Page 24 of The Bride Contract (Princes of Xaavia #1)

24

Chapter 24 - Niska

When I wake, I feel like I’m surrounded by warmth. It feels so nice. I can’t remember the last time I felt so comfortable - the kind of comfortable where you don’t want to wake up. You don’t want to move, you don’t want to think, you don’t even want to breathe wrong in case something shifts, and that perfect level of comfort is disrupted and you can’t get it back again.

So when my eyes flutter open, I stay still for a moment or two while the rest of my mind catches up. Reluctantly, I shift a little, trying to stretch, but my blanket tightens around my middle.

Which is an odd thing for a blanket to do.

It’s then that I feel it; the steady rhythm of breathing at my back, the heat of another body molded to mine, the way they’re nuzzling into the back of my neck sending goosebumps all over my body. It wasn’t blankets at all.

Kiahn’s strong arm is banded around my waist. I reach down and touch it, stroking the skin there, smiling when I hear him murmur unintelligible words into my hair at the base of my skull.

And then I remember how long we’d talked for last night. We’d talked and talked until my mouth felt dry, my brain felt fuzzy, and my body was ready for sleep. I’d told him all about my family, but mainly my best friend, Polly. About how she had been the only one who truly felt like family all along. Sure, my mom and dad did their best. But being one of nine children all vying for attention can make you feel a little lost and overlooked as a kid. It had taken Kiahn a while to get used to having me in his bed while I’d rambled and snuggled closer. I could hear the way his heart just would not settle.

But he seems to have come around to the idea just fine if the way he’s clinging onto me like a giant, gray, horned barnacle is to go by.

I wiggle a little more, which only makes him whine into my hair and squeeze me in his big arms.

“Kiahn?” I whisper, his name morphing into a giggle. “I don’t know what the time is, but we should probably get up. Don’t we arrive at your planet today?”

Kiahn pulls in a large lungful of air through his nose before his head pops up to look down on me. Finally, I can turn a little to face him to find his gaze bouncing all over my features. “You slept in my bed with me.”

“Well, yeah. I thought we were having a sleepover? Should I have left?”

Suddenly, his arms are steel around me again. “No. I-” Kiahn shakes his head, his hair all rumpled beside his left horn. “I just did not expect it. I… liked it very much.”

Laughing again, I shift my butt, feeling the sizable bulge pressed up against me. “I can tell,” I tease, grinning up at him.

Kiahn groans and a hand comes to clamp firmly over my squirming hip. “You need to stop that, woman,” he growls.

And, because I’m feeling more myself than I have for a while, I retort with a, “or what?” accompanied by a raised brow.

Kiahn’s tongue comes out to wet his bottom lip as he assesses me, his pretty green eyes taking in every detail on my face until they slowly drift lower to my throat, and that’s where they stay. He swallows before opening his mouth to speak, but instead of words, I watch as his sharp fangs elongate.

“ Shit! ” Kiahn curses, covering his mouth. Immediately, he leaves the cozy little bubble of his bed and leaps out, taking a few steps back like he’s suddenly realized I’m made of fire or something. “Uh, yeah. We should-… we should dress and break our fasts.” He hurries away into his huge closet space, and I can hear him rummaging while he continues to talk. “We… uh… we will be arriving on Xaavia in a matter of hours… and, uh, you should be fed, groomed and properly dressed before you meet my people as my breeding bride.”

Oh, shit. I hadn’t even thought about that.

* * *

My stomach is doing flips as the Xaviaan Royal Cruiser comes gliding into the palace dock.

“You ok?” Lois quietly asks as she sits beside me in one of the ship’s lounge areas while we wait to land.

No, I’m not ok.

I feel like I’m about to meet the parents of a man I’m in a serious relationship with - or… maybe that’s not quite right, considering the circumstances. Perhaps it’s more like meeting the parents of a man you accidentally married in Vegas but decided to give it a shot?

I once dated a guy who was great, right up until he took me home to meet his mother. It was clear from the moment I stepped over her threshold that she wasn’t going to like any girl who played a big part in her precious boy’s life and she was determined to put me down at every given opportunity. His dad just sat there, ignoring his wife’s snide remarks, and her son - my boyfriend - followed suit. The whole thing was fucked up, because I swear she just wanted him all to herself and saw me as a threat.

