“It is disrespectful,” Fiercely acknowledged.
“You know as well as I do it is not disrespect.” Venomous spoke with quiet menace, enraged they would say such things about their female. “She is frightened and troubled.”
“We have done nothing but protect her,” Fiercely protested.
Cobra looked worried. “I have not offended her. Have I?”
“You have done nothing wrong,” Venomous assured. “She is not frightened of you, but of what mating you means. Her culture is not our culture. What happened to Singing Water disturbed her. She feels guilt. Do you not see, she refrains from showing you her true feelings thinking it improper?”
“Thsst! It was not her fault. She was the victim. She protected Singing Water.”
“I know this. We know this but.... She is eccentric. There were many times during our captivity Lumen and I were not at peace. We assumed the other would understand meanings or actions when our customs are different. We agreed to be blunt with each other, and to be honest when we felt slighted or misused.”
“The way you are with her....” Cobra sighed. “I envy you the closeness. I long for it.”
Venomous wanted his nest mates contented, but in this he had little say.
Truth, a part of him revelled in the knowledge his Lumen loved him so deeply, she struggled to bestow her affections upon another.
“If you wish for there to be peace in our lair, you will accept the things she cannot change about herself,” he said, “as she has accepted the things we cannot change, like the lesser mating.” He jerked his chin at Fiercely. “Do not make his mistake. Be open about your feelings. Humans need to be told of affection, not just shown it by being given food and shelter. I learned this soon after meeting her.”
Venomous liked giving them advice.
He enjoyed the companionship, and it lessened his grief over losing the Yoni and Yofk.
Fiercely cringed. “You have not told her of He, is who Widowed, Nāga Shadowed by the Bluest Moons, have you?”
Venomous blew out a breath, tongue flickering. “It took many cycles to convince her it was needed. She barely accepted Cobra.”
“Truth.” Cobra’s tone lowered. “I begin to understand why you reacted as you did at the bonding ceremony. I have not yet lain with her for her pleasure, and the thought of Nāga touching what is mine....”
All three growled.
“Perhaps this is why our species are the way we are.” Fiercely gazed out over the wild terrain. “Lumen is always within our view. Always touching and laughing and simply being with us. It rouses beastly instincts.”
“That is not her fault.” Cobra said.
“No,” Fiercely admitted. “No, it is not.” He tugged on his quills then huffed, “Do you ever feel as if the world is judging us?”
Cobra’s laugh lacked mirth. “I have always felt this way.”
“Yesss,” Venomous replied, “because it is. I pity the male who is not me. As you should pity those that are not you. We found a mate who cherishes us.” He looked at Cobra. “Once her love is bestowed, it burns brighter than our red sun.” He smiled more to himself than them. “Grandfather willing, we will be blessed with many sons and daughters. Trapped in that hell, my life was over before it began. Then she came. I am privileged. Let them judge me, I want for nothing.” Venomous growled then glared at them. “Now, I had to tell her last time. This time, it must be one of you.”
“You are primary,” Fiercely reminded, brow ridge climbing to his quill line as he grinned. “This is part of the burden you bear being first in her heart.”
“You know that is not true.” He grew bad-tempered as they tried to unload the dreaded task on him. “We are equal in her eyes.”
“Agreed, but we know without doubt you are primary. She would have it no other way.”
Cobra made a sound to agree with this.
Venomous dry washed his face. “She is going to kill me.”
Fiercely punched his arm. “She forgave you once. She will again.”
They returned to the lair to find their Rä’Na in the cookery with smears of food paste on her sweet, happy face.
Clumps of blanched kakt-mi grain matted the unruly mass of her hair, and stuck together folds of her modified softsuit, the hems loosened for her growing stomach.
Ironstone pots and hammered metal utensils were dirtied, abandoned with crusted foodstuff.
Half mashed meat littered one surface, and trailed on the floor to the clay oven.
