A Prince's Duty

by Lily Anton

  "For allowing me to mate with you-" O’dair started, but Satina cut him off.

  "You don't need to thank me for tha--"

  "-and for not attempting to kill me," O’dair continued with finality, shocking Satina into silence.

  As though sensing her confusion, he continued, "As a male of my species, mating can be…quite dangerous."

  Satina's eyebrows furrowed, "And why is that?"

  Other than knowing some basics of Nagarren culture and sub-species, there wasn’t much she knew about things like…sex.

  "Female Nagarren may sometimes injure males during mating, occasionally resulting in casualties."

  He stated it casually, like it wasn't something surprising and was simply the norm.

  Satina blinked a few times.

  "They injure you? And can kill you? In the middle of sex?! What the actual fu--"

  "It is…the way things are with my people.”

  She prided herself on cross-cultural diplomacy and overall inter-species understanding, but this was a first.

  "Why would they want to harm the person they’re mating with?" her continued disbelief clear.

  "Among my species, mating bonds are usually…superficial…”

  Satina noted the way he said ‘superficial’, as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

  “…the only purpose they serve is to pass on genetics, and produce new generations. Most male Nagarren’s serve no other ultimate purpose. Being the one selected to mate with... is an honor for that reason."

  "That's…well that sounds like it sucks."

  O’dair simply hummed in acknowledgement.

  "To clarify, I have no intention of injuring you…and absolutely no intention of killing you.

  “I've never really enjoyed seafood, anyways," Satina added dryly, frowning softly when she was met with no response.

  ‘Really, girl?’ her mind groaned on her behalf.

  Moments later and O’dair was moving closer, almost hesitant of moving too quickly.

  Satina sighed in relief when he pressed himself up against her side and couldn’t help but shudder when she was met with the familiar sensation of something gliding across her skin, caressing her legs, and exploring her body…curious, but not constricting.

  To her surprise, she felt the telltale signs of arousal stirring inside of her once more…as though she hadn't just received the greatest fuck of her life.

  She'd already been given everything…her whole body sated and spent and yet somehow she wanted more.

  The sensation of tentacles slipping in between her legs and prodding at her still wet entrance, told Satina that O’dair could sense how much she still wanted him.

  She spoke softly, hesitantly, as though scared to hear the answer. "Is it…there was some discomfort there at the end…will it--"

  "No, there will be no such discomfort this time…"

  It was all the assurance Satina needed before she was allowing O’dair to take her apart and put her pleasurably back together again.

  Everything was equally as intense as it had been the first time: every touch, every sound, every moment spent wrapped up in O’dair, pressed firmly up against his larger form. This time, two tentacles were twined together and thrusting in and out of her with ease…slick, obscene sounds filling the space around them but fading out into white noise as all Satina could focus on was the feeling of being fucked.

  Her entire body was warm, every nerve on glorious fire as arousal coiled deep within her.

  Satina moaned; she felt pure, unadulterated bliss as she was filled for the second time…deliciously hot, intense, and triggering her own orgasm almost instantaneously.

  She clung to him, nails sinking into his skin as she felt him expand within her, hot fluid filling her once more as he growled in her ear.

  “Yess…” she hissed, back arching as he filled her up.

  CHAPTER 5

  Fortunately, it was Kandann who found them still tangled together the morning after; the Nagarren wrapped around Satina's nude body protectively.

  He wished he could say he was surprised to find her in such a situation, but knowing her as well as he did, he had pretty much expected something like this to happen.

  Just…not as a quickly as it had happened.

  The presence of tentacles, on the other hand, especially when he was absolutely sure there had been two very humanoid looking legs before…was baffling, but he supposed it made sense.

  Nagarren’s as a species were reclusive, which meant not much was known about them.

  As a scientist and researcher, he wanted to ask the alien so many questions, but a perhaps another time when it wasn’t obvious there’d just been copious amounts of sex had.

  While it was probably best for him to leave them alone, his pragmatic side stayed strong, forcing him to look at the two sleeping figures carefully.

  Satina did not seem to have been hurt in any way, and the alien appeared to be in much better health than he’d been in the day prior.

