Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (35 page)

The longhaired commander dropped his face into
his palms as his mind roamed over the implications of what that
meant.

Moreover, what it would mean to every human
female his warriors encountered.

*.*.*.*.*

Leah entered the all white, sterile cleansing
unit tucked into a corner of her and Rykhan’s space aboard the
star-ship parked deep inside one of the moon’s crater. As the mist
of the water came through the nozzles, she offered up her face
allowing its flow to shower down over her face, her hair before it
hit the skin of her chest and the rest of her body.

She liked that the moisture was neither hot nor
cold but seemed to be set at the exact heat of her skin.

There was a brief moment in the stream, she
pushed back her hair, and blinked only to see Rykhan’s naked form
stepping in, a move that reduced the small shower space by more
than half.

“Hey, baby,” she offered softly.

“I am here,
mica
tisha
,”
he announced before reaching for the nozzle and directing its mist
to his body. “I am here for you and our…what word do you call our
youngling again?”

“A baby, Rykhan,” she muttered against his
chest as he pulled her against him. “What’s growing inside me is
our baby girl.”

“Bay-bee,” he said slowly and she somehow knew
he was committing the word to memory even as is hands began to
trace the water droplets that skimmed the surface of her skin.
“Isn’t that the same endearment you call me? Do you see me as a
human youngling?”

Leah laughed as she ran her hands over his wet
shoulders. “You know that’s not how I mean it, Rykhan.”

“
I more than like how your wet
skin feels against my palms,
Tersa
blay
.”

“Do you?” was the only response she could give
accompanied by a shiver at the feel of his hands running over her
skin. There had never been a time where she hadn’t found delight
when his skin met hers. “Touch me more, Rykhan.”

“I need talk to you, my Leah,” he started
inveigling himself against her almost as an afterthought. “But I
have another more pressing need beforehand.”

He rubbed his hard, thick length over the skin
of her stomach, creating fissures of fluttering in the secret
places within her and Leah decided she agreed. They definitely did
have pressing needs to deal with before any sort of conversation
could begin.

One of his hands gripped a butt cheek as the
other scooped to capture the fullness of her breast. Suavely moving
over its fullness, she found herself gasping as his thumb teased
the tip. “And your ‘need’ is to work me up?”

He grinned and she watched as his heated eyes
held his agreement although she’d already felt his capitulation to
her along the connection they shared. She just figured it was
because he’d discovered her naked.

And wet.

“Open for me,
mica
tisha
,
and expose all that beauty you hold within,” he rumbled on a firm
note.

“You want me to open my legs?” His face showed
a resolution she’d never seen before. In fact he was a lot more
demanding than he’d ever been in the few times they’d actually had
come together. “Would it turn you on if I parted my
legs?”

There was a rush of sensation on her insides as
his eyes flared again. Although all he gave her was a simple, “yes”
as his hand slid slowly down her belly.

He’d taken the time to get to know her body and
knew exactly where to circle and rub for best effect. What aperture
needed the sublime stimulation of his thrusting fingers. A move
that never failed and made her close her eyes in order to fully
enjoy the sensations he created.

Grabbing the top of the tiles in one hand and
the stem of the showerhead in the other, Leah balanced her body and
wrapped her legs around Rykhan’s waist. She angled herself in order
to drag her swollen wet folds against the steel of his shaft, only
to look down at where their bodies touched at the last moment. It
was then, at that exact moment that she saw the three chevron
shaped nodules on the tip of his manhood. Ones that added an
element of pleasure that she’d never experienced. Then, she’d never
been with a Picari before either.

Rykhan leaned down, capturing her mouth in a
soul-searing kiss as he eased himself into her tight, moist
channel. Wrapping his arms around her waist, she felt him change
the angle in order to go as deep into her as possible. “Oh Rykhan,”
she moaned against his mouth as his hips began to churn, her own
body began a countermove in reply.

In and out, back and forth, their
bodies both gave and took pleasure in one another. Their movements
created a beautiful tension, one filled with delight at the
dizzying heights of passion they were building between them. Just
when Leah didn’t think she could take anymore, Rykhan deliberately
rubbed his
wahrom
against hers.

The moment the metals met, their mutual orgasm
exploded fiercely between them causing both to cry out their
shattering bliss. As ever, it took a long time for the residual
pounding of their passion to cool and even longer before Leah felt
strong enough to slide down Rykhan’s body and stand on her
own.

“I did not know we could do that standing,”
Rykhan murmured as he kept her within the circle of his arms. At
some point during their joining, the mist of the cleansing unit had
shut off, but Leah could tell he still enjoyed the slickness of her
skin.

“I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to use
that position,” Leah cautioned with a smile and ran her hand over
the swelling of her stomach. “But it’ll give us something to look
forward to after our baby girl is born.”

Rykhan’s eyes took on a tender look.
“I still cannot believe we created a female youngling,
mica
tisha
.”

“And I can’t believe we got pregnant at all!”
Leah shot back, pulling out of his arms and reaching for a drying
cloth. “Are all you guys so fertile?”

Rykhan shrugged as he wrapped a towel around
his waist. “I don’t know. But I remember I had to supply the
doctors with a lot of samples of my ejaculate during the selection
process.”

Leah raised her eyebrows at his casually given
answer. Neither he nor the other warriors spoke about selection
process the warriors had undergone for their mission. “How many men
applied for your quest, Rykhan?”

“I’m uncertain of the exact numbers but I
believe it was in the thousands.” He ran a hand over her wet hair
as he thought. “Perhaps even a million.”

Leah blinked up at him. “I only had a one in a
million chance of meeting you?”

