Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders
Chapter 44
Lori sighed against Slengral’s shoulder as her mate carried her out of the common building and into the street. His fascination with the buildings of the colony made her smile against his scales. His voice rumbled pleasantly against her ear.
“This is our home now,” he observed, a thoughtful note in his voice. “There are many… changes. I do not like some of them and others will take some adjusting. I do not know how I will like living in this colony, but for you, I will. It is safer for human mates here.”
He sighed and nuzzled her.
“My nest is wherever my mate is the happiest and safest. Because you are everything, ashlava.”
Tilting her head to look up at him, Lori smiled, fully aware of how much power this male had to melt her heart into goo.
“I feel the same… although I’m not ashamed to say that I’m really grateful that you’re willing to part with the pitch-black cave filled with things that want to eat me,” she said.
Slengral hummed in agreement, no doubt also remembering the last thing that tried to eat her.
“I will miss the galthie flowers,” she admitted softly. “It was nice to have that rather than always depend on artificial lights. Everything requires electricity in the colonies.” She winced as a thought occurred to her. “Which is another thing that’s going to have to be repaired, in addition to whatever holes you guys put into Raza’s dome shield and the walls of the buildings.”
“It was necessary at the time, but do not worry, ashlava. We will assist in repairing this Raza place. As long as you have skilled people who know what to do, we can aid with instruction from them. Seshanamitesh are larger and bigger than humans and the other people you have living here.”
She pecked a kiss to his shoulder and snuggled back into his arms. “I’m glad to hear it, though I’m not sure what we’re going to do with the inner lab. It’s… unpleasant. And there are definitely some things that are going to need to be torched.” The last part she muttered to herself, thinking of the ghastly display case that had sat across from her cell.
“We shall confer with Eddie regarding what needs to be done and make a decision by a mixed council so that everyone’s voices are heard.”
That he was alluding to the shinara and its female-centric policies made her heart go out to him. How many times had issues regarding the welfare of the males had gone unnoticed or disregarded? How many times had it been abused? Although United Earth portrayed itself above the patriarchal system with equal opportunities for all their citizens, Lori knew that was a convenient lie that everyone told themselves to feel better. That no matter how bad things were, it was better than before. Which was worse, having the faults of her society hidden behind smiles and good intensions or having them out where everyone was fully aware of them?
She had no satisfactory answer for that, since it seemed that many humans and Seshanamitesh were dissatisfied and hurt either way. She understood his desire for fully equal exchange and decision-making and supported it whole heartedly. Maybe Raza could accomplish something that neither of their people had been able to experience elsewhere.
“We will make Raza suitable for all of its inhabitants,” she agreed, brushing her nose against the scales of his chest.
A happy hum reverberated against her lips. “Where is our nest, ashlava? I need my mate.”
She swallowed back a moan, her belly filling with liquid heat at the need in his voice, and she pointed out the way to the residential block. She wasn’t entirely sure how comfortable Slengral was going to be in her cramped quarters, but she needed him, too. She tried not to wiggle in his arms, but the moment he adjusted his hold and she felt the bulge of his sant within its sheath, a hunger consumed her. He rubbed her against him until they were both panting with desire by the time that they arrived at her dorm building.
The smallest whimper escaped her when he came to a stop, a startled hiss tickling her ear. Curious, she sat up a bit in her embrace and looked around. Slengral had entered the building but was now staring up the stairs, his ear ridges flicking. There was an elevator too, but she knew he wouldn’t fit in it, so she kept that to herself. With more than one mumbled curse when he banged something on the walls, he took to the stairs easily enough, his tail winding as he pushed himself up one flight and then the next. When he saw the dorm room that she shared with Vi, however, he hissed.
“This is your nest?” he demanded. “There is no room for even a human to adequately move in here.
“Actually, this room is both mine and Vi’s. We share,” she corrected.
He shot her an affronted look.
“She will have to find another nest. A male doesn’t share his nest with any other females except his mate. To even allow another female to cross into his mate’s territory is unforgiveable.”
“Okay,” Lori drawled. “We’re not going to go to those lengths. I’m sure that new living arrangements can be worked out, but you’re not banning my friend from coming inside.”
He grunted without comment and gently set her on her feet, his eyes scanning the meager space available. If he was thinking what she was, then he would be wondering just exactly how they were going to get horizontal and satisfy the desire climbing through them when it was debatable if Slengral even had enough space to comfortably lie down anywhere.
“Well, this is a fucking tragedy,” she muttered. “I don’t know how we’re going to make this work.” She sighed. “Maybe we should just go back to your nest.”
“It will be fine,” he assured her, his nose brushing against her brow. “With the next waking cycle, I can start removing walls to expand our living space until we have an adequate den. And I will build a ledge so we can fly out rather than be dependent on your human entrance. We will claim this entire top floor. I would prefer to claim all of the building, but that seems unreasonable to the rest of your people,” he mused.
Lori muffled a quiet laugh.
“I’m sure that everyone will be pleased to know that,” she mumbled around a snicker.
“I do not care what they think, but I do not like to hear a lot of unhappy squawking,” he corrected. “I do not know what they say, but the words irritate my ears. I only like it from my ashlava, but her words are even sweeter when she is speaking the Seshanamitesh language,” he rumbled flirtatiously as his nose brushed a little lower, dragging against the sensitive place on her jaw as his hand dipped low, his knuckle rubbing against her sex through her uniform.
