“They will look just like me when they are fully grown. This I have told you as well.”
“I know. I just enjoy hearing you say it. I can hardly wait to see the eggs, much less wait three whole months for them to hatch.”
“You’ll have your hatchlings soon enough, my queen.”
“Good, because I’ll want more, after you release them.”
Making his sound of amazement again, he whispered, “You can keep a male busy, my sweet queen.”
“I’m just kidding. You’ll have time enough to rest between each spawning.”
“As if I could keep my hands off you. My breed was designed for continuous spawning. It keeps us in peak operating condition.”
“Now isn’t that convenient?”
Talon’s voice broke into their conversation, “If the two of you are finished mating in public, I have an update on the gemstone mining that you might find interesting.”
Carolyn gasped. “How long have you been standing there?”
The drone preened a bit. “Long enough to know most of your secrets, my queen. In fact, I’ll choose my family unit right now, before all the good males are taken. And I wish my female to have fiery red hair like the queen of the Sylon home world.”
“Keep your trap shut and I’ll try to manage it.”
“Done. Would you like to hear my report?”
Nodding, she waited for him to speak.
“Since I’m not currently spawning royal hatchlings, I suppose I must wait to be given permission to speak.”
Snorting a laugh, she shook her head. “You remind me so much of my sister, it isn’t even funny. I guess you know my whole sordid plan. Give me your report before I take you over my knee, and give you the thrashing you so richly deserve.”
“We’ve found a vein of the highly prized magnolite. It appears to be a sizable amount. I suggest we concentrate our efforts on harvesting that find, as it’s exponentially more valuable than anything else we’ve scanned.”
Flipping his wings again, Igor spoke, “That is sound advice, my queen.”
“I concur. Talon, I have something else to discuss with you.”
“Yes, my queen.”
“Our drones have no concept of a personal monetary system.”
“This is true, we have no need for such as every drone is provided the same allotment of clothing and supplies by the… oh, I see where you’re going with this conversation.”
“Human brides will expect their homes to look different and credits so they can shop to individualize their homes and purchase clothing that suits their taste. Encourage the males to gather up the odd extra gemstone they run across and create a personal stock. Reserve one hour each day for the drones to collect gemstone for their personal needs. The magnolite will be reserved to purchase things for our first settlement such as building supplies, security systems, and equipment for breaking ground on our new home world.”
“Shall I sketch out a new social order for our drones?”
“That would be exceedingly helpful. We can’t keep a lid on this for long, can we?”
“We must, at least until the Galactic Council recognizes us. Even if we’re not accepted into the council, recognition grants us the right to live peacefully in this sector and trade with other worlds using their standardized credit system.”
“See it done, Talon.”
“Yes, my ambitious queen.”
Laughing, she shot him an indulgent smile. “Stop taking liberties with my title.”
“All the drones do it behind your back. Most call you the warrior queen, because you fought to be our queen. Others refer to you as the victorious queen, for much the same reason. Some of my other favorites are beauteous queen, gentle queen, and bewitching queen of seduction.” Cutting his eyes towards Igor, he smirked.
“You call me this?”
Igor shrugged. “You’re by bewitchingly beautiful queen of seduction. Calling you anything else would hardly do you justice.”
“You’ve been a naughty boy, Igor.”
His antenna twisted around in her direction. “Boy is the human word for young male?”
Pressing her lips together to keep from laughing, she waited for him to lose it.
Instead, he leaned over and rubbed his face against her cheek. “Perhaps I’ll rip those thin shreds of fabric from your pale human body, and lick you until you pull on my antenna and beg me to stop.”
“That’s not much of a punishment. I love it when you do that. You’re getting pretty good with the pleasure wand as well.” Running a hand up one antenna, she smiled at his serious expression.
“Right here, right now, in front of everyone.” He was clearly not amused.
Swallowing hard, she did an abrupt about face. Dropping her hand to his chest, she purred sweetly in his ear, “I apologize, my king. You’re strong and masculine, and I wish you to do all your licking in private.”
Talon made an exasperated noise. “It’s like I’m not even standing here.” Stomping off in a huff, they heard him screeching orders to the other drones.
“He’s a little tightly wound, that one.”
“Stop talking about other males when all I want to do is put my mouth on you.”
Staring into his dark eyes, she realized that’s all she wanted as well.
Chapter 12
~ Cassidy ~
Cassidy’s Music Mix
Waking to the pale pink sun streaming in through the window, Cassidy realized she was still in Daron’s arms. Feeling him stir as he woke drove home that she now had a permanent mate. Deciding to forgo another huge celebration, they’d concluded the night by signing their mating papers in private with the priest. There was no time or resources to waste on fancy celebrations when they had a holt to build and potential clan members to screen.
“I can practically hear your mind working, wife.”
“You like the human word for mate, don’t you, husband?”
“I do. It’s new and different, which suits beings such as us.”
“I agree.”
“You hold my heart.”
“I love you too, big guy.”
