by Isabel Wroth
He had been called to the bridge and had left Clary in their quarters when he would much rather have stayed to curl up with her and enjoy the aftereffects of her heat that still lingered. It was a matter he had yet to discuss with her, and truthfully once he had hit the bridge and realized the council had called to check their progress and enquire as to why both warships were still in such close proximity, he’d spent the next several hours going over their progress reports. So now the council was aware that he and his three crew had not only inadvertently passed on their ability to shift, but that the four females had come into heat soon after and had all been mated. The council’s displeasure was keen, their reminder that the mating was not recognized and would not be until a successful hunt occurred during the festival.
That reminder set his teeth on edge and left him extremely agitated, so when he blew into his quarters he didn’t notice Clary at first. In fact he walked right by her, only checking himself when he heard her little laugh, “I see my technique needs a little work.” He spun around and found her lounging on the floor of the lounge, their evening meal waiting on the low table, and her delectably nude body was cradled in a nest of blankets from their bed. His foul mood eased markedly, and with a growl he threw himself down in her nest, tasting her laugh when he crawled half over her to kiss her hungrily.
She set something aside and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her fingernails scraping through the hair at his nape, soothing him with the long strokes she used to comb his hair free of the tail she’d plaited it into earlier for him. His mate liked to sink her hands in his mane. “Your technique of welcoming me home to our den needs no work. I was distracted. What were you doing, my one?” She stretched her neck back to reach for the tablet he’d given her, showing him the images on the screen, “Just familiarizing myself with the list of plants to avoid while running through an unfamiliar forest. Was there a problem on the bridge?” He shook his head, taking her tablet to set up out of the way on the table, scooping up one of the berries she had come to favor and smiled while he painted her lips with the juice and licked it from her skin. “No. The council required my report, and irritated me with the reminder that our mating is not recognized until after the festival.”
“Why is that, exactly? I mean, you said that Sarazens need only catch the scent of their mate to know she’s the right one.”
“It is just how our laws were lay down. I believe initially when they were made, it was an effort to control the population growth. But as we have evolved, the festivals coincide with our female’s fertile times. Which is curious, since you and the others came into heat so soon after changing. Sarazen females have only the two cycles per our solar year, I can only surmise that your beast is somehow cognizant of the coming festival and is easing you into it.”
“Sarazen females are only fertile twice a year? Seriously?”
She seemed incredulous, so after eating what remained of the mushed berry, he asked her why she was so surprised. “Human females are drastically more fertile than that.”
“How many times a season are they fertile?”
“A season? Once we reach puberty, we’re fertile. Each month of our year, so thirty six months out of yours.”
He nearly spewed the mouthful of fruit on her, choking a little to know that he would not have to wait to breed with her until those two fertile times of his kind. He could not believe it, “So you mean to say, that humans do not spurn their mates until their fertile times?” Her eyes rounded and she looked at him with disbelieving distaste, “No. Sarazens only have sex twice a year?” He shrugged, “The females will not accept them at any other time, and only then to produce offspring.” She goggled and laughed, “Um, there is no way in hell that I’m not going to have you every day. And if the look of Gwen and Andi’s very satisfied expressions, plus the marked absence of Cassie and Falken is anything to go by, I doubt they’ll be keeping their hands to themselves for the entirety of your solar year. So we better talk to Ga’rae and Gwen about contraception, otherwise you’ll be overrun with kids.”
“Kids?”
“Cubs. Babies.”
She watched a not so subtle change come over Tarek’s face. His pupils split vertically, a flush spread across his cheeks and his lips parted just enough to flash the points of his fangs. A fine tremor rippled across his muscles and he went from lying propped up on one arm beside her, to planting his hands down on either side of her head, lowering himself down in a bicep bulging pushup that pressed her down into the unforgiving surface of the floor. “Every day?” He growled softly, lips jumping in a grimace when her breasts mashed against the bare skin of his chest. He had still not put on a shirt or a vest, and he said he would not until the marks she’d made in his flesh healed. Not because they hurt, because he wished all to see just how wild he had driven his mate.
