Mating Flight

by Mating Flight (lit)

"What happened today was in your best interests. Look at all you gained today."

  "Look at all I've lost."

  Kleet heaved a great sigh. "I didn't realize that you were negative or pessimistic."

  "I'm not. I've had a very stressful day. I can't think positively right now."

  "Let me ask you something. Is it a common practice of your species to throw away love when it's received?"

  She was shocked and appalled. "No! Love is a great gift, a rare treasure. If a person is a theist, love is a blessing and a miracle."

  "Then it's just you who throws away love when you receive it?"

  She stared at him mutely. Was that what she was doing?

  He was relentless. "Because the time isn't right for you, will you reject all love until the time is right? Will you hope that those who love you now will keep on loving you while they wait for the time to be right for you to love them back? Will love be there for you then, in that nebulous future you call 'when I'm ready?' If you spurn all love now, wouldn't it make sense that love won't be easy to find later on?

  "Or is it just my love you want to throw away? Is my love not good enough for you because I'm not human? Or do you think I don't know how to love because I have wings? Would you rather throw my love away and see if a human love comes along later in your life? I offer you an all-consuming love. Can you guarantee that a human love later in your life will be as big as what I offer you now?

  "Averans mate for life. They bind themselves to their chosen mate during the mating flight. They join their very cells to the cells of their beloved until there are no longer two separate entities but one. I've done that with you today, Sheleigh. How will you excise me from your cells? It can't be done surgically. Will you have me killed or kill me yourself just to free yourself from my love, because the time isn't right for you? Doesn't that seem extreme to you?"

  She was ashamed of her behavior when she looked back on it now, after his words. He'd said he loved her and she'd written off and rejected his words as meaningless, because she didn't love him. She couldn't get far from him. She certainly couldn't get his babies out of her body for nine months. So she was stuck with him. It was just her pride and her fear and her anger that made her fight what couldn't be undone.

  "I'm sorry," she told him, and hung her head.

  He framed her face with his hands and raised it. "I didn't make you my mate to make you unhappy, Sheleigh. Nothing bad has happened to you, but there are going to be a lot of changes happening to you very quickly. I'll try to buffer you so that you can adjust. I know you can adjust. You came to this planet and learned a new language and a new lifestyle. You learned space travel. How much easier will it be to learn to be my mate and the mother of sweet little babies?"

  "I could do it. But Kleet, except for when we're mating, I feel like you're a stranger."

  "We'll use the time before the babies come to get to know one another. We'll be sleeping together each night and mating together every day. We'll talk every evening and tell each other what we need to know. By the time the children come, we'll feel comfortable together."

  "I'm afraid. I don't know anything about being pregnant, giving birth or taking care of babies, and there will be two of them."

  "The doctor will help you with the pregnancy and births. My mother is here to answer any questions. She had three children, after all."

  "Won't we have a place of our own, now that you have a mate?"

  "I hadn't planned on it. There's plenty of room here, and I am the heir. Besides, you're far from your own mother and you'll feel more comfortable having my mother nearby during your pregnancy." Kleet urged her to the bathing room to dress.

  "What about privacy, for ... you know ... intimacies?"

  Kleet laughed. "My parents know I flew you. They know we'll mate every day. They won't interrupt."

  "Kleet, um, we made noise when we mated."

  "Our room is away from my parents' room. They won't hear us."

  "My friends tell me they don't always mate in the bedroom."

  "Intriguing. Averans do that too, you know. Ah, you're wondering if we will. The answer is a resounding yes. Let me finish. My parents are gone a lot, so I'll make sure we're alone before I begin anything like that with you."

  "Kleet, I think I want my own mother here for the births, but she's never been in space. How could we arrange it so that she gets training and clearance to come here?"

  "I don't know. I'll have to talk to my father and the council. Any more questions?"

  "No. I really am sorry about what I said. I feel out of my element, unsure."

