Her neck curving, Sankal’s scaled head turned back to watch them carefully with an intelligent gleam in her eyes. Two enormous vents at either side of her jaw blew, spraying a light dusting of sand as she continued the process. Vibrissae fluttering like mad, she made tiny adjustments to her balance until finally she stopped moving for the span of a breath before the dragnar leaped forward, her body sliding lightning fast across the sand.
Hitani hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that the dragnar were fast. It was easily beyond what many people back home had called “hold onto your ass” speed, except that rather than barreling down empty streets in barely running pickups and beat-up cars, Terri was practically flying across the desert on the back of a creature that seemed straight out of a fantasy novel. If she had anyone to wager with, she would have bet that Sankal could beat most basic flyers out there. She couldn’t imagine why his people would have stopped riding them, and she might have asked if she was certain that she could breathe and talk at the same time.
Flying across the sand at an astonishing pace, Sankal broke over the dunes like a boat cresting waves. While the other dragnar lagged behind their alpha, Sankal was to neck-and-neck with the large female, playfully singing to the other in bassy trills. The other female barely turned her lupine head in her direction but increased her speed, her upper body diving gracefully as she dropped down the side of the dunes.
Sankal moved to go the same direction, but Veral called her attention with an unfamiliar chirp and redirected the dragnar away from the grouping. Behind the cloth mask, Terri frowned in confusion. The wall of sand rose around them, and though it barely bothered her through her protective gear, she worried about being separated from the others. Turning in his embrace, she attempted to shout over the air whistling by them created both by the dragnar’s speed and by the wind blowing all around them.
“Veral, what’s going on? We are going to lose them!” she shouted.
Her muffled voice sounded hollow to her ears, as if it had been thrown back at her. Veral didn’t speak, though his arm tightened briefly around her as if attempting to allay whatever tension he felt coiling within her. Unfortunately, as attentive as he was as a mate, he didn’t seem the least bit interested in where the rest of their group disappeared to.
Unable to communicate, Terri blew out a frustrated breath against her mask and leaned into him to wait out the ride. As fun as it was to come close to flying on a near mythical creature, her joy was dulled by the worry that pinched at her nerves, especially as the sand blew harder until all she could see through her vizor was a curtain of red haze all around them.
Now she saw for herself why the area was called the Galithilan—the Blowing Sands. That was all there was as far as she could see. Time and space seemed to disappear there, and she had no idea of how far or how long they had traveled until a rocky ridge protruded out of nowhere.
Sankal let out a bassy trill of pleasure as she whipped straight for it. Within minutes, the blinding red sand dropped away as they passed into the cavernous alcove of stone, the opening at the top allowing sunshine to pour in to give life to the most beautiful thing Terri had ever seen. The dragnar dropped gracefully into a thick bed of sand at the entrance, her enormous body coiling there, blocking out all wind and flattening her neck so they could dismount with ease.
The moment her feet hit the ground, Terri hurried toward the sight, her breath hitching. She had seen tropical planets and those with prismatic sands that cast rainbows across golden oceans, but nothing compared to the sight of life flourishing in the heart of the worst part of the deserts of Argurumal. Her eyes skipped over one feature and then the next, eager to take it all in.
A pool of water filled much of the space and all around there were plants of various hues from the deepest lavenders to magenta and maroon. There were even a few yellow fronds with the slightest hint of green that swayed with an errant breeze. The sand went only halfway into the cavern before terminating and leaving nothing but an exposed rocky floor that, as they drew closer to the spring, became almost spongey with some kind of mineral deposits.
Krono darted forward, his paws kicking up the substrate as he dashed straight for the water, plunging in. He splashed a bit but then dropped his head to drink, his vibrissae lashing around him contentedly.
Terri lifted a hand to pull away her mask and visor, the opposite hand going up to push back her hood, dropping the visor into the pocket of her shafna. She didn’t want anything to block her view.
