A Civilized Mating

by Marie Harte

  She’d barely stepped inside when Xav grabbed her and dragged her down under him on the pallet, which was surprisingly comfortable.

  “Hey, stop.” She tried to slap at his hands, but the man moved faster than she could follow. She had a hard time mimicking his movements because there was little pattern to them. This, at least for him, seemed new.

  To her shock, he’d bared her breasts. Now naked from the waist up, she couldn’t think about much more than keeping the rest of her clothes on. “Xaveht!”

  He shifted off her, and she was naked.

  “Wh-what are you doing?” ended in a high-pitched squeak when he removed his loincloth and boots to reveal perfection.

  “I cannot wait, tonan. I need you now.”

  He covered her in seconds and nudged her thighs wider.

  Thought left her as emotion took over. The sensation of oneness with him filled her from head to toe. Xaveht and she belonged together. And another waited in the background, a hovering energy that pressed at her to accept everything and submit.

  All-consuming need struck her mute, until she looked deeply into Xaveht’s blazing eyes. “Yes,” she hissed, feeling him to her bones. She needed more, though, and Xav, bless him, didn’t disappoint.

  ***

  Talzec still couldn’t believe what he’d sensed. Maht had been stupid enough to abscond with an offworlder, but there could be no denying the phelthar. Even now Talzec could feel the spark of life in the woman’s womb, could scent Maht’s marker all over her. In such a brief time, for a barbarian to mate with an alien female and then create life… Their Maker surely approved of the union. A baby would settle any worries that Maht had done wrong, though Talzec intended to discipline his warrior for not taking the time to inform his Alpha first.

  Some extra perimeter duty would be just the thing, especially for a newly mated warrior. Maht’s need for the female would burn until the initial mating passed.

  The mating play would have to keep.

  Xaveht could not.

  His beta had mated. With an offworlder who not only didn’t belong, but acted as a warrior? Talzec couldn’t wrap his mind around it, but he couldn’t stop clutching to that connection of energy that had taken him unaware. The moment he’d seen her, he’d felt her. To his core. The way he felt Xav, bonded, joined in all ways.

  Rarely did a warrior find a mate. A true-bond from a pairing was a joy, and his need for Xav he accepted. But for a woman who would never be Nalla—that hurt.

  “Alpha?” Maht said from behind him.

  Talzec focused on his clan’s needs, not his own, and turned to face Maht. They stood in some privacy though had not yet reached the petitioner’s circle. Fuck it. He needed to get back to Xaveht, and the sooner the better.

  “You took an offworlder from the resort, breaching the East-West treaty.”

  Maht stiffened and put the female behind him, protecting her even though she needed no protection from Talzec. “I did.”

  “You mated her without permission. You got her with child.” A miracle in itself.

  “I did.”

  “You do realize you have broken a five-hundred-year-old treaty, bringing forth a war we cannot fight since our clans are so divided.”

  “Wait, wait.” The female, Lisa, moved to stand next to her mate. She had such pretty hair, so red. And strange blue eyes with those odd little black dots in the center of them. Her form was utterly feminine. Large breasts, a small waist, and a rounded ass a man could hold onto while he pounded into her.

  And then it was no longer Lisa and Maht, but Talzec and Skye and Xav. Talzec would slide his cock deep as his beta gripped that firm ass. He’d stroke until Xav took his first release. Then Talzec would find her mouth and slip between her ripe lips, her tongue lapping at his slit. He’d stare into her bright brown eyes and grip her honey-gold hair streaked with brown, commanding her to open wider and receive—

  “Talzec?” Maht stood closer, appearing concerned. “You look…odd.”

  Talzed blinked and shook his head, but the pleasure he continued to experience felt much too sexual. “You two are clearly mated. You must stay in the village, where it is safe.”

  More lust, a warmth surrounding the head of his cock. Lips tugging, a tongue rolling around, stroking his shaft.

  “Maht,” Talzec said in a rough voice, fighting for control. “You have perimeter duty as punishment. See Xaveht later tonight for details. After. First you must settle your mate and make her feel welcome.”

