by Zoey Draven
Once Keriva grilled her about what had happened when she’d started bleeding last week and once she seemed satisfied with the answers and Kate had recited Privanax’s assurances that it wouldn’t happen again with careful observation and plenty of rest, they finally began. Kate assumed her position, one she knew well after Keriva had made over a dozen dresses for her, and her friend began the draping process, asking Kate for her input every now and again on where she’d like the folds of the dress to fall. Keriva set up a full-length mirror in front of them so Kate could see the progress and she took the time to study herself, cataloguing the changes in her body while her friend concentrated on her work.
She was nearing the two-month pregnancy mark. While most human women wouldn’t even be showing at this point, Kate looked like she was well into her second trimester. Her stomach had grown exponentially in just the past week. She guessed that her baby was already the size of a grapefruit and growing fast. While she might not give birth at exactly three months, like Luxirian women used to, she would definitely be ready by four and certainly no more than five.
It was crazy to think that in a short time, she would be a mother. Vaxa would be a father and they would be adding to their small, strange little family.
Only if Vaxa succeeds…she thought.
Her throat burned as the Trials once again entered her mind. She couldn’t escape them, it seemed.
Softly, she asked Keriva, “Is there anything in particular I need to wear…when Vaxa finally meets his challengers?”
It was a way to bring up the Trials—and hopefully pick Keriva’s brain about them—without directly asking.
Keriva’s hand paused at her back where she was diligently pinning.
“In truth, I was not certain whether you would be attending or not,” Keriva said, just as softly, although her tone held a hint of nonchalance, as if these things were nothing out of the ordinary. As if her mate wasn’t fighting five Luxirian warriors in one night and could possibly die.
“How could I not go?” Kate questioned, staring at her reflection in the mirror. That was where Keriva met her eyes for a brief moment before looking away. “I would go crazy if I just stayed here and waited. I’d rather be there for him.”
“Has he brought it up to you?” Keriva questioned. “About whether or not you will be in attendance?”
“This is my choice,” she said. “I want to be there whether he wins or loses.”
“The Prime Leader is strong, Kat,” Keriva said. “You do not need to worry over this. It is not good for the offspring. As for what you will wear, the bronze dress I crafted for you will be an appropriate choice for the Trials.”
Keriva said nothing more about it. Kate had even tried questioning Bruxilia about these Trials, but the older woman had remained uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the whole thing, as if she knew it would upset her.
And she didn’t know why she said it—maybe it was frustration or she just needed to fill the empty air with words or she needed a distraction—but she murmured, quite unexpectedly, “Vaxa mentioned that you had feelings for him when you two were younger.”
Keriva stopped pinning.
Kate looked at her in the mirror. “I know that we’ve never talked about it. But I do consider you a good friend, one of my only friends here actually. And if it’s weird for you or awkward to talk about him, then just let me know and I’ll shut up.”
Silence cut through the living room like a knife. Keriva seemed stunned, processing her words, trying to gauge Kate’s reaction, while Kate was trying to gauge Keriva’s.
For a moment, Kate was sorry that she’d said anything at all—what had even possessed her to say such a thing?—but then Keriva said, “It was a long time ago. If you feel uncomfortable in my presence then you only need to tell me.”
“No!” Kate exclaimed. “That’s not what I meant at all. I don’t care about it. I—I just know that you two have a history and I didn’t know if me talking about these things was weird for you or not. I love my mate very much and I know that I mention him quite often. I didn’t know if you…”
Understanding dawned on her friend’s features as she trailed off. After a moment, Keriva resumed her work and Kate relaxed, just a little bit.
“I would not call it a ‘history,’ Kat. Vaxa’an never returned my feelings,” Keriva told her. “And I have not felt that way for him in some time. I was young. Vaxa’an was handsome and an exceptional warrior and the future leader to our people. There were many females who wanted him in the same way I did and he was certainly not lacking in his admirers.”
Kate smiled, imagining that Vaxa had had quite the fan club. Her mate was a magnificent specimen. Then her smile faded when a stray thought crossed her mind. “Did you know his brother very well?”
“Jaxor’an?” Kate filed that name away, for her mate had never spoken his brother’s name, at least to her. “Yes, I did know him,” Keriva continued. “I came here with my mother quite often when she made dresses for the lavrix’an. The late lavrix’an, I mean,” she corrected, nodding at Kate.
Vaxa’an had told her that his brother abandoned the Golden City after their parents died. He abandoned Vaxa’an to seek out a rogue tribe of Luxirians that broke away from the whole. And her mate had not heard from or seen his brother since. Ever since he’d told her about his brother, she’d found herself wondering about him, wondering why there had been bad blood between them, wondering what had happened to him.
“What was he like?” Kate asked.
“Jaxor’an was…very different from Vaxa’an. He was rebellious, a little wild. They never seemed like blood brothers to me. They did not mesh well. Where Vaxa’an is serious, Jaxor’an liked to push boundaries and question authority. They were both stubborn, though. That trait seemed to run in their family like an infection.”
