Frankie met his eyes as he leaned over her, his hands caressing the sides of her face. She felt the hot, wet brush of his twitching, writhing cock against her. He notched the tip against her opening and waited until she cried out, begging for him to cease their torment. Only then did he push into her. The tentacle-wrapped cock was thick and corded as it breached her.
With a whimper, she arched into it, half-mad with desire as she fought against his control. He slid into her slowly, refusing to be hurried or yield to her whim. She snarled, determined to make him lose his mind to the frenzy he stoked within her. She bucked impatiently against him, and when that didn’t get any result, she nipped his throat just below his jaw.
Kaede plunged deep, his twisting length filling her as his pelvis slapped against her own. Frankie shouted her pleasure over the buzz of his spines, vibrating his entire body until even his cock did too. Her arousal gushed around him as she came with a low cry.
Then she felt it.
The penile tentacles shifted and slid free of his shaft, stroking the insides of her walls as he pulled back and pummeled her channel. They were longer than his cock and so even when he pulled to the tip, they still slid within her, teasing her until he filled her. His claws grasped her hips, the sharp tips pricking her as he thrust freely, riding her with such urgency that she lost all sense of time and herself. There was nothing but the pleasure and the male who held her, his heart beating in time with hers with rapid, thunderous roars.
Swallowed deep into a well of pleasure, she clung to him, their sweat-slick bodies slapping together as they rutted. His cock vibrated and caressed her depths with every thrust. His snarls became sharper and she could hear the familiar pitch that pushed up her own desire as he vocalized his dangerous mating shriek, warning away all rivals. She was only distantly aware of the sounds of his claws scrambling against the platform, careful to stay clear of her flesh.
His mating call found an answer somewhere within her.
At the height of his call, his hips broke tempo and he pounded into her with abandon, lost as he was, like her, in the sensual dance between them. Her fingers dug into his arms, and her womb convulsed, her cunt tightening and stroking along his shaft, causing his tentacles to whip wildly inside of her. That was enough to send her orgasm crashing violently over her, and her scream accompanied his in a primal song.
When his teeth latched onto her shoulder and bit down, she didn’t register pain, only pleasure that rushed through her, sending another orgasm pushing through her as his hot seed pumped into her with every thrust. Then he stiffened and a final splash of seed lit her up before they collapsed into each other’s arms on the platform.
Just below, she heard Rodriguez’s quiet voice.
“Fuck me sideways. That’s some scary shit.”
Mi’yar’s quiet chuckle was all else that was heard beneath the soft hum of the nightlife and content vibration of Kaede’s spines. Frankie smiled as she turned into his chest. There she rested for a time before rolling onto her back and pulling out minskit. Lighting the end, she pulled in a deep drag and relished the soothing, thick smoke coating her throat and lungs. It was thicker than she was accustomed to, being a fresh root, and her first inhalation made her cough, but gradually she became used to it and blew out the smoke with a sigh of relief.
Chapter 19
Traveling through the swamp with a group of offworlders tested the endurance of Kaede’s patience as the days passed. Not only did none of them have more than rudimentary training of how to survive in the swamp, but he didn’t know how to react to their mostly loud, jovial interactions. Even the Arobi, who had a reputation as a species that kept to their own, seemed to join in when they returned from their surveillance.
Outside of his early memories among the murol ranik, such camaraderie was foreign to him. His work among the priests was satisfying, and yet rather reserved other than Crix’s gentle humor. It had been a long time since his days among the murol. He felt like an outsider and that made him cleave all the stronger to Frahnkee, afraid that with their presence that she might prefer one of the other males to his company.
Despite his best efforts to remain unattached, his need for her was growing with each day. He knew it the night he finally took her in his arms on the platform. Even then, he hadn’t intended to seal their bond with his bite, but it had been an instinctual push that caught him unaware. Usually it was part of the hunt in traditional mating ceremonies.
He had no hunt with Frahnkee, but it hadn’t mattered. His body reacted.
Although Frahnkee had looked with bemusement upon the reddish punctures on her shoulder, she hadn’t complained, and he hadn’t enlightened her as to their meaning. Among Agraak society, it was a show of commitment between a male and his female and their promised mated bond. He’d been greatly disturbed when he found out that males were permitted to bite human breeders. It was the greatest of transgressions to the traditions of their people.
The only other time a male would bite happened during ormar with his mate. Then he would bite the female again to seal the bond permanently. By delivering the bite to Frahnkee, he’d sentenced himself to a lonely existence after she left. He could find another female to take as his legal mate, but he would never experience the ormar bond with her. A significant part of him would always belong to his little human. He didn’t dare to speak of it with her, not when she seemed to regard their intimacy and relationship as a temporary situation. A mere exchange of pleasure between them. Kaede began to dread the day that they would have to part.
It would happen... eventually. He could only treasure the moments he had with his mate until then. Rodriguez, the insufferable human, complained daily of their mating habits but Kaede had ceased paying him any mind. Kaede just focused on treating every moment as if it were his last with her, and the foreknowledge that their time was limited did little to improve his mood.