  He turned to Lisa, comparing her sweet yet docile energy to the fierce rebellion of the female she’d arrived with. “Lisa, you agree to stay here of your own free will. I will hear it said, or you will go back to the West and not return to Vyctore lands. Ever.”

  She paled.

  “I will have your answer at moon’s light. Maht, you have until then to convince her to stay. But you may not hold her against her will.” A code his clan would never break—not after what had happened to Nalla.

  Yet even thoughts of his beloved could not turn him from his course. He hurried from the pair, seeking his beta’s quarters. He must have worn a look of rage or determination on his face, because no one stepped in his path.

  Soon after he caught sight of Xav’s hut, he heard the sounds. A woman’s low moan, his beta’s groans and grunts of sexual need. The scent of mating and welcome beckoned him closer, until he was almost running to join them.

  He shoved past the animal skin barring him from Xaveht’s, not surprised to see his beta buried deep inside the female. Strands of her blonde hair fanned out around her head. Her small hands clawed at Xav’s back as he shoved deeper, and her ankles wrapped around his waist, holding him tight.

  Xav cried out as he came, and the female writhed beneath him. Talzec couldn’t help gripping himself tight, so hard he hurt. Xaveht alone possessed a rare beauty, but while bonded to the female, his energy shone with a light that blinded.

  “What took you so long?” Xav panted as he withdrew, still hard and slick from a desire that had yet to fade.

  “Xav,” the female groaned and tried to pull him back. She saw Talzec and froze. Her focus seemed to cloud, shift, and center again. Then she held her hands out to him. “I need…”

  Xav moved over on the pallet. Making way for his alpha.

  Talzec didn’t feel himself moving, but he must have dropped his loincloth and boots because when he joined the pair on the pallet, he fitted his naked body to the female as if in a dream.

  “Woman, I—”

  “Skye.” She yanked his mouth to hers.

  She tasted like Xav. She tasted like she belonged to him. So aggressive, so like his pair-bond lover, yet soft.

  His beta ran a hand up and down Talzec’s back, increasing the intimacy. “I gave her my first seed. She needs more.”

  “I need you,” the female murmured before sliding kisses down Talzec’s jaw to his neck, where she bit him hard enough to leave a mark.

  Then he knew what he had to do, to show her and Xav where they fit in the hierarchy of his world. The instinct rose and consumed him.

  “No, Skye. You will follow my lead. You two belong to me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Xav had been waiting for this, the moment his alpha accepted a third into their bed.

  As soon as Xav had returned to the hut with Skye, he’d known he could no longer wait to have her. Being around his family, his people, stirred his power. As did being near Talzec. So close, they fed off each other, their phelthar growing stronger daily.

  Skye’s presence heightened everything.

  That his female wanted him sealed her own fate. She’d been as hungry to have him inside her as he’d been to fuck her. The first slide inside her hot, tight pussy had nearly shot him into an ecstasy so strong he’d lost all control. A warrior prided himself on control, and Xav had all but given it up to Skye.

  Stroking in and out, feeling her come around him as she cried out, tasting her passion from red lips stung with t
he fruit of need. His first seed had all but spilled out of him.

  And then Talzec had arrived. The subtle pulse of his alpha’s presence had been with him the moment they’d entered the village. But now, it was as if Skye intensified the connection. And she added a strange psychic link he and Talzec had never before shared.

  He sensed Skye’s deep passion, her longing to belong, her confused lust and desperate need for him, as well as her desire for Talzec, a man she didn’t like yet needed to complete her. The phelthar was strong between Xav and Skye. But with Talzec, it felt off-the-charts explosive.

  His alpha growled his commands, and Xav wondered if Skye would balk or accept them. With Xav, she’d done what he wanted, yet she’d also been a bit less than wholly submissive.

  Talzec would expect nothing less than unwavering obedience. In their relationship, hell, in the entire clan, one man ruled. And it wasn’t Xaveht.

