Fallen: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Rogue Alien Warriors Book 4), page 21
Below us there is the most incredible sound of destruction, and the resulting collapse pushes the air beneath me. I use it to my best advantage, pumping as hard as I can manage while keeping ahead of the rolling pillow of air. With a final rush, we fire out of the top of the hole and finally we see the entire base is leveled. Ground underneath finishes its collapse and a huge cloud of dust envelopes us.
I can’t get any higher so I fly blindly forward until finally the air clears, and I see where we are. Emma coughs in my arms.
“Talk about timing.” She grins at me, her face streaked with dirt, as I know I am.
“Never let it be said that a Gryn warrior doesn’t know about timing.”
“You’d better ask Oly, Pytr and Vync about that.” She giggles, some color appearing under all that dirt.
A spike of pain flows through me, and I know I can’t maintain my flight.
“Hold on, my eregri, this isn’t going to be my prettiest landing.” I spiral down as fast as I can, keeping my injured wing fixed until we land with an unceremonious thump.
I drop to my knee, gently placing Emma on the ground. I can’t move for a second as I try to get the dancing fire in my eyes and in my wing under control.
“What do we have here, an injured senior? Surely not?” I look up at the sound of a familiar gruff voice. It’s Orvos, making his lumbering way towards us.
“You can keep your vrexing tranqs to yourself. I’m healing.” I grumble at him.
“Should think so too!” Jyr is just behind him, a grin on his face a mile wide. “Because we can’t have the saviors of Ustokos laid up in the surgery. Kyt’s already planning a party to end all parties.”
“Probably a party to end the lair too.” I reply, as Jyr grips my arm and hauls me to my feet.
“Yep, that too. If his previous form is anything to go by. But the lair has more than just the end of Proto to celebrate, doesn’t it?” He raises his eyebrows at me, looking deliberately between Emma and myself.
“Where is the little vrexer? He could have warned me there was a second device.” I growl, looking over Jyr’s shoulder. All I can see is Fyn and Ryak, both of whom look very pleased.
“He’s gone back to the lair.” Fyn says. “Let Orvos check you and your mate over and we can all go back home.” Down the thoughtbond I feel his thanks.
Thanks that the lair is safe, that his mate is safe and his younglings. The same thoughts radiate from Jyr and Ryak.
I look over at Orvos. The old buzzard sends me his feelings, and I nod at him. “Check my mate first.” Emma elbows me in the ribs. “Please.” I add, and a small arm links with mine.
“Together or not at all.” Emma says to Orvos.
“As you wish, mistress. Any female who has managed to tame this male has my eternal awe.” Orvos dips his head, but not before I feel his mirth and see the hint of the smile at the corner of his lips.
EMMA
Orvos clucks and mutters as he checks over Myk’s wing. My mate might be pretending not to be bothered, but his concern radiates to me. I hold his big, calloused hand and capture his mind with mine. It’s the oddest feeling, to have this enormous predator, whether he’s injured or not, at my mercy. Myk leans into me, both physically and mentally as Orvos examines his wing.
I feel his pain. I feel everything about him.
And I’ve never felt so alive.
“What are we going to do when we get back to the lair?” I lean against his muscular chest, talking to distract him from where Orvos probes his injury.
“I know exactly what I’m going to do. My mate needs a nest, and I will build her one.” Myk rasps. “Then I will ensure the entire lair knows that I have claimed her.”
“I think they already know.”
“Good.” Myk’s eyelids droop. His exhaustion flows through me. I’m already tired, so very tired, and once I add his into my mind, I know I can’t remain awake much longer.
“Maybe the nest can wait a bit. I need to see what Oly’s done to my kitchens.” My voice is blurry with the need to sleep.
“Your kitchens?” Myk chuckles.
“My kitchens, definitely.”
“I don’t think any warrior will fight you for them, my brave, precious mate.” Myk slumps harder against me, his voice sticky and drowsy. “In any event, they’d have to go through me first.”
