Page 15 of The Bride Contract (Princes of Xaavia #1)

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Chapter 15 - Kiahn

Niska almost jumps out the water like one of the pearly leaping-fish of the northern lakes.

“ Oh, my God! ” she splutters, slamming herself backward into the wall of the pool. “ What are you doing?! ”

I… have no idea.

I have never entered a contract with a female before, and all previous efforts of seduction by females to try and get me to agree to one were all swiftly shut down - by me. I truly only mix with females on official matters of the principality, and palace events.

Or, if they are family.

And I do not have familial feelings toward the little human in front of me.

I have other, much more perplexing feelings instead.

“I… could not sleep and came to relax in the waters. I did not see you over here by the falls when I got in.”

All of what I am saying is true, so far. Yes, once I realized the female was here alone, I probably should have left, but the closer I got to her, the more curious I became.

Niska blinks up at me, one hand banded across her breasts beneath the waters, the other even lower, covering… other areas of interest.

“Well, you’ve seen me now,” Niska says, her cheeks looking flushed as she blinks rapidly up at me.

I cannot help the way my eyes dip to catch the distorted view of her body below the ripples on the water’s surface. “Yes, I have,” I say before I can halt the words in my throat.

“Were you… were you jacking off?” she asks, and at first I am not sure what the term means, but the way her pretty eyes flick to where the water laps at my waist, and lower still, hints at the question’s meaning.

And… I do not know how to answer.

Because, yes, as soon as I figured out that Niska was pleasuring herself here in the lagoon, and then when I heard how she moaned my name while doing so… I don’t think I could have stopped my hand from stroking my cock if I’d wanted to. And, I thought, perhaps this is all part of this strange dance we are now part of.

She called my name, after all.

My . Fucking. Name.

“I…” I start, sounding like an idiot.

What is the right answer here?

“Is… this not normal human courtship?” The thought has merit, though, judging by her reaction, I am starting to doubt it. “We pleasure ourselves in front of each other before you feel safe enough for me to touch you?”

Niska’s eyes widen, and I would very much like for the bottom of the lagoon to open and swallow me whole right about now. I may have just scared off the only female I’ve ever had any inclination to enter a breeding contract with. Like a prized fucking geliklik.

“I will go,” I tell her, swiftly bowing my head and turning to leave. Maybe if I show her I do not mean to make her uncomfortable in any way, I can gain back that exhilarating trust she had in me before.

“No!” My Niska reaches out to stop me with a touch, but then thinks better of it, and curls her arm back over her pretty breasts. “You can stay, I just-… that is-” she ducks her head and tucks some of her wet hair behind her little human ear, “-if you want to, I mean.”

My tongue traces my bottom lip as I stare at the gorgeous sight before me, trying to figure her out. “So that we may watch each other pleasure ourselves?”

Her mouth pops open for a moment or two, and it makes my mind go back to some of the things I’d found out about humans during my research since first meeting her - namely how sometimes, human females trust their males so much, they pleasure them with their mouths. Of course, I’ve heard of such things happening with other species, and sometimes Xaviann females will program their permissions to allow such a thing in the simulators, but no male expects that level of trust from an actual female in the flesh. Nevertheless, the mental image of Niska suckling on my length has my hand migrating to my cock again.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that type of thing just yet, Prince Kiahn,” she says, and the words break through my hazy lust like a star streaks through the black of the sky.

“ Kiahn ,” I tell her, my voice sounding lower than I had intended. “You may call me Kiahn.”

She holds my gaze, the ends of her dark hair floating around her shoulders in the waters. “ Kiahn ,” she repeats, her voice so soft, I almost don’t hear it over the splashing of the waterfall.

We continue to stare at one another, and it strikes me that I’ve never felt this kind of magnetic pull toward a female before. Granted, plenty of Xaviann females have flirted with me before giving me their permissions to enjoy. But I would actually be touching this female. Fucking this female.

The tip of my tongue finds my left fang, and I shouldn’t be so surprised to find it half-protruding, eager and almost ready to bond that sweet little human to me. “It is probably safer for you if I leave,” I hear myself say, though my body doesn’t move a muscle.

