Risdaverse Tales: Four Risdaverse Novellas

by Dixon, Ruby

  “Humans show affection by touching mouths,” I say, a little uneasy. I know a lot of aliens have weird laws about touching and many consider human gestures like kissing unclean. If he isn’t comfortable with kissing, I’ll understand. It’ll be disappointing to have so much and not that, but I’ll still be the luckiest woman on this planet if I get Vordigar at my side, smiling and laughing and making me happy every day. That’s more than enough.

  “With mouths?” He grins. “That explains why you’re always staring at mine. Thought you found my teeth strange or something.” He grins, showing those fangs that are another mesakkah trait that humans don’t have. “How does one ‘kiss’ then? Show me.”

  “All right.” I feel shy as I touch his cheek, guiding his face toward mine. I graze my lips over his, and when he doesn’t jerk back in disgust, I glide my tongue over the part of his lips, encouraging him to open up and let me truly kiss him. He groans as my tongue slips against his, wet and teasing, and then his tongue tangles with mine and he’s kissing me back, and it’s so intimate and wonderful that I whimper low in my throat.

  “I like kissing,” he manages, panting, and then his mouth is on mine again, even as his fingers play through my now-soaking folds, teasing me open. He slips one finger into me, and then a second, thrusting lightly even as his thumb rubs against my clit. Between that and his magical, wonderful mouth, I’m gasping and clinging to him within a matter of moments.

  In his arms, I know I’m safe. In his arms, I know pleasure is mine. With him, sex isn’t a chore to be endured with Vordigar, but something to be savored and enjoyed often. I’m more than ready when he slides his hips between mine and drags his cock through my wet folds. I murmur words of encouragement as he guides his cock into me and we make love without the plas-film for the first time.

  When I come, it’s with his mouth on mine, his cock deep inside my body, his spur on my clit, and my heart swelling with joy.

  I might cry again a little, too, but I reassure Vordigar that they’re good tears.

  They’re all good tears from here on out, I decide.

  13

  VORDIGAR

  As if fate itself approves of my decision to stay, everything seems to line up perfectly for the next few days.

  The va Sithai brothers are disappointed that I can’t go with them. Once they hear it’s because I need to protect my female, they don’t protest. It’s in our blood, as mesakkah, to take care of our females. And they have a younger sister, so I’m sure they understand. They’re going to continue on without a navigator, with Kaspar taking over those duties. I wish them luck, but I don’t think they’ll need it. If there’s anyone that can take down a band of pirates and collect the bounties, it’s those three.

  The next morning, Piper’s pregnant. It’s early, of course, but she does a quick blood-scan with her home med-pad and the fertility shot has done its trick. It might have something to do with the fact that I took her six times last night, each one better than the last, and I’ve thrown the plas-film into the recycler. There’s no better feeling than being deep inside her and I never want anything separating us again.

  She shows me the results of her blood test with a wary expression, though, as if she’s not entirely sure I’ll be happy.

  “That was fast,” I admit as I pull her into my lap and put my arms around her.

  “It’s supposed to be fast. That’s the point.” Her mouth quirks. “Are you happy?”

  “I will be if it has my face. This sort of beauty needs to be passed along to the next generation.” I mockingly stroke my jaw.

  Piper cuddles against my chest. “I’d be fine with that. What now?”

  I stroke her back, considering returning to our bed. But…first thing’s first. “Now we go into port and get married.”

  * * *

  Humans are more sentimental than the mesakkah when it comes to matings. For our people, you simply go to the nearest courthouse and file legal documents to join your families together. Humans like ceremony and celebration, so Piper wears a pretty white dress and asks me to say vows to her.

  I’m considering what I’ll say when the praxiian that’s been harassing my female shows up at the courthouse to protest our union. Five minutes later, I’ve beat his face to a pulp and have one foot on his neck as I take Piper’s hand in mine. We sign the documents—making sure the praxiian can see the exact moment that Piper slips out of his grasp—and I know immediately what my vows to my female will be.

