“If you mean you’re not supposed to service her sexually, that’s ridiculous,” Tisa protested. “You’re her Lan’Glaver—you’re meant to serve her any way she needs you to.”
“Uh…” Ty shot a glance at Ellina and saw that her cheeks were pale purple with a blush. He tried very hard not to picture holding her on this very couch and sucking her nipples while he stroked and fingered her soft, wet pussy but somehow the memory crept into his mind anyway.
Stop it! he told himself firmly. We agreed we wouldn’t do that anymore. That it wasn’t right. Wasn’t proper considering our situation and respective statuses. I’m nothing but an off-worlder commoner who could never give her a Sacred Blue baby for an heir and she’s the queen of this entire planet.
“If you’re feeling inadequate, don’t,” Tisa said. She had finished grooming her own fur and had started on Lor’s. “Lor tells me that Ellina likes you better than any other male she’s ever met. Even if she does think your shaft would be too big to fit in her sacred mouth.”
“Tisa!” he exclaimed aloud as Ellina’s blush deepened.
“Personally, I think she’s wrong,” his new chewchie went on relentlessly. “I think it would fit nicely if she’d just give it some time. After all, as her Lan’Glaver, you’re meant to be with her. So of course your parts will fit together, no matter how big and clumsy they are.”
“Ahem.” Ellina cleared her throat. “I, uh, think maybe I’m glad that Lor mostly communicates with me in images,” she said, her blush getting even deeper.
“I’m beginning to wish Tisa would too,” Ty growled. “She’s very…verbal. But tell me,” he added quickly, trying to change the subject. “What exactly is a Lan’Glaver? I mean, what’s the story behind that particular term?”
“Oh, it was an old legend my nurse used to tell me when I was little,” Ellina said eagerly. She also seemed glad to change the subject. “About a Potentate in olden times who couldn’t find a male she wanted to call as her consort.”
A picture of Ellina looking forlorn formed in Ty’s mind and Ellina herself looked at her chewchie.
“Yes, just like me, my dear,” she said to Lor and Ty understood that in the same way Lor was relaying Tisa’s words to Ellina, Tisa was also relaying Lor’s thought pictures to him. It was a bit complicated and confusing but what it meant was that he was going to have to be very careful or he wouldn’t have any secrets left.
“What secrets?” Tisa demanded.
Ty shook his head.
“None of your business, little girl,” he sent gently. “Don’t worry about it—you don’t need to know every thought that goes through my head.”
“Why not?” she demanded. Her imperious tone reminded Ty of a precocious child.
He saw Ellina trying to smother a laugh.
“Tisa is still very young,” she pointed out when he frowned at her. “She will learn to be more circumspect after she’s been out of the shell for a while.”
“Tell me more about the Lan’Glaver,” Ty said, trying to get back on subject. “What did the Potentate who couldn’t find a consort do? Wasn’t she obliged to just marry the male with the skin closest to Sacred Blue?”
“Oh, no.” Ellina shook her head. “Back then, many people had the Sacred Blue skin tones—even some commoners—so it wasn’t as terribly rare as it is today.” She scratched Lor behind the ears and then Tisa as well, since the other chewchie nudged her hand. “It’s only been the last few generations, since we’ve been trying to breed for it, that the color has become so uncommon. Some say that the reason we are losing the Sacred Blue is that we’re trying too hard to get it, through careful and selective breeding. They say Thufar doesn’t like such practices—that he will be the one to bestow the Sacred Blue and he doesn’t care for our interference in the matter.”
“I’m guessing Lord Kikbax doesn’t feel that way,” Ty said dryly. “Since he seems so insistent on finding you a consort with skin as close to Sacred Blue as possible.”
“To the High Priest, it’s all about how things look,” Ellina said. “He wants it to seem to the common people that I’m doing my best to breed an heir for them, so the planet won’t be left destitute if I should…” She swallowed hard. “If I should die.”
“You won’t.” Ty took her slim hand in his and squeezed gently. “I’ll keep you safe, little one.”
