Standing near the wall in the weapon's laboratory, Rakkah stood with his arms crossed as he listened to his warrior Akur remind him yet again how to handle his human mate.
"You must allow her to rest after seeding her multiple times," the reproach in Akur's tone brought a deep agitated growl from the base of Rakkah's chest.
Across the room, Ahzma was sitting at a table as she held Ember's infant gently in her hands, balancing the fleshy malleable child so that the child sat somewhat upright in her hands Ahzma made odd faces to the staring child. Rakkah tore his eyes from his human mate's happy smile as she kissed and cooed the child to settle a cautionary gaze onto Akur.
Akur ignored Rakkah's glare, and went so far as to lift his head in an insolent challenge to his leader, knowing what he said needed to be said. "The human doctor stated there was minor tearing," Akur urged. "If you want to keep your human mate, you will need more restraint Rakkah."
Focusing his gaze back onto his mate, Rakkah noted the way she handled the child with familiarity, bouncing the infant to soothe her wants for contact and comfort, whispering things gently in the infant's hair as she kissed the side of her tiny cranium. It was apparent his mate has had dealing with infants before, the knowledge pleased him, this would make her even more suitable to raise their children. His loins grew heavier at the thought of Ahzma carrying his child.
Rakkah turned to Akur, letting out an arrogant grunt. "I do not know the workings of you and your mate, but my human ignores my attempts at restraint and tempts me purposely."
Akur's eyes lit up with amusement as let out deep vibrations of laughter. "Trust me, my leader, my mate tries my own patience far too often. Just like most humans, my mate loves to flirt with death," Akur shook his head as if remembering something, before his gaze turned serious again towards his leader. Akur lowered his voice. "My mate actually begs me," Rakkah watched has Akur balled one of his fists tightly as he stressed the words. "whines for me, in our bed to lose my control and to seed her with my full strength."
Rakkah showed no outward emotion, no movement whatsoever as he let the meaning of the words sink in. Rakkah could not fathom what his reaction would be to hear Ahzma say those daring words, and that troubled him. Later today he would make sure to sit down and meditate on this wavering in his discipline.
Akur nodded, as if reading Rakkah's mind. "She does not seem to believe me that I could easily kill her if I were to lose my discipline with her. I care about the wellbeing of my mate and child far beyond reason, I will not lose them to anything. That means no matter what my impulsive human says I must always maintain constant attention to my control."
Dangerous imaginings of Ahzma spread wide on their bed begging him to give her everything he had kept surfacing to Rakkah's mind. With a jerky nod, Rakkah acknowledged his warrior's council. Preparing to step away, Rakkah paused as Akur pulled up some holographic data on his arm unit.
"Before you go, I have more information on how to care for your human," Seeing the flash of annoyance go through his leader's eyes, Akur let out a deep chuckle. "Ember wants to make sure you treat her correctly and I told my mate I would give you the information directly instead of her making a formal visit in the throne room, for all to hear."
Rakkah suppressed the urge to snarl and stood to listen.
#
Walking through the entrance door to their chambers, Ahzma yawned. From the moment she woke up that morning she had not had a moment's rest. When she got up, the spot in the bed next to her was empty. The previous night Rakkah was true to his word and made love to her until she passed out. Each tidal wave of pleasure zapped her of her energy, the last thing she remembered was his bright gold eyes looming above her. Easing out of bed that morning, she had winced in pain at the burning feeling between her legs and stumbled on wobbly legs to the bathroom. She wasn't sure if it was the scent of blood or the sound of her slight whimper from the bathroom but door on their bathroom slid open with force and Rakkah was there demanding she get dressed. Nothing she said got through to him, the bleeding was minor and honestly to be expected after so much mating but Rakkah would not listen. Taking her up in his arms he carried her down various halls and down an elevator and into a dark room filled with foreboding looking alien medical equipment.
If it wasn't for the smiling human Ahzma would have been terrified to be in there. Curly brown hair tied up in a bun and wearing a white jumpsuit with a matching white coat the human introduced herself as Dr. Esmerelda. Any discomfort Ahzma might have had was forgotten as she introduced herself to the woman. The relief to see another human was unexpectantly overwhelming. There was a great sense of comfort that washed over her as the doctor spoke to her, everything was so familiar and natural again. No second-guessing emotions, no constant worry if she was messing up some sort of yautja custom, and importantly the instant female connection she received on sight. She had no idea she was missing human interaction as much as she was until that moment.
