Page 70 of The Delver
Callie shuddered violently atop him. “God, it’s disgusting.”
Raising the insect, he examined it. The pincers on its head were snapping, seeking something to latch onto, something to attack. The creatures weren’t usually aggressive unless they felt threatened—like this one certainly felt now. Urkot had come across many akreels in his time as a delver, and he and his companions had always treated them as harmless nuisances at worst and filling snacks at best.
Yet unlike vrix hide, human skin was fragile. It was thin and easily broken. As he watched those pincers moving, he knew they would be able to pierce human flesh and inflict pain, even if they were unlikely to do serious damage. It was no wonder humans were unsettled by such creatures.
Urkot looked at Callie, who stared at the creature with her nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Am I not spider?” he asked.
She flicked her gaze to him. “Huh?”
He raised his foreleg and curled it. “Do I not have legs like the akreel?”
“I mean, kind of?”
“Am I disgusting?”
Callie laughed as she slapped his hindquarters. A spank. “No, you’re not. Now get rid of it!”
Mandibles rising, Urkot lifted the akreel high, tipped his head back, and opened his mouth.
“Don’t youdare,” Callie warned.
He lowered the insect by a thread’s width.
“Urkot!”
Chittering, he closed his mouth, straightened, and tossed the creature into the vegetation on the side of the tunnel. It thrashed for a moment to right itself before scurrying away.
“Is it gone?” she asked.
“It is gone. This male has protected his female.”
Callie shifted on his hindquarters until her legs were on either side of his waist, feet dangling. “Well, this male can continue to protect his female by carrying her in case there are more of those things.”
She smoothed her hands up his back, and her lips caressed his hide between his shoulders. “You have a sexy back, so I’ll just enjoy the view from here.”
His fine hairs rose in delight, and he trilled, again forced to draw his claspers in tighter. “Behave, Callie.”
Her chuckle was husky as she slipped her hands around him, her fingers teasing his abdomen above his slit. “Urkot, you’re just begging for me to do the opposite.”
He covered her hands with one of his and growled, pressing her palms firmly against his hide as he strode forward. “It is not safe.”
She flicked her tongue over his back, making him shudder. “A little danger is exciting.”
He groaned.
Impossible female.
She was making it difficult to resist, difficult to stop himself from binding her in silk and punishing her in a way that wouldpleasure both of them. His core ached from keeping his stem contained, and his instincts roared with the need to rut her. He needed to end this before she pushed too far. Before he lost control.
There was one way to put a stop to her teasing.
His mandibles twitched with humor. “Then I will claim you here, amongst the akreels.”
“Ugh!” She drew back and settled her hands on his shoulders. “You sure know how to ruin the moment.”
“We will find more moments,” he replied, clutching her leg above her knee. “If we do not, we will make them.”