  “Both of you, on your knees.” Talzec rose to his feet, his cock wet and thick, his balls tight. Oh yes, Talzec wanted this, wanted them. His eyes were no longer gold, but a bright blue. The way they flashed then glowed when he came inside Xav. But this time they stayed blue. As blue as the sky.

  The comparison wasn’t lost on him, and Xav smiled as he knelt beside Skye and waited.

  She shook her head. “You’re doing something to me, just like Xav does.”

  “Silence, female.”

  She glared up at Talzec. “My name is Skye,” she said with a silken anger that only enhanced Xav’s need to take her again.

  “You do not seem to understand the meaning of silence. Show her, Xav.”

  Xav understood and didn’t hesitate. He leaned forward, opened his mouth, and took Talzec to the back of his throat. His lover didn’t moan, but a spurt of fluid filled Xav’s mouth, and he sucked it down.

  Skye watched in stunned silence as Talzec fucked Xav’s mouth. As he did, Xav’s cock filled out, even slicker than he’d been before.

  “Oh wow. That is just so…hot.” Skye cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples, and Talzec’s nostrils flared.

  He withdrew from Xav’s mouth. “Get between her legs, on your back.”

  Xav scurried to position himself between her legs, knowing what his alpha had in mind.

  “Now, Skye. Suck me dry. Until I give over my first seed.”

  She blinked, chewed her lower lip, then took Talzec’s fat cock between her lips. The moment the tip of Talzec’s cock disappeared in her mouth, Xav reached up between her legs and sucked her clit.

  She gave a startled moan, and Talzec pushed deeper.

  “That’s it,” he said as he gripped her hair. “Take me deeper. Suckle the sweet juice from my shaft. Swallow me.” He pumped into her mouth, fucking her with slow, shallow strokes while Xav ate her out, enjoying the hell out of their play.

  The energy in the room surged, a well of affection, desire, and confusion mingling to overwhelm them all.

  Xav nibbled at her clit and shoved a finger inside her, and Skye came hard. He knew because he felt her tighten around him, saw his alpha tense then begin to pump faster in her mouth.

  In two more thrusts Talzec grunted and spent, his balls taut, his body locked up as he filled her mouth with seed. Still coming, he withdrew from her mouth and forced her back to sit over Xav’s cock.

  “Now ride him.” Talzec continued to work his shaft while she ground over Xav. So primed to touch her, Xav gripped her hips and forced her to ride him faster while staring up at Talzec’s arousal. His alpha continued to spend, showering their female with his scent as it dropped onto her breasts and spattered her skin. A true second seed, because her skin absorbed it, leaving no mess but the scent of connection joining them.

  So excited at the prospect of a future with the woman he’d been searching for without knowing it, Xav groaned and would have come inside her had Talzec not ordered him not to.

  “Not yet. Mark her instead.”

  Xav managed to push her off him and come onto her belly, his instinct to procreate with Skye nearly irresistible.

  Instead he finished outside her body, his seed soaking into her skin.

  Talzec grunted, leaned down, and drew Skye to her feet. Then he kissed her, so deeply and for so long, Xav wondered that they didn’t expire from a lack of oxygen.

  Without warning, Talzec pulled away and shoved Skye at him. He glared at them both, swore, then redressed while sporting another erection. He left the hut in a rage, though Xav could still feel the male’s desire and affection winding together in a baffling sense of dread and excitement. Poor Talzec, still not sure how to accept a woman into his heart.

  Skye looked lost, so Xav hugged her, wanting her all over again. But this time the need was tempered with a tenderness for his mate. A need to protect, to care for and pleasure. The instinct had truly kicked in, because he sensed what she needed through phelthar.

  He drew her with him outside. She was still too dazed to worry about clothing, though he knew most offworlders perceived nakedness as vulnerability.

  “No one will notice anything odd about your nudity,” he said as he guided her down a path to his favorite cleaning spot by the river. Once there, he got into the water with her and gently bathed her in the bubbling pool.

  She moaned, obviously well-used, and let him tend to her. She looked near to sleeping when she spoke. “What exactly happened back there? Other than that I blew a hot alien, rode another sexy barbarian, and all after coming a few times with you.”

