A/N: Apparently, this whole book is mature. This'll be the last time I warn you. Most of my books are kind of like this.  This one still needs more editing. My ideas were all over the place as I wrote it and I kept losing track of what happened when. Let me know if something is confusing so I can edit it to be clearer. ~Blackthorn

Time

^

Perita walked quickly down the upper halls of the expansive deimos. The rooms on the second floor were reserved for visiting murders and her lover Garrah was staying in one of the rooms. He must've felt her familiar Mana reaching out for him, because when she found his room by the number that Reicher Garun-Kem had told her, the black door swung in and Garrah's arms were around her petite frame with his lips on hers. Her eyes were closed as they retreated into the room, Garrah shutting the door by pressing her body back against it. Her slender pale arms curled around his muscular neck on his thick shoulders. He had to bend down to kiss her, but he lifted her into his arms to straighten out his back as her legs curled around his waist naturally.

She whimpered desperately when his hardness pressed into her core and his large hands gripped her butt and squeezed, sending intense pleasure through her body.

"I missed you, beautiful." He told her when their kiss had slowed and broke apart so they could take in more oxygen since they were both panting.

"How are you here, baby?" she asked breathily with relief soaking her melodic voice. She slid her hand over the side of his handsome dark-skinned face. He smiled at how adorable she was with her pale cheeks flushed and her lips swollen before he could find the answer in his love-fogged brain.

"We came for an ascension ceremony and then I postponed heading back out when I heard from Malakieth that your murder was making the trip to Nemesis to meet with the council." He told her before kissing her again and bringing her to the large plush bed.

It had been almost a year since she'd seem him in person. She met up with him briefly on a mission she'd gone on with Helena, shortly after Helena's ascension. She was relieved she hadn't been with a wraith that would've judged her for ditching her mission to be with her lover for a few days, but it didn't stop the guilt about leaving the new wraith on her own. Helena had gotten out alive but with a few relatively serious injuries. She hadn't held it against Perita or even told the others about why she'd been alone. Malfis had figured it out anyway, but he knew Perita well enough to know that her own guilt was enough of a punishment without him berating her like he would the others.

Before that, Perita hadn't seen Garrah outside of their rare waves to each other for a few years. They tried to send each other a wave every month, leaving a message if the other didn't answer and she hadn't been able to catch him to speak to him in real time for the last three months. The mission with Helena was the last time she'd seen him after they sent messages back and forth. Before that was more than three years ago when she saw him briefly on Nemesis when she had her own ascension. That was the night they had both given each other their virginity.

After she ascended to a full wraith, she and Malfis decided to leave the murder they were trained with to start their own. That's how they ended up with the group they were with now. Their murder was a young one, with the eldest member being Maru-kane, who had gone through a terrible situation where he'd lost his entire murder and his haunter. Malfis and Perita were the first to request to start a murder and although she wanted Garrah in it, the council had placed Maru with them instead. Jahlel and Vediro joined when there were disputes on their previous Shadowcraft amongst their murder and Shiva joined after her ascension a few months after their murder had been established. Rem and Rengai had joined them the most recently, only about a year ago because his murder didn't have room for both of them after some of their haunters became wraiths.

Perita had met Garrah on a mission when she was still Garun's haunter. Garrah's Reicher, a naiad female named Maia had suggested they join forces to accomplish both of their missions together when they were both away from their Shadowcrafts on an outer planet. Perita had gotten injured by an explosion from a Pleiadian gang and Garrah took care of her after saving her life when he took a bullet for her. The Pleiadian colony planet had less advanced technology than the central planets, but the out-dated weapons were still a threat. Garrah had given her her first kiss on that mission and he apologized after like the proper Salamander he was. She had been interested in him romantically from the moment she met him despite his relation to her Reicher. It had been a source of unease when Garun found out about her feelings after she was lovesick after the mission. He caught her when she sent Garrah a wave and they were talking with two solar systems between them. She was young and hormonal and Garun had caught her talking dirty to Garrah over the call. She still remembered the humiliation of him catching her about to take her shirt off and the memory of his disgusted reaction to her risqué, immature actions was crystal clear to this day.

Garun had put Perita on contraception after catching her and she had argued that she wasn't like that and just wanted Garrah, not a random man on a mission or another on the ship. He treated her like she had all of sudden turned into a Siren willing to sleep with anyone. She argued that she and Garrah hadn't even done anything except one kiss. He was pissed and immediately called Garrah to yell at him for the one innocent kiss. Perita was reduced to tears as she sat in her room and fortunately Malfis heard and came to comfort her. He had been a haunter on the same ship as her and they were close, having started training together. Perita remembered screaming at her master when he accused her and Malfis of being intimate when all he had done was put his hand on her back while he told her Garun would get over it and that it really wasn't a big deal. Her and Malfis weren't sexual and never had been. They were just friends and it had never gone further than that. Perita was deeply offended by Garun's unwarranted accusations and Malfis was reduced to silence when Garun brought up his habit of having random civilian girls in his bed on the ship.

