Chapter
Fifteen
T he return to their pond seemed to take far longer than Gwum remembered it taking to leave for the supply cargo. Although he had already technically mated with Noelle, he wanted to make it official with his mate as a fully aware participant. But to do it properly, it meant waiting until they were home where he could comfortably take her up in their tree in the safety of their territory where they would be undisturbed. It was for this reason that excitement filled him as he spotted the first sign of the pond.
He felt a little guilty for how quickly he abandoned the Gwyr who had rescued him but at least he had the forethought to extend an invitation for the male and his mate to visit before departing. He would just have to inform his mother and the entire clan so that panic would not be raised when they visited.
But first, he wished to mate with Noelle correctly—the way she deserved.
Drawing her to their tree, he climbed with her through the garden and helped her into the lower limb. Higher and higher they climbed, her hand trustingly in his as she allowed him to guide her up until the pond seemed to open up below them. At his side, Noelle turned so that she faced away from the tree and her breath caught as she stared out at the view.
“This is amazing,” she whispered in awe.
He hugged her against his side and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. “I wanted to give you this—I needed to,” he corrected himself wryly.
She turned her head, angling it back as she glanced up at him curiously. “What do you mean?” A smile tipped her lips, and she turned into him, her arms wrapping around his torso. “I have everything that I need, right here.”
His heart melted and he gathered her close to his chest, holding her tightly against him. “I hope that always remains true.”
“Life may not always be perfect, but I’m able to freely be with the one that I love. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she murmured, and he pressed a kiss into her hair as she rested her cheek over his heart.
“I would ask something, however,” he whispered into her hair.
“Hmm?”
Lifting his head, he curled his finger beneath her chin and tipped her head so that she met his eyes. He stared into her eyes, wanting to imprint this moment upon his memory. With the gold-lit mist rolling around them and the flowers in full bloom as they clung to the trees. The moment was perfect.
“Though it has already been done, I wish to properly make you my mate,” he quietly explained.
A confused look crossed her face. “What? I know that you said I’m your mate, but I didn’t realize that it was already done. When did that happen?”
Not wanting to release her from his arms, he shrugged in the more human manner that his mate favored and smiled down at her. “When you first accepted me into your body, I became pheromone bound to you, my scent changing to align with yours.”
Her brow crinkled at him. “But… you still let me leave? Even though we had mated, and you would feel the repercussions of it?”
“You are not Bia,” he gently reminded her. “It is not fair to bind you to the customs of my people when you are not similarly afflicted. Nor did you know beforehand.”
She searched his gaze with concern. “You would never have told me if I hadn’t chosen to come with you.”
It was not a question, but he nodded all the same. “I had already bonded with you. There was no going back for me. I just wanted to have one thing to keep with me… just as you also desired.”
She exhaled slowly with a shaky laugh and shook her head. “I cannot believe how close I came to losing my own mate. And I never would have known it.” Her mouth tightened slightly. “Don’t keep things from me again. If we are mates now, then I must be aware of everything that is going on.”
He inclined his head, his chest tightening with emotion. He truly had a mate who would walk with him. “This I can agree with.”
“Good.” She regarded him seriously for a long moment but then her lips twitched, and she peered at him speculatively. “So, how do we properly mate, then?”
He nodded to the side of the tree. “In the Bia fashion. I turn you to the tree and you accept me in mounting you.”
Her brows rose. “The first time when you kept trying to turn me toward the bed posts?—”
“It is instinct to mate in such a way. Our claws can make breeding hazardous,” he pointed out with a chuckle.
Her eyes fell to his claws, and she winced in sympathy though she laughed as well. “That’s fair. I don’t have any such claws, but I can see how evolutionary that just feels like the right position… but… outside?”
She looked uneasily around them, but he smoothed a hand along her shoulder, seeking to both comfort her and draw her attention back to him. It worked enough so that he could feel some of her tension flee just before she looked over at him inquisitively.
“Just this one time,” he murmured. “Few Bia females enjoy mating in the trees, so it is not expected except at the time of mating when she chooses the male from all of her gathered suitors.”
“Thankfully I was able to skip over the step,” she muttered, and his lips twitched with amusement.
“I am thankful, too,” he agreed. “I would not have enjoyed chasing away rivals and working so hard to capture your attention. It is selfish but it pleases me that it was only I who discovered your presence in the swamps.”
“You and me both. I don’t think I would have enjoyed being the center of attention among multiple males.” Her gaze skittered over the trees. “How is this even going to happen without someone seeing.”
The corner of his mouth hitched in amusement. Her sense of smell was truly terrible. She hadn’t noticed the subtle change to scent from the chemical mixture now flowing through him.
“No one will approach,” he assured her, and he took her hand in his reassuringly. “I have entered into an aroused state since returning to the tree and my pheromone signature is letting anyone within the vicinity to stay away.”
A pink color crept into her face, and she chuckled wryly. “Are you telling me that your entire family knows when you are aroused.”
He inclined his head. “And when you are, as well. Your scent changes quite distinctly.”
“That… is mortifying,” she admitted, burying her face in her hands.
Gwum laughed quietly and he gently pulled her hands away. “It is natural. No one would have the bad manners to comment on it or to intrude upon our privacy.”
She took a depth breath and glanced at the thick trunk of their tree. “So… right here, huh?”
He cocked his head. “If you are too uncomfortable with this, we do not have to?—”
“No,” she interrupted. “This is important. If this is how you mate, then I want it. I don’t want to miss out on anything that is important to you or within your culture. It may be strange to me as a human, but I am here with you, living among the Bia on Kren, not United Earth. I want to share this with you, too.”
