Serpents of the Abyss (The Darvel Exploratory Systems #2)

by S. J. Sanders

  That was all it took to send her over the edge as pulsating sensation shot repeatedly through her, making her limbs, womb, and cunt quiver from sensory overload. It wasn’t enough to block out the sharp sting at her neck when his fangs sank deep, nor to make her unaware of his roar that accompanied his release as hot streams of cum shot into her in hard spurts. Instead of detracting from her pleasure, it sent another orgasm rolling through her.

  Even when she lay boneless beneath him, he wasn’t done with her. His mouth slid over her face reverently while his cocks pumped as they slowly deflated and slid free of her body. They weren’t truly kisses. His species didn’t kiss the way humans did. It didn’t matter. Many did not. Yet the soft glide of the soft flesh against her skin was sweet and comforting in the aftermath of their pleasure until she took it upon herself to induct him into the art of kissing.

  He stilled with surprise at the glide of her tongue against the fleshier part of his mouth before opening to her and allowing her entry. The first plunge of her tongue stole a gasp of breath from him, and the first curl of her tongue against his made him shiver, his cocks nudging her eagerly once again. Rather than attempt to breach her immediately with his phallus, he turned her kiss on her, stroking his tongues playfully along her own before plundering her mouth in an undeniable claim. He branded her mouth as thoroughly as he did the rest of her.

  It didn’t take him long to tire from their playful bout of kissing. He scooped her up and carried her from the bed over to a heavily vined wall. There he set her belly down among the soft fronds, tangling her wrists with them so that her ass was helplessly presented to him. She struggled against the unfamiliarity of the situation, and his teeth delivered a nip to the base of her neck that had her shivering once more with renewed desire.

  Tilting her hips back to align her sex with his, he drove into her once more, his tail looping up around her so his secondary cock could join the first. With her hips caged between his hands, pulled away from the cavern wall by his tail, and her breasts cushioned by the teasing brush of plants over her nipples, it didn’t take long for Lori to find her climax again, her body clenching around his with such ecstasy that it pushed him over his own precipice once more. He drew her up on the last hard thrust so that his arms could slide around her belly and tighten around her as his swollen knob and thinner cock sank deep within her body.

  They were still joined together when he gently untangled her from the vines and carried her limp body from their sleeping cell to the next room where he submerged them in the waiting pool. Lori sighed as the hot water eased into her sex-depleted limbs, and she turned her head up to meet his eyes as much as she could. Red eyes gazed down at her as his fingers stroked through her hair.

  “Mine,” he hissed possessively, his arms tightening around her as if suddenly wary that another might try to steal her away.

  “Yours,” she agreed. “And you are mine.”

  His arm loosened until he was smiling down at her as if she’d just set the greatest jewels in front of him. More specifically, he looked at her like she was an important treasure. She no longer cared about rejoining her crew or returning to the surface. She had become accustomed to his exotic appearance and found that she enjoyed his company. She wasn’t so foolish as to yearn to return to her unhappy existence when he offered her so much. Lori didn’t even know, after everything that had happened, if there was much of anything left to return to anyway.

  To have someone look at her with that much love, who happily spent endless hours engaging her in conversation was a rarity that she always seemed to miss out on. Now that she had it, she wasn’t one to throw away her chance for something special. He leaned forward to brush his mouth against her lips.

  “Always,” she whispered, her lips tilting up as he clutched her even tighter to him. A pleased sound rumbled out of his chest as he continued to lovingly pet her.

  Chapter 31

  Slengral glared at the males watching expectantly as he and Lori left their cell. He was certain that they had remained within his nest all cycle while he bred and slept with his mate. Kehtal eyed them, his thin nostrils flaring until Slengral growled in an unspoken rebuke. Although his mate did not appear to be concerned with their presence, it disturbed him to know that they had been waiting out there while he had been nesting with her. They had been breathing in her pheromones as he bred her, enjoying them.

