Nodding her satisfaction, the priestess held her hand open for her attendant at her elbow to pour a vibrant orange powder into her withered palm. This she then wet with drops of a sweet-smelling oil before mixing it into a paste. She touched the paste to mark just above each of their hearts.
“May Vorakahee join your hearts, that together they beat in union, and your bond be unbreakable for all time.”
She then marked their throats.
“May Aforamaro unite your voice, so that together you speak well of each other and speak into being those things which would be fortuitous for your house.”
She proceeded to mark their foreheads.
“May the union of the gods unite your will together. That as one being you draw breath, strive, fight, and love. That you may each be the purpose of the other and be a supportive arm in times of plenty and times of sorrow. That your desires and needs be one together. It is for the gods’ will that we mark our mates and be as one with them, even as we share and mix our essence with them. He becomes a part of her, and she becomes a part of him. This is the divine way from the beginning times.”
The priestess stepped back to make room for a pair of young female attendants in flowing vestments to come forward carrying woven lengths of flowers that they wrapped around the shoulders of each couple. The perfume of the flowers was nearly intoxicating for Cara; she could only imagine how potent it was for Lerix.
Sure enough, as she studied her mate’s face, she watched his pupils dilate into oblong ovals. He looked higher than a kite. Come to think of it, Cara didn’t feel much better off. She could barely make out the final words of the priestess.
She leaned into Lerix, feeling his heart beat as if it were her own. As if his blood were hers. At that moment, she could not distinguish between what was Lerix and what was Cara.
She was aware of cheers, but the rest of the evening was a blur as they were escorted up to their quarters by a procession of family and guests, who were singing and throwing more of the intoxicating blooms everywhere they stepped.
More of the flowers were set around the bed to bless their union. To Cara’s horror, amid their celebrating escort, she felt uncomfortably aroused. The combined scent of the flowers and Lerix’s pheromones made her pussy throb with desperation and her thighs became slick with her need.
Lerix seemed similarly affected. He groaned and growled into her hair and skin, pulling at her fathee impatiently. Cara was happy to help. She couldn’t bear the feeling of it against her heated skin even a moment longer. Her fingers pulled at her belt until it unraveled and fell at her feet. With a shrug, she sent her fathee pooling on the floor after it. Her eyes skimmed Lerix, thanking the gods that he hadn’t wasted time getting naked.
With a moan, she launched herself into her mate’s arms, falling into a cloud of blooms on their bed. Cara could feel the damp oils of crushed flowers smear against her skin as they writhed together, her lips consuming his with a feverish hunger.
When he yanked her legs open, she keened with mindless pleasure. When he pulled her to him, she arched her hips to receive his eager thrust. There was no foreplay, no tenderness. Both of them were half-crazed with desire. She needed, and she only knew her need. And her need was his need. They burned together as he thrust deep within her. She panted, raising her hips to meet him thrust for thrust.
The first orgasm took her completely unaware, but it was no more surprising than when Lerix suddenly lifted her bottom completely off the bed. His tail whipped beneath her and she shrieked as her ecstasy was pushed higher with several sharp drags over her buttocks and lower back. The strangely erotic burn of her flesh made her pussy clench and she shouted out another orgasm as it seized her.
“What did you do?” she panted, barely able to string those few words together.
“Marked you,” he moaned.
She blinked, attempting to clear the fog from her mind despite the pleasure twisting through her once again from the furious pummel of his pelvis against hers.
“Wait, you marked my ass?”
“Yesss,” he hissed between his teeth.
“Oh my gods, your tail owned my ass,” she whimpered, giggling as something struck her as funny, her sanity slowly unraveling once more.
“I will definitely own it,” he growled. The blunt tip of his tail, blessedly spike-free, slid through the juices leaking from her pussy before gently pushing into her rear passage.
Cara whimpered in pleasure from the double penetration. His tail did amazing things rubbing in time with his cock, gliding over the membrane that separated them. Her pussy began to spasm and her legs and back seized as she was swept up into the powerful climax that ripped through her. Through it, she was barely aware of his cock swelling and releasing his seed with his own roar of completion.
When the fury of their lust finally died down, late into the night after four good, brag-worthy rounds of sex, Cara lay amid the fading flowers in the arms of her mate. Her ass stung for more reason than one, but her muscles were limp with satisfaction as she cuddled into Lerix’s side. With a drowsy murmur, her mate curled around her, his tail sliding protectively around her hip and back.
She blinked slowly and yawned. “Wow, that was really something.”
“Hmm, yes, Veshal blooms. They are only used for mating ceremonies, although sometimes mates will use distilled essences on each other to heighten their pleasures.”
“I guess their use in mating makes it a bit harder for the mate to try and run away,” Cara said.
“Yes, I would imagine so.”
“Lerix?”
“Hmm?”
“Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to have a small bottle of it. You know… for just in case.”
Her mate laughed. “Of course, my vonri.”
She threaded her fingers through his and drifted off to sleep in the arms of her mate.
