Cara gave him a skeptical look.
“I don’t know—Esha looked pretty interested in Mahuura. He might be a much nicer mate for her than Ben.”
Lerix threw his head back and laughed. She frowned until his laughter died away and he stared at her in surprise.
“Are you serious? Her brothers would never allow Esha to mate with Mahuura. Not only is he a large, deadly male, but he is also a retired gladiator. Mahuura would have no chance at controlling him. No, her family would not permit them to mate even if she was so inclined. And I doubt that would be the case. Kadesh females like to be in control.”
Cara wasn’t so sure about that. There had seemed to be sparks flying between the pair whenever they moved near each other. As far as she could tell, from the shy looks Mahuura directed Esha’s way when she thought no one was watching, their interest seemed mutual.
Unlike Ben, Esha seemed like a much nicer male. Bigger and scarier, but he was polite, and his attention never strayed to another female that she’d ever seen. He had eyes only for Mahuura, and Cara found that quite sweet.
“You really don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you?”
He shrugged, unconcerned. “You already knew that.”
“Yes, but to see it in action is really something unbelievable… and not in a good way.”
Lerix grinned and rubbed his cheek against her. “But you still love me.”
“I don’t know…”
“You do. You already admitted it,” he teased. “I may not have a romantic bone in my body, as you put it—which I really don’t understand how this phrase ever became popular with humans since a bone isn’t by nature romantic—but you still want to be my mate.”
Cocky bastard.
Instead of yielding, she inspected her fingernails. “I don’t know… There’s a lot of time between now and our return to your family’s estate. A lot can happen between now and then.”
Her mate growled, his yellow eyes flashing with irritation as he drew her up until they were nose-to-nose. A grin suddenly appeared on his face.
“Nice try, female. We are still having the ceremony first.”
Cara scowled. She didn’t want to wait to be mated until their ceremony. A nice quiet family celebration would be lovely, but she didn’t want to wait to fully join with him. Especially if it helped his anxiety and discomfort with her around other males. All the posturing, growling, and overprotective hovering. On one level, it was sweet, but it was mostly annoying as time passed.
The comm interrupted their argument by lighting up with a merry chirp on the bedside table. Lerix reached over and tapped his finger on the screen to receive the transmission. Mahuura took one look at them and instantly averted her gaze.
“I am assuming that you’ve had sufficient time to settle your disagreement and reacquaint yourselves sexually?” the younger female asked, almost choking the words out around her rampant blushing.
Cara yanked the blanket higher over their bodies and offered an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, Mahuura. We’re done. I take it you’re ready to go back?”
The female smiled with obvious relief.
“Yes, exactly. We have completed all the shopping that needs to be done and now should return and begin decorating for the ceremony posthaste.”
Cara swore she heard a disgruntled growl in the background and was certain she hadn’t imagined it when Mahuura frowned at someone outside the viewing area.
Well, well, well. Was there something between Esha and Mahuura beyond some longing glances when one thought the other wasn’t looking? Cara almost felt giddy with the bloom of romance on the air. Lerix might be a grouch, but she was privately rooting for Esha.
As far as she was concerned, Mahuura deserved something better than having to threaten and watch a faithless mate every second of the day. She deserved a male who wanted her, and no one else. Just like what Cara had found with Lerix. Not that she was going to convince her mate of that. She dreaded what he would be like if they ever had daughters—chasing off any male that looked too big for any baby girl of his to control.
“We will meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes,” Lerix stated, his eyes narrowing with speculation at the corner of the projected viewscreen. He hadn’t missed it either and was taking his duties as “honorary brother” quite seriously.
He tossed the comm on the bed and abruptly stood up and began dressing. After a moment’s hesitation, Cara lightly touched his arm.
“You do realize you can’t pummel Esha into staying away from her, right?”
Lerix cocked a brow at her and snorted a laugh.
“So you say.”
