by Luna Voss
“You will find your place in this world,” she tells me, her voice warm. “Just as I once did with Drokal’s father.”
Chapter Nineteen
I sleep in late the next day, tired from my wanderings the night before. When I finally wake, I ride the turbo-lift down to the bottom floor, eat breakfast alone in the Great Hall, and then head outside, eager to explore the Kyrzon settlement in the light of day.
I exit Castle Drok and begin to walk around the township, nervous to be alone around so many Kyrzons, but confident that my status as Drokal’s mate will keep me safe from any possible harm or harassment. I get many curious looks from the Kyrzon townspeople, but otherwise they leave me alone.
With Drokal gone, it feels like there is very little for me to do. I explore the settlement for a while, and then head into Castle Drok in time for dinner, where I once again eat at the center of the table next to Kalish and Drokal’s empty chair. I’m glad to have Kalish to talk to, but he isn’t really much for conversation, and I find myself lonely. I look around the room for Tilda, but I don’t see her anywhere. She must take her meals somewhere else.
After dinner, I head up to my chamber and lie there on the bed, feeling lonely and bored. I can’t help but be frustrated with Drokal for leaving me alone just as soon as we arrived. I’m sure whatever he had to do was important, but it feels like he wasn’t considering my experience at all. I’m in a frightening new world where I don’t know anyone, and the one person who I have a connection to, the one person who brought me here, is making no effort at all to help me settle in.
This sucks.
Eventually, I fall asleep, and I wake up the next morning feeling well rested, but still with nothing to do. I track down Kalish at breakfast and ask him when Drokal will return, but he just shrugs and says that he’ll be back whenever the mission is complete.
Great.
The second day goes more or less the same as the first. I spend my afternoon exploring Clan Drokal’s capital, my evening exploring the ship, and my night sleeping alone, wishing I had the chief to cuddle with.
On the third day, Drokal returns.
I’m on one of my late-afternoon walks when I hear the sound of a commotion from the other end of the settlement. I rush in the direction of the noise just in time to see a party of Kyrzon warriors on tusk-oxen approaching in the distance. As they draw closer, I can see that Chief Drokal is leading the party. I wait for them at the outskirts, eager to see Drokal again.
He slows down as he reaches me, bringing his tusk-ox to a stop and dismounting.
“I have returned,” Drokal announces, striding toward me and bending down to kiss me on the lips. “I trust that you were well taken care of in my absence?”
“I— uh, yes, I was,” I say, standing on my tiptoes to reach his face.
“I have missed the warmth of your thighs,” he whispers, his mouth next to my ear. “I intend to enjoy your body fully when we go to bed in my chamber tonight.”
My cheeks tinge red. “I hope your mission was successful?” I ask him.
“Yes, indeed,” he says, grinning. “We have captured two spies from Clan Broga.”
I see his warriors walking past us, holding two prisoners with bound hands at spearpoint. One of them is a huge Kyrzon male, and the other one…
The other prisoner is a human woman. One who looks surprisingly familiar.
I run past Drokal, determined to get a better look. Is that who I think it is?
As my eyes land on the prisoner’s face, I know that I’m correct. It’s the little blond woman from my Auction Day. The one who had looked so terrified as we rode the hover-cart to the auction house together.
We make eye contact, and her eyes widen as she recognizes me.
Help me, she mouths silently.
I run back to Drokal. “That woman isn’t a spy,” I tell him. “I know her. She’s from New Sutter. Her Auction Day was the same as mine.”
“If she isn’t a spy, she sure has some explaining to do,” says Drokal grimly. “We found her with a Clan Broga warrior. They were camping on our territory, in a place where Clan Broga recently attacked one of our patrols.”
“What did she say?” I ask. “Did she say why they were there? It doesn’t make any sense to me that she would be spying for Clan Broga. She hasn’t spent any more time in Kyrzon society than I have.”
“She says she was purchased by Clan Broga,” Drokal tells me, “but that she escaped during travel, and that the warrior she is with helped her to survive. She disclaims any further association with Clan Broga. However, we know her companion to be a Broga warrior.”
“Where are you taking them?”
“Castle Drok comes equipped with cells for prisoners. They will be under guard, but I assure you they will not be mistreated.”
Drokal must be able to read my consternation, because his face softens, and he bends down to stroke my cheek.
“I can see that this bothers you, Cleo. What I can do is this: since you have vouched for her, I will allow the girl to walk free in our camp. I do not believe she will be any threat to us.”
This reassures me somewhat. “And what of the Broga warrior?” I ask.
“He will remain in captivity,” says Drokal, his face hardening. “Until we have determined his trustworthiness and decided on what to do with him.” He then takes my hand and starts walking with me towards Castle Drok. “Now, let us have food! I haven’t had a good meal in days.”
Chapter Twenty
Dinner is a much more pleasant experience with Drokal home. With the chief present, other Kyrzons crowd around us, making conversation and vying for his approval. It’s a much more lively scene, and finally, I’m starting to feel included. Drokal, for his part, never stops paying attention to me, nudging my feet under the table and introducing me with pride to the other warriors. By the end of the meal, I’ve learned more names than I did in the entire first three days I was here.