“I’m counting on it.” I can’t keep my eyes open any longer and nestled next to his warm body, I let myself drift away.
Because we are all safe, everyone is safe, and I have my big, grumpy warrior all to myself.
I yawn and stretch out. The furs under me are soft and warm. My mate slumbers next to me, all slow, blurry snores and acres of warm feather and muscle.
But where? And how?
I sit up quickly and go to shake Myk awake, until I see we are back in the lair. I’m not entirely sure where, or how we got here, but it’s a comfortable cave-like space with the bed of furs on which we’ve been sleeping. Looped overhead are folds of soft shimmering fabric. Here and there are tiny glinting stars, like the stars in the night sky, except these are made from pinpricks of shiny metal. In one corner, a healing pool steams slightly with the warm rolling water.
It’s beautiful, magical.
“Do you like it?” A warm, sleep-laden voice rumbles from the furs next to me.
“But when? And how?” I ask as Myk rolls over onto his back.
He is clearly naked, only a very small fur covers his crotch, and I know exactly what’s going on under there. Let’s just say he’s pleased to see me.
“You were so tired, my eregri. I didn’t want to wake you and Orvos said you needed your rest.”
“But you were tired too? When did you do all of this?”
“Nesting is not something a proper Gryn warrior should struggle with. We keep our ideal nest in our minds all our lives.”
“You plan your nest?”
“Of course.” Myk frowns at me, sweet creases furrowing his handsome brow. “Do human males not plan their nests for their females.”
“Not really,” I laugh. “Most human men would leave the ‘nest making’ to us.”
Myk snorts out a breath of disgust. “Ridiculous.” He rubs at his muscular abdomen and yawns.
“I can’t believe you did all of this for me, not when your wing was bad.” A pang of sadness flows through me, that I would sleep whilst he worked.
“My wing is fully healed. It only needed time.” Myk sits up, my eyes are inexorably drawn to his rippling abs. He stretches out his wing. It’s clean and there’s no sign of the injury. “Anyway, I had some assistance. I hope you don’t mind.” He dips his head, as if ashamed.
“Who?”
“Fyn and Kyt. They assisted in finding some items for me.”
I fling my arms around him, my heart singing. “I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all.”
Myk wraps one strong arm around me and with infinite care, he pushes me back onto the bed of furs. “In that case, we need to use this nest for its intended purpose.”
He pulls at my clothing, and I help him until I’m as naked as he is. Myk trails a claw from my collar bone, down over my breast, slowly circling a nipple and down onto my rounded stomach. He splays out his long fingers, each one tipped with a vicious black claw.
“You are glorious, my mate. So ripe, so perfect.” He half groans, his cocks, press against my thigh, fully erect and weeping pre-cum copiously. “I must have you, I must claim you.”
His mind is undone, he has nothing else that he can concentrate on but me. I am his entire world and the thoughtbond sings with his desire and his love.
“Then take me.” I whisper hoarsely, my need matching his as I part my legs and allow him to maneuver himself over me, an enormous predator who encloses me within his wings.
His slick cocks nudge up my slippery skin until his main cock is notched at my soaking pussy. He stares down at me, dark eyes glittering with lust and love, and he grins as I pant with anticipation.
“You want me, little mate?”
I stare back up at him, he’s teasing me, and I love it. I love him.
“I need you, inside me. I want you, inside me.” I lift my hips, and he slips inside a little more.
My actions cause him to groan, and he’s on the edge. The very edge of his control.
“Am I your eregri?” I want him to snap. “Did fate draw us together?”
“You are my everything!” Myk roars out and plunges himself into me, his thick main cock slamming my pussy and his smaller secondary cock easily breaching the tight ring of muscle with a hint of pain and a whole load of pleasure.
I am impaled by him, unable to move, I’m filled to the brim with cocks that pulse, nodes that hit every wall and ridges that bump their way through me, enough to make my body ripple with pleasure. I broke him, and he can’t stop himself. Myk withdraws almost his entire length and thrusts back into me with a guttural, feral groan.
