Ferun's Mate: Alien Breeding Romance (Celoch Breeders Book 1) Read online

  After an hour, it occurred to him that Zoe was taking a long time. An hour was a reasonable amount of time to longue in a bathing pool, but not to stand under a spray of tepid water. He wished there were a module on his sentry that would allow him to monitor Zoe’s parameters so that he could reassure himself of her wellbeing. In lieu of that, the only option was to go and check on her.

  Once at her door, he nearly opened it. His finger halted over the keypad as he recalled the protocol for entering a female’s room. He fisted his hand and then knocked it three times against her door.

  He thought he heard something, but he couldn’t be sure. The door was of good quality and muffled all but the loudest of voices. He knocked again, and then listened. There was no reply. He repeated this three more times, growingly increasingly anxious and on the verge of shirking protocol and opening the door himself.

  Finally, the door slid open and she was there, dressed in a clean robe that clung to her body. Her face was scrunched and her eyes were red.

  “I didn’t know how to open the door,” she said, sounding defensive. “Where’s the fire?”

  “Fire?”

  Was he supposed to bring a flame to her?

  She shook her head. “What’s wrong that you had to bang on my door a million times?”

  He knew that humans were prone to exaggerations, but a million times? That was an egregious overestimate.

  “You were gone a long time. I wanted to check on you.”

  Zoe eyed him for a moment, her expression slowly softening. She bit down her lip, and then asked, “Can you come in for a second?”

  They were also prone to underestimating time. A second, he learned, could be a placeholder for virtually any length of time less than a full day.

  He stepped into the room. It was warm from the hot washroom air and it already smelled like her.

  She pointed at her bed. “Can you sit over there? Or lay down? However you’re comfortable. And take off your boots, please.”

  Ferun stared at her back as she made her way over to the bed. Was this going to be intercourse?

  He kicked his boots off and followed her, his arousal growing with each step toward the bed. It wasn’t ideal. Her bed was much smaller than his own and he wouldn’t fit comfortably on it, but if this was where she wanted to breed he would not object. He would have her anywhere she desired.

  His heart was hammering as he sat on the edge of the bed. The frame groaned ominously under his weight. Zoe sat on the other side, her legs drawn up against her chest and her chin resting on her knees. She had the wary look in her eyes once again.

  “Listen,” she said, as if he hadn’t hung on every word she’d yet spoken to him. “I just need you to, you know, be here. Okay? You don’t have to talk and don’t ask me what’s wrong. Just lay back and let me be here with you. Understand?”

  It seemed too important to lie about.

  “No.”

  She sighed. “Just lay down. Please?”

  He did as she asked, resting his head against an overly plush pillow. His feet hung off the end of the bed frame. Zoe took note of his feet and smiled, but then her smile faltered and trembled.

  Ferun watched, perplexed as Zoe crawled over to him and laid her head down on his shoulder. She put an arm across his chest and pressed her body close to his as it began to shudder. To Ferun’s horror, she started to cry.

  He attempted to sit up, but she pushed him back down. He’d encountered rodents that could deliver more force than her arm, but he was too uncertain to assert himself.

  “Zoe—”

  “Shh!”

  He wasn’t familiar with the sound, but he understood that he was being silenced. His annoyance was short-lived as she cuddled closer to him, her hand gripping the fabric of his outfit as if she might fall away.

  Ferun closed his arms around her, drawing her in closer. He was surprised when she didn’t draw away or issue a complaint. After a few of the longest moments of his life, her sobs began to die down.

  “Do you think you could find out about my mother?” she asked, still sniffling.

  It was a vexing request, but he would do whatever she asked of him.

  “What about her?”

  “If she’s alive. If she knows I’m okay? Or maybe I could send a message for her?”

  The logistics of such a thing would be an absolute nightmare. Just getting communications to and from their vessels in the human star system was problematic and the messages took years to traverse the distance. Still, he wasn’t going to deny her.

  “I’ll file a request tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you.”

  She turned her head up as she spoke, giving him a close view of her face. It was reddened and wet, but still lovely.

  “My mom is the one that entered me,” she said softly. Even her breath smelled nice. “She didn’t tell me. I didn’t know until I got the call.”

  “Entered you?”

  She gave him another faltering smile. “My mom was always gambling. It was really bad when I was a kid. It took losing everything for her to finally admit that she had a problem. She got help, but even then I’d sometimes find scratch tickets and—you have no idea what those are, do you?”

  Ferun shook his head.

  “It’s not important. Anyway, I was a kid when they announced that they’d made first contact with the Celoch. It was a few years later that they announced they’d be starting EAP, the ambassador program. By the time I was an adult, they’d ‘clarified the mission’ and it became about sending women that were willing to live and have kids with the Celoch.

  “There were eighty open spots on the first vessel and everyone that met the cutoff age wanted in. Fifty of the spots went to the families of the people who funded the program, ten went to women that passed merit tests, and the rest went to everyone else via the lottery.

