by Maya Carnage
"You okay?" I called out.
It causes him to jump. "What? No, I'm fine." He shuts the shed's door behind him. "Hexxil has been helping me out in the garden, as you know, and... it's terrible. I don't know what to do." He strides over to me, leans down and places a soft kiss on my cheek.
I slip my hand into his. We walk back toward the village. "Are you going to let Exxil know?" I know that it means a lot to his brother, having Hexxil spend quality time with her uncle. Plus, I think it has been a relief to Exxil, having his daughter out of his hands during the mornings.
"No, I can't do that. But I have to think of a way to get her to like gardening! I've tried everything, but she doesn't enjoy it. Not like I do. I thought it would be good for her to have something to take her mind off of her worries."
Releasing his hand, I reach up to rub his back, comforting him. "Maybe gardening isn't for her. Have you thought about having her work somewhere else?"
"Yes, but I don't know where to start. I don't want to task someone else with watching her."
"I'll help you find a place. So don't worry about it." I tell him. I wrap my arm around his waist and lean into him. "So what did you want to do tonight?"
He thinks about it for a minute, "Would you like to see my father's shop? It's closed, so we won't be interrupted there."
I waggle my brows at him. "Thinking about doing something naughty to me, huh?"
He blushes a dark blue, and quickly says, "No, never! Well, not never, but I wouldn't do that in Pops' shop."
I throw my head back, laughing. "It was a joke, sweets. Though, I'm happy to hear I'll eventually be getting some dirty action from you."
He chuckles nervously. "I didn't want to rush you. I was waiting for you to let me know when you were ready for coupling."
"I'm ready when you are."
He comes to a sudden stop causing me to stumble, but before I fall he catches me. He pulls me into his chest, and I slip my arms around him. "Are you saying that we could have mated by now?"
"Yep, but you never asked. I didn't want to seem like I was only interested in sex. So I never mentioned it," I said.
"I will rectify that here soon, but first I want to show you my father's creations. He has them on a shelf at his shop. Come, my mate." Lorth pulls me alongside him, as we walk toward his family's store.
The place sits toward the west of the village's center, his family's house isn't that far from it either.
Lorth lights a lamp upon entering the small building. A light glow permeates the room, casting shadows across the walls. In the center of the room, sits a fire pit. Pushed up against the wall is a wobbly looking shelf. A multitude of weapons, swords, spears, and axes are placed on the shelf. Lorth guides me over to it, "He's one of the best blacksmiths on Ghegion. Tribe's people come from all over to have him make a weapon for them." He takes a sword from one of the shelves, carefully, and hands it to me.
I take the weapon tentatively, not wanting to damage it, even though I know that is nearly impossible. "It gorgeous."
"Yes, it is. He doesn't sell these pieces anymore. He used to, but here lately he has stopped."
"Why?" I smooth my hand down the blade, nicking my finger on the sharp edge. Yelping, I stick my injured finger into my mouth, sucking away the sting.
"It's sharp, my mate." He takes the sword form me and places it back on the shelf. He gestures for my hand. He takes my hand, looking it over. "It is a small cut, nothing to be worried over." He kisses my wound.
We walk over to a low bench over in the corner of the room and sit. I curl into his side, and he pulls me tighter against him. We sit like that for a moment, enjoying each others company. It's during moments like these, where everything feels right and peaceful that I'm glad I met Lorth. Back on earth, I only dated assholes, nothing to boast about. They were jerks, and I wasted my time with them. With Lorth it's different, he's sweet and caring. He thinks about me, and what my needs are, and any time I need him he's there. Yeah, it's hard not having my family, but sometimes I think being with Lorth makes it better.
"You are thinking very hard, my mate," said Lorth, jarring me out of my thoughts.
Laughing gently, "Sorry, I've had a busy day. We've started cleaning the house. Kate and I are going to start painting it tomorrow. Karen got back today, so she'll help out tomorrow."
