Chapter 19

Atlas

The discovery of the vortices—and by extension of the Whites' ability to feed pure magic to us—was revolutionary. Combined, our powers made us nearly unkillable. Over the ten days following that first experiment, we trained in earnest. My mate rigorously recorded our progress, measuring our output levels, as well as monitoring any physiological changes this triggered.

And the changes were undeniable.

All of us Blacks showed clear signs of muscular growth, proportional to our higher hormone levels. I benefited from the greatest gain. We assumed the fact that I was the only one sexually active explained that discrepancy. But the most important factor was a significant increase in our resistance to radiation. As these traits had been steadily growing since the beginning of our training, we believed they would continue to do so if we pursued it.

We were building an invincible army.

What I wouldn't have given to speak to our forebears who had been sacrificed. It broke my heart to think each lost generation died by figuring out too late what to do, and how their joint abilities would have shielded them through that ordeal. By the time they did, they had sustained too much radiation that even our slower cell division couldn't help overcoming.

I glanced up from the plates I was dressing for breakfast to stare at my beautiful mate entering the kitchen. The wretched female wore a see-through pink nightgown she called a negligee. The purpose was clearly to entice rather than cover anything. The way her dark nipples pressed against the flimsy fabric drew attention to them even more than had they been left bare.

Venus smiled and came to stand behind me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rubbed her face against the fur on my nape. My own smile stretched my lips as a wave of affection surged through me. I turned my head to look at her over my shoulder. Pushing up on her tiptoes, she lifted her face towards mine to kiss the corner of my jaw.

By the divine lights, I was crazy for this woman.

We didn't speak. It often wasn't necessary between us. We were often content simply being together. I turned back to finish fixing the plates. Venus's left hand lazily caressed my bare stomach while the right one fiddled with the strands of my fur on my chest.

After breakfast, we would go back to see Kyrene for an update on the research she was performing. As much as Venus kept repeating that we owned all these discoveries, there was no question she deserved a great deal of the credit, especially where the live bugs were concerned.

Kyrene was all but burning herself out working around the clock studying the little creatures. The previous scientists named them Zuras when they were first recovered after the cataclysm of Orist. Venus said the bugs could have passed for a dark-red version of Earth's silverfish. How that oval-shaped bug with eight legs, a pointy tail, and two antennae could be compared to a fish initially baffled me. But she explained the name came from the wiggling way the insect moved, which resembled the movements of a fish.

But unlike the silverfish, the Zura had three eyespots: one on its head, the second on its back, and the third near the tail.

All three allowed it to draft colors and cast magic through its antennae.

The trouble was that they produced the pure and clean magic that shot out of the Sibris and powered our cities through our energy harvesters. So what was causing Thaudras? We were still missing something.

Venus's fingers abandoning my fur to start teasing my right nipple refocused my wandering thoughts on her. A purr vibrated through my chest, making her chuckle with a smugness I found incredibly sexy. I turned around to face her. Before I could say a single word, the heat of her mouth closed over my left nipple, and she wantonly explored the rest of me with her hands.

By Kiaris, how I loved the way my woman claimed me. I never wanted to belong to anyone as much as I did with her. The possessiveness of her touch, in her eyes when she looked at me, in her kisses as our tongues mingled filled me with an emotion that was steadily growing stronger in my heart.

Seeing how often we made love, I feared my Venus would have tired of my attentions by now. To my delight, her libido rivaled mine. She initiated as often as I did and had no inhibitions when it came to exploring our sensuality together. As I'd never been with a female before—let alone a human—it could have been a true disaster. But my mate made me feel safe from the start to freely express my wishes and fantasies, never once shaming me for my initial clumsiness.

Obviously, I was no sex god—just yet—but I had gained a great deal of confidence. A part of me was annoyed that she was taking the lead. Whenever she did, Venus insisted on pleasuring me all the way before she allowed me to reciprocate. My female should climax first. But fine. I'd make sure to make her scream my name multiple times afterward.

