by Octavia Kore
“What’s that?” Jun asked a moment before she gasped, pushing herself up as her hands pressed into the lifeblood on his skin. “God, Brin, you’re bleeding!”
“So are you,” he murmured with a satisfied grin, brushing his finger over the marks Nuzal had left on her body.
Heat emanated from her palms as she pressed them against his chest, but he grabbed her wrists, tugging her hands up so he could brush his lips across her fingertips. “These are scars I wish to keep, Shayfia. You left the proof of our mating on my heart, but Nuzal left it on my body.” His tail wrapped around her hips, minding her fresh wounds. The sight of them did little to relieve the nearly painful swelling.
“Nuzal?” Jun shifted on top of him as she turned to look for their mate. “Where is he? Nuzal!” She leaned over to his side, grabbing the plasma weapon from the ground where it must have fallen during their mating and attempted to stand.
“Brax!” Brin grunted, grabbing Jun’s waist as she gasped, and he held her still to keep from doing either of them any damage. “Don’t,” he panted, gritting his teeth as pleasure and pain tore through him.
“What was that?”
“Do you remember when I told you I knew you were my mate when my glands swelled for you?” Jun nodded, adjusting herself on his pelvis. “They swell just before I release and tie us together.”
“So… we’re stuck here?”
“Just for a moment longer,” he growled when she wiggled her hips. “You aren’t helping, Shayfia.”
“Sorry. Did you see where Nuzal went?” Her brows furrowed as she scanned the trees. “He just got up and left after that.”
She was hurt by the male’s behavior, but Brin suspected he understood a little bit of what Nuzal was feeling. They’d been rough with her, and perhaps that’s where the shame in his eyes had come from, but like Brin, Nuzal had been raised in an environment where love and physical affection were not the norm.
After Nyissa and Calder took him in, Brin had struggled to associate physical touch with kindness. It had overwhelmed him and made him feel uncomfortable to the point that he’d tried to distance himself from his new family. Lucky for him, they were a patient lot.
“Give him some time. Learning to process so much physical contact is hard enough, but he’s Grutex. Most of them are raised for the battlefield from the moment they take their first breath, and Nuzal’s never known love and acceptance the way you or I have.” Brin gripped her jaw, turning her head until her focus was back on him. “Patience is a wonderful gift to give someone, Shayfia.”
Her small hands ran up and down his arms, and he sighed in relief when his glands began to deflate, allowing the combination of their seed to spill onto his pelvis as his kokoras slipped back into his sheath. “I’m sure the pheromones didn’t do anything to help him.” Brin said, reaching down to run a claw through the fluids. “I struggled with them while the two of you rested.”
“The pheromones?” She grimaced. “What do they do exactly?”
“The Venium produce them during mating to encourage the bond between mates. If we fight it… Well, it usually ends like this.” He swept his hands over their bodies.
“So waiting too long sends you into overdrive?”
“Essentially. It makes it hard to think clearly, drives you mad with need––” The look on her face told him he’d said the wrong thing. “I’m sure the fact that I could have lost the both of you twice in one day didn’t help.”
“The fact that you’re producing these pheromones to encourage bonding didn’t seem like something you should mention?”
Abort mission! This won’t end well, his mind warned. How had he managed to brax this part of the mating up already? “It didn’t occur to me that it might be something we needed to talk about.”
“Really, Brin? Is Nuzal’s body doing this too?” She laughed humorlessly when he nodded. “So the two of you are just pumping out these pheromones, driving all of us crazy, and you didn’t think that either of you should have mentioned it at least once?”
“Shayf––”
“No! Don’t you use that on me right now.” She glanced down at the proof of their mating as it slid from her body onto his and shook her head. “Was any of this real?”
Brin frowned as she jerked her hand out of his. “Of course it is.”
“When did this start, Brin? Back on Earth, in my house? Or was it on the ship? Have all of the things I felt for the two of you been my feelings, or were they the influence of the pheromones?”
It had never before crossed Brin’s mind that something his people produced naturally could actually change the mind of another being. This was normal for the Venium, the only way for them, but it was obvious to him now that this wasn’t the case for Jun’s people.
“I would hope that everything you have felt has been real, Jun.”
“You would hope? God, Brin. All these things—” Her eyes brimmed with tears as she pushed away from him. “Everything I feel for you… for Nuzal…”
Jun tried to stand, to move away from him, and something inside Brin snapped at the thought that he might lose her over this. His hand shot out, closing around her throat just beneath her jaw as he snarled, fear making his entire body shake. “You are ours! You belong with us.”
“Let me go.” When he made no move to follow her command, Brin felt the cool metal of the plasma weapon press into his chest. “Let. Me. Go.” His hand dropped away, and she sprang to her feet, moving out of reach. “Suit, up.” She waited for the Grutex suit to completely envelope her body before turning in the direction Nuzal had gone and taking off into the trees.
Brax! He stood, giving his suit the up command and took off after her.
Nice communication, Brin. Your first argument as a mated male and you managed to upset her enough to have a weapon drawn on you.
