I swallowed roughly, my fingers clenching against the fabric of his tunic. “Oh, okay. You can do that, I won’t object.” I wanted to groan over how silly that phrase was.I won’t object?It wasn’t exactly an open invitation. That did not seem to matter to Jeltom—his eyes flashed, that growl rumbled through the air between us—and then I felt his hand on my waist. It slid along my body, shaped my hip, and then came back up to boldly cup my breast.
He shook against me, crowded even closer, and found my mouth for another scorching kiss. His second hand joined the first, and his thumbs feathered my aching, hard nipples as he made love to my mouth. His taste was amazing, his scent even better. I could have him for breakfast any day of the week, and my always-worrying brain instantly wanted to start asking questions: Was this just for fun, was this today only, or did he want something long term?
Then I couldn’t think at all, because Jeltom ground his hard cocks into my belly, and pleasure burst so sharply through my core that I nearly keeled over. His hands kept me up, as did his hips, as he pinned me against the cupboards. Still, he kissed me, drugging me with each move of his mouth, over and over. I loved it, and my body was so onboard that I felt the first stirrings of an orgasm rising. As if he sensed it—though I knew he wasn’t an empath—he pressed deeper, his leg sliding between mine to put pressure on my clit.
I shattered with a shout against his mouth, and he shifted to burrow his face against my throat. Sensitive there, I shook, on the edge of pleasure and ticklishness. “That’s it, sweet one. Let me taste your scent.” His tongue flicked out and dipped into the hollow of my throat, dragging along the edge of my collarbone. My core contracted hard, another wave of pleasure cresting, and all I could do was cling to his wide shoulders and hold on.
I thought surely, now he’d drag my pants down and push inside me—surely this was when he’d take his own pleasure. He didn’t, though. He withdrew very slowly, though he never let go of me entirely. His head lifted first, but he trailed a few delicate kisses along my jaw as he did so. Then he moved his thigh from between mine, and I moaned at the loss of contact. His smile was wider than ever, a grin that pulled on both corners of his mouth, but more on the left one, so it was sexily crooked.
“Gift first, this is Valentine, and you asked me, so I’m trying to do it right.” Oh God, why did that make me want to cry and shout with joy at the same time? It was so freaking sweet, and I couldn’t recall ever being treated like I mattered—except by Jess, of course, but that was very different.
He held an arm around me as he ushered me toward the table, and it was definitely needed because that surprise orgasm had left me with noodle legs. Did I lean into his chest just a little and marvel at all those ridges of his abs against my spine? You bet. My curiosity about what kind of gift he’d gotten me was also growing, and I eagerly pulled it across the table toward me. It was heavy, and the bow was sort of fluffy and very glossy at the same time.
Opening the box, both of us leaned forward to peer inside. I had no clue what to expect and was extra baffled at the sight of a pale brown satchel inside. I racked my brain over what it could be, because I very much wanted to be super grateful, whatever it was. What kind of gifts went with Valentine’s? Chocolate? I carefully lifted the strings on the satchel and undid them; a brown, powdery dust fluttered into the air. I stared, unsure, and then a light bulb went on. “Oh, this is cocoa!”
Jeltom froze, and though he had no eye whites, I still had the impression his eyes had grown big in surprise, or perhaps confusion. “Cocoa? No, this is supposed to be chocolate! That’s what Danitalin’s reading material said, chocolate as a gift…” He sounded so disappointed that my heart went out to him, but giddy happiness also bubbled through my veins. He wanted to give me chocolates, like a human guy might back on Earth!
“This is much better,” I assured him. And it was, out here, it definitely was. A bag of cocoa this size would let me bake brownies, chocolate cake, and cookies—dozens of them. It would last me much longer than a single box of chocolates. I began salivating at the thought and was already running down lists of ingredients in my head to see if I had everything. “Oh, I just need eggs, I think… Do they sell eggs at the general store?”
Jeltom clearly didn’t understand what was going on, but when I twirled in his arms and threw mine around his neck, he seemed appeased. “I love the gift, truly. I’ll bake you brownies, and it’s going to blow your mind!” He seemed to like that idea even less, but when I kissed him, he eagerly reciprocated—his mouth fitting to mine like a dream, his tongue sweeping dominantly into my mouth. He might not know about Valentine or chocolate, but he sure knew about kissing.
Chapter 11
Jeltom
I wanted to stay in Mariska’s kitchen all day and kiss her sweet mouth. The gift… it wasn’t at all what I thought I was getting, but she assured me she was extremely happy with it. I could not imagine why she’d enjoy a bag of fine, brownish powder. When she wasn’t looking, I’d dabbed some of the stuff on my tongue and discovered it was extremely bitter—disgusting. She insisted I’d love the brownies she’d bake me.
I would much rather carry her into the bedroom so that we could consummate our true mating. This knowledge still boggled my mind, and I’d lain awake all night considering it. Before I sank one—or even better, both—of my cocks inside of her, I had to tell her about it. I just wanted to make sure I had all the facts, that I wasn’t spinning some wild tale. In my heart, I knew it was true. We had all the signs written about in Pyra and Pato’s stories.
