SITN21 b





They both were still trying to get their breath back, chests heaving slightly from their recent exertions. Regina met Tyr's eyes, but it was difficult. She kept them half lidded, hoping to hide the fact that she was shaken to the core of her being. She felt claimed, possessed. It was not something she had ever experienced with her human lovers, and she found it satisfying and frightening in equal measure.

Tyr leaned back on his forearms and gazed down at his mate. Her lips were slightly swollen from his attentions, her hair flowed over the pillow and around her torso like a river of fire, and her eyes were as mysteriously slumberous as that of any feline. He felt his body begin to harden again, just from looking at her. He tipped her face up, intending to kiss her, but what he saw in her eyes stopped him.

Her eyes were opaque, reminding him of jade, instead of the blazing emerald of their first union. She was keeping some part of herself back, and he wasn't sure he cared for it. Tyr's understanding of his partner was too new to extend far enough to help him comprehend what was going on behind the shuttered look. "Regina, why do you hold back from me?"

"I." Regina paused for a long moment, while she considered several plausible falsehoods, and finally settled on telling the truth. "I was shaken by my response to you, by the way I dropped all my defenses and surrendered. I've never done that before, not ever. Having it happen with someone I've known for less than a standard day, well, that made it even more unnerving."

"Of course you let your defenses down; you are my wife. If you cannot trust me with yourself, how could you trust me to be a father to our children?" Tyr asked, tamping down the flash of rage that came hard on the heels of the thought of her with another. After all, by her admission, none of them compared favorably against his performance.

Regina watched the emotions flicker in his eyes, almost to fast to read. There had been surprise, rage, and then an overweening smugness. He clearly didn't understand, and she wasn't sure she could explain it to him, but she gave him points for realizing something was wrong. "But Tyr, I am not yet truly your wife. We have skipped a few fairly important things. You declared that you had been in display for me, I chose you, and then we were in bed. At no time have you said that you accepted, and the helixes are still where I dropped my bag."

"I would have thought my unconstrained response to your proposal would have shown you that I accepted." Tyr said self- depreciatingly. Was that what was bothering her? He found it difficult to assimilate. He would never have made a declaration if he had not intended to accept.

"Well, a few years ago I had a little misunderstanding with a Jaguar male. I grew up with him, knew him, or so I thought. It makes me disinclined to accept our sudden relationship as permanent and binding without hearing it from you." Regina shook her head slightly.

"What kind of misunderstanding?" Tyr growled as visions of his mate being mistreated swam through his head.

"It's not as bad as what you're thinking. I thought he had been displaying for me, and I offered him my Helix. He told me he thought taking a Non-Nietzschean wife would jeopardize his chances for being chosen again." Regina gave him an edited version of the discussion, not wanting to enflame the situation any further.

"His reasoning was obviously flawed. I suggest you cease using his actions as a measure for mine," Tyr gently reproached her as he stroked a thumb along her jaw, aware of how painful the rejection of one's peers could be. He had a long experience with that form of rejection himself. Nothing like being the last of your Pride to make your genes suspect.

"You must admit it would be very easy for you to walk away in the morning, without so much as your word to bind you." Regina almost choked on the statement, saying it seemed to make her fears more real, not less.

"Do you think my commitment to you is less for being unspoken? Would I be here with you now if I did not have every intention of wearing your Helix? I will wear it, and proudly. You are a survivor, strong, resourceful, intelligent, beautiful, and your crew follows where you lead without question. I would be a fool to reject your offer." Tyr pulled her down for a kiss.

Regina enjoyed the kiss almost as much as his words, which had been a balm to her wounds. When they came up for air, she breathed against his lips, "When you put it that way it makes sense. I guess it's just that most of my experience with Nietzscheans has been with males from my Pride. They seem torn between my status and my origins, and never quite know what to do with me."

"I would not think that it would be difficult to figure out what to do with you. So much for the vaunted intelligence enhancements of Jaguar Pride's breeding program." Tyr teasingly replied as he kneaded one of her breasts, his thumb rolling her nipple.

"Ohhhh, Tyr. I can't think when you do that." Regina panted, her forehead resting against his.

"Then don't think. They were obviously not Alpha enough to understand what an incredible female you are. Their loss is my gain, and certainly not worthy of another moment of our time. Besides, I believe we have more pressing matters currently at hand, wife." Tyr let his hands slide down her back to her buttocks, settling her against his burgeoning erection.

