Page 3 of Bound By the Vori

Although there were several planets with lush jungles and forests inhabited by large, gorgeous males, it had been the Vori who had caught her eye. All it took was seeing the size ratio of the average Vori male compared to the average human female. Yes, please!

The same sense of wonder that had filled her that day was kindled anew as she stared down at the planet while the Anex made its approach. Her heart was racing with eager, excited thumps within her chest and her anxious happiness set off little flutters within her belly. This was it! She wondered if her males would be at the arrival station waiting for her. She didn’t know who they were or even what they looked like—it was still the males who made the selection from the matches calculated for them. It made her feel a little vulnerable, but she was fine. Just one little hurdle in the way of her happily ever after. She wasn’t expecting true love and a fairytale romance—certainly when she wasn’t even certain if aliens loved the same way humans did—but having devoted males who adored and cherished her was just fine with her. More than fine.

Kim fingered the braid hanging over her shoulder. What would her mates think when they saw her? She had spent the day before laboriously washing and braiding her hair and coating it with oils so that each braid gleamed healthily as they fell down her back. Even her skin was buffed and moisturized until it shined luminously, her lips stained a shade of red that complimented her deep complexion. She felt every inch a beautiful goddess. She certainly hoped that her mates saw that too and were not disappointed that she wasn’t some petite little thing. The ads recommending Vora largely featured smaller women. Surely some of those boys would like a woman with a bit more to love?

She shook her head in amusement. Of course they would. She smiled and practically trembled with nerves and undeniable eagerness. She couldn’t wait. In just a matter of hours, she would not have just one mate but at least two to love. Sure, she knew that occasionally some Vori males had chosen to mate human women individually, especially in Evath, the capital city of the Western Continent where she was headed. Despite that, the chances were still high that she would have a traditional mating with at least a pair of males to protect their nest. She had been happy that the paperwork allowed her to express that preference. Hopefully, that meant that they took those preferences into consideration when computing the potential matches.

An alarm sounded overhead for passengers to prepare for entering the atmosphere, and her lips tipped in answer to it. Time to go. Soon she would be in the arms of her mates, and hopefully enjoying everything else that entailed. All of it. She licked her lips in hungry anticipation. Was it bad that she was especially looking forward to that? She certainly knew what they were packing!

While some brides chose not to read the supplied information on Vora and the aliens inhabiting it, most especially the male anatomy, Kim hadn’t waited to dive in. Because of that, she wasn’t the least bit ignorant of Vori reproductive systems, and she had spent many nights imagining just what it would be like to be filled by her mates’ cocks. Her grin widened. Kim liked to be prepared, and in this case, foreknowledge definitely fed the anticipation.

Three

Sijhord looked around eagerly, taking in the small crowd of males eagerly awaiting the arrival of their mate. Even a few females were present, talking excitedly among themselves. Since Vadal es’EtaliAgor discovered the root cause of the madness that had seized their dwindling population of females, things had begun to change for the better. It was strange to see so many getting along where just a handful of revolutions ago they would have been aggressively attacking each other.

No doubt they were expecting their own human companions.

The tip of his tail flicked with barely contained excitement as his head craned to get a better look at the shuttle descending through the sky. After several lunar cycles of preparation, their mate was finally arriving. He snuck a covert glance at the male at his side. Sijhord wondered if Rykaal felt the same mix of excitement of nerves that made him uncertain if he wanted to propel himself into the air joyously or find a corner to empty his stomach in.

As if on cue, his stomach lurched, and he pressed his lips together tightly. Rykaal’s gaze turned toward him, frowning with concern that Sijhord promptly waved off, his attention once again fastened fully of the shuttle that was now near enough that the air stirred and whipped from its displacement by the engines. The roar grew louder, and his crown coils streamed loose as the air churned up around him. The shuttle screamed violently as it dropped down and slowly lowered onto the docking platform just a short distance in front of them.

The silence of the engines when they cut off introduced an anticipatory silence as if every Vori present were suddenly holding their breath. The door popped open with a hiss, and a boarding ramp lowered mechanically to the ground. A small human descended warily, her eyes peering uncertainly around the crowd until everything came alive when a dark green male with a faint red pattern on his scales suddenly burst forward with a jubilant greeting. The look of delight that crossed the females face warmed Sijhord’s hearts.

As the chaos of excitement descended over everyone, with humans of various sizes and hues quickly mingling with the waiting Vori, he leaned in close to Rykaal. “Do you know what our mate looks like, by chance?”

The male gave him an insulted look, his crown coils lashing in annoyance. “Of course.”

Rykaal’s eyes scanned the descending humans, studying them for a long moment before he suddenly jerked with surprise, his eyes widening as they fastened on one spot. Sijhord peered over in an attempt to discern who the male was looking at until he spied a female who towered over the others. While the other females came in various shades from pale hues with hints of delicate red or gold, to those who were more golden or deeper bronze like most Vori, and others who boasted darker, richer complexions, in his eyes she stood out among the rest. Tall and possessing a thicker, more generous body that a large warrior such as himself could comfortably curl around and hug to him, her long dark hair was arranged into neat coils of her own, and the smooth, deep brown to her complexion rivaled that of any other female on the shuttle.