She glared at her mate, who was steadily working her last nerve.
“Exactly. So I do say. Esha will pound you into a smear on the ground if you actually attempt to get between him and Mahuura, even if you had both of her brothers in your corner. I mean, look at him!”
“You think I can’t hold my own against an Ikoru?” he scoffed.
Cara folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.
“Can you?”
For a moment, his grin faltered and then he shrugged sheepishly.
“Probably not. I am a bodyguard, not a gladiator. Still,” he said, wagging a finger at her, “that doesn’t mean I won’t kick up an appropriate fuss—and then step back and let Kaval get the beating for it.”
With a laugh, she tossed her one surviving shirt from the unfortunate massacre of clothes earlier that morning at Lerix. He snatched it out of the air and shoved the shirt back into her bag.
“You do realize that since you ripped so many of my things in your pursuit to get me naked, you now owe me new clothes,” she drawled playfully.
Lerix winced. “Clothes shopping—it’ll be grand.”
She stifled a giggle behind her hand as his tail snaked around her hips and pulled her up against him. His lips grazed the tip of her nose as he handed her took her bags from her. It wasn’t much more than a butterfly kiss, but it melted her heart. And he thought he wasn’t romantic.
Lerix, for all his supposed knowledge growing up on the planet of romance, had a lot to learn about what that meant. Cara grinned up at him, love filling her heart. Lerix returned her smile and they walked out of the room hip-to-hip.
Chapter 24
For the first time in memory, Lerix enjoyed the leisurely travel on a train. He didn’t feel any pressing need to hurry to get anywhere. Hell, he wasn’t even in a hurry to return to their little private room near the hot springs. Okay, that was a blatant lie. There wasn’t a private car, and if he wanted to lay with his mate anytime soon, it would have to be in their rooms.
Cara’s head rested against his side as she dozed. Considering how early she’d woken to meet with the Korovik general, he wasn’t surprised. It still irritated him that she met him alone. It was his duty to protect his mate and he couldn’t do that if she slipped off and left him behind. His arm tightened around her. It wouldn’t be happening again.
Despite his lingering irritation, it was a fine day. He had his mate by his side, plenty of food, no one trying to kill him, and interesting company. It felt… good. Esha and Mahuura sat across from them at the table while the Tajii females were napping on reclined couches. Well, Val’na’kee was napping. Val’ee’na was flirting with no less than three Kadesh males who were foolishly attempting to win her favor.
Lerix snorted. He wished them luck with that. As long as they weren’t trying to steal away his mate, he was fine.
Not that a few didn’t look at her speculatively, but all Lerix had to do was allow his scales to bristle in warning and the males diverted their attention elsewhere. Esha merely chuckled from where he sat. Lerix understood why.
Lerix was considered a large male for most Kadesh although there were larger males such as Gordix and Kaval, yet even he would hesitate challenging Esha for a female. Unless the male had attempted to take Cara. It probably would have been his own death sentence, b
ut he wouldn’t have allowed that. Other Kadesh males were evidently smart enough to understand the threat too.
All Esha had to do was silently sit there and none of the few offworlder guests who attended as friends and business associates of the family even so much as than glanced Mahuura’s way. The male seemed to get a sadistic pleasure from it too, if the smirk on his lips was any indication. Lerix rather envied the male’s effect on others. It would have served him well in his career.
Lerix didn’t consider himself easily cowed, but he had to admire the menacing qualities that Esha wielded effortlessly. Yet, once the Ikoru began talking, Lerix had to admit to himself that he liked the male despite his objections to Esha pairing with Mahuura. That wasn’t personal. It was solely based on principle of what Kadesh consider best for their females.
Apparently, before fighting in the gladiatorial rings, Esha had also done a brief stint as a bodyguard before he realized that it paid shit compared to the glories of the ring. While painful injury was common, death was rare except for on the occasion where an unfortunate accident occurred. This ironically also made it potentially safer with a longer life expectancy than a bodyguard, who was expected to put their employer’s life before their own. Lerix wished he’d thought of that when he was a younger male. It probably would have saved him a lot of trouble.
