by K. A Knight
“It’s beautiful, Joss. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Thank you for coming. Not that type of coming, although I do look forward to that as well. Oh, vekk.”
Shiloh just laughs at my fumbles and plants a kiss on my chest. “I look forward to it too.” Her cheeks heat at her admission, and she bites her lower lip.
Damn that lip.
I swallow down the fierce desire to claim her right here and now, and gesture towards the blanket. “Care for a picnic?”
She squeals. “A picnic! Aww, Joss, this is amazing!” Shiloh settles on the blanket, tucking her legs under herself. I sit next to her and open the basket, pulling out its contents.
With a bakket, I cut up the bread, meat, and cheeses, and dice up the fresh fruit all in equal parts, then twist open a bottle of jam. I pull out two glasses from the basket and fill them up with expensive pravvar.
I hand her a glass and hold my own up. “Let’s have a toast.”
Shiloh mimics me. “What shall we toast to?”
I clear my throat, not wanting to vekk this up. “To our lives together. May we live, laugh, and love together until the end of our days.”
We clink glasses and take a sip. “Mmm,” Shiloh moans. “This is delicious.”
“We have a whole bottle, drink as much as you wish.” We spend the next hour eating and drinking, feeding each other and…flirting. It’s the best hour I’ve had in recent years.
After our bellies are full and the laughter has died down, we snuggle close and watch the suns descend towards the horizon. The waterfall mists the air, creating a colourful rainbow.
Shiloh breaks the silence. “Could you…I mean, if it’s not asking too much…”
“I’d do anything for you, mate. What is it?”
She turns her head to look back at me. “Will you fly for me?”
I grin. “But you just flew with me only an hour ago.”
She sighs. “I know, but that was different. I was so consumed with getting away from the other Klan that I couldn’t even enjoy my time in the air.” She rests her head against my chest, and I swallow the urge to purr. “I just want to watch you fly. I think your wings are magnificent.”
“I’d love to fly for you.” Giving her a kiss on the top of her head, I pick her up and place her on her feet next to me, then heave myself up. “Come over to the ledge.” We stand together hand in hand, watching the waterfall crash into rocks far below us.
I pull her hand to my lips and press a kiss on the back, then, without warning, let myself fall off the cliff.
“Joss!” she shouts, dropping to her knees. Her eyes are wide with fear. Twisting away from her, I give into the dive, and just before I crash into the rocks, I extend my wings and swoop skyward. My wings beat on my back, pulling me higher into the sky. I pass a cheering Shiloh, who is jumping and waving.
I push myself harder than I ever have, twisting and flipping and totally vekking showing off. The pravvar has given me confidence, so I decide to go in for the kill. Turning about, I soar towards Shiloh, and in one smooth move, pick her up and tuck her tight against my chest.
“Woohoo!” she screams in delight, splaying her arms out at her sides. With my mate in my arms, nothing can defeat me. Not the Yarek, not the other Klans. With her by my side, I feel like I can take over the world, if only I can push past my own insecurities first.
Feeling brave, I soar over the waterfall and land us on a rock cluster overlooking the great, cascading liquid.
The wind whips her hair, and the suns setting behind her cause her red hair to glow, making her look like a fucking queen. Our skin dampens from the mist, and I feel her nipples harden against my chest.
Vekk it.
Wrapping my wings around us like a blanket, I take Shiloh’s mouth. She tastes of jam and pravvar. My tongue swirls around hers as they perform an erotic dance together. I can’t stop my hands from squeezing her hips, from pulling her as close to me as possible. She melts in my embrace, her body pliant and willing.
Under the setting suns, the sky turns ripe with oranges, reds, and pinks. We get lost in the pleasure of our kiss, in the deepening of our feelings for each other, the rightness of her held tightly in my arms, surrounded by my wings. Right now, I’m the happiest Totiv alive. Kissing her calms my need to count, quiets my urges, sedates my impulses.
