Page 66 of Needed in the Night
“You are content,” Mikas murmured, his lips against my ear. “At peace.”
“Yes.” I raised his hand to my lips and kissed it. “You could tell by my scent?”
“Everything about how you feel and smell tells me so.” He rested his nose against the back of my neck and inhaled deeply.
“And what about you?” I asked. “Are you content and at peace?”
“Never doubt that I am.” He stroked his thumb over my fingers. “You do not mind that I relax and comfort you with my coo?”
“Mind? Hardly.” I smiled. “Taking cocks that big, with an even bigger knot, without pain? I like that coo very much.”
“My coo does much more for my mate than allow you to take my knot.”
“What else does it do?”
He nuzzled the back of my neck. “Last night, you had bad dreams. When I cooed, you were no longer distressed, and I think your dreams became more pleasant.”
I’d thought he’d sung to me during the night. Apparently, it was a coo, not a song, that had made me feel so good. And though I had vague impressions of nightmares, I recalled none of them, and woke up feeling more fully rested and happy than I had in a very long time.
“I coo only for my mate,” he added. “It is a sound I make only for you, when you are distressed or in pain…and when you want to take my knot.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the heat and sensations of his cocks, and thought about the fact he could soothe me simply with his voice. I dimly recalled hearing about that aspect of Fortusian true mate physiology a long time ago, but it hadn’t really registered with me as meaningful at the time. I’d certainly had no inkling that someday I might benefit from a seemingly miraculous ability.
He remained fully—and doubly—inside me. The full-to-bursting sensation was a kind of comfort I hadn’t known I liked until now.
You don’t justlikehaving your pussy and ass stuffed with Mikas’s cocks, Isla Mair, I thought.Youloveit.
“The galaxy is vast.” Mikas said, his body so warm and soothing and strong next to mine. “We can go far from here, far from Ngara. Find a beautiful world and make our future there. Where would you like us to go, my mate?”
Us.
Since my mother died, I had never been part of anus, even when I was part of the Web.
I thought of the moment last night—had it really only been last night?—that I’d taken Mikas’s hand and urged him to follow me into the tunnel that led to our escape route from the perfume shop. In that moment, though I hadn’t realized it at the time, I had begun to think of Mikas and me as anus. We’d needed to get to safety together. And not just because he’d had my torn underwear in his pocket and my slickness on his fingers and tongue.
In fact, I might have thought of Mikas and me as anuslong before that, whenever I sat at the bar to talk to him while feeling safe in his presence. And that was probably why I lay here now, so content. Because we’d been anusfor a very long time.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure this out,” I said, hoping he understood what I meant.
He kissed my ear. “Isla, no apology is necessary. Our friendshipis the best thing in my life. I would not have traded these past few months for anything.”
“Me neither.” I squeezed his hand. “How long will your knot last?”
“Another ten or twenty minutes. Less if I do not wait until it eases completely.” Mikas rumbled. “I do not want to rush. I want to savor this feeling.”
“I don’t want to rush either.” I chuckled. “But if it’s up to me, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to savor this exact feeling so I can savor it too.”
“Of course it is up to you.” He pulled me a little closer. “Your autonomy is as important to me as it is to you. In all things, you must always tell me what you wish to do, and what you do not. You have my word I will respect your choices without question.”
“But when it comes to our future, we’ll make those choices together.” I bit my lip. “Do you really want to leave Fortusia?”
“I have many reasons to love my homeworld. If we would be safe here, I would be very content to stay.” He rested his head on mine. “But we arenotsafe, so we must go where we will find safety and happiness. What would make you happy, my Isla?”
In answer, I wiggled my bottom. He sucked in a breath at the sensation of his cocks moving inside me. I chuckled.
“Other than that,” he said finally, his voice a bit ragged.
“I want to sing,” I said. “Besides being here with you, the happiest I’ve ever been in my life was onstage at Zaa’ga, singing and watching you pour drinks while Brae feasted on insects outside.”