While her tongue continued to draw wet circles around my areola, Venus gently raked her blunt nails over my abdominal muscles, sending a delicious shiver down my body.

"Breakfast is ready," I protested weakly, even as my fingers sank into her curly hair.

She gave my nipple a good nip, the sting resonating straight in my loins, then lifted her head to peer at me.

"Is it?" she asked in a lascivious tone.

My mate stopped raking her nails on my stomach and caressed a path down between my thighs. My breath hitched when her palm settled on my rod over my tarp, and I instantly hardened. She rubbed it a couple of times before giving me an approving smirk.

"You're right. Breakfast is ready!"

Venus detached the clasps holding my tarp in place while kissing her way down my body. She didn't waste any time with elaborate foreplay and immediately took me in her mouth. A rumbling moan vibrated in my throat.

Nothing should ever feel this good.

I threw my head back and took a hissing breath as my woman took me deep in her throat. My legs felt wobbly, like they'd give up under me any minute. I leaned against the counter, my free hand resting on the edge for extra support. It took me a moment to realize the weird sound in my ears emanated from my claws raking the polished stone surface of the counter.

Venus bobbed before me with her legendary greed. You'd think she was indulging in a royal feast after nearly dying of famine. In all the ways she touched me, my mate always made me feel like the most desirable male in the universe, like she couldn't get enough of me.

My abdominal muscles contracted almost painfully while an inferno raged in my loins. Venus knew exactly how to drive me to the brink of madness. Every time she grazed her teeth over the spiraling ridges of my length had me shivering with pleasure. Her hand squeezing the base of my shaft and stroking me with a twist of her wrist sent fiery tendrils radiating from my nether region throughout my body. But it was the way she sucked my head and rubbed her tongue all over its nubs that wrecked me. Each time, I felt struck by micro-lightning bolts electrifying the tip of my cock and then spreading to every cell and every limb.

Our nubs' purpose wasn't just to provide extra sensations to our females. For the males, each one also acted in a fashion similar to a human woman's clitoris. And Venus knew exactly how to stimulate them to make me fall apart in no time.

My legs beginning to tremble tipped her off about my imminent climax. She swallowed me deep and hummed. I cried out as a bolt of fire exploded in my loins in response to the vibration on my sensitive nubs. In an involuntary response, I yanked Venus's head back by the hair I still held in my right hand. It had been strong enough to give her a more solid sting than I intended, but not enough to actually hurt her.

Venus yelped and looked at me with a mix of shock and confusion. Before she could ask what was going on, I slipped my hands under her armpits and effortlessly lifted her up. She yelped again—the sound instantly muffled by my lips crushing hers—and hung on to my shoulders with both hands. I straightened from the counter I'd been leaning against, and with three powerful flaps of my wings, I crossed the short distance to a bare section of wall near the glass doors leading to the patio.

I slammed Venus's back against the wall. She moaned against my lips and wrapped her legs around me. The scent of her musk wafted to me, making my rod more painfully hard than she'd already made it. Over the past few weeks, I discovered that my mate enjoyed a bit of rough play. It worried me at first, but I soon started enjoying the power exchange, made easier and safer by her clear communication as to her likes and limits.

And right now, even though I was taking over, she didn't fully yield to me. Hanging on to my shoulder with one hand, she snuck the other one between us to yank aside the nearly non-existent piece of fabric she called a thong. The stronger scent of her musk made my mouth water even as my pelvic muscles contracted with need.

Under different circumstances, I would have hoisted her onto my shoulders, buried my face between her thighs, and feasted on her glorious essence with the same greed she had devoured me. But I gave in to her implicit demand and rammed myself in with one powerful thrust.

She cried out against my lips, and I grunted under the exquisite burn. I didn't pause to let her fully adjust to me and immediately set a punishing pace. By the way she moaned, caressed me, and ground her pelvis against mine, my Venus fully approved.

