They had finished the main course when Tina's sudden movement next to Khaid stifled the conversation. Inexplicably, she batted Khaid's plate off the table, did a near back flip out of her chair, and had snapped open the cuff knife. She pointed it at the neck of the servant who had just moved away from serving Khaid.
Grace could see two copper and silver guards, who looked like Khaid, moving toward Tina from either side, but Zhadra and Khaid's commands halted them in their tracks.
Khaid stood, wiped the noodles from his shirt, and approached Tina. "What is it, little cat?"
Her eyes had not left those of the trembling servant and her knife was still at his neck. "Your plate smelled very different than mine. And the only other time I smelled that scent was when you first came to sick bay and the medic said you might have been drugged."
"I smell nothing." Khaid appeared puzzled.
"Which is what you said when you were in sick bay."
The two Bora-Obosian Guards looked to Khaid. "My lord?"
Khaid looked at Zhadra. "With your permission, we will pursue this inquiry?"
Zhadra nodded, and Khaid gave instructions to the guards who collected his meal and the servant and strode away.
Grace had stood to back up Tina. She noticed the new assessing glances of the Obosians as they studied Tina and the other crew members.
Zhadra's father stood. "I believe that is a signal for our main meal to come to an end. Please remain and enjoy yourselves."
His eyes moved to Keri. "I would like our off-world guests to accompany me to the library for further discussion."
After tea was served and all were seated, including Zhadra's entire family, his father spoke.
"This is what I have decided. I have prepared a guest facility that is nearby but not located on my compound. Your belongings from Zhadra's ship have been transferred."
The humans looked pleased, but Keri held up her hand. "We will be alone?"
"No. Zhadra, Khaid, and Jhergh will also reside in this compound. They are not there to restrict you, but they are responsible for your safety. How they achieve that and balance the freedoms you desire is up to all of you."
"But --" Keri got no further.
"Human. You have achieved much for your people. Do not press for more until we see how this experiment proceeds."
Chapter Eighteen
Grace was surprised and a little depressed that Zhadra had not sought her out during the trip to their new quarters. With no guidance from him, she purposely chose a room located near Khaid's wing of the compound. She knew that Zhadra and Jhergh had set up in the other two wings.
Maybe she had wanted too much. She knew better. She'd seen firsthand how the conflicting needs of men and women worked out. They didn't. Her mother had given everything. Her dad, the jerk, had not. And then he'd left anyway.
There really had been no choice but to fight for independence here on Obos. She and the crew had won concessions, and though Zhadra's indifference to their needs had been hurtful, Grace's refusal to capitulate had been important. She should be proud.
Yay, me.
Grace was organizing her few belongings into drawers hidden in the walls when there was a knock at her open door.
She turned to see a very serious Zhadra standing quietly and watching her.
This was it. Since they were going to be living on the same compound, he was here to make sure there were no hard feelings.
She forced a smile. "Hello, Zhadra."
"I want to speak with you."
"No need, Zhadra. It was great while it lasted."
She turned and continued to empty her few belongings.
"Female. Please come with me."
"Zhadra, there's nothing more to be said."
She didn't even hear him approach. Before she knew it, she was upside down over his shoulder and he was striding to another wing. "Zhadra, if you don't put me down, I'm going to take a bite out of your ass."
"Do your worst, female."
He entered a large bedroom, closed and secured the door and threw her onto the bed.
He stood over her, hands on his hips, eyes blazing, and looked angry as hell.
"What are you doing?" She would not continue to be a convenient booty call on this male's 'for now' timeline.
"I am putting you where you belong, female. With me."
She began to climb off the bed, but he lunged on top of her and held her down. They were nose to nose.
"Grace. I cannot imagine a life without you in it. I want this."
"I can't just stop my life to have sex with you when you decide it's convenient."
"There is nothing convenient about you, female. But you are my inconvenience. I wish to mate you."
"But I thought --"
He kissed her. "And have young."
"But you said you didn't ever want --"
He kissed her again, this time with lots of tongue. Her nipples were hard against his chest. Her head was spinning.
He lifted his head slightly. "And to be fair, to have sex anytime I decide it is convenient. Like now."
Grace's heart was soaring. "You mean it?"
"Sex now? Absolutely."
She hit his chest and laughed, letting him remove her clothes with his claws.
"No, silver man. About mating. And what does that mean, exactly?"
"It means we are one. Mates. We go through life together."
"And how does this happen?"
"We've done the hardest part. We found each other. But the last step is for me to bite you and inject you with the secretions from my mating glands."
She looked at his serrated teeth. "Exactly how and where do you bite?"
He now had them both naked. He was aroused. His eyes were glowing. And he was magnificent.
"Grace. Do you really think I would hurt you?"
She gazed into his eyes and whispered. "No." She bit her lip. "But will I be able to live here and be happy?"
"I will make sure of it, Grace. You have taught me much about what you need. But right now, I want you to only need me."
The answer was simple. "Yes."