“I’ve got some big guy for you this morning, if you’re interested.”
Turning to face him, she saw the smirk on his handsome, scarred face. “I’m always interested in that. You were a bit of a beast last night.”
“All the warriors looking at you provoked my lust and possessiveness. I think you enjoyed that side of my personality.”
“Are you kidding? It was the highlight of my entire freaking life. That little thing you did with your… you know. Now, that was unbelievable.”
“Women have many hidden pleasure spots. It will be my honor to find all of yours.”
“I’d be up for a little rumpy-bumpy this morning.”
“Odar is waiting with twenty warriors to screen.”
Sitting up, she slid out of bed. “Shower sex it is then.”
Scampering out of bed behind her, he asked curiously, “What is a shower sex?”
“It means we’re having some sexy time in the cleansing unit, kind of like we did on the ship.”
“Since you prefer to cleanse after having sex, I find that to be a particularly self-serving suggestion.”
“You can always say no. I won’t be offended.”
Daron grabbed her arm before she could start the water, and turned her roughly around. “There will never be a time when I don’t wish to have sex with you.” For some reason, he looked super serious.
Grinning, she murmured, “Challenge accepted.” Starting the water, she quickly climbed in, feeling him crowd in behind her.
“How about if you’re sick?”
“I cannot imagine being too sick to want sex.”
“How about when my belly is big with our child?”
“Gods of chaos, that makes my manhood rise just to think of it. Come ride me, wife.”
When he l
ifted her, she wrapped her legs around his muscular waist. She was definitely wet for him, and it felt good when he slid home.
“How about if I change my hair color to orange?”
Grinning, he looked down at her. “Orange wouldn’t suit you, but I’d still want to fuck you.”
“You’re getting really comfortable with human words.”
“I like the ones that make you turn pink, like you are right now. It’s adorable.”
Holding her against the wall, she forgot what they were discussing when he swung his hips. The urgent pace was nothing short of thrilling. The man knew what she liked and gave it freely. His hand slid down to her mound and he trapped her clit between two fingers, playing with her as he nipped at her neck and teased her with kisses. “You’ve got natural talent when it comes to moments like this.”
“Krylon warriors are brought up to know such things, my wife. We must be conscientious, lest our women leave us for more entertaining males.”
Nipping him back with her teeth, she whispered, “I’m never leaving you. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
Something about hearing those words set him off. He pounded her nice and hard, just the way she liked it, shoving her over the edge twice before allowing himself to empty into her. She loved that moment best of all. It was the instant when they could conceive. He always lingered, enjoying that moment as well.
When they were dressing, she asked casually, “How about if we were caught in the middle of a storm and it was raining really hard?”
Grinning at her, he responded without hesitation, “As your protector, I’d have to insist we find a dry spot, and get out of our wet clothing. What better way to spend our time than celebrating our love?”
“I can see that I must really work to win this challenge.”
Walking over, he bent down and kissed her on the nose. “You can try, wife.”
“It really gets me every single time you call me wife.” Bending down, she left a little pile of seasoned wood chips for the baby dragon. Poor thing slept most of the time.
Coming to a stuttering stop, he asked, “Why? Do you regret your decision to come to me?”
“Hell no, not for one micron. When you call me wife, it reminds me that I landed a hot, sexy guy with a wonderful sense of humor who’s totally awesome in the sack.” Standing, she gestured to herself. “Can you believe it? Poor little old Cassidy Striker, the girl that used to get made fun of for being poor, landed the smoking-hot man of her dreams.”
His anxiety melted away instantaneously. “In truth, I enjoy calling you wife for the very same reason. I’m the clanless, scarred warrior that females used to run from. I captured the heart of a fierce female who stood her ground against a fearsome enemy and a Krylon prince in defense of me and my kind. One so beautiful, just looking at her steals my breath away. If one of us is fortunate, it’s me, wife.”
Hearing his words melted her heart. “Can we have sex again even though you have twenty men waiting to speak to you?”
Instead of answering, he pulled his jacket open and began taking it off.
Holding up her hands, she stopped him. “That was just part of the challenge, big guy.”
Closing his jacket, he raised an eyebrow. “That leaves me still winning the challenge, my teasing distraction of a wife.”
“The game ain’t over yet, mister.”
Following him out to the meeting room, she tried to think of a really good one. “How about if I contracted some strange alien virus and ended up growing a long tail like a Terillian? Would you still want to have sex with me then?”
A woman’s voice laughed and she glanced up to see several warriors with their mates waiting to be interviewed. Their looks were openly curious. Cassidy recognized most of the women and knew one fairly well from the ship. “Debra, how are you today? Daron and I have a little ongoing challenge. If anyone starts taking bets, put your money on me.”
“You always did know how to keep things interesting.”
“Yep, that’s me. I thought for sure you would be one of the women wallowing in the lap of luxury. What possessed you to rough it with the clanless, building a new city from the ground up?”
