SIX
Vaxa’an had never felt so much contentment in his lifetime as he did waking up the next span, his female tucked securely against his side as she slept peacefully.
A few times, during the night, he’d woken in a panic, wondering if he’d imagined it all. But when he felt her close to him, he relaxed back into sleep, squeezing her, afraid she’d disappear. She hadn’t woken once. Vaxa’an was a light sleeper, as were most Luxirians. They were taught during military training to wake at the slightest sound, a warrior’s instinct that never quite disappeared. Those who slept through the tests were severely punished, strapped up and whipped. And while Vaxa’an had been “corrected”—as the war generals liked to call it—many times during military training, being a heavy sleeper wasn’t one of the reasons why.
His Com beeped next to his sleeping platform. His female shifted when he answered, a hologram of Kirov appearing.
“Prime Leader,” his appointed technology advisor said. “Your luxiva’s language has successfully been implanted among all Luxirians on board.”
Vaxa’an nodded. “Any incidents?”
“No.”
“Good. Inform Lihvan I will be on the training deck after the first meal.”
“Yes, Prime Leader.”
The Com line dropped and Vaxa’an relaxed back onto the bed, looking over at his female. His heart jolted when he saw she was awake and he frowned, rubbing his chest, the sensation new and unfamiliar.
- Mate. Breed. Fuck. -
His Instinct was becoming harder and harder to ignore because all he wanted to do was flip his mate over on her hands and knees and take her cunt hard from behind. It was a primitive position, meant for dominance, and Vaxa’an liked the idea of seeing her round backside as he mated her.
His cock was hard and weeping from the tip, the ridges lining it swelling with blood, readying to mate.
He rose up onto his elbow, looking down at her. After he’d licked her cunt in the washing stall, they’d finished cleaning up and then he took her to their sleeping platform for rest. She’d wanted to dress before sleeping, which confused Vaxa’an to no end, but he’d given her one of his fresh tunics and he’d mourned the loss of the sight of her breasts as she’d tugged it over her tempting body.
Although, seeing her dressed in his clothing also brought a surge of smug masculine satisfaction, appeasing his Instinct, and he’d pulled her close, inhaling her soft scent, and then welcomed sleep. She didn’t say much after their wash, but he could tell that the exhaustion of the span had weighed heavy on her.
Vaxa’an leaned down now, running the tip of his horn against her cheek. He almost groaned, his cock pulsing. His Instinct wouldn’t care for the proper custom and mating ceremony much longer. If he didn’t ask the Fates for their blessing the moment they reached Luxiria, his Instinct might just rut her like an animal, blessing be damned. The longer their union took, the more wild and driven his Instinct would be. He could already feel the straining effects. He hadn’t been this constantly aroused in his lifetime, not even as a youth.
“Do you still need to rest more?” he asked in her language. Her eyes were looking at him in a way he didn’t like. Slightly wary, a little unsure. But she didn’t pull away from him, so he counted his blessings. After their conversation in the washing stall the previous night, he’d wondered about her strange human customs and how mating embarrassed her. Ridiculous.
He’d teach her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Luxirians had always been a carnal race. They appreciated sex and breeding. Sexual energy fueled them, gave them power. Mating was celebrated among his race and he’d need to erase her misgivings about it before they reached his planet. In his youth, when there was a plethora of unmated Luxirian females, it wasn’t an uncommon sight to see a coupling in public.
“No,” she said. Her brow furrowed, the strange little hairs over her eyes drawing together. Vaxa’an thought them adorable, as was the neat patch of hair between her legs. “For a moment, I thought that maybe I would…” She stopped.
“Yes?”
She swallowed and her green eyes met his. “That maybe I would be home.”
Vaxa’an’s good mood left him. Home. She’d said something similar to him the night before, about wanting to return home. He swallowed the panic rising in his throat and his voice came out tight. “No.”
“I don’t belong here.”
“You belong with me.” Vaxa’an pushed himself off of the sleeping platform. Her eyes found his cock but even though he was still hard, he didn’t encourage her gaze. He pulled on his leg coverings, the soft leather molding uncomfortably to his cock.
His Kat blew out a sharp breath and Vaxa’an sensed her frustration before she spoke. “I didn’t ask for this, Vaxa,” she argued. Now that his female was refreshed from sleep, she seemed more determined than ever. She also pushed off of the sleeping platform, the black tunic he’d given her last night falling well past her knees. “I have a life back on my planet.”
