Calm (7 page)

Mir got to her feet and retrieved dessert. Fruit drizzled with sweet syrup. As she set the tray down, she asked Meri, “So, do you cook?”

Meri shrugged. “I haven’t cooked since I left my world. I travel too much to get used to cooking with foreign foods. I usually eat rations designed for my people.”

Vehn raised his brows, “Would you like to learn how to cook here on Reepha?”

“Of course. If I can’t be a mediator, I will need something to occupy my time.”

Vehn brought her hand to his lips again,
I plan to occupy as much of your time as I can manage.

Meri ate her berries with the fingers of her free hand and left the other in Vehn’s custody.

She tried to lick the syrup free of her fingers, but before she could get her hand to her lips, Vehn had grabbed it and brought it to his own mouth.

Hisk laughed, grabbed Mir and told Niika it was her bedtime. Niika must have gotten a message from one of her grandparents, because she rushed over and gave Meri a kiss and then Vehn before scampering off.

Ys waved at them. “Leave the dishes, I will get them later.”

Meri turned to face him and smiled. “You have a knack for sending your family running.”

He lifted her sticky hand to his lips and slowly licked each bit of sugary treat from her fingers. “It is a knack I developed since meeting you. I give you full credit.”

She laughed and ignored the tug low in her belly that coincided to each stroke and suck of his mouth. Her evening had suddenly taken a less-than-parental turn.

Chapter Ten

Vehn’s room was dressed in silvers and blues, but Meri didn’t stop to stare. She was interested on the closure of his wrap and nothing else.

He pulled her hand away from the knotted fabric, and with two sharp tugs, let it fall.

I have to say that it’s a little strange to be on a planet that doesn’t require one to cover up. It is tremendously freeing.

He laughed, gripped her by the hips and pressed her to the wall beside the door. With steady hands, he moved her skirt aside.
It is also highly convenient.

His thighs pinned her and supported her while his fingers slid into her folds. His fingers primed her with long strokes that curved along the front wall of her channel.

Meri closed her eyes as his mouth licked and sucked at her neck. She whimpered and clutched at his shoulders.

Your neck is delightful. I think I could almost make you cum just by licking here.
He tongued a spot below her ear and Meri shuddered violently.

Her breath left her lungs in a rush, and she arched against his chest, the wall scratched her shoulders, but the light burn added to the other sensations.

He moved his fingers from her and replaced it with the hard slide of his cock and the delightful appendage that rubbed her clit with every stroke. She held onto him as he pushed into her, his thighs flexing between hers in a steady pace that stole her breath and had her exhaling on tiny moans.

It was such a peculiar feeling to have him inside her mind and her body at the same time that she reached out and took his lust for her and made it her own.

Her roar of release echoed in the air, and when she dumped her pleasure into his mind, he followed with a sharp bite to her shoulder that kept the spasms going forever.

Meri draped her arms around him and hung on as her entire body went limp, but her inner muscles milked him endlessly.

I love the way that feels. I could stay in you forever.
His inner voice was lazy and satisfied.

No you couldn’t. You would get all wrinkled and pruny and that is something I could not deal with.
She chuckled and nuzzled his neck, careful to avoid his gills.

Why do you avoid my gills?

She raised her head and looked him in the eye. “I thought you would want me to. Mine are really sensitive, so I wasn’t sure how a casual contact would feel to someone else.”

He smiled. “They are muscles and tissue with nerves that are very sensitive and can be pleasurable if approached correctly. Shall I demonstrate?”

She shifted. “No, not against the wall. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it tremendously…”

“I could tell.”

“But right now, my back is on fire, so I would appreciate a change in location.”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, walking with her to the bed. He uncoupled from her and helped her remove the rest of her clothing.

She groaned as she knelt on the sheets. Her knees fought going together. He was proportional, but his hips were wider than she was accustomed to.

Meri gathered her hair and watched him putter around the room, folding their clothing and flipping the latch on the door.

She stared in shock. “So the door was open the entire time?”

“No, of course not. It was closed, just not locked.” He knelt on the bed and moved behind her. “Now, as you use your gills more frequently, they will become able to withstand a little more rough handling. For now, we will start with something light.”

He licked along one of her gills and it fluttered. The tip of his tongue worked just below the edge and when he stroked along it, the feeling was akin to having a tongue slipping along the entrance to her sex.

She froze as he did the same to the other side, terrified that he would stop and horrified that he would continue. He stopped and pulled back. “You see?”

Meri licked her lips and swallowed. “I see that the sensitivity has its uses.”

Vehn laughed. “It does. My gills are fine, you can touch, stroke and do anything you wish to them, I will tell you if I need you to stop.”

She turned and groaned as her muscles pulled. “Can we save the exploration for tomorrow? I have had a bit of a day.”

The sigh of disappointment was heartfelt, but he gathered her in his arms and pulled her horizontal.

“I can wait until tomorrow or the next day or the next. In fact, I think I will just enjoy holding you right now.” His voice was sleepy and slurred, but he held her tight against him until his breathing evened out.

Meribeth smiled and drew her fingers down his arm, tracing a pattern that took her mind into a quiet place where she joined Vehn in sleep.

The next morning, they walked to the lake, hand in hand with Niika beaming between them. Breakfast had been a discussion of the official ceremony with Hisk and Ys leading the charge. Mir had sat back and watched her daughter and husband craft the guest list while Niika twirled at the idea of carrying the joining bands.

Meri didn’t have an opinion on the matter, because she had no idea what the ceremony was supposed to look like, and Vehn didn’t really care as long as Meri wasn’t leaving him.

He was in constant contact with her, his hand touching hers, thigh pressed to hers and mind sending whispers of affection into her thoughts.

The peculiar feeling settled in her chest as she looked at the Kaos around the table. Aside from her pale skin, she felt that she was one of the family.

