5. Rake

Chapter 5

Rake

A t least Stella entertains the idea of giving birth to our first offspring here on Tarvos. This is good news because I'd follow her to the ends of New Earth to talk her into permanently remaining here with me.

"We'll prepare for the day you'll be in labor," I say, trying to comfort her. "The rainy season will not interfere, and I will be with you."

She flashes a nervous smile. "How can you say that? You just met me an hour ago."

My chest warms. "And I'm grateful to have met you." This beautiful female was tricked into this situation and did not join an actual mail-order bride service but was forced into transporting to Tarvos by malicious humans. I do not approve of how the leader in this previous community treated my pregnant female. In fact, it angers me greatly and I entertain thoughts of traveling there by transporter simply to singe them all into submission. But Stella and her unborn child need a fresh start and I am grateful that she is willing to take a chance with me on an entirely new planet.

The gate to my ranch appears in the distance.

"Oh, are we finally here?" she cries out.

"Yes, we are reaching my property." I point at the gate that automatically opens and the arching signage, Flagstone Fire Ranch. "This will be yours too. Half of everything I own is yours."

She glances around as we drive through and seems to come to a realization. "If we did this, perform those vows, then I instantly get half of what you own?"

"I tell you the words that all Hyrrokin say when publicly joining into a proposed bound commitment. You are not mine yet, we have yet to walk to the courthouse together and even perform a bound commitment ceremony if you like. When we are legally joined you will own half of what I own. But are now my fiancée, and I tell you the words all Hyrrokin say when joining with their future mates. Now I will show you the domicile I have created, so you can decide if it's appropriate for your needs."

"Oh no. Rake, you can't just marry me and then make me legally a co-owner of this ranch and give me access to have half of your accounts. You should do a prenuptial. This ranch means so much to you and this land has been owned by your ancestors. You'd be risking your future by legally tying yourself to someone like me."

"What is a prenup?"

"A prenup is an action plan for how to divide assets in the case of a divorce. This way you can protect yourself and make sure that this ranch and all that you own here isn't at risk—where someone like me could decide to leave and maybe force you to sell your property or at the least take half your currency."

"But we don't plan for this because there is no breakup. There is nothing like that within our legal system. There is no ‘divorce' on Tarvos."

"No divorce?" she gasps. "What if we walk to the courthouse and get married for real and afterwards you realize that you can't stand me and you've made the wrong decision?"

"That won't occur."

"How can you know that?"

I glance at her sweet profile. "The moment I saw you it already felt different. I know that you're the one."

"Rake, you can't know that. You met me only an hour ago. Yes, we've talked a lot on this drive, and I like you too, simply from getting to know you better on this drive, but that's not enough for you to know everything about me. Five months from now when I'm heavily pregnant, grouchy and my stomach is huge and my feet are swelling, you're going to be wishing you could get rid of me."

I continue down the long drive. "My body reacts differently to you than to any other female I've ever met."

"Different? How are you reacting differently?"

"My cock has been hard and leaking since I saw you on the platform and it has not gone down. This has never occurred."

Her cheeks pinken. "I…I…"

"You feel the same. I can scent your arousal for me."

"Oh my." She glances out at the countryside and then back at me. "It's true, I think you're hot as sin. But I didn't know that you knew that."

"I do. This is why it's been easy for me to ask you to stay and walk to the courthouse with me. Our desire for each other is there and we are not simply two beings who want to be pleasure mates, but something more."

"How can you know that? Maybe that extreme desire is clouding your judgment?"

"My body is picking the female who is right for my body and mind. I am looking forward to getting to know you better."

"I cannot believe how quickly you are accepting me. I admit a part of me wonders if you're playing me and later this will all end up being bad."

"Do not judge me by human standards. I am using my pheromones to also consider you a match. Hyrrokin mate for life so I do not say any of this lightly."

She lets out a breath. "I am human. I can't decide that quickly."

"I am taking that into account. And I am ready to take this slow for you. But I continue to tell you how I feel because I'm hoping it will streamline your decision-making process."

"Humans can get divorced."

"I know. It's terrible. It is one of the most shocking and horrific things about your species. The way that you can take on a mate and then discard and then another and another I find it very odd. Why would your species evolve so that the females can be left alone after conception as has happened in your case?"

