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  “Greetings, Queen Adorissa. I am Senior Commander T’lan. Welcome to—”

  “Could we continue the pleasantries inside?” The voice emerging from the cloaked figure was undeniably female—low, sultry, and with a slight, not unpleasant sibilance.

  “Yes, of course. This way.”

  T’lan started to stride away before he remembered his company and slowed to a more measured pace. The Icluthian warriors fell into place around the queen and they all proceeded to the newly assembled building. Yehrin technology made it a relatively simple matter to erect new structures and they had decided that the Icluthians’ unique needs would be better served by creating an area especially for them.

  The door opened into a large, high-ceilinged room, draped with a profusion of color and fabric. The effect was almost as startling to T’kol’s senses as the drastic increase in temperature. The Icluthians removed their heavy outer garments and released the coverings over their heads and hands; however, he noticed that they immediately refastened their weapons belts around their waists.

  The queen threw off her cloak and removed a silver mask. Beneath the cloak she wore a silky garment that formed a stiff collar behind her head and opened all the way down the front from between her small breasts to just above the jeweled belt set low on her hips. As tall as her warriors, her slender body was covered with pale green scales. Faint pink patches marked her cheeks and a corresponding pink stripe ran from her throat down across her stomach, framed by the open front of her garment.

  She wandered over and ran a hand along the rich velvet covering on a low couch while one of her warriors made a quick inspection of the rest of the building. T’kol knew it was comprised of an equally large bedroom, two small bunkrooms, a large bathing room and small sanitary facilities. T’gana had suggested the layout based upon his research and T’kol had arranged for the construction but, as with this room, he had not seen the finished result. No one moved or spoke until the warrior returned and nodded.

  “This is quite acceptable,” Queen Adorissa said. “We appreciate your consideration.” She assumed a seat on the couch, two of her warriors immediately moving into position behind her.

  T’lan’s posture relaxed almost imperceptibly. “My mate assisted with the decoration. She will be delighted that you are satisfied.”

  “Your queen? No doubt she is at home with her other warriors?” She raised a delicate brow ridge.

  The growl in T’lan’s voice could not be disguised. “She has no other males. She is at home with our daughters.”

  “Ah.” Apparently losing interest, the queen waved a dismissive hand. “This weather is most unfortunate. I had hoped to see more of your planet but even as we approached, most of this continent was covered with heavy clouds. I was very disappointed.”

  A slight motion caught his attention. Why had T’chok reacted to the queen’s mention of the weather?

  The queen invited them to be seated, refreshments were served, and the next hour vanished in useless conversation. Every time T’lan or T’gana attempted to steer the conversation towards the Saviji, Adorissa deftly changed the subject. When she finally dismissed them with a reference to her fatigue from her journey—a journey that could not have lasted more than twenty minutes—he suspected they were all too relieved to protest.

  “What the hell was that about?” T’lan demanded as soon as they were outside in the blessedly cool air. “I thought they wanted to talk to us.”

  T’gana shook his head. “I am not sure. They have never been exactly open with us, but we have worked with them for the past few years. Then again, a queen has never been involved.”

  “I did not think queens were involved in military matters.”

  “I did not think so either.” T’gana shook his head. “I will conduct additional research.”

  T’lan and T’gana departed for their respective homes, but T’kol stepped in front of T’chok as he prepared to follow them.

  “Why did you react to the queen’s mention of the weather? Was it about L’zabet? Where is she?”

  “I do not believe that is any of your concern,” T’chok growled.

  T’kol growled back, on the verge of lowering his horns. L’zabet had been gone for three days now and the uncertainty about her whereabouts was driving him to distraction.

  “She is most definitely my concern.”

  “But you have not claimed her. Do you not wish to do so?”

  “I wish that more than anything.” The words burst out before he could suppress them.

  “Then why have you not done so?”

  He found himself unable to meet the other male’s eyes. “She is too young,” he said, using the same excuse he had given her.

  T’chok frowned at him. “Age is merely a number. My zuzu was much younger when I claimed her. Are you afraid?”

  Under normal circumstances, he would have interpreted the remark as a deliberate insult and issued a challenge of his own, but despite his grim face, T’chok seemed more concerned than challenging.

  “It is not fear. You could call it, perhaps, concern.” T’chok maintained a forbidding silence and T’kol finally forced himself to admit the question that haunted his dreams. “I am concerned that I will not make her happy. She has a restless spirit, a type of wildness that I fear would not be happy if tied to another. I had hoped that as she grew older, she would be more content, but if anything, her restlessness only seems to have increased.”

  He did not mention his even deeper fear that even if he did claim her, the bond would not be enough to keep her at his side. Or worse, that like his mother she would remain but become bitter and resentful.

  T’chok’s face had relented. “It appears you understand more than I gave you credit for. I will speak to R’chel.”

