Six months later

Seeran

THE GLOW OF DAWN WOKE Seeran. The sounds of a household waking gradually replaced the quiet. For a moment he believed himself on the Judgment. His mate snuggled into his side, her breasts resting heavy on his arm. Contentment soaked into his bones and Seeran was certain he dreamed still.

Voices stirred outside the bedroom door.

This was not a dream. The dawn was real. The birdsong real. The voices belonged to his parents, possibly to his brothers. Seeran and Hazel were on Sangrin, at his parent’s vineyard.

They were on vacation. Such a strange Terran concept.

Hazel did a slow stretch which started in her feet and worked its way up her entire body. She did it every morning when she was truly awake. Sometimes her eyes might open or she might stumble into the cleansing room, but her mind was not awake while her body went through the necessary motions.

Her warm brown eyes blinked up at him and a smile spread lazily on her face. “Hey there, good looking.”

He brushed back the hair from her eyes. His hands continued down in one smooth motion over her shoulders and down her arms, settling finally on the curve of her stomach and to the life they had forged there. 

“Seeran—”

He said nothing. Words could not convey his joy or his desire so he let his kiss express himself.

She responded eagerly. Always so eager, his mate.

He shifted and rolled her completely to her back. Her thighs opened, inviting, and he settled into the best place in the universe. He parted her lower lips with a hand, already finding her wet and ready. “Did you dream of me, sweet?” She often woke with an appetite for her mate.

“Hormones,” she said, gasping as his fingers plunged into her.

“Lies,” he replied, covering her neck with a long, slow lick. “You crave your mate, as you should. He is an impressive specimen.”

Her laughter, low and throaty, was the sweetest sound, almost sweeter than the nectar from her cunt but not nearly as sweet as the hot, tight grip of her when he slid in.

Her legs locked around him as he rocked into her. In the last months, he’d studied his mate’s body and the best ways to give her pleasure. It was a never ending quest he was happy to pursue. He knew that she often preferred slow love making, but also hard. Slow, forceful and measured strokes. Her hips rose to meet him, never flinching from the power of his thrusts and often sighing in delight as he pounded her delicate frame. Slowly, though, to draw out every moment. He was not one to rush and when her inner muscles clenched and convulsed, massaging his cock as she released, he resisted the temptation to follow. Experience taught him that this was when his mate wanted fast and hard.

He loved this transition, watching his mate come undone as her desire burned brighter. Her thighs clenched him tighter, her heels kicking into his ass as if to increase his speed. His hands cupped her ass and lifted her from the bed, only her shoulders rested on the mattress. 

One hand gripped the base of his broken horn, the sensation enough to make him spill his seed. “Fuck me like you mean it, husband.”

The glow from his tattoos filled the room with a silvery light. He burned for her. With her. He pounded her into the mattress with her moaning and crying out. His mate.

His only true mate.

His world, his universe, was reduced to sensation, the slap of skin on skin, the satisfied moan of his female and the light sheen of perspiration on his brow. Back bowed and neck arched, his female lunged forward and pulled his face down to hers. “I love you,” she shouted right before kissing him with her teeth nipping his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

He came undone.

He pumped his seed deep into her, every muscle tense and chest heaving. She took every drop of him. Finally empty, he dropped down next to her and gathered her in his arms.

His rough hands stroked the soft skin of her back as she settled in comfortably.

“Think anyone heard that?” she asked.

“Yes.” Everyone heard them, no doubt.

“Oh my stars, your parents—”

“Will be proud of their son’s vigor.”

Hazel giggled, all at once sweet and demur. He drank it in. After all, he had quite the sweet tooth.

Hazel

THE SETTING SUN CAST a pink hue to the mountain in the distance. The last rays of light caressed the valley with a lingering embrace. One by one, lanterns came to life in the neat, orderly rows of the vineyard. They were a point of golden light in the darkness.

Seeran insisted on returning to his home planet for the light festival, a winter holiday. Despite her nervousness at meeting his parents and brothers, she was glad for the experience. His mother meet Hazel with open arms, zero reservations and a crushing embrace, followed by a never ending supply of food. Knowing her son was partial to sweets, she piled on the confections. First it was the childhood favorites, then the traditional holiday sweets and finally the attempted fusion of Sangrin-Earth desserts. She made a dark chocolate covered lemon-flavored chewy fruit candy that was subtly sweet and juicy.

Hazel feared the indulgence went straight to her thighs but it was a temporary problem. She’d have a balance diet when their vacation finished.

