Gundar reached into his pocket and took out a ring, “I, Gundar of Chaldar, son of Tyfrin, take you, Darla Louise Levin, as my bride. I promise to dedicate my life to our mutual happiness, to support your hopes and dreams as you will support mine. I vow to base our relationship on perseverance, honor, honesty, and above all, love. You shall be the reason I always return home, no matter the darkness I have to traverse to be by your side.” He slid the simple twisted band onto her finger. Then, he bent down to touch his lips to hers and the room and everyone else faded into nothingness. It was a brief kiss filled with promise, a promise that had to wait as reality came crashing back down to the sound of music starting up once more, signaling them to proceed down the aisle together. The guests clapped and cheered as they walked past.
She felt grateful that she had decided to not do the usual speeches and such at the reception. Instead, she had arranged for the mess hall to cater a relaxed dinner. Exiting the function room, they ducked into a smaller conference room next door in order to change into more casual wear. They exited and Amy and Steven ducked in to do the same.
“Are you certain it would not be better to remain in my dress uniform?” Gundar asked her.
“Not unless you want to risk getting barbecue sauce stains out of it.”
“This barbecue, it is messy to eat?”
“It can be.” Darla had no time to say nothing more as they became swamped by well wishers leaving the function room. She was relieved to see most had followed the dress code she’d placed on the invitations, advising dress should be smart casual. Steven and Amy’s mates came to stand by the conference room door, waiting for them to come out, which they did moments later. Together, they all walked to the mess hall, following along the crowd of guests also making their way there.
It didn’t matter to Darla that it wasn’t the fanciest feast. She’d chosen food that represented her roots- a delicious pulled pork barbecue made with a Jack Daniels infused sauce, with potato salad, coleslaw, buttermilk biscuits, and skin on fries. First though, before they could eat, there was a cake to cut. It was a simple cake, Darla haven chosen an old fashioned cake design instead of one of the more elaborate cake styles showcased on cable shows. She and Gundar stood, their hands both holding the cake knife, then sliced downwards. A cheer went up. She grinned at Gundar who looked at her puzzled. “I do not understand why the human mates are cheering,” he told her in a low voice. “This was not difficult to cut through.”
Darla laughed. “They are cheering because we’ve completed another tradition and they are having fun,” she whispered.
“I am also not understanding why we are slicing into the dessert first,” he said.
“It’s just a thing. I don’t know why,” she said, offering him a serving and handing him the cake slice. “Now serve me.” He did as she asked. “Okay, let’s go sit down now.” Darla figured this was easiest, especially as she could not imagine Gundar being pleased if she tried to cram a piece of cake in his mouth.
Chapter Nineteen: Gundar
Gundar had enjoyed the spicy with a hint of sweet meat dish but made a vow to never, ever eat coleslaw again. On the whole though, their guests seemed to enjoy the informal feast. There had not been much food left by the time the party had wound down, though that was partly due to some of the mates taking home some of the ‘sliders’ with them when they departed in order to make the shuttle home. Though quite how the shredded meat sandwich slid anywhere, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps it refers to the manner some of the meat filling fell out of the bread.
Now at last he was standing in their bedroom with his bride, this time, not merely to try to sleep. Sleep that had been increasingly hard won as his desire had grew. Darla had gotten quite used to sharing the bed with him, which was a good thing, but it had meant that she had begun seeking him out in her sleep, no longer keeping space between them as they spooned. Her plump bottom had pressed against him, driving him to distraction.
Darla took off her strappy sandals then stood before him, looking uncertain. She was chewing her bottom lip. “Can you... can you take it easy? Um, be extra gentle? I know it’s supposed to hurt the first time and all...”
He had suspected as much. His mate was inexperienced. The weight she had placed on having her human ceremony before joining, the way her eyes widened when she felt him grow hard against her, the initial awkwardness of their kisses, all had signaled this fact. He reached out a hand and gently cupped her cheek. “We shall go as slow or as fast as you wish. There is to be nothing but pleasure between us.” He lowered his face to hers and gently captured her lips. She melted against him as he claimed her mouth, his tongue stroking in and out, tongue fucking her mouth. This was familiar, they’d spent the last week kissing and exploring each other’s mouths, cuddling, and snuggling, gentling his skittish mate so that she welcomed his touch and sought it out. As the week had progressed, she’d begun initiating some of the kisses and cuddles. Three days earlier, she’d greeted him with a kiss upon his return home from duty.
As they kissed, he allowed his other hand to slide up from her waist to gently cup her breast, his thumb lightly brushing against her nipples. She gasped into his mouth and arched closer as if trying to burrow herself into him. He nipped her lower lip, then soothed the sting away with his tongue before moving his kisses lower, to the corner of her mouth, then along her jawline, and finally the crook her neck s he cradled her head with the hand that had cupped her jaw moments before.
