Big Bad Claws

by Michele Mills

  She walked over, slid open the door to the restroom and set the tiny bot down where it belonged and closed it in. She turned and gestured with one hand. “But I shouldn’t be in here each night taking up your space. It must’ve bothered you when you found me in your bed. I know you said you think I’m your future Bride, but we haven’t clasped hands. I know you view me as a…friend? Someone you think might be your future mate, but right now you have the gloves on and you’re trying to avoid my touch. This must be annoying for you, having me so close.”

  Again, what was this nonsense?

  He stepped close, stared down at her in amazement and met her wide-eyed, innocent gaze. “You have no idea, do you?”

  “No idea about what?”

  “You have no idea what you do to me,” he growled. He reached out with a gloved claw and cupped her cheek. He wanted so badly to touch his female with bare skin, but he had to wait for her consent. It was amazing how he was drawn to her. He wanted her next to him every second. It was going to be difficult for him to be apart from her while he worked in the mine. The only thing that would keep him sane was the knowledge that she was safe in his compound and he could follow her every movement with his tablet. “Lila, I got down on one knee today, in front of everyone and placed your honor before mine. Then I asked for your hand in testing. I’ve told Minecorp and the peacekeepers that you are my future Bride. This means I need you by my side, constantly. It is the only thing that will keep me sane while I wait for you to acquiesce. You are sharing my room each night.”

  Her eyes, dark as ancient night, glittered and her colorless cheeks held a charming flush. She placed a bare hand over his gloved claw. “Zayzon, you barely know me. In reality I’m just some annoying human who’s imposing on you.”

  “No,” he rumbled. “You are my future mate.”

  She dropped her hand and stepped back from his touch. “I can’t be anyone’s Bride right now.”

  “It’s true. You need to hear it, again and again until you realize the truth. I know this is hard for you because you are human, and humans mate very differently, but you will see I am right. You are my Bride, the mother of my future offspring, and we will live out our lifespans together. You will always sleep by my side.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She was adorable.

  “The mother of your…your offspring?” she sputtered.

  She hadn’t thought of this? He would have to school his Bride. “You will clasp my claw and enflame my body. Then I will claim you and fill you with my seed. You will be in the middle of your breeding cycle and your belly will grow large with my offspring. We will start our line.”

  She licked her lips. “You don’t know with one hundred percent certainty that I’m your Bride. What if we join hands and it turns out I’m not your mate?”

  “Oh, I know,” he rasped. Then he tapped the side of his nose. “That’s why we need to go through with the mating ceremony so we can confirm it.”

  She sighed and grabbed a long lock of her dark hair and twirled it in her fingers. “Zayzon, you know I can’t test right now.”

  He frowned at this reminder of the barriers to their mating she’d formed in her mind. Barriers he found nonsensical. He gave her a curt nod and then reached back and pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it to the ground. Then he bent down and yanked his pants off too and kicked them away. He turned to face her.

  His Bride let out a squeak of terror. “What are you doing?” she shouted as she turned and covered her eyes.

  “What is wrong? I’m readying for sleep.”

  “You’re naked.”

  He glanced down at himself then back up at her. “Yes,” he confirmed. “And you are still fully clothed. Why?”

  “You can’t strip your clothes off in front of me.”

  “I can’t?”

  “No.”

  A tantalizing scent wafted through his quarters. “I can smell your arousal again.”

  “This is so embarrassing. It’s because you’re naked,” she whimpered. “This isn’t fair. Humans pleasure mate. And I’m not used to naked men standing right in front of me. Please, cover yourself.”

  This sensitivity to nudity that humans had was very strange. His body might not be clothed, but he had his gloves on, which was the most important touch point. He did as she requested, though. He set his crystal on the table and then lay down on the bed and pulled the covers up to his chest. “Ready,” he answered.

  She dropped her hands and turned around. Then she kicked off her red slippers and carefully lay next to him, but not touching. “I’m going to sleep fully clothed,” she announced.

  He shrugged. “That sounds highly uncomfortable, but if this is what you want then so be it. This will work better because you want to wait to test. We need to make sure we don’t accidentally touch.”

  She paused and looked down the bed at their placement, side by side. “Are you sure we can continue to sleep next to each other like this if we aren’t supposed to touch?”

  His ridges furrowed. “I am not going to touch you with my claws. Were you planning on touching me?”

  “No,” she gasped. “Of course not.”

  “Then there is no problem.” He held up his gloved claws for her inspection. “I can sleep with my gloves on. We did this last night and it worked. It will work again.”

  She nodded and pulled the covers over her torso, then moved back to the very edge of the bed.

  “Tell me,” he asked. “Why were you naked last night? I found you naked in my bed, and yet now you say you are frightened of nudity?”

  “Oh, that was because I was wet and cold and I thought I was alone. I had to take the clothes off in order to get dry. I wouldn’t have done that if I’d thought beings actually lived here.”

  “Huh,” he grunted. Also, her lungs had been filled with his scent. She’d felt safe in his room. This was why she’d remained.

  “Tell me why you and your brothers live in a remote compound easily mistaken for being abandoned.”