  He stepped past T’kol and this time he did not attempt to retain the other warrior. Dual Yehrin hearts were no advantage today—both of them ached as he returned to his own small quarters. The sensation reminded him of the first miserable weeks after L’zabet departed for college. He had known she would stay if he asked her to, but he had also known what a bright mind she possessed, and he did not want to prevent her from continuing her education. Nonetheless, he had spent most of those first weeks agonizing about his decision. He had gone as far as taking a cloaked flyer to her campus and observing her from a distance. Only after he was convinced that she was safe and happy—and not interested in other males—had he been able to relax his surveillance. Although even then, many a lonely night had seen him make the same trip. At least then he had known how to find her. Now he did not, and worry tore at his insides.

  Chapter Six

  The trip to the cave had been even more draining than Hisst feared. The icy wind sucked the heat from his body and despite the heated rocks clutched to his stomach, he felt his steps and his thoughts slowing with each movement. Just as he was afraid that he would have to tell his queen that he could not continue, they reached the cave. She’d had to help him inside and he was too drained to do more that huddle around his rocks, but the lack of wind helped. When she began heating the rocks inside the cave, it helped even more.

  As the warmth penetrated, he sat up and looked around with interest. Once past the entrance the ceiling rose high enough that he would be able to stand upright. The walls were composed of smooth striped stone and the floor sloped gently towards the entrance and was wide enough for perhaps four bodies to lie side by side. Now that they were no longer in the smaller shelter, she would not need to sleep pressed against his side, he thought regretfully.

  The cave appeared to be unoccupied, but he filtered the air through his olfactory receptors, checking for the scent of a predator. He detected nothing recent, but tasting the air caused Lissie’s delicious scent to flood his senses and his kradx stirred. He hadn’t realized how easily it would be aroused after the initial awakening. Hoping she hadn’t noticed his unseemly enthusiasm, he snuck a glance in her direction, but she was using her small light to study
the entrance to the cave.

  “If I had a knife, I could probably rig up a cover for the door,” she said. “I usually have one in my bag, but I must have taken it out.”

  Glad to finally be of some use, he pulled out his boot knife with a triumphant grin.

  “Yes!” she exclaimed. “I could kiss you, Hisst.”

  “Kiss?”

  The mating color covered her cheeks. “It’s a human custom. You press your lips to another person’s lips.”

  “Ah.” A wave of heat washed over him and his kradx stirred again as he remembered the way she had touched her mouth to his before she left him. Although primarily used as a weapon, an Icluthian mouth was also used to bestow the mating bite. He had never heard of using it to bring pleasure to a female in any other way, but the thought had an illicit eroticism to it that stoked his arousal. Except…

  “It probably would not work,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because of my fangs.” He opened his mouth far enough to show her the two sharp points descending from his upper jaw.

  “Those don’t look too bad.”

  He shook his head. “They grow larger if I’m angry.”

  “I’d hope you wouldn’t be angry if we were kissing,” she said, then her own small white teeth bit down on that fascinatingly plump lower lip.

  “Or if I’m aroused,” he added.

  “Oh.” She didn’t say anything else as she came over and took his knife, but as she knelt down to start cutting the parachute, he heard her whisper. “That might be kinda fun.”

  By the Goddess, if his kradx didn’t stop reacting to her words he was going to be rubbed raw before he had a chance to extrude. It didn’t help that she was bent over in one of the forbidden positions. No Icluthian female had ever had such wondrously round buttocks and he could not help but wonder what they could feel like against his loins if he were behind her thrusting into her…

  That’s not the way it is done, he reminded himself.

  “What’s not?” Lissie sat back on her heels and looked over at him and he realized that he had spoken aloud.

  “I was reminding myself of the rules for mating with a queen,” he admitted.

  The color that swept over her was almost as dark as a queen in full rut and did nothing to quiet his arousal.

  “What are they?” she asked, her voice low and husky.

  They had been drilled into him since he was a small nestling. “The queen always chooses the male. The male must ensure that the queen is in readiness. Once the queen is ready, the male must present himself for her touch, should she choose to give it.”

  “Oh.” Heavily fringed eyelids briefly veiled the soft green of her unusual eyes. “I was never one for rules anyway.”

  She turned back to the cloth and he actually had to press his hand against his slit to keep his kradx tucked inside. The husky whisper, the implied invitation, even the suggestion that they ignore the endless rules that had frustrated him for most of his life—was there ever a more perfect queen? He had been blessed by the Great Mother that this human female had been the one to cause his awakening. He knew he could not hope to be a permanent part of her brace, but perhaps, perhaps he might be lucky enough for her to complete his awakening. A full body shudder swept over him at the thought.

  “Are you cold?” she asked.

  “No, I’m quite comfortable.”

  “Good. I’m actually a little warm myself.” Sitting back on her heels, she removed her outer garment, and he was struck speechless. He had been aware when she was pressed against him in her sleep that her breasts were large and soft, but now… Even at her most aroused, an Icluthian queen would never come close to that size. Perhaps he should have been repulsed by the excess tissue, but he could only stare in aroused fascination. As he did, a point appeared in the center of each one.