I’d pulled up countless research papers on my datapad last night and could only confirm what Danitalin had instantly concluded. There was a kind of pheromone dependency between true mates in the early stages before the bond was established. The symptoms weren’t agreed upon in all readings, but most sources concluded that they included sensitive skin, a deep ache in the bones, and—for males—an increase in muscle mass and aggression. Females, on the other hand, tended to get sick more quickly when apart, exhibiting symptoms very similar to the flu.
It all fit; that was exactly what the two of us had been experiencing, and I could not deny that the moment I’d decidedto help Mariska, she had become a complete obsession. I’d fixated on helping her, wanting her, protecting her from the start. This was probably not what Avertom had hoped for when he’d sent her into my orbit, but I was willing to bet my cousin would crow with delight once he discovered how successful his matchmaking had been.
Unfortunately, with the farm so far behind on much of its work, Valentine’s Day couldn’t mean that I took the day off. So, after I’d kissed her until she was dazed and her mouth was this delightful pink, I was forced to excuse myself and get back to work.
I wanted to test my latest round of modifications for the wine-turned-vinegar. If I was right about my latest theory, we could actually have a wine from her own vineyard with our dinner tonight—a dinner I’d arranged with Avertom to be delivered. I couldn’t wait to share allmyfavorite foods with her. Some were quite similar to the things she made, so I was certain she’d like what I’d ordered.
Mariska did not seem to mind that I had to go, but she grabbed my arm just before I was out the door. “You know, Valentine’s isn’t all about the guy giving gifts and stuff. It’s a chance to connect andbothshow each other how much you appreciate the other. And I appreciate so much all you’ve done already. I would have lost this place if not for you, and I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” I wasn’t sure if my half-growled “Then don’t” was the right answer, but it had made her laugh, so I counted it as a win.
The shield generator was working, if only as a stopgap measure until it could be replaced. I’d had to use all the spare partsAvertom had brought, but it would now activate through my comm when we needed it, and I made sure to keep an eye on all the meteor storm alerts. All her windows had received an extra lock, too, and I’d gotten the hole in the barn roof properly fixed. My current project, besides the wine, was to fix the barn’s climate control so that the barrels would always be stored in the same cool environment.
I also had another batch of bots lying on a workbench in the barn, which, once fixed up, would maintain the vines next summer. I also had samples being analyzed from soil collected all over, to make sure we could balance nutrients. I’d collected those this morning. After seeing the state of the soil while confronting that pair of trespassers last night, I was worried the grapes would stop producing in the coming years if we didn’t fix it.
I realized I was thinking long-term already, like I’d never leave. When I first came back to Llykhe, the idea of staying here would have felt claustrophobic. I only came back because I needed a change of pace, a bit of a breather. To see some familiar faces and ground myself in the land that had once been home. The mountains and hills that had barely been able to contain the wild child I’d been—a child who had turned my mother’s hair gray well before I’d left the house.
Thinking of leaving when Mariska was here was what made me feel like the walls were closing in now. I couldn’t. She was where I belonged, and it had taken me two careers and a whole lot of traveling to find her, right back where I’d started. I wasn’t going anywhere, and I was taking all I’d learned growing up in these hills to make her home, her farm, and her life here a success.
“You’ll be on time?” I asked when I called Avertom early that afternoon. My body still tingled from the brief hug and make-out session not long ago, when Mariska had brought over lunch. I’d enjoyed prolonging the moment and feeding the supposed pheromone dependency with touch—because it gave me pleasure, it made her smile, and I didn’t want her to feel sick again when she didn’t get what she needed.
“Of course I’ll have your damn food delivered on time. Why is this so important again?” my cousin asked, part offended and part just being an ass because he liked teasing me until I reacted. He was also just curious, trying to fish for information on how things were going between Mariska and me, and I wasn’t talking.
“It is for Valentine. It is a human custom. Look it up, you have fingers; you know how to perform a search.” Avertom might act like he was content just being the saloon owner, and he was definitely very attached to the laughing Nia, but he was no dummy. Out of everyone in town, he might just be one of the strongest empaths around, and he’d always hidden it.
“Ah, a human custom, huh? Mariska is getting to you, admit it. You want to take her under your wing and protect her forever. Just like with that injured Nia you once found.” He referred to the Nia I’d rescued in the mountains, the one who’d clawed me to hell and back as I nursed her broken paw. It was a very fitting comparison, because six-year-old mehadgotten extremely attached. That Nia had kept me company until she died of old age and I enlisted in the army.
To call Mariska a Nia would probably highly offend her; she’d say she was much less helpless than that. I was pretty sure she was right. She might have struggled to hold the heavy pistolshe’d dug out of her closet last night, but I had no doubt she knew how to use it, and it pleased me to know she was so ready to defend herself. Most Aderians on Llykhe were a little too complacent when it came to protection—the meteor storms were their only worry.
“There are no wings and no Nia,” I said firmly, but I discovered I was smiling. “Theremightbe a chance—a very big chance—that I’ll stay.” I didn’t need to explain that further: stay, as in stay on this farm with Mariska. Avertom would instantly know what I meant, because I never talked about staying anywhere. I needed a goal, a purpose, and I’d found it in her.
