He walks toward me, his breath hot and his eyes burning.
“I'm taking you all the way, my Queen,” he says in a raspy voice.
Chapter 12
Uri takes my hand and we climb into his speeder. It's a sleek, red vehicle, designed for speed and power. Unlike Plume’s speeder, a model designed for quickness and agility.
We lift off into the airways of Arcadia. He still hasn't told me where we’re going so I let my mind wonder to my work. Could human genetics be synthesized with our own to create a vaccine?
We travel down the coast and the planet Umbria glows brightly in the night sky.
Uri directs his vehicle toward the forest and up into the highest elevations of Arcadia. The peak of Mount Tuthanan lies in the distance. Uri settles on a plateau that overlooks the orchards of Galan, where the winter lemons grow in thick groves.
We exit the speeder and sit on the hood, breathing in the thick lemon blossom scent blowing up from the orchards. Uri stands in front of me, obscuring my view and forcing me to look up into his burning ember eyes.
He is fire and I am ice. As much as his elemental fury repels me, it draws me to him. Uri has been the least patient of my mates, always insisting on spending time with me. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing, honestly. This whole mating ritual confuses me and has left my mind a muddled fog.
“What did you want from me, Uri?” I ask him softly. He presses between my legs and wraps his hands around my slender waist.
“Isn't it obvious, little female?” he says.
“Aren’t I your Queen?” I tease.
“You are the White Queen. Indeed. But you are also my own little female.”
He gathers me tight, pressing his hot lips to mine. I pressed my palms to his shoulders, almost pushing him back. He does not relent. He only holds me tighter. I groan as his tongue presses between my lips. I'm still in the thin dress I wore on my date with Plume. Uri's body heat radiates into my chest and my inner thighs, thawing my heart to him. He runs his kisses over my face and down my neck, grazing his sharp teeth over the sensitive skin.
I groan and hold him around his thin waist. I feel his cock hard against the wet place between my legs. We are both still dressed before Uri slips his fingers under the thin straps of my dress and the bodice falls over my breasts.
My nipples are so tight they almost hurt when he plucks one into his mouth. He sucks hard as his tongue lathes my taut flesh. I gasp and groan at the exhilarating and painfully erotic sensation.
Uri sucks one breast as he grips and fondles the other. He moves back and forth between them until I am gushing with desire. His palms run up my outer thighs and push my dress up my hips. Before I know what is happening, Uri is on his knees before me as I sit on the hood of his speeder.
He forces my legs wide and opens the folds of my sex. He licks around the swollen buds that circle my sex, making me groan and bite my lip. He’s more aggressive than Donte, and pushes me faster to the brink.
I lean back, looking up into the night sky. Uri grips my thighs as he growls and groans, enjoying my sex like a delicious, savory meal. His breath is hot and fierce, and his fierce tongue throttles my pleasure buttons. The moment extends into infinity.
I'm swelling and tightening, the pressure becoming unbearable. I run my fingers through his dark hair and grind against his hungry mouth. The desire detonates inside me, blasting my soul into a thousand pieces. As my sex throbs and clenches, Uri looks up at me with his shining black eyes.
“By the Bones of the Gods,” I growl.
He stands and cups my cheek in his hand.
“I need more than that from you, my little female,” he says as he flicks his nanotech clothing away from his body.
He’s naked and massive. His cock is a tower between us. He grips it, looking me straight in the eye. I bite my lip, not ready to take him.
“Lick it,” he says.
“Lick?”
I want to do what he asks. I lean forward, lapping at the hard head of his cock.
“Yes,” he growls. “Like that.”
Uri threads his fingers through my hair, encouraging me to open my mouth wider, to take his hot, thick shaft deeper into my mouth. I let it inch inside me, my saliva coating the hood. He pushes down on me as he grips and pumps it from below. I’m ravenous with desire, demanding to be filled.
