Chapter 190: Needing to Scent
I left the bridge and returned to my room so that I could get changed. Yes, the outfit was everything that I wanted, but right now, fleece pajamas were calling my name.
"I am sorry," said Ye’tab, cutting into my thoughts. "But my source is here and wants to know if you are available to meet."
I looked at him, my helmet tossed haphazardly on the bed. I could feel the tears starting to form in my eyes at the idea of not being able to get changed into something more comfortable.
"You can still get changed," pointed out Ye’tab, cutting through my pity party for one. "I would suggest that you wear your armor with the suppressor."
"What aren’t you trying to tell me?" I asked, tilting my head to look at him as I took off the long overcoat.
"There are going to be three males coming, all Saalistaja. They were the ones originally chosen by our tribal chief to hunt down the individual or individuals who had taken our technology and get it back. By any means possible. That is no longer an issue, but I am worried that you would be upset if you chose them without actually meeting them first," explained Ye’tab, looking everywhere but at me.
"You aren’t really selling your friends to me," I pointed out, taking off the corset and dragging in a deep breath.
"I am not trying to," he assured me. "Vraev’ox has both a father and a grandfather. One is the chief of our tribe, while the other one sits on the Elder’s council. He is a stickler for rules."
"Understood," I replied, and I did. He was worried that I would choose him. However, that happened, and he would still feel the need to bring me before the Elders to face punishment. "I assume that none of you would be too impressed if I was executed for stealing your technology?"
"You did not steal it! In fact, you killed those that did, so we should be thanking you," snarled Ye’tab as the others started to file into my room.
Undoing the button and zipper of my pants, I peeled them off of my skin. If the Saalistaja could learn to be vulnerable enough to leave their armor off on the ship, I could be vulnerable as well.
There was a collective intake of breath, which made me smirk. Nothing boosted the ego as someone that you were interested in showing interest back. But now was not the time to try and explore that. I would have to wait at least a few more days until my Aunt left.
"Do you think that this Vraev’ox will appreciate the difference?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I was standing in front of my genetically chosen mates in nothing but a pair of black bikini underwear and a tank top. And I had never felt more attractive in my life.
"No, he won’t, and neither will Cruz’uts," growled GA as he approached me. Gripping my hips in his hands, he ran his mandibles all over my face and head. I giggled at the feeling as I placed a kiss on the outside of his outer mandibles. It was the first time that I had ever really done anything like that, and my unexpected behavior caused GA to freeze for a moment before his chest started to rattle with a purr.
"So armor and suppressors?" I asked, looking around at the four men. I would take their opinion of any future mates into consideration, and if this is what they felt would be best, then that was what I was going to do.
"Please," grunted Da’kea as he came around behind me and did the same thing that GA had done to my front.
"They are scent marking you," explained Ye’tab as GA stepped aside and allowed the other male to take his place. "We are a bit... on edge... about the three males and would feel better to know that you had our scent on you before meeting them."
"We do this to show our intentions towards a female. The one with the strongest scent is normally the one to be chosen, but not always," continued Da’kea.
"You know I am not choosing between the three of you," I stated, not a hint of humor in my face or tone. I had already fucked over their lives once by taking away their choice; I would not fuck them over again by making them compete for my attention.
I enjoyed cuddling and contact, but sexual interactions were still somewhat new for me. Add in the fact that I had been a prisoner for six years, and I had no clue what I was doing. But I knew that we would get there.
"Do you need to do the same?" I asked, looking at Midnight. He seemed a bit stressed, his hands clenching and unclenching, but he made no move toward me.
"My way of scenting is a lot different," he growled, his eyes flashing bright yellow before returning to normal.
"I don’t mind," I assured him.
"I do," he snapped. I blinked a few times. Did he not want to scent me? Was that the issue?
"Fuck," he growled, stalking toward me and gripping me tighter than GA had. However, even with all of this strength, he never once broke skin. "It’s not that I don’t want to scent you. Trust me, every instinct that I possess is demanding that I do. But the way my kind scent is the way that I want to scent you. And that is to bite you and actually inject you with my essence."
"That doesn’t sound too bad," I pointed out, not at all opposed to a bite from Midnight. Take that, Team Edward and Jacob, I was going to have my own werewolf.
"You are already bleeding; I am not going to be responsible for making you bleed more."
Awe wasn’t he just the sweetest.
"You will bite me and mark me, or I will cut my neck and let you watch me bleed out that way. What’s your choice?" I demanded, a smile on my lips as I stared up at the male.
"Fuck," he growled deep into his chest before clamping his mouth just over top of my choker so that his bite would forever be visible.
