Page 23 of Bound By the Vori

Rykaal smiled, his eyes following Kim as she playfully tried to evade Sijhord. Ducking beneath the arch of his tail as it attempted to loop around her, she darted into the trees with the shrieks of nestlings following after her as they gleefully chased her.

Days had passed since the accident with the gyuli and he was still anxious. He did not like letting her out of his sight for even a moment. It was only knowing that Sijhord was watching everyone and everything that neared their precious mate with suspicion that helped him go about his days. It helped that the Matriarch gave them permission to take an extended break for a few days once Kim was able to leave the palace’s medical unit so they had some time together to bond further and get over their scare.

After spending a day allowing her to rest within their own nest, he had immediately set about making plans to bring his mate to the one place that he knew she would be surrounded by people who would watch over and care for her as if she were their own.

He brought her home.

“She is a lovely female, Rykaal,” his father, Baagral, observed with a chuckle as several of the nestlings managed to entangle themselves together in their pursuit. Though a silvery gray color in hue with vivid red markings, he was the one of Rykaal’s fathers who came close to his height and deeper hue. “I would not be surprised if half of your brother’s offspring were not already smitten and thinking of acquiring a human of their own once they came of age.”

“It will undoubtedly cost a fortune,” his brother, Asyrial, rejoined, his eyes lit up with laughter. “Since I am laying full blame on you, I hope you plan on using some of that surplus of credits you get from the Matriarch to pay for it.”

Rykaal smiled at the gentle teasing, pleased that his family of his maternal nest so readily seemed to accept and adore Kim. Unlike the reserve with which Kim held herself in Evath outside of their nest, she seemed to thrive here in ways he would not have expected. It was like some hidden part of her came alive and showed itself in the jungle. A sense of wildness and play that he caught glimpses of only in their nesting chamber. He liked seeing her so carefree and without worries. Although he knew that she was looking forward to resuming her lessons with Zana, this was obviously something she needed.

He would have to bring her back as frequently as possible.

“It could not possibly cost more than all of the feasts that mother insists on holding and clan relations showing up in masses to meet Kim,” he replied dryly. They had been there two days, and his mother turned nearly every meal into something entirely overdone to celebrate the growth of the clan.

“Indulge her,” his father murmured. “You realize that your mother has complained repeatedly about the fact that she did not have the opportunity to give her first-hatched son a mating celebration. Your brothers have all mated, but they were brought in as second, third, and fourth males whose matings were celebrated within the clan territories of their females. You are the first of her sons who is the dominant male, the first male of a family nest that is of our clan. It gives her hope that her line will continue and her territory won’t be one that is merely absolved into another clan.”

Rykaal frowned, his eyes searching out his mother across the clearing. Although her scales were dulling with age, she was still of the boldest hue of blue that he had ever seen. She was smiling and laughing at something one of his other fathers, Shasil, said to her. Rykaal could not recall a time when he saw her so happy. The last time he had seen his mother had been a revolution before the cure.

She had smiled at times, but he recalled that there was always an underlying exhaustion to it as if she were stretched thin, struggling against the weight of everything that was laid upon her as a breeding female and the madness that she managed to keep at bay. It was startling to see her free of it as she leaned into her mate and nuzzled him, her tail entwining with his as they curled in together as the bonfire was stoked while the temperature began to decline as the sun’s light dimmed through the highest canopy of the teriaf.

Baagral squeezed his shoulder with his large hand before he too glided through the grass and dirt to his mate’s side. Looping his tail with Shasil’s, they curled around her, and were soon joined by his other fathers, Ommi, Veshin, and Vinik. They coiled around her, providing a perch for her and a loving coil fitted around her. This was love as the Vori saw it. The deep bond was evident between all of them as they whispered and crooned lovingly to each other, their tails gliding across each other as if unable to bear being apart. Rykaal could hear the soft, melodic sound of his mother’s laugh, and he smiled as he wondered if Kim would see the same thing that he did.

He looked over at his mate, adoration filling him as he watched her pick her way over to him. Even if she did not yet see, he could feel the threads that drew them together. Even if they separated for a moment, it was never long before they were drawn back together like a magnetic force that could not be denied.

Smiled up at him as she approached, her small human body tucking against his as she wrapped her arm around him. His tail curled around her thighs, hugging her to him that was even as he drew his arm around her, relishing the feel of her breath against his scales as she rested her head against his chest. Ducking his head, he pressed his mouth to the top of her head as his crown coils slicked through her braids.

“If you are looking for the nestlings, they are not here,” he teased.

She made a scoffing sound in reply and squinted up at him. “At the moment it’s more like I’m hiding from them.” Her head flopped against his chest, and she groaned. “They’ve worn me out. Here I thought my human nieces and nephews were a handful. How do they get around so fast?”

He chuckled, his gaze straying to a young male looping his tail around the trunk of a tree as he quickly began to climb up it. “Our tails are very strong and have very elastic muscles that allow us to move with little effort. Even a nestling is quite strong,” he added, tipping his head to the male as his mate stared up the tree and made a sound of distress in her throat.

“Are you trying to scare me out of reproducing?” she griped, and he grinned down at her.

“At least you have me and Sijhord.” He thought for a moment, his gaze tracking to where the male in question was trying to lure down said nestling, and his grin widened wickedly. “You especially have Sijhord. If ever there was a male born to rein in nestlings, it was him,” he chuckled.

Craning her head, Kim’s eyes widened as she took in the sight. Her other mate was halfway up the tree now, trying in vain to get the now terrified nestling to drop down a little lower so that he could rescue him from the higher branches onto which he had climbed and become stuck.

“Oh, damn,” she whispered. “I’m so not ready for that.”

Unable to keep from laughing, Rykaal curled his tail more firmly around her, enjoying the feeling of their heat merging. Nestled against him, he felt her head move as she looked over at his family, humming contently to herself. Then she stopped moving and snuggled her cheek against his chest as a sigh of longing escaped her.

“Damn, that’s so good to see,” she whispered.

“What is?” he murmured.

She peeked up at him and tipped her head in the direction of his mother and fathers. “That right there. You have no idea how good it is to see that kind of love. On Earth it’s a struggle even for a couple to stay together and remain in love, and look at them, they’ve mastered it.”

He nodded and smiled, his hearts aching fiercely with his desire for that. “They have deeply bonded. They live for each other. Even with all of their nestlings grown, they will never be alone. They always have each other and always strive to make each other happy and surrounded by affection so that none is left empty.”

“Wow. Do you think we could have that?”

He peered down at her at the echo of his own longing within her voice. He swallowed thickly, feeling his emotion rush up brutally to lodge in his throat.

“I think we are well on our way there,” he rasped as he clung to her.

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