Chapter 10
Survii
From above, the Earth truly was beautiful.
The green and blue and shades of brown were captivating – a lovely combination of colors.
The dark side had not done it justice. Now, as he stood beside Atem who had taken up position behind the pilot of the landing shuttle, he could admire its natural brilliance as they waited for Tuvo to finish his inspection.
All luggage and people had to be thoroughly checked so no contraband was brought to the planet.
Survii wanted to trust the humans below, but he could only imagine what a temptation it would be to get their hands on alien technology.
Even the few things they were bringing would be tempting simply because they came from another world.
He did not find it encouraging that, of the two males they had spoken to, only one had seemed worthy and worried about the females.
The room they had seen, he had been told later, was a gathering point of world leaders.
They had all stared only at Survii and Atem.
Alanna’s uncle was the only one that had seemed concerned about the females.
But he might simply not be judging the Earth males correctly.
Perhaps they were more taciturn and stoic than the females had proven to be.
They wouldn’t be the first to have such emotional distinctions between genders.
Survii was well aware that the domini were unusual in that their females and males tended to be near identical in regard to aggression and outgoing personalities.
Turning from the view of the planet outside the window, he looked back into the cabin. His eyes, as they always did, fell immediately upon Alanna.
She had already passed Tuvo’s inspection and was standing just inside the shuttle, talking to Hattie who was still undergoing inspection.
There was definitely something between Tuvo and Hattie. The large male acted oddly around the small female. She was doing her level best to pretend that she didn’t notice as she let Alanna engage her in conversation about things they wanted to see while on Earth.
Tuvo finished her inspection the fastest and Alanna led her in, both of them going to their seats.
On their way, Alanna caught him staring and she gave him a smile and a cute little wave.
Aside from her pointing out the time of day earlier when she met him, it was their only interaction.
Both of them were busy and they hadn’t really had time to talk.
Later, he told himself as he made his way to the shuttle door.
To make things easier, once Tuvo cleared them, they weren’t allowed off the small vessel.
That eliminated any chance they might sneak something aboard after inspection and made it so that they didn’t wander off and make things last longer while everyone else was being inspected.
Navine and Yursini weren’t accompanying him down to the surface, though they were going to remain ready to help him with anything he needed. Both of them were standing there and approached, but didn’t enter, as Tuvo inspected Holly next.
“Try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone,” he said, grinning at them as he leaned against the doorway.
“And make sure you keep up with the research assembly that Elder Haviss is starting. We’ll want to implement that as soon as the humans allow it, but don’t be careless.
We’re Earth’s protectors first. Any research opportunities come later. ”
“We’ve got it under control,” Navine promised. “As soon as the humans agree to terms, we’ll pass them on and make sure all rules of proper sapient scientific experimentation are followed.”
“Relax, Survii,” Yursini chuckled, lowering her voice. “We won’t let your mate’s people be abused.”
Survii glared at Navine who was snickering at his plight.
“She is not my mate,” he growled, keeping his own voice soft, eyes darting to Tuvo who was too focused on Holly to pay attention to him.
Yursini looked surprised. “She’s not? But Navine said…?”
“It’s just because she’s human. That’s all.” Survii looked away from her. The words sat uncomfortably in his belly. Like denying her itself was a betrayal.
“O-o-oh,” Yursini said, drawing out the sound before looking at Navine. “You’re right. He’s a total idiot.”
One of Survii’s lower eyes twitched. “I am your boss, female.”
“Doesn’t make you less of an idiot.”
“I can challenge you for that.”
“And then you’d be an idiot covered in bruises,” Yursini said as Navine laughed.
“This insubordination is getting out of control,” he grumbled. He could beat Yursini in a fight – on a good day, he could – but neither female was afraid of him because they knew he wouldn’t actually try.
He believed in diplomacy. In words over claws. Not to say he didn’t feel the domini urge to let out his aggression, but he found it much more enjoyable to channel that aggression into sex.
Or he used to.