  His jaw clenched. “It’s because we were banished to the worst quarters on the settlement.”

  She stared at him quietly as if waiting for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, she asked, “Are you going to tell me why?”

  “Now isn’t a good time.”

  She gestured. “It’s not like we’re busy.”

  He didn’t answer.

  She chuckled. “Hold on, you were upset before because I wouldn’t tell you about my past, even though I said I couldn’t tell you for your own safety. Meanwhile you have a big secret too that you won’t explain? That’s not fair.”

  She had a point. “I can’t tell you for the very same reason you can’t tell me your story.”

  “Okay, I guess I have to accept that. So, you and your brothers are living in barely habitable quarters on the edge of town because you were demoted? Is it something I should be worried about? Is it safe for me here?”

  “Of course it’s safe here. Living with the Fever Brothers crew is the safest place you can be. My brothers and I would die for you.”

  She blinked. “Isn’t that a little over the top? I mean, you barely know me.”

  “I would die for you,” he repeated. “I placed your honor before mine. That’s what I meant when I said that.” He lowered his voice, making sure his words were only for her. The walls here were notoriously thin. “Lila of One, you are my everything. Without you, I cannot find peace. I am falling in—”

  And suddenly her hand was covering his mouth, cutting off his sincere words. Their bare skin was touching.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, sorry.” And she jerked her hand back quickly. “I just don’t want you saying anything you’ll regret.”

  “Come here,” he said. “I need you close.”

  Her features softened. “Zayzon…”

  He pulled her clothed body against his bare chest and rested his chin on her wavy black hair. Part of him could care less if he accidentally initiated testing, yet the ot
her half of him knew this was illegal, that he had to wait until he gained consent prior to clasping her hand. Her scent wafted up and brought calm and relief. Waiting was going to be difficult, but the added strength of his fever crystal would get him through.

  “Okay,” she whispered against his chest. “I’ll do it. I’ll clasp your claw and test compatibility.”

  His hearts warmed. “You will? Right now?”

  “Noooo. Not right now, silly. After this is all over. At the end of one moon cycle, when everything in my life settles and I feel you and everyone I care about are safe, I’ll test compatibility with you, if you’d still like. You’re correct, we should at least try, right?”

  ‘You and everyone she cared about?’ He grinned. “Right. I can accept this waiting period as long as you agree to stay in this room with me every night until you are ready.”

  “You’re bossy as hell,” she remarked.

  He smiled, loving how she was becoming familiar with his ways. “Yes, I know,” he replied. “And so are you.”

  “Heh,” she grunted.

  And then they both fell asleep.

  Zayzon woke to the comforting sound of his Bride’s even breaths.

  She was still in his arms. He stared down at her strange, defenseless human features, loving the softness therein. She lacked ridges, fangs or claws and yet his female was fierce with a quiet strength. Her strong nose, the sparkling dark eyes, full of life.

  There was no way he’d ever let any being cause her harm. She was the mother of future Illibrium miners. She was his life partner.

  He wondered what it would be like, enflamed with the mating instinct. He and his brothers were celibate, as were all Xylan until the moment they touched their mate and responded to the rush of pheromones. He’d always wondered why mated pairs were so fixated on each other. It always seemed odd. And pleasure mating he viewed as downright disgusting. But, for the first time in his life, he found himself curious about this sex act so many beings were obsessed with.

  He loved the idea of having the ability to tend to her needs. To fill her with his seed and watch her grow large with his offspring. Finding one’s mate and initiating testing meant breeding. He inhaled, filling his lungs with her scent. There it was again, that tell-tale sign that let him understand where she was in her present cycle. If they tested soon, he could impregnate her immediately. And then he would be a father.

  He turned to stare at the ceiling, contemplating fatherhood.

  Feet pounded down the hallway, interrupting his reverie. They were all awakening from their afternoon nap and readying for evening meal.

  Lila shifted in the bed and her eyes blinked open. “They’re so loud,” she groaned.

  “Get used to it,” he answered. “We’re all loud. In fact, I’m the loudest of them all.”

  She let out a rough chuckle. “It’s true.”

  There was a bang on the wall that connected his room to Chief’s. “Get up,” his brother shouted through the barrier. “Bring her with you.”

  “Who was that?”

  “My oldest brother.”

  “Chief?”

  “Mmm.”

  “Wow, the walls here are thin.”

  “Yes.”

  He swept the covers aside and sat up.

  “Oh gods,” she yelled out and rolled over, putting her back to him. “You’ve gotta warn me before you do that.”

  He chuckled.

  “Are all Xylan males that…that big?”

  He grinned and glanced down at his cock at rest, wondering what it would look like and how it would feel when he was able to become aroused. Able to spend his seed within her body. “I’m bigger than most.”

  “I don’t even know how that’s going to work. Will it even fit?”

  He inhaled her arousal and a growl rumbled in his chest. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can take me.”

  “You’re always so confident. I’m jealous, I wish I were the same.”

  He stared at his beautiful Bride, with her spill of wavy dark hair and that nose. That proud, elegant nose. “You’ll learn,” he stated. “Living here, with me and my brothers, will teach you confidence.”

