Night of the Zandians

by Renee Rose

I giggle as we head out to our newly delivered pod vehicle, allowing Ronan to carry me. Most of the early domes have shared vehicles now; someday we’ll have our own dedicated one, but production times can’t keep up with the need, so we alternate.

  “Thank veck it’s our turn for the pod,” says Tarren, as he syncs his comm device to the controls and types in coordinates. “And that it’s one of the new auto-drive ones.”

  “Because you’re too lazy to captain it,” agrees Ronan, nodding.

  Tarren snorts. “More because I have to keep an eye on you, to make sure you’re not accidentally falling out of the emergency release door or pushing buttons you shouldn’t.” He rolls his eyes and I laugh. I love their affectionate rivalry. At first, I was worried they really didn’t get along. Now I know it’s just part of the way they interact, and that their bond goes so deep it can’t be shattered, all three of them.

  As the pod zooms past our dome, my pulse quickens as new vistas come into view. There are our neighboring domes, and now the Eloki Hill, and—oh, Mother Earth.

  Tears come to my eyes and I clasp a hand to my mouth, as the most majestic scene confronts me. The waterfall must be hundreds of feet high, and the water is white and snarled, crashing like waves, but from this distance, it also reminds me of lacey flowers in the breeze. Rainbows flash and dance through the spray, and I can already hear the roar, a mountain of water, falling endlessly down into a deep blue pool, cerulean, azure. And on all sides, as far as I can see there are crystals. Caves, grottos, different colors, all sparkling and twinkling like a vast treasure. It’s something from a dream.

  “It’s even better than the holos,” I murmur, eyes wide.

  “No image does this justice,” agrees Jax, taking my hand.

  All three of them are silent, and I wonder if this affects them more powerfully than it does me. They have a deep connection with these crystals, which power their blood, their very existence. That was part of what made the Finnian takeover so despicable. They sought to clean this planet out of its crystal completely. Sell it for laser guns. Because they knew Zandians required it to live, they purposely tried to exterminate their entire species.

  But their time to pay came.

  “It is a sacred place,” Tarren says finally. “Can you feel it, too?” His eyes seek mine.

  “I do.” I touch his face, along the scar. “Yes.”

  “Your crystals came from here.” His voice is low and he touches my ear. I push my head into the warmth of his palm.

  Jax cups my nape, running his thumb along the tendrils of hair there. “The crystals are not just for beauty.” He drops a kiss onto my neck. “They are a reminder you are as sacred to us as life. You wear the crystals to show that you are necessary to us, for life and our future. It’s a bond that can’t be broken.”

  I tear up and put my hand on top of his, so both of our palms press into my body. “Thank you. I have never been so valued in my entire life.”

  I force my thoughts to stay here, in this moment, not to lurch to the future. “Can we… go out? May I touch the crystals?”

  “Let’s go.” Ronan holds out his hand. “I want you to look at all the colors and tell me which are your favorites, and I will compare and see if mine match. I have a special fondness for the one with hints of red.” He smiles at me. “I don’t know why, but I just do.”

  “The moss is thick alongside the waterfall,” Jax says. “We can relax there, a safe distance from the edges.”

  “It’s so loud.” I almost have to shout to make myself heard. This close to the falls, the power is extraordinary, and terrifying. So much water can crush and destroy anything, even as it’s a force for life. Nature is a fierce goddess.

  Rocks studded with crystals are interspersed with ferns, scattered amidst the thick moss. I wander to the closest one and run my hands over the crystals, pink and teal, aquamarine and garnet, allowing my fingertips to feel them. Then I close my eyes and touch again, and to my surprise, feel a thrum, a spark, coursing through me.

  Startled, I blink and look around—was that real? My mates watch me, hunger in their eyes.

  “There’s energy here.” Jax says with a smile at my reaction. “We all feel it. If you can too, that will only strengthen our bond. I didn’t know if a human would feel it, but—we have much to learn about how Zandians and humans interact. Change each other.”

  They seem even more powerful than before, as if the very air here revitalizes them. I’ve never seen Ronan stand this tall, or Tarren look this magnificent. Jax’s profile is beautiful beyond belief, his muscles perfect.

