The bride contract

Chapter 16 - Niska

I sit there a moment, letting my mind absorb everything Prince Kiahn has just told me. No wonder his aunt is wanting to push him to start making babies. The way Vel had explained it, although their lands are divided up into principalities, the real power still lies in the capital, with the King. If the only way you can get heard by the king and his court is to prove that your ‘Bloodline Venom’ is strong, then you need to start having these super special kids with super special venom.

Internally, I cringe at the situation. Part of - no, scratch that - all of it reeks of ‘blood purity’ bullshit. Why should some people be inherently more important and influential than others?

But, I have to remind myself that this isn’t my culture. These aren’t my people. Who am I to judge? It’s not like Earth has it all figured out - far from it.

“Do you have an active venom?” I say, curiosity getting the better of me.

The question makes Prince Kiahn go very still. “Yes,” he tells me, and suddenly, I feel stupid for even asking. Of course he does. He’s a prince. He probably has the ‘purest’ of pure bloodlines.

“What does it do?”

Kiahn’s brows rise on his forehead, and it kind of gives me the feeling that maybe my question isn’t one that he’s used to receiving. Maybe it’s impolite to ask. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. But, when the look of surprise on the Prince’s face subsides, his eyes go hazy, and his gaze drops to my throat as he asks, “would you like me to show you?”

What does he mean by that? Is he going to bite me? I thought that was forbidden? I swallow thickly, but don’t say anything under the prince’s ardent gaze. Kiahn takes a slow step forward, watching me, and it feels like he’s assessing for signs that I’m going to bolt. Whether he’d back off, or chase me down if I were to try to get away remains to be seen.

I don’t know why that makes butterflies erupt in my stomach.

Keeping his movements slow, Kiahn lifts a hand to his mouth. He parts his lips wide enough for me to see how his sharp canine teeth are smoothly descending from his gums, turning them into predatory fangs. It reminds me of the holographic image Vel had shown us of the couple who were biting each other while making love. Beneath the water, my hands move up my body, and I realize I have the urge to cover my neck. I don’t, though. I find myself keeping very still instead, as I watch one side of Kiahn’s face tense with effort.

Something seems to well at the tip of his left fang - something silvery.

He’s forcing his venom out.

Kiahn catches the single drop of what looks like molten silver on the tip of his charcoal gray forefinger before he looks to me expectantly, and takes another step forward, his legs brushing with mine beneath the warm water. I suck in a breath, tipping my head up to look at him. “Open,” he commands, his voice rumbling and smooth while his hand moves slowly toward my mouth now.

Without thought, my body obeys him, my lips parting, allowing Kiahn to gently push his finger into my mouth. His intense gaze is fixed solely on where my mouth closes around his finger. And, I will admit, I very much enjoy the ragged pull of breath he makes when I lick and suck on his digit.

I can feel a coolness where his venom hits my tongue - like the kind of cold that comes along with an intense hit of menthol. Except, there is no flavor to his venom - none at all.

Kiahn’s forefinger slowly slips from my mouth, dragging the pad down the center of my bottom lip, leaving a feeling of moisture there, like he’d just anointed me with his venom.

I take in a breath, and it feels as though my lungs have tripled in size. The air feels so pure and fresh. When I look into Kiahn’s green eyes, everything stops. All the buzzing and chatter in my mind is silenced, and I feel overwhelmed with the urge to close the distance between us.

Tentatively, I reach forward, my fingertips brushing the firm expanse of his toned abdomen. His muscles jump beneath my touch, and I swear he stifles a groan, smothering the noise by clearing his throat. “The-uh-… the effects do not last long this way. They are stronger when administered with a-” Kiahn tenses his jaw and his throat bobs with a swallow before he finishes in a raspy voice, “…a bite.”

I stare up at him, my body flooding with a warm, cozy feeling, like it knows something I don’t. Like it senses that everything will turn out ok if I just… let it be. Lean into everything that’s going on. “What does your venom do?” I ask. “Is it a relaxant?”

Kiahn’s brows raise again as he tilts his head to look at me with curiosity. “No, it-…” he pauses, his lips twitching into a minute smile. “It gives the recipient clarity of mind. Helps them sharpen their focus to their thoughts and feelings of the moment. It is… not an impressive venom, but it is a gift from our Goddess of Wisdom.”

Clarity of mind? I just feel… at ease.

He’s right, though. All that background noise has melted away like it had never existed at all. “It feels like-” I start, standing up, forcing Kiahn - the gentleman that he is - to take a slight step back, with how close he had been positioned in front of me. I tilt my head to look up at him. My fingers are still co

“Wh-uh-” Kiahn chokes, catching himself as he rocks forward, towering over me. He clears his throat before he tries again. “What does it feel like… for you?”

