Viper's Hope (Anguis Defenders Book 1) (9 page)

"No my Uxorem. Please let me." Acris said shyly as she managed to set them down on the table without incident. "Do you require anything else?"

"No, but why don't you stay Acris." Hope asked the shy woman.

"My virum will worry if I am gone long." She stated with eyes on the floor.

"Even though you are with me?" Hope asked "Would you stay if you didn't have to worry about your mate?"

"If that is what you'd like." Acris replied hesitantly.

"Good then it's settled. Stay for a bit and if he's mad, we blame it on me."

"He would not be mad, just worried my Uxorem."

"We'll call him and tell him." Hope suggested.

"Perhaps she was wrong, and the men were just overprotective rather than overbearing." Hope decided as she recalled the way the Anguis men led the woman around with one hand on their shoulder. Maybe that was their version of holding hands.

Acris spoke into the comm and she heard the man on the other side state that if Hope desired her company, it was good for Acris to stay.

"Great, Acris meet my friends John Paul and Tara."

Hope was glad her friends had been given the language implant the moment they were rescued that way they could understand Acris.

"Are you mated?" Acris asked Tara and JP. She appeared more comfortable now that she'd been formally introduced.

"Oh god no honey!" JP stated while Tara repressed a laugh.

Her friends didn't seem nervous around the alien woman. It was probably a good way to get them adjusted to the sight of the Anguis.

"JP prefers male to females." Hope told Acris.

Acris' eyes grew wide.

"I think I misunderstand." Acris stated.

"No you understand dear." JP said. "I prefer to mate with other males."

"Humans can bear young with other males?" Acris asked in shock as her red color undulated.

"No, a certain percentage of our males prefer other males." Tara stated almost clinically.

"We don't have males like this among the Anguis." Acris responded as she considered JP. "You humans are truly different." Acris looked them over but attempted not to stare. "I like your hair." She said to Hope.

Hope smiled at the admission even though Acris shied away thinking she'd overstepped her bounds.

"It's okay to speak your mind here." Hope said encouragingly. "Do you want to touch it?"

Acris reached out hesitantly then ran her hand through it.

"It is soft like silk worm thread."

"I like your skin color, how it changes." Hope admired Acris' subtly shifting hue.

"What is the range of color?" Tara inquired as she sat forward on her bunk.

"All colors." Acris stated as if it was obvious.

"Really?!" JP said shocked and intrigued.

"Would it be rude if I asked you to show us?" Hope asked curiously.

"No, it is fine."

Acris then proceeded to amaze them. She changed into all the colors of the rainbow, sometimes all the colors at once. Even her long dreads shifted color.

"It's so we can blend into our environment." She said as she mimicked the wall behind her, almost disappearing.

"That's wild and neat!" Hope declared.

Things had been going from one crazy moment to the next, Hope hadn't had a chance to ask Viper much about himself.

"This is too strange. What is to become of us?" Tara lamented.

"Do not fear. The Anguis and our allies have rescued several species that are now thriving." Acris said comfortingly to Tara. Acris was clearly a caring woman.

"How did you fight these virus creatures?" JP asked obviously comfortable with Acris.

Hope would need to remind him it might be best to not get too close to any of the women, considering how the Anguis males behaved. JP was just so used to being one of the girls he might forget. Hope didn't want to see him hurt as everyone got accustomed to each other.

"We were fortunate when the Morbo attacked our home world that it wasn't a full invasion and we were in the midst of the dry season. Many were lost but our planet was not as hospitable as the Morbo prefer. We learned quickly that the heat and UV light are their weakness." Acris explained. "Once we recovered a fraction we reached out to our allies, warning them of the threat. The Felidae were threatened next. Thankfully they were able to flee to a colony inside a safer zone."

"That's the feline species?" Hope asked to which she nodded.

"I am sorry this has happened to you." Acris said with genuine sorrow. "I lost half my family when our planet was attacked. I don't know what I'd do if we had to permanently leave our home world."

"Is that where we are going?" JP chimed in.

"I think so or the planet nearby. I'm not really sure." Hope replied, she couldn't recall the specifics. Everything had been too overwhelming.

"You will remain with Prognatus Viper on Anguis Minor, then you will travel to Anguis Prime once the colony is established Uxorem. I'm certain anyone you wish may join you."

"Oh okay." Hope kept forgetting she was tied to Viper, and he held a position of privileged.

"Why do you keep calling Hope Uxorem?" Tara looked to Acris then Hope.

"It means that Hope is second female in the empire." Acris stated.

"Like a princess!?" JP asked in awe.

"Yeah." Hope said waiting for the fall out.

"Seriously woman you were only supposed to go on vacation!" JP exclaimed which Tara seconded.

"Well Viper will get over me and move on." Hope stated with conviction.

She wasn't about to stay married to some alien man she barely knew just because she made his cock hard. And although Viper got all growly and jealous, Hope was pretty sure he wasn't that thrilled with being tied to an alien either.

"I do not understand." Acris said in confusion.

"I'm human, Viper's Anguis. We barely just met. He has no clue what kind of person I am and vice versa. That does not a marriage make."

"But you are already mated, besides the pronouncement ceremony it is done." Acris said.

"We are different Acris. My people don't go all hormonal and mate the way yours do. Yes we have lust and it sometimes results in marriage, but most often men and women date, and if they like each other's personality they decide to move on to mating."

