Chapter 2 #2
Hattie smiled at her little bouquet, then lifted her eyes to him.
And it was like the entire room just melted away.
There was nothing but her and those deep, dark eyes that seemed so big in her face.
They blinked at him over her little button nose covered in a smattering of adorable little dots.
Her full, luscious lips curved into something that might have been a smile.
Hattie was all delicious curves and plump softness. Her lips, her breasts, her thighs. Every length of her thick and full and sexy. Her body begged to be caressed. Her hair to be grabbed. Her lips to be kissed. She was decadence and luxury and joy.
And she was his.
“Easy.” That was Havali’s voice in his ear, his hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down because – krik – he was growling. And not at all subtly.
Hattie had turned from him, and her back was a challenge. A call to hunt. He needed to chase his mate and rip away that fluttering dress so he could claim her as his own. Squeeze her tight. Fuck her deep. Plant his pup in her belly as she screamed her ecstasy to the strange, blue sky.
“You’re growling louder,” Havali said, his voice less playful. “Calm it down. The humans are getting uneasy.”
Tuvo cleared his throat, trying to stop the sound. It didn’t want to stop. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted his female.
Havali pulled him away from the humans. Through the wide, open doors. Into the beautiful private garden just for this celebration hall.
Earth was so green. For him, green was the color of the sky, the water. But on Earth, those things were blue, and it was the plants that were green. It made Tuvo feel like he was drowning. Or maybe those were the emotions and needs he couldn’t repress.
He would be happy to return to Turv, where the plants were properly purple. Where he could delegate the protection of Earth to a general stationed here. Where he could see Hattie safe and away from the dangers of prejudice that existed on her planet.
Everything always came back to her.
“Tuvo.”
Havali again. The sound of his voice was becoming aggravating. Tuvo was growling again. There were no humans to frighten nearby though, so he let it happen.
“Tuvo,” Havali stressed, coming around to stand in front of him. “You can’t keep this up. You are going to hurt yourself. You are already more aggressive than normal. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re going to break.”
“I’m not going to kill her former lovirii.”
“Of course, you’re not. Atem wouldn’t let you. But you would do a lot of damage. The humans are fragile. Their males almost as much as their females. Even if you strike them with a closed fist, you would likely decimate them.”
Tuvo’s growl deepened. With annoyance this time, because he had fisted his hands. The urge to break something, preferably that male’s hands, was getting worse.
“I’m fine,” he growled between his teeth, hating how angry he sounded. “I’ll be fine. We’re almost done here. Once Survii and Alanna return from their honey-thing-”
“Moon,” Havali snickered.
“-we’ll go back to the Stor. She’ll be secure again. I’ll be fine. I just need to keep some distance between us. That’s all.”
***
“Tuvo, I need you to take Hattie home.”
Unprepared for the request made by his Adassani, Peony, the delightful human female mated to Atem, Tuvo paused in the act of bringing a glass of water to his lips.
He was at a second mating party for Survii and Alanna.
This one was far more rigid and attended by leaders on Earth rather than her friends and family.
Hattie’s former lovirii had not shown his face to this event, so he was already feeling calmer.
Just watching her laughing and having fun was sometimes enough to ease the aggression digging its claws into his head.
Sometimes.
He could say that, overall, he wasn’t having a bad time. The music was soft, the people were harmless, and Hattie was smiling. That was enough for him.
Until Peony suddenly broke away from the crowd and approached him with a wide, devious grin.
“Accompany her home?” Tuvo repeated, not sure he understood.
“Well, home as in, to her parents’ house,” Peony clarified. “She wants to go while Survii and Alanna are on their honeymoon. In fact, we all thought, if you didn’t mind, we could take our own little vacations.”
“Vacations.” He repeated the word dully, gut already tightening as he considered the amount of work that would have to go into securing all of them as separate groups.
It was difficult enough when they were all together.
Survii and Alanna were going to a private island that had no other people on it, so they would be fine. But if everyone split up…
“Please.” Pony gave him a beseeching look. “Hattie really wants to go home. And you owe me, remember? You said you’d talk to her. And you still haven’t. This could be your chance.”
Tuvo flinched at the reminder. He had insulted the small female by demeaning her efforts in childbirth before he understood what such a thing involved for humans.
When he asked her for some task to perform in penance, she had demanded he speak to Hattie.
To apologize for the pain that existed between them now because he had once remarked on her size.
Or maybe because he rejected her when he did so.
Not to her face! And he certainly hadn’t meant it to be an insult.
Atem had been warning him and the others from sniffing around his sisters.
A warning clearly no one had heeded. Tuvo had assured him then that he had absolutely no intention of courting Hattie.
Not when fucking her would likely rip her apart.
But she had overheard him, and his careless words had hurt her. Peony was a good female, a good friend, and so had demanded he fix this rift between them as his penance.
He had managed to avoid doing it while accompanying Atem to the Coalition gathering that voted to give Earth a protectorate status. And then had managed to avoid it again by claiming he was busy keeping security for everyone here on Earth.
But Peony was right. If he could safely separate everyone, and he protected Hattie himself, it would be a perfect time to talk.
He couldn’t have her, but he could at least ease the hurt he had caused.
“I’ll speak to the security team,” he finally said. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to do it, but I’ll see if we can spare the numbers to keep everyone safe and allow them freedom to roam.”
Peony beamed. “Thanks, Tuvo! You’re the best!”
She turned, lifting her thumb upwards at the other females. It was a human signal he hadn’t encountered yet, but apparently it was a good thing because they all began to smile and chatter excitedly.
Including Hattie.
Well, if it was for her…
“Oh, by the way,” Peony caught his attention again. “You’re going to be taking Keith back with you. Is that okay?”
Tuvo growled. Stuck in a tiny, old fashioned flying craft with that male?
“Easy, big boy,” Peony laughed. “You have to take him home. He’s not staying with you, but he has to get back to the States. And then, I promise, you’ll be done with him. Just don’t cave his face in on the flight back.”
“I am in perfect control of myself,” he assured her, pretty sure he wasn’t lying.
“Sure. Thanks, Tuvo.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have to determine that you can actually go.”
“Considering it is still a favor. Don’t do it if it’s too dangerous.”
“I assure you, I won’t,” he promised.
Nothing and no one would ever make him risk Hattie’s life. Such a thing was too precious to take chances with. But he also couldn’t lock her away in a box and expect her to be content that way, no matter how safe it was.
Hattie wanted to see her parents. He would make it happen somehow.
He pulled out the phone that he had been given by the human head of security.
He didn’t speak English, and the male, Bertrand, didn’t speak Domtri or Standard.
However, human communication devices came with handy little pictures called emojis that could serve as a basic system of communication.
It was a bit tedious, but over the last few weeks, Tuvo and Bertrand had managed to form some basic communication using the little pictures.
Tuvo trusted Bertrand about as far as he could trust any human. Not enough to grant him the privilege of protecting Hattie’s life, but enough to help him coordinate protecting the others in order to grant her request.
Anything for Hattie.