Page 33 of Mates for the Raskarrans #1-6

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Liv

I thought explaining the whole dreamspace, mating, sex with an alien thing was going to be difficult, but it turns out I underestimated the power of babies.

“Oh, my god!” Sam cries as we approach, me with Ahnjas in my arms. I’m expecting her to ask what the hell he is or where the hell he came from, but the next words out of her mouth are, “He’s so cute, I want one!”

And then she’s rushing to my side and fawning over the little guy, asking Sally if she can have cuddles, without even pausing to question who Sally is.

“I love babies,” Sam says. “I’ve never seen one this close in real life.”

“He’s not a baby, he’s three,” Jassal says with the disdain of someone who wants to know why she isn’t getting any attention.

“He’s seen three rainy seasons,” Sally says.

“But he was born only just before his first one. That makes him about two in human terms. The rainy season marks the start of a new year here. It’s not quite as concrete as the human calendar, but give or take, a year is about the same as an Earth year.

The shortest I’ve measured was three hundred and forty-seven days, the longest three hundred and eighty-two. ”

She gives a nervous laugh, and I remember that this is the first time in ten years she’s been among other people. I put an arm around her.

“Oh, he’s wrapped his little tail around my arm,” Sam says.

“It’s just their way of being affectionate,” Sally says, a note of panic in her voice as she steps forward, arms outstretched to take Ahnjas back.

But Sam just presses her face against Ahnjas and snuggles him, kissing his little cheek. He gabbles nonsense, grabbing at her hair.

“He’s adorable,” she gushes. “I assume his dad is one of the big green guys?”

“Yes,” Sally says.

Sam casts a glance over her shoulder at the raskarrans, then leans forwards. “Do you know if any of the others are single?”

“All of them,” I say.

“Not all of them,” Khadija says, shooting me a wicked grin. “So, you leave to find Ellie, and come back with a whole family. Care to explain what the hell is going on here, Liv?”

We all take a seat round the fire and Sam shows off Ahnjas, who is more than happy to be smothered in attention.

Even the most reluctant of the girls can’t help but be interested in him, Carrie hesitantly asking if she can hold him.

When Sam hands him over, he unhooks his tail from her arm and wraps it around Carrie’s wrist. She looks a little startled, but soon relaxes in to the little guy’s generous affection.

Jassal comes over all shy until Molly coaxes her out by asking if she can braid her hair.

Grace says something to Molly, who nods, then takes Jassal off to one side, just far enough from the rest of us that they’ll not hear the conversation, but not so far that Jassal is out of Sally’s sight.

Jassal sits at Molly’s feet, and the youngster starts combing her fingers through Jassal’s long, thick hair, chattering away to her about nothing, leaving the grownups free to talk.

Introducing the whole ‘it’s possible to have sex with the aliens’ thing isn’t too difficult.

Most of them had given it some thought anyway, but in the non-consensual sense.

And we might be bottom tier workers, but we all know where babies come from.

What most of them can’t quite get their heads round is that sex with a raskarran would be desirable.

But then, they don’t have the firsthand experience I do.

“It wasn’t weird?” Rachel says, leaning close.

“Not really?” Sally says.

I can tell she’s uncomfortable. Whether it’s the line of questioning or the overwhelm, I don’t know, but I step in.

“Are you telling me you haven’t noticed that they’re all kinds of gorgeous?” I say.

Rachel blushes to match her red hair, but her eyes dart in the direction of the raskarrans and I don’t think she’s completely immune to their brand of large, muscular charm.

“You aren’t seriously suggesting we hook up with them?” Hannah says. “Sleep our way to safety?”

“No,” I say. “They’re going to take us in to their tribe if we fuck them or not. But there are some things you need to know about the way things work round here.”

I outline the dreamspace, mates, the fact that I am mated to Gregar, that Ellie is mated to Anghar, and they’re off in the jungle figuring that shit out.

I tell them it could happen to any of them if we get into close proximity with their ‘mate’ and try to emphasise that this is a good thing.

That I have zero complaints, and neither does Sally.

“We can have families?” Carrie says, a wistful look in her eyes, and I think I might have finally won her over to the whole joining the tribe idea. Hannah and Mattie remain the only holdouts. Hannah in particular looks unimpressed, her arms folded across her chest.

“We can have families on Alpha Colony,” she says. “And we’ll have a choice about it. Not some crazy dream thing that picks for you.”

“No,” Sally says, and her voice is quiet, but filled with such darkness that everyone immediately shuts up and listens. “There’s nothing good waiting for you there. Be glad that Mercenia almost certainly won’t come looking for you.”

“What, just because they didn’t come looking for you?” Hannah says, and there’s a hysterical bite to her voice. “Perhaps they did, and you were just too busy fucking some alien in the forest.”

I don’t know why I expect Sally to cower at Hannah’s wrath, but she doesn’t. She just sits up straighter, her eyes hardening as she looks at Hannah.

“Mercenia did come looking. Not for me, particularly, for my crew. We crash landed here and had to survive the dangerous creatures in the forest. We weren’t very good at it, but there were some of us left when Mercenia landed a rescue crew.

I was going to go with them. I was going to choose a life on Alpha Colony over staying here.

But as I got close, I heard the captains talking about me.

Talking about me like an object - a bit of cargo.

I was a ‘sample’ they were delivering to a place called The Meat Market.

I don’t know what that is, but it certainly isn’t the small holding I was promised.

It’s run by aliens, from what I could gather.

So go to Alpha Colony and you’ll probably find yourself the property of some alien guy.

If you’re lucky, he’ll just want you for his dinner.

At least that would be quick. But I suspect they’re buying human women for the other reason, and you’ll be a slave to their desires for the rest of your probably short life.

