Worth Fighting For (Little Blue Book 1) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty

With the ceremony over, Tasid led Juno, his parents, and the other officers into the transport. He listened quietly to the buzz around him, filling the air with excitement and a good kind of pride.

Jurresh beamed down at Juno. “Juno, you have amazed me, and I am proud to call you daughter,” Jurresh told her affectionately, then looked around at the others, “all of you.” Adonna giggled. “Yes, you have all of my sons jealous of Tasid and the other males. They have been harassing Tasid to allow them to take part in the next mating ceremony. And many other males who were reserved, at first, about taking a human mate have changed their minds, and are also begging to be allowed to take part in the next mating ceremony.”

“I know I do.” Burren laughed, slapping Horo on his shoulder. “What say you, Horo? You going to enter the next mating ceremony?”

“Yes,” Jurresh said, as he helped Adonna into a seat. “Jonfeer was telling me his son was inquiring about doing so.” He pointed to Horo’s medal, then sat next to his mate as he continued. “I shall have to caution him about participating in any which contain one of the awarded males. That is an honor none of the other males can compete with.”

Horo looked at them aghast. “I do not understand why you would think I would participate in a mating ceremony. My kind is never welcome.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Burren smiled.

“What do you mean, ‘my kind’?” Kaycee asked from her seat. “I’m mated to your kind, and I’m completely happy. I don’t recall any of the girls being unwelcoming to any of the others.”

Norlo gave Kaycee a sad look. “That’s not the kind he meant,” he told her. “Many in our culture—”

“The old, stuck-up, closed-minded ones,” Burren put in.

Norlo agreed and continued. “Believe being born with the brighter colors, like red, orange, yellow, and white is a serious mutant birth defect, and they are therefore considered undesirable and unsuitable to breed.”

“And in their culture, that’s a serious taboo,” Yebiri said. “Nearly all of them, if they’re lucky, are given up to out-world adoptions.”

“If they’re lucky?” Benny asked.

“Yes, the unlucky are put to death as soon as they’re born, or shortly after,” Yebiri answered.

Tasid noticed all of the human females gave looks and sounds of horror.

Jurresh nodded. “Many are persecuted or shunned. They flee to other worlds to try to make their living in peace. The military for UPALE doesn’t care what they look like, so long as they are good soldiers. Many, like Horo, are well liked in other communities, but they are forbidden to do many things on their planet, including taking a mate. I am curious, Burren. Explain what you said. What have you heard?”

“I’ve been hearing rumors spreading of a rare and beautiful exotic Nanstrahi variation.” He laughed. “From the sounds of it, he’s becoming a legend, and I couldn’t miss the many admiring looks and sounds he got when he went up to receive his medal. Even with a medal of my own, I wouldn’t stand a chance next to him, in a mating arena. Well, not on Little Blue anyway.”

Horo shook his head, and he had a look of anger written on his face. Tasid knew that even though he was well liked and respected on his ship, he still had hang-ups about what he was.

Juno’s sweet voice quieted everyone. “Horo, you really are a work of art. It’s because of you that I came up with the idea for the symbol for the Medal of Exalted Valor. You look so much like the phoenix, which has so much meaning to just about all of the cultures on Earth. It represents grace and beauty,”

“Strength,” Jeri added.

“Life and rebirth,” said Benny.

“Perseverance,” Kaycee put in.

“Protection,” Maggie said.

Tasid was surprised to hear all of the different meanings. Many of the other girls in the transport added a new and different meaning they had for the phoenix, as their craft lifted off of the ground and began its ascent. Tasid watched Horo’s face closely. He saw disbelief, but pleasing him most was that he also saw hope. Tasid had known Horo a long time. He knew Horo had always wanted a mate and young ones, and Tasid truly believed he deserved them.

Tears streaked down Horo’s face. “You are serious?”

Tasid didn’t take offense to Horo’s unspoken insult to his mate. He spoke to him with a confident tone. “Horo, my mate doesn’t lie, and if you remember their reaction upon seeing you for the first time, the day of the mating ceremonies? You should take their advice and enter in the next Earth mating ceremony. You deserve what I and the others have been blessed with.”

Horo’s eyes showed emotion, but he didn’t vocally answer. Horo jerkily nodded his head, then looked away. The females took in excited breaths.

“Look, there it is!” Juno said. She pointed through the porthole at the view of their new home. “Wow, it’s huge.”

Jeri snorted. “It should be. We made sure it had everything, and in bigger sizes, like a full medical facility that is now really a hospital, and we included several offices, a library that can be used as a school, a two deck promenade that really looks more like a mall that will feature several shops, a club, and a movie theater and a two-story gym, with a rock wall that reaches to the top, and thanks to their measurement differences, it is more like four stories. Oh, and let’s not forget the ship will still have enough living quarters to house a city’s worth of people, and still have several rooms empty that can be used for anything else we decide on. Heck, the flight decks alone are each the length and width of an aircraft carrier. I can’t believe they call it a ship instead of a space station.”

“The size isn’t what decides the class. There are several different factors and variables, like speed and function, that decide it,” Tasid told them as he looked out at the ship, with them. He had to admit it was very beautiful. He could see the glass dome that ran along the top for the galactic garden observatory. There were two other smaller domes for smaller gardens.

“The largest garden in the main observatory is going to be made up of plants from Earth,” Juno told everyone. “The other two are going to consist of plants from other worlds.”

“It looks like a futuristic space cruise liner swallowed the
Defiant
from
Star Trek
,” Anna said.

“With a vertical halo strapped to the back end,” Benny giggled.

The girls laughed. Tasid looked at the other males questioningly, but each of them had the same look of confusion.