Kate laughed, her curiosity about the younger brother only slightly satisfied. Vaxa’an never seemed to want to talk about him, so she never pushed him too hard about it. She even felt a little guilty trying to get information out of Keriva…but who could blame her? She’d always been too nosy for her own good.
Still, Kate decided to hold off on her mini-inquisition for a while. As Keriva worked, they talked of other, more pleasant things—Keriva told her all about the cranky older woman she’d been crafting dresses for and her seemingly crazy antics—and it felt nice to simply chat with a friend. It took her mind off more serious issues, at least for a little bit.
Keriva packed up and left just as the suns began their descent in the sky. It had been over three hours since she’d first arrived and Vaxa had settled for calls over the silver pad instead of physically checking in on her since he knew Keriva was there. But he’d be home from the training pits soon and she was hoping that tonight, she would finally be able to persuade him to resume their intimacy. There was no way in hell she wanted to remain celibate until their child was born, not when just the thought of him turned her brain to mush.
As she waved goodbye to Keriva from the terrace as the woman guided her own hovercraft up into the darkening sky, she marveled at the strange position she was in…of having to actively seduce her mate into having sex with her. Not when just a couple weeks ago, she’d had to actively fend him off of her so that she could go about her day in peace.
Kate smiled, turning back to the house. She supposed she would just have to make it so that he wouldn’t be able to resist her advances.
But what to do?
The answer didn’t come to her until she was washing up in the bathroom. On one of the shelves, where Kate kept the soaps and shampoo-like liquids that Vaxa had given her, was the little vial of oil that he’d purchased from the vendor in the marketplace that one afternoon.
Curious, she uncapped it and dabbed her finger over the rounded top before swiping some on the underside of her unbruised wrist. It was like silicone lubricant, clear and deliciously slippery. But a moment later, she gasped when her fingertip and wrist began to tingle a
nd warm. It felt like fingers of heat were stretching outwards from the oil and the place between her legs gave a responding throb at the exquisite sensation.
Kate’s lips curled.
This would do nicely.
Now, if only her mate would return from his training session so she could thoroughly seduce his brains out.
NINE
Vaxa’an knew he was in trouble the moment he saw his mate.
Actually, he’d known he was in trouble before he’d stepped foot inside his own dwelling because he’d scented his female all the way from the terrace.
Vaxa’an groaned, his cock already thickened and swelling fast within the confines of his leg coverings. His blood heated, his pulsed raced, and it took everything in him not to immediately locate his luxiva, push her down onto all fours, and fuck her like he’d been aching to, like he’d been dreaming to.
She wasn’t in the central hub, but he found her in their quarters.
And all the breath left him when he saw her. Specifically when he saw what she was doing.
His whole body stiffened and he swore that every ounce of blood he possessed went streaming down to his cock. It could be used as a deadly weapon, given how hard it was.
His mate was nude, lying in the middle of their sleeping platform. Her pink nipples were tightly pinched into peaks, her full breasts on display. Her dark hair was spread over their furs, catching the light of the moon just outside their window.
And her delicate fingers were working furiously between her thighs. Her scent was so thick in the room that he could almost taste her on his tongue.
His rumbling purr started in his chest and that was what alerted her to his presence, since her head lolled to the side to regard him.
“Vaxa,” she murmured, her voice raspy and full of sin.
His mate was pleasuring herself without him there. For a moment, he felt shame. What kind of male did not fulfill his females needs? Because if she felt the need to bring herself to orgasm, he obviously was not giving her sufficient pleasure.
On purpose, he thought, frowning. He’d been hesitant to resume their mating activities in fear of hurting his mate…but his patience and discipline was wearing thin. Very, very thin. And this was enough to push him over the edge.
“Luxiva, you torture me,” he said, his voice ragged. That was when he spied the koraxian oil on the perch beside their sleeping platform. It was opened and his mate’s fingers shimmered with it as she touched her dripping cunt.
His body tightened in arousal, his muscles expanding. Even though he had just exhausted himself training—and he had the wounds to prove it—he felt a surge of energy as his body prepared to mate.
“And you’ve been torturing me,” his female panted, her eyes glowing in the darkness. He could hear her arousal as she plunged her fingers inside.
Vaxa’an growled, not daring to approach. He was a moment away from snapping and he clutched at the door of their quarters, hard enough to splinter off a piece of the weathered mountain stone. It came away as dust in his grip.
Kat moaned, her eyes running over his body and Vaxa felt his chest puff out, letting her peruse her male at her leisure.
“Come here,” she murmured, her back arching off the sleeping platform just slightly, jutting her nipples towards the sky. A crisp breeze blew in from their window and he saw something she called ‘goosebumps’ tingle over her flesh. “Come warm me, Vaxa.”
Vaxa’an swallowed so hard that he could hear it echo around their quarters. He smoothed a hand over his straightened horn, his nostrils flaring, savoring the scent of his mate.
His Instinct battled within him. His Instinct demanded that he satisfy his mate, that he bring her pleasure so that she would never have to do it herself again. That was his responsibility, his right as her mate, one he performed with great satisfaction.