She pushed him onto his back and straddled his chest. They had been so frantic before; she had never gotten to taste his skin the way she wanted. She kissed down his neck to his nipples, intermittently feathering the skin of his chest with her tongue.
Zhadra's hands ran through her hair. "Gods, Grace."
Gliding down, she nipped at silver skin on his hard abs. When she reached down and stroked his erection, he groaned.
"Human. You will push me into a warrior frenzy."
Grace smiled and descended further, lapping the tip of his erection with her tongue, and slowly sucking him into her mouth. Not that she was ever, ever, going to fit much more than the head. She cupped his balls and let her fingers drift back.
"Grace. Now is not the time --"
She put her tongue to work in time with the suction, but he finally pulled her off, breathless, and sat her down on top of him. "Are you ready, warrior?"
She'd been ready since he'd turned her over his shoulder.
She put her hands on his shoulders and descended over him. It was tight.
Zhadra's glowing eyes met hers. He placed one hand on her breasts and the other on her clit.
Grace groaned as she felt a gush of heat and fully seated herself on him. There was nothing like this feeling. The yearning for more. The need to be pushed further and further toward the edge.
"Zhadra," she whispered. "I love you."
"I do not know this love, Grace. But my chest aches without you and my blood sings that you are mine."
"Good enough, Zhadra. More than good."
She began to move. He reached up and grasped her hands in his, then sat so that his chest was to hers. The move seated him even deeper within her.
Zhadra lifted his hips as she rode him and fondled her nipples. She was close. The light in his eyes burned the brightest she had seen. It set fire to her core. It melted
her heart.
Zhadra looked like he was gritting his teeth as she moved even faster. On his final deep thrust up, Grace came. And came.
And when he buried his teeth in the top of her shoulder, she had the hardest, longest orgasm of her life around Zhadra as she felt him gush inside her. It was magic. It was out of this world. It was Zhadra.
Epilogue
She was late in oh so many ways.
She and Zhadra were due at the Conclave Meeting to have their mating sanctioned. Zhadra had taken one look at her in her first-ever, slight concession to Obosian female fashion, and her snug sapphire blue skirt had been up over her hips. He'd pounded into her while she'd held onto the table where she'd begun to apply makeup.
And thank the gods -- Obosian, Olympian, and all other pantheons -- that the chamber was soundproofed, because she swore her orgasms just got more massive every time they had sex. At least she'd be able to skip the blush and lipstick, because gods knew she'd be flushed for the next hour.
And then there was the little matter of the slight period she usually had while her birth control inoculation was in effect. Nothing slight this time.
Nothing at all. The time for its appearance had come and gone. Two weeks ago. She'd seen Lhiranna yesterday and there was no question but that she was pregnant.
Zhadra righted her dress and kissed her. "You are well, warrior?"
"Yes, but we are running so late."
"We are not. I have made new arrangements."
"What?"
He kissed her nose. "They are a surprise." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a delicate chain of polished galitron with a brilliant blue crystal at the end.
He stood behind her and fastened it around her neck. "This is your mating necklace. Our mother gave one to each of us for our mates before she died."
Grace touched the sapphire blue stone that was nearly the size of a robin's egg. "It vibrates."
"Good." With that he whisked her out the door onto his Tricraft, and they were soon landing on top a building that she knew was a good half mile from the Conclave Chambers. Zhadra held her hand and they hurried down the stairs.
When they reached the main floor, he took her into a large gym. He looked . . . nervous. "What do you think?"
She thought it was a gym. But Grace narrowed her eyes and looked closer. The proportions of the equipment were smaller than that at the compound or what she had seen on Zhadra's battle cruiser.
"Who is it for?" Grace was afraid to breathe.
He took her back out to the front of the building. She was still learning Obosian, so she wasn't certain what the letters meant. But in smaller script, English letters showed the name of the building. The Grace Summers Institute for Defense.
"Lhiranna and her friends will be your first pupils. From them, the word will spread quickly, and you can teach Obosian women how to be strong. Like you, my warrior. And you can teach them to take care of themselves when there is no one to aid them. And who's to say where you take the Institute from there."
"Zhadra. I don't know what to say."
"Say you love me, Grace. I begin to like this word."
She put her arms around his neck. "I do love you. But I have something to add. I'm pregnant."
A flare of satisfaction lit his eyes, but he looked at her with worry. "We did not discuss this possibility. You are happy?"
Grace had never felt so content. "Ah, Zhadra. More than you know. I have love. I have work. And now a little silver baby on the way to share in it all."
He lifted her and spun her around before lowering her head to his. "Then all is well."
As they walked back to his tricraft, he pursed his lips in thought. "Though I must tell you about Obosian babies, Grace. We may need to get our hands on one of those Vermian cages for a year or two . . . "
The End
Continue for a peak at BRHEX, Book Two of the Obosian Warriors.
BRHEX
OBOSIAN WARRIORS: BOOK TWO
Chapter One
Keri Hampton had just gotten tossed on her ass. Again. By a big-assed silver alien with horns.
“Better this time, human.” High praise indeed coming from Jhergh, one of their hosts on the planet of Obos.
