Chapter 15
Vera
I hated leaving a partner unsatisfied, it wasn’t my style to take and not give.
All of this between Zathar and me was new, it was a growing thing, but I was starting to see how much potential there was.
Nowadays on Earth, alien/human pairings were not uncommon so it wasn’t that hard to feel open-minded about hooking up with Zathar, even if his lack of legs made him less humanoid than most species I knew.
There were the Dragnell who were our allies and the wolf-like race often visited Earth.
They were a little purist so they didn’t often mate outside of their species, but that still left many other aliens.
They were not part of the UAR that ruled almost the entire Alpha Quadrant, but they still visited for work.
Or they were inside the territory and ruled by the UAR without being part of the ruling structure.
Even with Reid’s initial criticism about my infatuation with Zathar, I knew I wasn’t going to let it stop me.
We would just take it slow and have a dating period before I accepted full commitment, even if I knew that’s where this was headed.
It was a little exhilarating to think, that I was going to be with Zathar for the rest of my life.
I had no clue what that life was going to look like either, nothing like the endless loneliness I’d been destined for back on Earth, that was certain.
So when he denied my touch, I felt that first as rejection, like he was saying no to me, not to this moment.
Then I got my head out of my ass; just one look at the heat sizzling from his azure eyes was enough to know that he was so into me he was bursting at the seams. It was sexy to watch him stroke his cock, and I loved how I could now properly enjoy the expression on his handsome face when he came.
Came while stroking himself and looking at my naked body.
My thighs squirmed together, wetness seeping from my passage with how much it turned me on to see him pleasure himself. Okay, so maybe I’d been wrong in the past, maybe having him touch himself wasn’t because I wasn’t willing to give. It was just an amazing addition to all the play we could have.
When he returned to shore and picked me up I still felt the urge to complain just a little, mostly to let him know I would have gladly helped him get off.
That sexy smirk on his face just made me want to kiss him.
I loved how much he was into me, and how easily he carried me or picked me up.
I also loved how much he liked kissing me and how good it felt to tangle with that split tongue of his.
His expression turned to alarmed so quickly that I struggled for a moment to get my own head out of the lust-induced gutter he seemed to have gotten me stuck in just by being him.
Then I was shifting gears right along with him, if he heard Cosima scream they couldn’t be that far away. We needed to help them.
Getting my shoes and clothing on as fast as I could, I stuffed my pockets with several rose-colored smooth stones from the lake’s shore.
If there was fighting up ahead, I was going to need some projectiles, if not to do any real damage, they might at least be distractions that could provide Zathar with an opening he needed.
He picked me up when I was still fighting to get my t-shirt on, my light jacket still in one hand, and raced away through the woods.
At least the pertinent bits were covered, but I was chilled from the lake and not properly dried.
The wind whipped past us as Zathar sped up the mountain slope, which made me break out in goosebumps.
So I burrowed against his chest, craning my head around to search for any sign of Cosima and whatever threat they were facing.
There was a rocky ridge rising on our left, the wall climbing higher as we passed.
It felt like we were about to get boxed in, all we needed was a second wall on the other side and we’d be traveling down a funnel.
I’d just thought it when I realized the landscape on that side was turning rocky too.
Not so much a cliff as scattered blocks of stone, giant boulders that dotted the forest. Like a giant had tossed some stones around willy-nilly.
Zathar didn’t slow or attempt to make our passage quiet; was whatever he was hearing that urgent? And then I heard it too, the sounds of Naga voices as they exchanged words and Cosima’s muffled sobbing. I was touching Zathar, so when we got closer I could make out what was being said.
“Where is he, Corin? I won’t ask again,” a male voice demanded, followed by the sound of a smacking noise. Were they hitting Zathar’s friend? The reply was too softly spoken to be heard but the response was affront, anger, so it was probably something rude.
“Don’t Msera,” another said. “You know how loyal he is, he’s not going to give up the Prince.
” And then changing tack that same male said, “Come on Corin, I just need to talk some sense into him, that’s all.
