In a new phase of their relationship, Minx and Dragon share a growing fondness for each other as the galaxy becomes theirs to enjoy. While they cavort across the stars dangers arise, every one of which could destroy human civilization throughout the entire Milky Way.
Chapter 1: Huntress
Holding her breath, Minx prowled up to the corner while keeping her back against the wall and then listened for any signs of her prey down the next corridor. The halls were uniformly pinkish in colour and devoid of sharp corners, with even gentle curves where the walls met floor or ceiling. Despite the firmness of the floor beneath her boots the corridor's appearance suggested an organic origin. There were no echoing footsteps, nor were there the sounds of breathing or the musky scent of the hyperman though she knew the ventilation would have dispersed any lingering odours within minutes of his passing. The man knew nothing of her search for him, and his lack of suspicion should have made him an easy target, yet he had eluded her search so far.
Her heat beat rapidly and she licked her lips in anticipation of a successful conclusion to her hunt. She wondered where he could be. She'd emerged from her own ship, after awakening, with no evidence that Dragon was still aboard his vessel, yet she had somehow known he was still present. Her senses told her Hephaestus had a different feel when his captain was not aboard. Her fingers tightened around the grip of her hunting knife. She'd replaced her self-made hunting knife that she had used on Arachne's world with a blade of metal that was atom-thin along the cutting edge and which could cut through almost any man-made material.
She peered around the corner and, after spying no sign of her quarry, she crept down the hall one slow step at a time. This passage led to the mess, and though she could smell no food she thought it likely he was relaxing in that particular room while Hephaestus piloted himself toward their secret destination. It was his favourite place to spend his down time while he wasn't needed elsewhere; well, his second favourite place, she thought as she remembered their shared activity the previous night. Minx slowed as she approached the portal to the mess. Drawing too close might activate it, revealing her presence to the seemingly-oblivious hyperman. Instead, she stopped three metres away, crouched and waited for her prey to leave the room, senses alert for any sign of motion behind her just in case Dragon had lured her into a trap.
Minutes passed with no indication that her hunt would soon end. She was patient; it was a characteristic she had developed during her long career as a bounty hunter, long before she had discovered Arachne's world. Then, the portal dilated open and she leapt at the figure suddenly revealed.
"Minx?!" shouted the hyperman in surprise, as he dropped the book he'd been reading to the deck.
She was upon him, her knife to his throat, just under his jaw, as he stumbled back. Her weight tipped him onto his back while her grip upon his shoulder prevented him from throwing her off. A slight pressure of the blade against his clean-shaven throat prevented any further action on his part.
"Now I have you!" she snarled.
His eyes opened wide as he noted the look on her face. His hands opened, showing Minx his empty palms in evident surrender.
With a satisfied smile she leaned forward and kissed him forcefully upon the lips. When she pulled away from him his brow, furrowed in evident confusion, made her pause. She withdrew the knife and stared at it for a few seconds, as if she'd just realized she held it.
"Are you angry about something?" he asked in a hypnotically calm and deep voice.
Minx tossed the knife away and grabbed the shirt of his garment in both fists then kissed him again. This kiss was more tender, and he returned it passionately. She threw herself into the kiss, partly in lust and partly in apology.
This time when their lips parted he grabbed her shoulders as if to throw her off him, but she reacted quickly, batting both of his hands away, and pushed him flat on his back once more. Her thighs squeezed his midsection, then released. Hurriedly, her fingers found the seam on the front of his garment and worked it open, then slid down the garment revealing a well-muscled chest, sparsely haired.
His own hands lifted slowly to her upper arms, then worked their way to her back before he pulled her down against him. They kissed again, while they both frantically and clumsily stripped off the remainder of their clothing. Their bodies moved against each other, bare skin rubbing against bare skin in a delightful anticipation of what was soon to come. Soon there was no sound except their kissing, until a soft sigh came from her open mouth as she slid his erection into her. They moved with practiced synchronization, each familiar with the other's desires and pace until, at last, the tempo had built to their shared orgasms.
Minx collapsed onto him, fully relaxed. Dragon held her and remained still as their breathing deepened and slowed. Perplexed but content with the outcome of the situation, he considered the change in her behaviour while she had been trapped within the Sphere.
"Do I get an explanation?" he whispered into her ear after holding her for several minutes.
"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she countered, running a finger across his bare chest.
"It was supposed to be a surprise." She had not answered his question and he understood this to mean she did not understand her own behaviour. He'd been concerned about the psychological effects of her time living as a savage on Arachne's world, yet this was the first time in the three days since they'd departed that a dramatic change in her personality had surfaced without her comprehending the cause behind it.
"I'm sorry about startling you...I didn't think I could startle you..." she said dreamily. She folded her arms on his chest and rested her chin on her forearms.
"I wasn't expecting to be attacked by you on my own ship." For a second he silently debated telling her of his analysis of her behaviour, and it occurred to him that neither Aphrodite or Hephaestus had warned him of her intention. "I've had concerns that given time you adapt perfectly - too perfectly - to your environment. That seems to have happened..."
"I'm still me."
"I know. However, there is far more to you than who you simply appear to be, as you know. This behaviour is more akin to how you had to survive on Arachne's world then your persona as a cat-girl or bounty hunter, or any of the other careers you've taken part in during your life."
"It's not..." she stopped and considered his words. He had shown again and again to be concerned for her well-being, and to be better at taking care of her than she often was at taking care of herself, yet she could not relinquish control over her own life over to anyone, especially a hyperman. "I don't think..."
He put a finger across her lips. "I'm not asking for your agreement. Do you accept that I'm very intelligent and capable of drawing correct conclusions from incomplete evidence?"
"Well, yes..."
"Do you accept that I care for you?"
"Yes."
"Will you consider what I've said critically, in your own time? Discuss it with Aphrodite, if you wish. I know you value her opinion over mine."
"I don't....I will. To both." She pushed herself off his chest until she was straddling his hips. "You're not going to fill me in on our destination?"
"I'm always happy to fill you in, my dear," he said with an exaggerated leer. "Quite some time ago I discovered an interesting world that I thought I could transform into an emergency medical base, if I never needed such a place. This particular world is an ocean world orbiting a dying star on the fringes of the galaxy. A single island sits upon the surface and the climate is what you would call tropical, though not so hot as to be uncomfortable while you spend some time recuperating from your recent ordeal."
