Citun’s Storm Read online

“A female won’t risk her baby daughter to aid a female returning a son. The female brings the male child as close to the father’s home as possible, then must wait until the father finds the child. Then they must return, again all alone. In their despair some disappear, we can only guess because certain warriors will search for a certain female the next Holiday. When she isn’t found, you can scent the sadness on another’s face when the warrior is redirected time and again. Especially if he wants another son. Eventually, realization hits home, the female is gone. Thankfully not many succumb, most realize they still need to guard their sons, even from a distance. If they have been dominated, they wonder if they will be able to.”

  Storm walked over to a log and sat. “I guess I understand that. You are so much stronger and bigger I don’t worry if you are dominant. I know you are, and I don’t care. I suppose a massive female who is dominated might have self-doubt.”

  “I’ve also learned many human females think this way. Many expect males to be stronger. We are a different species. I think because of your size and thought process, we warriors and humans make good couples. I hear the Holiday all around us. The calls are exciting, you can scent the females in the air, well I can. I have no wish to be out there. I’m content to be sitting here.”

  Citun sat beside her and took her hand. Storm jumped when something crashed into the high fence. There was horrible screaming on the other side. Citun knew a female was desperately trying not to be dominated. From her wails he knew it was a matter of moments. Either she would give in or the warrior would have to walk away. The fence began to shake, Storm’s eyes widened. The female must be desperate for a daughter.

  “Against your fence?” She was incredulous.

  “As long as it’s outside a home perimeter any place is fair game.”

  Citun didn’t want to mention with Storm near it gave a warrior the edge, scenting a dominated female was close. Wouldn’t the warrior be surprised to learn Citun’s little female could cut a cyron to shreds with her thoughts?

  Overhead, the sky darkened. The rain would be welcome to many who Holidayed. The participants would be hot and sweating, in need of a drink. Rarely did any eat during the mating. By the end of the two week time period, both females and males would drag their tired asses home to sleep for a week, then gorge with a ravenous hunger for three days straight. Citun had been non-stop eating, try as he might not to, for the last week to build his muscle mass and make certain his body had the reserves to call on.

  The effects of his excess energy made him jumpy. The Holiday was as old as time, every Zargonnii of age came into heat and their bodies prepared for the battle. Citun was at his peak. His body strong and filled with the urge to create an offspring. A child born to the females would be strong; they had to be to survive on this planet. Citun had no doubt if he and Storm were to make love, their union would be a success.

  Strangely, even though a coveted offspring was the wanted result, Citun wanted to make love, not to Holiday. The pressure of having an offspring dissipated. Storm would be with him forever, any child they had would be his, too. It lessened the tug of genetic actions.

  “You’re lost in thought,” Storm said.

  “I guess I was.”

  “Are you having second thoughts, about me, us? Now that you’re home?”

  Citun squeezed her fingers. “I was wondering if the noises and knowing what they stem from scares you.”

  Storm dipped her head in a shy manner. “Actually, I’m curious.”

  The fence had stopped rattling, but Citun rose and took her near the back of the fence. Small gaps were visible. Storm widened her eyes when he encouraged her to peek through.

  “I can’t watch,” Storm sounded mortified.

  “You know you want to.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I will never battle you the way my kind battles females. Ever.”

  Storm moved closer to the fence. After a brief glance at him she pressed her face near a crack. Immediately, her breathing increased. Citun was directly behind her and could see the scene she witnessed. A warrior had a female pinned beneath him; he had proved dominant. The female looked dazed, softly growling. The warrior wasn’t brutal, he was crooning to her, calming her. Every part of her was unmoving. The warrior’s gaze held hers captive.

  The female was small and Citun wondered if this was her first time. Many first time females were dominated. It was nature’s way of proving no harm would come to them. If a female was too frightened to Holiday, no offspring would be conceived. The way the warrior crooned, Citun was certain his female was terrified.

  “She’s so scared.” Storm sounded sad.

