Chapter 5

The day before her investiture, Cheri took some time alone with her mate. They were sure that Rillen would think they were making love, but he was in for a surprise.

“Are you still feeling like Rillen is a part of us?”

“I am, love,” Ginny said. “I’ve never felt that we’re missing anything, but we can always add to something that is at one hundred percent. My heart, my mind, and even my body think he should be with us.”

“I agree.” Cheri then smiled and said, “I think children may be in our futures.”

“Do we know if the children of a dizyntk male with a human female are the same as those of a human male with a dizyntk female?”

“We do and they are. There was no reason to expect them to be, but if the Goddess wants us to coexist, it’s a good thing our children will be compatible. Shall I?”

Ginny nodded. “Please do, my love.”

She went out and found Rillen reading on the sofa. When he saw her, a look of concern crossed his face and he said, “Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all,” she said, smiling. She then beckoned him and said, “Please come with me.”

Ginny had already stripped, so she started shedding her clothes on the way in. When she was done she turned to Rillen and said, “Rillen, I know that bonding can occur without sex, but that is not what we want. Will you mate with us?”

“I will mate with you both. I’ve been hoping that this would happen, but you know that I’ve never had sex so if I make mistakes please be patient.”

Ginny said, “Of course we will. We’ve never had sex with a male, so we need to ask the same of you. Come, let us learn together. Oh, and we’re both using birth control, so there shouldn’t be any unexpected pregnancies.”

Rillen quickly removed his clothes and approached Cheri, who was still standing. Reaching up, he brushed her hair back from her ear and traced around it before leaning in and kissing her for the first time. Physically it wasn’t a perfect kiss, but she could feel the emotion behind it and that made it perfect for her.

After the kiss ended, she gently turned him toward the bed. He didn’t need anything more before he laid down with Ginny in his arms and kissed her, gently and yet passionately. Cheri knelt beside them on the bed and started to gently stroke his fur, from the nape of his neck down to his tail, causing him to moan.

He then surprised her by using his tail to start brushing across her breasts. Ginny had gotten a hold of a feather once to see if Cheri liked its touch, but she had found it to be too soft. Rillen’s tail, on the other hand, was firmer and still soft to the touch. It was her turn to moan.

When he came up for air, Ginny said, “Feel free to lick and kiss and stroke either of us. Neither of us is into pain, but we enjoy firm pressure, particularly Cheri. If we find something that you don’t like, just let us know and if we find something that you particularly enjoy, let us know that as well.”

“I’m pretty sure that stroking my fur against the grain will not be pleasant,” he said. “Stroking it with the grain is very nice, though maybe a little firmer? Oh, yes! Just like that.”

With that he started to kiss his way down Ginny’s body, but his tail wasn’t idle — it started to stroke Cheri’s inner thighs, causing her to lose concentration. He wasn’t pressing, just molding it loosely around her thigh and sweeping it from near her pussy down. The feeling was exquisite.

Suddenly, his tail went stiff and quit moving. When she looked, she saw Ginny had started slowly stroking his cock, which seemed to have taken over all of his facilities. Gasping, he said, “If you keep that up much longer we’re going to have a mess.”

“We wouldn’t want that, but I know how to avoid it,” Ginny said. “Neither of us has a hymen, though we’re not used to something as big as you, so please take it easy,” she said as she started to line him up for entry.

“Of course,” he said. He gently started to move forward, but again his tail wasn’t idle. It started to stroke and probe Cheri, eliciting a startled gasp followed by a groan. Just as Ginny started to vocalize her pleasure, she felt his tail pushing into her, and she joined the chorus. He didn’t go too deep, but just started stroking gently in and while stroking into Ginny more frantically.

Shortly, she heard the little mewling sound that Ginny made when she came. Then his tail started to slip out of her and slide along her clit before sliding back in. After about the third repeat of that, her orgasm hit hard. She was still riding it out, she felt him go rigid and heard Ginny cry out.

Lying there in the afterglow, she said, “I didn’t know your tail could do that! How could you possibly keep it coordinated?”

“I knew our tails could be used that way, but I wasn’t anticipating doing it. Some of it seems to be innate. I don’t think I was doing anything special to coordinate things. I wanted it to happen, and it just seemed to happen.”

After changing positions, Rillen managed a repeat performance before they all went to sleep.