He pulled her close and tucked her
head into his chest. “It was
Tsiran’s
will that we would meet, my
Leah. Never forget that.” He ran a finger over her metal bracelet
and she shivered at the renewed erotic stirrings the move always
caused.

“You said we needed to talk or are you working
me up for a round two?” she teased and was disappointed when he
released her from his embrace.

He stepped out of the cleansing unit and
reached for the jeans he’d left on the bed. “I want you to consider
coming back to the house.”

“Why? I mean, it’s true I’m going stir-crazy up
here but I thought you said that you didn’t want to use the shuttle
because it can be detected and that the TIPS system might harm
either me or the baby.” She frowned as she stepped into her
clothes. “Why the sudden change of plans?”

Rather than immediately answer, Rykhan sat on
the edge of the mattress. “Is Dr. Jyrl still asking for your
permission to take your ovum?”

“Every time he’s here,” she groused. The
doctor’s requests never let up and Leah wished the guy would get a
clue that she was never going to give her consent. “Only now he’s
calling the procedure a ‘rice-ling’ or something.”

Rykhan quickly twisted and stared at her over
his shoulder, his face pale, his lips pressed into a tight
line.

“But I’m not the only one he’s asked,” Leah
quickly continued. She could tell Rykhan was not happy at her
answer. His look was almost fearful even. But that couldn’t be
right. “He’s cornered Pam a couple of times, too. She gave him
quite an earful about what she thought of his suggestion! I think
she even named him as ‘a freaking egg thief’ at one point after
he’d called her ‘Wyst’s female’.”

Rykhan still didn’t speak, just continued to
stare at her with a look that made her nervous. She adjusted her
clothes and went to sit next to him. “What’s wrong,
baby?”

Grabbing her hand, Rykhan pulled her back into
the cleansing unit and turned on the faucet in the sink until it
was on full-blast. Putting his mouth close to her ear, he began to
speak quickly and as quietly as possible.

When he spoke, Leah felt an icy coldness steal
over her and hung on to the small metal sink tightly. Her
reflection showed her face held just as much fear as Rykhan’s had
earlier.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Arbrynt glanced at Bronsyn as he took his
chair. “How did the meeting with Commander Stege go?” The group had
moved their midday meal out onto the largest of the patios on the
property as if they could not face the empty chairs Leah and Rykhan
had previously occupied.

Bronsyn sighed and reached for the dish of
pasta Pam held out to him, a concoction she called ‘spaghetti and
meatballs’. The older man just called it ‘delicious’.

“Each of you is now required to give a verbal
report to the Committee each day on your activities in joining with
a female.” Bronsyn was well aware how his warriors might react, at
the shocking way Gwynt attempted to control them from such a
distance. It would have been laughable, if it had not been so
devious.

“Join?” Gyard dropped his fork onto his plate
with a clatter. “I thought we were supposed to be looking for our
specific mate, not spreading our life-force around
indiscriminately.”

“That was the word he used,” Bronsyn replied
with studied calm, even though he was feeling anything but. While
he’d never specifically brought up all the information Gwynt had
let slip in their late-night meeting after learning the sex of
Rykhan’s youngling, Bronsyn believed the other male was aware
Bronsyn knew more than he should. Gwynt’s continual berating of
Bronsyn’s leadership was now a part of each of their
contacts.

Truly, it was wearing on Bronsyn’s last
nerve.

“Does this have to anything to do
with the problem the Committee is having in getting the writ
of
Rysling
approved?” Tyshar’s question hit Bronsyn hard.

“I didn’t know any of you were aware of that,”
Bron replied on a mumble. “Even I can’t seem to obtain all the
information on their plan to evoke the old edict and make it into
law.”

“My cousin works for President Allwyne. While
we don’t often communicate, he did send a message asking what was
happening here on Earth since the Committee has been most demanding
in their attempts to get the writ passed.” Tyshar sat back in his
chair and wiped his hands and mouth. “I gleaned the Galaxian
president was most unhappy with the Committee.”

“What’s a
Rysling
?” Pam interrupted. “The word
sounds almost oriental to me.”

Wyst took in a long slow breath
before glancing towards the small blonde-haired female. “The
Rysling
was initially a
law handed down from hundreds of
yons
ago. It was redacted before the
troubles began.”

“But what does it mean?” Pam’s frustration was
clear in both her expression and tone.

“It means that our government can
force a female to give up her eggs so they can be freely
distributed.” Gyard’s scowl was as hard as his voice. “That
the
fracking
bureaucrats can take a human’s ovum without her
fracking
permission!”

“And it would be legal?” No male responded to
Pam’s question, in fact did not even look at her when she spoke.
“But wait! Your laws aren’t valid here on Earth, right?”

“No,” Bronsyn drawled as he used his fork to
cut into the ball of seasoned meat. “But every Picari are required
to obey our laws no matter where we are stationed.”

“This means that it is possible we could be
ordered to obtain your eggs. By force if necessary,” Laxon mumbled.
The young male turned to Bronsyn. “We wouldn’t be required to do
the procedure though. That would be Dr. Jyrl’s job,
correct?”

Bronsyn shook his head before answering. “I
don’t know. I am only to advise you of the new requirements
regarding your reports. Like Tyshar, I heard of the writ by
watching one of the newsfeeds from Galaxia. Commander Stege has not
shared any additional information with me.”

“Yeah, well,” Pam started, savagely
tearing at the piece of seasoned bread in her hands. “That doc up
on the
Searcher
better keep his ass away from me! I’ve already had it up to
here with his insistence that I need a medical exam and at the way
he’s always asking me to ‘donate’ my baby-makers to ‘the
cause’.”