Desire sang within him as she turned away from him to face the tree’s massive trunk and flattened her hands against it. Gwum did not think twice. Excitement humming within his veins, he quickly shed his clothing as he slowly approached her until he was standing right behind her. Reaching out, his claws skimmed down over the thick material of her clothing.
“If you are going to dwell among the Bia, then you do not need this anymore,” he observed as he continued to trace a pattern back and forth along it. “Is this correct?”
She nodded in a jerky motion, and he could not miss the way she trembled in anticipation. “The temperatures and environmental conditions are something I can handle. I don’t need the TRS. Darvel would have just required me to wear it so that it monitored my health as additional precautions. Get rid of it.”
He hummed with pleasure. He would be pleased to see her in Bia clothing. It would not only be more comfortable for her in the humidity of the swamp, but he would take great pleasure in how easy it would be to remove from her.
Without delaying any further, he caught the fabric on his claws and ripped through the outer material and then through the much thicker material that clung close to her body beneath it. Little by little, he exposed her soft flesh, the faint pink luminous glow of it rousing his desire further as the mist brushed over it. It was only when she was bare and his throat sack working as he eagerly sang for her that he was able to take a moment to truly appreciate the beauty of her shape and form. She was glorious! With the golden mist clinging to her and the backdrop of violet leaves among vivid blooms, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He caressed her gently with the tips of his fingers and claws as he explored the long line of her back and the plump curve of her ass.
“Oh! That’s nice,” she moaned at his touch and shifted just enough that he caught sight of the side of her plump breast.
Gwum groaned in agreement. It was more than nice. Just lightly touching her sent white hot pleasure burning ceaselessly within his blood as his need to rut and breed grew more and more pronounced. It was beyond nice—it was pure ecstasy. And the round bit of flesh made his mouth water as if it were the most flavorful fruit.
The skin appeared so soft and even more luminous in that spot that he followed the demands of his instinct and cupped it in his hand, gently fondling it and teasing it soft rake of his claws teasing its tip. Pressing against her back so that his hard sheath nudged her ass, he rested his head over her shoulder so that his tongue could slide down to rub and flick against the little, hard peak. Her breath hitched and picked up, and she whimpered with her pleasure until his ears were full of her sweet sounds of pleasure even as he breathed in the thickening scent of her desire. Her legs shifted in reaction to his touch and Gwum was instantly hit with the scent of her heavy musk as he caught sight of the slick sheen on her thighs.
His cock whipped violently within his sheath in response, and he groaned, a sense of euphoria flooding him as his cock pushed free, parting the soft slit of his genital guard with its powerful thrust. His hips jerked in reaction, and he hissed in time with her loud moan as his cock darted forward and glided in between the globes of her buttocks to wiggle up into the wet heat of her cunt. His bottom flexed and his hips snapped instinctively as he drove his probing shaft deep within her clutch, Noelle’s loud gasp of pleasure fueling his desire. His cock immediately stiffened, and he dug his claws deep in the bark of the tree on either side of her as he thrust deep, his cock writhing as it drove into her until finally bottomed out. There it pressed against the entrance to her womb, the tip kissing upon it as it pressed snuggling and flicking against it and the surrounding internal flesh.
Gwum shivered with ecstasy as his fervor climbed rapidly with his desire. He could not have stopped himself from drawing back to thrust again even if he wanted to. With a growl, his hips rocked back, and he thrust forward. Bark splintered beneath his claws as he snapped his hips, driving into her clenching heat. Her channel squeezed around him, rippling as she panted, her moans rising in a sweet melody rivaling any other in the swamp. How he loved this song. His throat sack expanded, and he sang with her, their voices rising and entwining together in a fierce and wild tempo as he rutted into her, his thrusts becoming increasingly primal as he followed the melody quaking from her with her cries of pleasure.
Her channel spasmed around him in response, its reflexive movement dragging on his cock and sucking it on it with deep pulls as she sang with her climax. He rutted harder, his hips snapping sharply to drive him deeper and faster. Flowers had fallen on them at some point and had become crushed between them, adding further fragrance to mingle with their own blending scents even as they left vivid trails of bright red and pink hues stained across Noelle’s flesh. Gwum hissed desirously and pounded into his mate, his cock rubbing eagerly against the mouth of her womb with every thrust as her channel tightened in response, driving him to delirious heights of pleasure.
He could feel the electric pulse gathering at the base of his back and within his testicles. It lit up with a burning heat within him even as it tightened further. Her cunt began to ripple harder, squeezing tightly around his length as her soft cries grew louder with her own brimming pleasure. He shivered against her back, trembling with the force of pleasure rapidly climbing even as his cock throbbed and began to jerk and whip with his impending climax. She exploded into a symphony of sound and sensation, her ass rocking back against him and her cunt clenching hard to milk him as her fingernails scrambled along the tree trunk with her cries. Growling wildly, Gwum toppled into bliss as his seed sprayed, his claws digging into the tree with the force of his release.
He shook with it, her cries and rapid pulse of cunt drawing it on and on until he finally collapsed with her in his arms so that they were stretched together along the thick branch. It took considerable effort to find every breath but each of those breaths were breathed with her, every beat of his hearts thudding in time with her singular human heart. Tiny pink flowers rained on them from above, tangling in her crest and he smiled lovingly as he pulled one free to brush it along her cheek.
Her blue eyes had deepened with their rutting but there was a contentment within them that made a deep-seated happiness rise from within his chest.
“Now we are mated,” she mumbled tiredly, a smile teasing the corners of her lips. “Can’t be any doubt now.”
“No doubt,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I am certain the entire swamp heard your mating declarations.”
Noelle groaned but laughed as she cuddled closer to his chest. “Just so long as everyone knows that you are mine.”
“Always,” he rasped. “For the rest of our lives.”
And he would make sure that it was for a very long time as he never wished to be parted the one being who was his own hearts made into flesh.