Defiance Read online

  “Death?”

  “The Hecate do not breed well. Every member of the species counts and the only place they can live during the first four decades is their home. To take them away is to kill them.”

  His hands slowly removed her wrap and began to work on the fastenings of her gown. “Why is the rooting so important?”

  “It completes their maturation cycle. The Hecate are born live and carried and educated in a pod and then live the next twenty years learning their civic duties. After they gain the basics, they root and bloom. The pollen they generate helps the breeding cycle of the previous generation, so if they lose one maturing adult, it has a catastrophic effect.”

  The gown was hanging onto her shoulders by friction.

  “I see. Does your species have any breeding specifics that I should know about?” He gently slid the left strap off her shoulder and then the right.

  “No. My specifics are cultural. I have taken a supressing shot, so pregnancy is not something that will concern me for a while.”

  Idly, he eased the straps off her arms with fingers hooked through them. “Can it be counteracted?”

  “It could be, but it would mean a visit to a med facility.”

  He paused as the gown caught on the swell of her breasts. “That will require some thought.”

  She was going to ask him what there was to think about, but her gown hit the floor in a rush and nothing parted their bodies. It was a helluva distraction.

  He lifted her and turned to sit on the bed, the nearly full moons lighting their bodies in a spectral glow. He settled her in his lap facing him, her legs around his hips.

  She moaned as he leaned down to take one nipple after the other into his mouth. The hot tugging sent a ripple of reaction down into her channel and caused her clit to throb.

  He stroked her shoulders with his thumbs, and she could feel his grin against his breast as he flicked her ticklish spot.

  She gasped and shook violently as her body did not translate it the way it normally did. “What the hell?”

  “Pheromones. They add a sensory level to intimacy that few folk bother looking into. Nine out of sixteen species in my ancestry pick their mates by scent. You smell amazing.” He pressed his nose between her breasts and inhaled sharply.

  She shivered. “That was how you knew when I returned tonight. You could smell me.”

  “I could. I could also smell those young men who were all attracted by the scent of flowers that the Hecate was giving off.”

  He moved his mouth until it was over her ticklish spot, and he tongued the skin under his lips until she twisted in his arms. It had gone from ticklish to an erogenous zone, and she was ready to cum just from his mouth on her shoulder.

  She moaned as her body surrendered to the strange mix of sensations and the heady scent of aroused male.

  He moved one finger into her, breathing slowly and carefully as he tested her readiness. “Thank the moons.” He exhaled in relief and lifted her, setting her on the tip of his cock and letting her weight bring her down onto him.

  Teeny gripped his shoulders for balance and held on as he lifted and dropped her over and over. They rocked together in the moonlight, sighing and sliding in unison.

  She shuddered as another orgasm swept through her, groaning and resting her forehead against him.

  He continued to thrust upward until his own release rushed in. Zhomos’s hands held her tightly to him while his neck arched and the corded muscles flexed.

  His body was sheened with sweat. He lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. “Tomorrow night I can’t shift back. I will be trapped in my hunting form, and I will be unable to communicate.”

  She smiled. “I knew you tonight, I will know you tomorrow. What is the drill for tomorrow night?”

  “At sundown, the women have the choice to either gather on the green or you can stand on your balcony. The men come running and seek their female. If there is a dispute or conflicting claim on a woman, the men fight it out, and they take their female to a safe place, guarding her until dawn. At dawn, they shift and begin courtship.”

  She chuckled. “What makes up the courtship?”

  “They bring flowers, treats, jewellery, anything the woman might fancy.” He grinned.

  Teeny sighed and thought of the things she would like. Clothing, weapons, a place to keep her stuff. It was doubtful that she would get any of the above.

  She yawned and snuggled against him. “I think I need a bit of a rest. It has been an eventful day.”

  He stood up with her still attached to him and flipped back the covers. He stretched out so that she was on top of him and stroked her back once he flicked the covers over them.

  She was going to tell him that there was no way for her to fall asleep with him still inside her, but she fell asleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Teeny spent the day at the pool, sunning herself with the group of giggling women and sipping at fruit cocktails. Her thighs ached and her nipples were still as hard as diamonds from the previous night, but she managed to absorb the relaxing heat offered by the Gakkada sun.

  The two women from the night before came over and glowered at her.

  “Yes?”

  “Where is she?” The Nyal female scowled, her red eyes flashing.

  “She went home.”

  “She was going to find a mate here and live here with us.” The Azon woman nodded.

  Teeny sat up and looked at both of the women blocking her sun. “She was dying. Hecate are plant born. They need their world to live. You may have been friends with her, but she would have been dead within the week. She was already throwing her anchoring buds.”

  They looked at each other and shifted from foot to foot.

  The Nyal was defensive. “She didn’t tell us that.”

  “She didn’t know. There is a first time for everything, and this is her first time. She will be rooted and blooming by the end of the week. How much did you ask her about her species, or did you assume that because she looked like you, she was similar to you?”

  The Azon shifted. “So, Sarnfra will be fine?”

  “I hope so. I did my job and got her back to her people. They have to take it from there.”

  The young ladies blushed and the Nyal scowled. “We apologize. I didn’t know why she was fighting us, so we just hauled her along.”

  “I told her she was blooming, and she was eager to leave. Your apology is accepted.”

  She nodded and waved the ladies away. “Please leave, you are in my light, and my job does not allow me much time in the sun.”

  The ladies nodded and left her alone.

