Page 25 of Bred By Sor'en

“Yes, my mate. It would seem so,” I groan as I untangle myself from her, standing to my full height, the weight of my own exhaustion making me unsteady, but I right myself in front of her. She would no doubt disapprove of her mate even more if she thought me weak. Before she can protest, I lift her into my arms and head for the inside of our home, Melion lingering off to the side, beaming with his approval before he heads for his fields. I have no doubt he stood guard over us while we slept. If she managed any at all.

My mate is quiet and angry, so her usual self, as I deposit her in front of the cleansing unit, her breath a sharp gasp that makes me smirk as I rid myself of what remains of my clothes. Mycock starts up its vibration, already at full mast for the alluring human.

I don’t move as her gaze follows the tailored length of my body, even when my entire being wants to tremble with exhaustion, I stand taller for her, letting her look her fill. My pores are raw and aching from the constant production of bonding oil and would certainly be reddened if not for the hue of my flesh. When her eyes meet my vibrating shaft, her plush lips part before slamming closed again, her cheeks flushing to denote her pleasure. My cock jerks at her attention, eager to show my adorable little mate that I can do far more than cause pain. Although I’m sure she already has a good idea of that now.

She clears her throat, her eyes slamming to me, cheeks flushing even deeper, having been caught staring. “You, uh…”

The rest of her words are so soft and mumbled that I can’t decipher them over the cleansing unit. “Louder, Draya’la,” I remind her, not bothering to mask the growl in my voice.

She swallows hard, shifting on her bare feet. Letting her hair fall over her face as she dips her head to stare at them. “This… bonding vigil. You need it to live?”

I sigh, dreading this conversation, but I answer it honestly nonetheless, as I should’ve done days ago. “No, the wider galaxies need it to live.”

That gets her attention. Her eyes find me again before I step fully into the unit, the distance between us a physical blade shoved deep into my aching bones. I take a second to test the scalding water before I explain, sending a silent plea up to our goddesses to grant me the mercy of this female. “It is why the Sentient Bond Recognition Act applied to us, my sweet one. Xyreliths are often mated within their own kind. It is not rare like some others. We are a dual-nature species, as you can see. It is…unbalanced—"

“Unbalanced, you keep saying that, but what does it mean?”

“It keeps us level. We are every bit as dangerous as we are said to be, but by nature, by moral, and spirt, we abhor violence. That does not mean it does not come as naturally to us as breathing.”

Water slicks down my face as I glance at my female, lowering herself to the floor in front of the open-door unit, listening intently, her hand clasped on that necklace. The pretty battle scar she wears underneath it begging to be kissed by me.

“We worship goddesses, twins, sisters, two halves of the same deadly coin. Pheor'aya is hate, darkness, vengeance, and agony. Her sister, Fam'ora, is her opposite in every way. Life, light, kindness, and pleasure. One cannot exist without the other. When the goddesses bled the sky of its waters and created the first Xyrelith, a male, he was too much within himself and could not release himself from his lesser form. He needed to be balanced, another half to complete his whole so—"

“So, they made him a mate,” she adds.

I offer her a soft smile. “They offered meyou.” Her gaze lingers on my tapered waist, my vibrating cock making the water droplets spin off at odd angles as it reaches toward my lower stomach, inviting its perfect hole to come and explore it.

“So, once you find your mate, if you don’t bond, you guys become your other form?”

Another deep sigh leaves me as I gather cleansing gel made from the flowers outside our home in my palm. For this part, I cannot bring myself to look at my female. “We are mastered as a child. We learn to control ourselves from birth, as our own toxins are lethal even to us as younglings. When we are gifted our mates, it is because we have reached a state of internal balance worthy of them.”Except for me, that is… “It is a double-edged sword. From the moment we see our mate, their death aura is blank to our eyes, and we are no longer a single entity but the half of her whole. We lose the ability to balance without the other. In scientific terms, once bonded, separation causesneurochemical instability, leading to madness from which we cannot recover.”

I cannot hear her shuddering breath as much as I feel the pungent dread filling the room.

“And this bonding?”

“It is the unification of two souls weary from surviving adrift for so long…” My jaw clenches as hot rivulets run down my spines. “It is the greatest honor, Hue. It is something we ache for from the day we are old enough to feel the weight of imbalance. It’s a chance to rest.”

She is silent, and I would much prefer to hear her cutting tongue.

The next words to leave my mouth taste like acid, putrid and gutting, but I force them out anyway. “I do not expect this of you, Hue. I have taken you wrongly, lied, and omitted. The goddesses were cruel, confused when they thought me ready. I am not a balanced male, I never will be, I am—”

“I’ll do it.”

My hands falter as they work my hair, my head snapping toward my female. “What?”

She moves her shoulders up and down in an odd gesture, her palm clasping and squeezing that tooth so hard I’m afraid it will puncture her delicate skin. “We can’t very well have you running around juicing yourself out at every turn. There will be nobody to take care of the flowers.”

My entire being stills, a deceitful swell building in my chest. Because she has left something unsaid, because my mate is lying. “But you still wish to leave me.”

Her bottom lip wobbles, making my chest ache. “It's not you.”

“It’s Lunareth.” I have never wanted to witness the annihilation of a planet so horribly. “Tell mewhy.” I snarl. “Why does this planet please you so much more than mine?”

I do not hear the words she whispers, but she shakes her head.

My mind is reeling, so much hope, so much adoration wasted. “I cannot take you there,human. It is highly protected airspace. They would—"

“Hey, it’s okay,” she offers, but she is crying with her eyes on the ground in front of her. She comforts me, and it's like a spark to a flame.