What if this is like that?

What happens if his people don’t like me?

What if they think it’s too weird that I’m a human and he’s a Xaviann?

It shouldn’t matter. I know it shouldn’t. And Kiahn is their Prince, so can’t he like… do whatever the fuck he wants?

I don’t know, my mind is in shreds at the moment.

And it doesn’t really help that Kiahn is in the room pacing in front of us.

He’d taken me back to mine and the girl’s room for me to get washed up and dressed while he waited around to take me to breakfast. But then he’d disappeared for the rest of the day, leaving me in the care of Vel. He returned not so long ago, and has changed into tight, light tan pants, black leather boots, a flowing white shirt that shows off multiple gold chains that match the golden decorations he now wears on his black horns. He’s got those huge, space-gun-blaster things strapped to his thighs again, too, and I wonder if it’s more of a comfort thing for him, or whether he actually thinks he’ll need them?

The cruiser jolts as we dock, and the sudden way in which the engines power-down leaves my ears ringing in an odd way. Ever since we were taken from Earth, there’s been this constant whirring background noise of spacecraft engines, generators, air recycling systems from back at Moon’s Rest. They weren’t ‘noisy’ per se, but they were constant, and I’d definitely gotten used to the always-present hum.

But now, there’s… nothing.

And it feels like my ears are protesting.

“Well, here, we are,” Zalora says with a sniff as she rises from her seat using her cane as support. “I think before we introduce your new bride and her friends to the people, our first stop should be to the collarsmiths, Kiahn, don’t you agree?”

Kiahn pauses, mid-pace, his gaze slicing toward me, but more specifically, my neck. I’m mostly covered by the high collar on the adjusted dress that Vel gave me, but he gives a grunt and a curt nod before he starts his slow walk back and forth again.

Honestly, this Kiahn seems like he’s a million miles away, and far removed from the one who opened up about his parents last night before we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

He’s stressed.

And his stress is stressing me the fuck out.

The doors to the room whoosh open and in walks Az. Az - who apparently is allergic to wearing a shirt. “There you are,” he says, grinning directly at Lois.

“Yep,” I hear her sigh beside me. “Here I am.”

Az walks behind us and leaps over the back of the seating backrest to land on the other side of Lois with a graceful bounce. “I’ve got a tour for you already planned out. First, I’m gonna take you to meet the team, then we’ll stop at Zock’s for the best squirtberry ale of your life, and then we can hop on by to the stables and you can meet Puff and Lady,” he finishes, holding up fingers and pointing at them as he lists off his apparent plan.

Lois opens her mouth to speak but only ends up letting out the odd, confused stilted noise. It sounds like all her questions are currently battling each other for dominance, and the one that wins out becomes evident when she finally spits out, “squirtberry?”

Az nods his head eagerly, somehow scooting closer to Lois so effortlessly, you’d hardly notice it if you weren’t watching him closely. “Yeah, you know, it’s a little green fruit about this big,” Az gestures with his palm out, “and when you eat it,” he says, bringing the imaginary fruit to his mouth, “it squirts its juice all over the place.”

“Reminds me of a Kyraaxi girl I met last year,” Zann injects into the conversation, now deciding to lift his head from where I’d thought he’d been sleeping, his big body sprawled on the seating and his head tipped back on the headrest.

Az rolls his eyes at his brother. Kiahn halts his pacing for just a moment - just long enough to tip his head up to the ceiling and quietly groan to himself. And then he’s back to stalking the room, lost in other thoughts.

“Anyway,” Zann grins, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “Zocks is always full of drak-ball airheads and groupies. Do not take the humans there.”

“But,” Az glances between Lois and his brother. “They love me in there.”

Zann pinches the bridge of his nose and flops back against the seat rest again, apparently done with this conversation.

“It doesn’t matter what any of you have planned for the humans,” Lady Zalora says as she waits by the door. “First, they must be settled in at the palace, and Niska should be fitted with a collar so everyone shall know she is Kiahn’s bride.”

