Chasm

by Viola Grace

  “And yet you are happy together. What was your wedding like?”

  “It was wonderful, but I could have done without being stalked by butterflies…never mind.” She shook her head and Razi opened the door to her quarters.

  With gowns to try on and wedding rituals to learn, their bonding continued into the night.

  Terran girls always loved sleepovers.

  Chapter Nine

  The tight fit of the gown made Razi very aware of her curves. The flow of her black hair down her back, until it brushed her buttocks, brought the gaze of the witnesses to her assets.

  Gwen was walking at her side, wearing a gown that was far more subdued than the glittering, almost translucent, confection that wrapped and supported Razi’s breasts, holding tightly to her ribs and hips before flowing into glossy waves to the ground.

  Ailan and Eckhar were waiting for her at the front of the hall and the ship was rotating to allow the bright light of the stars in for an artificial dawn.

  With a bouquet of flowers and gems woven in her hair, she felt like a princess for the first time in her life.

  The captain’s voice was a buzzing in her ears. All she could think of was that Ailan and Eckhar would be hers as soon as this ceremony was over.

  “Razi, Razi!” He waved his hand in front of her eyes and Gwen laughed.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you take these men to be yours?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “Gwen Steryio Mathijen, do you give Razi to the Oefric, her offspring and genetic line to be ours alone?”

  “I do not. We will, however, share the credit with the Oefric. Terrans are Terrans until our lines die out.”

  Captain Althoush blinked in shock, as did many of the observers.

  “She can be their companion, wife, lover and mate. She can devote her life to the Oefric people, but she was born of a different world and that world is just getting started.”

  “Ailan and Eckhar, do you accept the amendment?”

  Together they spoke, “We do.”

  “Then meditate and blend your minds. Become one in every sense and enjoy each other.”

  Ailan and Eckhar helped her kneel and kept hold of her hands.

  A warmth crept through her mind and she recognized its flavour. It was them--her mates--and she could hardly wait to get them alone.

  Two hours of meditation let her read their emotions and when the food was served, she could tell which items her men liked and which they did not care for.

  The captain organized a series of games for the men and even Etien participated in the shifting competitions. His win caused his wife to congratulate him most publicly and Razi had had enough.

  She sent her lust and frustration to her men and they immediately stood. She took their hands and hauled them out of the gathering room and back to her chamber.

  Not a word was spoken as they disrobed each other, eager hands pulled at fabric and then it was blissful skin on skin on skin.

  Ailan nibbled at her neck and caressed her spine and hips, delving his fingers between her buttocks and between her thighs into her rear channel. She went up on her toes as he thrust into her.

  In front of her, Eckhar went to his knees as he licked and sucked at her breasts until she was quivering with desperation.

  “Inside, now. Please.”

  Eckhar quickly moved to lie on his back while she eagerly crawled over him.

  Ailan positioned himself against the second entrance created by Nala.

  As she eased onto Eckhar’s rigid member, Ailan eased inside until she was completely filled. Ailan rocked against her, moving her on Eckhar and in seconds, she screamed as her body clamped on both hard cocks within her.

  Sweat beaded Eckhar’s brow as he fought for control and as soon as Razi was back with focus, he nodded to Ailan. He began to move again, but this time, it went on and on until she once again was hovering on the edge of release.

  In a prearranged signal, Ailan thrust deep and bit one shoulder while Eckhar bit the other. The scream Razi let loose carried a wave of power with it and their minds went from connected to wide open. Their roars followed her emanation into the bedroom.

  I can’t believe it. I can hear everything you are thinking. It was bizarre, but she didn’t mind it.

  Ailan nuzzled her neck, his body sated for the time being. I did not expect it so soon.

  Nor did I. I hadn’t realized what a female felt until now.

  You mean the orgasm? That was a good one, but there are all kinds of releases. Grinning, she rocked on them and they winced as the heads of their cocks shrieked with sensitivity.

  Okay, no moving afterward. Got it.

  Ailan moved to the side, pulling out of her and then tugging her to lie against him. It felt nice and went into the feeling of being perfect the moment that Eckhar cuddled against her.

  The sex was nice, but they were her mates and that was going far, far beyond the physical.

  The physical is nice too, though. Ailan’s voice was amused and he started to kiss his way down her shoulder.

  I would agree--the physical is very nice. Eckhar’s fingers sought and found her clit, rubbing in slow circles until her mind was humming with arousal.

  Ailan was trailing his fingers lightly over her spine, using all of the sensitive spots he had found during their nocturnal tease attacks. With a small nip on her buttocks, her body overloaded and she twisted in place.

  Instead of her vocal orgasm, this one took her breath. Eckhar’s fingers kept the spasms going until she almost blacked out.

  When she managed to regain her breath, she had been turned and Ailan’s kiss was arousing her all over again. His cock was hot against her belly, pressing against her insistently.

  She wrapped her fingers around his rod, feeling Eckhar’s silent groan as he shared the experience. It warmed her, knowing that what one felt, the other shared. They knew what each touch and caress was doing to her and she could feel the tightness, the pleasure that a light friction on the shaft was creating.

