My cheeks burned as I tore my eyes away from his singular scrap of clothing.I still didn’t know how I felt about the whole mate thing.Maybe it wouldn’t feel so taboo if I’d met the other women he claimed to be mated to turochs.
It felt like months instead of days since I panicked cleaned the spa in preparation for the girl’s day I’d offered them.To think I’d been so worried about meeting friendly humans and just hours later I’d been stolen from my safe haven and then collared by the Kwin like a pet.
My hand flew to my neck and I realized I was still wearing the stupid collar.I quickly unbuckled it and hurled it across the room.It hit the open door with a clatter and Tovis jolted awake, his arm tightening around my waist as he sucked in a startled breath.
“Sorry,” I whispered.“Go back to sleep.”
Tovis blinked at the ceiling, and shook his head.“It’s light, we need to go soon.”
I snuggled into his side and wrapped an arm around his middle.“Probably,” I agreed.“I don’t want to move though.”
He stroked my waist gently and turned to face me.The motion jostled me closer and plastered our bodies together.
“You’re sore?”he asked, his brow creasing.
“A little,” I lied.My feet gave a low throb and I knew it was going to suck to put weight on them, but the other option was waiting around for the sytos to drag us back, and no amount of pain was worth that.
“My poor female,” he crooned, tightening his hold on my waist and kissing my sunburnt nose.“You’ve done so well.”
I laughed quietly but inwardly I could feel myself warming at his silly affection.The fact that we were just taking a brief moment of rest in the midst of a dangerous escape didn’t seem to matter.Tovis was warm and comforting, wrapped around me, and I didn’t want to end the comfort I was getting from resting against him.
“You did most of the work,” I pointed out.
He grinned and leaned down to rest his head against my chest.“But you made for such good motivation.I’d fight a hundred sytos for you.”
My smile slipped and I slowly reached up to touch one of the bulky horns angling off his head.
“I’m sorry you had to do all that,” I murmured.
“Jessa,” he kissed my collarbone and I yelped in surprise when his teeth grazed my skin.“I told you not to blame yourself.”
“I can’t help it,” I said, squirming when he didn’t stop kissing my chest.The low neckline of my dress did nothing to shield me from the heat of his lips and I felt like I should be resisting him more, but the willpower just wouldn’t muster itself.
His hand felt burning hot as it slid up the back of my thigh, pushing the scratchy, sequined material of my dress out of the way as his tongue slicked against my throat and sent a wave of tingling heat skating over my skin.I whimpered when his teeth dragged over my collarbone again and Tovis groaned like the sound physically pained him.
My fingers dug into his biceps as nerves and pleasure warred in my belly, the former twisting like an unhappy snake while the latter made my thoughts swirl away before I could grasp why I needed to stop him.
It felt so good to be pressed against him, to feel the hard line of his cock rocking against my thigh as he nipped and sucked at my neck.His breathing was heavy, and my skin puckered in waves with every exhale that puffed over my shoulder and I writhed into him when his hand reached my butt and squeezed.
“Tovis,” I gasped, my eyes wide open but my brain registering nothing in front of me.A sound filtered through the ragged breathing and the rustling of my dress against his body and my brain struggled to place it.“Wait.”
His hand slid back down my thigh a few inches and he stopped sucking on my neck in favor of pressing his face between my breasts and crushing my body to him.
I pressed my thighs together, trying to smother the ache that was twisting inside me and bit my lip when the pressure just made everything worse.
“Say you’ll be my mate, Jessa,” he panted, his lips brushing over my nipple as he spoke.I bit my lip to stop another moan from escaping and wrapped my arms around his neck even as I tried to remember why I’d asked him to stop.“Say you’ll let me gentle you when we reach the camp.”
I closed my eyes, and tried to ignore my body’s urging to pull his face back to mine for more feverish kisses.
“Tovis,” I panted.
“I’ll keep you safe always,” he murmured, rubbing his face against my collarbones and pressing feather soft kisses on my chest.It was such a seductively sweet move it made my bones ache, but the sound that had distracted me was back, a strange cracking, rustle that made a tiny alarm bell sound in the back of my head.“You’ll never be alone again and I’ll-”
Something honked.
Tovis froze, and my eyes popped open, finally registering the sound for what it was.I turned my head and saw a tiny, olive-green face staring back at me from the broken shell of the egg.
I sat up and immediately bonked my head on one of Tovis’ huge horns.He yanked his head back and pulled me upright in one motion.I rubbed my bruised forehead and stared in amazement as another piece of shell broke off and tumbled onto the bed.Several small shards already littered the gross mattress and the baby percer honked again, rocking the egg and using its tiny head to break its way out.
