He led her through the fighting rings into an inner courtyard near a fountain. He looked around and sniffed the air. Then he looked at her and nodded for her to continue.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“I felt worried and tried to contact Salvatt. The AI said he flew away and his holocom is broken. I have the most terrible feeling that there is something dreadfully wrong with him.”
“How long have you felt this way?”
“About fifteen minutes,” she said. “We have to find him. Take me to a speeder. Now.”
“Yes, Princess,” he said, his eyes widening at her commanding words. He nodded and put his hand to his heart. “This way.”
He led her through the fortress to the landing pad and slid his fingers over his wrist to bring down the exit ramp of a powerful looking hovercraft. Celeste hurried up the steps and took a seat at the front beside the pilot's chair. The admiral slid in beside her, and started to flick the hologram on the dashboard. The speeder lifted into the air, gaining altitude above the landing pad.
It jetted over the forests below, headed toward the heart of the south lands. The massive volcano rose in the smoky distance and Celeste's heart raced at the sight of it. Such raw, molten power. So like Salvatt.
“Did the AI say anything else about his flight trajectory?” the admiral asked.
“Only that the prince headed south.”
“The prince flies over the lava beds when he needs to clear his mind.”
“His mating impulse was bad today,” she said. “Maybe something happened.”
“Fear not, madam, we'll find your mate. “
They sped over the jungle, the green trees flying past under the front window of the speeder. Soon they came to the dried lava beds. The long minutes passed slowly, and Celeste grew more agitated. Her heart slammed against her chest and her skin prickled painfully along her arms and chest. Her stomach transitioned between flipflopping and clenching. She rubbed it, trying to take deep breaths.
She could tell they were getting closer. But at the same time, she knew Salvatt’s distress was growing worse. When the lava flows came into view, she could barely stay in her seat. She felt like she was about to throw up.
“I’m scanning for life forms,” the admiral said.
“Keep going. He’s close.”
Celeste could feel deep inside her and knew he was near. He called out to her and knew she was coming. The speeder continued in the same direction, but Celeste told the admiral to veer left. On the new trajectory, the scanner blipped on the holographic dashboard.
“I’m getting something,” Admiral Ikoro said, locking onto the location.
They hurried in that direction, and Salvatt’s frame soon appeared outside the window.
“Oh my God,” Celeste said, jumping from her seat.
She ran to the exit ramp and waited for the craft to stabilize. She hit the button, extending the ramp. Salvatt lay below on the blackened ground. She gasped and ran towards him, but the moment her toe hit the rock she recoiled from the searing heat. She had to flick off her shoe to make it stop burning.
The admiral hurried down the ramp and across the hot ground, his armor stronger than her shoes. Admiral Ikoro lifted Salvatt from the burning rock and carried him into the speeder without a word. He deposited the prince on a long sofa in the passenger bay.
“He needs a medic,” the admiral said.
Celeste sat beside her mate examining his body. His skin was tinged black and his lips were cracked and shrunken as if he’d been sucked dry by the heat. She reached out to touch his hand, and she flinched, her fingers coming away burned.
“Salvatt, you have to be okay,” she said, feeling sorrow and panic whirl in her heart.
Over the long miles back to the Obsidian Fortress, Celeste reached out to Salvatt with her heart.
She knew there was a bond between them. She’d felt it today, and it had saved him. She’d felt it from the very beginning. The connection she felt the day Shiloh was conceived could not be denied, and Celeste focused on all the times she’d known him, deep inside her. Even when he was very far away and unknown to her, she’d known he was out there. All along. He’d been waiting for her, and she had been waiting for him.
Now they had their child together and she was his princess. At the very last hour, when they were finally going to be able to consummate their bond, he had to be all right. She had to show him what she’d always known. It was always him she’d been waiting for.
“Salvatt, I…love you,” she whispered. “All my life, I’ve always known you were out there. It’s like we’ve always been waiting for each other. Over time, distance, whole galaxies of space. Now, we’re finally together. You cannot leave me now.”
She focused on their bond and gave him her heart over the miles to the fortress. When the speeder finally landed, Salvatt’s eyes fluttered open.
“My mate,” he whispered, his voice dry.
The medics rushed up the exit ramp and took Salvatt off in a hover gurney before she could rise. She followed them out of the speeder, across the landing pad, and into the fortress.
They took him up in the elevator to the medic bay, and moved him into a full body medical chamber. Celeste watched in horror as they removed his burned suit and the burned skin underneath. Over the hours that the medical bay healed the prince, Celeste stood beside him.
The nanny brought Shiloh down to Celeste, and she held the baby as she stood vigil for his father.
“We’re here for you, daddy,” she said, putting her hand to the glass over his healing chamber.
She saw his eyes flicker open, recognizing her and the baby.
“Salvatt?” she gasped.
The medics came forward and told her she had to stand back while they worked with the prince. She took the baby to the waiting nanny, and he took Shiloh back to Celeste’s rooms.
The medics removed the prince from the medical chamber and placed him on a hover gurney as they swept medical scanners up and down his body. After several more long moments, the medics withdrew and told her she could speak to her mate.