  “Piper, as your husband, I vow that this piece of garbage,” I say, pausing to step harder on the praxiian’s furry neck, “Will never threaten you again. You, or our child.”

  Her face glows with happiness.

  The magistrate takes the praxiian down to the jail to cool off for a few days (thanks to a well-placed bribe) and I take Piper in my arms and kiss her.

  “Do I take your last name?” she asks me, breathless. “Now that I’m your wife?”

  I hesitate. Last names are a sore spot with me. Mesakkah are proud of their lineage and family names are revered—the older, the better. “I don’t have a real last name,” I admit to her. “I’m station trash. I was dumped on Riis Station—at the docks—when I was a kit. Grew up in the slums there. I don’t have a good family name to share with you. My full name is Vordigar Riis-Dock.” I shrug. “And the ‘Vordigar’ comes from the name of the old dock-master’s favorite racing sled. I’m a nobody.”

  She shakes her head, clasping my hands, her eyes bright. “You’re Vordigar Riis-Dock, protector and husband to Piper Riis-Dock, your wife. You’re a soldier, a good man, a farm-owner, and a father. There’s no one else I’d rather be married to.”

  Her brilliant smile makes me feel as if I can take on the universe.

  Epilogue

  “Da Da!”

  My daughter squeals as she races into the barn, her arms stretched wide as she toddles toward me.

  “Whoa there,” I say, grabbing her with one arm and tucking her against my side. My other hand’s deep in the innards of a fussy drone, trying to jiggle the motor so it’ll stop sputtering when it’s out in the field. It’s not my drone, but that of a neighbor. For the last two seasons, everyone in all the neighboring farms have been bringing over their drones for me to fix, once they saw how fantastic our crops looked after I tuned ours. It brings in extra money, which is a good thing, because my little monster of a daughter is going to need new clothes if she keeps outgrowing hers. I extract my hand from the drone carefully and wipe an oily smear on Kessa’s little nose. “Did you hide from your mother again?”

  “Da Da!” she cries again, thrilled. That’s the only word she knows how to say just yet, much to my Piper’s consternation.

  “Your mommy’s going to be real mad when she sees you in here with Da Da’s equipment,” I tell her, hefting her onto my hip and exiting the barn.

  I close the doors behind me a split second before Piper comes racing out—well, waddling out, since she’s heavily pregnant with our second child. Her face is flushed and her dark hair disheveled, but she’s never looked more beautiful to me.

  “There she is.” Piper shakes her head, putting a hand to her brow. “I swear, it’s like she knows the moment I sit down at the tapestry, it’s time to run off and find her dad.” Her mouth curves into a rueful smile as she gazes up at me. “I blame you for making her such a daddy’s girl.”

  “Like that’s a problem?” I lean over and kiss the top of my wife’s head and then wipe a smear on her nose, too.

  She wrinkles up her face, laughing, and grabs a handful of my tunic to wipe it off. “You’re just in time for breakfast, and then I’d like to get some work in on my tapestry if that’s all right. Do you mind watching Kessa for a few hours?”

  “Mind?” I bounce my daughter on my hip and she giggles, her small hands smacking against my jaw. My daughter looks every inch the mesakkah, from her blue skin right down to the tiny tail. The only callbacks to her mother are the nose—snub and adorable like Pip
er’s—and the fact that her horns are tiny and delicate things. It’s an oddly charming mix, and I can’t wait to see what our son will look like when he comes out. “I don’t mind at all. Kessa can help me deliver a drone back to Jutari’s farm. You want to go with Da Da and deliver a drone?”

  “Da Da!” my daughter cries again, her small hands patting my scarred jaw.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Piper says, beaming up at me. “I just got in some new thread and I want to finish the bottom of the tapestry.”

  “The bottom?” I ask, surprised. She works on it every time she gets a chance, but between the farm and the baby—and me, demanding her attention like the shameless male I am—it sometimes sits for long periods of time without her touching it. “Isn’t it supposed to be your life story?”