  "You'll get used to your new life. We have a formal ceremony we have to go through now to recognize our status as mates. We need to dress well for it. Because I'm the heir the council will be there. Can you handle it?"

  Sheleigh took a deep breath. "I think so. At least I'll be dressed in front of them."

  Kleet led her from the bedroom, past his staring parents and down the hall to a large suite of rooms. "This is ours."

  "I'll never find my way here." She was awed by the wealth he took for granted. This residence was huge and their suite of rooms was bigger than her apartment had been.

  "You'll learn. We don't have much time, so we'll have to hurry. The bathing room is in here. We'll have to share."

  She was a little nervous about sharing the intimacies of a bathroom with him, even though, technically, he was her husband. It was silly to be modest over her nudity after the things they'd done together this morning. But he was a stranger to her, except when he was deep in her body. She stepped into the shower to wash the stickiness from her body. As she turned her back into the spray she saw Kleet through the clear glass. He stared at her nude form with hungry eyes. Clearly he liked what he saw. She felt a clenching in her loins and her breasts tightened. Not again. He pulled off his clothes and she liked what she saw of his well-shaped, toned body. He turned slightly and his wings became visible. She felt a new type of clenching, that of apprehension. Once again she was struck with the knowledge that he was an alien.

  She turned to wash, but was not surprised a moment later when Kleet's hands took the soap from her. Then his big hands washed her. He wasn't a stranger now as his possessive hands claimed all the territory of her body, and her body recognized the touch of her mate. She turned to soap him and her hands recognized the feel of her mate. Her hands became hungry, needing communion with her mate. She pressed closer to him, then closer, until her slick body was pressed tightly to his.

  "Umm," she murmured as his hands molded her buttocks. Hers slid down his back under his wings to do the same. The long feathers were cool and damp against his warm, firm buttocks. There was an insistent prod against her belly.

  "We have time, Shel," he urged in a husky voice. He punctuated his words with another prod.

  "I can't," she moaned, clutching him tightly. "I'm so sore."

  "Shh, it's all right. I should have been gentler more than just once today so that we could mate more often. In my own defense, I felt fierce in my claiming of you. I'll probably feel that way for a long time."

  "My female friends told me of a way I can make you feel better until we can mate again. I could do that."

  He hugged her fiercely. "Thank you for offering, but no. I want no empty pleasure. I want only to be joined with you and to fly again with you. No momentary relief will ease that need."

  "Oh." She hugged him just as fiercely and raised her lips so that he could capture hers in a voracious kiss. It was wonderfully fulfilling and they groped one another while it lasted. Their fierce grips on each other's flesh gentled to caresses as the mate recognition accepted that the mate wasn't going anywhere at the moment. She reveled in being held against his wet naked skin.

  "Oh, love. This is why I wanted you. You're a part of me, the part that makes me complete." He nuzzled her face and she wished she could lie down with him and let him do what they both wanted to do.

  "Hold me tighter," she begged him, alt
hough his arms were like a vise around her already.

  "Only one thing will help right now, Shel, and you're in no condition for it." He released her and pushed her under the water's spray, then followed her under. When they were thoroughly clean he pulled her out of the shower with him and they dried one another off. It was an inefficient use of time, for there was more caressing than drying, but she needed his touch.

  She found her clothes in his closet and dresser drawers. But she stood staring hungrily at him, her clothes clutched in her hands, not wanting clothes between their naked bodies. He watched her from slitted eyes, as though waiting for her to make a decision. She marveled that last night she had been an untouched virgin and now she couldn't think of anything but sex.

  "Maybe we could ..." she offered.

  "I think it would be much more painful for you afterwards. We can wait awhile."

  How could she explain to him this yearning she felt for him. Was mating the only way to satisfy the yearning? Wasn't being a spouse or mate more than just the sexual relationship between two people? How else could she quench this need?

  "I ... feel empty," she began.

  "Do you?"