“I always want to be buried in you, my eregri.” He circles his hips and I shudder over him, each inch he gives me makes me want more. I pulse and shudder as he plunges deep, his cocks filling me and my climax rising, I am encircled in his warm, hard, muscular body, and he holds me because he’s never going to let me go.
You are mine. Always mine. Always filled with my youngling. Always.
His words that form in my head tip me over the edge, and I’m seeing white stars, pinpricks of light dancing in my vision as my body explodes around his, pulsing and convulsing I’m dimly aware of his climax, his cocks filling my every inch, my dark channel and the light, ensuring that I am fully claimed and always his.
MYK
Ryak falls into step with me as I stride through the lair and into the food hall.
“You are attending on your mate?” He asks.
“And you’ll be looking to try some of her maraha stew, I expect?” I grin at our secretive head of security. The thought was already in his head, and I can tell he’s salivating at the thought of the delicious, spicy stew.
“That I cannot deny.” He gives me a guarded smile.
As much as I’d prefer my pregnant Emma to remain in my nest and under my protection, she is wanted by the rest of the lair for her endless parade of delicious recipes, and who am I to deny hungry warriors what they want?
“Then join me, my brother. I am hungry and after I will be mating, we have so little time together.”
“I heard that!” Emma appears from the kitchens. “Do you really need to give the rest of the lair a blow by blow account of what we do in our nest?”
She’s wiping her hands on a clean towel, her stomach bulging beautifully under her clothing. Her time is getting close, and she is perfection to mate. I could spend hours buried in her.
“Seriously, Myk!” She sidles up to me and whispers, the unmistakable scent of her arousal cancelling out all other scents of her delicious cooking.
“I can’t help it, my mate.” I run my fingers through her silky hair, pressing the softest of kisses to her lips and enjoying how she melts against me. “When I’m in your presence, all I want to do is mate you. The rest of the lair knows that, and they respect it.”
She colors, her cheeks flaming as her mind continues to rebel against how much I want everyone to know we are mated. She needn’t worry, the entire lair wants more younglings, ever since Kyt and Sophie announced their second pregnancy, all the seniors have more respect and love than ever.
The mercs love younglings, even if some of them are not more than younglings themselves, and they love having the human females around. The atmosphere since we vanquished Proto is one of pure and unadulterated joy.
There is a cough behind us, and I remember I came in with Ryak.
“Do you have anything tasty for a couple of hungry warriors?” I put my face in her hair and breathe in her scent, all fresh baking and pregnant female.
“You do know how that sounds, don’t you?” She laughs as she pulls away from me and immediately I miss her warmth. I shrug. I know exactly how it sounds but I’m not sharing her with anyone. “Let me go and hurry Pytr and the others up.
She rushes back into the kitchens, and I indicate to Ryak that we should sit. The food hall is calm. I’d always thought the chaos was due to the mercs being hungry but it appears it was, ultimately, due to their diet, which has improved immeasurably since Emma began creating meals that fill bellies and allow a slow release of energy.
Or at least that’s what she tells me, and I dare not contradict her. My mate is fearsome and will be the best mother to our younglings. The thought of raising a gaggle of young makes my heart warm and my cocks stir. She is quite irresistible. So, generally, I don’t resist.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Ryak intrudes on my thoughts. A merc bursts from the kitchen and half runs over to our table with bowls of steaming maraha stew and another appears with hunks of fresh baked bread. “Maybe when we’ve eaten.” He has eyes and nose for only the food in front of him.
Just as it should be.
“Thank you.” I say to the merc bearing bread, I think his name is Oly. He gives me a happy smile and walks away, wings shaking and held up with pride.
My mate made him what he is. A proud male. Proud to be part of the lair and proud to do his job.
“It’s a whole new Ustokos.” I comment to Ryak as I get stuck into the stew. It’s fragrant, spiced and filling.
