18. Ryoch
18
RYOCH
The bond worked. Jess wants to live on Vytaris. We all need to talk later.
I leaned against my kitchen counter and read the text for the twentieth time. It still stunned me.
Gravod’s phone was off, so there was no point in responding. Newly bonded mates usually didn’t emerge from their quarters for days. It was impressive that he’d managed to send even that short message a few hours ago, early Saturday morning.
Bonded. Gravod was bonded.
I hadn’t really allowed myself to hope that it would work. We were cursed, after all. Or at least, that was how it felt. Maybe we would find mates here, but nothing more. Like a cruel joke.
Now, for the first time since I learned I was a xa’xan, my heart felt like it was truly beating.
But was Gravod actually considering returning to Vytaris? I wasn’t sure what to think about that. It would be complicated.
I needed to go pick up Charlotte, and I didn’t know what to say to her. Had she spoken to Jess? For better or worse, this could change everything.
At noon, I parked in front of her house. Mathol waved as he drove away. He’d been especially accommodating about coming by to check on her while I worked. I relieved him at odd hours when I could, but it was a lot to ask. And it would probably continue. Finding Thylor was proving to be just as difficult as I predicted.
I knocked on Charlotte’s door a little too loudly, anticipation making me tense.
“Coming.” She opened it a moment later, wearing a flower-print dress and white-framed glasses. Her smile sent my heart racing. “Hey there.”
The relief I felt at being in my mate’s presence stole my breath. I couldn’t speak. She let out a surprised gasp as I stepped into her space and pulled her against my chest. Then she laughed and wrapped her arms around me.
“I missed you, too,” she said.
She had no idea. Or maybe she did? Her body melted against mine, as if she was just as relieved as I was.
I didn’t want to ruin the moment, but it also couldn’t wait.
“Have you talked to Jess?” I held her tighter and kissed the top of her head.
She nodded and pulled back to look up at me, her glasses slightly askew from being pressed into my chest. “Yes. She’s a happily bonded woman now, and she wants me and every other human mate to eventually get on a spaceship and move to another galaxy to have alien babies.”
I tried to ignore the emotions—mostly lust—that stirred in me as I imagined Charlotte’s belly swollen with our offspring, reaching to straighten her glasses. The action did nothing to tamp down my desire. “That was my basic understanding. How do you feel about it?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Come in. Let’s talk.”
My desire evaporated, replaced by nerves. I dutifully sat on her couch while she closed the door.
When she came to join me, she lifted her skirt and slid one knee along the outside of my thigh, swinging the other leg over my lap so that she straddled me. My cock was instantly hard. Before I could react further, she took my face in her hands.
“Shift, please.”
I didn’t even think, just let my Lydaxian form emerge. My ta’laps wrapped around her waist. Her eyes widened, and she grinned.
“Is that better?” I asked.
She nodded, her hands falling to my shoulders. “This is the part Jess is right about. You guys shouldn’t have to hide all the time. Obviously, if we were on your planet, you wouldn’t have to. She said it’s normal for other species to live on Vytaris… Is that true?”
“Off-worlders? Yes. We have interplanetary treaties and trade networks, and many visitors have settled on Vytaris because it suits them. It wouldn’t be controversial, except that humans haven’t achieved long-distance space travel yet. According to our laws, other species shouldn’t even be aware of us until they’ve gotten to that stage of development on their own. But as Lydaxian mates, no one would question you being there.”
“How come you didn’t plan to take us there from the start?”
“I’m not sure we ever discussed that possibility.” I paused, trying to remember. “We assumed that establishing relationships with human mates would be challenging. There were plenty of hurdles to overcome already, without convincing you to leave your planet. We never would have taken you against your will. So, the plan was always for us to stay. We were all willing to make that sacrifice.”
She looked down, avoiding my eyes, and I lifted her chin.
“I would never ask that sacrifice of you, Charlotte. If you don’t want to go, I’ll stay here with you. Always.”
She firmed her jaw. “I can’t make that kind of decision right now. It’s a lot to process.” This time she closed her eyes, and I waited quietly for her to open them again. “I’m an author. Would I be able to write on Vytaris? What would I do there?”
I smiled. This question had an easy answer. “You’re a phenomenal writer. It would be a simple matter to translate your books, and Lydaxians would love them. They’d be a novelty. You’d certainly have an audience. Vytaris is known for its publishing sector and the quality of our printed works.”
The tension in her jaw eased. “Huh. That’s…great. Really, really great.”
I stroked her cheek with my thumb, and she relaxed a little more. “You’re under no pressure to make a decision. We have time. Most of the crew haven’t even found their mates yet.”
“Do you think they’d all go back if they could, if their mates agreed?”
Yes . “Probably.”
Her grip on my shoulders tightened. “Are you sure that Lydaxians and humans can have children together?”
