by Viki Storm
“What does it feel like?” I ask. That would explain why I was so overcome with desire, so willing to let him undress me… So willing to let him watch while I pleasured myself.
“It feels like my balls are going to explode,” he says, “and I’m having trouble thinking straight.”
“Oh,” I say. That’s pretty much how I feel, except my clit is the thing that feels swollen and ready to burst. “What does it mean?”
“It means that the Universe has mated us together. We are bonded. There’s nothing we can do,” he says.
“Then take me,” I say. I reach for him. This explains everything. If it’s Fate bringing us together, then who are we to stand in the way?
“It changes nothing,” he says. “You’ve still got to go. You’re not safe here. But we cannot mate. I will not send my bonded mate away, alone to go off-planet.”
“Alone?” I say. “You were going to send me away on your ship alone?”
“You must,” he says. “I can’t come with you.”
“What?” It’s all I’m capable of saying. “Why not?” He’s been talking about going off-planet with me this whole time.
“You have to go,” he says. “I got everything ready. Come on.” He motions towards the door but I stand firm.
“You expect me to get on a ship and go to some settlement? By myself?” There are so many things that could go wrong. It was hard enough for me to survive on my own on Earth, where I knew how things worked—knew the lay of the land, knew the culture and the way people thought.
“You can’t stay here,” he says, “and not just because half the Fendan army is waiting to spend a night with you. This isn’t the end of the Kraxx invasion. This was just a diversion.”
“But you won,” I say, knowing I sound very naive, but I can’t help it. Even generations later, people on Earth still live in fear of those violent invaders.
“We won this little skirmish,” he says, “but it wasn’t even a proper battle. Thirty soldiers. They only sent thirty soldiers!”
“Thirty?” I ask. I wouldn’t want to come face-to-face with thirty Kraxx, but I take his point. It’s a paltry force to mount, especially when something as important as those minerals is at stake.
“And here’s the rub,” he says. “Thirty flew in, but there are only twenty-eight corpses accounted for. There are two Kraxx still out there somewhere.” He points out the window. The idea chills me. It all makes sense. The Kraxx wouldn’t want to risk a large-scale firefight anywhere near the mines. The minerals are basically rocket fuel and could ignite in an explosive fury. Better to send in a few stealth agents to get the job done.
“You have to get them,” I hear myself say. As much as I want to convince him to go with me off-planet… Not if there are two Kraxx hiding in the capitol. The Kraxx can’t get into those mines. If they get the minerals, they can do what they did to Earth to every planet in the universe. “No one else can do it.”
He lets out a long sigh and all of a sudden he seems much older, much more weary. “And that’s the problem,” he says. “I need to stay. But you have to go. I promised that I’d get you out of here and I want to keep that promise. But I won’t bond with you. I’m having a hard enough time letting you go as it is. If we unite in the bonds of the flesh… There’ll be no going back. I’ll guard you with such jealous ferocity. I’ll kill to protect you. You’ll be my mate—and the bond is forever.”
Is he serious about all this? I can feel that there’s something between us—something underneath the desire, something strong. I’m being pulled to him, our two fates stitched together by a skilled hand with the strongest thread. But who is doing the pulling? The stitching?
“You can’t stay,” he says again.
“Okay,” I say. “You’re right.”
“Good,” he says—but there’s a look of pain in his eyes. “I’ll escort you to the ship.”
“I didn’t mean ‘okay’ to that,” I say. “I meant ‘okay’ to the other. The bonding.”
“You don’t understand it,” he says. “I meant what I said—you will become my mate, and Zalaryns mate for life.”
“I can feel it,” I say.
“You’re also forgetting that you’re the lawful property of the Fendan Imperator. A member of his Royal Harem.”
“Are you telling me you couldn’t take me from him if you wanted? Don’t you want to?”
A low growl escapes his lips.
“You’ll regret this,” he says. He rips my underwear off and climbs on top of me. I sense that something inside him has let go. He was restraining himself before—before he turned purple and started talking about bonding. Now it’s like he’s possessed.