“On Earth, there was a period where we had gladiators,” Cara mumbled sleepily from his side just after Esha finished telling him of the time he was the champion of the fights for the Princess of Konzo, a fringe planet known for its barbaric practices. He had been grateful to win enough to travel off that planet to fight in another system after being stuck there several months.
“Did you?” Esha raised his brows with interest.
Cara nodded and smothered a yawn, a smile lighting up her face. “Uh-huh. Fighters would travel and fight all throughout the ancient Roman Empire from far off reaches to entertain the masses. And the fighters often got quite the fangirl following,” she added with a sly look.
“What is that?” Lerix narrowed his eyes at her. There would be no fangirling if it was what he thought it was.
His mate chuckled. “A fangirl is a female who’s really into those they admire. It could be a musician, a writer, an actor, and so on. In some cases, a fangirl is happy to give certain… favors to famous males whom they favor. I’m sure Earth’s gladiators had no shortage of willing partners. I wonder if that’s true universally,” she said as she waggled her eyebrows.
Lerix scowled and tightened his tail around his mate. No, there would be no fangirling in his house. And definitely not among his daughters if he was blessed with any.
Esha sat back almost warily, especially since Mahuura was now looking at him intently waiting for his answer. Lerix almost felt sorry for the unfortunate bastard. Almost. If it weren’t so amusing. Instead he grinned.
“Yes, do tell us, Esha, do interstellar gladiators have… fangirls throwing themselves at them?” he drawled, earning a glare from the other male that promised retribution.
“I am sure Kaval would have far more experience to boast of such things than I,” Esha attempted to demure.
Mahuura snorted. “What a load of vurnol shit.”
The male frowned down at her with disapproval as if tempted to censure her words. Lerix hoped he would. He wanted to see how the young Kadesh female would react to be reprimanded by the Ikoru. It would be highly entertaining, at least.
Cara, no doubt being fully aware of what he was up to by goading the male, jabbed him with a sharp elbow. Lerix yelped and grinned down at her.
Esha’s upper claws twitched. “There are females who pursue gladiators,” he agreed reluctantly. “But a smart gladiator discovers that they are not worth pinning dreams and energy on. I can’t speak for every gladiator, but they lost their appeal for me many revolutions ago during my third year in the gladiatorial circuit.”
Mahuura then surprised him by saying quite pragmatically, “Well, that puts you at an advantage then. You have plenty of experience for whatever female you decide to take as your mate.”
At his side, Cara snickered while Esha grinned down at Mahuura. Okay, that didn’t go quite the way he was imagining it. He wasn’t surprised; he did tell Cara that Kadesh were rather pragmatic. He hadn’t thought a female would be that pragmatic about a male she was interested in being so sexually experienced.
Cara leaned forward, her chin resting on his pectoral ridge, looking out at the passing scenery. Rolling fields of gold, pink, and lavender stretched out at either side of them.
“It’s so beautiful,” she said quietly.
Lerix had to agree. While he preferred the scenic seaside vistas of Birol, there was something to be said for the plateaus that provided much of the grain, vegetables, and fruits to their respective regions.
“It is,” Mahuura agreed softly. “You should see it in the grain season, when all the fields are heavy with the harvest. Still, I wish I could afford to have my mating ceremony on the coast. When I was young, I wanted to be mated before my family by the sea. It would be the perfect backdrop. But booking a mating ceremony at the resorts in Sashalat are so expensive,” she said with a pained expression.
“I imagine it would be beautiful. Lerix has an estate with magnificent gardens with a beautiful beach just beyond. Oh! Idea.” Cara turned the full strength of her smile upon him. “Lerix, you have a beautiful garden that you said was rented out for mating ceremonies. Why don’t you lend it for their use?”
