Page 106 of Right Next Door
“As big as Boktare and Vigo?”
“Most likely.” He gave her an amused look. “Are you looking forward to it?”
“I don’t dislike the idea,” she grinned. “I mean, I like you as you are now, of course. But what girl wouldn’t like a little more to love? How long will it take you to grow?”
“The change isn’t instantaneous, but it is very fast. It will be done by the time the rut is over, but you might not notice a change at the start.”
“The rut only lasts a few days though.”
“It’s supposed to. It can be longer. It depends on how long it takes you to get pregnant. But even if it takes a full tenday, my growth will finish within a few days.”
“A tenday straight of fucking?” She grimaced. “Sounds like there will be some chafing.”
“There will be,” he assured her. “We’re both going to be exhausted and sore and probably a bit, er, injured. For lack of a better word. But the medirings will be able to fix everything except the general fatigue.”
“Is it healthy for you? To grow that quickly, that much, on top of the rut?”
“My body is designed for it,” he reassured her. “Males have special organs that store energy and resources specifically for the moment we scent our mate. They’ll all release the moment I scent you, and that will give my body everything it needs for my growth phase.”
“We’re going to have the best sleep ever afterward,” she hummed happily.
“Oh, absolutely.”
“Sorry, I went off on a tangent. So, we’re not seeing each other the day before the ceremony. Then what?”
“The day after our day of separation, we’ll have our first ceremony. That will be the day we swear our vows to each other. It’s also going to be a feast day. Combining your wedding reception ceremony with our family feast that would have once been held after the mating. We’re just pre-empting it. It’s meant to bring together all the people in our lives. To introduce them to each other. Both parts of that day are meant to be bright and open to as many people as possible.”
“Okay. Makes sense. Then, we mate?”
“No. That night, we separate again.”
Misty made a face. “I don’t like this no sex on my wedding day thing. Whose bright idea was it to put Boktare in charge of this?”
Tsok chuckled. “That night, there’s another sort of ceremony. We’re both to prepare ourselves for each other. I believe humans would call this the spa day before the ceremony. Our bodies are prepared, and we both need to eat so that we’ll be ready for day two.
“The second day, the ceremony is more intimate. We’re to present ourselves to our witnesses who will be able to verify that we’re both there, acting on our own free will. Oh, I’m also going to give you a nasal filter. I know that’s not how your people mate, but we’re both supposed to take them off together. So, we’ll model that for everyone.”
Misty cocked her head. “We’re taking our filters off in front of other people?”
“No. After our witnesses verify that we’re there by choice, with full and enthusiastic consent on both sides, we’ll lock ourselves into the manor.Thenwe take our filters off. After which, I will go into my rut. And the hunt shall begin.”
“I talked to Jeanie about it,” Misty said calmly. “About what it was like for her when she and Vigo were mated. She said itwasn’t the same as what we’ll go through. She also said that she never really lost her mind at any point, but that it did seem like her sex drive was stronger than usual. So, that’s probably a result of my body adapting to yours.”
“Most likely. I asked Vigo about his mating as well.”
Misty giggled. “We had the same idea.”
“Indeed, we did.” He ran his blunted claws down her back. “You and I are fortunate. We have others that mated before us to question. Jeanie and Vigo are the first human-kreecharma pairing, so it was a mystery to them. I’ll admit, I was concerned about your safety. I’m given to understand that my sex drive will become… insatiable. I was worried I might harm you by not stopping.”
“And?” She looked up at him curiously. “What’s the verdict?”
“Vigo said the mating heat never really abated until he scented his first kit on Jeanie, but there were moments it would lull while he was with her. When he felt her faltering and slowing, he would slow to match her. I will not stop. I won’t really rest until you’re bred. But when you need to rest, thankfully, I will give you that chance. I will also, apparently, make sure that you’re eating and drinking during that time. Though, Vigo says he doesn’t really remember doing that. Aside from the mating heat, he said, there’s not much else that’s going to concern me.”
Misty shivered. “Oh, I’m looking forward to it.”
“You’re going to be exhausted.”
“Heck yeah, I will.”