  “What are those? On your… tits? Is that what I touched this morning?”

  To his infinite regret, she crossed her arms over the intriguing peaks, although the generous mounds spilled over the top.

  “Haven’t you ever seen a nipple before?”

  “A nipple?” He ran the word through his interface. “Ah, to feed your young. Are you with child?”

  “Hah. I would have to have sex first,” she said, then colored again. “No, I don’t have a child and I’m not planning on having one any time soon. They also react to cold.”

  “Then you should put your outer garment back on,” he said regretfully.

  “I’m not cold.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said and it’s true, but they also get hard when I’m aroused, okay?”

  She was practically yelling when she finished, and it took him a minute to realize what she had said. He couldn’t help the slow grin that spread across his face.

  “I aroused you?” How handy to have such a barometer instead of trying to estimate if a female’s breasts had increased in size.

  “Yes, all right? You looked so… fascinated.”

  “I was. I am,” he assured her. “Could you let me see them again? Please?”

  She slowly lowered her hands and to his delight, the small points looked longer and harder than they had before. He started to reach forward with a cautious finger, but she pulled back.

  “I agreed to let you look, not touch. Now let me get back to work.”

  A tide of color still heated Lizabet’s cheeks as she bent over to resume cutting the parachute cloth, flaming even higher when she realized that Hisst had a direct view of her ass. She considered changing position but the knowledge that he was watching her was curiously arousing. Her nipples tightened ever further into aching points and she had to fight back the impulse to rub them. What was it about this alien?

  Her breasts had been attracting attention since she was barely in her teens and had developed almost overnight. Once she realized that she couldn’t fight it, she started dressing in ways that accentuated them, determined to make it her choice. But despite the many comments, leers, and even attempted grabs she had received over the years, Hisst’s simple fascinated stare had been the only one that she’d really responded to—aside from T’kol, of course. At the thought of him, a confused mixture of longing and resentment bubbled up. Why could he never express his feelings as openly?

  The only time he had come close had been that one incident in the woods. She had just turned eighteen and she had been teasing him relentlessly, sure that he would finally see her as an adult. On the day in question, she pranced into his office in a tight halter top with no bra and the shortest skirt she could find to ask him to go on a picnic. When he had predictably refused, she threatened to ask one of the other warriors instead. His horns had lowered, and he had agreed. She had been so triumphant as she led the way into the woods, sure that this would be the day.

  Instead, he had scolded her about her attitude and her clothes and warned her to stop her games. To her horror, she had started crying. At the first sight of her tears, he had come to an appalled halt, and the next thing she knew she was in his arms, but the frustration and guilt were too much and she couldn’t stop crying. Until he kissed her. Then everything melted away except the two of them and before she knew what was happening, he was kissing her neck, worshipping her breasts, moving over her body with a fiery intensity that she didn’t quite understand but responded to instinctively. Before long, he had her bent over a log, her skirt flipped up, and her panties around her knees as he used his tongue and teeth to send her into a fast, shocking climax. Then she actually felt his cock, felt him press against her, before he came to a sudden frustrating halt. She had tried to push back, to urge him on, but he stopped her with a sharp smack to her butt.

  Instead, he reassembled her clothing, told her kindly but firmly that she needed to stop her games and sent her home feeling like a stupid child. But that night she had seen her body in the mirror, seen the bite marks adorning her breasts, seen the red swollen nipples, and the lingering handprint acro
ss her butt, and her resolve only intensified. Now that she knew what he was capable of, she wasn’t going to back down. But they had never come so close again, and now, Hisst’s admiration both soothed those hurt feelings and fired her arousal.

  Even after she finished cutting the cloth and managed to rig up a door flap, her nipples were still tight and hard, and she could feel the ache deep in her pussy. When she turned back to Hisst, he had his head tilted and she saw his cheeks moving. As she drew closer, she noticed a thin membrane on each cheek pulsating slightly.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I am tasting the air.” He looked at her, eyes gleaming gold. “Your scent was already most delicious, but it is growing richer. Is this a common human trait?”

  “Um. I’m not sure.” Could he actually smell her arousal? Determined to ignore it, she sat down on the cave floor and began pulling everything out of her pack, using her phone light to assist the dim glow coming through the cloth over the entry.

  “I believe it is my turn to ask what you are doing?”

  “Taking inventory. One water bottle—half empty, but that’s all right. I can fill it with snow and let it melt. I’m more worried about food. I only have three more protein bars, some beef jerky, and a couple of apples.” She ran her eyes appreciatively over his muscular frame. “You must need a lot more than that to survive.”

  “Don’t worry about me, my queen. I don’t need it.”

  “You’ve very sweet, Hisst, but I’m not going to let you starve. The least we can do is split it.”

  “Truly, I do not need it. My metabolism has slowed because of the temperature. You use that nourishment yourself.”

  “You’re not just saying that?”

  “Of course, I am saying that.”

  “No, I meant you were just saying that so I’ll eat instead of you.”