For someone with such short legs, she was surprisingly quick. By the time he caught up to her, they were approaching Nuzal. He turned to watch them, his head lowered and his eyes not quite meeting their gazes. Brin could understand Nuzal’s distancing, but what he couldn’t wrap his mind around was the depth of Jun’s anger over.
“I’m sorry.” Nuzal dropped his chin to his chest. “You have every right to be upset with me.”
“Nuzal, you didn’t hurt me.” Jun sighed. “Did you know about the pheromones too?”
The male’s eyes shot to his face, and he frowned in confusion. “Yes. We knew they increased the urgency to mate for pairs that prolonged the completion of the bond. It’s something the Grutex have recently thought to try and weaponize against the Venium.”
Brin snarled. “Braxing traitorous scum. No offense,” he added.
“So both of my mates knew I was being affected by these pheromones and neither one of them thought it was important enough that I should know about it?” She folded her arms over her chest.
Nuzal looked back and forth between them. “I don’t understand. This is something that cannot be controlled, a natural part of mating.”
“She’s worried that everything she’s felt for us so far hasn’t been because she felt it, but because the pheromones made her feel it,” Brin explained.
“She is standing right here and can speak for herself.”
“I can’t tell you what is real or the product of the pheromones, but I can tell you that they didn’t become overpowering until we were on this planet.” Nuzal looked down at their female with kind and patient eyes.
“We can speak with the healers on Venora once we get there. They might have more answers for you.” Jun didn’t speak, but she nodded. “Let’s get back to the ship.”
“Why’d you come out here, Nuzal?” She asked as they walked.
The male was silent for a moment. “I was hoping to find the females.”
“Did you?”
Nuzal shook his head. “I found no sign of them.”
Jun inclined her head as if she’d been expecting the answer. “You scared the hell out of me,” she murmu
red.
“I’m sorry.” Nuzal reached out to brush a finger over her hair, but Jun shrank away.
“I think we should give ourselves some time to think this all over, to make sure it's what we want.” She turned toward Brin, her mouth flattening. “I’m sorry I threatened to shoot you.”
“It’s not the first time, Shayfia.” He grinned a little when she rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I shouldn’t have touched you like that.”
They didn’t speak for the remainder of the trek back to the vessel, but Brin’s mind raced. He would give her time to think, but she was it for him, and he suspected it might be the same for Nuzal. He didn’t need time to ponder whether or not his feelings were real.
Two weeks later…
“You really should have told her, you know?”
Brin sighed, shifting his focus away from his inspection of the engine. He’d been waiting for Telisa to come and give him an earful, and it seemed like the time had finally arrived. “I told myself the other day, ‘Brin, the only thing this mating is missing is Telisa’s opinion,’ and look, here you are, ready to offer it.”
The female threw her head back and laughed good-naturedly. “We’ve got Spicy Brin today, huh?”
Brin rolled his eyes and bent down to retrieve one of the tools at his feet. “Say what you’ve come to say. I’ve got work to do.” He was moments away from washing his hands of this piece of pile of tigeara shit. Never in his life had it taken him so long to fix something.
“I’m not trying to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong–not trying to be in your business,” she amended when he frowned at her wording. “I’m just trying to help. You should talk to her.”
“About what? About how I didn’t think to explain that the Venium produce pheromones for their mates because it’s something natural for us?”
“It’s not natural for humans, though.”
“How was I supposed to know that?”
“You talk to her.”
Brin narrowed his eyes on her as she pulled one of the tools off of the engine. Jun had hardly spoken more than a handful of words to him or Nuzal since they’d made it back to the ship the day of their mating. He’d promised to give her time, and he was, but not knowing what was going on in her head was driving him mad.
“Look, relationships are hard in general, but you guys aren’t even the same species. On top of having to get to know one another on a personal level, you and Nuzal have to learn the most basic things about humans, just like Jun has to learn the basics about the Venium.”
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we haven’t exactly been on a leisure trip.”
“Yeah, the kidnapping and experiments sort of gave that away.” He stuck his hand out toward her, and Telisa placed the wrench she’d taken into his palm. “What I’m trying to say is, talk to her.”
“She doesn’t want to speak to me.”
“That’s complete bullshit. You don’t catch the way she looks at the two of you. I think she’s hurt and is stubborn as hell. You guys are my favorite human-Venium-Grutex trio, and I want this to all work out.” Telisa frowned, crouching down and slipping her hand between the two main parts of the machine. “What’s this?”
“We’re the only human-Venium-Grutex trio you know.” Brin raised his brow ridges as he looked down at what she was referring to. “Did you pull that out?”
“No, it was lying back here.” She gestured to a dark space beneath a row of cables. “It happened to catch my eye.”
Brin nudged her out of the way before sticking his hand through, feeling around for the coupler and twisting it back onto the side of the engine. It wasn’t going to be this simple; it couldn’t be. He’d been working in here for days on end, had practically taken the entire thing apart at this point, and somehow he’d missed a braxing hose. His mind was still muddled from the hormones that had yet to dissipate, which was concerning, but surely he should have noticed this.
