Page 23 of Hainn

CHAPTER NINE

The feast in the evening was a revelation to Jezari. There was a huge bonfire built from driftwood, a firepit to cook certain of the creatures hunted for this dinner, as well as a big pot of water brought to a boil to steam mollusks like the ones she’d gathered. Badari didn’t indulge in alcoholic beverages, although Vindy had brought one or two for herself. Instead they drank a blended fruit juice concoction that packed a punch. Hainn began the evening with a prayer to the goddess, thanking her for the sea’s bounty and the singing of a paean, which he told her later came from the ancestral memory and their ancestors had sung it after successful fishing expeditions. There was much hilarity and telling of old stories from their previous life in the South Seas. Jezari had nothing to compare it to in her own past. She’d grown up in an austere lab on a mountaintop and while there’d been the occasional festive but decorous dinner to celebrate milestones which she and her sisters later learned were nothing more than ruses to bring each Daughter chosen for the life sucking pod into a tranquil state. Her food on the night of her ‘party’ had been drugged with special compounds designed to hook into her DNA and render her incapable of defending herself.

This rowdy nighttime affair didn’t remind her in the least of the phony and stressful event at the lab. This was fun and free spirited and genuine. She sat in the circle of brothers next to Hainn and thoroughly enjoyed the food, the drink and the company.

The best part in her mind came late in the evening when a drum was brought out by Stonor and the other Badari lined up in a clear stretch of sand and danced. Hainn sang to the beat Stonor pounded out and the other men chanted the choruses. The performance was fierce, with many strong movements and the warriors moved with their fangs and talons on full display.

It’s a mix, Hainn had told her right before they began, of ancestral memory of similar dances from the original Badari ancestors, to prepare themselves for war or for a big hunt and movements our own earlier Generations here had worked out to express their determination to survive and triumph over the Khagrish.

Technically Vindy shouldn’t have been allowed to watch the ceremony as humans weren’t invited to view Badari rituals and secrets but since she was their pilot she got a dispensation. She sat nursing her feelgood and clapping along with the drumbeat.

All Jezari knew was the music and the dancing got her own blood surging. She was caught up in the emotions and when Hainn held out his hand to her she jumped up to join the line and pound out a final dance with them. She could easily imagine herself back in time, dancing with the Badari ancestors, long before the Khagrish arrived to sow terror and death. She gave herself up to the hypnotic dance and camaraderie. She was much more at home with the South Seas pack than she’d ever been with the northern brothers. Maybe she’d found her own true home on this excursion. If she and Hainn did claim each other as mates she’d fit right into the pack.

There was a cheer at the end of the dance and a toast to the Great Mother with the last of the fruit juice and then it was time to clean up the site and remove the evidence of their presence. Vindy took her third bottle of feelgood and disappeared into the flyer. Stonor followed her soon thereafter.

“They’ll be a while,” Hainn said, holding Jezari’s hand. “Want to take a walk with me along the beach until they’re ready to take us to the campsite?”

“I love the idea,” she said truthfully.

Jezari watched the waves roll in and admired the dazzling silvery patterns the moons made on the waves. “How will tomorrow go?” she asked. “Do we surf all day or what?”

“The morning only and then in the afternoon we pack up and head to the valley,” he said. “We can’t linger too long both because we don’t want to be discovered by a Khagrish scout and also we need to return to the valley so the ranks of warriors remain full.”

“There are only ten of you here,” she said.

“Ten of us are worth a hundred regular soldiers,” he replied without boasting. “We can’t be greedy about our special time here at the sea mount. It’s a blessing to have the release made available to us by the Alphas.”

She could understand the sentiment. Considering the packs were locked in a deadly war with the Khagrish this was an astounding use of resources for a non warfighting event, even taking into account the fact the South Seas pack required periodic high adrenaline activity.

They retraced their steps to the spot where the others waited their pilot’s convenience, not that anyone had complained. The brothers appeared to like Vindy for the most part, respecting her as a pilot and a soldier. And they knew their pack brother was trying to win her. Jezari wasn’t too sure about the possibility for longterm success, given how catty Vindy had been to her onthe topic of Hainn but she wished Stonor well. The romantic interlude occurring in the flyer right now didn’t bother her—on the contrary she relished the extra time at the beach spent alone with Hainn. If there’d been a private spot available to her after the dancing she might have suggested to Hainn they do the same thing his pack brother and Vindy were doing.

