Monsters Under Mistletoe

8. Kyarvi

Chapter 8

Kyarvi

I was the luckiest male in the entire Zeta Quadrant. Sitting in the pilot seat of my small but trusty scavenger ship, I had my mate tucked into my lap and she was smiling and rosy after our rounds of lovemaking. Olivia was a gift from the stars, a gift I was not about to squander.

“So, mate, huh?” she said softly, her fingers drawing patterns in the longer fur on my chest and neck. She seemed lost in thought, but I knew better. That tone hailed a serious conversation. I tried to decipher what her expression meant, but the half-lidded eyes and soft, relaxed mouth just made me think of the way I’d pinned her to the shower stall’s wall earlier. My cock stirred beneath her soft rear, already eager to slide into her tight clasp again. How could such a small body take so much?

“Yeah…” I said, and muffled a groan when she shifted that soft ass along my growing cock in a deliberate tease. I curled my arms around her and pinned her snugly to my chest. “I know you feel it, Olivia. You would have never come home with me, if not for our bond.”

She stilled, her expression growing thoughtful and serious as she tilted her chin up to look at me. “I guess that’s true.” She glanced at the viewscreens that lined the front of the cockpit area, then at the empty navigator’s seat next to me. “I swore I’d never navigate again after a silly mistake got me fake executed and sent to this quadrant.”

I hugged her tighter as I fought to control the instinctive surge of anger on her behalf. That sounded extremely unfair. It made me want to take my ship out into the scrapyard so she could navigate again, discover that she still had the skills. “The Kertinal. They don’t believe in true mates,” she said, still staring at the view of the stars and the daunting mass of the scrap yard.

Thousands of broken ships. Most scuttled, some still waiting to be salvaged, and even more random debris. It collected there, and it was my job to find the pieces that could be reused. A loner job, but one that would be finitely easier, and more enjoyable, with Olivia navigating at my side.

“But many other species do, like mine,” I said gently, and she shot me an amused grin that eased the tension in my chest. She wasn’t protesting, she was just figuring things out. When she quirked a delicate little eyebrow, I decided to admit the full truth to her. She deserved to know it if she was going to stay at my side. I would not be allowed to come to Ker with her, back to her human sanctuary.

“I’m a Hoxiam, and as you might have noticed, I’m rather feared.” She nodded as I talked, and I found it easier to continue with my explanation. “It’s because some individuals of my kind take a very twisted pleasure in eating, and hunting, sentient beings. We are born predators from an ice planet with harsh conditions; I suspect we’re hard-wired to be attracted to any protein source we can find.” I held my breath as I waited for her to respond, to see the pieces click in her clever brain.

“But you don’t do that,” she said almost immediately, and that faith in my moral compass made me grin. She didn’t flinch from the show of teeth either, just kept calmly staring into my eyes. I felt lighter, better, from that look.

“No, I do not,” I agreed with her. “But most planets and stations prohibit Hoxiams from entering unless they are controlled by a slave collar.” Her eyes instantly dropped to my bare neck, and she drew in an obviously relieved breath, indignation spreading across her face.

I cupped her cheek, my thumb pressing on her soft lips to keep her from speaking. “No, they’d be right. Those of my species that visit space are nearly always the bad kind. I’m not, but they don’t know that. Strewn’s master has granted me special permission to be here, and I love my job. I’m not unhappy. I just want you to understand that everyone fears I’ll eat them, or you. There’s only one kind of eating of you I like.” I said the last to lighten the mood and wiggled my brows playfully at her.

She laughed, her hands coming up to stroke my jaw and ruffle the thicker fur on my head. “Okay, if it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.” But I still wasn’t sure if that meant she was going to stay with me. I didn’t want her to feel unwelcome or ridiculed. That was no way to live.

We didn’t get the chance to continue talking. A light flashed on my console and since it was my emergency line, I took the call. “Ah, Kyavri. Sorry to interrupt when you’re busy, but eh… Yatzel is sniffing around again,” Otol’s voice came over the connection with crystal clarity. The line was so clear that we could hear the growling of the nasty scavenger in the background.

I wanted to laugh. What did Yatzel think he could do? Nothing. I had already sold the goods he was after, and he was too scared of me for a true confrontation. Maybe he was going to attempt sabotage, but Otol was a good friend and a clever mechanic. He would catch such tampering.

“Fancy a flight?” I said to my delectable mate. Her eyes gleamed, then shot back to the navigator’s seat. When she wriggled, I let her go with a hint of regret, but that feeling faded when she strapped herself confidently into the seat.

“You know what?” she said. “I think I am. It’s time to start a new life, to move on.” Her hands flew to the computer console, and I noted with pride how at ease she was with the navigational controls. “Let’s take this little beauty out for a spin.”

I thanked Otol for his warning, and then we did just that, taking the ship out of port and heading straight for the debris field. We worked like a well-oiled machine, and with every passing second, I saw her happiness and confidence grow. As we spun my small ship around and under a large broken piece of a Star Class Cruiser, my mate said. “Yes. I’ll stay, mate. I just need to call Stella to let her know, and then I’m all yours.”

She didn’t say the word forever, but it hung in the air between us as we smiled at each other. This was going to be the start of a new life for both of us. A life filled with love and laughter, with mind-blowing sex and cuddles. A life I’d been dreaming of my entire life, and it was all thanks to a strange Earth custom involving a smelly plant.