“Ah, yes, that feels so good,” Darla whimpered, her hands clutching his upper arms.
He took a step back and regarded her with hooded eyes, then untied the sash of his dress shirt. Undoing the two ties that kept the crisscrossed fabric closed, he shrugged out of the shirt. Darla licked her lips. She’d seen him shirtless before as he slept topless, but never like this, while feeling the heat of passion burning in her belly. He knew what she saw. His scales now prominent enough that one could feel the roughness of them if they rubbed their hands against their grain. His skin and scales shimmering blue, the pearly sheen gleaming under the lighting. The pebbled tips of his own nipples. He stilled as she reached forward, running her hands across his pecs, squeezing them gently. He hissed as she brushed his hardened nubs. She looked up at him wide-eyed at the sound.
“Men like to be touched there, too?”
“I do,” he said, his voice strained. He reached back towards her, grasping the edges of her tunic style top and tugging it upward. She lifted her arms, allowing him to draw it up over her head and off. She reached behind herself and keeping her eyes locked with his, unfastened her bra, slid it from her shoulders, and let it fall to the floor. He smiled, kneeling before her, and leaning in to kiss first one breast, then her other. He drew the second nipple into his mouth, giving a low growl as he licked and sucked. Switching to the other breast, he barely registered that her hands were now resting on his head until her grip tightened and began to pull the strands of his hair. He grasped her hips, them moved his hands to to the waistband of her skirt while also hooking his fingers into the elastic of her undergarment, pulling the fabric down together so that she stood bare before him. She lifted one leg, then the other, kicking the clothes out of her way, jumping when his mouth let go. He stood and began ravaging her mouth once more, guiding her backwards towards their bed until the backs of her knees bumped against it. He began kissing his way downward once more, down along her jaw, among the column of her throat, tasting her luscious breasts once more before moving down to place a kiss against her belly. She gasped as he urged her into a sitting position. She sprawled backwards onto the mattress, her gaze looking faraway and her pupils blown wide, her weight resting on her arms as she leaned back, panting.
He pulled her knees apart then darted in between her thighs. He moaned. He’d wanted this for what had seemed an eternity, though it had actually been a mere handful of days. Her musky sweet scent heated his blood to where he felt as if he was about to combust from within, relieved only slightly
by the wet honey she produced to the delight of his tongue. She gripped his hair again, pulling.
“Oh my God,” she moaned. “Don’t stop. Jesus, that feels so good!”
He growled. He did not know who this Jesus was, but he didn’t like the idea of him coming to mind while he was making love to her. She was his, damn it. He sucked on her clit, determined to drive the memory of every other man she’d ever met or dreamed of from her mind. Her hips bucked as she keened. He swirled his tongue about it, then dipped down to slide his tongue deep into her folds. Her cried grew louder, and he began to dart his tongue in and out. His tongue lengthened as he lapped.
“Your eyes!” she cried, as she looked down at him. He knew what she saw. His eyes would now be fully reptilian, shimmering an impossibly bright green. He rubbed his now softly scaled cheek against her thigh. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered. He pulled away from her. She was now dripping wet and more than ready to take his cock. He stood and toed off his boots then leaned over her, capturing her mouth once more while using his hands to slide his trousers off. His cock sprang free, it not being the Mylos way to bother with underwear. He crawled onto the bed over her, scooting her backwards until her head lay upon the pillows. He smiled down at her, guiding the fat tip of his cock towards her opened. She tensed, relaxing as he nuzzled her neck and slid forward slowly, stopping to allow her to adjust once the head of his cock popped in. Once he felt her relax, he surged forward just enough to pierce her maidenhead, biting down on her neck gently as he did so, then licking and kissing the sting away. She arched at the twin sensations, giving a sharp gasp. He pulled out a fraction, then thrust back in shallowly, over and over, going in a bit further each time. Darla grasped his shoulders tightly, her short nails digging half moons into his shoulders where the scales were thinnest. He began to move in earnest, knowing she was ready when she began to match his thrusts and kiss along his neck and jaw.
He stopped, pulled most of the way out, and lifted her ankles onto his forearms before giving a sharp thrust forward. Darla howled. “Yes, there, right there!” he began to hammer against her, his hands on her hips. He felt himself draw close, the churning within his balls and the tightening with his belly warning him of his pending release. He moved a hand to her mound and began to toy with her clit, circling and pressing. He growled as her head began to thrash back and forth upon her pillows. “Yes, Gundar, yes,” she chanted over and over, her pants and cries almost echoing in their intensity. “Something’s happening!” she sobbed. “I feel, I feel...”
