by J. S. Wilder
I stared at her. Logically I knew she was right, but the thought of losing her chilled me to my core. I still believed she was the single most important person in the universe… and my bonded mate. To lose her could be a fatal blow to the Peoples of the universe, not to mention the loss I would suffer. I finally nodded slowly in agreement. I had to think beyond my own desires and fears, but it wasn’t easy.
“You’re right of course. If necessary, I’ll increase your contingent of guards.”
She smiled at me and caressed my face gently. “Don’t worry. Peval and Tokalas will make sure nothing happens to me.”
I again nodded slowly. She was loved by all and I knew any of the palace guards would give their life for hers without hesitation, but it took only one mistake, one overlooked detail, and she would be dead. If someone were to start making attempts on her life, the assassin would have to get it right only once, where her security would have to get it right every time.
“Come. Our food is ready and Gurot is probably wondering what we’re doing in here.”
She giggled. “No. He’s probably wondering why we called for our food if we were going to be busy doing other things in here.”
I smiled as I slid the door open and we returned to the main room where our table had been set up. Gurot was there, standing at relaxed attention in his splendid red and black uniform as if he could wait all day for our appearance… which he would.
We enjoyed a leisurely meal, talking about more pleasant things. I noticed that she was eating light and I worried that the news had upset her until she looked at me and smiled. There was a hunger in her smile that I had seen before, a hunger that food couldn’t satisfy, and I again felt my blood run hot. I wouldn’t stop her from doing her duty, which she appeared to love, but at the same time, I would do everything in my power to keep her safe. Perhaps she should spend more time on Firaspatciti for a time, helping our women. She wouldn’t be confined to the palace, but all of Firaspatciti would function as her unofficial guards.
I mulled the idea over, and the more I thought about it, the better I liked it. She had no trips scheduled in the next few days since she was scheduled to begin working with the Fire women and the Water men. That would give Kergah and me time to evaluate the threat after the vote and determine how real the threat was, and what we could do for her protection.
Now that I had a plan to keep her safe that I thought she wouldn’t object to, my mind turned to more pleasant matters. We finished our meal, talking little, but her body language and the way she looked at me said much.
She pushed her plate away in an unconscious signal she was finished as I was chasing up the last of the hirill’s juices with a bit of bread. I popped it into my mouth and then signaled Gurot.
“We’re finished. Have the remains removed immediately.”
I’d barely finished speaking before Gurot appeared. I smiled. He must have been standing with his hand on the door release.
“Shall we?” I asked Catherina as I pushed back from the table and extended my hand.
She smiled and took my hand, allowing me to lead her to the bedchamber. The moment the door closed I pulled her into my arms. I wasn’t going to wait for the staff to clear the meal. We wouldn’t be disturbed and walls were completely soundproof.
I took her lips greedily as she molded her body to mine. As we kissed, we released the hidden fasteners of our garments, causing them to automatically loosen to allow us to easily push the clothing from our bodies. We parted with a sigh and as I settled onto the bed, I watched her as she moved, teasing me with glimpses. She slowly licked her lips as she crawled over and settled onto me as she took my mouth again. Sometimes our desires were out of sync, one wanting to mate like the Firaspatciti and the other the Aquallia, but tonight her kiss was so warm, slow and tender I knew we both wanted the same thing. She pulled slowly back from my lips, smiling at me, watching my eyes as I reached up to push a lock of hair out of her face.
“I’m going to take good care of you tonight,” she whispered with a smile.
I gasped as she continued lower and took me into her mouth, battering the top of my manhood with her tongue before biting the head gently, her lips spreading in a wicked smile as she held my member between her teeth. I hissed, her gentle bite stoking my Firaspatciti nature before she released her hold and took me deep into her mouth.
She pulled back, pulling me from her mouth with a wet pop before rising higher and wrapping my cock in her breasts. She’d done this before, part of her ever-expanding ways of surprising and delighting me, mixing things up to keep our mating fresh and exciting. I hissed softly as she squeezed her breasts around me, allowing me to please myself as she kissed my torso. There seemed to be no limit to the inventive ways she could find to please me and I looked forward to and welcomed each new lesson.
After a time, she turned in the bed, offering herself to me. I lifted her over my head, knowing she liked it when I moved her around. Manhandling her she called it. It had taken some practice, but I’d learned how to please her with my mouth. She settled with a sigh as I snaked my arms around her thighs and clamped her tightly to my face before I began to probe and caress her with my lips and tongue.
We pleased each other with our mouths for many long moments, enjoying the giving and taking of pleasure. Listening to her purr and moan as I pleased her, I could scarcely believe I was once revolted by the act. As she began to gasp, pant, and struggle to pull away, I knew she was approaching her rapture. Sometimes I let her go, but other times, like tonight, I held her tightly, preventing her escape. She pulled again but I resisted her escape attempts as I kissed her womanhood. If she pulled hard enough, I would release her, but her attempts to break free tonight were too feeble to take seriously and I continued to flog her with pleasure until she moaned softly around my shaft.
