Teril's Fire: A Mate Index Alien Romance (The Mate Index Book 12)

by S. J. Sanders

  With the door open, Borth charged forward, his shoulder slamming into a nearby wall. Crystal had chosen to nip him at the base of the neck playfully just as they entered, and he had misjudged its distance. The loud crack of his arm against the wall had her shooting him an apologetic look, but he did not mind. He truthfully barely even felt it. Terils were built sturdy and from their youth were well accustomed to slamming against both inanimate and animate things—most especially each other as they trained or asserted dominance. The wall barely registered on his good side after a lifetime of such activity.

  Instead, he grinned as Grish joined them, the male divesting himself of his clothes in the process. Their mate caught once more between them, they moved through the room awkwardly toward the bed, thumping several more times against walls and furnishings in their eager desire. In the process, they stripped her small body of clothing before Borth transferred her to Grish’s embrace so he too could undress.

  When they finally got Crystal onto the bed, low rumbles of pleasure and happiness filled the room, joined by her soft gasps and sighs as hands caressed and mouths tasted. Borth’s eyes threatened to cross when her fingers closed tightly around his cock. Crystal’s pleased murmur at his reaction filled his ears. Squirming, her body slid down him until her mouth was aligned with his cock. The touch of her tongue on his straining, aching sex sent sparks shooting through his veins, thighs trembling as he battled against his rapidly rising release.

  Not yet…

  He hissed an oath as she sucked harder, a soft grunt coming from her around his cock as Grish buried himself deep within her from behind, rocking her with the force of his thrust. Although her mouth was barely large enough to take the first inch beyond his head, Borth canted his hips helplessly as her tongue traced the veins that rose beneath the scales, the hot suction drawing up a wave of pleasure so fierce that he nearly shook with it.

  Or perhaps it was more than just his physical response to her that he was shaking with. Her every touch affected him not only bodily, but soothing his heart as well. He would never be whole or perfect in the eyes of his people, but with her, he did not have to be. He was more than enough just as he was, and she both desired and loved him. He could feel the acceptance as her fingers trailed gently over where his prosthetic met his flesh, as accepting of it as if his leg were still whole. Gods knew that his love for her swept through him with such strength that for a moment he couldn’t separate the two pleasures he was experiencing at once.

  Groaning, he shifted his hips away, pulling his cock from her mouth with a wet pop. Grish’s pace increased as Borth braced her in his arms, his hips slamming against her bottom. Crystal’s mouth fell open, her breath coming out in delicate, lusty pants, her muscles quivering. She ground back, angling her body a bit more so that Grish’s sack struck her clit with a bit more force as he rutted against her.

  She was beautiful. The freckles that had appeared on her skin in the early days on their farm had long since smoothed out into a beautiful light bronze, her dark eyes shining. Borth watched her every expression as she climaxed, her hips jerking in Grish’s grasp, his own hips thumping out a harder, faster rhythm until a bellow shook him as he too found his release. The sight of their mutual desire spurred on Borth’s own arousal so he was more than ready when it was his turn. With their female currently not fertile, they could stretch out their pleasure, and he and his brother were greedy for it.

  With a low growl as Grish pulled himself free of their female’s glorious body, they shifted her around until she was stretched over Borth. Notching the head of his cock at her sopping entrance, Borth pushed home in one long, firm thrust, groaning at the sensation of her channel griping his flesh. His tail stiffened at the sensation. He had no doubt that if he were able to rise comfortably to his knees like Grish, his tail would have stood straight from his body as his brother’s had.

  Their tails were flexible enough, like those of the Edoka, Agraak, and a number of other species. They could not wind them around their mates and hold her to them. They were too club-like in their sharp swing, but as they stiffened in the midst of pleasure, a Teril was guaranteed to be able to instinctively warn or fight off anyone who dared to approach. Trapped beneath him, his tail was unable to rise like it wanted to, but lust flamed through him at the sultry look their female gave him, and that alone was well worth it.

  Sinuously, she moved over him, her hips rolling exotically as he lifted and lowered her upon him. Although his fingers grasped her thighs, he gave over control to her and watched through hooded eyes as her body danced over his, every erotic movement caressing him in a new way, heightening his pleasure while she looked down at him, a soft smile tipping her lips as her expression filled with love.

  She owned him in that moment, the dark curtain of her hair brushing over him when she leaned down to brush kisses against him as she claimed him as hers.

  Mating or not, he was hers in every way.

  Then her expression changed, her full lips falling open in soft pants as she came down on him harder and faster, sparking the sharp crescendo of his own lust, tightening his sack. A shiver ran over her skin as he felt her sex ripple around him, drawing him deeper as it convulsed around him with her release. Her soft cry was followed shortly by his roar as his seed shot out in streams and he buried himself deep within her.

  His body slowly coming down from ecstasy, he smiled as Grish leaned forward to nuzzle the back of her neck. He gathered her in his arms and gently pulled out, his cock slowly softening from where it was wedged within her. The slurping sound of their bodies parting was enticing, but Borth rolled to his side as Crystal was settled between them. With her body replete and softened in a post-coital glow, she was the most beautiful and most perfect thing he had ever seen.

