Chapter 26
Romival
If there was one thing Romival loved to see, it was his vakara being fierce.
It seemed such a shame that it didn’t seem to happen when he was close enough or had the time to truly appreciate it.
Though, he supposed he was glad that he was never the one to raise her ire, and it was still special to see it even from a distance.
Or, as in the case today, through the silent, blue tinted walls of a group pod in the archive room.
The female who worked the front desk at the archive had absolutely no discretion.
She loved posting on the net whenever a human entered the archive.
Not only because it made her posts on the academy forums popular, but because she herself became popular when, invariably, the curious came around to gawk at whatever human female in question was there.
Romival hadn’t seen the notice immediately.
He had been taking a healer’s exam. He wasn’t trading his scholar title for healer, but he wanted to see if he could pass it.
He did, naturally, and he was debating trying the simulations for becoming a ranked healer.
They were much more complex than the written test to become a regular healer and required standardized patients for him to practice on.
While it would be interesting and a challenge, it seemed pointless to waste other people’s time on something that he was just doing to satisfy his own curiosity.
It was as he was debating that with himself that he finally saw the notification on his combot that was set to alert him anytime something about the humans on the academy forums popped up. For exactly this reason.
By the time he read the post, Valorii was already there. He was trying to figure out how to interfere without shaming Holly when Valorii turned her attention to Hattie. Which was a mistake as Holly was more than willing to protect her friend even if she didn’t defend herself.
Valorii and Brava left in shame. Ryna took his vakara and Hattie to eat. Romival went to find Seventh Scholar to ask if he was willing to challenge Valorii.
Short answer, he was not. Though the male was certainly intelligent enough to defeat Valorii in mental combat, he didn’t actually want the responsibility of being part of the top six.
So, Romival instead tracked down Eighth Scholar and asked him if he was willing to challenge Seventh Scholar so he could challenge Valorii.
Short answer, he was. He hadn’t realized Valorii was doing such a terrible job, focused as he was on his own research, but when Romival explained what was happening he was perfectly happy to advance further up the ranking.
Since it wasn’t a challenge for Sixth Scholar, yet, Romival didn’t have to oversee Seven challenging Eight. However, he did help set it up. Once the test was underway, he had gone to find Holly again, assured that, in a mark, if not less, he would get a message that there was a new Seventh Scholar.
Unlike when someone lost a rank challenge, a winner could go on to challenge the next rank up immediately if they so wished.
And after impressing upon Eighth – soon to be Seventh – Scholar how poorly Valorii was doing at her job, Romival fully expected that, within the next day or two, he would have to oversee a sixth rank challenge.
He was looking forward to it.
He had been willing to give Valorii one chance to learn from her mistake and not return to pester his Holly again. However, twice was too much. He didn’t care if he had to teach the current Eighth Scholar himself, he would see her unseated from her position.
And the moment he had Holly properly claimed as his adassi, if Valorii or Brava dared to come near her again, he would have the right to challenge them physically and he would beat both of them out of the trees.
The surge of aggression at the thought combined with the memory of the way Valorii poked and prodded and pulled at his female forced him to divert the communal training room to burn off some of his anger and violence on machines and practice dummies.
Only once he was calm did he seek out his Holly again.
She wasn’t hard to find as everyone was talking about the two beautiful, seductive humans on the forums, a group wondering how they managed to make even eating look so enticing.
There was a debate going on whether Holly’s slender, elegant body was preferable to Hattie’s curving, luscious one – though there were proponents on both sides, and it really just seemed to come down to personal opinion.
It made him that much more determined to come get her out of their sight. Until he had her properly claimed and knew her nest was in his den, he wouldn’t be comfortable with all these other males being able to see and potentially woo her.
That was his more primal instincts rising though.
An ancient leftover from the days when claiming was literal and immediate and the instinct to secure a mate before another could ate at the heart and mind and body.
It was the modern day, and he knew intellectually that no one would steal her away without her permission, but he couldn’t fight millions of years of evolution.
