by Amanda Milo
“That’s actually cool,” I said thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, we happen to be fresh out of soil, but maybe-“
“We have soil. There is a greenhouse on deck four. We grow fresh fruits and vegetables there. I would like to claim the honor of performing thanks for Beth’s little one.”
Mmm, carrots fertilized by Beth’s truly. Tasty.”
She shook her head. “That sounds fine, Tiernan. Thank you,” she said as he took the bucket from me oh so seriously. Actually, smartassing aside, I was impressed that he treated it that way. I peeled off my outer layer of gloves as I approached her. “So, is there a Daddy back home that is missing this?” I asked softly.
I’d said it quiet, but all her guys froze. I think Dohrein and Arokh did too, either because they were imagining themselves in her guys’ positions, or they were sensing the serious mood change in the room. Why had I blurted that out? Stupid!
Beth sagged in relief. “No. I know it sounds crazy, but Angie? For that reason alone, I’m glad that I’ll never have to see earth again. And I’d be freaking the fuck out if it wasn’t for my guys here.”
Whew. I smiled. “So you like them?”
She returned my smile again, but tiredly. “Like them? I think I might be in love with them.”
I grinned. “I’m glad for you.”
Then I looked at them. All of them that were present and not attending a placenta burial anyway.
She had five big, strapping, hulking dudes. Five.
“So… six weeks before you can get frisky.”
Her eyes lit up. She began to whisper, and I leaned down to hear her. “You want to know a secret? Where they come from, they don’t have blowjobs.”
I pulled back from her.
“I blew their minds,” she said with a grin.
I looked around again, noticed the grins of the guys that could definitely all hear us whispering just fine. All of them. All of hers. All of them. Five? “And you’ll be doing that a lot for the next six weeks. You’ll be so ready for some action of your own-”
She groaned. “No way. I can’t even think of having sex right now. Ouch…”
“…Yeah,” I agreed, thinking of her poor vag. I’d gotten way more up close and personal than I’d ever wanted to be with another woman’s bush. And I can attest that she looked a wee bit swollen and sore down there. Oh, and the fact that she’d just pushed what had to be a seven pounder out of it so it was probably a bit tired.
One of her men slid in behind her again, rubbing her shoulders until she laid back on him and closed her eyes. He adjusted so that he held her and baby girl in his arms. Not for the first time tonight, my eyes teared up a little.
“And hey?” Beth said tiredly.
“Yeah?”
“Have you tried giving yours a hickey yet?”
I felt my eyebrows hop up. “Noooo…”
Beth just gave me a wicked - if a little wan - smile.
“Ready?” Arokh whispered in my ear.
My voice was a little watery when I replied, “Yeah.” And I took his hand, and Dohrein’s, and we left the med bay.
We stopped in to check on Crispin. He half covered the sleeping woman as he gripped her protectively underneath him. His eyes glittered with contentment and he looked like a dragon. A wingless dragon.
I tried not to look at the gauze packing his shoulders, and instead concentrated on the fact that he might have a woman of his own.
I wanted to leave him with that hope, so I quietly remarked, “If she bonds to you as hard as you’ve obviously bonded to her, then you two are going to help each other heal.”
But instead of reassuring him, my words shook him.
Horrified him.
“What? What did I say?”
Arokh put his hand, the one that I wasn’t squeezing, on my shoulder. His voice was grave when he answered me. “Hobs don’t bond.”
I waved at the pair. “Oh really? Well I do know human women and what happens when we fall in love and I’m telling you they’ll meld together if they stay like that much longer.”
“Are you teasing?” Crispin asked quickly.
“Yes,” I rushed to assure him. “Sort of. I mean, you won’t be stuck together literally but on Earth when a man and a woman hold each other like that, that close, for so long - it means they really, really like each other. Trust each other. That’s not exactly a ‘hey, thanks for giving my car a jump or I’d still be stranded because of that damn battery’ hug.”
He nodded, looking both relieved and hopeful. And completely confused.