"Did she say anything about Graviel and Fiona?" Lorth asked.
I shake my head. "She only came home for a clean pair of leggings then she was gone."
Lorth bends his head down to kiss me softly on the lips. When he goes to pull away, I lift my hands, clutching his head to mine. Deepening the kiss, I explore his mouth with my tongue. He groans at the sensation. Lorth lifts me up, settling me down onto his lap.
His hand grips my thigh, anchoring me to him. I lift my head. I look into his eyes, they are filled with arousal, and then I trail my lips down his throat.
Abruptly, Lorth lifts me up and sets me down beside him. He gets up from the bench and paces a few meters away from me.
I notice the tent happening down below his waist.
Earlier, when Lorth was talking about mating, I assumed that he would want to finish what we just started. But I guess, my sweet guy isn't that comfortable with sex as he led on.
I get up from the bench and walk over to him. I wrap my arms around his waist, and press my face against his back, inhaling his scent. "You okay?"
"Yes, I need a moment, that is all."
When Lorth has calmed down enough, he walks me home. With a quick peck on my forehead, Lorth wishes me goodnight and heads toward his house. I smile at his back until he rounds the corner, leaving my sight.
Chapter Six
Lorth
It is a bright day, and the weather is cool enough to make our work in the garden less strenuous. It, however, is all ruined by the constant complaining from my niece.
"It's just dirt. I don't know why we have to be out here doing this," she murmured as she pulled the weeds from the ground.
"Because it is rewarding work, Hex." I have explained to her several times over the period she has been helping me, but it seems that, somehow, she forgets everything by the next day.
When I offered to help Exxil out, by having Hexxil help me here in the garden, I didn't realize how hard it would be. My niece has had a hard time since losing her mother, especially in the last couple years since becoming older. It has to be hard for her not having a female influence in her life.
Havrick has tried to help out, by bringing Hex dresses and hair combs as often as he can, though Hexxil does look at him oddly when he does. The rest of us, don't know what to do, it is very upsetting for Exxil.
"Can we take a break?" Hexxil tosses down the hand rake and wipes at her face. She smears dirt across her brow. I go to tell her, but she interrupts me. "I understand why no one wants to work out here with you, it's terrible!"
I've been under a tremendous amount of stress. Tracy has been absent from the garden because she is working on her home. They have finished painting the house, and now they are picking out curtains and rugs. The few times we are together, our attention is focused on the fallas.
The plant is a pain, more so than Hexxil on most days. It is practically dead. I try to stay positive and tell Tracy that it is doing fine, that it has lived longer than any of the other transplanted fallases. Which is the truth, most of the villagers who tried to grow the plant failed within the first week. Our plant has lasted almost a month. Though, I don't see it being here that much longer.
So instead of letting my niece know that there is mud on her face, "Hexxil, there isn't much work left today. How about you go on home, and I will finish here?"
Her face brightens. "Thanks, Uncle Lorth!" She runs for the shed and grabs her bag. She barely spares another word for me as she leaves, probably heading toward the group of children around her age.
I whistle as I get back to work, enjoying the serenity of the garden.
The human woman Lu
cia comes to take over at the garden, finishing the weeding, fertilizing, and the evening watering. Lucia and I have worked together plenty of times, though we rarely say anything to each, so it is a surprise when she starts a conversation with me.
"Hey, Lorth. How have you been?"
"Uhh, good. I've had no luck with Hexxil, though." I wash the dirt off of the tools while she takes her own set from the shelf. They are a custom made set. I notice the engraving of a flying beast on the handles. I wonder who made them for her?
"She's a preteen. They are always like that. It sucks, but she eventually grows out of it." Lucia grabs a bucket off of one of the hooks. "You know it might be better if she worked with me, or Tracy. She might like it better."
"Would you mind? Tracy mentioned to me that Hexxil might do better somewhere else, but I would like to give gardening another chance. I think she might like it, if she could see it differently, not only as work," I said.