My eyes meet with Kiahn’s as he finally stops pacing to look at me. I can feel my cheeks flush.

I walk with him as we exit the royal cruiser on a long, elegantly carpeted ramp onto the palace dock. He matches my shorter strides so that I’m not rushing to keep his pace, and walks with his hands clasped behind his back. His posture and body language isn’t closed off at all, which is a comfort… but he doesn’t say anything. Not a word. Behind us, I can hear Az rambling on and on about all the places he wants to show Lois while Jaya walks with Vel up ahead and Zann trails far behind our whole exit party.

The dock is a huge indoor area like an aircraft hanger - that was my first impression, anyway, since there were other spacecrafts of various shapes and sizes also parked up in here. But the cavernous space feels a lot less industrial. Walkways on the floors are lined out with plush carpet, the walls have some kind of patterned molding, and above us, high over our heads is a cluster of huge glowing spheres, levitating up there by the ceiling, light giant balloons of light.

“Welcome to Xaavia!” someone cheers as we follow Lady Zalora who heads up our little landing party. In fact, it wasn’t just ‘someone’ who had cheered for us, but several someones. I had been too busy gawking at our surroundings to notice the small gathering of Xavianns banded together to hold a banner that reads; Welcome, Humans Beings!

Lady Zalora turns sharply to glare at Vel behind her.

“Uh… I may have told a few of my fellow Earthophile Club members about our guests,” she says, wincing and trying to hide behind her tablet.

It’s at that moment that one of her human-fan-club-friends lets off something similar to a confetti canon, except, as well as pink glitter shooting everywhere, it also seems to shoot out these bright, twirling lightning bug-type things that dance around us before they fizzle out and disappear.

A piece of pink confetti flutters down to land on Lady Zalora’s shoulder.

Her right eye twitches.

“Uh… you-you said I should send notice that the Prince has entered into a breeding contract so that everyone was aware ahead of our arrival-”

“That did not pertain to your merry band of fanatics, Vel!” Lady Zalora quips, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

While Zalora is busy cursing under her breath, some of Vel’s friends rush forward, apparently not phased at all that they’re not meant to be here. “Oh, my horns, aren’t they adorable!?” one female squeals. She lifts her hands toward Jaya before pausing. “Would it be terribly insensitive for me to… squish you? Squeeze your cheeks a little?”

Kiahn steps forward, issuing the command that, “ no-one is permitted to ‘squish’ the humans,” at the same time that Jaya’s palms come up to cover her cheeks, framing the bemused-looking smile on her face.

All the while, Vel has been apologizing to Lady Zalora a few paces away. But she comes to join us once Kiahn’s Aunt walks off briskly, shaking her head at the whole situation. “You promised you’d be normal about this,” she mutters from the side of her mouth as she sidles up to the Xaviann woman who wanted to pinch Jaya’s cheeks.

Just then, a male Xaviann pushes his way through to us, his hands laden with various objects. He wears a t-shirt several sizes too small that must have come from Earth since it stops several inches above his navel and reads in big, colorful letters, ‘I love DILFs’ stretched across his Xaviann chest. “I have welcome gifts for you!” he announces, his smile wide enough to crinkle his eyes. “These are all very hard to come by, but I have my connections within the black market traders-”

Kiahn purposely clears his throat and crosses his arms, reminding the male that his prince is right here , and can hear everything he’s saying.

“I mean…” the guy pales, glancing at Kiahn as his hand, clutching one of his gifts hovers midway to Lois. “I-”

“As long as it is only trinkets and baubles you’re purchasing,” Kiahn says, giving the other Xaviann a pointed look. “Perhaps you might help me procure some other Earth items that will make my…” he hesitates, eyes burning into mine before inclining his head, “ guests happy.”

“Of course, of course,” the male says, continuing to dole out gifts to us humans as he thrusts a potato masher into Lois’ hands. I’m very enthusiastically offered a chipped mug that has the words ‘live, laugh, lobotomy’ in swirling pink letters on it, and Jaya - Jays’s given something metal that looks like a-

I smack my hand over my mouth.

