Page 61 of Right Next Door
Her words vibrated against his skin, but her voice cut off when he bit down. Not hard. Just hard enough to keep her in place. Keep her still.
Heneededto keep her still. His mate must be mounted. He could pull her down on him, rut her from below with his fangs at her throat. Make sure she couldn’t move except the way he wanted. Make sure she couldn’t get away. She was trapped under his grasp. He wasn’t going to let her move until he’d seeded her sweet little womb.
“Tsok… I…”
Yes. Moan for him. Writhe against him. Why was she still clothed? That was unacceptable. He had to rip through that disgusting fabric.
“Ugh, Tsok…”
No. It was too strong.
Actually, his claws were too soft. He’d dulled them. Why had he done that? They needed to be sharp and strong so he could defend his female and their kits.
The kits he needed to put in her belly now. Right now. Righ-
“UGH!”
Pain burst across his scalp as he found himself suddenly looking into Misty’s eyes. She had grabbed both of his ears and jerked his head back.
Jerked his consciousness back.
What…
What had he just been thinking?!
“There you are,” she smiled. “You were getting a little hot there for a second.”
“Misty, I…” Shame filled him. He’d grabbed her, practically molested her, and hadn’t given a single thought to why that was wrong. She had been trying to talk to him, he realized. Trying to get him to stop, but he’d barely noticed because he’d been so wrapped up in her and her taste.
Misty was looking his face over carefully as that realization made his heart drop. “Your eyes were glowing. I mean, they’re always glowing a little bit, but they were really bright there for a second. You weren’t acting like yourself.”
“Misty, I am so sorry. I apologize deeply for-”
“Oh, I’m not mad about it,” she assured him, grinning. “But I thought you might be if you kept going. Sorry about your ears by the way. Are they sensitive?”
“Very,” he said on a long groan as she began stroking them, as if in apology for the harsh treatment.
She giggled. “If you start purring, you’re going to make it very hard to keep being mad at you.”
With that promise hanging overhead, he began purring. She let out a squeal of delight as she continued petting him, not at all concerned with what just happened.
Though he was.
Because whathadjust happened?
Chapter 23
Misty
The best part of watching Tsok try to date her wasn’t just how amusingly he got it wrong, but how amazingly he got it right. He clearly had no idea what he was doing, but still, despite that, he managed to impress her with the very simple fact that he wastrying.
A human guy taking her out to a fancy restaurant wasn’t nearly so meaningful as when she came downstairs one morning to find a whole bush in her entry hall. The big, waxy blue leaves were dotted with an abundance of large, fragrant, white flowers. And that was because Tsok heard he was supposed to get her flowers, so he was going to do the damn best he could. Which, to his mind, was putting a plantar in her entryway and putting a big ass bush there that had flowers blooming all over it. It may not be exactly correct, but the thought, effort, and time he invested in doing that silly thing was worth more than any dinner at any restaurant.
Their second date was as fun and incorrect as the first. He brought back the sparky, electric mood lighting – which still made her smile, so it was clearly working. But instead of a spitroast, he took her on a hike through the trees behind their manors to a picnic he set up in a clearing. It was still his land, there just wasn’t anything built on it. But there were no hiking trails. It was all legitimately wild land that she had to hike and climb through, following after him until they reached the picnic area. He had a blanket set out, but he had also brought out a table upon which their food was waiting, hot and ready, under little domes.
The kreecharma were primarily carnivorous, so the vegetable stir-fry he prepared had likely been fully imported. Misty was glad to see it. She liked steak as much as the next girl, but the heavy meat diet was quickly growing to be too much. She was glad to see these unknown vegetables and absolutely loved the spicy sauce they’d been sauteed in.
It was a weird thing to eat sitting at a table on a blanket out in the middle of the actual woods – not a cute hiking trail – with sparky electric lighting overhead, but it was fun. And Tsok looked so pleased with himself as they laughed and chatted.