  “Yes, she is. Believe it or not, so is a warrior his first time being dominated. But soon she will have a little one. Male or female, she will adore the baby. If she must give up her son, she will want a daughter. If she has a daughter, this female might even entertain the idea of finding this warrior again.”

  The warrior was nudging the female’s chin with his nose. She noticeably relaxed and pressed her head against his shoulder.

  “She surrendered,” Citun said.

  “What happens next?”

  “Watch.”

  Another male approached the two. He was young and scented the smell of a female being dominated, Citun was certain he also scented Storm, two dominated females was a magnet for an inexperienced warrior. The Zargonnii female cried out at his approach. The warrior who Holidayed with her was up and snarling; too late, the younger warrior realized his mistake. A warrior never shared his female.

  Storm screamed when the dominant warrior attacked. Normally, warriors had the utmost respect for one another, but not during a Holiday. The battle took only seconds. The younger warrior was allowed to live, but Citun doubted he would get a chance to Holiday. More than likely, he would need a healer. But, lesson learned.

  The dominant warrior went to the female, who hadn’t moved, and flipped her onto her belly. She immediately rose to her hands and knees. The Holiday continued. Storm gazed up at Citun, worry made a small crease on her forehead.

  “Holy heck,” she whispered. “If I were that female I’d offer my butt just as fast. He’s strong.”

  Citun chuckled. “He’s running on adrenaline. He gets her for two weeks, if he’s lucky. Females are always fighting males; he needs to pace himself or he’ll find his ass under her, after that she’s gone. I’ve dominated. It’s hard to let a female go. There have been instances where females need to group together to retrieve a female. The male is that enamored. It stops being about dominating and starts being about family. At one time in our history, we did live together. We did love one another. Maybe that’s why human females are so fascinating. We still do love our females in a way. We respect them, and we would kill to keep them safe. After all, they are sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins. They are life. When my mother was alive I never saw her, but I scented her. When I first began going to our place of learning, I knew she followed closely.”

  “Through scent?”

  “Well that, and the six times I saw a mangled bangor fly over my head, sometimes in pieces. Wow, did she have a temper.”

  “Why would your father allow you to walk alone when those beasts exist?”

  “I was old enough to take a bangor on. Normally, by the time a male is twelve, we are fighting machines. It takes a mother a little longer to understand her son isn’t a baby anymore.”

  “Your eyes light up when you speak of Zargonnii females. You do respect them. I can see it. Your ways are weird. You battle each other with passion but you care with more passion. The female who the warrior dominated, is she safe, even from him?”

  “A warrior who dominates is expected to guard his female with his life, he will. Right now there is nothing more important to him than that female. She might already be carrying. It’s not just sex or honor, it’s everything.”

  “Sounds intriguing.”

  Citun gave her a wry grin. “Would you like a demonstration?�
��

  “Well, yeah.”

  Chapter 12

  Storm gasped when Citun’s gaze went from playful to dead serious. All around were howls and fighting. It was a war zone beyond the fence. The sky opened to the rain that had been threatening, adding to the primitive surrounding. Citun grew to battle mode and Storm stood motionless. Wary and eager, she was interested in rough play. She wanted a warrior, her warrior, and she was curious. More importantly, she trusted Citun and wanted him to know how much.

  A grin played on her lips and using both hands, she shoved against Citun’s belly and took off. His roar added wings to her feet, and if her hair hadn’t been saturated, it would have stood on end. She heard him, his feet pounding on the ground behind her. Storm raced around the backyard. She had zero intention of leaving the safety of the enclosure, and she wanted him to have her outside. This was Citun’s element. There was no reason he had to give up his Holiday, as long as it was with her. She planned on making their joining interesting.

  Storm screamed when Citun grabbed her around the waist. She smacked his arms and kicked her feet. The wildness of the storm increased. Citun was soaked; she was soaked. The noise of her shirt being ripped from her was audible.