In the arms of my mate, I am tumbling and flying at the same time, my heart soaring with heightened emotions, even as I fall in love with her.
Twenty
Trov
I’ve been waiting for Joss and Shiloh to return for the last two rotations. I turn away from the viewing screen when I feel the okkren dock and pretend to be busy checking the systems. I was not patiently waiting for my little mate. No. I’ve been pacing, counting the seconds for her to get back so I could swoop her away and make sure she’s okay.
The others are spending a lot of time with her, which is good because with the Yarek threatening to attack, I am always busy. But I also don’t want her to forget about me. I’m not smooth talking, or good with numbers, or an expert with plants. I can’t offer her beautiful words, just myself, so I hope it’s enough. Because Shiloh?
She already has me, mind, body, and soul.
I hear the whisper of the okkren’s door open and the tinkle of her laughter. I glance over my shoulder and stop. She’s so stunning, her face is flushed and radiating happiness from an inner glow. Her eyes are lit up and her hair windswept, but she has never looked more beautiful. The dress she is wearing leaves nothing to the imagination, making me want to throw her over my captain’s chair and vekk her until she screams. It kills me when she turns to look at Joss with that smile, proving he is the one who put it there. He smiles down at her, they look so happy. So in love.
I want to shoot something.
I want her to look at me like that, but I don’t know how. “Did you have a good time?” I question gruffly.
I swallow as she drags her eyes away from Joss like it’s painful, but then something wonderful happens. Her smile changes, it’s bright and happy just like the first, but it’s wider, more teeth, as if she has one for each of us. She goes from mooning over Joss to watching me with a breathtaking smile, as if we are so easy to care for. She squeezes his hand, and as I watch wordlessly, she drops her hold on him and skips over to me, bouncing until she leans against my chest. My mate plasters herself against my hard, stiff body while peering up at me. Those emerald green eyes render me speechless like always, one blink of those long, black lashes and I’m ready to drop to my knees and offer to do anything, to be anything for her, as long as she keeps looking at me like that.
“I did! It was amazing! We went into a city then we had to fly away, and then he took me to this most amazing waterfall! Trov, you should have seen it! It looked like paradise! It was so perfect—” Her mouth keeps moving as I stare down into her face.
Why is she so perfect?
How can one creature be this flawless, have such control over me? I feel like a fool, just staring at her, and then I realise she has finished talking, and her smile dims as she stares up at me. When she takes a step back, her eyes dropping, I feel like a mishan. That distance she put between us kills me, and I don’t know how to bridge it.
I want her to be that carefree with me like she is with Joss and even Nul.
Joss walks past, clapping me on the shoulder. “Words, use them,” he whispers, and I growl, making him laugh. Then it’s just her and me, and she is looking everywhere but at me.
Using the same steely reserve I had through the Great War, I suck in a breath and then step forward, pulling her into my arms and allowing myself to be weak.
As generals, eyes are always on us, looking to us for strength and leadership, so weakness isn’t allowed. Even my Klan looks to me in hard times. I have to know exactly what to do and what to say, I make decisions that perpetuate life or destroy it in mere seconds.
Yet now I am lost because of one little human. Maybe Jos
s is right. Words. Maybe she needs to see the weakness I hide. Maybe I need to show just how thoroughly she has me wrapped around her tiny little fingers.
“Little warrior,” I whisper. I watch her gulp, but her eyes stay locked on my chest.
“Are you mad?” she asks softly, and I inhale sharply.
“No, mad? Never, little warrior. You could blow up a planet, and I wouldn’t be mad at you.” Using my finger, I gently tip her chin up until those eyes that rival the stars look at me. “I’m sorry, I should have joined in your excitement, it’s just—” I glance away for a moment, searching for words. “I missed you.” It’s all I can give. I want to say so much more, but the words won’t come out.
But it’s enough.
She grins, slowly at first, before it takes over her face. “I missed you too.”
“Really?” I inquire stiffly.