"I don't know, it's just the way we are. Let me ask you this, if you know that I am not like you, where I'm used to the concept of divorce…how can you trust me then to make a commitment to you and follow through? Don't I sound risky to you?"

I shrug.

"Is it because of the scent of my arousal?"

"The scent," I chuckle. "I find it intriguing."

She crooks an eye ridge. "Well, you did already marry me. If we aren't mates you're kind of stuck."

"This was only so you could immigrate here. We are not, right now, bound on Tarvos. I have verbally declared that I want you as my bound and we are set to walk to the courthouse, but for our union to be legal we need to actually walk to the courthouse and perform those vows so it can be documented." I glance at her and then back out at the road. "You do need to understand that, because there is no divorce on Tarvos, when you do decide to make that commitment to me, it is permanent."

"No divorce," she mutters. "This is crazy."

"None. You need to know this so that when you do decide to become my bound, you understand what that entails. The both of us will be together forever. And it's just the way that it is on my planet. Hyrrokin can pleasure mate until we find our bound. Sometimes those relationships lead to a walk to the courthouse and other times you realize you are not right for each other and you move on and continue looking. Some Hyrrokin never find their bound."

"Thank you for explaining that. It is very important."

I force myself to tell her everything because I must remain honorable. "You will have the opportunity to leave Tarvos until the moment you take that walk to the courthouse. The child you carry is not mine and you were sent here under false pretense. If you decide you do not want this relationship, I will pay to send you back through the transporter you arrived in. But I'm hoping you will give me the opportunity to show you how this could be right for you. Your arrival on Tarvos was forced, but you are in the midst of a great change of circumstance. Taking me on as your mate could be the change you need."

"This is a long driveway," she suddenly blurts out.

White smoke wafts from my nostrils.

"You're right. I have to move anyways. They kicked me out of my furnished apartment and sent everything to my mother." She leans back in her seat and crosses her arms. "What if my mother doesn't want to be separated from me or her grandchild and wants to move here too and live with us?"

"That's acceptable."

"What if you hate her and she hates you?"

"I have difficulty believing that that would happen. But your mother does not have to live here on our ranch. She could live on any of the other ranches or in town. Also, she can visit any time she likes using the transporter station."

Stella snorts with disbelief. "Do you know how expensive transporter stations trips are? That type of constant travel is only for the fabulously wealthy…" She looks stunned. "Wait, you are fabulously rich, aren't you, and so is your whole entire family? You've been trying to tell me that you and your family own this whole corner of the planet. And you're going to give me half of that portion you own? Oh my gosh, Rake. You're lucky I am not some other type of person who would take advantage of you."

I grin again and tap my nose. "I know that you're not that type. Also, don't forget that I will also own half of your accounts too. We will share."

She laughs. "Good luck with that. Those accounts aren't going to get you very far. Unfortunately for you I don't own anything except the clothes on my back. The good news is that I don't have any debt though."

And then we turn a bend in the road. From this vantage point the barn, the pens and the barracks are on the left and on the right is the domicile on a slight rise.

Stella leans forward, her head turning as she eagerly takes in the ranch.

"There it is. This is the domicile I built by hand for my future bride and family." I continue toward the curved driveway, bypassing the attached garage because I want to bring her in through the front door. I park and we're both quiet for a moment.

"Oh, this is a nice house. It's bigger than I thought it would be. When you said you built it yourself I have to admit I thought it would be a small one story cabin, but it's obviously two storied." She sits up, turning to gaze all around at the front of the house, the drive and even at the other buildings in the distance. "It's wonderful."

"Everyone else thinks this domicile small and roughhewn because I built it by hand," I say.

"I think it is beautiful."

Pride warms my chest. I turn off the engine and we both step out.

"I really am in awe of the entire structure. I cannot believe how many logs you must've used." She puts her hands on her generous hips and gives me a mischievous grin. "You had help, didn't you? You hired a company and then you're just telling me now that you built it yourself."

I rear back, horrified that she would suggest such a thing. "No. Well, I did give my employees cases of extra ale as gifts to help me with the roof because it took a long time. I hired some of them to do detail work because it turns out I have some men who are true craftsmen around here."