  “By then, I was twenty-four, right at the cutoff. Everyone my age had entered, but I didn’t. It was mostly because of my mom. After how I’d grown up, I was really averse to anything that seemed like gambling. But it was also that I didn’t want the hope, you know? I didn’t want to wait for my name to come up even though I knew it wouldn’t. I didn’t want to fantasize about leaving Earth or my shitty job. You see, I’m not the type of person that wins anything. I’m the type of person that loses at everything. Until my name was called for this.”

  She paused, seeming to need a moment to compose herself. While she did, Ferun digested what she was telling him. He had assumed that all the women sent to them were human versions of exemplars, but that was not the case at all. Even the women who had earned their positions were there due to familial influence, not because they’d merited the honors. He found himself somewhat insulted on behalf of his people.

  Zoe said, “My job isn’t what you think. I’m the night shift inventory manager. I don’t even stock things. I make sure other people do, I avoid customers, and I spend a lot of time on my phone playing games. I still sleep on my mom’s couch. I’m no one special and I don’t deserve any of this. I definitely don’t deserve someone like you.”

  He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.

  “I know what you’re going to say.” He highly doubted that. “I know the gist of it anyway. You’re probably just happy to have someone you can sleep with and have kids with. But you should know that I’m not going to give you any elite children. If you want that, there are some very qualified Martian girls back at base, and they’re taller, too. I know I said no take backs, but I won’t hold it against you if you’d rather have someone else.”

  Ferun couldn’t possibly address everything she’d said to him. It was too much and some of it didn’t make any sense to him. Regardless of the insult he felt on behalf of his people, Zoe was here, in his arms. He had accepted her into his care and nothing she’d said would change that.

  Instead, he simply said, “You’re fine.”

  He was proud when she laughed, because it was the first time he’
d been trying to make her do so.

  “You’re really not mad?”

  Had she thought he would be angry with her?

  “No.”

  She seemed satisfied by his answer. For a moment, she simply let him hold her and he could feel the pace of her breathing slow. Then, her hand was no longer gripping his clothing. Her index finger began drawing strange, circular patterns against the side of his torso.

  The color was back in her cheeks as she asked, “I don’t imagine you know what kissing is?”

  Ferun didn’t know if that was an invitation, but he wouldn’t risk missing the opportunity. He moved onto his side and aligned his face with hers. When he saw no signs of rejection, he lowered his lips to hers.

  It was one thing to know of kissing and the mechanics of it, but putting it into practice was quite another. He knew how to move his lips and of the various things he could do with his tongue and his teeth. But no one had told him what to do with his hands. He had to learn that by mirroring Zoe, stroking the sides of her face as she did his and running his fingers through her soft hair.

  He’d never given thought to how a female would react to being kissed. The way she would move her body against his, or little noises she would make, or how the friction of her movements would cause his sanity to slip.

  Kissing, he’d learned was a gesture with situational significance. Because they were lying together on a bed, it was likely to be a signal that Zoe would be receptive to intercourse. Still, he wasn’t fully certain, not until her hand slipped down to stroke his erection.

  At her touch, Ferun let out a sound that startled them both. They broke apart and for a few, desperate seconds he thought that he might have frightened away any arousal he’d stoked in her. Then, she closed her hand around his length and gave him a tentative smile.

  “Is this okay?” she asked.

  The question made no sense to him and he could only blink at her. As she searched his eyes, he inwardly willed her not to move her hand from him.

  But she did. She moved it and he wanted to growl at her, but that would definitely frighten her.

  She put her hand to his shoulder and pinched the fabric of his jumpsuit.

  “Can you take this off and lay back?”

  His frustration receded a little. It was a good sign that she was asking him to remove his clothes. But laying back? That, he was less certain about. Wasn’t he supposed to be on top of her? Or behind her?

  Ferun contemplated this as he removed his jumpsuit. He required none of the same undergarments that she did and was fully naked once he cast the suit aside.

  Any confidence that Zoe had displayed was gone. The female that had gripped his hair as they kissed and had told him to remove his clothes had reverted to her former, fidgety self.

  Ferun sat up and took her hands into his before she picked off what was left of her fingernails. He brought her hands up to touch his chest, just as she had done for him in the washroom.

  “You look very…strong,” she mumbled.

  It occurred to Ferun that the qualities he found lacking in her body must have seemed exaggerated in his own. Had she expected him to look like one of her soft, fleshy males? Would his body seem too hard and severe for her? Did he seem less like a breeding partner and more like a threat?

  “I will be careful with you,” he told her, and he hoped it was the truth. He had never wanted anything as badly as he wanted her and he wasn’t entirely sane at the moment. He didn’t think there was anything he wouldn’t say if he thought it would gain him entry into her body.

  “I believe you.” She gave him a gentle push. “Lay back down.”

  He didn’t allow himself to be disappointed this time. She had asked him to remove his clothes and she wanted him to lie down in her bed. Something was going to happen, he just hoped it involved his penis.

