Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (42 page)

After shooting Wyst a dark glare, Pam followed
the mission leader’s silent directive he waved her
inside.

If she was being truthful and everything, Pam
wished she and Wyst could’ve had another couple of moments
alone.

Just her luck to be interrupted right when
things were getting good.

*.*.*.*.*

Rykhan had always tried to be tender
with his Leah when he took her. Although sometimes the excitement
between them, especially when their
wahroms
met, made it difficult if not
downright impossible to keep from pounding into her when his need
was upon him.

At the knowledge of his youngling growing
inside her belly, he became even more mindful. Something that Leah
was beginning to voice her dissatisfaction over. “Harder, baby,”
she urged as she twisted to look behind him from her position on
the hotel room’s mattress. “I need you to go faster and
harder!”

Forgoing words, Rykhan picked her up by her
hips and turned her over onto her back before quickly burrowing his
face between her legs and sliding a large finger inside. From her
immediate reaction, he realized it was the right move. She arched
up, her hands grasping at the coverlet as his tongue and lips
teased and tormented the sensitive knot at the top of her sex even
as he added another finger to completely fill her wet and throbbing
channel.

And the sounds she made.

Oh
Tsiran
, the moans that escaped her as
he created her bliss with his mouth and finger play were almost
enough to help him find his own pleasure as he rocked his hardness
against the sheets of their rented bed. However, if he could hold
off, just continue for just another few strokes then perhaps she
would take him into her mouth afterwards.

An act she called ‘oral’ and one they had only
recently added to their ever-growing repertoire of sexual
delights.

Being with Leah was like nothing he
had envisioned when he had taken himself in hand after viewing
Earth’s vid feeds, the ones of males and females coupling. At
first, he had been shocked but his amazement at both the sight and
the idea of what he could do with a female had him using his hand
on his
tailpor
multiple times a day.

But those imaginings were nothing compared to
the actual feel of his female.

Especially when combined with the
kiss of their
wahroms
was completely satisfying in a way that went beyond mere
physical pleasure but completed him in some fashion at every
level.

Her quivering thighs came together to grip his
face as her hands tangled in his hair, pressing him tighter into
position which he recognized signaled the beginning of her
eruption. Using the flat of his tongue, he increased both speed and
pressure to circle and dance against her as his fingers sought out
the rough, tiny patch deep within to caress and thrill.

“Rykhan!” she screamed, her body shaking while
she crested and he knew he needed to decrease all movement against
her flesh, learning from past experience she became ultra-sensitive
after she released.

“Oh my god,” she panted and as
always, Rykhan felt the glow of satisfaction heat his chest at the
knowledge that it was he who had made her feel so wonderful. To his
mind, there was no greater gift
Tsiran
gave than the ability to share
such amazing pleasure while the connection of His symbol throbbed
lustily whenever they joined.

As he slid up and to her side, her
arms were already reaching for him. “God, what you do to me!” she
breathed, taking his long length in her hot hands she began to
stroke him, causing the wetness that was already leaking out of
his
tailpor
to
increase. “That mouth,” she murmured as her lips met his. “Those
fingers…”

Almost without volition, Rykhan rolled to his
back and Leah followed his move, only scooting down the mattress
until her face aligned with his throbbing length. He hissed at the
heat of her mouth and then was so lost in the wet feel of her lips
and tongue, the deliberate tight strokes of her hand on the portion
she could not swallow, he could neither think nor speak. He could
only move his hips and groan deeply as he elatedly pumped himself
into her willing mouth.

As his body exploded, he was only idly aware of
his roar of satiation. One that echoed within the confines of their
hotel room and was so loud, he wondered if the other guests in the
building could hear.

Leah made her way back from the cleansing unit
she called a ‘bathroom’ and climbed into bed to snuggle against
him. It was in that time Rykhan knew repletion, when he felt
closest to the female who had conquered his body, mind and heart.
He felt tied to her in a way that defied description and generated
feelings so deep, he could not begin to express them.

“Baby? Can I ask you something?” she whispered,
breaking the comfortable silence in the aftermath of their wild
joining.

“Always,
mica
tisha
,”
was his relaxed reply as he flexed his arms around her.

“I know we haven’t talked about it
in a while but I was wondering about the Picari sealing ceremony.
The
Tersa
Tragyard
, I guess it’s
called.”

Everything within Rykhan stilled and
became very alert. Actually, to his memory she had never asked
about it after he had first told her of their destinies,
preordained by
Tsiran
. The one that signified they were to be together for the rest
of their lives. How did she even know its name?

“What would you like to know?”

“Is it like a fancy thing where you get all
dressed up and go someplace special with someone saying religious
words over you?” He could not identify the emotions he both heard
and felt along their link, the ones running behind her voice.
Because he could not, Rykhan was very careful with his
reply.

“Back before the troubles, that is how some
couples chose to seal their pairing but to my mind, that is only an
outside display of what happened within their hearts.” He hoped she
understood what he meant. While his English had gotten better, her
language did not have all the same nuances his native tongue held
in allowing the listener pickup not only the words, but also the
emotions behind them.

“So what’s the most important thing about the
sealing then?”