  His gavo rose with his growl until an elbow impacted against his stomach with enough force to startle him into silence. His eyes shot to his mate. She regarded him with a pinched expression, her cheeks reddening in the human way whenever she was upset or embarrassed. He wasn’t entirely certain as to which one it was until he tasted the air and sighed.

  “Be nice,” Lori hissed.

  “I am not behaving in a way that is not merited,” he grumbled back, but held his peace when she shot him another annoyed look.

  She was his mate. He had a right and duty to protect her from other males. Even though the males in question were his friends and not rivals. He sighed again and leaned into her, reassuring himself with that simple contact. Maybe he was being a little unreasonable.

  Kehtal gave him a curious look, his wings flicking behind him. His expression, however, was grave.

  “We did not mean any offense, nor had we even planned to stay until we heard it,” the male assured him, his eyes lifting toward the cave ceiling. “When Daskh joined me out here, I was attempting to track and identify the strange sound coming into your nest.” His head cocked. “It has not yet resumed, but I have no doubt that it will return.”

  Slengral frowned and tipped his head back to look up at the rocky ceiling. He had never heard any unusual sounds coming from his nest. If Kehtal and Daskh were then it was a new development. One that filled him with unease.

  “In here? Are you sure?” Lori asked, echoing his thoughts. Her furred brows shot up when Daskh nodded solemnly. Her expression turned speculative as she scanned the stone surface. “Strange. I didn’t hear anything coming from within the cave itself. What did it sound like?”

  Shrugging his wings, Daskh shook his head in a perfect imitation of the gesture Slengral had seen Lori use many times. The male had been spending so much time with her that he was picking up on her mannerisms. He was not sure whether to be annoyed or amused.

  “It is difficult to explain because it is so hard to accurately hear. The sound is a very soft thrumming. It has a strong rhythm, but sometimes that rhythm drops or weakens,” Daskh murmured.

  “There is something very familiar about it that I cannot seem to identify,” Kehtal added, his brows lowering. “I feel like if I listen to it long enough that I may be able to make it out.”

  “It may just be a small animal moving around in one of the same vents or caves above us,” Slengral suggested, the explanation unconvincing even to him. “Whatever it is, I believe we have more significant things to worry about at the moment,” he added, his gaze shifting to Kehtal. “Have you heard anything in regards to the shinara that might explain what happened last waking?”

  Kehtal glanced at Lori but flicked his crests even as he did the human nod gesture. It seemed that they were all being influenced by her presence. “Yes. I took many cycles before I was able to locate a male who had recently taken an offering to the shinara.” His eyes shifted warily to her again. “It seems that our concerns were not unwarranted.”

  “Concerns…” Lori repeated. Her brow dipped lower, a red flush darkening her cheeks as the hot tang of her anger swept over his receptors. “Wait a minute, have you suspected something bad was going on and didn’t immediately take me up to the surface to warn people?”

  Slengral’s gavo twitched at the ire in her voice even as his sant echoed the reaction.

  “It was because we were concerned that we did not,” he explained, and immediately grimaced when her eyes snapped furiously to him.

  “I see,” she said, her voice light and sweet in a way that sent an uncomfortable current of
alarm through him, though he did not understand why. “I thought you didn’t take me up to the colony because the way out wasn’t clear enough yet.”

  She let out a harsh laugh before he even had a chance to reply, her hands shooting up into the air as she shoved away from him. Stalking a short distance away, she spun on him, her voice spitting out at him furiously.

  “But no, of course that wouldn’t be it because it’s been days since you’ve said that, and that’s after telling me it was nearly clear. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, believing that there must have been a fresh cave-in. I should have known you were lying to me.”

  “Nice job,” Daskh muttered, redirecting Lori’s fury to the larger male.

  “And I suppose you knew as well and didn’t bother to tell me!”

  To Slengral’s shock, the giant male wilted, his expression chagrined.

