“I wanted to do this as soon as you had your hand around his throat,” I tell him, letting go of one hip to cradle his balls. “Wanted to show you how much I love myferal beast.”
He groans, and it vibrates his entire chest. “My mate, your mouth feels so good.”
“Just for you,” I say, flattening my tongue and dragging it up his warm shaft. “You’re so big and so strong, but you tastesosweet, baby.”
“Mm,” he rumbles. “You like my taste, my mate? Is this what you need from me? My taste? Have you been craving it?”
“Yes. It’s exactly what I’ve been craving.”
Eyes threatening to roll, I wrap my lips around his tip, sucking hard. I pull moan after moan from him, relishing the deep sounds he lets out.
I work his cock so good that my jaw starts aching and my eyes start watering. Seeing his fists clench, I reach for one, wanting to feel him tugging on my hair.
As I direct it to my head, he stills. “His blood will not touch you, Stee-vee. I will not let it.”
My pussy throbs against my panties. “Let’s get in the shower then, hm? Because I expect your handsallover me, and soon.”
His eyes darken, and then we’re moving.
The shower is steamy and wet, in more ways than one. Once Marrec cleans away every drop of blood from his sculpted body, it’s on. He fucks me until my throat is raspy from yelling and my legs are too weak to hold me up.
He dries me off and puts me in his favorite pajamas—the little cherry printed shorts and skimpy tank top he first saw me in. When he holds me in our bed, he answers my questions about what happened today.
I learn that peace enforcers are volunteer retired soldiers, and they aren’t needed very often. They look out for the community and make sure that everyone is safe. They don’t have power to abuse, and even if they did, Marrec did nothing wrong according to Aprixian law.
Mates are sacred.Womenare sacred. I don’t ask, but I get the feeling that Marrec could have legally killed him for touching me. And honestly? That security feels really freaking good.
I also don’t ask if Marrec knows the male who we encountered. I don’t want to know. I never want to think about him again, in fact. Though, I might think about how fierce my mate was in that situation a few more times.
Oh, who am I kidding? Idefinitelywill.
24
Corpse Flower: A stinky plant that produces a putrid smell of rotting flesh during its nightly peak bloom—allowing it to attract pollinators from miles away.
Marrec
The Next Day
As I witness Stee-vee’s legs travel through the soft tall grass of our forest, my soul seed flickers with pride. Chest burning bright, radiating with a pleasing warmth, my gaze follows each of her steps. Her pillowy curls spill further down her back as her head tips, eyes wandering throughout the treetops.
This land has been my sanctuary for many years—many lonely years. They had not felt so empty before, but now, thinking back on them, they are hollow. Seeing what was once my favorite place, it feels sickening to imagine experiencing it alone.
I no longer have a desire to climb into the thick brush of plants, only to hold my female as she explores the familiar area. It is a blinding thing to recognize the severity in which my soul calls to hers. She is my every thought, and I would rather come to my end than live another moment any other way.
“This place has a fuck ton of trees,” my mate says bluntly, spinning around with her booted feet on the forest floor. Her dress twirls around her thighs with the motion, blue fabric swaying playfully. “Are any of them fruit?”
“There are many varieties of edible plants here,” I tell her. “Perhaps five varieties that may taste similar to some of your hu-nim fruits. Ten that are similar in biology but likely will taste unlike anything your mouth has sampled before.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “You know that off the top of your head?”
“I have spent many hours roaming these trees,” I tell her simply. “And I have studied your hu-nim diet to best feed you. It is an estimation, my blossom.”
Her lips turn into a playful bend. “Anything similar to apples?”
I begin to ponder this. I do not tell her that when the remaining hu-nims arrive, they will bring her ap-pull tree. Nor do I tell her that I have configured how to keep it alive for endless years. It is to be a surprise.
“There is one fruit,” I tell her. “It has molecules similar to the pa-air fruit. That is similar to your ap-pulls, no?”