But he didn't mind the females coming to visit her. That seemed normal and natural and right. He wanted them to get along, in fact. Those three were already crew. Once Haven became his, she’d be part of the crew as well. And such was the way of females, they enjoyed gathering and chatting and tending to their young together. Grace and Garnet were both gravid already. Haven would be soon as well.
Vytln had given up the foolish notion of not claiming her. He’d stopped fighting the idea that she wouldn’t be his. He only needed to wait for her to be ready. And until then, he’d keep her either in his arms or in his trap. Once he had his wylp in her belly, she could go wherever she wanted. She’d be drawn helplessly back to his nest at the end of the day anyway.
He was more than comfortable with that idea. And he knew Haven didn't mind being in his nest. She only asked to come out when he was with her. Otherwise, she was happy in there, tinkering with whatever project he passed her.
But he didn't want to deal with his crew mocking him about it. Which was quite obviously what Trove was doing. He was being deliberately annoying on purpose.
“First Tanin, then Sway, now you.” Trove snickered. “It seems everyone is falling.”
“You might be next.”
“Nonsense,” Trove laughed.
Vytln grumbled but didn’t try to continue the conversation. He didn’t want to be here at all. He wanted to be with Haven.
“I know it won’t be me,” Trove smirked. “I won’t be one to fall. Maybe the twins through? They seem to be whispering about it more and more lately. Maybe they feel the call to find their own mate. Or Rok. Rok would definitely want a mate for himself. Oh, no! Alred! You see how he dotes on Goldie. Someone should remind him he’s not real.”
A tiny, yellow spark appeared in front of Trove’s mask and turned into a rude gesture. It was quick, gone in a flash, but it was proof that Alred was listening, and he didn't appreciate the assessment. He might be an AI, but he was still a sapient person. And one who was, indeed, focused on Goldie.
But Vytln didn't care about any of that. He just wanted to finish his job and get back to Haven. He wanted to try putting her in chains. To make sure they didn't hurt her. To make sure she was open to them. Not the full binding, but he wanted to see his seed lashed across her skin again. The bright glow of his cum on her dark skin wasvektingbeautiful. He didn't think he’d be able to sleep until he knew what it looked like on her belly, on her tits, on her face.
On her drippy little cunt.
His cocks throbbed, eager for him to continue following that train of thought. But he forced himself to shove those mentalimages away. He had to focus on the task at hand. The sooner they finished unloading, the sooner he could get back to Haven.
And they could go to their next job and get away from his brother.
While the twins were trailing Kldyn, they’d also been gathering information on why he was here and what he might be doing.
Kldyn had signed up one of the family starships to make this same delivery run. They must have either falsified the crew IDs, bribed the peacekeepers to look the other way, or both. If Vytln’s original name would have forbidden them from making this delivery, Kldyn’s would as well. And any of their cousins or associates would similarly have been flagged.
The twins weren’t able to get the answer to that question. But they did figure out that Kldyn had signed their ship up to go on this run at the last moment.Afterthe comm he’d had with Tanin. Which meant he was definitely trying to hunt Vytln down.
There were three scheduled deliveries on this run. Once they completed the third, they’d have completed their contract and they could get away. The entire supply run was supposed to deliver enough to make sure the entire planet – what little remained of its population – had enough to last them for a full planetary year. That meant a lot of ships delivering a lot of crates on a near constant schedule for the next tenday or more. Already, there was a ship lined up to take the Humility’s place in orbit once they finished dropping their load.
Then, he could spend the rest of the time with Haven since he couldn’t help with loading up at the station. No, he’d instead pass those marks with his mate. Forgetting his past. Forging something new for his future. Hopefully planting a wylp in her belly and binding her to him forevermore.
That thought almost made dealing with Trove bearable.
Almost
He was still relieved when they finished offloading and started the process of closing main storage again. They couldn’t leave until the room had been re-pressurized and air pumped back in. The moment it was all sealed, however, Vytln was going through the door and pulling off his helmet, taking a grateful gulp of fresh air. The mask was old, cheap, and the filter made everything smell weird while leaving an odd taste in his mouth. The mask itself was attached to a helmet that didn’t quite fit over the horns on his head, so they were pressed uncomfortably into his skull.
He held it in his hand as he pressed the seal at the neck, the entire suit splitting down the front, revealing his usual shirt and jumpsuit underneath. He pulled at the neck, grumbling in discomfort as he reached the door to his workroom.
It opened, and the sound of female chatter and laughter rushed out. It flowed over him, powerful as a storm but soothing like peaceful music. It was a sound that was somehow nostalgic and familiar, though he knew he’d never heard such a thing before. No females in his life had ever been so happy, so carefree, so joyful.
But here they were. Four females, all gathered in a circle, three of them sitting on chairs that hadn’t been in his workroom before, while Garnet was sitting on top of the little cleaning robot that she’d named Spot for some strange reason. They all had colorful drinks in hand that he didn’t recognize, one of his projects had been dragged over and was serving as a table for the finger foods they were nibbling on. Goldie was wearing a pretty dress, bows in her hair. Garnet was in her old short overalls,dirty and stained from cleaning. Grace looked, as she ever did, immaculate and completely out of place in her perfectly pressed white shirt and yellow skirt.
And Haven, his Haven…
She was out of his trap!
He came up short, staring at her as she continued to chat and laugh with the others. All four of them completely oblivious to his entrance.
She was wearing some of the clothes he’d bought her, but she’d covered it with that red leather jacket again. They were all speaking in their human tongue, probably because it was easier for Haven to communicate in than Standard.
They looked so comfortable. Happy. Free.