The following morning, after they all got up, Ginny grabbed Cheri’s wrist, then Rillen’s. When they turned to look at her, she nodded to Cheri and said, “Fendirillen Grindlien, we have both come to love you. Would you bond with us?”

Rillen’s voice was thick with emotion as he said, “I’ve never known love like this, and I never want to do without it. Yes, I will bond with you, both of you.”

Ginny asked, “When do we want to do this?”

“I know my parents will want to be there, to finally see me happy and accepted. Trellken’s not that far away, but it will still take some time.”

Cheri said, “My father is on Tau Epsilon and I think he’ll want to be here. I know mom and I’ve kept him up to date on things, so it won’t come as a surprise.”

“Then let’s plan to have the ceremony as soon as we can get all the families here.”

Normally, the investiture ceremony is a small, but formal affair. Ginny would be there as she was Cheri’s bonded mate. She fully planned to wrangle a place for Rillen as well, particularly now that his status was changing. The only other ones normally present were members of the Orders, though it is open to others.

Cheri having gone ahead to do final preparations, Ginny and Rillen approached the Temple together. As soon as Ginny saw the Royal Guard uniforms, she knew something big was up. Then she saw a platform had been staged outside. Something really big was up.

Rillen, at her side, gasped. “My parents are here!” He pointed to a couple with a soldier near the platform. “And there’s my Aunt Lira with them!”

That caused Ginny to take a closer look around. She pointed to her parents, who, along with Cheri’s mother, Rillen had already met. With them, though, was Cheri’s father. She started to chuckle when she saw him. When Rillen cast her a glance, she said, “Over by Cheri’s mother? That’s her father. We were going to wait until all the family was available, and here they are!”

Before they could go further, they were intercepted by a tall female dizyntk in an officer’s uniform. When Rillen saw her, he said, “Good morning, Colonel. May I introduce you to one of my intended mates? This is Virginia Johnston, whose mate, Cheri Hanson, is being invested today.”

“Ah, perfect. Would you both please come with me, so we can get you in place. Oh, and congratulations on your upcoming bonding.”

“Please lead the way, Colonel Virathea.”

Ginny almost stumbled upon hearing the officer’s name — Rillen had explained who she was, and just how important her role was. Still, it was Ginny’s mate who was going to be the center of this, so she wouldn’t let herself feel out of place.

When they got to the platform, the Colonel bullyragged an attendant to get a seat for Rillen alongside her. Shortly after they were seated, there was a stir when another officer of the Royal Guard stepped out to face the crowd. Once she had quiet, she said, “Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess of The Second Star Cluster and heir to the Sapphire Throne, Feyalisa Fretheri Ariarisha Zerleen and her bonded mates Michael Christopher and Velakari Destinina Salithea Yiskun.”

Ginny had met Sister Velakari before, but she’d only seen pictures of Princess Feyalisa. The princess walked regally out onto the platform and took a seat directly across from hers. Once the princess’s mates were seated, she looked across the platform and spotted Ginny and Rillen, got an impish look on her face, and winked at them. Ginny could feel the tension flowing out of her after that and heard Rillen’s exhaled breath. She smiled gratefully at the royal party and got a warm smile in return.

Soon Ginny’s heart leapt to see Cheri in her acolyte’s robes following Sister Linarti and two other acolytes out onto the platform, where they took a seat facing the crowd.

When all had settled down, the princess stood and addressed the crowd, in English, no less. She said, “My people, today is a day that I could hardly dream of just a few short cyankas ago when I vowed to integrate our peoples. Today I am here as a spectator, much like the rest of you, to see the first human invested as a priestess of the Temple. I am very happy that the day has arrived, even if it has arrived much sooner than I thought possible. Sister Linarti?”

“Thank you, your Highness,” the priestess said. “Prior to coming to Eckleston I was the senior priestess on Elishen. I was there when the first human refugees arrived. My Order, the Ivory Order, had already chosen to accept humans as being a part of the Goddess’s plan, once it was discovered that we could interbreed. Still, as with most of us, I couldn’t communicate with the refugees when they first arrived. I wanted to be able to do so, however, so I worked with others of us who had learned English and then later with Princess Feyalisa’s mate, Michael Christopher. I wanted to do this so I could communicate more easily with these other children of the Goddess. The more I worked with them, regardless of whether they believed in the Goddess or not, the more I saw that they were, in many ways, just like us.