She tilts her head at me like one of the curious blue-fur pups that are popular with the females at my father’s court. Not that Niska is a pet to be carried around under my arm, of course. She is…

I watch as her pretty brown eyes dip to the waters at my waistline again.

She is a temptation that I fear is beyond my restraint. Which is precisely why I shouldn’t enter this damn breeding contract with her.

“Why do you keep saying things like that?” she asks. “Do you think you’re going to hurt me?”

She’s looking at me with such open curiosity, it makes me want to puff up my chest, polish my horns and stand as tall as I can for her inspection. “I would try very hard not to hurt you, Niska,” I tell her, measuring my words carefully as I will my cock to go down and stop standing, begging for her attention. “But as you learned in your lessons with Vel, Xaviann males are-”

“Actually,” she starts, shifting back on the little ledge seating, and sitting a little taller. “You interrupted those lessons, so I didn’t really get to understand the whole point of it.”

She drops the arm that had been banding over her breasts beneath the water and I try not to gape at the shifting, distorted image of her bared chest. “The point of it?” I hear myself repeat, like an idiot.

“You know, why Vel was telling us about some king you had a century ago? I mean, it was interesting, and horrific. But what’s the relevance?”

I shake out of my stupor. “Relevance? Of King Gahaari’s crimes?” I forget too easily that the context of Xaviann culture is not clear for all to see. “He, and his sort, are the reason that our females do not trust us males, and rightfully so,” I tell her. “ Command ,” I call, waiting for the ship’s comm orb to come to me. “Stop the lagoon falls,” I tell the ship once the orb arrives, floating by my side.

The orb makes a pinging noise of acknowledgement and then the rushing of the waters beside Niska slows to a trickle before finally stopping altogether.

“May I sit beside you?”

She shuffles to her left, which I take to indicate that she is happy with this suggestion. I don’t know why my heart is beating like a wild thing in my chest just from the mere thought of sitting beside someone, but it is. Perhaps it is due to the fact that we are both naked, or that I know this female trusts me enough to do so.

“Did Vel explain about the Bonding Venom suppressants?” I ask as I stare straight ahead of me, all too aware that the outer side of Niska’s soft, naked thigh brushes mine beneath the water if one of us moves only a whisper toward each other.

“She told us that he used them so that he wouldn’t be affected by any woman who tried to bond him to her,” Niska says, shifting her position to face me better - an act that firmly presses her leg to mine. “But, that happened so long ago. I don’t understand how it affects Xavianns today.”

It’s a tale told to all Xavianns; a lesson in greed, corruption and how one male’s selfish acts changed our species forever.

“Unfortunately, King Gahaari’s actions very much affect Xavianns today,” I say, trying to hold my body still as if my little human were a prey animal I’m trying not to spook. “If he had been the only one to use the suppressants, then our old ways of courtship and bonding would have likely survived, but it started with his inner circle of nobles,” I say, daring to lift my hand, to make a circular gesture above the water. “And soon spread to others. Males would publicly choose a bride to be ‘bonded’ to that was advantageous to their wealth and social status. But secretly, they would not be affected by their bride’s bonding bite, leaving them free to have many mistresses - normally females from the poorer communities.” I chance a glance at her then, finding her beautiful brown eyes fixed on me. “You have to understand, my people did not even have a word for a second female to mate with before all of this. It simply did not exist.”

“Didn’t people find out? Weren’t they mad at what these men were doing?”

“Eventually, yes. But it is said that a great number of King Gahaari’s court was partaking in the practice of mistress-taking, and those that did not, were too cowardly to speak out about it. Some even offering their daughters to become brides, knowing their males would do such a thing.”

“Why?”

I turn to look back out at the lagoon waters, my throat feeling suddenly dry. “Why do you think?” I ask, clearing my throat. “In exchange for riches and elevated status. There are even numerous records of the common people making deals with noblemales, effectively selling their attractive, unbonded female family members to become mistresses in exchange for a better life for themselves.”