Practically ignoring Rakkah, Esmerelda escorted Ahzma to an examining table and activated the digital privacy screen. As she examined her, the doctor explained conversationally how she herself had been captured by an android syndicate of some sort and forced to work on various inhumane projects. One project being a DNA splicing serum that allowed the yautja DNA to propagate with human DNA. She told Ahzma she was "rescued" by the yautja, a term she obviously didn't agree upon since she was all but forced to work in their labs and not allowed to leave Ojibwe. Although the smirk on the doctor's face about her current predicament, as she referred to it as, eased any worry Ahzma may have had about the doctor's wellbeing. Ahzma got a sense that the doctor didn't really mind being on Ojibwe at all for whatever reason. With explicit instructions to refrain from intercourse for a few days, Ahzma was surprised to see that Rakkah was still standing near the entrance of the medical lab, not having moved from the spot since their arrival. From there he silently escorted her to another lab down the hall, where she was introduced to the other human, Ember.
Going up to the wall in their living area, Ahzma put her hand up to it just as Ember had informed her earlier. Immediately the wall reacted to her hand's presence and a menu appeared. Selecting the option for seating, Ahzma smiled as the wall began to whir silently and a long black couch emerged from the wall. Sitting with a sigh Ahzma leaned back and closed her eyes to the waning midday sunlight filtering in through the windows. Meeting Ember had been like meeting a much-needed breath of cool fresh air. Walking into her lab carrying her baby, Ember's eyes scanned the room and found Ahzma's immediately, simultaneously both women squealed at the other in mutual instant affection. Ahzma hardly noticed the large red marked hunter that had followed Ember into the lab. Leaving both women to themselves Rakkah and the other hunter stood on the far side of the room, seemingly conversing amongst themselves. Introducing Okaj first, Ember laughed at the relief that shined in Ahzma's eyes.
"You thought she would have that adorable but scary crab face our mate's have didn't you?" Ember teased.
Nodding, Ahzma laughed with a shimmer of tears in her eyes. "By the stars yes, I was so scared to think what our…our…union would produce."
"Dear God, I was too," Ember laughed, gently handing the quiet baby over into Ahzma's grip.
Naturally, Ahzma had pulled the sweet infant to her chest and held her close. She was so soft and beautiful Ahzma could not get enough of her. Eventually, Rakkah and the other hunter with the red markings, who she learned was called Akur and brother to Koga, left them to their own devices. Together, they spent most of the day talking. Ember shared her story of how she practically stalked and annoyed Akur until he relented to her charms, as she put it, and how they were captured and tested on by the androids Esmerelda mentioned. At points in the story Ahzma was practically crying with laughter and at others she was wiping away the moisture in her eyes at the horrors Ember had to endure.
"But everything is fine now," Ember chirped happily as she leaned forward and kissed Okaj's plump cheek. "I'm happier than I have ever been, believe me, and I am even happier I have another woman to talk to. Esmerelda is such a workaholic I hardly get to talk to her, she is nearly as bad as Ravki," she grumbled.
Ahzma tilted her head in confusion. "Ravki?" She tried her best to replicate the sound of the name.
Opening her hands out for her daughter, Ember gently to the infant back into her arms and kissed the infant before giving Ahzma a sly smirk and jerking her head in the direction of the other side of the lab. Following her line of motion, Ahzma could see that the lab seemed to be separated into two zones. One which was cluttery and obviously inhabited by a human and the other side which was fastidiously neat. There was a black metal stool-like seat near the working bench area, but it was empty.
"Ravki say hi, you curmudgeon," Ember called out to the empty spot.
There was no answer. Ahzma looked back at Ember to see her rolling her eyes and looked back to the empty spot.
"Ravki stop hiding for a few seconds and say hi," Ember tried again. After another moment of silence, she let out a muttering grumble. "Fine, if you don't acknowledge Ahzma I am going to tell Red, that Okaj said her first word as she looked you directly in your eyes and can you guess what that word will be?"
A low threatening growl emanated from the empty spot. Ahzma watched the exchange in excitement, loving Ember's bold personality.
"I will tell him she called you daddy," she called out in a sing-song voice.
Instantly the air shimmered and blinked revealing the hunter sitting straight on the stool, facing the work bench. Putting down the tools he was holding in each hand with loud force against the metal surface, he turned slowly in his chair. With dreads nearly as long as Rakkah's, the hunter wore no upper armor whatsoever while around his waist he wore a short leather skirt-like loin cloth that was tied on by an intricately braided leather belt. His muscular scaled body was covered in various dark scars telling her without words the battles he had faced. Yellow eyes ringed in red stared at her with predatory assessment, like a great beast from the jungle determining if she was a worthy prey or not.
"Mate of Rakkah," he acknowledged, his primal eyes holding no emotion whatsoever.
Nervously, she gave a short nod and tight smile. "Hello."
With a grunt he turned back to his work, not bothering to cloak himself again.
"Don't worry about him, he is just acting surly but he is really rather decent," Ember explained. They both smiled at the responding grumble from across the room.
Going to the kitchen now, Ahzma put in the commands for her meal and waited as the food processor hummed to completion. Taking her plate of food across the room she sat on the couch and looked out the window across the treetops of the jungle to the horizon.