Mahuura blinked at him in surprise, hope blooming on her face. Normally his family charged a substantial fee for such services, but given the way Cara was narrowing her eyes at him, he knew that she wouldn’t be pleased if he did that. He had a feeling his income wasn’t going to be quite as abundant with her in his life. But it would be a worthy trade-off, to be sure.
In any case, Mahuura had been a generous hostess, so he couldn’t help but offer the same.
“It has been some time since the estate hosted a mating ceremony, so it may not be quite as it was when I was a youngling, but I know my father would be delighted to host a ceremony there once more. He was always proud of how much our gardens were desired by Kadesh and offworlders alike.”
“Then it’s settled,” Cara said, her hand squeezing his in thanks. Lerix dropped a kiss on her head. That silent communication between them was all that needed to be said.
Mahuura shrieked with joy and ran across the car to her mother.
“Mother, wake up! You are never going to believe where we are having the mating ceremony—!”
Lerix tuned out the rest of the conversation. He was only aware when another feminine voice joined, and her cousin seemed to get into the planning as well.
Esha smiled at him. “You have made Mahuura very happy.”
“I have,” he agreed with a grin.
“I owe you my thanks. That female deserves happiness.”
“Too bad she’s settling for Ben then,” Cara joined sourly.
The male made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat, the many whip-ends of his tail slapping the seat beside him, betraying his irritation.
Lerix flicked his own tail at the sudden hostile energy in the air.
“Lerix, perhaps you should comm your family to give them time to prepare,” Cara suggested.
He could have kissed her. He needed to get away from Esha before his instincts started going haywire and reacting to the male’s hostility. Lerix frowned with uncertainty. He didn’t want to leave Cara alone, though.
The Ikoru snorted and waved him away. “Go comm your family. I will keep an eye on your female. You know as well as I that no males will approach while I am sitting here.”
Lerix smiled tightly at that but nodded his head in agreement. Esha made a valid point. As much as he wanted to demand that Cara accompany him to the quiet comm booth set up at the rear of the car, it would hardly be comfortable for her. So, instead, he leaned down and kissed his mate.
“I w
ill be right back. Stay with Esha. Do not move without him or me with you.”
Cara rolled her eyes but grinned up at him.
“Yes, dear.”
He frowned down at her but her smile just widened with feigned innocence. With an irritated snort he turned away before he gave in to the urge to find a private corner with his female and seduce her regardless of where they were at. She was too damn provocative, and without evening trying.
As he headed back to the comm booth, Mahuura passed by him as she returned to her seat. Her face was flushed with happiness. A lightness settled over his heart. Perhaps Cara guiding him wasn’t such a bad thing after all if his actions could bring such joy to the face of another.
With an amused huff, he pulled his comm unit from his pocket as he ducked into the booth.
***
The peace of the afternoon was shattered upon arriving back to Mahuura’s familial home. Loaded with packages from town and several beautifully made fathee that they’d picked up before departing Lominoa, they walked into the common room and everyone froze.
In the center of the room, Kaval was holding Ben in place while Sovuul was hitting him with the flat of his hand, striking him in a different spot every time he hit. From what Lerix could tell, they weren’t hard strikes, not even leaving a bruise. This punishment was designed to embarrass—nothing more.
“Kaval and Sovuul, what in the name of the gods are you doing to Mahuura’s mate?” Val’na’kee said as she pushed her way to the front of their group with a fierce glare leveled on her sons.
Sovuul shrugged unrepentantly. “We caught him trying to escape the property this morning. We had to teach him a lesson. Don’t worry. We didn’t hurt the delicate little male.” His lip curled at the human still dangling from Kaval’s large hand.
“Kaval, let go,” their mother snapped.
Kaval and Sovuul exchanged a long look before Kaval opened his hands and let Ben drop with a painful groan to the floor.
A Kiss on Kaidava Page 17