Page 57 of Taken to Voraxia
Krisxox jerks forward, but hesitates. I am surprised until I see the direction of his gaze. It falls a little ways away to where the human female in his charge stands in her coverings. I wonder at her need to keep her body full concealed, but I am not given long to wonder when the King of Kor takes a long step towards her.
He snarls under his breath and the human female shifts closer to the Voraxian standing beside her — one of the xcleranx and a male I believe to be known as Tur'Roth. The male honors both himself and the human by placing his body in front of hers and assuming a fighting stance in front of the female. However, Rhorkanterannu does not advance farther.
Boldly and violently, Krisxox charges forward and sweeps Rhorkanterannu’s legs. The Niahhorru king bites out a curse in the Niahhorru language and bucks to free himself. His body is built for fighting. Purely this. They are a warrior species to the bone and there is not a part of the Niahhorru skeleton that is not lethal, so when he swipes backwards with his free arms, a spike in his lower left forearm catches Krisxox’s chest.
Blood flows, but it does not slow Krisxox. He wraps a fist around Rhorkanterannu’s upper arm, jerking him upright before he thrusts his heel into the center of Rhorkanterannu’s chest. Rhorkanterannu flies backwards and lands in a crouch.
The skein that guards his eyes drops into place so that his face is rendered eyeless. Against pale grey skin, there is now only a mottled silver swirling where glossy eyes once were. He shakes his head, opens his too-large mouth and roars out his challenge.
Krisxox surges forward but I bark an order for him to calm himself, which he only moves to obey after he has been pinned by three of the xcleranx. It takes several more moments of brutal tension before both warriors straighten and Krisxox and a team of six xcleranx escort Rhorkanterannu out.
Rhorkanterannu looks back over his shoulder at the human female and then at my own and I feel unease shift through my gut. His warning — nox, hisdecree— weighs heavily on my mind and I look down at my Rakukanna and wonder if there is nothing that Rhorkanterannu would not do to feel the weight of a delicate, compatible female in his arms as I do now. Nothing.
16
Miari
I’m still rattled by the altercation that took place between the big guy and the Voraxians. And I do mean the big guy. I’d heard talk of the pirates that operate the trading planet called Kor before, but any pictures I’d tried to paint in my mind about them were off. Way off.
Somehow I’d thought they’d look more like the Dra’Kesh who, up until a rotation ago, were my only experience dealing with non-human life forms. But they don’t. And I’m suddenly eerily, horrifyingly grateful that — despite the destruction they’ve caused — it was the Dra’Kesh who stumbled upon our little rock and not the Niahhorru.
Even though they have two legs and walk upright — unlike the smushy bodies of the Oosa — the Niahhorru king stood half a head taller than even the tallest of the Voraxians and had few extra inches on either side too. His matte grey skin, dusted in silver where it hardened, was almost all plates, shifting and overlapping with one another whenever he moved. Thick dark spikes in his back… Teeth that looked like shards of glass… No eyes at all when the protective shield came down to cover them… And did I mention he hadfourarms?
So yes, though it pains me to even think it, I’m glad for something that I never in all my cycles thought I’d be grateful for — that it wasn’t a worse species that found us.
“You will tell me what it is that you are thinking of, my Rakukanna,” Raku says to me with his gravelly pitch low enough to make me shudder.
A surge of heat makes me forget all about the Niahhorru king and look up. Our werro is in sight now. I grin. “Hopefully the same thing you are.”
I yelp as he sweeps my legs in a rush and starts to run towards our home.Ourhome. I laugh hard and we don’t even make it across the threshold.
Against the outside of our werro, Xoran’s body slams into mine. He presses me back against the bark and I straddle his hips with my thights. My arms hook over his neck and I feel fully invaded when he presses his lips to mine.
Movement. Heat. Need. Darkness closes around us and I open my eyes to find us inside, the werro doors sliding closed and wreathing us in a muted light.
His hand cups my cheek, runs over my hair. “My Miari,” he purrs and I can feel the rumbling in his chest that says so much more than those two little words do.
I smile and my stress at meeting the King of the Kor planet, and the leaders of the other eight quadrants, and giving him my little gift and explaining to him how I feel now and how things have changed for me, melts away. I sigh and let myself just…be.
Xoran utters an order and a fire lights in the sunken floor pit, surrounded by plush pillows and furs. He takes me there now and lays me down gently across them.
My back melts against the fur and I let him unbuckle the belt around my shoulders and spread the fur cloak and hide so that he can see my breasts fully and then, when he tears my skirt apart with a single slice of his claws, my whole body.
“My Xoran,” I whisper back. He shudders, and smiles at me and I can’t help but wonder if he even knows that his ridges are sparkling in a whole host of colors. I reach up and touch his cheek and with nothing more than the pressure of my fingertips on his face, guide him down to me.
“I think I might…be starting to love you,” I whisper against his lips seconds before lifting up and pressing my mouth to his.
He tastes like spice and like the fermented drink we had during the celebration. I love the taste so much it hurts. The only thing that hurts worse is when he severs our connection. Drawing back, breathing hard, he nuzzles my cheek with his broad, flat nose.
“What is this love word you say?” He whispers.
I smile. “It is the greatest term of affection. It means…” I scramble, quickly searching for an appropriate comparison. “It means that you are the center of my whole universe.”
Color pops across his ridges and travels down the backs of his arms. He quickly unbuckles his belt and drops his own heavy, black loincloth. Positioning himself at my entrance, I’m surrounded by his body and his heat.
Looking down at me as he is, I’m caught in the way the fire casts orange shadows across the hard planes of his face and I am left wondering if I have ever seen a male so beautiful.
“You are the center of my whole universe, Miari. I have this love for you too.” He thrusts forward, entering me in one sweeping motion that sends liquid exploding out of my core. We moan in unison, both surprised by it. My eyes roll back into my skull and I bite my bottom lip, but he frees that lip with his thumb and then devours it.
