“Tal’ossi metabolism is very close to both Earth and Kindred metabolism,” Braxx assured her. “It’s one of the reasons I came to Tal’os in the first place seeking possible trade partners. So the food should be safe to eat.”
“Good—I’m starving.” Molly’s nose twitched again. She appeared to have gotten over her embarrassment and her scent had died down again.
Good, Braxx thought, glaring again at Drogor. Anything to keep that bastard away from her.
He vowed to himself that he would keep his pledge to Molly and protect her—no matter how he had to do it.
Chapter Twelve
The feast food was rich and varied, served on the broad, flat purple leaves of the gangi bush which grew higher than a male’s head and was as big around as a house—or so Braxx told her.
He was actually very good at describing things—almost too good, Molly thought uncomfortably as she nodded her thanks whenever a new dish was served to her. She still couldn’t get over his description of what he would have to do if he were to scent-mark her…and how much he would like it.
It had been a long time since Molly had allowed any man to go down on her—an experience she didn’t find very enjoyable, mostly because it seemed to her that the men who did it weren’t really into it.
I don’t think that would be a problem with Braxx, whispered a little voice in her head. He sounds like he would be way into it.
Just the thought of the big Kindred between her thighs, lapping and sucking her open pussy made her squirm uncomfortably. Her nipples got hard too and kept poking out of her negu top, no matter how she tried to cover them. Molly hoped she wasn’t attracting undue attention with her involuntary display but she couldn’t help wondering if Braxx was looking at her, if he could see her pink peaks pressing out between the long, silky strands of grass…
To distract herself, Molly tried some of everything that was offered to her—even the foods that smelled a little questionable.
There was a crispy, smoky-tasting meat which reminded her in texture of bacon but in flavor of blueberries—that was interesting. Braxx told her it was deep purplish-blue in color. Then came a small, round furry fruit which felt a bit like an apricot in the palm of her hand. It was sweet and juicy but when Molly bit into it, it had the distinct flavor of buttered toast and hot chocolate mixed together.
A strange combination but not a bad one, Molly thought. According to Braxx, it was bright pink with pale blue flesh inside. She wished she could see it for herself but she just kept her recorder running, asking him the names and descriptions of all the foods and making quick notes to herself about their respective flavors.
The only food she really didn’t like was a kind of fermented fish broth served in a rough bark cup. It smelled like sardines which had been sitting out in the sun for a week going bad and had a thick, gravy-like consistency.
“This is chumba,” Braxx told her under his breath as the serving girl handed Molly a cup of it. “It is…an acquired taste, even among the Tal’ossi.”
That didn’t sound too promising but in the interest of scientific curiosity, Molly tried a sip.
She nearly gagged. As bad as the fermented fish broth smelled, it tasted even worse. It’s slimy, rotten texture seemed to stick to her tongue and coat her entire mouth. Disgusting!
“Oh!” she whispered to Braxx, trying to keep her face from showing the extreme disgust she was feeling. “That’s awful.”
“I did warn you it was an acquired taste,” he murmured blandly. “Here, let me have it and take one of these.”
He took the bark cup from her and handed her a small, round, chalky pellet about the size of a peanut M&M.
“What’s this?” Molly asked, rolling it between her fingers.
“A pulla berry. Try it—it takes the bad taste out of your mouth. I’ll deal with your chumba.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to have to drink it just because I won’t,” Molly exclaimed.
“I’m not,” he murmured, sounding amused. “I dug a little hole in the dirt to one side of me. I’ll just discretely dispose of it.”
Molly was grateful to him that she didn’t have to drink any more of the rotten fish broth. Carefully, she put the pulla berry between her lips, hoping to cleanse her palate.
At first it didn’t taste like anything but a ball of chalk in her mouth. Then she bit into it experimentally and was rewarded with a burst of juice that tasted like a cross between fresh cherries and spearmint.