Placing her hand against her warrior’s chest, she answered playfully, “Found my dream guy and can’t imagine mixing it up with anyone else. Most of us ended up with someone special from among the clanless.”
“I’m hearing what you’re laying down, my friend. I wouldn’t trade Daron for anyone in the verse. Shall we get down to business?”
They sat for close to three hours discussing strengths and weaknesses, before pulling in another twenty warriors and going through the entire process again. At some point, Selene had food brought in, and they interviewed as they ate. It was grueling, but they kept notes on an electronic tablet. Trial and error taught them how to speed up the process, and by the end of the week, they’d interviewed every single applicant. Of course, a week was ten days on the Sylon home world.
Chapter 13
~ Carolyn ~
Cassidy’s Music Mix
Wrapping one sad wing around her shoulders, Igor murmured softly, “You’re the only Maruvian queen who would mourn such a tragedy. I have failed you in every conceivable way, my sweet queen. Yet you cling to me, when by all rights you should replace me.”
“Losing one of our young is painful enough. I wouldn’t survive losing you as well. I know we were only expecting three, but finding out there was an underdeveloped fourth that didn’t make it breaks my heart. I kept thinking that he’d peck his way out of that tiny shell.”
“All our kind spend fifty-three days in the shell, no more and no less. It grieves me to say that our last egg won’t hatch, no matter how long you look at, for the window is now closed.”
“Let’s just give it a little longer, Igor. I can’t bring myself to leave yet.”
“It will be as you wish, my precious queen.” Pulling his wing tighter around her, she rested her cheek on his chest as she stared at the one remaining egg. It was much the size of a chicken egg, not having grown like the rest.
“Want to know something interesting, Igor?”
“Always.”
“I have three strong, healthy sons and that makes me luckier than any female in my line for three generations. None of them were fortunate enough to have sons and none had more than two younglings.”
“You’re pleased with that much at least?”
Tilting her head up to look into his dark eye, she nodded. “I’m pleased to have found you and I love being the Maruvian queen. I’m looking forward to the moment I can hold our hatchlings in my hands and cuddle them.”
Running a hand gently over her cheek, he responded tenderly, “I look forward to that as well. It won’t happen for at least ten days. They are too fragile to remove from the incubator before that time. All our young need those first few days to acclimate to their environment…”
Stopping in mid-sentence, he brought his com to his lips. Screeching softly into it, he turned to the tiny incubator housing their last egg. Suddenly, the room filled with attendants. They were all screeching at each other and she wished the scientist had been able to modify the multi-language virus to include the Maruvian dialects. As it stood, they could understand and speak English but she couldn’t understand them at all.
Igor tilted her face up to look at her. “You were right not to give up on our last hatchling. See for yourself.”
Immediately snapping her head to look at the tiny egg, she saw what appeared to be a small fracture running horizontally across the shell. Grasping Igor’s arms, she watched the tiny fracture become a crack, and the crack become a small tear.
There were excited screeches around the room as the edge of a wing came into view.
“Can’t we help him break free?”
“It isn’t done. He must prove himself worthy of life by breaking from the shell himself.”
“He stopped moving.”<
br />
“Give him time.”
They waited and watched as the tiny hatchling moved again. There were more cracks and tears, and it was clear the little one was exhausted.
“I don’t care about what is done. Remove the shell. I’ll not lose my young over tradition.”
Before anyone could react, there was a squawking screech and the shell literally exploded from around the little one. As he moved around the enclosed habitat, the fledgling hatchling made his annoyance with the world known.
The attendants burst into animated and excited conversation, their words fading into background noise as Carolyn looked at her tiny newborn. It was bizarre and thrilling and strange and heart-stopping to know this tiny creature was of her own making.
“You’ll grieve no more, my queen, for I have delivered you four hatchlings.”
“Yes, you did, my king. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful. Have I told you that I love you today?”
“I believe you just did.”
“Whether I say it or not, please know I mean it every micron of every day.”
Sweeping her up in his wing again, he ran his face over her cheek in a gesture of tenderness fit to melt her heart all over again.
Suddenly, a soft beeping sound accompanied by flashing lights drew their attention.
Igor screeched into his com and listened to the reply.
“Come, my queen. The drones have detected a star going supernova.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“There are several planets nearby, but only one is close enough to be destroyed.”
“Oh God, I hope there are no people on the planet.”
“Our drones think not, but we won’t know until we get close enough to scan the planet.”
Arriving on the bridge, Cassidy could see the huge sun throbbing in the distance. “It honestly looks like it’s about to pop.”
“As the core runs out of nuclear fuel, some of its mass flows into its core, causing it to become so heavy that it cannot withstand its own gravitational force. The explosion will be blinding but we’re out of the danger zone.”
There was more screeching back and forth before Igor announced with a jerk of his chin, “There are no evolved lifeforms on the planet in danger of being destroyed.”
Maruvian Bride (Alien SciFi Romance) (Celestial Mates Book 5) Page 11