“Bonded.” I emphasized.
He went back to looking freaked out.
“Okay, what in the H.E.-Double Hockey Sticks is wrong with that word?” I exploded – my voice vehement but hushed, in deference to the sleeping, traumatized woman in Crispin’s totally protective embrace.
I caught that Dohrein was giving Arokh a look. I tipped back to see Arokh returning it over my head. I moved into him, away from Dohrein. “Spill it.” I snapped.
His brows went together. “Tell me now,” I clarified.
“Hobs don’t bond. They can’t bond. They must share their Gryfala with many hobs,” out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Crispin hugging his girl to his chest even harder, a savagely dark look on his face, “while a Rakhii male bonds only to his mate. Where I come from, this is good, because a Rakhii’s mate bonds only to him. But when a Rakhii is in a Gryfala’s guard, he cannot bond to her, because she can’t only be his. A bonded Rakhii is dangerous, because he feels all the instincts he would have for a natural mate. He joins to her on a chemical level; Rakhii die if separated. What would otherwise be his one-and-only mate - just like he would be to her. With a Gryfala, bonding to one means he will become… possessive.”
His grip on my hand tightened involuntarily. “He will be unable to share her, and will attack even her own hobs in order to keep her for himself. Bonding is a serious offense.”
He looked so… ashamed.
“Arokh?” I brought my hand up and up to reach his jaw. He closed his eyes a moment, then he pulled back – but not before he grabbed that hand too and tugged me so that I was looking at him full on. Serious. I was getting a real bad feeling.
“A Gryfala by herself is not safe. A Gryfala with a single guard is not safe.”
“Why are these Gryfala worth so much, anyway?”
He opened his mouth a moment, closed it.
It was Dohrein who summarized. “Incredibly beautiful. Unparalleled intelligence. Wealthy. Extremely Rare, and rarely taken off planet, which drives up interest, mythos, and black market worth. They are the most cherished in the galaxy, they have no equal…” He eyed me thoughtfully. “Though you humans might just be a close second.”
“Thanks?”
Arokh tugged on my hands again to get my attention back on him. “When a Rakhii bonds to a princess, he leaves her vulnerable because she only has a single male to protect her. A male that can’t join her when she soars the skies, a male that cannot roost beside her in the rafters of the rookery-“ I thought I heard a pained sound from Cripsin, and I just bet he was wallowing in misery at that reminder, “and that male’s possessive, territorial urges will turn him insane every time she so much as steps away from his side. And every time she nears another hob.”
“Have these males killed Gryfala?”
“No!” He looked destroyed, and… resigned. “But they have killed many good hobs. Well trained, honorable, much-needed males. Even ones that became their friends, hobs they’d stood beside for years. That is why it is such a trespass.”
“What… happens? To the Rakhii?”
He swallowed. “If a Rakhii begins to bond… he is brought before the council.”
“What do they do?”
“Strip him of his titles. Levy a censure fine on his family, and pronounce his family’s entire line as unfit for future service. It is the worst crime a Rakhii can commit and it has repercussions for generations.”
�
��And it damages the Gryfala too.” Dohrein added, as if he were driving a point home. But not for me. His words made Arokh grimace in pain and look away. Oh yeah. A bad, bad feeling.
When Arokh stayed silent, Dohrein continued. “Understand that Gryfalas develop deep emotional ties to her males." I could hear his eyes on Arokh as he said, “Especially to a demanding, overbearing male gaining ferocity in his feelings and acts of possession. She spends time soothing him and placating him, even turning away her hobs in an effort to calm his rages. Conversely, this only rewards his behavior, and he will grow worse. When he eventually must be stopped, there is only one way to subdue a male. He is beyond reason when she isn’t with him, when she spends time with hobs, and when she is on the ground with him eventually he won’t allow other males to even approach her. And it tears her apart. To see her males fighting each other, to see her males in pain. It is excruciating for her, the heartsache.” Dohrein sounded angry and worried now. “Gryfalas have died. That threat alone, plus the public humiliation and damage to their family is grave enough to make most Rakhii step back before they ever reach that level of territoriality. But when it does happen. When the male becomes unmanageable. The council takes the only recourse it can.”
