With the twins safely back at the Raptor 650, the Emperor headed back to Erenveil along with his retinue of a dozen warships.
He would be the first to travel along Slate's secured corridor, free from the worries of random bandits along the way.
Dragon patrol warships would maintain half the distance while Slate's forces patrolled the other half. Any pirate wandering about would be answerable to the Pirate King, who had declared that space off-limits to pirate ships.
Two of the stolen pirate ships tailed along with the rest of the retinue going back to Erenveil. Stripped of the pirate identifying markers, it became readily apparent that they were the Raptor 104 and Raptor 189.
Both of those had been stolen decades ago and had finally been reclaimed by the twin Princes who had joyfully announced that they were going to be stripped and rebuilt into new residential ships, one for each of the twins.
As the twins and Candace, along with Süren and Lyra, headed for the arcade and games area to play, Erden and Gwendolyn found themselves alone and with no one else around.
They began wandering around the ship that Slate had gifted his mother, marveling at all the details.
"With a ship like this, there is no need to fix the Dragon Claw to the standards that you are accustomed." Duke Erden smiled, looking at the high ceilings and the plush carpeted floors.
"Do you plan to never step foot on the Dragon Claw again?" Gwendolyn asked.
"I must! It is my work vehicle." Duke Erden insisted.
"Then that must mean I am not allowed to set foot there."
"You must! You will be my wife soon." He cleared his throat.
"Then while I'm there, I will need a comfortable bedroom, isn't that right?"
Duke Erden shrugged. She could do as she pleased.
"At the moment, it has a single bed that emerges from the floor when I need it. Most of the time, it is a conference table for me to hold meetings with my men. Sometimes, it's a desk for me to work on. Sometimes, it's a dining table to have meals at."
"So it's a multi-task room and not really a bedroom."
Duke Erden gave a pained look. Since when did rooms have designated purposes? Rooms were just spaces that a person lived in, with furniture that changed to suit the needs at any given time.
Right?
"I've never really seen a bedroom that stayed a bedroom even when no one is using it as a bedroom. It seems like such a waste of space…"
Gwendolyn laughed. "In that case, I need to show you what a bedroom looks like." She tapped his arm. "Come. Allow me to show you."
With the guidance of the ship's computer system, Gwendolyn located her bedroom suite and pressed her hand onto the pad that opened the double doors.
As the Duke walked in, his eyes grew round with appreciation.
The room was large, taking up the equivalent space of at least six sleeping quarters in a normal spaceship. A soft tinkling of piano sounds filled the air, along with the merest hint of the scent of roses and muguet.
The walls were papered a blush pink suede with pale pink roses climbing up the barest hint of a silver trellis. On the floor was a blush champagne shag rug.
There were creamy silk lanterns hanging in the corners and a larger one hanging in the center of the high ceiling. They were lit and throwing off a soft pale light into the room.
One side of the suite was a seating arrangement comprised of a beige leather chaise lounge and two mauve suede wing chairs. The other side was a large jacuzzi that was, at the moment, empty and waiting to be used.
Several large pots of bamboo bushes were scattered about, adding soft green living touches to the space, along with a bowl of flowers on the table in front of the soft couch.
There was a king bed centered into the wall, attached by a cream colored cushioned headboard made of some soft leather material. Two small nightstands held soft rose shaped lamps that were glowing gently, casting their pinkish glow onto the walls and floors.
On either side of the bed were two large panes of glass showing the deep darkness of intergalactic space, balancing out the softness within. It was the only visible sign that they were on a real cruise ship, out in the middle of deep space.
"And now I see why a separate bedroom is so important." The Duke breathed as he looked about the place.
"Oh?" Gwendolyn's blue eyes crinkled. "And why is that?"
"It should be a place that one does not think about work or meals anything other than what goes on within the bedroom."
The Duke's eyes narrowed with passion as he turned back to Gwendolyn. He reached out and touched her chin with a gentle finger, lifting her face up towards him.
"When I am inside this room, my entire being is filled with only one burning thought, and that is you."
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss onto her lips. It was a chaste kiss, as he did not want to frighten her.
But Gwendolyn was no virgin maiden. She was quite comfortable with the ways of a man and and a woman.
She opened wide her mouth and eagerly began thrusting her tongue into his mouth as she reached up and wound her arms around his neck.
At a full 5'10", Gwendolyn was tall. Erden, however was no slouch, at 6'2". He easily picked her up and took her to the bed where he sat her down.
"I don't want to rush you." He murmured into her ear.
"Oh hush and just kiss me." She responded as she pressed her body closer to his.
Erden chuckled and reached out with both his hands, cradling Gwen's head in between them. With tongue and lips, he began exploring his woman's sweet mouth.
As he kissed her, his tongue reached into the depths of her mouth, tasting, touching caressing.
Gwen began shuddering and sighing, her breath getting caught within her throat. His kisses were so powerful, they were starting to affect her senses!
Bolstered by the knowledge that he had the power to turn her on, Erdin began to let loose a bit of the hunger that he had kept in check all this time.
He had been so afraid of showing her the depth of his need, for fear of scaring her and driving her away, but it did not seem as if his woman was easily frightened by her man's desires.
She, in fact, was goading him on!
Unmitigated heat began to rise throughout his body, inflaming his passions as the tips of his fingers and toes began to tingle with desire.
Erden reached down and unclasped the top button of her collar. He needed desperately to nuzzle her neck, to kiss her shoulders.
As his lips moved down along her neckline, he began to lick and suckle her wherever he could reach.
Her clothing were too restrictive. He needed to unbutton another button to reach the hollow of her throat where the scented heat of her pulse was emanating.
Sinking down onto his knees in front of her seated figure, Erden unfastened the second button, exposing the hollow of her throat between her clavicles.
The sight of her bare décolleté nearly drove him mad with desire. The Duke was not a young man who had no experience, but Gwendolyn was not just any woman. She had been his secret desire and passion from the first moment he laid eyes on her.
That one-sided crush had turned into full-blown love at the moment she agreed to be his wife. They had never consummated that love before.
This would be their moment to give completely to each other, everything they had to give.
As his lips sought, and found, all the pulse points of her neck and chest, Gwen began fumbling with his warrior outfit.
He disengaged from her for the short duration of removing his clothing and it felt like forever.
With his clothing removed, Erden knelt in front of her, offering himself up to anything she asked of him.
He was hers completely for the taking.
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