“I love you,” I murmur, watching her in the glass pane.
She smiles softly and reaches up to run her hand down my cheek. We stand there staring at our image in the window, her eyes locked with mine. Her pale and naked body glows against my black fur, while I myself—as a dark shade—curl over her shoulder.
My knot slowly eases and I slip free of her body. She shudders again, so I steady her. Gently, I spin her around and kneel to the floor, my hands placed on the curve of her belly where my pups are. I lean in whispering promises to love them and always keep them safe just as I would their mother. Polly threads her fingers through my mane and smiles at me, enjoying the intimate moment.
“Come, my love—”
“Did that already,” she interrupts and snorts.
I have to bite the inside of my lip to stop my mouth from twitching into a grin at her lewd humor. “Hush you,” I growl lightly. “We need to wake Va’naar and dress. We’ll be landing in a short while.”
After the words leave my mouth, I realize that I haven’t comm’d my dam and sires to let them know we are arriving earlier than expected. We’ll need to contact Va’naar’s parents as well. I can only hope my dam hasn’t been too enthusiastic with her preparations for our arrival and mating ceremony. Both my dam and Va’naar’s parents are sure to be in a tizzy of excitement while they wait to meet the female we have chosen. As it is, we haven’t even told our parents about Polly’s pregnancy. That will make their enthusiasm even more obnoxious. The thought makes me groan. Instead of comming them as I should, I want to spend a few more quiet moments with Polly.
Carefully picking her up, I carry her over to the lounge and sit down, holding her in my lap. She snuggles into my chest with a deep, contented sigh.
“I thought you said we had to get dressed?” she comments.
“It can wait. We don’t have clearance yet anyways,” I reply, relaxing into the cushions.
Polly tenses slightly, making a small murmur or noise and rubs her belly. I cover her hand with my own and feel one of the pups moving.
“Are you well, my mate?”
“Yeah. just sore. I’m still getting used to being the size of a cargo bay. The Braxton-hicks contractions are still going on and they aren’t much fun, and my feet are staying swollen, but I’m alright,” she replies, then shrugs.
I stiffen a little, trying not to panic at her words. I know she’d be angry if I insisted on dragging her to Ha’dir again.
“Waking up enormously pregnant doesn’t give a girl much time to wrap her head around the idea of a baby and here I am having two.”
Uncertain of what to say, I kiss her hair, hugging her close to me.
Va’naar walks in, yawning and sniffing the air. His mouth curls in amusement as he takes in the smell of sex and the sight of us lounging naked in the chair, with Polly cuddled in my lap.
“Looks like I’ve missed all the fun,” he says sleepily. Walking over, he cups our mate’s face in his hands and smacks his lips against hers, then reaches out and ruffles my mane, causing me to duck and flash my fangs at his impertinence.
“Fun comes in many forms babe,” Polly says, wiggling her feet for a foot massage. Va’naar laughs and reaches for her feet, but I wave him off.
“Get dressed,” I order. “We’ll be planetside before mid-cycle.”
Va’naar turns, pausing to look at the view of the planet. Tilting his head, an odd look crosses his face. “What are those circular prints on the glass?”
Polly snorts, clapping a hand over her face, then bursts into raucous laughter, her body shaking with mirth. Knowing why she’s laughing makes me chuckle as well. Climbing out of my lap, she heads back into the bedroom, still chuckling.
“I need a shower first,” she announces as she passes Van’naar. Her hand reaches out and she yanks his tail on the way by. Yelping, he turns to face her.
“Naughty female! What was that for?” Va’naar asks while shaking a finger at her.
“You need a shower too,” she purrs, walking through the door to the bedroom and through to the lavatory.
He follows eagerly. I hear the sound of the shower come on, followed by the sounds of laughter and, soon, moans of pleasure from my mate and secondary while they enjoy the shower together.
My comm beeps. It’s Kuma. “We’ve been cleared for landing, Cap.”
“Took them long enough. What in Vren’s name were they doing?”
“A storm in the Ess’la region delayed a lot of ships. Port officials deemed it unsafe to land at the skyport while it was in the area.”