“I would never regret this,” I say. “We can’t fight our Fate. If what you say is true, we’re supposed to do this.”
He pushes down his breeches, not even bothering to take them all the way off. His cock is hard, and huge, and I have a brief moment of panic. He’s not going to be able to put that inside me. We’re two different species. It’s not going to fit.
He puts it against my opening, rudely parting my lips with his massive girth. I feel that resistance again. Had I been aroused at the prospect of him pushing through and taking my virginity? Had I been mad?
“It’s too big,” I whisper.
“It’s too late for that,” he says. With one quick thrust, he pushes it inside me. I feel my tight inner walls gripping against his shaft. I scream out, but his own groans drown out my cries.
I know now what he was talking about. The bonding. I can feel it. Everything changing.
He’s thrusting inside me, filling me up. I’ve never been stretched so wide. But it’s not just a physical sensation. I can feel my chest filling up too—with heat and craving and desire. Desire to never be away from him—to never let him pull out of me. This is our bond. This is for real.
“Your cunt is so tight,” he says, “It feels so damned good.”
Every thrust he goes deeper inside me. His thrusts are fast, and hard, and he’s pounding into me and it feels better than I ever imagined. After the initial pain of his entry fades, there’s nothing but the pleasure of being stretched out and filled by him.
By my bonded mate.
He’s right. Things have changed. This desire I feel now is deeper, stronger—and the pleasure I feel too. It’s much stronger than when he had his mouth on me. This is an all-encompassing pleasure that consumes my entire self. He thrusts into the core of my being and the pleasure radiates outward, subsuming my entire body and mind.
He puts his hands underneath my rump and tilts my hips upwards. I scream. Now, with every thrust, Ayvinx’s cock is hitting some wonderful, hidden spot that exists deep inside me. I’m not going to be able to keep my sanity. No one can experience this much pleasure and remain sane. He keeps one hand underneath me, keeps my hips tilted at this angle. He takes his other hand and starts to play with my clit. “You’re so wet,” he says. “You need to come again, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I rasp. He runs his fingers over my clit quickly, strumming it with the tips of his fingers. It’s so good, all of these sensations.
“Come for me,” he says. “Come for your new mate. Show me how much you like it.”
But he doesn’t need to tell me. I’m already there, the orgasm not just approaching, but barreling towards me. I clench and writhe beneath him, but he holds me in place. “You’re so beautiful when you come,” he says. “You’ll be even more beautiful once you’re filled up with my seed.”
He quickens his pace and I feel his muscles tense. He pushes deeper and then shudders and groans in his release. I can feel his spurts inside me, coating my inner walls. He rolls off of me, but takes me in his arms and pulls me close.
“You’re more important than the qizo now,” he says. “If it comes down to it, and I have to choose, I’ll choose you and the universe can go to the void.”
The Royal Council chambers are filled with nothing but the newly-minted Fendan off
icers. And myself, of course. The Imperator is handing out Royal Commendations and Medals of Distinction like they were going to outlaw them tomorrow.
And who’s not here? Vhorwig, of course. I’ve not seen hide nor hair of that jerk since before the invasion.
The Imperator has launched into yet another speech about the bravery of his people, the stunning military tactics employed, and the raw animal brutality of his soldiers. He must have either witnessed another battle—or else he’s talking about the Kraxx. On the Fendan side, there was bravery, sure—the soldiers didn’t shit in their pants and flee screaming. But unless you count squeezing your eyes shut and slashing your sword in wild arcs, there wasn’t much in the way of Fendan tactics or brutality.
I let my mind wander, looking at the carved wooden ceiling. It depicts a battle scene, but it’s hard for me to decipher everything without my neck getting sore. The rest of the chamber is as ornate as the ceiling. Gold leaf on all the lighting fixtures, wooden tables and chairs, hand-stenciled patterns on the walls. Such decadence, to cut down trees so a bunch of pompous old windbags can have a place to sit while they pat themselves on the back.
