Page 4 of Bound By the Vori

She peered up at it with interest from the window, noting the stylized flourishes in red and gold with hints of some sort of blue inlay that shimmered in the sun. The alien floral motifs carved into the gate brought a taste of beauty even as it reminded her of how exotic her new surroundings were. Neither male spoke a word, allowing her to absorb her surroundings with rapt fascination. The silence stretched on a little too long, but Kim didn’t read too much into it. It was clear that she had their full attention as they never stopped watching her from the corner of her eye, and the tickling brush of two tails curling against her ankle and calf made her feel connected to them and cherished.

Glancing down at their winding lengths, Kim fought back a smile. Might as well not be too obvious about how much she was enjoying this. Although they had thick, segmented bulges on either side of their tail about a foot and a half to two feet down from the tip, the tapered tips had silky smooth scales that were warm to the touch. She had expected them to feel cool given some of their reptilian features, so it surprised her a little. She was more surprised that their inhuman eyes, with their ruby red coloration and slit pupils, weren’t more unnerving with the way they watched her with an uncanny, predatory focus.

She peered at them from beneath her lashes, no longer interested in the large courtyard the transport pulled into. Although the main building was just as ornately carved and inlaid among the numerous other smaller buildings falling in around it, she found that it all suddenly paled in comparison to what was going on right then and there. She bit her lip, intrigued by the way they filled the space around her. How was she only just noticing it now? Damn. They were nothing but muscle and slithering appendages that she was suddenly eager to explore. Especially the writhing serpentine coils on their heads. Curling around their shoulders and into the air, they looked so much like numerous serpentine tails that she shivered at the fantasy of having those sliding over her breasts and belly as both males kissed down the length of her body.

Sijhord, the emerald green male sitting directly to her left, certainly appeared as he was occupied by similar thoughts. With a complexion that looked quite different from the true, not quite metallic bronze of the other Vori, his was a pale green, and his lips were a dusky shade of deeper green. They shimmered slightly when they caught the light just right and were currently parted so that the very tip of his forked tongue could be seen curling slightly into the air. There was an intensity to the way he watched her, but there was a softness to his expression that made her fidget and her cheeks heat.

He looked at her like he couldn’t decide whether to worship her or devour her. It made her lightheaded with excitement. His tongue flicked again, his eyes brightening, and the coils on his head—his crown coils, she now recalled—rose higher into the air and reached for her. Heat rushed through her at the intensity of his focus and Kim tore her gaze away to focus on Rykaal sitting across from her, his lavender-gray complexion a smoky contrast to his black scales.

Although he looked at her with no less intensity and interest, there was something to him that seemed to reach out and hold her within a kind of stillness. His shiny black scales against Sijhord’s green centered her and sent a wave of calm through her by their deep, soothing color. His eyelids lowered as he continued to regard her, and Kim blinked and looked up to meet his eyes. The corner of his mouth curled. It relaxed the hard angles of his face, making him even more approachable without taking away from the intrinsic solidity he provided amid the whirlwind of fascination and intensity surging between the three of them.

She could lean on Rykaal. She was certain of it. She wouldn’t have to take the weight of everything on herself. She somehow just knew that the enormous male who barely fit on the bench across from her would always be her rock. Between what she perceived as his dependability and Sijhord’s enthusiasm, she was very smitten by the males who were now entirely hers.

Rykaal suddenly tipped his head toward the door, and she was startled anew by the deep, rumbling hiss of his voice. “We are here.”

Kim’s gaze shot toward the door. “Oh, we are?” They were in front of a long building tucked behind the ornate central structure. It was just as grand and beautiful in her opinion, with its simpler lines broken by only the occasional floral motif that had so thoroughly decorated the central building. “Where exactly are we?”

“The family quarter,” he supplied. “The palace compound is broken into four main divisions. One is the palace proper where the Great Matriarch resides with her harem and offspring and where she holds court. Then there is the court quarter, which houses those of her royal court who dwell here as well as her advisors. There is the soldier’s quarter for the unmated guards. The family quarter is for mated guards and servants who attend to the palace.”

