A Civilized Mating (2 page)

Mandy shook her head. “Nope. It’s weird. The scientists ruled out anything psychic or hormone related. Just a freak of nature, I guess. You can’t help looking at them. I mean, male perfection, right?” She sighed. “I get why Lisa lost her way.”

I do too, though this is typical for Lisa and her dealings with the opposite sex. Get in a bind, call Skye. Rinse. Repeat.
“Interesting. Maybe it’s a genetic marker, a kind of advancement within the warrior people on Ussed.” And to be filed away for later, when she met this Maht guy. “Kind of hard to fight when you’re drooling over your opponent.”

“Exactly.”

Skye frowned. “So how is it Welcome doesn’t have more issues with the guards dragging women off with them? I mean, from what I saw, several guests would have been more than willing.”

“It’s forbidden. The East-West Treaty stands so long as the barbarians don’t interfere with resort attendants or guests. And to be honest, the barbarians just aren’t interested in those outside their tribes. Well, until Lisa. There have been so few exceptions over the years it’s a big deal if it happens.”

Skye perked up. Maybe there was a way out of this without losing her dream job or hurting Lisa’s future here. “Great. So then I just need to find Lisa’s supervisor and… Why are you shaking your head?”

“Resort employees are forbidden from interacting socially with the guards. Maht abducted her, but Lisa was more than eager to party with him
before
he took her. One thing the Vyctore Clan don’t do is molest the unwilling. So even if Lisa claimed Maht forced her, no one would believe her.”

Skye frowned. “I thought might makes right in the East.”

“It does, but there’s more to it than that. The barbarians are a lot more complicated than the books let on. All I can tell you is that Lisa’s in way over her head. If Mr. Franklin finds out she’s not really sick but shacking up with Maht, she’s fired and no longer Welcome’s problem. And if you don’t get her back from Maht, she’ll end up becoming barbarian property. Then she’ll be stuck on the planet with no way out.”

“But how can you say that if the employees and barbarians don’t mix? Maybe Maht will get bored with her and dump her by next month. Then all this won’t matter.”

“I didn’t say they never mix, only that they’re not supposed to. Like I said, they rarely venture outside their own culture for mating, so it’s never been a big deal before. Lisa’s the first girl from the resort I know of who grabbed a barbarian’s attention. Barbarian mating is serious stuff. The last time this happened was a hundred seventy-five
years
ago. Some Hrasheen princess fell in love with one of them and took him back to her planet to rule her kingdom. Ever since the big stink her uncle made over the matter, Welcome’s policy about fraternization has become a huge deal.”

“Great. So how do I go about getting her back?”

Mandy pulled out a map. “I’ve noted the last known sightings of some nearby Vyctore clan outposts. I bet Maht took her to one of them. That or he’s already back at his village. But I haven’t heard any rumors about new mating ceremonies or foreigners in the village, so I’m betting he hasn’t committed to her officially yet.”

“You haven’t heard? Heard from who?”

Mandy blushed. “Kahl, one of the perimeter guards, is a friend.
Just
a friend. Sometimes we talk.”

Skye would bet that wasn’t all Mandy wanted to do with him, but Mandy wasn’t her problem. Lisa was. Sometimes being a loyal best friend sucked. “Fine. So what’s the plan?”

“Lisa told me all about you.”
Whatever that meant.
“You find her and Maht before he gets back to the village. Talk some sense into his hard head. Lisa said you have a way with men.”

“I kick ass. I don’t know that that’s a ‘way with men’.”

“Well, then kick his ass. But get Lisa back here in the next nine days, in time for the Green Moon Dance, or she’s fired. I can’t cover for her past that. Everyone at the resort is expected to attend.”

“Terrific.” Nine days—one Ussed standard week. “I’ve got one measly week to find Lisa and drag her back here.”

Time to get cracking…

Talzec frowned at the scene taking place in the shade while his men trained in the hot sun of the weapons courtyard. The sounds of clashing steel, grunts, and swearing mixed with the tangy scent of blood and sweat. Those were familiar and welcome senses that Talzec prized in his clan—the strongest of the strong.