She badly wanted to rub at the bruises that must be forming, but they did not teach weakness at Earth’s Space Academy. Or, for that matter, at the Ballet Center of Houston. It was so annoying to be grateful to her parents for the hated ballet lessons.
She met the gaze of the silver male across the mat. Thank god he did not give her heated tingles like his brother, Brhex. Jhergh was good looking, but he didn’t make her want to reach out, hang on to his horns, and pull herself up as close as a woman could get.
Of course, Brhex, the pompous leader of one of the five nations on Obos, didn’t get close enough to give her tingles these days. The leader of Agra-Obos tolerated but avoided the “Earth Embassy” her stranded crew had established here.
“Again, Jhergh,” Keri said, and could hear the fatigue in her voice. They had been at this for a good hour today.
“You are stubborn, female,” Jhergh said.
Which is what her parents used to say. Kerrington Thomasina Hampton. You are such a stubborn girl.
“You will never be an Obosian Warrior.” Another acute observation by her Obosian instructor.
Same — from her parents. You will never go to the space academy. It’s just not done.
Jhergh frowned. “I thought Brhex asked you to prepare for your Conclave meeting this afternoon.”
And, ditto on orders from the parents. Concentrate on your cotillion classes and the ballet premiere.
“I told Brhex,” Keri said. “If I don’t get combat training, then I don’t attend the Conclave meeting.” Of course, as de-facto ambassador, she’d never skip this hearing at their version of Congress.
But she’d successfully bluffed her parents in a similar fashion to attend earth’s space academy.
Jhergh grumbled. “Then Brhex should get his silver ass here and throw you around for this training. I tire of the exercise.”
The door to the training room opened and Jhergh showed his serrated teeth in a mockery of a smile. “Besides, my next student has arrived.”
Keri looked at Scott, the new arrival. He’d been assigned as the physician on the Defiance, the ill-fated ship of misfits she’d commanded before they’d been boarded and captured by some lizard alien species.
Scott smiled sardonically and ignored the Obosian’s obvious relish for the sparring session to come. Keri knew Jhergh and his brothers had been merciless with Scotty because her crewman continued to spend time with their sister, Lhiranna, a healer on their planet.
Keri blew out a breath and left the mat, slapping Scott’s hand as her tag team replacement.
Jhergh frowned. The Obosians weren’t a touchy-feely lot and had no clue about male-female relationships outside of sex or mating.
“Hey, Keri.” Scott stopped to chat. And to aggravate the Obosian waiting for him.
The Obosian growled on cue.
Scott grinned. “How’s the growling tin hulk today?”
“Eager to kick your ass, as always.”
“Brings back my days in training.” Scott shrugged. “And with their healing technology, why not?”
There was a distinct twinkle in his eye. What Jhergh and all his brothers didn’t realize was that every time they beat him to a pulp, Scotty went straight to Lhiranna to be healed. As far as Keri knew, the two physicians were just friends, but anything that drove the Obosians crazy — especially Brhex — was fine in her book.
Scott grew more serious. “You ready for the Conclave politicians?”
“Yep.” She caught the towel he threw her way and wiped the sweat from her face and neck.
“You think they’ll cave on work permits for us?”
“Nope.” But she didn’t expect them to concede that easily.
Still, she had to solve this. Her crew of seven, including her, woul
d go nuts if they couldn’t put their brains and bodies to work.
And though they had a decent financial cushion for now, she also wanted to develop a steady revenue stream for their Earthen Embassy.
“Let me guess.” Scott grabbed back her towel. “You have a plan.”
“Maybe.” She checked the time and knew she had to stall a few more minutes.
Planning was what she’d done nonstop for the past several weeks as they’d settled on Obos, the planet of their rescuers. And the scary thing was that instead of utilizing all her military training, she’d found herself remembering some of the society coups she’d seen her mother accomplish with seemingly little effort.
She’d disdained the social maneuvers. She swore she’d never be like that. And here she was, getting ready to launch a glitterati campaign that would make her mother swoon with pride.
“Well, Captain. You know we’re all here to help.” He nodded and headed onto the mat to face Jhergh. But he turned, walking backwards. “Any word on Earth comms?”
“Not yet.” Keri’s other task was to figure out a way to establish communication with the Planetary Union and Earth.
Scott turned again and walked toward Jhergh. “What do you say we make this interesting, Obosian?”
Jhergh showed his teeth. “I do not understand your meaning. I find it very interesting to crush your human form.”
“Let’s just make a small wager on the outcome. Nothing huge. Perhaps a million credits.”
Keri gulped. What the hell? None of them wasted credits like that.
“Done,” Jhergh said.
Keri grabbed another towel and winced as she heard the first crash to the mat. When she turned, she was surprised to see it was Jhergh on his back and not Scott.
Her officer looked at her and winked. She caught a glimpse of steel beneath his amusement. Hmmm. Scott had been holding back on the Obosians. Not sure fleecing them was a brilliant idea.
But, hey. They could use an extra million credits in their account. And it was good to keep the semi-arrogant Obosians off balance.
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