My Bad Boy Werewolf Quadrillionaire Space Lord

1 - A New World

He took a breath.

The first breath ever taken on his new world.

His spacesuit's expensive helmet lay in the grass beside his feet. The chest piece was unzipped to his sternum, and the cool air of an untouched planet wafted between the radiation-shielding material and his bare chest.

Morning dew clung to his collar, and tiny rivulets of water were dripping down the contours of his chest as he stared up at the distant sun. His fingers itched to shed the rest of the irritating, confining suit and run to the horizon. But he wasn't alone yet.

Not quite yet.

"Mister Cardego, your suit is recording a breach! Please respond," his secretary called through the speakers in his helmet, her normally sultry voice strained in panic. He grinned, recalling having heard a very similar tone from her in the cabin of his yacht.

Luca Cardego turned back to the shimmering distortion in spacetime he had walked through. A perfectly round wormhole — pitch black and just a few inches taller than him — that lead to the mission control room back on Earth. He didn't want to respond, but if he ignored them, a rescue party might follow and spoil the moment. He sighed, a little disappointed, before he picked up the helmet and put his mouth near the radio. "Viviana, honey, I haven't heard that tone of voice in hours," he said softly, barely more than a husky whisper. "And if it's just the two of us, you're allowed to call me Luca. Honey was fine. Calling me master last weekend was a bit much, though."

A chorus of laughter roared over the radio, and he could practically hear his secretary blush. Before she could respond, Luca said, "I took off my helmet. The air's perfect, and the radiation levels here are lower than on Earth. Our little terraforming project worked beautifully."

"Little? You've spent like a quadrillion dollars on it!" Viviana exclaimed over the radio.

"Is that actually a word?" Luca asked incredulously. "Because it sounds like the kind of nonsense you make up when you don't know the name of a big number. Like zillion, or google."

"It comes after a trillion. And it's the estimated value of Mars, now that your terraforming project has worked. An entire world made up of pristine virgin landscape. The board is ecstatic. We're already making plans for another Scrooge McDuck money vault," Viviana said.

Quieter, she added, "And I expect to wear the most expensive bikini in existence to the celebration, Mister Cardego. My wardrobe malfunction should cost more than your last yacht."

"Pristine virgin landscape. I haven't had that in weeks," Luca mused. He then grinned wolfishly, a sly thought dredging up mirth he had to share. "I wonder how long I should wait to tell the board I'm not parcelling it up and selling it?"

"What?" Viviana shrieked. Not an unfamiliar experience for Luca, but the distress much more genuine than he was used to hearing. "You're not..."

"It's my planet. Why on Earth would I sell it?" Luca asked. He chuckled, and added, "Have to say, I like that expression a lot more now that I own a planet."

"Luca, honey, there must be something in the air. You're not making sense," Viviana pleaded, clearly terrified by the horror of not recouping the cost of this project.

"Making cents, I see what you did there. Clever one, Viviana. But let's be clear, I never intended to let a bunch of stuffy, entitled billionaires — who have never done a day of work in their lives — plunder this virgin world."

"Have you looked in the mirror? Because the day you spend at nothing but work is the day the Earth ends," Viviana retorted.

"Good thing I have my own planet. I wasn't going to announce it for a few days, but I think I'd like to be a lord," Luca admitted.