13. Lyath

We spend much of the evening talking with Nia about how she fits into this mating. As she and Beren begin speaking, I am of no use since I am still coming down from the pleasure they both brought me.

Sometimes, it takes me a little while to return to normal after playing with Beren. That is why he has to hold me and say sweet things. I am very much in a vulnerable place afterward. Nia takes to this part of our play as easily as she does the teasing bit.

Nia keeps her soft hands all over my arms and chest, running her fingers over my scales in the most comforting of strokes. She murmurs sweet things to me as I close my eyes and nap between speaking with Beren, who is also touching me to make sure I know he is here with me.

When I wake from my nap, Nia is still stroking my scales, and she gives me a soft kiss on my forehead when she realizes I have woken.

We did not do much work during the day, which means we will have much to do when we wake up in the morning.

We will need to get all of the seeds planted before the storms return. The storm’s rain is needed to ensure the plants fully root in the soil. Knowing that there will be more females in our tribe soon also gives us more reasons to get as much food as possible so we can care for all of them.

Beren is the happiest male in the tribe when we all crawl into one bed to go to sleep. For a moment, I think I might be jealous of Nia. She shimmies her small human body between Berena and me, but her warm skin feels nice against my scales. Beren makes sure to drape one of his arms over her body to wrap in my palm so he is still touching me as we sleep. This is why I am not jealous, because I have the best of both creatures I share a bed with. Nia’s warmth and Beren’s touch.

As I wake in the morning, I am trying to stay as still as possible so I can enjoy how we are all melded together. I can feel Beren sitting up in the bed on the other side of Nia, much like he normally sits in the mornings since he wakes before I do.

There is warmth against my chest, curled up between Beren’s sitting and where I have turned onto my side in the night. I flex my arm and realize that I have taken Beren’s mate from him in the night. She is trapped in my arms. Her breathing is deep and hard as she blows soft snores against my chest. The idea of it has me smiling without meaning, too, and of course, this means Beren knows that I am awake.

“She did not have her nightmare last night,” Beren says as he moves a hand to stroke my cheek. “You both look beautiful in my bed.”

I blink my eyes open, taking in just how handsome Beren is in the glow of the dying fire. He is a good mate and makes sure to wake many times in the night to keep the fire stoked. Now that we have Nia, we may not need the fire as much since she produces enough body heat to warm me. I do not know if Beren enjoyed much of her warmth last night, though.

I turn my attention down to Nia. She is so small, especially when she is pressed up next to me with one of her legs tucked between my thighs and her arms tucked up against my chest. Her mouth is open slightly. Another snore cuts through the silence in the room, making me smile even bigger. They are loud sounds to come from such a delicate female. When I look at Beren, I can see the same look of adoration on his face.

“I took her from you,” I say, not releasing her even a little from my tight grasp. I have both my arms wrapped around her like she might roll away if I do not keep her close.

“As soon as you both fell asleep, you were curling in on one another,” Beren says as he continues to stroke my cheek, showing me he is not upset by our sleeping arrangement. “It was impressive how quickly you both forgot about your mate.”

“No, surely we could never forget you,” I tease him.

“It is fine,” Beren reassures me even though I can very much tell that it is fine. He does not seem angry in the slightest. He looks like he is the happiest he has ever been just by having the two of us here in his bed with him. If I did not know that we needed to do other things today, then I would love to spend all of my time in this bed to keep him as happy as he is. “Would you like to stay with her until she wakes?”

“No,” I say with a quick shake of my head. “I need to begin working on seeding the fields. You should keep her company until she wakes like you do for me. I am sure she will enjoy waking next to you as much as I do.”

Beren frowns as I talk, and then his eyes dip down to his sleeping mate. I know he is struggling right now because he feels as though he is now having to choose between which of us will be given his attention. I do not let him stress for very long before I am the one reassuring him.

“You should know by now that I am not a greedy male like you,” I say as I unwind my arms from his other mate.

I nudge Nia, and she stirs in the sweetest way before rolling to her other side and throwing an arm and leg over Beren’s lower half. She nuzzles her face against his abdomen as she resettles into sleep.

“I know I am your mate even if you do not spend every moment with me. I am sure Nia feels the same. Now, you? I do not know how you will cope with not being able to be with the two of us constantly to make sure no one is talking with us about lovemaking. That is something for you to figure out for yourself.”

I laugh to myself when I get up from the bed and notice that Beren’s body has gone stiff at the reminder that he will not be there to threaten other males if they even try to tempt me with their bodies. Not that anyone ever has or that I have ever wanted to be with anyone other than Beren. Well, I suppose there is now Nia, who definitely tempts me, but that is very much wonderful for Beren and me.

Beren is not a rational male. He thinks anyone who is not propositioning me is probably a fool. He will struggle with those irrational thoughts for both Nia and me. I have no doubt the worries will drive him mad even though I will only be out seeding the fields. If I know my mate as well as I think I do, he will have Nia roused and outside in no time.