“They kill him.” I say it.
Arokh closes his eyes.
Oh fuck.
His hands stop gripping mine – but he doesn’t let go.
He doesn’t let go.
And I know. He has… bonded to me.
26
AROKH
Angie is upset.
I don’t know what to do.
After learning about bonding, I believe she realizes what I could not tell her. I tried, but I couldn’t say the words. Shame burns through me.
But it is so. I can’t let her go now. Not. Ever.
“What do we do?”
I didn’t know she was still awake. I roll up on an arm so that I can look down at her. “About what, sweetling?”
She smiles at me. “What do we do now? If we go to the Gryfala planet…”
My hearts sink.
“They will kill you, won’t they?”
I watch her eyes shine too brightly when I nod. “Don’t cry,” I beg. There will be too many tears later. I have ruined her. I am afraid she won’t recover when she sees them put me down. “Don’t watch. When it happens. Don’t watch.”
Her voice is watery and broken when she exclaims, “What are you even saying!”
I gently snag her chin. When I tip it up, tears collect at the corners of her eyes, and spill over her cheeks. I whisper, “Gryfalas are made to stay during the proceedings. All the people are brought out to witness the trial.”
“That’s terrible!”
“It’s an example. A lesson. It reminds other Gryfala not to show favor, it reminds hobs that they need to keep tight control of her Rakhii guards. And it is a lesson for other Rakhii. To see a proud male put down, to know that his family is shamed and punished and to know that they never, ever want that to happen to them. Nor to the Gryfala they themselves serve.”
I gather her against me, my hand on the back of her head keeping her tucked at my throat. “And the Gryfala. That is one of the greatest tragedies of all.”
Angie’s hands fist against my chest.
“A bonded Rakhii’s strongest instinct is to protect his Gryfala. Yet by bonding to her, he ultimately creates inconceivable damage. To everyone. But especially to her. If she has strong ties to her hobs - if she has any hobs left alive, she might recover. But some do not. Angie…”
My voice cracks.
“...They die.”
My arms flex around her, and she lets out a sob. Then her arms come around my neck as she cries. I sit up, and keep her hugged to me, just stroking her back.
The patch of floor illuminated by the corridor’s light is suddenly distorted in the shadowy shape of a talon and the edge of a folded wing. Dohrein's out there, checking on Angie.
I didn’t even have to think about it. I took my hand from her skin long enough to press the button that would seal the door closed. That's when it hit me. What I’d just done.
Again.
“What is it?” her voice was muffled likely because her nose was clogged and not just because she was pressed tenderly against my scales.
“Dohrein waits for you. In the hallway. I shut the door on him but… I… Angie, you need to make ties with him. So that after-“
She grabbed one of my horns and shook it, making my head toss side to side.
“There is no after!” She dropped my horn, breathing heavily. I could only stare at her, stunned. “I’m not Gryfala. I’m a human. I’m not one of them, I don’t belong on their planet, their laws and beliefs aren’t mine. They aren’t yours either. You’re bonded to me, aren’t you?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
“I’m bonded to you too!”
My hearts soared.
For a moment, we just stared into each other’s eyes. And then she pressed both of her hands to my chest, and moved her legs on either side of my lap so that she had the leverage she needed to press me backwards. My horns dug into the mattress as she crawled over my body, and planted a kiss to my lips.
I kissed her back.
My female.
My human. With fervor.
27
ANGIE
I woke up starving.
I also woke up under that colorful blanket that could turn into a dress. It was big enough to cover us both, and he’d been so careful when he was putting it over us. It had been fascinating to watch – like the act was a ceremony in itself. Maybe it was.
I put my hand - the one that had been clasped in Arokh’s - on his shoulder. He didn't stir.
