My tongue thrusts into her core. This time her moan is muffled by the head of my meq in her mouth. She doesn’t take much more than that, possibly because I am too big, but her fingers dance over the bumps as if she knows how good it feels.
I fuck her with my tongue, needing to taste all of her. When she tries to move, I hold her in place, my claws pressing into the side of her hips. My chin rubs against her bump and her body tenses as her heartbeat quickens. She is still for a moment, before she gives into the release. Her body rocks as she rides it out and my tongue thrusts into her slick channel.
Sensation prickles over my skin as pleasure spirals through me and tightens my balls.
She circles one bump on my meq, the one near the base that would be rubbed if I were fucking her. My hips jerk. Before I can stop or pull away I’m coming. She sucks and swallows, drinking my cum and it feels amazing. No warrior has ever done that. Her hand squeezes my meq and strokes up as if to make sure I am empty.
I am.
And I am panting.
There is a heat in my chest and in my blood that is more than just release. It’s only when I open my eyes I see the markings on my hands glowing.
I stare at them as if not believing what I’m seeing. For the first time, I can’t stop it. It’s not a signal that I am consciously making.
No, it’s a warning to other males that I am in rut and that this is my mate.
That shouldn’t be possible.
With a groan, Ruby rolls off me to lie next to me. Her hips are near my face and her knees are peaked. “Why are you glowing?”
“Because I enjoyed it.” The lie falls off my tongue. I did enjoy it, clearly too much.
She didn’t choose me as a mate. She chose me as a warrior to share our non-existent blanket with. The two are very different. One is sex…the other is…permanent.
We’re mates.
“So did I.” She props herself up on one elbow. “I think your meq will fit. We should try that next time.”
Next time?
There shouldn’t be a next time. but already I feel that need forming. She is my mate and I want to claim her repeatedly. I never expected to feel the rut. Now I’m going to have to survive it without giving into that need. She hasn’t chosen me. She can’t be mine, no matter how much my body desires otherwise.
How can I get us both back to the ship, safely, when all I am going to be able to think about is fucking her? My meq twitches.
She pulls her shirt on, then her pants.
She wants more…would it be wrong to use her interest to sate my needs until we return so I can ask my brothers what to do? What if they cast me out for claiming her instead of letting her choose me? But I didn’t claim her. It was an accident.
I sit up, illuminated with a light I can’t shut off and my meq already thickening.
The rut has begun and there’s not a thing I can do about it. That’s more terrifying than being chased by screamers because it’s my own body betraying me.
15
RUBY
Aldit was right. When I wake, the fire is out and it’s cold, though I’m warm because he is curled up behind me. I lie there for a little longer, even though now I’m awake the rock beneath me is pressing into my hip, and my bladder is reminding me that it still works.
With a sigh, I slither out from beneath his arm. An arm that is still softly glowing. I frown. Should he still be glowing? The sex wasn’t that good that he could’ve enjoyed it all night while he slept. Was it?
He rolls onto his back and stares up at me. “It’s morning.”
“It is.” The sun is rising, coloring the sky in reds and golds. I stretch and then make my way to the trees. When I’m done, I stop for a drink. I’m going to miss that trickle of water today. Fuck knows when we’ll find more drinkable water. My stomach grumbles and aches, needing more than water.
I hear Aldit moving around, but don’t turn to give him some privacy. No one needs an audience first thing in the morning. I run my tongue over my teeth, wishing my little first aid kit had a toothbrush or even some toothpaste.
Aldit puts on his sword and boots.
