Drelix

This is not going how I want. There is a look of horror on Crystal's face, most likely because I should have told her about the other humans, and their Sarkarnii mates, and their sarkarnlings, rather than being smug about my knowledge.

"Fancy," Crystal eventually replies. "Looks like you bump into a Brit wherever you go in the universe."

"London?" Draco's mate, Amber, queries.

"Yes," Crystal replies. "Bristol?" she asks.

"Bath," Amber replies with a smile. "What are you doing with Drelix?"

"He bit me, told me I was his wife, then I had to rescue him and get him off Station X42," Crystal says.

"Sounds like you're having fun." Amber laughs. "The Sarkarnii are certainly something." She juggles her sarkarnling up on her hip and the little one chuckles before shoving a claw in his mouth. "Are you staying…with Drelix?"

"Not sure," Crystal replies, and my rut goes into overdrive.

She is staying with me.

"Depends if Drelix behaves or not," she adds.

"We'd love to meet you," Amber says with a smile. "There's not many of us, five in total, but you know, perhaps we should stick together, if that's what you like."

Crystal is, fortunately, smiling too. "I'll think about it," she says. "Thank you."

When she turns from the comm, her eyes are glistening with moisture as she strides into the back of the ship.

"You've taken a mate," Draco says, his face a mask, giving nothing away.

"No he hasn't," Crystal yells from the back of the flyer.

I cringe. I'm an honorable Sarkarnii warrior and yet I seem to have failed where my heartsfire is involved.

"Females appreciate a male who knows his heart," Draco says softly for some reason. "If she is yours, then she will be yours, but there are always sacrifices to be made."

"I have made many," I say, teeth gritted.

"We all have, but that doesn't mean we have to lose sight of what means the most," my superior says with a fond look away from the holo projection. "Or what we can have in the future."

He remains the most feared of all Sarkarnii, and yet Draco has taken a mate and made a sarkarnling. A creeping part of me, the one tiny spark which is not governed by the rut, dares to suggest I could have this too.

"I have a mission, Draco." I give him a short bow. "I will obtain the information and bring the booster within a nova-day."

"And your mate," he says with a fang-filled grin. "Along with your voice, she is the second good thing to come out of this mission."

"Has Drelix got a mate?" I hear Daeos in the background. "I need to see."

"There seems to be some interference at this end, Draco. I think I'm going to lose the comm," I say swiftly before the scarlet Sarkarnii comes into view.

"He speaks too!" Daeos shouts off screen. "Drelix speaks."

I terminate the comm before any further damage is done.

"What did he mean about sacrifices?" Crystal asks.

Nev it to the ancestors! She overheard, presumably everything.

"Our planet was destroyed. I lost my family," I reply.

"Oh," she says. "That sounds terrible. I'm sorry." Her face is soft and her words filled with sorrow.

"I am the one who is sorry because I should have prevented it. My superior, Draco, believes we should be searching the galaxy for those Sarkarnii left, but I want revenge and I will get it," I growl.

"And that's why we're here? At Trefa?"

"Draco agrees it is a worthwhile cause."

"Sounds like he was letting you follow your heart." Crystal turns away from me and goes to sit in the pilot's chair.

With a growl, I am underneath her, and she falls into my lap easily.

"My heart is my own to do with what I please," I rasp. "I need no one's permission."

"Except mine," Crystal says, glaring up at me. "Although you seem to be prepared to take whatever you want, when you want."

"It is the Sarkarnii way," I reply. "And I seem to recall there were some elements you enjoyed."

Her face colors into a deep pink and the scent of her arousal very nearly has my cock poking, not just through my pouch but my pants too.

Crystal takes in a breath but doesn't let it out. She doesn't reply to me either. The need to take her, mate her, make her mine is out of control.

My lips brush hers and she exhales, no smoke but a cloud of sweetness.

"Unidentified vessel, confirm your intentions or sheath your weapons!" The comm bursts to life.

"How could they possibly know what weapons you have unsheathed?" Crystal murmurs under my tongue and ancestors forgive me, I nearly spill in my pants, which is absolutely no better than spilling on the floor of my flier like before.

A warning tone comes over the comm, one of the weapons being locked. I pull away from my heartsfire. I cannot do the wrong thing this time. I want to be the honorable warrior, and as she was so reticent back on the jungle moon, I need her to come to me.

My cock throbs, protesting this state of affairs. I know I have to stand firm against my rut. I'm just not sure it agrees.

With a considerable effort, I release my mate and go to the comm console.

"Sarkarnii Gyik Flyer responding. Weapons are being deactivated. Request permission to land."

"State your business."

"None of your business," I snarl.

"He means we're here for the games," Crystal chimes in. "Had some luck over on Lartga and thought we'd come with our winnings to Trefa, given how good your games are."

She makes a movement over her throat, and I hold my hands up. She slams a finger to her lips, and all I can think is what her lips feel like on mine. What they might feel like on the rest of my body.

"Do you have credits?" she says urgently as she presses the mute button.

"Credits?" I'm struggling for words again.

"Yes! Credits. Sarkarnii are rich, right?"

"We pay our way." I fire smoke from my nostrils.

"Right, rich. Good." She releases the mute button.

"Do you need to see evidence of our credits?" she asks sweetly. "Or just the size of our pulsar cannon?"

"The spaceport at Tatatunga is open for you, Sarkarnii craft. Good luck with the games."

Once again, my mate's ability to get us into places we shouldn't be able to access is on display. She is beautiful, clever, and brave.

And it only makes me want her more, and the longer my rut goes unconsummated, the worse I'm going to be, until I turn completely feral.

Which, in the confines of the planet, for a Haisarkarnii, could be explosive in a way which is not good at all.