He grabs my other hand and forces our palms together. His hips grind, and I can feel his cock hardening.
No, no, no, no, no…
“Kitaico, this hurts,” I say meekly, my voice almost a whisper. My past traumas force me to be as quiet and as small as I can.
His eyes shoot open when I say his name again, and he releases me, pushing my body roughly into the far end of the bed.
The alien’s body pulses in waves of black and red. The chaotic display of color deepens my fear.
He looks at his palm, the barb retracting quickly into his skin as if it was never there. His eyes raise to me, his mouth agape.
“How did you—” he looks at his other palm, gently tracing a finger down it. “There’s no mark…”
I clutch my hand against my chest, the pain from his sting radiating all up my right side. There’s a red starburst mark around the wound, and it throbs torturously.
“Why would you do this?” His face is splashed with hurt.
“Me? I didn’t do anything!” I yelp, shaking my head, the stinging pain only deepening as the second tick by.
“You took my mating sting…but gave me nothing in return…” He looks at his palm once more. “Do you choose to reject me?”
His eyes don’t leave his hand.
“I don’t have a fucking stinger,” I tell him, tucking my injured hand under my armpit. I hold up the other palm and try to show him.
The alien takes my hand in his, prodding the flesh at the heel of my palm, looking for a bony barb that isn’t there.
“This can’t be.” He scowls.
“What can’t be?” I ask as fat tears run down my face. I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to dull the pain now overtaking my whole body.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” Kitaico asks gravely.
I shake my head. He lets out a painful-sounding breath.
“I have marked you as my mate…but you cannot reciprocate. You are my mate, but I am not yours.”
“I didn’t know, I was looking for a knife, I wanted to help!” The pain is making me ramble. I shake my head over and over again.
“I will belong to no one now.”
Kitaico is defeated as he stands. He grabs a square of woven cloth and dips it into one of the pools of water. He attempts to pass it to me, but I don’t take it.
“I am sorry for your pain. It will subside soon.” He pulls my hand out from under my arm and places the cool cloth onto the puncture wound. “We have much to discuss, and not long before the venom takes effect.”
Shit.
4
no better than a pup
This tiny creatureis scared of me. She’s sobbing while holding her hand tightly against her chest. Leeenuh must know nothing of my people to have inadvertently taken my mating sting.
She is my mate, but I know she doesn’t honestly want me. Regardless of the lack of my mating mark—she is mine now to protect. If the sight of her in pain was unbearable to me before, her reaction to what I say next breaks my heart.
“We have much to discuss, and not long before my venom takes effect,” I tell her.
Leeenuh’s eyes grow wide, and I can smell her fear—her panic at what will happen next.