  "On my planet, after a man and woman are ... mated ... they go off alone to be together. They don't need to get out of bed for days if they don't want to."

  "Is that what you want?"

  "Is it possible?"

  "I don't think so. We both have heavy commitments right now. Besides, it's not our custom to sequester new mates, although that practice of lingering in bed for days interests me. And as much as your naked body interests me, if we're not going to mate we'd better get dressed and attend the ceremony."

  Sheleigh hesitated still, wanting desperately to be joined with him, to have his mouth on her pouty nipples, to have his cock filling her where no other man had ever been. She wanted to clasp his warm male body between her thighs and wrap herself around him. He accepted her hesitation without becoming frustrated or exasperated with her. Then he pulled on a silky shirt. Covering his virile body broke the spell that held her frozen.

  She picked out her most formal outfit, her jade silk trouser and long tunic set with the Asian-influenced styling. Her breasts seemed to thrust out the tunic more than they'd ever done before and she wondered if it was the remnant of her arousal being displayed. It couldn't be her pregnancy, which was less than a few hours old.

  While she brushed her hair she looked at herself in the mirror and felt extraordinarily feminine. For the first time in her life she was a woman in every way. No longer was she on the outside of the feminine mystique, but now she was a full participant. Now she understood all the comments women had made in her hearing over the years. Now some of those comments attached themselves to her personal memories.

  Kleet appeared behind her in the mirror, handsome in his fine clothes. The expert tailoring showed in his well-cut white shirt and sleek black trousers, which were cut snugly to his well-built form. She knew what his clothes hid now, and it was like taunting her, covering the pleasures and sexual strength of him with such a thin opaque covering. He stood directly behind her so she couldn't see if his arousal was visible on him like she thought hers was on her.

  "That's a beautiful design. That outfit flatters you," he said. His look was possessive.

  "It's based on a very ancient design from an ancient race on my planet. The fabric is lightweight and takes up little space, and it's very comfortable," she babbled nervously. He was a stranger now that he was clothed.

  "Ancient people whose designs carried over into the future. It can be a good thing to preserve ideas for millennia. Are you ready to go?"

  "As ready as I'll ever be. Will I be expected to do anything?"

  "No. Witnesses will testify to the mating flight. The doctor will testify to your pregnancy. You'll be formally presented as my mate to the council and anyone else present."

  "That sounds easy enough. Will you stay beside me?" She watched him throw a long black cape around his shoulders and fasten it with an elaborate silver clasp to cover his wings.

  "It's proper for me to be by your side." He held out the crook of his arm to her and she looped her arm through his. He escorted her out of their suite and down the hall to the hydrolift. He was very serious now and very much a stranger to her ... an intimate stranger.

  Chapter Seven

  "Why do you cover your wings?" When the lift enclosed them inside with the two guards, Sheleigh strove to find something to talk about to lessen her case of nerves.

  "It's a practice dating back several hundred years, when the first break in our DNA appeared. Before the break, all Averans were winged and were active flyers. We had to be, with all the cliffs, canyons and mountains on the planet. But as the population grew and became technologically advanced, the need to fly decreased until non-wingeds appeared in the population.

  "At first we thought them an anomaly. Then, when more non-wingeds appeared, we thought there was something causing birth defects in the population. But no scientific or medical study found any cause for the change to the DNA. Gradually the number of non-wingeds in our society has increased until we realized it's not mutation but evolution that's occurring. The need for wings has passed, you see. We're now mostly gliders, without actually lift capacity. So the winged cover themselves to blend in with the non-winged.

  "The non-winged radical fringe has become restless in the last generation and a half. They think the winged hold too much power and wealth. It's better for everyone if no one can point to a physical difference between those who have wealth and those who don't."

  "I didn't realize Averans had class distinctions. I'm familiar with those from my own planet's history." She hesitated before voicing a new thought. "Will our babies have wings, do you think?"