After the meal, a soldier comes into the room and whispers something in Drokal’s ear. He scowls and whispers something back.
“What is it?” I ask him in a low voice.
“The human woman,” he tells me. “She refuses to leave her cell unless her mate is also freed.”
“The warrior is her mate?”
“Apparently, it is so.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“She has made her choice,” says Drokal. “She will remain in her cell.”
I scowl at him. “You really believe them to be spies? What would be the purpose of Clan Broga sending spies to the location where they just attacked one of your patrols?”
“I couldn’t imagine,” the chief replies, sipping his drink. “But until I have an answer, they will be prisoners.”
* * *
I bring the subject back up with Drokal as we take a walk outside together after dinner. I can’t stop thinking about that little blond woman from New Sutter, sold to one clan, and then captured by another.
Compared to her, I think my experience in the Kyrzon world been pretty good.
At least she has a mate.
“Why would a spy bring a human woman with him onto your territory?” I ask insistently. “She would only slow down his mission. Doesn’t it make more sense that the two of them have chosen to separate with Clan Broga?”
“That is indeed their story,” Drokal chuckles. “Cleo, your compassion will be the death of me if I let it. I have made my decision, and it is final.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he shakes his head, his expression tender. “I value the care you show for these strangers, but in matters of Clan leadership, you must trust me. Now please, can we talk about something else? Tell me, how was your time in Castle Drok while I was away?”
This jogs my memory, and I push the issue of the prisoners to the back of my mind.
“I met your mother,” I tell him. “Tilda. She’s very sweet.”
Drokal smiles. “I am glad! I had a feeling that the two of you
would get along.”
“It never occurred to me that your mother would be a human.”
“Every warrior in Clan Drokal has a human for a mother,” says the chief, laughing. “It has been generations since a Kyrzon woman in our clan has given birth.”
“Does that mean that the Kyrzon genes are slowly being watered down?” I ask. “It seems that every generation under this system would be less Kyrzon, and more human, than the previous one.”
“That is true, but it is not noticeable,” says Drokal. “Kyrzon babies take after their fathers, even if their mothers are adorable little humans.”
He puts his arm around me, his enormous hand gripping my waist, and I sigh. I hadn’t even realized until now how much I had missed his touch. I lean into him, resting my head against his side.
“I missed you,” I whisper.
Drokal stops walking and wraps both his arms around me, making me feel very small. “I missed you too, Cleo,” he says.
One of his hands slips lower, and his fingers close around the curve of my rear end. Tingles shoot through me, reminding me of the pleasure his touch can bring. Under my dress, I feel my lower body growing warm.
I get up on my tiptoes and bring my mouth up to his ear: “Touching me like that makes me excited,” I whisper.
Drokal squeezes my soft flesh, and the tingling between my legs grows more insistent. “You’re making me excited, too,” he breathes. “Touching you is making my cock hard.”
This sets my mind ablaze with all sorts of dirty ideas. Ideas that are better explored behind closed doors.
“Then why don’t you take me to your chamber,” I whisper, “and let me do something about that hard cock.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Drokal and I burst into our chamber on the top floor of Castle Drok, pawing at each other hungrily. We’ve been touching each other in an escalating fervor the whole way up, and now, our shared excitement is at a breaking point.
“I’m going to make you mine, Cleo,” Drokal growls, slamming the door behind us and pushing me up against it. “I’m going to fill you with my cum and make you pregnant.”
I moan in response, my hand finding his crotch and stroking his enormous bulge. Drokal removes my dress in one swift motion, and I scramble with the buckle on his cuirass, wanting to feel his bare torso pressed against mine.
His top comes off, and I sigh as his warm body envelops me. His breathing is hoarse, his touch frenzied. Drokal’s hands explore my curves, finding their way into every nook and cranny, and I gasp as I feel one of his fingers slip into my pussy from behind.
“You really are excited, aren’t you, Cleo?” he teases me, slipping another finger inside me. “So wet and ready for me.”
“Yes,” I gasp, bucking my hips against his fingers. “I want you to fuck me so hard. I want you to come inside me.” I keep stroking his cock through his pants, feeling it grow so big that it strains against the fabric.
“Such a good little human,” Drokal breathes. “Such a perfect little human breeder. I’m going to keep fucking you like this until I put a baby in you. I want you to spend every waking moment with my cum dripping out of you.”
It actually makes me a little bit uncomfortable how much hearing him say this turns me on. I want to be more to Drokal than just his human breeder, but my biology responds immediately to his words, sending my arousal into overdrive. My fingers grasp at his belt buckle, trying to free his cock from his pants.
The war chief’s pants come off, and I stare at his naked body in amazement. After several days apart, I had apparently forgotten just how mouthwateringly jacked he is. He’s so big that his muscles have muscles. Even his thighs display hard, defined lines.
Drokal picks me up, and I squeal, clinging to him. He carries me over to the bed and throws me down, his eyes burning with desire. I land on my back, but he immediately flips me over, bending me over doggy style in the same way he has in the past.
