Page 17 of Saving the Sautiitions

I stare at her for a moment, taking in her words before I turn to Vahru. This ishisfather that we’re discussing. He should have some sort of say in this. He looks between us and gives me a tight nod, agreeing with her idea. I sigh and turn back to Willa. “You’re right. Let’s get everyone gathered, and I’ll make the announcement.”

She gives me a firm nod before ducking past us and rushing down the trail to the woods. I turn to Vahru and slip my arms around his waist. “Seems we’ll have to put off our dinner and tea for a few moments more.” I give him a little frown, and he runs his thumb along my bottom lip as it sticks out.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s fine. My cabin isn’t going anywhere. We could always eat here if you’d prefer.”

I scrunch my nose and glance around to make sure no one is close enough to overhear. “Willa’s idea is great for the masses, but it doesn’t feel right to me to be celebrating right now. I think they will understand that this was a tough mission, and as part of the crew, a little rest and recuperation are needed. Even with that being true, are you sure we should even take the time to ourselves, with an assassin after your dad and all?”

He hums and looks around the village. I glance around with him and see Sautiitions pouring in from the trail, Willa drowning among the sea of tentacles. “You may be right. How about a deal? We'll go make dinner and tea at the cabin, spare a second for ourselves, then we’ll eat and walk back to the Chief’s and investigate. Will that satisfy your conscience?”

I pinch my lips together and nod. “Yeah, I like that. We can still go home, change, and grab food, but then we get right back to finding out what’s going on with Criido. That’s probably best. It’s never good to let your guard down with an assassin on the loose.”

Willa trudges up to us, pulling me on top of the little stones in the center of the village, a podium of sorts. She claps her hands to gain attention, and when all are focused on her, she speaks. “As you can all see, Kari has returned with the remaining Sautiitions, safe and sound!”

There’s a roar of applause and approval before she turns to me. “Thank you, everyone! I’m so proud of my crew, and I’m so happy that we were not only able to save the remaining Sautiitions on the planet butallof them! Without Kurgash to force them into a life of unhappiness, they were free to choose their lives, and they chose to be here, with us! Now that we are all together as one happy village, we can celebrate the righting of an injustice, the salvation of a people, and the future that we may have together! Tonight, we celebrate!”

Another roar of applause and cheers go up, and I raise my arms, waving and cheering with them. It isn’t long before drums and other instruments start up; the people gathering to dance or feast together. Someone has even started painting the others in bright colors, the Sautiitions gathering around for their chance to be transformed into a luminous being of joy.

Vahru helps me down from the stone pile, and I turn to Willa, helping her down as well. “We’re going to change and grab a bite, then we’ll be back to search Criido’s place for clues. Will you be okay handling things while I’m away? Tonya is with Criido, right?”

Jeff’s voice behind me surprises me, and I nearly squeak. I give him a dirty look for scaring me and watch him as he walks around me to stand with Willa, his arms around her. “Yes, Tonya is with him. He hasn’t woken, and I suspect he won’t for hours. What he suffered was hard on his body, and it will take a long while for him to finish flushing out the poison. Willa and I will stay here, keeping an eye on everything outside. The girls are handling Criido. Melodia is preparing him a damn feast in there for when he wakes, and Tonya refuses to leave his side until she knows he’s safe.”

I put a hand to my heart at the image of her curled up by him, her tentacles wrapped around his hand. “Aw. I trust you all to handle things, but I don’t plan to be gone for more than a few minutes. It’s best if we try to get this case solved before another attack is made.”

Jeff nods, and I wave goodbye as I thread my fingers with Vahru’s and walk up the path to our home. The walk is quiet as we amble along, our arms swinging between us. I stare around me at the beautiful forest, wondering where the Guardians are hiding, if they’re watching us. Pfft, well of course they are. How else would they know everything? Creeps.