“That’s awful,” Niska comments before she’s quiet again, no doubt letting the crimes of those males turn over in her head. “I thought the women went crazy in a one-sided bond. Didn’t anyone notice all these brides were getting ill?”

I grimace to myself. “The male physicians would lie and claim they were suffering from a fabricated female disease of the mind.”

To my surprise, Niska snorts. “Typical,” she says, shaking her head. “You know, humans did something similar in our history. They called it hysteria.”

Hysteria. I tuck that away, making a note to do some more research on human history. Particularly the role their females have played within their society. I must confess, my research so far has swayed toward their various mating rituals, and I will need to broaden my efforts.

Her thigh is still pressed to mine, and I find I really, really cannot be sitting so close to this female any longer. Especially as she is obviously now ruminating over a very serious injustice, and all I can think about is how this little Goddess is going to allow me to strap her to the breeding bench.

Which reminds me, I will need to learn all her preferences if I am to commission the best damn breeding bench Xaavia has ever seen. I will make sure it is made from her favorite colors, and the fabrics are soft and pleasant to touch. I have learned from my research that human females enjoy vibration, so perhaps I should try to incorporate that for her to rub her little-

I jump up, trying to switch the direction of my mind. I am trying to explain how the current mating customs of my people came into being. But instead, find myself distracted by mental images of my little Niska desperately grinding against a breeding bench.

Fuck.

Do better, Kiahn.

“Uh, so, anyway,” I babble, distractedly rubbing at the base of my left horn. “Use of the suppressants that blocked a female bonding venom became rife among noblemales, and it caused the following generations of male Xaviann offspring to be born already immune to their partner’s bonding bite. Even now, only a small proportion of males can be bonded. Of course, when the scandal was discovered by the public, the artificial wombs came into play, and-”

“Whoa, wait, hold up,” Niska interrupts my rambling. “Artificial wombs?”

I rub a hand over my jaw and blow out a breath, forcing myself to slow down. Does she even know the effect she has on me?

Focus, Kiahn, I think, clearing my throat and trying to slow down.

“Yes. King Gahaari had long passed when everything eventually came out. It was estimated that around eighty percent of the noblemales were partaking in the suppressants. The wider population were angry. The females in particular, were filled with rage.”

“Rightfully so.”

I nod my head along with her. It is a blight on our long history, and my female ancestors were justified for their fury. “It marked the start of a great mistrust from the females toward males. None of them wanted to become brides. Daughters defied fathers. Birthrates among nobility dropped like a bird shot from the sky. Even the female commonfolk revolted for how they were wronged. The solution came in the form of technology. An artificial womb. Offspring born from science that does not put the female at risk of being bonded to a male that could never bond with her in return.”

“Well,” Niska says, tilting her head as she blinks at me. We both pause a second as the holographic moonflies dance in a cluster between us before moving on. “That sounds like a good solution. No one is at risk. What’s the issue?”

“The issue is the other venom we possess. The Bloodline Venom,” I tell her, wetting my bottom lip with a quick swipe of my tongue. “Most Xaviann’s venom is dormant. But active lines are most commonly found in the noble families, they are a gift from one of the four Goddesses. When injected into someone’s bloodstream through a bite, they each have different qualities. Some create an intense feeling of euphoria, some can heal any wound, some can cause an instant madness or intense clarity of mind. Some, very rare ones are painful, or lethal. They are all considered a prize. The stronger the Bloodline Venom, the more valued you are to my father’s court at the capital. Unfortunately, babies born from artificial wombs rarely possess an active Bloodline Venom, no matter who their parents are.”

I watch as she lets her back fall against the wall of the lagoon, her eyes unfixed on the moving waters before her as she lets my words sink in. “So… you guys started the breeding contracts so that you could keep this Bloodline Venom stuff going?”

“Yes,” I say, nodding. “The females willing to enter a contract are putting themselves at risk of being bonded in the hopes that their offspring will possess a strong venom, keeping its properties going, where many are already long extinct now.”

Niska blows out a long, slow breath before looking up to me. “That’s kind of fucked up.”