Tave Part 3 (3 page)

She glanced at the clock and swallowed her curse. Okay, it looked like it’d only been a minute. Bastards.

“Oh, my
pyabi
.” Shock and awe filled his tone and she followed his gaze, finally glancing at her body.

Her skin.

Her
scales
. Pure white, full scales now coated her arm. The shining surface reflected the light of the room and made it look as if she sparkled like diamonds. Her body was burning, her skin aflame, because she was
growing
scales.

Holy fuck.

Now that she accepted what was happening, she was able to push aside the pain, swallow it, and separate it from herself. The changes were gradual, though some were giant leaps rather than slow strolls. That visual representation of her change delicately danced over her fingers while it rippled and rushed along her abdomen. All the while it
burned
.

It burned and burned and then… it didn’t. It stopped almost as quickly as it’d begun, the aches vanishing with a single exhale and left her with scales of such beauty that they took her breath away.

She ran her fingers over the new textures, smiling when she realized they were just as sensitive as her skin.

And beautiful. Had she mentioned that?

“Tave. They’re—”

“Beautiful. I was overcome by your beauty before, but now, my
pyabi
… I do not have the words.”

She met his shocked stare. “It’s amazing.”

“It is.” He nodded. “It also proves something to both of us.”

“What?”

“That you are mine.” He was so fierce, so dominant, so… sexy. So much sexy.

Yeah, she may have been pissed that her mom submitted her genetic material to the Population Ministry and the Intergalactic Mating Agency, but now…
sexy.

Voices from outside filtered through the walls, reminding her of one of the reasons they’d done this
now
rather than waiting to get to know each other a little better. Then again, more time wouldn’t have changed anything. They were meant to be together. Period.

“Maybe we should go test my changes in the water…”

Tave’s hand hovered over her arm as his fingers twitched. “In a moment. First, I would like to touch you.” His uneasy gaze met hers. “If I may.”

“You’re my mate, Tave. There is nothing you can’t do.”

With her words, he stroked her and that simple touch had need rushing forward once again. As if she hadn’t just exploded in a wave of ecstasy only moments ago. “Okay.” She gasped as he traced a single finger. “Maybe we can do that later. Let’s just…” He caressed her
thumb
. “One more time.”

One more time turned into ten, and by the time midnight came upon them, they were prepared to dive into the deep waters of the Gulf. Together.

Well, together
and
with a full complement of guards. There were no water-based sexytimes. Dammit.

A full week later and Rina still had yet to get the whole swimming from place to place thing. Like, conceptually, swimming underwater at the bottom of the Gulf was just like swimming underwater near the shore.

And yet it wasn’t.

Now she was battered by deep currents, twisting turns, which seemed easy to navigate with a tail, but were hell for those without one. Sure, she’d grown some webbing between her fingers and toes when she’d entered the ocean, but it wasn’t a
tail
.

Of course, the upside to not being fully Ujal in an underwater world meant that everywhere she and Tave went, he had to carry her. Er, swim with her clinging to his back like a sea anemone. And sticking to him while he worried about navigation meant she could take in her surroundings, and gasp when she’d first spied the towering structures the Ujal managed to build in their world. Or rather, the coral-like creatures that rapidly rose high and expanded, taking gentle direction from the Ujal engineers. The creatures not only provided Ujal with a home, but also filtered the saltwater, cleaning and recycling the fluid.
They
were the biggest reason that wildlife now flourished across the globe.

Not something she—or the general public—knew about.

They’d always assumed it was technology when, in fact, it’d been something biological and originating on the Ujal home world.

Rina, covered with a bikini and waiting for Tave to finish his preparations for the day, reclined on a soft mound of sea moss that had been cultivated and grown to form a chair of sorts. It didn’t have arms, that would have made it too constricting for tail wearing Ujal, but there was a gentle depression to cradle their bodies. An undersea beanbag. Her mate had not appreciated the comparison. She apologized, but still secretly called it a damned beanbag.

