Sirein: A Dystopian World Alien Romance

by S. J. Sanders

  “Ji’wa, you are fortunate that I decided to follow you out. I had hoped to steal something from the kitchen when I overheard you speaking of going to eat, but humans are a vigilant lot when it comes to their food,” he observed with a chuckle.

  His eyes landed on Nerida as his smile widened. Recognition flooded her. This was the male who came to her ship with Ji’wa. She narrowed her eyes on him. Just how long had he been following them? He glanced at the mogma with a shudder. “Disgusting creature. I am glad that I arrived in time to catch it off guard.”

  Ji’wa relaxed under her grip, his breath expelling from him in a sound that she wasn’t entirely sure was frustration or relief. Although it was strange having the male with them again, she wasn’t about to protest when he had saved them.

  “I believe I will overlook the fact that you ignored my orders and thank you for your timely arrival,” Ji’wa replied as he tossed the wrapped package of food to his friend. “I think you have more than earned this.”

  The other male sniffed it, a pleased rumble rising from his chest. Nerida half-expected for him to tear into it right there on the street when Ji’wa growled, drawing the Sirein’s attention back to him.

  “Eat when we return to our accommodations. There are males after us, and with the mogma about I do not wish to risk Nerida out here more than a moment longer.”

  “There is pursuit?” The male turned his head in the direction from which they had come, his fins fanning wide. “I had wondered why you had taken to the roads rather than keeping to the sheltered corridors. Do they know where you are staying?”

  Ji’wa shook his head. “No. That works in our favor until we can leave in the morning. The fog is bad enough at night, but I do not want to risk traveling, if at all possible, during the late hours. We will rest and depart at first light. If you can remain on guard, Ger’se, I would be indebted.”

  Ger’se nodded and tucked the wrapped package of meat under his arm as he and Ji’wa scanned their surroundings.

  “I believe the way is clear. If we proceed quickly down the side streets, we should arrive at the rooms without incident.”

  Ji’wa made a sound of agreement. “Let us not linger, then.” Arms tightening once more around Nerida, he ducked his head down briefly to rest his chin on top of her hair, a soothing rumble issuing from him. “Hold tight to me, Nerida. This will be quick.”

  Smiling into his chest, she tightened her grip on him and almost felt as if they were flying as he took off at a full run once more down the streets. If not for the fog she had little doubt that his disguise wouldn’t have concealed what he was from the people of New Delos.

  Turning her head, she was able to see the fanned red tail fin of Ger’se just ahead of them. Although the male was a stranger to her she felt all the safer. If the males of her pod managed to find them, she had little doubt that Ji’wa would prevail with his friend’s assistance. It was good to have some sort of extended support system.

  Something not unlike family. Nerida found herself hoping that he would stay close even when they left New Delos.

  Chapter 23

  Their room was a haven, but knowing that Ger’se was just the next room over was an extra relief for Nerida when he finally left. Not that the tension left with him. Ji’wa had slowly stripped his disguise and now stood staring expectantly at her.

  “I suppose I have a few things that need explaining,” she said after a long moment of strained silence.

  The male facing her didn’t speak but nodded in agreement, eyes fastened on her. She cleared her throat and twisted her fingers into the fabric of the coat draped across the chair in front of her.

  “Those men… they’re members of my pod.”

  Ji’wa cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. “Why are you fleeing your pod, a’sana?”

  She swallowed back the bile that rose from her stomach. If she told him, he would hate her and not want anything to do with her. What she did was unforgivable.

  “Because I couldn’t tolerate who was selected for me to be my husband… err, mate. I couldn’t escape the match but fled after the ceremony. I left everything behind and thought I had lost them after I crossed over into the Greater Sea. I was willing to sacrifice everything for what I did, but they found me.” A shiver stole over her. “They will take me back to him.”

  A low growl left the male, and he shook his head. “I do not understand.”

