“That will not harm her?” Fiercely demanded sharply.
“Do not fret. I am monitoring her baselines and metabolic readings with great care. Once she develops the relevant antibodies her immune system will attack the gel residues, and discard it as sputum. Now then, Warrior, I will return shortly.” Nāga Shadowed by the Bluest Moon initiated a traditional bow of respect towards the alien. “Honoured Rä’Na.”
He left the enclosure.
Fiercely returned the female’s blank stare.
They stayed that way until the healer returned with a large platter and three water pouches.
Trailing behind him, Sylphs brought a low table and three seating cushions.
They left as silent as they’d entered.
Nāga lowered onto his seat, crossed his legs then motioned for them to join him after setting down his delicious smelling burden.
Deciding to give the cunning tactic a try, Fiercely rose, and left the female cowering in her corner to join his fellow Rä.
They ate in silence for what seemed an age.
Fiercely grew weary of the game, ready to give the order for the female to be sedated and fed through a tube.
Feet pattered across the smooth floor.
The alien sat, her movement refined, but wary.
Her gaze moved over the platter then a strange colour suffused the lower layers of her brown membrane.
“Scans suggest humans do not have anima.”
“They do not.” Nāga appeared deep in thought. “Their membranes communicate biological distress. Perhaps the food is not pleasing to her eyes.”
Fiercely studied the platter, and tried to see it objectively.
The fat grubs were rare delicacies, a treat.
They had been removed from a vat of sweet water kept cool to ensure their shells and innards remained the optimal consistency; a pop followed by a gushing pulp when bitten.
Fiercely supposed the wriggling would be off putting if you were unused to live food, but she distrusted previous offers of cooked nourishment.
Nāga also procured several berries and roots that were tasty eaten raw.
The alien’s chest expanded with air.
She released it in a stream from plump lips that curved at one corner as she shook her head.
“What does that gesture mean, do you suppose?” The healer’s interest in her behaviour was obvious. “We know her vocal range is impressive, but perhaps humans place an emphasis on nonverbal communication, like body language, facial and hand gestures, as the Yoni do.” He frowned. “However, the longer I spend in her presence, the more I am reminded of the Verak. I wonder why Venomous One matured for such a creature. He seemed intimate and protective of her, yet I do not get the impression they have been together long. He did not seem resentful, or ashamed of the fact she is not Rä.”
Distracted by a surge of jealousy at the knowledge Venomous had found a life mate, in captivity no less, Fiercely was unable to respond, and instead watched the human, finding it impossible to tear its brille from her slightest movement.
She selected a berry from the platter, as far from the grubs as possible then brought it to her nose to sniff it.
Her tapered tongue laved the berry surface then after an uncertain pause, she slipped it past her lips.
“She eats like a Rä’Vek testing the meal for his Rä’Na,” Nāga noted.
“Venomous must have taught her. I doubt the L’Odo fed them well.”
“He is malnourished.”
“Yesss, to keep his strength contained.”
“It is strange they let him keep his mate considering a’Rä grow stronger when matured into male to protect their female.”
“Perhaps they did not expect his anima to mature for an offworlder. We only match with our own species.”
Nāga clicked his teeth. “Not in the past, not anymore.”
“Truth,” Fiercely admitted perturbed their unchanging world was about to twist on its axis.
Eyes brightening, chewing, the human’s brow filaments lifted with the gentle slope of her eye ridges.
Her lips curved.
Pleasure.
She scooped up a handful of berries then stuffed them into her mouth, chomping until she snagged the sweet water and suckled from the pouch spout in thirsty pulls.
Happy as Fiercely was to see her eating, only eating sweets was not conducive to one’s health.
As Venomous’ guild kin, and in the absence of a lesser mate, it was an a’Rä’s duty to care for her until her Rä’Vek woke.
Fiercely picked up a grub then plopped it in her palm.
She stared at the squirming delicacy filling her hand.
Its legs, crunchy and tart, undulated in a synchronisation at counterpoint with its segmented body.
Her blank expression folded into one of horror.
Lips peeling back to reveal blunted fangs, and the back of a fleshy oral cavity, she emitted a high, trilling sound that had the Rä slamming their hands over their ears.
To the a’Rä’s horror, its eyes unveiled.
Experiencing the same problem, limbs rigid, Nāga averted his gaze to preserve their modesty.
Movement uncoordinated and wild, the human’s hand flailed, smacking the a’Rä across its armoured face.
Crunch.
The human howled.
Clutching her hand to her chest, she hunched over.
Though her cranial filaments streamed forward to obscure her face, Fiercely witnessed her eyes leaking.
Ears ringing, shaking off a lingering disorientation, the a’Rä made the connection. “She is injured. Her eyes leak when she is in pain.”
“Yesss, same as the Verak.” Whispery voice cracking, Nāga stood then stumbled towards the haze. “It sounded as if her bones crushed upon impact with your armour. The density of her skeleton is light, and susceptible to breakage with forceful contact. We must take care when touching her. Caution her to do the same. I will return after consulting the scans.”