She snorted with amusement and wiggled away from the teasing touch.
“Well, at least make sure you leave a few walls intact. And get one of the construction guys to help you so they can turn off the water and show you what walls you can demolish. We will need at least a few rooms available,” she added. “Definitely a bedroom,” she whispered as she rubbed suggestively against him.
He shivered and gave a low, humming moan that immediately amped up her own desire. His cock slid free against her belly. Its hot length pulsed against her, the precum releasing a familiar scent into the air.
She wiggled a bit to let him know that she wanted to be released. His arms quickly and instinctively tightened around her, but it lasted only for a moment before he let her go with a sweet sighing hum. He sank low on his coils, fitting himself in the scant space between the bed and the door, his red eyes glowing up at her with heat and adoration. She stripped off her tunic and pants, her movements less than graceful in her urgency. Slengral didn’t seem to mind because his eyes followed her every move as if she were the most beautiful thing in his world.
He stroked his silky scaled hand over her breast, the blunt side of his claw teasing her nipple. She arched against his touch, a murmur of pleasure falling from her lips. She needed him. She loved him. Being stuck in that awful cell had cemented that so firmly in her blood—in her very soul—that she was certain that she needed him just as much as her mutated blood needed the planet’s air. As much as he needed the contact with her, and to not be separated from her, she needed that as well. It would likely be quite some time before either of them would feel comfortable letting go of the other.
She felt his eyes on her as she scooted down his body and stretched out her tongue toward the cluster of heads at the tip of his shaft. His eyes widened.
“Ashlava, what are you…”
She stroked her tongue over them, watching as his eyelids drooped with pleasure as he forgot the words that had been on the tip of his tongue. He gave a hiss of need, his tail twisting as he lifted his pelvis. Opening her mouth, she sucked as much as she could of his dick into her mouth, enjoying the growl rolling in his throat.
Sliding her mouth up and down the length of his shaft, for as much as she could take, drawing out every little sound became her goal. She sucked, licked, and nibbled, each touch making him more eager and heating her own blood with an insatiable need.
His hand twisting in her hair, Slengral pulled her mouth free from his cock, his eyes boring down into hers as his chest worked in great billows in an attempt to regain his breath.
“No more,” he hissed. “I need your clutch. Give your vent to me.”
A tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth, Lori drew herself back up his body until she straddled his hips once more, his sex caressing hers with every small shift of her body. His eyes narrowed, a demanding growl rumbling from him, and she laughed.
She sank down on his cock, a trembling hum of pleasure rising up in her throat. Slengral’s ear ridges flared toward her, and he hissed, his body arching beneath her, his cock gliding firm and deep within her. His own hum joined hers, his steady where hers was not, bolstering her own voice, strengthening hers as she began to ride him.
Her pace was unhurried, and when he slipped his tail around her for extra support, she leaned into it as she rocked, her pussy pulling partially off of his sex before sinking down again. Gradually, his sex swelled inside of her, limiting his movements, forcing him to stroke deeper into her. She moaned and twitched, and her movements became more frenzied as she began to grind down against him, pulling up only as far as the bulge would allow her.
When she felt the pressure of his secondary cock against her breast, she tugged up at the end of his tail until it rose, the cock dragging across her skin, leaving a slick path. Clasping her lips around its solitary head, she sucked it deep as she increased her pace. Small lights lit behind her eyes as pleasure arched up through her, the flavor of him on her tongue spurring her on.
Bliss felt so close it was as if she walked on a knife’s edge, and when his hips surged up, his secondary cock dragging out of her mouth to twine down her body and wedge itself into her pussy with the first. The combination drove his primary cock deeper, the heads vibrating until at last she teetered and fell, her orgasm igniting and washing through her.
Beneath her she felt his entire body tremble and lock, his pelvis canting up as a fierce snarl erupted from him and hot seed splashed within her. That snarl abruptly gave way to a satiated hum that vibrated his chest, and hers from where she lay mashed against it.
Practically boneless as she draped over his chest, Lori contentedly said, “Now that was a reunion worth waiting for.”
She would be the first one to admit that she had slept terribly without her mate, although Kehtal’s presence had helped at that first horrible night. Everything finally felt right again.
“Tomorrow I will return to the cave to get our things and instruct Daskh to retrieve Hashal.”
Her eyes snapped open. “Where exactly is Hashal?”
He stroked a soothing hand down her back. “He is safe. Daskh arranged for the nestling to be watched in our absence. He said that Hashal was safe and happy when he left.”
She relaxed little by little until she was once again draped limply over her mate.
“Okay, that’s good,” she mumbled, melting beneath his warm hand. It felt so good. “I don’t want him to be forgotten. A new baby will be hard on him anyway. I want him to feel secure.”
Slengral’s hand halted. “What baby?”
A huge yawn cracked her jaws. “Our baby, of course, or nestling… however you say it. I’m pregnant.”
She wheezed in surprise as arms, tail and wings suddenly wrapped tightly around her. She slapped at him until he loosened his grip. Pushing back one of his wings that partially obscured her vision, she frowned up at her mate.
“What the hell was that?”
He beamed down at her, his mouth gaping in a toothy grin. His hand stroked lovingly her through her hair as he stared into her eyes, his other hand smoothing over her belly.
“You have given me the greatest gift. A nestling. Mine!” He preened until his pleased look dropped into one of horror. “We bred while you are gravid.”
Lori stared down at her mate as his head fell back and he passed out.