“Mmm!” She rolled the rest of the pulla around in her mouth, enjoying the delicious, refreshing flavor. It completely took the rancid taste of the fermented fish broth away, replacing it with minty freshness.
“You like it?” Braxx murmured. “Want another?”
“Sure—it’s delicious.” She ate several more pulla berries and before she knew it, the feast had ended—the eating part, anyway. The leaf plates were collected by the same women who had served the food and then the chieftain of the clan—Elder, Braxx had called him—began to speak again.
“Now is the time of pledging,” he called out. “If any warrior wishes to pledge to his female, let him do so now.”
“I wish to pledge to Belka!” a deep Tal’ossi voice rang out.
“Very well—make your pledge,” Elder returned.
Molly was on pins and needles, wondering exactly what was happening with her new friend.
“Describe it to me,” she whispered to Braxx. “Tell me everything that’s happening.”
“As you wish. Belcose, the warrior who is pledging to Belka, is motioning to her. There seems to be a choice here—she can either go to him or remain in her seat.”
“I’m sure she’s going to him—right?” Molly asked.
“Yes, she is. She was sitting with some other females but now she has crossed over to where he is sitting. She…” Braxx cleared his throat. “She has straddled his lap now and has removed her amulet.”
“Removed her amulet? Why?” Molly frowned, wishing she could see.
“Apparently in order…” He cleared his throat again. “In order to give Belcose access to her breasts.”
“What is he doing?” Molly murmured. “Is she just, uh, showing herself to him?”
“No. He’s cupping her in his hands. Now he’s sucking and teasing her nipples with his tongue and fingers,” Braxx reported blandly.
Molly could almost see the couple in her mind’s eye—Belka sitting astride her big warrior’s lap and pressing her breasts up to his mouth eagerly. But for some reason, her imagination kept wanting to show herself and Braxx in that position instead. She tried to push it away but the thought didn’t seem to want to go.
“Oh my—that’s quite a public display of affection,” she remarked a bit breathlessly.
“I think that’s the idea,” Braxx murmured dryly. “This is a very public statement that they plan to be together. I’d say it’s a warning to other males to stay away from Belka in the future because Belcose intends to claim her as his mate.”
“I see.” Molly nodded. “Um…what’s happening now?”
“They are…” Braxx coughed. “Are you certain you want me to tell you?”
“Yes—I need to know everything. Please, Braxx—you have to be my eyes here,” Molly pleaded.
“Very well. Belcose’s shaft is thrusting up through the strands of his negu and Belka has parted her own negu as well. She is…rubbing her pussy against his shaft and…and moaning.”
“Oh,” Molly whispered faintly. “That’s…uh, interesting.”
“Now she is taking him within her. I believe they are making love.”
Molly didn’t need him to tell her this. She could hear Belka’s soft moans and Belcose’s grunts as well. The sounds of sex—flesh meeting flesh in wet, hot friction—came to her sensitive ears as the two participants moved together.
“I think he intends to finish inside her,” Braxx murmured. “To fill her with his come. That will mark Belka as his in no uncertain terms.”
“I…I’m sure it will,” Molly murmured.
At that moment, the moans reached a crescendo and Molly could imagine the two participants clinging together as Belcose pumped his come deep into his female’s willing pussy. The mental image gave her a hot shiver down her spine and her own pussy throbbed in response. She pressed her thighs together, trying not to imagine being in that position with the big Kindred at her side. Trying not to think of his thick shaft thrusting deep inside her…
“Is there any other male who wishes to pledge to his female at this time?” Elder, asked, his voice ringing in the stillness following the erotic display.
“I do,” a loud and unfortunately familiar voice declared. It was Drogor—Molly was sure of it. “I wish to pledge to Molly from the Stars,” he said, which caused a whispering buzz to run through the circle seated around the crystal fire.
“What? No!” Molly exclaimed, forgetting that she ought to be careful about offending the people she was supposed to be studying. At the same time, Braxx growled,
“You cannot pledge to Molly—she is spoken for.”
