“This was my mother’s favorite part of the garden. Father built the entire garden for her as a mating gift, but this was the part—at the heart of it—that was her private area where not even guests were permitted,” he said slowly, looking around at the carefully manicured vines and bushes before resting his gaze on her. “It is good to see someone enjoy it again.”
Cara smiled at the flowers. “It’s truly a remarkable place. Your father must have loved your mother very much.”
Lerix nodded. “He did, though he didn’t always know the best way to show her. Not the way she wanted, anyway. Her species tends to dote more on each other in more extravagant ways than the Kadesh. However, it was enough once.
“I remember my parents being happy in my youth. I think knowing how her friends on her homeworld were living made her bitter after a time. She didn’t see how much this was a statement of his love and devotion. I believe he keeps it maintained as he does, especially here where he tends it with his own hand even as he did then, because he hopes that someday she will return.”
“Did you ever hear from her again after she left?”
Lerix pursed his lips. “She attempted to speak to me a few times after she left. I do not know if Gordix ever spoke to her, but I refused her comms every time. I was—and still am—too angry with her to want to hear any excuses from her of why she abandoned her family to go with a male of her own species when the opportunity presented itself.”
Cara sat in silence, uncertain of what she could say that would offer him some sort of comfort. No wonder he disliked sentimental displays of romance.
“So you left.”
He drew in a deep breath. “I told a big lie I never had any intention of fulfilling and left.” He leaned back in the chair. “The one wrinkle in my plan was that I never thought I would come to miss this place. I still didn’t realize how much until now, being in my mother’s garden again.”
His gaze turned introspective even as he looked at her, not truly seeing her. “You look at all this and see nothing but beauty, but when I was young, I saw nothing more than a trap. This garden, our family estate, the resort: it represented the rest of my life existing as nothing more than a dance in pursuit of a mate that I wasn’t sure I could ever be guaranteed to keep.
“Instead, I yearned for the adventure of space. It didn’t take me long to feel something missing in the cold emptiness of it. It took ten revolutions before I knew that I missed all of this. The smell of the sea and the dirt under my feet. It was another five until I found myself anywhere near Kaidava.”
“So why me? You aren’t hard on the eyes. I’m sure you could have easily found a female willing to hang all over you even if you didn’t take the relationship to the ultimate conclusion. Clearly you didn’t require anything official to land.”
He raised one shoulder in a gesture similar to a shrug. “It has been many years since I joined with a female.”
Cara’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. “Oooh, you mean you’re having problems with your staying power.”
Lerix frowned suspiciously. “My what?”
“You know… your little trooper isn’t marching.” She looked pointedly at his crotch.
“No! Don’t be absurd. I haven’t felt the drive to seek female company, but everything works just fine.”
Cara gave him her most sympathetic look. “Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, a lot of men suffer from erectile dysfunction. Well, Ben never has, but still it’s very, very common from what I understa—”
She stopped when Lerix began to growl threateningly as he leaned into her. His nostrils flared, his oddly sweet breath hot on her skin. To her surprise, a bolt of arousal shot through her.
No, this couldn’t be right. She had never been into dominant bad boys. She preferred men like Ben. Calm, sweet, rational. But she couldn’t deny the flood of her pussy as she felt him press the hot length of his cock along her body, the member radiating heat despite being covered in layers of loose material. Even semi-hard, the length and girth of it were impressive.
He ground against her possessively, his sharp teeth nipping delicately at the flesh of her collar.
“Does this feel like anything is not working properly, female?” he groaned into the base of her neck as he rocked against her.
Cara choked helplessly on her need, every thought immediately driven out. She turned into his embrace, surrendering to her desire. Unfortunately, it was a bit too fast and she hadn’t accounted for her limbs before she turned toward him. That one quick move sent the bony area just above her knee into that part of him that was driving her crazy with lust. Lerix grunted with a wheeze as her knee connected to his groin. There wasn’t much force behind it, but he slackened his grip enough that Cara toppled against the swing and slid off the back into a cloud of flowers and pollen.
His demonic eyes glinted over the edge of the chair with mild concern.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m f… ff… iii—achoo!” She sneezed, her eyes watering and stinging from the thick cloud of pollen.
He tilted his head curiously. “What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Just a mild allergy to pollen,” Cara got out before another sneezing fit had her whole body jiggling in a way that seemed to draw his attention unerringly. She sniffed and rubbed the back of her hand across her nose as she peered at him through watery eyes. “I don’t usually react so bad, but I seemed to have caused a problem for myself,” she muttered as she tried to stand up and another sneezing fit sent her back down into the flowers, letting loose another pale cloud into the air.
Lerix observed her with what she couldn’t interpret as anything other than alien disdain, before he leaned over the back of the swing and effortlessly hauled her up out of the flowerbed onto the chair beside him. He ducked down to peer into her eyes.
“Good. You have stopped sneezing. Do not make that odd noise again. I find it disturbing the way you do it, like you are possessed by some sort of malignant parasitic alien.”
“Well, that’s gotta at least be better than being possessed by a demon,” she muttered.
Lerix frowned and, judging by the way he started to bristle, she knew her joke didn’t land.
