I was flying high. Everything had gone so well, far beyond my wildest dreams. Even as I flew back to the village with the elders and my mother-in-law, I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. My companions kept talking in excited voices, switching back and forth between Universal and their mother tongue, so carried away they forgot I didn’t understand it. But I didn’t mind. They weren’t trying to exclude me, but were simply overjoyed by their long overdue success.
There was something magical about seeing people happy and basking in that aura of joy. Knowing that I had a hand in making it happen made it all the more amazing. And yet, I had little merit. Their products were fantastic, but disloyal competition from the Conglomerate had undermined my new people who knew and understood so little about marketing. I fully intended to address this matter in the upcoming days and file formal complaints with the UPO.
The swift flight home allowed me to get a head start on preparing my contribution to tonight’s meal. Between the market’s success and the dishes I would present, I held strong hopes that this would mark a radical shift in the Andturians’ way of thinking when it came to farming. With the kind of credits I had made with just this limited amount of reezia berries, we could be making a killing by diversifying the products on offer and producing them in larger quantities. The tourist resorts alone could represent a huge market for us.
Bubbling with excitement, as soon as I finished unloading and putting away my empty cooling units, I made a beeline for my shed to harvest oyster mushrooms, green onions, and some herbs, and then out to the field to pick some lettuce and spinach. I was just finishing putting them in a hover basket when Yamir’s soft voice startled me. I had not seen her approach so lost I had been in my thoughts.
“I did not know what to expect today. I had hoped for even a tenth of the success that was achieved,” she said looking at me with a strange expression. “Because of what you did, Clan Leader Surtas will not sell his lands tomorrow as he had originally planned. The proceeds they have received will allow them to hold for at least two more months. Two more months means two more public markets. Even if they are only half as successful as today’s, it will be enough for all of us to thrive and retain our lands. You have taught us much this day. You are a great Clan Mistress and a loving partner to my son. Thank you for what you have done. I am proud to call you Daughter.”
Too many emotions ran through me, leaving me voiceless. Tears pricked my eyes as she gazed at me with affection. In that instant, I badly wanted a hug. My own mother had never claimed me with such pride and affection—not a third daughter. But Andturians weren’t big on the displays of affection. Yamir simply smiled then turned around and left.
I took a moment to compose myself before heading to the Great Hall where the Hunters and Gatherers, who hadn’t attended the public market, had already begun preparing the evening meal. It was fascinating watching them roasting an entire warbull on the spit—the Xecania version of a deer—in the back kitchen. Working alongside the other Gatherers, I started washing and cutting my vegetables, using some of the local fruits and nuts for my spinach and lettuce salad, as well a mix of human and Andturian spices for my sauteed mushrooms.
Seeing them eye me with undisguised curiosity only pushed me to make even more of a show of my preparations as I happily discussed with them the various recipes I would make in the future once more of my vegetables had grown. They seemed particularly interested in moussaka and potatoes in general.
When I finally started cooking the mushrooms, my own mouth watered from the delicious aroma. Despite the large number of people present with the visiting clans for the market, I didn’t fear running out. In fact, I had so many mushrooms, I intended to gift some to our neighboring clans before they left.
Having finished my own preparations, I was helping the Gatherers divide the other side dishes into equal portions to be placed on warming plates, when Olix walked into the back kitchen. My stomach did a somersault when he grabbed my hand and hauled me after him out of the room under the amused stares of the others.
I didn’t have to ask to know what they were thinking. When the Fishers party had returned two days ago, the couples who had been separated for those few weeks had disappeared from view shortly thereafter. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. As Andturians didn’t do the whole foreplay thing and both males and females self-lubricated at will, they just got straight down to business and were done in no time. That definitely didn’t happen between Olix and me. With dinner about to be served, he couldn’t possibly intend to…?
We only made it as far as the back of the building. Olix pushed me against the wall, lifted me up so my legs would wrap around his waist, then crushed my lips in a passionate kiss… tongue and all. Gone was the somber and distressed aura that had weighed him down since his arrival. Man, I looooved kissing my husband. It was all the stranger that his scaly lips felt nothing like a human’s, but I couldn’t get enough of him. Breaking the kiss, he tilted my head back to kiss and lick my neck.
Today, for the first time, he scraped his pointy teeth over my skin. The sensation resonated straight in my core. Andturians were biters. Their thick scales protected them from harm—you’d have to really give a good chomp to pierce through. But as mine was super fragile in comparison, Olix had seriously held back with me. Despite the excessive care he displayed, it thrilled me that he was taking more risks with us, calculated though they were.