  “Okay, I hope so.” She pulled the tiny bot she’d named Max out of the restroom where it had been working and placed it back in her arms. He chuckled at the sight.

  Minutes later he was dressed and walking with his Bride back down the hallway and out into the commotion that was his family compound.

  Heavy was stomping around, tossing items aside and finally settling into a comfortable seat near the fire. Rook, Trunk and Chief were drinking ale and playing a game of sticks. Scar stared intently at his tablet. All of them were in the front room, next to the huge, rustic fireplace. Everyone except for Cannibal, who was in the kitchen banging around.

  He tried to tug his Bride with him to the front room, but she dug in her heels and broke from his grasp.

  “I’m going to help Cannibal with dinner.”

  “What?” Zayzon asked, completely shocked at this statement.

  “I’m going to help Cannibal,” she repeated. “I can’t just sit in there with you and watch him working to feed us all while I wait for the food. That’s not right.”

  “Hmmf,” Scar grunted. “I thought you had ‘staff’ back home. You should be used to sitting and waiting for your food to be served.”

  She shifted on her feet. “Well, I was a good sous chef. It was fun.”

  “A sou…what?” Zayzon asked.

  “A helper. Like I said, I’m not used to just sitting and waiting. I like helping. Can’t I help?”

  “I don’t need help,” Cannibal yelled from the kitchen.

  “Yes, you do,” his Bride shouted back. Then she softened her voice. “Zayzon, he does need help, even if he denies it. Max and I are going in there.”

  “You sure?”

  She straightened her back. “We can do it.”

  His female was so damn adorable. And brave. He tapped the end of her perfect nose with the tip of his gloved claw. “Okay, I’m right here if you need me,” he answered as he settled into his favorite seat across from Heavy.

  His Bride marched off toward the kitchen and set the bot down.

  “This is going to be good,” Heavy remarked.

  “Yep.”

  “Get out,” Cannibal shouted.

  “No,” a female voice insisted. “I need to know what you do. If I’m going to organize this place tomorrow, I need to understand this kitchen. That way, I won’t mess it up for you because I’ll understand your routines.”

  Zayzon watched out of the corner of his eye as his feisty Bride challenged his brother, keeping his ears open for trouble. Cannibal was notoriously territorial when it came to food prep. But eventually he heard giggles from Lila and deep chuckles from his brother. Apparently, they were getting along well.

  An hour passed and he couldn’t handle the idea of being separated from his mate any longer. He needed her close and her scent nearby, so he stomped into the kitchen and dragged Lila away from her work and had her sit with him in front of the fire.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed, her cheeks that charming shade of pink and her eyes bright with anger. She was beautiful when she was irritated.

  “You’re mine. I need you by my side.”

  “Stop saying that. I’m not yours. I’m my own person.”

  He smiled at her indulgently. And then he leaned forward and shoved his nose in her neck and inhaled that wonderful scent.

  She giggled and tried to push him away. “What are you doing?”

  “What are you doing?” Scar grumbled. “It’s disgusting. Leave that human alone.”

  “One day you’ll feel the same for your own mate,” Zayzon explained. “I can’t get enough of her scent.”

  “I’m not your mate,” she protested.

  “Yet. You’re not officially my mate yet. In one moon cycle you will turn twenty-one and this problem of yours will be resolved and then we ca
n test. Meanwhile, we will get to know each other and you will grow comfortable here with my brothers and learn to enjoy living on Timbur, because this is your new home.”

  She snorted and looked away but continued to stay in his lap.

  They all ate dinner together in the front room and afterwards his Bride fell asleep with her head in his lap. The whole time he had his gloves on, touching her through two layers of fabric.

  “I still can’t believe your Bride thinks she needs to protect us,” Trunk commented.

  Chief barked out a laugh, “Needs to protect us?”

  Zayzon laughed too and sipped more ale. It was hilarious.

  Lila shifted in his lap, snored and went back to sleep. He used a gloved hand to pet her hair.

  “We need to get to the bottom of this,” Chief declared. “We have to find out what she’s so scared of.”

  “I’ll look into it,” Scar answered. “I’m already running a background check.”

  Zayzon nodded. Scar was an asshole most of the time, but he was also the most focused and determined of them all. If anyone would get to the bottom of this mystery, it was Scar.

  “Don’t be concerned,” Chief said. “We’ll fix this. All of us, together, will make sure Lila of One is protected. She’s family now.”

  His two hearts expanded, and warmth glowed in his chest.

  He set down his pitcher of ale and picked up his Bride to carry her back to his room.

  “Wait,” Rook whispered. He bent and scooped the little bot off the floor and placed it carefully with Lila, careful to not wake her. “Don’t forget Max.”

  Zayzon gave a nod of thanks and went to their room. He gently placed her on the bed and slipped off her red shoes. He put Max back in the restroom. Then he stripped his own clothes off, leaving his gloves on, lay next to her and fell asleep with her scent lingering.

  9

  Lila woke up the next morning to the lively sounds of Illibrium miners readying for first shift. Cleansing units rumbled and feet stomped down the hallway.

  The crew would be leaving for work soon and she was charged with cleaning and organizing their tragic compound.