Walking into the water with her bright blue clothing still felt surreal, but Vehn only needed to hold her under for a minute before her gills opened.

She gripped his head and rolled in the water with him, bringing Niika to join the fun with a giggle that came through on the psychic plane.

Niika will be late if we keep that up.
He delivered a pat to her behind and pulled her to him, coaxing her into the same swimming pattern as his legs while he tugged Niika along.

After they dropped her off, they spent the day introducing Meri to their neighbours and touring the underwater city.

They engaged in the same ritual every day for a week until the day that Vehn got a call.

“Niika has been in a fight at school. We need to go.” Vehn sighed and put on his wrap.

Meri smoothed her skirt down and verified that her top was back where it should be. “Let’s go.”

Meri jumped into the wet entrance without a look back at Vehn. With determination and a growing skill, she swam next to Vehn all the way to the school.

She built up speed on her way into the school’s entrance and purged her gills while firing out of the water.

Skidding to a stop on the lip of the entrance, several of the children jumped back with a fright.

Vehn made a more decorous exit from the water.

“Niika, are you all right?” Meri knelt and Niika separated from the teacher to run to her arms.

“He said you weren’t a proper Lahash.” Niika whispered it against her neck.

Meri held her at arm’s length and looked into her eyes. “Oh, honey. You can’t take offense every time someone makes fun of me. I don’t mind, and I am not a proper Lahash. I was made into something that could swim, but I am not, nor will I ever be a proper Lahash.”

“You are my mom and you are a proper Lahash.” Niika’s face was serious.

Vehn knelt next to them and faced his daughter. “You can’t go escalating fights, you need to practice Meri’s specialty. Calm.”

The teacher was nearby, and when Meri looked around, she saw more than one little boy sporting a black eye or a large bruise. “Niika? How many boys were making fun of me?”

Niika frowned. “It started with Marki, but the other boys joined in, so I bashed them all.”

Meri reached out to Vehn,
Do the Lahash do any home schooling?

It isn’t frequent, but this might be a good case. It seems Niika has a bit of rage and a highly developed sense of family.

Can we go to the sea?

It is dangerous for someone as small as Niika.

Just for a few days? There is something I need to know.
A memory had come to her when she thought of the sea, something that she had put aside in her thoughts for a while.

What?

Something that the techs said when they were working on installing my gills. I need to know if they were right.

What did they say?

Meri ignored the children, the teacher and the arriving parents.
Do you know what a Harliv is?

Vehn’s expression got excited.
Are you certain that is what they said?

They ran a full genetic scan. That is what they traced into my heritage, and I want to know if it’s true. There is no other way to find out. I need salt water.

Vehn grinned and touched Niika. She immediately got excited.

Vehn stood and spoke quietly to the teacher while Niika wrapped herself around Meri again.
See, you are special. Better than a normal mom.

I am not better, Niika. Just different. Not better, not worse, just different. Different can be a good thing.

I still think you are special.

And I think you are special, but special people need more self-control than others and that is what your daddy wants me to teach you.

Is that what you do, teach people?

It is what I had to do to become calm. I learned to pull my mind in, and eventually, I could make others feel that calm.

Can you help me? Sometimes boys make me mad.

Meri laughed and ruffled Niika’s hair. “That just makes you a normal little girl. You are going to be bigger than them for a few years, and by the time they are bigger than you are, they won’t have an interest in getting revenge.”

Niika grinned, and after Vehn made her apologize to the rest of her class, they were ready to go. It was time for the next location for their family.

Chapter Eleven

The Kao family held the bonding ceremony on Kao beach on the Anutha Sea.

Meribeth watched Niika walk through the path strewn with coins and jewels. It was traditional for the guests to line the bride’s path with money in an effort to make her happier in the union.

When the flutes cued her music, Meri stepped into the light and listened to the music as she walked out to a chorus of admiring sounds. Males in the audience had distinct interest in their eyes and the females eyed her with speculation and envy. The Kaos had gone all out for her clothing if that is what she could call the thirty pounds of various-coloured pearls that hung in strategic strands around her.

They draped around her neck in a concealing gathering of necklaces and a belt supported the pearls that dripped on strands to her ankles. Her head was held high to keep the weight of the woven strands from pulling her left or right, and in this costume, she walked to Vehn and his family.

On Earth, the wealth she was wearing and walking on would have provided for her and several other people for the rest of her life. Right now, she didn’t care. Vehn was standing with Niika next to him, and they were all that she wanted from now on.

As the magistrate began the ceremony, she kept the quivering out of her limbs with an effort of self-control, but the moment that she could take Vehn’s hand, she sighed in relief.

The magistrate’s voice rose, and he spoke those words, “And as it was intended, the woman brings the wealth of her body and soul to the man, offering it freely. He accepts it gratefully and honours her sacrifice. To formalize this bond, we now have the cuffs.”

Niika smiled proudly and raised the bands.

Meri raised the wide cuff and placed it on Vehn’s left arm. He did the same with her left. If they had children, a second set of cuffs would be placed.

“As you now have proved your bond and shown to all that you belong to each other, I congratulate you, Vehn Kao, husband of Meribeth Kao, and I thank you, Meribeth Kao, for accepting Vehn Kao. Our family is richer for your bond.” The magistrate raised their joined hands and kissed them.

Niika clapped her hands and hugged Meri then Vehn. It had been arranged that she would spend a few days with Mir and Hisk while the happy couple went on their Lahash honeymoon.

Meri just didn’t want her too close in case the Harliv shift didn’t work.

Vehn gave their daughter a kiss on her forehead, and she nodded, running to Mir and holding her leg.

“Are you ready?”

Meri shrugged. “I suppose so. First swim as a bonded couple and then back for the reception?”