Uri meets my need by pushing two fingers into my pussy. He slides them back and forth, teasing my inner pleasure buttons. I lean back, gasping as the pleasure builds inside me again. Uri strokes himself. The sound of flesh thwacking against flesh fills my ears as he pumps his thick rod up and down.
His fingers pump my sex. Uri seems to want to touch every part of me, pleasure and push me to the brink a dozen times. I come hard, my cunt clenching and throbbing around his fingers. Uri grunts as his cock swells.
“Take my seed in your mouth, female,” he growls.
I don’t stop to think and suck his cock into my mouth. He shoots hot semen deep into my throat, and I swallow. I’m groaning and throbbing as I suck down the last drop of his cum.
Uri helps me up and looks into my eyes. His gaze melts my soul. He meets me with a hard kiss to my mouth, and I wrap my arms around him.
“That was amazing, Uri. I didn’t expect it.”
“You should expect it. I have much more in store for you, little female. I will have you and I will claim you,” he growls into my ear.
I know he is right. I want him. I want all of them.
“We’ll see,” I tease.
In my heart, I know my decision is already made.
Chapter 13
I wake with the memory of Uri's mouth on my sex. I groan as I stretch and smile, ready for another day with my mates. The mission my brother, Admiral Sysko, has set for me still weighs on my mind, but my mates have given me something more pleasurable to think about.
I giggle as I slide out of bed, pulling off my sleep slip on the way to the washroom. Taking a long shower, I enjoy the cool of the water. My inner dragon puffs out a long icy breath and purrs behind my eyes. I arch my back as memories of my mates wash through my mind.
I decide on a sleek white suit with slim pants and a collared jacket. It fits snugly over my curves, accentuating my breasts, hips, and long limbs. I pair it with patent leather ankle boots, and a thick gold chain around my neck. I wear my white hair back in a tight twist at the nape of my neck and decorate my face with red lips and dark lashes.
I take the antigrav lift to the ground floor and make my way to the dining hall. Expecting to find my mates already there, dishing up the plates from the morning buffet, I am doubly shocked at what I find.
As I step into the dining hall, my mouth drops open. The place is in shambles. Scorch marks line the walls and the furniture has been burned into the floor.
There is no morning buffet. There is nothing but the smell of cinders and ash. Why has no one told me about this?
I turn angrily from the charred dining hall and slide my finger over my wrist com to ring for my butler Quintin. I hail him repeatedly with no response. Trying to keep my calm, I remind myself I must stay in control.
My butler approaches quickly, wringing his hands. He bows at me deeply and begins to speak.
"My Queen," he starts. "I can explain."
"Please do."
"Last night at the evening meal, the four males present in the dining hall got into an argument. Two of them shifted and that is how the dining hall was scorched."
"Uri did this?" I ask.
"Yes, My Queen," he says, casting his eyes down.
"And then he had the nerve to insist on a date last night," I mutter to myself, crossing my arms and stomping my foot.
I feel betrayed, and I’m growing increasingly irritated.
"We’re serving the morning meal in a secondary dining room closer to the kitchen," he says.
I follow Quintin to a small dining room that is far more intimate than the grand hall. There is a smaller table under
a window that looks out onto the fields and dunes behind my house. I find the customary morning buffet laid out, and I begin to dish up my food.
I angrily scoop delicacies onto my plate, barely moved by how extravagant my life has become. Quintin watches me, wringing his hands as the crease between his brows grows deeper each time a serving spoon smacks my plate. My emotions are overflowing and it isn’t poor Quintin’s fault.
I dismiss him apologetically and sit for my meal. After I pour a cup of black tea, I sip, closing my eyes. I take several deep breaths. Feeling more in control, I slice my fork into a sea egg pastry.
“Good morning, my little female,” I hear a deep voice purr.
I look up to find Uri standing in the doorway, his muscular arms crossed over his mountainous chest. He has one eyebrow cocked and his thick sexy lips pursed in a smirk. He’s looking at me like he wants to eat me up like he did last night. Why does he have to be so infuriatingly delicious when I’m so angry at him?