  Kandann let them be, ignoring the rather colorful stains on Satina’s bed sheets and quietly let them be.

  As soon as he made his way over to his lab, however, he cursed loudly, looking over the state of the room. Water was all over the place, and some sort of gel-like fluid was adhered to tank’s glass.

  Satina would be the only one brave enough (or perhaps stupid enough) to mess with both his equipment and lab.

  He headed straight to his bedroom, only to promptly, and wordlessly shut the door.

  The whole damn place needed to be sterilized.

  ∆∆∆

  Unsurprisingly, the rest of the squad took to O’dair, (minus the tentacles) almost immediately; he was funny, quirky, and observant, and in stark contrast to Satina, whose side he refused to leave, was being way too quiet than was normal for her.

  No one quite understood their dynamic, but it was clear that some sort of bond had been formed between them, wherein O’dair remained attached to Satina at all times, and Satina always had to be touching him…be it a hand on his shoulder, or tucked into O’dair's side.

  O’dair took to everyone in stride, the other Nagarren usually quiet in the corner.

  Silent, and unassuming, O’dair was seemingly inoffensive, and no one seemed to have any issues with having him around.

  The cultural barrier remained ever-present, but O’dair displayed an adaptability and willingness to learn that went unmatched, and contrary to first impressions, never became a nuisance, or allowed himself to get in the way of their operations and trade.

  He remained fairly tight-lipped with regards to his life on his home planet, but was more than happy to share information about Nagarren culture in general, hands gesticulating wildly as he discussed his people’s history and traditions.

  Satina didn’t want to admit that he was completely making her a romantic pile of mush each time he did so.

  ∆∆∆

  "What are you doing?" Kandann mumbled in apparent disbelief, eyes scanning over the room.

  Satina had never been a neat person exactly, usually prone to leaving ‘organized messes’ everywhere. So it was definitely odd to find her moving about her space with such determination.

  "Cleaning," Satina mumbled absentmindedly, sorting through haphazard piles of clothing.

  He couldn't even recall the last time he'd seen Satina do laundry, and actually questioned whether she even know how.

  Her bed had been made, night-stand cleared, floor free of clutter…with the exception of Satina's overabundance of clothes, which she seemed to be in the process of dealing with, too.

  O’dair was sitting in the corner of her room, eying the proceedings with interest.

  Kandann shook his head.

  "Yeah, I see that but...why? And more importantly, why is O’dair sitting in the corner?"

  Satina didn't bother replying, but O’dair hesitantly answered. "She instructed me to sit here and not move."

  Kandann's confusion was clear in
the furrow between his brows.

  "She fears that I will get in the way," O’dair supplied helpfully.

  Kandann rubbed at his temples.

  It didn't end there.

  In fact, in the days following, it got worse, or perhaps, better, depending on how one looked at it.

  Satina's strange and sudden obsession with cleaning and organizing also extended to other parts of the team’s shared space.

  When asked, on numerous occasions, where the fixation stemmed from, her only reply was that she was simply tired of the disarray that had made up the majority of their living areas.

  While the desire to clean was definitely abnormal, Satina didn't think anything of it…didn't try and figure out why she suddenly felt uneasy amidst the usual disarray.

  The change in scenery, and atmosphere, was a welcome reprieve though, and to Satina's pleasant surprise, others on the team began helping her when they realized that Satina was actually making an effort for the betterment of the team.

  It was a work in progress, but between them all, it was definitely manageable, until Satina grimaced, hand clutching her stomach and skin paling.

  “Sat?”

  “I…I don’t feel right…” she managed to say before collapsing on the spot.

  CHAPTER 6

  "What the fuck is that?" came Satina's panicked voice, anxiety welling up inside of her.

  Kandann squinted, leaning in closer to the projection; he had opted to do a full body scan once they'd gotten Satina to the med room.

  He double-tapped the hologram to zoom in closer, spreading his hands apart to enlarge the view, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought.

  "That certainly does not belong there," he began, eyed pouring over the screen, "And If I remember correctly…"

  With just a few quick taps, he was pulling up another scan that was nearly identical to the first.