“By who?” Drogor asked contemptuously. “By you off-worlder?”
“You’re Goddess-damned right, by me,” Braxx snarled. “You can’t have her, Drogor—Molly is mine.”
Hearing herself claimed in no uncertain terms by the big Kindred sent a thrill through Molly she couldn’t deny. True, she hadn’t known him for long but she was deeply attracted to Braxx—drawn to him in a way she never had been with any other male before.
“I cry falsehood on your statement,” Drogor shouted above the rising babble of excited conversation this exchange provoked. “Your scent is not on her, therefore you can not have pledged to her.”
Molly thought about saying that her people pledged to each other in a different way. But when she opened her mouth, what came out was,
“Well he’s going to pledge to me now!”
Then she clamped her lips shut. God—what had she just done? What had she let herself in for? And what had she let Braxx in for, for that matter? She hadn’t even asked him before she volunteered him for a public sex act!
She put her hand on his thigh, which was rock hard beneath her fingertips.
“Braxx,” she whispered urgently. “I’m so sorry—I don’t know why I said that.”
“It doesn’t matter why,” he murmured back grimly. “Because I’m afraid we’ll have no choice but to act on your words.”
“But I—”
“Truly? He will pledge to you now? This I will have to smell to believe,” Drogor exclaimed.”
Molly felt another shiver run down her spine. Braxx was right—they were going to have to go through with this. It was either that or lose the trust of the entire clan—not to mention she’d have Drogor sniffing around her the entire time she was here on Tal’os—literally—unless they acted on her rash words.
“Molly?” Braxx murmured in her ear. “Do you not wish to do this? I can fight him instead—that might work to get him off your scent.”
“No, no—no fights,” she protested. “No, I…I guess we’d better do this. Maybe…” She dropped her voice so low that she knew only Braxx could hear her. “Maybe we can, uh, fake it some.”
“Some of it, maybe. But not all of it.” His deep voice sounded grim. “Come—if we’re going to do this you’ll have to straddle me.”
“Okay—help me.”
And that was how Molly suddenly found herself sitting astride the big Kindred she’d hadn’t even known for twenty-four hours with her legs spread wide and her breasts pressing practically into his face.
She was horribly embarrassed but probably not as much as a sighted person would be, she reasoned to herself. After all, the sounds from the rest of the clan had died down and since she couldn’t see them, she was almost able to make herself believe she was alone with Braxx.
“What should I do now?” she asked him and then remembered what he’d said Belka had done. “Should…should I offer you my breasts?” she asked in a low, halting voice.
“You’ll have to,” he murmured back. “Everyone is watching us.”
Well, so much for pretending they were all alone. Feeling nervous and hot at the same time, Molly brushed the soft, ticklish strands of her top negu aside and pressed her chest blindly to the big Kindred’s face.
“That’s good, Molly. Now I need to suck your nipples—suck them so that everyone can see you’re mine,” he growled softly.
His hot words seemed to send a jolt straight to her pussy, which was spread wide beneath the long grass skirt. Molly could feel how wet and swollen she was getting there but there was nothing she could do about it—they had to do this.
“All right,” she whispered back. “Do…do what you have to do.”
“What I want to do,” he corrected softly and then pulled her closer, his big hands warm on her back.
First she felt his hot breath and then the rough brush of his whiskered jaw against her soft slopes. At the same time, his scent—that wild, dark spice which was so indefinably masculine—intensified, making her ache with need.
I don’t know why everyone is talking about how good I smell when it’s Braxx that has such an amazing scent, she thought dizzily. And then something hot and wet was enclosing her right nipple and she moaned as the big Kindred sucked her peak deep into his mouth.
“Oh…oh, Braxx,” she gasped as he nursed hard on her tender bud, taking as much as he could in his mouth one moment and then swirling his tongue around it teasingly the next. “Oh, God.”