"Well," I say in a sharp voice.
"I can explain what happened."
"Please explain why you saw fit to jump in line ahead of Reese right after you burned up our dining hall?" I ask him.
“Our dining hall?” he says, reaching out to grasp my hand.
I let him take it and stare at him as he gazes down at me with that same sexy look on his face.
“Don’t change the subject.”
"My thrall is impossible to control. I needed to taste you and now I am better."
"Let's hope," I tell him. "I have important work to do, Uri. I’ve also been tasked with deciding which of my five mates is to live and which of you is to die. Do you intend to distract me like this forever?"
"Of course not, little female." Uri sits beside me. "What we shared last night was highly satisfying. All I want is to pleasure you…” He stops, lost for words. “I’m afraid I’m not a poet like Reese."
"That is the most intelligent thing I’ve heard you say, Uri," Reese says as he walks into the dining room.
Uri slams his fist on the table and growls. He turns to the buffet and slaps food onto his plate. When he sits back at the table, he grumbles and shoves food in his mouth, not even using a fork.
My water prince walks to me and kisses the back of my hand, bowing at the waist and putting his hand on his heart.
"My Queen," he says as he stands. “You grow lovelier with each new day.”
Heat rises in my cheeks as it usually does when I receive Reese's complements. But today I feel delighted with his form of appreciation. After dishing up a plate, Reese takes a seat beside me, and begins to eat.
"The thrall is a whole new kind of pain to endure,” Uri says, dropping an empty rib bone onto his plate. “I’ve seen bloody hand-to-hand battle against the cyborgs. I’ve been blown nearly to death and come back from it. But this thrall, my lady, it cannot be contained.”
I let out a deep sigh. Of course, I understand. The same thing is happening to me. Perhaps to a lesser extent. However, my desire is aroused and cannot be quenched until I am claimed by at least one of them. I press my eyes closed tight. I know I want them all, even Uri. I just haven’t told them yet.
"We both lost our tempers last night,” Reese says. “There is just as much water damage in the hall as there is fire.”
I turn to him and smile, remembering the water covered floors. I’d assumed he’d used it to put out the fire. I’m glad he confessed.
My other three mates file into the dining room and stop at the sight of Uri, Reese, and, me sitting at the table together.
"All is well," I informed them. "The servants are attending to the problem in the grand hall and it will be repaired shortly."
Everyone sits and we chat amicably through the rest of the meal. After we have finished eating, Reese reminds me that we still have a date.
I want to run back to the lab and stick my head into the databases, but I know I must prioritize relieving the pressure of my mates’ thralls.
Reese has already been pushed aside once.
Chapter 14
Reese plunges his speeder skyward and we exit the atmosphere with a burst into space. Reese’s home planet, Umbria is just below my orbiting moon of Arcadia. Umbria is a water planet, ruled by water dragons.
As we come into the atmosphere of his water world home, I marvel at the beauty of this place. I have been to Umbria more than once with my parents. There are many opportunities for research as well as recreation here.
Unlike Arcadia, which has abundant forests and mountains, Umbria is almost entirely covered in water. There are multiple islands scattered across the planet, but they are not large.
Most of the population of Umbria are water dragons who live in the underwater cities that proliferate across the planet. Many cities are domed and filled with air for interaction with non-water dragons. However, many more are open to the water and require underwater breathing to go there.
Reese angles his sleek ship into a dive below the purple waves of Umbria. I gasp as we charge downward, water enveloping the ship. I see the underwater world through the windows. Massive sea creatures bob in the distant black of the deep sea. Far below, the glowing domes of the capital city of Urbaan greet my eyes with their warmth.
Reese's ship slides through an entrance hatch where the water is slowly removed from around our ship, and we then fly into the underwater city.
The shimmering blue coral towers of the royal palace of Del’mineko stretch to the top of the dome. We land, setting down not five hundred measures from the main entrance. Reese takes my hand and we exit the ship. The thwacking in my chest won’t stop as we march up the pathway to the magnificent castle. Attendants wait for us as we pass. I feel my stomach clench, my nerves unprepared to be presented to royalty.