Rising unsteadily, balance compromised by the shrill human wail, Fiercely was left with the alien female who made soft, throaty sounds as her shoulders shook.
Coupled with her leaking eyes, the motions and sounds were melancholy.
“Stop leaking, Rä’Na.” Wary of activating the vocal defence mechanism, the a’Rä spoke quietly. “Nāga Shadowed by the Bluest Moon will make you well, and Venomous One will be here to comfort you soon.”
“Promise?”
Fiercely didn’t startle, didn’t blink betraying surprise at her sudden communication because Rä veiled eyes didn’t require moistening, nor did the a’Rä make a movement that might reveal its innermost thoughts.
At that moment, Fiercely felt grateful for the Rä’s stoic mannerisms.
As per the Senate’s mandate, the alien was under constant surveillance, and the last thing Fiercely needed was for a fellow warrior to recognise the telling reaction of his anima to the female’s voice.
The a’Rä slowly sat back down.
Unlike the gravelly, rough tone of the Rä, the human’s lyrical intonations caressed Rök’s native tongue.
A tingle of sensation skittered beneath Fiercely’s spinal plating, and left a prickling burn in its wake.
Disconcerted by the unexpected and unwelcome stimulation, the a’Rä attempted to deaden the nerves along its back.
And met with failure.
It is happening.
Serpent’s Hood, I am maturing.
I am to be male.
Alien or not she was going to be....
Lightheaded, Fiercely ignored the burning between his legs; now it had begun it would not be long.
Excitement rose, and he shifted in his seat.
Did she even realise she’d sparked a tremendous change in him?
“You look like Venom, even sound like him a bit, but you’re not him.” She clucked. “Your quills are different, scales too. Silly me.” Her eyes avoided his. They had dried, were tinged with red, but her
cheeks and chin were damp. “It’s Fiercely, right?”
He inclined his head as he corrected her, though he did not yet speak of his gender, by instinct knowing it would alarm her. “Fiercely Comes the Night.”
Amused, she mimicked his inflection as she repeated his name words. “May I call you Fiercely?”
“No.” That she wished to be familiar was shocking.
They were to be mates, but there was no need to be forward.
Perhaps....
Did she feel the same pull to him as he did her?
Did she try to further intimacy because she felt the intangible force pulling them together, and that now bound them for life?
Cradling her hand, she stared at the empty cushion between them. “I hurt you?”
“I am unharmed.”
“I hit you hard enough to hurt my wrist.”
“My anima kept me from harm. Though it was no defence against your original formidable attack.” Approval crept into his voice. Strength he admired. “Your vocal weapon is powerful.”
“Weapon?” Her head tilted sideways. He recognised it as a gesture of puzzlement by how her tone lifted with a questioning lilt and her brow filaments lowered. “Do you mean when I screamed?”
Intrigued, Fiercely placed a hand on the table, and leaned toward her, breathing deep of her waterfall scent.
The longer he spent around her, the more he understood what Venomous One might see in her.
The more he saw in her.
“That was a scream?” he questioned.
“It wasn’t a weapon.” Her gaze flicked to the grubs. She shuddered. “The maggot you put in my hand scared me. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Maggot?”
She directed her gaze to the writhing mass on the platter.
“They are sand grubs, rare, a delicacy to welcome you. Very tasty.”
Her eyes wandered. “Uh huh.”
Fiercely’s attention settled on her mouth.
It was bizarre to watch her generous lips form the hissing sounds of his language. “Our scream is much different.”
“Different?”
The noise he emitted to demonstrate wasn’t particularly loud, but inhuman.
Unlike her scream, which made a listener startled, or afraid this sound roused a protective impulse.
Her blunted teeth raked her lip, holding back a grin? “The men of my world would rather die than scream like a girl.”
“I am not of your species.”
Her eyes rolled. “You’re so literal, just like Venom.” She paused and then admitted, “Which is nice. I feel less afraid because of it.”
“Venom?” Fiercely’s forehead smoothed. “You speak of Venomous One.”
“He was weird about me shortening his name too, at first.” Her voice lowered, and she leaned forward as if sharing a secret, back of her hand pressed to the side of her mouth. “Now he likes it, though, he’d never admit it.”
She sat back and her face was soft, eyes dreamy as she thought of the male who would be his nest mate.
Jealousy speared his hearts, and it took a moment to be able to speak.
Hesitant, daunted by the emotional torrents she invoked, he offered another wiggling morsel.
His hearts pounded at the thought of her eating from his hand. “Will you eat more, Rä’Na?”
“I’ll finish the berries in a moment.”
As he ate the grub, she studied the blunted talons of his other hand resting on the silver tabletop.
The natural inquisitiveness he sensed within her was overcoming her fear, but she made no overtures.
Perhaps she wasn’t sure enough of his intentions to let him know she was interested in assuaging her curiosity about him?