She wiggled and sank deeper into the squishy surface, letting her eyes drift closed as she waited for him to appear. The man took longer than she did to get ready. Her bathing suit shifted and she tugged the top back into place. The stupid thing was always moving around and she realized that was mainly because she was expecting it to cover a lot more skin than before. Not because her new Ujal genes altered her size, but because she seemed to be inhaling every morsel of food placed before her.

She had her suspicions why but kept silent. At least until she could find a doctor at UST to chat with.

A discrete ruffling of the curtain, which covered their home’s entry, told her others were waiting. That’d been another thing to get used to—no doors.

Which, again, they were probably hard to deal with when sporting tails. Since she was more comfortable on two legs than swimming, they’d drained their quarters, though the rest of the rooms in the castle remained flooded. She’d been learning their language—her language—and now understood most of what she was told and could even carry on stilted conversations. When they’d arrived, Tave promised he’d work with her.

His form of working was limited to translating
fuck me now
,
let’s get busy
, and
how you doing?

Males.

That flutter came again and she sighed. “Tave? You about ready? Vados is getting impatient.”

Her mate strode from what she called the bathing room—and snatched up his trident as he moved. “Vados is impatient to complete our task and return to his mate.” Tave’s smile was blinding and teasing and Vados’ growl proved her mate’s words.

She rose to her feet, repositioning her bottoms so a good bit of her ass was covered.

“You do not need to wear such clothing,
pyabi
.”

Same argument, different turning. “I know, but—”

“You do not wish all and sundry to see your butt. Yes, yes, I know this.” He waved away her objection and the moment he was close enough, he darted a hand out and snatched her to him.

She immediately tilted her head back for his kiss, anxious for his mouth. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get tired of his touch, his passion. “But you keep pushing.”

“Because your modesty keeps me from touching you as I desire… whenever I desire. I cannot drag you behind the throne and make love to you without first tearing these damning clothes from your body.”

Rina rolled her eyes. “That’s a good thing. The throne room was
filled
with other Ujal.”

Tave shrugged. “They were pleased to know I have such desire for you and that you match it easily.”

Right.

She just thought they were voyeuristic pervs, but whatever.

“Come on. I wanna get this ordeal over with.”

Ordeal. She really hoped it wouldn’t be too overwhelming.

“Yes, yes, my pushy one.” He sighed and twined their fingers together as he led them toward the curtain.

The moment they were close to the fabric, it was swept aside to reveal an annoyed Vados and grinning Niax. Poor Vados. She hadn’t known it when she met him, but the reason behind his hostility was revealed when they’d entered the city and an obviously pregnant female raced to him, going so fast that she bowled him over and sent both of them spinning and tumbling through the water. Obviously, he’d been missed. That was followed by her first underwater sound that had nearly burst everyone’s eardrums and… summoned whales. Rina had to learn to laugh quietly.

She’d also discovered that she wasn’t the only human who’d mated with an Ujal.

“We’ll make this quick, V. I promise.” She flashed him a smile, which had his gaze softening ever so slightly. They’d become friends of a sort since she’d arrived, his mate being the one to teach Rina the Ujal language. It was pretty commonplace to find her and Rina together, with Vados nearby. Officially, he was guarding Rina. Unofficially, he was making eyes at his mate.

With that final vow, they traveled toward the pool that would lead to the rest of the castle and then outside. Even now, after dozens of swims beneath her bikini, she was hit with a twinge of unease when she approached the sea.

“
Pyabi?
” Tave murmured.

“I’m good.” -
ish.

Taking a deep breath of air, she slowly pushed it from her lungs, fighting to dispel it all before she leapt. That would ensure her next expansion of her lungs would be comprised of sea water. The moment she was prepared, she nodded at the males and they immediately dove into the ocean. She was quickly on their tails, bursting into the liquid, and dragging in a lungful of the sea. The two guards were already shifted and floating nearby, and a rush of liquid toward her revealed that Tave had joined them.

