by Poppy Rhys
Lucia also noticed she was never alone anymore. If Soren wasn’t around her, Gi’Ren was there, or Val’Zun. She went from spending her days alone or with Lenny, to having a constant companion. She wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or not.
Soren normally watched over her at night while Ren and Zun altered times during the day, but honestly she was just happy to have someone to share the days with that could actually speak, and didn’t drool on her.
Gi’Ren had begun taking her and Lenny on walks about the palace, and they would often end up in the gardens or the large library, which she enjoyed immensely. One particular day, Zun tagged along, and they wandered aimlessly through the palace halls, passing folks along the way, and cooing at Lenny when she was awake.
“Zun?”
“Yes, Loo-Sha?”
“You said Val’Koy is the diplomatic one,” she brushed her knuckles under her chin as she formed her question, walking in between the two brothers. “What is it that Soren does?”
“Before or after he was enslaved?”
“Both?”
“Val’Ja is Ze’Quv,” he began. “He led a small elite team of eight for our military when he was captured. His team overtook a Trepnil ship during the war, but it was too badly damaged, and the team went down with the craft. That is why we thought Val’Ja was dead.” He and Gi’Ren shared a look over her head. She noticed they did that when they weren’t telling her something.
“But, he would’ve only been...,” Lu tried to do the math in her head. “Seventeen? That can’t be right.”
“You are correct, Loo-Sha,” he nodded once. “Nearly nineteen of your human years. Royal males have always matured fast, as is required. We begin military training at fifteen years of age.”
Lucia shook her head, rubbing the sides of her neck. That was too young in her opinion. The Melier culture just seemed so foreign to her; foreign, disturbing, and rough. Soren had barely grown into adulthood before he’d been enslaved.
Zun suddenly hurried ahead of her, tripping the sensor of a closed hallway door they were going to pass through. He stood there, grinning toothily at her as she continued on, Ren grunting beside her. He rejoined them once they were on the other side.
Wonder what that was about…
“You said Soren is Ze’Quv… but the war is over…” she trailed, moving back to the conversation.
Again, he shared a look with Ren.
“Val’Ja may not go out on missions with a team any longer,” he hedged, “but he is still the best Ze’Quv, and is often sought out for tactical advice and instruction.”
She thought there was more to that and he just wasn’t saying it, but at that moment she was satisfied with the answer given. If Soren was only advising and helping other Ze’Quv, she didn’t care. It meant he was safe inside the palace, and not out in space risking his life.
A new knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she thought about losing him, and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself.
I swear I’m going to end up with an ulcer.
Again, Zun rushed forward to trip a sensor for the next set of hallway doors, and again he wore a goofily large grin. That time, she squinted her eyes slightly, her pace slowing just for a moment as she tried to understand why he kept doing that. And then she carried on.
“What is it you do, or you Ren?”
“I am Zo’Canna,” Zun supplied while his tail came up to brush along her arm. She found herself welcoming more of his touches as the weeks passed. “I train the soldiers of our military in combat. I was given this position because I am the quickest, the most precise, and that is what I am known for among our people.”
Lucia looked up at him then, a small coil of pride tightening within her chest. She had seen Zun in action in the training arena, and he really was the fastest. He had danced circles around his sparring partner, deftly landing hits. She imagined he could work his way through a crowd of soldiers in minutes, and barely lose a breath. It was exhilarating just thinking about it, and she felt her cheeks heat when his gaze caught hers.
“Gi’Ren is Zi’Com. He leads soldiers I have trained, and he is a great force to our enemies. Our people respect him because he leads us to victory, and very seldom does he lose a soldier.”
That would explain why he has a war shuttle named after the vicious, illusive weqna beast.
Her eyes swept up to Gi’Ren who was making faces at Lenny and she twittered to herself, rubbing a palm over one of his arms. It was too cute watching the big, bad commander make goo-goo eyes at a youngling he was smitten with. Lenny’s big, toothless smiles as she stared adoringly up at Ren made all three of them laugh.
Soon they rounded a corner and slowed down as the king approached from the opposite end. His curious eyes landed on their group as he got closer and eventually he stopped a few feet from them, his guard falling back.
“Gi’Ren, Val’Zun,” he greeted and then his eyes swept over Lucia. He didn’t say her name, but he returned her nod, and then his gaze drifted to Lenny in Gi’Ren’s arms.
For a few moments he watched her strangely, inching closer until he was peering down at her while she continued her goofy smiles. “You spend much time with this youngling,” the king mused about Gi’Ren, still watching Lenny. One of his left hands slowly lifted to stroke down the babes arm and to everyone’s surprise, she began purring. The kings pupils widened and then shrunk once more before he gently retreated, gaze never leaving the babe.
“She likes you,” Lucia hedged, stroking Lenny’s tail that wrapped around Gi’Ren’s arm. On she purred, eventually dozing into a slumber. She had been sleeping an awful lot lately, and eating enough for three. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary though, and Lu summed it up to just being a growing babe.
Another commotion drew their attention as the queen rounded the corner, and paused. Her expression was one of loathing as her sights flicked from Lenny to Lucia and how the king was standing so close to such beasts. And then a breathy, high pitched chuffing rang out about the hall.