“Nyissa, run a system check on the engine.”
“Yes, Master. Beginning system check now.” The lights on the massive machine flickered on as it hummed to life, and the display screen to his right began to scroll through the operating procedures as the system booted up. “Check complete. System is functioning properly and fully operational.”
“You fixed it?” Telisa asked, her eyes going wide as she bounced on her toes in excitement.
“You fixed it.” He laughed when she punched her fist in the air and whooped loudly.
“Let’s get the hell off of this planet!”
Brin bounded through the ship in search of his mates, ready to share the good news. The doors to the common area slid open at his approach, and he caught sight of Jun sitting at one of the tables cutting and preparing the root vegetables the foraging team had gathered that morning. Her hair was twisted into a long braid that hung down her back, and he was reminded briefly of what they’d been doing the last time it was wrapped around his hand.
Across the room, Nuzal sat with Roman, their heads bent close together as his bondmate pointed to something on his comm screen. They locked eyes for a moment before Telisa burst in behind him, rushing excitedly to Jun’s side.
“What’s got into you?” Jun asked when Telisa wrapped her arms around her shoulders and squeezed.
“Can I tell her?” Her enthusiasm made Brin grin, and he nodded as he walked over to where his female sat. “The engine is up and running! We can finally leave!”
Jun’s eyes darted to his face and the smile that spread across her mouth made his heart thunder in his chest. Goddess above, she was beautiful. “You figured it out?”
“Telisa found the problem, and we were able to fix it.”
“Hell yes!” She reached up to squeeze the other female’s hand. “Badass senator and alien spaceship mechanic? What a package.”
“When can we leave?” Roman asked.
“We need to figure a few things out before we actually set out, but––”
Jun made a distressed sound as she twisted out of Telisa’s arms, jumping up from her chair and bolting toward the doors. Brin called after her, but she waved him off, disappearing into the hallway that led to the crew quarters.
“Her stomach was upset the other day too,” Telisa said, moving into Jun’s empty seat. “She thinks it might be the change in diet.”
“Has she been to medbay?” He looked to Nuzal, who shook his head.
“Not recently. I’d run a scan if I thought she would let me, but it’s entirely possible that it’s just her system getting used to the bionic transplants or the dietary changes like she thinks.”
Brin frowned at the doors, wanting to follow her to assure himself that she was all right. His mate hadn’t smelled ill, though. He drew in her lingering scent and nearly groaned. It was sweeter and lighter than he remembered it being before they’d mated.
“Brin?”
He shifted his attention back to the table as Roman and Nuzal joined them. His bondmate stood close to him, letting his tail brush against Brin’s leg as if trying to gauge his reaction. This was the first time Nuzal was seeking physical affection from Brin since they’d mated, and he allowed himself to find joy in the moment. He wrapped his tail around his bondmate’s, smiling when he didn’t pull away.
“Nyissa, can you plot a course for Venora?” Brin had avoided doing it before now, not wanting to get their hopes up before he knew they would be able to leave the planet.
“Yes, Master. Plotting course to Venora. Estimated travel time is twenty-eight soli.”
Telisa frowned. “Can we get the human translation of that?”
“Similar in time to an Earth month.”
Roman let out a long, low whistle. “How the hell are we going to gather and store enough food for everyone on board to last that long?”
Telisa pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the table. “The replicator is still out of commission, so we can’t rely on that.”
“Why not use the
cryopods? We won’t have to worry about storing food for the entire trip if we do that.”
Brin turned to his bondmate with a raised brow ridge. “There are cryochambers on this thing?”
“All vessels in this class are required to have them.”
“Roman, can you get a group together to gather enough food for two days? We’ll set the pods to wake us a day out from Venora so we have time to recover from the effects of cryosleep. And Roman?” He called after the human as he sprinted toward the door. “Everyone stays armed out there and don’t go any further than you have to. Stick close to the edge.”
They hadn’t seen any more of the beasts since Brin chased the last one away, but he didn’t want the humans to become complacent, even if this was their last day on the planet.
Chapter 32
Jun
“Cryosleep?” she asked, drying her face with one of the towels from the bathroom’s storage cabinet. It didn’t matter that she’d been in the pods before; the thought of closing herself inside one of those things again made her already sensitive stomach roil. There were so many things that could go wrong, and every single of them was going through her mind. Jun scrunched her face up as she turned to look at her mates. “Not looking forward to that.”
“Using the pods eliminates the need for a month’s worth of food,” Brin told her as he lowered himself onto the edge of the massive bed next to Nuzal.
“I know it’s necessary for the trip, but the last time I woke up from cryosleep, I felt like death warmed over. Not to mention all the things that could potentially go wrong while we’re inside them.”
Nuzal rattled softly when she stepped back out into the room. “You’ll be safe, little one. Brin will be watching over us.”
She hadn’t spoken much to either one of them for two weeks now. Two very long weeks, she mentally groaned. Even with how awful she’d been feeling recently, Jun still found herself thinking of that day in the forest, of the way they’d touched her. Her body ached for more, but for some reason, she couldn’t let go of the hurt she’d felt.