Her gaze caught for gratifyingly long periods on his gold.
Would she like me to display myself for her pleasure?
Was this how Venomous earned her affection?
The male had much gold, even after trading some whilst in captivity.
Rä that felt a pull to a potential mate would know to ask the a’Rä that caught their eye to draw closer, to see if a deeper scenting roused further interest and was reciprocal.
The more aggressive simply grabbed the mate if the change came upon them then took off.
Barbaric, the practice was, of course, much condemned in modern society; they’d evolved past such appalling base behaviour.
Perhaps human courtship was more subtle, or she worried she might offend?
“Shall I stand and turn, Rä’Na?” His voice lightened as he indulged in the hope she would say yes, and then realise what he was to her. “Come closer? It would make your study easier.”
Heat suffused her cheeks. “Just looking at the differences between you and Venom.”
Fiercely scowled.
She compared his attributes to his nest mate’s.
Did she find him wanting?
How embarrassing.
Venomous would be primary mate then; he was more dominant.
Most other species did not see the differences between Rä, and that the female was intriguing.
Though she was not beautiful and strong, she was alluring in an exotic manner.
Nāga had been right, he’d been closed minded.
It had taken a single conversation for her to awaken him, and stir his intellectual interest.
Her pheromones were faint, but pleasurable, her fragrance icy, fresh minerals.
His taste receptors were tingling.
He, Fiercely Comes the Night continued to eat ... and watch.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Okay, I pulled my shit together, and stopped freaking out.
Listening to the aliens chat, I realised they held no sinister plans to torture me then felt mortified I’d made such a big deal out of it all.
I felt relieved when the healer left.
Dealing with one seemed more manageable than having to keep an eye on both.
After learning from Venomous about his people, I was confident I knew enough to handle myself until he came for me.
The a’Rä looks scary because you don’t know him, uh, it.
Venomous had been terrifying until I learned his temperament.
I just needed to get to know the new Rä.
There was no tension in the a’Rä’s frame, and it made no outward indication of sexual interest I could interpret, not that I was expecting it to.
It was switched off sexually; if I hadn’t misunderstood the explanation of the three genders.
Irked, I looked around for my ratty tunic, thinking I’d feel much less like I was about to be ravaged if covered.
I was naked.
Again.
This time I couldn’t even drum up enough energy to get mad.
When I woke in the silver room, I’d been horrified to be separated from Venomous, and again be deprived of the courtesy of being kept clothed.
I hadn’t handled it well.
I’d shut down, convinced myself they locked Venomous up too so they could experiment on me, but now we were communicating.
As the Rä didn’t avoid or ignore my questioning, weren’t making any outward sign of being affected by my nudity, I relaxed.
They’d put me under to change my translator, that was all, and they took my clothes because....
I didn’t have an answer for my nudity, but I was reasonably certain it’d be logical.
I felt better for having the upgraded technology too.
They sounded normal to my ears rather than the stilted exchanges Venomous and I dealt with on the L’Odo slave planet.
I couldn’t wait to talk to him.
Oh, I hope he’s alright.
I forced myself not to fidget or betray extreme emotion.
Why had I been separated from my alien lover?
They wouldn’t hurt him for bringing me along, would they?
Venom is sure his people will be accepting of my differences, or at the least, his right to call me his Rä’Na.
&n
bsp; I might not trust the stranger Rä before me, but I did trust Venomous, he’d earned that from me.
If he said it would work out fine then I believed him, and would wait patiently for him to find me.
I just had to keep myself out of trouble until then.
I’d ask a few questions, and muddle out what I could to calm my fears he was hurting.
I doubted it though.
These were his people.
To my stressed senses of before, the Rä looked and smelled so much like Venomous it had spooked me.
Taking a longer assessment, as I wasn’t stupid with fear, it was taller, leaner, and its scales more greenish, as if liquid emeralds swirled with molten silver.
The scent emanating from it was tamer, more vanillin pepper than aromatic spice.
So alluring, but subtle.
The kind of scent you ignored until one day you caught a whiff then were obsessed in keeping it splashed over you.
Its lips were fuller, nose broader.
In fact, Fiercely’s face was entirely different to Venomous’ rugged composition.
Its blunted angles and rounder planes lacked the hewn, rough edges of my mate, though its cheekbones were as high, forehead that distinct flat slope, and its chin a square jut that suited its harsh jaw line well.
Thin quills were trimmed at the back and sides, the dark locks longer at the top, but still short, giving it a rather roguish, windswept look.
It had a ring piercing its septum, studs lining one ear, and two piercings in its brow.
That was all the gold it wore.
Unlike the healer who had piercings all over his face, in both ears, and in the single braid down his back.
This a’Rä, one I’d bet money would be male after maturing, wore a matte bodysuit in dark grey that opened to expose its chest in a wide V that joined together where a navel should be.
Thinking about it, Venomous didn’t have a bellybutton either.
He’d said he hatched in the sands of Rök, but the meaning hadn’t sunken in.