“Let it happen,” he urged, watching as she stopped fighting the sensation and fell over the cliff, breaking apart around him. His movements stuttered as her walls clamped down on him. His movements now erratic, he gave a few more sharp, deep thrusts, then threw back his head, baring his teeth as he came, jetting his release and bathing her insides with his essence. He allowed her legs to slide down onto the bed and collapsed over her, catching his weight upon his forearms. He glanced down at her, catching the sight of her still panting lightly and looking at him wide-eyed.
“So,” she whispered at him. “That’s what sex is like.”
“That’s what sex with me is like,” he corrected. She giggled, and he kissed her lips gently. He rolled to the side and stretched before pulling her to him.
“When can we do that again?” she asked.
He glanced down at himself. “It’ll be several minutes before this is fully ready.” He turned to face her. “Plenty of time for me to taste you again.”
“Come on then, big guy,” she teased. He hastened to comply.
Chapter Twenty: Darla
Darla and Gundar spent the next week trying out different surfaces around their quarters. When they weren’t having sex, she practiced using the Mylos version of an oven and stove under Gundar’s watchful eye. She’d managed to not burn anything, though it had been a close call on one occasion after she dropped a pot holder into the oven when reaching in for the roast snerlak she was preparing for dinner.
She’d been proud of that meal. It was the first Mylos dish she’d tasted, and she’d mostly prepared it by herself. She’d found it the meat succulent and the taste vaguely similar to beef. There was another snerlak roast in the chiller unit and she thought about trying out the Crockpot Steven and his mate had gifted them as a wedding gift. Gundar had returned to duty that morning, and she’d found herself wanting to simply loaf about the house. If I cook it like a pot roast in the Crockpot, it can cook all day and I can read, soak in the tub, watch some TV or whatever. She opened the cupboards. No dried onion soup. Mama always uses dried onion soup. She walked to the chiller unit and activated the view screen there. “Xero, does the ship’s stores carry dried onion soup mix?”
“It does,” came the reply, “and it is currently in stock.”
“Great, thanks.”
“Should I request a box?”
“Not yet. I think I’m going to do some meal planning and make a shopping list. Could you make me a coffee, please, though? Just my usual.”
“One caramel macchiatto coming up,” Xero said brightly.
Darla walked to the replicator and lifted out the drink that had appeared. She smiled at the two chocolate chip cookies on the sauce next to it. “Thanks. You know I love these!” Taking the coffee and cookies to the breakfast bar, she sat down. This would be easier with a data pad, duh, she told herself, getting up once more to fetch the one from the side table drawer in the living room. Data pad now in hand and switched on, she quickly connected to the internet. She located a recipe site she’d used when helping prepare meals back at her parent’s home and used their shopping list facility. When finished, she asked Xero, “Xero, how can I get it so my shopping list goes to the ship’s stores?”
“Is there a print facility?”
“There is.”
“Tell it to print to Xeranos and I will take the data and match it to the ship’s stores.”
Darla did as the AI instructed.
“Many of these items are high in sodium. Would you like lower sodium substitutions?”
“Um, yeah, as long as they are exactly like it, only less salt.”
“The order has been sent and will be delivered within the hour.”
“Cool, thanks.” Heh, I just did my first grocery shop in space! I’ve got time for a bubble bath before it gets here, too. She powered down the data pad and put it away before going into the bathroom and having the AI there draw her bath. She laid out a set of clothes to change into and went back into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of orange and mango juice while she waited. When she had drank all of it, she wandered back into the bathroom to find it ready. She disrobed, placing her clothes in the fresher but not turning it on. She stepped into the tub and slid into the bubbles.
“Oh, that’s nice. I could lie here all freakin’ day.”
“Optimal temperature can be maintained for one hour,” the bathroom AI informed her.
“Mmmm. Just for half an hour and let me know when the time is up.” Darla didn’t want to still be in the bath when her order from ship’s stores would be delivered.
“Acknowledged,” the bathroom AI said.
At least Gundar fixed it so that it stopped telling me my statistics every time I used the toilet. Funny how used I am to Xero, but the bathroom AI, which isn’t even sentient in any sense of the word, weirds me out a little. Maybe it’s because it’s in the bathroom? Makes it kinda feel like somebody else is in here, watching me or something.
She made herself force the subject out of her mind, resolving to get better used to it by pretending the AI went away somewhere unless she needed it. She picked up the exfoliating gloves and put them on, running them over her skin before removing them and rinsing them out in the bath water. She soaked a bit longer, closing her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the water and the scent of the bubbles until the AI reminded her it was time to get out. She sighed, pulled the plug manually and stepped out of the bath. She wrapped a towel aroun
d herself and padded into their bedroom.
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