Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
VLACUL
All my doubts about my human mate wanting me dissolved in the time I spent watching her prepare for our courtship.
She still wasn't able to identify when I was in the house, nor spotted me while I followed her about on her day, but she prepared for me all the same.
She had weapons hidden around her home. She trained with her little projectile weapon and brought in a company to secure her home with sensors and locks to replace the ones I had broken.
I didn't like a strange male wandering loose around her place, so I interacted with him while she wasn't in the room, going over every detail of the system as he installed it, to make sure it was genuinely secure and wouldn't give some third party at his company access to her home.
The system wouldn't keep me out, not in the slightest, but it was perfect.
I needed her to acknowledge my invasion of her home and prepare to fight me to start the formal courtship.
Females of my species rejected unwanted suitors by ignoring them until they went away or were chased away by other males who were hoping to court her.
When my mate ignored me the first human week I was here, I thought she was rejecting me.
It was clear now that she just didn't have the capability to spot me, but she didn't let that deter her.
She found a compromise, installing a system that would allow me to alert her to my presence without compromising my biological need.
She went out shopping multiple times, buying various weapons and stashing them around the house.
She set up a practice range made out of hay bales for her handheld weapons and practiced throwing them and striking with them, and for the projectile weapon, she went to a facility that was set up to use it.
She even installed a panel against her bathroom wall that I didn't fully understand until I climbed up the outside of her house to come into her bedroom, intending to sneak up on her from behind when she went to investigate the alarm I triggered downstairs.
Instead I found her ready and waiting, her projectile weapon aimed at an angle that would ensure any stray projectiles that missed me would hit the new panel in her bathroom rather than going through the flimsy walls of her domicile.
She was mindful of the people around her, a trait that was admirable in a fragile species that relied on cooperation for its rise to planetary dominance.
I took the weapon away from her so she wouldn't have to worry about harming any other humans and gave her the head start she asked for.
I put my next finger down as I listened to her bare feet pitter patter down the stairs.
She wasn't planning on doing the bare minimum to trigger my instincts; she put in time, effort, and planning.
As the system was installed, my desperate need to have her grew, as did my admiration.
I didn't spend the time waiting. I knew about human courtship rituals, spending time together doing activities, as well as the provision of thoughtful gifts that were based on an understanding of the other person's needs or desires.
Activities would have to wait until she accepted me as her mate.
I couldn't be certain about what my mate needed, as she seemed content with her simple technology and domicile, but I could investigate what she enjoyed.
She liked scents in her baths, so I created one for her that was similar to the ones she enjoyed, but had hints of my own scent so she could mark herself as mine.
She enjoyed different sweet and savory foods, so I found human-safe varieties of the flavors.
Human courtship rituals involved the gift of jewelry and gems, so I located a shop that sold necklaces similar to the ones she had and purchased one for her.
I spent my time investigating her loves and giving her new things to try to expand upon them.
I put my final finger down.
But that was the last few human weeks.
Now, it was time for courtship.
I let out a roar to signal my intentions, the deep sub bass vibrations thrumming through the floors and walls of her home.
She would be able to feel them, and it would bring a flush to her system, priming her with heightened arousal.
When I had seeded her before, it would have begun to prime her system for me, heightening her senses to my flirtations.
Females of my species would often go out from their nests and try out the seed of many males, their most frequent lovers having the best chance of initiating a formal courtship.
I stalked down the stairs, my steps quiet as I listened for movement, my fangs aching in anticipation.
The lights flickered and went out, plunging the home into darkness.
I stopped moving, giving my eyes a chance to shift into the more comfortable state of night vision.
It was an odd choice for my mate to make, as my species had better vision in dim lighting than hers, but my confusion was quickly rectified as my mate came charging out of a side door and stabbed at me with a sharp knife tied onto the end of a long stick.
I shifted my hips to swivel my torso to the side, and the blade sank into the wall behind me.
If she had aimed it at my center, she might have struck me.
It displayed a weakness in her desire to harm me. I'd seen her practicing with the weapon, and she was accurate whenever she lunged at her target.
She missed me because she was only trying to graze me instead of skewer me.
I didn't hold it against her. She had put in a significant effort to prepare for my needs as a Noscaryn, showing a mindfulness and attention to detail she put to everything in her life, even though she put on a pretense of thoughtlessness.
Her delicate consideration was an aphrodisiac more potent than aggressive violence, drawing me into her net with silken bindings.
It wasn't customary for a female to give a male gifts, but the cream she had put out was the perfect solution for the irritation of my healing horn.
What I adored about her was her humanness, her thoughtful attention to detail, as well as the casual air of disregard she wore around her like a shield to protect her from those who would seek to drain such a giving creature.
Just like the goggles she had strapped to her face, which I could guess enhanced her night vision.
I brought my hand down and snapped the handle of her spear in half.
She flung the broken end she held onto in my face, causing me to dodge again as she used the momentary distraction to dart back through the door.
I stalked after her into her kitchen. Something fell down on me from above, covering my face, giving me an additional pause in my pursuit.
I reached up and lifted the metal bucket from my head, setting it down on the counter.
I untangled the string from my foot that had triggered the trap and continued after her.
I could hear her breathing, heavy and hard, from behind me.
She had circled back around and was in the dining room, across the hallway from where the stairs came down. I turned and went back through the door. As I did, I heard her let out a small curse, and the sound of her breath moved. I stilled, tilting my head as I listened.
She reacted the moment I changed direction... but there were two walls in between us.
My delight grew.
The goggles on her face must provide her with additional sensory capability, perhaps heat or motion, I couldn't be sure.
That changed the hunt. It would no longer be a slow stalk as I crept up upon her and she fought me off.
Now I had to go in hard and fast, or she would just spend her time evading me and striking at me from a distance, an ideal strategy for the difference in our body types.
I darted back, towards the way she had gone to circle around me, making sure to avoid the small strings and triggers of her rudimentary traps.
I didn't go at a leisurely pace. I ran, full out, and additional curses burst from her lips as I narrowed in on her position in seconds.
She had barely enough time to bring her knife up before I knocked it from her hands, lifting her up and setting her down on her back on top of her dining table.
She let out a scream, kicking out at me.
I grabbed her ankles, moving to spread her legs so I could use my body to pin her down. She grabbed the vase above her head, where she kept the flowers I brought her, and swung it at my head. I didn't try to block it; it was only full of water.
It hit the side of my head like a bag of rocks, glass shattering.
I was momentarily stunned by the sheer surprise of the blow.
The rocks that filled the vase went flying around the room as she took the opportunity to kick out, catching me in the throat, my reflexes forcing me to step back away from her with the motion of the blow, so it didn't cause any damage.
She scrambled backward across the table, sliding down off the far side as she reached down to grab another knife from where it was taped to the underside.
She flung it at me, and this time I didn't dodge fast enough, or she aimed with more deliberate intent, and the knife grazed the edge of my shoulder.
I let out a laugh as she ran.
I caught her in the hallway before she made it to the blade she had tucked behind a painting, lifting her off the ground.
She kicked back at me, throwing her skull back to try to bash into my face.
I carried my writhing mate up the stairs, my entire body aflame with desire as her elbow connected with my ribs.
She let out a small whimper with the impact, and I used one hand to secure her arms so she wouldn't hurt herself fighting me again.