She moved forward quickly, wanting to embrace him.
“My princess,” he said, reaching out to her.
She fell gently into his waiting arms. She knew then that he could feel their bond too. She moved away, looking into his black eyes. She could see the fire in the depths, burning with love.
“You came for me, my sweet, lovely princess. How did you know?”
“I knew you were in trouble. I had to come.”
“We will move the prince to his chambers now,” the medic said.
She followed his hover bed as the medics pushed their prince to his rooms. They continued to the bed and the hover gurney lowered so he could swing his legs over and stand. Salvatt climbed into his bed, and the medics checked him one more time.
“You need to eat to regain your strength,” one of the medics said.
Salvatt agreed to eat, and the medics departed, leaving Celeste and her prince alone in his chambers. She watched him from the end of his bed, feeling suddenly bashful to be in his space for the first time. Looking around at his rooms, she noted how masculine and rugged they were compared to her own. It was furnished in a traditional Galatonian style in deep red and obsidian black.
“Can I get you food?” she asked. “Is there a kitchen?”
The AI opened a sliding wall in front of her.
“You have a replicator,” she said, smiling as she walked over to the device. “What would you like to eat?”
“I’d like to try something human,” he said, making a purring sound when he said human. He eyed her hungrily.
She giggled. “How about pepperoni pizza?” she said, flipping through the holographic screens.
“Whatever it is, I want it,” he said.
She giggled again as she waited for the replicator to produce her large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and a crispy crust. It came out of the replicator hole in the cou
nter with the cheese bubbling hot and the crust golden brown.
Celeste asked the AI for plates and napkins and water and had a hover table bring it all over to Salvatt’s bed. The flat table hovered over the bed, and Celeste crawled in beside her mate to finally share a meal. She slid slices onto two plates for her and Salvatt. He lifted his slice to his mouth, taking a bite.
“Very good,” he said.
“Why did you go to the lava beds?” she asked.
“I had to stay away from you,” he said. “I was attacked by an earl of the south. We fought and my half-crazed dragon decided to win by throwing us both in the lava flow. I bit him and tore myself from the fire. When I managed to get to cool land, my dragon gave up control and I was left burned with a damaged holocom. I couldn’t hail anyone. But then you came.”
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said.
When they were done with their dinner she told the table to return to the kitchen.
“You are bonded to me,” he said. “I should not have doubted it.”
He cringed, putting his hand to his temple. Celeste gasped and reached out to him.
“What’s wrong?”
“The dragon, demands our mating,” he said through clenched teeth. “You should go.”
“No,” she said. “I’m not leaving this time.”
She pulled his hand away from his head and climbed on his lap. He looked up at her, his mouth open and his eyes wide. He let out a deep breath and pushed up under her. His hands went to her waist as he pulled her to him. She felt his massive erection between her legs. Celeste gasped and moved slowly over him, sliding her body up and down on his hardness.
He gripped her more firmly and moved into her. “You aren’t ready,” he said, holding her hard to him.
“I am,” she said. “I’ll show you.”
Over the last year she’d been applying the mating cream to get Salvatt’s DNA on her skin. It opened her more every day. Since they’d made love on the grass, she’d felt herself becoming ready to accept him. Her body was reconfiguring itself, becoming more pliant, and she knew she could finally mate without being damaged by it.
They kissed hungrily, tasting each other’s passion. It increased with each moan and flick of their tongues. Salvatt ran his hands all over her body, and cupped her ass in his big hands. Celeste slid over him, feeling frantic with lust. She pulled away and ripped her gown up over her head.
“Test me,” she said, guiding his hands between her legs.
He looked up at her naked body, his eyes reverent. He pushed a long finger inside her slick passage, and she groaned. She rocked against his fingers, and he grasped her breast.
“So close,” he growled.
She crawled down his body, pulling off the thin underwear he wore. She licked up his shaft, cradling his girth in both hands. Salvatt cupped the back of her head, looking down at her. She met his gaze, licking his massive cock.
“Little human,” he rumbled, flicking her nipple.
She closed her eyes and took the head of his cock in her mouth. He groaned and grabbed the bed on either side of him. She could feel the pent up force in his hips as she stroked him up and down with both hands and ran her tongue all over his slick skin.
“Oh, mate,” he rumbled. “I’ve seen this on the video coms.”
Celeste smiled up at him and then rolled over his legs to press her breasts around his shaft. She moved up and down on his slippery rod, rubbing her soft globes. She could smell the deep musky scent of his body and it drove her wild. Her pussy was so wet, all she wanted was for Salvatt to fuck her with his giant cock.
With a growl, Salvatt released against Celeste’s breasts. She gasped, feeling the hot semen jet against her skin. She moaned and rose, straddling his lap. She massaged his cum into her breasts and all over her stomach as she rubbed herself over his wet cock. Salvatt slid his fingers through the liquid on her chest and pushed them into her swollen pussy. He growled, pumping his fingers into her channel in quick thrusts.
“So close,” Salvatt growled.
He was rubbing right over her g-spot and clit as she massaged his pheromone filled semen into her skin. She pressed her sopping wet sex to his shaft. He pulled her close, gripping her ass as he growled into her neck.