Her gaze drifted down to the floor where a ball of curly white fluff was bounding toward her, making a bunch of winded racket. Each time it chuffed, the white feathers mixed into its curly fur would shriek with colors. It sniffed around her feet, chuffed, and wagged its tailless bum which made its whole rounded body sway back and forth.
Its white fur was just a ball around its body but it didn’t cover its four legs. Instead, they were covered in short, black velvet fuzz and black, shortened claws tipped its four toes. Its ears were large and pointed, the black velvet coating them too as they stuck up from its head. She couldn’t see its eyes, as its curly white bangs fell over them, and the small snout that poked through had a wild, sniffing black nose and matching whiskers.
Its purple tongue licked the air before it chuffed up at Lucia again, causing her to smile. Down to her knees she shrunk, and slowly extended her hand for the creature to sniff. Another chuff and the ball of fluff was hopping up into her arms, chirping and chuffing with delight while it tried to lick her with its strangely colored tongue.
“MoMo, come,” the queen commanded, snapping her fingers. MoMo ignored the queen and once Lu set the creature back on the floor, it planted itself beside her feet. Again the queen told it to come. It ignored her. When Lucia took a step back, MoMo did too, and once again sat by her feet.
Oh no.
She inwardly groaned at the evil look the queen was giving her.
Now she’s going to blame MoMo’s disobedience on me.
One more thing to hate you for.
“Insolent creature!” she growled. “You have ruined him.”
She felt Zun’s knuckles stroke up and down her arm and then the queen was leaving, grumbling the entire way. The king cleared his throat and followed after her.
Lu looked back down at MoMo who chuffed happily.
“You just stole our mothers pet Nubo.”
She groaned and covered her face with her hands.
Val’Zun and Gi’Ren shared a laugh.
Chapter 9
“Why do you torture yourself?” Soren asked his brother who sighed and paced.
“I cannot bring myself to ask it of her,” Val’Zun groused.
“She kisses you, does she not?” his lips twitched with humor. He knew Lucia had been opening herself up to the idea of his brother as her mate as the mornings passed and they continued to have their time together. It pleased Soren to know she wasn’t against it as she once had been.
“Yes,” his brother grumbled and admitted. “Those are oddly pleasant.”
Soren grinned.
“But she drives me to the brink of insanity with her antics.” He continued to point out all the ways he and Lucia were incompatible, despite how much he liked that. “She is too headstrong. We will never have peace between us, and I fear I would age well before my time with a mate like her.”
Soren smirked. He couldn’t disagree, but he also knew Lucia was kind, loving, and if she accepted his brother as a mate, Val’Zun would know the pleasure he himself felt when on the receiving end of her attentions.
“I have never felt such confliction in my life,” Val’Zun lamented and scrubbed his head.
Once his brother dismissed his thoughts again, they continued to look over the plans for a specific mission meant for one of the elite teams pertaining to the war.
****
Val’Zun walked Lucia through a gallery in the palace, talking to her about Melierun’s past rulers, and various factoids, scandals, and difficult pairings. It was still highly disturbing for her to hear about how rare it was for a king and queen to actually love each other. Most of the queens in the past, their portraits hanging in the gallery, raped their chosen mates.
Only a handful had had mates who wanted to pair with them.
It freaked Lucia out. She couldn’t imagine forcing a male to be with her.
She stopped short as a large painting stole her breath and attention. She recognized the pair in the painting as the odd couple from the large statue in the museum, and soon she stood before it, just staring and admiring the art.
“Who are they?” she breathed.
“That is Ă’Drăst, mother of all things,” he nodded toward the alabaster female. She was covered in short, white fur and her black mane pooled at her feet just like it had on the statue. Her tail was long, and curled around her foot; it resembled the Melier tail except it was white as the rest of her. She looked on the verge of a smile, mischief dancing in her gaze.
“Beside her is M’Ǒklō, father of all things.” Now that she could see them in color instead of the milky green of the statue, M’Ǒklō’s skin was blue just like the royal bloodline.
The scales covering his entire body, unlike the Melier who only had them in certain patches, glinted in the portrait. The painter was very talented, whoever had created this. The male only had two arms, while the female had four. His physique was strong, and solid looking. Both individuals shared so many features with the Melier, yet neither were Melier.
“Your deities?” Lucia had heard all of the brothers at one point say ‘A’Drast’, and she presumed it was something of importance to them but had never really sought more information.
****
“Yes,” Val’Zun said softly, watching her as she devoured the portrait. “Both supreme beings were the last of their kind, wandering the universe. They found each other, took mortal form on this planet, and the Melier are their progeny.”
She is beautiful.
Val’Zun’s mind pulled forth the rest of the story of his people’s creation, the retelling second nature to him, while he continued to unblinkingly watch Lucia. When had he begun to think her human form beautiful? Humans were not a beautiful species. They lacked many features that made Melier females alluring.
Maybe that is what made Lucia beautiful to him now; her strangeness, her smooth, pliable skin and soft, curling hair that often caused her to emit frustrated sounds when she dealt with it. Hair she often called ‘The Monster,’ and complained that she could do nothing with it.