Not for the first time since arriving on Ojibwe her thoughts returned to her people on Tani. Worry ate at her nerves, how were they fairing, were their solar generators still working, how was their food supply? When she told Ember what had happened to her people and their previous planet of Upra, Ahzma had also relayed some of her current fears regarding her people on Tani.
"What is their communication system like on Tani? Why don't we just contact them and ask?" she offered. "I am sure they are worried about you and would love to know your condition."
Hope surged to life inside of her and Ahzma sat forward eagerly. "Do you think we could do that?"
Nodding with smug confidence Ember used her free hand to gesture at the equipment around them. "Yautja technology is highly advanced, making a simple galactic connection is no issue."
"Oh yes I know that," Ahzma had hurried to explain. "I just meant if Rakkah will allow me?" Turning her head in thought as the idea took root in her mind Ahzma had missed the frown on Ember's face. "I will ask for his permission when I see him tonight."
Taking a bite out of the roasted quail, the sound of the door whooshing open startled Ahzma. Turning in her seat, she stared in surprise as Rakkah walked through the entrance. His large clawed feet moved silently along the cold metal floor as he walked towards her, one would think with a creature so large it would be impossible to walk as silently as he did. Coming around the sofa, Rakkah surprised her as he sat down next to her. Now that he was seated Ahzma could see that the deep-seated couch was perfect for his large frame, while she was forced to pull up the material of her skirts and cross her legs on top the couch to keep her legs from oddly dangling.
The sudden awkward silence between them had her looking around desperately for something to say. Holding up her plate towards him she smiled. "Would you like some quail? It's still hot."
Turning his head from the window, he looked down at her offered plate and back up to her. "Yautja do not eat cooked meat."
Lowering her plate, she blinked in confusion.
Rakkah turned his face back to the window. "Human's require meat to be cooked to make it easier to digest and more palatable, yautja are the opposite," he explained succinctly.
That certainly explained the refrigerator of hanging slabs of meat, she thought. Following his line of sight out the window they both watched as the sun slowly receded beneath the tree tops casting out its last buttery beams of golden light. Relaxing next to him, Ahzma shivered at the radiating warmth emanating from him to her right. Something inside of her desperately wanted to lean against his thick muscular scaled arm, but she resisted.
"I enjoyed talking to the doctor and Ember today, and I loved Okaj she was very sweet and beautiful.
Rakkah only gave a deep grunt of approval.
"I have been told human mates require daily conversation over meals to maintain emotional balance," as usual his voice was deep and gruff and carried no obvious signs to what he was thinking.
Balancing her plate on her lap, Ahzma thought about what he said and couldn't help the tug of a creeping smile at the corners of her mouth. Cautiously, she rested her hand on his bare thigh and looked up to see him jerk his head suddenly towards her.
"I do not want to inconvenience you my lord, I know that you are busy. I would love to have dinner with you each evening, but I am not so naïve to think that you would have the time for that."
Rakkah mad no sound or movement as he continued to stare at her, golden predatory eyes glimmered against the blackness of his sclera.
She should remove her hand, that would be the proper thing to do especially since he did not necessarily invite her to touch him, but Ahzma could not bring herself to do so. She didn't want to lose the contact with him, no matter how small it was.
"I…I did want to ask you something Rakkah," her heart squeezed in anxiety as she stared at the quiet beast. Still, he made no movement. "I was wondering if I could have permission to stay in contact with my people on Tani?" Her anxiety grew at his continued silent stare, rushing along she tried to explain. "My people are self sufficient for now, but I worry about the quality of their power supply array, how are the greenhouses producing with the strain of the additional people, and…and," her voice started to trail off as her mind tried to mentally list all the possible things that could be going wrong on Tani at this very moment.
Rakkah spoke deeply, pulling her attention from her worries back to him. "You may contact your people."
She wilted against him in relief, stiffening beneath her Rakkah endured the hug. "Thank you my lord, you have no how much this means to me."
Rakkah simply made a rolling clicking sound in the back of his throat.
Thinking of what Ember told her before she left, Ahzma leaned back in her seat and looked up at him. "Rakkah," she started questioningly. "I was speaking to Ember earlier and she suggested that I should be a little bit bolder with you."
The deep brow ridge of his eyes furrowed in suspicious confusion.
Quickly she continued. "I mean…I just mean to say that she made a point in saying that yautja females are not as…reserved…as I am…and that I could stand to be a bolder with you and not so…meek, as she put it," it felt shameful to repeat the pitiful assessment of her character with Rakkah like this, but she was quickly learning that there was nothing at all to be gained by an indirect approach with Rakkah.
Rakkah let out a grunt, turning his head with a whip of his dreads. "Akur's mate is reckless and loud, I much prefer your quiet behavior."