"I don't think I wore the right outfit today," I say.
I suspect I should be wearing a gown instead of this slim fitting suit.
Reese looks at me and shakes his head with a smile. "You look perfect. Absolutely breathtaking in every way. Every bit the White Queen of Arcadia.”
"Thanks, Reese," I say.
After a lifetime in the laboratory and the library, I feel awkward in this royal place.
Reese grasps my hand, his smooth skin velvety and soft to the touch.
"I'm going to introduce you to my parents: King and Queen Brio.”
"I'm not sure I'm ready for that," I admit.
"Don't worry," he says. “My parents don’t bite…much.”
I glance at him and realize he’s nervous too. I bite my lip as we reach the end of the hall. Reese and I take several steps up and enter the throne room.
Banners hang along the walls, and tall windows look out onto the walls of the dome. A massive sea octopyrus floats on the dark waters beyond the glass. Reese's parents sit on their gold coral thrones. Golden crowns spiral on their heads. Reese bows to his parents and I follow his lead.
"Mother, Father, this is my intended: The White Queen, Joon D’fray. My fated mate," Reese says as he straightens. “Dear Joon, I’m pleased to present you to my father, King Hecrosis Brio and my mother, Queen Elanorina Brio.”
"It is a great pleasure to meet our son’s fated. You had a surprise at the tournament, didn’t you, Queen Joon? How does it feel to be a queen?” Queen Elanorina asks.
Her pink hair coils around her head and shoulders, contrasting with her aqua green and blue skin. She wears a gilded pink dress tailored out of genuine sea silk. It fits her curves to perfection. Her crown seems to float on her head, weightless.
"I'm not a queen, your highness," I correct.
"Any female who has five fated male dragons is certainly a queen," Reese's mother informs me.
"I would agree," King Hecrosis says.
King Hecrosis is nude to the waist with only an aqua green sash with the crest of house Brio at his chest. His lower half is shifted into a single strong fish tail. A narrow pool lies at their feet, the king’s fin just touching the surface of the water.
/> "My family are academics and military. We aren't royalty."
"The Bones of the Gods have blessed you with five males. Including our son and heir to the throne of Umbria. You are now indeed royalty," his mother says.
I blush, remembering I still haven’t told my matches I intend to mate with them all. I know I should, but I’m unprepared for the reaction.
“Please join us for our afternoon meal," Queen Elanorina says.
The King shifts into bipedal form as his nanotech sash turns into a toga. The monarchs rise and lead me and Reese into an antechamber where a table is set for four. The King and Queen sit on one side and Reese and I sit on the other.
Servants bring us our meal of the finest delicacies of Umbria. Raw fish and sea potato, wave lettuce wraps. Deep sea salted water swine. It is served with exquisitely spiced merrow wine. I feel nervous, but as I eat and we chat about the family and Reese's younger siblings, I begin to feel more at home.
After meeting Reese’s parents, I understand him better. He grew up a royal prince, with all the servants and all the treasures of Umbria. For having such a privileged life, he’s amazingly humble. I’m lucky to know him, let alone have him as my mate.
We leave the city and go for a drive through the waves. Reese skims his ship over the water and dives deep, making me giggle. Finally, he stops and takes my hand in his. His stormy blue eyes gaze at me as he begins to sing. His voice is operatic and heartbreaking. His words thrill my soul. Each line of his song is another note in his adoration of me.
“My love for thee it sends my heart stirring
You call my soul upon golden star beams
Love stops the hands of time, my mind a whirring
I bask in the glow of my shining White Queen.”
As the last notes of his song echo through the ship, he leans in to kiss me. I’m so touched by his words, I let go of all preconceived ideas about what is between us. His wet tongue flicks through my lips, and my body gushes with desire as I let him enter. We embrace each other, breathing in each other’s breath in our kiss.