I studied Cora’s profile as she listened to Thisa prattle on about Qhev’in Kon and various other artists she enjoyed. Cora’s smile was relaxed and engaged, her eyes glittering with the contagious excitement of the theatre. She didn’t have a care in the world. Nothing to fear with me by her side and my soldiers at their stations. That settled something in me. Knowing she was safe. But also seeing that shefeltsafe. She knew what I was. Maybe she hadn’t been brought face to face with the ugliness of my life, but she knew it was there, and it didn’t frighten her. Her soft zibe scent told me my mate was happy, andIbar….So was I.
CHAPTER 34
CORA
Alien rock musicturned out to be everything I expected, and so much more. There was a lot of electronic-esque sound coming from…. I had no idea where. A Daernir man with no hair on his head but braided armpit hair moved his hands over a series of pulsing lasers, his movements seeming to coincide with some of the sound. On the other side of the stage, there was a scaled alien woman playing something that looked sort of like an electric guitar, but instead of strumming the strings, she used what looked an awful lot like one of Yiri’s phase blades like the bow of a violin. The sound it produced was like a vampire rock orgasm, dark and grating, and loud enough to vibrate through my bones.
When Qhev appeared on the stage in a plume of smoke, the applause thundered, shaking the theater around us. Thisa screamed, causing Nerus and Yiri both to wince and share a glance over our heads. Just below us, Qhev waited, his posture relaxed and expression schooled, almost bored. The crowd loved it. They screamed, they cheered, they reached out like they wanted to touch him, the fervor rising and rising until finally, he cracked a smile. The theaterexploded. The collective excitement was like a natural disaster.
“Hey, my bay-bees,” Qhev said, his voice soft and casual enough that he could have been talking just to me. Somehow, the light, caressing sound carried across the whole massive theater. “Are you ready to party with me?” He waited for the resulting cheers to calm a bit, beaming and blowing kisses all the while. After a long moment, the theater fell quiet enough for him to speak again, and his face took on a more serious expression. “The only rule tonight is safety. Be kind to each other out there, and my bay-bees, please remember to take reproduction precautions seriously tonight. What I’m about to share with you is potent. So if there’s a special male in your life, tell him I said he’s welcome.”
With a wink, he spun away, and the music swelled, crashing like a wave through the theater. Thisa gripped my arm like a vice as Qhev started singing. He had a sexy voice. I had to give him that. He moved about the stage, dancing, singing, and flirting with the audience so audaciously that a woman in the audience near the stage fainted when he leaned out and kissed her extended hand. She was carried away while the concert carried on, and Qhev strutted off to woo someone else.
“Is this it?” Yiri asked Nerus at one point. His second had covered Thisa’s ears with his big hands, holding them in place as she tried to pull them away.
“Noooo!”
Down on the stage, Qhev thrust his hips in a suggestive dance move, and then the music paused just long enough for him to make thissound… I didn’t know how to describe it. It was just… shit it was hot as hell. I fidgeted in my seat, plucking at the neckline of my satin cocktail dress. Did it suddenly get really warm in here?
“What wasthat?”
“That,” Thisa pouted, “was the best part of the show, and my brotherruinedit.”
“You’re too young to hear that shit,” Nerus said, unrepentant, “and I will never be ready to see you hot and bothered.”
“Ach, you’re boring and gross,” Thisa said.
Brows raised, I turned to Yiri for an explanation.
“Some Ibarutan daernir males can bark,” he said, leaning down to speak close to my ear. “It’s a mating call that not only excites their females, but often makes them fertile and ready for breeding.”
My eyes flew wide. “Excuse me?”
Yiri shrugged. “It’s one reason the Ibarutan moon has the highest birthrate in the star system. And it’s definitely why your little friend is so popular. Every time he barks in a song, females want to have his babies.”
“Wow, that’s….” I shifted again, uncomfortably aware of how wet I was between my thighs. Would it leave a spot on the back of my dress?
“Effective,” Yiri muttered, looping his arm around my waist and hauling me into his lap. “I can tell you aren’t immune from the scent of your sweet zibe nectar.”
Shit. And if he could tell, then so could Nerus. I tried to spy on the other male out of the corner of my eye, but he was very carefully not looking at anyone in the box.
“I could have you bouncing on my cock right now, but you just had to invite Thisa, didn’t you?” Yiri muttered, his breath hot against the shell of my ear. A shiver ran through me. Trying to keep my legs pressed tightly together, I adjusted my weight in his lap, but paused when I felt just how hard he was. His chuckle rumbled through my body as he pulled my hips another few inches closer. “Go ahead and wiggle your pretty little ass all over me. I’ll get mine later.”
I stifled a wanton whimper, fisting the material of my dress in my lap and trying to refocus on the concert playing out right in front of us. I couldn’t even find Qhev on the stage for a long,hazy moment. Finally, I spotted him coming back from one far end of the stage where two females were reaching after him, half draped over the edge. Good grief. Qhev’in was a freaking sex icon, and I gave him makeup tips like it was no big deal. He was just so approachable, though. The momentary impulse to objectify my friend was passing. Yiri’s hands on my hips helped keep my horny thoughts centered where they belonged.
Soon, I was cheering along with Thisa and wishing I could sing along with her. Each song blended into another and another until I was sure Qhev couldn’t perform much longer at the same fever pitch intensity. Sure enough, the music slowed, and Qhev began to croon a soulful love song that had the whole theater swooning. Even Yiri slowly stroked his thumbs up and down my sides, where he still held onto me.
“Thank you for an incredible night, Eissoi!” Qhev said when the song ended. “Ibarblesses me every time I get to sing for you. What do you say to one more to take home with you, bay-bees?”
The crowd erupted with screams, applause, and waving hands. Beside me, Thisa leaned as far as she could over the banister, Nerus grabbing the back of her dress protectively.
“SingRebellious Lover,Qhev’in, please!” Thisa cried.
Qhev pointed right at her and winked. “You got it, pretty bay-beeee!”
Nerus sighed heavily and slumped back in his seat, utterly defeated as his sister lost her mind. The poor girl was shaking as the music built again and her idol belted out a driving ballad of two lovers destined for tragedy. Qhev made every sad line seductive and provocative with his sultry voice and undulating dance steps, and at the climax of the song, his smooth singing quavered in another drawn-out bark, this one so full of aching need that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Thisadidcry. She threw herself into my arms so suddenly that Yiri nearly let us fall off his lap. Nerus swore, somewhere off to the side, but I just hugged her and patted the back of her head.