I grinned to myself. I’d exhausted a giant alien. Me.
During the best sex I’d ever had.
I closed my eyes and relived some of it. Wow. I gave a deep inhale, and noted that sexy scent of his was even stronger. And I smelled just like him.
Free perfume. Or cologne - whatevs. It was delicious.
Like nothing I recognized from earth, but it was masculine and dark and I wanted to stay in bed all day rolling in it. Which was probably by some alien pheromone design, but - HUNGRY. I had to do the hard thing and scrounge up food.
I bent so that I could press my lips to his scales before peeling his other hand from where it curled possessively around my arm.
Even in his sleep, he wanted to keep me with him.
All the soft feels.
I took a quick shower once I slapped the right spot on the wall. Then I stumbled around the ghostly-quiet ship til I found … the mess hall? What do they call the kitchen on a spaceship?
I was rummaging around in said kitchen, holding up containers with labels I couldn’t read, with pictures I didn’t recognize, when a male approached me.
“Need help?”
I looked up, and gave him a polite smile. “Hi… Keke?”
He gave me a tired grin. “Eeeeakan.” There was a swallow in there. Maybe a throat thrum. Alien names. Sigh. If a name wasn’t programmed into my translator, then I was on my own with pronunciation.
Seeing my distress, he repeated it. For my benefit, he exaggerated the pronunciation.
I think.
“E it is!” I proclaimed.
His lip quirked. “Close enough.”
“How’s Beth?”
He nodded. “She had been sleeping, but she woke and said she could eat. I was just going to pick her favorites. None of these were familiar to her and she has had a difficult time adjusting, especially at first – is it the same for you?” He looked concerned.
“Yeah, you could say that.” I held up what looked like eyeballs. A whole jar of them. “Is this as gross as it looks?”
He chuckled like I was being absurd. “I will help select the foods for you that I know she eats, if you will follow me and look in on her?”
“Of course I will. Grab us sustenance and lead the way,” I said magnanimo
usly, and added a wave for good measure.
He snorted. “Princesses.” He grabbed three different items, handed me plates, and said the next in such a flirty voice that I’d have been wary if I hadn’t seen how devoted he was to his Beth; “This way to the bedroom-“
Arokh flattened him.
“Arokh! No! That wasn’t what it sounded like, I swear!”
I wanted to wade in and help E, but I was not going to get in the middle of that. It would be like getting between two rhinoceros; instant I’m-dead. Nope, not for me to step between. And either E realized how bad the words had sounded and was not fighting back, or he was no match for Arokh at all and his attempts at saving himself just looked like him getting his ass thrashed.
“Somebody Help! Misunderstanding! Bigtime!” I hollered.
Dohrein appeared. “Bless you,” I said when he hauled E out from the danger zone and wing-slapped Arokh into focusing on something other than killing.
“Thanks for the subdue-effort,” I stage whispered to Dohrein.
He grabbed my elbow to steer me. “I will bring you both provisions from now on.”
“It’s okay, we’ve got it covered-“
Dohrein shook his head meaningfully. “That’s just it – you are not covered. You bathed.”
My brows scrunched. “Yeah. So?”
He sighed and looked more disgruntled than usual. “We need to purchase Rakhii soap.” He looked me up and down. “It will clean you without washing away his bonding scent. It makes his kind more tolerable, less territorial. Mostly.”
“There’s a… bonding… “
“He’s been leaving a secretion ...with you,” he said delicately.
“Eww! Secretion? And wait - mostly?”
His wings lifted in a gesture that looked suspiciously like a ‘whatta gonna do’ shrug.
“Great. Thanks for telling me.”
He dipped his head before dodging aside so that Arokh wouldn’t flatten him when he moved to scoop me up.
“Big guy, wait! I need to go check on Beth.” Replaying what he just did to Beth’s man, I give him an unimpressed (yet irrepressibly affectionate) stare. “Think you can take me there? And not go insane on any of her guys?”