Hiding a smile, she placed the plate on her lap on the other side of the couch and grabbed a handful of her skirts. Boldly, she crawled up onto his lap, ignoring the rolling clicks of response in his throat while his hands immediately coming up to settle on her hips.
"You heard the human doctor, you will not invoke me to mate with you tonight," he warned.
The last of the sunlight disappeared beneath the jungle horizon leaving their quarters half lit by the remaining glow in the sky. Dark gray shadows filtered about them, draping them both in its haze. Lifting her hands to his face she ran the pads of her thumbs on the sides of his mandibles, enjoying the slight scrape of the rough skin. The clicking from his throat deepened and increased its speed as his eyes closed in momentary pleasure at her touch. Tilting his head downward he made it clear he enjoyed her touch and wanted more. Her blood raced through her body as she enjoyed the heady feeling, he brought out of her. Gently, she rubbed her lips up and down the length of his bony tusks. His eyes glowed bright as they stared at each other.
"I have to admit I was a little jealous of Ember today," she whispered rubbing her lips again at the tusks guarding his mouth. "She told me that you saved her when she was a child, and that you were sweet and kind allowing her to follow you to safety."
The rumbling chuckle from his chest vibrated her whole body.
"There was nothing kind in my actions, I considered leaving her many times. Her constant crying wore at my patience."
Laughing she reached upward with the help of his grip around her waist and kissed between his eyes, enjoying his sudden surprised blinking. Again she placed more small kisses around his face as she now straddled his lap.
"You are very kind Rakkah, no matter what you say."
"And you are naïve."
No, I am just in love. She only spoke the words in her mind but even that much of an admission had significant power over her. As if just thinking it was accepting the decision on a natural level, her body grew warmer in response and her sex grew damp.
Rakkah's hands tightened on her waist and the clicking in his throat grew louder as he sensed her arousal. Stroking the sides of his mandibles again she looked into the beady black pupils of his eyes and wondered not for the first time what it would be like to kiss him. Holding his gaze, she leaned forward and kissed the smooth bone of his tusk. The rushing of hot air from beneath his mandibles blew against her face as he let out a guttural sound. Again she kissed him, giving him a pointed look of wanting more. Cocking his head in slight understanding, Rakkah slowly opened his mandibles wide. Elation and arousal pumped through her veins as she leaned forward into the hot confines of his mouth, her face almost completely fitting inside. His fanged mouth beneath was impressively frightening but the intoxicating euphoria she was feeling could not be dampened, she wanted to taste him, to feel his tongue against hers no matter what. Gently, she held the sides of his face as she hesitantly swept her tongue inside of his mouth rubbing it against the rough tip of his. Ahzma moaned when his tongue responded in kind. Slowly their tongues danced with one another, the smoothness of hers gliding against the rough ridges of his in delight. It felt so good. Every nerve in her body was on fire as she wrapped her arms around his neck pressing her chest flat against his armor. His growls were deafening now and she knew he was enjoying it too, his hands pulled at her clothes until she could feel them slipping away. Lifting and turned with a speed she could not comprehend she found herself on her back and her clothes being pulled away. Instinctively, she spread her thighs wide, more than ready to accept him.
Beneath her hands she could feel his hard muscles tense and harden to almost steel-like density before he suddenly ripped away from her, hopping with feline grace backwards leaving her disheveled and mostly nude on the couch. "No!" he roared angrily.
Confused she sat up, her long wild hair falling over her shoulders. "Wha…what is it, why did you stop?" she couldn't help but pout a bit.
Narrowing his eyes menacingly he pointed one clawed finger at her in accusation. "You heard the doctor as well as I did, mate," there was a seething snap to his tone as his eyes burned bright in the darkness of the room. "You are to rest. You will control yourself, mate."
For a long moment she stared at the large beast, and slowly realization dawned on her. Although his tone was rough and he was attempting to cast the blame on her, Rakkah was at the edge of his control. The comprehension of the situation only made her smile, to which Rakkah growled loudly moving with unnatural speed away from the couch. One moment he was towering in front of her seething, the next he was standing by the entrance door still giving her a quelling stare. Standing on her knees on the couch she let her breast rise over the top of the couch and watched as his pupils dilate at the sight. Frenzied clicking echoed in their silent quarters.
"Please come back Rakkah, Esmerelda put on a gel cream earlier and she said it should heal the small tears rather quickly," Ahzma could have sworn she saw a slight waver in his stance at her words. Latching onto the tiny sign she pressed further. "Please my mate," she held out her arms towards him and felt pure triumph at the visible shudder that went through her large husband. "We can go real slow and gentle tonight?" she offered.
Any lack of control was immediately extinguished as his eyes flashed in carnal warning. "You will rest tonight my mate, and know that for your insolence I will not be gentle with you tomorrow."
In a blink he disappeared, the door to their quarters opened and closed with a whoosh.