Chapter 6
Mox
I liked this kiss very much. It was no surprise that naga females didn’t do such a thing, but I liked it with Charlie.
My body was on fire for her and I hadn’t been able to keep my aching cock from extruding.
It was reaching for her, eager to feel her warmth wrapped around it, the sensitive tips already drying out now that they were exposed to the air.
It was a good thing the warm pool was making the air here humid.
When we pulled apart and Charlie looked down, I wanted to flinch away, expecting her to be angry that I’d lost control of myself.
A Naga female would be very upset indeed if a male exposed himself before she was good and ready…
Charlie, her face went red in the cheeks, her eyes wide, and her mouth dropped open.
It was desire that painted her soft features, that filled the air with her scent.
It was the opposite of what I would do in front of a female of my own kind, but for Charlie and that awed look, I would do anything.
I flexed my abdominal muscles, making my cock twitch for her, and was awarded with a gasp, her eyes flying up to my face, her rounded cheeks tinged pink.
“Okay, well…” she stuttered, “I think that will fit.” Then her eyes went even bigger, “I mean, theoretically, but we’re not trying. No way, I barely know you.”
I held back a groan but nodded, it was her right to wait, we had only just met and I knew next to nothing about her species. I just knew that soon I’d have her won over, she already wanted me, I could taste it in the air when I flicked out my tongue and drew her scent particulates into my mouth.
Though it was uncomfortable, I pressed my palm against my cock and started pushing it back into its pouch.
“Will there be more of these kisses at least?” I asked, stifling a groan as I worked it back inside.
She was staring at me, but her eyes had gone a little unfocused.
Her hand lifted to her temple where a little scratch marred her pale, soft skin.
“Ow,” she murmured, swaying and I hurriedly swung more of my tail out of the water to curve it around her body.
She clasped at my coil with one hand, the knuckles going white with strain.
“My headache is getting worse, I think it’s the humidity in here.
” Worry spiked through my body, my insistent arousal fading at her words.
That little scratch had caused a headache?
I hadn’t thought much of it before, a scratch like that would barely register for me… She was clearly more fragile.
Curling my body out of the water completely, I gently lifted her in my arms again, the wet fabric of her coverings pressing against my scales.
“Come, I have something for the pain,” I offered, my thoughts going to the small amount of medical supplies in my pack, and the options possibly available to us in the next room.
If that wasn’t enough, I’d take her to the Shaman, even if that was a journey that would take me close to Bitter Storm Clan territory.
Placing her near my pack on the tile floor, I made sure I had her supported in my coils before I started rifling through my things.
Dried bark from the Hura tree was a good pain reliever when boiled as tea, I was sure I had some in my kit, and crowed in victory when I located the pouch.
I had to heat it over fire though, which meant moving into the next room, which was much cooler.
“You need to strip off your wet clothing Charlie,” I said and drew out the soft pelt I used as a cloak when the night air turned crisp.
“You can wrap up in this.” She bit her luscious bottom lip and I flashed back to how it felt to kiss her, how that soft pillow felt pressed against my own.
She reached for the pelt and I noticed how her hand trembled, rattling my protective instincts.
I didn’t even need to look at those brown eyes anymore for those feelings to rise in me.
“Let me,” I insisted and though she weakly protested, I had her stripped from her wet things quickly.
I tried to ignore how pretty her breasts looked outlined in some kind of colorful, intricate harness as I wrapped her in the pelt.
I slid my nictitating membranes closed over my eyes to hide how I looked at the small place between her legs, covered by more of the same colored fabric.
She said she thought we’d fit, but I couldn’t imagine it, and worry skated up my spine.
Though why would the stars give me a mate I couldn’t mate with? So she had to be right.
Gathering her, bundled up in the pelt, and all our things, I hurried us to the room next to this one.
The nest in one corner of the smaller chamber was covered in soft skins and she didn’t move after I put her down on them.
Staring blindly at me in the dark. The light crystals here had stopped working long ago, courtesy of the ceiling partially caving in, which was why I could safely light a fire in the fire pit at the center of the room.
I worked quickly to make her the Hura bark tea, offering it to her when it had barely any time to cool.
She was already looking a little less pale, with less of a frown line between her furred brows.
“I’m okay, it’s just a little bit of a concussion from the crash,” she said as she sipped at it, distaste making her wrinkle her nose.
A concussion was bad, every hunter knew that, so her words did nothing to ease my worry.
I’d known a hunter who’d been fine at first, after having received a nasty blow to the head.
Then that night he’d fallen asleep and never woken up again.
Us Naga were strong, we healed from much without aid, and we were hard to wound.