His feet carried him to the edge of the sleeping platform. Her scent only grew stronger, more intense, and he gazed down at her, at her nude, lush body, which was heavy with his child, fighting with everything he had in him. This female had nothing on what he faced in the fighting pits. This female would bring him to his knees in a moment and finish him.
Vaxa’an had been fighting against his Instinct and his desires for the past week. Every time his luxiva had tried to coax him into mating, he swore he lost a rotation off his life by the way it gutted him to refuse her. There was only so much a male could withstand.
Kat leaned up on her elbow and slowly swung her legs over the side of the sleeping platform, straddling them on both sides of his knees. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his cock impossibly close to her center. He could feel her heat and she continued to scoot closer. Her fingers glistened with her juices, her chest heaving, gaze bright with arousal. She reached up and traced his lips before dipping her fingertips between them. Vaxa’an growled, seizing her wrist in a possessive grip, as his tongue lapped at her offered juices. His mate’s lips curled and her head lolled back briefly, as if she could feel his tongue right where she wanted it, where she needed it.
Vaxa’an both thanked and cursed the Fates that he’d been given such a sensual, lusty creature as his mate.
Her other hand fumbled with the laces on his leg coverings and he exhaled sharply when she pushed them down his thighs, his thick, erect cock springing free and bobbing against his abdomen.
A strangled sound tore from his throat when his mate lowered her head and immediately sucked on the swollen head, scooping his opalescent seed from the tip with that warm, seeking tongue.
Kat lifted her head, releasing his shaft with a gentle pop, and reached over for the small, open vial of koraxian. Vaxa’an let out a shuddering breath, biting her finger gently, as she poured the silky oil over his cock. His eyes slid shut and his belly convulsed as heat spread, little pulses of white hot pleasure following in its wake. He’d only used the oil once before, with a mating partner that he couldn’t even recall with clarity. After his luxiva, his past lovers were all faceless and nameless.
His body gave a fierce tremble when his maddening mate leaned down and dragged the tips of her nipples over his oiled cock, gasping as the oil smoothed over her sensitive flesh.
Vaxa’an sucked in a breath…and then his control snapped.
With a rougher push than he intended, he sent his mate sprawling back onto their sleeping platform before kneeling and throwing her legs over his shoulders.
“Oh God,” she choked out when he buried his face between her thighs. He purred at her taste, licking deep inside her cunt like he was starved, his tongue vibrating.
His eyes rolled back into his head, fearing that he would spend his seed any moment, without any further stimulation. Fates, he had missed this.
His mate came on his tongue and he lapped at her pleasure, driving her higher and higher onto the sleeping platform with his fervor. She clutched at his dark horns, clasping his head between her knees with increasing pressure, as if afraid he would retreat.
He brought her to orgasm once more before he finally did retreat. He cradled her belly in his hands, feeling the warmth of her stomach, knowing that his heir grew strong within her. Vaxa’an crawled up her body, his heartbeat strumming, his blood rushing in his ears.
“The baby’s fine,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with tears from the intensity of her orgasms. “Trust me.”
“I do,” he murmured. Then he spread her legs wide and thrust himself into his mate. His cock vibrated within, keeping up with the constant purring in his chest. He wouldn’t last as long as he normally did. It had been much too long since he’d taken his mate in this way, much too long since he’d felt her tight, wet heat snug around his pulsing shaft. He held back some of his strength, trying to be gentle with her, but her gasping moans in his ear spurred him on, soothed his worries.
When he finally released his seed into her body, he tossed his head back and roared, his spine bending with sweet, almost painful pleasure. Lashes and lashes of his hot cum bathed her walls and lea
ked between them, soiling the furs.
But much like their mating ceremony, he couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop. His Instinct took over, demanding due for the past week of denying the both of them, and his cock never softened within her.
Vaxa’an flipped them, reversing positions, until his mate straddled his hips and he lay underneath her. Her hands helped steady her body on his chest as he pumped his hips below her, their flesh slapping together, making her full breasts bob and sway.
“Your cunt rides me so sweetly, female,” he rasped.
“It makes you feel good, doesn’t it?” she whispered, eyes dazed. “I love making you feel good.”
“Tev,” he hissed when she ground her hips down sharply. “Tev, luxiva.”
She leaned down to nibble and lick the metal that pierced through his nipples. The tendons in his neck strained as she flicked that wicked tongue against them.
He angled his next thrust to hit her ‘G-spot’ and her whole body jolted upwards, a shudder making her cunt quiver around him.
“Do it again,” she ordered and Vaxa’an grinned, happy to oblige his demanding mate, even as he held onto the thinnest thread of control imaginable.
Another orgasm hit her and triggered his own release. He saw black before stars burst into his vision and he groaned out his female’s name, chanting it over and over again like a prayer to the Fates.
They fell back onto the sleeping platform, panting and spent, but Vaxa’an was reluctant to withdraw from his mate’s body, and she seemed happy to keep him there.
They lay side-by-side, his luxiva’s leg tossed over his outer thigh. Cheeks flushed pink, she wore a soft, dazed smile as she traced her fingertips over his lips and smoothed back his hair.