  Jax nods to his cousins. Once again, they communicate without words, and when Jax turns to me and holds out his hand, gesturing to a thick patch of soft moss a few dozen feet away, I smile.

  I wasn’t sure it would be appropriate. Now that I’m here, mating by this waterfall is not just acceptable, but necessary. This place calls to me. I want to be one with my Zandians, and I can barely contain my arousal as Jax strips me of my clothes, without words. It’s too loud to speak, and at this moment, we need no language.

  We fall into a rhythm that has become natural, an order we understand from many nights together. And when I come against Ronan’s mouth, and with Jax’s cock, and then Tarren’s, I cry out my orgasms, screaming my joy into the roaring water that swallows my sounds but tosses them back in its echoes across the valley. And what I’m shouting out is this: I’m happy.

  8

  Tarren

  I have exciting news,” I call, my heart pounding as I enter our dome, late in the evening. The sky is dark, with the stars and constellations bright like diamonds on black ink. The dome smells like bread, something Riya must have baked this planet rotation. Although I don’t eat like she does, I’ve come to enjoy the welcoming aromas associated with her human habits.

  Jax, seated on a stool, his legs spread wide, frowns down at a large map on the table, tapping his fingers in concentration. Ronan lies on a couch, Riya nestled up to him; he’s playing her some holo on his Comm tabb. Her eyes sparkle as her hair brushes his shoulder. My cock quivers, imagining her hair on my skin, but—later.

  “Katya is pregnant with young,” I call out, slamming the door and stamping my boots on the patch of cloth Riya admonishes us to use. “She announced just now.”

  Jax leaps up and the map drops to the floor in his haste. “What great news,” he roars, punching the air with his fist.

  Ronan comes over and gives me a rough hug. Then he steps back and laughs. “Well, maybe I should save the embrace for the Zandian who put the baby there,” he remarks, and we all laugh, a little too loudly, perhaps. “We should all celebrate. Riya, what do you think?”

  But Riya’s gone pale, eyes wide, as if in shock. Then she blinks and rubs her hands together. “I’m… beyond myself with excitement,” she says, her voice low.

  Like veck.

  Is our little mate sorry she’s not pregnant first? Stars, I never want her to feel like a failure. Not at anything.

  She touches her face and looks out the window for a moment, and I pick up a wave of unease from her. Is she scared? I look to Jax and Ronan for clarification, but neither have caught her expression, and by the time she rises to her feet and shifts her long hair behind her ears, she’s smiling, too, her cheeks back to their regular color.

  “It’s amazing,” she says. “A baby. The future. Of course, we knew it was going to happen.”

  “But nobody was completely sure,” Ronan added. “So it’s a relief. The first young in the repopulation project.” He grabs Riya around the waist and swings her in a circle. “How about we spend some time tonight making sure we are the second group to announce?” He puts her down and steps back. “Unless… you already… are… expecting?” His eyes go wide, and his face goes still.

  I snort, because he’s touching her belly like she’s made of something fragile.

  But she shakes her head. “No. I’m not.” Her voice, almost mournful, makes me wonder what’s going on
in her head.

  “Not yet,” Jax corrects, leaning in to kiss her neck. “But soon.”

  Ronan is giddy. “Zandian planet, population X plus one!” he shouts, and Riya smiles at him, her eyes regaining their sparkle.

  I take a deep breath. It’s all coming together, just as we dreamed it all those years ago. Our own planet… homesteads… and now, the promise of a growing population. All the pieces falling into place like some plan by the fates.

  The urge to take my mate overwhelms me and I tug Riya into my embrace. “Soon we will see your belly swelling with a child,” I growl into her ear. “Mine.” I don’t know if it will be mine or one of my cousins, and at this moment, I care little, as long as it happens.

  “Nothing would make me happier.” Her voice sounds faint. She reaches up and traces the scar on my cheek. When she first did this lunar cycles ago, I flinched away, but now I lean into her soft touch, knowing she does it from affection. She enjoys every part of my body, she tells me, and her fingers don’t lie. “You are so strong. Noble. Someday you will father a dozen children.” Her eyes fill with tears.

