Chapter 22 #2
I wondered what Xylo thought I smelled and tasted like—clearly, something he enjoyed. He’d lost control of his vines multiple times because of it, but he hadn’t mentioned what I smelled or tasted like to him.
His comment about needing help to provide for me—since he would have trouble letting me leave our nestbed when I started ovulating—surprised me. I didn’t realize he thought about sharing me already, that it didn’t faze him in the least even though we had just completed our permanent bond.
I stared at the empty spots along the raised edge of the nestbed and wondered if he was hoping I would start filling them.
Personally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted that many nestmates.
.. husbands... mates... whatever I was going to call them.
At least not until things settled down, and we had a chance to get to know one another.
I needed to get through this pregnancy and the whole Aldawi situation before I even thought about starting to fill my nestbed.
But Xylo... I thought of his strong hands kneading my body, the glide of the soap against my skin... My body clenched in arousal, and I could feel myself growing damp.
The lights flicked off and the tinted curtain lowered to cover the glass wall.
I blushed at the direction of my thoughts—and at the thought Xylo may have caught them.
“Selena?”
I looked toward the sound of his voice and saw him standing at the top of the nestbed stairs. My eyes greedily traced the patterns glowing along his body, noticing even my bite mark on his neck glowed white.
I swallowed.
“Selena?” he whispered once again.
“Mmm?” I mumbled, distracted.
“Do not be alarmed, but your spots are glowing.”
I jerked, snapping out of the erotic daze. Pushing the blanket aside, I gasped.
All my spots glowed brilliant white.
I ran one hand along my other arm, experimentally. Nothing felt different, and the glow did not dim.
“What does this mean?”
“At a guess? I would say in mating with me, in taking my essence into your body, you have adopted my bioluminescence, but I do not know for certain. Nor do I know if you only absorb one trait from each partner or multiples. Or whether you gain a new trait each time you mate with someone, only with someone new, or perhaps, with each new species you mate with. There are so many questions, and we have few answers thus far, but I do not believe there is any danger. I think this is a gift, an amazing and unique ability. However, it is something we should study to learn more, so we can determine the impact on both you and your offspring.”
I could hear the awe and excitement in his voice as he explained.
He was right, and I trusted him. He would never do anything without my permission, nor would he allow my children to become experiments.
I needed to put the past behind me and allow him to figure this out if not for my own, then for my children’s sakes.
I smiled.
“I agree, Xylo. We need to know, and I trust you to have my best interests at heart.” Glancing down at my hands in my lap, I whispered, “Even though it would be embarrassing to report to you every time I was intimate with another.”
The nestbed’s center cushion shifted as Xylo lay down next to me. He cupped my chin in his hand and turned my face to his, locking his glowing eyes on mine.
“My only goal is to keep you healthy, safe, and happy.
Sharing a nestqueen is a part of my culture.
I am happy you accept the concept of having multiple nestmates, but that you do not wish to dictate to any of us.
That you will allow us to retain our jobs, our own lives as well as share them with you.
I find great comfort in knowing when I am not around, you would have another to love and care for you.
Right now, it is just the two of us, and we have not been together long.
There is time to do this on your terms. When you are ready.
“I have noticed how drawn Odelm is to you and how good you are for him.
You are healing him. He has been the most social I have seen him in the five years we have been on this mission.
I read your thoughts about Odelm earlier—how wanting him embarrassed you.
Do not be embarrassed. He is a good friend and would make a good nestbrother.
He has already been protective of you and clearly cares about your wellbeing.
We would work well together as a family.
“This is your choice, your decision alone, and I would never want to rush you, but I felt it was important for you to know it is okay to want to be with others. I do not feel threatened. I would not think less of you. And there is no need to be embarrassed.” He let go of my chin as he chuckled.
“Besides, I would know whenever you are with another anyhow.”
My jaw dropped open in shock. “How?”
He lifted a loose strand of my silver hair and tucked it behind my ear.
“Because you cannot block me. We are permanently bonded, so I can read your memories and thoughts if I want.”
As I opened my mouth to speak, he placed a finger over my lips.
“Do not panic. I would never violate your privacy, Selena. Not without permission. Only ever in the direst emergency. Most of what I would pick up would be surface thoughts or thoughts you broadcast loudly. I cannot block those. So, of course, I would know when you are intimate with someone. I would feel the extreme emotions during coupling, but I do not feel every emotion all the time. Ulax males, however, do. They sense all your emotions constantly, including whenever you feel aroused. They cannot block those, but they can only ever read very loudly broadcast thoughts.”