A tiny female with scaleless skin? Look at how I’d thought that scratch was nothing…
I couldn’t take any risks with her, I had to take her to the Shaman and forget about taking her back to my clan.
The females there would see her as a threat and hurt her; she’d be defenseless against them.
“Tell me about this crash,” I asked her when she came to sit next to me near the fire.
The pelt she had clutched tightly around her nearly bare body.
I’d spread out her wet clothing on the rock floor nearby so it could dry, but hopefully, it would be a while yet.
I knew about the skyships that sometimes fell from the sky and the ancient technology that our ancestors had left behind.
I had never heard of anyone finding anybody alive when a skyship fell from the heavens.
Charlie spoke softly, shivering a little from beneath the fur wrapped around her, so I made sure to curl her in my coils, urging her to sit against my chest. She didn’t object, and I loved the play of light from my mating sigils glowing when we touched.
Her words only made sense to me half the time but I tried my best. I couldn’t wrap my head around a world filled with tall buildings like she described.
Or this thing she called a job. Hunting was a job, as was crafting weapons, or foraging food, this sitting in an ‘office’ made no sense at all.
I did understand the part where she explained she’d been punished for a crime she had no blame for.
My scales rattled along my shoulders in indignation on her behalf, “This male touched you without your consent! He deserved far worse than a quick death.” Why hadn’t the males of her family lined up to avenge her honor?
The thought struck me that maybe she didn’t have any close ties, this UAR tribe sounded huge, but she spoke of it with distaste.
Her soft laugh made my heart swell, my flesh tingling beneath my chest scales where she patted me with her soft little hand.
“It doesn’t work like that on Earth,” she said, her smile dropping again and her eyes taking on a faraway look.
A sudden worry struck me hard, did she miss her home?
Did she want to go back? When I asked her she shrugged her shoulder and the pelt dropped, exposing her delicate skin, and the upper curve of her breast.
“Not at all, it’s not like I’ve got anything to go back to.
I was an orphan in the system. My home was a tiny box barely big enough for a bed and food heating unit.
My bathroom was shared with twenty others…
” It sounded like she was describing a prison, and the thought that my tiny, strange mate was an orphan struck me with an echoing sadness.
My father had fallen in a hunt and the bond with my mother was deeply complicated and mostly hostile, especially of late.
I was, however, incredibly relieved that she didn’t want to return home. I wasn’t sure how I could help her get back up between the stars, and I didn’t much like the thought of leaving Serant though I would have if that’s what she wanted.
“Good,” I said, and I flicked another peat log onto the fire with the tip of my tail.
“At first light, I will take you to the Shaman so he can heal your head,” I said while I touched her temple just below the shallow little gash.
She gave me a dubious little look and after a short silence, she was the one firing questions at me.
Asking me about my tribe, about my life here on Serant.
Happy that she was showing such interest I told her anything she wanted to know.
“You know,” I added thoughtfully after I’d described my prestigious position as the First Hunter to her.
“The queen sent me to this section of our hunting grounds despite this area being invaded by Rakworms. I thought she was displeased with me, or testing me. Now I think she just wants to replace me with a younger hunter she’s been sleeping with…
” I tilted my head thoughtfully to gaze at the small sliver of the sky I could see through the smoke hole in the ceiling.
The more I considered that, the more that seemed like the truth.
“What a bitch,” Charlie said indignantly, “I’m sure she’s going to regret that in the end.
I’m sorry, Mox. That sucks.” I smiled at her, pleased that she’d defend my honor like that, that she was already convinced of my skills as a hunter.
I had slain two Rakworms for her of course, it was no wonder she was impressed.
Fed from my rations, though my female ate shockingly little, I made sure she was comfortable so she could try to sleep.
At first, I suggested she curl up in the soft nest again but she told me that was too cold.
So I made a loop with my tail padded with some pelts, she was asleep in minutes, trusting me to keep her safe.
I vowed to listen to any sign her breathing might change, but she’d responded well to the pain relief so I thought a little sleep would be alright.
I was no healer though and I wanted the Shaman to check her over.
I made sure my spear was near my hand while I kept watch, using my red-light knife to drill tiny holes in each of the Rakworm scales I’d harvested from the kills.
The task was time-consuming but once finished, I could sew each scale onto a piece of leather, it would make a fine piece of clothing for my mate when it was done.
As I worked, I kept looking at her, at how much she was changing my life. My mind was racing with options, but I had no clue what to do after taking her to the Shaman. Maybe he’d have some advice.
It was several hours later that I heard a noise down the hallway that lead to the surface. My body shot into alertness, hand clasping around my spear, and with my tail, I lifted Charlie so I could place her protectively behind my back.