Foul smelling smoke billowed from the furnace, and the cold ore was, for an unknown reason, piled in the middle of the room creating a slippery ice patch.
Venomous looked into the sparkling eyes of his mate after she cheerily greeted them.
He explained how things would be, as she tottered about making them last meal then watched her freeze, and turn a slow circle, her grip on the pan she held tightening with such force, he heard the squeak of her skin against the handle.
Her eyes widened in shock, narrowed in anger, and then combusted in pure, unabashed fury.
“No fucking way.” Lumen hurled the saucepan she held against the wall in an explosion of yellow sludge that splattered them all. She stormed around the cookery in a flurry of jabbing limbs. “You lying shit.”
He winced, sidling towards the exit, fully prepared to leave a startled Cobra and scowling Fiercely to deal with the fallout.
“I’m not doing it. Do you hear me? I’m drawing the motherfucking line, and it’s right here.” She drew an invisible slash between them. She stomped her foot then nearly fell when she slipped on the ice patch. “Between the three of you, what the fuck is getting past to hurt me? Huh? Nothing. I do not, I repeat,” trilled at the top of her lungs, “do not need a lesser mate. No bloody way are you getting me to go through another of those ceremonies. No freaking way, is another male climbing on top to satisfy a completely illogical view we need a male outside of this clan as a safety net. No! I did it once, and you promised it’d only be once. You promised! I did it, and I’m not doing it again. No.”
Chest heaving, she faced them and raised her fists.
He wanted to laugh, but swallowed it when she started shaking and making odd squeaks from the force of her anger.
“Venomous One did not break trust with you, my hearts.” Cobra held up his hands, but stayed plastered to the wall where he’d fled when she erupted. “That vow was before I became third.”
She whirled on him, eyes blazing. “Fuck you.”
He shrank back and snapped his mouth shut, not willing to risk further disfavour.
He already strived to gain as much approval as possible, having tasted the sweetness of having her smile at something he’d done, having experienced the unparalleled joy of knowing it was he who satisfied her needs.
Venomous snorted.
This is good.
Now Cobra that Strikes had tasted the darker side of their mate, her ferocious temper, he’d be less willing to side with Fiercely the next time he needed an ally.
“I’m fragile,” Lumen announced.
“We know,” Cobra cooed. “This is why you must let us care for you. Come to us.”
“This is stressing me out.”
“I cannot imagine how it must.”
She cupped her belly. “Freaking me out.”
“Come here,” Fiercely ordered.
“I can’t go through all that again.”
Fiercely stopped trying to command her to him and became still.
Venomous knew why because his own retreat halted, and Cobra straightened from where he held up the wall.
Her voice.
The pain in it pierced them, letting them know she was not coping with the news.
“Lumen,” Venomous murmured. “Come here, dearest.”
Lip trembling, she shuffled. “It was kinky and fun once, but I cannot go through it again. Please. You promised.”
“Things have changed.” He crossed the distance then hugged her. “I a
m sorry.”
She ripped away to stalk across the cookery.
She went back to crashing pots and pans, mashing the pulverised food. “How am I supposed to believe a word you say? It’s not like I wanted Cobra to be my lesser mate. Not only did it push Sing off the edge, it caused me serious stress. I guess I got my wish in the end, huh? He’s not my lesser mate, and I’m back at square one.”
Cobra made a pained noise.
His hands fisted, and the havoc her rejection wreaked upon his hearts was written all over him. “You do not want me.”
Lumen hung her head.
Setting a pot down, she turned to face him. “Cobra–”
“Is it that I am ugly?”
“Yes.”
“I have other qualities beneficial to this clan. I will be a good father. I am a good provider. I am intelligent, and come from a venerated life giver though she sought Grandmother’s lair when I was but a hatchling. I am–”
“Honey, you’re handsome, and have all those qualities and more.” She thrust a hand into her curls, sending a burst of her mentha fragrance into the air. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m honoured you want to be mine.”
“I do not understand. Why say as such if you did not mean it as truth?”
