Kept From the Deep: Venora Mates Book Two

by Octavia Kore

  “Nuzal,” Jun sat up in his lap and cupped his face in her hands, “you didn’t do anything that day that I didn’t want to do. Do you hear me? You did nothing wrong. I mean, I wouldn’t have said no to a little more foreplay, but…” The playful twinkle in her eyes had his blood racing. “There’s plenty of time to practice.”

  His little Shayfia slid her palms down Nuzal’s chest, setting off an explosion of color along his exoskeleton as she pressed her hips down onto his, circling slowly.

  The change in Nuzal was instant. Their normally calm, patient mate snarled, gripping her waist as he twisted to press her body into the mattress.

  Brin watched the display with hungry eyes, loving the way Jun smiled up at his bondmate as he struggled to maintain his control. She was taunting the beast, egging on the monster within him. He knew Nuzal loved her, that he was capable of the soft caresses and sweet kisses she wanted, but when it came to mating their female, their Grutex was rough and demanding.

  The softness was left to Brin, and no one would hear him complain about that. He enjoyed being the buffer between them, the one who could take the brunt of their male’s claws and teeth and still touch their female in a way that made her burn up from the inside out. He got to watch Nuzal lose that control that he held onto so tightly.

  “Fore-what?” Nuzal growled into her neck. “What is that?”

  Brin slid his tail over the back of Nuzal’s thigh and down his calf. “She’s telling you that there’s more to mating than shoving your cock into her.”

  “How do you play it?”

  Jun giggled beneath Nuzal as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging his face close to hers. “Well, you can kiss…” Her lips brushed over his cheek, trailing down the side of his neck and over his shoulder.

  “I kissed you,” he grumbled.

  “You can touch…” Her fingers danced over his chest.

  Nuzal frowned. “I touched you.”

  Jun looked so small beneath his bondmate, shielded from the world by his body. Brin got to his feet, moving along the side of the bed until he reached her face; brushing the side of her cheek with his finger and drawing her attention as he commanded his suit to drop away. His cock slipped free of his sheath the moment the suit retreated, and he took it in his hand, groaning as she watched him stroke himself.

  “You can lick…” She smiled up at Brin as he leaned closer, sticking her tongue out to run the tip over the head of his cock; teasing him. “Suit down,” she whispered.

  Nuzal’s growl vibrated through his chest and limbs. As if he’d gotten the hint, the male began to move down her body, this long white tongue snaking out to run over the dips and peaks, stopping to focus on the ones that made her gasp and squirm. He slid off the end of the bed and grasped Jun’s ankles, pulling her over the blanket until she was spread open in front of him. He cupped the cheeks of her ass, lifting her up just slightly before he buried his face in the juncture between her thighs.

  Jun arched off of the bed, a stunned gasp escaping her mouth as Nuzal’s ridged tongue delved between her folds. The sight of their little mate’s pleasure had Brin squeezing the swollen base of his cock in an attempt to stave off his release. He cupped her breast in his hand, moving his thumb back and forth over the stiff peak before catching it between his fingers and tugging gently.

  Jun’s fingers slid up his inner thigh as he moved closer, and his cock jerked as if it were begging for her attention. Nuzal devoured her, lapping at her cunt and nipping at her thighs as if he’d never be able to get enough of her. The smell of her arousal perfumed the air, and Brin drew it into his lungs, letting it fill him up as he watched them.

  Slender fingers wrapped themselves around his shaft, sliding up to the head before slipping all the way down to the swollen base. Brin gritted his teeth as he watched her play, her movements mimicking the way he’d touched himself moments ago.

  His little Shayfia groaned, trying to grab Nuzal’s head. “Higher. God, Nuzal, go higher.”

  It might look like their little mate was being dominated, but Brin knew that they were both under her control. She had only to ask and they would have done anything for her. She chose to gift them with her submission, to allow them to wield power over her pleasure. Their mate gave them access to her body, mind, and soul, and it wasn’t something they were going to take for granted.