  The sun was creeping across the sky and there was less speaking and more nervous ordering of drinks around the pool. Becoming irritated by the tension, Teeny got to her feet, slipped on a robe and walked back to her room.

  She showered and ordered a meal in her quarters. A message was flashing on her com unit, and Neijish’s face appeared. “She’s rooted and doing fine. You got to her just in time and her family requested and was granted an in-system jump to get her home. Now, there is another matter. A request for your transfer to Gakkada.”

  “A what?”

  “A very high-up request has been processed, and you are now going to be dispatched out of Gakkada. I didn’t even know they were willing to host a retriever.”

  A small smiled quirked her lips. “I think it is a recent decision. Are there any details of this transaction?”

  “Sure. I will upload them to your mobile unit. I think there is a very nice shuttle in it for you, dressed up to look nasty. I don’t know how that works, but if you want it, you have it.”

  Teeny grinned. “Thanks for the good news on Sarnfra. It was worrying me and others here.”

  Neijish saluted and the call was over.

  Teeny wore a silk robe that had been added to her clothing order and waited in her room, watching vids about Gakkada while she waited for the moons to rise.

  The li
ght tapping at her balcony door told her that he was there and that he was early. She smiled, crossed the room and was almost to the door when she realized that the male on the other side wasn’t Zhomos.

  She backed up and went for her bag. He crashed through the glass pane and was on her the moment her hand plunged into the opening of her bag. She found the wrapped fabric and swung it back at the male who held her by the ankle. The blade sliced through his skin and fur, causing him to release her.

  A second male came through her balcony door, but this one was definitely Zhomos. She unwrapped her set of knives and crouched in one corner, blades at the ready, while the two beasts of Gakkada wrecked her room.

  Zhomos grabbed his opponent and flung him out through the shattered glass and into the green space beyond.

  He was breathing heavily and blood was matting his fur.

  Teeny went to the com and called the front desk. “Pardon me, but there was just a fight in my room. Is there a spare room nearby?”

  “Yes, Miss Montague. Take the room at the end of the hall. I will set it to accept your bio signature.”

  Sighing, she gathered her bag and the parcel of clothing, taking Zhomos by one huge hand, and she led him down the hall to the room specified. Once she had the new room sorted, she sat him down at the edge of the bed, dampened a towel and wiped the blood from his fur. His skin had already sealed.

  “Thanks for coming to my rescue. It isn’t normally required, but I am glad you were there.”

  He pressed his huge head to her shoulder, and a low rumble came from him. With his fur clean, he tugged her down to the bed and curled around her, surrounding her with him entirely.

  She was still wrapped in the silk robe, so she pressed her palm to the wide expanse of his chest and felt his heartbeat into the dark of the night.

  Dawn freed him and his normal arms wrapped around her. “I am sorry. I did not expect him to continue. He seemed to have bonded to her.”

  She smiled. “If you let him leave, he can go live with her, watch over her as she blooms, flowers and becomes one with Hecate. If they will allow it, he can be next to her for all her days.”

  He scowled. “Gakkada do not leave our world.”

  “Your ancestors did. It might be time to re-evaluate your customs.” She stroked her hand down his chest. “The hunt night, it is so that the women know what they are getting into, isn’t it?”

  He blushed. “Something like that. That is why the ritual is arranged the way it is.”

  She sighed and snuggled closer to him. “So, today you court me?”

  “Yes, and the way you ran for defense, I am thinking that weapons might be a good idea.” He nuzzled her neck, and she burst out laughing.

  He continued to work on that spot, and she continued to giggle until he slid his hand between her thighs. It went from humorous to seductive in an instant, and the quick switch did a number on her hormones.

  She shivered and moaned.

  To her shock, he withdrew his hand and stood up. “I do hate to leave you like this, but I have wooing to do and until sundown to do it.”

  He walked to the balcony door, opened it and shifted as he jumped.

  Teeny shivered and headed for a cold shower. It was going to be a long day.

  After the ninth knock on her door with clothing, weapons and jewels, she was ready to flop naked on her back in a public place just to get him to stop.

  Zhomos arrived late in the afternoon with an armload of exotic flowers. “Christiena Montague, please stay with me and be my mate.”

  She inhaled deeply and smiled at the wild scent of the flowers. He had picked them near the beach they had spent that first day on, she could tell.

  Teeny stepped aside to invite him in. “I need my work, Zhomos.”

  “I know. You can do it from here.”

  “I need a place to be mine. My home. My own. Can that be done?”

  He handed her a data pad. “I have signed over all my property holdings to you if you agree.”

  She smiled and sniffed the flowers again. “Will you mind me taking off to do retrievals?”

  “Will you mind me coming along?”

  “Probably.”

  “Then yes, probably.” He winked. His shoulders relaxed as he realized she was giving in.

  “I suppose that here is as good as anywhere, and you are better than most.”

  He let out a shout and spun her around. “It wasn’t an enthusiastic yes, but I will take it.”

  She laughed at his joy and held on. Thakasis would be happy to have her stay, and Akath would be a good friend in time. A new life had to start somewhere, and this place was a very good start.

  “Yes, yes, yes, yesyesyesyes!” She moaned as he licked and sucked at her until she screamed it over and over.

  He surged up her body and joined them together with a feral grin on his face. He had gotten his yes, and he was not going to let her forget it.

  She was just going to have to make him drag it out of her over and over again. She couldn’t wait.

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there.

  She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time.

  In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, her greatest weakness and strength is her evil sense of humour.

  Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever

  After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.