“I know you will.” She looked up at him gratefully. “Anyway, it’s ridiculous to say that I should have to marry a noble. If the old legends are true, I should be able to breed with anyone and have a little girl with the Sacred Blue coloring.”
“Anyone meaning any other Chorkay, right?” Ty said, lifting an eyebrow.
“Well…yes.” She looked down at her hands. “Any other Chorkay. I don’t know about…anyone else.”
“Don’t be silly,” Tisa interjected. “Ty is going to breed with you, of course, and give you lots of lovely Sacred Blue babies. Just the same way that Lor is going to breed me so I’ll lay lots of eggs. That’s how things have to be.”
“Tisa, enough talk of breeding,” Ty said, frowning. Things were getting sticky here—they were diving into territory they shouldn’t be exploring. “Tell me what the Potentate who couldn’t find a consort she wanted did,” he said, trying again to get back to the legend of the Lan’Glaver.
“Well, she held a tournament.” Ellina gazed into the fire. “A series of tests—of strength, speed, and intelligence—to see which male was most worthy of her hand. And many, many noble males passed at least one of the tests. Some passed two. But only one man passed all three. And he was a commoner.”
Ty snorted. “Bet the ruling class didn’t like that.”
“No, they didn’t at all.” Ellina shook her head. “In fact, a lot of them got together privately and came to the conclusion that the Potentate had been foolish to set the tests in the first place. They decided to get rid of the commoner and to take her as a prisoner. Then they would draw lots to see which of them got to sit by her side as consort.”
“A coup!” Ty frowned. “Did they really dare to do that?”
“Oh, yes—at least according to the legend.” Ellina nodded. “So they captured the Potentate and told her if she didn’t agree with their demands and accede to their requests, they would…would kill her.” Her soft voice faltered a moment but then she resumed. “But her death was not the will of Thufar. He who guides and guards us all has mandated that only a female Potentate with Sacred Blue skin may rule over Helios Beta.”
“Yes, I know.” Ty nodded. “So what happened?”
“The commoner—the one who had defeated all the tests the Potentate set up, rescued her,” Ellina said. “He killed those who had plotted against her and put her back upon the throne where she belonged. Whereupon, she bestowed upon him the title of ‘Lan’Glaver’—Guard or Protector of the Goddess—and promptly made him her consort.” She shrugged. “And apparently, they lived happily all their days.”
“I can see why the common people are so willing to embrace that legend,” Ty said thoughtfully. “It’s a true underdog story—the poor commoner triumphing over the rich nobles.”
“Indeed.” Ellina nodded. “I have thought that…that I might look for a consort among the commoners, you know,” she said, looking up at him. “Only…I wouldn’t know how to begin.”
The thought of her with another male—any other male at all, no matter what his class—was nearly unbearable to Ty. He strove to keep his voice and face neutral as he simply said, “I see.”
“I know everyone is expecting me to choose from the bunch of nobles the High Priest put forward as candidates,” Ellina went on, after a moment, when he said nothing else. “But I can’t help myself—I despise all of them!”
“Of course you do, after the way they treated you,” Ty said. “Who could blame you?”
“It’s not just that they were mean to me when we were children. Honestly, it’s not,” Ellina protested. “But they’re all so empty-headed and shallow
! Not a one of them cares a bit what happens to Helios Beta as long as they have the right clothes to wear to the next party and enough funds to gamble as long as they like. And did you see the way they all acted during the attack at the Grand Promenade?”
“Like a pack of idiots,” Ty growled. “Not a one of them was any help against the assassins. They mostly just got in the way of the guards trying to fight them off.”
“At least I don’t have to worry about Hennessy Tolland becoming my consort now, since he didn’t survive the attack,” Ellina said and then put a hand to her mouth. “Oh gods and goddesses, I shouldn’t have said that! It was awful of me!”
“You can always say whatever you’re thinking to me—I won’t judge you,” Ty told her. “And it’s not awful. Tolland was a waste of skin—even if his was nearly Sacred Blue.”
