Page 30 of The VaDorok's Unexpected Mate
Gaze drifting thoughtfully over her and then to Ren, Kull nodded, the corner of his mouth hitching. “Let me get the meat spitted and cooking, and then I will show you how it is really done.”
And so, it was with the smell of cooking food filling the den that they played. And then they stuffed themselves silly with food and played some more. And they continued to play well into the night by the light of the fire. And for the first time in many weeks, Katie caught herself genuinely laughing and smiling freely. And it made her want to cry all at the same time becausefor a long time she hadn’t believed that she could ever truly do that again and truly feel it.
Chapter 23
Kull studied the human beside him as she slept. The ulukskinon disturbed him day and night. Even when he had crouched so near her playing Falling Sticks, it had tormented him despite the distraction, burning through him and leaving fiery paths beneath his flesh.
It was getting worse.
And yet... she was so small curled next to him that he was afraid to even breathe on her, much less touch beyond the light sweep of his tail down her side. Need tightened within his lower extremities even as his heart constricted with an entirely different need unfulfilled as he maintained a stubborn distance he maintained. Lying beside her, enjoying the moments of closeness when no one else was aware of it was all that he allowed himself despite the heavy weight of his needs fed continuously by the ulukskinon. His desire to be closer to her in every way aside, he was shocked that his cock was not extruded and angrily engorged by now from his consistent denial. Kull sighed heavily and groaned to himself. This was going to either drive him to madness or kill him.
He had hoped that being out all-day hunting again would have helped him clear his head after becoming so quickly further entangled with her, but it had not. The more time he spent with her—the more he got to know her and was affected by her immediate presence—the less distance worked as a method of control and relief.
Now it was more like simply punishing himself. What was worse was that the longer he was near her, the harder it would be to hide what was going on from Ren. His younger brother assumed that they were pleasure-mating for the time being until it was time for her to leave. If he suspected the truth—he wouldput Kull’s wellbeing over that of the human. That much he was certain. Even a sudden desire to remain at the den with her would be considered so out of character that the younger male would likely begin to suspect something.
No one could know, least of all Katie.
Glancing down at her regretfully, he rose from the bed and put on clean clothing as he tried to think of how he might find a reason to linger around the den without raising suspicion. He had just finished dressing when he heard the light scratch of claws on his door. With another glance at his female to assure himself that Katie was not exposed, he turned toward the door.
“Come in, Ren.”
The door opened, and his younger brother slipped inside, sparing only the briefest glance toward the bed as if wary of waking Katie.
“She is a heavy sleeper,” Kull quietly assured him. “What is it?”
The male’s tail twitched nervously, but he recognized the look of determination on his face. “I wanted to catch you before you left to go hunting.”
“Oh?” Kull murmured as he picked up a brush and began to groom his fur.
Ren nodded. “If it is okay, I would like to go out and check the traps instead.” He gave a wry grin. “No offense, but as amusing as your pleasure-mate can be, being trapped in the den with her at all times out of fear that something might happen to her if we step out the door is far too stressful for me.”
“You will hunt?” Kull echoed, hardly able to believe that he was being handed exactly what he wanted.
“I understand that you enjoy hunting and consider it your responsibility,” Ren said in a hurry, “but perhaps you would consider letting me do the majority of it for now. Katie isyourpleasure-mate after all. So, if anyone is here with her, it is better if it is you.”
Kull set his brush down and crossed his arms over his chest as he made a show of thinking deeply over the matter. “I suppose that could work,” he rumbled thoughtfully, and then nearly laughed at the look of relief that came over the other male’s face.
“Good,” Ren replied as he brightened considerably. “You will be happy to know that I told her she could dig roots today. So, enjoy!” he said as he abruptly turned and hurried out of the room, leaving Kull staring at him.
Digging for roots? Ren had hated that particular task since he was a youngling, and yet he had actually volunteered to take Katie out to do it? Kull shook his head. What was he thinking? There was no mystery in that. It was another trick, but this was designed to have Katie do a task for him that he hated to do.
“Unbelievable,” Kull grumbled with a reluctant chuckle.
“What is?” Katie asked around a yawn.
He looked over at her, and warmth filled his chest. She looked so warm and huggable. Her cheeks were still flushed slightly from her sleep, and her hair fell around her face in a tangled mass as she smiled groggily at him as she reclined back on her arm. He doubted he would be able to keep himself from crawling back into the warm cocoon of their nest if she opened her arms for him and beckoned him to join her. The pressure within his coital folds tightened miserably and came close to drawing a ragged pant from him as he imagined her little body tucking closely to him. Fortunately, she did not, and he was spared the embarrassment of an accidental extrusion. Instead, she sat up the rest of the way and brushed her hair from her face with one hand.
“Here,” he rumbled as he picked up a wide-toothed comb from where it sat beside the brush and approached the bed, “let me help you.”
A look of surprise overtook her, but she nodded and slowly presented him with her back as he lowered himself onto the bed behind her. Kull could see the tension within her back and shoulders with how rigidly she now sat, but he did not comment on it as he gently drew her hair back behind her shoulders. As gently as possible, he began to comb her hair as he spoke.
“Ren mentioned that he was taking you out to dig for roots today,” he murmured.
Katie’s breath escaped in a soft burst of laughter in response. “Yeah, I remember he said something about that. I strongly suspect it is more about trying to shove an unwanted chore off onto me more than anything else, but anything beats sitting around with nothing to do and no one to talk to. And as entertaining as Gremlin is, she has her limits.”
“Ren means well,” he slowly replied as he worked to form them into something intelligible while his focus seemed to be shifting more and more away from the conversation as the ulukskinon thrummed through him. “He is resistant to change and does not know how to behave toward females—as I have mentioned—but he is also very protective of our life here. He would not harm you physically, or do anything to hurt you, but he does not warm up to people very easily.”
“No lie there.” Katie sighed and she turned slightly to look back at him. “Don’t you think the pleasure-mate lie is making it worse?”
