by Tasha Black
All around the dock the berries glowed like tiny stars captured in the water, almost like a reflection of the starry sky above.
“You’re cold,” Tyro said. “Come to me.”
She moved to him without thinking, and when he lifted her into his arms, she relaxed against his chest like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“They’re so beautiful. Why do they glow?” she asked. “Is it bioluminescence?”
“In a way,” he told her. “The berries have a symbiotic relationship with a harmless bacteria common to this lake. The bacteria that makes the berries glow.”
“But you’re supposed to eat them?” she asked.
“They’re delicious,” he told her. “Very similar to Terran grapes, but lighter and crisper. But it’s the glow that makes them so coveted. Luxberries are used on wedding cakes, in very high-end party drinks, and for other evening occasions where they can impress people.”
“Amazing,” Phoebe said. “It’s going to be more like camellia farming than I would have thought.”
“How so?” he asked.
“When a crop is prized for its beauty rather than its size or quantity, farming it requires a certain amount of patience,” she explained. “That’s something I’m used to. It makes me feel better to have a handle on the mindset, even if I’ll be learning everything else from scratch.”
“It won’t take you long to learn everything else,” Tyro predicted. “You are extremely sharp and hard working. This farm will be very productive.”
“I hope so,” she said. “I want to give Atlas an amazing life. I want him to be proud of the farm.”
Tyro pressed his lips to her forehead.
She felt the sizzle of attraction and a warm feeling of acceptance. She closed her eyes as he carried her back to the yurt.
When Tyro opened the door, baby Atlas was sleeping in his cradle with Saylin watching over him intently.
“Thank you, Saylin,” Phoebe said.
“It was my pleasure, my lady,” the droid replied in a low tone. “I will now stand duty over my second youngling, the farm.”
“Good work,” Tyro said.
Phoebe smiled against his chest. He was making an effort to treat the droid with kindness and respect. He had listened to her earlier.
“Thank you, my lord,” Saylin said as he rolled outside to stand guard.
Suddenly, the yurt seemed so peaceful, their privacy so fraught with possibility.
Tyro placed Phoebe gently on the floor.
She gazed up at him and then giggled.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We’re so gross,” she replied, glancing down at her suit. “Look at all the muck from the lake.”
“Fortunately, that is a problem with an easy solution,” Tyro told her. “Come.”
He headed for the bathroom and she followed, her blood heating at the thought of what was to come.
He closed the door behind them and stepped closer to her.
Phoebe held her breath and locked eyes with the big green warrior as he slid his finger down the magnetic clasp of her suit, releasing it.
He slowly peeled the sleeves from her arms, removing the suit and the shift beneath, then sliding her undergarments off.
He straightened and she could hear his breathing was faster now. She swore she could sense the heavy pound of his heart.
He offered her his hand and helped her step out of the pile of clothing.
“Shower on,” he said softly.
The water began to flow from the showerhead on the ceiling.
She watched as he carefully attended to her suit and clothing, hanging it on a bar on the far wall when he was finished.
She tried not to stare openly when he began stripping away his own clothes, but it was impossible not to look.
The enormous warrior was bristling with muscles and his thick cock twitched when she gazed at it.
“Gods, woman,” he murmured.
She stepped into the warm spray of water, luxuriating in the heat returning to her body.
She closed her eyes and let the water stream down her face and hair.
When she opened them again, Tyro was beside her, pouring an amber liquid into his huge palm.
“I will tend to you,” he told her.
She nodded, feeling weak-kneed.
Phoebe had never been naked with a man before. But somehow, the idea of allowing him to do something as intimate as wash her hair felt infinitely more intense.
She closed her eyes again as he massaged her scalp, his big fingers kneading and soothing as he worked the bubbles into a thick lather.
“Rinse,” he murmured.
She leaned back into the warm spray, moaning with pleasure as he massaged the soap out of her hair.
He made a growling sound in the back of his throat that rumbled inside her.
Phoebe opened her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “My dragon longs for you when you make that sound. It is not an easy longing to control.”
A wave of need washed over her, sending her senses spiraling so that she couldn’t answer. He poured more of the liquid into his palm and smoothed it down her arms, across her chest.
She closed her eyes and waited for him to touch her breasts. They ached for him, as if suddenly she had twice as many nerve endings.
When his thumbs brushed her nipples, she cried out again.
He froze and took a deep breath, then continued to slide his soapy hands all over her breasts, her belly, her hips.
Phoebe felt the rough callouses of his hands and the silky smoothness of the soap. She could smell the musky, woodsy scent that was all Tyro, mixed with the crisp soapy smell. He hummed out encouragement as she moved into his hands, and the deep sound sent more vibrations through her, making her ache all over for more, more, more.
When he moved his hand between her legs she clung to his shoulders, helplessly lifting her hips to encourage him.
“Phoebe, oh, Phoebe,” he intoned as his fingers slid against her swollen sex.
