Page 400 of Bride of Choice

Celuk, Gopher, Jeh-kal, and even Odix all snorted simultaneously.

Rek’s glower turned into a pout. “See, my Jo? You males mean. Picks on Rek.”

“Rek picks on self,” Odix mumbled under his breath.

“Will he be okay?” I asked Jeh-kal, jerking my chin at Buu as I ignored the petty bullshit.

“Be ‘kay,” Jeh-kal assured me. “Make shift. Hard.”

“How was that even possible?” I sputtered in disbelief.

Jeh-kal’s smile was all teeth. “Jeh-kal bossy, like my Jo.”

Celuk rumbled out, “Jeh-kal Yowie, Ketire, like Buu, Lo denaii… more.”

“No wonder you’re built like a tank,” I murmured, eyeing Jeh-kal with interest.

Jeh-kal puffed out his chest at my perusal.

Gopher came up beside me and flopped down on the floor near my legs. Wrapping an arm around my knee, he pressed the side of his head to my thigh. “Go’ no know Buu my Jo’s. Hear Jo scream. Think Jo’s Buu hurt Jo.” Peering up at me, pleading for understanding, his throat worked as he struggled to speak. “Gopher sorry. Jo forgive?”

Squeezing my ass down onto the floor with him, I smiled when he growled and immediately curled me into his lap, stood, walked over and plopped us down onto the couch between where Rek was sitting and Buu’s feet.

Gopher would have pressed a kiss to my temple but I grabbed his mug and jerked his head down to me to plant one on him. “Baby ‘kay?” he worriedly asked the moment I broke our kiss.

“I must not be doing this right,” I muttered, then grabbed his face to plant one on him all over again.

I kept this up, only letting him up for air when absolutely necessary, until his purr had gone guttural and one of his hands had found my ass to squeeze it.

Smiling against his lips, I whispered as I pulled back, brown eyes twinkling, “That’s more like it.”

“Missed my Jo,” he breathed, once more quickly getting choked up.

Pressing his forehead to mine, nostrils still flared, throat working, he closed his eyes as he struggled to ease his rapid breaths.

“Missed you too, a fuckton, Gogo boots.”

“Goober… boob,” Rek mutteringly corrected while quickly throwing his hands over his head protectively and dropping to his side.

Gopher shocked the stuffing out of me, glancing up in time to spy that and bursting out laughing.

When I stared at him curiously, he grinned and shrugged. “Rek mouthy. All talk. Gopher no care no more. Rek say what he want. Gopher no have to listen.”

“Goober listens. Just pretends not. Rek no care. Rek know,” Rek grumbled, looking supremely perturbed by the idea that Gopher would ignore him.

Celuk coughed to cover up a laugh as he watched the byplay.

“Buu said he let you take me,” I told Celuk. “He knew I needed help he couldn’t offer.” Glancing from Buu’s prone form and back to him, I swallowed thickly. “He said I was his and he was mine, and demanded I bite him. He seemed really worried about it.”

Celuk’s gaze followed mine as it slid back to Buu.

“He tried something similar, getting me to bite him, before he left me by that log for you to find me,” I muttered worriedly.

It was Jeh-kal who spoke up.

“Buu bite claim Jo?” he asked.

“Yes,” I admitted, my hand absently going to the spot to rub it.

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