And the longer he ignored those urges without acting on them, the stronger they would get. The more his aggression would emerge and demand release. He had to wait for his Holly to be comfortable and willing, but it wasn’t without effort.
He was grateful to Hattie and her understanding as she took away Second Scholar who always looked at him as though ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
If they were warriors or part of the peacekeepers as guardians, he had no doubt that she would have already.
But because they were scholars, she saved her aggression for her challenges.
“I thought I assured you that you were more than welcome to use the archive access in my office if you needed it,” he said, staring down at his sweet, pink female as she shifted eagerly on her seat.
“I mean, you did, but I was coming with Hattie, and I didn’t know if-”
“Yes. You may bring your friends to help your research if you like,” he cut her off smoothly.
Holly gave him a careful smile. “Won’t we be bothering you?”
“No.” He took hold of her chin, running his thumb along her lower lip.
Gently but assuredly promising those that still watched and recorded them for the net that Holly was definitely his.
“It bothers me that you are bothered by others when you’re in the archive.
I want you as my adassi, Holly. I am more comfortable with you in my space.
I do not mind you bringing other females into those spaces if you desire them there. ”
Holly made a soft sound of understanding. “Okay. I’ll remember that next time.”
“Good. Are you done with your research?”
She nodded without pulling her chin from his hand.
“Will you come with me then?”
She nodded again, a smile widening on her face. He stepped back so she could stand. She immediately grabbed for his hand, holding it closely. Right in front of everyone. Romival’s shoulders pulled back in pride that she would claim him so publicly.
The two left the cafeteria and walked across the many bridges spanning the multiple trees that made up the academy – heading for the hover he had parked, illegally, against the archive tree.
He brought her up and took to the air before he could be found by any peacekeepers.
Must get his mate to his den. To her nest. Put her in her nest. Claim her in her nest.
His aggression wasn’t nearly as suppressed as he thought.
“This place is really so beautiful,” she said in his ear, looking around at the academy below.
Once at his tree, she exited his hover and climbed the staircase inside, without hesitation or question this time. She trusted him. She was comfortable with him.
The moment they were inside, and he had the hatch closed again, he dropped her to the ground, yanked her around to his front, and sealed his lips over hers, stealing an eager and hungry kiss.
She laughed at his enthusiasm as he pushed her back against the mosaic on the wall. The chill of the tiles sent a shiver up her body as she clung to him eagerly.
“Stay with me tonight,” he said, running his claws along her side, teasing and tickling with the points over her clothes, wanting desperately to yank up that skirt and plunge deep in her heat and not pull free until he had filled her again and again with his seed.
She chuckled, a hint of mischievousness to it. “Won’t Atem come stomp you into the ground if you take me for a night without permission?”
“He will if he catches us,” he said, slowly dragging her skirt up her thighs.
She looked surprised. “Wait. What? Really?”
“Don’t worry,” he kissed the tip of her delicate little nose. “I’ll have us back to the palace before dawn so we can salute the sun and he can pretend he didn’t notice you were gone.”
“Wait, I was just joking,” she said, half laughing. “Is that like a real thing?”
Romival grabbed her around her thighs and jerked up, lifting her so that her legs wrapped around his waist. He held her ass with one hand, her waist with his other arm, then walked her towards the stairs leading up to his room.
“Of course. Mostly, it’s only fathers chasing after their young daughters. But Atem is overprotective of you all. He probably would if we were flagrant about it. I can’t really blame him. If you give me any younglings and they are even half as delicate as you, I will be that protective as well.”
Holly’s pretty face flared bright pink as his declaration.
She usually reacted that way when he talked about their future together.
Like she was both surprised and excited and nervous about the ease with which he spoke of such things.
It was a good barometer for how comfortable she was with him and his plans.
She wasn’t quite there yet, but she also didn’t vocalize any protests this time as she buried her face in his neck, trying to hide her reaction.