I pull on a pair of pants and a tunic before grabbing the first bag of seeds. We received new seeds when our latest batch of supplies came in from the nearest tribe. When asking for supplies this last time, we did not ask for much more than we normally do so we did not draw suspicion onto our tribe.

It seems that was pointless because we are now freely offering up that humans are arriving in a slow trickle. One of the humans has gone to the other tribe to tell them about our females in the hopes that their tribal leader will do a better job of controlling his males who come to our tribe to steal our females from us.

Still, it does not change the fact that we will need to use all of the seeds we asked for.

The storm season will be here soon, in maybe five more days. The storms that rained down on us not that long ago came much too early and did not last nearly as long as a normal storm season. We will be trapped in our homes for many, many days when the newest storms come. Once they are over, we will have a short amount of time to prepare the tribe for more females. The most important thing I can do is to make sure all of the seeds are planted and ready for the rain.

As I begin to seed the first of the fields, I think about what else must be done at the tribe. We will need many more homes prepared, many tunics to, and probably some shorts, too. The human females all seem to enjoy being able to cover their lower halves. I would think they would want to cover less of themselves since they run so warm, but maybe they are more prudish about their bodies. Beren probably appreciates that his mate keeps herself covered around the others. He would not want me walking around bare, so he probably feels the same about Nia.

“I’m sure I can figure it out.”

I hear Nia before I see her. She comes strolling out of the house with one of the bags of seeds thrown over her shoulder. She looks around the fields for a moment before she turns to face me, and then a smile spreads across her lips, making my heart swell. My stomach fills with a tickling feeling that I do not hate.

“Lyath will teach me,” she says.

I shake my head but match her enthusiasm for happiness. She knows how worked up Beren gets when she says my name. I do not hate it, though. My cock most definitely loves it because it thinks she will take me in her mouth again and make me beg for relief.

A hiss escapes my chest as I remember how well she and Beren treated me yesterday. I am so grateful she was not disgusted by what I enjoy. I didn’t realize it was something that worried me until she seemed to enjoy it, and then I felt immense relief.

“If my mate is to learn something, it will be me who teaches it.” Beren storms out of the house behind Nia. She moves quickly for a female who is obviously struggling under the weight of the bag of seeds. It must weigh at least half of her.

Beren grabs the bag from her shoulder as he catches up to her, which doesn’t take very long at all since she cannot move very quickly. He shakes his head as he stares down at her.

Nia offers him the same bright smile she gave me. I know it affects him greatly because he stops moving for a moment, and then his cock is straining against his pants. Mine is doing the same because how could it not be when two people who give me so much pleasure are very purposefully walking toward me?

“Good morning,” I say with a wave when they grow closer.

We have much to do before Beren and I will be able to deal with the cocks already demanding our attention. Preferably, we will ease their ache with our new female, but I would not be opposed to watching Beren take her many times while I watch. Yes, I think that would be a wonderful way to tease me. I will suggest it the next time we have a moment to be intimate, but not until the fields are seeded.

“We have much to do today.” I embrace Beren when he nears me, loving the feel of his arms around me because I am not used to being away from him for any amount of time. Nia wraps her arms around my lower back when Beren steps away from me and then tilts her head back with her chin on my lower chest as she stares up at me.

“Why weren’t you in bed with us?” Nia asks.

I ignore the huff of irritation that Beren shoots her way. I can see the amusement on his face, so I know he is not upset that she is paying me attention. In fact, I am almost certain he is glad we get along so well because it would be terribly inconvenient if his other mate did not want to be my friend. That would be much worse than her teasing him for being such a possessive male.

“I told Beren to keep you company while I began work,” I tell her, bringing my hands up to cup her cheeks.

Nia is easily the most beautiful female I have ever seen. I do not know how Beren and I were so lucky to get such a wonderful mate when we did not even know what she looked like when we decided to have Beren mate her. The goddess was most definitely looking out for us because Nia is amazing.

“Some of us need to be productive even though we are very much enjoying you joining our home,” I say.

What I really want is to lift her into my arms and have her wrap her legs around me. I would like to lick and suckle on her breasts. Beren kept them all to himself yesterday. I want even more to taste the sweetness from between her legs on my own tongue since I was only able to taste it from Beren’s fingers when he brought her pleasure yesterday.

My mind is thinking far too many sensual thoughts for someone who is meant to be working right now. So, I step back and let Nia right herself without leaning on me before turning to Beren, who is making quick work of the latest batch of seeds. I am sure he is as anxious as me to finish this so we can spend the rest of our time with Nia.

“Did you speak with Ralleth about getting more seeds?” I ask as I move closer to him. I will need to return to the house and grab the last two bags of seeds so we can seed the entire farm— or as much of it as we can with what we have.