The female positively shone beneath Vora’s sun, and she tipped her head up toward it like a flower luxuriating in its touch. A smile curled her lush red mouth, and Sijhord’s tail vibrated violently, sending the double rattles along his lower tail rattling. It drew a few curious glances his way, but he ignored them. He only had eyes for the female. By the Mother of the Nests, he hoped that she was the one!

Her feet touched the ground, and her head turned his way, her eyes scanning the crowd, looking for someone. He felt his barbs prick along the end of his tail, threatening to emerge and slap back any male who dared approach her. She was so beautiful. So glorious—even more so than the Matriarch herself who was renowned on the Western Continent for her beauty. He adored her already. He would bathe her in sweet pools, he would slick her soft human skin with the finest oils, he would—

Rykaal’s sudden movement jarred him from his musings, and Sijhord rushed forward with him, undulating between the Vori and humans crowding the area. Rykaal was heading directly toward the new arrivals, but Sijhord experienced a brief moment of panic as he realized that he still did not really know which one was his new nestmate’s match. For a moment it appeared that he was heading toward a small female with a mass of brown hair, and his heart sank with disappointment at how tiny she was only to leap with relief the moment he bypassed her.

Rykaal skirted several males who had their small female in their arms and pressed between them, and Sijhord’s hearts hammered, nearly bursting from his chest as he observed his nestmate approach her. The goddess of a human smiled at Rykaal’s approach, her eyes widening appreciatively. It was all for Rykaal at the moment, but he did not mind. He was nearly as large and impressive in build, and his emerald scales with the ruby markings that ran down his spine were considered attractive. Surely a human female would find it attractive too.

The worry sank like poison barbs into his mind, and his pace slowed with uncertainty. What if she preferred males more like Rykaal? His black scales were complementary to the shade of her hair. What if she found him too bright? What if she didn’t enjoy his playfulness and preferred a male with a quieter personality like his nestmate? He had been beaten many times by other males for it in his youth, and even females dismissed him easily until he was given a purpose by joining the guard. He never thought he would have to worry about being snubbed by a female again, but seeing the human with Rykaal brought all those doubts to the surface. Sijhord stopped in place, panic seizing him now that the moment had come for him to move forward and claim his mate with Rykaal.

As if noticing that he was oddly absent, Rykaal turned his head as he scanned the crowd. The male’s brows rose in surprise as his mouth pulled down into a frown, and Sijhord barely contained the urge to slink back further and disappear entirely into the crowd. The female’s gaze followed his until it landed on Sijhord. She blinked, and he curled his tail around his middle defensively as he struggled to breathe through his panic so he would not do something stupid… like flee. Instead, he reluctantly forced his way forward, his eyes studying her, looking for any sign of disgust or anger. Her lips parted as he grew closer, and his tongue flicked, bringing in a fresh taste of her pheromones as her eyes ran over him.

He nearly moaned aloud at the sweetness of her flavor as she studied him in turn. Her gaze softened, and she drew in a tiny breath. He knew that humans did not have the same pheromone receptors that Vori did, but some part of him still hoped that she enjoyed his scent even if on a subconscious level and felt the same desire rise within her due to it as he felt for her.

“Sijhord, this is our mate, Kim,” Rykaal rumbled in introduction as the tip of his tail dragged along her leg. “Kim, this is your other mate, my nest brother Sijhord.”

A noticeable shiver ran through her, and her lips trembled slightly as she exhaled. “Goodness. You’re mine too? Is it my birthday and no one told me?”

Sijhord felt his cocks shuttle forward at the sound of her voice. It was so sudden that it took him by surprise. He should be immune to the subtle vibrations within a female’s voice. His lack of reaction to female vocalizations is part of what qualified him to be a guard and was rigorously tested. And yet here he was, nearly extruding and ready to spill just at the sound of his mate’s voice. Father of Sentries, give him strength! There was nothing he could do to control the press of his cocks against the seam of his salet as he got a nose full of the telltale hint of her interest in her pheromones on the air.

“Yours completely,” he rasped early. Unable to help himself, he grabbed her hand in his, looked deep and her eyes and blurted out, “I am so glad that it is you.”

Four

Kim blinked in surprise but then smiled at the warm curl of pleasure in those words. Well, damn. That was something worth writing home about. She could easily say that at least one person in her family who had laughed at her decision to do this would be practically green with envy. Not only did her mates obviously want her, but of all the women that she felt like a virtual Amazon among, this beautiful emerald male was glad that she was the one that was their mate. She couldn’t honestly say that anything a man had said to her in the past had nearly come close to being so sweet and flattering. Not even from the one-line idiots who spewed insincerity in an attempt to get into her pants for a good time.

But this was something else.

They towered over her just as she hoped—and practically everyone else, including other males, for that matter—and they didn’t waste time whisking her through the crowd to an official-looking transport with several insignias stamped over it. She wondered at that a little and just who exactly she was mated to that the other aliens quickly shifted out of the way for them. She didn’t think they were any kind of royalty since they didn’t otherwise seem to attract much attention. But they clearly had some influence, and that got the wheels turning in her head as she gaped up at the enormous gated entrance the transport passed through.

---