Page 22 of Argurma Monster

“Talech is correct. Your weakness is not held against you. You are strong in many other ways. It is an honor to be your strength when you require it.”

She squinted at him. “That’s quite a line, but I’ll take it.” Sighing, she shifted so that she nestled deeper into the bedding between them.

Zoreth cocked his head. “I do not process your meaning. If you are inferring that I speak without truth, then you would be incorrect. Your physical strength is not equal to ours, nor are your senses, but you process much that you observe. Do not doubt your value.

Talech rumbled appreciatively in agreement as his head lowered to scrape his mandibles gently through her hair as his vibrissae instantly began to sift through the length. “Love my anastha.”

Her lips twisted faintly in the dark as she turned her head to glance back at the male, her face soft and her scent welcoming. Zoreth’s heart pounded with unexpected heaviness. Although the female had not accepted Talech’s claim, she did not refute his love. He processed that all indicators showed that she returned the affection. It seemed that she had chosen even ifshe refused to make the claim. So why could he not let go? His fascination remained completely fixed on her as a sigh escaped from between her lips as she settled trustingly into Talech’s arms, her eyes drifting closed as she surrendered to slumber. Zoreth swallowed as he watched, a thickness in his throat and Talech chuffed and bent down, his voice rasping in a whisper over her ear.

“Zoreth loves you too. He just does not process it yet.”

Zoreth regarded the male for a long moment, completely frozen and alert. Although he had, like all of his line, disabled the uplinks that the council were able to have accessed, those words inspired only dread. He would be disabled and sent in for reprograming for taking an alien for a mate, but emotions of devotion and love would see him terminated on sight. Talech’s eyes glinted, and his lip curled in a subtle challenge as he waited.

Was the male trying to bait him to give him an excuse to tear him apart? He studied the male. Talech had long called her anastha. That was a clear claim that was universal among their species and warned other males away.

Zoreth narrowed his eyes. “What you are attempting to provoke is unattainable. I will not be trapped into a mating challenge.”

Those were rare on Argurumal, but they were not unheard of when a female refused to choose between males and forced them into a challenge to win her affections by disposing of their rival. Zoreth had no intention of subjecting Beverly to that, especially not in such dangerous surroundings. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Talech’s help to protect her.

He shook his head. Regardless of the male’s internal operations that were fractured, it was unreasonable to call him damaged when he clearly had a strong awareness of her emotional needs and had safeguarded Beverly with a quick, unfailing instinct that Zoreth had lacked. Perhaps hisfunctioning systems dulled that instinct a little. That line of query was dangerous on Argurumal, but he was not on his mother world. Nor was Talech. The other male did not have the ability to operate tech the way that Zoreth could, but it mattered little in their current situation. As things stood now, Zoreth envied the other male because Talech was freer and less inhibited in ways that he was just now beginning to suspect.

What if the male wasn’t broken? What if he was simply liberated from the constraints of his cybernetics? It was a revolutionary idea and one he was uncertain he could ever voice, but he had to acknowledge the possibility. Although Talech clearly had a number of operational cybernetic implants, Zoreth calculated that those which controlled and regulated his hormonal and reactive states were no longer online. He suspected that Beverly would be interested in exploring their differences firsthand, which was all the more reason to deny the male an opportunity for challenge.

Talech suddenly chuffed, startling him anew.

“Idiot male,” he rumbled in a distinctly good-natured tone of voice that few Argurma possessed. “I do not desire a challenge. You protect and love her. You take care of her. You are a worthy male. Your claim is no less than mine.” The male’s lips twisted in a grimace. “And my Beverly enjoys talking with you—learning from you. You give her what I cannot.”

“And you give her whatIcannot?” Zoreth could not help the offended bite of his words as if it suggested that there was anything he could not do equally as well as Talech.

The male grinned, his purr growing louder as he nestled in close to their female. “I make my anastha happy. And I will give her great pleasure.” He lifted a shoulder in a shrug that he had often seen from Beverly, his smile growing sharper. “You will please her too, but not the same.” He lightly scraped his teethagainst Beverly’s shoulder, and Zoreth’s eyes dropped to her as she squirmed with a tiny sigh at the contact.

Zoreth stiffened. What the male proposed... it was unnatural and yet it sparked his curiosity.

“Argurumal law—” he began, but the male chuffed loudly, interrupting him.