  Jun whimpered beneath Nuzal’s onslaught, squeezing Brin’s shaft as she writhed on top of the blankets. Nuzal slid his tongue over her thigh before lifting her into his arms, making her squeal in surprise when he fell back onto the bed. With her palms resting flat on his chest, Nuzal slid Jun back until her thighs were pressed against the sides of his head, and he renewed his efforts.

  His bondmate growled when Jun clutched at his suit, mumbling the command for it to retreat against her heated flesh. Brin climbed onto the bed with them, keeping his eyes trained on Jun’s face as he glided his hand up and over Nuzal’s thighs.

  Jun watched him with ravenous eyes, groaning softly as Brin wrapped long fingers around the base of Nuzal’s shaft. His bondmate stiffened for a moment before his hips began to move, rocking his cock into Brin’s hand as Jun tilted her face up to meet Brin’s lips. Her moans of pleasure were swallowed as he fisted Nuzal’s length, tightening his grip and twisting the palm over the wide head.

  “Fuck, yes,” she whimpered, trailing a wet path with her tongue over his lower lip before catching it between her teeth for a moment. She thrust her hips back, impaling herself on Nuzal’s tongue and gasped.

  He delved into her mouth, curling his tongue around hers, dancing back and forth within the warmth of her mouth. Nuzal’s hips jerked again and again, and when Jun screamed her pleasure against his lips, Brin lost all sense of control.

  With a rumbling growl, he pulled her away from Nuzal’s face, laying her on the mattress beneath him as he gathered the pillows from the head of the bed. He piled them beneath her hips, raising her just enough that he could run the head of his cock through her wet folds. The sight of his length disappearing inside her body sent a thrill through him, and his breath stuttered out as he worked himself slowly into her.

  Using two of his fingers, Brin carefully held her open as he pulled back and drove forward, doing his best to keep his pace slow and steady. The warmth of Nuzal’s hands on his hips sent his heart racing, and he glanced over his shoulder to grin at his bondmate.

  “You want to mark me?” Brin asked, moaning as Nuzal’s claws flexed against his skin. “I won’t break. Let me take it. Let me take the darkness.”

  One big hand pressed into the middle of his back, pushing him down firmly until he was bowed over Jun. The hand at his hip curled, claw-tipped fingers digging into his flesh, as the ones on his back grazed over the old scars; marking him, claiming him. Brin didn’t belong to the memory of his past any longer. Something hot and slick pressed against his ass, and he swallowed thickly in anticipation of what he hoped was to come. Slender fingers clutched at his sides and Jun panted beneath them as Brin wrapped his tail under Nuzal’s cock, urging him forward, guiding him to Jun’s slick entrance.

  As their mate finally pushed the vibrating stem inside of his body, Brin shuddered, humming with pleasure. The wide head of Nuzal’s cock slid against him, spreading Jun’s cunt as he pressed in beside him. Brin’s tail slid around the length of him that didn’t fit inside of Jun, and they moved together, finding their rhythm as they took pleasure from one another.

  A feeling of completeness—of belonging—overtook Brin as their cries filled the air around him and he squeezed his eyes shut, allowing himself to merely be in this moment with the two beings he loved most in this world, in the universe.

  He would relive every horrible day, every disappointment, every failure, and go through all of the pain over and over again if it meant he got to keep his mates in the end. But as Nuzal roared behind him, slamming his hips against Brin’s ass as his seed pulse into Jun, coating them both, Brin knew they would never let him
go through that ever again.

  When Jun cried out beneath him, Nuzal slipped free of her, running his length between their bodies and spreading his seed over the outside of her cunt. He grasped Brin’s long braid, dragging him back so that he could sink his teeth into the flesh of Brin’s shoulder just as the swollen glands locked him inside their mate, and he came with a thundering shout.

  They would never be kept apart again.

  Epilogue

  Jun

  A couple weeks later…

  “This isn’t going to hurt me,” Jun said as she tried again to slip past Nuzal to get to the treatment table. “It’s just like the scanner you use, except we’ll be able to see the baby.”

