34. The Others
THIRTY-FOUR
THE OTHERS
Elena
Groggy and unusually tired, I wake with a start to the smell of woodsmoke in my nose.
I sit upright, taking in the newly-made firepit to my left and the grove of trees surrounding me on every side.
Not seeing Lukys anywhere, I sweep the stray moss and tree leaves off of me.
Afterwards, I brush my fingers through my tangled hair.
I’m already dressed in yesterday’s clothes, having pulled them on before falling asleep in Lukys’s arms, forsaking my undershirt and bra for convenience.
Leaning toward the fire after opening my pack, I grab the rest of my clothes strewn across the ground and shove them in.
I quickly yank out new underwear, hoping when Lukys gets back, that there’s water nearby and he can take me there. I cringe at the dried seed staining my thighs.
Thoughts of last night and what we did come crashing to my mind, and my body tingles with awareness as a warm sensation fills me. Feeling the slight pull of his seed on my skin, I clench around nothing. I ache but it’s a good ache, the kind of ache one achieves after vigorous exercise.
As I’m tugging my pants back on, Lukys appears from the trees. I sit upright at his appearance. With his hands before him, he eyes me with surprise before approaching and placing the berries he’s holding on the grass beside me.
“I thought you would still be asleep.”
Appreciating the fruit, I pick up a berry and place it in my mouth, hoping it helps me get through this awkward moment. Lukys’s cock is on display, and very hard.
He rises higher.
I swallow, defeated, looking. My lips part as he shifts forward and lowers to hover just above me, placing his appendage in front of my face. “You can claim me with your mouth now if you like, I have been thinking of nothing else since sunrise.”
Shocked by his boldness, my eyes widen.
His cock sways. I inhale his rich scent as I look up at him, unsure if I’m going to take him or not.
If I have enough courage or not. But breathing more of him into me, my fever blooms and my pussy drips.
My body readies itself. Literally. I shift uncomfortably on my knees, wondering once again if we really are mates, if that’s really a thing.
Emboldened by how natural this is all beginning to feel, I grasp him around his knot, then line his tip with my mouth. I taste him, swirling my tongue over his velvety skin. His flavor bursts in my mouth, rich and sweet. I moan and take him deeper, wrapping my lips around him.
He hisses deeply. “Elena…”
His cock jerks when I suck, reacting to my amateur teasing. New to this, I slide my hands over him and around his bulge, kneading the sides softly with my palms, hoping it gives him pleasure.
His seed sprays the back of my throat as his hips thrust forward.
I pop off him with a gasp, licking and swallowing his cum.
He catches me with his tail but instead of helping me up, he guides me to the ground.
“My sssseed does not belong in your mouth. It belongs in your slit, your tight hole. Thank you for sating my curiosity.”
I nod meekly, heady with lust. When he starts to tug off my pants, I don’t hesitate to help him.
Shimmying out of my panties and tossing them aside before he can rip that pair too, I open my legs and ease backward into the grass, lifting my knees to my chest like the times before, baring myself completely to him.
It’s… unlike me… But something in the way his eyes hungrily devour me helps my confidence.
I like being seen.
“Elena,” he rasps, moving forward. “You are perfect.”
With that, he mounts me. At first probing my slit with his tip before steadily pressing down and pushing the rest of the way inside. Breaking through the constricting barrier of my opening, his knot settles like a hard, rigid egg.
“So are you.”
I fall into a haze of pleasure. Losing my thoughts in the murk, all that is left is Lukys, his cock inside me, and how he makes me feel.
Safe. Secure.
Seen.
“You grasp me like a fist.” He undulates his hips, eliciting a moan from me. “I fit all the way inside you… and you like it…” His voice is edged with barely restrained awe. “You like it.”
Planting his hands on the ground on either side of me, he abruptly thrusts hard and fast.
I tighten my grip on him as his thrusting frenzies, his movements jerky and quick. Gasping each time his knot hits my g-spot, I dig my heels into the ground and meet his thrusts. His eyes darken with desire.
His cock enlarges, grazing my sensitive spot with each frenetic jab.
As the precipice nears, my limbs give out.
My legs fall open. My orgasm shatters me from within.
He thrusts hard as his movements slow, growing more impactful with each subsequent contact of our bodies.
I flail as pleasure rips through me and my fever stifles my breath.
“Yes!” I drop my head back, feeling each wave of my orgasm reignite my nerves. As my orgasm subsides, I ease into the pleasant sensations of his body moving over mine, surrounding me on every side.
Soon, he grips me hard, spilling his seed.
The morning is gone before we untangle our bodies.
I shift my legs under me and sit upright, pulling over my pack. I take out my undershirt from yesterday to clean myself with.
He looks at me.
Feeling his gaze as I dress, I glance at him. “What?”
“I have spilled my seed inside you multiple times now. Are you not worried about quickening with my young?”
“No… I’m not worried. Like I said, I’m on birth control. Anyways, can nagas and humans really even procreate?”
He leans away, his gray, stormy gaze scaling over my form. “Humans and nagas can have young… But it does not alwayssss happen.”
I stand fully dressed, uncomfortable with the subject. “Look, I’m not saying no to kids. I’m just saying I can’t have them now. I don’t want you to think that there may be a child coming out of this…”
He trails the back of his fingers down my cheek. “I do not need young right now, Elena. I only need you. Though I like the idea of you in that way in the future, I only wish to have you as my mate and within my nest.”
I shiver at his words, at the way he makes me want the same thing. “I need to find Jenna.”
“I know.” He faces the trees after grabbing my pack and throwing it over his shoulder. “Let us return to your people and see if she is here.”
He reaches out his hand, and looking at it, I take it. “We’re heading back for the encampment?”
He nods and stamps out the fire with his tail. “We will return here tonight, after our search is done.”