  He chuckled. “We’ve bonded, Skye.”

  She closed her eyes and sank deeper in the water. “This is not happening.”

  He’d figured she’d be difficult about the situation, so he didn’t want to burden her unduly. Not yet. But he had to make up for Talzec’s abrupt departure. “I’m afraid it is happening. Something about you and Lisa seems to be compatible with our people.”

  “Lucky for Maht he found her before you did, then,” she quipped.

  “Lisa is beautiful, and from what Maht said, kind at heart. But she is not you. Even had Maht severed the mating before it took root, I would not bond with Lisa. She is not for me.” For us—me and my alpha.

  “How can you tell?”

  “You know exactly how I can tell. You feel that intense connection with me, and with Talzec, that you feel for no other. Aside from Talzec, I do not sense others as deeply as I do you. Our energies align.”

  “Yeah, about that.” She opened her eyes wide to stare at him, and he drifted closer in the water, watching her breasts bob in the hot liquid. “So you and Talzec are close.”

  “Very.” He smiled at her blush. For such a fierce brawler, she had a tendency to be adorably vulnerable. So womanlike, yet not at the same time. He found her contrasts fascinating.

  “I mean, you blew him. Do you, um, do you guys have sex with each other a lot?”

  This story Talzec should tell, but Xav knew his lover would not. “Our females are few in number, and our warriors have needs. It used to be forbidden among our kind, but love is an energy that unites all things.”

  “I guess.”

  “Does it bother you that Talzec and I fuck?”

  She blinked at the direct question. “Um, no. Actually, it was really sexy, you doing that to him.”

  “Sucking his dick?” he asked bluntly, just to see her turn red again.

  She bit her lower lip, and he kissed it better. “Oh yeah.”

  “Talzec is my alpha, my commander in all things. We were best of friends growing up. Then he rescued Nalla from her clan, and he fell for her.” Xav sighed. “Things did not go well for them, and Nalla died. That’s when Talzec and I bonded. His need for stability overcame his resistance to what his spirit knew to be right.”

  “What should his spirit have known?”

  “That he and I shared more than a spiritual connection. We were meant to form a unit, two warriors, one female. Nalla was not for him.”

  “Didn’t you like her?”

  “I di
d. She was a good female. Soft, kind. But not for him. When she died, he stayed. They never truly connected.”

  “Wait. What does that mean?”

  “It means, tonan, that when we mate, we mate for life. A true joining means our spirits intertwine. When one of us dies, we all die.”

  “Oh, wow.” She stroked the water from his shoulders, bared above the surface of the pool. “When did she die?”

  “A year ago. The Nasuhl, the clan men you fought yesterday, belonged to her tribe. Their leader, Daveen, is the one who killed her.”

  “Oh boy.”

  “A war is brewing, and soon we will fight the Nasuhl and force them to pay for their crimes. Their leader would do anything to hurt Talzec. And now you are a part of him.”

  “Yeah? So why did he leave in such a hurry?” She scowled, but he sensed her hurt at the rejection.

  “Because he’s still grieving, and he’s afraid to feel again. He would never admit it, but Talzec lost a part of himself when Nalla died. He couldn’t protect her, and she paid the price. His closeness with me still worries him, but he cannot avoid phelthar forever. A good leader does what is best for his people, and being strong and stable comes from loving.”

  She drew him down for a kiss, one that soothed as it aroused. “You know, for a bunch of barbarians, you guys sound pretty darn wise about relationships. Well, except for this nonsense about women not being warriors.”

  “You are both, so I suppose we must be wrong.” He grinned and shifted her to sit over him, angling himself between her legs, then inside her. “Oh, Maker, you feel so good.”

  “So do you. Now make me forget about how weird all this is and come hard. But no babies, right?”

  “No, no babies.” Not yet.

  They lost themselves to the beauty of their joining, and all the while Xav knew his alpha could feel the building lust. And love.

  Yet Talzec stayed away. He didn’t come to Xav’s pallet that night, or the next day. Xav wondered how long Talzec thought he could keep up the pretense of not caring what Skye did. The stubborn man.