Vahru clears his throat, and I glance up at him, examining his features. He seems a bit awkward, and I squeeze his hand, leaning against his arm as we walk. “What is it?”

“Any way I could persuade you to take more than just a few quick minutes before we investigate?” He looks at me from the corner of his eye, his eyebrow raised. I see a small smile tug at the corner of his lips, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“You just can’t get enough, can you?” A smile spreads across my face, unbidden. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. I love the fact that he’s insatiable for me. Not only does it make me feel incredibly sexy, but it’s sweet that he’s so over the moon for me.

He stops walking, turning fully to me just in front of the house. “I will never get enough of you. Not ever. You’re more than I ever dreamed of, and I will remember how fortunate I am to have you in my life every day. Not to mention, I started something in the woods back there, and someone isn’t happy that we didn’t get to finish.”

His voice lowers and grows quieter as he speaks. He pulls me against him, tilting his hips against me to prove his point. He may not be showing it in those pants, but he’s definitely still ready for me. I try to hold back my laughter and just smile at him, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the porch with me.

“Guess we’d better get changed then, huh?” I wink over my shoulder as I open the door, stepping into the living room and turning to face him.

The grin he gives me is feral, and I swear a river pours from between my legs. If I wasn’t in love with him and knew that he wouldn’t eat me, that grin would scare the piss out of me. Instead, it has me panting and ripping at my clothes, my lady bits begging to be eaten, right here, right now!

He doesn’t even pause; he steps into my space and shreds the top from my body, making me gasp. “Hey! I liked that top!”

“Ask Willa to make another or fix that one. I don’t care. Your clothes aren’t coming off fast enough.” He growls, standing over me like a starved animal.

He reaches for my skirt, and I put a hand to his chest, stopping him. “You should really learn that, sometimes, taking it a little slow can be a good thing.” I turn my back to him, hooking my thumbs into the waist of my skirt, slowly pushing it over my hips as I bend at the waist. He groans as the skirt finally falls past my ass, dropping down my thighs. I let it go when it reaches my knees, the fabric falling to a heap on the floor before I slowly stand, stepping seductively out of the pile of clothes and toward the bedroom, away from him.

I stop in the doorway, turning and arching my back just a bit as I lean against the door frame, hooking my finger at him in acome heregesture. When he turns to me, taking a step, I step back into the room, stopping when I reach the bed. I climb up and stand on it, waiting for him with my hands on my hips.

He walks straight to me, his hands gripping my hips as he shimmies his face between my breasts, a rumble of pleasure coming from his chest. I watch his tail lash behind him before I shove him back gently, my hands pulling at his shirt. Once it’s on the floor, I slowly untie his pants, taking my time to release him.

I then drop to my knees on the bed, taking my time to lick him up and down, slowly sliding him in and out of my mouth as he moans, leaning back, his eyes closed. He’s putty in my hands at this point, and I’m a little surprised. He’s been so dominant lately, I didn’t expect him to let me have control so easily.

When he pants faster, his hands fisted at his side as his cock twitches in my mouth, I know he’s close. I slowly pull away as he nearly whines at the loss. I stand and loop my arms loosely around his neck as I kiss him slowly, my fingers sliding through his soft hair, one hand wrapping around his horn, making him groan and grip me tight.

“Dinner is ready when you are,” I whisper in his ear, a seductive husk to my voice, and I grin. I know it’s a terrible line, but it works so well. He looks at me with a hunger so deep I almost drown.

The next thing I know, my feet are out from under me as I scream, falling onto my back on the bed. I bounce twice before his body is on top of mine, pinning me down as he growls. He pulls my arms down in front of my body, gripping both of my hands in his one on my belly, my arms pushing my breasts together.

He leans over and kisses me, his tongue gliding down until it presses between my breasts. It probably shouldn’t feel as good as it does, but it has me squirming, hoping for so much more. He nips at my nipples, pulling squeals and moans from me before he continues his descent, settling between my legs.

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