Every warrior she had passed today had looked at her with a knowing smile, and inclined their heads respectfully. Like her having nearly shredded Tarek with her claws was a thing to be proud of. A heavy chuff left his mouth, his tongue swiping hungrily over his lips, “And when your belly fills with my cub?” She laughed, twisting her arms around his broad shoulders again, careful of the healing scabs where she’d accidentally dug her fingers into his skin and unintentionally released her claws to stab him. While she hadn’t meant to hurt him, the punctures had acted like spurs and he’d rattled her teeth with how hard he’d fucked her. That particular orgasm had been debilitating, and if not for her claws holding her to him, she’d have gone flying off the bed.
She liked the fact that she had the ability to lift ten times her body weight. Really liked it, because in the right position, such as her current one, she was able to flip Tarek onto his back and aggressively leap over to straddle his waist. Her few sexual encounters over the years, she had not been the aggressor, she’d just been along for the ride. But she found that with the confidence of her cat, and the ability to smell the intensity and sincerity of Tarek’s desire for her, it turned her on. Made her feel powerful, sexy, as did the accompanying look in his eyes. “Twice a day if I get my way,”
She held up her hand and concentrated, having practiced the whole time she’d been reading the information on her tablet, and was pretty smug when one claw slid from her index finger. Tarek seemed surprised, but if his smile was anything to judge, he was proud of her. “I was practicing,” She told him, very, very carefully whispering the tip down the center of his body, watching goosebumps rise on his flesh. Feeling his cock jerk in the confines of his trousers, loving the ragged little pants that left his mouth when she scooted back farther, “Kick off your boots,” He obeyed, his body rattling with the growl he gave when she pushed just a little harder, slicing through the material of his flight trousers the way he liked to slice through her dresses. “Maybe three times. Human females are reportedly…hungry, during pregnancy. Hormones, you understand. I don’t think that changes with a little bit of DNA mutation. We could go ask Ga’rae.”
He snarled at her teasing tone, choking on it when she licked up the inside of his thigh. She kept going, and a pained look of longing crossed his face when she got close to his shaft, “If your intent is what I hope it is, my one, perhaps when you have better control of your fangs?” She made a pouty sound, licking her way up the underside of his iron hard cock, feeling that thick vein pulse hard at her touch, “Probably a good idea.” She murmured, but not before she used her tongue to rub firmly at the sensitive glans, watching him war with the indecision to let her keep going or stop her. Evilly, she sighed and promised to work very hard on controlling her teeth, getting that strangled snarl again, and a groan when she shifted and her breasts brushed along either side of his cock, nipples rasping on his skin while she kissed and licked her way up the cobbled muscles of his abdomen.
He was obsessed with her breasts, loved filling his hands with them and tugging on her nipples. Loved to lick at her cleavage, bury his face between them, suck and lick at the soft flesh until her ski
n was dotted with little strawberries. He did all of that, eyes flashing at her when she teased him by sliding back and forth on his shaft, letting her arousal coat the throbbing flesh, but with his reflexes, the first time the head of his cock kissed her opening, he shoved his hips up, forcibly filling her and made her throw her head back on a scream of bliss. He drug her down his length, hands biting into her hips to hold her pinned when she would have furiously rode him to her own completion. “Bond with me, Clary.”
He waited on baited breath for her answer, struggling to focus despite the tight clench of her pussy around his shaft and the arousal that dripped from inside her. Every beat of her heart pulsed blood to where they were joined, made those slick muscles flutter and burn even hotter. Sweat gathered in a fine sheen on his body, looking up the devastatingly gorgeous line of hers, dotted with his marks and flushed with her need. Her bright eyes were even brighter now, her pupils split exotically, “What?” She panted, mewling in denial when he stopped her from moving on him. He could hold her still, but he couldn’t keep those vise like muscles from gripping, massaging and flexing around his cock. He had to grit his teeth to hold himself steady, “I want it back, our bond. I want to feel you, here.” He pushed one hand up her body to rest between her breasts, where her heart was pounding, “H-how?”
