Page 111 of Theirs to Crave

Movement in the darkness. My body tightened, but I held myself still and slitted my eyes open.

No threat rose in the quiet of our den, only Estrayuh’s bare ass, pretty slit winking as she picked her way on hands and knees from the tangle of limbs spread across the bed cushion.

Delicious.

Finally free, she padded outside, thighs squeezed together.

I chuffed, amused, and rolled onto my back.

A moment later I pushed to my feet and stalked silently after her. I was awake, and so was she. Might as well see if she was willing to help me work off some stress.

Last night’s conversation had me jumping at shadows. I didn’t like thinking about the days so soon after our mating, when Litha had gone missing. Didn’t like remembering how Zaf had pulled into himself. How he’d refused to eat or speak, had stood still and unresponsive to any comfort I tried to offer.Didn’t like to think about the terrible things I’d screamed at Saytireka when he collapsed from exhaustion and heartbreak, andstillshe refused to allow us to enter the Svestrix’s lands—or even ask for their aid.

I’d never been able to forget the towering rage in Saytireka’s eyes when I’d returned to the village, Litha in my arms and Kashka at my side. She would not let me forget.

Estrayuh knelt by the stream, washing her hands. I scuffed my feet. She tensed slightly, then saw me and relaxed, smiling through a yawn.

I smiled back, approval warm in my chest. A handful of days ago, she’d have been blithely unaware of a sound so quiet.

“You’re up early,” Estrayuh said, accepting the hand I offered and rising to wrap her arms around my waist.

“Mmm. Come with me.” Sudden arousal bloomed in the air, and I chuckled. “I intend to fight, Estrayuh, not fuck. Although...if you do well, I could be convinced.”

“You could, could you?” she purred, arching to rub her generous breasts across my sheath. My reaction was obvious, and she smirked up at me, triumph glittering beneath long lashes.

I slid one hand beneath the sleep-tangled weight of her head fur, the other under her ass, and lifted her to my chest. Three strides, and I had her back against a tree, legs spread wide around my hips. I loomed over her, muscles taut, gritting my teeth with the effort of keeping my aching cock in its sheath.

“Be very sure of the game you play, Estrayuh,” I growled, grinding my hips against her. Her expression went lax with desire and I bared my teeth, tongue flicking out to taste the pulsepounding in her neck. “I’m in no mood to lose, and when I win, your submission and this pretty little pussy will be mine.”

I squeezed her ass, pulling her tighter against me, loving the way she filled my hand. Some parts of her were just my size. Her cunt would be too, I was sure of it. I understood her concerns. My cock was thick, even among my own people. But the four of us had been rutting like a pack ofkhotfor days, and I’d seen how she stretched around Zaf’s sizeable shaft. Felt her give under the press of my tongue.

She could take me. And shewould, if not today, someday soon. I’d seen the signs, her wordless cues of readiness. Zaf thought I was brain scrambled for resisting her, but after seeing fear in her eyes directed at me, I’d made my decision to wait until shedemandedmy cock.

That decision felt as solid as a cloud this morning, compared to the need to know she wasmine. That she trusted me to keep her safe, in spirit and body.

I lowered her gently to the ground and stepped back, my hands flexing. “Choose. Follow me, or go back to the den.” Estrayuh’s eyes flickered, and I controlled my need to take and take and take long enough to caress her cheek softly. “It is not a choice between yes and no,Lelesha. Only a question of when and how.”

I waited long enough to see her nod, and strode into the jungle. I kept to the ground, moving slowly, leaving a path for her to follow. My ears swiveled, straining for the sounds of her footsteps. Disappointment was a kick to the gut when I heard them, movingaway.

???

“You’re not serious.” Estrayuh planted her hands on her hips and stared at me. “You really want to fight? Now?!”

“Of course,” I said, mildly. “I told you as much.”

“But—the submission! The fucking! I broughttov!” she wailed.

I fought not to smile and continued stretching, basking under the caress of her gaze. She’d get rewarded for that, clever little thing. She’d gone back to the den only long enough to grab the pot from beside the sleeping cushion—and strap on hershoozand the large cloth tied at one shoulder that she called herhows’dres—before rushing after me.

“What happened to—” she lowered her voice to a deep rumble, “that pretty little pussy is mine, Estrayuh. I’m going to crack you open like a soru, Estrayuh. Make you crawl on your knees and beg for my cock, Estrayuh!”

I pounced, cushioning her head with my hand as I took her to the ground. My chest shook with silent laughter.

“I don’t remember saying all that,” I murmured. “I like the idea of you begging, though.”

“Gahh!”

“I said I’d win your submission, and I will. Feel you hot and wet around my cock as my battle prize.”

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