I smile up at him. “It feels like… like I know with absolute certainty that my intuition is right. Like doubts no longer exist.”

Kiahn’s brows pinch, and his voice is low and strained when he asks, “and what is your intuition telling you right now, Niska?”

It’s telling me that I can trust this huge guy not to hurt or abuse me. It’s telling me that despite the fact that I’d be deceiving him by actively trying not to get pregnant, this breeding contract would be mutually beneficial; I want to secure a safe space for me and my friends, and his people need him to start entering contract after contract to make those super special venom babies.

It’s telling me that whatever misgivings I have about all of this, everything’s going to work out.

Everything’s going to be ok.

Everything will be alright.

And I feel a real sense of peace with that as I continue to smile up at the guy who swooped in to save me when I was in real danger only a few days ago. I don’t normally like that. I’m used to saving myself, and not relying on anyone else. But I liked it when he did it somehow. My fingers stop grazing back and forth across Kiahn’s abdomen, only to start reaching higher, flattening my palm to his heated skin. I glide my hand up his chest, watching the droplets of lagoon water well and run down the muscled planes of his toned torso. “My intuition is telling me that I trust you not to hurt me,” I tell him. “And that you need to start trusting yourself.”

“I-”

I can see the hesitation in his eyes as he searches mine. His heart is thumping erratically beneath my palm, so I drop my hand from his chest and take hold of his own under the water, guiding it up to cup the side of my face. Kiahn’s eyes widen as I lean into the cradle of his palm, enjoying the sheer size of him, along with the feeling of certainty that I am safe with this guy who could so easily hurt me.

With the flick of his wrist, this man could end me if he chose to. And there would be no repercussions for a Prince. He is so much more powerful than I could ever imagine, and I am so much more vulnerable than I am used to being for the majority of my life.

And yet, I feel blanketed in a feeling of safety with Kiahn.

I wouldn’t still be here; naked and alone with him if I didn’t.

“I think this contract will be a good thing,” I tell him. “For me, and for you.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

Both my hands feel small in comparison to his as I press them to his giant one currently cradling my face. Slowly, I move his touch past my jaw, and down my throat. Kiahn’s mouth goes slack as he watches the descent of his hand with rapt attention. I leave him there a moment, his fingers wrapping around the very place he so clearly, desperately wants to bite.

Kiahn wets his lips. “You know, I could just grant you protection in my court without the contract. If- if that is what you’re worried about. You don’t need to let me touch you at all for that.” His eyes flick briefly up to mine, but they can’t help but fall back down to where I’m guiding his hand lower still.

I’d mulled this thought over before. But now, with the clarity of Kiahn’s venom on my tongue, I can clearly see the problem with that line of thought.

I don’t belong to him, I belong to his aunt.

And I was bought for one purpose, and one purpose only.

Would she make sure me and my friends are safe if I don’t uphold my end of the bargain?

I can’t guarantee that.

So, my hands continue to urge his slow descent, until his large palm engulfs my left breast. This elicits a choked-off sort of groan to escape the prince, and I can’t lie; that noise makes little ol’ me feel quite powerful right about now.

“But, I want the contract,” I tell him, pressing his touch more firmly to my flesh. “And you want to breed me. Don’t you?”

“Fuck,” Kiahn hisses, biting out the curse. “Uh-” he stalls, his big chest starting to rise and fall more visibly now. “Yes,” the prince admits with a strained voice. His gaze flits from meeting my own, to being drawn beneath the waters where he starts to gently knead my breast with my encouragement. “I want that.”

“Well, then… don’t fight it. I trust you.”

Kiahn still looks torn, and almost… guilty.

And, it’s then that I get an idea. “You know, I think your venom has helped me to see clearly that I really am comfortable with your earlier suggestion.”

Kiahn’s brows crease together while his eyes keep darting to where he’s still cupping me, oh so gently. “My earlier suggestion?”

“Mm-hm,” I nod, tugging him forward as I step back before turning us, and urging him to sit on the ledge of the pool. He sits without much prompting, the warm waters swirling around us as he watches me carefully. I finally push his hand away from my breast, as I climb onto his lap. Straddling Kiahn’s thickly muscled thighs, I feel somehow powerful in my vulnerability. I don’t know if this is some kind of high from taking his venom, but it feels like he’d do anything I’d ask of him with the way he’s looking at me right now. I’m still mostly covered by the lagoon water, but I can feel the movement of the water’s surface play around my nipples, so I know he’s getting a peek every now and again. “I think we should try your suggestion from before,” I repeat, using one hand to keep myself steady, propped against his chest, and slipping the other lower, and lower down my body. “I think we can prove that you can control yourself.”