  Satina swallowed dryly, nails biting half-crescents into palms.

  "This was a scan done two months ago. As you can see…" he enlarged the second view, giving them all a side-by-side comparison.

  "…at that time, that was not there."

  "Yeah, but what is it?!" she asked slightly panicked, eyes searching.

  O’dair attempted to lay a comforting hand down on her shoulder; and to both O’dair's and Kandann's surprise, Satina flinched away, wrapping her arms around herself almost protectively.

  She had a sinking feeling…

  Kandann pointed out a specific spot on the more recent scan, "This is your womb-"

  Satina's breathing stopped.

  “-and it appears to be holding eggs, Satina," he elaborated, zooming in even closer and allowing them all to see the roughly half a dozen oval shapes.

  O’dair appeared entirely unfazed by the revelation, but equally as curious as Kandann; his skin changing to a startling light blue.

  "What?"

  "My clutch," O’dair supplied helpfully, "I wasn't certain it would take…but they seem to be developing quite well. Most likely due to your naturally high body temperature."

  He was seemingly unaware of the shift in Satina's mood.

  If possible, Satina grew even more deadly in her silence.

  Finally, a solid minute later, Satina find her words again, her voice dangerously low.

  "What the fuck did you do, O’dair?"

  O’dair released a soft noise of unease, realizing that she did not appear to be happy with the news.

  "Are you…not happy, Satina?"

  Kandann suppressed the urge to wince and wisely remained silent, wishing he could just disappear into the background.

  "Am I not-" she began in disbelief, inhaling shakily, and much to their horror, her eyes were growing wet. "Of course I'm not fucking happy, you asshole!"

  It became evident to Kandann that O’dair really had no idea what he'd done wrong…and that Satina cursing him out was the equivalent of one cursing at a pet, or a small child that simply did not understand the consequences of their actions.

  Yet her tone was something O’dair did understand, and Kandann watched as he just sort of… deflated.

  Blue tinged skin faded back into a dull grey as a string of expletives left Satina's mouth.

  "Get them out. I want them out right now," she demanded, hackles raised, staring Kandann down as though daring to challenge him.

  "They'll die, Satina…" Kandann implored, eyes searching, heart aching a little with the undeniably pained expression on O’dair's face.

  "And? I didn't fucking ask for this! I don't give a shit! I'm not a fucking incubator."

  O’dair flinched, but Satina was too far gone.

  "I'm not going to argue with you, Satina. It's your body afterall. But I would advise, as your friend, that you discuss this with O’dair before you make any decision right now. It's obvious there's been a miscommunication here."

  "Fine. You know what, Kan? Fuck you too!” her sudden and complete lack of volume control showing just how upset she actually was.

  Yet it wasn't just anger, and Kandann had known her long enough to know that.

  Satina was terrified.

  He didn't take it to heart; he knew better than to do so.

  But O’dair did not.

  Before either of them could say anything, Satina was storming out of the room, the door swinging shut behind her with a loud, resounding slam.

  O’dair, the large muscled mass of Nagarren looked heartbroken.

  "She's just scared, O’dair," Kandann attempted to explain, reaching out to pat O’dair's shoulder in reassurance, albeit awkwardly.

  "Can you tell me what happened that lead to this? Please leave out the explicit details."

  O’dair seemed to think the question over for a few seconds before responding, his voice sounding just a dejected as he looked.

  "I could sense her arousal, particularly after she witnessed my transition in the tank. She expressed her interest towards those of non-human descent, and so I asked her if she desired to mate with me."

  Kandann remained quiet, nodding at him to continue.

  "She seemed pleased by the idea, and responded in kind. We mated, twice, and I bred her on the second joining."

  Kandann couldn’t hold back a groan, rubbing his forehead.

  "I take it I have done something wrong."

  "Did you phrase it that way specifically when you asked?"

  "I did."

  "I have reason to believe that Satina may have misunderstood your meaning," Kandann said slowly, knowing he was oversimplifying things. "I believe she agreed to mate with you for physical pleasure. For her, and many humans, the goal of sex is not procreation."