It tears at me, her unhappiness. It also frustrates me, because how can I know how to fix what I am doing wrong if she never tells me? Is she trying to push me away? To make me seek out another mate? So she can be with someone else…
Someone like Harrec?
Jealousy gnaws at me, hard and brutal in its intensity. “It will not work,” I declare, suddenly furious. “I will wait for you.”
She spins around again. “Wait for me? What are you talking about?”
“You will not invite me to your bed. You will not let me be your mate. You push me away. It does not matter.” I make a slashing motion in the air with my hands. “You wait for my memories tocome back, but they do not change who Iam. They do not change that I am the mate that loves you. They do not change how Ifeelwhen I look at you.”
Stay-see stares at me. “And how do you feel when you look at me?”
I move toward her. The urge to touch her is overwhelming. I want to caress her face, stroke her hair. My fingers twitch in response, and I clench my hand tight, pressing it over my heart. “Like I am not whole unless you smile. Like the suns rise when you move closer. Like there is nothing sweeter than touching you and hearing your moans of pleasure.” At her hesitant smile, I continue. “I do not need memories to feel joy when I see you holding my son. I do not need memories to know that there is no greater feeling than sinking my cock deep inside you. I do not need anything in this world but your smile and your heart, Stay-see. And that is why I will wait until you invite me back. If it takes twenty seasons, I will wait.”
She gives a small, confused shake of her head. “I don’t understand you. If you love me as much as you say you do, why did you leave me and Pacy the moment we got to the village?”
“Because you told me to?” Now I am as confused as her. “You said you were not ready to take me back as your mate. Not until I had my memories back.” I give a small shake of my head. “Stay-see, I would never push you into something you did not want. I can wait.”
She presses her hand to her mouth. “Oh my god.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I’m so stupid.”
“You are not stupid. You are wonderful?—”
She flings herself into my arms and clings to my neck. Her mouth seeks mine, and I toss aside the nest with the frozen eggs in it to grab my mate’s rounded bottom. I haul her against me and hold her close as we kiss, our tongues melding together.
“Does this mean you will take me as your mate again?” I ask between fierce, nipping kisses.
She nods quickly and kisses me again, then bites at my lower lip in a way that makes my cock ache. “Thought you didn’t want me. That was why you left.”
I groan. “If I did not want you, why would it make me so crazy every time Harrec pays attention to you?” I tear at her tunic, at the knot under her breasts that holds it wrapped shut.
To my surprise, she laughs. “He said he was trying to make you jealous. I couldn’t figure out why. I guess he wants us back together, too.” She leans in and runs the tip of her tongue along my lower lip. “That’s kind of sweet.”
“As long as that is all he wants,” I growl, feeling possessive. This is my female. My mate. And I’ve waited long enough to claim her again. I kiss her deeply even as I pull her tunic open.
She gasps against me, peeking around. “The others—someone will see us.”
“You went the wrong way to get back to the vee-lage,” I tell her, pressing my mouth to her neck. She is so soft here, so sweet. “Make enough noise and they will know to stay away.”
Her shocked giggle tells me that she is not displeased with the thought. I slide my hand between the layers of clothing and find her breast, plump and delicious. She moans at my touch, and her kisses take on a more fevered edge.
I am going to make her mine, right here, right on the canyon floor.
I like the idea so much that I immediately drop to my knees. Stay-see squeaks in surprise but does not protest when I pull her down with me. I continue kissing her bared skin, feverishly undoing the ties on her leggings, and then mine.
“Right here?” she asks softly.
“Right here,” I agree. “I have waited endless days for you. I am hungry to be inside you. For us to become one again.”
Her hand strokes my face. “Me, too.”
My mouth is on hers in the next moment, my tongue slicking against her smooth, soft one. Everything about my mate is soft and gentle and it fills me with a fierce protectiveness as well as hunger.
In the next moment, her leggings are down, and her freed leg hooks around my hip. I sink into her warmth, marveling at how perfect, how incredible she feels.
Stay-see gasps, her eyes going wide. She feels tight around my cock, her cunt slick with heat and ready for me. “My mate,” I growl fiercely. “My Stay-see.”