Chapter 30
Two Years Later
Lerix smiled down at his mate as she sat in the large chair in the common room, admiring the way the light played off her golden curls. The last two years had been interesting. It wasn’t always necessarily peaceful, but it was never boring. Even looking back on all his years in space.
Of all the things he’d done and places he’d been, the last two years had truly been his greatest adventure. Especially one very special adventure that had just begun.
He leaned over and cooed at the tiny deep red male youngling curled sleepily in a soft blanket in Cara’s arms. It was hard to remember that it wasn’t too long ago that the idea of evening having younglings had terrified him. The little one had been a complete surprise for the both of them, but not an unwelcome one.
After going through a number of names, they’d finally settled on naming him after his great-great grandfather. He still wasn’t sure what Cara found so amusing about the name. Evol was a strong Kadesh name that meant ‘strength.’ When he’d asked, she would only say it was something about a particular homophone that she prayed wouldn’t manifest. That was what he’d been able to determine anyway amid all of her giggling.
He suspected that he would need to download human English language data for his comm unit just so that he could make sense of the things that set her off. It wasn’t the first time she found something said to be quite funny.
His finger brushed the soft, downy hair on his son’s head. Everyone in his family loved the youngling. Even Aunt Berol had unbent enough to visit after receiving word of his birth and proudly declared him as the very image of his namesake. She had been correct.
Like his great grandfather before him, Evol was a robust and healthy babe with the same classic Kadesh features. Just looking at him never ceased to fill Lerix with a sense of wonder and pride.
The pale green eyes blinked up at him as his mother’s nipple popped out of his mouth. Lerix grinned when Evol yawned widely before settling down and curling into his mother’s belly. Lerix reached forward to tuck back in the thin little tail as it slipped out of the blanket.
/> Cara tucked her breast back away—much to his regret—and smiled tiredly up at him. Having a newborn in the house was taxing them both with an overabundance of sleepless nights, but no one more than her. Regardless of her eyes, red and blurry with exhaustion, she was still the most beautiful female he’d ever set eyes on.
She breathed a sigh of relief as Evol drifted off to sleep. Once she was certain that he wasn’t about to rouse, she stood up from the strange rocking chair she’d commissioned from a local carpenter and moved to the tiny bed she called a bassinet set up near the hearth. These strange bits of furniture were a human custom that had caught on fast among visiting Kadesh females, who had been absolutely delighted.
Customarily, in the first few weeks after birth, a female would be sequestered in her chambers with their young so that she could care for the youngling’s needs until they were able to become accustomed to a pattern of sleeping for long periods rather than on and off day and night. For the less fortunate, this period could last for months, making the mothers desperate to leave their chambers. Cabin fever, Cara had called it with a sympathetic nod.
The furnishings in the Earthen design were so simple he was surprised that no one on Kaidava had thought of it before. Females, seeing how easily they could make themselves comfortable in other parts of their homes with their newborns, had kept the artisans truly busy for the first time in probably generations.
“When is the shuttle arriving?” his mate whispered as she stepped up and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Lerix hugged her to him and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“In about an hour. I am getting ready to leave now.”
Cara grinned up at him. “Are you excited?”
“More like nervous,” he admitted.
“She’s your mother—there’s nothing to be nervous about. I am sure she has been looking forward to this day for a long time.”
“Dad has been running around here like an eager youth all day. He insists on coming.”
“You can’t blame him for being excited. He never lost hope of being reunited with his mate again. I’m glad you finally agreed to meet with her after the last few months of talking.”
It had been Cara’s campaign ever since they found out about her pregnancy to reunite their family. At first, Lerix had been resistant. He wouldn’t even consider it. But Cara had swayed him. She’d reasoned that it would be good for their baby to know his grandmother despite the mistakes she’d made. So begrudgingly, he’d commed her.
The female who’d answered was not the beautiful confident Calysii female he remembered. She looked sad and worn, yet the smile that brightened her face at seeing him made the years seem to melt away and it was as if he were a youngling again sitting with his mother in her private garden.
As they talked, she enlightened him on the events that had actually transpired the day she disappeared. While she had been a bit jealous of the high lives her friends were living, she swore that she hadn’t eloped with the male like everyone assumed. She’d never had any attention of willingly parting with her family. For years everyone had assumed that she’d just left on whim, but instead she’d been kidnapped by a male who’d recognized her and had thought to ransom her to her wealthy Calysii family.
Eventually her family paid the ransom but refused to allow her to return to Kaidava, insisting instead that she marry a Calysii male of their choosing. She spurned all suitors and all attempts made by her parents to replace her mate. She’d hoped to return to Kaidava, but her family watched her every move carefully. Not allowing her any unsupervised access to the comm system or even to socialize with anyone they did not approve of. On just one occasion had she been able to get to a comm and she hadn’t been able to get through. As time passed with no word or sign from her mate, she assumed that she had been forgotten and gave up all hope.
Lerix had been plagued by guilt after that conversation. If only he had been open to speaking to his mother, it would have saved them so many years of heartache. And yet, as his father reminded him, if he had, he never would have met Cara.
Lerix was selfish enough to admit that he couldn’t regret that.
