Page 83 of Tharn's Hunt
Oh. My.
My brain conjures exactly how those callouses might rasp between my thighs.
As if sensing my scrutiny, he turns to look at me, those amber eyes softening in a way that makes me forget how to breathe. His gaze drops briefly to my lips before returning to my eyes, and the heat that passes between us blazes hotter than the too-big sun.
Oh, I'm in trouble. So much trouble.
Because one more day suddenly feels like both too long and not nearly enough time before everything changes. Before I have to face what's happening between us, what's been happening since the moment he found me in the desert.
And the scariest part? A growing part of me doesn't want to resist it. Doesn't want to fight the pull that draws me to him like a magnet to true north.
A growing part of me wants to surrender to whatever this is, consequences be damned.
God help me, but I think I'm falling for an alien.
Chapter 24
THE DUST SHIFTS, AND SO DOES MY CONTROL
THARN
The clan caves are close now. Just over the ridge before us.
The thought should bring relief. Safety. The comfort of familiar stone walls and the protection of my clan-brothers.
Instead, it fills me with dread.
I watch Jah-kee as she walks ahead with Jus-teen. The desert wind presses her thin garment against her back, outlining the delicate architecture of her shoulder blades. I count each vertebra like a hunter tracking prey, wondering how they'd feel beneath my claws. My chest aches with a pain that has become so constant I barely notice it anymore. Like the burn of muscles after a long hunt or the sting of dust against skin.
What I cannot ignore is what stirs in my pouch.
My member pulses insistently now, pressing against its confines, seeking release. Seeking her. The sensation is foreign, uncomfortable. A constant reminder of how my body changes.
Rok has explained it all. In hushed projections while the females slept, he described the transformation that awaits me.The emergence of my stem from its pouch. The claiming. The sealing of the bond.
"Only then will her mind fully open to yours," he projected, his mental voice steady but tinged with memory. "Only then will the pain ease completely."
I did not need to ask what he meant by claiming. The images he shared told me everything. His body joined with Jus-teen's, their minds merging completely in the mindspace.
The thought of doing this with Jah-kee consumes me. When I close my eyes, I see her beneath me, her water-blue eyes darkened with need, her soft body yielding to mine. I see our minds intertwining, our thoughts becoming one.
I want nothing more.
And the wanting is driving me mad.
The wanting is a living thing in my chest, gnawing at my ribs with teeth of fire.
Jah-kee walks ahead, unaware of the war she wages in me with every sway of her hips, every loose strand of head-fur that dances in the wind.
If only she knew. If only she could feel the fire in my veins, the desperate need clawing at my insides.
"We are close to clan territory," I project, directing my thoughts to Jus-teen to translate. "I am... alert for threats."
It is not entirely a lie. The male from the rival clan has left me wary. But the true threat is not external.
It is the madness growing within me.
Rok slows his pace, falling back to walk beside me while the females continue ahead. His topaz eyes study me with too much understanding.