"Date?" Acris asked

"We go have dinner or visit a garden several times. You talk and then either you like each other or you don't." Hope did her best to simplify the concept for the foreign woman.

"That is not so very different." Acris stated. Her head was cocked like she was considering the differences between their ways.

"How do your people meet and mate?" Tara asked. Hope could see the doctor's sociological mind at work.

"The sire of your clan or your nidum brothers introduce you to males or escort you to events where there are many un-mated males and females. Then if you are lucky, you find a male who makes you excited and afraid all at once." Acris smiled.

"And?" JP asked.

"The male fights your family and steals you away." She replied wistfully.

"He fights and then steals you. That's barbaric!" Tara exclaimed and Hope punched her arm.

"Don't be rude!"

It was caveman-like but Tara hadn't witnessed just how overwhelmed Viper had become. Hope understood when Acris said excited and afraid at the same time. If her response to Viper was only a fraction of what the Anguis females felt then it must be intense.

Again Hope shivered at the memory of how sexy and yet frightening Viper had been. The way the strange liquid desire had coursed through her when he put his mouth on her. Even his release inside her had been packed with those crazy pheromones. She could still feel the ghostly traces of his erotic drug. Just thinking about it made her nipples tighten and her womb spasm.

"The fight is just a formality, unless of course your family resist the mating. Then things can get intense." Acris continued to explain.

Hope nodded. She'd seen intense first hand.

"And then what, he drags you off to a dark alley?" Tara asked and JP snickered at the comment. They were awful.

"No no he takes you to his home and you stay there until the first few days of mating are over." Acris looked wistful like she was recalling her own mating.

Hope could only imagine the wild fuck fest that probably ensued.

"And you are okay with this?" Tara inquired.

"When I met my Basilisk, I was very happy with our mating." Acris smiled and Hope understood.

Part of her found the encounter with Viper mind blowing. In the end it qualified as the best sex she'd ever had, but overall it was beyond fucked up. Although from what she gathered Viper wasn't all to blame, it still didn't mean she was head over heals in love. Not to mention the way he lost his shit with JP or anyone else that came too close, it was over the top.

"What if a man tries to force a female not because he's in heat? I don't know what you call it?"

"Mating heat is an acceptable translation. Our brothers and sire keep us safe from lonely males. There is no excuse for a male to force a female since there are females who have lost males or who are older and have yet to find their true mate who are willing to mount more freely, hoping to find someone to form a bond with."

Hope assumed Acris meant old maids and widows would have sex without marrying though it sounded like they too were looking for someone special rather than just having a good time.

"I do not understand what you meant by Viper would get over you and move on." Acris asked looking confused.

"Do your people ever divorce or end a mating?" Hope asked.

Acris looked horrified.

"We mate for life. As long as a mate is alive no one else can, um" Acris looked suddenly very embarrassed.

It was Hope's turn to look horrified.

"Please explain." Hope begged even though she had a feeling where this was going.

"Well no one interests me but Basilisk." Acris paused and they all stared at her waiting. "And my Basilisk would not be capable of performing with another female." Acris said lowering her head in embarrassment.

"Oh my god, are you saying it doesn't get hard for anyone else?!" JP asked.

Acris blushed, or so Hope assumed, since her color changed dramatically as she nodded.

"Well that's a trade off." Tara said. "Certainly guarantees Viper won't cheat on you." Tara said to Hope, and she swatted her friend again.

"Holy Shit! So Viper is stuck with me." Hope shook her head in shock.

He couldn't even hope to find anyone new. She could potentially go hump the entire ship but not him. Although quite frankly the thought of someone else didn't really interest her at the moment either. The thought of Viper being flaccid for every other woman pleased her even though it shouldn't.

Hope wasn't at all sure she wanted to be tied to the man. She barely knew Viper. He was hot, even as different as he was, but that really didn't mean they'd get along. She didn't see how wild monkey sex meant they should be mated for life. Hope imagined lots of sex in between her yelling at Viper for bashing other dudes heads in, for looking at her funny.

"I should be going Uxorem." Acris said as she got up.

"Please call me Hope. Thank you for talking with us."

"It was my pleasure, and it was nice meeting you." Acris said to her friends.

Once she left JP turned to Hope.

"Does that mean if you refuse to be married to that hulking alien man he's limp for life?"

"Serves him right for forcing Hope." Tara groused.

"That's cruel!" JP admonished her.

Hope knew JP didn't like her being mistreated, but he seemed to understand better than Tara, that Viper hadn't intentionally forced her.

"It really is Tara. I know it's not right, but you also weren't there." Hope said. "When Viper came out of his horn dog haze, he was very remorseful. He realizes we are not the same and hasn't made me uncomfortable since." She tried to explain to her friend.

"What do you call attacking JP?" Tara demanded.

She had a point.

"He's been growling at everybody." Hope offered up in excuse, not quite sure why she was defending Viper.

"Like a dog with a bone. Watch it if he wants to pee on your leg." JP laughed.

"Shut up!" Hope said even though they were right. Viper had some major jealousy issues. "I know it's not normal. I don't know what the hell is going on." Hope shook her head in confusion.

"You like him!" Tara accused.

"Um hmm." JP confirmed.

Maybe she did.

"Ugh, this is sooooo freaking weird." Hope whined.

"Just go with the flow until you decide it's a no go." JP suggested, making it sound so easy.

"He'll just have to deal." Tara followed up.

"Viper's sexy as hell, but that's not a basis for the kind of relationship that's been sprung on me. I have a feeling we are just too different."