Sex had its place as well. One of his warriors receiving ease by a female or fellow warrior was no big deal. But during the day, when the bastard should be
training
? Against the thick trunk of the
maffet
tree, Katan moaned as the female worked his cock with long draws of her mouth, moving enthusiastically and distracting more than a few of Katan’s peers.

Before Talzec could chastise the undisciplined warrior for creating such a spectacle, Xav took over. The clan’s second in command—Talzec’s beta—joined the pair in the shadows, murmured something to the female, then waited while Katan finished. His groan of contentment annoyed the piss out of Talzec, who would never reward a warrior for poor behavior.

Though the planet called them barbarians, he liked to think his people were more civilized than grunting brawlers who were more comfortable naked than clothed. His people did more than fight and breed. They strategized, bartered, raised their own crops, and defended their own. As their leader, Talzec brought more than power to his clan. He brought a clear-sighted vision of the future—one that didn’t allow for his men to ignore their duty in favor of a good fuck.

The female lowered Katan’s loincloth, stood, then bowed her head with respect. Katan at least had the sense to thank the woman before she left the area.

Talzec waited to see what Xav would do, fully prepared to thrash Katan in front of one and all to make a point. But Xav didn’t disappoint him. “With me,” he barked the order, and Katan seemed to deflate before nodding, fully aware of the repercussions awaiting him.

The pair moved into the training circle, and the others soon cleared the space to watch. Then Xav proceeded to show the men the merits of learning defense and attack in lieu of gaining pleasure, hitting all of Katan’s weak spots. The brutal scene didn’t take long before Katan couldn’t regain his feet and begged for a break, bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth and clutching his belly. Xav glanced up at Talzec.

He nodded, and Xav left the group after ordering their trainers to begin again. Xav reached Talzec and held up a hand. “No, I know what you’re going to say.”

Talzec raised a brow.

Xav glared. “I had to let him finish. Even I’m not that cruel. You know Jalla’s a genius with that mouth.”

It had been too many days and nights since he’d last experienced such pleasure, but Talzec had more command over his baser needs than most. “Did Katan give you a reason for why he decided to ignore training?”

Xav sighed. “You know it’s getting harder. Our females are only so many. The men aren’t bonding like we used to.” He paused. “We might need to start raiding again.”

“Damn.” Talzec had known this was coming.

“Some of the men have formed their own pair bonds, but we need more females. You know that.”

“Yes, but breaking training protocols isn’t the way to go about it.” Since he’d fought and won the challenge to take command of his clan a year prior, he’d been making changes. The clan had wanted someone to help them grow, and Talzec was just the warrior to lead them into the future. They already outclassed the other clans in weaponry skills and sheer ferocity when it came to battle. The Western resort now requested their members for guard duty more than any other clan.

But sexual issues had come to a head if his own men couldn’t contain their needs.

“You don’t feel it like they do. Like the
rest of us
do,” Xav emphasized.

Talzec saw the strain on his friend’s face and sighed. “I see.”

“I don’t think you do. Without the mating bond, the men aren’t finding satisfaction. Pairing with each other helps, but even for those
with
such a relationship, they’re losing focus.”

Talzec understood more than Xav knew. “You think because I lost Nalla I don’t feel the same urges.”

“I know you don’t.”

“Oh?” Talzec should have seen this coming days ago. Xav had been acting up more than usual. If Talzec hadn’t been so used to suppressing his own desires, he’d have seen to Xav’s needs without having to be reminded.

“When Nalla died, you went into mourning. We all know how hard that can be.” Xav paused. “But if you’d really look at what happened to you, you’d realize you—”

Talzec left before he did something he’d regret. Like pound Xav into the next territory. Though it had been a little over a year since Nalla had left them, he still felt her passing deep in the hurt parts of him he kept buried—because a true leader did what was best for his clan, not just himself. Grief had no place in a world built on vigor and might. He could not afford weakness. None of them could.

Barbarians, warriors, indomitable fighters. Talzec and his men were the best of the best, and they had enemies. Warriors who didn’t like them changing tradition. Rival clans who wanted their fertile lands, ripe women, and stalwart sons. He prized all of his people, and for a time he’d loved one more than any other.

Yet he, like the others, knew it hadn’t been a
true
mating. Had it been, he would have died along with Nalla, bonded in that most fundamental of ways—through lifeforce. His love of her had been true, but something had been missing. And he hated the reminder.