Although his cock had not extruded—we couldn’t, seeing how exposed we were to anyone who might walk by—Olix rubbed his pelvis against mine, while fondling my breast and kissing me again. A moan escaped me as I began to throb, aching to be filled. That sound appeared to snap Olix out of his lustful haze as he immediately stopped what he was doing. His golden eyes—darkened by desire—bore into mine.
“You awaken a burning hunger in me, my mate,” Olix said, his voice sounding even deeper than usual. “I cannot wait for the meal to end so that I can take you back to our sleeping nest.”
I licked my lips nervously, my inner walls contracting in anticipation.
“I cannot wait either,” I said in a breathy voice.
He chuckled and purred in that strange way of his that mixed with a rattling sound. It had creeped me out the first time I’d heard it. But now, I found it sexy as fuck.
“After evening meal,” he said, his voice full of promise.
He kissed me one last time before putting me down. However, instead of taking me right back inside, Olix stared at me for a moment, studying my features as if he was seeing me for the first time.
“Thank you for chasing away the dark clouds that were engulfing this day,” he suddenly said, his voice deep with emotion. “Thank you for choosing me as your mate despite the hardships that awaited you. Thank you for being a better partner to me than I can ever be to you. It shames me that you give me and my people so much when I have so little to offer you in return. I—”
“You have already given me so much more than you realize, Olix,” I said, cupping his face in my hands, my heart filling with affection for him. “You’ve given me things I’ve never had before: a forever home where I don’t have to live in fear of getting kicked out when a certain date comes. A sister who supports me and genuinely wants a warm relationship with me. A mother who proudly claims me as her daughter, even though she doesn’t fully understand me. A people to belong to and for whom I can make a difference. You’ve given me purpose, safety, and you’ve given me you—a kind and affectionate husband who does his best to make me happy. I don’t need material things from you. What you’ve given me is far more precious and invaluable.”
A powerful emotion crossed his features as he gazed upon me in a way that made my insides liquefy and my knees wobble. He drew me into his embrace and gave me the sweetest, bone crushing hug, his lips brushing against my right ear.
“You are the greatest blessing the Spirits could have ever bestowed upon me,” Olix whispered.
After kissing my ear, he released me and led me back inside the Great Hall, holding my hand. Although the people found that type of interaction strange, they still smiled with amused expressions as we headed to the main table. To my utter relief, the Andturians didn’t launch into the endless speeches I had expected. Everyone knew why we were celebrating.
As the Gatherers began bringing the plates to be shared, my heart fluttered again. Seeing large bowls of my salad and sauteed mushrooms being served alongside the other dishes on every table had me dying with nerves. It messed with me all the more when, as soon as Pawis placed them on our table, Olix went straight for a healthy serving of both, ignoring his traditional dishes. I held my breath as he took a first bite of the spinach salad. Seeing his shoulders subtly relax as he began chewing sent a wave of relief coursing through me. I realized then that my husband had been just as worried that he’d dislike my dishes.
He took a couple more bites before grinning at me. I puffed out my chest seeing a similar reaction from Yamir and Luped, as well as others around the room. But my mushrooms cinched it. Andturians ate a lot of mushrooms, although different from the oyster ones I’d grown. I had slightly modified my usual recipe to include some of their spices. When Olix took his first mouthful, the narrow slit of his lizard eyes widened so much, it almost looked like a human pupil, and that rattling moan he did, usually when I pleasured him, rose from his throat.
I burst out laughing, my face heating with happiness when he chowed down the portion he had put in his plate, his gaze going back to the shared bowl, visibly itching to get a second serving. Luped didn’t shy away and took more, prompting him to do so as well. Although the Andturians enjoyed the salad and cleaned all of their shared bowls, the mushrooms were the star.
“This is beyond delicious, my mate,” Olix said, looking longingly at the empty mushroom plate as if he wanted to lick it. “Seeing how you had many mushrooms growing on those hanging bags, you will be able to prepare this dish often, yes?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, those mushrooms grow fast. But if everyone wants to eat some regularly, I’ll have to make a few more bags to help maintain a steady supply,” I replied, beaming.
“I will bring you more woodchips in the morning, and you can tell me where to build more hooks,” Luped immediately offered.
It’s working! It’s freaking working!
“And I will hook them up for you when they are ready,” Olix offered, not wanting to be one-upped by his sibling.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said with a silly grin.