Lois giggles.

Jaya looks mortified.

It’s a butt plug.

“No one in the Northern Earthophile Society can figure out what that one is, but it’s one of my prized possessions-”

Jaya shakes her head and tries to offer her gift back. “Oh, I couldn’t take it if you-”

“Nonsense!” the male beams. “Please, just tell me what it is used for, I would rather it be returned to the people of its origin.” The male smiles at Jaya so sincerely and bows his head in such a respectful way, it’s like he’s returning culturally significant historical artifacts back to their rightful owners or something. Jaya opens her mouth but no words come out. She silently begs Lois and I for help.

“It’s… Uh…”

“It’s an ornament!” I interject. “We… uh… display them on special occasions and such…”

The male’s face lights up. “Oh! Delightful! I shall have to see if I can get more so you can each celebrate your special Earth events-”

“Uh, no, that’s fine,” I shake my head. “We’ll… we’ll just share Jaya’s. Thank you.”

Lois looks like she’s going to explode with laughter any moment now. “What else do you have from Earth?” she asks, clamping her mouth shut as soon as the words are out just in case a giggle escapes.

Just as a few other Xavianns step forward, all insisting at once that they possess the best collection of ‘Earthernalia’, Kiahn steps into my personal space. “Come,” he says, his head bent and his voice low, just for me. “I wish to show you something.”

Kiahn ushers me to what feels like the front of the spacecraft hanger, where there is a large balcony, open to the elements. It takes me a moment or two of blinking out the dazzling effect of seeing natural sunlight for the first time in months, but when my sight finally settles, I can’t help but gasp.

“Welcome to my home, Xaavia,” Kiahn says, but I barely hear him. I’m too busy staring, open-mouthed at the towers and spires that look like they’ve sprouted from the earth. The bridges reach across from building to building like arms trying to fold each other into an embrace. Everything is set against a lavender sky - a sky streaked with fluffy clouds and small flight-craft zooming about from tower to tower. The buildings themselves aren’t all straight lines and sharp edges like the skyscrapers back home. Their shape is much more organic-looking, like something Guadi would have designed in Barcelona.

Leaning over the balcony, I look down to see the base of the buildings. A lot of them start off wider, with smooth, rounded walls that twist together - kind of like the roots of a mangrove tree before it comes together to reach high into the sky. There’s a clearing just below us - a ‘town square’ sort of area, but much, much larger than any town square I’ve ever seen with a gorgeous fountain with bottle-green tiles in the middle. There are Xavianns down there, busying about, getting on with their days like I haven’t just landed on the first safe place that will hopefully become my home for the remainder of my life.

“The people gather here to welcome important visitors, to hear announcements from the palace, and for various celebrations,” Kiahn murmurs in my ear. It’s only now that I notice he’s stood behind me, both arms braced on the lip of the balcony on either side of me. “They make a particular fuss on my nameday.” He says the words like he’s grumbling about it, but it only sounds halfhearted.

I chuckle, but don’t say anything as I continue to look around, taking everything in, until I feel the heat of Kiahn lean into my back.

“You will be presented to them here, too,” he murmurs, his hot breath tickling the skin behind my ear.

“I will?”

“Mm-hm,” he affirms. “As my breeding bride. The people will want to see who finally got me to sign my first contract.”

I… the way he phrased that; ‘my first contract’, I don’t know why it causes my spine to lock up and a knot to form in my belly. I knew I’d only be the first - the first of many, probably.

I knew this.

“What is it?” Kiahn asks, leaning away from me a little since he’d obviously sensed my stupid reaction to his words.

I shake my head. “I…” My mind whirs for an excuse and of all the ones I could have chosen; being nervous about his people accepting me, getting used to a whole new planet, being strapped down and ‘bred’ by Kiahn for the first time, my head chooses to say, “you seemed very stressed to be landing back here.”

It was true. He had been pacing, and was quiet back there as we docked. But I didn’t want to seem like I was prying.

I hear Kiahn sigh above me. “I am worried you will not like it here. I am worried that I’m under-prepared for caring for you as my bride. I am worried someone will treat you differently because you are human and make you uncomfortable here.”

