Page 106 of Theirs to Crave

“I’ve heard Revik call Zafshakatha few times. That’s ‘my akath’, right? Or is it something else?” The golden skin over her cheeks darkened as the scent of arousal tempted my nose. “He only seems to use it when we’re...in bed.”

“Yes, that’s right,” I confirmed, the barest hint of a purr starting in my chest. “It’s a love name, likeLelesha. Revik’s first village takes the journey of a semi-moon to reach, and theakathdoesn’t grow there. When he and Zaf were first dancing around each other, he called himakathas a compliment to his beauty and sweet scent.” I drew a finger along the feathery fronds—as soft and beautifully colored as Zaf’s fur—and hummed at the fragrance it released.

“That’s sweet,” Estrayuh murmured. “But—”

“Later, it changed toshakathwhen Revik learned how good it felt to sink into him.”

Her lips disappeared into her mouth, her eyes widening as desire bloomed in the air around us.

A memory from last night surfaced. Zaf, on top of me, beautiful cock slid deep, Estrayuh’s fingers slick withtovas she watched Revik work himself into our mate with slow, rolling thrusts.

By the look on her face, her mind had followed a similar path.

The basket on my back shifted, reminding me of our purpose, and I sighed. I leaned down, nuzzling her jaw. Unable to resist the softness of her skin, I trailed my hand down her arm, moving her hand to the base of my tail—the sensitive place I now thought of as her spot.

“Come,” I invited. “There is a large growth ofakathnot far from here. We can gather the rest of what we need, then have a rest.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Estrayuh said, her throaty voice telling me we had the same idea about what that “rest” would include.

???

“This is a lot more work than going to amatress stoar,” Estrella said, plopping onto her butt with a sigh.

“Amatress stoar?” I asked as I shook the basket, settling the collectedakath. With the two loads we’d already taken back to the den, it should be enough. I sat, resting my back against a stone, purring when Estrayuh immediately crawled over to lay atop me.

“Matressis our word for sleeping cushion,” she murmured, wiggling. Happy with her position, she relaxed and lay still.

I concentrated on keeping my breathing even and my claws to myself. There would be time for gripping and panting—a peaceful moment like this was just as pleasurable, in its own way.

“Onerth, when I needed a newmatress, I would go to astoar—a trading place—and exchangemuhneefor one. The...trade people would take it to my den, take away the old one, andvwalah!” She made a blossoming motion with her fingers, spreading them wide before letting them rest on my chest again.

“Hmm. Simple.” I played with a curl of her head fur, considering her words. “What ismuhnee? A food? A medicine?” From her stories, she’d traded it for everything.

Estrayuh snorted. “No. Nothing like that. It’s...hard to explain. It isn’t anything, really. Not anything useful.” She thought for a moment.

“Say you are trading with the Svestrix. Trading for something large, or for something you will make later. You place a rock in the trading pile to stand in its place. That’smuhnee. It’s just...something you trade for other things.”

I blinked, my ears swiveling. “You made thismuhneeevery day? And traded it for the things you actually needed?” I closed my mouth, not wanting to offend her. There must be reasons for such perplexing backwardness. I didn’t know enough to make a judgement.

“Yeah.” Estrayuh giggled and pinched my side. “Erthis complicated. Life there is very different from life here.”

Embarrassment flushed through me, followed by worry.

“Do you miss it? Your life onErth?”

Estrayuh didn’t answer. I looked down at her, concerned.

“Yes.”

My heart cracked.

“And no. I miss some things. I had some good friends, people I’d known all my life. I miss waking up in thehowsmy Tata built. It hurts to know I’ll never visit the graves of my family again. It’s like...like I lost them a second time. Like even their memories are far away now.”

Estrayuh rubbed her cheek against my chest—wiping away tears, I thought. I wrapped my arm around her, thrumming a low, comforting purr. She sniffled and placed a soft kiss between my breasts.

“But there were bad things too. A lot of things I don’t miss at all. Mostly, I’m angry I didn’t get a choice.”

“I understand,” I said.

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