To make matters worse, his hope of finding the tribe was fading as one day stretched into another. No one made any further protest against the trek since that first day, but he suspected that it was because their last instruction had been to “await word.” The swamp was notoriously difficult for retrieving comms except in spots where the trees thinned out. Add to that they were using standard-issue comms that didn’t work well with Agraadax security systems.
With their current standing orders, they simply had no other place to go. Finding wandering the forests of the swamp preferable to sitting in a hidden shelter, they were happy to follow wherever Kaede led for the time being. At least until the opportunity arose to fight again. Any day now, it was possible that a comm would come through that would take his Frahnkee far away from him. Strange how he’d once looked forward to returning to battle and leaving her safely tucked away. Now there was a chance that she could be the one to leave him upon receiving a single order.
Kaede leaned forward to fill his water canisters from a clear-running stream that cut through a small rise of rocks, his eyes never trailing far from Frahnkee. She sat on a nearby rock that protruded out of the shallow, murky water, bathing her neck and face with cool water. Kaede snorted. Although she was obviously washing herself to help regulate her temperature, he made a mental note to pay extra attention to those places when licking her later.
Emagul let out an excited rumble.
“I have signal!” he shouted.
Frahnkee bunched her cloth into her hand and pushed quickly to her feet as she joined the other males congregating around the Itashvanda. The male’s pale gray wings snapped around himself to provide more room for his squad as they pressed in. A faint light projected above the comm on his wrist, the signal occasionally breaking, but revealing a reptilian Grwali commander staring forward with a bleak expression.
“Broadcasting to all Intergalactic Fleet personnel, this is commander Vish. I regret to inform that due to serious misrepresentation of their armed forces by the Agraak to the United Council, our Fleet was overwhelmed. We experienced a collective loss
on all fronts. Many have been taken captive, with few escaping. If you escaped and are receiving this communication, do not engage the Agraak. There is word of public executions being planned to make an example out of Union ‘invaders.’ Do not risk getting caught. Stay hidden wherever you are. At this time, we are unable to penetrate the planetary shields to send a distress signal. Await further orders. I repeat, await further orders. Do not engage. My vibrations align with yours in the days ahead. Signing out, Commander Vish.”
The recording began to loop again and Emagul terminated his connection. He didn’t speak; he just stared out into the woods with a faraway look on his face. The silence among the offworlders was stark and a shadow hung over them.
“I don’t understand,” Rodriguez croaked out. “How could this have happened? How couldn’t we have known how big the military was on Agraadax?”
Eight pairs of eyes turned toward Kaede, looking for answers.
Kaede’s spines puffed out in an instinctive show of authority. He shook his head, the metal crimps on his braids clacking together loudly with his frustration.
“I expected it. All of us working to subvert the Imperial House knew exactly what was kept hidden from the Council, and that was the true might of our warrior raniks. They are not the most numerous of all raniks, but they are in greater number by far than what the imperial house reports to the council, of that much I am certain. It is a joke among the houses of the first ranik.”
“To what end, though? Has there been some nefarious plan against the Union all along?” Frahnkee asked, voicing what was clearly on the mind of her associates by the way they nodded and deferred to her question.
“Not expressly,” Kaede answered. “It is true that there has been an ongoing data manipulation for generations. They only report to the union a fraction of their numbers of warriors. Originally, it had been a means of ensuring that even when called on to assist the Union that they would retain a strong military defense at home. If another planet attacked, the reported numbers would put our planet at a tactical advantage.”
“It’s smart,” Borth grunted. “Underhanded, but clever and strategically sound.”
Mi’yar let out a slow, quiet hiss, his spines trembling.
“It truly seems that is our only chance is to locate this tribe. The odds are quite unfavorable for how long it may take for other envoys to be sent, and what sort of condition our people will be in by then.”
Emagul nodded in agreement, his brow lowered in a thoughtful slash over his eyes, pronounced by the strong downward V of the odd leathery feathers of his crest
“Very well. It seems that our best option is to continue. We have enough supplies to last a while yet. Let’s move out, guys. We can only hope we find them sooner than later.”
The males murmured their affirmation. The group broke apart and they immediately began to pack their supplies and restocked canisters of water. Kaede took advantage of the moment to brush close to Frahnkee, his arms and tail curling over her hips with affection. She looked back over her shoulder with a quizzical expression, but soon smiled up at him, leaning into his offered comfort. That single trusting action produced a now familiar yet odd warmth in his chest. He rumbled his contentment and dropped his nose against her neck, drawing in her scent. They stood there like that, in complete silence, soaking in each other’s presence, until Kaede forced himself to draw away.
With a quick glance to ascertain that everyone was ready to depart, Kaede resolutely turned away from his mate’s beautiful form and pressed on, aware of her keeping pace behind him. A riot of colors surrounded them with hundreds of flowers tilting their faces toward the filtered sunlight. He only hoped that such blooms meant they were nearing a major water source. Did his father once speak of a place of flowers? His memory on such details from his youth was vague, but Kaede was certain that he had.