Cara offered a wan grin. “At a certain period in Earth’s history, they thought that sneezing was attributed to evil spirits.”
He looked at her with interest. “Really?”
Cara nodded her head with mock sagacity. “Oh, yes. Humans even say ‘bless you’ because originally it was believed to keep the soul from departing the body.”
Lerix looked so intrigued she couldn’t help laughing.
“It’s just a bit of lore, Lerix. Don’t the Kadesh have anything like that?”
He frowned and seemed to think on it for a while before shaking his head, his lips quirking. “Unfortunately not. It is possible that the Kadesh just aren’t as imaginative as you humans are. Our gods are quite direct with us—even malevolent spirits. None would cause us an annoyance. A bad spirit in Kadesh lore would be more likely to butcher you and consume your flesh raw to give their form temporary corporeal matter.”
Cara grimaced with distaste. “Nice.”
Lerix chuckled as he stood, his tail winding gracefully behind him, and hauled her to her feet effortlessly.
“I forgot to mention—we have been invited to dine tonight with a childhood friend and her family.” He gave her a guilty smile. “I hope you don’t mind pulling off one more performance.”
She smirked up at him playfully. “You’re gonna owe me… big time.”
His yellow eyes danced with amusement. “I never doubted it.”
Two hours later, Cara found herself being pulled into a modest but elegant home by a tall brilliant red Kadesh female, who immediately enveloped her in a tight hug. Cara began to wonder for a moment if she was going to need to tap out to take an actual breath when the female pulled back and displayed several sharp teeth in a wide grin.
“I
am Viri. It is such a pleasure to meet Lerix’s mate!” The female looked her over, pursing her lips. “I never would have thought a human female would be quite so lovely. Your males are interesting but certainly don’t do your species justice. Far too hairy,” she said with a delicate curl of her lip that made Cara laugh.
“Yes, they are that,” she agreed. “Many men I know have rigorous shaving routines to keep up with it. That’s why Ben always has to shave in the evening if we decide to go out anywhere, because he can’t stand being seen without being well-groomed.”
“Really?” Viri said with interest. “Who is Ben?”
“Ben is an old friend of Cara’s,” Lerix interjected smoothly as he drew her to his side and wrapped a seemingly possessive arm around her waist. Cara winced at coming so close to blowing their cover as she nodded and smiled up at her “mate.”
She froze when a large peacock teal male entered the family room holding two small Kadesh children. The guy was enormous. She’d thought Lerix was big, but this guy looked well over seven and a half feet tall and bulged with thick muscle. The webbed crest on his head and startling color did nothing to detract from the presence he carried. He ducked down to kiss Viri as he passed a little girl off to her.
“Cara, Lerix, this is my mate, Avor, and our children, Lilu and Orvos,” Viri introduced.
Cara was instantly captivated, but then again, she loved kids. It was her main motivation to pursue a degree in early childhood education. She’d spent several years as a kindergarten teacher before Ben talked her into quitting.
“Your children are adorable, although I don’t see any of their father’s traits in them,” she noted before a blush spread across her face. “Oh, I’m sorry—that sounded incredibly rude.”
The large male laughed, a deep rolling sound. “Do not distress. I knew when I mated Viri that none of my children would show Lorgor characteristics. That is just the way of the Kadesh. They take offworld mates because their species evolved to the point of dependency on mating with others. The tradeoff is that they produce entirely Kadesh offspring. No young you have with Lerix will appear even slightly human. Anyone who takes a Kadesh mate knows that their children will never look like them. Not that I mind. I find my mate’s form far more appealing,” he murmured as he swept down to steal another kiss from his beaming mate.
Cara felt a pang of envy. This was the sort of thing she’d been looking forward to with Ben. Her own happily ever after. Distantly, she wondered if Viri ever had to track down Avor and pry him from the clutches of one of her brethren. He seemed so committed to her.
“I don’t mean any offense, but I have a friend who lost her guy to a Kadesh female right before they were about to get married.” Lerix gave her a hard look but she ignored it. She had to know. “Don’t you ever worry that another female will try to take him?”
Viri exchanged a startled glance with Avor and for a moment Cara wondered if she made yet another social faux pas. She always seemed to be sticking her foot in it. Rather than be insulted, the other female shook her head.
“My heart feels sorrow for your friend. Please, if you communicate with her, tell her not to judge our species harshly on this. So many other species do. They think we steal the mates of others, but we do not.”
She tapped the thick sinus bridge and ran her fingers along the olfactory ridges running beneath her eyes. “We Kadesh have a very large sinus and complex olfactory system. We are very sensitive to smell. A male or female who is mated and has sex with only one person for a long period of time carries the imprint of their pheromones on them. This repels us to the point of being unable to sexually perform until it recedes after many months. Your friend’s male had to have been with many females before he came to Kaidava to even lure a Kadesh female.”
Cara’s eyes widened and her heart immediately sank into her stomach. The implications—no, she didn’t want to think of what they meant. Not right now. She wouldn’t be able to get through dinner if she had to actually think about that. She met Lerix’s sympathetic eyes and realized that he had known but never said anything to her. Cara felt sick.