"How about you skip garden duty tomorrow, hang out with Tracy, and I'll keep an eye on Hexxil?" Lucia stops, pausing in the threshold, looking back at me.
It would be nice not having to sweat out under the sun, listening to Hexxil complain about the same things, but what makes up my mind is the extra time I would get to spend with Tracy. "Thank you, Lucia. I'll let Exxil know. He'll bring Hexxil to your place before he goes to the shop."
Lucia smiles, heading outside, tools and bucket in hand.
After I place the tools away, I wash my hands, and then I go look for Tracy.
As I walk through the village, I do not run into my mate. Havrick is helping out at the shop today, and when I pass by, he catches my eye, signaling for me to stop. I sigh inwardly. I was hoping to find Tracy early in the day, while the sun was still out. Havrick leaves the shop, running around the building, striding toward me.
"Exxil and I saw Hex not that long ago, why did you let her go early?" Havrick leans against the house next to me, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Are you going soft, Lorth? She finally convinced you to stop being mean?"
"No, but I got tired of her complaints, so I let her go early," I said. "Now, do you mind? I would like to go and find my mate."
"All right, but Pops wanted me to tell you, that he wants you to bring Tracy by tonight. He said he wouldn't accept any excuses."
"I will see what Tracy says. It is up to her." Havrick lifts one of his thick brows at my words. He pushes away from the building, "See you tonight, Lorth." He heads back to the shack.
Shaking my head, I stride toward Tracy's house. The place is empty when I arrive. I consider trying somewhere else to look for her but decide that she will be back here soon, so I walk around back and sit down next to the fallas in the shade of the house.
I look down at the limp plant, and my shoulders sag. It looks worse than it did this morning.
We tried everything we could think of, but nothing is helping. I thought that these mating trials would be easy, that Tracy and I would complete them easily, but with how this plant is looking, I don't think we will complete the first trial.
It wouldn't bother me if the plant died, we would still have two other trials to succeed at, but I know that if we were to fail this one, it would not bode well for Tracy. She has been skittish about the topic of becoming mates, and she has been tense over taking care of the plant. If it were to die, I know that she would take it terribly, and I don't want to see her upset, but I don't know how to fix it.
"Hey, sweets. What are you doing here?" Tracy comes from around the front of the house, carrying a rolled-up rug in her arms. She sets it down next to me and sinks to her knees, "I was going to go by the garden after I dropped this off, but I'm glad I don't have to walk all the way out there, I'm beat, I didn't think it would be so much work, picking out fabric for the house."
"How much more do you have left to do?" I asked.
"Not much, just the furniture now." She sits back on her haunches. "Did you and Hex finish work early?"
I shake my head. "She was tired, and so was I. So I let her leave early, and Lucia arrived at the garden earlier than she usually does, so I decided to come and see you."
She smiles and takes one of my hands into hers. "I really like spending extra time with you. It seems with the garden, house, and the plant that we don't have that much of quality time together anymore."
"I'm glad you brought it up. Lucia offered to take over Hexxil duty tomorrow morning, that way we can do something together." I tug her over to sit between my splayed legs, her back pressed against my front.
"What did you have in mind?" she asked, her voice husky.
I place a kiss on her hair, smiling, "I was thinking, we could spend the day in the meadow. We could take a pack filled with food, and relax out there, just the two of us."
Sinking into my arms further, she tilts her head up to look into my eyes. "I would like that. It would be nice to get away for the day, fixing up the house has been stressful."
Then that is what we shall do. Tracy and I sit like that, my arms wrapped tightly around her and her head pressed against my chest, for another hour. We watch the sun start to set, and when the air becomes cold, she and I head inside.
I've never been in Tracy's house. I have walked her home on several occasions but never went inside. The place is spotless even the walls have been scrubbed clean. While we were outside, Kate and Karen must have hung up the curtains and laid down the rugs. Gesturing to the rug in my arms, I ask Tracy where does she want me to put it.