That’s a lot of worries.

I pat one of his big, gray hands as it grips the edge of the balcony. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I’m worried that I want to touch you again like I did back in my simulator.”

My breath hitches.

I can feel Kiahn shift closer at my back, his big arms bracketing me in as I face the open air in front of us.

“Why does that worry you?” I ask, my voice a little cracked as it gets carried away with the wind.

Kiahn leans down again, and murmurs, “because I want to do it now , Niska.” His thick thumb comes up to stroke the back of my hand, back and forth, back and forth. “Will you let me play with your pretty little cunt again?”

“Here?” My pulse kicks up a notch at the mere thought of Kiahn touching me out here.

“Yes,” he murmurs, his hand slipping down around my front to slowly gather the fabric of my dress. “Here.”

I work on trying to keep my breathing regular as I continue to stare out at the public square. All the while, I’m far too aware of how I can feel the slow drag of the hem of my skirt inching up my legs, until I feel the brush of Kiahn’s fingertips on my thigh.

“Is that alright?” he asks, his voice a warmth against the shell of my ear.

I don’t say anything, I just nod, because God, damn it, I don’t think anyone has ever wanted to touch me so badly like this. Like he can barely stand to wait. Like it doesn’t even matter that there are people going about their days down there, and they could look up and see how close we are, how his arm bands across my front and his hand disappears into the bunched up skirts of my dress.

Kiahn’s hand skims over the front of my silky Xaviann underwear-shorts, and then dips into the waistband. He gently cups my belly and growls softly into my hair before his touch travels lower - a move that makes me feel strange, but in a good way. I’ve never particularly liked my stomach being touched, but the gesture had felt like it was filled with affection and wanting. So much so, that I almost wanted him to do it again. A puff of breath escapes him when his warm fingers carefully trace my pussy, and I suddenly forget about any other kind of touch altogether.

Arching my back only seems to encourage Kiahn to push his hips into me, and there’s no mistaking how much letting him touch me is affecting him.

“So wet,” he mutters, almost to himself, before he adds, “after that first night meeting you at the pleasure club, I’d been curious to research if a human female could take a Xaviann cock, but now I know how your little cunt weeps with excitement, I’m sure you could take me, couldn’t you, little female?”

My head tips back with a moan as he finds my entrance and starts pushing two fingers inside me, his palm pressed firmly to my clit. “Yes.”

“Are you looking forward to it, my Niska?”

“Yes,” I breathe out again, reaching back to grip onto his horn, just like last night.

Kiahn groans, but this time, he reaches up to pry my hand away, placing it back on the lip of the balcony and covering it with his own. “ Good girl ,” he coos. “As much as I love that, my fangs are already out, and I need your obedience, Niska. What you’re going to do for me is, you’re going to be very still while I play with you until you come on my fingers. Can you do that?”

I nod my head once, and then more when Kiahn grunts and starts curling his fingers inside me, rhythmically rubbing at that special sensitive spot as his palm keeps that delicious pressure on my clit. Good, God! Kiahn is so skilled with his hands. Whatever ‘research’ he’s done must have been thorough, because he is hitting all the right spots, keeping the right kind of pace, applying the right touch, and whispering the right kind of filthy words into my ear. My body feels tense and coiled as I try to keep stock-still while he pleasures my pussy. The urge to grind on him, to writhe, to turn around and kiss the hell out of him is so strong, I feel dizzy. “ Thaaat’s it, little female ,” he croons, his voice low and husky. “Stay nice and still for me. Nice and still while I play.”

I open my eyes. My vision is a little hazy, but I try to focus on the few people all the way down there in the square. There’s two Xavian women walking with purpose as they talk, gesturing with their hands as they go. There’s a group of three males, standing together, their horned heads moving as they speak to one another. If they glanced up here at the royal balcony, would they know that their prince is knuckle-deep in my pussy right now? The thought sends an odd thrill through me.

“Would you like me to ready your cunt like this before I mount you?” he growls low in my ear. “Would you trust me enough to ready you with my tongue?”

