Chapter 15

~ Hel ~

The women took turns showering and changing into whatever could be found for them to wear, mostly gowns. Everyone squeezed into the dining area to eat.

“Wow, you have oranges!”

Penny stopped zooming Armon’s infant around in the air long enough to explain. “Not really. I’d been eating that stuff for weeks before I discovered they have a machine that genetically re-sequences food. We had some food from Earth and the drones just started replicating it for us when we ran low.”

One of the women held up a perfectly round orange. “You mean this isn’t a real orange?”

“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I consider it a duck.”

Turning back to her task, Penny held the child out with two hands under his belly and slowly moved him horizontally through the air. “Come on little guy, you can do it. Flap your wings.”

Raec sat down beside her with a tray of food and they began feeding each other.

Several women stared at them curiously. “Why do you two feed each other?”

“A lot of species have strange food-related customs. The Krylonians have colonized multiple worlds and insist upon feeding their women by hand. The Shardon clones eat with little pinchers and are all over the place when it comes to eating with a woman. Since they haven’t had women in a really long time, they’re developing rules for interacting with them. My guys are Maruvian. They’ve always had one queen per ship or per world. Naturally, they’d be happy to literally do every single thing for you, including feeding you. I like to take turns so that’s what Raec and I do when we dine together.”

“What did you mean by ‘family groups’?”

“When it comes to alien races, you have some choice. The Krylonians and Shardon clones mate one male to one female. Krylonian males get their women pregnant just like human males. Shardon clones, use the normal process to get pregnant but then remove the child early on in the process and incubate them until they are full term. They feel it is somehow healthier and the women can get pregnant more often. Maruvian males are a pretty mixed bag. I’m sure you’ve noticed some warriors have wings and some don’t. The ones without wings have dicks.”

Several gasps could be heard and the women all began whispering among themselves.

Penny stopped her flight training long enough to comment. “I did not know that.”

Feeling her face flush, Hel continued, “The males with no wings get you pregnant just like human men. The ones with wings normally carry the young in their bodies. Winged Maruvians are asexual, however they require the presence of pheromones to initiate parthenogenesis. Long story short, being exposed to high levels of female pheromones will trigger their reproductive system. The children are almost exact physical copies of the father, except they have unquestioningly differing personalities.”

“So since your guy has wings, that means you don’t have real sex.”

“My Raec was spawned from a long line of what the Maruvians call queen makers. They are specially bred to be breeders for their queens. They are the only insectoids to have both male equipment and wings. They can also have quite a few young at a time. Raec is currently carrying eighteen of my young.”

One of the women quipped, “How exciting. He doesn’t look pregnant.”

Raec stood, pulling aside his uniform indignantly. The sac imbedded in his side was now bulging slightly and had taken on a translucent quality. They could clearly see the small eggs all bunched together.

Running her fingers tenderly over his sack, she murmured, “Some women are really put off by an insect heritage, but I hardly notice it. To me, Raec is just the man I love.”

Beaming, he bent down to kiss her.

“How are you even going to take care of so many children?”

“The drones all work together. Raec’s brother has almost fifty children. They have certain men who do nothing but raise young. They would be what we think of as childcare workers.”

“This is all blowing my mind. What do you call the dog-like creatures?”

“Well, they’re not dogs, they’re people. They talk and make decisions for themselves, just like you and I. They’re actually sentinels. They attach themselves to a family and become their guards.”

“What a fantastic idea. I wish one would chose me.”

Smiling, Hel answered, “I wish that as well. So far none have approached me though.”

They stayed for a couple of hours answering questions and spending time with Penny. Alexis was conspicuously missing and Hel suspected she was with Drale. The quiet little drone liked to tinker with electronics. He’d even made Penny a strange little robot to play with.

Entering their quarters, Raec made a little frustrated sound. “Human women annoy me with their questions. I thought they would all be like you and your sisters.”

Taking off her clothing, Hel asked, “How are we so different?”

“You were quick and observant. You didn’t cringe every time we spoke our own language.”

“We weren’t scruffs. These women are among the most poorly cared for on our world. They were easily captured and exploited by Connor and his group of misfits. The sounds of your language is like screaming to our ears. They are probably afraid you will turn on them.”

“That would never happen, as you well know queens rule among our kind.”

“Well, you father is following Queen Carolyn’s idea of developing small family units. Most of the drones aboard this vessel have joined one.”

“I hope you are not suggesting we do the same.”

Laughing, she climbed into her large bath. “Certainly not, I’m having a hard time enough keeping up with one queen maker. I have no desire to add more males to our family.”

“You see us as a family unit?”

Somehow he was naked and stepping into the bath with her.

Biting her bottom lip, she kneeled and kissed the bulge holding her young. “You better believe I do. You’re all I’ll ever need or want.”

Looking down at her, he slid his hand down to remove his swelling member. Stroking himself with his large hand always made her hot for him.

“You never did choose a name for this new mating ritual. We’ve got a lot of women on board, so you better be quick about it before someone beats you to it.”

“Something about having you on your knees before me stokes my need.”

“Perhaps because it drives home how much I worship you.” Leaning forward, she licked him from root to tip. His hand fisted in her hair as she sucked him into her mouth. Feeling the large man trembling in her mouth made her clit throb with need.

Suddenly, his wings unfurled behind him, and she knew his need to dominate was about to surge.

Going soft in his hands, she allowed him to rock back and forth into her mouth. Using her tongue to drive him mad, she ran her nails gently down his firm buttocks, encouraging him to take the pleasure he wanted from her. It was a pleasure she was all too eager to give the man who had claimed her heart.

When she felt him cresting, he pulled out. His wings lifted her into position for his mouth to return the favor. Dropping to one knee he buried his face between her legs. His pose was familiar. Then it hit her, it was the same one the drones used when they first approached her. It must be their way of offering themselves to a woman. Instantly, another piece of their culture fell into place for her. She just prayed she’d remember after the string of mind-numbing orgasms Raec was intent on dishing out this evening.