Her mouth pulled in a frown. “And we’re in the family quarter because…?” she allowed her voice to trail off as she eyed her mates, uncertain of what exactly to expect.

“We are guards for the Matriarch,” Rykaal filled in succinctly.

Sijhord laughed at her side. “Rykaal is being modest. He is one of the top-ranking guards of the palace. It was why he was selected to be among the first of the Elite Guards to have a mate. He had his pick of any male—all would have gleefully joined him as a nestmate—but I, one of the lower-level guards, had the privilege to be chosen.”

Rykaal frowned at the other male as he carefully helped Kim out of the transport, his broad tail providing a counterbalance that she could lean on as she climbed down from the large vehicle.

“You are also younger and working your way up through the ranks. Give yourself time, Sijhord,” he replied.

Kim dropped down to the ground and gave them some room before turning around again to face the transport as they disembarked, their long tails flowing from the passenger cabin effortlessly despite their bulk. She eyed them curiously. Rykaal spoke like he had quite a few years on Sijhord, but other than being very slightly larger, she couldn’t detect any difference in age. His crown coils were just as shiny, as were the sprinkling of scales along his brow, chin, and cheekbones.

“Just how old are you?” she inquired as casually as possible.

Rykaal gave her a curious look as if he had not expected the question. “I have seen forty-three revolutions of the seasons.”

Okay, she was in her mid-thirties. That wasn’t too bad of an age gap.

“And I have seen twenty-five revolutions,” Sijhord broke in with a grin.

Kim nearly choked on her own spit as her gaze shot to him. Oh, Lord, I’m robbing the cradle now, am I?”

His smile slipped, and his brow furrowed at her expression. “Does my age distress you?”

Her lips pressed together as she struggled with what to say. Coming out and saying that she wasn’t looking to hook herself permanently to young dick and the heartache that could entail when they became more interested in someone their own age seemed a little cruel—especially when he was looking at her with his heart in his eyes. No, saying that would be too much like kicking a lovable and devoted puppy.

“Damn,” she muttered to herself in a low voice as she cupped her brow in one hand and tried to think. “It’s not that it’s bad,” she began in a louder voice, bringing a more perplexed look to the male’s face. “It’s more that I hadn’t anticipated playing on the young side.”

He frowned and exchanged a confused look with Rykaal before turning to peer down at her again. “I am not a hatchling or nestling. I am an adult male, one who has often dreamed of this, though I knew it would never happen—until now.”

Now it was her turn to regard him with confusion. “What do you mean? You are gorgeous. I would expect you to be out there flirting to attract the attention of females.”

He stared at her aghast, and she wondered what exactly she had said now.

“My Kim,” Rykaal rumbled, “I think you do not understand.”

She frowned in reply but allowed herself to be ushered into a building with a floor inlaid with beautiful mosaic work of blue flowers against a pink background. She was starting to think she was missing something now too. She knew that Vora was matriarchal, and also severely gender imbalanced in the females’ favor, but the introductory information everyone was provided didn’t even mention the guards except once. And that was only to point out that they were the largest of the Vori males and the ones that could be trusted to turn to in an emergency. But surely a male as young and attractive as Sijhord would have young females vying for his attention—which sounded like a potential disaster in the making for her at some point in the future.

“Males of the guard are not permitted to mate,” Sijhord began. “As I said, Rykaal is among the first to be given that honor.” The tip of his tail curled anxiously. “Having a mate was something I often dreamed of, but when I reached maturity I knew that it would be impossible, even if not selected for any of the guard positions in the Western Continent.” His lips quirked faintly. “Although it pleases me that I appeal to you, this would not be something that Vori females would agree with you on. My coloring would be considered desirable, but like all guards, I was born without the nervous center to be affected by a female’s vocalizations—therefore she would not be able to control me, nor would I be easy to subdue because of my size.”

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