Chapter 26

Serval

Spirits below.

Even knowing what he should be expecting with a human as a mate, Serval still wasn't prepared for just how good it felt to be inside his female. To be claiming her in his home oceans. To empty his balls into her. To feel her clenching around his cock and knot.

He wanted to fuck her again already. He wanted to pull her back to the surface where he could thrust into her at full power, not just using his ovules.

When he finally gathered the strength to lift himself off her, she nearly floated back up again, her body limp and languid. He chuckled, standing so that she could float freely. She just breathed, bubbles slowly, steadily escaping the breather, her body rising up towards the surface on its own.

Serval kicked off the sea floor and followed her up, swimming around so that he was at her back, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her against his chest just before they broke the surface. He took her breather and pressed the seal, pulling it off her face. It detached with a small pop. Serval kissed her cheek, causing Sophie to smile, resting her head against his.

The satisfaction of their interlude continued to warm his body as she relaxed into his arms and the gentle waves.

"Serval," she called to him gently after some time.

"Hm?"

"I'm naked."

"Yes," he hummed in approval, tweaking her nipple. "I love it.

She laughed, lifting herself up to turn to him. "Go get my bottoms, since you left them somewhere on the ocean floor."

He offered her a toothy smile before dropping under the waves. As he sank down, he looked up, watching as she pulled her top up, securing it back over her breasts. Her legs kept kicking in the water to keep her up – a consequence of not having a swim bladder to control her buoyancy. But because her legs were kicking, he got to enjoy the frequent flashes of her well fucked little cunt, still leaking his seed into the open water.

He hit the bottom and adjusted his beads as he looked around. It took him a moment to figure out where her bottoms had drifted to. They were lightweight, easily buffeted by the waves, and as a result had ended up far from where he had initially tossed them.

Serval finally caught sight of the flash of gold and swam to snatch them out of the water. He turned, looking up to see Sophie was swimming towards the wall of the stoney alcove. He pushed off from the bottom, following her.

He caught up to her just as she reached the wall. The moment she had her hand on it, her kicking eased as she held herself up with one hand. Her easy buoyancy was both helpful and detrimental, depending on where she wanted to be in the water.

He caught one of her feet and chuckled when she jumped in surprise. She said something, but since she was on the surface, and didn't know how to modulate her voice correctly, he only heard mush. But the playfully chastising tone told him enough.

He kissed the top of her foot before slipping her bottoms over her feet. He pulled them up her legs, kissing his way up as he went. Until he finally settled them over her ass, then kissed her mound before surfacing, right in her arms.

She immediately covered his mouth, kissing him back as he pushed her against the rock, padding her head with his hand as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Take me back to shore," she said, whispering into the kiss. "I want to go back to our bed."

That was all Serval needed to hear. He gathered her up in his arms and kicked off the wall, swimming them around the alcove, towards the nearest beach. It was one that his family liked to use for relaxation and recreation. He knew it would be empty this time of day, so he hadn't been worried about claiming his female here.

He kept hold of her even as his feet touched the ground. He held her ass in both hands, lifting her up as he walked out of the water. She was entertaining herself, kissing all along his face, his neck, twining her fingers through his olules.

He couldn't wait to get her back to his room. He was going to lay her down and kiss and lick her from head to toe. Then, he was going to feast on her cunt again. He bet she would taste even better without the salt from the ocean to dilute her juices. And then, after she came on his tongue a couple times, he was going to-

"There you are!"

The two of them jumped, turning as his sister ran towards them with a wicked grin. No doubt pleased that she'd interrupted something.

"Valorei, we're busy," he said, quite unkindly. Not caring. The only thing he wanted was to bring his female back inside where he could fuck her again in peace.

But his sister wasn't impressed, she came to a halt in front of them, hands on her hips, smirking at his displeasure.

"I'm sure you are, but I'm here on mom's orders."

"Spirits drown me," he grumbled as Sophie laughed.

"I'm taking your mate for now. And the rest of the night. You can have her back tomorrow."

"Why?" He snapped, annoyed.

"We have to prepare her for her beading ceremony."

"Oh!" Sophie popped her head up, suddenly distracted and excited. She patted his shoulder, telling him to put her down. "Yes! That sounds awesome. What are we doing?"

"Oh, it's going to be so much fun!" Valorei said, both of them ignoring him as he tightened his grip on Sophie, not wanting to let her go. "Since you've declared female, it's just going to be us ladies. We're going to pamper you and take you around the island and tell you stories of the family history as we drink dark wine and finish your beads."

"You made me my own beads?" Sophie beamed, wriggling in Serval's arms. When he continued to keep hold of her, she gave him a dull glare. "Let me down. I'm having girl's night with your family."

"I thought we were going to…" He trailed off, the unspoken implication obvious as his sister rolled her eyes.

"We were." Sophie kissed his nose. "And we will. But not tonight. Now, let go."

She wiggled until he was forced to finally set her on her feet with a long sigh. Valorei laughed, earning a narrow-eyed glare from him that she just smirked at. Completely unconcerned about his ire as she took his mate's arm.