I felt her relax with a sigh, lying on me for a moment as she panted softly before she slowly turned to face me. She was smiling as she took my lips in a long slow kiss.
“If you keep improving, I may not be able to stand it,” she whispered as she released my lips, her grin playful and her eyes bright.
“I have an excellent teacher.”
“I have an outstanding pupil.”
She began to swing a leg over me but I blocked it, pushing her first to her back, then rolled her to her side as I snuggled into her back. Our earlier conversation and the thoughts of possibly losing her made me want to feel her close tonight. I steered myself into her then slowly pushed in deep, her soft gasp at my entry joining my own. I paused, holding her close as I kissed her shoulder and neck, my hands cupping her breasts as finger and thumb gently caressed her nipples into hardness.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered.
She was amazingly adept at reading people.
“The thought of losing you… disturbs me,” I admitted.
She rolled away from me away and then turned to face me. She held my gaze a moment then softly took my lips.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I worry.”
“Don’t,” she said as she caressed my face. “I trust Tokalas and Peval almost as much as I trust you and Kergah. I have my escort. Peval is teaching me to defend myself.” She paused as she watched my eyes. “The only way I will be one hundred percent safe is if I never left our quarters and you surrounded me with guards. I don’t want to live like that.” She smiled softly. “I want to live, not be locked away like a treasure.”
“I know.”
“Living is a risk. You or I could die tomorrow… that’s why we need to live each moment as if it’s our last.” She took my lips in another slow kiss. “Don’t worry my love. I plan for you to make me feel alive each night for many, many more years.”
I smiled as I rolled her onto her back and settled between her thighs, her gaze and smile speaking to me in ways no woman’s had before. She gently caressed my face, pulling my lips to hers as I slowly entered her again.
Feeling her surro
und me again, I groaned, my hands tangling in her hair as I pulled back from her kiss. “I love you, Catherina Hume,” I whispered into her ear. “I would stand in the breach and battle the long darkness alone so that you may live.”
She pulled me down tighter, holding me to her as I began to thrust into her with purpose.
“I love you, Stevan Gerrett!” she cried softly, her voice tight and strained. “I’ll stand on your weak side and we’ll battle the long darkness together so you’ll never be alone.”
I gripped her tight and kissed her, trying to contain my lust. No man could ever ask more from a mate than Caterina gave to me.
“Faster! Fuck me faster!” she begged while kicking at me with her heels.
With another groan, I began driving into her hard and fast, pounding into her, trying to drive her through the bed.
“Oh…my…God!” she gasped, then mewled softly as her embraced tightened.
My orgasm arrived from nowhere, overwhelming me before I had a chance to stall it. I shuddered as I groaned low and deep. I continued to slam into her, my pleasure trying to rip me apart. I was Lord of Firaspatciti! I wouldn’t waver. Nothing or no one would ever take her from me and I would give my last breath to please her. I reared up and bellowed, at war with my body as I forced it to my bidding, driving into her, refusing to succumb as I battled against the pleasure.
“Oh, God… oh God… oh God,” she whispered, squeezing me tight as I fought to please her. “I’m cumming! Oh, God, I’m cumming so hard!”
Her nails bit into my back as she became alive with motion, her face twisted in pleasure, the bite of her nails exciting me all the more. She may be Human, but there was much Firaspatciti in her. She gasped as she suddenly relaxed and I stilled my pounding hips with a shudder and a groan. I lay gasping for a moment before taking her lips for my own.
I slowly pulled back from the kiss and buried my face in her neck, still breathing hard from the power of my release. I lay still, panting as we held each other tight, unwilling, unable to move but unable to stop. She sighed softly, slowly nodding her head as I began to move again, slowly pushing in deep before pulling out to slowly push in again.
We moved together, kissing, touching, whispering of our love and our future together, taking our time. Mating with a Firaspatciti woman was hard, fast and intense, but after mating with Catherina I had come to appreciate slowing down, to draw out the giving and taking off pleasure. ‘Making love’ she called it.
I smiled as I caressed her face with my finger. We’d made love until exhaustion overtook us, our stresses giving energy to our passions. Now she was curled comfortably into my side, her breathing slow and regular as she slept. I caressed her face again, and the small smile that appeared made my heart swell with joy. I sighed with a contentment I’d only felt with Catherina. Yes, I could lose her, but I could deny her nothing and I didn’t wish to cage the free spirit that made her who she was.
I felt my eyes growing heavy, and in that moment between sleep and awake, when everything seemed so clear, I knew she was right. To be locked in the palace would destroy her, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that to her.
Nobody could predict the future or know how much time we had left before we faced the long darkness. She was younger than me, and though it was selfish of me to think so, I was glad I would likely die before she did, sparing me the agony of having to live even a day without her. I smiled as sleep stalked me. The long darkness was far into the future, and until that time came, we would continue to live our lives unafraid. Let the universe do its worst. With Catherina at my weak side, we could do anything.