Jula is alone in her tower bedroom and I can’t stop thinking about getting back to her. That’s why I was so hesitant to mate with her—I can’t properly do my job while my mind is filled with images of last night. Her legs wrapped around me… Her wet cunt inviting my savage thrusts… I’m starting to stiffen under my breeches, so I force myself to look at the Imperator’s bobbing nose, the thing jiggling as he emphasizes every word.
The Imperator is saying nothing of the missing Kraxx because he doesn’t truly believe that there are missing Kraxx. But I know better. I know that these invaders would not send thirty ships and then call it a day. No, there’s something sinister at play—but I can’t quite get my mind around it.
My mind wanders back to Jula. I can’t help it—and the passion of last night is only a small part of it. Passion is only ever a small part of anything—though at the time you’re in the throes of desire, it feels like the only thing in the whole world.
When I possessed her last night, I bonded our two fates together. It was no mere act of coupling. Zalaryn males can have meaningless intercourse with a female—but not if the female is his true bonded mate. I’ve known Jula was mine from the moment I saw her—I just fought to deny the fact. Because having a bonded mate complicates things—and not just because I had to give her to the Imperator of an allied planet.
I can’t think of my mission here on Fenda without thinking of her safety first and foremost. I can’t even consider doing anything that would put her in the most indirect risk of harm.
Even though, just by taking her for my mate, I’ve already done so.
Because even though we’re far away from Zalaryx, I’ve forgotten about the vengeful Gunga. I owe him a lot of money—money that I’m surely not going to get as payment from the Fendan Imperial vault, now that I’ve stolen a member of the Royal Harem.
Gunga was planning to take my sister as his pleasure slave in exchange for clearing my debt. I hate to think in such clinical terms, but my sister’s worth as a pleasure slave is not as much as the dollar-amount of the debt. He’d be taking a loss—but he wouldn’t mind that, because he’d hurt me by taking her. He’d hurt me a lot. And that’s what males like Gunga get off on.
When Gunga finds out about Jula—if he finds out about her—he’ll accept no other form of payment. I’m sure of that. An exotic red-haired human? She’d make an excellent attraction for his brothel. Every Zalaryn in the capitol would have to spend some coin for a night with her.
Why is the universe punishing me so? The Fates have given me a mate—for that, I suppose I should be grateful—but the mate they have given me is the member of a Royal Harem and is under constant threat of being defiled by a long line of sweaty males.
How will she feel about that? I saved her from the Fendans. But she’ll still be in danger from Gunga—and all because I borrowed money from the wrong male back home.
Could I even bring her back home? She’s still technically Marked—and although I had Kingly permission to take her to Fenda, I don’t have permission to take her off Fenda and back to Zalaryx. The peacekeepers might take her back to the auction house, as they tried to do with Droka’s mate when he brought her back to Zalaryx.
This is what I’m thinking about—when I should be thinking about protecting the void-damned qizo mines.
I’m supposed to save the universe from the Kraxx. Save my sister. Save Jula.
Void, this is a job better suited for just about anyone else.
Yet here I am—and the stupidest thing of all is that I wouldn’t change a thing.
The chamber door swings open, slowly, as if the opener is trying to come in undetected. It’s Vhorwig. What in the screaming void is he doing here, strolling in as casually as if he was on a moonlit walk with his mother?
“Ah, sit, Vhorwig,” the Imperator says. As far as the Imperator’s concerned, everyone’s a hero, everyone’s a champion.
“Yes, Vhorwig, sit,” I say, not able to hide the disdain that drips from my words—so thick it pools on the floor. “Would you like us to tell you about the battle? Since you weren’t there?”
“Oh?” the Imperator says, looking at Vhorwig for explanation. “You missed the great battle? What a shame—it was truly something to tell your offspring’s offspring about.”
“No, he was not there,” I say, interrupting before Vhorwig can speak for himself. “He wasn’t there afterward, either, while we were counting our dead. While we were counting up the corpses of our enemies—and coming up two Kraxxoid bodies short.” I let my accusation hang in the air. Let him explain this.