“What is this place?” she asked, her dry throat making her voice unnaturally raspy.
Veral chuffed and wrapped an arm around her as he drew back his own coverings.
“A gift to make amends to my mate,” he purred. “Only in the harshest sands of Argurumal can an oasis be found for those who know where to look.” His hand tucked on her chin tipping her head back to meet his eyes. “I neglected my mate, and now I will correct it. We are completely safe and alone in a place where no one will find us… alone for an entire diurnal,” he added.
Her heart leapt but she swallowed back her excitement. It seemed awfully frivolous when they were trying to hide from the council.
“But the council…”
“Will not know where to look.”
“And your mother-kin, they must be…”
“They are aware of my plans,” he interrupted, his low voice rumbling enticingly in her ear.
Terri squirmed against him, her breath sharpening with a lick of burning desire.
“That certainly explains a few things then. Hitani disapproved of the plan?”
“Initially,” he admitted. “She could not have stopped me. I know this part of the Galithilan from my youth and recalled the way here. But she would have been displeased. Now she is not. She sees the necessity in it.”
“Because I’ve been traumatized,” Terri reminded him dryly.
“Because you require your mate,” he corrected. “And there will not be much privacy where we are going. Our far-kin live in a close communal household. You will see. For now, we will enjoy our time.”
Terri groaned in delight. They had spoken before of taking a small retreat—and this was as perfect as it came and exactly at the right moment. They had been working to save credits with the plan of taking a standard galactic revolution off and enjoy their first year with their offspring. The timing was…
Almost perfect.
Terri chuckled and reluctantly drew away from her mate as Harahna fussed, her little body fighting to get down from her sling. It was frightful how strong she was getting every day. The medic told her that it was normal for an Argurma baby, but it still caught her off guard.
“It seems Harahna wants to enjoy this place too,” Terri remarked as she pulled her glowering baby out from the confines of the sling.
Harahna squirmed harder, wanting to be put down, but Terri held onto her tightly as Veral hurried back to the dragnar to retrieve a large, flat bundle fastened to the rear of the seating blanket, beneath the folds of fabric. Dragging it over one shoulder, he returned with it, striding past her into the soft growth.
Terri followed him to the edge of the greenery and was delighted when he set it down near the pool. He strode about the area as if inspecting it, but then returned and began to pull out supplies. Within minutes, he had constructed a lean-to shelter beneath which he set their woven sleeping pallet and bedding. There was even a blanket for Harahna to play on that he spread out over the grass just outside the shelter.
He looked up from their assembled camp, his vibrissae tense around him with uncertainty. He gestured to her, and she began to walk toward him but stopped suddenly.
“Uh, Veral… what about predators? This is a water source. I’m sure we won’t be the only things out here.”
Veral chuffed, his vibrissae dancing lightly with amusement.
“No predators. The passage is too small for the larger creatures, and the smaller ones will not bother us. There are no vansik colonies on this
side of the pool, and many of the dangerous insects and crawlers live farther into the trees,” he said, gesturing toward the far side of the oasis, where several trees grew up against the side of the cavern.
Muttering under her breath, she went to him. As she neared, however, a smile replaced her worried frown while she looked at everything he thought to provide for their little retreat. There were sealed packages of food and drink—and even her packaged vansik that she had left unopened in their rooms. Her heart melted at the gesture. Even in their desperate flight from the compound, he had been thinking of her.
Despite the fact that it was a bit disconcerting that everyone knew they were frolicking at an oasis, Terri decided to enjoy herself. Setting Harahna on her blanket, Terri stripped off her shafna, tunic and leggings until she was just in her underthings, luxuriating in the feel of the breeze cooled by the pool of water. Reclining next to their daughter, she watched greedily as Veral removed his own shafna, armor, tunic and leggings until he was stripped down to the red sadt that covered his bulging mating pouch. She had no doubt that its slit would be parted and damp as Veral strained to contain his civix.