  “However long you need,” he murmured. “You have my heart, forever.”

  “And mine,” Grish rumbled.

  “I love you guys too,” she whispered softly.

  She was not yet ready to commit to be their mate, but those words swept through him with a wave of warmth. For now, hearing the words—knowing without a doubt that they had her love—it was enough.

  Chapter 22

  The weather was cooling rapidly, and everyone was working harder to harvest the rest of the crops. Even Crystal, who didn’t know shit about harvesting, was out in the field with her guys, cutting down agrim to feed into the processor.

  The grain had finally finished ripening, and now they were rushing to cut it and prepare it to be sold. Although a portion would be kept in an on-property silo to be sold at market, most of it was going to intergalactic distribution collectors, who were due to arrive any day. With the tremors stronger and more frequent, there was a noticeable anxiety in the air as they rushed to pull the harvest in.

  It was grueling work. At the end of each day, she was left too achy and tired to do more than fall into bed with exhaustion. Muscles she hadn’t been fully aware of possessing hurt. Even Grish seemed worn down. And Borth… It killed her every time she saw how much pain he was in by the end of the day.

  She had tried to talk him into leaving Antari Minor on a trade vessel to get his surgery, but he refused. It was too important to harvest on time. More work than what Grish could accomplish even with her aid. His promise that he would get it taken care of once the harvest was complete was the only thing that kept her from losing it.

  Despite his pain, he eagerly gathered her into his arms in the large bed that all three of them now shared. The steady, rhythmic beat of his heart against her ear every night as Grish curled protectively behind her had replaced the marathon sex they enjoyed the first weeks after returning home from Intakfell as her males attempted to convince her to accept their mate bond. She missed it, and despite her exhaustion, she longed for when she could enjoy being stretched out between them, sharing pleasure and love once more with them. To mate them. Still, being held between them gave her another sort of satisfaction that had her rising with a smile on her lips every
morning.

  Crystal groaned, her hands on the small of her back as she stretched, her cheeks flushed from the thought of mating. The securely bound bale of straw sat in front of her until Borth picked it up and tossed it, like it weighed nothing, into the back of a long transportation vehicle. Glancing over at Grish, she caught the way his eyes lingered on her breasts as he sealed a grain collector and rolled it off to the side. Replacing it with another large empty container, he winked at her flirtatiously.

  “You look tired, katna. Why not go inside and find something cool to drink and rest? We are nearly done here.”

  Letting out a long sigh, she looked over the field, an odd sense of pride filling her. It had been hard work, but finally the fields of grain were threshed, the straw baled to be sold as animal bedding, and the grain stored for transportation offworld. They had done it.

  “When is the collector arriving?” she asked.

  “Two, three hours perhaps. Before nightfall. We finished just in time. The collectors do not like to be kept waiting,” he explained with a chuckle.

  “Uh-huh. Speaking from experience there, are you, handsome?”

  “Perhaps a time or two,” he agreed.

  “I suppose we have time to have a cool drink and get some rest. Should I bring something outside?”

  That was another thing that had happened that kept her busy. Talimia hadn’t wasted time in beginning her cooking lessons and had been a hard taskmaster even when Crystal was nearly falling down with exhaustion. But as the Wanit had explained, a hard day of harvesting didn’t mean that one’s other responsibilities were over, and hard work needed to be fueled with filling food. With the approach of evening, however, something light and cool would be far more welcome and appropriate now that their work was complete.

  “That would be welcome,” Borth said as he sidled up next to her, stealing a kiss as Grish watched in amusement. “I think the collector is also bringing a special order Grish had rushed through for you.”

  Crystal’s eyebrows rose. “An order for me?”

  The males nodded, but didn’t offer any explanation as they waved her off while they finished loading the transporter and storing the grain canisters. Pinching her lips together against a smile at their secretiveness, Crystal returned to the house and begin to prepare a pitcher of chilled saprili juice and sandwiches, made with cuts of leftover meat and sliced vegetables, for their evening meals.

  With the pitcher and platter prepared, she moved everything out onto the table outside that Borth had built at her request as her males came in from the field. Their grateful smiles were warm as they each went in to wash their hands and strip off their leather coverings before joining her once more outside, where the dust and dirt from their work wouldn’t further dirty the kitchen.

  They had just finished their meal and settled to share some spice gifted to them by Talimia when a large shuttle dropped down through the atmosphere to settle at the nearest edge of their fields. The markings on its side weren’t ones that she was familiar with, except for the bold insignia that marked it as property of the Intergalactic Council, the regulating force behind the grain distribution from private farmers. Those who worked under the Megaraisi Corporation turned their goods over to corporate representatives.

  Crystal was glad that Borth and Grish hadn’t let the corporation buy them out. It saved her from having to deal with any other unpleasant Calystii.

  Instead, the male who left the shuttle and approached was a familiar species. The Teril male was about the same size as her mates, though perhaps a bit more polished in appearance in his pressed uniform. Hustling out behind him were other males from various species who immediately got to work loading the large grain canisters into the cargo bay of the shuttle. The Teril, however, strode purposely toward their house, but jerked to a halt in surprise at the sight of her between her mates.