  “I’m sorry, Ji’wa,” she choked out. “I can’t be your mate, no matter how much I may want to, because I gave up that right when I got married and ran away. I can’t have a mate or a family. I can’t have anything except my solitude, and now it seems that I will be denied that too.”

  The fins at the edges of his ears lifted and a look of hopeful yearning crossed his face. “You wish to be my mate?” His voice trembled as if struggling with himself.

  Nerida let out a breath. “It doesn’t matter… I can’t…”

  “Says who?” Ji’wa demanded, his fins expanding aggressively. “You say you left after the ceremony. So you had what for your mating—just words? You did not wish to mate, and you did not complete the mating… How is this binding?”

  “My people…” her voice died away as she considered his words. “You don’t care that I went through the ceremony, that in the eyes of my pod I belong to him?”

  “All I care about is your eyes,” he snarled. “Do you see him as your mate?”

  “No, of course not! I only went through with the ceremony because it would be the only opening that I had to escape. It gave me the opportunity to steal his boat,” she admitted with a wry grin.

  Ji’wa chuckled and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “My clever a’sana, the one dearest to my heart, you did exactly what you should have done. You are very brave.”

  Her smile slipped, her heart clenching. “I worry though. My mother and my cousin… they helped me escape. I worry about what would have been done. Not so much for my mother. My father loves her without end. He would have left the pod if anyone tried to harm her. Any number of pods would have been grateful to have his family join them. I think if he truly believed that I was in danger from Erik, the man I was promised to, that he would have done just that. Or maybe that is wishful thinking on my part.

  “My cousin Ioina I worry for, though. She was married to Erik’s friend. Her parents died during a great storm. It is unlikely that she would have been allowed to escape with my family, since my mother’s claim would not be recognized over that of her husband with the pod. Her husband is a hard, cruel man, just as bad as Erik if not more so, but only parents can override spousal claims in the pod. She would have been left alone at the mercy of her husband and Erik.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Gods, I was so stupid. She wasn’t supposed to have gotten involved, but I can’t be sure if anyone knew that it was she who helped me.”

  Ji’wa grabbed her hands in his, pulled them away from her face, and gathered her close to his chest, his humming song drifting over her. It seeped into her, gradually relaxing her muscles one by one.

  If he were a siren of the old tales from Earth, she might have worried that his song had the ability to make her cast reason aside and leap into the waters, to her death, just to be in his arms. She sank against him, her breath shuddering out of her as his hand smoothed down her back. She inhaled his scent, taking comfort in his nearness.

  “My heart is with you, a’sana,” he murmured. “I will help you find your cousin once you are safe. I promise. We will find a home, even if I must take you below the sea, and then I will hunt down your pod and bring her to you if she wishes to come.”

  Nerida pulled back and met his eyes. “You would do that for me?”

  “I would do anything for you, a’sana, anything for the only female I would ever want to be my mate,” he rumbled into her ear.

  “I feel the same way,” she whispered. “I never imagined I would feel this way. You are the best of males and the only one that I want.” She swallowed
nervously and slipped her fingers along the silky scales on his neck. “How do we do this mating thing anyway?”

  He drew her hand toward his mouth and pressed his lips against the back of it, his eyes alight with wonder. “We cannot… not yet. Sirei release the necessary hormones when we are submerged in the sea. We managed to replicate this with some success with our pools on the colony pods. I would need to take you into the water in a protected location to complete it. I would not dare so close to other humans, not here, where I will worry about attack. We are vulnerable when we mate.”

  She grimaced and rested her head against his chest. “Great, so we’re still going to have to go find an island before we can do anything.”

  He chuckled, the sound vibrating sweetly through his chest. “Perhaps not as ambitious as we are searching for, but some small protective place will work. We have time… but it will have to be soon. I cannot wait too long.”

  There was a strange note to his voice, and she peered up at him in confusion. He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his, stealing away her concerns with his warm and intoxicatingly sweet flavor. He nipped at her lips and laughed when she moaned and wiggled closer to him. The length of his pearly cock had extruded. She could feel it pushing against her belly, its hot imprint obvious even through her tunic. A sigh of longing escaped her, and she slipped her hand around it.