“He added it to the letter he sent to his brother. He also said that Thro is here and alive, that we need males to help make the tribe suitable for more females, and that we need more supplies. The only thing that worries him is that he has not yet heard if the other tribe is receptive to us having a different type of female.”

“Do you think they’ll be upset?” Nia asks as she joins me.

We stand next to each other, watching Beren work. I bet it is one of Nia’s favorite things to do, just as it is mine. I wish it were a bit warmer outside because he would be tearing his tunic off, and we would both be getting a much better show.

“I doubt they would be upset about there being more females if what Rallan has said about their female population declining,” I say, hoping that what I say is true. “If anything, they will all be eager to prove themselves useful in the hopes that they will be able to woo a female.”

“That is what I am hoping,” Beren says as he kneels to the ground and removes a stone that he tosses off into the trees. “Many will want the chance for a mate. Especially since human females seem to call to our souls, and we call to theirs as well. If their tribal leader is smart, he will offer us all the help we need in exchange for his males to have a chance to find their mates.”

Nia’s smile falls as we continue talking about it. I wonder what could have soiled her mood, but she is not a female who keeps her thoughts to herself. Well, most of the time, so long as it does not have to do with her wanting her mate in all ways because she most definitely was scared to voice that. We are past that now, and she is back to saying what she thinks.

“They aren’t owed a female just because they help out,” Nia says. Her hands find her hips, and her chin juts out slightly as she stares up at me and Beren, who is back to standing. His head snaps to her, the bag hanging loosely by his side as he gives her his full attention.

“None of us think they are owed females for helping to rebuild the tribe,” Beren says, his posture stiffening and his eyes hardening as he watches for Nia’s reaction.

“Didn’t they just come and kidnap one of the women?” Nia asks cocking her hip and staring back at Beren with the same intensity. His fingers tighten their hold on the sack of seeds before he thrusts it into my chest, telling me to take it. He’s on his knees in front of Nia as soon as he knows the seeds aren’t going to spill out all over the ground.

I continue working the field as he talks to Nia, but I make sure to listen to their conversation because where I am a kind male in allowing him to comfort her and her fears, I am also very nosy.

“I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make sure you and your sisters are safe,” Beren says, his voice sounding softer than I expect it to with how tense he looks. “I will speak to Ralleth about your concerns. I am sure you are not the only female who is worried.”

“We’re smaller than you,” Nia says after a long moment of chewing on her lip. “We can’t protect ourselves against you if someone does try to hurt us. And what if a woman reacts to a male like I do when I’m near your chest, but she doesn’t want to? What’s to stop someone from taking advantage of her?”

The hiss that leaves my chest is met with an equal one from Beren’s. My eyes are dark red when I snap my attention over to them, and I do not miss that Beren’s are as well. We do not like thinking of anyone hurting the females that the goddess has blessed our tribes with, and we most certainly do not like the thought of another male forcing himself on one of them.

“We will find a way to ensure their safety,” Beren says, keeping himself calm enough to keep his hands on Nia’s shoulders without gripping her too hard. I can see his struggle to find something to do to get his mind off the anger he is filled with now. I can focus all of my attention on finishing up seeding the field to calm my anger.

“How?” Nia asks.

I expect her voice to be small or sad, but she seems determined more than anything else. The question is not an accusation. She is asking as though Beren will know how to protect them. She trusts him in this, in keeping her sisters safe.

“I do not know yet, but we will figure it out, yes?” Beren says, nodding his head and placing his forehead against hers.

Nia lifts her hands, holding his horns close to her as though she doesn’t want his face to leave hers. I understand this because I also very much enjoy getting to look at Beren’s face. Especially when he looks so determined and devoted.

I leave them on their own while I return to the house to grab the next bag of seeds. The field is halfway done, and we are not even halfway through the day. If Beren helps me with the final two, we will finish our work for the day just in time for lunch.

Tomorrow, we will need to sift the soil to ensure the seeds are fully embedded in the dirt, and until the storms come, we will need to water the fields. It is hard labor, but it will only last a handful of days. Once the storms are here, we can relax for many days with Beren’s new mate.

I’m halfway through the third bag of seeds when Beren runs back to the house and grabs the fourth bag. He gives me a stiff nod as he begins on the final section of the field. Nia goes back into the house for only a moment before she comes back out with some of her sewing and starts working on another pair of shorts while sitting on the covered porch.

I smile as I look around. My dreams of having my own farm and now of having a female to share with Beren have all been coming true. There must be something I have done to be looked so favorably on by the goddess. I will have to take stock of all my actions and figure out what it was so I can tell the others how they might gain her favor as well. Yes, it is only right I try to help my brothers find this much happiness.

I continue seeding, the smile on my face never once leaving my face. In fact, it grows to hurt my cheeks, especially when Beren becomes too warm and removes his tunic. Nia’s loud whooping has him flushing a deeper red, but I think it is the perfect sound to make when he strips. I am just glad I am not alone in admiring my mate any longer.