“Thanks to you.” Ryak replies, scraping the bottom of his bowl.
“Thanks to the human females.” I don’t look at him. I know how he has always felt about outside interference to the lair.
He’s loyal to the Legion and loyal to a fault to Jyr.
“Maybe.”
I finish the last of my stew and shrug at him. “I’d say they are the best thing that’s happened to the lair, but who am I to make that assumption? Do you still want that order filled?”
Ryak has me making weapons, even though the laser ‘gun’ has become most merc’s weapon of choice since Proto fell and we regained the use of tech, what little was left. The electro-magnetic pulse destroyed just about everything usable of Proto’s tech and the underground lair where we found the weapon. My guess is that it was too decrepit to withstand the pulse.
Until we find more underground ancient Gryn lairs, not much is going to change for us, not quickly. I can’t say I’m sorry. I prefer things simple, and the lair happy.
“Better to be prepared for what is coming.” Ryak replies, his eyes on the kitchens, hoping for seconds. “My team needs to be trained for every eventuality.”
“The team that includes the mercs you liberated from the camp near the main base?”
He nods, eyes still on the kitchen.
He has his secrets, and they involve a mate he denies. I could tell him that there’s no point. That fate will find a way. But he’s going to have to figure that out for himself.
“I’m going to claim my mate now. I have something I need to ask her. I’ll send a merc out with a refill.”
For once in his vrexing life, Ryak looks up at me with something other than his guarded expression. “We still need to talk.” He says, his thoughtbond open, a vision of her hovers at the edge of what he wants.
“We can talk anytime, I’m not going anywhere and you know where to find me, brother.” I clap my hand on his shoulder and allow my bond to radiate with comradeship. “This is my home, as it is yours.”
He’s one mixed up male, but I’m sure he’ll work it out in his own way, and when he does, I’ll be here for him.
The kitchens are warm, and my mate stands next to the hearth, stirring an enormous pot of stew. A pot I made for her, to her exact specifications. Of course, I had an ulterior motive, more delicious food.
“You always have an ulterior motive.” She snuggles back against me as I wrap my arms around her round, pregnant form. Our thoughtbond, the one I worried we would never have, is the strongest I’ve ever known.
She turns to face me, pressing her bump into my abdomen. “I know exactly what you want, Myk of the Gryn.”
“But do you?” I reach into my pocket and draw out the tiny sparkling band I’ve been carrying around for a week.
“Is that…?” She stares and stares, her hand lifting to take it and hesitating.
“It is my band. For you, my love.” I dip in my pocket again and pull out a larger, matte black band, holding the pair together. “Will you honor me, and my family, by wearing my band?”
Emma presses her hand to her chest, the other resting on her belly. Tears trickle down her cheeks, but I know that she is happy.
She’s so happy, she thinks her heart will burst.
“It won’t,” I whisper to her, pressing my forehead against hers, her eyes not leaving the bands. “Your heart is big enough for both of us. Big enough for the entire lair. I love you more that it’s possible to say, but you already know that.”
A pair of big green eyes look into mine, depths I could drown in, and I wouldn’t care, because they are her eyes and I belong to her.
“I know.” Her voice is hoarse with emotion. “I love you. You set me free.”
She holds out her arm and I slide the band up onto her bicep where it settles against the skin, smooth and perfect. She takes mine from me and does the same.
In my mind’s eye, I see Lyra. She smiles at us both, nodding her head, then she turns and walks away.
“I think that means we’re on our own.” Emma cups my cheek in her hand.
“You saw that too?”
“She’s been with me since the first day we met.” Tears spill down Emma’s cheeks. “She knew what fate wanted for us both, even when we didn’t.”
“Fate is never wrong.” I lift her gently into my arms. “And we have a date with a nest.”
I walk out of the kitchens with my mate in my arms and a great cheer rings out.
“They knew?”
“There are no secrets when you are home, my eregri.” I nuzzle my face into the crook of her neck. “And we are home.”