“I was trying to postpone the conversation. I thought you’d get mad, and storm off like Fiercely does when I hurt his feelings.”
Offended, the male in question made a griping noise.
“Sweetheart, you know you can be sensitive.”
Hissing, Fiercely stormed from the room.
Lumen made a face then turned to Cobra. “Venom gives me everything I need. I didn’t want Fiercely. Harsh, I know, but it’s true.” Her face softened. “Now I can’t imagine life without him. There was no option but to love him. He was prepared to die for me. That kind of beauty deserves to be acknowledged, and knowing how Rä mature for a mate they hope to be with for their whole life, I couldn’t turn Fiercely aside. Not knowing he’d make my life sweeter if I pulled my head out my ass, and understood Venom wouldn’t hold it against me, nor would it change how he felt about me. Now you....” She peered up into Cobra’s face, as if seeing him for the first time. “I feel as if I’ve made a mess of this. I care for you. I do. But I can’t overlook how our relationship began, and how you’re here.”
“I do not understand.” Cobra’s voice was hoarse. “I am third mate. I only want to take my place as part of our clan.”
“Everything else aside, you understand I am in love with Venom, with Fiercely.”
“I understand Venomous One is primary mate, and Fiercely Comes the Night is second. It is them who make your hearts ... your human heart sing. I do not wish to replace them.”
“I know that.”
“Then why deny me my place? I am happy to be third. Just to know the joy of a union is enough. To be a parent, and be part of a clan that cares.” The reality that his own fell apart because of her arrival went unsaid. He swallowed. “If you find me repulsive, I will not cover you. I vow it.”
“Bloody hell,” she muttered hearing the pain, dejection, and the feeble, strained hope in his voice. “My objection is not to you personally.” Heat seared her cheeks. “If you must know, I think you’re gorgeous.”
Cobra looked stunned then pleased then disconcerted. “Then it is as Venomous One and Fiercely Comes the Night says. You do not accept our traditions allow this?”
“I respect the way things are done here, even when it doesn’t make sense to me, I respect it.”
“Then why, Rä’Na? You cannot know how I ache to call you my own.”
“Did Fiercely tell you how I resisted him?”
“Yesss.” He moved closer. “He said you feared Venomous would spurn you for accepting him.” His voice deepened. “That the love between you would fade if you let Fiercely cover you.”
“That was also one of the reasons I didn’t want you to be my lesser male. No matter how much Venom claimed it didn’t affect him, how he reacted spoke for itself.”
“My Lumen, how I behaved at the bonding ceremony was shameful.” Venomous straightened from where he leaned against the quartz. “You should not worry over how I, or your second feel. We accept your third.”
Fiercely returned, peeved, realising he acted as sensitive as his mate declared him when he’d strode off. “Venomous is right. We see Cobra as our nest mate. He protected you by ridding himself of his traitor Rä’Na. I am satisfied, he will always put you first.”
“Subtle as a bull in a china shop,” Lumen muttered. Her gaze locked on him. “You know, after I realised I loved Venomous, I grew afraid there was nothing left for anyone else, let alone someone as special as you, sweetheart. It felt like I was being forced to accept your claim over me, and I pushed against it.” She smiled at him then. “I know the same thing happened with Venom, but it was different. I can’t explain how, it just was. He was enough for me. He would have been for the rest of my life. You did the impossible and changed that.” Her eyes shifted to Cobra. “I wouldn’t change what I have. I’d die without it. I won’t say it’s not hard. The pressure to make Fiercely know I love him, while not letting my feelings for Venom overshadow that love kills me. Cobra, I don’t know if I can....” She exhaled, uncomfortable. “I’m working blind here. I don’t know if I can give you what you need, or what you expect. What I give Venom is different to what I give Fiercely. What I give you will be different too. If you push this.... I worry you won’t be satisfied, and feel cheated. You’re used to having the sole attention of your Rä’Na. You’ll be sharing mine with two others. That’s before the hatchling comes along.”
