“Ah! Your education in Vrozian has begun. Fabulous!” Kinsi clapped her hands together. “I must admit, it took me some timeto conquer the language. Funny enough, my Anglo-saxis—er… I mean English—”
Aphrodite barked with a laugh, nearly choking on her tongue, “I say in my head too. It’s Anglo-saxis for me.”
“You just hear it so often it feels silly to call it English now, doesn’t it?” Kinsi giggled, twirling a tentacle on the side of her chin. “But I learned Vrozian first, and I feel very comfortable with it, I think. With having Xnasis as my mate, it’s gotten better.”
There was something so soft and sweet on her face as her eyes fell to the floor. Then, slowly, she glanced up and offered Aphrodite a tender hand. “Come, I promised to feed you, and I wish to spend as much time with you as I can. It will be nice to have another stranger in a new place to talk to.”
Aphrodite jerked forward, taking Kinsi’s hand affectionately. They swung their hands at their sides as the pair walked out of the room. Down the cool hall, the stars glittering through the window to their side. Kinsi let out a soft sigh, “I’ve only been here for about ten seasons, but it still takes my breath away.”
“I still get stuck in awe about it too,” Aphrodite muttered, sparing one last longing glance at the stars before following the queen out the door.
Itfeltlikeaneternity that Kinsi ‘absorbed all her attention’. They ate, talked about the wedding, walked the station, went over colors and fabric, and life. Kinsi talked a lot about life at the station. It was a bit of a shock to Aphrodite, the shift from working engineering on human ships, to the sudden battle fortheir lives to…peaceful existence? It was jarring as everything seemed to slow down.
“Mphrovic, you are needed,” one of Xnasis assistants rushed into the massive ballroom the pair were inside. They were discussing decorations, as it would be the ballroom they used for the party. Their assistant turned and bowed to her as well, “Mphronatch.”
The assistant scrambled closer and whispering urgently to Kinsi. She smiled and nodded, shooing them along. “Apologies, Aphrodite, I must go. I’m needed elsewhere. Dinner’s coming up, so I’ll see you again shortly.”
And like that, Aphrodite was left to her own devices with only Buddy and her data pad, in the massive room with vaulted ceilings and crystal windowpanes. It left the whole chrome area lit up in rainbow fractals. She noticed it was the only room in the whole station that didn’t have motion sensors on the floor, instead a onyx stone with a high sheen. There was a lonely elegance to the room. Aphrodite stepped across the floor, swinging to silence around her. Arms stretched out, eyes closed, she imagined what it would feel like full. A childish desire to be the princess in the stories with a massive gown, a glittering chandelier, and a band playing a slow song just for her.
The sound of typing against her datapad command screen,“Aphrodite Kerso,” was the only warning she got from Buddy before the doors to the room cracked open. She spun and stared at Xexis as he stepped inside. He put down his data pad and beamed at her with all his pincers and teeth. “My mate, what are you doing in here alone?”
Aphrodite shrugged, picking up the front of her dress to meet him across the floor. “Kinsi was here with me, but Xnasis called for her.”
“Ah, then my brother and I had the same thought,” Xexis smirked, scooping up Aphrodite into his arms. He twirled her once, reminiscent of the night she ‘taught’ him to dance. Warmth bloomed in her chest as he spun them a few paces across the floor. “Good, I was not intending to share you for much longer today.”
Aphrodite snickered, rolling her eyes. “Oh, and what thought did you and Xnasis share?”
“We both desired,” he trailed off, slowing their twirl till he could slip her data pad from her arms. With a few jabs of his forefinger, the room filled with a cacophony of clicking and twinkling red lights. The glimmering windows were suddenly tinted with crimson, leaving Aphrodite drenched in the ruby, fractal light. “To have time alone with our mates.”
“Oh?” She arched a brow. “Kind of a big room to have all to ourselves.”
“Shall I hunt you in smaller quarters?” he chuckled darkly, slipping back from her.
“Hunt me? Oh, so it’s that kind of alone time.” Aphrodite quickly bunched up the front of her dress, heart already pounding in her chest. With a cheeky peek to ensure her mate was watching, she shoved her undershorts off with her thumbs. They hit the onyx tile, and she kicked them away. “Kinsi predicted a flowy dress would be necessary.”
Xexis didn’t answer, only snatching up her shorts and trapping Buddy in them. His electrical temper tantrum died down as Xexis said something sharp to the drone. Aphrodite knew better than to wait for an invitation. She ripped around on her heel and bolted across the room. The doors were locked. The windows were barred. There was no escape. Only the inevitable capture.
His thunderous footsteps chased her around the room. She pushed off walls and skirted out of his grip over and over with decreasing accuracy. Her legs trembled as she skittered out of his reach. A day of prancing around with Kinsi after ages on a cramped ship did not make for the best athletics. Aphrodite scrambled to keep out of his grip…but her mate was the Kannatch.
With one last lunge, he leapt through the air like a lion and pinned her to the ground. Aphrodite cried out in delight and horror as his mouth clamped around her neck.The dinner! Remind him about the dinner!But it looked like she was going to meet the Korzavic with blood dripping down her throat as Xexis bit into her flesh. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, fingernails raking across the fabric of his clothes. Xexis groaned heartily into her ear as he lapped at the wound he created. Two of his hands hurriedly tugged and shoved her dress up until the crystal hoop around her ribs stopped him. He grunted but moved on, his sharp kiss moving to her stomach. His teeth raked across her torso and down her pelvis. Xexis swiped the flat of his tongue against her lips before tossing her legs up and over his shoulders.
Lit up in the security lights, eyes clenched closed and fingernails dug into his scalp, Aphrodite moaned. Xexis didn’t like anything less than screaming when he was feral. When her shrieks of delight weren’t loud enough, he growled. When her hips didn’t buck hard enough, he thrust his tongue deeper into her. And when she broke, her cum dripping down his chin, Xexis lapped up every drop. Aphrodite’s throat, raw and angry, closed as she tried to find air. He moaned into her cunt, sated.
“I…I hope…that Xnasis didn’t have the same thought,” she blurted out with a hysterical laugh.
“Mmm,” Xexis crawled up her body, lining his cock with her well-nursed cunt. “Why not? Do you not wish for my brother to hunt his mate?”
“If you two are both hunting your mates, nothing will ever get done around here,” Aphrodite panted for air as Xexis thrust inside her. Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head once more.
“I am very good at multi-tasking,” he grunted, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
“No, you’re not!” she laughed, wrapping her legs and arms around him like an octopus does its prey. “When you hunt me, that’s the only thing on your mind.”
He chuckled warmly, nuzzling his face against her unmarked jugular. “It would be an insult not to give you my all in a hunt.”
Aphrodite dropped the thought, allowing herself to drift away and merely enjoy the pleasure of her mate. The feel of him as he thrust into her lazily. His murmurs in her ear were sweet and incoherent. Eventually, his forehead came to rest against hers as he chased his own orgasm. It took a glorious eternity. Aphrodite collapsed against the cold floor, gulping down air as her mate stuffed her full of his bliss. Warmth pooled in her belly, and she too was sated.
Chapter Forty-Seven:
