Chapter 11
Draevan guided his ship toward New Vaxx, his eyes constantly darting to Cora where she sat next to him on the bridge. Meela was taking a nap, and he’d removed the booster seat to allow his mate to join him as he navigated in the direction of his home.
His mate…
He’d finally taken a mate, a human female from Earth who incited his desires more than he’d ever imagined possible.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the consummation of their union and how responsive she was as he claimed her.
She’d seemed to enjoy it as much as he did.
Her whimpers, moans, and sweet sighs kept echoing in his memories, and even now, as he flew toward New Vaxx, his pants were starting to get tight.
Deep breaths, he told himself. But it didn’t help much.
He wanted her again. Right fluxxing now.
He wanted nothing more than to land his ship, carry Cora to his bedroom, and spend the afternoon kissing her all over, bringing her to climax after climax, and riding her to completion again and again, spilling his seed inside her repeatedly.
Star God. How would he ever be able to concentrate on anything if Cora was always within reach?
His blood heated further, but thankfully, having to manually navigate toward the planet provided a much-needed distraction, and his pants finally loosened a bit at the front.
He focused on the controls as the cruiser approached the planet, and soon, the familiar blue-green sphere of New Vaxx filled the viewport.
From high above, the planet looked remarkably similar to Earth, with vast oceans and huge continents covered in green, but New Vaxx was cleaner and more vibrant, its atmosphere clear and its colors more vivid than those of the human homeworld.
As the cruiser descended toward the planet, the protective barrier surrounding New Vaxx came into view, a nearly invisible shield encircling the entire world.
It was designed to keep unauthorized vessels from entering the planet’s atmosphere, but Vaxxlian ships were automatically recognized and permitted to pass through.
The cruiser slipped through the barrier, and a faint shimmer rippled across the viewport as they passed through the protective shield. A moment later, the barrier was behind them.
Draevan began his descent toward Starzzia, guiding the cruiser through the upper atmosphere, and the sprawling city finally appeared below.
“That is my home. Our home,” he quickly amended, wanting Cora to feel welcome, as though she truly belonged here.
The city quickly grew larger in the viewport.
Thousands of Vaxxlian males and their human mates called the city home, and from above, the white stone buildings seemed to emerge from the lush vegetation that grew between them.
Fruit-laden trees lined the streets and walking paths, their branches heavy with colorful produce.
Nearly every rooftop was covered with gleaming solar panels, and many also featured gardens teeming with fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Other Vaxxlian cruisers zipped through the sky around them, some heading for the city’s central hangar while others descended toward the landing pads attached to larger homes.
Beyond the city, an enormous forest stretched in every direction, its dense canopy eventually giving way to towering mountains capped with snow.
Draevan guided the cruiser toward the outskirts of Starzzia, where his three-story white home stood nestled among thick vegetation. His home had its own landing pad, allowing him to come and go without needing to use the city hangar.
He glanced at Cora again, wondering what she thought of her first glimpse of the city she would now call home.
To his relief, she appeared awestruck. Though she was strapped into the co-pilot’s chair, she leaned forward as far as the straps would allow, staring at everything with wide eyes, her gaze darting from the houses to the forest to the mountains and back again.
“It’s beautiful,” Cora finally said. “And the sky is so blue. I-I’ve never seen such a clear blue sky.
In person, that is. I’ve seen pictures, of course, of what Earth used to look like.
But this… this is amazing. The city is also beautiful.
It looks sort of old-fashioned yet technologically advanced at the same time.
The white stone buildings are lovely, and the rooftop gardens are a welcome sight.
Do you have a garden on your roof?” She glanced over at him with a smile.
As he held her gaze, he released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He’d hoped she would like New Vaxx, and her reaction meant more to him than she probably realized.
“Yes, I have a rooftop garden, as well as a garden behind my house that is fenced in to keep any dangerous animals that might venture in from the forest out. There is also a bird-feeding station along the garden’s perimeter that I am certain my neighbors find annoying, but Meela seems fascinated by the birds and likes watching them flit from the bird baths to the feeders.
The entire area is fenced in to keep predators out, so it will be perfectly safe for you to take my niece back there during the day while I am gone. ”
“I can’t wait to see it.” Cora turned to peer out the viewport again, and her eyes remained wide, her expression still awestruck. “Are there many dangerous animals to worry about in Starzzia? Or do they rarely enter the city?”
“It’s very rare that a wildcat or a bear ventures into the city.
It never happens during the daytime, though on occasion, it happens at night.
The residents who live on the outskirts of the city, like us, need to remain most vigilant, however.
Just to be safe, I don’t want you going outside at night without me.
During the day, you may go wherever you wish in the city, but you are not to enter the forest without me.
There are walking paths in the forest that I will eventually show you, but I want you to use them only when I am with you. ”
“Well, I’m glad it’s rare for a predator to come inside the city.
I grew up in the country, in a rural area of Pennsylvania, and we had to worry about bears.
Sometimes they would come in our front yard to eat the bird seed, and we always had to use bear-resistant trash cans.
” She smiled wistfully. “One time, my father caught a bear ripping a brand-new bird feeder he’d just brought home off a tree branch, so he grabbed a rake and ran straight at the bear and screamed that it owed him thirty dollars.
I glanced out the window just as it happened.
The bear seemed completely confused by my father running toward it with a rake.
It stood there for a few seconds, almost as though it was trying to figure out what kind of crazy person it was dealing with, before finally darting into the forest with the bird feeder. ”
She laughed, and the tinkling sound warmed his insides. Draevan leaned closer to Cora, enraptured by the way she was telling this story. He suddenly wanted to know more about her life. He wanted to know everything. All the details, good and bad. All the experiences that had shaped her.
“I fussed at my father afterward, of course,” she said with another laugh.
“I couldn’t believe what he’d done, and I made him promise never to do anything so foolish again.
And then, as it would turn out, the whole thing was caught on our security cameras.
He shared the footage with a friend, who edited together the different angles to make one video, and uploaded it to the Internet.
It went viral, as you might imagine, and random strangers started mailing us bird seed, bird feeders, and rakes. ”
“He sounds like a brave man,” Draevan said with a grin, wishing he could’ve met the man who raised Cora. It pleased him that she spoke of him so fondly. Her mother might’ve died when she was a toddler, but it sounded as though she’d had a happy childhood, nonetheless.
Another wistful look filled Cora’s eyes. “Yes, he was brave, though I think in this situation, foolish is a more apt description.” She turned to him, her expression suddenly serious. “It was a big bear.” Then she cracked a huge smile.
Draevan couldn’t help but laugh. “I believe you.”
Her playful smile caused warmth to unfurl inside him. He enjoyed seeing this side of Cora, the way she could be playful and laugh so easily. As they flew over the white stone buildings of Starzzia, her presence made this homecoming feel different somehow. Better.
The cruiser descended toward the landing pad atop his home, and Draevan guided it into position before gently setting it down. He powered the engines down, and the bridge suddenly went quiet.
He unbuckled himself, then turned to Cora, unable to suppress another smile. Perhaps having a mate would be more enjoyable than he had ever thought possible. He rose to his feet, closed the short distance between them, and bent down to unfasten her restraints.
“Come,” he said, helping her stand up. “Let’s go get Meela, and then I’ll show you around your new home.”