Hazel settled onto the wooden bench, with a blanket wrapped around her. The chilled air was still a novelty. The environment on the Judgment never fluctuate. She didn’t think it was possible to miss the cold or the rain but here she was, sitting on the back patio in the dark, completely happy to lose feeling in the tip of her nose and experience actual weather.

Seeran stood behind her, wrapping his arms comfortably around her shoulders. His warmth cocooned her.

“Can you see Rosemary?” Hazel lost sight of her sister moving as a dark shape in the vineyard.

“Yes. She is with Lorran.”

To make their time off the Judgment a true family vacation, they brought Rosemary and Michael to Sangrin. They’d only been on the planet for a day and already they were part of the extended family.

Finding Rosemary had been simple. She didn’t use any of the money Hazel gave her to get fake IDs, move or disappear into an anonymous new life. She and Michael stayed exactly in the place and Scott did exactly what Hazel feared. He harassed Rosemary daily about Hazel’s location and made their lives torture. So far the plan was for Rosemary and Michael to remain on Sangrin for the time being. Seeran’s parents always needed extra help and Terrans had a few extra taste buds over Sangrins.  They were fascinated at the extra notes Rosemary could detect in the wine and wanted to put her to novel use in the tasting room.

“He’s not showing her off, is he?” hazel asked. Lorran and Mene’s behavior seemed... odd. Not that Hazel was an expert on how the brother’s normally acted but Lorran was oddly quiet and Mene practically flexed his muscles every time Rosemary walked by in some display of alien flirting.

“Two females in one family is a luxury. He can not help himself.”

“Well, she’s not his female so he needs to keep his hands to himself.”

Seeran remained silent.

Hazel twisted on the bench to get a look at him. His lips were lifted at the corner into a knowing smirk. “You’re joking. Tell me you’re joking.”

“Compatibility often runs in families. You are very compatible with me.” His hand drifted down to touch to her stomach briefly before returning to her shoulder. “It follows that your sister would be compatible with one of my brothers.”

“But she has a kid. Michael. Remember him?”

“He is impossible to ignore,” Seeran said with a weary sigh. Michael deemed it his right to climb his Mahdfel uncles like trees and demand piggyback rides. The three brothers gave confused look while Hazel explained that a piggyback ride involved no actual pigs.

“Having a kid means you’re exempt from being tested.”

“On Earth. We are on Sangrin. That provision was meant to exclude milking mothers. You Terrans chose to interpret it to exclude all mothers with children, no matter their age.”

“Would they want her with Michael?” Hazel just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea. Rosemary purposefully had Michael to avoid the draft, just as she got married for the same reason, and now Seeran was telling her it wasn’t that big of a deal. “They won’t force her to be tested here, will they?”

“Yes, they would want her. No, they would not force her. Mene will approach her as a mate but claim he is only thinking of the clan-less child.” Mene had seemed rather taken with Michael and concerned that he lacked a father and a proper clan.

“I’m sure that’ll win her over.” Hazel couldn’t imagine her sister’s reaction to Hey, baby. You’re attractive enough and all but that kid of yours needs a dad so I guess I can tolerate you enough to marry you.

Super romantic.

“My elder brother is not good with words the way I am,” Seeran said. “But he feels deeply for her.”

“Rosie might not be interested.” Rosemary had some nasty preconceptions about the Mahdfel. Meeting Seeran and his family helped convince her that the aliens weren’t barbarians abducting women but moving from “not the bad guys” to “let’s get married” was significant.

“She is free to discourage their attentions,” Seeran said, knowing full well that Rosemary had been flirting right back with Lorran and Mene.

“She’s been here a day.”

“I knew instantly with you.”

“Well, that was different.” Hazel couldn’t say how, but it was.

“And you did marry me only hours after meeting, which is quite the scandal.” Seeran loved to harp on that. Hazel had no idea that sharing a drink, normally tea, and having a conversation was the traditional Sangrin wedding.

“Because I love you,” Hazel said, “I won’t be petty and remind you that you were the thirsty one who agreed. You knew what you were doing.”

His arms tightened. “Yes,” he said, pleased. “I was yours from the instant you smiled. My heart and my devotion went without question.”

She reached for his hand and gently traced the line along his palm where his color shifted from deep wine to pale lavender. Their fingers interlaced, the deep wine of his in harmony with the pale beige of hers. “And love?” she asked.

“Everything I am is yours.”

“My true husband.”

“My only mate.”