  “It is.” She shrugs. “But I have our family at the bottom, and I don’t think more needs to be said after ‘They lived happily ever after.’ Do you?”

  She’s got a point.

  I kiss my daughter’s brow, full of love for her, and then I kiss Piper, because it didn’t take me long to fall completely and utterly in love with this clever, brave, achingly sweet human. Love didn’t come first for us, but when it hit, it took my breath—and everything else—with it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my mate…and now my kit. “Happy ever after is the perfect place to leave it,” I agree, my chest aching with the joy I feel. “Just leave plenty of room for more children if we need to add them, Little Bit.”

  Piper giggles, the sound so keffing beautiful it makes my heart soar, even after all this time. “I plan on it. I know what a stud their father is.”

  “Da Da!” my daughter agrees.

  With them at my side, a male could conquer worlds. But for me, a quiet farm and my family is more than enough.

  Part III

  PRETTY HUMAN

  Varrik va’Rin is the lord of an ancient noble house. On Homeworld Kes, his bloodlines are unparalleled and he wields an incredible amount of political and social clout. He’s used to getting what he wants.

  So when he sees the strange, delicate human known as Milly, he decides he wants her. And he’ll do anything to have her, reputation be damned.

  14

  VARRIK

  I can tell the moment my driver pulls my air-cruiser up to Lady dra’Niiron’s estate that this party will be wall-to-wall with people. Homeworld society is filled with the oldest families, and while this gala will be sure to be filled with nobles, it is also going to be full of lower-caste families who cling to their nobility and look for a way to crawl up the ladder. There will be lots of boot licking and obsequiousness as the males and females of each house look to curry favor for their name.

  It’s exhausting. I haven’t even stepped inside and I’m already tired and bored.

  But…I must attend. As the head of House va’Rin, Lord Lis’thrion, first of the name, it is my duty. I must reaffirm alliances with house dra’Niiron and consider other potential alliances. It is all a game of names and favors, of secrets, lies and information, and I am one of the biggest players.

  I’m also one of the most bored. But it’s to be expected after decades of such events.

  “Lord va’Rin,” Lady dra’Niiron coos as my driver opens the door and I step out onto the ornate terrace that leads up to her family’s estate. Flowers and vines are carefully sculpted and teased to cover the silvery balustrades, and fountains tinkle in the distance with delicate wines from exotic planets. The entire effect is a carefully orchestrated mixture of a casual country estate and old money. Lady dra’Niiron herself wears the sweeping, pale yellow robes of her house, her symbol heavily embroidered on silk. Her long hair is swept into a high ponytail that arches between her bejeweled, capped horns, and she gives me a sweet smile, extending her hands out to me.

  I take them in mine, noting she has a ring on every finger. Up close, I can hear the rustle of jewelry underneath her collar, even if it cannot be seen over her ceremonial house robes, and I bite back a smirk. Even now, she must coat herself in wealth to reassure herself of her house’s place. This is not just a house party then, but ambition showing itself. I’m not surprised. I’ve been waiting for Lady dra’Niiron to make such a move.

  If I had to guess, she’s going to show her wealth and power during this party, and then casually propose a marriage alliance between our two houses. Some jaded part of me suspects she’s expecting me to propose, but that won’t happen.

  I never chase.

  I’ll entertain the thought if I must, though. As the only adult male in house va’Rin, it’s my duty to procreate and keep the family name—and wealth—at its height. House dra’Niiron isn’t an equal, but they’re growing in power.

  “So glad you could make it,” the lady says in her most charming voice as she leads me inside.

  “As if I could miss such a feast,” I say drily. “A month-long house party? You are too kind.”

  “I know the weather is dreadful back where you’re at,” she says, voice smooth. “All the heat and rain this time of year. I thought, what better place for Lord va’Rin to stay than with me and two hundred of my closest friends?” She smiles again, less sincerely. “Let me show you to your rooms. They’re in the same wing as mine.”

  “Convenient,” I murmur.