I was still smiling, thinking of all the things that Catherina and I had yet to do, as sleep slowly took me.
Seven
Catherina
“Welcome,” I said as the groups were ushered into the large meeting room.
I’d spent several days picking and choosing Fire women and Hedordian men that had expressed interest in mating with others. Attitudes were slow to change and the vast majority of the Peoples still preferred to mate with others within their own cultures.
With the Fires and the Waters, I’d had to use the opposite sex of their own population as surrogates in order to bring the two groups close enough together for them to at least stand a chance, but I didn’t think that was the case with the Hedordian men and the Fire women. They were both stubborn, prideful people that didn’t back down from a challenge. I thought with a little education and encouragement, the two groups would self-select and my work would be done.
From my reading, I suspected the primary problem that I was going to have to overcome was the age old problem of gender roles. On Fire, the women were treated as total equals. They served in every aspect of the society on equal footing with the men and were treated the same. It was up to the Fire males to tame their women and for each to establish his dominance over her. Likewise, each woman had to prove herself worthy of the man that was trying to win her.
It sounded quaint and old-fashioned to me, but there could be only one leader in any relationship and the Fire women only responded to a man that could subdue her in combat. If he couldn’t best her, she cast him aside as unworthy and continued to look for another, and if she was too easily subdued, she likewise was cast aside. It was this practice that had led the Fires, males and females alike, into being the fiercest warriors in the universe.
It was a cultural tradition that dated back to the beginning of Firaspatciti, back when the Fires struggled to simply survive on their harsh planet. Bonding to a weak mate then could get you and your children killed. That need to find a male that could best them, to prove his worth as a mate, was deeply ingrained in the women. Now, the combat was a ritual but no less serious. It was why the Fires mated with such violence and passion. Now, sometimes with the use of the mating blades, the Fire males ritually subdued their women in their bed, proving time and time again they were fit to be bonded to. Once the bond was in place they worked together as partners, but the male had to maintain his standing in his female’s eyes when she tested him.
I’d seen some of my guards, male and female alike, return to duty bruised and scratched up. I’d thought it was from brawling at the local pub only to find out most of the injuries were obtained while mating. I’d witnessed the same thing with my own eyes not long after I arrived on Fire. I’d watched Kergah and Getther mate as part of my education into Fire sexual practices and I remembered being shocked at the violence of it. Had it not been for Stevan assuring me what I was seeing was two people deeply in love renewing their bond, I wouldn’t have been able to watch. Back home on Earth, Getther and Kergah both could have been charged with rape and assault.
The Hedordians where different. While I had little doubt the men could handle anything the Fire women threw at them, the Hedordian females tended to be more submissive at the beginning. They selected their mates based not on their combat prowess, but on brute strength, work ethic, and possessions. They wanted a man that was well established with lands and had the ability and willingness to work it. A Hedordian woman valued stability and security in her mate and prized a man that could care for her.
That wasn’t to say the Hedordian females were weak. Far from it. Like the Fire women, once bonded they were fully partnered with their men, and would fight like cornered lions for him, but they wanted to be courted and wooed at the beginning. I knew from having lived among the Fires, that wasn’t going to fly with these women and the men were going to have to break out of their courtly ways and take what they wanted.
“Please, sit anywhere you like, but Fires, you sit in the chairs labeled with the female symbol, Hedordian, the male.”
I’d arranged the room so there were a few extra chairs, but the chairs were staggered so that males and females would be intermixed. Might as well throw them into the soup at the beginning.
I smiled as everyone milled about, realizing they weren’t going to be able to sit in two groups but were going to have to sit next to
the person that they could very well end up mating with.
Once the group was settled, I launched into my lecture. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, it was a variation of the same speech I gave when I was out visiting other Peoples. I’d tailored it slightly for the two Peoples in the room, but it was basically just an ice breaker to start them thinking outside their own little boxes.
“Okay. Now, I want each of you to turn to the person on your left, then your right, introduce yourself, and tell each other one thing about you, and one thing that you’re interested in.” I smiled. It was always the same, no matter who the People were. “Come on, come on,” I encouraged. “They’re not going to bite!”
I smiled to myself. Well, the Fires might, but that would only happen as one of these giant Hedordians was banging the shit out of her. Who knows, maybe he’d like it.
The Fires were biters. That was something I had to break Stevan of doing. I enjoyed the occasional nip during the heat of passion, but the Fires, they bit hard. Too hard. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to leave marks.
When I met with the Fire women alone, I’d warned them that not everyone enjoyed having the shit bitten out of them as they were mating, and like their men, they were going to have to tone down the roughness. They’d expressed disdain if their potential mates couldn’t handle them and I’d had to slap them down right then and there. I pointed out what the Fire males were learning, what Stevan had learned, and that was there were plenty of ways of showing their mates their prowess that didn’t involve pain. I challenged each of them to try to subdue a Hedordian during mating without resorting to pain. I’d subtly and indirectly questioned their ability to do it. I could tell from the look on their faces that each of them, to a woman, made it her goal to prove me wrong.