  “I knew, but I did not agree with it,” Daskh admitted, cutting an angry look to both Slengral and Kehtal. “They did not wish to take you from the nest when there was a chance of an attack, and I went along with it because I could not bring myself to risk endangering you.”

  The scent of her anger ebbed as the tension and deep red hue drained from her face. Slengral was relieved, even more so when he set his hand on her arm in silent apology and she did not rebuff him. Nor did she push him away when he drew her slowly into his arms and coiled his tail around her.

  “Forgive me, ashlava, for the mistakes I make in my desire to protect you,” he whispered, hugging her close. “I trust nothing when it comes to your safety. It would destroy me if anything happened to you.”

  Kehtal hesitantly approached, hands spread in entreaty before him. “It was my suggestion,” he admitted, surprising Slengral. “Your mate is not to blame. He had every intention of indulging your whim because he wanted nothing more than to see to your happiness.”

  Lori turned in Slengral’s arm so that she faced Kehtal. She looked at him quietly for a long moment before speaking. “Why did you suggest it then?”

  The male looked away, his angular jaw working. “I thought it was a mistake to take you to the colony when we knew nothing of the situation surrounding us. We did not know if you would absolutely be safe there, nor did we even know how the shinara would receive you if you went there.” He met her gaze honestly. “There were too many unknowns. I asked for a delay until we could learn more.”

  A crease appeared between her brows. “And did you?”

  A humorless laugh escaped him. “We discovered the answer to the first question on the same night. We saw males hunting around your colony, organizing themselves in unheard of pack behavior. They were working together to kill males and steal females. His face tightened as Lori gasped in horror, the sound choking in her throat around a sob. “We knew then that our decision was the correct one, that if for whatever reason you stayed at all, that could have been you.”

  Her gaze rose to Slengral, and he nodded down at his mate, hating that she should have to even know what would have awaited her if they had returned her to the colony. It had made him sick to witness it, but he felt even worse seeing the impact it was having on his mate.

  She took a deep breath, her eyes closing as she made a visible effort to calm herself.

  “And what have you found out about the shinara?” she asked, her brows low over eyes still tightly shut.

  Kehtal gave him a helpless look, but Slengral flapped a wing at him, encouraging him. They had both seen with their own eyes Vekatha’s attack. They all needed to know what they were up against.

  The male’s gavo flicked, and he sighed. “It is not good. They had already taken notice of your absence and a few others who had ceased bringing offerings and presenting themselves for breeding.” He rubbed the fore front of a crest. “Those numbers have multiplied. The shinara has since investigated…”

  “You mean sent their males out to spy,” Daskh cut in, his voice flat.

  Kehtal flicked his crests in agreement and nodded, a rattling hiss escaping him. “They have discovered the reason for the absence of the males, and word has spread through the shinara that males are taking up with alien females. The shinara is out for blood.”

  “Fuck!” Lori whispered.

  Slengral jolted with surprise, his eyes flying to his mate, a quaking hum igniting in his chest instinctively. He had heard her use her mating term many times, the peculiar word ringing out in her unusual language instead of emerging in his, but he had not realized that was what it was until she whispered it in his ear last night. Now his body shivered with desire just hearing the word passing her lips. She wished to copulate now?

  She looked up, her lips twisting as she gave his vibrating chest a pat. “Sorry, that must be confusing after last night. It’s a human expletive. It kind of gets thrown in everywhere, as well as mean what you think it does.”

  He was both relieved and disappointed. It was a strange position to be in.

  “It gets worse,” Kehtal said. “They are determined to gain control of the situation.” He paused, his eyes drifting over them slowly. “I think we saw yesterday one of the methods they are planning to use. Not only did Vekatha attack you, but Daskh told me that a female attacked a male who was lurking outside of your nest.”

  “No real loss there,” Lori muttered. “It was scary as hell though.” Her lips thinned with worry. “What I am concerned about is this—if they’re attacking their own males, what are they going to do to the colony?”