To my surprise, the celebration appeared set to continue well after the meal. Unlike on my wedding day, the visiting tribes didn’t leave as soon as the meal ended but chose to spend the night. A few crashed at some of our villagers’ dwellings, but most of the Hunters chose to sleep under the stars on the plaza, as was their wont when out hunting.
But Olix and I bowed out as soon as the Gatherers began clearing the tables. I had probably downed a few glasses of berry cider too many. I wasn’t drunk, but certainly a little tipsy, and most definitely extremely horny. My husband seemed to be in the exact same frame of mind. This time, we didn’t make it to the shower. The moment Olix had taken my hand to lure me towards the house, I’d started getting wet.
The minute the door closed behind us, I made a beeline for the sturdy communal table in our family room while pulling down my panties. I kicked them off at the same time as my sandals and sat at the edge of the table.
“I need you inside of me now,” I said in an urgent voice, lifting the knee-length skirt of my dress.
Desire and confusion warred on Olix’s face, his nostril flaring at the scent of my arousal.
“Extrude,” I urged him, pulling him to me by his chest harness still adorned with my blood.
“What about four play?” he asked, hesitantly.
I grabbed his right hand and placed it between my thighs. His palm cupped my sex, while two of his fingers partially sank inside of me, feeling the slickness he had triggered. He made a rattling hissing sound, his face taking on a dark expression filled with lust.
“You already lubricated for me,” Olix said, his voice taking on a growling tone that had my nipples hardening in a blink.
My husband extruded. His thick and long shaft stood proudly—almost menacingly—his own pre-lubrication making the thin scales covering it gleam under the light bathing the room. Olix slipped his arms under my knees, lifting them up while dragging me closer to the edge. I gasped, slapping a hand on top of the table for support while the other settled under his quills to rest on his nape.
Olix pushed himself inside me quickly, not savagely, but with noticeably less patience and care than previously. Although he was still a tight fit, and despite the three-weeks separation, my body had begun adapting to him. It still burned a little going in, but I welcomed it, impatient for him to unleash his passion on me.
My man crushed my lips in a hungry kiss, his tongue dominating mine as he started moving inside of me. Those scales and that crazy hump on top of his shaft were driving me insane with pleasure. In seconds, his cock was pounding into me. All I could do was cling to him and moan into his mouth while he wrecked me.
Olix growled a few words in his language, and something shifted. Without stopping to rock in and out of me, he broke the kiss, forced me onto my back on the table, and lifted my legs over his shoulders.
“Touch yourself,” he ordered, his hands settling on my hips before he began thrusting inside me at an even greater pace.
We’d only watched porn videos once together since my husband had confessed trying to learn how to please me that way. It had been an amazing bonding experience. Seeing a woman masturbate while a man fucked her had turned him on like crazy. Since then, he’d taken to asking me to rub my clit and fondle my breasts while he took me. As much as I loved pleasing him, it made me climax too quickly. By themselves, the scales and bump on his cock had me skirting the edge of ecstasy in no time. Touching myself on top was a killer. And sure enough, moments after I complied to his request, I fell apart.
Olix shouted in pleasure but didn’t relent, his fingers taking up where mine had left off while I rode the waves of bliss. My man loved how my inner walls contracted around him when I climaxed. As soon as I started to come back down, he suddenly pulled out of me, lowered my legs, and then flipped me onto my stomach. I yelped as the room spun around me. Before I knew what was happening, his right foot pushed mine to the side, spreading my legs, and he penetrated me from behind in one powerful thrust.
I cried out in both pleasure and pain. He seemed to be almost possessed as he took me in a frenzy. Olix had gone full Andturian on me, his retractable claws poking out, stinging the tender flesh of my hips. Fear, pleasure, and blind lust had me pushing myself up on my arms and rocking back and forth to meet him, thrust for thrust. It was our first time doing it like this. He’d never felt so big and so deep inside of me. When he fisted my hair, yanking my head back, and his sharp teeth pressed onto the fleshy part of my shoulder, a blinding light exploded before my eyes, and I felt apart again. If not for Olix holding me, I would probably have collapsed.
He continued to pound into me until he finally found his own release. My limbs felt like jelly when he collected me in his arms and carried me to the bathroom to wash us both. That ended up taking longer than expected when he took me again against the shower wall. That night, he woke me a few more times to have his way with me. My voice was shot from having screamed so much in ecstasy, and my pussy was wrecked from having been so thoroughly fucked.
It was good to have my mate home.