Something that didn’t occur to him before surged to the surface. “Do you have a mate on Earth?”
“What?” she asked, those hairs above her eyes pulling together again. “That…that doesn’t matter!”
“Do. You. Have. A. Mate?” he asked, pronouncing every word clearly so she would not misunderstand him. “Do you have offspring?”
A scowl settled on her lips and Vaxa’an didn’t like seeing it. She crossed her arms. “I don’t have a husband or boyfriend or any babies running around, not that it’s any of your business.” She bared her teeth, anger lighting her cheeks up with the pink he was so fond of.
So his female had claws. His lips curled into a smile, unbelievably relieved that she had no mate. Not that it would have made a difference, he realized. He never would’ve let her go, even if she had.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked, her tone edged like a sword, and Vaxa’an thought that anger looked good on her, that he would like to see it unleashed on him when they were mating. Rough matings were always the most satisfying, the most cathartic. And while he’d only mated with one Luxirian female in his youth, right before the Plague, there had been more females of different warrior species, females with appetites as ravenous as his. But none of them had been his luxiva and none, other than the female standing in front of him, would inspire the raw desire he felt now.
“Come,” he said, his voice calming. He approached her, feeling affection light up his chest. He ran his palms from her shoulders down to her wrists, circling them, feeling her heated pulse quiver against his fingertips. It was a common gesture of respect, of admiration, in his culture. She wouldn’t know that, but it was only reserved for family, for Breeding pairs, and for life mates. “Let me feed you. We will discuss this at another time.”
“I want to discuss it now,” she said, her voice firm.
“Accept that you will be with me always, luxiva,” he said, needing her to understand. “In my culture, life mates are just that. You will return to Luxiria with me, you will bear our offspring, you will rule beside me. We will create a new beginning, and a prosperous future, for my people until the end of our spans.”
She wrenched her wrists out of his grasp, surprisingly strong for someone so small. Her eyes flitted to the door before returning to him. “What are you talking about? I’m not your mate! Do you understand how completely crazy you sound right now? I will most certainly not be having your children or rule over ‘your people’ or whatever that means. I want you to take me back to my planet, right now. I just want to go home!”
It felt like he’d swallowed a rock. It weighed heavy in his stomach as he witnessed her sadness, her anger, her desperation. He wondered what it would be like to know that he would never see his home, Luxiria, again and he clenched his jaw. But he was selfish. She was his hope, his people’s hope. He’d gone to the Pit seeking a Breeder, but he’d discovered so much more.
Everything was new to her, he realized this. His female was afraid because of the change in her destiny. But the most valuable lesson taught during military training was the importance of adapting to strange and unfamiliar situations. It had saved his own life many times and he believed that his mate was strong enough to eventually overcome her aversion to her new life.
“You will adapt,” he said, gazing down at her. “I will protect you and any offspring we will have. I will provide for you. I have riches that you cannot fathom. I will take care of you and you will never want for anything, Kat.”
“Except my home,” she said, a quiet rage burning in her gaze. “And my name is Kate.”
- Do not break her. Tread carefully. -
Even his Instinct sensed her anger. But he truly believed that she just needed time.
“Come,” he finally said. “You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” she said, her jaw setting in an expression he knew well. Perhaps they were both too stubborn for their own good.
“You will eat, female,” he growled.
Kat stared at him and he held her gaze right back, mirroring her crossed arm pose. She needed to learn that he was not one to be disobeyed. He was a leader to his people and he had been brought up as one his entire lifetime.
“And I said I’m not hungry.”
Vaxa’an looked down at her in disbelief. He didn’t remember the last time his orders were so blatantly refused. He took a step towards her until she was backed into the wall of their quarters. His Kat was breathing hard, but she stared defiantly up at him, his little privixi from the depths of the blackworld.
“You will obey me,” he rasped.
“Or you’ll what?” she taunted softly, pushing a finger into his chest. “Force me into submission? Will you hit me?”
“Never hit you, female,” he hissed. Violence against females in his culture was the worst crime a Luxirian could commit and was automatically punishable by execution. “But you will learn how to bend to my will and you will like it.”
She made a snorting sound through her nostrils. His pliant, biddable mate from the night before was long gone, replaced by this hellion who set his blood on fire. And every part of him reveled in it.
“Don’t get your hopes up, buddy.”