  “It makes me emotional, too,” I admit, reaching back to cup her tight ass. I’ve learned that not all tears mean anguish—sometimes humans cry when they feel strong emotions, like happiness. I’m proud that I figured it out this time. “But my cousin is right. We should spend some time ensuring it.” I grin and smack her where I grabbed her flesh, and she squeaks, that little surprised sound I vecking love.

  “I heard that humans become more fertile, the wetter they are when they veck,” Jax announces, stripping his garments. “Riya, that means I’m going to have to spank you nice and hard right now, because we all know that gets you so indecently soaked.”

  “No...” she moans, but her eyelashes flutter on her cheeks, and I see the telltale flush of arousal on her cheeks. Our little human likes our punishments.

  “I think she might need a dose of the strap,” Ronan suggests. “She vecks so much better when we strap her.”

  “The strap hurts,” Riya complains, but I see her nipples pebble under her thin garment and know she likes it far more than she admits.

  I growl and rip the fabric in two and bury her cry of surprise with my mouth. She returns my kiss, tentative, then eager, her hands reaching up to play my horns.

  I slap her ass hard. “Not yet,” I order her, taking her hands down. “I’ll tell you when. Keep them down.” I lick her nipples and nip them until she whimpers, her breath coming faster, but she obediently keeps her hands at her sides, even though she squirms under my ministrations.

  “She’s so obedient,” Jax says, his voice hoarse with need. “I love how well we’ve trained her.”

  “That’s right.” I slap her ass again, making her moan. She presses her pelvis to mine but doesn’t move her hands out of place. “She’s our little sex slave, aren’t you, Riya?”

  When we first got her, a comment like this would have been insane, especially with her background. Now, though, these words make her arousal grow, because I can smell it in the air.

  “Yes, please, I’m yours,” she whispers. “Can I touch you?”

  “No.” I sit down on the hoverdisk and tug her over my lap. “Not until I give permission. And I think tonight all three of us are going to orgasm at least once before you get even one. If you come before you’re allowed, I’ll use the whip on you.”

  She stiffens—the whip is the most serious of the implements we have, and she knows it’s only for serious infractions. In fact, I’ve never used it on her in play. But I want to make sure she understands what she needs to do.

  “Yes, Master,” she whispers.

  “Spread your thighs,” I order. “Show us your arousal. I’m going to spank you until you’re twice as wet, then I’m going to veck you hard. You don’t get to come, though, until you suck off Jax and let Ronan come in your ass. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” She shifts her thighs, and I see new moisture gather in her soft folds. She likes to be teased, even if she hates it at the same time, and her orgasms after a session of denial are so ferocious that she nearly passes out from pleasure. I plan to take her there tonight.

  I start out hard with firm spanks, not really warming her up. When I do this, it hurts more, but also arouses her fiercely, and she’ll take it as long as I hold down her bucking hips and wiggling thighs. I spank until her ass is pink and she’s begging me to stop, then I shift and hold her so she’s sitting on my lap, her back against my chest.

  “Ow, ow, Tarren, ouch,” she says, pushing her head into my shoulder. “It hurts, are you done? Please veck me now!”

  “See if she’s wet enough,” I order Jax, who’s already there.

  “Can you lean back, lift up her legs, and spread them?” Jax asks.

  “I can, cousin.” I smile and lean back against the head of the hoverdisk, and tilt Riya’s body by grabbing under her thighs and lifting up. “Legs up, human,” I order, “nice and high, and spread wide. Do what Jax wants.”

  She whimpers but obeys, assisting me, displaying herself as ordered.

  “Reach down and spread your pussy lips for Jax,” I order. “And if you’re not wet enough, you’re getting the strap to help.”

  “I’m so wet,” she moans, and reaches down. Veck, but I want to be the one tasting her honey right now. My turn will come, though, so I force her legs higher up to give Jax the treat he desires.

  He bends down and buries his head between her thighs, licking at her flesh until she cries out and I feel her tremble in my arms. “Jax, Tarren, I’m going to come, please,” she begs.

  “You know the rule,” I growl into her ear. “Are you asking for the whip?”