"I want that one in front of my bed, that way I don't have to put my bare feet on the cold floor first thing in the morning." She leads me into the back room. She points to where she wants me to place the rug. After I am done, I glance at the bed.
It is just the two of us, Kate and Karen having left earlier while we were together outside. I grab Tracy's hand and pull her down on to the bed. She leans into my embrace, and I bring us down to lay on our backs. She rests her hand above my hearts, with a content smile on her face.
I trail my fingers through her loose hair. She traces circles on my chest, humming underneath her breath. When her hand starts to creep down my stomach, I do nothing to stop her.
Holding my breath, I wait to see what she intends to do. I don't have to wait long.
Tracy slips her hand beneath the waist of my pants. When she wraps her slim fingers around my cock, I can't help but groan. The pressure has been slowly building in my cock since I left the garden, my head filled with thoughts of her. When her small hand squeezes my member, it feels like it is about to burst.
Wrapping her hand more firmly around my cock, she tugs me from root to tip, never lessening the tightness of her grip.
I know that if this continues, I will not last much longer, but it feels too good. With the precum leaking from my tip, her hand now glides easily up and down my shaft.
I look down at my mate. Her head rests on my heaving chest. Her eyes are closed, but there is a small smirk on her lips.
I remove my fingers from her hair and trail my hand down her side. I reach into her leggings and give her ass a hard squeeze, but I don't linger there. I continue down until I feel the moist heat of her cunt.
She gasps when my thick finger thrusts into her tight body. I have never touched my mate like this before, and it is nothing like I imagined. Her cunt is hot and tight, gripping my finger with a firm hold. It convulses around me as if trying to push me from her body. I begin to move my hand, thrusting gently and shallowly into her.
I have never touched a female at all in this way. I have always wanted to wait for my mate, to share this experience with her for the first time. I know that my Tracy has been with others, but that does not sadden me. I love her for who she is, and I wouldn't change a thing about her.
Her hand loses its pace on my cock. I pick up speed, thrusting into her with more force. She chokes out a breath of air and begins to undulate her hips, following the movement of my hand.
"Lorth," she groaned before her cunt b
egins to spasm. She shudders at the ecstasy that courses through her body. When she is done she collapses onto me, her body going limp..
"Are you all right, my mate?" I chuckled. "Did I wear you out?"
"Can't talk, too tired," she murmured.
I grip her hip with my hand while my chest rumbles with laughter. It's satisfying to know I pleasured my mate so much that she couldn't even find the energy to speak. If we can't keep our plants alive in this matehood, at least I know we won't lack in bed.
With my hand resting on her hip, I caress her side with my thumb. After a few minutes, when Tracy picks herself up and props herself on her elbow, I tell her about my father's invitation.
"I guess everyone is going to be there?"
"Yes, I know that you're not comfortable with meeting my whole family all at once, I can tell them that you were not feeling good," I tell her.
"No, it's fine, I've wanted to meet them, it's just nervewracking."
I pull her closer to me and wrap my arms around her. "It will be fine. I promise."
∞∞∞
Rexxil screams at the top of his lungs because his father refused to give him the ax hanging on the wall. Ferle is wrestling with Havrick, and Havrick was the one who instigated it. Hexxil is sitting across the table from me, glaring at me as if I killed her pet. I would like to tell my mate that this is not how my family normally behaves, that we are a reasonable group, but that would be a lie. If I were, to be honest with her, I would say that this is a relatively calm night.
Sighing, I look over at my mate. Tracy wears a small frown on her face at whatever it is my father is telling her. Since Pops made her sit by him at the other end of the table, I had to sit next to Rex and Exxil. I can't hear what is being said.
"Everything seems to be going well." Exxil reaches across the table and grabs his son's forgotten piece of bread.
"How would you know? I can't hear what is being said between them," I whispered.