"I was just teasing. It's wonderful. Can we go in?"

I place a hand on the small of her back and guide her toward the front porch.

"I don't have anything in the house," I admit to her before I open the door, so she isn't shocked by the emptiness.

"What do you mean?"

"I finished this domicile a while back, but I never have visitors. My ranch is the farthest out and a lot of us have the same visitors who would always rather stay at the main ranch. I never invite anyone over, nor do I have company."

She looks at me. "You're a loner?"

"Nowadays I'd rather be alone than be around anyone I don't want to be around. Everyone I've hired I like working with. We work well together, which decreases my stress. I'm the boss and my operation is relatively small and I live where I work, and the beings I hire live here on site too." I point out the barn and the bunk houses. "Originally when I first came here, it was just me. I worked alone out here. Then eventually I hired Lorn, the ranch manager, and he hired a team of ranch hands. Even though I am the eldest Flagstone brother and ten years older than Sten, my youngest brother, I still have the smallest ranch."

"It usually happens the other way around."

"I know, but this is what I like."

"I know," she says. "And I admire you for that, creating a life that is right for you."

I step closer and meet her gaze, fixated on the beauty of her eyes which are the same color as a clear blue sky. "But I am not inflexible. I understand that when I make a life with a bound, it can't be about what I only want. Yes, I hope you will want to make a life with me here on this specific ranch, in this house, for the reasons I stated before. But I also didn't bother to fill the house with more than I strictly needed because I wanted my future bound to be able to arrive and make it her own."

I look over her shoulder and wave at my ranch manager and the others who are staring at us in amazement from a distance, from their vantage point in front of the barn. It's obvious they are excited about the arrival of this mysterious human.

I turn my back to them. "I'll introduce you to the others later," I say, with a hint of annoyance in my voice. This must be that flame of possession that Burl and my brother felt for their females when they first arrived too, and I didn't understand. I laughed at it. Now here it is happening to me. This confirms that Stella is my true mate. I've never felt this type of possessive instinct towards any of my former pleasure mates. Not even towards Ahmel, who I thought for a time might be my future bound. But when she left me for another male who she'd instantly fallen in love with and said was her true bound, I didn't feel much sadness and instead easily moved on and was in fact glad for her that she'd found her mate. My feelings for Stella, who I've only met, are twenty times more intense than those toward any female I've ever met.

I open the heavy wooden door.

Stella steps inside the house and into the front room and I glance at her again, from head to toe. I love her shapely form. Her breasts are large under all the human fabric that covers her torso. I wish she was wearing traditional Hyrrokin clothing because it would show more of her glowing skin. I'll have to get her some new clothes.

My shaft is still thick in my trousers and I can't help but wish I could rush her upstairs and sink inside of her wet heat.

But I refrain.

"This domicile is not as big as my two brothers' ranch houses." I close the door and look at her face carefully as I say this, waiting to see if there's any hint of disappointment. But I see nothing but a glow of appreciation for the home I created.

"I think it looks big enough."

"Many females would think because of my family's wealth, that I would live a certain way. But that's not me. I like the idea of only using as much as I need. The Flagstones spend a lot of our funds on things like helping the town by adding a transporter or a new med lab. Normally in a community like this so far away, they would have neither of those things. We had to get on the ferry and travel many hours or be airlifted out by hovercraft for emergency medical care. But we now have transporter station. Only recently have these tech devices become smaller and easier to have privately installed and when that happened, the we used funds to get that installed and not just for us, but so that the townsfolk can have that available too. I feel very good about that. The Flagstones care for the ecology of this valley, and the pyrotaurs, but also the Hyrrokin who live with us."

"I think that's wonderful that you feel that way," she says, her eyes watery. "Thank you for telling me that."

I blink, not even knowing why I said so much but I cough and then point. "This is the kitchen. Do you see we already have a food dispenser?"

She exhales. "Oh, thank gods. I was worried you were going to expect me to cook because I'm telling you I cannot cook."

I squeeze her delicate hand. "I can't cook either. The chef in the bunkhouse cooks. My brother Thorn was talked into hiring a distant relative who is learning on the job and therefore his food is often inedible, but our cook is very good and he takes his job seriously. Whenever I want something more real and have the ability to relax with the other males, I go there."