“I think it is a fine looking ship,” Jurresh said. “You girls did well. I can see it is more heavily armed than the current space station.”

“If I remember correctly, there are five landing bays,” Juno said. “Which one are we landing in?”

“The forward one,” Sharrow answered her. He pointed, and Tasid looked in the direction indicated. “It’s the one in the nose of the ship. It’s the bay that will be the most restricted.”

They made their approach and began to enter the landing bay.

“I can’t wait to see the inside of the new ship,” Anna said.

“They should have all of our stuff there already, right?” Juno asked him.

“Yes,” Tasid nodded. “We took everything over last night when we inspected the ship. All mated couples have larger quarters, and the unmated males are assigned rooms they will be sharing by sixes. Everyone is to wear their holo-bands, and if you want directions to anywhere in the ship, the information can be more easily obtained through them since the ship’s interface works cohesively with them, than the
Sundaric Stardust
. And during an emergency, it will direct you to designated areas. This ship is far more advanced than our cargo ship. This one won’t even need a full crew on deck at all times. Especially since it’s just in orbit.”

“I wouldn’t advise getting too lax in your vigilance, Tasid.” His father shot him a stern look.

“I know and agree. Our threat level is too high, but it is still relevant to know, should the need ever arise.”

Tasid was eager to lead his mate to their new private quarters. It turned out he wasn’t the only anxious one. Every other male was just as excited. He sent Horo to arrange for a small crew to take over command, then made his way through the round-walled halls, until he found their quarters.

Tasid heard the door swish closed behind him after they entered their room. It was a huge two-story luxury living space with two social rooms, a large eating area, and large provisioning area, a large master suite, and six other private rooms they could do with as they pleased, on top of living quarters for their own personal staff. There was also a security room with a special safety room in case of attacks, a personal gym, a recreational room, and one room was his personal office.

Along the far wall in their main social area were windows two stories high, and spanning into the second social room with a clear, beautiful, and unobstructed view of Little Blue, with bright sparkling stars as its backdrop. He caught up to Juno there, wrapping his arms and guardian wings around her, but keeping them low enough for her to continue to enjoy the view. They stood there quiet for a few moments, in a peaceful silence that felt good.

“Now you can see the sky,” she said. “I bet you miss the sky, don’t you?”

Tasid turned her in his arms and stared down at her, trying to portray as much love and adoration into the look he gave her as he could.

“Every time I look into your eyes, I am reminded of the sky. Being on a spaceship, we rarely get to see the sky, but now that I have you, all I need to do is look into your eyes, and I feel myself take flight. The view outside our window is beautiful, sure, but not as beautiful as what I hold now in my arms. It will never compare.”

Juno’s eyes watered, but the smile on her face assured him it wasn’t from a negative emotion. “How did I get so lucky to have you?” she asked.

Tasid shook his head. “No, my love, it is I who am lucky. You gave me the two things I wanted most, love and freedom to rule a ship.”

Juno turned her head slightly, to take another look out of the window before looking back up into his face. The look she gave him had his dick jerking and filling with life.

“I’ve wanted to do something since we were first mated, but you Zori males are very dedicated to gratifying your mates until we’re comatose from pleasure,” she said with a playful leer.

Then, to his confusion, she slowly sank down to her knees.

“Please,” she asked him with pleading eyes, “let me do this.”

Tasid’s mouth went dry, and his tongue felt swollen. He felt his heart beating in his chest, and the effect of it caused a roaring in his ears, deafening him.

“It is a male’s honor to bring our mates as much pleasure as we can give her,” he was able to rasp out.

Juno gave him a lopsided grin. “You are certainly an overachiever. I can barely walk most days.”

Tasid would have said something, but just then Juno buried her face in his crotch and briefly nuzzled it, rendering him speechless. He could feel his rigid dick leaking sexual fluids as it pressed against her face through the fabric of his pants, and the look in her eyes, which never lost contact with his, nearly had his sac pulling tight and emptying their contents. Tasid felt uncertain how to respond. He had been taught that it was a male’s responsibility and honor to pleasure his mate. It was all about her.

But here he had a female, his mate, begging to pleasure him, and from the look in her eyes, she even desired it.

Not knowing what to say or do, he jerkily nodded his head, and watched, mesmerized, as she removed his pants.

****

Juno looked in shock at the appendage before her with wide eyes.
No wonder the orgasms he brings me to are mind-shattering, body-melting, and nuclear-explosive. Ok, technique goes a long way, but dayum, with this thing, it’s a non-miss guarantee.

A dollop of clear fluid glistened on the tip of Tasid’s engorged cock. Its thick girth stood up, long and strong, and Juno marveled at the veins and ridges that the taut purple skin accentuated.

Even though Juno had had sex with Tasid many times since they had been together, and she had seen him naked, his cock was far more impressive up close and at this angle. She also hadn’t ever had a lot of time to admire his body. They had both been working long hours, and the time they did share, he spent melting her brain with his skills.
I’ve been missing out.

Juno looked up at Tasid and thought he looked a bit apprehensive.

“It’s a work of art,” she breathed out.

She noticed the dollop of pre-cum grew larger and started rolling down the bottom length of his shaft. She leaned over and pressed her tongue against his dick, catching the fluid on her tongue, and then slowly lifted her tongue up his length. The flavor of cotton candy coated her taste buds.

Tasid’s dick twitched under her tongue, but didn’t go anywhere because she had it pressed against his hairless front. Before she could cover the head of his cock with her mouth, Tasid’s fingers threaded through her hair, and gently tugged her head back. She rolled the sweet fluid in her mouth as she looked up at him.

“Juno,” he said through heavy puffs of breath. “What are you doing?” His voice was clearly strained.