He pulled away too soon, leaving her frantic.
“Soon, my love,” he crooned. “Help me bathe and I will take you to bed and pleasure you properly.”
He poured the soap into her palm and she went up on her toes to reach his hair. Even then he had to bend down to allow her to work the suds into his tangled mane.
She worked her way down the solid planes of his chest and his ridged abs. He held his breath as she went lower, soaping his hips, his thighs and calves, and working her way back up.
His cock was stiff and swollen. Phoebe had never seen one up close like this, and she was fascinated. It didn’t seem possible that it was meant to fit inside her.
She slid a soapy finger gently from the base up to the head.
Tyro groaned and his hands clenched into fists at his side.
Encouraged, she wrapped her hand around him and slid her hand up and down once.
He stiffened and twitched in her hand and she felt her own body respond.
What would it be like for him to be inside me?
The idea was intoxicating instead of frightening.
She slid her hand up and down again, trying to memorize the sounds he made, the expression on his beautiful face of pleasure and pain mixed together.
“Enough,” he said suddenly, grasping her wrist and pulling her off him.
She watched as he rinsed the soap from his body, rivulets of water releasing the pale bubbles and revealing the verdant tone of his flesh to her once more.
When he was finished, he lifted her in his arms.
“Shower off,” he said.
Instantly, the water ceased flowing and he was carrying her into the bedroom, placing her in bed, crawling into the covers with her.
She reached for him, needing to feel him close, his skin against hers, hearts pounding in rhythm.
“Phoebe, I need to claim you,” he told her, his deep voice almost choked with desire.
&n
bsp; “Yes,” she whispered back.
“But you must know that this is forever, my love,” he told her. “You are mine, and I am yours. Always. Will you accept me as your mate?”
“Yes,” she moaned.
“I will make you ready,” he murmured.
She closed her eyes as he fed on her breasts. His hot mouth was so clever, sending her into spirals of passion, even as she wished he would just take her.
But the big warrior seemed determined to take his time.
He brushed his lips against her belly, then nuzzled her thighs.
She pressed them together, uncertain.
“Please,” he groaned. “I need to taste you.”
“I never… no one has ever…” she couldn’t find the words to tell him.
“Good,” he told her, gazing into her eyes.
She relaxed and allowed him to kiss her inner thighs, his breath hot against the tender flesh.
Waves of need and anticipation washed over her.
When his lips brushed her sex at last, she moaned, uncertain whether it was relief or frustration she felt.
He groaned as he inhaled her scent and then pressed his mouth to her, licking and suckling lightly, sending her into a frenzy of need.
Phoebe cried out, her whole body shivering for the climax he was bringing on with every lazy movement of his cruel mouth.
She moaned and wailed as he slowly brought her closer and closer to the edge of the abyss.
At last, he pressed one thick finger against her opening, flicking her little pearl with his tongue as he eased it inside.
Phoebe floated for a delirious instant, then the pleasure crashed down on her and she was soaring.
Tyro’s moan against her sex pushed her higher and higher until at last, the pleasure slowed.
He crawled up to her, pinning her still throbbing body to the bed with his hips. His cock throbbed against her belly and his mouth shimmered with her moisture.
She was ready for him, so ready.
“Mine,” he growled.
“Yours,” she agreed, wrapping her legs around his hips, eager to seal their bond.
He took himself in his hand and slid the tip of his cock against her.
The pleasure of it was blinding. She felt ready to climax again almost instantly.
Suddenly, there was an unbearably loud klaxon sound coming from outside, piercing her thoughts and breaking the spell.
It was loud, high-pitched and unmistakable.
The droid was announcing the presence of danger.
13
Tyro
Tyro fought the urge to scream.
He was here, at the gates of heaven, his Phoebe warm and wanting pinned under him.
The dragon roared in frustration in his chest.
But his need to protect her was greater than his need to claim her.
He leapt out of bed and landed in a crouch, the change already wavering the air around him.
“Tyro?” Phoebe murmured from the bed.
But he could not answer, his whole body was wrapped up in the shift. He had to get out of the yurt before his wings unfurled.
He made it out the door and onto the dock before the radiant wings exploded out of his shoulder blades and the scales slid up from his forearms to cover him.
He rose from the dock on wings of green light, hovering just high enough not to strain the structure with his weight.
The droid had rolled to the end of the dock and was facing off with someone.
Tyro roared, the dragon at the forefront of his consciousness now.
In the background, the man urged the beast to be thoughtful and deliberate.
The dragon begrudgingly obeyed.
They were close enough now to make out the figure on the dock. He was an older man, wearing the kind of lake armor that came cheaply in pieces. It was not as effective as full armor, and this set was mismatched and worn.
The man shivered, eyes wide with fear that Tyro could smell thick on the air.
There was a click behind him.
Mate.
He spun on her, furious that she would come out into the open.