“I want to look at you when we mate,” I whimper, flipping back over on the bed to face him. “Please, take me like this.”
He gives me an inquisitive look. I put my hands on his hips, guiding him to mount me as I lie facing him on the bed. He takes the hint, drawing himself up over me and causing me to moan as I feel his weight.
This is what I wanted. This is different, more intimate than the way we’ve mated before. Drokal watches my face as he positions himself in between my folds and slowly slides his cock into me.
“You’re so tight and perfect for me,” he grunts, pleasure on his face as his cock stretches me open. “Oh fuck, Cleo, you feel so good.”
I press my lips against his, and he begins to thrust. Our tongues dance as the pleasure begins to increase, his weight on top of me putting just the right amount of pressure on my clit.
I climax twice with Drokal on top of me. The first one hits me quickly, surprising me with its insistence. Soon after, the second orgasm rolls out of the first, the pleasure continuing to mount until I let out a throaty scream. Drokal watches my face with glee, and then smothers my scream with an overpowering kiss.
Finally, he roars out loud, and clutches me tightly as his own climax hits him. His eyes close, and I watch the expression on his face, drinking in his pleasure. His thrusts grow shallower and shallower, until finally he stops, and I feel the warmth of his cum inside me.
He stays there on top of me, not pulling out, and we hold each other, panting for breath. Drokal’s eyes open, and he smiles as he sees me looking at him.
“That was a good idea,” he whispers. “Mating face-to-face. I liked that.”
“I liked it, too,” I whisper back, craning my head upwards to kiss him on the nose. “I’m glad I have you back from your mission.”
Drokal starts to say something, and then he hesitates.
“What?” I ask, giving him an encouraging smile.
“It’s nothing,” he says, looking more content than I’ve ever seen him. “It’s just… I knew when I bought you at the auction that I wanted you. I knew that I needed you to be my mate, and that I would pay anything to have you.” He pauses, and when he continues, his voice is hoarse with emotion: “But I didn’t know that I would feel like this about you. I didn’t know it was possible for me to feel like this about anyone.”
I kiss him passionately, feeling closer to him in that moment than I ever have to another person.
Any other person. Human or Kyrzon.
We stay like that for a long time, him on top of me, his cock throbbing inside me. I feel blissful as his heart beats against me, as though everything is right with the world. For a moment, the image flashes into my mind of the little blond woman from New Sutter, forced to sleep in an unfamiliar jail cell, and I feel a pang of guilt as I consider how her situation must compare to my own comfort.
And then Drokal begins to stroke my hair, sending incredible tingles through my scalp, and I close my eyes, pushing the image out of my mind.
I have to admit, being the war chief’s human breeder definitely has its benefits.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, Drokal wakes me up early. "I must go," he says, stroking my face. "Once we part, I will not be allowed to set eyes on you until the mating ceremony."
I sit up in bed, groggy. "Mating ceremony? You didn't say anything about a mating ceremony."
"It is our clan's custom," he tells me. "Traditionally, it would have been performed the day after we arrived. However, tensions with Clan Broga have necessitated a delay."
A mating ceremony. Okay. That's interesting.
"What does the ceremony involve?" I ask, my sleepy brain conjuring wild images of us writhing naked in a circle of candles and incense.
"I must carry you through the fires of love," says Drokal, winking. "It is how I officially declare to the clan that you are my mate. You may go back to bed, and sleep in for as long as you like. I will have the kitchens prepare a special meal for when you wake. Now I must go, and prepare for my own part in
the ritual. Stay close to Castle Drok. You will be notified when it is time for the ceremony to begin."
I have more questions. I open my mouth to speak them, but my tired brain isn't cooperating, and Drokal leaves the room before I have the chance. I roll over and snuggle back under the blankets, trying to imagine what a Kyrzon wedding could possibly be like.
I guess I'll find out.
* * *
I wake up again several hours later. I can tell by the light streaming through the skylight that it's already midday. I get up and go downstairs to the Great Hall, where I'm greeted by a single table with an enormous spread of Kyrzon dishes that I've never seen before.
"A special feast for the Bride of the Chief on the day of her mating ceremony," a burly Kyrzon chef tells me proudly, gesturing to the table. "We have prepared all the traditional Mating Day dishes. Please help yourself to the cold foods while I retrieve the roast kanaar from the kitchen."
I sit down, and a moment later the chef returns carrying a platter of brilliantly pink meat. He puts it down on the table in front of me, bows, and disappears.
Everything smells delicious, and so I dig in. It's just as good as it smells. If there's one thing I wouldn't have expected about the Kyrzons, it's how much I enjoy their food. If anything, I even prefer it to the meals I was raised on in New Sutter.
I eat until I'm stuffed.
After a short walk to settle my stomach, I return to my chamber to rest and shower and wait for the ceremony. I'm nervous. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Kyrzons have their own version of a wedding, but this whole thing has taken me a little bit by surprise.
For whatever reason, this feels like a decision point. Even though I've never had any control over the fact that I would be sold as a Kyrzon Bride, something about the idea of going through an official mating ceremony feels final.