"I can't cook anything real, but I'm really good at programming a food dispenser and at ordering food from restaurants."

"You can program human food?"

"Yes."

"Good, because human food is popular here. Humans are famous for their food in the four sectors."

"Really?"

"Yes, if you could help us all eat human food too, the ranch hands would think you were heroic and you'd have fast friends."

She grins. "Good to know."

I show Stella around the first floor.

"It is really empty, isn't it?"

"Yes. I don't have a table. There are no couches in front of the fireplace. There's nothing. I've never needed anything more than one chair at the counter and a few cups and dishes. That's all I need. I have just enough dishes for myself I go into I go to the bunkhouse I meet with the with the men maybe we sit outside I often go to my brother's houses. I'll go meet up with my parents again, I don't have visitors and no one stays the night. My bedroom has all that it needs. Downstairs, is my office. There isn't much else down here." I point to the stairs. "Let's go up so I can show you more."

I take her wheeled suitcase, which she's been dragging behind, and I hold it under an arm and I reach out and take her hand. We go up the stairs together.

"There are three bedrooms," I say as we walk down the hallway. "These two I assumed would be for future offspring."

Her cheeks pinken. She lets go of my hand and walks into the nearest bedroom and looks out the window. "This is nice."

"This room is next to ours so we can get ready for the baby. It's in perfect proximity to our room."

"Our room? But I thought…"

"You thought what?"

"I mean, we don't even know each other, we just met. Supposedly I have one month to decide if I want to walk to the courthouse, so I thought that I'd…"

I set down the suitcase and cross my arms. "You thought that you'd sleep in another room?"

"Yes. Isn't that what you want too? You don't even know me. What if I snore? What if you hate sleeping next to me?"

Smoke wafts out of my nostrils. "I would never hate sleeping next to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Follow me."

I pick up the suitcase again and stride down the hall and open another door. "This is the primary bedroom. This is our bedroom."

She walks inside and gives me a sharp glance. "Is this where you've brought all your other pleasure mates?"

Her jealousy pleases me. Stella has the same possessive instincts towards me that I feel for her. "No one other than me has been in here. You are the first. No one else has slept on that bed except for me. And now you." I point. "There is the bathroom and the closet. I do have one hard-working cleaning bot who keeps it all clean."

"Oh, that's wonderful."

She still looks nervous. "There's really nowhere else for me to sleep?"

"There's no other beds in this home. The other rooms are empty except for the office. And there's no bed in there. I apologize. I did not think ahead. I assumed because I'd purchased a mail-order bride that you would immediately accept this type of situation, but you are different. You didn't sign up for this."

"Any woman you'd picked up you were going to have sex with tonight?"

"No. If I'd picked up a female and there was nothing between us then I would've offered for her to sleep at another ranch or even in a spare bed in the bunkhouse. But that is not the situation between us." I reach down and adjust my aching cock. "You and I are mates and therefore we will sleep together tonight and every night going forward."

"I'm trying to wrap my brain around this. We just met and we're moving in together and setting up a house and family. It's a lot. I think what makes it even a little bit weirder to me"—she puts her hand on her stomach—"is this. How does this work between us now that I'm already pregnant?"

"You are both mine," I remind her. "Nothing will happen in here that you don't want to happen."

"What are the rules about this? Are we going to…?" She looks nervous again. "I don't know if I'm ready that fast."

"You are a very enticing, beautiful and sexy female. But I'm giving you my Flagstone vow of honor that nothing will happen while we are in this bed together that you don't want to happen. We will sleep here each night and if we do not touch and nothing else happens, I can live with that. But if you want to take anything further, even while you are pregnant, I will tend to you. All you have to do is explicitly tell me how you want to be touched and that you want me and I will do that for you."

She takes a deep breath. "Okay, I can do this then."

"I'm going to leave you alone for a moment so you can put your clothes away and use the bathroom. Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

"Come down when you're ready and we'll make lunch. And then we can go back out and I can give you a tour of the rest of the grounds and you can meet everyone else."

"That sounds good."

I put my hand on the doorknob.

"Rake?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. Thank you for everything."

"No," I say to her. "Thank you for giving me a chance."

She smiles.

And then I close the door behind me.