“Alright, we’ll be down shortly.”
My eyes roam over Mephida and her endless beauty. Though our planet is mostly land, and we only have a handful of small seas, the seven small moons orbiting the planet have been the cause of many violent storms throughout the solar cycles. It truly is a sight to see.
With one final, quick glance at my home world, I get up and comm my dam and sires.
∞∞∞
Va’naar
“This is your pilot speaking. Sit down, strap in, and buckle up, it’s about to get bumpy,” Duresh says with a wide grin. I chuckle ruefully at his comment. Only Duresh would enjoy the thrill of a rough flight. The rest of us just want to make it to the ground safely.
The insane temperature of the outer atmosphere causes bright lights to shoot across the viewing screen as the ship breaches Mephida’s airspace. The ship groans in protest while the wind currents buffet from different angles. Breaking through the stratosphere, the flames on the surface of the ship dissipate, but the wind increases and causes the ship to lurch.
It suddenly drops.
“Are you sure this is safe? It really doesn’t sound safe,” Polly says from the chair next to me, her anxiety causing her eyes to open wide as the ship jerks with the first gust of turbulence.
I reach out and clasp her hand. We are seated in the back behind Ca’lek and Duresh. Kuma sits in the gunner’s station to their left and Messa is strapped in on the other side of Polly. The only person missing is Ha’dir, but he prefers to stay in his medbay while we land, making sure that nothing gets broken if the turbulence is bad.
“Of course. We’ve done this many, many times. It is the only way on and off the planet.”
“Really?” she asks. “I haven’t been planetside very often and the flight down to Rissa V was much smoother than this.”
“Yes, really. The storms in the upper atmosphere cause more turbulence than you’d think. Larger ships have to stay in orbit and use shuttles to come to the surface, but our ship is small enough to make a landing at the sky port with ease.”
“And they aren’t as fancy as other species,” Kuma adds with a huff.
“Fancy?” Polly asks, raising her brows.
“He means, we try to use very little tech that has potential to damage the environment. It is against the law here.”
“I hardly call an ionic cellular transfer array damaging to the environment,” Kuma interjects.
“First, you have never used one, none of us have. It’s just murder, cellular cloning, and neural copying. And it’s banned by most of the Alliance. They’re barely safe for inorganic cargo,” I scoff and reach over the back of his seat to punch him in the shoulder. “And second, tell that to Tollus Six. They have refused to allow ionic transfer arrays of any kind since the incident that blasted a hole in the left hemisphere of their planet. Not to mention Anten Four and Krillian Nine. They both ran into the problem of signal degradation that resulted in dozens of people being replicated without all of their body parts.”
“Oh yeah, Tollus Six,” Kuma replies, then laughs, mimicking the sound of something blowing up.
Polly squeaks under her breath and squeezes my hand tighter.
“Enough,” Ca’lek barks, unwisely rising from his seat to kneel beside Polly. “Your talk is scaring my mate. I will not allow it. Cease immediately. And Duresh, I swear if you don’t land us safely, I’ll leave you in the middle of the
desert to dry out like deshkian jerky.”
“I’m not that scared, you overprotective nutcase. I appreciate the sentiment, but can you please get back in your seat now? I don’t think anyone would like it if you suddenly splattered across the screen because of the turbulence. How will Duresh land us safely if he can’t see through the stain that used to be you then?”
I snort at her words. My primary, who is clearly being as overprotective as our mate says, glares at me, before taking his seat again and buckling himself just in time. We hit a fat pocket of turbulence that causes the ship to jerk hard.
“Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” Polly exclaims, as something goes flying across the room and hits the view screen with a wet splat. “That could have been you!”
“Unlikely, as I am far more graceful than that,” Ca’lek retorts.
“You are about as graceful as a squealing raqule,” I joke, flashing my bonded primary a toothy grin.
Good thing he’s in front of Polly, otherwise he’d probably smack me upside the head like he typically does when I ruffle his mane. Maybe I deserve it, but the look he gives me when I get beneath his fur is worth it.