  Their Grutex mate frowned down at her, completely unconvinced. It had taken her and Brin weeks to get him to agree to let Brom perform this ultrasound. If it were up to Nuzal, he’d continue to check the baby’s vitals using the scanner on the troop transport ship for the entirety of her pregnancy, but Jun hadn’t had the strength to go back there since the other humans had renamed it during the memorial they held, carving Layla and Clara’s names into the side in their memory.

  Being inside of the ship, walking the halls and standing in the rooms where the women had been made her uncomfortable and sad. Even though they’d only known one another a short amount of time, Jun had cared for them. Now that she’d spent some time inside the dome, she didn’t like going back and being reminded of their captivity.

  She was ready to move on and put all of those things behind her.

  “We can trust Brom, remember? He took care of Amanda for most of her pregnancy.” Jun faked right, but her mate caught her around the waist.

  “He’s Venium.”

  “So am I, and so is most everyone else on this planet.” Brin laughed. “That’s enough protesting from you. Let Brom run his scan. The longer you stall this, the longer it will be before we get to see our pup and make sure everything is all right.”

  She knew he wasn’t used to handing over control, not to anyone outside of their triad at least, but Jun also knew that he worried for her and the baby. He feared that what happened to Erusha and his mate might happen to them and the thought that he could lose her or their baby, or both of them, kept him up many nights.

  The scan had been Brin’s suggestion, an easy way to alleviate some of the fear and to check that the baby was an appropriate size. They’d all heard the story of what Zar’s mother had gone through, about her horrible death, and it certainly hadn't done anything to calm Nuzal’s anxiety.

  “This is what you want, little one?” He asked her as he tipped her chin up.

  “Yes.” Jun leaned forward to press her lips against his suit-covered abdomen. “Now come on.”

  Nuzal sighed, turning to the side so Jun could slip past him and into Brin’s waiting arms. She grinned as he lifted her up, setting her down on the treatment table on the far side of the room. Amanda, Oshen, and Zar stood on the other side of the transparent wall, and all around them, Oshen’s parents and siblings were gathered. The younger pups had their faces pressed against the glass as they tried to see what was going on inside, making Jun smile as their breath fogged the areas around their lips.

  Even Caly, who Jun had discovered she liked a lot, had shown up to support them. She smiled as she wrapped an arm around Fyn and gave Jun a thumbs up, something she’d learned from Amanda and was very proud of knowing.

  Jun wished Telisa could be there for this, but she’d left days before to begin her duties as unofficial ambassador of Earth. If there was anyone who could make sure the human governments at least considered the Venium’s terms, it would be Telisa.

  Brom eyed Nuzal wearily as he approached the table. Jun tilted her head back and rolled her eyes at the way Nuzal watched the poor healer pick up the slim wand. She’d never thought of herself as someone who enjoyed a dominating man, but it turned out she really loved having two bossy alien males.

  Brom tapped something on the wand and waved it over her big belly. She’d grown rapidly in the last couple weeks, and the speed of the progression had shocked her. A holographic projection appeared in the air above her, and she stared in wonder at their baby. He or she was curled up into a ball, their tail held tight in tiny hands as it suckled the tip. Jun choked back tears, pressing her hand to her mouth as she watched the xines float around the baby’s head.

  “Do you think you can tell if we’re having a boy or a girl?” Jun wondered aloud.

  Brom spun the projection, taking his measurements before turning their baby’s face toward them. “Your pup is female. Congratulations.”

  Nuzal’s hand rose, tracing their daughter’s face in the air with trembling fingers as she began to wriggle inside of Jun. She looked up to see the awe in his expression. Brin leaned over the back of the table to press his lips to her head as his hand moved to cup the side of her stomach.

  “She’s perfect, Shayfia,” he whispered into her ear.

  The soft click of the door barely registered in her mind as she watched and felt her little girl stretch, her mouth opening on a yawn as her smooth tail curled around her leg. Was this the way it always felt for new moms? Did the wonder of it ever go away? Seeing the image made that protectiveness she felt even stronger, and she knew that this little girl’s life would always come before anything else.