Her only answer was the feeling of him releasing one nipple and moving to the next, nipping it lightly between his teeth before sucking it into his mouth to soothe the small, pleasurable pain he had caused with his tongue.
In response, Molly buried her fingers in his thick, dark hair and moaned his name some more. Part of her was embarrassed to be doing this so publicly but part of her acknowledged that it was practical to make as much noise and express her pleasure as vocally as she could. Anything to make the villagers believe they were really together.
It seemed to go on and on but at last Braxx allowed her nipple to slide slowly from between his lips and sat back, panting.
“Gods, your breasts are so soft and lush,” he rumbled. “Love to suck them, Molly. Love to make you moan.”
“I was…enjoying it too,” she whispered, still running her hands through his hair. “But Braxx…what next? Do we actually have to, you know—”
“Fuck?” he growled softly. “I’m not sure. We can try to fake it if you want.”
Molly bit her lip.
“I…I think we should try,” she murmured. “I mean…I’m not on any kind of birth control right now.”
“Human birth control doesn’t work to prevent Kindred pregnancies anyway,” he informed her. “However, I cannot get you pregnant unless I thrust all the way to the hilt in you and filled you with my mating fist as well as my shaft.”
“Your…mating fist?” This was a term Molly had never heard before. “Is that a Kindred thing?”
“A Beast Kindred thing,” he told her. “It’s a ring of flesh around the base of the shaft which fits inside a female when a Beast Kindred is bonding her to him.”
Molly shook her head. “I can’t really…picture that.”
“It’s just part of my anatomy. But it wouldn’t come into play unless I was going to claim a female. To make her mine completely by filling her with my come.”
He shifted under her, as though to get more comfortable and something hot and hard poked her thighs, right between her spread pussy lips.
“Oh!” Molly gasped and nearly jerked away. Then she reminded herself that the entire clan was watching and they expected to see a female who wanted this kind of intimate contact with her male. She made herself hold still, even though the broad head of the big Kindred’s cock was rubbing directly against her tender clit.
“Sorry,” Braxx growled. “I didn’t mean to, uh, poke
you. It’s just that sucking your sweet nipples has made my shaft fucking hard as a rock.”
“It’s all right,” Molly whispered, a bit shakily. “I mean, we’re supposed to be, uh, putting on a show here. You’re supposed to poke me. In fact…here.”
She wasn’t sure where she got the daring, but she reached between their mutually spread legs and found the thick, pulsing pole of his cock with one hand.
“Gods, Molly…” Braxx groaned low in his throat as she cupped it loosely in her hand and ran her fingers experimentally up and down his broad length. His skin was hot and silky—soft to the touch over his heated, throbbing shaft. At the base of it was a wide ring of flesh which encircled his entire root of his cock making that part of him twice as thick as he already was.
His mating fist, she thought and could hardly believe it.
“Oh my God,” she whispered unsteadily. “So this is what you were talking about. But how in the world would you fit it inside anyone? Are Kindred women, uh, more elastic down below or something?”
“Any female can accommodate my fist if she wants to,” Braxx assured her in a low, growling voice as she continued to explore him with her fingers. “My body makes special chemicals in my precum which allow a female to stretch and take my shaft—mating fist and all—without pain.”
“Wow…well, I guess I’ll have to take your word for that since we’re going to be, uh, faking this a bit,” Molly murmured. “But in the meantime…”
Grasping him more firmly in one hand, she reached down with her other hand and spread her pussy wide with her fingers. Again, this was something she didn’t think she would have had the courage to do in public if she could have seen herself doing it and other people watching her. It was like making a porno!
But since she couldn’t see anyone, she was able to focus on the sensations she felt—and on Braxx’s reactions to her as she brought his shaft to her pussy and rubbed the broad, slippery head of his cock firmly against her open folds.
“Gods, Molly…so sweet, jalanta,” he groaned as he coated Molly’s inner pussy with his hot, wet precum.