Erun (Scifi Alien Romance) (The Ujal Book 4) (20 page)

He would
come
within his mate.

“You must come for me,
lofei
. I will not until you do.” Even if his balls felt as if they’d burst with the need to come. They were high and tight against him, pulsing with every beat of his heart and he could not wait to suffuse her with his genetic material. “Please.”

He was not above begging.

“Yes, yes, yes…” Nessa dug her nails into his scales, sending a bite of pain into his blood and he found he actually enjoyed the added sensation. He would encourage her to mark him in such a way going forward. Perhaps he could convince her to scar him so all could see… Her eyes widened, mouth hanging open as she panted and then… “Erun!”

Nessa’s pussy clamped down on his cock, squeezing and milking him in an uneven rhythm that had his release overwhelming him in a sudden wave. It pummeled him, the pleasure stealing his control and any hint of strength he possessed. The bliss wrapped around his dick and then spread outward in a large bubble of ecstasy. It traveled through him from head to toe, overtaking his body’s movements and he jerked and trembled with the release.

Cum erupted from his cock and sank into his mate, doing exactly as he wished and suffusing her with his genetic material. She was filled with his cum now. Taken by him, tied to him in every way, through this single act.

She was his. And he… was hers.

He slumped over her, fighting to slow his heart, but did not release his weight onto his mate. As his breathing returned to normal, Vanessa’s gradually slowed. Her heartbeat lessened until it picked up its normal rhythm, and Erun wished he could do the same. He shifted to the side, but tugged her after him and into his side. He pulled her closer as he drew the blanket over their bodies, cuddling her tightly against him. He had never enjoyed
cuddling
in the past, but Vanessa taught him to appreciate many things.

Now he had claimed his mate—fully and unquestionably. Nessa was Ujal and
his
.

No one could deny his claim now. None—

Muffled voices reached him, males shouting with anger, the volume gradually growing until it was suddenly all too clear. The thump of a fist striking flesh was the thud of a body hitting the ground. Next came a familiar grunt and a wavering voice filled with unquestionable venom.

“We will not let this
thing
touch another. We will not allow that… thing… to mate with another.” The voice grew closer and the nearer it came, the more rage consumed his blood.

“Stop!” He couldn’t blame Niax for
trying
to keep the elder at bay with words. He wondered who’d been hit, but that was a question for another day.

Mainly because suddenly the older male shouting what he would and wouldn’t allow suddenly filled the room’s entry. “We will not allow this to occur. Vanessa Walker—”

“Brooks,” he automatically corrected.

“And Erun fa Arex,”

“Brooks,” he corrected once more, unable to wait until he secured Tave’s approval for the change.

“You are hereby denied permission to transition Vanessa Walker—”

“Brooks,” he snarled and flicked the covering aside so he could rise without exposing his mate to another male’s gaze. The older male’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Her family name is
Brooks
. I am Erun fa
Brooks
.”

The Ujal’s attention flicked to Vanessa and he knew what the elder would see: Nessa’s glorious yellow scales. “You both have violated genetic council directive.”

“We have mated. Your directives cannot stop an Ujal—”

“You are not Ujal,” he hissed.

“Excuse the hell out of you?” The rustle of cloth told him Vanessa moved within the blankets and a glance showed she rose to her knees, the fabric clutched to her chest to shield her nudity. He suddenly appreciated the human desire for modesty. It saved the elder from sure death for looking upon her. “He is more
Ujal
than you. You were trying to ban our mating before we even—”

“One moment,
lofei
,” he murmured and she snapped her mouth shut. Then he focused on the male once more. “You lead the genetic council?”

The elder straightened to his full height though it was nothing like Erun’s. The urge to physically destroy the male was strong, but he suppressed the desire. Barely. “Yes.”

“Good. Then you take my words to the males who serve you. I, Erun fa Brooks, have claimed Vanessa as my own. Her transition is due to my blood. She took my body inside hers.” Vanessa’s soft gasp reached his ears, but he continued. “She is mine in every way possible. Any who try to stand between us will soon realize that to do so means certain death. For I will come for them.”