She giggles, her hands stroking my chest as she leans into me again. “Of course! I had an amazing time and I love spending time with you all one on one, but as soon as we got into the okkren, I thought about the rest of you. I wanted Nul’s mind and Cryk’s humour. I wanted your arms…” She trails off then and seems to gather her courage. “It’s where I feel safe, where I feel like I can take on the world. I’m falling for you all, Trov. You each offer me something different, and I wouldn’t want it any other way, but you? You’re the center, you’re the heart…and my home.”
I shake my head, cupping her cheek as I lean my forehead against hers. “You’re wrong, it’s not me. That’s you. You are the heart of us now, you are the reason we fight. I see it in my Klan, the change you brought. Nul is more confident, he perks up when you enter a room, and even with us, he is talking more, stuttering less, and even sharing. Cryk is less wild…well, to an extent. But he will always come back for you. Joss? I’ve never seen him so happy and in control of his urges. You did that, Shiloh. You made us into a real Klan.”
“And you?” she presses, her eyes searching mine.
“Me?”
“What about you? How do you feel with me around?” she queries, her voice hopeful.
“Little warrior, I’m not one to talk or spout flowery words…but in here?” I smash my fist into my chest. “It’s yours. I will show you in every way I can. Protecting you, keeping you safe from harm, holding you in my arms when you are scared, offering you my weapons when there is a fight. I would give you anything you asked for.”
She sucks in a breath. “You, that’s all I want. You. All of you.”
My chest squeezes in pain, in such raw emotion for my mate. “You have me, always and forever. Wherever we go, to whatever distant planet or stars we are sent to, I will always find my way back to you,” I vow, and tears fill her eyes.
She leans up on her tiptoes, and my gaze goes to her lips, imagining them pressed to mine, feeling her tiny hands exploring my body, proving to me she wants me just as much.
Growling, I grip her hips and yank her into the air. She squeals as I hold her head level with mine, her feet dangling above the floor. “Mine.” I can’t say anything else, and when her tongue darts out to lick her lips, I’m done trying to restrain myself. I yank her closer, pressing her to my hard cock as I claim her mouth.
I force her lips open and sweep my tongue in when she gasps. Her legs wrap around my waist, and my hands snake under her dress to grip her ass. My cock thickens when I discover her bare skin touching my palms, which means…her bare pussy is pressed against me. I massage her plump cheeks, imagining them decorated with my handprints and cum as she lies beneath me. It’s my turn to groan into her mouth, and she nips my lips, returning my desperate kiss with one of her own.
But now isn’t the time or place. When I have Shiloh, it won’t be on the floor of the airlock, it will be in a bed where I can spend all night making her scream my name.
Grumbling mentally, I slow the kiss before pecking her lips and pulling away. Her eyes are still closed, her mouth open, and lips pink and bruised. Vekk, she’s stunning. “Come on, little one, I will walk you to your quarters, and you can tell me all about your day.”
“Okay,” she whispers shakily, blinking open her eyes. I can’t help it, I kiss her again before placing her on her feet and taking her hand like she always does to us.
She giggles and starts to skip again, pulling me after her like a lumbering giant. “Well, first he took me to this waterfall—”
I nod and listen with full attention as we ride the morfka back to her room. Once there, she yawns and I sigh. I want to spend more time with her, but I have to get back to the bridge, and she needs to rest. I wish I could just lie in here with her, watch her sleep across my chest, but I can’t. I have duties to attend to.
“I will send some food to your room. Get ready for bed, and after you have eaten, you can rest,” I order, and she grins up at me sleepily.
“Yes, sir,” she mocks, and gives me a poor excuse for a salute, making me narrow my eyes, to which she gulps. “I’ll be good.”
“Sure you will. Goodnight, little warrior.” I kiss her head gently before forcing myself away from her, every step painful. I want to say vekk my responsibilities and lock her door, taking her for my own tonight, but I don’t.
Remembering I have something important to tell her, I turn back, prowling towards her where she leans against her open door watching me. Undoubtedly my eyes are hungry as I scan her body, which I will be claiming tomorrow for all to see.