"We didn't do anything. We're just friends." Malfis growled as he left her room and she still had tears pouring down her face as she yelled at Garun for the first time in her life after she'd been a good haunter for the past eight years. She was sixteen and Garun blamed her sudden 'inappropriate behavior' on having gone through puberty, but pixies went through puberty earlier around 14 and she explained that with fire in her teary pink eyes. Garun seemed taken aback by her reaction to his accusations, but she could tell he was still disappointed in her.

When Garun finally left her alone in her room after their screaming match, she made the decision to call Garrah back and apologize. He was heartbroken at the sight of her teary face and assured her he could deal with his brother and nothing happened that they had to apologize for. She remembered the comfort she felt looking into Garrah's sweet golden eyes. She missed him every day since that first kiss and would call him whenever she got a chance. They would talk for hours despite the bad reception at times. She kept it from Garun that she was in contact with Garrah, but eventually he figured it out and was once again furious, but after she had proven herself on countless missions and showed she wasn't the type to sleep with anybody or show interest in anybody other than Garrah, he relented. It took months before Garun accepted her feelings for his little brother as more than teenage hormones.

Garrah's Reicher had helped convince Garun to give them time alone and Perita remembered being nervous to finally get to be alone with him in his room on his Shadowcraft. Her Reicher was just down the stairs in the kitchen and Garrah seemed nervous too like he wasn't sure what she would want to do. After a few awkward moments, they fell naturally into conversation and they sat together and talked comfortably before their sexual tension returned suddenly. She didn't remember who started kissing who, but she remembered the delightful feeling as their closed lips opened and their tongues intertwined as their breathing grew deeper and ragged. They had been too shy to go further, but they were both fine with what they had done. She had only wished she'd gotten more time with him. Her hug goodbye was cut short when Garun's eyes made them both too nervous to cross a line in front of him. She would've wanted one more kiss if it weren't for Garun's stormy Mana making her uncomfortable. She had been relieved to get to be in the same room as Garrah and get to finally kiss him again.

Malfis had questioned her with a spark of amusement in his red eyes after she had returned to the ship with her hormones still buzzing in her body in the most delightful way. She blushed and admitted that they kissed and Malfis just chuckled and said 'just a kiss and you're blushing like that?'. She whacked him, but couldn't wipe the grin off her face.

They had met up almost every year for awhile while they were finishing their training, but it wasn't until she ascended to become a wraith that they did more. Now, as he laid back on the bed with her on top of him, it was as if they'd known each other their whole lives. She didn't feel any anxiety about letting her body grind down on his hardness to please herself. She had a smile on her face as she straddled him with his hands on her hips that gyrated erotically.

"Take your clothes off." She whispered against his neck when she leaned over him and his thick arms had wrapped around her pressing her against his large frame as he moved his hips to rub his hard cock between her legs.

"Mhmm." He mumbled as he repeated the motion without relinquishing her body so that she could get her clothes off. She giggled before it turned to a gasp as the pleasure he caused in her from his movements practically took her breath away. It was his turn to laugh and he sat up, causing her to whimper desperately when her core pressed down against his hardness. He placed a gentle kiss on her nose that made her crinkle her nose in response, before he pulled off his shirt. She was breathing heavily as she pulled the three layers off her upper body including her robe. He bit his lip at the sight of her bare breasts and erect nipples and his hand traveled up her back and around to trace the perfect shape. Her uneven breaths and the stillness of her body told him she liked his touch and she made a moaning sound from deep in her chest when he took the other nipple into his mouth and traced a circle around it with his tongue. She clutched onto the back of his head like she didn't want him to stop.

Perita held onto his strong shoulders as she let him position his manhood into her. Was he always this muscular? was the strange thought that went through her before he began moving in and out and her mind went blank of anything other than the building pressure inside her that was filling her with more and more pleasure. She didn't even hear her own cries as he pumped in and out faster and harder and her body moved with him by itself as she fought to not finish too soon. He was so big it was hard for her not to succumb. The first time, they both didn't know what they were doing and they practically finished right away. She was so embarrassed and he apologized like it was his fault. It took them two more tries to last more than a few intense minutes. It was even harder after not seeing him for awhile like her body was so starved for love that she was already there before he'd even entered her. This time she was determined to make it last longer so she was fighting to stop the pressure from overflowing. It seemed he was struggling too when her resolve wavered and her body clenched around his manhood as she started to finish.

"Aw- huh." He made a few tense sounds as he fought to let her finish first while he still thrust in and out of her. The sound of her feminine voice all weak and moan-y as she shook and clutched to him made it harder for him to resist until it was too much. She was so tight around him; He couldn't imagine any woman felt better than her. She was perfect- everything about her.