“We are not on Argurumal nor are we theirs. I am a malfunctioning castoff, and you are of a rebelling house. What allegiance do we owe?”

The male’s words did not lack logic. Could it work for their unique situation? Although he would not admit it to anyone, he processed that he was damaged from the death of his twin; it had left a wound within him and a chasm of loneliness. Talech was the first male he had let close enough to feel any measure of comradery with, and he could not even calculate when exactly that happened. The male’s words did not spark his aggression but rather sent a heat of eagerness through him and a sense of amiable competition that he had experienced long ago.

His mandibles clicked humorously. Talech certainly processed how to manipulate him into action. The male knew that his challenge would be one that Zoreth would be happy to disprove—if they could agree to get Beverly to accept them both. He would be happy to show the male what his systems were capable of when it came to mating. Even now, his civix was struggling to escape its sheath, eager to slip into the female nestled between them as her arousal bloomed in reaction to the scrape of Talech’s teeth.

Talech’s eyes brightened, and the male chuffed again, the sound of his laughter rasping in Zoreth’s ears as he buried his face in the soft hair at the top of Beverly’s head and allowed her sweet scent to carry him into slumber. Zoreth’s lips twitched as he watched the male. Perhaps Talech was correct. There would likely be those within the mother house that would disapprove,but they were beginning a new life away from Argurumal and with that came endless possibilities free from the constraints of the council. He was eager to explore this with Talech and Beverly, and that meant taking care of all of their needs.

Tomorrow they would leave at sunset and carefully select their route to give Beverly some freedom. He processed that she might desire an opportunity to walk until it became too dark. She had a ravenous sort of curiosity about everything that he enjoyed. It would please him to see her enjoy something amid all the danger before she was forced to submit to their caring once more.

He would do that for her because Talech was right, and he knew it straight down to the depths of his systems—he loved her.

Chapter 20

Beverly’s eyebrows climbed as she followed Zoreth and Talech out of the housing complex. The sun was beginning to sink in the sky, but aside from the long shadows it cast it was still technically daylight. They were actually taking her out in the day? A part of her was petrified knowing that those things out there would be able to see her, but the rest of her was actually... relieved. Relieved that she could rely on her senses and possibly carry her own weight on her own feet for a little while. Did that mean that they trusted her capabilities as a functioning member of their little group? She still didn’t know if she did after yesterday, but if they believed in her then how could she not believe in herself at least a little?

Uncertain, she waited outside the door for one of the males to pick her up but blinked in surprise when they both filed past her and waited expectantly. They... wanted her to walk. They really didn’t see her as helpless. Unable to restrain her smile, there was an undeniable spring in her step as she stepped out of the building. Perhaps there was something to what they said. So what if she couldn’t see well at night like they could, and they had to compensate by carrying her since she was virtually blind? That was fair. She would just look for other ways she could contribute while it was light. She wasn’t exactly sure how, but it helped knowing that they didn’t resent her as a burden. Unless she missed her guess, they almost seemed pleased that they got the opportunity to carry her around. That they respected and cared about her enough to leave her on her own two feet despite that gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling deep inside.

She shook her head, her spirit lightening as she fell in step behind Zoreth. The corners of his mouth curved faintly in a rare smile just for her that made her feel on top of the world evenas her skin prickled with a welcome awareness as Talech took position behind her. It all felt right and natural at that moment. She felt safe sandwiched between the males while retaining her independent mobility. It was nice—like they immediately understood upon waking exactly what she needed. It provided safety while giving her some sense of control. Her lips pursed. It was a pity that she hadn’t held on to the metal pipe. It had been pretty gross with the gore hanging off its broken, sharp end, but being armed in some way would be nice.

Her gaze casually fell on Zoreth—which wasn’t difficult since the male was right in front of her—and slowly skimmed over his body. Although the male was powerfully built, with wide shoulders and a body sculpted with muscle under his armor—including a very nice ass, she had to admit, but then every Argurma she’d met seemed to be blessed spectacularly in that area, and she’d spent considerable time admiring Talech’s ass—it was the weapons strapped to him that drew her eye. Her tongue slid over her bottom lip nervously. She was working up her courage to give voice to what she wanted only for the male to stop so suddenly that Beverly stumbled to keep from running right into him.

Vibrissae fanning out as they began to rise and twist, Zoreth glanced back at her. “Is there something that you desire, anastha?”

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