The bride contract

Chapter 15 - Kiahn

Niska almost jumps out the water like one of the pearly leaping-fish of the northern lakes.

“Oh, my God!” she splutters, slamming herself backward into the wall of the pool. “What are you doing?!”

I… have no idea.

I have never entered a contract with a female before, and all previous efforts of seduction by females to try and get me to agree to one were all swiftly shut down - by me. I truly only mix with females on official matters of the principality, and palace events.

Or, if they are family.

And I do not have familial feelings toward the little human in front of me.

I have other, much more perplexing feelings instead.

“I… could not sleep and came to relax in the waters. I did not see you over here by the falls when I got in.”

All of what I am saying is true, so far. Yes, once I realized the female was here alone, I probably should have left, but the closer I got to her, the more curious I became.

Niska blinks up at me, one hand banded across her breasts beneath the waters, the other even lower, covering… other areas of interest.

“Well, you’ve seen me now,” Niska says, her cheeks looking flushed as she blinks rapidly up at me.

I ca

“Were you… were you jacking off?” she asks, and at first I am not sure what the term means, but the way her pretty eyes flick to where the water laps at my waist, and lower still, hints at the question’s meaning.

And… I do not know how to answer.

Because, yes, as soon as I figured out that Niska was pleasuring herself here in the lagoon, and then when I heard how she moaned my name while doing so… I don’t think I could have stopped my hand from stroking my cock if I’d wanted to. And, I thought, perhaps this is all part of this strange dance we are now part of.

She called my name, after all.

My. Fucking. Name.

“I…” I start, sounding like an idiot.

What is the right answer here?

“Is… this not normal human courtship?” The thought has merit, though, judging by her reaction, I am starting to doubt it. “We pleasure ourselves in front of each other before you feel safe enough for me to touch you?”

Niska’s eyes widen, and I would very much like for the bottom of the lagoon to open and swallow me whole right about now. I may have just scared off the only female I’ve ever had any inclination to enter a breeding contract with. Like a prized fucking geliklik.

“I will go,” I tell her, swiftly bowing my head and turning to leave. Maybe if I show her I do not mean to make her uncomfortable in any way, I can gain back that exhilarating trust she had in me before.

“No!” My Niska reaches out to stop me with a touch, but then thinks better of it, and curls her arm back over her pretty breasts. “You can stay, I just-… that is-” she ducks her head and tucks some of her wet hair behind her little human ear, “-if you want to, I mean.”

My tongue traces my bottom lip as I stare at the gorgeous sight before me, trying to figure her out. “So that we may watch each other pleasure ourselves?”

Her mouth pops open for a moment or two, and it makes my mind go back to some of the things I’d found out about humans during my research since first meeting her - namely how sometimes, human females trust their males so much, they pleasure them with their mouths. Of course, I’ve heard of such things happening with other species, and sometimes Xavia

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that type of thing just yet, Prince Kiahn,” she says, and the words break through my hazy lust like a star streaks through the black of the sky.

“Kiahn,” I tell her, my voice sounding lower than I had intended. “You may call me Kiahn.”

She holds my gaze, the ends of her dark hair floating around her shoulders in the waters. “Kiahn,” she repeats, her voice so soft, I almost don’t hear it over the splashing of the waterfall.

We continue to stare at one another, and it strikes me that I’ve never felt this kind of magnetic pull toward a female before. Granted, plenty of Xavia

The tip of my tongue finds my left fang, and I shouldn’t be so surprised to find it half-protruding, eager and almost ready to bond that sweet little human to me. “It is probably safer for you if I leave,” I hear myself say, though my body doesn’t move a muscle.

She tilts her head at me like one of the curious blue-fur pups that are popular with the females at my father’s court. Not that Niska is a pet to be carried around under my arm, of course. She is…

I watch as her pretty brown eyes dip to the waters at my waistline again.

She is a temptation that I fear is beyond my restraint. Which is precisely why I shouldn’t enter this damn breeding contract with her.

“Why do you keep saying things like that?” she asks. “Do you think you’re going to hurt me?”

She’s looking at me with such open curiosity, it makes me want to puff up my chest, polish my horns and stand as tall as I can for her inspection. “I would try very hard not to hurt you, Niska,” I tell her, measuring my words carefully as I will my cock to go down and stop standing, begging for her attention. “But as you learned in your lessons with Vel, Xavia

“Actually,” she starts, shifting back on the little ledge seating, and sitting a little taller. “You interrupted those lessons, so I didn’t really get to understand the whole point of it.”

She drops the arm that had been banding over her breasts beneath the water and I try not to gape at the shifting, distorted image of her bared chest. “The point of it?” I hear myself repeat, like an idiot.

“You know, why Vel was telling us about some king you had a century ago? I mean, it was interesting, and horrific. But what’s the relevance?”

I shake out of my stupor. “Relevance? Of King Gahaari’s crimes?” I forget too easily that the context of Xavia

The orb makes a pinging noise of acknowledgement and then the rushing of the waters beside Niska slows to a trickle before finally stopping altogether.

“May I sit beside you?”

She shuffles to her left, which I take to indicate that she is happy with this suggestion. I don’t know why my heart is beating like a wild thing in my chest just from the mere thought of sitting beside someone, but it is. Perhaps it is due to the fact that we are both naked, or that I know this female trusts me enough to do so.

“Did Vel explain about the Bonding Venom suppressants?” I ask as I stare straight ahead of me, all too aware that the outer side of Niska’s soft, naked thigh brushes mine beneath the water if one of us moves only a whisper toward each other.

“She told us that he used them so that he wouldn’t be affected by any woman who tried to bond him to her,” Niska says, shifting her position to face me better - an act that firmly presses her leg to mine. “But, that happened so long ago. I don’t understand how it affects Xavia

It’s a tale told to all Xavia

“Unfortunately, King Gahaari’s actions very much affect Xavia

“Didn’t people find out? Weren’t they mad at what these men were doing?”

“Eventually, yes. But it is said that a great number of King Gahaari’s court was partaking in the practice of mistress-taking, and those that did not, were too cowardly to speak out about it. Some even offering their daughters to become brides, knowing their males would do such a thing.”

“Why?”

I turn to look back out at the lagoon waters, my throat feeling suddenly dry. “Why do you think?” I ask, clearing my throat. “In exchange for riches and elevated status. There are even numerous records of the common people making deals with noblemales, effectively selling their attractive, unbonded female family members to become mistresses in exchange for a better life for themselves.”

“That’s awful,” Niska comments before she’s quiet again, no doubt letting the crimes of those males turn over in her head. “I thought the women went crazy in a one-sided bond. Didn’t anyone notice all these brides were getting ill?”

I grimace to myself. “The male physicians would lie and claim they were suffering from a fabricated female disease of the mind.”

To my surprise, Niska snorts. “Typical,” she says, shaking her head. “You know, humans did something similar in our history. They called it hysteria.”

Hysteria. I tuck that away, making a note to do some more research on human history. Particularly the role their females have played within their society. I must confess, my research so far has swayed toward their various mating rituals, and I will need to broaden my efforts.

Her thigh is still pressed to mine, and I find I really, really ca

Which reminds me, I will need to learn all her preferences if I am to commission the best damn breeding bench Xaavia has ever seen. I will make sure it is made from her favorite colors, and the fabrics are soft and pleasant to touch. I have learned from my research that human females enjoy vibration, so perhaps I should try to incorporate that for her to rub her little-