  “Lang-Lang,” someone behind her whispered. The voice was familiar, one that Jun would know anywhere in the universe, and one that she had missed more than she could ever put into words. That the voice had said her childhood nickname, a shortened version of beloved.

  “Papa!” she gasped, nearly launching herself from the table in an attempt to get into his arms as tears streamed down her face. The feel of them closing around her, the smell of his cologne on his clothing, the way he murmured how much he’d missed her, it broke open the dam that was holding back the worst of her tears. And when mama wrapped her arms around both of them, she came completely undone.

  Mama pushed at Papa’s shoulder. “Enough, Junior. Give me a turn to hug her.”

  “How are you even here?” Jun asked in disbelief as she let her parents fuss over her, their hands moving over her belly as Mama started to cry.

  “We asked Calder if it was a possibility and he pulled some strings,” Brin told her, watching with a smile.

  “You thought we would leave you here all alone?” Mama tsked. “We’re all here for you now.”

  All? Jun looked up to see her siblings standing with Amanda, and she smiled when they ran into the room, wrapping her arms around them as her brother excitedly told her about the flight here and the aliens. He told her about how Mama had argued with the one in charge over how much rice she was allowed to bring, and how all of the gifts for the baby were necessary.

  Apparently there had also been a fight over leaving the goats behind. Mama had tried to explain that they were a gift from Amanda, that they couldn’t leave them, but the one in charge had drawn a line at livestock, and eventually Mama had relented, giving them to their neighbor for safe keeping.

  “Did Lola not come?” Jun asked, noting her absence.

  “She did.” Mama rolled her eyes. “She’s mad that the aliens wouldn’t let her bring her TV with us so she stayed on the ship to boss them around. Here!” She grabbed a long tube from Papa and handed it to her. “I picked the best banana leaf I could find before we left.”

  The leaf was rolled inside the tube, and Jun smiled at the thoughtful gesture. In her province it was tradition for a woman to lie on a rolled banana leaf after giving birth to help her recover faster. Just being able to have this small piece of her culture on Venora meant so much to her.

  “Come here!” Mama whispered excitedly as she wrapped her arms around Nuzal’s waist. His eyes were so wide, Jun thought they might pop out of his. He patted her back awkwardly, turning to Brin for support, but their mate was busy taking count and obviously realizing that her family wasn’t going to fit into their room back at Oshen’s home.<
br />
  Brin lifted his arm and spoke to his AI, “Nyissa, start a request for an additional dwelling.”

  Oshen’s head swiveled around at the sound of his mother’s name and the look in his eyes told Jun that Brin better be ready to run.

  “Sending a request for an additional dwelling, Master.” Her mate’s eyes sparkled with humor as he tried to duck behind Nuzal for protection.

  “Brin!” Oshen was through the door and launching himself at him before anyone even knew what was happening. “You braxing son of a––” His words were cut off as they slammed into one another, and the sound of Brin’s laughter filled the room.

  She had once wished to settle down on Earth with a nice very human man, but looking around at the chaos of the room and the faces of her very alien mates, Jun was thankful for unfulfilled wishes.

  Author Note

  Thank you for reading our book! This is the fourth novel we’ve written, but the sixth work we’ve published as both Ecstasy from the Deep and Breaths of Desire were in Anthologies as short stories. It took us years to publish due to our own insecurities and busy schedules, but we’ve been writing stories since we were kids.

  What made us decide to publish in 2020? Encouragement from a few friends and finding out that, even though we’re cousins who live so far apart, we work well together. Being stay at home moms to lots of rambunctious children doesn’t make it easy, but it’s worth the effort to know our character’s stories are being told.

  We hope you enjoyed this story and would love it if you left a review. They help our books get seen, and in a world with many other amazing authors, every last one counts. We love to read over and hear what you think! Each and every review means the world to us. We’re constantly learning and growing and appreciate all of the advice and tips.

  Writing this story was tough at times and took a lot of work. We needed to show you the characters that were living rent-free in our heads. We hope you enjoyed the story of Jun, a strong independent woman who is used to doing everything herself until her mates come along. She has a hard time opening up because she has been exposed to many hardships that come with immigrating to the US.