He lengthened his stride, not wanting to lose his composure in front of his men, several of whom had stopped fighting to watch him with Xav. He turned away from the main trail leading into the village center and instead sought a rarely used passage to a private grotto, where he normally went to work off his raging aggressions. Even among barbarians, Talzec knew he could be extremely destructive.

As expected, Xav, that tenacious bastard, followed him.

“Talzec, you run from yourself.” 

He stopped and turned around so fast Xav knocked into him. Annoyed, he used Xav’s momentum to flip the man onto his back, slamming him onto the ground.
Hard.
His warrior markings, normally skin-colored, darkened to black as he let loose his passion. He wasn’t surprised to see Xav’s markings already visible, swirling in patterns on his upper shoulders and down his broad chest.

Xav reached up to grab his arm, and Talzec extended his hand. Yet Xav apparently hadn’t finished trying to make a point. He yanked Talzec down and grunted when Talzec let his full weight slam into his beta. They rolled over thick grass, each trying to outmaneuver the other. The battlelust between them grew. Fists, knees, and elbows knocked and dug into firm flesh. The invigorating challenge whetted Talzec’s appetite to dominate.

Only Xav came close to matching him in a hand-to-hand brawl. His beta made up in agility what Talzec had in power, and they wrangled long enough for their contest of wills to shift into a need for something more.

The constant rubbing against each other had turned Xav rock hard, as Talzec had anticipated. But he hadn’t worked off his rage just yet.

“You need me,” Xav said, half-strangled under Talzec’s forearm. “Admit it.”

“Oh?” He leaned close and sucked at the base of Xav’s throat, causing the leaner man to arch into him. “That’s a nice thick cock rubbing against me. You want release?”

“Need it,” Xav breathed, and Talzec pulled back to see his lover flushed with desire. “Need
you
.” Xav ground up against Talzec’s own impressive erection.

Talzec hadn’t taken release in too long, and the fury of his arousal caught him off guard. The surge of passion he’d kept tamped down rolled to the surface.

Now Xav would get what he’d asked for—Talzec’s way.

Xav moaned into Talzec’s mouth as his lover, his commander, took charge. Talzec had always been the best of them, a natural leader. An alpha warrior at heart. Firm but not cruel, emotionless at times, but never heartless. He’d been missing Nalla for too long, and it was past time Xav forced the man to take a good hard look at himself.

Sex with Talzec was like nothing Xav had ever felt with anyone else. They’d been friends since birth but hadn’t bonded until just after Nalla’s passing. Xav belonged to his lover, but unlike Talzec, he knew they needed to mate with
their
female. A woman to complete them both. They just had to find her first.

Talzec murmured, “I’m here,
tonan
.”
Tonan
—a term of general affection in one sense. On a deeper level, it meant
of my heart
, said from Master to submissive. Xav never knew exactly how Talzec meant it. Hell, he wasn’t sure Talzec knew how he meant it. “Stay with me, damn it.” Talzec sucked Xav’s nipple into his mouth, then bit down, and Xav moaned.

A rough hand wrapped around his throat, making it difficult to breathe, which amped his desire. He jerked and swore, his cock on fire as Talzec continued to grind over him. But before Xav could pull his lover to him for another kiss, Talzec reached his free hand between them. He felt under Xav’s loincloth and grabbed the steely, slick shaft needing ease.

“Mother suns, please,” Xav begged.
Please, tonai,
he wanted to say but didn’t.
Tonai
—
heart made whole
, from submissive to master. An acknowledgement of his place they both tacitly acknowledged but refused to say aloud. “Please.”

“Watch me,” Talzec growled, let go of his throat, and stared into Xav’s face as he worked him faster and harder, his grip both punishing and so right Xav teetered on the edge of orgasm all too soon.

They didn’t talk, only the grunting and harsh breaths of carnal hunger sounded between them.

“Come,” Talzec ordered.

Xav was helpless to obey. His first release jetted over Talzec’s thick fingers, and he felt a part of him relax as his lover took his tension away. But his desire, not yet fully sated, flared anew when Talzec shifted over him, reminding him his
tonai
had yet to find his own ease.