  “We Holiday naked,” Citun said on a deep throaty growl.

  Her shorts came next. The material was shredded, and though Citun appeared to have lost control, Storm knew every action was calculated to make certain her skin was uninjured. Citun could have ripped her apart. Still struggling, Storm was thrown to the ground and flipped onto her belly. He was by no means gentle, and Storm wanted to spread her legs beneath him. She wanted him so desperately she was ready to beg. She continued to battle, knowing Citun needed the release. All week, she watched him sneak food. She guessed it had something to do with the Holiday.

  The Zargonnii ways were primitive during a Holiday; Storm didn’t really understand. She knew it wasn’t only dominance that fueled them; the need to procreate was high within both male and female.

  Storm tried to slip out from under him, but he captured her waist; his large forearm pushed her head to the ground, and Storm gasped when he rammed his full length inside of her. Her elbows buckled with his strength. There was no escape. Citun moved faster than she ever imagined possible. He mentioned the act of mating needed to be hard and quick. At any time, the roles could be reversed if the female was intent on the fight.

  Citun’s muscles bunched under her and for a moment, Storm felt sorry for him. She couldn’t take the amount of strength a female of his own kind could, but she knew she could take more than what he was doing. When he pulled out, she yanked her arms loose which came as a surprise, then turned to her back and pushed her feet into his chest. Citun laughed.

  “Be careful female. Don’t try my patience.”

  “What if I want to?”

  Citun pinned her the way the warrior pinned the female. Storm groaned with his weight, but knew he still maintained control of his actions. When he plunged her depths again, she was helpless. Strange streaks of lightning blazed through the multi-colored sky, thunder cracked. Storm buried her face into his chest.

  She lay pinned and accepting as he thrust hard then eased. She didn’t know how many times he came and still he continued. Her needs rose, built, crashed within her, then rose and built. A strangled scream made her peek from under him and her eyes widened when she saw a bangor fall to the ground a foot away. Citun was crushing its heart in his hand. He had slammed his fist through the creature’s chest.

  “Citun?” she couldn’t keep the tingle of fear from her tone.

  “It’s death to approach a dominant male.”

  He snarled the words, grabbed a fist full of the creature’s fur and threw it over the fence while continuing to thrust within her. His tone and action brutal, she began to shake. Immediately, Citun crooned to her. His body wrapped around her.

  “Nothing is allowed near you but me,” Citun whispered in her ear. “You are home; home is the safest place in the universe, my mate. I love you.”

  The storm continued but she was warm. With his position, there was nothing, no part of her body that was in danger. The blood on his hand washed off in the rain. Citun finally quieted. With him remaining buried within her, his breathing evened. He slept. Cocooned in safety, Storm closed her eyes and began to drift to sleep.

  Weirdest camp out ever.

  * * * *

  Citun liked the calm after the Holiday. It was as though the entire planet slumbered. The warriors sated, many bleary eyed, wouldn’t emerge for a week. With the scent of sex so prominent, many animals on the planet indulged as well. In a few months, the entire planet would be teeming with young life. Even cyrons were cute when they were tiny. They were of use to warriors when they were huge and their bones could be used to reinforce homes. Their dark shaggy fur was a boon for insulation in the winter months. Citun planned on finding an old male to make his home stronger for Storm and hopefully for a child they would one day be gifted with.

  Citun and the younger warriors bonded during the reprieve. The rogue Tonan warriors were on the run, licking their wounds. The Gorgano had taken a huge blow with the last battle between Cobra and Titus; Citun was sorry he missed it. He would like to meet Huck, one of Cobra’s half-evil Tonan warriors who was loyal to a fault and considered a boon to the Castians. A blow to rogue Tonan warriors. Huck was the epitome of hope.

  The Zargonnii warriors Citun conversed with now were too young yet to Holiday; they were in training, many in awe of Storm. His mate was learning to master her ability. A deadly weapon at her disposal caused her a few anxious moments, but Citun knew she would persevere. She did.