Terri licked her lips, eager to play with her mate even though they couldn’t enjoy each other while Harahna was awake, and a grin curled her lips at his husky groan. She admired his control as he shuddered and dropped down beside her as if he hadn’t struggled with himself just moments before.
The fronds of plants beside her brushed her skin. Some were thick and leathery, but there were a few fuzzy ones. The most numerous were plants with long, thin blades that sprung out in clusters. She didn’t see any flowers beside their camp, but she could smell them. Perfume blanketed the entire area. They had to be hidden somewhere among the plants.
The day passed lazily. They ate from the wild fruits that grew in the oasis and played with Harahna on the soft banks of the pool. When they weren’t out in the shallow water with their daughter, they reclined together on the shore, enjoy the drowsy warmth of the day. Veral had even brought Knucklebones, a game of chance, surprisingly one that appealed to Argurma.
It was the closest that Terri had ever come to experiencing a true paradise. There were no threatening predators in the oasis due to its narrow passages—and further encouraged by the dragnar’s presence—and no demands on their time. The sun warmed them, but the cavern cut off the worse of the rays so they were comfortable without Terri and Harahna—who lacked enough scales to be fully protected from the brutal sun—being sunburned. For once, Terri had no fears hounding her as she drank in the simple joy of just being there with her mate.
When Harahna was finally laid down in her little nest, her tiny body half-curled against Krono’s belly, Terri straightened to feel Veral’s hard body aligned with hers. His breath stirred her hair, and his mandibles slipped through the strands, followed by his vibrissae. A sweet perfume filled her nose and she breathed it in as something petal-soft was drawn across her cheek. She turned her head to see a dewy, deep red flower with a thick conical center.
“Eat it, anastha,” he growled lustfully. “The heart of the kari flower is the sweetest, but not as sweet as my mate’s cunt. I wish you to enjoy this pleasure while I enjoy mine.”
He slipped the bulbous end into her mouth as he drew her down until they were on their knees, his thighs supporting the backs of her legs. She sucked in the treat, a burst of sweet flavor coating her tongue as a moan escaped her. That moan was followed by another as her mate tilted her forward, bracing her over a thick roll of their bedding. His teeth slid across one ass cheek, a tingle of awareness following their path.
Then he was there, his mouth sucking and licking at her folds, his dual tongues teasing and plunging until she was panting, her cries muffled by the flower that leaked more of its sweetness into her mouth. He sucked on her like she sucked on her flower until her body convulsed with pleasure and a deep growl of satisfaction vibrated through her from her mate’s mouth.
He rose, his lips abandoning that sensitive spot to trail back up her ass and down the slope of her back. He braced over her, his mouth planting tiny kisses on her shoulders as his hips brushed her bottom. The hot touch of his civix felt like a brand, enflaming her desire once more as it writhed, already slickened from its own secretions. It flicked once against her folds and nudged her clit, making her tremble and sigh. The feel of it whipping against her stirred her blood so she nearly cried out, if not for that damn flower, when the civix plunged deep within her.
Veral snapped his hips home, his hips against hers as his arms tightened around her. Her cries muffled, her mate recoiled and snapped forward, his twisting sex plowing and dragging through her so deliciously that she was a quivering mess beneath him as he rocked and ground them together. Unlike their usual frenzied couplings, he seemed to take his time, drawing out each touch, heightening every sensation as his civix flicked and thrashed within her, seeking for that special center where it could latch on. The swollen, hooked end bumped deep within her as it failed to gain purchase, pushing her into a renewed wave of pleasure.
In this position, she felt everything—every bump, every snaking whip within her that put sudden exquisite pleasure in her most sensitive internal places. The moment he connected, his tip lodging against the mouth of her womb, an explosion rocked through her, mounting rapidly into renewed waves of heat that climbed through her as the pressure built once more. The sensual tension made her tremble against him as he ground deep, his own grunts and growls muffled against her shoulder. But everything bloomed in white fire when Veral caught her clit between his two knuckles and squeezed with enough pressure to bring the slightest pinch of pain as he ground deep and released with a throaty roar against her flesh.