“Our request for the Vultana, our claiming ceremony, has been approved. It’s tomorrow, be prepared, little warrior. You will be taking all of your mates in front of a crowd, and we will make sure you enjoy every vekking second until you can’t take anymore. After that, you are ours forever.”
Her mouth drops open in shock, her eyes filling with questions, but I don’t wait for her to ask. Instead, I shut her door and walk away. If I stay any longer, I will vekk her right here, right now, screw the rules and formalities.
Shiloh is mine, and tomorrow, I will prove it to her and everyone else watching.
Twenty-One
Shiloh
Today is the day.
As we ride the okkren down from J-Lo to Lorenthis, I’m a bundle of nerves, mainly because I don’t know what to expect. All they said is it’s a ceremony where they get to claim me—mate me—take me in front of an audience, so all will know to whom I belong. I know what that means, and it only makes me more nervous, all those people watching me fuck my mates?
And let’s not forget that this is my first time having sex with any of them…
I shiver in fear, but also something else. A tiny part of me is excited.
I didn’t sleep last night, I tried, I really did, but my mind wouldn’t shut off. I had kicked off the covers and gone to find answers, seeking out Nul first. But he was strangely stingy on the details, only telling me that it would be okay. He reassured me that they wouldn’t let anyone hurt me, but they would need me to be strong. To represent our Klan.
Ours.
That’s what made me stop asking, that’s why when the okkren halts, I allow them to lead me out. My face flames, and I feel it creep down my chest at the crowd waiting for us. But I force my head higher.
My Klan, no, our Klan.
They are generals who represent power and strength. Today, by sheer fucking will, I will be their anchor, the glue that holds us together, even if I’m falling apart inside. They need me to be strong.
So I will.
The dress I’m wearing is not pink—gasp, I know. Trov presented it to me this morning. It reminds me of the one I wore on Forsaken Mountain the first time we met. It’s sheer white, showing everything beneath it. It’s short, barely covering my bare ass, and my breasts are spilling from the thin material. I might as well not be wearing anything, but the hunger in my Klan’s eyes when they drink in my body makes it worthwhile.
They look like they want to ravish me, and I intend to let them.
Sucking in a breath, I push back the ruby strands of my hair
which have escaped the pinned back curls I attempted this morning to make me look stronger, prouder, and more confident, but as usual, my hair has a mind of its own.
“You look beautiful,” Joss whispers, and Cryk winks down at me.
“Ready, little flyer?” He traces his eyes over my figure. “Because I am, I can’t wait to be inside that tight little body of yours, showing everyone how loud I can make you scream.”
I shudder and look away, clenching my slick thighs together. Good girls don’t like the idea of being watched, good girls don’t let their mates fuck them in front of an alien crowd.
Well, maybe I don’t want to be a good girl today.
I tug at the collar around my neck, it’s a faded grey colour and has what Nul informed me is their Klan symbol on a silver charm dangling from it. The collar makes me feel like a fucking dog, but I don’t protest too much, knowing this won’t be the worst thing to happen to me during the Vultana.
Cryk steps forward, lifting his chin and showing off his wings to the crowd as we start to walk. My mates are in black uniforms, smarter versions of what they wore on reaping day, complete with blue sashes proudly displayed across their chests. It’s in this moment I realise just how much power and respect they wield. As they lead me through the center of Lorenthis, showing me off, most Totiv bow or nod in respect. Some even look fearful and avert their eyes, then whispers start. The citizens chant their names, like rock stars.
My Klan is fucking badass.
I stumble down the paved road as I try to take in everyone crowding around me, struggling to get looks at the generals and their human mate. My Klan sticks close with Cryk leading, the handle of a small black leash attached to my collar snug in his palm. The lead dangles loosely between us, more for show than anything. Apparently, it’s tradition to use one, to show you have control over your female. Joss and Nul are on either side of me, and they make sure to brush my arms every now and again, raising goosebumps with their touch.