He took a step forward, closing the distance between him and the elder. “I will come for them and their death will be slow. Painful. They will be an example to all others that I am not a male to be challenged. My mate, my daughter, my mating, is mine to defend and I will do so. I do not care how many bodies I have to send to the depths of the sea to get this point across.”

The elder swallowed hard and opened his mouth as if he would reply, but another voice silenced the older male.

“Councilman, if you do not wish to lose your tongue, you will close your mouth.” Rhal came into view, his scales on display and his eyes colorless. It was not a show of weakness—the inability to control their appearance—but of strength. The black scales would identify the male and the elder would have no doubt with whom he spoke. Rhal fa Adar-Marte, the king’s assassin, once the male’s specter of death. “For I have a message you need to convey to the council.”

The councilman’s mouth snapped shut and he nodded.

“Erun fa Brooks is mated to Vanessa, genetically and legally. That shall not be questioned. It shall not be challenged. If you do so, Erun will do as promised. He will kill one of you. Slowly. Painfully. Publicly. And legally for if the government challenges a mating, it can be seen as a threat to a mating. He is, by law, allowed to defend his family.” The male opened his mouth once more, but Rhal continued. And Erun allowed it because he always did enjoy hearing Rhal’s threats. “And should any of you, after witnessing his display, continue, you will not live to see another sunrise.”

“Is that a threat Rhal fa—”

“It is simply a reminder that the males on the genetic council are old. They are becoming frailer by the day. I do not believe the prince would be too surprised to hear the elders expired due to old age.”

“You are—”

“He is looking awfully frail, is he not, Tave?”

Their ruler came in, possessing a strength that came from within his soul and awed Erun to his core. It was Tave’s heart, his dedication to their kind, the resolve to always do what was right, and his commitment to his… friends. Was he friends with Tave? He stared at the prince, rolling the idea through his mind. Perhaps.

“I believe you are correct, Rhal. The councilman—in truth, all of them—appear as if a strong current would knock them over.” The prince dropped his hand to the elder’s shoulder. “You should rest, elder. We do not want you—or the genetic council—to expire from exhaustion.”

“You can’t threaten…” The elder’s voice was soft and thin.

Erun stared into the male’s eyes, letting him see the anger and malevolence that lived within him. Vanessa smoothed many of the harsher sides of him, but there was always a part that craved violence and blood. That was what the elder saw now. “We have, elder. We already have.”

The elder scrambled from the room then, practically running for the entry to their apartment and the moment the doors closed, he turned his anger on the two males before him. “How did he—”

Rhal held up his hand. “It is probably the time I have spent with Cara that has made me this way, but I no longer have conversations with males when their
junk
is within view. Put pants on and we can discuss the ways you will beat Krhe for being an empty-headed male and daring to relieve himself within Tabby’s suite without securing a replacement. Or, you can allow me and Tave to do the honors while you continue claiming your mate.” Rhal shrugged. “Your choice.”

In truth, it was not much of a choice and he made his decision clear when he re-entered the bedroom and ensured the door closed behind him. He did take note of their laughs, but he only had eyes for his mate.

His delicious, yellow-scaled mate.

“Erun?”

“I do not believe you have come enough,
lofei
. Lay back and I will fix that.”

Blushing, she did.

And then he did. All night long.

Two weeks later…

Vanessa nibbled her thumbnail, staring at the water and then back to the rest of their small group. “I don’t think I’m ready for this. Are you sure it’s time to…”

Faim rolled his eyes. “
Yes
. It is time, Nessa.”

She’d finally convinced Faim to use her nickname. Well, after convincing Erun she didn’t automatically love every person who called her Nessa. He said he wanted to be the only one who used it and she said he needed to pick a different one and then… everything sort of devolved and they’d ended up in bed.

Thankfully Tabby had been down for her nap and she was a deep sleeper.

“Faim…”

“Nessa.” The male came to her, his weathered hands cupping her shoulders with surprising strength for one so old. “It is time. You have survived much to get here. Every safety precaution is in place. It is time. Sink or swim, as humans say.”