She felt him throb in her as he released his seed deep in her with wavering breath that blew her hair by her ear as she still clutched to his massive shoulders with his perfect thick muscular arms enveloping her. She felt safe and warm in his arms and she relished the feeling of her bare breasts pressing against his large chest and the bulging muscles of his abdomen against her bare skin.

"Sorry." He breathed as he still held her in place on his lap. He was still in her and he hoped he had given her a chance to finish fully. He wasn't sure how long it lasted for women.

"Don't be sorry." She spoke with a laugh in her voice as she leaned back in his arms to look at him with happiness dancing in her mesmerizing pink eyes. "I think we did pretty well." She insisted with a cute smile. "Maybe we just need to practice more." Her suggestive tone made him smile, before pressing his lips to hers and laying back into the plush comforter with her naked body landing on his.

^

"It just takes time." Rem told Kai-Ren after he grew frustrated that Sena and Saskei seemed to have felt their Mana before him. The group of haunters were all alone with Rem in the meditation room. They had gone to a restaurant full of off-duty wraiths for dinner and Rem decided it would be good to meditate before letting them go to bed. He knew the Spriggans would find it easier to meditate at night and the sun had gone down a few hours ago. He had dimmed the room enough that they were able to take their goggles off. Without the pressure of the objects around their heads, they seemed more relaxed when they meditated and Rem planned on letting the others know that they shouldn't be wearing them for meditation any more.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Maru's calm deep voice asked softly when the door opened with a hiss. Luckily, the Spriggans were facing away from the brighter light of the hallway with their eyes closed.

"No, I don't mind at all." Rem said with a polite smile that Maru could barely see in the dark room. He could see the wood floor well enough to spot the Spriggan's discarded goggles whose lenses reflected the light from the hallway. He hurriedly stepped in to close out the hallway lights. They had been gradually increasing the brightness of the hallway lights to get the Spriggans used to it and he himself was relieved about the brighter common rooms and hallways. He had come from a bright planet with two suns and struggled in the dark like Sirens and Pleiadians. He had to reach out with his Mana to feel his way over to sit beside Rem and he could tell Rem was holding in his Mana. It was a technique to allow the haunters to find their own Mana first without getting distracted by others.

Rem knew Maru was known to be the best at meditating and was able to feel others with Mana miles away as a result. He was the one who first located Kai-Ren in the busy city the Siren boy was from on Palioxis. Rem had no trouble locating the Spriggans, but he still couldn't imagine being able to find a haunter in a city as busy as Parthenon where Kai-Ren grew up in a small apartment with his foster parents who were Pleiadians. Without Maru, he guessed they would've had to only search tribes or smaller villages for haunters. It was easier to convince kids from cities to become haunters than it was to take tribe children. The ones from central planets often dreamed of becoming wraiths because they often had encounters with wraiths in one form or another. Wraiths were mysterious to them and often highly respected on the central planets whereas they were usually exclusively feared among clans on outer planets. Nyxis was an exception since unlike most primitive planets the children were taught about the outside world. He remembered when he was a child, he rarely thought about wraiths or Meso-knights, but when they came to search his clan, he was excited to see them. He wanted to know what it was like to be powerful and he always knew he wanted to see more of the worlds. He wasn't a tribe child at heart. He preferred the city to the woods even though now and then he missed the freedom of jumping through the trees and swimming in the streams like he did on his beautiful home planet. Having a break from the bright city lights and the daytime sun would be nice and nothing was quite as beautiful and peaceful as the luminescent forests of Nyxis.

^

"Where is everyone?" Jahlel asked when he joined Malfis in kitchen after hearing a Berserker get released from their cargo bay. Malfis took a sip of his tea before answering.

"Uh, Helena just left to visit her parents in Tartarus... Perita's with Garrah, Rem and Maru are meditating with the haunters... and Vediro, well, I'm sure you can guess." Malfis chuckled, even though Jahlel looked disturbed by the fact that Vediro had gone out again in search of a good time.

"Are we going to be leaving any time soon? I feel like we've been on Nemesis longer than necessary." Jahlel was trying to keep his annoyance from his voice, but Malfis could tell he was antsy to get to Ourea and then subsequently go on a mission after they'd gathered a sufficient number of haunters.

"Give them a few days. Helena hasn't seen her parents for a year since she ascended and Perita deserves time with her lover. As for Vediro, he doesn't stick around in the morning so he'll be back bright and early and probably in a better mood." Malfis shrugged, his calm sympathetic sentiment causing Jahlel's annoyance to dissipate. He was right. He knew Perita rarely took time off and he knew Vediro wouldn't disappear for more than just one night at a time. As long as they weren't on a mission, he didn't usually berate his former haunter for his typical disappearing act. He was a Siren after all.

"Wait, where's Shiva?" Jahlel asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Oh, I have no idea. Maybe in her room?" Malfis guessed, sounding unconcerned.