  Storm stood focused on the hardest material on the planet. Gaze intent, legs slightly spread, she lifted her hand and pointed a finger. The substance split as she trailed her finger downward five feet from it. There were many appreciative comments. Once the material was sliced in half, she stood back and smiled.

  “What’s next?” she asked.

  “That’s the last we have,” Taft said.

  Citun heard Jari chuckle from the side when he saw Storm’s disappointed and surprised expression. The warrior was standing with an arm draped around Lano. The female was finding it easier to stay in one place, especially when Jari was so over-protective. The little female disclosed a sad life as a youngster. She was beaten when she disappeared and was found. The males on her planet were overbearing; a female wasn’t allowed to hide from abuse. Citun wanted to go to the planet and beat the shit out of every male there, so did many warriors.

  The warriors found Ashala to be sweet and beautiful. If her type of male didn’t appreciate their females, the Zargonnii would. Talks would begin soon with Titus and Cobra. Human females were few and far between; Ashala and Lano’s species were physically compatible. Whether or not they could produce offspring together hadn’t yet been determined. Regardless, the females would be in demand. Citun knew Cobra was interested in any female his warriors might like. A new universe was forming with alien integration. A good strong age of acceptance. Storm might eventually get her wish of peace after all.

  “I guess no more training,” Storm said and stepped into Citun’s arms.

  “Actually, I was hoping you and Ashala might be able to work together.” Citun had been wondering if when grouped together Ashala and Storm could create a moving line of defense.

  “Sure.” Storm held her hand out to Ashala who was watching on the sideline.

  Storm whispered into the female’s ear. The two concentrated. A massive piece of the hard, unknown material was soon formed in an ash cloud. Storm manipulated the substance which flew at the pile of debris. Even Citun sucked in a fast breath of air when the rubble pile was annihilated to dust.

  “That’s kick ass,” Taft said.

  “Wish I was that useful,” Lano muttered.

  Jari pulled her to his chest. “You are. If ever need be, you can enter a room of aliens undetected. Although, I hope that never happens. I
like it best when I can see you and hold you.”

  Lano smiled and trailed a tentative hand down the warrior’s jaw. Her florescent green tattoos blazed brighter for a moment. The tattoos reminded Citun of Zell’s eyes. He wondered if there was a chance Storm might be able to produce a son, but he doubted it. Zabbie, he was informed, was manipulated by the Tonan and Gorgano in some way to have a male child. He shivered wondering what would have happened if Zabbie had given birth to a Tonan offspring with Zell’s powers.

  Storm came to stand before him. “You have that look on your face.”

  “I was wondering the effect of a human female if she were to be captured by a Tonan and Gorgano and forced to give birth. The Castian and Tonan cycle is at an end but what you mentioned before has been bothering me. What if a Tonan can make a female conceive when he’s not in must because of her reproductive cycle? Castian and Tonan females were geared to their mates but human females are different. What happens if when the baby shield falls a female can again reproduce?”

  “Damn,” Jari said. “That would be good news for the Castians, but not if the renegades can capture a female and mate. The idea is a Tonan would have to wait four hundred years. An evil Tonan wouldn’t want to keep a female for that long, and he would never mate her. The threat would be over soon. If not we could face more trouble.”

  “I know,” Citun said. “The entire concept is worrisome. Zargonnii can give birth every two years, but the Tonan aren’t interested in our females. If reproducing with a human female is possible every five years, we will have a huge problem. We need to destroy those Gorgano now before the baby shields fall and we find out.”

  “I’m ready,” Storm said. “Just get me close to a vessel and I can slice it in half.”

  “What about a force field?” Taft asked.

  “Zabbie thinks the unknown material is a solidified force field,” Storm said.

  “That is a very interesting concept, but how do we test it?” Citun said.

  “I think it would be easy enough,” Storm said. “Just put a force field around an object you don’t mind me cutting through.”