A Melier female was very capable of protecting herself and inflicting great pain, but Lucia was none of these things. A cutting tongue at times, he could admit, she had. However, she wasn’t truly dangerous, and her vulnerable body brought forth a protective instinct in him that he had never felt for a Melier female; even one in danger.
It frightened him to think of how easy it would be to break her if he lost control.
It was why he had never tried to kiss her or touch her more than a brush of his hands or his tail. Every touch had to be deliberate, careful, and soft. If he let the fierce arousal he felt take him over, he’d hurt her, and it was horrifying to realize he was most aroused when she annoyed him, which was often.
A cold glass of water to the face those many nights ago during the meal had only heated his blood with lust for her. He’d had to leave the palace for three days, not only to get her the muklori plant to apologize, but to keep her safe and get his body under control.
A’Drast’s mane, this cannot be normal.
He didn’t know if she was accepting again either.
Val’Ja had not mated her since Dor Nye, the night of Lenny’s birth, this much he knew. How long did it take human females to accept mating advances after giving birth? Most Melier females shunned their mates for at least three of his planets months after laboring. It was mainly why he had yet to approach her about pairing with him. He didn’t think he could control himself if he knew she wanted to pair and wasn’t accepting yet.
“They’re beautiful,” Lucia said while she gently laced her tiny hand with his as she continued to take in every detail of the painting.
Every muscle in his body tightened, except the ones of the hand she held. He inwardly whined his torment at feeling her touch him; even just his hand. Every time she kissed him or touched him, he would have to recite dull discourse from his youth just to continue breathing properly.
“Yes,” Val’Zun said lowly, and then reached out to gently brush the back of a hand over her smooth cheek. She stunned him when she leaned into his touch, and then that same hand was brushing along the underside of her delicate jaw, and over her unruly hair. Her strange amber eyes looked up at him, and soon her small hands were lying upon his stomach, smoothing up and over his chest.
Against his will, his body reacted and arousal stirred his blood. Somewhere in his mind, he registered whispering her name while she kissed the palm of his hand that cupped her face. She pulled on the front of his robe until he was forced to lean down, and then her hands were pulling on his neck, lips coming up to meet his. Val’Zun breathed in and out when her mouth allowed him to, trying to control every muscle in his being that tensed and jumped with anticipation, excitement, and heat.
Her kisses were urgent and impassioned, which only made it harder for him to keep control of his body.
Recite lectures.
His mind was split in two as he let the memory of scholars from his youth drone on in his head, while the other half was drowning in everything Lucia.
“Zun,” she whispered against his mouth in between her feverish pecking and sucking of his lips. A frosty sensation sung up his spine, followed by a scorching zip of desire. When her hand slid up his thigh, his entire body jumped, and when her fingers brushed against the straining material over his erection, he growled loudly.
Lucia froze and he immediately regretted it. He began to apologize and pull away from her, but her hands brushed him again. Val’Zun’s knees nearly buckled and he looked away, squeezing his eyes shut while trying to recite those lectures in his head and calm down.
He couldn’t though. Lucia did it again.
The next time, her fingers popped the buttons of his pants and it snapped his gaze back to her. The pulsing of his annex was almost unbearable, and when her cool fingers wrapped around him, pulling him free, he couldn’t help the pained whine that escaped his throat. Zun shook his head rep
eatedly, taking a step back, but her grip tightened and his entire body turned to stone for a span of time.
Val’Zun couldn’t breathe until her fingers relaxed.
“Loo-Sha,” he anguished, snarling when her fingers stroked up to his tip, coating her hands in the fluid his body offered up.
“Let me help you,” she whispered when her hands pulled on him again, her expression sincere, and hungry. His body quivered with strain as he tried to dominate his own thoughts and reactions. He continued to fail, and his body continued to leak his arousal into her caressing hands.
Again, he tried to back away when she leaned forward, her lips kissing against his swollen veins. To his horror, a stream of his seed splashed her lips and his shoulders shuddered with revulsion and extreme arousal.
“I am sorry--” he choked out and took another step back, only to have Lucia take a step forward, never losing grip on him.
“Don’t apologize,” she said before she licked him.
Zun exhaled jaggedly.
He had seen her do this to Val’Ja, but he never thought it would feel like this. His self-control was quickly evaporating and he tried grasping at it like a lifeline.
I cannot hurt her.
I have to keep control.
Lectures droned in his mind, wavering in and out like a flickering holograph as the lust he felt hit him in droves, alarmingly close to pulling him under.
Lucia’s mouth took him in, and his hiss of breath was loud in his own ears. He inhaled and exhaled quickly in short, ineffective bursts. He pulsed and throbbed so fiercely it hurt, and he was fearful of the pleasure he could feel building in his loins.
A mixture of pain and ecstasy enveloped him, his hands fisting at his sides while he struggled not to lay a finger on her. If he touched her at all, he wasn’t sure he could stop himself, and the thought of hurting Lucia made him loudly moan in turmoil, followed by a snarl of fiery gratification.