“I really should have asked questions before we went this far, shouldn’t I?” I murmured wryly, eyeing the glowing bite mark on Xylo’s neck. “Did it hurt?”
He shook his head. “It brings me great pleasure to feel pleasure from you. In fact, I need it. It is an instinctive need to want to please you.”
“But what if I want to make you feel good?”
I slid closer to him and traced the glowing nebula on his chest. The velvety-soft skin stretched taut over hard muscle, delicious beneath my fingertips. My hands roamed to the “V” patterns along his face, carefully tracing them.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
My hands continued their journey down his neck and back across the center of his chest. The velvety skin faded into the overlapping cool scales.
Though he wasn’t a member of the Warrior Class, his body was sleek and muscular, and his temperature was lower than mine, so he felt cool to the touch.
It was a soothing cool and fit his sleek form.
When I’d fallen asleep curled up on him last night, cocooned in the blanket, his temperature had balanced mine and prevented me from overheating. It was an unexpected but delightful discovery.
“You know what your patterns remind me of?” I asked, tracing a glowing green and blue swirl above his left waist petal.
“No. What?”
Pinching the edge of the left waist petal with my hands, I was surprised by its rigidity. I pushed lightly, testing its flexibility and was surprised when it sprang back immediately.
“They remind me of space. Your body is a canvas of nebulas and galaxies. Seeing them glow in the dark makes it that much more spectacular to look at.”
“I can feel you tell the truth, but no one has ever said such things to me. Quite the opposite.”
I pulled my hands away.
“Well, they don’t matter. You’re mine now, and I think you’re gorgeous. Now turn over.”
He opened his eyes and looked at me for a moment before flipping onto his stomach.
His vines lay loosely along his body, their tips trembling.
I rolled on top of him, sliding a leg across his hips, settling on his waist petal.
Sitting up, I traced his spine from the neck down to the apex of my legs with one finger.
He shivered. His petal-wings fluttered in response.
I traced a hand along the base of each vine, feeling the difference between the texture of his scales and the smoothness of his vines. Sliding farther up his back to his shoulder blades, I traced the edge of his petal-wings, then massaged the muscles where they attached to his back.
He moaned.
“What are your petal-wings for?”
It took him a moment to respond.
“Primarily for attracting a nestqueen, but they are also used to collect dew in the mornings or rainwater when required for drinking. Walking in any sort of wind can be hard, so we have to use our vines to secure them to our backs.”
Smiling, I leaned forward and ran my hands down his spine. I lowered my lips, dropping a gentle kiss on the back of his neck.
He gasped.
“Selena?”
Pressing my breasts against his back, I whispered in his left ear. “Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
“Exploring what is mine,” I purred, gliding my hands through his grassy hair.
I sat back up, pulling one of his vines up with me. I slid my hands along its length and brought the tip to my lips. I blew across the flower, and he jerked beneath me. Smiling, I placed my lips over its petaled tip and sucked, running my tongue underneath.
“Selena!”
“You aren’t the only one who tastes good,” I teased, the corners of my lips curling up as they wrapped around his vine.
A moan escaped him as I sucked and lapped the tip. He shuddered as my tongue delved between the petals.
His responses stoked my own arousal. I felt my core growing wetter and wriggled my hips, rubbing against his back in an attempt to create more friction.
He noticed my arousal and the vine in my mouth surged deeper, nearly making me choke.
The other five slid around my hips and thighs, pulling my legs wider, flowered tips running across my nether lips.
Moisture pooled between my legs, and my juices began coating my thighs.
His vines grew frenzied as they lapped at my essence.
My body trembled violently as hard shivers of desire raced up my spine.
I moaned and rocked forward, struggling to get closer still.
One of his vines pushed inside me and I shuddered, collapsing against his back. I gripped his mossy shoulders, needing something solid to anchor me.
My hard nipples pressed against him, rubbing erotically against his scales with each shuddering breath I took.
I could feel the vine inside rubbing lightly as it suctioned along my walls, and my center contracted, trying to grip it tighter.
I needed more.
A second vine entered as a third latched itself onto my clit.
My body shook with need.
I sucked harder on the vine in my mouth, and he shivered beneath me with a groan.
The vine on my clit sucked harder. I moaned as the two inside me rubbed against my inner walls, sucking kisses hitting that sensitive spot inside me as I felt myself teetering on the edge.
“Please, oh Stars, please...”
One of the vines thrust deeper, latching onto my cervix as the other sucked hard on my clit. I screamed as I shattered around him.
My vision blurred as I heard Xylo’s low groan of satisfaction.