Page 25 of Bred By Zyros
“She is claimed.”
The faint giant seems unbothered, leaning closer to sniff at me. The heady smell of sulfur invades my nose. I move back, closer to Zyros, who pulls me fully behind him now. I nearly balk as he uncoils his tail from me, leaving me feeling unprotected, despite knowing I am safe with him. “She is unclaimed. Youlie. I cannot smell seed—”
I nearly scream as Zyros’ tail strikes out like a whip, coiling around the giant’s neck, his leather skin pulling at odd angles. He makes a sluggish choking sound as Zyros jerks the rest of his deadly form to the giant’s height, tightening as he bears his fangs, readying to strike.
My heart stops, eyeing the others surrounding to watch the fight. “Zyros, that’s enough! He gets it. Let’s just go.”
He doesn’t listen, his fangs glistening as he strangles the giant, the awful sounds the creature is making churn my stomach.
I blurt out the first thing I can think of. “Zyros, I…my stomach is hurting. I don’t feel good, I think I need to eat.”
That gets his attention, his head snapping toward me, murder and concern marring his handsome, severe features. He unravels as the giant drops heavily to the ground, working his tail out from under the other male’s colossal frame before rushing to me. “Come, I will find you—”
“You can’t do things like that! You can’t just attack someone because they offered to buy me. I’m a human, Zyros. It’s what they do.”
He just glares at me before lifting me into his arms, to which I heave a long sigh, making my displeasure known despite feeling none at all, really. My core is pulsing again, my heart thundering while my belly feels ticklish…giddy. My cheeks are no doubt ruddy to an embarrassing point.
God, I’m insane.
And so is he.
Zyros pivots, slippingoverthe giant's snoring form and through the crowd before heading back toward the outer layers. He trades crystals worth more than the plates of food I’m served and scowls at every alien within spitting distance of me, hissing and carrying on like an absolute lunatic while I eat food I don’t want in the slightest. While it is nice to have a small break from being trapped in his cave, this continues for zentics. He carries me around, hissing at aliens who stare a little too long while he ducks in and out of shops. One Sul'Vorrithan female, a feline-type species, even tries to steal the carts of gems. It shocks her as she tries to pry the lid off. I then have to plead and distract Zyros again as he is prepared to bludgeon her with his tail. It’s hard to imagine how he’s survived going to ports this long with his temper without being hauled off by Alliance Enforcers. By the time we’re done shopping,for me, we have several carts loadedwith items of lesser value than his gems. My cheeks are flushed and I’m…having so much fun.
Even Zyros starts to smirk by the end of it, chasing me through each shop. When I pull him into a dressing room laden with clothing tailored for a male of his size, the proximity makes the air in my lungs halt. His chest is heaving, his rainstorm musk making me feel dizzy as I tingle everywhere we touch. His slitted eyes have been filled with so much today, rage, annoyance, apprehension, concern when he thought I was lost for all of two very stressful domtics. We’re silent, the bustling port forgotten as I clear my throat, gesturing for him to lower himself so I can place the shirt over his head. Giggling when his long, teal hair gets caught in the studded neckline. He’s like a toddler as I help him navigate into the billowy garment, the deep V and white fabric beautiful against him.
Until I get to his face.
The male’s eyes are tight, his body ramrod unnaturally still. It’s the least graceful I’ve seen him. “Zyros?”
“Is this to your liking, Sssaryth?”
I clear my throat again to hide my laughter. It certainly is. He looks…sexy, like the cover of those Old Earth novels with the super trussed up long-haired men. They only exist in mostly incomplete digital form now, but I have indulged in one a time or two. “I think I like you better without.”
Which is also true.
Also, Zyros looks like he’s seconds from peeling his skin off. When he discards the shirt, the poor male shudders, tossing it to the ground. He decides we’re done shopping after that. I’m surprisingly worn out by the time I’m fed again and carted off to the last stop on our station adventure. I kick my feet sitting atop the gravity carts as they trail behind my male.
My breeding match.
Keep it together, Melody. You’re already doing swell at this whole boundaries thing.
This section is quieter, more desolate. It’s the only reason I’m allowed to be outside of his arms. When a tall male steps out, I tense, ready for another fight, but he simply smirks at Zyros, briefly regarding me before turning his attention back to him. “Zyros, pleasure doing business again.”
I barely react as Zyros lifts me from the carts, handing me off to his tail, which quickly sets me deep in a tall coil behind him. My eyes are glued to the odd species. He’s muscular, but not bulky. His flesh is such a deep shade of green I’d mistake it for pitch black if not for the faint strobe lights coming from an alien dungeon club to his left, the odd pulsing vibration music rattling my teeth. A species like this is made forprecision. His overall silhouette is oddly close to Old Earth's depiction of an alien from one of the Predator movies—powerful digitigrade legs, exoskeleton, and muscular, lithe form, although his face is far more distinctly humanoid. For a society that apparently had no clue about the wider galaxies, they got eerily close in their depictions of aliens more often than not. Apparently, their government lied about everything anyway, so who knows.
More than his body, it’s his hair that gets me. My cheeks flush when the new male, now engrossed in talking about the crystals with Zyros, smirks at me, catching me staring. Which makesmymale bear his fangs in warning. If I meant to look away to spare Zyros another squabble, which I’m not sure I did, Ican’tafter that. The male’s hair reacts in tune, lifting and posing, like hundreds of small snakes ready to strike. Where the ends looked flat and soft before, small needle-like stingers now pulse in the strobing light. His four vertically paired eyes flash with…what? Anticipation?
I am much more discreet after that. He’s fucking—excuse my language—terrifying but handsome in a scary type of way.
I wait until their dealing is done before clearing my throat and, much to Zyros’ displeasure, climbing over the walled coil of his tail and coming up to join the two males. “Uh, hi. My name is Melody. I was wondering if I could scan you. I’ve never seen a species like yours; I would love to have a chance to study you further.” Offering him my greatest smile, ignoring Zyros carrying on at my side.
I can tell when he starts to say no before I rush to speak again. “It’s fine to say no, obviously, but only your physical body would be scanned. You can check the data implant if you’d like.” I offer, lifting my blonde curls to bare my neck.
“No,” Zyros interjects, moving to grab me.
I spin on him, giving him a disapproving stare. “Just calm down for a moment. It’s fine. This is common in ports.” And it is. More than they share goods, aliensloveto share knowledge.
I turn back to the dark male. “You may scan me as well if you have the tech, or I can pass my data to you. Either is fine.”
