Page 52 of Theirs to Crave

“Bright morning, all. Come. We eat.”

“Bright morning, Abuele,” I grumbled, yawning into my sweetly scented pillow. I would never be a morning person.

Eventually my sense of obligation won over my desire to stay cozily where I was, and I rolled over. Today we’d meet the rest of the Teterayuh. I had no idea what would happen after that.It’ll be fine, I told myself unconvincingly.

I took a deep breath as I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, and just about swallowed my tongue.

I’d gotten used to the weapon harnesses the Teterayuh wore. They were kinda hot, but obviously built for function.

What Revik wore now—as he lounged by the fire eating berries like a goddamned French girl—had only one purpose that I could see.

It was fucking fetish gear. Fancy, gorgeous, elaborate fetish gear. The all-black chest harness emphasized his pecs and the sweep of his shoulders, the leather straps adorned by thinner, woven strips and set with shimmering stones. It bisected the bright blaze on his chest, the distinction somehow making him look even more massive. More leather wrapped around his rock-hard thighs, doing fucking nothing but drawing my eye to the bulge between them.

Well, hello, Daddy.

I grew lightheaded, and abruptly remembered how to breathe when laughter broke out at the low dining table. My bitch-ass family hooted, finding my plight hysterical.

“Are you alright?” Cass asked. The giggles sort of took away from the concern her words implied.

“You want us to fan you, or something? You’re looking kinda faint.” Ria didn’t even pretend she wasn’t enjoying herself immensely.

“I thought you’d be happy, sis. You’ve always loved Folsom.” Mariano crossed his wrists in front of himself as if they were bound in cuffs and posed like a pinup, lips pursed and eyelashes flapping.

Traitors. I glared at them indiscriminately, and when I shoved Mariano to make room for myself at the table, I wasn’t gentle about it.

He just collapsed against Therry, both of them laughing like loons.

I snuck a peek back at Revik, only to find that he’d been joined by Zafett, who wore a similar set of fuck-me straps, his in shades of deep teal that were a stunning contrast to the white and brick red of his fur. Matching beads were strung through his hair, which cascaded loose down his back—except for three braids at his temple. Thankfully, they both appeared to be ignoring the antics of my used-to-be loved ones.

Looking around, I found Litha coming back from the stream, and whimpered. Her pewter gray harness wrapped up her arm then dipped low beneath the opposite breast, an asymmetrical design that belonged on the cover of a magazine. It was studded with stones the same golden color of her eyes.

I wanted to roll on my back, kicking my feet and wailing like a two-year-old. They were too hot. It wasn’t fair. The movies said aliens had squat little bodies and big heads. Nobody prepared me forthis.

Somehow, I managed to make it through breakfast without self-combusting or killing anyone. Que era un milagro. I did smack Mariano, but that was just a normal Tuesday occurrence.

Huh. Days of the week didn’t really mean anything anymore. How did the Teterayuh track time? I’d have to remember to ask, when there were more words between us.

After breakfast—none of us ate much, too caught up in worries about the future—Zafett checked and rebandaged our feet while Revik and Litha washed the old bandages, hanging them to dry around the outside of the palapa.

Zafett kept flaring his nostrils as he tended to my feet, making me squirmingly anxious that they stank. I sniffed them unobtrusively when he moved on to Shane—with more speed than seemed necessary—but all I picked up was the ointment he’d applied.

I wiggled around, trying to get a better whiff and look casual at the same time. Nothing. I gave up and sat cross-legged, deciding to try taming my hair instead.

That’s when I smelled it. Pero, no. Qué pena!

I snapped my thighs together and tried to think pure thoughts. It didn’t help. My reaction to their new kinky wardrobes was all too apparent. Mortifying.

I snuck a glance to where Big Daddy Revik was strapping a knife over his fuck-me straps, and my embarrassment faded. Really, I was lucky I wasn’t drooling. Not from my mouth, at least. And I hadn’t thrown myself onto the ground, begging them to take me.

Yet.

Compared to that feat, the walk to the village was pretty anticlimactic.

The Teterayuh waiting for us—standing in groups and peering from the branches—were anything but. I stared, and eyes in every shade of yellow peered back.

There were some with long, draping fur in shades of pink and red, others with fur as short as Revik’s in purple, white, and brown. I had to squint to pick out some of the Teterayuh, their patterns making them blend seamlessly with their surroundings. Others were as bright and shocking as tropical birds.

They were all huge.

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