Her cry, muffled by the flower, ripped out of her, enhanced the smell of exotic blooms and the soft brush of plants around them.
As her ecstasy claimed her, she decided that she was correct… It was a true paradise indeed.
30
Their arrival at the coordinates of his far-kin’s house was just how Veral remembered it. The dragnar entered through a narrow underground canyon by following the vibrations of the groundwater that rose there. It was the same way that the beast was able to home in so perfectly on the oasis. His ancestors had discovered that ability generations ago, and it had been all but forgotten by most of the Argurma civilization.
He had the coordinates, but they would have done him little good amid the storms and red walls of sand that rolled over the surface of the Galithilan. He would have been helpless to find the entrance, even with the best flyer at his disposal. He would never have found it without Sankal’s precise echolocation. Her deep croons pierced down through rock and sand until she discovered the most immediate path into the hollows of the water reservoirs.
Sliding from the beast’s neck, he gave her an absent pat as he faced the weathered female staring at him, her vibrissae coiled tight against her body in careful watchfulness and her mandibles flared to further draw in his scent and that of his mate.
Keeping to tradition, he did not turn his back on her as he helped his mate down, but the moment she was at his side, he lowered his body to a crouch, touching his hands against the stone floor and the canyon. Terri moved to follow his gesture, but he shot a hand up, catching her and pushing her back upright.
This was not for females. Males had to prostrate themselves to prove they would heed the commands of the mother of the house. Even kin who had been gone far longer than what was considered acceptable.
“Veral’skahalur,” the female spoke, her voice raspy with incredible age. “You are welcome, son of our house.”
Veral glanced up and slowly stood to approach the elderly female who held her arms out to him. He embraced his father’s mother’s mother in the way of the people of the Galithilan, his hands cupping her head and his brow touching hers.
Although Veral’s father, Goralth, had been among those gathered by the council in his youth, he had returned home and went through the a
gony of breaking his programing under his family’s care. It was only by chance that he had met Harahna, Veral’s mother, and left the Galithilan. Veral had been brought to his father’s mother-kin during his training period after his first round of implants. He had been told that he had once played there when young with Larth, but he had no true memory of it other than a sense of coming home whenever he returned.
“It has been so long,” he said aloud, echoing the feeling that rose from within him.
His far-grandmother chuffed and patted his shoulder spine, her glowing eyes brightening as they turned in delight to Terri. A wide smile stretched across her face, baring all her teeth in a smile that would shame any civilized Argurma. Veral was even uncomfortable to see it, due to all his programming and training but, on his grandmother, it was natural and right.
“I am pleased that you have brought your mate and offspring. We will have a naming ceremony for your daughter that she knows this part of her line as well, and we will feast for many days to celebrate return of our favored young.”
She glanced fondly at Larth as she spoke, reminding Veral that his cousin was from the eastern holdings, though their fathers were brothers who left the Galithilan. The male smiled at the elderly female, not even bothering to restrain himself. Dreth and Malraha seemed to be the only ones uncomfortable amidst their far-kin, but that would ease as they become accustomed to the ways there. Even the dorashnal could be seen wandering with their bonded Argurmas rather than confined. Although the people held to very strict traditions, they were freer of themselves with their kin.
Veral had forgotten much of this himself. He had been away long before he even left Argurumal, and his programming had been resistant to the culture of his father’s mother-kin. Although it had become a second home at times, he had never really understood it and had eventually immersed himself in his official training, which took him further and further from the Galithilan. Eventually, he left the Quarnet’safet of his mother-kin altogether and resided for a time in Ki’karthilan for the final phase of his warrior training. Returning to Galithilan, he felt like he was experiencing it viewing recorded data of a fragmented memory.
The Sands of Argurumal (Argurma Salvager Book 3) Page 22