was not a soldier. I was raw, unstructured, and merely a man caught in a spontaneous mud fight with the woman he loved. Along with her massive entourage, of course.

Loving Terra meant loving the three hundred women she handled. It was worth it. I had never loved her more.

I had almost pushed her away, stifled by my frustrations. What I had said to Terra was true. I wanted to be in command again, but not of the filthy heathens who had once occupied my ship. Soldiers like Kalij were a disgrace to my people. I wanted to preside over acts that were honorable. I wanted my parents to watch down on me from the light with pride.

What the Surtu considered honorable was not always aligned with human morals. I had tried to explain it to Terra, but she hadn't understood. That was why I had pushed her away not because I loved her less, but because I the man she thought I had become.

As a Lead Officer in the Surtu military, I had been driven by the promise of a promotion and the prestige that came with it. I still wanted that fame and influence. My opinion would be meaningful.

I couldn't explain it to Terra. She wouldn't understand, especially now that her darker side was pushing her to defend her planet. I had to set my ambitions aside.

I wanted Terra more than prestige.

I thought back to our escape from the Fortuna. Terra had jumped from my ship. She opened the hatch of the docking bay so her sister warriors could fly to their freedom. I had to let her go. I honored her desire to escort Lucina to safety. She wanted me to choose the well-being of her women over herself.

I would never make that mistake again, not after seeing what being a slave to Captain Fore had done to her and how her wounds had hardened her.

She would not fall into captivity again, no matter what the price was.

TERRA.

The rain stopped. We had not felt the drops in over three days.

On Earth, that would mean nothing, but here it meant instant drought. The rain was our water source. Without it, we would have no choice but to leave our colony. Godfrey had already sent scouting missions out into the jungle to look for a body of water. If we found one, we would relocate next to it.

"When we came here, we thought the rain never stopped. We set up high in the trees because we were afraid of flooding. If we had known, we would have set up camp by a body of water to begin with," Jidden explained. We sat under the stars on the balcony of our hut.

The night was our new day. We slept when the suns were down. The shelter of our huts shielded us from the heat. We only woke when the stars were out, and darkness coated our skin.

"Now we know," I said absently. I stared out into the part of space the rescue ships occupied. They were going home.

I thought the drought was something miserable until I realized what it meant. Quickly, an idea began to form in my mind. "This could be it," I blurted out. "This is our opportunity."

"What do you mean?" Jidden asked, following my gaze out into space.

"Take your ship back," I ordered. I rose to my feet. "We're going to need it."

Instead of standing with me, Jidden grabbed my hand and pulled me back down with him to the floor of the balcony. "I don't have to claim it. It's my ship and always has been. It's just on loan."

"Is it on loan right now?" I tried to stay calm, but my excitement was growing.

"No. It's not."

That was the news I wanted to hear. "Fantastic. We can use the ship to go back to Earth. We'll tell Godfrey that we're scouting for a body of water, but we'll bring the women of the Fortuna with us and leave for good."

Jidden was quiet.

"I know what you're thinking. How are we going to sneak three hundred women onboard the ship without Godfrey noticing? It'll be a lot easier than you realize. We're assassins. We can move through the dark undetected."

I stood again, ready to go while we still had a chance. Our window of opportunity had arrived. "I'll start to spread the message. We'll be prepared to go in no time."

Jidden pulled me back down again. I was confused, but I acquiesced. Perhaps he wanted to strategize further before gathering the women.

"Terra, I don't think we should go," he confessed. "Our place is here."

My excitement deflated. "You didn't say that before. Your ship is a chance to be in charge again."

"If I wanted control of my vessel, I'd be on it. Here is where we make the most difference. I have no interest in leaving right now."

I didn't understand what he was saying. "Are you afraid to face your people?"

I meant it as an honest question, but he became angry. "Was I afraid to face my people when I spent all those months searching for you?" he bellowed.

"That's not what I meant," I stated coolly. My temper was rising in response to his. "I know you're struggling with the decision to leave your position in the Surtu military. You may not agree with their tactics, but they're the only family you have. You feel you betrayed them."

"You are my family," Jidden said. "That's why we can't go back. I'm not going to lose you again. I forbid you from going."

His sentiments were sweet, but I was outraged. "You can't forbid me," I stated. I stood for a final time, snatching my hand away from his before he could pull me back down.

He stood with me. "Our fates are bonded. Our souls have touched through the light. What happens to you influences me. If I forbid you to do something, you must obey."

"Obey!" I cried. "I will not obey anything you say to me. You have no authority over me, Jidden. I am not a pet or your slave. You can't control me."

He flinched. When he spoke again, it was in a much softer tone. "I won't risk you," he repeated. "I won't lose you again."

I refused to back down. "You can't stop me."

"I can," he said. "You need my ship. I won't give it to you."

Damn him.

"Don't do this," I pleaded. "Earth needs us. It needs you. We started everything. The network was influenced by our escape. You have much more power on Earth than you do here."

"I want authority, respect, and for my opinion to mean something, not power. You know that. This isn't about what I want. My decision is about keeping you safe."

When I heard the resolve in his voice, I knew the battle was lost. Jidden would not change his mind. His attitude hurt me more than the distance he had put between us.

"If you want your opinion to mean something, then you shouldn't force it on other people," I snarled before storming away.

I loved Jidden. He was my family as much as I was his.

But I also had other family members.

I could not live out the rest of my days here if I did not try to help them. I could not let my light bond with Jidden be an excuse not to honor the blood bond I had with my parents and brothers.

I would find a way to return home somehow.

We said wherever went, it would be together. If Jidden could not come with me, then I would have to leave without him, breaking a sacred promise we had made to each other.

My heart still ached when I remembered Gallia's death. Her grave was far from the colony, marked with a small stone pyramid constructed from loose rock. It was in a breathtaking spot high up in the mountains where she could gaze upon Earth.

She would have wanted a burial on Earth, but it was the best Bellona could do for her. At least Gallia was in the ground, and not where the Surtu sent their dead.

What bothered me most was that her family did not know what happened to her. Like my family, they were on Earth, oblivious to our fates.

I jumped off my hover bike and sat next to her grave, tucking my legs beneath me. I had come here for clarity, but it was soon apparent to me that I did not need clarity. I had it already.

I was determined to leave, with or without Jidden.