  Lady dra’Niiron chatters as she leads me through her house, and I see all her wealth has been put on display, from delicate ooli vases on tables to ssithri tapestries that hang from the walls. Her home is garish in its decor, but it’s all designed to show just how much wealth she’s acquired. She’s showing off in the hopes of acquiring a mate…and I know just who she has in mind. She gives me another sly look as we head up the stairs.

  “I’ve a little gift for you,” she says.

  “Just for me? You shouldn’t have.”

  She winks, giving me a playful look. “Gifts for all my honored guests, of course. Something I think that’s tailored to your needs or wants.”

  “I see.” I admit, I’m curious as to what it is she thinks I want.

  I follow behind her as she opens the gilded double doors to what I assume is my chamber. There’s delicate furniture artfully placed in the room, and the finest draperies hang from the massive windows that look out on the city below. There’s a plant-covered balcony with statuesque columns, and in the center of the room itself is a large canopied bed, practically big enough to fit my entire household staff and so many decorative pillows the bed looks crowded while empty. “Quite the set-up,” I murmur, since she’s looking at me expectantly. “Is there a pillow shortage on Homeworld now?”

  She titters. “I made sure you had the best room and largest bed. Just in case you wanted to entertain company in your chambers.” Lady dra’Niiron smiles at me seductively. “I’m just down the hall and a mere heartbeat away.”

  “Of course you are.”

  “Call me Ahiri,” she says, biting her lip in a practiced way. “What may I call you?”

  “Lord va’Rin, first of his name.”

  She pouts at me. “So stiff. Fine, then. At least let me give you your gift.” She trots over to the foot of the ridiculous bed and picks up a small bundled scroll that I missed amidst the mountain of pillows. It has a red ribbon around the middle and a tassel hanging from it. Lady dra’Niiron—Ahiri—holds it out to me.

  I take it. It’s custom for a host to offer guests small gifts, but I know Ahiri is looking for a way to climb socially, so I imagine her gift will be quite showy. I’m not entirely surprised to unroll the document and see the deed to an ancient villa I’ve coveted for quite some time. I like old things, and this particular villa is on a remote island, which I also like. But I can’t let her know that she’s guessed my tastes rather well. “You’ve given me the keys to a crumbling old house. You shouldn’t have, Ahiri.”

  The female giggles at me, batting at my hand. “Oh, you. It’s a fascinating place and it cost me an utter fortune to snatch it from the jaws of House ba’Jirol. You’ll love it, eve
n if it needs a bit of cosmetic work.”

  “We shall see.” I roll it up again and tuck it into a pocket in the front of my robes.

  “That’s all you have to say?” For a moment, Ahiri looks hurt. “I thought it was a rather grand gesture, myself.”

  “A gesture that costs a lot of money.”

  “As if you have money problems. I know you like archaeological sites, Varrik. I know all the things you like.” Her eyes hold promise.

  “You don’t have the right to use my given name, Lady dra’Niiron. Not yet.” And I smile to take the sting out of my words. She doesn’t need to know that I don’t plan on ever letting her use it. I’ll dangle the possibility before her, though.

  She pouts again, twirling the end of her long, sleek ponytail. “I know a great many things about all my guests, you know. All their…peccadillos. Yours was quite boring compared to some of the others.”

  “Is that so?” I keep my tone deliberately bored. Ahiri is about to spill a wealth of secrets, I suspect, all to get in my good graces, and it just reinforces that she’s out to snag a mate with this party.

  “Oh yes,” she purrs, extending a hand out to me. “Come. Let me show you.”

  * * *

  She leads me down the hall, exposing the secrets of her highest guests. This lord likes a special illegal plant to smoke. This one has a fondness for parasitic “living” silks that were outlawed some time ago. She tells me all these things casually, letting me know in no uncertain terms that she can find out gossip on anyone and everyone.

  “Finally, my crowning achievement,” Ahiri declares, heading to the last set of double doors at the end of the hall. “For Lord As’bro. You’ve heard he has a penchant for alien flesh?”