With the first splash of the sea, her webbing appeared, fingers connected by a thin, pale membrane. The same decorated her toes. And scales. The evidence of her new Ujal nature slithered from their hiding places and her skin became glistening scales. She was as transformed as she was going to get and she nodded at the two guards, confirming her readiness. It was a rule of sorts now—until Rina got full control of her voice, she remained silent.

Everyone’s ears were safer that way.

They emerged into the throne room, the queen rushing forward for a gentle stroke of Rina’s face. An Ujal hug. Currents often switched and swirled so they were forced to use their tails to remain steady. Being tangled in each other outside mating was not a fun time. Rina smiled and returned the gesture, and then they were making their way out of the castle.

She returned waves of other Ujal, their faces beaming when they caught sight of her. At first it’d been odd, but then Tave had explained what Rina meant to them. Hope. Not all Ujal wanted to abandon their planet to make a home elsewhere. The knowledge that she was a match for their prince gave them hope that other humans would be willing matches as well.

That was part of the purpose of today’s meeting. Answer questions and quietly explain the joy of being mated to Tave and how it’d come to be.

They exited the city in a clump of multicolored Ujal, the hues varying from her pure white to the darkest black of the lead warrior. Rhal. Every time she looked at him, a shiver of dread raced down her spine. Midnight eyes, black hair, black scales. When he went deep enough and crept through the shadows, he was invisible. Tave told her it was what made him deadly.

She didn’t want to test him.

Their large group moved as one, cutting through the ocean waters with ease. She originally thought they’d need a boat, but her mate quickly explained their strength and speed. A boat would never be necessary. They were faster than the fastest surface vessel. So, the trip from Tau to UST was done within fifteen minutes of what Tave called leisurely travel. She didn’t want to know how fast he was when he tried.

They emerged into a covered bay. The dome hovered over the ocean and gave them a place to climb from the waters away from prying eyes. No more tabloid pictures of her mate’s junk. No way, no how.

Land-based Ujal greeted them. A female ventured forward to hand off a robe for Rina. The fabric was light yet warming after her dip in the cold waters, and it quickly wicked away any moisture on her skin. Tave leapt from the sea and was presented with something similar while the guards were given wraps that covered them from the waist down and left their arms free.

When she’d asked if the men wanted to cover up a little more, she was immediately shot down. They wanted to flex their muscles to see if they could attract human mates. It was also why, when they’d discovered Rina liked licking the muscles at her mate’s hips, they all inched their wraps a hint farther south.

Men.

Tave came to her side, trident in his right hand while he reached for her with his left. “Are you ready, my
pyabi
?”

“You still haven’t told me what that means,” she grumbled and then answered his question. “I’m as ready as I’m gonna be.”

“Then come. Let’s us speak to the press and tell all of our joy.”

Rina picked at her bathing suit—again—and wiggled her ass. Joy. Right. All kinds of joy… while she had a wedgie.

Tave glared at every male focusing on his mate. Then he spied several females looking at Rina with speculation and appreciation. He glared at them as well.

The press representative for the UST approached the podium, the female’s high heels clicking across the raised metal platform. He noted Rhal’s stiffening posture and he echoed the move. What did his lead guard sense that Tave did not? He scanned the surroundings and found nothing. “Rhal?”

The male snapped his attention to Tave. “Sire?”

“What do you see? Is there danger?”

Rhal frowned and shook his head. “No, Sire. Apologies. Our surroundings are secure. The principessa is safe.”

He kept his gaze on his friend and protector, noting the deep lines that lurked near his eyes and the tension filling him. “Rhal—”

The press representative’s words captured him. “…to introduce Tave fa V’yl-Zeret, Crown Prince of Ujal, High Warrior of the Ruling Caste and mate to Rina Zeret.”

He let his gaze scan the crowd, adopting a practiced smile as he carefully led his mate toward the podium. He would not speak to any without her at his side. It was both a need to satisfy his desire to protect her
and
a sign of respect. He never wanted to be near other females without her. He wanted to show his dedication to his mate.