We’re not going to hurt anyone.” The new voice sounded more mature and in charge, I hoped that was a good thing.
Maybe this wouldn’t turn into a big fight like last time, it certainly didn’t appear like there was a female Naga present, which I surmised could only be to our advantage.
Zathar didn’t pause to listen or to make some kind of sneaky approach, he just burst from between the trees into the clearing and then barreled straight into the midst of the ongoing confrontation.
I had only a brief moment to assess it all but I counted five Naga males that surrounded Corin down on the ground.
A sixth was holding a sword to Reid’s throat while Cosima had the pilot lady half in her lap, holding the injured female partially off the ground.
She might be muffling a sob, but her expression was determined. Then I had a bit of a surprise when I noticed that the pilot lady was blinking her eyes, her vision hazy as she tried to focus on what was going on. She was awake, which was a miracle if you asked me.
We burst between two Naga, Zathar swinging his body around to stand in front of the two girls on the ground, already protecting them.
He let me slide down his torso until my feet touched the ground.
Keeping his arm curled around my shoulders, his long body twisted until he was partially in front of me too.
At least I still had a front-row seat to the confrontation.
Corin was pinned down on the ground by a Naga male holding him by the back of his neck.
Two others were holding spears or swords to keep him under control but Corin’s long tail was coiling behind him, the tip twitching in agitation.
He was dripping blood from his mouth, his silvery eyes glowing with a rage I hadn’t expected to see in him; I’d pegged him as the calm one.
The one holding him down looked familiar to me, as did the one male calmly presiding over the entire scene.
The dark blue male that was pinning Corin looked furious, I was certain he was the one that I’d heard speak first. When he shifted to look at Zathar and me, his eyes flicked to mine and grew even more enraged.
Oh yeah, I knew that look, that was the guy I’d somehow managed to knock out. He was one pissed-off snake.
“Zathar,” the calmer one said. His hair was black and in a tight braid over one shoulder almost all the way down to his belly.
Unlike all the other Naga I’d seen, this one didn’t have beautiful scales that shimmered, his were a dull color somewhere between dark blue and purple which blended extremely well with the dark soil and the foliage around us.
“Khawla,” Zathar shot back, “There’s no need to hurt my friend if you want to talk to me.
Let Corin go, now.” The steel that I heard in Zathar’s voice was, if not unexpected, still new, and it shot a tingle through my body, straight for my clit.
That was sexy, and it was extra hot when the one holding down Corin, despite his rage, shifted back to let Corin go.
Zathar’s friend reared up as soon as he was let go, his body coiling in two quick twists that brought him back to our side. He was making a kind of rattling noise, fangs bared and bloody, his silver eyes flashing. He wasn’t going to forget being pinned down like that.
The male called Khawla shifted on his tail, lowering himself a tad so he wasn’t as imposing as Zathar, a sign of deference, maybe even respect.
“You know you can’t defy the Queen, she’s your mother…
” He said, his voice trailing off when shockingly purple eyes shifted from my future mate to me, trailing over my face with obvious confusion marking his expression.
“So? She cast me out, she has no say over me or my actions. You know this is true Khawla, and you know that a spirit connection, a mate bond, is sacred. I have a mate, I do not wish to have Astrexa.” Zathar’s voice still had that steely note but on the name of the female Naga his mother wanted him to mate, it turned into a harsh kind of hiss.
Khawla reared back and so did several of the others, though the angry one leaned closer instead, baring his fangs.
“Oh fuck off Msera, you’re just embarrassed that my tiny mate kicked your scaly hide,” Zathar said, this time amused as he flicked his hand at the angry Naga before glancing down at me.
“Get your damn tail out of that knot, you’re a better male than that. ”
Msera, as the dark-scaled Naga I’d accidentally bested was called, backed down with a hiss.
Some of the others in the clearing were laughing, one even jabbed him with the blunt end of a spear in the shoulder.
But Zathar’s words did make him do it, he settled on his coiled tail with a surly expression, arms crossed over his wide chest, and dipped the sharp horn on his chin until it nearly jabbed him in the neck.