His first instinct was fear for her safety.
His second was the memory that she was readied for claiming.
He could not allow her to be in the presence of another male.
The dragon was roaring at her before the man in the back of his mind could stop him.
“Back off,” she yelled right back at him, unafraid. “This is my farm and my family. If something threatens it, I have every right to be here.”
The dragon snorted his dissent.
“Yes, I do,” she insisted, striding right up to him and poking his scaly chest. “If you don’t like it, I’m sorry, but you have to deal with it.”
He snorted again, but this time it was a resigned sound.
She had called his bluff.
She was his mate, he would protect her from anything happening out here. She did not have to cower in the yurt if that was not her wish.
“Go back and watch over Atlas, please, Saylin,” Phoebe said to the droid. “And thank you for your service on the dock tonight. We are very fortunate that you were here and ready to spring into action.”
“My pleasure, my lady,” the droid said. The whirring and buzzing sounds he made as he rolled back to tend to the baby somehow managed to sound gratified.
“I’ve used our comms to notify the authorities,” Phoebe said to the frightened man in a calm, clear voice. “We will wait here until they come.”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off Tyro.
“Tyro, maybe you could shift back for a minute,” Phoebe suggested. “This man knows what you are capable of now. But he might be more likely to explain why he’s sabotaging us if he isn’t afraid you’re going to eat him.”
She held up a tunic for him that she must have grabbed on her way out.
Eat him, indeed.
The dragon was indignant. Did she not know that the great green dragons were herbivores?
The man in the back of his head was grateful that she had covered herself before emerging, and had even thought of his need for clothing.
He closed his eyes and soon was standing in his man form.
“Who are you,” Phoebe asked the man in a non-threatening tone. “And why did you come here tonight?”
That was probably the wrong question, it was far too open-ended. But he listened anyway as he pulled on his breeches. This mate of his had a way of getting people to do what she wanted.
“I’m Guckett. I run the patch two farms down,” the man replied proudly. “I was hoping there was something here I could use, or sell.”
“I respect your honesty,” Phoebe said. “Things must be hard on this moon.”
“For some of us, they are,” he said, giving the dock a significant look.
“Yes, I’ve got a nice set-up,” Phoebe told him. “But it all belongs to the baby in there. Part of what was required of me when I adopted him was that I work this farm and give him a good life, since he began it with nothing.”
“The child is a foundling?” the man asked, his voice less harsh.
“Yes,” she said. “But I’m his mother now and no one can change that, no matter how they may steal from him and wish ill on us.”
Tyro watched in amazement as the man hung his head in shame.
“Things are hard, as you say, miss,” the man said. “My own children are doing without these days.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Phoebe said.
“The lake is polluted,” he told her. “Too many began trying to farm at once. The water is thick with bacteria and who knows what else.”
“Do you have a pump?” she asked.
“Broke down,” he said quietly.
“Tyro would be glad to look at it for you,” she said, acknowledging her mate’s presence for the first time. “We can come by whenever you like.”
“I don’t have the parts,” he said. “Can�
�t afford ‘em.”
“We’ll get them for you,” she offered. “It’s not a problem.”
Suddenly the man straightened and a hard look was in his eyes again.
“I’ll take no charity,” he said stiffly.
“I didn’t mean it as charity,” she told him quickly. “We’re neighbors. We should help each other.”
But he crossed his arms in front of his skinny chest, and even refused her offer of a blanket to warm him.
“Listen, I’m not going to press charges,” she said wearily. “But will you talk with the other neighbors? Let them know we’re not trying to hurt anyone?”
He opened his mouth to answer but the sound of a siren drowned out whatever he had been going to say.
Tyro spun on his heel to see the droid with the baby in his arms, sounding the alarm once more, because the police had arrived.
14
Phoebe
Phoebe sighed.
She had really hoped she could send the poor man away before the police arrived, or at least that the response would be somewhat subdued.
Instead, the officers were storming onto the dock, the determined droid rolling after them as if he meant to stop them.
There was one stocky officer and another one, tall and thin with some kind of hairless wolf on a leash.
She shuddered at the sight of it.
“Saylin, it’s okay,” she called to the droid. “Well done.”
Instantly, he abandoned his defense and rolled back into the yurt with little Atlas.
“Are you the owner of this dock?” the stockier man asked Tyro in a loud voice.
“She is,” Tyro said, pointing to Phoebe.
“What seems to be the trouble, madam?” His voice had gone saccharine-sweet, as if he thought she was a child who had gotten lost at a prefecture fair, or might have accidentally called the police instead of the food delivery service.
“We thought there was a prowler,” she said carefully. “But it was only a neighbor coming to check on us.”
The neighbor’s eyes went wide with surprise. Then he nodded once.
“Why would he check on you in the middle of the night?” the deputy asked suspiciously.
“We’ve had some things happen,” Phoebe said. “Vandalism, a part stolen from our pump.”