Ellina sighed. “I don’t know if it was his skin color so much as his willingness to go along with Lord Kikbax’s plans that made him the High Priest’s favorite.”
“The High Priest had better watch himself,” Ty growled. “Or he’ll be out of a job. I liked the way you put him in his place in the hatching grounds, you know. He had it coming.”
Ellina looked troubled.
“It felt good to do it, but I can’t help wondering what’s next with him? Lord Kikbax has been the High Priest of Thufar for a long time—he won’t take kindly to my threat to replace him.”
Ty frowned. “You think he’d try anything?” It had been his own worry as well. No male who had been in power as long as Kikbax had would be easily or quietly deposed.
“I don’t know. I hope not,” Ellina said. “I just…I just…”She broke off, shaking her head and one hand went to her cheek. “Oh, what’s wrong with me? I feel so strange.”
“Are you all right?” Ty looked at her anxiously. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. Only that I feel so…so…” She made a hand gesture, as though trying to explain. “Remember how I told you I felt, uh, tingly in certain areas?”
Ty raised an eyebrow at her.
“I certainly do. I also remember how we resolved that little tingling problem.”
Again the image of her straddling his lap with her pussy spread wide as he stroked inside her filled his mind’s eye.
“Well, I feel like that again. Only so much more.” Ellina fanned herself with one hand. “Oh! I’m feeling so hot and so tingly.”
Actually, Ty realized, he was feeling kind of “tingly” himself. In fact, his shaft was hard as a rock between his thighs and all he wanted to do was drag Ellina into his lap and kiss her senseless.
He frowned. What in the Seven Hells was happening? Why was he suddenly as horny as an adolescent?
A motion in his peripheral vision provided the answer. Turning his head, he saw that Tisa and Lor, who had been snuggling on the back of the couch, were doing much more than snuggling now.
Ellina seemed to see the problem at the same time.
“Oh dear!” she exclaimed. “They’re mating—for the first time!”
“Is the first time…worse for some reason?” Ty asked, straining to speak normally when he was dying to kiss her and then do much more than kiss her.
“It’s…very intense,” Ellina finally got out. “And…and the effects of a matched set of chewchies mating on their people can be…Can be…”
But her words finished in a moan and Ty saw that her hands were fisted in her lap and her thighs were clenched tightly, as though she was fighting the same lust he was—a lust that was rapidly overwhelming him.
“Goddess damn it, you two!” he growled at the chewchies but Lor and Tisa took not the least notice of him. Clearly they were going to fulfill their biological urges no matter what the effect on their people was.
And right now, the effects felt pretty unbearable.
Thirty-Three
“Oh! What are we going to do?” Ellina moaned. “I can’t stand this, Ty! It’s almost like I’m on my Heat Cycle only it doesn’t hurt—it just makes me want…want you so much!”
“I want you too, little one.” Ty’s deep voice was ragged with lust and his fangs were long and sharp-looking.
Suddenly Ellina wanted nothing more than to have those long, sharp points sunk deep in her flesh—to feel him biting her—biting her and breeding her at the same time…
“Gods!” Ty groaned and she realized that her wish—her need—had been sent to him through their link with the chewchies. “Don’t tempt me like that, Ellina!” he growled. “You have no idea how badly I want to bite you and breed you, right now!”
“Yes, I do, because I want it too!”
Suddenly, she was in his lap, just as she had been the night he touched her and made her come.
That’s what I need, she thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deep, hungry kiss. I need to come, just like I did the other night. Maybe that would take the edge off this desire.
“You’re right,” Ty said, panting as he broke their kiss. “You need to come—we both do.”
“Then breed me!” Ellina begged, rubbing herself against him. Her long skirts were pulled up and she could feel the hard bulge of his shaft rubbing against her pussy, just under the small panties she was wearing. Gods and goddesses, it felt good to rub against him like this! He was so hot and hard and ready—as ready as she was, Ellina thought. Earlier she’d been worried that his shaft might not fit inside her sacred mouth but all such concerns seemed to have melted away now. All she wanted was the big Kindred inside her, his thickness filling her, thrusting deeper and deeper into her pussy…
“Stop thinking like that, please Ellina!” Ty begged raggedly. “We can’t make love—you know we can’t! There would be no going back from it, for either of us.”