Nodding my head, I bite my lip, feeling my orgasm building. “ Mm-hm. ” I desperately want to grind myself down on his big, rough hand to speed myself along to that final, heady, delicious destination. But I need to stay still.

And I can be good.

Even as I think the words, my brow creases at my own thoughts as if even I don’t believe them.

“ Good girl, that’s it, ” Kiahn murmurs again, as if he can hear my aroused mind-babble. His hand movements start to pick up speed, and his palm starts rubbing against my clit in magnificent, firm circles, delivering such a divine pressure, I think I’m going to burst.

I can feel the tension inside me twist, and twist, like a wind-up toy ready to be let loose. I grip the ledge of the balcony so tight, it feels like I’ll never let go.

“If you come a step closer, I’ll break your horns off with my bare hands!” Kiahn barks all of a sudden, his head jerking to the side above me. But his hand never stops between my legs - he doesn’t even pause for a heartbeat.

My brows knit together, my mind clouded in a fog of near-orgasm pleasure.

Reality blows that cloud away rather abruptly when I hear more than one person answer, “yes, my prince.”

Oh shit! We’re not alone?!

I try to whip my head to the side to peer around Kiahn’s big body, but his reflexes are so fast, the way he grips my jaw in an instant to keep me in place makes me gasp. “No, little female,” he murmurs in a soft yet raspy voice just for me. “Just ignore them. I’ll make sure they can’t see you.”

“But-”

“I need you to come on my hand, Niska. I won’t be able to leave you alone until you do, so have mercy on me, woman, and let me finish.”

I swallow, my whole body alight with a fire that I don’t want to put out. “O-ok,” I nod my head.

Kiahn growls and pushes his hips into me, trapping my body and his own hand between his big frame and the balcony. “ Fuck , the way you trust me is so fucking intoxicating to me, Niska. I’m going to put the best fucking bride collar on you, and provide you with everything you’ve ever desired.” I mewl as Kiahn’s movements become even more rough. “Will you tell me anything you want, so I can be sure you have it? Will you let me take care of you?”

I nod my head for Kiahn, but I’m feeling so gorgeously overwhelmed with all the sensations, I can barely stay standing. Not that I think that Kiahn would ever let me fall, but I can’t even be sure if his body is completely shielding me from the view of the others who are here. Where are they, even? Are they still there? Standing a few paces away, waiting until their prince finishes making me come?

Oh, God, the thought is enough to push me over the edge. “I’m gonna-” my words are smothered by a big, warm hand clamping down over my mouth as he continues fucking me with his fingers. My whole body is pulled taut like a harp string that he keeps plucking, playing me like a sheet of blissful music.

“ Shh-shh ,” Kiahn coos quietly as I’m still reeling from my high. Then, he removes his hand from between my thighs, and promptly shoves his fingers into his mouth. “ Oh, fuck that’s good, ” he groans around his fingers, before straightening like it was nothing at all.

I turn to face him just as he’s un-tucking his shirt and letting the soft, flowing material drape over his crotch, concealing a sizable bulge and a considerable wet patch.

Jesus.

“Well, what is it?” he barks, tilting his head only slightly to indicate that he’s using that abrupt tone with his men, and not me. But those intense eyes stay firmly fixed on mine as he speaks. “It had better be important to warrant interrupting your prince seeing to his bride’s needs.”

There’s silence behind him and I dare to sneak a peek around his bicep. There are three Xaviann guys dressed like they’re guards or something similar. They glance at each other anxiously before one decides to step up and speak. “Y-yes, Prince Kiahn. I-it’s just we have been sent to tell you that… uh-” the guard guy looks to his peers for help.

“For Goddesses sake, spit it out,” Kiahn sighs, but he already seems disinterested as his fingers start playing with the ends of my hair. “Did Aunt Zalora already demand a ball to present my bride to my people tonight?” One corner of his mouth lifts and the soft look in his eye makes it seem like he wouldn’t think that was a bad idea at all.

“No, Prince Kiahn,” a different guard from before says. “We came to report word that your father is coming.”

And with that, Kiahn freezes, his half-smile sliding clean off his face.