“I’ll leave the other bag then,” I say, briefly glancing at the satchel the soldiers gave me. It’s filled with a set of clothes, a blanket, and some basic supplies—stuff I already have in my pack.
As he leads me away from our grove and into the forest, I debate asking him to take me to a brook first so I can wash. But I decide against it when the sound of machines fills my ears. Shortly after, a few drones appear to follow us as the trees thin out.
At the edge of the forest once more, I gaze out over the fields leading to the encampment.
I face Lukys. “I need to get inside to view the registry, but I also need to ask around outside since not everyone may be on that registry.”
“I do not have entitlementssss.”
“I know—”
Just then a large naga, the one I saw speeding past me the evening before, appears outside the tents before the central pavilion. My mouth closes then parts, immediately awed by the naga’s massive size. I point to him. “He’s huge.”
“That is Darolussss.”
I glance at Lukys, surprised. “You know him?”
“I spoke to him yesterday while you were inside the tent. He is here with his bride for suppliessss.”
“Maybe I can ask them if they know Jenna?”
“Come, let us get this search behind us. I already wish to be inside you. I have not been inside of you enough.” Lukys grasps my hand and drags me out of the forest.
As we near the large naga, I see a young woman with long, black hair standing next to him. She looks at Lukys and me as we pause outside their circle. The soldiers they’re speaking with scrutinize us, and the woman and the naga share a surprised look before glancing back our way.
For a moment, the four of us study each other.
The woman is dressed in heavy makeup and wearing necklaces.
Her lips are a bright, vivid red. Finding her beautiful and remarkably put-together for the circumstances, I shift on my feet, embarrassed of my bedraggled state, feeling Lukys’s cum on my skin under my pants.
I clench, still aching from this morning.
“Lukyssss,” Darolus responds first, breaking the silence.
“Darolussss.” Lukys hisses.
The nagas regard each other and the soldiers behind them shuffle on their feet. “Look,” one of them says, “we need more intel, information about the land, if you can give us that, you can get through the barricade.” Darolus and the woman turn to the soldier speaking.
“That’s bullshit,” the woman says. “He’s been bringing you fresh kills—daily—for a week! He hasn’t started an argument and hasn’t hurt a fly! I’m also vouching for him, isn’t that enough? Haven’t we proven ourselves?”
“Not for Commander Lunteer. Though no lover of Volp, he’s under the orders of The Sovereign now, and our mission still stands.
We need information. The nagas have it.” The soldier, a young man no older than me, peers past Darolus to Lukys.
“If you can tell us something, anything viable in helping our research here, that will go a long way with currying favor with upper command. Can we help you? Didn’t I see you two last night? ”
As the soldier and his fellows step away from Darolus, the woman curses under her breath.
I take a half-step forward, still holding Lukys’s hand. He squeezes mine and slips his tailtip around my feet. “Yeah, you did. I’m the one searching for my sister.”
The soldier waves his hand. “You need to go to the registrar for questions like that—”
“Her name is Jenna Viller.”
There’s a momentary pause before the woman turns to me. “Jenna Viller. The Jenna Viller? The neo jazz vocalist?”
“Yeah.” I perk up.
The soldier sighs. “If she’s here, I haven’t seen or heard her. Sorry. Sorry, you lost her. It’s hard to be empathic when things have gone to hell. We’ve all lost someone.”
I look at the woman who’s still regarding me.
“Sorry. Nope,” she says. “She’s got a damn good voice, though.”
My shoulders deflate as the soldiers depart, leaving Lukys and I alone with Darolus and the woman.
She crosses her arms and it’s then I see the daggers at her sides.
One of them gleams. “So, are you two together?” I stiffen and Lukys’s hand twitches in mine.
Her gaze drops to them and she smiles. “I’m glad I’m not the only one.
It starts to feel lonely when everyone stares at you like you’re a freak. ”
“You are no freak,” Darolus scolds her.
“Hah!” the woman chuckles. “You have no idea.”
“We are together,” Lukys interrupts them, eyeing Darolus, his gaze sharply assessing the other naga now that the soldiers are gone. Darolus winds his long, thick tail in a half-circle behind the woman.
I squeeze Lukys’s hand, my heart thrumming in my ears. We’re together?
We’re together.
“Why do you want to get through the barricade?” Lukys asks, still staring at Darolus.
The woman faces him. “Information.”
“Information?” I frown, waving my hand. “Like the registry?”
The woman laughs again. “No. There’s something big going on inside the barricade and we want to know what it’s about, but Darolus won’t let me go alone.”
“Something big?”
“Yeah. The guys working inside… They’re not soldiers, at least not all of them.
Most of them are scientists. There’s humming and strange lights being spotlighted at night sometimes.
I’d go in and check it out,” she huffs in Darolus’s direction, “but he’s afraid I won’t come back.
Even though people go in and out all the time. ”
“I need to get inside to check the registry.”
“Then if your guy isn’t willing to let you go by yourself, hope that he knows something interesting to tell them.” She reaches out her hand. “My name is Sabrina, by the way. You seem to already know Darolus.”
“I’m Elena.”
With my free hand, I shake hers.
Releasing each other, she drops to Darolus’s side, tilting her chin up at him. “Ready to leave? I’m getting hungry for lunch.”
He curls his thick tail farther around her. “Yessss.”
“Then let’s get out of here. We’ve got those rabbits we can skin and cook up.” Sabrina calls over her shoulder as they begin to depart, “See you guys around. Good luck with your sister.”
“Thank you… and good luck yourself,” I shout back, watching her and Darolus disappear into the trees.
Licking my lips, but feeling hopeful, I turn for the first group of people I spot and lead Lukys toward them, praying that today…
Today I’ll see my sister.