Viri wrinkled her nose and olfactory bridges in confusion. “Strange. You have a fading scent of a male pheromone on you that does not belong to Lerix. I don’t scent him on you at all.”
Cara swallowed back her nausea and rallied herself to reply. “Yes. Lerix has been very patient. I was in a long-term relationship, but my fiancé left me not too long ago. I guess I must still smell like him.”
The other female reached forward and squeezed her arm. “Well, I guarantee you have a much better male in Lerix. We have been friends since we were children. There is no better male on all of Kaidava—Avor aside.” She looped her arm through Cara’s, balancing her small daughter in the crook of her other arm as she pulled her further into the house.
“Now, no more sad talk. We are eager to know everything about you. I have made a wonderful dinner.”
“We can’t stay long,” Lerix warned. “We have a train to catch to Sashalat.”
Viri stopped and scowled. “Why, on blessed Kaidava, would you take your mate to Sashalat? They have beautiful resorts, but it is a major gambling and pleasure district. You should be getting to know your mate at your familial resort or at the estate. It is far better for your bonding than that place. I imagine with the way her previous mate’s scent is declining you will soon be able to cement your bond with her.”
Cara immediately felt her cheeks heat as she imagined exactly what such bonding would involve, and she reminded herself that she was not on Kaidava to bond with a Kadesh male.
Lerix shrugged. “We thought we might have a bit of fun as we wait with some games of chance and exploring some of the wonders there. Cara has never been on Kaidava, and she is curious of the pleasure district.”
Viri exchanged another unreadable look with Lorgor and frowned but didn’t argue further. Instead, she shifted back into being an enthusiastic hostess. Before long, Cara had eaten such a wide array of delicious foods that she didn’t think she could possibly eat another bite. Unlike the experience on the train, Viri informed her that she didn’t need to worry about anything she ate from her table. She’d been cautious to use ingredients and spices that she knew didn’t react poorly with offworlders’ delicate stomachs.
Viri proved herself to be a fascinating female, and Cara was almost reluctant to go despite the train they had to catch. She shook her head and reminded herself that it wasn’t an option—even if she dared to consider it.
Her partnership with Lerix was very temporary. No, she needed to do what she came here to do. She shredded a bit of bread on her plate. Or at very least find some closure if what she was beginning to suspect was true.
In the end, the evening concluded all too quickly, and she found herself saying goodbye to her new friend and ushered out the door by an attentive Lerix. He said nothing when they entered the vehicle he’d borrowed, nor did he speak on the short trip back to the estate. Cara supposed that really there was nothing to say.
When they arrived, Cara took little time to pack her few belongings. Saying goodbye to Gordix and Mokav was far harder than she’d thought it was going to be. Though both males were cheerful, they protested that she and Lerix should stay at the estate or the familial resort until the end of their bonding period. Apparently, they’d also been aware that they hadn’t completed the mating but had been too polite to point it out and risk offending their new family member.
Still, they wished her a good time and both affirmed that they would be happily waiting for her return so she could regale them with her impressions of Sashalat. They didn’t know it was in fact goodbye.
This charade was getting harder and harder.
Chapter 9
Lerix glanced over at Cara, who sat staring sedately out the window of their private cabin. Despite the act she put on for everyone, she’d been quiet ever since they left Viri’s house.
His scales bristled in irritation. He could hav
e murdered Viri for the way she told Cara about Kadesh mating habits. Not that it wasn’t something he wasn’t going to have to eventually bring up, but he’d hoped for a more delicate way to break it to her. The perpetual silence was beginning to unnerve him after days exposed to her more talkative nature.
For a male such as himself, who preferred silence, it was a bit of a surprise that he missed the sound of her voice delighting in everything she saw. Even her misplaced confidence that she was going to go win her male back.
“We should be arriving in Sashalat in four hours, I believe,” he said in attempt to inspire some conversation. Nothing. She kept her eyes affixed to the window, though she did briefly nod to acknowledge him.
Lerix looked at her pale drawn face, dark smudges appearing under her eyes from what he suspected was stress and sleeplessness catching up to her. Despite the comfort of the cabin, Cara hadn’t slept well. Neither did he, since every toss and turn kept him awake and anxious.
For the first time, he found himself wanting to hunt down and pound a male into the ground on behalf of a female without being paid to do so. He wanted to destroy the male who brought such sadness to her odd but pleasing face. Somehow, the awkward female had endeared herself to him and, as time passed, her strange features became more and more pleasing to his eye.
Lerix snorted softly to himself. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be carried away on some sort of flight of fantasy just because she found her face attractive. Or how soft her plush breasts looked. Or how good she’d smelled in the garden crushed up against him when her true perfume emerged fully from under the cover of the male pheromones that still lingered on her body.
“You know, you can always change your mind,” he said quietly. “We do not have to go to Sashalat. Your male is not worthy of your efforts if he is so easily swayed to other females.”
Red-rimmed eyes turned to look at him and she managed to dredge up a weak smile for his benefit, and somehow that one look managed to stab him right through the heart.
A Kiss on Kaidava Page 6