Still, it was a relief knowing that things were finally now being set right.
Lerix leaned down and kissed his son’s tiny brow where the small dark buds were just barely visible. With another kiss for his mate, Lerix stepped out to meet the hired shuttle to bring his mother finally home.
***
Cara hadn’t known what exactly to expect from her mother-by-mating, but being instantly wrapped in the delicately scaled pale arms upon their introduction hadn’t been it from what she’d heard of the rigid social interactions of the Calysii. Even Lerix had cautioned her that Calysii weren’t known for being outwardly demonstrative in front of strangers. Yet the female wept and hugged her close as if Cara were a long-lost family member.
“I am so pleased to meet you,” Shiyashoval whispered in a choked voice, tears streaming down her face. “I never thought I would see the day where I would be meeting my eldest son’s mate. It is a dream come true for me.”
Mokav chuckled from where he hovered at his mate’s elbow, his eyes still bright with tears from their own reunion. His happiness seemed to transform him overnight into a male half his age.
“Shiya,” he murmured fondly. “If you don’t stop, you will drown all of us when you meet our grandson.”
Cara giggled as her mother-by-mating gasped when Lerix gently deposited Evol in her waiting arms. The warm bundle of baby squealed and squirmed unhappily for just a moment until Shiya began to croon softly as she rocked him in her arms, a gentle smile curving her lips. Evol gradually quieted and stared up at her, entranced. Probably because of the way the light shimmered off her scales in iridescent rainbows.
She didn’t even look up from her grandson as she said, “I have Evol. We are going to spend some time bonding. You two get out of the house. I remember just how important a little privacy is for new parents,” she said.
Cara wanted to protest, but Lerix swept his tail around her hip as he pulled her to him.
“That is a wonderful idea. You and Dad and Evol should have some time together,” he agreed as he hurried Cara to the door.
“Quick” he whispered, “before Evol opens his mouth and makes them change their mind.”
Cara giggled as she allowed her mate to pull her out the door and down to the soft sands of the beach. There, he swept her against him, his hands stroking through her hair as he gazed down at her with love and devotion shining behind his eyes.
“You have truly completed my life in all the best ways,” he said. “I would have nothing if I hadn’t been left stranded by Koriee.”
“We really should send her our thanks,” Cara agreed softly.
Lerix grinned as his lips captured hers in the sweetest kiss on all of Kaidava.
Epilogue
Twenty Years Later
“Your boys look just like their father, same scowl and everything,” Mahuura laughed. Cara tucked a strand of graying hair behind her ear and grimaced as she wrestled her son of six revolutions into an unwilling hostage at her side.
“Good gods, can’t they even smile? This is a party, not their funeral,” Cara complained.
Mahuura burst out laughing.
“Oh, sure, you laugh. At least your children have your disposition. I never did see a sweeter bunch than your six girls. I think Lerix would go crazy if he were in Esha’s position, having that much sugar attracting the flies.”
Mahuura, now used to much of Cara’s odd slang, choked on a pastry.
“Oh please, do not let Esha hear you say that. He loves his daughters, but every now and again gets a look in his eye like he wouldn’t mind trying again for a son.”
“You are free take to one of mine,” Cara quipped as she glared at Evol, who was eyeing a younger cousin speculatively. That look was nothing but trouble. He loved to torment his siblings and cousins equally.
�
�I am not sure what I am going to do about those two boys,” she huffed.
Evol and Devril stood at either side of Lerix, all three males wearing identical scowls in their formal clothing. Evol was nearly at the age of maturity and he was already talking about getting a special license to go offworld.
Cara thought it was a bit soon. She didn’t like to think of her first-born being in such a hurry to grow up and find a mate. His brother, just two revolutions younger, was a prankster who still thought females were boring creatures who sucked every bit of joy out of the room. His words.
“At least one of your girls takes after you,” Mahuura chortled.
Cara smiled. She never would have guessed after having two boys that they would have had a passel of girls. When the twins Siya and Miya came, Lerix had been a nervous wreck, growling at anyone who even looked at his girls wrong. A year and a half later, they were followed by Asha. While the twins were natural troublemakers with a mischievous streak a mile wide, Asha was perhaps of all her children the most like Cara, unfortunate clumsiness and all. Still, she’d had her share of admirers recently.
Now all three females were in their teen years and growing into startling beauties. They were also suffering from boy obsession, which turned them into shameless flirts. As if Lerix needed another reason to give males on their staff and guests who lingered too long around their daughters the stink eye.
Mavik, their youngest, had been a complete surprise. Of course, alien tech being what it was in extending the health of internal organs, she wasn’t the least surprised. Cara never thought she’d be having a baby at nearly fifty, but she apparently had a good seventy years still ahead of her. If not more.
With a wink at her long-time friend, Cara excused herself and made her way back to Lerix. His dark hair was shot through with blue and his scales looked a bit duller, but he still made her heart race whenever he looked at her a certain way. She couldn’t imagine loving him more than she loved him at that moment. It seemed that, as the years passed, it just kept getting better.
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