“What can we do then?” she demanded. “I need you, Ty! And oh—it’s so hot in here!”
She wiggled out of her dress, leaving herself bare except for the thin pair of panties she was wearing. In the past she’d been ashamed of her body but not with Ty. She felt utterly secure in his regard, knowing that he found her beautiful just the way she was.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” he growled, echoing her thoughts perfectly. “Gods, your sweet, full breasts…”
He cupped her full mounds and pressed his face against them, rubbing against her almost as though he was somehow marking his territory. The roughness of his jaw against her tender peaks sent tingles of lighting through her.
Ellina moaned and threw back her head as he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking hard, almost as though he wanted to leave a mark on her. Which was fine with her, she wanted to be marked by him. Wanted to look at her skin later and know who she belonged to.
As Ty sucked her other nipple, she rubbed against him shamelessly. He was still wearing his leather trousers, but the bulge in them seemed to be growing harder by the second. She pressed herself against the ridge of his cock and undulated her hips, feeling her pussy lips part under the thin panel of her panties and the delicious friction against her swollen clit.
Suddenly, Ty pulled back.
“No,” he said hoarsely. “No, not like this. If you keep grinding against me, I’m not going to be able to help myself—I’ll want to thrust into your soft little pussy and fill you up.”
“That’s exactly what I want!” Ellina moaned. “Please, Ty—I’m so hot!”
“I need to make you come without you rubbing against me,” he muttered, his voice still ragged with lust. “Or I’m going to lose control myself.”
“So what—” she began to ask but suddenly the world was tilting and she found that he had flipped her over, onto her back. “Ty?” She looked at him uncertainly. “What…what are you doing?”
“Tasting you.” His eyes were heavy-lidded with desire and he was already working her panties down her thighs.
“Oh…um, really?” Despite the intense, chewchie-inspired lust that was still coursing through her, Ellina couldn’t help feeling a little uncertain about
this. A male putting his mouth on the sacred mouth of a female wasn’t something that was generally done in her culture. Though she understood that Ty liked it, she wasn’t quite certain he would like it with her. What if she was somehow inadequate down there? What if he didn’t like her scent or the way she tasted? What if…?
Her worried thoughts were suddenly arrested when Ty knelt between her legs and pressed his rough cheek against the swollen lips of her sacred mouth. He inhaled deeply and groaned low in his throat, rubbing against her, almost as though he wanted to bathe in her scent.
“Gods, you smell so damn good, little one,” he growled softly, looking up at her. “I could almost come just from your scent alone. So hot and wet and ready…”
“Ready for…for what?” Ellina whispered. She might have thought he meant ready to let him have her—breed her—but he seemed determined not to do that.
“Ready for this,” Ty told her and then he bent his head and dragged his tongue over her—one long, slow, lick over the slit of her pussy.
Ellina gasped and bucked her hips involuntarily when she felt the heat of his mouth on such a sensitive area.
“Oh…oh, Ty,” she panted, looking down at him. “That feels so…intense. So good.”
“It’s going to feel even better in a minute,” he promised her and did it again before looking up. “I’m only licking the outside of your soft little pussy. Wait until I spread you open and taste your sweet, creamy inner cunt.”
Ellina shivered with a mixture of nervousness and desire.
“You…really want to do that?”
“See for yourself.” His voice was a low hungry growl as his long fingers bracketed her swollen pussy. Gently, using his thumbs, he spread her wide, opening her outer lips to reveal her glistening inner folds. “Gods, so hot and wet,” he groaned and then ducked his head to lick her again—another long, slow drag of his tongue over her most sensitive and secret flesh.
Ellina felt as though she’d been electrified. Suddenly her hands were in his thick, dark hair and she was tugging him forward.
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