  She could feel the double rows of nodules that ran up either side of his cock, toward the thick head that sloped at an angle ending in a narrow tip. Along the top were larger ridges that tapered down into bumps. His cock was slick from fluid that seeped from the nodules, allowing it to pass easily in her fist.

  Ji’wa hissed and pressed closer to her. His hand slipped down around hers, pulling himself free of her grip. He still held her other hand and drew both of them to the center of his chest, his eyes and the pink spots that ran down his sides glowing brightly.

  “You’re glowing,” she murmured.

  “For you,” he rasped in reply. “A sirein glows for his mate when his desires are fanned.” His tail trailed up the length of her leg, his fin fluttering against her inner thigh in a way that made her whimper.

  Flattening her hands against his chest, his own hands slipped up her arms to her elbows. From there, they dropped to her waist and lowered until they reached the hem of her tunic. His inhumanly warm fingers slipped beneath it and grazed her belly, making the skin tremble at the contact. The tiny scales felt like warm water sliding against her skin, if water was firm and capable of applying pressure everywhere his hands touched her.

  “So soft and smooth,” he murmured. “Everything about you feels so incredibly soft.”

  He caught her lips with his once more, tongue sweeping into her mouth, hesitantly tasting her. She sucked it deep before it had the chance to escape and his growl intensified when she slid her own tongue against it. His arms closed around her, drawing her against him as he initially followed her lead, tasting and teasing until he worked out the rhythms and took her breath away when he finally took control.

  Eager for more contact, Nerida wiggled and tucked her hands between them to slowly work her tunic up the length of her body until she could slip her arms free. She hated to break the kiss in order to pull it the rest of the way off, but Ji’wa beat her to it. Pulling back, he pulled her tunic off her, baring her breasts completely. He stilled at the sight of them and his hands slipped down experimentally, his fingertips tracing their curves.

  Nerida smothered a giggle as he leaned down, going eye level with her nipples as if fascinated by the sight of them. His tongue slipped out of his mouth and stroked over the tips, his eyes watching as they furled tightly in reaction. Heat bled into his liquid yellow gaze seconds before he wrapped his lips around one nipple, his tongue circling it slowly as his lips drew upon it.

  Nerida’s head fell back, a soft sigh escaping her as her right hand slipped around his neck to tangle in his hair. Rolling her head, her eyes traveled over the top of his, admiring the orange and copper strands of his hair before falling on the scarred patch of scaleless skin just behind his center horn. The skin was still reddish, as if the wound hadn’t happened too long ago, and was mostly concealed by his hair.

  “What happened here?” she asked as she ran her fingertips of one hand over it.

  A shudder ran through his body.

  Ji’wa straightened to his full height, and he cupped her cheek with one hand. “A small sacrifice only, one that was more than worth giving.”

  Nerida’s brow puckered in confusion, but she didn’t have the opportunity to inquire further into it. He swept her up into his arms, lifting her completely off her feet to carry her to the bed that filled the room. He laid her carefully upon it as if she were a delicate prize, his hands skating over her before dropping to her pants. There, his fingertips hooked into the waistband before drawing the fabric down the length of her legs. She lifted her hips to help him and pulled her feet free so he could toss the pants to the floor.

  Eyes burning with need, his large body crawled over her. For a moment, she felt the velvety touch of his tail sweep between her legs. It brushed her clit just enough to make her tremble with desire. Nerida’s fingers grazed his scales, her nails close to the brilliant pink markings spotting the side of his neck. The tip of her finger touched the spot and the light brightened and pulsed, sending the tiny zap into her finger.

  Nerida moaned, her legs spreading wide as his body lowered against hers, the slippery scales of his hips sliding against her pelvis as he settled into place. Nerida instinctively canted her hips up against the hot pressure of his cock so that it slipped between her folds, his slickened sex sliding effortlessly in a way that made her belly clench. The sensation was compounded when she felt the low pulse of energy snap from his body into hers, driving her desire up higher.