Kiaris smite me! I could literally die with pleasure. I lost myself in her as she gave herself to me. There was something incredibly thrilling to have my woman helpless but to take everything I gave her, trapped as she was between the wall and my body. But her voluntary submission made it even more powerful.

Our moans mingle with the slapping sound of our flesh colliding and of the thumping of her body against the wall. Thin though the fabric of her negligee was, I wanted to rip it to shreds to feel her naked skin against mine. When it came to my woman, I hated the humans' need to wear clothes. Without slowing the speed and force with which I was taking her, I slipped one hand under the open front panel of her top to caress her.

I shifted my angle until Venus emitted that strangled cry I loved so much, confirming I nailed that sweet, sweet spot of hers. I drank in the voluptuous sounds of her pleasure as we both drowned in the same all-consuming passion. Too lost in the delicious sensation of her burning heat stroking me with its tight grip, I didn't see her climax swooping in on her. Venus shouted as bliss swept her away. Her nails dug into my flesh, and her inner walls clamped down on my cock, wresting my own orgasm from me.

My back seized, and I rammed myself deep with a savage roar as my seed shot out into my woman. Every drop was like liquid ecstasy pouring out of me. I continued to rock in and out of her until I was fully spent. Breathing heavily, I buried my face in her neck. Venus sank her fingers in my hair and rested her cheek against the top of my head.

We remained quietly in each other's tender embrace as our hearts settled. I couldn't say how long we stayed like this. I eventually lifted my head to look at my mate.

"I'm falling in love with you, Venus," I blurted out in a whispered voice.

The words no sooner crossed my lips than I stiffened. I hadn't meant to speak those words so soon, honest though they were. But the powerful emotion laced with an undeniable joy on her face wiped out my blossoming tension.

"Good. Because I'm falling in love with you, too, Atlas," she whispered, her eyes filled with affection.

I kissed her again, pouring into it the depth of the tenderness that warmed my chest.

"You are the light of my life," I said while admiring her beautiful face before brushing aside a lock of her curly hair off her slightly damp forehead. "Until I met you, I didn't know what happiness and truly living meant. I am sorry that I cannot give you the proper courting you deserve, take you out on fancy outings, nights of entertainment, or sightseeing around the land. But I promise to make it up to you."

"Hush, you silly male!" Venus said in a gently chastising tone. "I may be a high-maintenance diva, but you have nothing to make up for. All the things you mentioned sound wonderful, but there's no time for that right now. Anyway, I wouldn't be able to enjoy them while worrying about the threat hanging over your head. Saving you and the others is our only priority. We'll have a lifetime for you to show me your world, and for me to show you the galaxy."

Another wave of adoration surged through me as I caressed the cheek of my mate.

"I hear you, Venus. I just wish I could be a better husband to you," I said sheepishly.

She snorted. "Are you kidding? You're the best husband ever! Unlike me, none of my friends can brag about their spouses giving them at home mani-pedis, facials, hair treatment, and full body massages… with benefits," Venus said, wiggling her eyebrows in a lurid fashion on the last two words, making me snort. "And you personally serve me catered food at every meal!"

"I don't prepare it," I argued feebly.

"So what? It doesn't matter where it comes from," Venus countered as if it was self-evident. "In the end, you're still pampering me and providing for all my needs. Even under these difficult circumstances, you make me smile and make me feel safe. You're so smart, strong, honorable, and hardworking, it fills my heart with pride to call you mine. Every night, I go to bed looking forward to the morning just because I will get to see you and be with you again. You are not failing me, Atlas. I couldn't have wished for a more perfect partner than you."

I opened my mouth to respond, but emotion constricted my throat and words failed me. Just as I was about to lean forward and kiss her instead, my spine stiffened. I jerked my head up and strained my ears to listen to an ultrasonic clicking sound. Its strength indicated the sender was about five minutes away.

"Atlas? What's wrong?" Venus asked with a sliver of worry in her voice.

