Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Yva

I t’s five days before I’m allowed to leave the hospital, with the warning not to do any lifting, running, or fighting…it seems as though I’m not allowed to do anything more difficult than walking. I’m given permission to work—which at least gives me something to do—but I will be on mending duties for at least another ten days.

However, I am glad to be out of the hospital as I was bored.

I want to be in my own bed with Harper, our bed, so I’m waiting for a polite moment to leave the feast. There are humans in attendance, both to try the meat and to learn more about us. Most of them are working on the food situation or are scientists studying our biology and culture.

The meat was delicious and most welcome, and my brothers are now telling the story of the hunt, though they have left out the stabbing. They slash the air with the beasts’ claws, Orik steps in front of me hooked claw extended to my chest. Then he slips the leather necklace over my head, gifting me the claw as though we have eaten the specific beast that attacked me.

The human was buried while I was in the hospital.

There is still a bandage on my chest, and a small one covering my damaged kam. I have examined the split and tested my charge. I’m not sure it’s coming back. There is a part of me that is bitter about the loss, even though I have a mate who doesn’t care.

The doctor believes I am healed enough to go through rut. I don’t care what the doctor says. I do not want to wait…I cannot wait. I won’t be able to sleep in the same bed as Harper without tasting her. My meq has been half-hard all night.

Harper glances at me. Her hand rests on my thigh, making it clear that I am hers. Soon.

Edilk tells the story of the first banished warrior, and how he left his tribe in search of more women, and how he lit the sky to provide light for those who would come after him. The story then becomes our story. How we followed a shooting star, which turned out to be the humans’ ship, and found the Human tribe. A tribe without enough men.

Some of the human women laugh.

But unlike the banished who came before us, who dreamed of going home, we found a new home. A place to belong where we can share what we know with the people who are new to this world. He says it all beautifully and sticks to the points that I laid out for him—we spent the last two days deliberating what to say.

Edilk continues, “This feast is to celebrate the women who chose us and gave us a chance at life with a tribe. Something we believed out of reach.” My brothers stand up and hold their mates close.

We have this chance because we followed Edilk. But we left some brothers behind because they believed crossing the ocean was too dangerous.

My gaze slides to Hrad. Has he been talking to possible mates? If he has, he has said nothing, but Hrad doesn’t talk much.

“And for the newest woman to choose a Honey warrior as her mate…Harper.”

I was not expecting that. Harper stands and offers me her hand to help me up. There was a time when I would’ve been too proud to accept the help because I needed to prove I didn’t need anyone. I take her hand and stand, hiding the wince as my chest muscle pulls.

“Go and claim your warrior. You have been waiting long enough,” Edilk says.

There is some good-natured cheering and laughing. Now we do not need to sneak away. I want to carry her away from the fire, instead we walk, hand in hand.

She ducks her head as her cheeks darken. “Is that normal?”

“To congratulate new mates? Yes.” Though in a tribe it is because a new couple means more children will follow. “Being chosen is an honor.”

“It is.” She pulls me into the shadows of a building and kisses me. My hands cup her ass, holding her tight and my meq hardens, pressing against my pants. I don’t know how I have resisted her for so long.

I groan and break the kiss. “If we do not move, I will be tempted to take you here.”

It’s Harper who drags me the rest of the way to our room. Her hands slide under my shirt as we wrestle to remove shirts and pants. I tug on hers, dragging them over her hips.

“Boots.” She steps back and crouches to unlace her shoes, then she glances up at me. “Sit on the bed.”

“I want to taste you.” I don’t care about removing my clothes.

“You will, but you need to get your boots and pants off first.”

I thought my clothes would come second, after she’s naked and I have made her come. But since she asked, I obey.

She’s naked before I am, pulling off my boots and tossing them aside before climbing onto my lap. Her hand brushes over the bandage. “I don’t want you to rip your stitches.”

“I do not care about my stitches.” The doctor can redo them. I cup her ass. My palms on her bare skin. My only regret is that I didn’t pull my pants off before I sat to feel her pussy on my meq.

“Well, I do.” She presses on my shoulder. “Lie down and you can taste me…then I’m going to ride your cock.”

Once again, I do as she says, because she knows what she wants…and she’s had sex before, so she knows what she likes. Being with a woman is not the same as being with another banished warrior. This is not a fuck to soothe an urge.

It is so much more than that. Harper is my mate.

I lay back, pulling her with me.

She grins as she kisses me. “I hope you will put that tongue to good use.”

It’s then I know what she has planned. It’s the same as the dream I had before I woke up in the hospital room. My meq leaps in my pants, hard and leaking pre-cum, but my mouth demands satisfaction first. I tug on her hips, and she moves to kneel over my face.

As much as I want her—the scent of her arousal is filling my lungs and driving out all other thoughts—once this is done, there is no return to being unmated. I expected a last flash of doubt or fear, but there is none. She is the mate I want.

I lift my head and breathe her in, then lick along one of the delicate petals of her pussy. I like the word she uses, as it is soft and inviting. She sinks lower and places one hand on the wall for support and I feast, licking and sucking on her pleasure bump and fucking her with my tongue, then my fingers so I can suck and lick at the same time. The taste of her arousal coats my tongue, and her scent fills my lungs. This is what I have been craving.

Her pussy becomes slick, and I want her to come on my tongue.

Her heartbeat quickens and her hips rock and I am very familiar with the little noises she makes as she’s about to come. Her channel clenches around my fingers as pleasure consumes her.

I keep going, drawing out every drop until she pulls away, too sensitive for touch. I lift my hips and yank down my pants, freeing my meq. It slaps my stomach, smearing pre-cum on my belly.

Harper shimmies over me until she’s straddling my hips. It’s not the first time I’ve seen her naked, but it is the first time I’ve been allowed to touch her while she’s naked in case we got carried away and accidentally started the mating bond. My hands smooth up her thighs, and over her belly as she slides over my meq, teasing without letting me sink into her wet heat.

If tasting her wasn’t enough, the direct contact of her slickness on my meq would seal the matter.

She lifts up. “Ready?”

“Yes.” I need her so badly, I’m barely breathing.

She grasps my meq and angles it so she can take me. She moves slowly, sinking down only a little at a time, but I let her set the pace as my meq is bigger than a human’s dick. She is slick and tight around me, and each movement caresses my pleasure bumps.

Harper bites her lower lip and moans. “Those bumps…”

I hope she is feeling some of the pleasure that I am. My balls draw up as she moves faster, taking more until she is riding the entire length of my meq. Her breasts bounce as her eyelids flutter closed. She is so beautiful; I don’t know where to look.

She makes that little noise and her body contracts around me as she comes again. I can’t stop my climax from rushing through me. My grip on her hips tightens, and she comes again. I swear every one of my pleasure bumps is caressed by her channel as she moves.

I sit up, claiming her lips. “I love you.”

She is the only one who was meant for me. The one I crossed the ocean to find.

“I love you too.” She smiles. “Your markings are glowing.”

I lift my arm, admiring the blue glow. A warning to other warriors that I am in rut. “I am officially yours.”

H rad’s story is next in Seduced by the Soldier.

Want more aliens?

Elemental Alien Mates omnibus (complete series)

Mate Hunt omnibus (complete series)