Drasus

The voice I heard, the one which called my name and which was not the control room, was one I recognized. Enough that a name sprang to my lips without my bidding. But it also triggered an anger which seems unmanageable, even to me.

I don't know who Drega is, but I feel like he might have been a warrior I fought with. Even though Coral says he is mated and he is my friend, I still want to fight him.

Or rather I'd like to fight anyone. There is a fire in my veins only quenched by being with her.

Buried in her.

Coral has her arms folded, and she is biting on her bottom lip like she does when she's thinking. I love watching her, asleep or awake. Right now I suspect she's wondering what to do with me.

I'd be wondering the same if I was her. The hollow in my mind is becoming ever more evident. I fill it with the desire to rut, to mate, to fight, to eat, but it's more than simple existence.

It is the disembodied male called Drega who makes my scales itch and my tail thrash. It is the dreams of other males, of other species, of battles and ships and everything else which I should remember, but I don't, and it is as irritating as the burning in my scales.

"If we have access to the Obsaphir, how can we get back to the Sarkarnii who are incarcerated in the Kirakos?" Coral asks out loud.

"You can find the Sarkarnii through here," the control room replies, and a hidden door swings open in one wall.

Coral eyes me. "How far?"

"One Earth hour."

"What? It took us at least two days to get here!" she exclaims.

The control room is silent.

"We need to go, Drasus." Her bright gaze is on me, an element of urgency in her voice. "We have to get the information about the star map, the Obsaphir, back to Draco and the others. All the Sarkarnii wish to leave the Kirakos. They want to find the rest of your species." She puts her hand on my chest, and the feel of it sends my rut spiraling. "It's what you wanted too," Coral adds quietly.

"I don't remember who I was." I shake my head, as if doing so might bring back my memory. "I don't know what I was." The gaping hole in the wall glares at us both. "I don't know what I will do when we get there."

"You'll be with me. I promise I will be there all the time. I'll explain what happened to you." She lays her head against my chest, and I get to inhale all of her scent. "They'll understand, both your memory loss and your rut."

Her conviction, her trust in me is immense.

"You will not need to do any such thing, my flame. We are two comets, joined together in a blaze of light. Our hearts are one, we are one, and no other Sarkarnii can deny it."

"Do you…" She raises her head to look at me. "You mean that, don't you?"

"Why would I say it if I didn't?" I ask.

"No one has ever said such things to me before. I've never been in a relationship…mated…to a male before."

I growl. Her eyes grow wide.

"I am glad you have never taken a mate, but I am angry you have not had a male tell you how they would destroy a thousand armies for your smile." I take hold of her chin and raise her face higher, so she cannot look away and can only see me. "Because I would burn down the universe if it meant I could spend one more seccari in your presence."

Coral's breath stutters, and her eyes fill with moisture. I dislike the moisture a lot.

"Don't…" I swipe at it as it trickles down her face.

"I can't help it. It's what humans do when they're sad or happy. They cry."

"Which one are you?" My voice is hoarse. "If you are unhappy, I will do anything to make you happy."

"I am happy, Drasus. I'm with you," she says, shaking under my touch.

"Are you?" I narrow my eyes. "Because water means you can be either."

"I promise, I'm happy." She laughs wetly.

I lap the wetness from her face before I settle on her mouth, claiming her thoroughly, luxuriating in the scent of her arousal the more I kiss her.

Coral belongs to me. I want her to know she is the only female I'll ever take and the only one I'll ever want. What better way than to mate her where we stand?