“I’m just not ready for the swimming.” She was back to nibbling her thumbnail and staring at the waves. “Maybe tomorrow?”

Just then a high-pitched squeal cut through the air and Vanessa swung her gaze to the couple tearing toward them. Tabby because she was excited. Erun because somehow Tabby got away from him.

He was really lobbying for a leash for Tabitha.

Tabby went to race past her and into the sea, but Nessa captured the toddler and swung her into her arms, perching her on her hip. “Slow down, missy.”

“Mo. Mma,” she whined. “Wanna go.”

“I know, I know,” she soothed her daughter, all the while her eyes were on her approaching mate. Her
mate
. They’d done it. Despite the intrusion of the genetic council, their inquiry, and sanction against Faim, they’d done it. The assholes had tried to strip not just Faim of his position but Sece as well. With Tave’s influence, Sece remained at UST while Faim had turned into a doting
grandsire
. The moment Erun was close, she launched into her pleading once again, this time to Erun. “I don’t think it’s time. Do you think it’s time? Maybe—”

“
Lofei
,” his gaze softened as he approached. One hand rested on Tabby’s back while the other came around her and he urged them both close. “You know our youngling is prepared. We will be at her side. Shon already waits in the seas, as well as Rhal and Vados and they know what to expect. We have even placed netting around this area to keep away predators.”

He’d tried to tell her that sharks and other baby-eating things wouldn’t dare come near an Ujal let alone four, but she
refused
to have her child out there unprotected. She didn’t care if she was surrounded by some of the deadliest males in the galaxies. Tabby was her
baby
.

“But…” she whimpered.

“Momma.” A small hand smacked her cheek. It was Tabby’s way to soothe her even if it stung. “I be fine. You and Daman be there and Sh and Ro and Dos.”

Their daughter butchered the other males’ names, but none of them seemed to care. “I know, but, baby…”

“Mo. Mma.” She released one of her overdramatic
you are so annoying, Momma
sighs.

What would she be like as a teenager?

She shuddered. Scary.

Nessa needed to do this. She needed to put her child down and let her run into the sea, grow a tail, and play in the water. She was behind in her schooling, they said. She needed to learn how to swim and speak under water, they said. She needed to open her heart to the sea, they said.

No one realized that Tabitha held
her
heart and she’d die if anything happened to her. Her throat ached and eyes burned with threatening tears. Tears were something she asked about. If her body now loved salt water, why did tears hurt?

No one had an answer.

“Lofei
.” One word, one endearment, but it held so many meanings. The primary, the one she also read in his gaze, was that he understood. He got it. He knew they were mates but she
lived
for Tabitha. “We will let nothing happen to her.”

“I know.”

“Yay!” Tabby wiggled in her arms and Erun released them so she could lower Tabitha to the ground and she bolted toward the water.

“Wait for your father and me, young lady!” Nessa took off after her, but stopped when Erun sucked in a harsh breath. “Erun?”

She watched as Niax captured Tabby before she could reach the water’s edge and tossed her in the air. Which meant Vanessa could focus fully on her mate.

“Erun, is everything okay?”

He shook his head. “You called me her father. Her
sire
.”

She furrowed her brow. “Because you are.” A sudden thought snaked into her mind. “Unless you don’t want to be. I thought because we mated that… We’d talked about…”

Erun didn’t give her a chance to say anything more. Not when he captured her mouth with his, tongue delving past her lips, and his flavors exploded across her taste buds. She moaned into the kiss, leaning against him as arousal pooled low in her belly. It’d been this way from the moment she’d changed. She could never get enough of him, always needed her hands on his body, and she didn’t imagine her need would lessen anytime soon. It was too overwhelming and all consuming to dissipate in the near future. She didn’t think anything could douse the flames of her desperation for her mate. Except…

“They’re kissing,” Tabby huffed. “Again.”

Smiling, and with a low chuckle, she pulled away from Erun. Her mate groaned and laid his cheek atop her head as his breathing gradually slowed. “She does not have the best timing,
lofei
.”