Vex . The idea of planting my seed in her womb had sagar filling my mouth. I cleared my throat and tried to mentally distance myself, answer her like a doctor.
“We believe so. Our scientists were fairly certain about the compatibility. It’s rare, but there are case studies of matings between Lydaxians and off-worlders, always with successful procreation. Lydaxian traits are dominant, so the children usually appear Lydaxian.”
“Then, if a human got pregnant here…”
“It would be impossible to hide on imaging. That’s part of the reason it’s so important that I’m here, to provide care. Although, we can also tap into the shifter medical system.”
She tipped her head back. “Right. Wolves.”
“And bears, yes.”
As well as others I thought it better not to mention.
Charlotte snorted. “Of course. Can’t forget the bears.”
I wasn’t sure why she was amused, so I nodded and continued.
“The births would probably need to take place on the ship, at least at first. And afterward the children would have to be kept out of public until they could shift. Up to a year.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair to the child or the parents.”
“It would be difficult, I don’t want to minimize it. But we thought it was a manageable timeframe. And all of the crew understood that they might have to forgo having children, if it wasn’t feasible.”
“Do you want children?” Her voice was quiet all of a sudden.
“I do. Do you?”
She took a moment, then her mouth curved in a soft smile. “Yes. I think maybe I do.” Her smile vanished. “But on Earth, you knew it might be impossible. You came all this way?—"
“It was worth it.”
Our motivations probably seemed extreme to her. But matehood was the defining feature of Lydaxian life. It was everything.
More of my ta’laps had gradually emerged as we spoke, and one was teasing under the hem of her skirt. Despite the seriousness of what we were discussing, I noticed the scent of her arousal grow stronger. I could see the faint outline of her nipples through her dress. My cock hardened, until I knew she could feel it between her legs.
She rocked on my lap, a subtle movement, but it was enough to make me bite back a groan.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about.” Her voice was low and breathy. “I’m sure I’ll come up with more questions, but right now I’m having a hard time concentrating.”
With that, she rocked again, grinding against me. I growled, thrusting my pelvis while I palmed the back of her head and pulled her mouth down to mine.
Her taste made me dizzy. The medication I used helped with physical symptoms, but it didn’t take away my crushing desire. My need to claim my mate and mark her. I was lost in her mouth, my lithis taking every bit of space, hungry to fill her. She moaned as the sagar coated her tongue and throat, opening to let me in deep.
My ta’laps had a mind of their own. They delved under her dress, winding between her thighs, taking advantage of her legs spread wide. One pushed aside her panties and slipped through her soaked folds. She arched up, crying out as it plunged inside her.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I grumbled.
She let out a halting laugh, punctuated with a soft moan. “I was about to say the same.”
First her. With my hands and ta’laps , I stripped off her dress and bra. The sight of her panties, barely a scrap of pretty purple lace, had a growl rumbling in my chest. I ripped them away with a flick of my claws, and she whimpered at the light scrape, her scent perfuming. Then my hands were on her perfect ass, gliding over the smooth skin and squeezing. Her glasses stayed.
I leaned back to watch my ta’lap pushing steadily between the lips of her pussy, sliding deeper into her channel as she moaned and arched. Other ta’laps coiled around her thighs. I bent down to her full breasts, feathering kisses over them before taking a nipple gently between my teeth. Charlotte whined and reached for my horns.
My seal pulsed, my cock starting to leak from the tip. The sensation of her fingers around the base of each horn, the grip of her hands, was like a hard stroke along my shaft.
I was more than happy to go where my sta’la steered as she directed my mouth to worship her breasts. My ta’laps kneaded each one while I licked her pebbled nipples. When I lightly bit one tight peak, she let out a mewling sound, and I groaned as the pulsing of my seal intensified.
Could I seal to her and resist the urge to bite? I had to. The pulsing was insistent, my cock rigid and ready, straining against my pants.
I needed to prepare her to take me. Now.
In one smooth motion, I stood, my hands on her ass and my ta’laps holding her in place. She wrapped her legs firmly around my waist. I made my way into her bedroom and sat her on the edge of the bed, standing back to take off my clothes.
Charlotte made a sound of protest when I retracted my ta’lap from her cunt. I couldn’t take my eyes off her glistening pussy as I finished undressing.
My voice was raw. “I want to give you my cock, fill you with seed.”
Her body shivered at my words. I took my cock in hand and stroked, up and down, as she stared, riveted to the movement. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips, and precum dripped onto my fingers.
“I want it.” She leaned forward, pausing to meet my eyes. “I’m not ready for bonding, but I want everything you can give me.”
It would be the most difficult thing I’d ever done, but I couldn’t deny her, or myself, any longer.
“I’ll give it to you. Everything but my mark. For now.”