  Panting against his neck, she curled her feet behind the back of his legs, drawing him nearer. The head of his cock prodded her opening, the tip sliding against her clit as it threatened to pierce her. Grabbing his horn with one hand, Nerida drew his mouth down to her even as she tightened her leg muscles until Ji’wa sank against her with a moan of pleasure.

  The tapered head of his cock delved within her painlessly, but as it slowly expanded to his shaft, Nerida felt an uncomfortable pressure as he gradually filled her. His cock was so well lubricated by their combined essences, Ji’wa slipped deeper with little resistance, stretching her bit by bit until he was fully seated within her.

  One pulse after another hit her in a sequence of sparks that lit through her. The walls of her sex tightened around his cock in reaction as the first of her orgasms rushed through her on the tail of one such pulse. Nerida’s legs tightened around his thighs as she cried out, drawing a deep growl from the male.

  It was then that Ji’wa began to move, his cock rubbing every sensitive spot within her as he continued to pulse energy through her with each slide of his phallus. His movements started out slow and experimental but built as he tested her reactions and receptivity. The more he thrust, the more she cried out to him, her nails scraping against his scales as she begged for more.

  His body trembled with his own desire, but he gave in to her demands, rocking against her with firm, deep thrusts. With each ram of his cock, it felt thicker inside of her, and he clutched her tighter to him, his hands slipping under her bottom to drag her against him with his ever-quickening rut.

  Pleasure crashed over her, the cries escaping her mingling with his deep growls as they rode their ecstasy together, his pelvis slamming into her as his pace continued to pick up in a wild crescendo. His tail swept around her waist, and the velvety tip of his folded fin swiped against her clit as he drove into her desperately. Its swollen length became lodged, the head flaring out to drag against sensitive spots that she never would have imagined possessing.

  Nerida cried out, a hard orgasm igniting within her belly and she clenched tightly around him. Ji’wa snarled fiercely and that was when she felt it. A n
ode from the base of his cock extended, the tip wiggling as it slipped down the back of her until it located the tight rosette of her rear passage. She clamped down hard around his cock as that member burrowed deep into her, locking them together.

  Ji’wa roared out her name as his cock suddenly drew back hard, the plug in her rear passage pulling, sending another orgasm ripping through her as he dove deep, his hips slamming against her so fast that they practically vibrated. Both the plug and his cock swelled again, and with another roar he was coming, hot jets of cum spraying with charged pulses that hit the mouth of her womb with such frequency that one orgasm bled into another for Nerida in an unending pulse of fire that combusted within both of them, their cries blending together.

  When the plug and his cock withdrew many minutes later, Nerida remained curled against Ji’wa’s hard body, listening to the rhythm of his heart beneath her ear. His seed slipped out of her, spilling over her upper thighs as she lay there, already missing their presence locking them together. She nuzzled his chest and smiled as a sleepy purr escaped him, his arms tightening around her in slumber. Warm love swept through her as she burrowed closer to him. Her certainty as to her choice deepened with each moment that passed.

  This was her male and no other.

  Chapter 24

  Ji’wa followed close behind his mate as they boarded her boat. As Rafneal promised, all work had been completed and the workers had cleared out at some point in the earliest hours of the morning. He was just as eager as his female to be on their way. It did not sit well with him knowing that males who would attempt to take her away from him, who erroneously believed that they had some prior claim, were lurking somewhere in the same city. In any case, with their business concluded, it was more than time for them to be on their way.

  His heart warmed, an excitement leaping within his breast as Nerida smiled at him, her hand brushing his arm as she left his side, heading for the steering cabin. He stood rooted in place for a moment, watching her, until Ger’se bumped him playfully with his shoulder. Exchanging grins, they walked across the deck until they reached the mast rising high heavenward. He knew the exact moment that the magnetic anchor detached because the boat rocked back away from the dock before Nerida put the engine into gear and the boat began pulling away from its anchorage.