  A pained look flitted across Kleet's handsome face. "Wings are being bred out of my species, family by family. For my family, the change will come sooner."

  "I'm sorry. You should have chosen a winged mate."

  "I wanted you."

  There was nothing she could reply to that statement, so she asked a related question. "Will the mating flight be eliminated, too?"

  "No, that's the strange part. Even in the non-winged the urge to fly the mating flight is strong. There are several non-winged mating flights a month now. We have to make sure there's an inflated cushion for them to land on."

  Sheleigh thought that a hang glider or parasail would help the non-winged Averans. But before she could ask about this idea, the hydrolift stopped and opened onto the roof. There was a transport waiting for them and they were hustled into it.

  She held on tightly to the door handle and tried not to watch. Soon she saw the flat-top mountain that contained the Averan government. It seemed strange that she had left here less than twelve hours ago.

  They landed on the pad marked for important government officials and took the hydrolift down to the big council hall. She'd been here twice previously and both times she'd been restricted to the visitor's gallery on the upper level. Now she walked with Kleet to the front of the lower level. Kelfer was there and Lefair was seated next to him in Kleet's usual seat. The guards faded to the edges of the room as Kleet continued on to his father.

  They halted in front of Kelfer, in full view of what appeared to be, to Sheleigh's nervous eyes, the entire council. She recognized a few people from last night.

  "Avatier, I have taken a mate." Kleet's voice projected clearly through the hall in a confident tone. These must be traditional words, since his parents already knew they were mated.

  "Who is your mate?" Kelfer asked in the same tone.

  "Sheleigh O'Brien, from the planet Earth."

  "You flew the mating flight with this woman?"

  "Yes."

  "Bring forth your witnesses."

  The guards from this morning came forward and identified themselves to Kelfer.

  "Did you witness the takeoff from the cliff edge?" Kelfer asked.

  "No, Avatier.
My lord Kleet had requested complete privacy." There was a mutter of voices that died out when Kelfer spoke again.

  "Was this woman proudly by the heir's side afterwards as a proper mate should be?"

  The guards fidgeted nervously and looked at Kleet. He showed no sign that he was disturbed. But Sheleigh now realized why he'd wanted her to be seen with him this morning. Had she known then what difficulty it would cause ... she still wouldn't have appeared naked in front of the guards.

  "No, Avatier, she was not." There were gasps and numerous murmurs around the room.

  Kelfer held up his hand for silence. His face had flushed a ruddy color, but whether it was from anger or something else, Sheleigh couldn't tell. "Kleet, you will explain this omission."

  "My mate is clearly alien and her world has different customs. Her society does not expose naked women to males who are not their mates." Again there were murmurs from the council. Sheleigh wondered that Kleet could so calmly describe the modesty that had frustrated him this morning. It seemed too fast an about-face to her.

  "Was the mating flight recorded?"

  She gasped in horror. They had made some kind of video record of her and Kleet having sex? She tugged violently at Kleet's arm. She would be more than mortified if anyone else saw that recording. She was mortified that someone had watched what they were doing through a lens. Oh God!

  "Kleet!" she hissed. He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.

  "A recording was made of the flight, as tradition decrees. But I must refuse its viewing. It would be another form of exposing a naked woman to males who are not her mate."

  Kelfer's face darkened further. "As the heir, you know three pieces of proof are required to confirm a person's status as mate. These are our traditions held on our planet. Your mate is a guest on our planet, her very presence a concession granted by me and the council. That approval can be withdrawn at any time if we decide that our traditions are at risk."

  Sheleigh met her father-in-law's threat with fire of her own. "Recording equipment is a recent advancement on your planet, not tradition. It dates back no further than eight generations. I feel these recordings allow illicit viewing of the mate's nude form by persons not otherwise authorized to see him or her that way. I question the reason for such titillation. There's a word on my planet for people who get a thrill from seeing other people's sexual habits ..." Kleet's fierce grip on her arm stopped her next words in her throat.