She curled both her hands over his, pressing his palm harder to her chest, a ragged wail pushing from between her lips when he sat up, rubbing himself impossibly deeper inside her. He licked the taste of that sound from her lips, rolled his cheek over hers and bent to scrape his teeth over her shoulder. “We finish together and bite, here.” Her hand slid from over his, curling around the back of his neck to keep his mouth pressed to her skin, her ragged, “Yes,” Making it difficult not to bite her right then and there. “Then ride me, my one. Give us back our bond.”
She didn’t rush, slowly rolling and rocking on him, driving him to the point of madness with the tiny little nips and kisses to his throat and ear. It felt different, not the fast frenzy of before, though he could feel the quivering tension racing up and down her spine. She twisted and undulated, her soft panting gasps, hot and misting across his throat. He turned his face and nudged her cheek, catching her mouth for a wet smack of a kiss, looking into her bright eyes, another kiss, and he almost roared as he felt the fragile filaments of the bond returning. From how her breath caught, her pussy clenched and her lashes fluttered, she felt it too.
She plunged down on him harder, again and again until he could feel the tightening of her sheath, the telltale contractions that spelled her quickly approaching orgasm. “Not without me, Clary.” He growled, and she shuddered harder, biting into her lip with a whimper, tense, hurrying towards the end. He helped her, loving how she couldn’t hold back the sounds of pleasure for a second longer. He tucked her face to his shoulder, kissing his way up to the spot he intended to sink his canines into, his beast growling and chuffing with eagerness and the blinding moment that it happened, the moment she burst, taking him with her, he felt her bite and gave her his. The bond snapped into place with almost painful clarity, the pleasure gripping his balls doubling as he felt the echo her own.
He lay back with her still impaled over him, her whimpers slithering down his body to where they were joined. He tightened his arms around her, cradled her head to keep her with him, sweat and pleasure slick between them, hearts pounding wildly. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling her shock, her pleasure, the tender happiness that filtered through their bond. Felt the tether of it solidly anchored in his chest, ‘My one.’ He thought, the relief so profound he felt dizzy.
‘I love how you call me that.’
He grinned slowly, wondering if she knew what it was she’d just done. He rolled with her to their sides and tucked her under him, holding her close while their bodies cooled. Her eyes were closed when he pushed up, his arm shaking while he looked down at her, brushing his knuckles along her cheek to follow the flush of her orgasm, and the weak smile that curved her lips. ‘Do you?’
‘Mm hm.’
‘What else do I do that you love?’
She stretched, moaning softly when his cock slid from inside her, pouting a little while she tried to scoot closer. He tucked one of the blankets she preferred to cuddle under around her back, smiling when her eyes opened and she looked up at him. She opened her mouth to answer, then blinked, her chin jerked back slightly and she closed her mouth, ‘Are we speaking, without speaking?’ He chuckled and bent to kiss her parted lips, ‘We are, as I said. When our bond grew strong enough, there would be nowhere I could not find you.’
‘Holy shit.’
He laughed, and they spent the rest of the night curled around one another, silently satiating his mate’s endless curiosity about their bond and what it meant for their future. He forgot all about the council and their displeasure with his failure to adhere to the laws of the breeding festival. They fell asleep tangled together, and he woke to the insistent beeping of his wrist unit, where he’d set it on the table with the remnants of their evening meal. Clary didn’t even twitch, worn out once again. He noted the reminder that this morning he had to finalize the transfer of warriors to replace the six returning to Saraz with him, and meeting with Brennaugh to discuss the warrior most suited to replace him on the mission to find the humans.
