Page 23 of Her Alien Prince
I explained this to Luan, "Entitlement has them rebelling, causing tension between our treaties. Something must change, and that change could be the Estreldez clan that soothes the souls of our krelin warriors."
She snapped, "Are you not a warrior yourself? You seem soothed enough to control yourself."
A true warrior, I thought happily of my kansa mate, she would confront me, challenge me, and my warrior horde to be better. Stronger. I smiled broadly, showing off my teeth, she would not be fearful of them. My thoughts went back to how she wasn’t the only estreld to confront me, to not be fearful of me, to accept me… No, Mabel didn’t truly accept me, though her body complied it was not the same.
It took training to make sure my smiles were pleasant, but keeping my lips closed to cover the carnivorous nature of krelins. The teeth ran down along my throat, but they only came out when triggered by food. Many species were wise to be frightened of how our teeth were strong enough to eat a beast whole, bones and all. Though that fear would ease when they realized krelins mostly consumed nectar… not meat. The teeth were equally good at grinding plants into pulp used to create the nectar our hive needed to survive.
"I am as possessive, and greedy as my hive," I took a step forward, closing the distance between us, "I feel the restlessness within them even now, but I have something to focus on that they do not." A summons tingled up my horns, and one thing I kept to myself was how influenced my hive was by my queen. The queen’s bond with the hive was toxic, addictive, and many sought out her affections even at the cost of harming others. Very few rejected this connection with the queen, and if her sights were set on someone... many would not be able to resist her pull.
I had my suspicions that the warriors I'd lost to the Sky Bender were simply puppets at the queen's behest, and I couldn't blame the spy entirely for their deaths. This was on the queen's soul to bear, and soon there would be a new queen. One who respected the hive, respected her clan, and valued life.
Luan. I approached her with a renewed vigor, needing her to distract me from my queen’s warmth tingling at my skull, prying her way into my mind.
Knowing I had a kansa bond, and the distance between my planet and Estreldez, made it easier to reject the insistent summons my queen sought out from me. She probably wanted to know how my reconnaissance was going, or perhaps she wanted reassurances that her invasion plan she'd concocted behind my back was in progress. It didn't matter, all that mattered was solidifying my bond with Luan, and knocking my mother from her throne to save my hive.
If she was not afraid of my teeth, then she would not be afraid of my wings. I flared them out to impress her, to show her that I was capable, and confident in my abilities to please her.
"What do you focus on," she rasped out, feeling the effects of my musk in the air. I hadn't sprayed her, but it was impossible for a compatible mate not to be affected when my wings were displayed, and a kansa bond would make the urge to consummate our bond even more difficult to resist. I needed her to see we were made for each other, that the goddess had made me for her. That we would complement each other perfectly.
"You," I replied with restrained eagerness, while wrapping my arm around her waist to bring her against my chest. Trailing fingers up her exposed flesh I sought to show her that her mating loh would respond to me, to my touch.
"You only just met me," she whispered. I pressed my forehead to her to bridge the distance between us, hoping that the contact between my kan horns and her crown of loh would help ignite our kansa bond further. I needed to hear her voice in my mind, I needed her to let me inside.
"You are the Jewel of Estreldez, and the only way my mother will accept a union between our species." My queen would never guess that an estreld would have wings, and even still that one would be able to challenge her hold on the hive.
"Who are you?" She asked with seriousness. I realized my mistake, she didn't know I was the Prince of Krelis, and I had called the queen my mother.Foolish, I thought, but she would have had to accept my past eventually.
"I'm the warrior who found a solution to both our problems that doesn't involve bloodshed," I avoided direct acceptance of what she already knew to be true about me. I was more than simply a Krelis delegate. She shivered in my arms.
"You mean to take me," she said with a scowl, though her body still melded to mine in contradiction to her harsh words. She was about to retreat as she snapped at me, "Do you even have the queen's permission to be here? To make this treaty?"
Desperation entered my voice as I begged her to understand that she could change everything, lead our people to peace. Indecision still in her silver eyes, I cupped her chin in my hand, gently tugging her to me as I whispered into her ear, "I will cherish you beyond all else. Not merely a mate, but a partner, a queen. Will you accept me?"
My words felt like ash on my tongue, like I already knew the answer before she spoke. She would not have me.
Luan huffed out my name and at the same time I heard my name echo in my mind... “Trent.” she was reaching out to me through our bond. It had to be. Though, it still held so much doubt, like she was searching for something to grasp onto between us. Trust that needed time to form. I had to give that to her. I owed her that much, but we were running out of time. I needed her to stop the buzz of my mother seeking purchase within me. Seeking to control me.
"I like my name on your lips," I confessed. Would she say my name again? Wings beat fast behind me, as I wished to take flight, taking her with me. We needed time to bond, and if she'd let me, we could have that time in the Kai Mountain's oasis, just as my ancestors before me.
She groaned, and I took the momentary acceptance to trail kisses down her neck, taking care to be gentle around her sensitive loh. Her wings expanded behind her, and I grinned into her shoulder, satisfied that there was proof of her interest, of our bond.
Mind buzzing, I sought out the connection between us. Followed it while I nibbled down her arms, and sucked on her inner wrist before seeking out her lips to see if she tasted as sweet as the blackpul algae in bloom. Luan trembled in my arms, and I pulled her closer, grabbing her ass, and letting her feel the hard length of my cock, eager to show her the pleasure I could give. "I feel you," I said breathless, closing my eyes to grab hold of our mating bond.
I lifted her into my arms, her legs wrapping around my waist as she ground her fragrant folds against my thickening cock. But my nose twitched at the smell, and the glands of my throat did not respond to her despite our bond. What have I done?
"Not yet," she rasped, but again her words contradicted the way her hands pawed at me to be closer. Her loh brightened the more I explored her flesh. Only my pants prevented our bodies from completing our union. She clung to me, breathy, and eyes hooded with lust as she tried once more to end things, "Too fast."
And I had to agree. Everything felt different, not as it should.
If she truly did not wish for us to bond yet, then I would respect that, but I needed her to say it, because her fingers still laced through my blond hair, tugging at my braid, pulling my lips to hers. Before we could kiss I gave her the exit she sought, "Tell me to stop, and I will."
Though, even as my lips hovered over hers, feeling the heat of her breath, I was already easing my hold on her. A flash of Mabel crying penetrated my mind, and any thoughts of pleasuring Luan vanished.
"I need time," she took my offer of ending this tryst. Her feet already hitting the ground as I eased her from me before she finished her words. "To think," she added.
I nodded, not wishing to prolong this encounter when an urgent need came over me to find Mabel and make sure she was okay. My cock was already disinterested in fooling around, and I folded my wings back allowing them to disappear from sight. I took a step back from her, and glanced around, already seeking out Mabel as if she were just beyond the bushes. Clucking my tongue, I sought to follow the echo with my kan just to be sure she wasn't. That she hadn't witnessed what I'd done with Luan.
Why did that matter? Why did this make me feel so guilty?