“Look at his face,” Navine whispered to Yursini who snickered at his plight.
“Focus on your work, you two,” he grumbled. “Just because we’re prioritizing Earth doesn’t mean our other responsibilities disappeared. And since I can’t do it from down there, you’re taking over everything. And it better be done right.”
“Vas, First Voice,” they both responded in equally formal and falsely bright voices.
“Good luck with your mate,” Navine said, laughing at him under her breath.
Glaring, he turned and walked back into the shuttle, leaving the two of them laughing at him from outside. Not that he didn’t deserve it. Were he not the subject of the irony, he also would have found it amusing that the only domini who didn’t want a mate had one.
No, not a mate. He was just focused on her, blinded by her human sensuality, that’s all. He’d be back to normal just as soon as he purged her from his system.
Holly and Romival were the last two onto the shuttle, besides Tuvo himself.
The two of them took their seats as Tuvo oversaw the last of their luggage being loaded before stepping aboard himself.
The females had all decided to sit close together.
Chatting excitedly. Holding hands. Looking out the window towards Earth every so often as Atem went through take off procedures.
The shuttle was small and simple. It was heavily shielded for such a small craft, but that was more of a precaution. One never knew how first contact was going to progress. And though the humans seemed welcoming enough so far, anything could change.
And there were a lot of humans. They couldn’t all be eager to meet their new alien allies.
“Everyone ready?” Atem asked, before gesturing to the pilot.
Survii took his seat – as near Alanna as he could reach – as the door sealed. She was in the center of the circle of females that had sat as close behind the pilot as they could so their view was near unimpeded. He didn’t try to steal her attention.
She was finally getting to go back home. He didn’t want to infringe on that moment.
The doors sealed and safety belts were strapped – the shuttle had inertia dampeners and its own gravity generator to keep them from being jostled within the cabin, but, again, precaution was the better part of defense, and it was a new planet.
The shuttle rocked a bit as it was detached from the landing bay. The airtight doors that had been sealed together broke apart with a clang and a hiss.
The shuttle pushed itself off the ship with a slight swoop in their bellies. Survii grinned – he loved the feeling of heading towards the surface.
The females were all silent now. Alanna was holding Peony’s hand on one side and Scarlet’s on the other. They were all staring forward, the light from their planet shining in their eyes. Alanna’s skin seemed to glow from it.
She had braided the top of her hair today, leaving two poofy balls of curls at her neck.
The braids were decorated with gold and amethyst and the curls with golden ribbons.
It matched the gold and pale purple skirt she wore in a sharply angled, alternating pattern.
Her chest was covered by a simple white top that concealed her breasts and had a sheer, sparkling poncho covering it.
Beautiful. Bright and vibrant and elegant.
He wanted to see that skirt up around her waist. That top torn asunder by his claws. Her hair a mess from the wild pleasure spasms of her body. His cock, his knot, was aching to make a mess between her thighs. Then, he would lick it up and do it all over again.
He was so lost in his fantasies of all the ways he wanted to watch Alanna come undone, he almost forgot where they were. Until she suddenly gasped and leaned forward – beside her, the others did the same, but he wasn’t watching them, so he barely noticed.
They had broken through Earth’s atmosphere and were flying over what appeared to be a large, sprawling city.
Heading towards a gleaming, bright, building.
More specifically, they were aiming for the open area of green beside it where the humans had set up a place for their shuttle to approach – complete with a crowd that was being kept back by barricades.
An abundance of bulky pieces of tech he assumed were cameras based on the way the humans holding them tracked the shuttle, and a long line of very stuffy looking individuals waited to meet them.
He looked at his own clothing – he had chosen to dress in robes again, though these were blue and green in celebration of the planet he meant to visit. Very different from the uptight, colorless outfits these humans preferred.
Depending on how they reacted to him, he might have to change his wardrobe. He had planned to add human fashion to his collection anyway, but if these stiff suits were the norm, he wasn’t sure that he would wear them that often.