He carefully untangled himself from his mate’s embrace, padding quietly into the enzyme shower and returned to find her in precisely the same spot. His one slept hard, splayed out to gain her most comfortable position when not wrapped around him like a vine. She had described her tiny, cramped quarters aboard her previous ship, so he reasoned that now she was making up for having been so confined in her sleep. He knelt and scooped her up, blankets and all to carry her to his bed, soothing her silently when she grumbled and grabbed for his pillow to hug. It made his lips quirk up, watching her settle while he tugged on a spare pair of flight pants, and a tunic top in case he had to address the council again.
He kissed her hair and made himself leave, raking his hands through his unbound mane and tapped out an order to have Brennaugh join him on the command deck. He was not surprised by Brennaugh’s request for a few more minutes with his mate before his arrival, nor did he deny it. It gave him the time he required for the reassignments of his warriors, time to care for a few more details. Brennaugh had just joined him when he felt Clary’s touch to his thoughts, even her mental voice sounded tired and replete from their coupling. ‘Where’d you run off to?’ She grumbled, and in his mind he could picture her stretching in the bed, shoving her silky mass of hair out of her face, glaring at the empty room with a testy little growl. ‘I am seeing to my final duties before we arrive in Saraz, my one. Brennaugh has just joined me and I suspect this will be a lengthy meeting. If it pleases you, I feel comfortable with you joining the others on the observation deck.’
‘Not worried I’m gonna go ape shit and eat people?’
‘I don’t know what this, ape shit, is. But no, I am not worried that you will lose control. We are bound together, and in times of stress or rage, I can reach out to you and soothe your beast, as I did with your claws.’
‘Huh. Can I help you, when you need it?’
‘With my control?’
‘Don’t laugh at me,’
‘I would never. I am amused, and yes, were I a freshly changed male in need of assistance with my control, and you were the far more experienced female, yes. You could help me.’
‘Right. Well. I’m going to shower and go to the observation deck. I’ll let you know if the urge to kill someone starts to become pressing.’
He did not tell her that he would sense her rage far sooner than she would be able to tell him of it. He simply smiled and glanced up at Brennaugh’s entrance, nodding to him to take a seat, ‘I will come for you as soon as I have completed my duties.’ Brennaugh threw himself down into the chair across from him and pulled up his reports on his own tablet, “Is your mate well?” He inquired, his lips quirking slight
ly, and he inclined his head. “Very. Yours?” Brennaugh drew in a deep breath, staring at the table top a moment before answering, “Unafraid. I am blessed. Did your mate truly tell mine, that I was beautiful?”
“Much to my displeasure, yes. Tara was uncertain of her future as the mate of a Sarazen, so my one offered her impression of you.”
As much as he was able to, Brennaugh blushed and then gave a serious scowl and they moved on from sentimental talk of their females, to the business at hand. It took nearly the entire day, but they finally came to an agreement of who would succeed Brennaugh’s command. Two of the human crew, two males, would accompany the Fifth wing in the search for the humans and act as ambassadors. Clary was with them now, briefing them on how to proceed and within a few hours, the ships would part ways. One to Saraz, the other into deeper space. Tara had apparently agreed to spend some time on the planet with her mate, considering accepting his blood and a deeper bond as she gained the ability to change. And, to repair her womb so that she could bear young.
Transfers complete, he and Brennaugh moved to bridge, and as Falken was still…occupied, Brennaugh took place as his second and together they oversaw the movement of his warriors on the First, to the Fifth and then got the First underway to return to Saraz. “Falken has been indisposed for quite some time. Should we be concerned?” Brennaugh questioned, and he gave a rueful grin. “He and his mate came up for air yesterday for a brief visit to medical. Cassie is suffering an intense heat cycle, more so than the others it seems. She was not sterilized by her people, and it is Ga’rae’s estimation that because her body did not have to replenish its reproductive material, her beast is determined to bear young. Clary said something about forced ovulation and made comparison to a beast from their planet to explain why Cassie is experiencing such fierce need, but so long as it causes her no harm, Falken doesn’t seem to be complaining or care what the explanation is.”