“What in Vren’s name is that anyways?” I ask, turning my attention to the smudgy, purple goo sliding down the screen. A small, guilty apology escapes Messa on the other side of Polly.
Duresh whips his head over his shoulder, staring incredulously at his mate. Messa clears her throat and glances away, inspecting some unimportant section of wall intensely. Apparently, she must have snuck a treat into the command deck now that her mate knew about her addiction and didn’t care.
“Eyes ahead,” Ca’lek snips.
“Yes, Cap,” Duresh grumbles, shaking his head.
“Ca’lek?” I ask, confused by the sharp tone in his voice. He’s being unusually tense considering we’ve made this descent to the surface dozens of times.
He turns to glance at me, his features tight, ears flattening in a look I recognize. He’s worried. No doubt he is anxious about what my dam and sires will think...or even worse, what his will think. I desperately want to tell him he has no need to, that everything will turn out just fine, but I don’t. He doesn’t need me bringing attention to his heightened emotions right now. As my primary, it is his responsibility to protect Polly and I, but sometimes being the Alpha male in our triad comes at a cost.
The excess hormones coursing through his veins may give him an extra edge in battle, but they also make it difficult for him to deal with highly emotional situations in a calm manner. As the nurturing secondary, that’s where I come in. While he’s perfectly capable of being just as affectionate as I, he views introducing Polly to our families as a possible threat, even though it is far from that. Anything that could hurt her, whether physically or emotionally, is something to be safeguarded against. And because there is no real threat, no enemy to deal with, no punishment to dole out, he feels helpless.
Immediately, I cease my teasing and give him a firm nod, letting him know that I understand. The news that Sa’rin has family on the Council now scares me too. We don’t know what this male is like. He could be a good male, but his position could pose potential problems for us depending on how close he is to the rest of the Bel’fauns. The variables are unknown and that bothers me. Ca’lek is not alone in his worry and I make sure he knows that with my silent reassurance. His eyes speak with gratitude. Sighing quietly, he shifts his focus ahead once more and assists Duresh with our descent.
The ship rattles some more, but it’s nothing serious. This is business as usual, familiar and easy. Still, I squeeze Polly’s hand, letting her know that I’m here for her as well.
“Ess’la Skyport, this is Golden Runner. We are entering our final approach vectors,” Duresh says over the comm. “Please confirm our trajectory.”
“Copy that Golden Runner. Adjust your angle of descent forty-nine degrees south-southwest and slow to cruising speed. We are ready to receive you at landing pad 8-192.”
“Understood. Beginning landing procedures now,” Duresh replies, switching from descension control to landing protocol.
The shaking eases as our dive through the sky slows and Duresh engages the reverse thrusters to level us out. Transitioning to a gentle glide, he steers us around the skyport to our assigned landing zone. We set down with a quiet thud. Duresh powers down the ship and opens the cargo bay doors for the porters who will unload the goods and send it to our storehouse. My parents are waiting somewhere outside and I suddenly find myself feeling a little anxious as well. Ca’lek unbuckles and stands, coming around his chair to help Polly disengage her harness.
“Kuma, you are staying aboard?” he asks, while working her buckles free.
“For now, Cap,” Kuma replies. “I’ll keep an eye on the porters, then start the maintenance cycle so the ship will be ready to go whenever you are, but I’ll be at the mating ceremony.”
“Good,” Ca’lek says. “Duresh?”
“Messa and I would like to visit the Skyland Waterfalls while we’re here, but we’ll be available for the mating ceremony,” the Dendrobat answers, taking his mate’s hand and smiles.
“And I’m sure Ha’dir will be visiting his sister’s family as usual,” I comment, unbuckling my own harness. My comm unit pings. Tapping it, I see my sire is the one calling me. “Yes Father Rea’lin?”
“It is good to see your ship in dock, my son,” he says. “We anxiously await you and your chosen mate in the arrival lounge.”
“We will join you soon, my sire,” I assure him, smiling when I hear my dam’s barely concealed squeal of excitement.
