Terran (Breeder) (24 page)

Cocooned in their reconciliation, she hadn’t recognized her own fabric. But at the mention of Urazi, the effects of her poor judgment returned to haunt her, and a measure of her desire receded. “I’m so sor—”

He placed his finger over her lips. “He has recovered. Let’s us not talk of him in this moment.”

She nodded but now wondered if Marlix had insisted she don his shirt to protect her from more than the cold.

“My shirt will not tear,” he reiterated, his eyes glittering with devilment. “Yours, however, will.” He grabbed hold and tore it from collar to hem, then hauled her up and fastened his mouth onto her left nipple. Sweet, hot sensation zinged through the bud and into her womb. She clutched a handful of his crisp hair. Holding her with one arm across her lower spine, he tugged at her pants with the other. He swore as it resisted his efforts, and she giggled as she toed at her shoes. Pants and shoes fell in a heap. Panties followed.

“You will not wear Terran clothing anymore. Maybe panties. I like them.”

His frustration delighted her; his resulting bossiness amused her. “No, Alpha,” she said as straight-faced as she could.

He swatted her. Her ass quivered under the impact of his palm.

“Was that necessary?” she asked, faking a glare. Even his sexy manhandling caused lust to further dampen her pussy.

“Yes.” He slapped the other cheek. She moaned and wiggled, delighting in the sting.

He latched on to her wrist and spun her around. He stung her ass. “This is for leaving.” He cupped his palm and delivered another loud but harmless strike. “This is for hiding and not telling me where you were.”

She pranced around while he delivered swats and admonitions, some fair, some not, but all of them arousing. He must have felt the same, because he lifted her up and pressed her against the wall. He freed his cock in seconds and surged into her from behind with a single, powerful thrust.

He found her clit and manipulated the bud in the rough, circular manner she liked. Driven to the brink already by his nearness, his kisses, his spanking, Tara cried out when an orgasm undulated through her with lightning speed.

Marlix groaned in her ear, bit her shoulder hard enough to bruise her, and spilled himself. He leaned against her, panting against her neck. “That ought to hold us until we can get to our private chamber.”

She giggled until she realized he wasn’t kidding, he intended to take her again—and that he referred to his chamber as theirs. Her legs were already wobbly, and the rest of her melted into mush.

He disengaged, tucked his semihard cock back into his uniform trousers, and assisted her into his shirt. He rolled up her torn clothing with her shoes and tucked them under his arm. He activated the tube, and it descended.

It opened to reveal a worried Urazi. His frown of concern flashed into surprised awareness before shuttering behind a neutral mask. Relieved joy to see him alive and thriving flooded her, but she flushed with embarrassment. Had he guessed what they’d been doing? She glanced at his face. Of course he had.

“The sensor alerted me you had arrived, but then you did not appear for the longest time. I became concerned.”

“All is as it should be.” Marlix wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I have brought Tara home.”

Epilogue

One month later

“I have to admit, I did not comprehend your custom, but now that I see this”—Anika swept her arms and gave Tara the once-over—“I am beginning to understand. You look like a—condensed mass of water vapor.”

“A white cloud?” Tara raised her eyebrows with amusement.

“That’s it.”

“Thank you.” Tara smiled at the intended compliment and smoothed her shaky hands down her sides. She doubted anyone on the planet had seen a wedding dress. Embellished with seed pearls and crystals, the white satin gown with a single long sleeve fit snuggly over her torso and left arm but dipped under her right breast to leave it bare, then hugged her hips before flowing out in a lace-edged white train.

Wedding dress? No one on Parseon had seen a marriage ceremony.

Even Marlix had not understood what she had requested, but he had indulged her, told her to “do what she wanted,” and promised to show up at the appointed time.

Dak and Omra had granted the use of their luxuriously appointed, marble-constructed domicile for the event. Tara had discovered one of the vendors at the Bazaar was a retired judge and hired her to officiate the nuptials. She didn’t know if the ceremony would even be legal on Terra, but she’d never been one to worry about conventionalities, and she’d cut all ties with her home planet anyway. Her only regret was that Ramon was not alive to attend the wedding. She waved a hand in front of her face to stave off the tears. Marlix had promised to avenge his death and bring Qalin to justice.

“Do you have the ring?” Tara asked Anika, whom she’d chosen as her bridal attendant. Anika wore a violet shift the color of the Parseon moon and a garland of native flowers around her head.

“You have asked me that before. Twice.” Anika held up the man’s ring, forged from titanium, one of the most precious metals on Terra.

“I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.” She was so stressed by the wedding preparations that even her monthly visitor had been delayed. But that had worked in her favor. Mother Nature was one guest she did not want at the ceremony or her wedding night. She had big plans for the big baboon and was looking forward to being able to relax. She’d been so tired lately.

“Why are you nervous?”

Because Marlix might think the ceremony was silly. Because maybe he didn’t like white clouds. Because…because…what if he wouldn’t love her forever like she would love him? “Pre-wedding jitters. Everybody goes through them.”

“They do?”

From outside the library where Tara had exiled herself came the strains of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” played as a Terran wedding march for centuries. At the sound of the soothing music, Tara’s pulse doubled. “This is it!” A bout of recurring nausea churned her stomach. “Is my train straight?” She peered over her shoulder.

“Perfect,” said Anika.

“Okay. It’s a go.” She felt light-headed. Crap, what if she passed out? Tara hugged Anika. “Thank you for doing this.”

Anika opened the door and stepped outside. After she disappeared around the corner, Tara entered the hall. The queasiness persisted, and she pressed a hand to her abdomen to quell it.
You can do this. You can do this
. The music grew louder as she proceeded down the long corridor.