  “Borth, Grish,” he greeted with an acknowledging sweep of his ganthli, his horns—shorter than Borth’s fine horns, she thought with pride in response to the way the male looked at Borth’s leg with a curled lip—arching through the air gracefully. “I was not aware you had taken a mate. A human, I see,” he said, his lips quirking.

  Crystal’s brow dropped into a scowl. Was he mocking them for being mated to her? She had gotten the impression that many Terils were pretty snobby, especially as it would have been impossible for them to mate among their species due to Borth’s injury—but this really took the cake. What was worse was that she could see her mates’ expressions darkening in twin glares.

  Clearly there was no love lost between them. And this was the guy they had to deal with every year? No wonder Grish was unrepentant about having to make him wait on occasion. Forcing her expression to relax, she smirked up at the asshole.

  “They sure did,” she said in a breezy voice. “I snagged them myself. I’ve never seen more powerful males in my life. These guys are obviously tough as nails, and hardworking farmers with their own land. Strong, dependable males are like catnip to human women, you know. I consider myself the luckiest woman alive to have them as my mates. We humans are sex fiends too, so color me lucky that your species comes in pairs! Maybe if you’re lucky too, you’ll be able to attract your own female. I mean, I guess you must have something going for you…”

  She let her voice drop off speculatively, fighting back her grin as the male flushed with anger.

  “Clearly your female is not aware of who I am,” he bit out, his body rigid with temper.

  “The collection guy? I figure that’s kind of like the garbage guy, but instead of carting away junk you come fetch our grain so it can be distributed where needed. Don’t worry. It’s a perfectly good occupation. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” she soothed as in her head, she laughed maniacally at the evidence of his mounting anger.

  “Salk, leave our mate be. You have come to transfer our credits of purchase, I believe,” Grish interrupted, drawing the male’s attention back to him.

  Crystal didn’t know if the look on Salk’s face could get any sourer as he reluctantly nodded and checked his comm. In the distance, she could see that all the canisters were gone, and the workers absent. No doubt they were sending over the final tallies.

  “It appears that your harvest exceeded even last year. I am obligated to give one thousand, five hundred credits per canister. Transfer pending immediately.”

  Grish smiled and stretched out his comm, touching it to Salk’s to initiate the transfer of credits. He appeared pleased, but not surprised. Crystal was too busy trying to add it all together, her eyes widening. Granted, each grain canister was nearly as big as she was tall and three times as round. Filled with grain, they were so heavy than only her males could budge them. There had been hundreds of canisters!

  “As always, a great pleasure to do business with you, collector,” Grish said pleasantly. “I hope all is well with your uthak and bonded mate.”

  The male bristled, his mouth falling further into an unpleasant scowl. “They are fine,” he said roughly. “Imal finds various things to busy himself with as he watches over Minda. Last I heard, they were going into the greater city to attend the shops… again,” he muttered as he pressed a few buttons on his comm, concluding the transaction.

  Straightening, he glanced down at them, once again all business, when the ground suddenly shifted, heaving them all to the ground. The sturdy table held, but the chairs toppled over. Crystal could hear things falling in the house, even from outside. She thanked the gods that Borth had modified the storage units in the kitchen to place autolocks on them so they wouldn’t lose more dishes. At least there wouldn’t be that hell of a mess to clean.

  Salk pushed himself to his feet and glanced back at the shuttle worriedly. “I believe that concludes everything,” he said hastily as he brushed himself off. “We will be on our way then. I do not want to linger in the event that the rumors I have heard bear truth.”

  “Rumors?” Crystal asked, her brow furrowing as she glance
d at her mates helping her up.

  At first, she thought they were just as in the dark as she was until she saw the pensive pinch of their faces as they glanced at the mountain just beyond their farm.

  “There is no way of knowing,” Borth grumbled. “But we remain alert and ready to evacuate if needed. Until then, we will continue to maintain our farm.”

  “Wait, evacuate? What are you talking about?” Crystal asked, her body tensing as a sense of pending misfortune, one huge cosmic joke waiting to flatten her, loomed overhead.

  Salk smiled tightly and gestured to her. “It seems your mate is ill-informed and not quite as willing to risk her wellbeing for a mere stretch of land. It is admirable that you have worked so hard—and so tirelessly—to get your crops in with an obvious threat so nearby.”

  “There is no way to accurately predict what will happen. Some planets have managed to do some accurate guesswork, but on Antari Minor it is still questionable that anything will come of it. It is a rarity on this planet,” Borth gritted out from between his teeth.

  “What are we talking about here?” Crystal hissed.

  Salk raised a brow ridge at her tone. She knew that humans weren’t exactly respected, their worth often calculated only by their ability to breed with aliens. That much she had discovered before she even joined the Mate Index Distribution Program. But to see it staring her in the face with the haughty way he looked down his nose at her, nostrils flaring as if incensed that she dared to raise her voice…