“Are we ready?” Ca’lek asks, holding Polly’s hand. She is wide eyed and fidgety, but smiles faintly and nods.
“Yeah, I think so,” she says and breathes deeply.
“Then let us meet my family.” I fall in behind Ca’lek and Polly, following them off the ship and out into the skyport.
∞∞∞
Polly
Duresh slowly guides the ship in to land and I get my first view of Ess’la Skyport. It’s so different from docking at a space station that I lean forwards for a better view. Even though Mephida requires all visitors to land at one of only a handful of skyports worldwide, the structure itself isn’t as large as I’d thought it would be.
There are landing pads of various sizes, and many of the smaller ones actually utilize a multi-level structure closer to the terminal. Through the windows I can see a wide range of vessels ranging from small two-person shuttles to ships that are just a tad larger than the Golden Runner. It amazes me how easily the skyport organizes the onslaught of traffic.
Our ship sets down with a gentle thud and releases a small shudder when it settles onto our assigned landing pad. Duresh begins the shutdown process while Ca’lek and Va’naar inquire about everyone’s plans, but I’m barely listening. My nerves are completely shot and I dread getting off the ship.
I’m about to meet the parents of my mates. I’m not ready for this. I am so not ready for this.
I’m tense and jittery as Ca’lek and I follow Va’naar off the ship and into the skyport. Unfortunately, my nerves make Ca’lek even more tense.
Due to our larger ship, we were assigned a landing pad that is further from the main hub, which forces us to take the lifts down to a small tram that runs under the skyport. Each level connects to the others via a series of branching walkways and lift tubes that all lead down to the base level. The base level housed the main hub, where locals wait for arrivals, either living or cargo. From there, street gliders wait to be hired for travel into the city.
There are Mephidaeans hustling everywhere. Here and there I spot other species rushing around in the madness. It’s noisy and the sheer number of people is overwhelming. Ca’lek places a stiff hand on the small of my back, keeping me close as he eyes the other travelers suspiciously while Va’naar scans ahead.
Together, we follow Va’naar down a pretty white and blue corridor to the lifts that will take us down to the u
nderground transport tunnels. Ca’lek growls softly under his breath, baring his teeth and scowling at anyone who walks too closely. I step closer to him, letting him wrap an arm around my back. It helps to calm his frayed nerves, but only by a small fraction.
The longer we walk, the worse my males get. I can see the edges of Van’naar’s ruff standing on end and his tail sticks stiffly away from his body. Their aggressive posturing ensures we get a lift to ourselves, but by the time we reach the transport tunnel, Va’naar is growling just as loudly as Ca’lek. Between the two of them, it nearly drowns out the chattering of those around us.
I spot a dark alcove nearby and pull my mates into the shadows, then wrap my arms around them both. With a small shudder, they each bury their noses in my hair and take a few deep breaths, while their hands rove over my arms, back, and belly.
“It’s okay guys,” I whisper, leaning into them and drawing every bit of comfort from them as I give back. “Everything is okay. We’re safe and there’s nothing to be worried about.” The reassurances seem to work because I feel their tense bodies relax just a little, holding me a little less desperately while they take in several more calming breaths.
I didn’t realize how stressful this would be for them.
Finally, Va’naar raises his head and gives me an intense look. Leaning his forehead against mine, his hand comes up to cup the back of Ca’lek’s head in a comforting touch. Ca’lek’s gusty sigh fans the side of my neck, his arms tightening just a tad before he too raises up to look at me. There’s a warmth in his piercing eyes as he gazes in fondness, first at me, then at Va’naar.
“Apologies my love, we did not realize we would react this way. It seems the instinctive drive to protect our mate is stronger than we thought. You are right, everything is fine,” Va’naar says in a subdued tone.
“Yes, everything is okay. I fear we are anxious because the first time we took you anywhere crowded, you were almost stolen from us. It’s extremely crowded here and with this being the first time we’ve taken you anywhere since the incident on Rissa V, we are a bit on edge, and justifiably so.
The Alien Pirates' Treasure (Star Pirates Book 1) Page 18