She was tempted to confide in him about the baby, incredulous he hadn’t scented her condition but held her tongue. She had to take the time to think through the whole situation before impulsively sharing the news, even with Hainn. Jezari had been told what a fuss was made over Dr. Garrison, mate of Mateer when she was pregnant and she had no desire to be the focus of so much attention. It was inevitable her baby would be regarded as belonging to all the packs but Jezari intended to protect her cub as much as she could and ensure he or she grew up as normally as possible under all the circumstances. She rubbed her stomach and hastily jerked her hand away, fearful of accidentally revealing her secret but Hainn wasn’t paying attention.

I wish there were more Badari children, so Hope and my cub could grow up in a pack of their own, not as special one of a kind symbols of the future.

Hainn was morethan satisfied with the results of the day spent surfing and diving and the evening celebration. He and Jezari got along smoothly and his predator had been enthused about hunting with her as a partner. She fit right into the group of his brothers the way no human woman ever could and he was determined to claim her as his mate. After their stroll along the beach, Vindy and Stonor had finished their assignation in the flyer and the pilot was ready to convey them all to the campsite.He sat with Jezari and they talked about surfing and the feast and the flight time seemed epically brief.

Once at the campsite he pitched in with everyone else to get their boards and supplies put away and to help camouflage the flyer. Then Jezari took his hand and drew him inside the cave, out of the main room and through the short corridor to her chambers. He followed right behind her, neither of them speaking. Words were unnecessary at this point between them, or so he believed.

She peeled off his swimsuit while he stood and waited to see what she’d do next. Next moment she’d shed her coverup and her bikini and was naked for him. He reached for her but she shook her head, grabbing a pillow off the nearby couch and sinking to her knees on the stone cold floor. Jezari ran her hands up his thighs and rubbed her thumbs under his balls before taking his aching cock into her mouth and sucking hard. The sight of her full lips around his shaft was highly arousing and he braced himself on the wall behind him as she applied her tongue to the task of driving him wild with need and desire. She took him deep and hummed while she was doing it, adding to the erotic torture of not allowing himself to climax under her ministrations. He fisted his hands in her lush hair, grown out since her time in the hospital, and urged her to continue.

Finally he had no choice but to gently pull her away, saying, “I want to take this to the bed, beautiful lady.”

With an impish smile she licked her lips, took him by the hand and led him to the bed, pushing him down on his back and coming over him, sitting astride. He put his hands on her hips as she slowly lowered herself onto him one inch at a time. “You’re trying to drive me mad tonight, aren’t you?” he asked, barely able to form words because he was so turned on. The vision of her luscious breasts above him was more than he could endure and he gave them his full attention. The seduction was so eroticand intimate he more than half expected her to ask to Claim him and he was ready to agree in an instant but Jezari brought them both to the pinnacle and took them over without a word. He lost himself in the ecstasy of the release, buried deep inside her and as close as any two people could be.

They lay together in sated exhaustion for a few minutes and then he moved to cover her, his shaft already erect and ready for the next encounter. Wordlessly she parted her legs and allowed him to enter and soon their bodies were locked together, moving in unison again, pushing each other to the heights. His inner predator was purring and snarling at the same time, demanding he claim their mate. He placed his mouth at the tender juncture of her neck and shoulder and kissed her hard before asking, “It would be my honor to Claim you as my mate tonight, if you feel the same.”

Jezari went absolutely still and pulled away from him as far as she could, given their position. “Can’t we simply enjoy each other tonight? Must we talk of Claiming and mates?”

Confused and taken aback, Hainn attempted to pull her closer but she resisted. “I know the goddess decrees it’s the woman’s decision but I thought we were in agreement, that our hearts were as one. Are you refusing me?” Disbelief at her totally unexpected reaction to his proposal brought the first twinges of anger and embarrassment. “You gave me every indication?—”

Jezari cupped his cheek with her hand and stared at him with glowing golden eyes. “I’m so sorry but I’m not ready for this. It’s been a wonderful time out here surfing and getting to know you better away from the valley. And these times together have been incredible but it’s too soon for me.”

“What more do you need from me to know I love you and I want nothing more than to be your mate?” He pulled out, his cock hard and ready. Sitting up, he said plaintively, “How can it be too soon?”

“I’m not trying to cause you pain,” she said in a soft voice, not meeting his eyes. “I believed we were enjoying a carefree vacation trip. You’re the one who says he can do casual?—”

“Not with you, never with you.” He caught her close for a kiss which she allowed him but then pulled away again. A suspicion dawned in his mind and his inner beast was ready to go tear the pilot limb from limb. “Is this about what Vindy said?”

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