He twisted until he was facing her,
until he could stare into her amazing eyes and fully see her
beautiful face. Catching an errant lock of her dark hair, he gently
pushed it behind her ear while he thought. “It is the words, my
Leah. It is in the promises the couple, the pair, make to one
another. Those are the most important in their sealing, the vows
they make to each other before
Tsiran
.” He read confusion in her
eyes. “Would you like me to recite them for you?”

She nodded and Rykhan caught his breath at the
tenderness in her gaze. Taking both her hands in his, he began to
speak the phrases he had painstakingly translated from formal
Picari to English only weeks before.

“I choose to pair my life with
you,
mica
blay
. It is my choice to join myself
with you until the end of our days. I promise that you and the
younglings we create are my first priority, never far from my
thoughts, every moment of every day until
Tsiran
pulls me into His ether. That
I will protect, comfort and provide for us to the best of my
ability and for as long as I am able. I freely give you my body, my
intellect, and my heart in return for yours and promise to care for
them as carefully as I do my own. May the joy we share today be
with us always.”

As Rykhan’s voice wound down, his hearts sped
up their beating as he watched tears escape from Leah’s
eyes.

She tried to smile but her bottom lip quivered
and it was more than a few moments before she spoke. “That was
beautiful.”

He could only nod because of the lump in his
throat. A firm mass that he knew was a knot of longing to formally
pair with her, with his Leah. But she’d already told him that would
never happen. And to distract her from his riot of emotions, Rykhan
used a corner of the pillowcase to wipe her face.

“If
Tersa
blay
means ‘sweet bride’ then what’s the Picari term for the guy in
that scenario?”

“Flenta
marl
.” His voice was gruff with all
that churned inside him. “It means something close to ‘cherished
groom’.”

She stared into his eyes before he felt one of
her small hands cup his cheek, a gesture she used often but he
never tired of receiving. As he turned his face into her palm, he
heard her quiet voice start to speak.

“I choose to join my life with
yours,
Flenta
marl
. To pair myself with you until
the end of our lives. Know that you and any children we are blessed
with will always be first in my heart, never far from my thoughts
until God allows me into heaven. I promise I will care, comfort,
and provide for you to the best of my ability, for as long as I’m
able. I freely give you my body, my intellect, and my heart in
return for yours and will treasure and nourish them as carefully as
I do my own. May the joy we share today be with us
always.”

In retrospect, Rykhan could never
quite remember which came first after Leah had pledged her version
of the
Tersa
Tragyard
. Was it her softly murmured
‘I love you’, or the overwhelming heat that pulsated from
his
wahrom
or
simply the absolute, immediate and overcoming need to be inside her
that came first?

All he remembered was the sheer
euphoria that saturated every minute particle of him as he sank
into her, the elation in his heart and mind as the bliss in the
connection of their
wahroms
became stronger somehow. As his body released his
essence into hers, he detected a glow behind his eyelids, one that
was so compelling he had no choice but to open his eyes to see what
was causing such brightness.

As he stared, trying to make sense of what his
eyes recorded, he heard Leah’s soft delighted laugh.

“So I’m guessing
Tsiran
took us at our word and this
means we’re really sealed, huh?”

Rykhan closed his eyes and opened
them again but the image did not change. His
wahrom
, the band of bronze that had
grown overnight in his seventeenth
yon
, which gave evidence of his
warrior status and was so much a part of his body he barely felt it
except when Leah was around, had somehow changed.

It had, in only an instant, transformed to
beautiful gleaming band of gold.

“Damn, and here I was all set to change my
after-baby wardrobe to show off the bronze,” Leah said with a smile
that more than spoke of her happiness. “Does this happen often
or…”

“I h-have never heard of one c-changing
before…” Rykhan had a very hard time speaking since his mind
whirled at what he saw.

Leah used a hand on his chin to turn
his head back to hers. “Maybe it’s a new thing. You know, like
going on search to find a mate and finding a human female
that
Tsiran
marked
as your own. And then getting sealed naked on a bed in a rented
room on planet in a galaxy far, far away.” She giggled and Rykhan
felt his own quivering lips tip up as well. “I’m thinking this all
new for both of us.”

Rykhan didn’t and wasn’t about to offer any
argument.

However, he did remember to send heartfelt
thanks to his creator for the female who had been wondrously chosen
for him.

Epilogue

The first words out of Bronsyn’s mouth didn’t
affect Pam in the least. “No warrior should ever battle
alone.”

She looked up to the tall warrior who stood
next to her, too close for her to feel comfortable and caught
Wyst’s reaction to his commander’s words. As he straightened to his
full height, he thumped a first over his heart before dropping his
chin to his chest. What had he just agreed to? Every other warrior
were on their feet, closely observing her reaction to Wyst’s
salute.

What had the big, longhaired guy meant by those
cryptic words?

“We have secured another transport and I have
uploaded the coordinates.” Arbrynt announced.

She bugged out her eyes at the dude.
Unfortunately, he didn’t take the hint as their eyes met which had
been a clear invitation to spill whatever he knew.

Tyshar stood and made his way to
where she and Wyst stood. “I have the same amount of currency for
you and your mate as I provided Rykhan. Take it and go with
Gyed’s
blessings.”

“I will gather my things,” Wyst announced after
palming the thick wad of cash Tyshar had shoved his way before
tucking it into the back pocket of his jeans. Pam looked up at the
large warrior beside her who spared her only a brief look before he
took off up the stairs.