  Razi straightened Ailan’s cock, shifting her hips until he was nudging her entrance.

  Eckhar echoed her movements and positioned himself inside her.

  They shoved in together and she gasped and whimpered at the sudden fullness.

  That feels bizarre. Do you always feel like that? Eckhar was leaning against her shoulder and his eyes were closed as he absorbed her sensations.

  She could feel her own body wrapped around their cocks--hot, wet, tight and with a peculiar rhythmic massage. That last feeling was aftershocks of her previous orgasms, but they didn’t care, it felt fantastic.

  They rocked, revelled in and twisted against each other until satisfaction and then exhaustion claimed them.

  In the night, they woke and bathed, returning to the bed for a round of experimentation that lasted into the small hours of the new day.

  They would soon land on the home world of the Oefric and there they would have to start a new home, new life and possibly new jobs.

  Razi grinned happily as they slept in a pile. A honeymoon in space had never been more appreciated.

  Chapter Ten

  Two years later

  The museum of Oefric was a wonderful structure. Its very solid nature brought a sense of the history that it contained.

  Razi stretched and walked slowly through the dim reception hall. She was not moving swiftly lately and her pride in sneaking away from her mates was a little squelched with the guilt it brought on.

  “Curator, how are you feeling?” Sahshi had a concerned expression on her face.

  She mentally cursed at her assistant’s interception. “I am fine, Sahshi, I just want to check on the new exhibit.”

  “Ailan said you were not to attend work until your baby arrived.” The scowl on her young face spoke volumes.

  “Don’t squeal. It is taking all my energy to project that I am home and napping.”

  Sahshi sighed. “You shouldn’t be exerting yourself.
It isn’t good for the baby.”

  “The baby is fine. My curiosity is doing strange things to my mind and I just have to finish those translations.” Razi kept waddling forward, her baby rather quiet for an active little beastie.

  Sahshi didn’t say another word, simply took her arm and helped to balance her unwieldy bulk down the hall and to the research lab.

  They passed several museum employees who waved at her while eyeing her belly with a nervous gaze. Smirking, she kept waddling through the halls until she reached her private lab containing the notebooks and data packs that had brought her here.

  They were being prepared for an exhibit of Oefric origin and Razi had some more information to glean from the books. She hadn’t been alone with them again until last month and by then, her condition forced her to rest more than she was able to work.

  She wanted to get one answer and that answer was hidden somewhere in the documents, she was sure of it.

  Sahshi helped ensconce her in her chair and wheeled her over to the materials. “What do you want to look at, Razi?”

  “That notebook over there. The one with the green cover.”

  The ache in her back was annoying, but it wasn’t going to stop her from doing what she loved. She was after the name of the species that created the Oefric and she wasn’t going to have her baby until she knew.

  With her hands gloved and the instruments sterilized, she opened the book and used her talent to decipher the ancient language.

  It had come as a bit of a shock to learn that few, if any, Oefric could read the old texts, but that was why Razi was in space. A human with a talent for ancient and dead languages had a place in the human Volunteers whether she was up for it or not.

  The ancient Oefric’s books gave a wealth of knowledge about the first settlers but no mention by name of the race that started the whole thing. Razi wanted to know who had the bad taste to create a new race as war machines.

  She sat at her station, rubbing her back as the pain grew more intense and she went through the history of the settlement as well as the constant search for females. Despite the breeding adjustments, they had suffered from a skewed gender divide. Far more males than females were born and with the biological adjustment removed after the next generation, multiple matings became less common.

  Razi’s belly contracted and she paused. Labour. Huh. Not until she found that answer.

  Another hour passed as she pored over the documents and finally she saw a sentence.

  And now our creators are dying out. They have been banished from their own world and must leave it for another people. Their wars and tampering are at an end. Admar will die.

  Her shout of triumph was lost in a shriek of surprise as her water broke. There was no hiding that from Ailan and Eckhar. Their fury and worry rippled into her mind as Eckhar came to get her and Ailan prepped at the medical centre for her arrival.

  Neither of them was very happy with her, but she didn’t care. The mystery of the creators was solved.

  “Sahshi, can you wheel me to the front door? Eckhar is on his way. Oh, and apologize to housekeeping for me.” Razi carefully closed the notebook and put it in its preservation case.

  She stripped off her gloves and tried not to get dizzy as her assistant hauled her to the front doors.

  Razi breathed slowly through the contractions but was very happy to see her scowling mate as he charged up the steps.

  “You were supposed to be in bed.”

  “I know. Bed is boring when you two are at work.” She batted her lashes at him and his scowl cracked into a grin.

  “Flirting your way out of this won’t work.”

  “Yes, it will.” She grinned and lifted her arms to him, the interspecies sign for up.

  He lifted her tightly against his chest and walked to his skimmer. She was securely buckled in and they were on their way to the medical centre.

  The pain wrapped around her in a band from the centre of her spine across the front of her distended abdomen. She tried to keep her pain from Eckhar, but his hands tightened on the controls with every contraction.