At least here, the raskarrans are devoted to their mates.

So if I was too busy fucking some alien in the forest, it’s because I’m not an idiot. ”

Ahnjas, perhaps detecting the distress in his mother’s voice, chooses that moment to fuss. Carrie hands him back to Sally, and she soothes him, speaking to him in a low voice, using raskarran words.

I turn to Hannah, who looks like she can’t decide whether to be contrite or double down.

“They also have really big dicks,” I say. “And they know how to use them. Plus, they love nothing more than to go down on a girl and lick her until she’s screaming.”

Khadija snorts, a couple of the others look everywhere but at me. Sam looks like she’s ready to jump whichever raskarran walks past her next.

“I’m just making sure you have all the facts,” I say to Hannah, catching Mattie’s eye as well.

“Because tomorrow we need to leave this camp, head deep into the jungle to Gregar’s village.

Like I said before, I won’t make any of you come with me.

You want to stay here, take your chances with Mercenia, that’s your choice.

But if you choose that, we won’t be coming back for you.

We’ve got children and a pregnant woman to think of.

Gregar wants to be back on his tribe’s territory sooner rather than later, for everyone’s safety.

Because don’t forget, there could still be other tribes on the way here.

Tribes that aren’t so nice as this one.”

“She said raskarrans are devoted to their mates…” Hannah says.

“Their mates,” I say. “Most raskarrans have never seen a human before. If one of their tribe isn’t mated to you, they aren’t going to know it’s possible.

They won’t look at you and see someone’s potential future mate.

They’ll see a warm body they can easily overpower.

Gregar says most raskarrans would never dream of doing anything to hurt a woman, but he can’t speak for all of them. ”

“Jaskry’s old tribe,” Sally said. “They would have hurt me. That’s why we lived alone for all these years.”

“I want us to stick together,” I say, mostly talking to Hannah.

If I can win her round, there’s no way Mattie is waiting out here on her own.

They’ll all come with me. They’ll all be safe.

“I want everyone to come with me tomorrow. I don’t want to lose someone else.

I won’t take the choice away from you, because people have been doing that to us all of our lives.

But I’m not going to hide from the fact that you only have one good choice.

I’m sorry if the truth doesn’t align with the world you’ve been led to believe in.

That’s never an easy thing. But don’t let stubborn hope that you have a better future out there somewhere blind you to the better future you could have here. ”

While we’ve been talking, the raskarrans have been out hunting and caught what looks a lot like a baby unicorn.

Jaskry and the brother I assume is Rardek get it skinned and roasted and portioned out.

Then once again our bellies are full, our eyes heavy with need for rest. Jaskry sets his tent with help from Gregar and Sally fetches a very sleepy Jassal to bed.

“I should rest, too,” she says, her hand moving over her swollen belly. “I’ll need my strength for tomorrow’s travels.”

I hug her tight, almost reluctant to let her go. Like she might vanish again in the night. But then Jaskry comes over, cradling a sleeping Ahnjas in his arms, and he looks at my sister with such love. I know he’d never let anything happen to her.

The rest of the girls are standing up, stretching out, heading in the general direction of the tents.

I stand nearby, unsure whether I’ll be joining Khadija and Sam in our tent again, or if Gregar will make up ours to share.

Then he’s by my side, his arms around me in an unmistakably possessive way, which I suppose answers that question.

Some of the girls glance in my direction.

It does feel a little bit weird, my love life being the subject of such fascination.

But I am somehow their leader, and I need to show them that I’m telling the truth.

So I lean in to Gregar a little, rest my head against his side.

I feel him stand a little taller and know he’s pleased that I’ve shown him open affection.

Then, once all the girls have gone past, each of them getting a good look in turn, the raskarrans start coming over, starting with one of the grinning brothers.

“Maldek,” Gregar says, and I don’t know if it’s so I know who I’m looking at, but I appreciate it all the same.

He says something in the raskarran language, gripping Gregar’s arm as he speaks.

My guy is smiling, and I don’t think I’m misinterpreting his alien features to call the look in his eyes pride.

Then Maldek turns to me, bowing his head low before taking my forearm in his hand.

I gather this is some sort of greeting, so I watch what he does, then do the same to him.

He’s very gentle, careful not to move too fast or squeeze too tight.

Then he lets me go and his brother steps up.

We repeat the process, and I realise I’m being introduced to the tribe.

As a new member, but also as their chieftain’s mate.

The arm holding thing - it’s a sign of respect.

I feel a bit weird about it. I haven’t really done anything. Just screwed their boss. But to them, I suppose it’s more than that. We are mates. It goes beyond the way I think about relationships in the conventional human sense.

Once I’ve been introduced to each in turn, Gregar speaks to them as a group.

They listen closely, then immediately start moving around the campsite.

Shemza tidies away the fire, putting it out with gobs of wet sand he fetches from further down the beach.

Vantos and Maldek start patrolling the perimeter again, while Rardek disappears into the trees.

Gregar, meanwhile, goes to the tent bag and begins setting our tent up.

I help him, and our cosy little space is up and ready in moments.

I expect Gregar to settle into bed with me, but he just leans forwards and presses his lips to my forehead, then sits back on his feet.

He points to his eyes and then moves his hand around, miming looking.

He’s going to take a watch. I nod, understanding, even as my heart sinks a little at the thought of not falling asleep with him curled around me.

It’s ridiculous. Of course there needs to be a watch, and of course it’s only fair that he’s one of the people to take one, but my stupid body is all shivery and needy and yearns for the feel of his skin against mine.

I plan to stay up, to wait for him. But the furs around me are soft and my eyes are so heavy. It’s not long before I’m drifting off to sleep.