  Slengral’s wings shuddered. “You need to speak to your colony,” he admitted reluctantly. “They need to organize a representative to speak to the council.” His eyes hardened as they snapped to his mate’s face. “It will not be you,” he hissed. “They will select a male or a group of males from among their own to speak to the council.”

  Lori took a deep breath and nodded, her arms wrapping around her chest. “Fair enough. Honestly, if they are resorting to violence, I’m not entirely sure I want to be the one talking to them.”

  Slengral allowed his head to dip. The human nod felt strange to him, but he did not wish to be the only one not incorporating his mate’s gestures. She was his mate, after all.

  “We will leave early on the next waking, before the suns descend so that the humans will not be caught off-guard by our arrival,” he rumbled.

  “Yeah, about that,” Lori said slowly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. After all the attacks on the colony, I don’t think they’ll take seeing three large Seshanamitesh coming at them very well.”

  “You are not going alone!” he countered, Kehtal and Daskh adding their agreement.

  “No, but you can take me there and drop me a safe distance from the dome and allow me to approach on my own. Once everything is settled, I will have them let you in or at least send someone out to speak to you.”

  He did not like that idea. He did not want his mate going anywhere near the human dome without him at her side. Taking note of his displeasure, Lori set her hand against his chest once more, stroking gently.

  “They won’t hurt me. I’m a human and contracted with them. They aren’t going to do anything to me when they are legally responsible for my welfare. You, on the other hand, they might shoot on sight.”

  He growled unhappily, but he could not think of any reasonable counter to her argument. It would not help his mate if the humans outright killed him. He desperately wanted to ignore the problem and leave the humans to sort it out with the shinara, but he could not.

  “Very well,” he growled. “I will accompany you to a safe distance. If they attempt to harm you, I will…”

  A soft vibration sounded above, and he froze, his ear ridges fanning as he turned his head up. Lori glanced at him questioningly. It was clear that she did not hear it. His nostrils expanded as he drew in the mingled scents of the room. He knew every scent that belonged in his nest, even that of his friends. The foreign scent was subtle, coming from directly above them. His snarl vibrated in his chest, his eyes narrowing on t
he ceiling as he rose higher on his tail until he was close to the stone surface. There was a vent, just big enough for a small animal to drop through. A scraping sound came through the vent a bit louder, and Lori jumped.

  Without hesitating, his hand shot up into the vent above him, driving elbow deep. His hand encountered something warm and slippery, and the terrible squeal as his hand closed roughly around it pierced through his head as he dragged it from the hole.

  It slipped out surprisingly easy, despite the frantic scrape of claws that accompanied it. Thin little wings flared and batted, and then it dropped to hang upside down from his hand. Slengral stared down in surprise at his prize.

  Scrawny and half starved, the young Seshanamitesh spat venom at him, his tiny body writhing as his tail twisted, his half-developed gavo expanding as his small crests snapped. Pale gray in color, not yet obtaining its adult coloration, the tiny male could not be any more than eight season cycles in age. The male’s tiny chest heaved, expanding as he let out another angry shriek.

  “This is… unexpected, but given the facts, not surprising,” Kehtal murmured as he edged closer to the angry youngling. He evaded the striking fangs as the tiny male jerked forward on his tail, his wings snapping wildly for momentum. “None of us have ever been near one of our kind so young to recognize the scent and sounds of a Seshanamitesh hatchling.”

  “I am not a hatchling,” the tiny voice squeaked furiously.

  Lori’s eyes widened as she stepped to Slengral’s side, her mouth parting in awe. Slengral flinched when her hand suddenly slapped his arm.

  “Let him go! He’s a defenseless kid. There’s no reason to stand there holding him by his tail as if he’s a wild animal.”

  Slengral frowned down at his mate, remembering many times when his own mother had yanked him up by the tail. It was not unusual to handle hatchlings in such a way, but since the small male was struggling so much and it was distressing her, he conceded to her wishes. Carefully, he set the small male on the ground.