  “No, I don’t want the whip, but I don’t think I can hold it,” she pleads, her thighs pushing against my grip.

  “Too bad,” I say, without sympathy. “It’s part of your training. You have three masters to please, Riya. You need to learn to handle as much as we choose to give you. Orgasms are a reward, today. You earn them by giving us pleasure.”

  “I want her lying on the edge of the hoverdisk,” Jax announces. “Riya, let your head drop down a little at the edge of the hoverdisk, and open your mouth as wide as you can. I’m going to veck your throat. If you please me, I’ll ask Ronan to lick your cunt as a reward. If you don’t satisfy me, he’ll spank your pussy instead.”

  Riya gasps, and I move her to the desired spot. She looks a little scared, but when she spreads her legs she’s so wet now that it’s dripping down her inner thighs, and her nipples are bullets.

  She opens her mouth and shuts her eyes.

  Jax

  I’m so hard it hurts, and the sight of Riya naked and spread, mouth open to please me, is beyond compare. The height is perfect, and I grasp her head in both palms. “Open your eyes,” I tell her, and she does, looking at me upside down. “You won’t be able to talk with my cock in your mouth,” I tell her, “and I’m going to veck you for a long time. Squeeze Tarren’s hand if you need air, and he’ll alert me.”

  “Yes, Master,” she whispers, giving her hand to Tarren, who lies beside her, already tonguing her nipples.

  “And keep those thighs wide,” I remind her, “so Ronon can punish your pussy if it’s necessary. Now open.” I slap her cheek, not hard, a possessive tap that makes her gasp, but she opens her mouth.

  I sink in, inch by inch, the hot velvet of her tongue like paradise. Her throat is narrow, and the grip of it on my cock, so tight, makes me dizzy with pleasure. I grab her head and hold it, moving her as I veck, in and out, getting into a rhythm. I feel her stiffen, and pull out, and she coughs and gasps for breath. The she looks up at me, and obediently leans her head back and opens her mouth.

  I pump her again, this time going deeper, and it’s mere seconds before I feel the tingling in my balls. “I’m going to come in your mouth,” I roar. “Swallow all of it, Riya. Don’t miss a vecking drop.”

  She can’t speak but I can see from Ronan’s expr
ession that she’s wetter than ever, because he starts to lick her clit. Her hips shoot up and he grasps them just as I come hard into her throat, pulsing again and again, one of the best orgasms of my life. Having Riya held down and pleasured while I veck her mouth is the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen, and I roar her name over and over, the feeling overwhelming me.

  When I pull out, leaving a trail of rainbow semen on her lips, she gasps for air and tries to push her body into Ronan’s mouth. “Oh, please, veck, please,” she wails, twisting in his hands.

  “No,” he says. “And if you ask again, I’ll have to punish your pussy.”

  “Do it anyway,” Tarren says. “I want to hear how wet it is when you smack it.”

  “Great idea, cousin,” Ronan agrees.

  I stagger to the hoverdisk and lay down next to Riya, exhausted, my body still pulsing with pleasure. Tarren’s still on the other side, playing with one of her nipples.

  “Riya, that was amazing,” I mumble, reaching out to squeeze her other nipple.

  Ronan

  Knees up,” I order Riya, and she obeys, placing the soles of her feet on the hoverdisk and adjusting her legs. She knows how I like it by now and gets into the positions I prefer when I order her to do it. My cock swells at the sight of her swollen pussy, but it’s her dark little asshole that I plan to take tonight. Her ass, always tight, makes me come so hard, and I love the way she struggles against the pain, before it turns to pleasure for her.

  “This is for Tarren,” I say, and slap her right across the pussy with the flat of my palm.

  She yelps, and her knees slam shut, but the look in her eyes lets me know how much she likes this.

  “Legs open,” I remind her. “Or maybe we’ll make you wait until tomorrow for an orgasm.”

  “You wouldn’t,” she gasps, her pupils dilating further.

  I raise my eyebrows. “I’ve heard from other Zandians that orgasm denial is a wonderful way to ensure obedience in their humans,” I say. “I think someday we need to see if that’s true for you.”