  For a few minutes, all she did was touch his chest. He wasn’t exactly displeased though, particularly as she scooted closer to him and leaned against him a little. He still couldn’t tell if she liked his muscles, but she was certainly intrigued by them. She ran her fingers across them and traced between the grooves. Ferun impressed himself with his ability to remain still, despite the demanding throb of his erection.

  He recognized that he could ask her to touch his penis, or ask for what he really wanted, which was to be inside of her. But both questions, once posed, ran the risk of rejection. Ferun knew himself to be capable of a great many things, but he couldn’t fathom handling her rejection now, not when he felt so in need of her.

  He would try to be patient and allow things to progress naturally. And as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he would claim her.

  Zoe had been touching him for so long that Ferun was startled when she suddenly straddled him. The breath left him, and it had little to do with her insignificant weight on his abdomen. He could feel the heat from the juncture of her thighs and she’d never felt more real to him.

  She leaned down so that her hair fanned around his head and she kissed again. He took advantage of the moment and ran his hands down her back and over the swell of her backside, until he was gripping her bare thighs. Rather than shying away from his touch, she leaned into it and made what he thought was an encouraging moan.

  Ferun moved his hands back up, this time slipping under her robe. When he found nothing but bare skin where her undergarment should have been, he heaved out an exhalation.

  Zoe pulled back and bit down on her swollen lip. “You must feel so pent up.” She brushed hair back from his forehead. “Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you. Just lay back and let me give you what you need.”

  Ferun couldn’t have dreamed sweeter words. The tension in his shoulders loosened and he reluctantly released his hold on her thighs. He watched, utterly captivated as she lifted her hips and scooted down his body. He could hardly draw a shallow breath as she positioned herself over the tip of his erection.

  He knew the instant he came in contact with her entrance. It was warm and wet and everything he hadn’t known he’d needed. It also felt small, much too narrow to accommodate the full length and girth of his erection.

  Ferun had a moment of panic where he feared he’d done something wrong. He’d gone over the stages of intercourse dozens of times but he hadn’t anticipated that his female would be the one controlling the flow. Should he have entered her sooner, before he’d grown so hard and thick? Would they have to wait for him to soften? Would it even be possible now? He didn’t feel like he could pause now, not before he released the seed that was welled inside of him.

  To his relief and amazement, she began to lower herself onto him. Her passage expanded to take him in, aided by her ample lubrication. She made a low, throaty noise as she began to fill herself, but all Ferun could do was remind himself to breathe.

  Nothing should feel so good.

  Some civilized part of him wanted to cast her off and flee in one final burst of self-preservation. He felt the moment when that part of him died, when he was as deep inside of her as he could be and she sighed. Nothing would ever be as it was before.

  With her hand on his torso for leverage, she began to move her hips in an enchanting rhythm. Ferun no longer struggled for breath. He took in deep lungfuls of air with each gasping inhalation. Noises came from his chest, deep sounds that he’d never made before. They didn’t scare her. If anything, they spurred her on.

  That was good, because Ferun couldn’t have censured himself, no more than he could stopped his own hips from rising to meet hers. She liked that, too. She had her own noises for him, although hers were softer and sweeter.

  So many of his thoughts had been of filling her with his seed, but when Ferun felt the pressure in his groin start to build, he tried to resist it. It felt so incredible to have her on top of him, coaxing him toward climax with each flex of her hips. He didn’t want it to stop, but he also couldn’t stop what was coming. The urge to empty his seed into her was too strong and too new.

 
Ferun shot up as he felt the heat start to surge forward. No coherent thoughts directed his actions. It wasn’t until his body was shuddering with his climax that he realized he was on top of her, pinning her down. Only her small hand stroking his back told him that he hadn’t hurt her.

  He remained on top of her for a while, his body periodically trembling with a lingering wave of climax. He was sure that his erection was supposed to soften after he’d climaxed, but that didn’t seem to be happening. He knew that should probably concern him, but at the moment it didn’t feel like anything could be wrong.

  He slumped to the side, careful to keep them joined that the hips. With an arm around her, he pulled Zoe in close to his body. They were both perspiring.

  There were no words he could think to say to her. He wanted to thank her, but he remembered that was something they weren’t supposed to say following intercourse.

  While he tried to think of something appropriate, it became apparent that their intercourse was not over. Zoe made this clear as she took his free hand and guided it down to where their bodies converged. She showed him how she wanted to be touched and rewarded him with breathy whispers when he got it right.

  “That’s it... There... Yes...”

  She began to arch against him. It felt good, even though he still felt sensitive from his climax. He started to move with her, but his mind wasn’t quite so frenzied this time. He could think, to a certain extent. Mostly, he thought about how perfectly their bodies fit together and how natural it felt to be inside of her.

  She said his name for the first time right before she moaned. Her hand clamped down on his, pulling it away just as she went rigid.

  Ferun went still as well, waiting to see what she would do next. All she seemed to want was to slump against his chest. She didn’t protest when he resumed moving inside of her, so he went on doing just that.

  It took longer for him to climax the second time, but it was also more intense. It didn’t take him by surprise, nor was it such a shock to his system that he couldn’t be fully present to experience it.