  When they reached the medical centre, she almost cried. Ailan’s irritated features were just as welcome as her other mate’s when he lifted her from the skimmer and carried her inside.

  “You were supposed to be at home, Razi.”

  “And you were supposed to have more of a sense of humour.” She grunted with pain as the efforts of her baby took on a new intensity.

  She caught her breath. “Babies need a ‘good coming into the world’ story and I have a doozy for this little one.”

  He paused while settling her on a medical bed.

  Eckhar put pillows behind her back and his furrowed brow let her know he was listening intently without prying into her thoughts.

  It had taken them months to separate their minds after their first joining, but her men’s jobs demanded that they be able to pay attention to their surroundings at all times.

  Eckhar had taken on a post as the head of the city enforcers. He was on call day and night to answer any queries or situations that were required.

  Ailan was head of paediatrics at the city’s largest medical centre. He had returned to school to specialize the moment that they landed.

  Eckhar’s position with the enforcers and Razi’s with the museum guaranteed them good income as well as a lovely house in one of the larger suburbs.

  “You found it?”

  “I did. Ooof.” She clutched her belly and waved at Ailan’s assistant while he checked on her.

  “Almost there.”

  “Are you going to be able to do this? I won’t be able to keep blocking for long.”

  Eckhar and Ailan winced in unison.

  “Carry Micral will be here in a moment and she will take over from there. I sent for her when you said you were on your way.”

  Razi nodded and kept breathing in quick pants when the pain escalated and by the time the doctor arrived, both of her mates were hunched over and breathing with her.

  Razi watched Carry stop and look at the scene with unbridled amusement. “I wish I had my vid recorder. This is precious.”

  Ailan gave her a scowl, but he had to gasp again as Razi stopped blocking her pain from her mates. They put it in. They were going to feel it when it came out.

  “I believe that it is on its way, Carry.” Razi blew her hair away from her eyes and tried to look composed.

  “I really hope so. If not, you need to cut down on the fibre, Razi.” Chuckling at her own wit, Carry checked and whistled.

  “Hold on for just a moment while I get you ready, Razi. Your baby is almost here.”

  Razi ignored the maintenance that was going on below. She was concentrating on not pushing. Don’t push, don’t push, don’t push.

  The child was theirs. The design job that Nala had done on her was up to ancient standards. The genetic scans indicated that it was a blend of all three of their little grouping. This child and his or her descendants would breed pure Oefric.

  Don’t push, don’t push, don’t push.

  “Okay, Razi. When I tell you to push, I want you to push.”

  Razi stowed the sarcasm and pushed. She concentrated on shifting her body from the waist down and she pushed again.

  After all the pain, the baby slid into Carry’s hands without a fight. “Stop pushing. Just breathe now and put yourself back the way you were. The view is just disturbing.”

  Laughing and crying at the same time, Razi waited for a sound. There was a sucking noise and then a gurgling wail and their little one was making a lot of fuss.

  Carry lifted the infant and laid the baby on Razi’s chest. “Congratulations. My son has a date to his first school dance.”

  A huge baby girl was on her chest. Wide amber eyes were staring up at her and Razi looked to Ailan and Eckhar who were at her side, staring down in amazement.

  “She’s beautiful and huge. How much does she weigh?” Razi had been assured that she wasn’t
carrying twins, but her size had made even her doubt that she wasn’t.

  “Fourteen pounds. It’s a good thing you can shift. She would have ripped you apart.” Carry was delivering the afterbirth and when she had tidied up, she left the family to admire their new addition.

  “A girl. I never thought it would be a girl.” Eckhar held out his finger and the bright-eyed baby gripped it tightly.

  Ailan bit his lip and Razi smiled. “What do we name her?”

  Ailan answered, “Barial Razi. She should wear your name.”

  Razi smiled and leaned back on the cushions while Ailan helped Barial to her breast. This little girl was going to be loved and when she was grown, the local men who wanted to court her would have to be very, very brave.

  For a woman whose life was investigating the past, Razi had a sudden interest in seeing the future. Looking at her family, she knew the future was going to be so brilliant, it would blind all who looked at it and in that moment, she decided to begin her own record of where she came from.

  Hundreds of years down the road, this moment might give hope to a species or a person who thought that the past held all that the worlds had to offer.

  The future was a bright and living thing and Barial was living proof.

  Epilogue

  “The exhibit is wonderful, Razi.”

  “Thank you, Gwen. Thanks for coming to visit.”

  “Thank you for the invitation. There, is that enough politeness?”

  Laughing, Razi smiled down at her daughter. “It is.”

  “How is the AI handling being part of an exhibit?”

  “Nala is doing rather well. Her base programming is still intact, but she can’t go anywhere. The security here is rather tight and Eckhar has a truth seer go over everyone in the facility before they are hired.”

  “She seems to enjoy holding court.”

  “Surrounded by male and female Oefric, she has no reason to create more. The population records here calmed her down rather effectively.”