“Tiny creature,” he growled, sniffing her. “I must get inside you.”
“I’m ready, I know it,” she whimpered, pushing against the head of his cock.
She felt the tip slip inside. She pushed herself down and gasped at the size.
“Slowly, little human. Let the seed take effect,” he said, massaging her breasts and licking her neck.
He pulled out of her and slowly pushed in again, opening her more. Each time he sank deeper. The massive width of his phallus stretched her fragile human sex organ further than nature intended. Inch by inch, he moved deeper and deeper inside her. Celeste’s mind rocketed through the universe as her body changed to accommodate her mate.
The bond between them spun around them, creating a cocoon for their love. It enveloped them in a protective bubble, allowing them to let go and transform into something totally new. Together.
Her juices flooded around his girth, making her entrance slick and slippery. He held her back, not allowing her to take too much of him at once. She knew he felt her inside him; he knew just how to take her now. Celeste gripped his shoulders and gave all her trust and love to her mate. Salvatt lay down on the bed and brought Celeste with him, holding her very gently and very close in his arms. With a long fluid thrust, he sank all the way inside her.
Fireworks exploded in her body and mind. After all this time, their connection was even brighter and hotter than she’d even fantasized. Now, she could feel his heart thumping against her, and she knew that this was everything
He pulled back, slowly thrusting inside her again. She groaned, feeling him slip in and out of her like a well-oiled piston.
They finally fit.
“Oh God,” she gasped as he started to thrust harder.
He gripped her hair and ass and moved her little body over his massive one. The intensity of their shared bond flooded their shared lust. She groaned, coming hard on his thrusting cock.
He flicked his tongue in her mouth, tasting the moans that wouldn’t stop. Her nipples were so hard they were on fire and rubbing against his hard chest. He growled into her neck, his teeth grazing her soft skin.
“Oh god, yes,” she moaned.
His seed shot deep inside her as his teeth pierced her skin. She could feel their bond entwine them, shooting around and back and forth, connecting them forever. The pulsing of his cum made her orgasm crest as he held her neck tight in his teeth, releasing the last of his seed deep inside her.
The special liquid in his fangs sank into her veins, filling her with new strength and vitality. She knew she was part of him now as he held her panting in his arms. He withdrew his fangs from her flesh and slowly slid from inside her core. Celeste collapsed against his chest, holding him with her full body.
“My bride,” he cooed into her ear.
She giggled against his chest as he caressed her hair. In that moment, she felt the whole world, the whole universe had finally come right. He was everything she’d longed for. Now he held her in his arms, freshly mated and full of his hot seed. She ached with joy as he kissed her forehead and caressed her belly. She finally belonged to someone.
9
Salvatt swooped into the landing pad in his speeder and strode down the exit ramp to enter the temple of the four elements. The other princes assembled around the central stone table, and Salvatt took his place at the southern corner.
“Greetings, princes,” Salvatt said.
“Congratulations on a successful mating,” Shay, the prince of the water lands, spoke.
“The successful mating of one prince brings us closer to stabilizing our lands,” said Magmus.
“How is your son faring?” Shay asked Salvatt.
“Well. As is his mother. The south
has calmed since the mating became official. But we must quickly open the lottery to the rest of the males if we want to maintain civil order. Have the rest of you located your brides?” Salvatt asked.
“Yes,” said Magmus.
“Yes,” said Elait.
“My mate was just identified today,” said Shay.
“I’ve had news that there is Mulgor activity in a sector the Bride Ships must travel through to get to Galaton,” Elait said. “My bride has just reached that sector.”
Elait turned on the holocom above the stone table and opened a star chart to show the other princes where the Mulgor activity was taking place. The Bride Ships would certainly be at risk if the rumors were true.
“We have to watch that sector carefully,” Magmus agreed.
“My bride must be kept safe,” Elait said, pounding a fist against the stone table.
“Perhaps you should take a ship out to meet her,” suggested Salvatt.
“And leave my lands?” he growled.
“The sector in question is only one or two weeks away from Galaton,” Salvatt said. “We can send our admirals to the air lands to ensure your rule will not be questioned.”
“Why should I trust that you will not take my lands or raid my coffers?”
“We all want the fighting to end. The dukes and earls haven’t been this aggressive in five thousand years. The last time the females died out, I believe our families each lost our lands. Doesn’t anyone remember their Galatonian history?” Salvatt asked.
“Of course we do. The battle to regain our ancestral rule took a thousand years.”
“And we worked together then,” Salvatt said. “Our houses will work together now. The fire lands have no need for water, air, or earth.”
“Agreed,” Magmus said.
“I am left with no other choice but to trust you. My bride must be secured. I will take an armed transport ship out to meet her Bride Ship. If there looks like there is a growing Mulgor threat, we can address it once we are sure.”
“Agreed,” the other princes said.
As the meeting of the Council of Princes ended, they were all satisfied with what needed to take place. The princes of fire, water, and earth would send their most trusted admirals to watch over the air lands while Elait went to protect his bride and the safety of all brides traveling to Galaton in the future. It was a critical mission for all of them.
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