Regina felt him pushing against the juncture of her thighs, and her eyes widened in surprise. This was something else she'd never experienced. Heard about, certainly. Women talked, and the few females onboard who had arrangements with Nietzschean beta males had a great deal to say on the subject. She had always thought they were exaggerating, but perhaps they hadn't been. "Doesn't take you long to reload, does it?"

"At the hands of one such as yourself, no." Tyr chuckled as she pushed him onto his back and moved to straddle him.

"You did say you would be willing to loan me your lance, if I ever had need of it again. Does that offer also extend to your Gauss rifle?" Regina gave him a very feminine smile. She simply couldn't compare it to a forcelance now that she'd seen what he was packing.

"My Gauss rifle? I suppose so. Do you have need of it?" Tyr raised his eyebrow and tried not to smile back. He was flattered, even though he realized Regina couldn't possibly know that Dylan had a running joke about the phallic comparison of certain High Guard 'equipment'. He half hoped she would make some comment in front of the captain; the look on Hunt's face would be priceless.

"I need it," Regina purred. She guided him to her entrance with a firm but gentle hand. This time she meant to be in control, to possess him as he had possessed her.

"Then it is yours." The teasing tone disappeared from Tyr's voice at the husky demand. With her now above him, he could see that there were marks of passion on her pale flesh. Whisker burn highlighted several areas he had paid particular attention to, areas he intended to taste again. Would her nanobots heal such superficial damage? He rather hoped they wouldn't, as it pleased and excited him to know she carried his marks on her body.

Regina slowly lowered herself onto Tyr's erection, watching as he strained to remain still under her. She braced herself on his chest and began a series of steady, shallow strokes. At first she was taking in perhaps half his length, partly to allow herself time to adjust to the angle, partly to drive him crazy. She began to gradually deepen the thrusts, watching his face intently as she did so.

She was driving him mad. Tyr reached behind his head to grasp the head rail of the bed. The cool metal felt wonderful to his overheated flesh. He clenched his hands around it as if it were his own self-control he was hanging on to. He had already surrendered his control of the situation. It was unusual to have such a strong understanding of the other so quickly, but he knew without a word that this time was to be at Regina's determination.

Not that he minded that. Regina made a very erotic picture above him; with her red hair falling behind her like a frame for her slowly undulating snowy skin. It was a stark contrast to his dark flesh, which was slowly filling her. His gaze traveled up, lingering on her breasts appreciatively, before returning to her face. She was watching him with open pleasure.

Regina waited until Tyr's gaze returned to hers before taking him completely into her. She lowered her head to catch his moan with her lips, and then rose back up to where she had an unobstructed view. It was worth appreciating. His hair spread across the bed, nearly as long as hers. His eyes were the color of Dubhdaran honeywine, and look in them was twice as intoxicating.

His mouth was temptation incarnate. She hastily moved her gaze lower, before she gave in to the urge to nibble that full lower lip. Tyr's muscles, sharply delineated, gleamed with sweat. He was so incredibly handsome like this. She leaned forward just a little so that she could watch his flesh sliding in and out of hers.

Tyr watched her gaze move down his body, enjoying the pleasure it was giving her. When Regina shifted to watch their bodies merge, he could hear her heartbeat and breathing accelerate. It was obvious that she found the view as exciting as he had. As soon as she gave a soft cry of pleasure, his hips rose off the mattress in response. He couldn't contain the urge to deepen their union.

When his hips surged under hers, Regina could only hold on. Actually watching him, coupled with the feel of him so deep inside her, shattered her control. Both froze in place for a long moment, savoring the feeling, and then Regina began to grind her hips against him with abandon. She couldn't take it slow and easy any longer. She rode him hard, taking everything he had to give and demanding more.

The metal rail was no longer cool in his grasp, but he held on to it anyway. It was now serving as a platform for support, instead of a reminder for restraint. Tyr braced against it as his hips arched into hers. She was incredible, wild and elemental. He knew that protocol demanded that he wait for her pleasure, but his control was shredding rapidly under her demands.

"Come for me. I want to watch," Regina leaned down and breathed against his ear before biting his throat.

The verbal and physical stimulus was his undoing. Tyr felt the orgasm take him, bowing his spine upward. Brilliant light burst behind his eyes and he shook, aware that she was watching everything.

Seeing Tyr thrash under her as he came pushed Regina over the edge. She felt her inner muscles clench rhythmically, suspecting in her heart that if she had removed her implant she would be pregnant right now. For surely this is what creation should be like.