He remembered his father in the room where he studied, fingering ancient volumes of Agraak history that he favored over what he called a cold and impersonal datapad. He’d asked, when he was very small, to hear the story again. His father had smiled and sat down on his favorite chair fashioned from his first hunt as a young male, leaning forward to tell the tale of his grand-sire before him.
When Kaede had asked where he might find a female from the tribe when he was grown, his father laughed and told him that he would have to travel very far until he reached a small valley filled with the most beautiful blooms. As one passed through them along a winding river, there he would find the Amwalee, roaring as it expelled its great waters into the basin below.
Kaede increased his pace, certainty filling his blood that give another day or two, perhaps more, but he was on the right route. He would find the Amwalee and the tribe of his foremother. He would save his people and assist his mate in liberating hers.
Chapter 20
Frankie spent much of the day marveling at the numerous flowers that grew everywhere. How had she ever thought that the swamp was ugly? Water ran everywhere in heavy rivulets toward the river, making any concept of dry ground a thing of the past, her boots sinking into the spongy ground no matter how much care she took in where she stepped. The trees offered quite a bit of reprieve from the water, but there were often spans where the trees thinned, and she was forced to walk through the water and mud.
Kaede had cautioned them all that getting sucked into the mud by miscalculating where they placed their feet was a very real danger. She’d walked confidently until Grish, to her right, suddenly disappeared from her field of vision. It had taken all of them to pull his large frame free of the mud. Ever since that episode, she worried that every step could be the treacherous one that would attempt to swallow her alive.
No matter how beautiful the scenery, her eyes kept straying to Kaede. There was something different about him. Although they’d agreed to just enjoy each other physically, she understood that there was something more going on between them than the lust of the ormar. Not that the ormar wasn’t powerful on its own. Even when it was satisfied, it itched again beneath her skin after a couple of days. This led to a particularly voracious coupling on those nights when they retreated onto a platform. It was a good thing that she wasn’t the bashful type, or else the knowing looks her crew gave her would have had her dying of mortification long ago.
It wasn’t just that, though. She felt drawn to him beyond lust. He held himself apart from everyone, but with her he showed another side to his quiet fortitude. The latter alone attracted her in a way that her brief infatuations with some of the males in her crew never had. He was like a barrier against the worst that the universe could throw. Beyond that, she knew him as a giving, compassionate, protective male who always had a moment to show her affection in passing.
She was experiencing emotional stirrings for a male who she should’ve been keeping her distance from. A male of a species she’d hated for the last five years.
Before him, she didn’t know that the Agraak could be steadfast, loyal, and compassionate. All she saw of them was through the lens of what had been committed against her species and the Arobi and painted over the entire species with the same brush. Whatever they’d been in the past, she assumed the species was no friend to anyone, much less humanity. Kaede had been tearing down those misconceptions, showing her something more than existed beneath the exterior presented and controlled by the upper raniks.
She was forced to reevaluate everything she thought she knew.
But over time, the guilt she felt for wanting to enter into a relationship with a male of a species that held her own in slavery lessened. At first, she’d been determined to continue thinking of him as the enemy. Granted, an exception to the cruelties who was working in favor of what she was fighting for, but she never saw anything good about his species. It had been difficult, especially when the ormar had risen between them. She had been horrified, then hid her confusion behind indulging in her desire and refusing to even look too closely at anything else that might grow between them.
/> Like most recent days, he would glance back at her, making sure that she was keeping up. Anytime she fell behind more than he liked, he stopped to take a break so she could catch up and rest for a moment before they continued on.
They had hiked all day through a slightly deeper shade. The sun didn’t quite penetrate all the way, casting long shadows, and yet she could see spots, especially higher in the trees, some of which reminded her of the magnolias that grew back home, lush with scattered flowers. She was captivated by the beauty and had spent no little time looking at it. Probably more than she should’ve when it would have been wiser to keep her attention on the ground and the woods surrounding her.
She felt fortunate that, aside from hearing them during the night, they’d yet to encounter any of the monsters that Kaede had spoken of. Oh, they heard them at night, and from their platforms could see the shifting shadows prowling below where they rested, but during the day they had a reprieve from the horrors.
Stretching her muscles, she gratefully dropped her pack. Her eyes scanned the brush, looking for a good place to start picking up dry wood—or as dry as it was going to get in the swamp—for their fire. Although they always extinguished it and climbed into the platforms long before dark, it gave them an opportunity to cook and enjoy fresh meat. Although Kaede sometimes went out, more often than not the Arobi returned with small game, most with completely unrecognizable features, that they spitted over the fire. The larger males constructed the platforms while the humans searched for firewood and edible berries. She learned how to recognize several kinds of wild fruits. It was a damn sight better than the ration bars that still sat in the bottom of her bag.
Heart of the Agraak Page 14