The two of them, arm-in-arm, walked up the beach, chatting eagerly about their plans for tonight. Serval followed them mournfully, his own plans truly undone. His aching cock throbbed in protest, as it had just been promised a second round. And probably a third.

But Sophie was smiling so happily. Her combot, which had followed her out of the water, kept up with them, and she was talking to it, in English, describing what was about to happen as his sister, with exaggerated movements, nodded along like she understood any of the words. Sophie asked if it was okay if she recorded the event for Earth, and his sister assured her, delightedly, that it was.

A simple beading ceremony was something recorded by the family, but that was mostly because it was just a big moment. It wasn't actually some important, secretive thing. No doubt, his family would be happy to share this part of their culture with Earth.

As they reached the center of the island, Sophie smiled back at him. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement, and he couldn't really be upset that he had lost a chance to fuck her again when she just looked so pleased with everything.

The other females of the family were waiting, all of them calling out to Sophie. Welcoming her to join them in a moment that was the true start of the beading ceremony. There were some things she wouldn't be able to do – like passing on old toys as she transitioned into an adult – but for things like the spirit offering tonight or receiving a caress on the forehead from all her new female relatives, she would be welcomed like any other allowee.

Serval stopped then, watching her go with a tender smile. His heart quivering with joy to see her enveloped by his female relatives – friends and family he'd known all his life engulfing her, accepting her as one of their own. The males and undeclared younglings remained apart from them. The younglings more interested in playing anyway, and the males coming to surround him. Which surprised Serval as the beading ceremony had nothing to do with him.

"You look like someone stole your favorite toy," one of his cousins laughed, smacking him on the back, as another put his arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, Servalee," he said, dragging him into the group of males. "Since the females are all pampering your mate, let's have a fun male's night. You can tell us about everything you've seen since you were here last."

Serval allowed them to pull him along. All of them chatting, a few holding their younglings that were fresh from the nesting pools, but all of them smiling and eager to hear him. His family. When was the last time he'd really allowed himself to enjoy them like this?

His father was suddenly there, replacing his cousins as they pulled out a fishbone frisbee to toss around as a group of new fathers settled in together.

That could be him someday soon, he thought, looking at them. The rei were still small, though not as small as when they were born. Very little growth was done in the first few tendays under the water's surface. Mostly, they were being populated by the wii and then using those wii to start building the proteins they'd need to grow. They also weren't used to a world outside water, so their movements were more abrupt, and they tended to hit hard on accident. Which was why males tended to carry them around, as it was harder to hurt them than females.

And that very well could be him one day. Holding onto their young, making sure to watch when Sophie held them because they wouldn't be able to control their own strength yet. Carrying them around and chatting with other fathers as they tried to figure it all out.

"She will make beautiful grandrei," his father said suddenly, reminding Serval of his presence. He looked over, not surprised to see Woll also looking at the circle of fathers. Though his gaze was more nostalgic than contemplative.

"She really will," Serval agreed, looking away from him again. "When we're prepared. She said she isn't ready yet."

"And neither are you."

Serval didn't try to argue. He just looked aside at his father. "Does it bother you?"

Woll made a gesture with his hands as if to say whatever. "You and Valorei are happy. That's all I ever needed in my life. Besides, it's hardly a surprise. You were never the kind to settle down. You know, when you were still in your nesting pool, I had to be present all day and night because you had the habit of jumping out and beaching yourself."

Serval laughed. "I did not."

"You did," Woll assured him with an amused smile. "Nearly killed me and your mother the first time you did it and no one noticed for nearly a quarter mark. By the time we got you back underwater, you were almost dried out. And then you did it again the very next day."

Serval chuckled, crossing his arms. "My young will be hybrids. It will be interesting to see what happens to them."

"Who knows," Woll shrugged. "But if they're anything like you, be prepared to lose all hope of sleep as you watch over them in the pools."

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about that anymore."

Woll laughed once. "Are you kidding? Now, I stay up all hours checking your news feed to see what terrible place you found yourself in this time. Every time I watch your vids, I get palpitations."

Serval blinked, startled. He looked at his father in surprise. "You… watch my vids?"

Woll gave him a look. "You think we didn't?"

"I… guess I just figured it wouldn't be that interesting to you," he said slowly. "You and ilala never showed any interest in universal news before."

"And we still don't," Woll assured him. "Spirits know, we got more than enough problems here on Wav'aii. I don't need to be worrying about the rest of the universe too. I don't watch it for the news. I watch it for my son."

Woll reached out, cupping his face.

"Your ilala and I are so proud of the work you do. Why would we not watch that? It doesn't matter if you're a rei in the pools, or a grown male on the news, you're still our youngling, and we will always watch over you."

Stunned by the sincerity, unprepared for the force of emotions, Serval could just stare, amazed, until his father turned and laughed at some antic or other from his cousins.

It took him a while to gather himself. But as he did, something inside him seemed to click into place. Something that was always wandering here and there, constantly trying to get away. After a long life of getting into places he didn't belong, it finally settled.

He still couldn't wait to get back to his ship, to return to his stories.

But the next trip home didn't seem so bad anymore.