Too focused on the message, I activated my tymbal muscles to respond. Venus gasped and instinctively pushed away from me, pressing her back against the wall as she stared worriedly at my chest.

"What was that? Why did your chest do that?"

I blinked and refocused on her. "It's just my tymbal. It allows me to send ultrasonic sounds over a large distance," I replied absent-mindedly while pulling out of my mate and putting her back down on her feet. "I was just responding to Pythus. Something serious is happening, but I don't know what yet. Get ready. He will be here any minute."

Venus nodded and hurried to the hygiene room. I hated the look of worry on her face, and the fact that my words caused it. As her husband, my role was to appease her, not scare her. After picking up my tarp discarded on the floor by the counter, I went into another of the countless hygiene rooms of the mansion to get myself sorted out. In the couple of minutes it took me, Pythus was already landing in the garden.

I went outside to greet him. Before I could say a single word, his antennae flicked, and his scales darkened. My cheeks heated in sudden understanding at the sight of his mortified expression. The strength of Venus's scent all over me told him what he'd interrupted with his sudden call.

By now, my warriors knew—or at least strongly suspected—that Venus and I were intimate. We hadn't discussed it. A part of me felt I should as the Black Guards followed my lead in all things and held me as their role model. Based on our social standards, my actions would be deemed highly inappropriate, if not immoral. But another part felt that my private life was nobody's business, and that I didn't owe anyone any explanation for loving my wife.

His embarrassment suddenly faded, and a strange expression settled on his face.

"Your happiness is a wonderful thing to see, Razus," Pythus said in greeting, as if he'd read the thoughts crossing my mind.

"Thank you," I said, taken aback by the unexpected shift.

"You were always the best of us. And now, you're the embodiment of hope for two entire breeds."

I shifted my wings with embarrassment. "I'm just one piece of the larger puzzle."

"The core piece," Pythus said in a tone that brooked no argument. "You have brought a massive wind of change. You're a Black blessed by the Prism, married to an off-worlder, and living as equal amidst the Elite."

"Equal is a strong word. But I see what you mean," I said cautiously. "Is this what you wanted to talk about?"

"It's part of it. The word is spreading that Venus and you are trying to save us from being sacrificed."

"That's old news," I replied, confused.

"Yes, but Ajustus is angry about it."

I stiffened. "Angry about it? Not just the fact that he doesn't control the Prism?"

He shook his head. "We've been monitoring the level of discontent among the citizens following the tests Venus performed on us right here in her medical pod. People were furious that Achromatics, especially Whites were allowed anywhere near the Prism. But our training in Keryth Valley has also been discovered. The Polychromatics fear that Venus is trying to convince us to refuse to be sacrificed."

"WHAT?! That's not at all what she's doing!" I exclaimed needlessly. Obviously, he knew that.

"But they convinced themselves of it. Worse still, after spying on our training in Keryth, they started spreading the rumor that she's building an army to take over control of Japhyr. They think the off-worlders are invading us from within. That kidnapping Xarin was the first step in their nefarious plans. That he's been brainwashed, and that she's controlling him."

With each of his words, I felt my blood drain from my face a bit more.

"It's all lies! Where did you hear this?"

"In the Senate," Pythus replied grimly. "Ajustus is calling an emergency session to be held in two hours from now. He wants an immediate vote on his Egress Law."

Cold fury surged through my veins. It had only been a matter of time. Frankly, it surprised me it took him this long. But he'd likely been waiting for Venus and me to give him more ammunition about how unfit and dangerous we were. What better way to get people to do his bidding than by manipulating their fears?

Venus walked out of the house at that instant and joined us. We quickly updated her as to what was happening. The same anger I felt shone bright on her beautiful face.

"That son of a bitch!" she hissed. "Of course, he'd try to use me as the villain to advance his agenda."

"We must attend the session," I said in an imperious tone. "Let's feed you, my mate. In two hours, we'll answer his false accusations."