She paused outside Dak’s formal salon, standing back from the open door so Marlix and their guests could not see her.
This is it
. She took a deep breath.

MARLIX EYED THE assemblage and shook his head in amusement. Aliens. They had some bizarre customs. Especially the Terran who belonged to him and had insisted on this strange rite. He stood at the far end of Dak’s formal parlor and faced their guests while the oddest sort of music played. The flowing melody wasn’t unpleasant, just peculiar.

Like everything else Tara had planned for this day. For some reason he could not fathom, she’d measured his finger! She’d had black uniforms sewn for him and Urazi and a special shift designed for herself too—although she’d refused to allow him to see it. He hadn’t even seen
her
since yesterday. Bad luck, she’d said, and banished him.

He would have understood more of what was happening if he’d been able to attend her
rehearsal
, but he, Dak, and Ilian had been engaged in another strategic session involving Qalin. Rather than wait for him to strike and be placed in a defensive position, the allies’ troops would invade the other Alpha’s province early in the morn. Not the best time for a
wedding.

But he could not refuse the feleen.

He’d indulged most of her whims but had held the line on the guest list. For security reasons, he’d limited her to a handful of close individuals: Ilian and his beta; Dak, little Miri, and Omra, who held their latest child, a son born two weeks ago; Anika, whom Tara had bestowed with the odd title of
Bridesmaid
; Urazi, whom she’d dubbed as a
Best Male
, whatever that was; a couple of his trusted subcommanders and their betas; a half dozen Terrans she’d befriended at the Bazaar; and a female who had held some sort of government position on Terra and who would be officiating the ceremony.

All the seats had been filled sans two: empty spaces had been left in memory of Jergan and Ramon.

Anika entered with exaggerated slowness and proceeded to the front of the room to stand next to Urazi, who’d been given the task of holding the tagger. Marlix had planned to reattach a new breeder ring long before this, but Tara had asked him to wait until the ceremony.

He’d expected her to arrive right behind Anika, but she didn’t. He shifted on his heels and glanced at his sibling. She smiled mysteriously.

A step sounded outside the room, and Marlix turned his head toward the back of the chamber.

The air left his lungs in a whoosh.

Tara
floated
on a shimmering billow of white, a shift that was neither Parseon nor Terran but that captured the essence of both. Marlix’s jaw dropped, and he gawked along with their guests, feeling as if the marble floor beneath his feet had fallen away. He began to shake. She’d dyed her hair pink again and had piled it atop her head and decorated it with flowers. She clutched another bunch in her hands.

It seemed to take a lifetime before she reached him and passed her bouquet to Anika. Her green eyes appeared luminous, and a radiant smile trembled on her lips. She extended her hand, and he took it, dwarfed it in his. He stared, unable to say a word.

“We’re supposed to face the judge now,” she murmured. Together they turned.

“Alphas, betas, Terrans, and friends,” the official said in accented Parseon. “We are gathered here to celebrate a new alliance between an Alpha of Parseon and a female of Terra. To recognize and support the commitment and regard that they have for one another…”

The officiant droned on, but Marlix tuned her out and focused on Tara. She was his. Would always be his. No misunderstanding, no anger, no civil war would part them. He would care for her, comfort her, and protect her with his life.

“And now, please repeat after me… I, Marlix, Alpha of Parseon, Province Four, take thee…”

“I, Marlix, Alpha of Parseon, Province Four, take thee, Tara Diehl, to be my breeder and
wedded wife
,” Marlix said, repeating the vows as coached by the official, including the untranslatable Terran words. “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to hold in regard until death do us part.”

Marlix stared into Tara’s eyes as she recited, “I, Tara Diehl, take thee, Marlix, Alpha of Parseon, Province Four, to be my Alpha and
wedded husband
, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and health, to regard and to obey till death do us part.”

The official signaled Urazi, who handed Marlix the tagger, loaded with his insignia, and a new telenium ring. He gipped the tool and willed his trembling hands to still. When he calmed, he pinched her nipple to a peak, then aligned the tagger to the existing hole and released the trigger to attach and weld the ring.

His. Forever.

“And now, you, Tara, may present Marlix with your ring.”

Marlix widened his eyes as Anika handed her a small object.

“Give me your left hand,” Tara commanded.

He obeyed, and she wiggled a ring onto his fourth finger. “Now you’re mine,” she whispered. He flexed his fingers. The ring felt heavy but right.

“Insomuch as you have pledged your commitment to one another by your vows and the giving of insignia and ring, I now pronounce you Alpha and breeder, husband and wife. Congratulations. You may kiss your breeder.”

Tara raised her face, and Marlix claimed her lips in an intimate and searing kiss, a promise of the evening to come. He remembered the first time he’d watched her stomp around her Bazaar stall and his doubts that she would have what he needed.

He released her and stared into her glowing but embarrassed face.

The colorful, green-eyed, pink-haired Terran had exactly what he needed.

Loose Id Titles by Cara Bristol

Destiny’s Chance

Reckless in Moonlight

* * * *

The BREEDER Series

Breeder

Terran

* * * *

The ROD AND CANE Series

Unexpected Consequences

False Pretences

Body Politics

* * * *

Disciplinary Measures

(a
Rod and Cane Society
Spring Fling)

Cara Bristol

Cara Bristol writes the kind of romance she likes to read: spicy tales of love and lust that are fun, sexy, and stirring. She believes a touch of taboo or a hint of kink only makes a love story that much hotter.

When she’s not whipping up erotic stories, Cara loves to travel the world with her husband, walk the beach of the Pacific Northwest island where she lives, and though she hates to admit it, watch reality TV shows. Oh, and she reads -- erotic romance, of course.