Cobra’s chin lowered. “I know Venomous is primary and that you share love. Just as Fiercely knows his place in your heart.”
Her face creased. “I hate how that sounds. Knows his place.”
“I admit I will court you for your affection,” Cobra continued staunchly, “but understand if you cannot give it. I will accept your respect of my place in our clan and be contented.”
“See that’s the problem. To me, that is not okay. You mean something to me. I want you to have what Venom, Fiercely and I have for yourself.” She blinked at the floor. “Singing Water brought what happened on herself, but I still feel responsible. I don’t ever want you to look at me and feel regret.”
“Then give me the gift of love. I will cherish it as my nest mates do.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What love you give me will diminish what you feel for them? It is lessened by numbers? You can only love two?”
Her mouth opened then snapped closed.
She blew out a breath while grabbing the hand closest to her then laced their fingers together. “No.”
A spontaneous display of affection, normal to her, yet unspeakably moving to them.
Cobra cupped her cheek. “Do you not understand that even this,” he lifted their joined hands, “what you consider little, is everything to me?” His tone and head lowered. “What you give, I accept. I cherish. What you give is what I need. Never will I demand more, though I promise to show you I am worthy of whatever your heart generously offers. I will strive to deserve more.”
Her lips parted in shock.
“I had a Rä’Na for over an aeon. Finding her so young, I believed myself blessed. I gave her everything. Still, she did not care for me. Then you came. Only then was she moved to feel more than duty, and that was petty jealousy. She sensed I wanted you. Seeing you, Venomous and Fiercely together changed my world. How you talked, played, laughed, loved.... It showed me how a mating is meant to be.” His tone grew grave. “It is not good to compare one to another, so I will not. But know, what I had with her did not come close to what I now see is caring and respect between a male and his female.” Bravely, he touched his cheek to hers. He lingered, rubbing and growling low in his throat. “We share more emotion between us than I did with her, and you have yet to accept me.”
Venomous felt a pang in his hearts
for his nest mate.
After experiencing affection and emotion between him and his female, settling for less seemed a horrific depravation.
Fiercely clicked his teeth in sympathy.
“I do not care she is gone. How can that be? After so many years, I should mourn, yet I feel nothing.” His voice turned sad. “She is dead to me, not because I wished her gone, but because of her own selfish actions. I console myself with the knowledge I must no longer hurt myself keeping secret what I felt the moment I met you. It has left me free to express to you what lies in my hearts. My anima did not mature for you. But my hearts? They sing your name, and will until the day I ride the storms to Grandfather’s side. I was honoured to be your lesser mate, but I will not stop until you accept me into your clan as third.” He swallowed. “I wish to marriage you too.”
Closing her eyes, she leaned into Cobra. “Babe?”
“Dearest?” Venomous murmured.
“It’s a good thing you’re building us a bigger lair.”
His mouth curved, even though she knew of what was supposed to be a surprise.
He leaned forward to rub his knuckles across her jaw. “Why?”
Her eyes opened and they were smiling. “Because our family of four just grew.”
“Indeed,” he rumbled for he had known this cycles prior.
It was merely a matter of her accepting it.
Now, I must tell her I will be gone for a moontide.
He swallowed.
Leaving her behind would be difficult.
“My Lumen,” he began, “I–”
Fiercely held up a palm. “We can discuss the rest later. First, we bathe her.”
Lumen looked down at herself then at the dried food splatters on the floor, cookery walls and her mates.
She cringed. “Sorry about the mess.”
Tugging her into his arms, Fiercely grinned, finding amusement in her fit of temper. “Come.”
The walls of the bathing enclosure were constructed from cloudy quartz bricks, unlike the pellucid blocks used in the rest of the lair.
The grey feldspar flooring had been textured with thin furrows.
Venomous: Erotic Science Fiction Romance (Alien Warrior Book 1) Page 51