“I was fighting,” Vhorwig says. The look of pride on his face is unmistakable. He has a scrape on his elbow—the scab fresh and oozing, just barely starting to crust over. He bends his arm and shows off this scrape, as if it’s a badge of honor.
“You could have gotten that scrape when you tripped over your own two feet trying to get to your breakfast this morning,” I say.
“Hold your tongue, Zalaryn,” the Imperator says. “Let him account for his whereabouts while his Fendan brothers were fighting and dying.”
The room is silent and even I am able to hold back my wisecracks.
“I was there,” Vhorwig says. “I was not in the training yard when the siren sounded, so that’s why Ayvinx thinks me to have shirked my duty—but nothing could be further from the truth.” He stands up a little taller as he speaks, scanning the rest of the officers for their looks of approval.
“I said to give an accounting of your actions,” the Imperator says, his gaze steely and trained straight on Vhorwig.
“I was east of the Jorg,” Vhorwig says. I’ve wandered the capitol streets and it doesn’t go unnoticed that the Jorg canal divides the capitol roughly into two sections: the administrative and commercial center, and then the seedy downtown sector. All the taverns and pleasure houses are east of the Jorg. “I was collecting some of my men,” he quickly adds.
“Did you find them?” the Imperator says, obviously not believing Vhorwig’s reasons for being in the pleasure district of the capitol. He probably knows Vhorwig better than I do.
“I did,” Vhorwig says. “I chastised them roundly and sent them to the training yard. That’s when the siren sounded. I climbed to the highest position I could find, which was comm tower 29-4. I scouted the skies and saw what direction the ships were coming from—and if there were other ships flying away from the capitol to other settlements on the planet. I thought the intel would be useful later.”
“Good thinking” the Imperator says. “Continue.”
“Then I saw a few ships scattered around the outskirts of the palace. One in particular was flying around the south side.”
“Did you find a ship on the south side of the palace?” the Imperator asks me. “When you were rounding up the ships and the corpses?”
�
�We did,” I say, thinking that it proves nothing except that’s where Vhorwig told the Kraxx to land.
“I followed on foot and that’s where I apprehended two of the invaders,” he says. “I dispatched with them and tossed their bodies in the sewer canal.”
“You vanquished two Kraxx warriors?” I say. This is too much to believe. Vhorwig can barely outstretch his sword without his arms trembling like a newborn equine.
“Well,” he says, eyes looking down. “They were both injured. I think there was a spacecraft malfunction.”
“There are your missing Kraxx!” the Imperator cries triumphantly. “And two Kraxx! Did your rampage end there? Or did you slay more?”
“One more after those,” Vhorwig says. “On my way to the west side of the palace I saw a ship descend and was able to ambush the invader as he was exiting his vessel.”
“Then that puts you at the top of the list!” the Imperator says. “I knew the promise of a night with that lovely red-haired human would spur you to brave and noble deeds. Every good fighter needs a lady-love to which he dedicates all his valiant acts on the battlefield.”
“Top of the list?” Vhorwig says, with a smile that spreads all the way to his lumpy ears.
“Tonight, you will claim your prize!” the Imperator says, a magnanimous lilt in his voice.
Not a fucking chance, I think.
“Thank you, Your Eminence,” Vhorwig says to the Imperator, but he’s looking at me. As if he knows—as if he can sense the bond between me and Jula and he can’t wait to sever it with savage glee.
“Off we go, lads!” the Imperator says, standing up from the ornate wood table. “To the feast! And shall we remember this day, and the pride of achievement that we all feel swelling in our breast. This is when we showed the rest of the planets—not only in our sector, not only in our quadrant, but in the entire universe—that trifling with Fenda is no easy undertaking. Any invading force that seeks to invade Fenda will only find certain slaughter!”
Cries of assent go up in the room, the officers in love with their imagined great deeds, drunk on their heroism not unlike the way they’d become drunk on the scent of their own rank farts if left in this small room for any longer.